This course is part of the User Interface Design Specialization
Introduction to UI Design
Offered By
About this Course
4.7
514 ratings
In this course, you will gain an understanding of the critical importance of user interface design. You will also learn industry-standard methods for how to approach the design of a user interface and key theories and frameworks that underlie the design of most interfaces you use today.
Through a series of case studies on commercial systems - many of which you likely use on a regular basis - we will illustrate the benefits of good design. We will also demonstrate how the costs of bad design can often be severe (in user experience, money, and even human lives).
You will then gain a high-level understanding of the user-interface design process. You will be introduced to common design scenarios - e.g. improving on existing designs and starting a new design from scratch - and the general design processes that tend to be used for each scenario.
Finally, we will begin introducing the large body of existing knowledge on design by providing overviews of core user interface design theories and concepts. This key foundational information will help you avoid “reinventing the wheel” when you are designing your interfaces in this specialization.
Skills you will gain
UsabilityUser Interface Design (UI Design)Design TheoryUser Interface
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Week
1Introduction and Overview
10 videos (Total 114 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz
10 videos
Introduction to the Specialization, Courses, and Capstone12m
User Interface Hall of Fame / Shame5m
Case Study #1: UI Disasters, including GPS fails10m
Case Study #2: Corporate Value: Citibank ATM7m
Case Study #3: Microsoft Office 2007 Ribbon10m
Case Study #4: International Children's Digital Library4m
Case Study #5: Taxes and Tickets17m
Case Study #6: AirBnB vs. CouchSurfing4m
Introductory Video7m
1 reading
Activity: Hall of Fame/Shame Interfaces10m
1 practice exercise
Intro to UI Design: Introduction and Overview20m
Week
2UI Design Process
11 videos (Total 120 min), 3 readings, 5 quizzes
11 videos
Designing to Address a Problem w/o Solution Ideas6m
Designing for a known solution direction9m
Designing to iterate on/improve an existing solution15m
Common Elements14m
Usability Engineering and Task-Centered Approaches9m
Use Cases, Personas, Tasks, and Scenarios18m
Intro to Design-Centered Approaches6m
Design-Centered Methods & When They Work Best16m
Pulling it all Together: Best from Each; Practical Techniques for someone who isn't a trained designer6m
Assignment Video: Tasks and Scenarios11m
3 readings
Sample Task and Scenario #110m
Sample Task and Scenario #210m
Sample Task and Scenario #310m
4 practice exercises
Task/Scenario Evaluation #122m
Task/Scenario Evaluation #222m
Task/Scenario Evaluation #322m
Intro to UI Design: UI Design Process24m
Week
3Psychology and Human Factors for User Interface Design
11 videos (Total 106 min), 3 readings, 2 quizzes
11 videos
Intro4m
Fitts' Law21m
Short- and long-term memory, attention4m
Perception and visualization, hierarchy4m
Mistakes, Errors, and Slips2m
Conceptual models7m
The Gulf of Execution and the Gulf of Evaluation8m
Design Principles: Visibility, Feedback, Mappings, Constraints14m
Interacting beyond individuals (social psychology)6m
High-Level Models: Distributed Cognition, Activity Theory, Situated Action19m
Assignment Video: Interface Critiques12m
3 readings
Read Me First: About these two weeks10m
Part 1: Assignment Overview and Properties of a Good Critique10m
Part 2: Worked Examples10m
1 practice exercise
Part 3: Test your knowledge2m
Week
4Psychology and Human Factors -- Continued
1 video (Total 31 min), 1 quiz
1 video
1 practice exercise
Intro to UI Design: Psychology and Human Factors: Shortcuts to Understanding Your Users24m
4.7
116 Reviews27%
83%
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Top Reviews
By MM•Nov 12th 2017
this course is just not about the theory it actually helps you to understand things on practical basis.The test and assignments helps you to apply the disciplines and makes you basic clear.
By NT•Feb 8th 2017
Very helpful for beginners to understand good design vs. bad design. Also helpful for gaining basic knowledge on how to think about design implementation.
Instructors
Loren Terveen
ProfessorComputer Science and Engineering
Haiyi Zhu
Assistant ProfessorComputer Science and Engineering
Lana Yarosh
Assistant ProfessorComputer Science and Engineering
Dr. Brent Hecht
Assistant ProfessorComputer Science and Engineering
Joseph A Konstan
Distinguished McKnight Professor and Distinguished University Teaching ProfessorComputer Science and Engineering
About University of Minnesota
The University of Minnesota is among the largest public research universities in the country, offering undergraduate, graduate, and professional students a multitude of opportunities for study and research. Located at the heart of one of the nation’s most vibrant, diverse metropolitan communities, students on the campuses in Minneapolis and St. Paul benefit from extensive partnerships with world-renowned health centers, international corporations, government agencies, and arts, nonprofit, and public service organizations.
About the User Interface Design Specialization
In this Specialization, you will learn industry-standard theory and methods for developing successful user interfaces (UIs). Upon completing this Specialization, you will have fluency with the user research, prototyping and evaluation techniques necessary for creating intuitive interfaces that facilitate good user experiences. You will also have demonstrated this fluency through an in-depth Capstone Project that can be shown to prospective employers in the fast-growing field of UI design.
Concepts and techniques covered include structured approaches for helping you understand your user base and their needs (e.g. contextual inquiry and design psychology), widely-employed prototyping and design methods (e.g. low-fidelity and paper prototyping), and robust techniques for helping you evaluate your design choices (e.g. heuristic evaluation and user studies). By the end of the Specialization, you will be comfortable applying these concepts and techniques to design an interface for a wide variety of users from around the world.
Frequently Asked Questions
When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?
Once you enroll for a Certificate, you’ll have access to all videos, quizzes, and programming assignments (if applicable). Peer review assignments can only be submitted and reviewed once your session has begun. If you choose to explore the course without purchasing, you may not be able to access certain assignments.
What will I get if I subscribe to this Specialization?
When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.
What is the refund policy?
Is financial aid available?
More questions? Visit the Learner Help Center.
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