This will employ the standard lecture, lab, project, and final exam approach.
Module Aim:
Design and carry out carefully considered evaluations of user experiences based on best practice and a firm foundation of the underpinning concepts.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module the learner should be able to:
LO1
Design carefully considered evaluations of user experiences based on best practice
LO2
Carry out a range of different evaluations of user experiences
LO3
Analyse and present the results of user experience evaluations
Pre-requisite learning
Module Recommendations
This is prior learning (or a practical skill) that is recommended before enrolment in this module.
No recommendations listed
Incompatible Modules
These are modules which have learning outcomes that are too similar to the learning outcomes of this module.
No incompatible modules listed
Co-requisite Modules
No Co-requisite modules listed
Requirements
This is prior learning (or a practical skill) that is mandatory before enrolment in this module is allowed.
No requirements listed
Module Content & Assessment
Indicative Content
Study design
Types of data, Independent and dependent variables; within-subjects and between-subjects; A/B testing; causation and correlation; research questions; hypotheses; writing user tasks; user satisfaction; sampling techniques; deciding on sample size; informed consent; ethical considerations; validity and reliability; In-person and online studies;
User experience instruments
Sensors e.g. Galvanic Skin Response (GSR), Electroencephalography (EEG), Electrocardiography (ECG), Electromyography (EMG), heart rate, pulse; eye tracking;
Questionnaires: Experience Sampling Method; user experience questionnaires (e.g. System Usability Scale - SUS); Task observation: user performance (e.g. time on task);
User test approaches
User modelling: personas and goals; Focus groups; interviewing and observing users; organising qualitative data; creating a test plan; where to test; recruiting participants; training test moderators
Analyzing study data
Properties of data (e.g. mean); data visualisation; descriptive statistics; distributions; parametric and non-parametric; statistical significance; confidence intervals; t-tests; ANOVA; effect size; introductory qualitative analysis;
Project 1: Design and carry out a user experience evaluation, analyse the results and present the findings. The evaluation will consider standard measures such as ease of learning, ease of use, completion time, satisfaction, error rate, as well as measures specific to the domain the project is addressing.
1,2,3
25.00
Week 7
Project
Project 2: Design and carry out a user experience evaluation, analyse the results and present the findings. The evaluation will consider standard measures specific to the domain the project is addressing as in the first project but will consider other relevant measures and go into more depth.
1,2,3
25.00
Week 12
Practical
Assessment Type
Assessment Description
Outcome addressed
% of total
Assessment Date
Practical/Skills Evaluation
A series of practical labs to develop and practise the skills required in the projects.
1,2,3
20.00
n/a
End of Module Formal Examination
Assessment Type
Assessment Description
Outcome addressed
% of total
Assessment Date
Formal Exam
Written exam largely testing the theoretical aspects of the course.
1,2,3
30.00
End-of-Semester
SETU Carlow Campus reserves the right to alter the nature and timings of assessment