BME VIK - Szoftver termékek felhasználhatósága

A tantárgy neve magyarul / Name of the subject in Hungarian: Szoftver termékek felhasználhatósága

3. Course coordinator and department Dr. Wiener Gábor,

4. Instructors

Name	Position	Department
György JUHÁSZ	Lecturer	Department of Computer Science and Information Theory

6. Pre-requisites

Ajánlott:
There are no prerequisites for this course. It is a principal aim of the course to demonstrate that usable software can be created without extensive theoretical background, just as great dishes can be cooked without being an expert in food chemistry.

The tools and methods used are simple and low-tech; basic user-level computer skills are sufficient for this course.

7. Objectives, learning outcomes and obtained knowledge This course enables and encourages students to create user-friendly solutions regardless of their manual creative skills or design experience. We achieve this by increasing sensitivity to users’ real problems and developing analytical and design skills to solve them.

In addition, by simulating processes of real-life software design, students will gain insights into the practice of user-centered design under difficult organizational, budget and deadline constraints. They will also improve their teamwork and presentation skills.

Finally, the course aims at raising student awareness of cognitive sciences, usability engineering and related disciplines.

8. Synopsis The course can be best characterized as a design workshop. Students walk the path from an idea to a sophisticated and detailed prototype of an interactive system. Along the way, they collect theoretical knowledge via learning-by-doing and trial-and-error, as opposed to formal lectures about fine details of the discipline.

Students learn how to avoid the most common pitfall of software development projects that prevent delivered systems from being fully-utilized – or used at all: the lack of proper understanding of the users of the system, their current and future needs, and the lack of verification of concepts and early designs.

Students form teams to develop user interfaces in a series of workshops which take them along the most important steps of the design process. See the table below for more details about the themes and schedule of the workshops. Each workshop starts with a brief introduction to the goals and methods of the workshop, but most of the time is dedicated to intensive teamwork with the assistance of the instructor.

Weeks 1-3: students get an overview of the human cognitive processes related to the usage of interactive systems, and the role of design in a development process. By the end of this period, students form the teams and choose a design challenge.

Weeks 4-5:analysis of users and their needs, preferences, and thinking. Based on the information collected, students design the basic information architecture of the system and create preliminary design sketches.

Weeks 6-7: creation of early designs for most major componenets of the user interface.

To wrap up this block, teams present their results to the class, for comment, criticism, and discussion, in a heuristic evaluation session.

Weeks 8-10: increasingly detailed design activity, with iterative rounds of testing and design changes. At the end of this block, students write a test, about theory and methods covered.Weeks 11-13: rapid rounds of design sessions. Students complete their designs then adapt them to an alternative platform (such as creating a mobile version of a desktop application), or design a companion product on another platform.

Week 14: final exam Presentation of designs to a board of professors and industry experts.

In addition to the regular weekly classroom activity, 2 to 3 lectures or interactive hands-on sessions by expert guests from fields like CAD system design and development, GPS navigation or streaming video will provide insight into design successes and failures.

Content and schedule:

Week 1	Course intro. Design practice of a simple device.

Week 2	Principles of human cognition. Affordances, constraints, mappings. Workshop intro.
Week 3	Norman's action cycle. Analysis and design exercise of a complex applicance.
Week 4	Personas, stories, workflows. User and task analysis workshop.
Week 5	Card sorting workshop.
Week 6	Prototyping methods and tools. Prototyping workshop.
Week 7	User interface guidelines. Design development workshop.
Week 8	Team project reviews via heuristic evaluation.
Week 9	Evaluation methods. User testing workshop.
Week 10	¾ term written test.
Week 11	Design development workshop.
Week 12	Alternative platform selection and start of redesign. Platform-specific design issues.
Week 13	Design development workshop. Final design consultation.
Week 14	Student design presentations and evaluation.

9. Method of instruction Lectures with hands-on practice and analysis, project-based creative sessions in groups, prototype and design creation on paper and with simple software tools.

10. Assessment At the end of the semester, student groups are required to present their design task along with the final prototype (or product), which is subjected to in-situ heuristic evaluation and an overall assessment by invited external experts.

Grading will be based on the following criteria:

Class activity and homework 20 points

3/4 term test 30 points

Prototype design quality and completeness 40 points (group)

Presentation quality 10 points (group)

12. Consultations You can reach the instructor at the following e-mail address for consultation:

György JUHÁSZ: gyuri.juhasz@ergondesign.hu

13. References, textbooks and resources Steve Krug, Don't Make Me Think! A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, New Riders, 2006.

Carolyn Snyder, Paper Prototyping, Morgan Kaufman, 2003.

14. Required learning hours and assignment

Number of contact hours	28
Preparation to the classes
Preparation to the tests	4
Homework	12
Assigned reading	8
Preparation to the exam	8
Total	60

15. Syllabus prepared by

Name	Position	Department
György JUHÁSZ	Lecturer	Department of Computer Science and Information Theory