Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction 7.5 credits

The course introduces the students to user research concepts, methods and techniques as they are used throughout the design process to identify needs, behavioural patterns, and functionalities. It provides students with a basic understanding of the differences between interviews and surveys, cultural probes and ethnography, behavioural or attitudinal approaches, qualitative and quantitative methodologies, and practically illustrates how to turn user research results into communicable synthetic deliverables such as personas or user journeys. The course also stresses the importance of culture and context in the practice of user research. The course includes the following parts: - introduction to the New Media Design program - application of user research concepts and methodologies to real-world projects - creation of deliverables such as personas, storyboards, and user journeys based on user research - conducting user research in the context of team work and collaborative projects - establishing useful and realistic research goals and objectives - preparation of reports and present results of user research to stakeholders