Fundamentals of Interaction Design (INFO10003)

Undergraduate level 1Points: 12.5Dual-Delivery (Parkville)

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Overview

Availability
Semester 2 - Dual-Delivery
FeesLook up fees

AIMS

How do you design interactive technologies that are useful, usable and satisfying? How can we better understand user needs in order to inform the design of new technologies? Fundamentals of Interaction Design addresses these questions, and students will learn about the key theories, concepts and industry methods that are crucial to the user-centred design process.

 

INDICATIVE CONTENT

  • Theoretical foundations of Interaction Design
  • Design principles and heuristics
  • Usability and user experience
  • Methods for understanding user needs (e.g., contextual inquiry, ethnography, interviews)
  • Interview data analysis
  • Techniques for communicating context of use (e.g., scenarios, personas, and rich pictures)
  • Prototyping and visual design
  • Interfaces and platforms of interactive technologies

Intended learning outcomes

On completion of this subject the student is expected to:

  • Define and distinguish between the different types of user interface
  • Exploit cognitive and social factors that make interactive software usable
  • Apply key design principles and guidelines that assist user interface designers, and understand the limitations of such guidelines
  • Apply techniques of Interaction Design / User-Centred Design across the development lifecycle
  • Understand theoretical approaches and methods for identifying user requirements
  • Understand the ethics of working with and employing ICTs in society

Generic skills

On completion of this subject, students should have developed the following generic skills:

  • Ability to review and research a problem domain
  • The capacity to solve problems, including the collection and evaluation of information
  • The ability to communicate designs and design thinking
  • The capacity for critical and independent thought and reflection
  • Team work skills
  • Written and oral presentation skills
  • Profound respect for truth and intellectual integrity, and for the ethics of scholarship
  • An expectation of the need to undertake lifelong learning, and the capacity to do so

Last updated: 9 April 2025

Eligibility and requirements

Prerequisites

None

Corequisites

None

Non-allowed subjects

Code Name Teaching period Credit Points
INFO30004 Usability Engineering No longer available

Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)

The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.

Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home

Last updated: 9 April 2025

Assessment

DescriptionTimingPercentage

Assignment 1 – User needs analysis: Group project (3-4 students) to identify user needs in a particular situation of use, with recommendations for the design of a prototype interactive system. The assignment consists of a group written report (4000 words) and a presentation (10 minutes) Group report 20%. Group presentation 10%. Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO's) 3, 4 and 5 are addressed in this assignment.

  • 30-35 hours (of work required)
Week 630%

Assignment 2 - Personal reflection. An individual report (1500 words) reflecting on the group project, the methods used, and the insights obtained. ILO's 1, 2 and 3 are addressed in this assignment.

  • 20-25 hours (of work required)
Hurdle requirement: Assignment 2 is a hurdle and must be passed to pass the subject.		Week 620%

Assignment 3 – Prototyping: Group project (3-4 students) involving the application of design techniques to create a wireframe prototype (consisting of screenshots or paper sketches) based on the findings of assignment 1. Groups must document, justify, and evaluate their design decisions via a written report (2000-3000 words) and a presentation (10 minutes). Written report 40%. Presentation 10%. ILO's 1 to 6 are addressed in this assignment.

  • 40-50 hours
Hurdle requirement: Assignment 3 is a hurdle and must be passed to pass the subject.		During the examination period50%

Last updated: 9 April 2025

Dates & times

  • Semester 2
    CoordinatorJarrod Knibbe
    Mode of deliveryDual-Delivery (Parkville)
    Contact hours36 hours, comprising 2 x 1 hour lectures and 1 hour tutorial
    Total time commitment170 hours
    Teaching period25 July 2022 to 23 October 2022
    Last self-enrol date 5 August 2022
    Census date31 August 2022
    Last date to withdraw without fail23 September 2022
    Assessment period ends18 November 2022

    Semester 2 contact information

    jarrod.knibbe@unimelb.edu.au

Time commitment details

170 hours

Last updated: 9 April 2025

Further information

Last updated: 9 April 2025