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  3. Usability Evaluation Methods

Usability Evaluation Methods (INFO20004)

Undergraduate level 2Points: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)

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Overview

Availability
Semester 2
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AIMS

How do we know if our digital designs will be usable and useful when people take them up in their work or social lives? Poor designs lead to errors and frustration and result in a substantial waste of money and resources. It is crucial that digital designers carefully evaluate and iterate their designs throughout a well-structured process. In this subject, students will build on the foundational material from the prerequisite subject Fundamentals of Interaction Design to learn the key industry methods and tools used to conduct usability evaluations and develop understanding about when these methods should be applied and how to interpret their findings.

INDICATIVE CONTENT

  • Theoretical foundations of usability evaluation
  • Usability and user experience
  • Lab-based evaluation methods (e.g., observation, eye-tracking, think aloud)
  • Field studies / “in the wild” evaluations
  • Expert- and user-based evaluations
  • Analysis of usability evaluation data

Intended learning outcomes

On completion of this subject, students are expected to be able to:

  • Conduct a broad range of evaluation methods for digital technologies, and to select appropriate methods in terms of their strengths and limits; including ethnographic field study, user surveys, field experiments, laboratory experiments, and user experience trials
  • Interpret and communicate different types of usability data, including field observations, interviews, online use-logs, measurements of errors and efficacy
  • Apply contemporary knowledge of the tools and resources of an industry-standard usability-testing laboratory
  • Evaluate usability findings to inform the re-design and further development of digital technologies

Generic skills

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

  • An ability to undertake problem identification, formulation and solution
  • The capacity to solve problems, including the collection and evaluation of information
  • The ability to communicate designs and design thinking
  • The ability to analyse and report different forms of data
  • The capacity for critical and independent thought and reflection
  • 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: 11 July 2024