Human-Computer Interaction
Usability, utility and the user-centered design cycle, anchored by a semester-long group project with real users. Taken by senior undergraduates and graduate students together.
The point of departure for this course is the design of everyday things. It will be shown that the principles underlying the design of such artifacts also apply to the design of digital media, interactive systems and software.
It will then be shown how concepts such as usability and utility may be defined and operationalised, and how the user centered design process may contribute to the achievement of optimal results from a usability and utility perspective. After this, the user interface development process also known as the user-centered design (UCD) process will be discussed in detail. The course also examines how design practice is changing in the age of AI: where generative and predictive systems can support each phase of the human-centered design process — synthesising research data, generating design alternatives, drafting evaluation protocols — and where they mislead. The group project is the focal point of this course and will be based on the UCD process.
Full course outline →At the end of this course, students should:
Be aware of interface design and usability engineering as a field.
Have read and understood major HCI theories and design principles.
Have gone through the three major phases of the user-centered design cycle — user research, design and evaluation.
Be able to apply theories and design principles during the product design process, including when working alongside AI-assisted design tools.
Have some ideas for how to deal with real-world constraints for building effective user interfaces and applications.
Understand how AI is reshaping design practice, and be able to judge where it genuinely supports the human-centered design process and where human judgement remains irreplaceable.
Students gain hands-on experience with the user interface design process, learn to challenge their own design intuition, and work with AI as a collaborator across the design cycle rather than a substitute for it.
Enabling knowledge
Understanding key HCI theories and design principles for designing user-friendly solutions, and how those principles hold up as AI changes what interfaces can do.
Critical thinking
Observing users in their working environment and analysing their practices creatively and critically to identify problems — including critical appraisal of AI-generated research synthesis and design suggestions.
Problem solving
Designing and implementing interactive systems that solve everyday problems, using AI tools where they accelerate ideation, prototyping and analysis without displacing evidence from real users.
Communication
Explaining ideas to diverse stakeholders — end users, team members, business and technical managers.
Responsibility
Applying relevant ethical considerations while conducting user research, designing user-centered technologies and evaluating end products, particularly when working with special user groups such as children, the elderly and patients.
One project, three phases
User research
Contextual inquiry, interviews and observation with the group's chosen user community, ending in a requirements brief.
Design & Development
Sketching, low- and high-fidelity prototyping and build, with design critique against established principles.
Evaluation
Usability testing with real end users, analysis of findings, and a final presentation of the redesigned system.
Work from this course
Dus Pattay & Khoj
A school-deployable ADHD screening game and a bilingual parent-education companion for children aged 8–12.
Watch on YouTube →Tasawur
A bilingual AI-mediated app challenging implicit gender stereotypes among Pakistani pre-teens.
Watch on YouTube →carefor
A dyadic support system for informal family caregivers of elderly relatives.
Watch on YouTube →Mindways
Gamified CBT delivered inside a to-scale 3D recreation of the students' own school.
Watch on YouTube →Every cohort since 2015
Each year opens a page with all of that cohort's projects.
