Course description

The course presents Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) as a key interdisciplinary area. HCI is traditionally considered a main Computer Science area, but it involves many others fields of knowledge: design, psychology, sociology, anthropology, engineering, media, and ergonomics, among others.

ACM SIGCHI defines HCI as the discipline concerned with the design, evaluation, implementation of interactive computing systems for human use, and with the study of major phenomena surrounding them. As software systems are usually part of complex services that a company/institution offers to its customers, traditional HCI also extends to Service Science.

The course focuses on User eXperience (UX), usability, and Customer eXperience (CX). Topics include interaction challenges, interaction design, and UX and usability evaluation. It uses an HCI approach, without necessary limiting to software systems; it also focuses on products and services in general.

Rationale and Impact of Course

The course aims to be an inspirational introduction to the theory and practice of HCI. Students will focus on identifying and understanding users’ needs, and on UX, usability and CX evaluation.

Learning Outcomes and Expected Student Competencies

– Use theories and principles of human behaviour and communication to guide the design of interactive software systems, products and services
– Design and conduct UX, usability and CX studies
– Analyse UX, usability and CX studies outcomes
– Propose and justify design solutions.

Course units

1. Introduction
a. The field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
b. Trends in HCI
c. Service Science

2. The nature of HCI
a. People
b. Computers
c. Interaction

3. Usability and User eXperience (UX)
a. Usability, UX, CX (Customer eXperience)
b. Paradigms and principles
c. Assessing UX, usability, CX

4. Interaction design
a. Interaction devices and techniques
b. Design methods, tools