User-Centred Design
48 hours face to face + blended
One Semester or equivalent
Hawthorn
Available to incoming Study Abroad and Exchange students
Overview
This unit of study aims to introduce students to the concept of usability and the process of User-Centred Design as a method of achieving good usability outcomes in software development.
Requisites
Teaching periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date
Semester 1
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
02-March-2026
31-May-2026
31-May-2026
Last self-enrolment date
15-March-2026
Census date
31-March-2026
Last withdraw without fail date
21-April-2026
Results released date
07-July-2026
Semester 2
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
03-August-2026
01-November-2026
01-November-2026
Last self-enrolment date
16-August-2026
Census date
01-September-2026
Last withdraw without fail date
22-September-2026
Results released date
08-December-2026
Unit learning outcomes
Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:
- Apply scholarly and evidence-based approaches to software requirements elicitation and specification
- Analyse software context of use (i.e., users, tasks and system environment) using a variety of models to identify user requirements
- Design and build a prototype user interface according to software requirements and usability design principles
- Apply a variety of usability evaluation methods to evaluate and iterate user interface design solutions
- Describe and apply guidelines for professional practice in the ethical treatment of human research participants
- Implement and reflect on strategies for working in small groups
Teaching methods
Hawthorn
| Type | Hours per week | Number of weeks | Total (number of hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Live Online Lecture | 1.00Ìý | 12 weeks | 12 |
| On-campus Class | 2.00Ìý | 12 weeks | 24 |
| Online Directed Online Learning and Independent Learning | 1.50Ìý | 12 weeks | 18 |
| Unspecified Activities Various | 8.00Ìý | 12 weeks | 96 |
| TOTAL | 150 |
Assessment
| Type | Task | Weighting | ULO's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online Tests | ±õ²Ô»å¾±±¹¾±»å³Ü²¹±ôÌý | 15 - 30% | 1,2,4,5Ìý |
| Peer Evaluation | ±õ²Ô»å¾±±¹¾±»å³Ü²¹±ôÌý | 5 - 10% | 6Ìý |
| Project 1 | ³Ò°ù´Ç³Ü±èÌý | 5 - 10% | 6Ìý |
| Project 2 | ³Ò°ù´Ç³Ü±èÌý | 15 - 30% | 1,2Ìý |
| Project 3 | ³Ò°ù´Ç³Ü±èÌý | 15 - 30% | 2,3,4Ìý |
| Project 4 | Individual/³Ò°ù´Ç³Ü±èÌý | 15 - 30% | 4,5Ìý |
| Project Report | ±õ²Ô»å¾±±¹¾±»å³Ü²¹±ôÌý | 10 - 20% | 1,2Ìý |
Content
- ISO User-Centred Design process and principles
- Usability as a component of software quality
- Understanding and modelling context of use (users, tasks, and system environment)
- Requirements elicitation and specification
- Ethics of human research
- Usability design principles, guidelines and standards
- Conceptual design and iterative prototyping
- Usability evaluation methods
- Psychological principles
Study resources
Reading materials
A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.