Sean Munson
smunson at uw dot edu
Office hours: by appointment
Caitie Lustig
celustig at uw dot edu
Office hours: by appointment
HCDE 517 will introduce you to usability testing and to usability research as a user-centered design strategy. The course takes a process approach; you will learn how to define your audiences and issues, create investigative procedures that answer your questions, administer the procedures, analyze the results, and report your findings effectively.
Though we use primarily examples of computational systems in this course, many of the methods, strategies, and approaches apply to products in various media (software, hardware, or services). You are encouraged to bring a variety of examples into the class.
In this course, assignments and readings build on each other. Consequently, it is typically better to keep up with assignments, turn them in on time, and work with our feedback than to delay an assignment. Seek help — from the teaching team, your teammates, and/or your classmates — when you encounter challenges — discussing the unique challenges of each project and approaches to addressing them is part of the learning experience in this course.
At the end of HCDE 517, you should be able to:
Unless otherwise announced, papers will be posted on the Canvas site and/or linked to from this syllabus.
There are two required textbooks:
Both should be available in the UW Bookstore.
If you have something private nature that you don't want to share with the other students, feel free to send a direct message to instructors.
This quarter, you will be asked to contribute to the success of your colleagues' projects by providing them with feedback on their works-in-progress. Your participation in workshop activities will be graded for the quality, usefulness, and insightfulness of your comments. You will also be collaborating with colleagues on assignments.
If you receive assistance on an individual assignment, please indicate the nature and the amount of assistance you received. If you have more experience with some of the material and are willing to help other students, please feel free to do so. Just remember that your goal is to help teach the material to the classmate receiving the help.
The essence of academic life revolves around respect not only for the ideas of others, but also their rights to those ideas and their circulation. It is essential to take the utmost care that the ideas and expressions of ideas of other people always be appropriately attributed, and, where necessary, cited. For writing assignments and anywhere in print, when ideas or materials of others are used, they must be cited. Any direct quotes must be cited. In any situation, if you have a question, please ask. Such attention to ideas and acknowledgment of their sources is central not only to academic life, but life in general.
Course conduct is governed by the University of Washington Student Conduct Code and the College of Engineering Academic Misconduct Policy. You should also acquaint yourself with the HCDE Plagiarism Policy. Failure to properly cite or attribute an idea will result in a zero on that assignment and a report to the College of Engineering; severe or repetitive instances may result in more severe consequences.
To reiterate, the collaboration policy is as follows. Collaboration in the class is encouraged — you can get help from anyone as long as it is clearly acknowledged. Use of work — yours or others', from this course or similar courses — from previous quarters is not allowed. The authorship of any assignments must be in your own style and done by you, even if you get help. Any significant help must be acknowledged in writing; any use of others' words or ideas must be cited and attributed appropriately.
I like a relaxed classroom where everyone feels comfortable. You are welcome to bring drinks or snacks to class (though, due to COVID restrictions, will need to eat during breaks). You can bring your laptop to class. I would rather have you come to class and listen with one ear than not come to class at all. As a courtesy to others, be sure to put your phone on silence/vibrate. Coming late to and/or leaving early from class is okay, as long as you don't disturb your classmates. Ask questions at any time, and if you have some expertise in a particular topic, please to raise you hand and share it with the class. If you aren't comfortable doing so, you should also feel free to post it to the Slack workspace!
Our primary purpose in the classroom is to interact and learn from each other. While non-participation (sleeping; checking email) is permitted, we urge you to consider its impact on your fellow students. Class is a lot more fun when everyone is engaged; a few visibly disengaged people can suck the energy out of a room. We reserve the right to ask you a question to try to reengage you if you seem to have checked out, but will try not to do this in an embarrassing way.
Our prefered method of contact (for quick questions, to let us know you will miss class, to schedule a meeting, etc.) is Slack or email. I (Sean) don't check my voicemail or Canvas messages regularly. When emailing:
I want to emphasize that your feedback is welcome. I may adjust the course based on what you say, I may save your comments for next year, or I may disagree, but in any case, your thoughts are appreciated.
HCDE 517 is designed as an in-person course. I will generally use Panopto to record class and an Owl camera to capture as much of the conversation as possible. This means that it is relatively easy for me to make a synchronous Zoom feed available, and I will do so. However, in-class activities are designed for in-person participation, and reading presenters have no obligation to design activities for remote participation.
If you are sick, I encourage you to stay home, and watch the recording or join the Zoom, whichever is better. If in doubt, I encourage you to rest and get well and catch up later!
Most course sessions involve considerable amounts of team work time and consultations. If you cannot attend, please work with your team to figure out if and how you will participate or if it is better to catch up after class.
Your experience in this class is important to us. If you have already established accommodations with Disability Resources for Students (DRS), please communicate your approved accommodations to us at your earliest convenience so we can discuss your needs in this course.
If you have not yet established services through DRS, but have a temporary health condition or permanent disability that requires accommodations (conditions include but not limited to; mental health, attention-related, learning, vision, hearing, physical or health impacts), please contact DRS at 206.543.8924, uwdrs@uw.edu, or disability.uw.edu. DRS offers resources and coordinates reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities and/or temporary health conditions.
Reasonable accommodations are established through an interactive process between you, your instructor(s), and DRS. It is the policy and practice of the University of Washington to create inclusive and accessible learning environments consistent with federal and state law.
Washington state law requires that UW develop a policy for accommodation of student absences or significant hardship due to reasons of faith or conscience, or for organized religious activities.
The UW’s policy, including more information about how to request an accommodation, is available. Accommodations must be requested within the first two weeks of this course using the request form.
The University of Washington Student Conduct Code (WAC 478-121) defines prohibited academic and behavioral conduct and describes how the University holds students accountable as they pursue their academic goals. Allegations of misconduct by students may be referred to the appropriate campus office for investigation and resolution.
Harassment will not be tolerated, and consequences will include immediate removal from the Slack workspace and other course tools. I also emphasize the importance of respecting your classmates' (and teaching team's) boundaries around how and when they wish to be contacted.
UW, through numerous policies, prohibits sex- and gender-based violence and harassment, and we expect students, faculty, and staff to act professionally and respectfully in all work, learning, and research environments. For support, resources, and reporting options related to sex- and gender-based violence or harassment, visit UW Title IX’s webpage (https://www.washington.edu/titleix/), specifically the Know Your Rights & Resources guide (https://www.washington.edu/titleix/2022/10/21/title-ix-rights-and-resources-for-uw-students/).
I am not an official required to report under UW's Title IX plan. This means I am not legally required to report misconduct or crime; if you share a problem with me, I will work with you to determine next steps and connect you (or the person who experienced the conduct) with resources and individuals who can best provide support and options. You can also access those resources directly:
Please note that some senior leaders and other specified employees have been identified as “Officials Required to Report.” If an Official Required to Report learns of possible sex- or gender-based violence or harassment, they are required to call SafeCampus and report all the details they have in order to ensure that the person who experienced harm is offered support and reporting options.
Each assignment is designed to test your achievement against one or more of the learning objectives. Different assignments emphasize different learning objectives. Please note that some grading will be subjective in nature.
There are three categories of assignments:In addition, you will complete a final self and team evaluation report, reflecting on your learning and participation across the quarter.
It your responsibility to make sure that each assignment has been turned in on time. Except by prior arrangement, we do not grade late assignments, though we will return them with feedback. For personal emergencies, we will work out an alternative plan with you and your team if you contact us before the due date.
All written assignments for this class must be of high quality: thoroughly proofread, well organized, and stylistically appropriate for the context. If in doubt, err on the more formal, polished, professional side. Writing quality will be a graded component of every written assignment, presentation clarity and engagement will affect your grades on all presentation assignments. In the workplace, if your results or ideas are of high quality but your communication is not, no one will be able to benefit from the work you do.
The graded work in the course will be weighted roughly as follows to determine a final percentage grade.
| Reading presentation & discussion | 10% |
| P1. Preliminary proposal | Credit/No credit |
| P2. Interaction map | 10% |
| P3. Usability study plan | 15% |
| P4. Usability study kit | 15% |
| P5. Study results (divided among presentation & report) | 35% |
| Self + Team-evaluation Report | 10% |
| Class participation | ± 5%* |
* possibly more for particularly constructive participation. Attendance is not graded, but it is a lot easier to participate if you are here.
Also see the HCDE grading policy.
In this course, we will cover usability studies, including their role in the design process, what questions they can answer, and some of the different evaluations and tests you might peform. We will discuss how to plan and conduct usability tests, and how to report results from usability studies. To practice these skills, we will use in-class workshops and an accompanying, quarter-long project.
From my prior experience teaching HCDE 517, the most common places students run into trouble are: (1) not starting soon enough, (2) letting team issues fester, and (3) not negotiating a clear and reasonable scope with clients at the start.
The most common pitfall is not starting on any portion of the project soon enough. You'll be working with participants and (possibly) real world clients, and with technology that may have issues. Recruiting almost always takes longer than you think, people may not show up, or there may be a chance snow storm. The website you are studying might go down for maintenance. The app you are evaluting might auto-update to a new version, ruining the script for your evaluation. If you start early, you'll have time to manage these setbacks. If you don't, you won't.
Additionally, as relative newcomers to this material, you tend to need some time with your data (especially any qualitative data) to draw out a strong analysis and good discussion. Doing a study at last minute and then rushing your writeup and analysis tends to have poor outcomes.
Second, you'll be working in teams and it is important to attend to team dynamics. Early in the quarter, you should have a discussion in your team in which you review and negotiate communication expectations and your goals for the course and project. As the quarter progresses, check in, see how things are going, and adjust as necessary.
Good luck and welcome aboard!
| Week | Dates | Topic | Readings | Assignments due |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 January |
Course overview
|
|
|
| 2 | 10 January |
Planning & considerations for usability testing
Choose teams and projects Workshop: Identifying & developing usability concerns and questions |
Overview from the books (required)
Usability evaluations - Required
Guidelines for usability - Optional
Extend topic: Heuristic evals for specific settings
Extend topic: Cognitive Walkthroughs in other SettingsAaron R. Lyon, Jessica Coifman, Heather Cook, Erin McRee, Freda F. Liu, Kristy Ludwig, Shannon Dorsey, Kelly Koerner, Sean A. Munson & Elizabeth McCauley. The Cognitive Walkthrough for Implementation Strategies (CWIS): a pragmatic method for assessing implementation strategy usability. Implementation Science Communications 2 (2021). |
Read project descriptions Sign up for reading presentation |
| 3 | 17 January |
Planning for a usability study, continued
Ethics in Usability StudiesAccessibility and usability |
Planning for Usability Testing
Ethics
Number of participants
Extend topic: Accessibility
|
|
| 4 | 24 January |
Forming an initial test plan
|
Usability test plans & roles
Other methods, considerations about how many?
Extend topic: Usability, children, and aging
Extend topic: Usability and automation |
P2. Interaction map
|
| 5 | 31 January |
Preparing a test with measurable results
Workshop: Study plans |
Preparing test materials (required)
Metrics and measures
Extend topic: Remote testing
Extend topic: The Hamburger Icon |
|
| 6 | 7 February |
Conducting a usability study
Workshop: Study kits |
Conducting test sessions
Think Aloud Testing
Extend Topic: Invisible OSs, Recognition, and Recall
Extend topic: Deception in UI/UX
Extend topic: Blank Page Technique and Paper Prototyping
|
|
| 7 | 14 February |
Data analysis & reporting
Workshop: Data analysis |
Analyzing Data
Extend topic: Voice User Interfaces & Usability
Extend topic: Large data in usability
|
|
| 8 | 21 February |
Presenting your findings
Usability experiences in sociotechnical systems (tentative)What is usable in social / collaborative settings? Can things be “too” usable? (& other dilemmas) |
Reporting Results
Extend topic: Additional Approaches
Extend topic: Technical choices that affect usability
|
|
| 9 | 28 February |
Usability in the field, and moving forward
Reporting (continued) |
Critiques
Extend topic: Biometrics
|
|
| 10 | 7 March |
Course wrap up & Presentations |
Various takes on the state of usability over time (optional)
|
In this version of HCDE517, I extensively draw from and/on materials developed by Rebecca Destello, Andy Davidson, and Judy Ramey.