COMP1649 (2024/25)
Human Computer Interaction and Design
Learning Outcomes:
1 Deploy theory, design principles, tools and methodologies to implement andevaluate human- computer interactions;
2 Carry out design research to inform. development of systems and applications;
3 Construct and create prototypes of human-computer interactions;
4 Demonstrate the origins of ideas by correctly citing and referencing sources used in the work.
Coursework Submission Requirements
• An electronic copy of your work for this coursework must be fully uploaded on the Deadline Date using the link on the coursework Moodle page for COMP1649.
• For this coursework you must submit a single PDF document. In general, any text in the document must not be an image (i.e. must not be scanned) and would normally be generated from other documents (e.g. MS Office using "Save As .. PDF"). An exception to this is hand written mathematical notation, but when scanning do ensure the file size is not excessive.
• For this coursework you must also upload your prototype file.
• There are limits on the file size (see the relevant Moodle page).
• Make sure that any files you upload are virus-free and not protected by a password or corrupted otherwise they will be treated as null submissions.
• You must NOT submit a paper copy of this coursework.
• All courseworks must be submitted as above. Under no circumstances can they be accepted by academic staff.
• All mid-fidelity prototypes for this module must be submitted as Axure RP file unless agreed with the module leader otherwise. Submissions of prototypes submitted in other formats or as proprietary file types from other prototyping tools will not be accepted and marks for the prototype will be reduced to 0.
The University website has details of the current Coursework Regulations,including details of penalties for late submission, procedures for Extenuating Circumstances, and penalties for Assessment Offences. See https://www.gre.ac.uk/student-services/exams/regs and the Academic Regulations for Taught Awards.
Detailed Specification
Design brief
Choose one of the following topic areas for your coursework:
A. Design a digital application (e.g. a mobile app) for homeless individuals in London to suit basic needs. Potential features may include: Finding locations and times for free meals, shower and toilet facilities, and contacting relevant services (job finding, shelters) etc.
B. Design a digital application (e.g. a mobile app) for outdoor rock climbers in the UK. Potential features may include: logging climbs (recording and tracking ascents, viewing logs), social features for contacting and information sharing with fellow sport climbers, and local weather forecasts. Wearables connected to an app could be considered.
C. Design a digital application (e.g. a tablet app) for children in the UK to explore animals, trees and plants in the woods. Potential features may include: Nature identification (e.g. recording bird sounds), ticking off trees that have been seen, and recording routes taken.
You have been commissioned to write a report and create a prototype for a new interactive product for one of the above products and target groups. Investigate the needs and context of the chosen target group and product, and decide on two to three main features, supported by your literature research.
The scope of the interactive prototype should focus on two to three main areas. You are asked to create a proof of concept for the interactions of this system to see if users find it usable and desirable. The basic brief is open for interpretation, and you can and should design desirable interactions as you see fit based on your background readings and your research activities.
Interactive prototype
You need to create a mid-fidelity prototype of the application that enables people to experience at least the core user journeys/scenarios (two or three) that are available in your application in an interactive manner. This prototype should be developed in Axure RP10, unless agreed otherwise with the module leader.
You are required to describe the conceptual design and provide a description and visualisation of the product and its components and interactions in the report. You need to submit an interactive digital prototype demonstrating the interface and interactions of your application and explain how a user interacts with its components.
Your design and research activities need to be in alignment with your target group and justifications for all your assumptions and design decisions need to be provided.
Report
At the beginning of your report, you need to state your choice of topic from the above options. In the coursework report, you document your research and design activities, and the required future research study and other future work for the product. This includes a review of relevant literature that informed your design, a discussion of the conceptual design for the product, and a discussion of how design principles will be applied. The report will also discuss your (design) process of developing the interactive mid-fidelity prototype and how relevant HCI theory has been implemented. A plan for an empirical research study should be proposed to investigate a research question or hypothesis, and the conclusion should also detail other aspects of future work required. More details can be found in the assessment criteria below. You may also want to consult the annotated table of contents available on the COMP1649 Moodle page to help you structure your report.
Your report needs to be professionally and academically written and structured, based on your own research and reading, and written by yourself using appropriate in-text citations and referencing. This includes the demonstration of English language proficiency, appropriate level of detail, professional formatting of the report, and the writing should be supported by at least 8 relevant academic references (journal papers, conference papers, academic books - not blogs or online tutorials etc.). References and in-text citations should be formatted in Harvard style. The report word limit is 3000 words. If the submitted work exceeds the limit by more than 10%, marks will be reduced.
Deliverables
o Report of 2000-3000 words uploaded as a pdf file.
o Mid-fidelity prototype uploaded as .rp.
The prototype should be submitted as an Axure RP file unless otherwise agreed with the module leader.
Assessment Criteria
Report
Professional writing style, English language proficiency, writing with appropriate level of detail, professional report formatting, sufficient and appropriate referencing in Harvard style. of academic sources (e.g. journal papers, conference papers, academic books) throughout the report. A minimum of 8 sources is expected.
5%
A review of relevant and appropriate HCI background literature written in your own words and appropriately referenced, to inform. the design of the product and to generate requirements. The relevant background research (e.g. related work, HCI literature in relation to the product’s context, interaction design theory, cognitive psychology etc.) should support generating requirements for the proposed solution. It should be made clear which academic sources have been used and how they were retrieved.
20%
The product design consisting of A) A discussion of the product idea (conceptual design) explaining the components of the product and how the user will interact with the product, and how requirements will be met, and B) The design principles (by Don Norman) and their application to the coursework product are discussed. A brief discussion for each principle/concept and suitable visual representations should be included.
15%
A detailed proposal for an empirical HCI research study that uses your interactive prototype. In this proposal, you need to describe and justify the details for a research study including the research question(s) or hypothesis that your research study attempts to investigate, who the participants of your study will be, how the study will be run, the data collection, and how you will analyse the data. You do not need to run the study but you need to create all necessary material and documentation that are required for a usability expert to run the study.
20%
A conclusion providing critical reflections on the limitations of the work that has been carried out and a discussion of potential future work if the project would be developed further. The conclusion needs to go beyond repeating what has been said elsewhere and show a clear vision in the context of HCI of what the next steps for such a project would be.
10%
Mid-fidelity prototype of an interactive product
Clear links between the coursework report and the prototype with design decisions explicitly documented and justified in the report. There is evidence of the effective and successful application of HCI theory and design principles to create a prototype that can be used to test core assumptions of your design and that is suitable for researchers and designers to test and evaluate the product. The implementation of design research, theory, and principles is evident in both the report and the prototype.
30%