Course-PM

TDA486 / TIA100 Human-Centered Design (HCD) lp4 VT20 (7.5 hp)

Course is offered by the department of Computer Science and Engineering

Contact details

• Examiner: Yemao Man
• Course responsible and teacher: Yemao Man
• Co-teacher: Gordana Dodig-Crnkovic

Contact:

Yemao Man yemao.man@chalmers.se

Course purpose

In this course, knowledge regarding both HCD research in academia and HCD examples/experiences from industries will be covered. Various theoretical frameworks, constructs, notions and models will be introduced to develop in-depth theoretical understandings of HCD and Human Factors. In addition to the theoretical part, this course also includes the practical part, which consists evaluation methods and carrying out an investigation group project aiming at a specific industry (e.g. smartphone industry, smart home industry, healthcare industry, shipping industry, automobile industry etc.).  This course shall provide opportunities for students to move from being a student of interaction design to become an interaction design and HCD researcher/professional with relevant theoretical and practical knowledge. Therefore this course shall create a mutual learning experience where all participants in the course are collaborating, contributing, exploring and extending the boundaries of understanding and practice.

Schedule

Course TimeEdit

Detailed preliminary schedule

Course design

TDA486/TIA100 is a course that puts heavy focus on theories and industrial applications. The aim of the course is to give the students comprehensive knowledge about various theories and methods in the process of analysing and designing complex systems and the applications in the real-world practice.

The course consists of a theoretical part and a practical part. The theoretical part presents the history and development of Human-Centred Design from research to industrial applications. Relevant theories and processes related to Human-Centered Design are covered. We will dive into human factors research, to understand human-automation interaction, human error, safety research, etc. Practical parts consist of small-scale discussion workshops and a major interaction design group project. The project will explore and understand an industrial product's design issues and human factors challenges, and produce innovative and meaningful design solutions through Human-Centered Design approach. 

During the course, we will give a number of lectures, seminars and workshops:

• The purpose of the lectures is to provide starting points as well as detailed insights in the various aspects of HCD and Human Factors and its relation to similar theories and practices.
• The purpose of the seminars is to provide a meeting where students could share opinions, critically discuss and reflect upon the given materials pertinent to HCD and Human Factors. The seminars are usually associated with the preceding lectures, therefore it requires that the participants are well-prepared, have attended the lectures and read the assigned literature.
• The workshops are run in close relationship to the project work where the students could connect theory to practice, conduct project development and raise questions of the challenges in applying HCD and Human Factors principles in various context.  The teacher will provide supervisions if needed. 

In the course, relevant papers and method-documents will be provided. In addition supplementary books and resources that are not mandatory will also be recommended for further study. 

Changes made since the last occasion

This course would highlight the importance of the theoretical part related to HCD and train the students' essential research capabilities. Multiple models and theories will be introduced and discussed in the course. The students are encouraged to take pluralistic perspectives to understand the construct HCD. The guest lectures will also introduce a richer range of industrial context to the students. The project would not require the background of AI or limit it self to the context of automobile industry. Instead, the students are encouraged to carry out their project work in their own preferred industrial context and problem domain with solid literature study and HCD practice.  The knowledge generated from this project shall be both theoretically insightful and practical useful. The examination criteria, course literature and exercise will therefore be updated accordingly.

Learning objectives

The aim of the course is to give the students comprehensive knowledge about Human-Centered Design theories and practical experiences of applying such knowledge in complex design projects.

–Learning outcomes: Knowledge and understanding
Be able to give the state of the art for the central components of Human Centered Design. Be able to present an overview of the broad field of Human-Centered Design theories and practices. Develop understanding for HCD's broad societal, ecological and ethical aspects.

–Learning outcomes: Skills and abilities
Be able to apply the theories into concrete project practices. Be able to plan and organize a Human Centered Design project. Be able to apply Human Centered Design methods in specific design challenges.

–Learning outcomes: Judgment and approach
Be able to explain the advantages and the limitations of different theories and methods in this area.
Have ability to assess and motivate when Human-Centered Design is applicable. Be able to set a broad perspective of HCD issues.

Examination form for Chalmers students

The course is examined by means of:

• mandatory attendance of seminars (pass/fail) 
• individual written home exam (graded, 100%)
• group project work
  • group project preparation assignments (pass/fail)
  • group project presentation (pass/fail)
  • group project report (pass/fail)

All seminars are mandatory. Though lectures are not mandatory, we strongly encourage you to attend all the lectures because lectures can provide a basis for seminar discussion and home exam will consider the contents of lectures, seminars. If the student does have a reasonable cause to be absent from the seminar, please contact the teacher Yemao (yemao.man@chalmers.se) at least one week in advance and submit a compensated essay per instructions afterwards before the deadline. The group project preparation assignments or compensated essays could be passed or asked for revisions if necessary. Assignments, home exam, revisions, project report, or compensated essays that miss deadlines will not be evaluated.

The final grade is your grade for your home exam (based on lectures, seminars and your project). You must, however, not fail any of the other parts. If you fail one or more parts, you will get Fail in the final grade. If you pass all the other parts, the final grading follows according to the points that you gain in the home exam:

0-39 = Fail

40-59 = 3

60-79 = 4

80-100 = 5

Examination form for GU students

The course is examined by one module, the group project work with 7.5 credits (U-VG). It includes:

• group project preparation assignments (pass/fail)
• group project presentation (pass/fail)
• group project report (pass/fail)
• individual project related home exam (graded, 100%)

Though lectures and seminars are not mandatory, we strongly encourage you to attend all the lectures and seminars because lectures can provide a basis for seminar discussion which home exam will consider. The final grade is your grade for your home exam (based on lectures, seminars and your project). You must, however, not fail any of the other parts. If you fail one or more parts, you will get Fail (U). If you pass all other parts, the final grading follows according to the points that you gain in the home exam :

0-39 - Fail (U)

40-79 - Pass (G) 

80-100  - Pass with Distinction (VG)