MSc in Human-Centred Systems
Course content for 2010 entry
7 core module(s):
Click on a module title to display key features.- Cognition and Technologies
- Explain different approaches to user-centred design, design lifecycles, and evaluation of interfaces, usability and terminology used in human-computer interaction
- Discuss the perceptual and cognitive capabilities of users and how these influence use of interfaces
- Undertake analyses of planned or existing interfaces with techniques such as GOMS and Task Analysis
- Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the state-of-the art practices and leading academic research that are aimed at addressing the range of Human-Computer Interaction issues
- Evaluating Interactive Systems
- Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the importance of usability evaluation
- Conduct effective usability evaluations using user-based and expert evaluation techniques, from choice of technique through to analysis of data
- Compare and contrast the weaknesses and strengths of the different evaluation methods
- Inclusive Design
- Demonstrate detailed understanding of the importance of inclusive design
- Illustrate and exemplify a professional awareness of the issues involved and potential approaches to be adopted in designing for diverse users
- Identify the theoretical foundations in cognitive psychology for human-computer interaction as they relate to inclusive design
- Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the state-of-the-art practices and leading academic research that are aimed at addressing the range of issues which arise in inclusive design
- Information Architecture
- Web analytics
- Search, metadata and users' information-seeking behaviour
- Website organization and navigation schemes
- Key design documents in the IA process
- Knowledge of content management and e-commerce systems
- Introduction to system specification
- Introduction to databases
- Interaction Design
- Demonstrate detailed understanding of the importance of usability and the consequences of poor usability for interactive systems
- Identify the theoretical foundations in cognitive psychology for human-computer interaction
- Critically evaluate a user-centred design process for interactive systems, including analysis, design and evaluation activities
- Interpret HCI principles and guidelines, applying them to a variety of situations
- Requirements Engineering
- Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the range of problems which arise in requirement engineering
- Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the state-of-the-art practices and leading academic research that are aimed at addressing the range of problems which arise in requirements engineering
- Demonstrate a systematic understanding of the differences between alternative requirements modelling techniques
- Apply start-of-the-art requirements methods and techniques to acquire, model and analyse requirements for complex systems
- Research, Methods and Professional Issues
- Research activity in terms of the effectiveness of its approach and implementation
- Understand and apply a range of research methodologies such as inductive and deductive reasoning, explanation and prediction in the evaluation of published research
- Recognise and use a range of secondary data sources when performing a research task
- Communicate effectively with individuals and groups using a range of media
- Evaluate the legal, ethical and professional dimensions of typical information professions and information industry practices
choose 1 elective module(s) from the following list:
Click on a module title to display key features.- Creativity in Design
- Understand and support the role of creativity in interaction design.
- Learn and apply different types of creativity techniques in software design processes.
- Become familiar with and exploit different types of technologies for creative design.
- Practice and reflect on creativity techniques and technologies through project work.
- Multimedia Design and Development
- Demonstrate the importance of planning in a multimedia production environment and some of the tools and techniques used e.g. storyboarding and navigation charts; evaluate techniques used to capture, edit, store and present multimedia data, in particular images and movies
- Demonstrate competencies in the use of a widely used multimedia authoring tool e.g. Macromedia Flash; evaluate the issues involved in multimedia delivery on the World Wide Web
- Use a multimedia scripting language to add further interactivity to their applications.
You will also undertake an individual research project or industrial internship.
The timetable for delivery of this module is being finalised. A provisional timetable is for the module to be delivered on two full days (7.5 hours on Monday and Tuesday) or three days (5 hours on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) during two weeks in Semester 2.
View the current study timetable
Note: The University reserves the right to make changes to syllabuses, programme options and modules as necessary.