Mobile Interaction Design: How to Design Usable Mobile Products and Services

About this course: Every mobile app gives you something. It could be not only something tangible like the pair of jeans you've ordered using the app but also a piece of work like waking you up in the morning. It could be a feeling, for instance, a feeling of enjoyment obtained from watching a video clip or a feeling of closeness flashed out after receiving an old photo from a loving person via some instant messenger. That "something" is actually the reason why you use the app, it is the heart of the product, and in this course we will not talk about it. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. There are always two sides of a coin. There should be a person who makes that "something" accessible. It is astonishingly important because the use of the product loses its meaning if users can’t get what they want. The main objective of the course is to teach you to shape mobile products and services for people’s use. To do that, you’ll need to learn: - Interaction design activities and their place in the whole product design process - User research methods with a focus on the qualitative ones - Usability inspection and empirical usability evaluation methods - The process of design creation and best practices from interaction design, information architecture and visual design fields of study with a focus on the former Interfaces of handheld devices and tablets are in the spotlight. However, the processes and techniques covered by the course can be successfully applied to design interactions with mobile web apps and wearables. It should be noted that this course does not cover topics such as design management and mobile development, and it will as well not teach you how to use wireframing and prototyping tools. What makes the course unique is a focus on the way of thinking during a design process, the representation of a designer’s decisions in the form of design questions that make the continuous reflection on the design process possible and leads to the growth of the number of proposed design alternatives. The second unique thing about this course is a focus on the explanation of the concept of usability problems, and the processes of discovering and analysing them. Upon completion of the course, you will be able to: - Improve designs by eliminating different kinds of interaction problems - Design huge chunks of user interfaces in the case of adding a new feature to a product - Redesign a complete app by a given set of functions (e.g., extending an existing product to a new platform) The practical part of the course will require you to discover and eliminate interaction problems of a chosen mobile app. You will go through running guerrilla usability study, analysing gathered data, and making evidence-based design changes, which will enable you to create your first case study.

Who is this class for: This course was designed for those who are involved in creating digital interactive products (not necessarily for mobile) but do not have considerable experience in interaction design. If you are a UX professional in a junior position, a developer, manager or visual designer, this class is for you. This is not an introductory level course, so if you are new to the field, we recommend you take the “Introduction to User Experience Design” course from Georgia Institute of Technology before taking this one. Also, parts of this course such as the aforementioned process of design creation and approach to usability inspection can be useful for experienced designers.

Created by:  Higher School of Economics

• Taught by:  Pavel Manakhov, Associate Professor

  School of Software Engineering

Level Intermediate Commitment 10 weeks, 3-14 hours per week Language English How To Pass Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. Coursework

Each course is like an interactive textbook, featuring pre-recorded videos, quizzes and projects.

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Connect with thousands of other learners and debate ideas, discuss course material, and get help mastering concepts.

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Higher School of Economics National Research University - Higher School of Economics (HSE) is one of the top research universities in Russia. Established in 1992 to promote new research and teaching in economics and related disciplines, it now offers programs at all levels of university education across an extraordinary range of fields of study including business, sociology, cultural studies, philosophy, political science, international relations, law, Asian studies, media and communications, IT, mathematics, engineering, and more. Learn more on www.hse.ru

Syllabus


WEEK 1


WEEK 1: Mobile Interaction Design: An introduction



The first week is introductory in nature. It examines the place of interaction design activities in the whole product design process as well as essential concepts such as usability and the context of use that you need to comprehend before proceeding to the next week. At the end of this week, you’ll also get acquainted with such thing as design-informing models and learn how to create personas that I recommend you to do while working on your practical task.


11 videos, 3 readings expand

1. Video: Promo
2. Reading: Read Me First
3. Video: What Is This Course About?
4. Video: User Interface Design vs Interaction Design
5. Video: The Goal-Directed Design Process & Its “How” Level, Part 1
6. Video: The Goal-Directed Design Process & Its “How” Level, Part 2
7. Video: The Goal-Directed Design Process & Its “How” Level, Part 3
8. Video: The Structure of The Course
9. Reading: Choose a Mobile App
10. Video: Contextual Usability
11. Video: Context of Mobile Interactions, Part 1
12. Video: Context of Mobile Interactions, Part 2
13. Video: Design-Informing Models
14. Reading: Recommended Readings

Graded: Mobile Interaction Design: An Introduction

WEEK 2


WEEK 2: User Research



This week gives you the whole idea of ​​the methods used for studying the context of use. It also examines how to look for participants in detail, plan and conduct Cooper's ethnographic interviews and qualitative data analysis. This knowledge will enable you to drill down into the usage context of the mobile app you’ve chosen.


11 videos, 2 readings expand

1. Video: Why Do We Conduct Research?
2. Video: Research Planning, Part 1
3. Video: Research Planning, Part 2
4. Video: Classification And Overview of Research Methods, Part 1
5. Video: Classification And Overview of Research Methods, Part 2
6. Video: Classification And Overview of Research Methods, Part 3
7. Video: Recruiting
8. Video: Ethnographic Interviews: An Introduction
9. Video: Ethnographic Interviews: Preparing for The Study
10. Video: Ethnographic Interviews: Conducting The Study
11. Reading: Plan & Conduct User Interviews
12. Video: Analyzing Qualitative Data
13. Reading: Recommended Readings

Graded: User Research

WEEK 3


WEEK 3: Usability Inspection Methods & Intro to Usability Evaluation



The third week covers the overview of usability evaluation methods, the examination of essential usability evaluation concepts and models such as user interface idioms, Norman’s Stages-of-action model, usability problems and so on, as well as detailed discussion of several usability inspection methods including Cognitive walkthrough, Scenario-based walkthrough, and design reviews. At the end of this week, you’ll learn how to make sense of data gathered through formative usability evaluation methods. Here you can find the first graded peer-review assignment dedicated to forming recruitment criteria for guerrilla usability tests you’ll conduct later.


13 videos, 1 reading expand

1. Video: Classification And Overview of Usability Evaluation Methods, Part 1
2. Video: Classification And Overview of Usability Evaluation Methods, Part 2
3. Video: Classification And Overview of Usability Evaluation Methods, Part 3
4. Video: How People Interact With Digital Things
5. Video: The Concept of Usability Problems, Part 1
6. Video: The Concept of Usability Problems, Part 2
7. Video: Problems of Other Kinds
8. Video: Design Walkthroughs, Part 1
9. Video: Design Walkthroughs, Part 2
10. Video: Design Walkthroughs, Part 3
11. Video: Design Reviews
12. Video: Analysing Usability Data, Part 1
13. Video: Analysing Usability Data, Part 2
14. Reading: Recommended Readings

Graded: Form Recruitment Criteria for Usability Testing
Graded: Usability Inspection Methods & Intro to Usability Evaluation

WEEK 4


WEEK 4: Guerrilla Usability Testing & Field Visits



This week is solely dedicated to two methods: Guerrilla usability testing and field visits aimed at evaluating usability. It examines how to plan and conduct them in detail. You’ll apply the knowledge acquired through this week to develop a test plan and submit it as a part of the second graded peer-review assignment.


11 videos, 1 reading expand

1. Video: Field Research: An Introduction
2. Video: Preparing for Field Visits
3. Video: Preparing for Guerrilla Usability Testing, Part 1
4. Video: Preparing for Guerrilla Usability Testing, Part 2
5. Video: Data Collection Techniques, Part 1
6. Video: Data Collection Techniques, Part 2
7. Video: Overview of Moderation Techniques For Usability Testing
8. Video: Moderating Guerrilla Usability Tests, Part 1
9. Video: Moderating Guerrilla Usability Tests, Part 2
10. Video: Moderating Field Visits
11. Reading: Recommended Readings
12. Video: How to Become Better in User Research

Graded: Develop a Test Plan
Graded: Guerrilla Usability Testing & Field Visits

WEEK 5


WEEK 5: The Process of Design Creation



The process of design creation is a structured way to come up with as many interaction design solutions as possible which are designed to support your creativity. In combination with the appropriate way of selecting among the solutions examined in this week too, the process enables you to find the most usable solutions within existing constraints. This week examines the process of design creation and all related topics in detail.


13 videos, 3 readings expand

1. Reading: Conduct Pilot Test Sessions
2. Video: Design Process on the “How” Level, Part 1
3. Video: Design Process on the “How” Level, Part 2
4. Reading: Write Usage Scenarios
5. Video: Usability Goals, Part 1
6. Video: Usability Goals, Part 2
7. Video: Why an Exploration of Design Alternatives is Necessary
8. Video: Design Questions
9. Video: The Process of Design Creation, Part 1
10. Video: The Process of Design Creation, Part 2
11. Video: Exploring Alternatives
12. Video: Synthesising Solutions and Comparing Them, Part 1
13. Video: Synthesising Solutions and Comparing Them, Part 2
14. Video: Representing Solutions, Part 1
15. Video: Representing Solutions, Part 2
16. Reading: Recommended Readings

Graded: The Process of Design Creation

WEEK 6


WEEK 6: Accumulated Design Knowledge & Task Redesign



Designers base their solutions on design decisions already made by their fellow designers. This week is dedicated to the discussion of the knowledge that is already there and where to find it. In this week you’ll also learn basic design principles and examine the aspect that is very important for mobile interaction design: How to redesign user tasks. This week you will need to conduct the guerrilla usability testing according to the plan you have and record all its sessions. Some of these recordings may be submitted as part of the optional peer-review assignment. This will allow you to get feedback on how you moderated the study.


6 videos, 2 readings expand

1. Reading: Conduct Guerrilla Usability Testing
2. Video: Accumulated Design Knowledge: Forms And Sources
3. Video: First Principles of Interaction Design, Part 1
4. Video: First Principles of Interaction Design, Part 2
5. Video: First Principles of Interaction Design, Part 3
6. Video: Task Redesign, Part 1
7. Video: Task Redesign, Part 2
8. Peer Review: Select & submit the videos of test sessions
9. Reading: Recommended Readings

Graded: Accumulated Design Knowledge & Task Redesign

WEEK 7


WEEK 7: Navigation Design & Design Rationale



The organisation of a mobile user interface and navigation between its parts is a crucial aspect of mobile interaction design. The first part of this week examines different iOS and Android navigational patterns and their application in real world context. At the end of this week, you’ll learn how to write design rationale, an explicit justification of decisions behind an interaction design. This knowledge will enable you to complete the last graded peer-review assignment in one of the following weeks.


5 videos, 4 readings expand

1. Reading: Start Writing a Usability Evaluation Report
2. Reading: Update Usage Scenarios
3. Video: Navigation Design: Forms of Representation And Typical Solutions (Part 1)
4. Video: Navigation Design: Forms of Representation And Typical Solutions (Part 2)
5. Video: Designing Navigation of The Parking App, Part 1
6. Video: Designing Navigation of The Parking App, Part 2
7. Reading: Design Rationale
8. Reading: Recommended Readings
9. Video: How to Become Better in Designing Interactions

Graded: Navigation Design & Design Rationale

WEEK 8


WEEK 8: Intro to Visual Design



Designing aesthetically pleasant user interfaces is no less important than designing usable interfaces. This week is solely dedicated to the former. You’ll learn how to choose and customise types, apply different types of colour schemes, select and use images, create a sign and design a harmonious layout of the mobile screen. Here you can find the peer-review assignment dedicated to the analysis of data gathered through guerrilla usability testing.


11 videos, 1 reading expand

1. Video: Guidelines and Style
2. Video: Classifications of Types
3. Video: How to Choose and Customize Type
4. Video: A Color Wheel. How to Combine Colors
5. Video: Color Schemes
6. Video: Principles of Composition, Part 1
7. Video: Principles of Composition, Part 2
8. Video: How to Use Images in Your App
9. Video: Few Words About Signs
10. Video: How to Make User Interfaces Aesthetically Pleasant
11. Reading: Recommended Readings
12. Video: How to Become Better in Visual Design

Graded: Finalize Writing the Usability Evaluation Report
Graded: Intro to Visual Design

WEEK 9


WEEK 9: Catch Up Week
This week has no theoretical material and is designed to give you time to work on your practical task.


2 readings expand

1. Reading: Derive Usability Goals
2. Reading: Start Making Design Changes

WEEK 10


WEEK 10: Final Week
This week includes the last graded peer-review assignment that is dedicated to the elimination of interaction problems found earlier.


1 reading expand

1. Reading: What’s Next?

Graded: Finalize Making Design Changes
Graded: Submit Pixel-Perfect Mockups