HTW Berlin This sign in a hotel bathroom in Amsterdam demonstrates a basic failure of usability of the shower. HTW Berlin
Fachbereich 4
Internationaler Studiengang
Internationale Medieninformatik (Bachelor)
WT2: Usability
Winter Term 2017/18

Overview

The course offers an introduction to the methods of usability analysis, user research methods and user centered design. The main focus of the course will be on the usability of web sites. The exercises offer the chance to learn how to recognize usability problems and how to fix them. The course will also discuss aspects of accessability for diverse user groups. The participants, working in groups, will acquire the competence to be able to conduct usability analyses on their own.

Details

The course meets Mondays from 12.15 - 13.45 in WH C537. The exercise group is from 14.00-15.30 in WH C537.

The instructor is

Instructor Office E-Mail
Prof. Dr. Debora Weber-Wulff WH C 645 weberwu@htw-berlin.de

In the exercises we will be doing usability tests in teams. During some of the exercises we will be preparing for a test, in others we will be conducting a test. Some exercises are over 2 weeks, your report is always due by 22.00 the night before the next exercise. It is to be submitted to the class communication portal in Moodle. There is to be one report submitted per group, but each member of the group must submit a copy. Having all the names on the report would be a great idea. Each report will be graded on a scale of 0-4 points:

4: Excellent report
3: Some minor problems with the report
2: A number of problems with the report
1: Major problems with the report
0: Not successful

Reports that span 2 weeks are worth double, there are a total of 44 points possible for reports. The presentation will be worth 6 points.

Exercise Points
1 4
2 8
3 4
4 4
5 8
6 8
7 8

The online exam will be on or about January 29, 2018 in the exercise lab. Only those persons who have successfully submitted at least 6 exercise reports will be admitted to the exam. The exam will consist of 55 points. Add to your exam points your points from the exercise reports submitted. Then look up your number in the grade table to find your grade.

Suggested Literature

There are quite a number of books that are available on the topic of usability. I have a few listed on the Links page. You can borrow some from Berlin libraries, or consider purchasing them for yourself.

Schedule

The schedule is a tentative one, as mine always are. If there are topics you would like to see addressed, please speak with me as soon as possible! I hope that you will have fun learning how to determine if a web site is useable, and that you will learn how to see problems and design around them when you are developing web sites.


Some rights reserved. CC-BY-SA 2017 Debora Weber-Wulff (weberwu@htw-berlin.de)