Course Description
In this course students will learn to use the principles of Interaction Design to define a software project in terms of its purpose, scope, audience, major elements, task flows, layout, and more. Students will identify a need, define a solution, and create deliverables for an entire interaction design project. Standard design patterns, and frameworks will be introduced in order to create interfaces that map to users’ expectations and improve the user experience.
Prerequisites
Recommended Textbook(s)
- Krug, Steve. Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability. Grand Rapids: New Riders, 2005.
- Unger, Russ and Carolyn Chandler. A Project Guide to UX Design: for User Experience Designers in the Field or in the Making. Berkely: New Riders Press, 2009.
- Tidwell, Jenifer. Designing Interfaces: Patterns for Effective Interaction Design. : O'Reilly Media, Inc., 2005.
- Saffer, Dan. Designing for Interaction: Creating Innovative Applications and Devices. Berkely: New Riders Press, 2009.
Recommended Reading
- Hoekman, Robert. Designing the Obvious: A Common Sense Approach to Web Application Design. 1st. Berkeley, CA: New Riders Press, 2006
- Spool, Jared M. The Elements of a Design Pattern. UIE.com, 2006
- Yahoo! Yahoo! Design Pattern Library. Yahoo! Developer Network, 2009
- Tidwell, Jenifer Designing Interfaces (Web site). Designing Interfaces, 2009
Technologies Required
- Mac or PC computers with internet connection
- Software for creating wireframes and task-flow diagrams (OmniGraffle, Microsoft Visio, Balsamiq Mocups, Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop/Fireworks, Axure, etc.)
- Word processing application (Microsoft Word, Apple Pages, Google Docs) for documentation purposes
- Web Browsers (Firefox, Opera, Safari, Internet Explorer)