Professional course Designing the User Experience

Entry year
2024/25
Course code
Z41000072
Application
University
Level
Professional/Short Course
School
School of Computing and Creative Technologies
Campus
Frenchay
Duration
Twelve sessions, scheduled over fourteen weeks
Delivery
Through weekly lectures and tutorial sessions
Course Director
Dr Paul Matthews

Page last updated 12 October 2023

Introduction

This course can count towards one of our postgraduate qualifications within our Information Management and Information Technology Awards.

Accreditations and partnerships:

Human-centred design approaches provide the foundation for successful, usable and useful digital products and services. A rounded UX strategy includes customer research, user-centred design and prototyping and usability testing and evaluation.

This module is an introduction to user experience design, focussing on methods for understanding people's characteristics and approaches to tasks, then designing for them in a range of contexts and media.

It is suited to those who are interested in getting an understanding of the key Human-Computer Interaction concepts and theoretical underpinning of design principles and methods, as well as some practical experience of methods. The course has also proved very useful for those exploring whether they have an aptitude for the subject to develop it further as a career.

Entry requirements

Participants are expected to have a first degree at 2.2 level or above (or equivalent), or alternatively have industrial experience. Please note this is a Masters level module and does require some experience of design, if not formal qualifications, then at least some experience of working in content design or similar.

If you are a non-UK student you will need to show your passport on entry to the UK. Please check your eligibility to visit and study in the UK here. If you are a non-Irish EU national currently resident in Ireland please contact us directly for further advice.

If English is not your country's first language, you will be required to provide evidence to show you meet the UK Border Agency and the University's minimum English Language requirements. Further details are available on our English Language Requirements webpage

We strongly recommend that you speak to the course tutor prior to the course if you are unsure about your suitability to complete the assessment.

Careers / Further study

This module can be taken as a standalone module, or used to build up credit towards a named postgraduate qualification (PG Certificate, PG Diploma or Masters) within our Information Management and Information Technology awards

Structure

Content

This module will cover the following topic areas:

  • Nature of Interaction Design: User experience; the scope and character of interaction design activities.
  • Human characteristics and diversity: Physiological and psychological attributes; ergonomics; memory; cognition problem solving, reasoning and skills acquisition; implications for interaction design and development.
  • User experience and Usability: Principles and concepts, guidelines and standards.
  • Input and Output devices: Traditional and emerging Technologies.
  • Interaction Methods and Concepts: Dialogue type and techniques, interfaces to support navigation; conceptual models and metaphors.
  • User-centred design process and methodologies: User centred lifecycle models, methods for identifying user requirement; task analysis; iterative prototyping; socio-technical models; participatory design.
  • Evaluation: Goals and methods of evaluation.
  • New and emerging interaction paradigms: Ubiquitous and pervasive computing; wearable computing; virtual and augmented reality; attentive environments; tangible bits.

Learning and Teaching

The module is delivered through weekly lectures and tutorial sessions, which take place on consecutive weeks.

Engagement with and understanding of the topics is facilitated through practical activities and the opportunity for critical analysis and reflection.

Extensive course material is available online including presentations, reading and case studies. The coursework is designed to encourage students independently to research topics and to present their findings in class.

Study time

This module will involve 2 hours direct contact time per week for one semester equally divided between lecture and tutorial sessions.

Each 15 credit course (module) is expected to take 150 hours to complete:

  • 24 hrs contact time through lectures and face to face discussion
  • 30 hrs coursework preparation
  • 86 hrs assimilation and development of knowledge
  • 10 hrs exam preparation

Assessment

Assessment will be through a portfolio of small projects and a written exam.

For more details, see our full glossary of assessment terms.

Features

Professional accreditation

This module is accredited by the Chartered Institute for Library, Information and Knowledge Professionals.

Study facilities

The University has excellent facilities, accessible to all students, as required; however, it is expected that much of the work will be carried out within the work environment.

Find out more about the facilities and resources UWE has to offer.

Get a feel for the Computer Science and Creative Technologies facilities we have on offer here from wherever you are.

Prices and dates

Supplementary fee information

Course dates

This course is planned to run again in 2024. Course dates, updated fees and online booking forms will be published here in the summer of 2023. Please complete our online enquiry form below to be notified once these details are made available.

Cohort February 2024TimeLocation
TBCTBCFrenchay Campus

Should government restrictions be enforced this module will move to online delivery.

Course fees

All prices are VAT exempt

As an indication, the cost of this course was £750.00 UK and £1188.00 for International participants in the last academic year, so there might be a small increase for 2024. Please complete our online enquiry form below to be notified once these details are made available.

CohortFebruary 2024
UK students£TBC
International students£TBC

For information on fees, managing your money and determining your fee status, please go to our fees and funding pages.

Course location

UWE Bristol, Frenchay Campus, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol BS16 1QY

How to find UWE Bristol

How to apply

How to apply

This course is planned to run again in 2024. Course dates, updated fees and online booking forms will be published here in the summer of 2023. Please complete our online enquiry form below to be notified once these details are made available.

As this module carries university accreditation, please note that once you have submitted your booking form, you will be required to provide the following supporting information to the Tutor to be able to review and formally accept your application as required by the university:

  • An up-to-date copy of your Curriculum Vitae (including contact details of a work or academic reference)
  • A brief personal statement to support your application
  • A copy of your highest qualification certificate and transcript of modules studied
  • A copy of photographic proof of ID (i.e. driver's licence/passport). For non UK students, this must be a copy of your passport
Cohort  
February 2024 Enquire Now

For further information

  • Email: For all enquiries please contact us using the online enquiry form link above.
  • Telephone: +44 (0)117 32 81043 (option 1, then option 3)