Course Title: Usability Engineering
Part A: Course Overview
Course Title: Usability Engineering
Credit Points: 12.00
Terms
Course Code |
Campus |
Career |
School |
Learning Mode |
Teaching Period(s) |
COSC1182 |
City Campus |
Postgraduate |
140H Computer Science & Information Technology |
Face-to-Face |
Sem 2 2006, Sem 2 2010, Sem 2 2011, Sem 2 2012, Sem 2 2013, Sem 2 2014, Sem 1 2015 |
COSC1182 |
City Campus |
Postgraduate |
171H School of Science |
Face-to-Face |
Sem 1 2017, Sem 1 2018, Sem 1 2019, Sem 1 2020 |
COSC1182 |
City Campus |
Postgraduate |
175H Computing Technologies |
Face-to-Face |
Sem 2 2022, Sem 2 2023, Sem 2 2024 |
COSC1183 |
City Campus |
Undergraduate |
140H Computer Science & Information Technology |
Face-to-Face |
Sem 2 2006, Sem 2 2011, Sem 2 2012, Sem 2 2013, Sem 2 2014, Sem 1 2015 |
COSC1183 |
City Campus |
Undergraduate |
171H School of Science |
Face-to-Face |
Sem 1 2017, Sem 1 2018, Sem 1 2019, Sem 1 2020 |
COSC1183 |
City Campus |
Undergraduate |
175H Computing Technologies |
Face-to-Face |
Sem 2 2022, Sem 2 2023, Sem 2 2024 |
Course Coordinator: Dr Danula Hettiachchi
Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925
Course Coordinator Email: danula.hettiachchi@rmit.edu.au
Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities
Enforced requisite: ISYS1117 Software Engineering Fundamentals
Some programming experience equivalent to one semester of programming studies. COSC2531 Programming Fundamentals (or equivalent) will satisfy these requirements.
You may enrol in this course only if it is explicitly listed in your enrolment program summary.
Note that it is a condition of enrolment at RMIT that you accept responsibility for ensuring that you have completed the prerequisite/s and agree to concurrently enrol in co-requisite courses before enrolling in a course.
For your information the RMIT Course Requisites policy can be found at Course requisites – 7.29.1.6: http://www.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=twx09y07zi1c
Course Description
Usability is the extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use Usability engineering is a set of behavioural research methods and techniques that can be applied at every stage of the software development lifecycle, to improve the usability of the developed product by conducting usability studies that analyse users’ needs or evaluate the product’s usability.
This course introduces you to concepts, methods and techniques that you can apply to design and conduct usability studies, building on your practical experience with software system analysis and design, and with writing and testing code. You will learn the theory and practice of various approaches, methods and techniques, and apply these to acquire practical experience in conducting usability studies for interactive systems. Tutorial activities provide the skills you need to complete assignments where you design a usability test of an interactive system, recruit suitable participants, conduct the test, and analyse and report on your findings.
Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development
The post-graduate offering contributes to the following program learning outcomes in
- MC060 Master of Computer Science
- MC061 M Computer Science
- MC062 Master of Computing
- MC063 M Tech(Internet & Web Comp)
- MC208 M Information Technology
For more information on the Program Learning Outcomes for your program, please see the relevant Program Guide.
Course Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, you should be able to:
CLO1: Justify the theory and practice of usability evaluation approaches, methods and techniques
CLO2: Compare and evaluate strengths and weaknesses of various approaches, methods and techniques for evaluating usability
CLO3: Design and implement a usability test plan, based on modelling or requirements specification
CLO4: Choose appropriate approaches, methods and techniques to evaluate the usability of a specified interactive system
CLO5: Devise, perform and analyse experiments to evaluate the usability of a specified interactive system
CLO6: Write professional reports to: explain and justify usability concepts; describe results of user studies; make recommendations to stakeholders.
Overview of Learning Activities
The core material of the course will be presented in a series of pre-recorded lectures, where content will be described and illustrated with demonstrations and examples, and discussion of concepts and relevant experiences is encouraged. In tutorials and during assignment work, you will plan, design and carry out usability tests, and analyse and report the results of usability tests. Tutorials also provide the opportunity to discuss the concepts with your peers and tutors.
Your private study, working through course materials and suggested wider reading will help you gain practice at solving conceptual and technical problems.
Overview of Learning Resources
You will be provided with tools and readings on the RMIT Canvas site for this course. You will also use software that is freely accessible from the RMIT software library, and other RMIT-provided resources.
Class notes and other supplementary reading material will be made available in the Learning Hub weekly.
Announcements, tutorials, assignments and discussion forums will be available in Canvas, the Learning Hub. It is a necessity that you visit the course home page at least twice a week to make sure you are aware of the recent announcements regarding with the day-to-day activities of the course.
Overview of Assessment
This course has no hurdle requirements.
The assessment for this course includes RMIT Microcredentials, practical work, and an essay-based assessment.
The practical assignment work involves planning, designing and carrying out usability tests, and analysing and reporting the results of usability tests.
Assessment tasks
Assessment Task 1: User Sensitivity
Weighting 13%
You will (1) complete the RMIT Ethics training module (2%), (2) write a reflection on user test participation (8%) and (3) complete the RMIT Reconciliation microcredential (3%)
This assessment task supports CLOs 2, 4, and 6, and RMIT’s reconciliation action plan
Assessment Task 2: Statistical Usability
Weighting 22%
You will (1) participate in a user study that gathers statistical data (2%) and (2) conduct a quantitative analysis of statistical data from user study (20%)
This assessment task supports CLOs 1, 5 and 6
Assessment Task 3: Usability Testing
Weighting 40%
You will work as a team of 4-5 students to complete this assessment task. The assessment consists of (1) Usability Test Plan (10%), where your team will be creating a plan for a usability test for a hypothetical scenario, and (2) Usability Test Report (30%), where you will conduct a usability test, conduct analysis, and write a report making recommendations based on your findings.
This assessment task supports CLOs 1 - 4 and 6
Assessment Task 4: Theory of Usability
Weighting 25%
You will complete a time-bound essay assignment that tests your ability to interpret and apply usability engineering concepts covered in the course (25%).
This assessment task supports CLOs 1, 2 and 6.
If you have a long-term medical condition and/or disability it may be possible to negotiate to vary aspects of the learning or assessment methods. You can contact the program coordinator or Equitable Learning Services if you would like to find out more.