Intended Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
- Critically analyse the effectiveness of different interface design techniques
- Communicate effectively their arguments and independent judgements on design decisions
- Evaluate and apply the established principles of interface design
- Develop effective interfaces to aid communication
The focus of the module is on the efficient and effective use of elements within interfaces. This could be anything from the application and structure to text, font, colour, layout, navigation etc to ensure user acceptance and engagement. Whilst design decisions are critical to usability and accessibility many students have difficulty in communicating their ideas effectively in written form. By this point in their degree they are expected to be able to write a report of acceptable quality and also be able to reference sources in the accepted format. These both remain a challenge for some students. However, support is available both within the module and via generic campus wide workshops. Students are also required to apply their knowledge of good interface design, both from their own research and that of experts in the field, to the creation of a set of interfaces for their chosen user group. Many students have expressed an interest in one particular user group, and therefore they can focus on that group. For instance, those wishing to go into teaching in the future express an interest in focusing on the age group they wish to teach. Another example is an interest in focusing on accessibility, for instance colour blindness, visual impairment, manual dexterity.
