Mobile Interaction Design: How to Design Usable Mobile Products and Services

Master 2020/2021

Type: Elective course (E-Business)

Area of studies: Business Informatics

Delivered by: Department of Business Informatics

Where: Graduate School of Business

When: 1 year, 3, 4 module

Mode of studies: distance learning

Instructors: Mikhail M. Komarov

Master’s programme: E-Business

Language: English

ECTS credits: 5

Contact hours: 2

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Abstract

Every mobile app gives you something. It could be not only something tangible like the pair of jeans you've ordered using the app but also a piece of work like waking you up in the morning. It could be a feeling, for instance, a feeling of enjoyment obtained from watching a video clip or a feeling of closeness flashed out after receiving an old photo from a loving person via some instant messenger. That "something" is actually the reason why you use the app, it is the heart of the product, and in this course we will not talk about it. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. There are always two sides of a coin. There should be a person who makes that "something" accessible. It is astonishingly important because the use of the product loses its meaning if users can’t get what they want.

Learning Objectives

The main objective of the course is to teach you to shape mobile products and services for people’s use

Expected Learning Outcomes

Improve designs by eliminating different kinds of interaction problems
Design huge chunks of user interfaces in the case of adding a new feature to a product
Redesign a complete app by a given set of functions (e.g., extending an existing product to a new platform)

Course Contents

Mobile Interaction Design: An introduction
It is introductory in nature. It examines the place of interaction design activities in the whole product design process as well as essential concepts such as usability and the context of use that you need to comprehend before proceeding to the next week. At the end of this week, you’ll also get acquainted with such thing as design-informing models and learn how to create personas that I recommend you to do while working on your practical task.
User Research
This week gives you the whole idea of the methods used for studying the context of use. It also examines how to look for participants in detail, plan and conduct Cooper's ethnographic interviews and qualitative data analysis. This knowledge will enable you to drill down into the usage context of the mobile app you’ve chosen.
Usability Inspection Methods & Intro to Usability Evaluation
This week covers the overview of usability evaluation methods, the examination of essential usability evaluation concepts and models such as user interface idioms, Norman’s Stages-of-action model, usability problems and so on, as well as detailed discussion of several usability inspection methods including Cognitive walkthrough, Scenario-based walkthrough, and design reviews. At the end of this week, you’ll learn how to make sense of data gathered through formative usability evaluation methods. Here you can find the first graded peer-review assignment dedicated to forming recruitment criteria for guerrilla usability tests you’ll conduct later.
Guerrilla Usability Testing & Field Visits
This week is solely dedicated to two methods: Guerrilla usability testing and field visits aimed at evaluating usability. It examines how to plan and conduct them in detail. You’ll apply the knowledge acquired through this week to develop a test plan and submit it as a part of the second graded peer-review assignment.
The Process of Design Creation
The process of design creation is a structured way to come up with as many interaction design solutions as possible which are designed to support your creativity. In combination with the appropriate way of selecting among the solutions examined in this week too, the process enables you to find the most usable solutions within existing constraints. This week examines the process of design creation and all related topics in detail.
Accumulated Design Knowledge & Task Redesign
Designers base their solutions on design decisions already made by their fellow designers. This week is dedicated to the discussion of the knowledge that is already there and where to find it. In this week you’ll also learn basic design principles and examine the aspect that is very important for mobile interaction design: How to redesign user tasks. This week you will need to conduct the guerrilla usability testing according to the plan you have and record all its sessions. Some of these recordings may be submitted as part of the optional peer-review assignment. This will allow you to get feedback on how you moderated the study.
Navigation Design & Design Rationale
The organisation of a mobile user interface and navigation between its parts is a crucial aspect of mobile interaction design. The first part of this week examines different iOS and Android navigational patterns and their application in real world context. At the end of this week, you’ll learn how to write design rationale, an explicit justification of decisions behind an interaction design. This knowledge will enable you to complete the last graded peer-review assignment in one of the following weeks.
Intro to Visual Design
Designing aesthetically pleasant user interfaces is no less important than designing usable interfaces. This week is solely dedicated to the former. You’ll learn how to choose and customise types, apply different types of colour schemes, select and use images, create a sign and design a harmonious layout of the mobile screen. Here you can find the peer-review assignment dedicated to the analysis of data gathered through guerrilla usability testing.

Assessment Elements

Coursera / Test-based Exam
Students should pass the test during the examination (Coursera certificate might also be accepted, but examination is obligatory). Examination format: The exam is taken written. The platform: The exam is taken on Ms Teams platform ( and LMS). Students are required to join a session 15 minutes before the beginning. The computers must meet the following technical requirements: https://docs.microsoft.com/ru-ru/microsoftteams/hardware-requirements-for-the-teams-app A student is supposed to follow the requirements below: Check your computer for compliance with technical requirements no later than 5 days before the exam; Sign in with your corporate account (@edu.hse.ru); Check your microphone, speakers or headphones, webcam, Internet connection (we recommend connecting your computer to the network with a cable, if possible); Prepare the necessary writing equipment, such as pens, pencils, pieces of paper, and others. Disable applications on the computer's task other than the MS Teams application or the browser that will be used to log in to the MS Teams platform. Students are not allowed to: Turn off the video camera; Use notes, textbooks, and other educational materials; Leave the place where the exam task is taken (go beyond the camera's viewing angle); Look away from your computer screen or desktop; Use smart gadgets (smartphone, tablet, etc.) Involve outsiders for help during the exam, talk to outsiders during the examination tasks; Read tasks out loud. Students are allowed to: Write on a piece of paper, use a pen for making notes and calculations; Use a calculator; Turn on the microphone to answer the teacher’s questions; Ask a teacher for additional information related to understanding the exam task. Connection failures: A short-term communication failure during the exam is considered to be the loss of a student's network connection with the MS Teams platform for no longer than 1 minute. A long-term communication failure during the exam is considered to be the loss of a student's network connection with the MS Teams platform for longer than 1 minute. A student cannot continue to participate in the exam, if there is a long-term communication failure appeared. The retake procedure is similar to the exam procedure. In case of long-term communication failure in the MS Teams platform during the examination task, the student must notify the teacher, record the fact of loss of connection with the platform (screenshot, a response from the Internet provider). Then contact the manager of a program with an explanatory note about the incident to decide on retaking the exam.
Interaction design report
report should be in a *.Doc or *.PDF format, length is not limited, format according to the requirements to the term papers.

Interim Assessment

Interim assessment (4 module)
0.7 * Coursera / Test-based Exam + 0.3 * Interaction design report

Bibliography

Recommended Core Bibliography

Cooper, A., Reimann, R., Cronin, D., & Noessel, C. (2014). About Face : The Essentials of Interaction Design (Vol. Fourth edition Alan Cooper, Robert Reimann, David Cronin, Christopher Noessel). Hoboken: Wiley. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsebk&AN=827342

Recommended Additional Bibliography

Steve Portigal. (2013). Interviewing Users : How to Uncover Compelling Insights. Rosenfeld Media.

Course Syllabus