Research Methods
Syllabus
COURSE DESCRIPTION
In User Experience, the foundation is Research and a is a required skill. Without understanding the user’s behavior, patterns and pain points, authentic User Experiences can not be created. Students can expect a comprehensive guide to performing the core research methods; Surveys, Interviews and Usability testing. This course will help prepare students for a future career in User Experience by giving the student knowledge of the “Discovery” phase of any research that is associated with any user, application or product.
Irrespective of a student being an Information Systems or a Computer Science Major, they will be studying entire process of conducting experimental research and design, statistical analysis methods, conducting surveys, interviews, ethnography, usability tests as well as some case studies.
It’s important for students to have the ability to understand, assess, design and convey good design.
“The old computing is about what computers can do?, the new computing is about what people can do?”
- Ben Shneiderman
[IS 000] is a graduate level, three-credit course. The prerequisite is IS621 with a Minimum Grade of C. Students do not need to know how to write code and will not be expected to learn code as a requirement for this course.
COURSE GOALS
Discovery, development, and strengthening skills required to conduct User Experience research. By the end of this class you will have a basic understanding of how to design surveys, one-on-one interviews and Usability tests.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Students will learn:
Brainstorm & develop research materials
Develop and Orchestrate surveys
Conduct research interviews
Prototype and usability test concepts
Synthesize the results
Present to stakeholders
Basics of Omnigraffle
How to digitize a prototype with Pop Software
ACTIVITIES
Time in the classroom will be broken up into small increments with 5 minute breaks in between each increment, this is so that students have time to digest information and not be overwhelmed. The increments will be the following formats:
Lecture & Hands on learning
Design Studio (Share and critique sessions)
Workshop (In class time for collaboration and exploration)
Presentation
Outside of the classroom students will be expected to do the following
Reading assignments
Spend time collaborating with team members
Conducting exercises based on the lessons
Brainstorming and developing final project
SCHEDULE
The following how the semester will unfold, note that the schedule is subject to change:
PREWORK
Read about heuristics, be prepared to discuss:
http://www.uxbooth.com/articles/complete-beginners-guide-to-design-research/
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ux-research-cheat-sheet/
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/which-ux-research-methods/
WEEK 1
Class Activities
Intro to class: rules, etc.
Break
Lecture: Intro to Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
What is Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
Changes in topics of HCI research over time
Shifts in measurement in HCI
Inherent conflicts in HCI
Interdisciplinary nature of HCI research
Communicating your ideas
Research and usability testing
WEEK 2
Homework Due
Textbook Reading
Research methods in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) - Chapter 2, 3
Class Activities
Discussion
Review homework
Break
Lecture: Intro to experimental research in HCI
Discuss types of behavioral research
Identify the different research hypotheses (Null & alternative hypothesis, dependent & independent variables)
Define basics of experimental research (components of an experiment, randomization)
Discuss what is significance tests (why do we need them?, Type I &Type II errors)
Define limitations of experimental research
Break
Lecture: Intro to experimental design in HCI
Discuss considerations made while designing experiments
Define basic design structure
Investigating single independent variable (Between-group & within-group designs)
Investigating more than one independent variable (Factorial design, Split-plot design, interaction effects)
Reliability of experimental results (Random & systematic errors)
Experimental procedures
WEEK 3
Homework due
Textbook Reading -
Research methods in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) - Chapter 4
Discuss the pros and cons of case study example, submit pdf.
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/quantitative-user-research-methods/
https://www.surveymonkey.com/mp/survey-guidelines/
WEEK 4
Homework due
Textbook Reading
Research methods in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) - Chapter 5 (Part I - Until textbook section 5.5 Non-probabilistic sampling)
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/qualitative-surveys/
Class Activities
Discussion
Review homework
Break
Lecture: Intro to surveys in HCI (Part I)
What are surveys?
Benefits and drawbacks
Goals and target users for survey research
Probabilistic sampling (stratification, response size, errors)
Non-probabilistic sampling (demographic data, oversampling, random sampling of usage - not errors, self-selected surveys, un-investigated populations)
Break
Workshop: Discuss a case study example on a survey
WEEK 5
Homework due:
Textbook Reading -
Research methods in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) - Chapter 5 (Part II - From textbook section 5.6 Developing survey questions till end of chapter)
Class Activities
Discussion
Review homework
Break
Lecture: Intro to surveys (Part II)
Developing survey questions (open-ended, closed-ended, common problems with survey questions)
Overall survey structure
Existing surveys
Paper or online surveys?
Testing the survey tool
Response rate
Data analysis
Break
Workshop: Discuss survey questions for a mini-project on surveys
WEEK 6
Homework due
Textbook Reading
Research methods in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) - Chapter 6
Research methods in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) - Chapter 7
Mini-project - Create a survey on a topic given in the previous lecture, publish your survey and present your survey findings
https://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Survey-Report
Class Activities
Discussion:
Review homework
Break
Lecture: Case Studies
Introduction to case studies
Observing Sara
What is a case study? (in-depth investigation of a small number of cases, examination in context, multiple data sources, emphasis on qualitative data & analysis)
Goals of HCI case studies (Exploration, explanation, description, demonstration)
Types of case study (intrinsic or instrumental, single or multiple cases, embedded or holistic)
Research questions & hypothesis
Choosing cases
Data collection (data sources & questions, collecting data)
Analysis & interpretation
Writing up the study
Informal case studies
WEEK 7
Midterm & Workshop
WEEK 8
Homework due:
Textbook Reading
Research methods in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) - Chapter 8
The Use and Misuse of Focus Groups: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/focus-groups/
Class Activities
Discussion: Review homework
Break
Lecture: Interviews & focus groups
Introduction to interviews
Pros and cons
Applications of interviews in HCI research (initial exploration, requirements gathering, evaluation & subjective reactions)
Who to interview?
Interview strategies (how much structure?, focused & contextual interviews)
Interviews vs focus groups
Types of questions to be asked in interviews
Conducting an interview (preparation, recording the responses, during the interview)
Electronically mediated interviews and focus groups (telephone, online)
Analyzing interview data (what to analyze?, how to analyze?, validity, reporting results)
Break
Workshop: Discuss questions to be asked for an assignment based on interviews
WEEK 9
Homework due
Textbook Reading
Research methods in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) - Chapter 9
Personas: https://blog.prototypr.io/personas-74c4e1c12ee2?imm_mid=0f4061
Assignment
Set up a small personal interview or with focus group, ask questions related to the given topic and present your findings. (Record this session if possible with interviewees consent)
Class Activities
Discussion
Review homework
Break
Lecture: Ethnography
Introduction
What is ethnography?
Ethnography in HCI
Conducting ethnographic research (selecting a site or group of interest, participating, building relationships, making contacts, interviewing, observing, analyzing, repeating & theorizing, reporting results)
Some examples (home settings, work settings, educational settings, ethnography’s of mobile & ubiquitous systems, virtual ethnography)
Break
Workshop: Discuss questions to be asked for an assignment based on ethnography
WEEK 10
Homework due
Textbook Reading
Research methods in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) - Chapter 10
Assignment
Set up an ethnographic setting, ask questions related to the given topic and present your findings.
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/quant-vs-qual/
WEEK 11
Homework due:
TBD
Class Activities
Discussion
Review homework
Break
Lecture: Usability testing
Break
Lecture: Analyzing qualitative data
Break
Lecture: Automated data collection methods
WEEK 12
Break, No Class
WEEK 13
Homework due:
TBD
Class Activities
Discussion: Review homework
Break
Lecture: Measuring the human
Break
Lecture: Working with human subjects
WEEK 14
Homework due:
TBD
Class Activities
Discussion: Review homework
Break
Lecture: Working with research participants with impairments
Break
WEEK 15
Final Presentation