User Experience Engineering

Snapshot

Overview

For most companies, understanding the complex web of relationships between people, technology and design - the 'user experience' - can be vital in acquiring the competitive edge necessary in today's market place. This is particularly true when considering the development and production of technology based devices and services, both for use in industry and commerce and in public spaces and domestic settings.

Central to the appropriate deployment of technology to be used by people are skills in user requirements gathering, technical solutions engineering, user centered design, team based design and engineering and software engineering.

This programme will bring together these various knowledge and skill sets in a single postgraduate programme specifically focused on the user experience where computing technology is at the heart of the devices and services being used.

Aims of the Programme

This degree programme is designed to:

• Give you a Masters-level postgraduate education in the knowledge, skills and understanding of user experience research and implementation in the domain of computing and technology.
• Enable you to acquire advanced knowledge and skills in the professional procedures necessary to ensure that user experience research and requirements gathering is both valid and actionable in technology implementation contexts.
• Enable you to understand and engage with contemporary debate about the role, ethics and utility of user experience research in commercial and other settings.
• An additional aim for overseas students is to provide you with educational and cultural experiences which are unique to the UK.

Programme Content

The course will be taught in 20 credit modules plus a 60 credit dissertation.

Students will be required to complete 180 credits for the award of the MSc (including 60 credits for the dissertation). Students completing 120 credits (without the dissertation) will be eligible for a Postgraduate Diploma.

Semester 1

• Computing the User Experience (20 Credits) - understand the set of factors that can affect the experience that users have when engaging with technology/computing based devices and services. These factors will be explored from the perspective of the usage in context, candidate technologies and social and institutional issues.
• Design Research (20 Credits) - This module aims to provide students with an understanding of how research contributes to and is embedded within design practices.
  or
  Research Methods (20 Credits) - Experimental design requires researchers to understand the context of the research being undertaken and being able to apply appropriate methods to measure and compare data. This module aims to provide students with an understanding and knowledge of research methods relevant in the context of computing.
• Qualitative Methods (10 Credits)
• Quantitative Methods (10 Credits)

Semester 2

• Strategic Information Design (20 Credits) - uncovering actionable insights from user research is useless unless you can communicate the results of that research effectively. This module provides you with an introduction to issues involved in strategically managing information design in business and design settings.
• Research Frontiers (20 Credits) - Students select a total of four units from available units which currently include:
  • Accessibility & Computing (AC)
  • Applied Computational Intelligence (ACI)
  • Constraint Programming (CP)
  • Games (G)
  • Intelligent Agents (IA)
  • Aspects of Assistive Technology (AT) and Augmentative and Alternate Communication (AAC)
  • Interactive Systems Design (ISD)
  • Space Systems (SS)
  • What Computer Eyes Can Do (CE)
  • Eye Gaze Tracking
• Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) (20 Credits) - the importance of human computer interaction and good interface design is increasingly recognised as the key to the future of successful software development. The aim of this module is to provide you with a broad introduction to human-computer interaction through study of the components, both human and machine, which make up interfaces and the ways in which they interact, illustrating this with examples of good and bad practice. When you have finished the module you will have a broad understanding of: design criteria for good human-computer interfaces, choice and evaluation of interface technology, physical, sensory and cognitive human capabilities, interactive computing and usability engineering methods, and human-computer interface testing.
  

Semester 3

• Research Project or Field Project (60 Credits) - this module will provide you with a professional level experience of specifying, conducting and presenting a substantial piece of user experience research.

Methods of Assessment

The programme will be delivered principally by a mix of traditional lectures, study of academic background texts, lab and studio based practice sessions, field and project based learning. These will be supplemented by seminars and workshops on key areas of practice. Assessment will be a mix of continuous or coursework assessments and exams, with group and individual projects assessed by set deliverables and final presentation.

Depending on the background and aspirations of the students, the practice of team industry-based thesis work and team assessment currently practiced in the Design Ethnography MSc or the conventional individual thesis will be employed in this programme.

This programme, whilst submitted by the School of Computing, is a collaboration with Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design and the School of Psychology, with modules being drawn from the three schools, and with joint supervision of thesis teams as appropriate.

Entry Requirements

Entry to the MSc requires a degree in Computing, Information Technology, or related title, Psychology, Usability Engineering, HCI or Interaction Design or related title with a grade equivalent to at least a Class 2.2 Honours degree from a UK university, or equivalent qualifications.

English Language Requirement: IELTS of 6.0 (or equivalent), if your first language is not English. Please check our Language Requirements page for details of equivalent grades from other test providers, and information about the University of Dundee English Language courses.

Sources of Funding

Information about the School of Computing scholarships can be found on the School of Computing scholarships webpage.

Other sources of funding for postgraduate students can be found on our Scholarships webpage.

Career Prospects

This programme is intended to enhance the employability of graduates in the following ways:

• For technologists and computing professionals, this programme should build their skills in implementing technology that are appropriate to the needs and wishes of users in the relevant usage context
• For human factors specialists, this programme should build their understanding of the fit between users and technology and should enhance their methodology skill set when exploring beyind the understanding of the human factors towards the deployment of appropriate or enhanced user experiences.
• For design specialists, this programme should build their skills in marrying technologies and materials to the requirements of users and in blending this within appropriate aesthetics.
• For UX team managers this programme should enhance their insights and give them practical experience of the skill sets of all members of their teams in order to direct their work so as to optimize the user experience within real business and technical constraints.
• For all professionals, this programme should enhance their ability to communicate the impact of the user experience investigations on their work and the impact of their work on the user experience, not only within the UX team but also to other business functions such as senior management and marketing.

Contact

Programme Director	Course Contact
Dr Nick Hine School of Computing University of Dundee Queen Mother Building Balfour Street Dundee DD1 4HN Scotland Telephone: 01382 388 826 (from the UK) Telephone: +44 1382 388 826 (from outside the UK) Fax: 01382 385 509 (from the UK) Fax: +44 1382 385 509 (from outside the UK) Email: nhine@computing.dundee.ac.uk	Mrs Louisa Cross School of Computing University of Dundee Queen Mother Building Balfour Street Dundee DD1 4HN Scotland Telephone: 01382 384 151 (from the UK) Telephone: +44 1382 384 151 (from outside the UK) Fax: 01382 385 509 (from the UK) Fax: +44 1382 385 509 (from outside the UK) Email: lcross@computing.dundee.ac.uk