• UX theory with a focus on user experience
• UX tools and technologies
• UX perspective as commercial, responsible, experimental and discursive design
• Perspectives and experiences from professional UX designers
• Evaluation of experience

On completion of the course, the student should be able to:

• account for theory, methods and technologies in UX
• identify and describe challenges in UX associated with emerging technology and social needs
• analyse and compare interactive products with respect to qualities of experience
• apply UX theory, methods, technologies and practice in development of systems
• develop systems based on different UX perspectives, as commercial, responsible, experimental and discursive design
• reflect on how design work may be influenced by the aim/starting point
• argue for and criticise design choices in your own work and the work of others from an UX perspective

in order to

• be able to evaluate and choose theories, concepts, technologies and methods in relation to a problem statement
• independently be able to develop systems with good/wanted qualities of experience

The course is made up of lectures, reading seminars and practical classes (workshops and group work activities).

Lectures are intended to give students an understanding of the devise ways in which user experience is understood within academia and in industry. These will provide both theorectical perspectives on experience, case studies of user experience design and evaluation, and introductions to tools and methods commonly used in user experience design and research.

Reading seminars are intended to give students deep knowledge on particular topics within user experience. Commonly reading seminars are conducted in groups, where one student reads and presents a paper for other students in their group. Students are expected to dedicate several hours to reading materials and preparing materials in order to share their learning with others.

Practical workshops and group activities will make use of industry standard tools (Miro, Figma, etc). These activities are often led by industry through short challenges that students can respond to. These activities are intended to give students first hand experience of design, and evaluation processes within user experience research and design, as well as provide an opportunity for expanding on students' portfolios.

A detailed plan of activivites can be found both on the course canvas page, and in session by session notes on schema.

Schema HT-2021-454

We will read a series of academic papers and book chapters throughout the course. Links to the specific chapters and articles can be found in the course Canvas page. These readings will be available from the start of the course.

Key texts that this course draws from include:

Experience-Centred Design by Peter Wright and John McCarthy

Experience Design by Marc Hassenzahl

Humanistic HCI by Jeffery Bardzell and Shaowen Bardzell

Race after Technology by Ruha Benjamin

Design Justice by Sasha Constanza Chock

Data Feminism by Catherine D'Ignazio and Lauren Klein

Each of these books can be found online at the KTH Library

During the course we will undertake practical activities using UX tools and techniques. Much of this work is undertaken in groups. It would be useful to attend practical classes with a laptop, or a tablet PC if possible.

This course will use Figma - a wireframing software commonly used in industry. The course will provide you with a license for this software. We will also use online collaborative tools such as Miro, Google Docs, and Google Drive.

Students at KTH with a permanent disability can get support during studies from Funka:

Funka - compensatory support for students with disabilities

Please contact the course responsible if you require additional support to fully particpate in this course.

P, F

• INL1 - Assignment, reflection, 1.0 credits, Grading scale: P, F
• PRO1 - Project 1, 2.0 credits, Grading scale: P, F
• PRO2 - Project 2, 2.0 credits, Grading scale: P, F
• PRO3 - Project 3, 2.0 credits, Grading scale: P, F
• PRO4 - Project 4, 2.0 credits, Grading scale: P, F

Based on recommendation from KTH’s coordinator for disabilities, the examiner will decide how to adapt an examination for students with documented disability.

The examiner may apply another examination format when re-examining individual students.

Assignment, reflection ( INL1 ) - Every two weeks you will write a 1 page reflection on readings based on a reading prompt of your choice.

Project 1 ( PRO1 ) - Design challenge 1 - extend a design challenge of your choice from accross period 1 with an additional 10 hours of UX work. Due end of period 1.

Project 2 ( PRO2 ) - Design challenge 2 - extend a design challenge of your choice from accross period 2 with an additional 10 hours of UX work. Due end of period 2.

Project 3 ( PRO3 ) - Write an interaction criticism of a UX design using theories and concepts covered so far within the course. Due Period 2.

Project 4 ( PRO4 ) - A personal UX design project based on a brief delivered to students at the start of period 1 and due at the end of period 2. Deliverables consist of a UX design, a timesheet, and a short written description of the design. Due end of period 2.

• All members of a group are responsible for the group's work.
• In any assessment, every student shall honestly disclose any help received and sources used.
• In an oral assessment, every student shall be able to present and answer questions about the entire assignment and solution.

Overall students gave very positive feedback to the course in HT2021. We plan to make changes to the delivery of some of the practical components of the course to give more experience and time with Figma. We have integrated more 'additional' content into the Canvas page for students who want to explore some ideas and concepts in more depth.

The biggest change will be moving the course from online only to face-to-face instruction. We will ask students if they have access to a tablet PC or laptop which they can bring to practical classes for working with Figma - if not we may deliver these practical classes online / hybrid so that students can make use of resources at home.