Gilly Leshed is a senior lecturer in the Department of Information Science at Cornell. Her teaching and research interests are in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), in which she uses quantitative and qualitative methods and technology design to examine how individuals and groups accomplish tasks and socialize and the roles information technology plays in these interactions. She is particularly interested in designing interactive technologies that empower marginalized populations. Some of her works include visually-impaired users of social media, smallholder coffee farmers in Latin America, and Amazon Mechanical Turk workers. She is the Director of the Master of Professional Studies in Information Science, and is the faculty supervisor of the Design & Tech Initiative Project Team.
Course Overview
User-centered design does not start with the design, but rather with the users: Who are they? What are their goals? What do they need to achieve those goals? In what context will they be using your design? And how would a designer discover these things from the user base? Answering these questions requires a plan. Interviewing potential users in a controlled, systematic way helps to clarify their expectations and their requirements. Doing so helps to inform your design and make it better; no one wants to invest time, effort, and money into designing a solution no one will use.
In this course, you will examine best practices for planning and conducting interviews of potential users so that they yield the most insights. Over the course of the project, you will narrow down the target user group for your design, plan your interview, create meaningful and clear interview questions, and help ensure you can leave the interview sessions with the most useful insights.
The following course is required to be completed before taking this course:
- Human-Centered Design Essentials
Key Course Takeaways
- Develop a contextual interview plan
- Develop the interview protocol
- Conduct a contextual interview
Download a Brochure
Not ready to enroll but want to learn more? Download the course brochure to review program details.How It Works
Course Author
Who Should Enroll
- Product managers
- Web designers
- Software developers
- Marketing professionals
- UI/UX designers
- Graphic designers
- Instructional designers
- Accessibility specialists
- Anyone focused on customer experience evaluation
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