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
After interviewing users, gathering requirements, creating a design concept, and creating and iterating interactive prototypes, it is time for the final stage of the human-centered design process: conducting an evaluation of the usability of your design. At this stage, we examine the interaction between the user and the interactive prototype to find out what improvements are needed in order for the design to achieve its goals. We do so by observing users as they interact with the prototype to complete tasks. While we often use a high-fidelity prototype at this stage, we must resist the tendency to consider the design as close to "done," as this stage of the process is still iterative. In order to get useful feedback and make the product better, we must carefully plan and conduct a usability test session, listen to the users, and make changes in response to design flaws that we find.
In this course, you will create a usability test plan, including defining its goals and any metrics you will want to use for your usability tests. Based on that, you will create a usability test protocol by choosing tasks and composing task instructions for your users to follow. You will then recruit a participant to run a usability test session with your high-fidelity prototype and form a plan for what changes you will make to improve your design.
The following courses are required to be completed before taking this course:
- Human-Centered Design Essentials
- Effective User Research
- Creating User Personas
- Developing a UX Design Concept
- Prototyping and UX Feedback
Key Course Takeaways
- Plan a usability testing session
- Develop the usability testing script
- Run a usability test session and report on the results
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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