Impressions of the Human-Computer Interaction course on Coursera
The review is written by our interface designer. From the first person.
I learned about the HCI course as “necessary and useful for an interface designer” in the middle of 2013. Once useful, I bookmarked, subscribed to the newsletter and waited. Then I forgot. My colleague reminded me about the start of training, monitoring professional topics in social networks. And I plunged into school.
What does the HCI course consist of and how is the learning process built?
Training lasts two months (eight weeks). First you watch the video lectures. You are told what design and design objects are and how to live with your thoughts about design. They will not reveal any secrets, but they will acquaint themselves with the history of design, tell about the interaction of man and machine, show beautiful graphics in real time and ask to answer a few questions right during the lecture. There are no strict rules for viewing lectures, but it is better to study in order, rather than jumping from topic to topic.
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Practical exercises do not begin immediately. Homework needs to be done every two weeks: a week for execution, a week for evaluation. The theme is built according to the scheme “from idea to implementation”:
The assessment includes two stages: you need to evaluate yourself and the work of five students. Comments on the work are welcome, but not required. The assessment is given seven days, after which the average score for the homework is set - it is calculated by the estimates of five people. In general, this approach is not bad, but not all students are ready to objectively evaluate their comrades, some of them still lack professional training.
After completing practical tasks, you need to be tested. Questions mainly on sharpness and logic, on competence, on material from video lectures. One of the questions was: “Look carefully at the screenshots presented and list which heuristics were violated during the design process” - and below are Microsoft product screens.
From experience, I know that sometimes tests look like this:
I was pleased that in the case of HCI you need to turn on your head, and not try to guess the answer. If you have experience in the UX-environment and you know how to think, you can pass tests for the highest score without video lectures.
Teachers recommend practicing 10–12 hours a week. In fact, time is spent a little more, but not by much.
On Coursera there is a forum where they discuss the learning process and the work of the service. The questions most often asked are: “Why aren’t files attached?”, “How did you understand this task?” And “When will they give us certificates?” Some students create groups for discussions on Facebook.
Let's sum up.
The course will be useful for designers, managers, programmers, hunters for awards and those who just love to learn.
Figure 1. Example task. Storyboarding
Figure 2. Sample job. Frame
I learned about the HCI course as “necessary and useful for an interface designer” in the middle of 2013. Once useful, I bookmarked, subscribed to the newsletter and waited. Then I forgot. My colleague reminded me about the start of training, monitoring professional topics in social networks. And I plunged into school.
What does the HCI course consist of and how is the learning process built?
Training lasts two months (eight weeks). First you watch the video lectures. You are told what design and design objects are and how to live with your thoughts about design. They will not reveal any secrets, but they will acquaint themselves with the history of design, tell about the interaction of man and machine, show beautiful graphics in real time and ask to answer a few questions right during the lecture. There are no strict rules for viewing lectures, but it is better to study in order, rather than jumping from topic to topic.
')
Practical exercises do not begin immediately. Homework needs to be done every two weeks: a week for execution, a week for evaluation. The theme is built according to the scheme “from idea to implementation”:
- identifying human needs;
- interviewing potential users and business owners;
- collection of product requirements;
- storyboarding;
- drawing frames;
- creating an interactive prototype;
- usability testing.
The assessment includes two stages: you need to evaluate yourself and the work of five students. Comments on the work are welcome, but not required. The assessment is given seven days, after which the average score for the homework is set - it is calculated by the estimates of five people. In general, this approach is not bad, but not all students are ready to objectively evaluate their comrades, some of them still lack professional training.
After completing practical tasks, you need to be tested. Questions mainly on sharpness and logic, on competence, on material from video lectures. One of the questions was: “Look carefully at the screenshots presented and list which heuristics were violated during the design process” - and below are Microsoft product screens.
From experience, I know that sometimes tests look like this:
Is Putin the president of the Russian Federation?
- Yes
- Not
- Not sure
- We are not local ...
I was pleased that in the case of HCI you need to turn on your head, and not try to guess the answer. If you have experience in the UX-environment and you know how to think, you can pass tests for the highest score without video lectures.
Teachers recommend practicing 10–12 hours a week. In fact, time is spent a little more, but not by much.
On Coursera there is a forum where they discuss the learning process and the work of the service. The questions most often asked are: “Why aren’t files attached?”, “How did you understand this task?” And “When will they give us certificates?” Some students create groups for discussions on Facebook.
Let's sum up.
- The course is the entry point to the design, design, usability. Practicing designers will be useful to repeat the theory.
- Acquaintance with the processes of analytics, interface design and testing with the help of living people.
- Communication with interested parties.
- The certificate confirming competence gives advantages to karma and beautifies the resume at employment.
The course will be useful for designers, managers, programmers, hunters for awards and those who just love to learn.
Examples of practical work
Figure 1. Example task. Storyboarding
Figure 2. Sample job. Frame
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/218011/
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