THF: The Human Factor
Welcome to The Human Factor.
Course Overview
The Human Factor (THF) is a 10-credit elective course taught at the University of Edinburgh in Semester 2. The teaching team consists of lecturers Tara Capel (course organiser) and Susan Lechelt, teaching assistant (TA) Srravya Chandhiramowuli, and coursework markers Jenny Long and Diane Lac.
The course has no specific requirements for pre-requisite knowledge before the start of the course. Some of the material will be familiar to some people, especially those with a background in human-computer interaction, human factors, or user experience.
The course will be taught using a flipped classroom – before class you will work through materials. During class, we will work on activities designed to review the material and deepen your learning.
The content for each week will be available on OpenCourse for THF by Wednesday of the previous week. This means that we will start with the materials for Week 1, materials for Week 2 will be published by Wednesday of Week 1, and so on.
What is the course about?
“If the user can’t use it, then it doesn’t work at all” (Susan Dray).
This is an introduction to the fields of Human Factors and User Experience with an emphasis on developing practical skills that are grounded in a strong knowledge of theory.
When technical systems that have been crafted in years of painstaking work fail in practice, more often than not this is due to a lack of fit between the complex system, the people who interact with it, and the contexts in which it is used. In the best case, failure is just annoying, in the worst case, it costs lives.
In this course, we will look at the art and craft of building technical systems that people can actually use successfully. To this end, we will draw on relevant findings from anthropology; behavioural, cognitive and social psychology; human-computer interaction; and sociology.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
- Understand how relevant aspects of context affect the interaction between people and technical systems, with a particular emphasis on anthropometric, behavioural, cognitive, and social factors (ABCS)
- Assess the usability of a technological artefact, including both hardware and software, given a particular context of use
- Integrate user experience and human factors into the process of designing or improving a technological artefact
- Ensure that systems are resilient and learn from user errors
Where will we meet?
Lectures
The lectures for THF are on Tuesday 16:10-17:00. We will start promptly, as the 10-past the hour start time exists to ensure you have time to get from any prior classes. The lectures will be in person in Lecture Theatre G.03 50 George Square.
Q&A Session
The Q&A session for THF are on Thursday 16:10-17:00. These sessions are designed for students to drop in and ask questions and discuss any of the course content or get feedback on coursework.
Assignments
THF is marked using the University of Edinburgh’s Common Marking Scheme. This means that a grade of 80 and above is outstanding, a grand of 70-79 is excellent, a grade of 60-69 is very good, and a grade of 50-59 is a pass. Below is an overview of the coursework assignments – please see the detailed coursework assignment brief for further information.
CW1: 50%
Usability and User Experience Evaluation Report: The aim of this assessment is to evaluate the usability and user experience of an existing technology and generate suggestions for improving the design with particular emphasis on human factors.
CW2: 40%
Group Presentation: The aim of this assessment is to create a series of technology designs to address the issues found in the usability and user experience evaluation report and prototype the design suggestions proposed. This will be presented via a group presentation in class.
CW3: 10%
Individual Reflection: The aim of this assessment is to critically reflect on the design process engaged in during the course and the application of human factors during this process.
Course Readings
This course has no mandatory readings, only recommended readings:
Ritter, Frank E.; Baxter, Gordon D; Churchill, Elizabeth F. (2014): Foundations for Designing User Centred Systems. Springer (main textbook) Tullis, Tom; Albert, Bill (2013): Measuring the User Experience. 2nd edition. Morgan Kaufman.
Cooper, Alan; Reimann, Robert; Cronin, David; Noessel Christopher (2014): About Face: The Essentials of Interaction Design 4th edition, Wiley Preece / Sharp / Rogers: Interaction Design. 4th Edition. Wiley.