PROD251-25S1 (C) Semester One 2025

Human Centred Design Methods for Interactive Digital Products

15 points

Details:
Start Date: Monday, 17 February 2025
End Date: Sunday, 22 June 2025
Withdrawal Dates
Last Day to withdraw from this course:
  • Without financial penalty (full fee refund): Sunday, 2 March 2025
  • Without academic penalty (including no fee refund): Sunday, 11 May 2025

Description

Students will gain experience with the foundations and principles of design commonly applied in the development of interactive digital products and services. Covers principles of usability and introduces qualitative user research methods to help students better understand the cognitive and psychological aspects of users' behaviours, needs, expectations, and motivations. Students will be able to compare and contrast the techniques and appropriate uses of widely used problem-solving frameworks and standards for imagining the future, including human-centred design, co-design, design thinking, and apply these techniques to solve design problems in context. Students will create a design system of components that provide a consistent user experience across a range of different devices and product scenarios.

Learning Outcomes

  • After successful completion of this course, you will be able to:
  • Apply the principles of human-centred design (HCD) to create user-focused digital products.
  • Conduct qualitative user research using methods such as interviews, observations, and surveys to uncover user needs, behaviours, and motivations.
  • Analyse and interpret user data to identify key insights and translate them into actionable design opportunities and prototype informed interactive digital products.
  • Plan and conduct usability testing to evaluate prototypes and iterate based on user feedback.
  • Communicate design decisions effectively through research reports, prototypes, presentations, and documentation.
  • Reflect on ethical considerations and inclusivity in the design process to create equitable and accessible digital solutions.

Prerequisites

Timetable 2025

Students must attend one activity from each section.

Lecture A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Tuesday 15:00 - 17:00 Meremere 526
17 Feb - 6 Apr
28 Apr - 1 Jun
Computer Lab A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Thursday 12:00 - 14:00 Len Lye 201 Computer Lab
17 Feb - 6 Apr
28 Apr - 1 Jun
Tutorial A
Activity Day Time Location Weeks
01 Wednesday 10:00 - 11:00 West 213A
17 Feb - 6 Apr
28 Apr - 1 Jun

Course Coordinator / Lecturer

Wendy Zhang

Course Administrator

Alison Lowery

Assessment

Assessment Due Date Percentage 
Quizzes 20%
Individual User Research Report 30%
Interactive Prototype Presentation 20%
User Testing Report and Final Design 30%

Indicative Fees

Domestic fee $1,122.00

International fee $6,238.00

* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.

For further information see School of Product Design on the departments and faculties page .

All PROD251 Occurrences

  • PROD251-25S1 (C) Semester One 2025