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People-centred designing

Designed products surround us all and range from bus tickets to buildings. This free course, People-centred designing, focuses firmly on usability and the increasingly important phenomenon of people-centred design. It aims to inform consumers of design (i.e., all of us) about this crucial characteristic of design. In addition to stimulating interest in areas of concern for producers of design, the course might also provide an introduction to engineering, manufacturing and business studies.
Course learning outcomes
After studying this course, you should be able to:
- demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the principles of user-centred designing
- criticise some everyday products from a user's point of view
- suggest and apply some appropriate methods for researching how users interact with products
- apply comparison and evaluation skills, including constructive criticism of everyday products
- apply observational skills in the context of both personal and others' use of products.
First Published: 10/08/2012
Updated: 17/03/2016
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Course content
- 1 Introduction
- Learning outcomes
- 1 People-centred designing
- 2 New products – old failings
- 3 Designing for users
- 4 Who are the users?
- 5 Why not design for the ‘average’ user
- 6 Inclusive design
- 7 Ergonomics and human factors
- 8 Interaction design
- 9 User research techniques
- 10 User research techniques: observing users
- 11 Designing for pleasure
- 12 The voice of the customer
- 13 Products for markets
- Conclusion
- References
- Acknowledgements
Your course resources
As you work through this course you will need various resources to help you complete some of the activities.
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About this free course
12 hours study
Level 1: Introductory
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