IN5510 – Participatory experimental design
Course description
Schedule, syllabus and examination date
Course content
This course gives theoretical and practical knowledge of participatory design in line with the design tradition originating from IFI emphasizing user involvement in the design process. You will learn to design IT as an integral part of the use environments and activities with emphasis on tools and techniques for involving users in the design of an IT-based service or system. The goal is to design better technologies based on the users’ ideas and suited to their demands and needs, providing a better fit between the technology and the activity that it will be part of. In addition to lectures and exercises you will learn about participatory design through a large project work involving real users. The student project topics vary every year, examples from earlier years are home robots, public services, or welfare technology.
Learning outcome
After successful completion of this course, you can
- explain the basic principles of experimental and participatory design
- apply basic tools and techniques for collaborating with users in the design process
- provide a rich description of the use context and the user group
- design a prototype together with users and evaluate it with them
- analyze the design suggestion through theoretical concepts from the course and argue for your design choices
- discuss ethical perspectives concerned with designing with users
- plan and implement a participatory design process where mutual learning is a goal
Admission to the course
Students admitted at UiO must?apply for courses?in Studentweb. Students enrolled in other Master's Degree Programmes can, on application, be admitted to the course if this is cleared by their own study programme.
If you are not already enrolled as a student at UiO, please see our information about?admission requirements and procedures for international applicants.
Recommended previous knowledge
IN2020 – Methods in Interaksjonsdesign/INF2260 – Interaksjonsdesign (discontinued), IN3010 – Transformative Design/INF3290 – Store og komplekse informasjonssystemer (continued)
Overlapping courses
- 10 credits overlap with INF5722 – Experimental Design of IT (continued).
- 10 credits overlap with INF9722 – Eksperimentell design av IT (continued).
- 10 credits overlap with IN9510 – Participatory experimental design.
Teaching
There will be 2 hours lectures + 2 hours exercises per week. In addition, the project will require independent group work
Mandatory assignments:
- a project plan
- presentation of a paper from the curriculum
- mid-semester presentation of the project work
- final presentation of the project work
It is mandatory to attend the two first lectures since it will be given important information.
Examination
The mandatory assignments must be approved prior to the exam. The exam evaluation is based on a written report and an oral exam.
50% written report: project report with individual reflections for each group member
50% oral: project presentation and group examination of the curriculum.
The written report needs to be approved before the student can participate in the oral exam. Both parts must be passed in the same semester.
It will also be counted as one of?your three?attempts to sit the exam for this course, if you sit the exam for one of the following courses:? INF5722 – Experimental Design of IT (continued), INF9722 – Eksperimentell design av IT (continued), IN9510 – Participatory experimental design
Language of examination
You may write your examination paper in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English.
Grading scale
Grades are awarded on a scale from A to F, where A is the best grade and F is a fail. Read more about the grading system.
Resit an examination
Students who can document a valid reason for absence from the regular examination are offered a postponed examination. Re-scheduled examinations are not offered to students who withdraw during, or did not pass the original examination.
More about examinations at UiO
- Use of sources and citations
- Special exam arrangements due to individual needs
- Withdrawal from an exam
- Illness at exams / postponed exams
- Explanation of grades and appeals
- Resitting an exam
- Cheating/attempted cheating
You will find further guides and resources at the web page on examinations at UiO.