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Usability School - presentation

Helsinki University of Technology, University of Helsinki and University of Art and Design Helsinki jointly offer a subject on usability, user-centred design and human-computer interaction. Usability school gives the students expertise in user-centered design, usability and user interfaces.

The affiliated departments and professors are:

• Helsinki University of Technology · Department of Computer Science and Engineering · professor Marko Nieminen
• University of Helsinki · Cognitive Science · professor Christina Krause
• University of Art and Design Helsinki · Department of Design · professor Turkka Keinonen

Usability

Central aspects of usability are how the product and its functions fit to the tasks they are designed for, and how easy they are to learn to use. A usable product is one which is natural, handy and pleases the user; for the manufacturer a usable product is easy to sell and needs little training and maintenance.

The field of Usability Studies researches usability related factors and develops procedures which promote good usability. The field applies methods from various disciplines, like Cognitive Science, Industrial Design, Graphic Design, Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Marketing and Strategic Product Design. Experience has indicated that usability is best promoted when specialists from these different disciplines participate in R&D processes. Usability School helps to create a common knowlegde and interaction basis for future specialists in Computer Science and Engineering, Cognitive Scinece and Design.

Studies in Usability School

Five students from each of the participating universities are admitted to Usability School annually. The students obtain a two year permission to attend to Usability School courses.

Usability School comprises both theoretic and practice oriented courses. The courses include various exercices where students from different universities get to work in interdisciplinary teams. The courses cover among others the following subareas:

• Psychological and cognitive usability related concepts and theories and how they are applied to user interface design
• Methods for user, product, usability and usage situation research
• Product development and the needed conceptualisation, visualisation, prototyping and implementation methods
• Human-computer interaction methods, tools and theories