A2 Interface Evaluation Task Sheet

DECO2500-7250 Human-Computer Interaction

Semester 1, 2025

Task Background

For this assessment, you will take one critical task from your group’s A1 Design Proposal prototype and individually conduct a two-pronged evaluation:

•    First, you will perform an expert evaluation/review, applying established HCI principles (e.g., Nielsen’s heuristics) to diagnose usability and accessibility issues.

•    Next, you will run a user-based evaluation, gathering direct feedback from representative users.

Findings will be analysed, linked to HCI theory, and documented as a portfolio of evaluation artefacts that documents your evaluation process, key findings, and recommendations for future improvements.

Why is this task relevant?

Evaluation is a fundamental aspect of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and an essential step in the user-centered design process. By conducting both expert and user-based evaluations, students will develop critical analysis skills to diagnose usability and accessibility issues, refine designs

iteratively, and ensure solutions are user-friendly and inclusive.

This task mirrors real-world UX evaluation processes used in industry, where expert reviews help identify theoretical usability problems, and user testing provides practical insights into actual user interactions. These skills are crucial for developing interfaces that meet the needs of diverse user groups, emphasizing accessibility, usability, and iterative improvement.

What you will need to demonstrate

Working progressively on this assessment

This assessment task has been intentionally designed to mirror industry practices that you can expect in your future careers. In professional HCI practice, projects require progressive, consistent effort to ensure high-quality outcomes. Similarly, this assessment is structured to align with that approach.

Why progressive work is essential

•    Each week’s lecture and studio activities build on the previous week’s knowledge and skills, guiding you step-by-step through the assessment.

•    Working progressively ensures you have time to reflect on feedback, refine your work, and address any challenges or questions as they arise.

•    Leaving this assessment to the last minute is not only likely to result in lower-quality work but will also prevent you from fully developing the professional skills this course is designed to teach.

Your responsibilities

•    Set aside dedicated time each week to work on this assessment.

•    Complete and review the lecture content and studio activities to ensure you stay on track.

•    If you encounter challenges or fall behind, seek support early from the teaching team or peers.

A professional mindset

This assessment task is more than an academic exercise—it is an opportunity to develop the mindset and habits of a HCI/technology design professional. By working progressively and thoughtfully, you will not only achieve better results in this assessment but also build valuable skills for your future career.

Engaging with the Course Content and Activities

To successfully complete this assessment task, you are expected to engage with all aspects of the course, including lectures, and studio activities, as well as completing independent study. Each component is carefully designed to provide essential guidance, context, and practice, ensuring you fully understand and meet the requirements of this assessment.

Lectures

•     Lectures deliver key theoretical and practical concepts related to this task.

•    While attending lectures in real time is encouraged, recordings are available if you are unable to attend.

•     It is your responsibility to watch the lecture recordings and review the materials provided to ensure you understand the concepts and expectations.

Studios

•     Studio activities are designed to guide you through the steps required to complete this assessment.

•    Attending your designated studio sessions provides opportunities to receive real-time support, feedback, and collaboration with peers.

•     If you choose not to attend the studio in person, you are still expected to engage with the activities. Studio tasks and resources will be made available online, and it is your

responsibility to complete them independently.

Self-Study

•     Ongoing self-study is essential for successfully completing this assessment. While studio   sessions will provide structured guidance and opportunities for collaboration, much of your progress will come from continuing work outside of class.

•    You are expected to dedicate 1-2 hours per week to refining your evaluations, results and report, ensuring steady progress across each phase of the project.  This is in addition to completing course readings and personal revision.

•    This self-study time should be used to develop and refine your artifacts, including conducting evaluations, analysing results, iterating on the prototype creating an evaluation report,.

•     Consistently working on your assessment outside of scheduled sessions will allow you to   fully engage with the design process, manage workloads effectively, and avoid last-minute rushes that can compromise the quality of your submission.

•    This mirrors industry expectations, where iterative development and continuous refinement are key to delivering high-quality user-centered design solutions.

Your Responsibility

•    Whether you engage with lectures and studios live or asynchronously, it is your responsibility to actively participate and complete all components.

•     Lack of engagement may impact your ability to meet the assessment requirements and achieve your best outcome.

•     Managing your time effectively and planning your independent activities each week is essential for success in this course.

If you have any concerns about accessing or engaging with course content, please reach out to the course teaching team for assistance.

Task Description

Context

Evaluating interactive systems is a key component of user-centered design, ensuring interfaces meet usability, accessibility, and effectiveness criteria. This task follows an industry-standard evaluation process, reinforcing the iterative nature of design and emphasising the importance of both expert analysis and user feedback.

The evaluation process consists of the following steps:

1. Conducting an Expert Evaluation: Apply heuristic evaluation, cognitive walkthrough, or a guidelines review to identify usability and/or accessibility issues in a selected task from your group's prototype.

3. Conducting a User-Based Evaluation: Test the improved prototype with real or

representative users, collecting qualitative and/or quantitative data to assess the impact of the refinements.

Documenting Evaluation Findings: Compile a portfolio of evaluation artefacts, including evaluation notes, key usability issues identified, annotated screenshots, summaries of user feedback, and a reflection linking findings to HCI theory and usability principles.

This structured approach ensures that students develop a deeper understanding of usability principles, accessibility considerations, and the iterative design process, all of which are essential for designing effective and user-friendly interfaces.

What you need to do to prepare

Obtain a copy of the prototype your team created in A1

1. You will need to use the prototype that was developed by your team in the A1 Design Proposal. You will need to use that prototype to complete evaluations and be able to refine that prototype.

Keep up with lectures and studio activities

2. The lectures for weeks 8 to 11 (inclusive) contain key information that you will need to complete this assessment.

Complete studio activities

3. The studio activities for weeks 9 to 12 (inclusive) are designed to guide you through the tasks you need to complete for this assessment.

What you will need to do to complete this assessment task

Select an Expert Evaluation Method

1. Choose an appropriate evaluation method:

• Heuristic Evaluation (e.g., Nielsen’s 10 Heuristics, Shneiderman’s Eight Golden Rules)

• Cognitive Walkthrough

• Guidelines Review (e.g., WCAG 2.2, Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines, HCAI PAIR)

Complete the Expert Evaluation

• Identify and document usability and/or accessibility issues.

• Reflect on the effectiveness, limitations, and broader implications of the chosen method.

Analyse the Data

3. • Organise findings into key usability issues, categorising them by severity and frequency.

• Link issues to relevant HCI theories and principles.

Identify a User-Based Evaluation Method

5. • Select a method focused on task completion or design walkthroughs.

• Ensure both quantitative (e.g., time to complete tasks, errors, SUS) and qualitative (e.g., think-aloud protocols, interviews) data is collected.

• Conduct the evaluation with five participants to balance depth of insights (incorporating diverse needs), and feasibility.

Analyse the Results of the User-Based Evaluation

• Critically use GenAI to extract key insights from user feedback and quantitative measures.

• Compare findings with expert evaluation results to identify recurring usability issues.

• Ensure insights are contextualised and validated against usability principles and real-world user needs.

• Extract key insights from user feedback and quantitative measures.

• Compare findings with expert evaluation results to identify recurring usability issues.

Critically Use GenAI to Support the Compilation of a UX Evaluation Portfolio.

7. • Utilise GenAI to assist in structuring and refining the evaluation report your portfolio of evaluation artefacts while ensuring originality and critical engagement.

• Compile findings from both expert and user-based evaluations.

• Include artefacts such as evaluation sheets, annotated screenshots, summaries of user feedback, key insights, and actionable recommendations.

• Use annotations to link findings to relevant HCI theory and principles.

Submission Instructions

You should submit a single electronic file via the Turnitin Assignment Handler in Blackboard on or before the due date/time.

Please ensure that an Acknowledgement of the Usage of Generative AI and/or Machine Translation is included in your submission. The format and contents of this Acknowledgement are detailed in the assessment task sheet.

Your submission must be a single word-processed document that contains your portfolio of artefacts. Microsoft Word (.doc/.docx) or Pages (.pages) formats only. Note PDF is acceptable but is not the preferred format.