Perception and Memory in HCI and UX
How This Course Will Help Your Career
To build effective interactive systems across increasingly diverse problem domains and contexts of use, it’s important to understand how users—human beings—actually work. Naturally, a large part of human interaction relies on perception, our ability to sense the world around us. But we also need to join perceived events together, which is where memory comes in. In this course, you will explore perception and the major human senses and gain an understanding of memory, its structure and limitations.
What You Will Learn
The role of perception in interaction
The relationship between sensation and perception
Touch and haptics
Vision and hearing
Memory and how to design for it effectively
How does all of this fit with interaction design and user experience? The simple answer is that most of our understanding of human experience comes from our own experiences and just being ourselves. That might extend to people like us, but it gives us no real grasp of the whole range of human experience and abilities. By considering more closely how humans perceive and interact with our world, we can gain real insights into what designs will work for a broader audience: those younger or older than us, more or less capable, more or less skilled and so on.
“You can design for all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot design for all the people all the time.“
– William Hudson (with apologies to Abraham Lincoln)
While “design for all of the people all of the time” is an impossible goal, understanding how the human machine operates is essential to getting ever closer. And of course, building solutions for people with a wide range of abilities, including those with accessibility issues, involves knowing how and why some human faculties fail. As our course tutor, Professor Alan Dix, points out, this is not only a moral duty but, in most countries, also a legal obligation.
Portfolio Project
In the “Build Your Portfolio: Perception and Memory Project”, you’ll find a series of practical exercises that will give you first-hand experience in applying what we’ll cover. If you want to complete these optional exercises, you’ll create a series of case studies for your portfolio which you can show your future employer or freelance customers.
This in-depth, video-based course is created with the amazing Alan Dix, the co-author of the internationally best-selling textbook Human-Computer Interaction and a superstar in the field of Human-Computer Interaction. Alan is currently a professor and Director of the Computational Foundry at Swansea University.
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Is This Course Right for You?
This is a beginner-level course suitable for newcomers and experienced practitioners alike:
UX designers who want to gain in-depth theoretical knowledge to augment their experience
Project managers looking to understand how to build products that work intuitively
Software engineers who want a solid understanding of Human-Computer Interaction and how the human machine functions
Entrepreneurs looking to create well-designed products that stand out from the competition
Marketers who want to gain a deep understanding of customers
Newcomers to design who are considering making a switch to HCI or UX design
Courses by the Interaction Design Foundation are designed to contain comprehensive, evidence-based content, while ensuring that the learning curve is never too steep. All participants will have the opportunity to share ideas, seek help with tests, and enjoy the social aspects afforded by our open and friendly forum.
Learn and Work with a Global Team of Designers
You’ll join a global community and work together to improve your skills and career opportunities. Connect with helpful peers and make friends with like-minded individuals as you push deeper into the exciting and booming industry of design.
Lessons in This Course
- Each week, one lesson becomes available.
- There's no time limit to finish a course. Lessons have no deadlines.
- Estimated learning time: 9 hours 21 mins spread over 6 weeks .
Lesson 0: Welcome and Introduction
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0.1: Welcome and Introduction (13 mins)
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0.2: Let our community help you (1 min)
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0.3: How to Earn Your Course Certificate (16 mins)
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0.4: Expand Your Network and Grow Your Skills in Our Online Forums (5 mins)
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0.5: Meet and learn from design professionals in your area (1 min)
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0.6: Gain Timeless Skills Through Courses from the Interaction Design Foundation (21 mins)
Lesson 1: Welcome to Lesson 1 of Perception and Memory in HCI and UX!
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1.1: Welcome and Introduction (2 mins)
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1.2: How we Interact with Technology (4 mins)
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1.3: How we Perceive the World (38 mins)
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1.4: Consider How Different Senses Work Together When you Design (18 mins)
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1.5: How to use Sensation and Perception when we design (22 mins)
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1.6: How to use Touch and Haptics in your designs (1 hour 12 mins)
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1.7: Community-based learning and networking (6 mins)
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1.8: Congratulations and Recap (2 mins)
Lesson 2: How Vision and Hearing Work
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2.1: Welcome to Vision and Hearing! (3 mins)
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2.2: How We See (9 mins)
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2.3: How Our Vision Works and can go Wrong (27 mins)
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2.4: How to Use Peripheral Vision Effectively: A Case Study (13 mins)
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2.5: How to use Sound Effectively (2 hours 3 mins)
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2.6: Community-based learning and networking (7 mins)
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2.7: Build Your Portfolio: Vision and Hearing Project (9 mins)
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2.8: Congratulations and Recap (2 mins)
Lesson 3: How Human Memory Works
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3.1: Welcome to Lesson 3! (2 mins)
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3.2: What Types of Memory do we Have? (22 mins)
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3.3: What is Sensory Memory and How Does it Work? (16 mins)
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3.4: How to Use Short-Term Memory and the Magical Number Seven in Design (19 mins)
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3.5: How We Use Long-Term Memory and How it Informs Us Who We Are (36 mins)
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3.6: Is Memory Reliable? (52 mins)
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3.7: Community-based learning and networking (6 mins)
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3.8: Build Your Portfolio: Memory Project (9 mins)
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3.9: Congratulations and Recap (2 mins)
Lesson 4: Course Certificate, Final Networking, and Course Wrap-up
Learning Paths
This course is part of 5 learning paths:
How Others Have Benefited
Jonathan Smith, United States
“I have really enjoyed all of the courses that involve contributions by Alan Dix. His explanations are crystal clear and he often systemizes concepts in a way that help me better understand and retain what I learn.”
Suellen Caroline da Silva, Brazil
“He is very good at explaining things and giving examples from real life so we can make connections and better assimilate the content.”
Kirthika Vijayakumar, India
“Great storytelling and real-life examples helped me understand and relate.”
How It Works
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Lessons are self-paced so you'll never be late for class or miss a deadline.
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