Leurs, B. & Mulder, I. UCD education beyond the textbook: practicing a human-centered attitude. Presented at CHI Nederland conference ‘Change!’, 11 June 2009.

1. Rotterdam University
Chi Nederland Conferentie 2009
Leiden, June 11, 2009
UCD Education Beyond
the Textbook
Practicing a Human-Centered Attitude
Bas Leurs & Ingrid Mulder Rotterdam University
School of Communication, Media
and Information Technology (CMI)
b.l.f.leurs@hro.nl / i.j.mulder@tudelft.nl

2. Rotterdam University
Chi Nederland Conferentie 2009
Research center on human centered ICT Leiden, June 11, 2009
Education
ning
s is on desig the
Emphasi n for
innovatio ting
humane omple
real w orld by c uman-
in a h
ev ery stage ign trajectory
Human des
Technology centered
Centered (ICT)
Starti
n
user g from eli
n c
innov eeds to im iting (laten
t
intera ative tech plement )
c n
conte tive medi ology an
xt of a in a d
use real-l
• Rotterdam University ife
• School of Communication, Media and Information Technology
• Six bachelor courses (communication, multimedia design,
software engineering)

3. Rotterdam University
Chi Nederland Conferentie 2009
Challenging learning environments Leiden, June 11, 2009
Throughout their education, students work
on several projects in multi-disciplinary
teams
In which they apply their knowledge and skills
The projects are characterized by a human
centered approach
Human centered research and evaluation techniques are key throughout
the process
At the end of each project, both project
outcomes and process are assessed
Students have to reflect upon used methods and tools during their design
and development process. They need to motivate whether their approach
was effective and successful.

4. Rotterdam University
Chi Nederland Conferentie 2009
Challenging learning environments Leiden, June 11, 2009
Throughout the project, students encounter many questions.
Either they define the questions themselves, or the project coach opens the debate
What does the user want or need?
How do we gain insights in the target group?
How do we gain insights in the context of use?
How are we going to test the first prototype?
In all stages of a project, methods and tools are required to
elicit information from and about users
• Methods to obtain information about needs, desires, capabilities and limitations of people in an early
stage of the design process (e.g., focus groups, photo ethnography, persona’s)
• Methods for validating/evaluating decisions/artefacts in later stages (e.g., paper prototyping, use
cases, usability testing)

5. Rotterdam University
Chi Nederland Conferentie 2009
The Human Centered ICT Toolkit Leiden, June 11, 2009
To assist the students in this quest for the right method, an
overview of methods has been developed

6. Rotterdam University
Chi Nederland Conferentie 2009
Reference cards Leiden, June 11, 2009
Each tool listed in the toolkit’s
overview has been described in
a reference card
• A title
• A brief description
• When to use it
• Why to use it
• Points of interest
• References to literature and online
resources

7. Rotterdam University
Chi Nederland Conferentie 2009
From Toolkit to mindset Leiden, June 11, 2009
Ideally the teachers
should be the
ambassadors of
new concepts and
approaches

8. Rotterdam University
Chi Nederland Conferentie 2009
From Toolkit to mindset Leiden, June 11, 2009
f the
hers o rticipated in
A workshop was
c
al tea a
Sever r courses p .
lo 5)
bache kshop (n=1 erent
r ff
the wo ants had di are
organized to present
ip w
Partic ounds: soft marketing,
r ,
backg ring, design ent.
e em
engine ject manag
o
and pr
the Toolkit to the
teaching staff
• To gain buy-in from the teaching staff
• To develop a shared understanding of the overlapping
fields of SE and HCI
• To discuss the possibilities and opportunities for
implementing the Toolkit into the curriculum

9. Rotterdam University
Chi Nederland Conferentie 2009
Workshop: approach Leiden, June 11, 2009
Participants were asked to sketch how a
human centered process should look like
This drawing could be made either in small groups or individually
After the assignment, each group or
participant had to present the results briefly
Consequently, the Toolkit was presented and
explained in more detail Note! ing t
olkit
he To t was
The presentation of the Toolkit was followed by a discussion; an Intr oduc ssignmen
ea n
exploration of the possibilities and opportunities to implement the a fter th l to focus o n the
tia ee
essen rities betw o
toolkit into the curricula t
simila gs and not ferences.
n f
drawi size the di
a
emph

10. Rotterdam University
Chi Nederland Conferentie 2009
Workshop: results Leiden, June 11, 2009
ups
in gro
orked cussion
ipa nts w dis
All partic to a vivid eing
lead ere b
Whic
h ings w
the draw
while
.
made
The draw
ings show
approac ed conse
h: the us nsus abo
er is cen ut the
and solut tral, and
ions are v decisions
process i alidated t
n an itera hroughou
tive man t the
ner
ed that
The discussion show
da
the teaching staff ha
ing on
shared understand
on the
UCD and agreed up
hing UCD
importance of teac
ents
properly to the stud

11. Rotterdam University
Chi Nederland Conferentie 2009
Workshop: at the end... Leiden, June 11, 2009
The discussion smoothly moved into how to the Toolkit
could be implemented into relevant programs:
‘Can I s
how this
my stud to
ents?’
my c ourse
s for
se thi eering?’
‘Ca nIu
Engin
Us ability

12. Rotterdam University
Chi Nederland Conferentie 2009
Implementing the toolkit Leiden, June 11, 2009
Usability Engineering
• Decisions were made more efficiently: the Toolkit turned out very helpful in finding
and selecting the appropriate tools
• The Toolkit also broadened the students’ horizon (finding exotic methods)
Design Projects
• Toolkit has been implemented to support the design rationale
• The use of the Toolkit is not prescribed to the students, students are merely advised
by project coaches to use it
• Currently, students do not always use the Toolkit. It might be fruitful to provide
project coaches with some training for promoting the use of the Toolkit
Graduation Project
• The student needs to anticipate on questions or problems and how to solve them
• The student starts with a research plan which is summarized in a ‘roadmap’
• The roadmap envisions the process, steps that need to be taken, questions that
need to be answered, methods which they are going to use etc.
• The roadmap seems valuable for students as well as their graduation supervisors

13. Rotterdam University
Chi Nederland Conferentie 2009
Implementing the toolkit Leiden, June 11, 2009

14. Rotterdam University
Chi Nederland Conferentie 2009
Discussion and conclusions Leiden, June 11, 2009
Educating Human Centered ICT has a tendency to
focus on the outcome rather than the process
The process can be teached, the outcome cannot
The Toolkit is not just another handbook on
human centered design; it entices students and
teaching staff to reflect upon methods and tools
being used
Understanding which methods and techniques to use is crucial for multi-disciplinary
teamwork (either in schools or industry)
Implementing the Toolkit in project based education
might not only improve the skills and knowledge
of the students, but also contributes to a Human
Centered attitude

15. Rotterdam University
Chi Nederland Conferentie 2009
Some comments from students and practitioners Leiden, June 11, 2009
My professor likes your site :)
Jonathan (Student)
I just wanted to say a massive thank you for making
the Generic Work Process publicly available online.
It’s a fantastic resource and just what I was looking
for to help define some foundations for our new UX
team.
Nik
When doing research for the thesis, I found your
"Generic Work Process - version 1.0" toolkit, and
I'm impressed with the effort put into this map!
/too lkit/
Balder (Student)
ro.nl/cmi/hci
project.cmd.h