Data-driven interface design

Summary

The course teaches students to create, test, and improve digital interfaces using design heuristics, rapid prototyping, and quantitative UX research. Through weekly teamwork and vibe coding, students turn user data into evidence-based design decisions.

Content

Lire la suite

Keywords

A/B Testing, Data Analysis, Digital Services, Engagement & Retention, Interaction Design, Quantitative Methods, Usability, User Behavior, User Experience (UX), User-Centered Design

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, the student must be able to:

• Critique Interfaces Using Established Design Principles Identify usability strengths and weaknesses using Nielsen's heuristics, support evaluations with concrete evidence, and translate critique into specific, defensible design improvements.
• Create Interactive Prototypes with Vibe Coding Use AI-assisted, prompt-driven coding workflows to rapidly turn design ideas into testable interfaces. Students will learn to direct, inspect, debug, and refine generated outputs rather than treating generated code as a black box.
• Design and Execute Trustworthy Quantitative UX Studies Frame research questions, select appropriate methods, design surveys and experiments, recruit participants, reduce bias, and apply ethical data practices so that findings are valid and trustworthy. Select, interpret, and communicate descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVA, and regression analysis.

Transversal skills

• Take feedback (critique) and respond in an appropriate manner.
• Demonstrate the capacity for critical thinking
• Demonstrate a capacity for creativity.
• Plan and carry out activities in a way which makes optimal use of available time and other resources.
• Communicate effectively with professionals from other disciplines.

Teaching methods

Class time is organized as an active design-and-research studio. Each session combines a focused theory segment, discussion of students' questions, and a critique of concrete interfaces. One Nielsen usability heuristic will be spotlighted each week: students will examine successful and problematic examples, discuss trade-offs, and formulate practical design guidance.

 

Students will then work in small teams to use vibe coding - AI-assisted, prompt-driven development - to build or refine an interactive prototype that applies the heuristic of the week. The emphasis is not merely on generating code, but on articulating design intent, evaluating outputs critically, and iterating toward a more usable solution.

 

The weekly prototypes will feed into a capstone project. Teams will develop a coherent interactive prototype and evaluate it using a provided or collected dataset, which may include usability measures, survey responses, analytics, experimental results, or traces of user interaction. They will use the resulting evidence to justify design choices and propose further iterations. During group work, students will maintain a logbook documenting member contributions, prompts and tools used, design decisions, prototype changes, and supporting evidence. If systematic conflicts impede progress, students may ask the teaching assistant or the instructor for support.

 

Expected student activities

Students will develop their project during class sessions. They might need to adjust and finalize their work outside of class hours if necessary.

 

Assessment methods

Assessment combines an individual written exam with an applied group project for UNIL students. The project asks students to demonstrate that they can connect design principles, rapid prototyping, and quantitative evidence.

 

UNIL students will develop and present a team project comprising an interactive prototype, a documented design rationale based on Nielsen's heuristics, and a quantitative UX evaluation.  EPFL students may participate in the weekly studios and group work, but they are not required to submit or present the final group project.

 

For UNIL students the group presentation will account for 50% of the final grade, while the individual written exam will account for the remaining 50% of the final grade. For EPFL students the individual written exam will account for 100% of the final grade.

 

The group project presentation will take place online or onsite during the winter exam session and will be an integral part of the course evaluation. All UNIL students are required to attend, while EPFL students are welcome to attend. The individual written exam will be organized during the last class of the course and taken on participants' laptops. The exam is open book with limitations: the reference books for the course and handwritten notes may be used, but on paper exclusively.

 

No carry-over grades: Grades (and bonus points) obtained last year are not valid this year and cannot be carried over. Students who retake the class are required to also engage in all graded activities.

 

Supervision

Office hours	No
Assistant.e.s	Yes
Forum	Yes

Resources

Virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)

No

Bibliography

The course will loosely follow the following books:

• Rogers, Y; Sharp, H.; Preece, J (2023). Interaction Design: Beyond Human-computer Interaction. Wiley, 6th edition (ISBN: 978-1-119-90109-9)
• Sauro, J.; Lewis J.R. (2016). Quantifying the User Experience: Practical Statistics for User Research. Morgan Kaufmann, 2nd edition (ISBN: 978-0-12-802308-2)

 

Ressources en bibliothèque

• Retrouver les références à la Bibliothèque

Moodle Link

• https://go.epfl.ch/HUM-297