hcde 417: usability research
the department’s project-based usability course. students run real studies, with real participants, for real clients — and then have to tell someone what to do about it.
what the course does
groups pick a real product and run a real usability study on it across the quarter. recent quarters have taken on apple photos, ryanair, find my, notion’s onboarding, and heytea — things students already use and already have opinions about.
- the whole arc. product identification and testing questions, task list and session script, recruiting and screening and consenting, moderating, thematic analysis, a written report, and a presentation.
- qualitative data, mostly. the hard part isn’t running the session, it’s getting from a pile of transcripts to a claim you can defend.
- a real deliverable. the final report carries research questions, methods, findings, discussion and limitations, and appendices — codebook and recruitment materials included.
how i teach it
- students rewrite the textbook. week one puts rubin & chisnell’s five attributes — usefulness, efficiency, effectiveness, learnability, satisfaction — in front of groups and asks them to redefine each one. who exactly is “you”? what does “using” mean? satisfied by whose measure? they arrive at definitions they had to argue for.
- “who is we?” before any method, we map everyone with a stake — researchers, visual and content and conversation designers, front and back end, product managers, support staff, sales, and users. it changes who they think the findings are for.
- pilot on each other. groups run their task questions past another group before they run them on a participant. finding out your question is leading is cheaper when your classmate says so.
- the report in pieces. the final report and presentation get broken into rapid mini-assignments across the quarter, so nobody is assembling the whole argument the week it’s due.
- i show my own work as the worked example. the model report and slide deck students get is my duolingo study — including the parts of it i’d now do differently.
you don’t learn usability research by reading about it. you learn it by watching someone fail a task you designed and realising it was your fault.
how i set the room up
the first slide of the quarter isn’t about usability, it’s about how we’ll work: be a decent colleague. establish and honour shared values. engage openly and with curiosity. on ai, the ask is narrow and deliberate — allow yourself to think things through first.
design is iterative, contingent, and unexpected, and a course about evaluating other people’s design choices should be honest that its own plan will move too.
materials
the artifacts i’ve built and iterated across five quarters. happy to share any of these with other instructors — just ask.
product identification & testing questions
the first assignment — scoping something answerable in a quarter
finalized task list & test session script
the moderation guide, with the neutral phrasings to fall back on
recruitment, screening & consent materials
per-group templates, reviewed in class before anyone recruits
analysis plan + thematic analysis walkthrough
getting from codes to themes to findings, on a worked example
final report scaffold
rqs, methods, findings, discussion and limitations, appendices
mid-quarter evaluation
so the second half of the course can respond to the first
what students say
unedited comments from hcde 417 course evaluations. pick a thread, or read the wall.
“Because of this class, I was able to land an internship, utilizing the skills learned to contribute to and run usability studies”
“The aspect that contributed the most to my learning would have to be the energy that Mina brought to the room it kept me engaged and entertained!!!!!! I really enjoyed this class!”
“Mina! She was really helpful and made lectures fun even when I initially wanted to skip class to sleep in.”
“I felt very safe and valued taking this course. I always felt like Mina wanted me to do the best I could and the other students also helped facilitate this course environment.”
“The aspect that contributed the most to my learning would have to be the energy that Mina brought to the room it kept me engaged and entertained!!!!!! I really enjoyed this class!”
“I really enjoyed Mina’s classes! She made learning the material fun by incorporating creative activities that kept us engaging the whole time. Unlike some lecturers who can be long-winded, Mina keeps her sessions concise and high-energy. I always left her class feeling like I had actually mastered the content.”
“Mina! She was really helpful and made lectures fun even when I initially wanted to skip class to sleep in.”
“I’ve loved all of Mina’s courses that I’ve taken and this was no different! She treats her students as equals and it makes me want to come to class. I’m so glad I got to spend another quarter with her”
“Yes, this class was stimulating in the way it was learn then apply style. Learning in the controlled environment was helpful for working out disruptions when actually executing our usability study. Mina’s exercises made me think critically about what approach I would take to each skill rather than just listening to a lecture and regurgitating.”
“Think the ability to practice doing usability testing in a not high stakes environment (not with a whole design project attached) was really helpful to gain confidence in my interviewing skills. I also really love how Mina teaches the class, she explains topics in a way that is easy for me to understand and has fun activities that are relevant to the course content.”
“Each lecture provided by Mina was clear, straight to the point, and practical for the project milestone of that week. She makes sure that what she covers is relevant and useful in our usability study. The examples and walk throughs Mina provides from her own project and past examples gave us a reference point, making it especially helpful. Mina’s guidance and approachability contributed to the overall enjoyability of the class. She makes sure to let us use class time to work with our team, while allocating time for check ins and lecture material.”
“The lectures were incredibly helpful for my learning. Mina’s extensive knowledge of user research and usability testing was evident, and she had a remarkable ability to break down complex concepts in a way that was both clear and accessible. Additionally, the in-class feedback was invaluable to my learning. Receiving real-time feedback played a crucial role in helping me grasp new concepts throughout the course. Mina excels at providing constructive yet encouraging feedback that challenges students to think creatively and push their boundaries. Her feedback not only expanded my perspective but also boosted my confidence as a UX researcher, something I haven’t experienced in other user research courses within HCDE.”
“Overall, Mina is an exceptional instructor. She combines expertise, clarity, and genuine care for student learning. I would strongly recommend her course to other students, and I believe she would be a tremendous asset to any academic program”
“This class was intellectually stimulating and absolutely stretched my thinking. Mina has a rare ability to take complex material and present it in a way that is both rigorous and accessible. She challenges students to truly understand concepts rather than memorize procedures, and that made the learning experience much deeper and more meaningful. I often left class still thinking about the problems we discussed, which is a sign of truly engaging teaching.”
“I learned a lot about usability testing and when I started this class, I wasn’t interesting in user research but now I think it could be a really interesting job field! Mina always encouraged us to expand our thinking and think more in the ‘user research’ mindset.”
“I think mina did a really good job explaining different research aspects and continually pushed us to think outside the box and continue developing our ideas.”
“I genuinely learned a lot from Mina’s class. At first, I had a surface-level understanding of what usability studies were, why they were significant, what makes a product usable, and how to design and/or run a usability study properly. At the end of this course, I have definitely increased my knowledge of usability testing and feel more confident when identifying usability successes and pain points within a study for report writing. Because of this class, I was able to land an internship, utilizing the skills learned to contribute to and run usability studies”
“I took this course not only because I’m interested in user research, but because I knew Mina was teaching it. She is one of the best instructors I’ve ever had, and she is so incredibly welcoming, understanding, fun, and kind. Any class led by Mina is a safe space, she makes sure of it. I am incredibly grateful for her teaching and overall personality!”
“I felt very safe and valued taking this course. I always felt like Mina wanted me to do the best I could and the other students also helped facilitate this course environment.”
“Mina is truly such a wonderful kind and encouraging teacher, she helped in understanding the coursework in a way that was relatable and felt digestible. She encouraged me to combine my personal interests in the work I do in class and even met with me for office hours on multiple occasions answering all my questions.”
“What contributed most to my learning was Mina’s clarity and structure. Her explanations were organized, patient, and precise. She anticipated common misunderstandings and addressed them before they became obstacles. The way she broke down difficult concepts step-by-step helped build real confidence. I also appreciated how she created an environment where questions were welcomed and taken seriously.”
“Honestly, the work would be pretty tough if Mina wasn’t always there to help us. Even if we don’t need help necessarily, she always checks in and makes sure we feel confident in our work and that we understand all of the lessons. Most of all, she makes sure we’re enjoying the work as much as possible!”
why it matters to the research
teaching methods repeatedly is the fastest way i’ve found to see which parts of a method are load-bearing and which are inherited ritual. it also puts me on the other side of the grade book — which is where a lot of what i understand about how students relate to evaluation actually came from.