Project Handout for CI7801 User Experience Major Project
This handout defines the 3 elements of assessment of this module:
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Assessment Form
Module: CI7801User Experience Major Project Setter: Martin Colbert
Title of Assignment:Project Definition and Proposal Deadline: Monday May XXth , 2023, 23:59pm
Module weighting: 10%
Submission details: Canvas Assignments
Please upload 1 electronic copy of your report as a single file (doc(x) or pdf). The maximum file size is 15MB (approx.), and a a proposal need not be more than that, especially if you reduce the size of screenshots and other images, before you insert them into your document. In extreme cases, if a report has a large Appendix, then please upload the file to a shared folder in your area of
Please name your report filename using the following convention - <FAMILY NAME_FIRST NAME_Knumber_ReportName_CIXXXX). Your individual report will need to be identified using the title of the pdf, and titles such as ‘Ux coursework’ are very common! To enable anonymous marking, please do not display your name on any cover sheet or header.
In addition, it is compulsory to upload a separate copy of your Research Ethics Review Form (not the proposal) entitled <Knumber_Ethics Review Form> to
Assignment Brief and assessment criteria (these will be discussed within a formally timetabled class)
1. Getting Started
For information and opinions about different kinds of Ux project, Internships, industry-based projects, collaborative projects with other students, advice for part-time students, please refer to the induction talk ‘About Ux Major Project’, which is posted on the home page of the module on Canvas.
For an overview of the teaching and assessment process on Ux Major Projects module, please see the ‘Student Guide.docx’, which is also posted on the home page of the module on Canvas
Each project is supervised by supervisor. You are encouraged to talk to many academics and industry professionals to develop two or three candidate project idea(s), and then eliminate the risky, limited or least employable ones, until you have a preferred option. You can find out more about possible supervisors by referring to Supervisors Profile.ppt on the home page of the module on Canvas, and/or Faculty's web pages (under “Research” and “People”), and contacting them if they might be suitable. If they agree to supervise you (all supervisors have a maximum number they can accept), you will see your name appear in their Supervision Group on the People page of the module in Canvas. If you do not find your own supervisor by the end of March, a supervisor will be allocated in good time to meet the deadline for the proposal.
You will then be able to formulate a project guided by that supervisor. Unfortunately, it is a fact that the supervisor of your choice may not be available – please be reassured that all supervisors are capable of supervising a wide range of topics. Also, students are always free to approach any member of staff to ask for their opinion – discussion is encouraged – however, they are giving advice, and are not your supervisor. You will probably need one or two sessionswith your supervisor during April and May to develop a version you are happy to hand in.
It is also important that your proposed project is within the scope of User Experience Design. Talk to you supervisor about the suitability of your project idea. User Experience is interpreted broadly, but the marking criteria must be applied. Ultimately the Course Leader has the final word on whether a project idea is acceptable.
A suitable project topic must be of sufficient complexity. A topic of trivial scope, for which standard solutions already exist or that could normally be done at undergraduate level, is notsuitable for a Master’s level project. You should always seek advice from your supervisor on what is considered Master's level.
Gradually develop an increasingly clear and complete statement of the project’s background, aims, methods, risks and deliverables. Planning a project often takes calendar time e.g. to arrange meetings, obtain permissions, agree ownership etc, so begin early. Project Definition and Proposal Report
2. Suggested Structure (Target Length: about 4 sides)
The Project Definition and Proposal Report is worth 10% of the overall mark. Please use the following structure:
Executive Summary – “Abstract” a summary of the project
i. Introduction and Background – what stakeholders and topics are concerned? What problem will you address? Why is the project important? What are the benefits to the stakeholders? How does it contribute to innovation? How does is relate to and extend previous work and existing knowledge?
ii. Aims – What is the ‘Big Design Concept’ behind the project? What will the project deliver? Are there intermediate or enabling deliverables? ‘Roughs’ or other visuals can show this.
iii. Method and Workplan – How will you use the technologies and resources to achieve your aims? Show the major phases of the project, milestones and deliverables. Generate a schedule using a Gantt chart or similar form and analyse risks.
iv. Technologies and Resources - list the major resources required. What technologies are you going to use? Where will your data/participants come from? A prototype or practical investigation can help to resolve this.
v. Contingency Plans Consider major risks. What will you do, if the risks materialise?
vi. References
Appendix I Research Ethics Review Form - ALL MSc Ux projects must include a completed application form for ethical review (more below).
Appendix II Confidentiality Form (optional) To keep a confidential project out of DMK project library, please mark all pages as ‘confidential’ in the header, and include a form here (more below).
Please note that the proposal is intended to be relatively short. In the proposal, the Introduction and Background, Aims, and Method sections should motivate and convey your big design concept. These sections are developed fully in the Dissertation report which you hand in at the end of the project.
3. Research Ethics Review Form
We assume your projects will ‘use human subjects’ to evaluate final prototypes. Such projects require approval by the Faculty's Research Ethics Committee. Consequently, please complete the standard templated form and include it in your proposal as Appendix . Please also include templated user research materials to clarify your plans and Ethics Form as Appendix II.
Information about using human subjects and personal data, how to complete the Research Ethics Review form, template Forms and template supporting user research materials, are all available via links on the home page of the module in Canvas. The standard form assumes you will be performing usability tests using generic materials and procedures – this will be sufficient for 95% of projects.
Projects that require ‘advanced’-level ethical review are not normally supported – the benefits of your MSc project do really justify the cost of full ethical review. However, if you really want to conduct a project that involves access to vulnerable people (such as children, the elderly or infirm), that addresses a sensitive or taboo topics (such as sex or drugs), and work that exposes participants to risk or danger (such as medical advice, or some outdoor activities), then please seek advice from your Supervisor as you should allow enough time to research the ethical issues that are raised and how to deal with them in your research methodology, complete relevant forms, describe methodologies and produce all the materials you will need, before your research may start. Please hand-in proposals for ‘advanced’ projects, custom Ethics Form, and custom user research materials in the same way as described above.
Research Ethics forms do not need to be signed before the hand-in as supervisors are not necessarily available immediately before the hand-in. The presence or absence of a supervisor’s signature on the Ethics form will not affect your mark. The supervisors ethical review is expressed in the proposal feedback and marking. Projects that fail ethical review maynot start user research activities.
4. Confidential Projects and Non- Disclosure Agreements
When discussing possible projects, please be sensitive to your own, and the University’s possible Intellectual Property. Sometimes the fact that a project is merely being considered is valuable information. As a general rule, when working on research or industry related projects, please ask first before disclosing information outside the university.
Industrial or KU Research Hosts may wish to claim copyright, particularly if they pay the student for any work done. They may also wish to draw up Non-Disclosure Agreements for students and supervisors/markers to sign to ensure Intellectual Property is not shared outside the project. Confidentiality agreements and NDAs are perfectly acceptable to KU, provided that they permit academic access to the project for it to be assessed etc. .
All Ux Final Projects, which have achieved a grade of 60% or above, will be made available to other students for 10 years via an electronic repository (DMK Project Library). If your project needs to be exempt from this due to confidentiality reasons, then you will need to ask to restrict access to your project by completing the KU Dissertation Access Restriction form (see later this Section). Please include the appropriate KUDISS form in an Appendix to your proposal, and write ‘confidential’ in page headers and filename of any other hand-in. Also, all hand-ins should be direct to the supervisor, so that they are not transferred via servers outside the university’s control.
Also, reports that contain significant amounts of third party copyright material should not be stored in KUDiss - third party copyright material includes substantial extracts from publications such as books and journals, or illustrations such as images, maps, photographs, tables etc. You can include this material in the copy of the report that you submit for examination purposes but it may not be included in the copy stored in KUDiss without seeking the permission of the copyright holders. If you produce such reports, please declare that in the report and tell the Module Leader.
5. Common Questions
Can a student request remote supervision? Yes. Supervisors may also request remote supervision eg to enable supervision during a vacation, or just to minimise travel. However, it is not appropriate to insist on any mode of supervision. Collaboration during the summer term should be on the basis of mutual convenience and agreement. If supervision arrangements may not immediately fit, consider finding another supervisor.
Can an overseas student propose a project that is based abroad? Can they conduct user research abroad, and then return to the UK to do the design? No. KU is sponsoring your UK VISA, and prolonged absence from the university questions your need to be in the UK at all, and so raises issues for KUs sponsorship request. UK residents may conduct overseas projects, provided a supervisor is willing to supervise them.
I have handed in my proposal, but now I have just landed an Internship. Can I change my topic? Yes. I expect your supervisor will agree. This will involve ‘going back to the beginning’ and planning the new project, of course, so … try not to change plans too late.
I have exceeded the target word length – will I be penalised automatically? No. The best approach is to continue until you have a complete draft, leave it for a few days, and then revisit it with a critical eye. Is the writing verbose, or rambling? Are you responding to the brief? Are you presenting your work concisely? Does each word, each line, provide new, valuable information and so deserve its place in your report? Or could you cut it, and get to the point sooner? You will gain marks for writing clear, concise text and for making a logical argument. If in doubt, it is much better to include relevant material, and exceed the word limit, than to omit a section (and get an automatic zero for some part). There is a penalty for verbosity, irrelevance, repetition of textbook material, or bland generalisations. It is harmful to hide or bury important information – bring it to the surface.
Does the Target Word Length include Appendices? No. The target word length stated does not include captions, annotations, tables, illustrations, insert panels, quotes and Appendices. If your draft is looking “too long”, could you use images, diagrams, tables, charts, inserts, or create Appendices? A picture with a caption and an annotation can say 1000 words.
