University of Maryland

INFM605 Waiver Request

You are requesting a waiver for INFM605: Users and Use Context. These waivers are rarely granted, as MIM students tend to have experience with programming, analytics, engineering, etc., but very little experience working closely with users. Read the course summary below closely.

Course Summary:
Users are not a generic group. How they do something depends on the training they have received, cultural preferences, taste, identity, and many other factors. To design websites, apps, systems, procedures and products that people like and use effectively, we need to understand the contexts, needs and practices of our target users. This course is designed to help you develop skills you need to study the behaviors, motivations and needs of users, and to communicate your findings to designers, engineers and managers. We examine theories, issues, and emerging trends in the study and evaluation of users. We will also explore the methods of user-centered systems design as practiced by information and user-experience professionals. The assignments for the course provide hands-on experiences in the key methodologies of UX research, including user observations, user interviews, data capture, surveys, personas, and diary study.

If you still consider yourself familiar with the content of the course, and have had relevant industry experience, then we ask you to explain below how you have already achieved each learning goal for the course.

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The first learning objective for INFM605 is: students will be able to understand users through conducting several major user experience research methods. Are you familiar with multiple user experience research methods? Explain which, and your hands-on experience with each.
The second learning objective for INFM605 is: students will be able to identify major historical, current and emerging trends in user interactions with information systems to include accessibility and multimodal design interactions.
The third learning objective for INFM605 is: students will be able to develop and apply a customizable heuristic to the evaluation of an information system.
The fourth learning objective for INFM605 is: students will be able to understand the basic principles of usability testing, including how to set up, conduct and report on the results of a usability test.
The fifth learning objective for INFM605 is: students will be able to understand the emerging field of interaction design and the possible career directions within the field.