Introduction: What are ergonomics?

• Definition of ergonomics and user experience.
• Why do we need ergonomics?
• The role of ergonomics. Ergonomics and innovation.
• Ergonomics at the intersection of multiple disciplines.
• Fundamentals: Cognitive psychology and organizations, communication, and sociology of uses.
• Human processing of information.

Ergonomics in the development cycle.

• The V design cycle.
• Types of intervention, design, or correction.
• Return on investment from ergonomics.
• Ergonomics in depth. Design and structure.
• Overview of different ergonomics methods.
• Surface ergonomics, presentation, comfort.
• Incorporating ergonomics into an IT company: What skills, which role.
• ISO 9241-210 usability standards: Definition of effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction.
• Ergonomics in the context of agile and iterative methods.
• BtoB and BtoC interfaces: What differences in terms of ergonomics and interface issues.
• Thick clients and web technologies: What differences in terms of ergonomics?

Modeling a program’s end users

• ISO 9241-210 standard: Modeling users, the task, and the interaction context.
• What data to collect about users: Anthropometric, sociological, and psychological aspects.
• Taking into account users with particular needs: Accessibility.
• Gathering qualitative data: Focus groups, Interviews, Field observations, etc.
• Gathering quantitative data: Surveys.
• Knowing the context of interaction with the future product.
• Formalizing the results: Personas.
• Information architecture: What wording and what organization?
• Card sorting.

Ideation and design: Design Thinking

• User experience as central to the digital transition strategy.
• Ergonomics and Change Management.
• Technology-driven and user-driven innovation.
• Project Owner and Project User: What are the differences?
• The double-diamond Service Design model.
• Design Thinking techniques (“If I were...” list, experience map, user journey, mood board, etc.).

User-centered design for designing software

• How do you present information on-screen? Visual organization.
• Human learning. Gestalt laws.
• Criteria legibility.
• Colors. Using images and icons.
• Managing the display and resizing the windows.
• Menus, widgets, shortcuts.
• Fitts’ law and Hick’s law.
• Human-machine dialogs. Grice’s principles.
• Contents, semantic aspects. Nielsen’s heuristics.
• Importance of a home page or dashboard.
• Graphic design: Skeuomorphism, flat design, material design.
• Specific features of mobile HMIs: Display and usage.
• Formalizing user tasks and browsing with Xmind.

Ergonomic prototyping

• Difference between models and prototypes.
• Vertical and horizontal modeling.
• Modeling with low, medium, and high levels of fidelity.
• Fast modeling tools.
• Overview of Balsamiq and Axure.

Basics of the user testing methodology

• Basics of the experimental method.
• The difference between experience and testing.
• How to measure effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction.
• When should you conduct a user test?
• How do you set up a user test?
• The pre-test and post-test questionnaire.
• Data collection: From “discount” methods to eye tracking.
• Data analysis.

Heuristic analysis of software

• Methodology of heuristic analysis: Advantages and limits.
• Gravity and severity of the problems identified.
• Existing heuristic analysis grids.
• The principles of Nielsen, Bastien, and Scapin.