This unit takes an interdisciplinary approach to think strategically about a selection of key issues that emerge from human-technology interactions. This unit shows how the human-technology interface impacts on what people do with technology (whether a computer program, or a physical equipment), and especially on mistakes that might be made, which can threaten physical safety, social well-being, privacy, and other human needs. The unit will analyse risks that arise from poor or malicious interface design, how one can evaluate these risks, some different ways to limit the risks, and the ethical implications of this. Students will learn about physiological, cognitive, social and cultural aspects of human interaction; diversity among people (including cultural norms etc) impacting both what they aim to do, and how they 'read' instructions, discover affordances and actually use systems. The unit deals with fairness, accountability and transparency of sophisticated interfaces. The unit will provide insights that are important for future leaders, both of technology creation activities and of organizations that include the users. An interdisciplinary approach to evaluating these systems provides an opportunity for collaboration and identification of many factors that would otherwise not typically be considered by the designers of the system. This leads to a collective effort to improve current systems and for future systems to be designed that not only consider better functionality and usability, but also their impact on people, society and the environment across time and space.
Unit details and rules
Academic unit | Engineering |
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Credit points | 6 |
Prerequisites
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must be in the Dalyell stream |
Corequisites
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None |
Prohibitions
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None |
Assumed knowledge
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None |
Available to study abroad and exchange students | No |
Teaching staff
Coordinator | Alan Fekete, alan.fekete@sydney.edu.au |
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