Relevance of UCD education to software development-Recommendation for curriculum design

This paper describes the implementation and impact of specific focus on user-centred design (UCD) methods and practices to a mobile application concept development course. The course has been held for two consecutive years at a University of Applied Sciences. This project-based course educates students in teamwork, user study techniques, data interpretation, and scenario-based design. Moreover, by applying usability assessment methods such as heuristic evaluations and usability tests, students learn the basics of usability engineering methods and principles. In addition to outcomes on students' learning, the course has resulted in several innovative mobile application concepts some of which are in the process of being commercialized. This paper presents student feedback about the applied methods months after the completion of the course. The questionnaire-originating results indicate that students gain knowledge and skills that are very valuable for their future careers in software and service development. Knowledge on UCD is relevant in contemporary mobile application development and an important asset for students to become competitive in job markets. Almost all students have applied the educated methods in their work, and they are willing to promote the UCD methods and framework to their professional peers. The results are further used to discuss and emphasize the importance of UCD education.