FACILITIES

We have up-to-date IT laboratories and a usability lab with eye-tracking facilities, used to test and refine interfaces. Students also have the opportunity to learn to program robotic devices, and can develop apps for android devices.

You will also have access to modern computer labs set up for various programming languages and using the latest design and development software, including Adobe Creative Cloud and GNS3.

We also have specialist networking labs with a wide variety of real-world networking equipment from Cisco, Fluke and HP, plus high-fidelity simulation systems, including the market-leading Opnet.

You’ll use Alienware computers, CISCO Packet Tracer, and test your web applications in our new device laboratory. This is a special test area integrated within one of our existing software development spaces. It consists of a range of mobile devices mounted on flexible tethers. This arrangement allows you to test your website designs and apps on real equipment, ensuring they perform as expected on the target platforms.

Course content is developed with input from a variety of sources, including an industrial liaison panel, making sure that your studies include the latest technology and working practice from industry experts.

ABOUT THE FACILITY

Computing students have full access to the University’s state-of-the-art IT and networking facilities. The UX lab usability testing facility is based at our city-centre campus and is available for commercial and academic projects and provides services such as usability testing, observation, and evaluation. With the use of the world’s top eye tracking device, Tobii, we provide customised services and flexible fees to meet your budget.

Usability testing

TechSmith Morae usability software records on-screen activity, mouse clicks, and keystrokes, while Tobii T60 eye tracking hardware and software give you a real-time view of the exact spot the user is viewing while completing an on-screen task. In addition, six webcams, remotely managed from the control room, provide complete coverage of users and target software. The testing room can also accommodate and provide video coverage of focus groups of up to eight people.

Control

The testing room also contains an overhead projector, desktop microphone, six overhead microphones, and ceiling-mounted speakers for both focus groups and presentations. Clients can manage all elements of the testing environment from our control room, including lighting, sounds, screens, PCs, and all other equipment. Post-test analysis can also provide heat map data showing which areas of the screen were viewed, and for how long, indicating the best areas to place key messages and which areas to avoid.

Observation

From behind sound-proofed privacy glass in our comfortable and fully-equipped observation room, you can monitor participants’ behavior during focus groups or usability testing. You can also view activities on a remote PC monitor displaying real-time eye-tracking data for a closer view of interfaces or images used during the session. In addition, we offer a remote observation option, allowing clients to listen and view the session online from anywhere in the world.

Evaluation

At the end of testing, we provide a full DVD of the session and will work with you to supply an in-depth report tailored to your requirements. As well as providing a detailed analysis of usability results, including task analyses and eye-tracking data, the report also includes recommendations for improvement.

Why choose us?

• Gain early user feedback, helping you to focus on the right issues.

• Obtain walkthrough user evaluation.

• Have complete coverage of test users and target software during testing.

• Observe participant behavior during focus groups.

• Control the testing environment, screens, and all equipment.

• Gain real-time viewing of what the users are seeing and how they are responding.

• Obtain an in-depth, post-test analysis of user responses, including eye-tracking data on areas of the screen viewed, for how long, and locations avoided.

• Our high-tech computer networking labs are a well-known Cisco academy, and training courses ranging from introductory level to industry-recognised commercial certificates, such as CCNA and CCNP are held here. The facility is a training partner with EC-Council to provide Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) qualification and certification and, in collaboration with Westermo, also provides training on the Westermo networking equipment designed specifically for extreme weather conditions.

• Lab machines can be configured flexibly to implement and test computer networks for a medium-sized company. The lab machines are equipped with a multitude of academic and commercial software to design, simulate, test, monitor, and manage computer networks, as well as to learn ethical hacking, virtualization, and software- defined networks. A number of postgraduate, undergraduate, and professional courses in the computer networking field benefit from regularly using the labs.

Modules Units And CATS Points:

• Research Methods (15)
  This module will initially introduce the student to core methodological approaches. It will then examine a range of specific research methods, which are essential to underpin good research, as well as exploring some of the tools which are used in the processing and analysis of datasets.

• Professional Issues and Practice (15)
  The module will look at standards of practice, not as a set of static documents but as a dynamic set of potential achievements, as for example envisaged by TickITplus and CMMI.

• Pilot Project (15)
  The Pilot Project module builds on concepts delivered across the Master's degree in technical and research areas and is designed to develop the student’s research skills by undertaking a pilot study which will then lead to a larger-scale study in the Research Project module.

• Research Project (45)
  The MSc project is the culmination of the Master's experience and draws on both the technical skills learned through the taught components of the course and the research skills developed through the Research Methods and Pilot Project modules.

• Computer Fundamentals (15)
  This module introduces students to computer fundamentals and related concepts.

• Cyber Security Application (15)
  This module provides students with a practical introduction to cybersecurity.

• Cyber Security Management (15)
  This module introduces students to key terminology, concepts, and issues related to cyber security.

• Networking (15)
  This is an introduction to networks and is designed to develop the skills necessary to plan and implement small networks across a range of applications.

• Security (15)
  This module provides a broad understanding of security threats and how to combat them.

• Web Technologies (15)
  This module gives graduates from non-computing backgrounds a thorough grounding in web development.

English Language Requirements

Applicants who do not have English as their first language will be required to demonstrate an approved level of proficiency in the use of the English language. The agreed minimum requirements for this course are:

• IELTS 6.0 with no component score below 5.5

• TOEFL IBT minimum 80 with a minimum of 20 in each individual component

• Duolingo English Language Test - 100 overall with a minimum of 90 in each component

• or equivalent.

Qualifications are checked before enrolment, and international students must bring their original certificates or certified copies when coming to study at the University.