CI7801 User Experience Major Project 2025-26 | KU

Assignment Brief and Assessment Criteria 

(These will be discussed within a formally timetabled class)

Getting Started

For information and opinions about different kinds of Ux projects, Internships, industry-based projects, collaborative projects with other students, advice for part-time students, please refer to the talk ‘About Ux Major Project’, which is posted on the home page of the module on Canvas.

Each student will be allocated a supervisor.  A supervisor is expected to suggest general kinds of projects or project themes to inspire their students. However, the responsibility of developing project ideas, building relationships with project hosts and negotiating access to the project remains with the student.

It is essential that your proposed project is within the scope of User Experience Design. Talk to your supervisor about the suitability of your project idea. User Experience Design is interpreted broadly, but to apply the marking criteria, every project must conduct user research and user interaction design. Ultimately the Course Leader has the final word on whether a project idea is acceptable. 

A suitable project topic must be of sufficient complexity.  A topic of trivial scope, for which standard solutions already exist or that could normally be done at an undergraduate level, is not suitable for a Master s-level project. You should always seek advice from your supervisor on what is considered a Master's level.

Gradually develop an increasingly clear and complete statement of the project’s background, aims, methods, risks and deliverables.  Planning a project often takes calendar time, e.g. to arrange meetings, obtain permissions, agree ownership, etc, so begin early. 

2. Suggested Structure (maximum 2,500 words not including Executive Summary or Appendices)

The Project Definition and Proposal Report is worth 10% of the overall mark.  Please use the following structure:

Executive Summary – “Abstract”: a summary of the project 

• Introduction and Background – what stakeholders and topics are concerned with?  What problem will you address? Why is the project important? What are the benefits to the stakeholders?  How does it contribute to innovation? How does it relate to and extend previous work and existing knowledge?  
• Aims – What is the purpose of the project?  What is the ‘Big Design Concept’ behind the project?  What will the project deliver? Are there intermediate or enabling deliverables?  ‘Roughs’ or other visuals can show this.
• Method and Workplan – How will you use the technologies and resources to achieve your aims?  Show the major phases of the project, milestones and deliverables. Generate a schedule using a Gantt chart or similar form and analyse risks.  
• Technologies and Resources - list the major resources required.  What technologies are you going to use?  Where will your data/participants come from?  A prototype or practical investigation can help to resolve this.
• Contingency Plans: Consider major risks.  What will you do if the risks materialise?
• References

Appendix I Research Ethics Review Form - ALL MSc Ux projects must include a completed application form for ethical review (more below).    
Appendix II Data Gathering Materials – All MSc Ux projects must include blank copies of the materials that will be used to gather data (more below).
Appendix III Confidentiality Form (optional) To keep a confidential project out of DMK project library, please mark all pages as ‘confidential’ in the header, and include a form here (more below).  

Please note that the proposal is intended to be relatively short.  The Introduction and Background, Literature Review and Method sections will be developed fully in the Dissertation report which you hand in at the end of the project.

3. Research Ethics Review Form 

It is assumed that your final major project will ‘use human subjects’, for example, to research user requirements and to evaluate prototypes.  Consequently, all Ux Major Projects require approval by the Faculty's Research Ethics Committee.  To enable this, please complete the standard templated Ethics Review Form and include it in your proposal as an Appendix.  Please also include templated user research materials to clarify your plans for data gathering in another Appendix II.  

The templated Ethics Review Form and templated associated Materials are both available via links on the home page of the module on canvas.

Information about using human subjects and personal data, and how to complete the Research Ethics Review form, is also available on the same page.
 
The standard templated Ethics Review Form and Materials assume that you will be performing usability tests or similar on able-bodied adults between 18-65 years old, about non-sensitive topics and in safe indoor environments – this will be sufficient for 95% of projects.

Projects that require ‘an independent ethical review’, because of their exceptional complexity, are not normally supported – the benefits of your MSc project do not justify the cost of full ethical review.  However, if you want to conduct a project that involves access to vulnerable people (such as children, the elderly or infirm), that addresses a sensitive or taboo topics (such as extreme politics or drugs), and work that exposes participants to risk or danger (such as medical advice, or outdoor environments or activities), then please seek advice from your Supervisor.  You should allow enough time to research the ethical issues that are raised and how to deal with them in your research methodology, complete relevant forms, describe tailored methodologies and produce all the customised materials you will need, before your user research starts.  =Please hand in proposals for ‘advanced’ projects, a custom Ethics Form, and custom user research materials in the same way as described above.

Research Ethics forms do not need to be signed before the hand-in, as supervisors are not necessarily available immediately before the hand-in.  The presence or absence of a supervisor’s signature on the Ethics form will not affect your mark.    =The supervisor's ethical review (positive or negative) is expressed in the proposal feedback and marking.  Projects that fail ethical review may not start user research activities, and should contact their supervisor to make the required changes.

4. Confidential Projects and Non- Non-Disclosure Agreements 

When discussing possible projects, please be sensitive to your own and the University’s possible Intellectual Property.  Sometimes, the fact that a project is merely being considered is valuable information.  As a general rule, when working on dissertation projects that collaborate with academic research or industry-related projects, please ask first before disclosing information outside the university. 

Industrial or KU Research Hosts may wish to claim copyright, particularly if they pay the student for any work done.  They may also wish to draw up Non-Disclosure Agreements for students and supervisors/markers to sign to ensure Intellectual Property is not shared outside the project.  Confidentiality agreements and NDAS are perfectly acceptable to KU, provided that they permit academic access to the project for it to be assessed etc.

If your Project is confidential:

Mark “confidential” in the header of every page in your proposal and final dissertation report. 
Include confidentiality Agreements and/or Non non-disclosure agreements immediately after the cover sheet  
Arrange special hand-in arrangements with your supervisor, e.g. deliver hard-copies by hand, rather than uploading to Canvas and OneDrive.  Hard copies may be returned to the student after the relevant Exam Boards.

Also, reports that contain significant amounts of third-party copyright material, such as substantial extracts from publications, books and journals, or illustrations such as images, maps, photographs, tables, etc, should not be stored in DMK Project Library without seeking the permission of the copyright holders.  You can include third-party material in the Dissertation that you submit for examination, but it may not be stored in the DMK Project Library.

If your project contains significant amounts of third-party copyright material:
Mark “Contains substantial amounts of third-party material ” in the header of every page in your proposal and final dissertation report.

All Ux Final Projects, which have achieved a grade of 60% or above, will be made available to other students for 10 years via an electronic repository (DMK Project Library). Projects marked as Confidential or Contain Confidential Material will not be included in DMK project library.

5. Common Questions

Should I use specific Collaboration Tools?  Yes please.  To enable effective supervision, all students are expected to maintain a shared whiteboard agreed with their supervisor (e.g. Miro or Figma) and to video-conference via MS Teams or similar.
  
Can a student request a specific pattern of supervision in a proposal? No, to ensure equal and fair treatment of all students, supervision arrangements should be generally the same for all students, and attendance at all sessions is expected, but not compulsory.  Supervision arrangements should normally comprise five, four-week cycles, each cycle comprising the following:
 Week 1: 30min 1-1 supervision 
 Week 2: a co-work session of 2-3 hours in a small group of up to 20 students.
 Week 3: independent work
 Week 4: a co-work session of 2-3 hours in a small group of up to 20 students. 

The details of supervision will be arranged at the mutual convenience of staff and students, and variation around the standard 4-week cycle is to be expected.  For example, supervisors and students may jointly arrange remote co-work and supervision sessions using MS Teams to enable supervision during a vacation, or to minimise travel.  However, it is not appropriate to insist on particular modes of supervision or dates.  If supervision arrangements are not compatible, please report that impasse to the module leader.

Can an overseas student propose a project that is based abroad?  Can they conduct user research abroad, and then return to the UK to do the design?   No.  KU is sponsoring your UK VISA, and prolonged absence from the university questions your need to be in the UK at all, and so raises issues for KU's sponsorship request.  UK residents may conduct overseas projects, provided a supervisor is willing to supervise them.

I have handed in my proposal, but now I have just landed an Internship.  Can I change my topic? Yes.  This will involve ‘going back to the beginning’ and planning the new project, of course, so … try not to change plans too late.  

I have exceeded the target word length – will I be penalised automatically? No, but try to write clearly and concisely.  

Does the maximum Word Length include Appendices? No. The target word length stated does not include captions, annotations, tables, illustrations, insert panels, quotes and Appendices.  If your draft is looking “too long”, perhaps you could use images, diagrams, tables, charts, inserts, Panels or create Appendices.  A picture with a caption and an annotation can say 1000 words.

Does my Project Title Contribute towards the Mark? Yes, see the example in the cover sheet.  A title should identify and memorably describe the key deliverable in 10- 15 words.