The 120 hour course is devoted to the design of interactive systems which are modelled in the Unified Modelling Language (UML), but where the design is informed by human-computer interaction (HCI) design methods.

The course is concerned with software design methods for the beginning part of the system development life cycle when the overall system scope, contents, and functionality are designed. Intervention of HCI design techniques in the early life cycle grounds the system design in the world of the user, and contributes to end usability of the systems.

This course is based on recent methods research in integrating object modelling methods with HCI design methods. A significant part of the course is devoted to gaining practical experience in using participatory design methods (The Bridge and PICTIVE) where users and developers collaborate in designing the system and evaluating the developing design.

The final day of the course is devoted to assessing practical techniques used and further method development.