Computer Science · 11th Grade

Active learning ideas

User Experience (UX) Design Principles

Active learning works for UX design because it forces students to confront the gap between their intentions as creators and the actual experiences of users. When students test their own designs on peers, they see firsthand how design choices shape behavior, not just aesthetics.

• Common Core State Standards
• CSTA: 3B-AP-19
• CSTA: 3B-AP-21

• 25–40 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Gallery Walk
• 40 min · Pairs

Heuristic Evaluation Workshop

Pairs evaluate a provided website or app against Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics. Each pair documents three violations with severity ratings and proposes specific fixes, then shares findings with another pair to compare and reconcile conflicting evaluations.

Explain fundamental principles of good User Experience (UX) design.

Facilitation Tip

In the Heuristic Evaluation Workshop, provide each group with a color-coded Nielsen’s heuristics checklist to ensure they evaluate every principle systematically.

What to look for

Students pair up and conduct a heuristic evaluation of each other's project wireframes. Each student provides written feedback on at least three of Nielsen's heuristics, identifying specific UI elements that violate the principle and suggesting an improvement.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

Activity 02

• Gallery Walk
• 30 min · Pairs

Think-Aloud Usability Test

One student navigates a simple task on a classmate's prototype while speaking their thought process aloud. The designer takes notes without responding or explaining. After three minutes, pairs swap roles, then each designer lists two specific changes they will make based on what they observed.

Analyze how UX design impacts user satisfaction and product adoption.

Facilitation Tip

During the Think-Aloud Usability Test, remind observers to record exact quotes from users rather than paraphrasing to capture authentic reactions.

What to look for

Facilitate a class discussion using the prompt: 'Imagine you are designing a new feature for a popular social media app. Which two usability heuristics would you prioritize and why? How would you test your design to ensure it meets these heuristics?'

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

Activity 03

• Gallery Walk
• 25 min · Whole Class

Gallery Walk: Interface Critique

Post printed screenshots of five different interfaces (a government site, a consumer app, a school platform, a gaming UI, a healthcare portal). Students rotate with sticky notes, flagging one UX strength and one weakness on each. Class synthesizes patterns in what makes interfaces work or fail.

Critique existing software interfaces based on UX best practices.

Facilitation Tip

For the Gallery Walk: Interface Critique, post each interface alongside a blank feedback form with guided questions to direct comments toward UX principles.

What to look for

Present students with a screenshot of a common application interface (e.g., a banking app login screen). Ask them to identify one element that demonstrates good 'visibility of system status' and one element that could be improved for 'user control and freedom'.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

Activity 04

• Gallery Walk
• 30 min · Small Groups

Empathy Mapping: Who Is My User?

Before designing anything, student groups create an empathy map for their target user, documenting what the user says, thinks, does, and feels when trying to accomplish their goal. Groups share maps and refine their feature list based on insights that emerged.

Explain fundamental principles of good User Experience (UX) design.

Facilitation Tip

In Empathy Mapping, have students physically move sticky notes into categories as they discuss user needs to reinforce the activity’s hands-on structure.

What to look for

Students pair up and conduct a heuristic evaluation of each other's project wireframes. Each student provides written feedback on at least three of Nielsen's heuristics, identifying specific UI elements that violate the principle and suggesting an improvement.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teach UX design by making the abstract concrete early. Start with low-stakes activities like critiquing existing apps before students attempt their own designs. Avoid letting students skip the research phase—insist on user interviews or surveys before wireframing to prevent the 'curse of knowledge' from derailing their work. Research shows that iterative testing with real users, even small samples, yields more usable designs than solo development cycles.

Successful learning looks like students shifting from defending their designs to asking questions about user needs. They should use UX vocabulary to describe problems and propose solutions based on evidence from testing, not personal preference.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Heuristic Evaluation Workshop, watch for students who focus only on visual design elements like color or font choice, and redirect them to the heuristic list to identify functional issues like consistency or error prevention.

  Guide students to examine whether their peers' wireframes include clear error messages or intuitive navigation flows, even if the interface looks simple.

• During Think-Aloud Usability Test, watch for students who assume a user's confusion means the user is 'not tech-savvy,' and redirect them to analyze which specific design choices caused the problem.

  Have students note exactly where users hesitated or made mistakes, then ask the class to brainstorm alternative designs that address those pain points.

• During Empathy Mapping, watch for students who create a single 'generic' user profile and assume it applies to everyone, and redirect them to consider diverse needs and contexts.

  Challenge students to find at least two distinct user personas with different abilities, goals, or environments to ensure their designs meet varied needs.

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Methods used in this brief

• Gallery Walk