I am Syed Murad. I am HE Programme Leader in the Department of Computer Science at the Yeovil college. My primary research area is Human-Computer Interaction, in particular Persuasive Technology, Persuasive Visualisation, Data Physicalization and UX design. I am also interested in interaction design for the user who are most difficult to accommodate - which tend to be those who have little or no digital experience and/or those who are reluctant to learning new interactions.

I was involved on the EPSRC Sandpit funded project Building Relationships with the Invisible in the Digital (Global) Economy (BRIDGE), in conjunction with Product Design and Engineering Department at Middlesex University, Business School at Edinburgh University, and Institute of Transport Studies at Leeds University.Within this project my team examined the barriers to use for older novice users of handheld touchscreen devices. I subsequently worked on the EPSRC/ESRC funded project ‘Protecting Children in Online Social Networks’. I was also involved on the Service Design research group at Loughborough University.

Experiences
       CURRENT
HE Programme Leader and Lead IV for Computing
Yeovil College

I am currently working at Yeovil College as HE Programme Leader and Lead IV for Computing. I am the programme leader and lead IV for HNC-D Degree programme. I manage curriculum and administrative aspects of these programmes. I lead the teaching and interview of IT to students in pursuing HNC-D and Degree. I also manage a team of lecturers to ensure that the team work effectively accordingly to collage guidelines and that lessons were delivered effectively to enhance positive experiences for all the students. This job requires to design and delivery of lectures, seminars, and tutorials to students within the IT HNC-D and Degree programme. I am teaching and supervising research projects for the degree programme. Part of the job requires to develop curriculum and documentation standards and manages adherence to the defined standards and processes to ensure compliance. I also lead validation process and documents. I have developed relationships with internal and external stakeholders to ensure planning business objectives are achieved. I monitored student progress across academic programmes. I also oversee the academic labs and provided leadership for planning new and improved labs and staff development to optimise student academic success.

       2019
          -
       2021
Computer science tutor / Module Coordinator
UWE Bristol’s International College

I have worked as a Lecturer and module coordinator. I was responsible for Database Design & Implementation, Web programming, computer architecture and Programming. Furthermore, I was responsible for the computing department and ensured smooth running. During 2019, I was involved in creating all learning material and validation for computer science department. I was also involved in planning and running student support and the learning weeks.

       2018
          -
       2019
Student Engagement Officer
University of Sunderland in London

I was the key contact point for the students at business school throughout the course. I also monitored their attendance and engagement, liaised with academic tutors and Health and Wellbeing team when necessary. I had used a suite of data to effectively analyse student performance in regard to attendance, academic engagement, adherence to external regulations (Tier 4 requirements) and payment of fees, etc. I also produced regular and ad hoc reports to analyse student attendance and retention activities. Part of my job required meeting with students regarding their performance, engagement and with other issues to ensure that they can engage and have the best student experience. I maintained an in-deep understanding of the of university regulations and procedures to support the provision of accurate advice, guidance and signposting. I had created and build up a professional relationship with my students to ensure a clean and engaging admissions and academic process through their entire journey to completion. I was also involved with admission and interviewing potential student.

       2015
          -
       2018
Researcher
Loughborough University

I have played a key role in investigating Service Design and identify/design methods suitable for different stage of the project. I planned, modified, and executed research techniques and tests. I have undertaken qualitative and quantitative research and conducting detailed analysis of experimental data. I was responsible to write a yearly report based on experiment results and analysis.

       2009
          -
       2015
Lecturer / Module Leader (London and Dubai Campus)
Researcher – BRIDGE Project
Researcher – ISIS Project
Middlesex University

I have worked as a Lecturer/Module Leader in the School of Science and Technology at Middlesex University. My major responsibilities as a Lecturer/Module Leader were delivering lectures and labs, preparing coursework and other course materials, engaging with students to facilitate effective learning, and marking and submitting grades. I was leading a team of 4 lab tutors working on my module. I was responsible to brief them on the module and how the teaching will be organised, furthermore, to ensure that student needs and expectations are met.

I played a key role in investigating and evaluating user interfaces involving conducting evaluation sessions with user groups, undertaking qualitative and quantitative usability testing and conducting detailed analysis of experimental data and contributing to the formulation of conclusions and working with technical personnel to develop interfaces accordingly.

I was actively involved in the EPSRC/ESRC funded “Protecting Children in Online Social Networks” project aimed at developing an ethics-cantered monitoring framework and tools for supporting law enforcement agencies in policing social networks. I was responsible to conduct thorough investigations into various methods of participatory design, performing interviews and investigating workshop techniques with mix methods.

Education
       2026

PhD candidate

Durham University
  • Thesis Topic:
    Design and Development of Persuasive Visualization Methods for Behavioural Changes towards Sustainable Travel.
       2012

MSc: Information Technology

Cardiff Metropolitan University Modules
  • Relational Database Systems
  • Programming Methodologies

  • Networking & Data Communication
  • System Analysis & Design
       2006

BSc: Information Technology

Middlesex University Modules
  • Database Systems
  • Commercial Web Design

  • Information Systems & Strategic Management
  • New Media Design & Technology

  • Computing Project
       2002

PUP

  • English
  • Higher Mathematics

  • C++
  • Probability & Statistics

  • Statistics, Discrete Mathematics and Introduction to Programming
Learning and Teaching Interests
yeovil logo
Yeovil College

Programme Leadership:

  • BSc (Hons) Computing (Level 6)
  • HND Computing (Top-Up)
  • HNC Computing

Module Leadership:
BSc YC6002 - Advanced Programming YC6003 - User Experience Design YC6004 - Web Application Development YC6006 - Dissertation HND Unit 28 - Prototyping Unit 29 - Application Programming Interface Unit 30 - Application Development HNC Unit 1 - Programming Unit 4 - Database design & Development Unit 9 - Software Development Life Cycles Unit 10 - Website Design & Development

UWE Bristol’s International College

Programme Leadership:

  • Undergraduate International Year One

Module Leadership:
Database Design Implementation - Web programming - Programming - Computer architecture

Middlesex University

Module Leadership:

  • Database Management Systems (BIS1200) - London and Dubai Campus

Modules:
Information Systems Project (BIS3322) - Data Warehousing and Business Intelligence (BIS3214)- New Media (CMT3331) - Database Systems: Design and Online (BIS2212) - Object Oriented Analysis and Design (BIS2311) - Web Development and Scripting Technologies (CMT2317) - Information Systems Foundations (BIS1201) - Discovering Interaction Design (CMT1300)

Publications
An Exploratory Study on Sustainable Academic Business Travel: Implications for Technological Design for Behaviour Change.

Syed Murad, Effie Law
Proceedings of 36th International BCS Human Computer Interaction Conference 2023.

Abstract
Business travels are a significant perpetuator for carbon emissions. With our exploratory study, we aimed to gain a better understanding of academic business travellers’ knowledge, planning strategies and mental models for sustainable travel. Analyses of the interviews and card sorting data showed that the travellers had insufficient knowledge or support for sustainable travel choices. The user experience of in-control, trust and security in the transport used was the salient factor for their choices. Our future work will focus on utilising persuasive models and interactive technologies for behaviour change to make sustainable travel choices.

Using task analysis to explore novice older participants’ experiences with a handheld touchscreen device.

Syed Murad, Michael D Bradley, Neesha Kodagoda, Yvonne F Barnard, Ashley D Lloyd.
M. Anderson (ed.) Contemporary Ergonomics 2012 (Taylor & Francis, London)

Abstract
Access to online resources is becoming more important for engagement with society. However, older people with limited experience of digital interfaces can have significant difficulties with access. Touchscreen devices have shown potential to offer a lower learning barrier for older and novice users. Usability becomes increasingly important with age related changes in sensory perception, cognition and motor skills. This pilot study has investigated errors made by older users with low prior experience of digital interactions. This paper reports their behaviour and errors using a tablet touchscreen device through attempting several tasks. Task analysis and actual user task sequences have been used to explore the errors and consequent difficulties experienced by the participants.

Designing a first prototype touchscreen interface for older novice users.

Michael D Bradley, Emeline Zitkus, Neesha Kodagoda, Syed Murad, Adrian Westaway, Clara Gaggero, Duncan Fitzsimons, Yvonne Barnard, Ashley Lloyd.
M. Anderson (ed) Contemporary Ergonomics 2012 (Taylor & Francis, London)

Abstract
Designing digital interfaces for users who are older, novice and digitally excluded is not well addressed in the research literature. This paper describes a part of the process of generating a touchscreen interface prototype for this group, for subsequent evaluation with representative users. The rationale to develop such an interface and some of the major decisions taken to reach the prototype are discussed. The paper highlights the issues found in the process and suggests a topic to be explored in future research to facilitate the design of digitally inclusive interfaces.

Photos
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