Catalogue Description
Human-computer interface is considered in terms of user-system compatibility. Concepts in human factors and interface design are covered in relation to capabilities of both humans and computers.
This course will teach you about the importance of the human-computer interface in software design and development. The objectives of the course are
An approximate syllabus for the course appears below. Quite a few changes should be expected.
Week Reading Topics 1 1-2, 17-18 Importance of interface design and human factors. 2 30.4 Design methods and process. Questionnaire design. 3 20 Task analysis. Formative evaluation. 4 32-34, 29-31 Observing users. Experiments and studies. 5 22, 28 Envisioning designs. GUI builder tools. 6 27,133 Rapid prototyping. Screen layout and organization. 7 13 Dialog styles: menus, forms, command languages, direct manipulation. 8 13-14 Natural language usage. Organization of functionality. 9 3 User models. Mental models. 10 11-12 I/O interaction devices. Response time. Error Handling. 11 15-16 Hypertext, CSCW, multimedia.
You are expected to purchase the required text: Human-Computer Interaction, by Jenny Preece, Addison Wesley, 1994. We will be skipping around in terms of reading assignments, so watch for class or newsgroup announcements to discover the assigned reading for the next class period. There is no excuse for ignorance of the assigned reading material.
Your final grade is made up of three major components: homework assignments, projects, and an exam. The weighting of these components is described below.
Students are expected to do their own work at all times and to follow the university's codes of academic conduct. Cases of suspected collaboration or cheating will be immediately forwarded to the Dean of Student Affairs, and will be pursued to resolution. This is an unpleasant process for all involved, so please do not put yourself in this situation.
Students are expected to conduct themselves in a professional manner-this entails showing up for exams at the appointed time. Late make-up exams will not be given, so beware of circumstances such as ``My alarm didn't go off,'' or ``I thought the exam was Thursday.'' If some form of prior commitment does not allow a student to take an exam at the given time, PRIOR arrangements should be made with the instructor.
Extra work, after the quarter, is not allowed to ``bring up'' a grade. A student's grade shall be earned from their performance solely on the quarter's assignments.
Grading is determined by a quarter long accumulation of points, weighed in percentage as stated for each component as summarized below. Determinations of the individual category breakdowns will be determined by looking for gaps or clumps in the final averages.
A final examination is planned for the course. Most exam questions will reflect the material covered in lecture and assigned reading. The exams will consist mostly of short answer questions, with a few multiple-choice, T-F, and longer essay questions thrown in as well.
I anticipate giving two homework assignments which will be carried out individually by each student. The topic matter of the assignments will be determined later. Each HW assignment will be worth 10% of your grade.
One quarter-long interface design project will be given in this course. The project will be broken down into four assignments, each of about two weeks in length. Each of these assignments is worth 10% of your final grade, except for the third part which is worth 15%. The project will have you develop an alternative interface for some computer-based application such as a library book search system, an airline reservation system, a calendar manager, etc. The four assignments will have you design questionnaires, evaluate existing interfaces, design and develop a new interface, and then make an evaluation of your designs. The material which you turn in should be presented professionally, type-written, and should stress grammatical correctness and clarity. You will be judged on your originality, innovativeness, quality of writing, and correctness. Each assignment will be graded on a scale of 0 to 20. Further details will be available below.
Reading assignments will be specified for each week. You are expected to come to class, and be prepared - that is, having read and having made an attempt to understand the material. You should be ready to discuss the material covered in the lectures and reading. Much of the material in this course is subjective. Feel free to describe your views.
Component Non-graduating Graduating HW 1 10% 15% HW 2 10% 15% Project part 1 10% 15% Project part 2 10% 15% Project part 3 15% 25% Project part 4 10% 15% Final exam 35%
The professor reserves the right to modify any of these plans as need be during the course of the class.