CMPE 131/231 and PSYC 131/223:

Human-Computer Interaction

Jump to: Syllabus ¦ Suggested readings

What is the course about?

This course presents theories and practices in Human-Computer Interaction that allow development of user interfaces that are fit for the purposes of their diverse users in a variety of contexts. It informs students how to gather user requirements, create prototypes, and conduct evaluations to verify the design.

Logistics

When and where?

Physical Sciences 140, Tuesdays and Thursdays 4:00-5:45 PM

Assessment

Undergraduate:

• Mid-term exam (W1-5 material): 35%
• Final exam (W6-10 material): 35%
• Group project report and presentation (3-4 people): 30%

Graduate:

• Mid-term exam (W1-5 material): 30%
• Final exam (W6-10 material): 30%
• Research paper: 30%
• Reviewing work: 10%

About the project

Syllabus

Weeks:

1. Logistical arrangement. History of HCI. Week 1 slides
   Readings:
   • A Brief History of Human Computer Interaction Technology
2. Human: Model Human Processor, Keystroke Level Model, five senses and their design implications (color design, Gestalt principles, earcons, auditory icons, Fitts’ Law, Hicks’ Law), memory (types of memory, reasoning, problem solving), attention, mental model – and their design implications (metaphor, affordance, mapping). Week 2 slides
   Readings:
   • Seeing, Hearing and Smelling the World
   • Preece et al. - second edition, Chapter 3
3. Various design approaches (User-, Task- and System-Centered Designs). Requirements analysis and techniques (scenarios, personas, storyboards, brainstorming, use cases). Prototyping (low and high fidelity). Week 3 slides
   Readings:
   • Task-Centered User Interface Design
   • Personas: Practice and Theory
   • Five Reasons for Scenario-Based Design, an article by John Carroll, one of the pioneering thought leaders in scenario-based design
   • Protoyping for Tiny Fingers, the still often discussed paper on prototyping
   • Preece et al. - second edition, Chapters 9, 10.1-10.6, 11
4. Design process (task analysis, screen design). Evaluation and quality assurance concepts (formative and summative). Week 4 slides
   Readings:
   • Hierarchical Task Analysis: Developments, Applications and Extensions, this is just a suggested reading if you would like to know the history of HTA
   • Preece et al. - second edition, Chapters 10.7, 11
5. Designing for differently-abled users: users with special needs, accessibility initiatives (WCAG, Section 508, Universal Design), ethical consideration, IRB Week 5 slides
   Readings:
   • Section 508 Standards
   • Web Content Accessibility Guidelines version 1.0 and version 2.0
   • UCSC Institutional Review Board - Guidelines of the Committee for Protection of Human Subjects
6. Mid-term exam on Tuesday, February 12, 2008 (room Social Sciences II 071). Mock exam
   Evaluation method 1: inquiry (ethnography, focus group, contextual inquiry, interview, questionnaire). Week 6 slides
7. Evaluation method 2: inspection (cognitive walkthrough, heuristics evaluation – Nielsen’s heuristics) and testing (thinking aloud protocol, retrospective testing, co-discovery learning). Week 7 slides
8. Experimental design, basic analyis of qualitative and quantitative data. Week 8 slides
9. Experience design. Flow, immersion, attractiveness. Emotion (physiology of, design to induce positive emotion and reduce frustration). Philosophical, social, ethical implications of affective computing. Week 9 slides
10. Application: mobile/ubiquitous computing. Week 10 slides
    The future of HCI. The slides
11. Final exam on Friday, March 21, 2008 (room TBA). Final exam is now a takehome exam due on Wednesday, March 19 at noon (12:00), as has been suggested and voted favorably by the students

Additional suggested readings

Note: More will be added later in the quarter

• J.Preece, Y.Rogers, H.Sharp. Interaction Design: beyond Human-Computer Interaction, 2007
• Microsoft's Windows Vista User Experience Article
• Introduction to Apple Human Interface Guidelines
• Usability Evaluation
• Don Norman's articles