General Educational Aims: This course provides an introduction to the field of human-computer interaction (HCI), with an emphasis on user interface design and evaluation. Students will learn methods for user needs and task analysis as well as interface testing, and guidelines for good user interface design.

Requirements: Graduate level. Students should have used computers and different software for at least one year.

Format: Lecture and quarter-long term project with internal and external clients. One homework and some discussion.

Time and Location: TuTh  3:30- 4:50pm DBH 1200

This class vs. INF232: This class will focus on practical HCI skills and training. It will cater to the needs of master students and of those PhD students who are mostly interested in the practical aspects of HCI. The INF 232 class will cater to Ph.D. students who intend to focus on HCI as a research topic (MS students who are particularly qualified and theoretically inclined can also be admitted). It will focus on influential HCI literature, HCI theory, and current research questions. A familiarity with basic HCI topics and methods will be assumed.
 
 
Required readings:

• Catherine Courage and Kathy Baxter (2005): Understanding Your Users: A Practical Guide to User Requirements -- Methods, Tools, & Techniques. Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN 1-55860-935-0. Also as e-book
• Joseph S. Dumas, Janice C. Redish: A Practical Guide to Usability Testing. Revised Edition 1999. Exeter, England and Portland, Oregon: Intellect ISBN 1841500208
• D. K. Farkas J. B. and Farkas (2000): Guidelines for Designing Web Navigation. Technical Communication 4(2000), 341-358.
               Electronic version (for class usage only! )
  
  All books are also available from a reserve in the Science Library, and some from the UCI bookstore.

Optional readings at your leisure:

• Ben Shneiderman and Catherine Plaisant (2009): Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction. Fifth Edition, Addison-Wesley, ISBN 0321-53735-1
• Jeff Johnson (2010): Designing with the Mind in Mind: Simple Guide to Understanding User Interface Design Rules. Burlington, MA: Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN 978012375030
• Carol M. Barnum (2010): Usability Testing Essentials. Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN 978-0123750921
  
• Jeffrey Rubin and Dana Chisnell (2008): Handbook of Usability Testing: How to Plan, Design, and Conduct Effective Tests. 2nd edition. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0470185483
• Jakob Nielsen and Robert L. Mack (1994): Usability Inspection Methods. New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-01877-5.
• Jim Thatcher et al. (2006): Web Accessibility: Web Standards and Regulatory Compliance. Friends of Ed. ISBN 978-1590-59638-8. Electronic edition (free from within UCI domain).
• Caroline Jarrett and Gerry Gaffney (2008): Forms that Work: Designing Web Forms for Usability. Morgan Kaufmann, ISBN 978-1558607101
  
• Kent L. Norman (1991): The Psychology of Menu Selection. Exeter, England and Portland, Oregon: Intellect. ISBN 089391553X
• Jan H. Spyridakis: Guidelines for Authoring Comprehensible Web Pages and Evaluating Their Success. Technical Communication 4 (2000), 359-382. Electronic version (for class usage only!)
  

Grading:    50% for project (group grade, unless vetoed)        
                   45% for final exam
                     5% for homework
                   up to 10% bonus for active in-class participation
                   up to 10% penalty for absence during client presentations and meetings of your project.

Efficient reading: see here
            Note that the amount of readings in this class will be extensive
Cheating: see here
Students with Disabilities: see here

Adding/Dropping:  Since the projects start right away, the class can only be dropped until Wednesday, 29 Sept. at 11:59pm.
Course Evaluation: Nov.23-Dec.5 (11:45pm)

Course Notes:  see here

Office hours: After class, or Thu 10-11am in Bren Hall Rm 5092
                        (contact me in class or send email beforehand)

Syllabus:

Unit #	Date	Topic	Readings (*), homeworks, etc.
1	9/28	1. What is HCI and Why Should We Learn About it?	Sign up for project
2	9/30	Presentation of projects 3 and 4 by customers 3:30pm:  Project 4: Comparing two Mobile Location-Sharing Systems (Xinru Page) 3:50pm: Project 3: Revision of Expense Reporting Website (Vince Allen, Matt Brtis) 2. User Needs Analysis	Start your project
3	10/5	Presentation of projects 5-8 by customers 3:30pm: Project 6: Usability and Utility of a Network Visualization of Document Topics 3:50pm: Project 5: Testing the Usability of a Scheduling System 4:10pm: Project 7: Testing Suggested Modifications to a User Interface for Source Code Search 4:30pm: Project 8: Utility and Usability of an Awareness Tool for Collaborative Software Development	Start your project
4	10/6 5-6:20pm	Presentation of projects 1-2 by customer 5pm:  Project 1: Comparing Search Engines for Online Resources (Chris Davis) 5:15 pm:  Project 2: Usage of the Libraries Website on Smartphones (Chris Davis) 2. User Needs Analysis 2.1 Interviews 2.2. Surveys	C&B Ch.7 C&B Ch.8
5	10/7	3. Usability evaluations 3.1 Heuristik evaluation	Homework due  (dropbox)
6 Sound stops at 45 mins	10/12	3.2 Cognitive walkthrough 3.3 Usability experiments 3.3.1 Preparing a usability experiment	D&R Ch.11-16; C&B Ch.4
7	10/13 5-6:20pm	3.3.2 Selecting, recruiting and informing users	C&B Ch.3,5; D&R Ch. 9,10
8	10/14	Initial student presentations projects 3-4 3:30pm: Project 4: Comparing two Mobile Location-Sharing Systems 3:50pm:  Project 3: Revision of Expense Reporting Website	Summarize the problems and goals of your  project and focus on the methods that you plan to use
9	10/19	Initial student presentations projects 5-8 3:30pm: Project 6: Usability and Utility of a Network Visualization of Document Topics 3:50 pm: Project 8: Utility and Usability of an Awareness Tool for Collaborative Software Development 4:10pm: Project 5: Testing the Usability of a Scheduling System	Summarize the problems and goals of your  project and focus on the methods that you plan to use
10	10/20 5-6:20pm	Initial student presentations projects 1,2,7 5:00pm:  Project 1: Comparing Search Engines for Online Resources 5:20pm:  Project 2: Usage of the Libraries Website on Smartphones 4:30pm: Project 7: Testing Suggested Modifications to a User Interface for Source Code Search
11	10/21	3.3.3 Running a user study 3.3.4 Analyzing results 2.4 Field Studies 2.5 Focus groups, group task analysis 2.3 Wants and Needs Analysis, Card Sorting	D&R Ch.17-20, C&B Ch. 6 C&B Ch.13 C&B Ch.11-12 C&B Ch. 9-10
	10/26	No class	Group 8: Upload test materials
	10/28	No class
12	11/2 DBH 1200	Theoretical elements of HCI	Group 6: Upload test materials
13	11/4 DBH 1200	Cognitive Elements of HCI	Group 5: Upload test materials
14	11/9 DBH 1200	Interaction Styles, Design Principles
	11/11 DBH 1200	No class (Veteran's Day)
15	11/16 DBH 1200	Menu interfaces, direct-manipulative interaction
16	11/18 PCB 1200	Pre-final student presentations, projects 3-4 3:30pm: Project 4: Comparing two Mobile Location-Sharing Systems 3:50pm:  Project 3: Revision of Expense Reporting Website Selected Elements of Screen Designs (Layout)
17	11/22 DBH 5222	Pre-final student presentations, projects 1-2 10:00am:  Project 1: Comparing Search Engines for Online Resources 10:20am:  Project 2: Usage of the Libraries Website on Smartphones
18	11/23 DBH 1200	Pre-final student presentations, projects 5-8 3:30pm: Project 6: Usability and Utility of a Network Visualization of Document Topics 3:50pm: Project 8: Utility and Usability of an Awareness Tool for Collaborative Software Development 4:10pm: Project 5: Testing the Usability of a Scheduling System 4:30pm: Project 7: Testing Suggested Modifications to a User Interface for Source Code Search
	11/25	No class (Thanksgiving)
19 no video	11/30 DBH 1200	Form-fills, Selected Elements of Screen Designs (Layout, Text, Color)	Project report may be uploaded
D	12/1 5pm DBH 1422	Discussion about the final exam (sample questions, more)
20	12/2 DBH 1200	HCI and Hypermedia/WWW	FF
	12/7 4-6pm DBH 1200	Final exam	Open everything CD/DVD of term project due (4pm)
	12/12 11:45pm DBH 1200	Project report due	Dropbox

(*) Codes for textbooks:
        CB ... Courage & Baxter
        DR ... Dumas & Reddish.
        FF... Farkas & Farkas