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 by instructor, quarter-long term project with internal and external clients, project presentations.

Time and Location:   TuTh  11:00am - 12:20pm DBH 1300
                                    Discussion 1: Th 2:00- 3:50p  ICS 225
                                    Discussion 2: F 12:00- 1:50p  ICS 209

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 instead 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 (DRM)
  
• 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. Also as e-book (DRM)
  
• 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 Ayala Science Library, and some from the UCI bookstore. Or try Postyourbook (I found none of the books listed on 9/19/11)
  

Further 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. Also as e-book (DRM)
  
• 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
• Joseph S. Dumas and Janice C. Redish (1999): A Practical Guide To Usability Testing. Norwood, N.J. Ablex Publishing Corp. Revised edition 1999, Intellect Ltd.: ISBN 1841500208
• Carol M. Barnum (2010): Usability Testing Essentials. Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN 978-0123750921
• Joseph S. Dumas and Beth A. Loring (2008): Moderating Usability Tests: Principles and Practices for Interacting. ISBN 978-0123739339

Grading:    50% for project (partially peer evaluation)        
                   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 added/dropped before Monday, 26 Sept. at 11:59pm.
Course Evaluation:

Course Notes:  see here

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

Syllabus:

Unit #	Date	Pods	Topic	TODOs for students
1	9/22		1. What is HCI and Why Should We Learn About it?	Sign up for project
2	9/27		Presentation of projects 1-4 by customers 11am Project 1: Usability and utility of a visualization system for trust-based recommendations (John O'Donnovan) 11:20am Project 2: Usability and utility of a topics and social network viisualization (Laura Devendorf) 11:40am Project 3: Accommodating regular users and power users at UCI Libraries website (Chris Davis) 12:00pm Project 4: Accessibility of a library tutorial (Matt Williams)	Start your project
3	9/29		Presentation of projects 5-8 by customers Simulation game for the U.S. presidential elections (Jean-Claude Falmagne)	Start your project Homework due  (dropbox)
4	10/4		2. User Needs Analysis 2.1 Interviews 2.2. Surveys	C&B Ch.7 C&B Ch.8
5	10/6		3. Usability evaluations 3.1 Heuristic evaluation 3.2 Cognitive walkthrough 3.3 Usability experiments
6	10/11		3.3.1 Preparing a usability experiment	R&C Ch.5-6; C&B Ch.4
7	10/13		Initial student presentations, projects 1-4 11am Project 1: Usability and utility of a visualization system for trust-based recommendations (John O'Donnovan) 11:20am Project 2: Usability and utility of a topics and social network viisualization (Laura Devendorf) 11:40am Project 3: Accommodating regular users and power users at UCI Libraries website (Chris Davis) 12:00pm Project 4: Accessibility of a library tutorial (Matt Williams)	Summarize the problems and goals of your  project and focus on the methods that you plan to use
8	10/18		Initial student presentations, projects 5-6 Simulation game for the U.S. presidential elections (Jean-Claude Falmagne)	Summarize the problems and goals of your  project and focus on the methods that you plan to use
9	11/20		3.3.2 Selecting, recruiting and informing users	R&C Ch.7; C&B Ch.3-5
10	10/25		3.3.3 Running a user study 3.3.4 Analyzing results 2.4 Field Studies	R&C Ch.9-10; C&B Ch. 6 R&C Ch.11 C&B Ch.13
11	10/27		2.5 Focus groups, group task analysis 2.3 Wants and Needs Analysis, Card Sorting	C&B Ch.11-12 C&B Ch. 9-10
12	11/1		Theoretical elements of HCI
13	11/3		Cognitive Elements of HCI
14	11/8		Interaction Styles, Design Principles
15	11/10		Menu interfaces, direct-manipulative interaction, Form-fills, Selected Elements of Screen Designs (Layout)
16	11/15		Pre-final student presentations, projects 1-4 11am Project 1: Usability and utility of a visualization system for trust-based recommendations (John O'Donnovan) 11:20am Project 2: Usability and utility of a topics and social network visualization (Laura Devendorf) 11:40am Project 3: Accommodating regular users and power users at UCI Libraries website (Chris Davis) 12:00pm Project 4: Accessibility of a library tutorial (Matt Williams)
17	11/17		Pre-final student presentations, projects 5 - 6 Simulation game for the U.S. presidential elections (Jean-Claude Falmagne)
18	11/22		Selected Elements of Screen Designs (Layout, Text, Color)	Project report may be uploaded
	11/24		No class (Thanksgiving)
D	11/28 3:40-5:00p DBH 1425		Discussion about the final exam (sample questions, more)
19	11/29		HCI and Hypermedia/WWW	FF
20	12/1		No class
	12/6 10:30a-12:30p		Final exam	Open everything CD/DVD of term project due (10:30am)
	12/11 11:55pm		Project report due	Dropbox

(*) Codes for textbooks:
        C&B ... Courage & Baxter
        F&F... Farkas & Farkas
        R&C... Rubin & Chisnell