Draft, 6/9/12
INF 132:
Project in HCI and Interfaces
TA: Soyoung Lee (soyounl @ UCI)
Disclaimer:
These are guidelines
intended to help students plan their work in this course. However, the
instructor does reserve the right to make changes if needed.
Important note:
This class requires a high amount of
coursework.
- General
Educational Aims:
- Students will
learn and practice the process of user interface design and/or
evaluation. They will learn different methods for user interface
evaluation and experimental design. In concrete projects,
students will have to carefully chose between available
methods and apply them to obtain empirically verified evaluation
results. They will practice collaboration in teams, including the
presentation of the project results in oral and written form.
-
- Specific
Objective:
- At the
conclusion of this course, students should be able to:
- realize the importance of user-centered design, and formative and
summative evaluation
- choose between different methods for user interface evaluation
- select an appropriate experimental design
- carry out usability experiments
- have attained the ability to evaluate user interfaces of low and
medium complexity
- have familiarity with some of the outstanding research problems in
the field of Human-Computer Interaction
Prerequisites: INF 131
Class format:
Half of the
class will be lecture-format, and the other half will consist of student presentations on the progress in their term projects. Students will collaborate in teams of 3 to 4,
depending on the total class enrollment and the nature of their projects.
- Location/Times:
MW 5:00- 6:20p ICS 174
Discussion (as needed): Fr 11-11:50am DBH 1200
Readings:
Required
- Carol M. Barnum (2010): Usability Testing Essentials. Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN 978-0123750921. Also as e-book.
- 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.
Optional
- 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.
- 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
- Mike
Kuniavsky (2003): Observing the User Experience: A Practitioner's
Guide to User Research. Morgan Kaufmann, 978-1-55860-923-5. Also as e-book.
- Jakob Nielsen
and Robert L. Mack (1994): Usability Inspection Methods.
New York: Wiley Publishing, ISBN 0-471-01877-5.
The readings are available from a course reserve
in the Ayala Science Library and from the UCI
bookstore (click at "Spring 2012", then at "IN4MTX - Informatics", then 132, then Kobsa,
then at "Find books").
Projects: Sign up for a project
Project 1: Supporting the understanding of causal relationships in our environment (Bill Tomlinson, wmt @ uci)
Project 3: Math-teaching app for (special-education) children (Guy Foresman, guy at thinkitbyhand.com)
Project 4: Helping infrequent patrons navigate Langson Library (Chris Davis, cndavis @ uci)
Project 5: Mobile Guide to the History of California's High Desert (Arden Stern, sterna @ uci)
Project 6: Evaluation of a smartboard-based software design sketch tool (Nicolas Mangano, nmangano @ ics.uci)
Grading:
70% for
project work (team score, unless vetoed).
30% for
final exam
up to 10%
bonus for active in-class participation
up to 10%
negative points for
missing customer/group presentations
and group meetings
Efficient reading: see here
Cheating: see here
Students with Disabilities: see here
Add/drop: By Tuesday 4/3 midnight (send email to instructor to request code)
Course Evaluation:
Hours: send email beforehand if you plan to
come
Alfred
Kobsa Monday 4-5pm, 5092 Bren Hall
Soyoung Lee (soyounl @ UCI): ??h
Syllabus (changes
possible,
discussion sessions will be added as needed on Fridays 11-11:50am)
|
# |
Date&
Time |
Pods |
Topic |
Readings/materials due before
class |
1
|
4/2
|
|
1. Introduction
Customer presentation
of Project 1
|
|
2
|
4/4
|
|
Customer presentations
of Projects 2-6 |
|
3
|
|
|
2. User Needs Analysis
2.1 Interviews
|
C&B Ch.7
|
4
|
|
|
3.
Usability evaluations
3.1 Heuristik
evaluation
3.2
Cognitive walkthrough
3.3
Usability experiments
|
B Ch. 3
|
5
|
4/16
|
|
3.3.1 Preparing
a usability experiment
|
B Ch. 5-6, C&B Ch. 4 |
6
|
4/18
|
 
|
2.2 Surveys
|
C&B Ch. 8
|
7
|
4/23
|
|
Initial
presentation of Projects 1 (5pm), 4 (5:20pm), 5 (5:40pm), 6 (6pm) and 3 (6:20pm) |
Slides: Projects 1, 3, 4, 5, 6
|
8
|
4/25
|
|
3.3.2 Selecting,
recruiting and informing users
|
B Ch. 6, C&B Ch. 3+5
|
9
|
4/30
|
|
3.3.3 Running
a user study
|
B Ch. 7
|
10
|
5/2
|
|
2.5 Field studies
2.3 Focus
groups |
C&B Ch. 12-13 |
11
|
5/7
No class
|
|
|
|
12
|
5/9
No class
|
|
|
|
13
|
5/14
|
|
Interim
presentations of Projects 1 (5pm), 3 (5:25pm) and 4 (5:50pm)
|
Slides: Projects 1, 3 (demo), 4
|
14
|
5/16
|
|
Interim
presentations of Projects 5 (5pm) and 6 (5:25pm)
|
Slides: Projects 5, 6
|
15
|
5/21
No class
|
|
|
|
16
|
5/23
|
|
2.3b Group task
analysis
2.4 Wants
and Needs Analysis
2.5 Card
Sorting
|
C&B Ch. 9+11
C&B Ch. 10
|
17
|
5/28
No
class
|
|
Memorial day
|
|
18
|
5/30
|
|
3.3.4. Analyzing
and presenting the results
4. Establishing user orientation in a company |
B Ch. 8, C&B Ch. 14
Interview with Kim Goodwin (MP3, optional) |
| 19 |
6/4 |
|
Final presentations of Projects 1 (5pm), 3 (5:25pm) and 4 (5:50pm)
|
Slides Project 1, 3, 4
|
20
|
6/6
|
|
Final presentations of Projects 5 (5pm) and 6 (5:25pm)
|
Slides Project 5, 6
|
| 6/10
|
|
Final reports due | Upload Project Report
|
| 5/11, 5-7pm
DBH 1420
|
|
Final Exam | Submit
experimental materials on CD/DVD
|
Legend:
B = Carol Barnum (2010)
C&B = Catherine Courage
and Kathy Baxter (2005)
B Ch.7 = Chapter 7 of Carol Barnum (2010)
”