CS 3724 -- Introduction to HCI

Fall 2001 -- TTH 12:30-1:45
McBryde 126

Professor

Scott McCrickard
mccricks@cs.vt.edu
623 McBryde Hall
Office Hours: TTH 2-3, 5-6 or by appointment

Teaching Assistant

Peter Schoenhoff
pschoen@cs.vt.edu
Office Hours: MW 12-2 in McBryde 133

Texts

Ben Shneiderman, Designing the User Interface, Addison-Wesley.

Donald A. Norman, The Design of Everyday Things, Currency Doubleday.

Course Description

From the course catalog: Survey of human-computer interaction concepts, theory, and practice. Basic components of human-computer interaction. Interdisciplinary underpinnings. Informed and critical evaluation of computer-based technology. User-oriented perspective, rather than system-oriented, with two thrusts: human (cognitive, social) and technological (input/output, interactions styles, devices). Design guidelines, evaluation methods, participatory design, communication between users and system developers. Junior level standing required.

Topics we will cover include design guidelines, interface builders, direct manipulation, interaction devices, design processes, usability testing, documentation, information visualization, and hypermedia.

Resources

Short announcements will be sent to the mailing list, or listserv. The listserv is also the best place for you to post questions or comments that may be of general interest to the class.

A full syllabus will be maintained on the class Web page. Information about lectures, assignments, and exams will be added to the class Web page throughout the quarter. An outline of each lecture will be linked to the Course Topics section of the page. Assignments and exam review materials will be linked to the Assignment and Exam Due Dates section.

Listserv: CS3724_91316@LISTSERV.VT.EDU

Web page: http://courses.cs.vt.edu/~cs3724/fall2001/

Final grades: http://courses.cs.vt.edu/~cs3724/fall2001/finalgrades.htm

Course Topics (subject to change)

Aug 28	Intro and History	DTUI Ch 1
Aug 30	The H, the C, and the I	DTUI Ch 1, DOET Ch 1
Sep 4	Human Limitations and Error	DTUI Ch 10, DOET Ch 5
Sep 6	Design Guidelines	DTUI Ch 2, DOET Ch 2
Sep 13	Intro to Design and Usability	DTUI Ch 3, 4, DOET Ch 6, 7

Sep 18	Design Guidelines and Metrics	DTUI Ch 3, Ivory paper
Sep 20	Usability Testing	DTUI Ch 4
Sep 25	Direct Manipulation	DTUI Ch 6
Sep 27	Alternatives to Direct Manipulation
Oct 2	Midterm
Oct 9	Designing the User Interface
Oct 11	Homework 2 Presentations
Oct 16	Information Visualization (IV)	DTUI Ch 16, all IV/AV slides

Oct 18	Types of IVs	DTUI Ch 16
Oct 23	IV Types continued	DTUI Ch 16
Oct 25	IV in the Periphery	DTUI Ch 16
Oct 30	Software and Algorithm Visualization
Nov 1	Usability Studies	usability study slides
Nov 6	Data Collection and Analysis	collection/analysis slides
Nov 8	CSCW	DTUI Ch 14, CSCW slides
Nov 13	CSCW Examples	DTUI Ch 14
Nov 15	AI and HCI	DTUI Ch 8, AI+HCI slides
Nov 27	Hypermedia	DTUI Ch 15, Jakob Nielsen's Web site, hypermedia slides
Nov 29	Hypermedia and the Web	DTUI Ch 15, Jakob Nielsen's Web site
Dec 4	Project Presentations
Dec 6	Project Presentations
Dec 11	Final Review

Assignment and Exam Due Dates

Sep 11	Homework 1
Sep 25	Homework 2 Part 1
Oct 2	Midterm (see early powerpoint slides)
Oct 4	Project Part 0
Oct 11	Homework 2 Part 2
Oct 18	Project Part 1
Nov 8	Homework 3
Nov 15	Project Part 2
Dec 4, 6	Project Presentations
Dec 11	Final Project Writeup
Dec 18	Final Exam (10:05-12:05, place TBA)

Evaluation Summary

Project	35%
Homeworks	20%
Midterm	15%
Final	20%
Participation	10%

Contact Information:

Scott McCrickard

mccricks@cs.vt.edu

623 McBryde Hall

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University