CS 3724 -- Introduction to HCI

Fall 2002 -- TTH 5:00-6:15
McBryde 126

Professor

Scott McCrickard
mccricks@cs.vt.edu
623 McBryde Hall
Office Hours: TTH 3:15-4:45 or by appointment

Teaching Assistant

Jacob Somervell
jsomerve@cs.vt.edu
Office Hours: M-Th: 8:00 - 9:00 AM (in McBryde 133 A1)

Project Coordinator

Christa Chewar
cchewar@cs.vt.edu
Office Hours: By appointment

Texts

Rosson and Carroll, Usability Engineering: Scenario-Based Development of Human-Computer Interaction Morgan Kaufmann.

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. CS 2604 is a prerequisite for this course.

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

The Honor System policies of the University and Computer Science Department are to be observed in this course. All assignments (with the exception of the group project) must be completed by students working alone. The group project must be completed by the members of the group only.

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, activities, the project, and exams will be added to the class Web page throughout the semester. 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.

Helpful resources:

Web page

Project site

Tuesday Activities page

Midterm review page

Grades

Listserv: CS3724_91394@LISTSERV.VT.EDU

Course Topics (subject to change)

Aug 27, 29	Intro and History	RC Ch 1, DOET Ch 7
Sep 3, 5, 10	Emerging Paradigms	RC Ch 9
Sep 12, 17, 19	Analyzing Requirements	RC Ch 2, DOET Ch 1
Sep 24, 26	Prototyping	RC Ch 6
Oct 1	Midterm
Oct 8, 10, 15, 17	Information Design	RC Ch 4
Oct 22, 24	Activity Design	RC Ch 3
Oct 29, 31, Nov 5	Interaction Design	RC Ch 5
Nov 7, 12, 14, 19	Usability Evaluation	RC Ch 7
Nov 21	Documentation	RC Ch 8
Dec 3, 5	Project Presentations
Dec 9	Final Review

Semester Due Dates

Sep 5	Project Phase 0
Sep 26	Project Phase 1
Oct 1	Midterm
Nov 7	Project Phase 2
Dec 3, 5	Project Presentations
Dec 10	Project Phase 3
Dec 16	Final Exam (7:00-9:00, place TBA)

Evaluation Summary

Project	50%
Activities	20%
Midterm	10%
Final	20%

Contact Information:

Scott McCrickard

mccricks@cs.vt.edu

623 McBryde Hall

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University