Course Goals:
This course presents basic components of human-computer interaction concepts, theory, and practice. It takes a user-centered perspective, rather than a system-centered one. We look at bridging the gulf between needs and requirements of human users and capabilities and limitations of technology. We discuss how to forge communication between users and system developers. We base the course on a dichotomy between user interaction design and user interface software design. The course covers iterative development of user interaction design, including user requirements gathering, with emphasis on usability goals; user analysis; user task analysis; design, rapid prototyping, and user-centered evaluation. Iterative development activities are practiced in the context of several team projects.

Prerequisites:
Any course in Computer Science and junior-level standing. This prerequisite will be strictly enforced and it will be considered an honor code violation to attempt to get into this course without satisfying the prerequisite.

Professors:
Dr. H. Rex Hartson, Computer Science, McBryde 635, hartson@vt.edu
Dr. Deborah Hix, Computer Science, McBryde 604, hix@vt.edu

Office Hours:
Hartson: Tu and Th, 3:15 - 4:30
Hix: Tu 3:15 - 4:30, Th 3:15 - 3:50

Class Web Site:
http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~cs3724

Class meeting times:

Dr. H. Rex Hartson section:

Tu, Th 2 - 3:15 Randolph 216

Dr. Deborah Hix, section:

Tu, Th 2 - 3:15 Norris 306

GTAs:

Hartson section: Rajat Gupta, rgupta@vt.edu

Office Hours: T,H : 9:00 - 10:30 McBryde 120

Hix section: Oleg Krouchinkin, oleg007@csgrad.cs.vt.edu

Office Hours: M,W,F : 2 - 3:20 McBryde 120

Required Text:
Ben Shneiderman. Designing the User Interface, 3rd Edition. Addison-Wesley, 1998.
There will also be other readings on the Web or on reserve at Newman Library from time to time.

Lecture Notes:
Class notes will be put on the Web in advance of the class in which they will be covered. You should print these notes and bring them to class with you. That will make it easy to keep up in class.

Grading:

Exams:
Exams are in-class, closed book, closed notes. The final exam for both sections is on Friday, 7 May 1999, 7:45 - 9:45 AM. The final exam is cumulative.

Team project:
The class is divided into teams of three members each, on a random basis. No swapping of team members is allowed. The team is given a grade for each part of the project. Each individual team member's grade for each project assignment is a weighting of the team grade, where the weighting is based on an evaluation of individual contributions, collected from each team member at the end of each project.

Homework:
There will be several written homework assignments. Each assignment will both be posted on the Web and announced in class well in advance of its due date. Assignments will not be "handed out" (as in a paper version).

NOTE: If Virginia Tech is closed for inclement weather on a day when any assignment is due, that assignment then becomes due NO LATER THAN 2 PM of the first day the University is again open. A box will be outside your professor's door for you to leave the assignment.

Class Policies:

Reading assignments.

You are responsible for keeping up with the textbook reading schedule given on the Web.

All homework and project assignments must be turned in at the beginning of class on the due date. All due dates for assignments are firm, and there are no extensions, for any reason. Any assignment that you do not hand in on time will be given a grade of zero. No late assignments will be accepted and there will be no excused assignments, for any reason. If you are not able to complete an assignment by the due date, you should hand in as much of it as you have done. You must prepare your assignments electronically and hand in a hardcopy by the due date/time. Assignments may not be submitted via e-mail to either the professor or a GTA.

If you miss an exam, your explanation will be considered valid only if you have a note from a doctor or from your Dean's office explaining the situation. There will be no early exams nor any make-up exams for any reason. It is up to the discretion of the professor, on a case by case basis, what happens next whenever an exam is missed for any reason.

While the professors establish grading standards, the GTAs actually grade homework and project assignments. Therefore, when you have questions about grading of these, you should first see the GTA who graded the work. All questions regarding grading must be resolved within one week of return of the graded work. Keep all graded work until the end of the semester. In case your grade is incorrectly recorded, you will need to bring in the graded original in order for the recorded grade to be changed.

The professors and GTAs will make every effort to answer your e-mail to them in a timely fashion. However, due to the volume of e-mail with classes of this size, you should not expect to get a reply in less than 24 hours. Many times you may get a reply in less than 24 hours, but you should not count on it (e.g., to answer questions about a homework or project assignment within the last few hours before that assignment is due). Please put "CS3724" as the subject line of your e-mail; that will help us identify your e-mails more quickly.

Students sometimes ask for some extra credit work near the end of the semester in an attempt to bring up poor grades. No extra credit work will be given to any student for any reason at any time during or after the semester.

You are expected to remain through the entire class period, as leaving early is disruptive and disturbs everyone else in the classroom. If you know in advance that you must leave early, you are to clear it with the professor before class begins, and then to sit as near the door as possible and leave quietly. "I'm sleepy" is not a valid excuse for leaving early :>)

Because of the large number of students in each class, professors and GTAs will not be able to reply to individual e-mail requests for final exam and/or class grades at the end of the semester, but grades will be posted (on the Web and otherwise).

Honor System:
The current Honor System policies of the University are to be observed in this course. All individual work (e.g., homework, exams) must be completed by you, working alone. The group project should be carried out without assistance from people outside the group, except as explicitly noted in an assignment.