CS/ISE 5714 - Usability Engineering - Spring 2008
Dr. Pardha S. Pyla

Course Outline and Assignment Due-Date Calendar

Project assignments, with corresponding deliverables and dates for their completion are given below. These dates are firm, with at least the upfront expectation that there will be no extensions or exceptions. It is nearly impossible to slip dates and still get it all done in the semester.

Week #	Day	Date	Topic	Class notes	Text Chapters	Project Assignment/Due Date	# Weeks
1	Tu	1/15	Introduction, demographic survey, Life Cycle	01-Intro.pdf	-	-	-
1	Th	1/17	Life Cycle, Systems Analysis, product concept statement Form teams	Class cancelled due to inclement weather	1 & 4	-	-
2	Tu	1/22	Systems Analysis, exercises	02-LC.pdf, 03-SA.pdf	-	-	-
2	Th	1/24	Systems Analysis exercises	-	5	-	-
3	Tu	1/29	Systems Analysis exercises	-	-	Project 1: Topic, Client, and Product Concept Statement	2.0
3	Th	1/31	Systems Analysis exercises	-	8	-	-
4	Tu	2/5	Scenarios and screen design	04-Design.pdf	-	-	-
4	Th	2/7	Scenarios and screen design exercises	05-Uspecs.pdf	-	Project 2: Systems Analysis	-
5	Tu	2/12	Benchmark tasks, usability specifications, exercises	-	9	-	-
5	Th	2/14	Rapid prototyping, exercises	06-RP.pdf	-	-	-
6	Tu	2/19	Rapid prototyping	-	10	Project 3: Scenarios, Screen Design, and Early Prototype	2.0
6	Th	2/21	Usability evaluation (Intro) Usability evaluation (Before data collection)	07-Eval-intro.pdf, 08-Eval-before.pdf	-	-	-
7	Tu	2/26	Usability evaluation (during)	09-Eval-during.pdf	-	-	-
7	Th	2/28	Critical incident exercise and Homework #1 (individual)	Critical Incident Training avi file 1 avi file 2 avi file 3 avi file 4	-	Project 3.5: Design Optimization Homework #1 due Critical incident list from the in-class Critical Incident Training video clips	1.5
Spring Break Week (March 3-8): Enjoy your trip to Florida, or Myrtle Beach, or Christiansburg, or wherever!!
8	Tu	3/11	In class Kiosk usability evaluation team exercise	Attendance mandatory	-	-	-
8	Th	3/13	Usability evaluation (After data collection)	10-Eval-after.pdf	-	-	-
9	Tu	3/18	Usability evaluation (After data collection) team exercise, show and tell	-	2	Project 4: High-Fidelity Prototype and Usability Specifications	2
9	Th	3/20	Usability Inspection	13-Usab-inspn.pdf	-		-
10	Tu	3/25	User Action Framework, design guidelines (1-20)	11-Guidelines.pdf Affordances paper	-	6:30 PM: Deadline for team (outside) project prototype grading (detailed task-driven demos) with GTA	-
10	Th	3/27	User Action Framework, design guidelines (20-40)	-	-	-	-
11	Tu	4/1	User Action Framework, design guidelines (wrap up) Usability guidelines exercises	12-Guidelines-exer.pdf	-	Homework #2 due NY Ticket Kiosk Data collection exercise	-
11	Th	4/3	Usability guidelines exercises	-	-	Project 5: Formative Usability Evaluation	2.5
12	Tu	4/8	Usability designs & problem analysis	15-UP-analysis.pdf Sample usability problems for diagnosis in class (please print and bring to class)	-	-	-
12	Th	4/10	Usability designs & problem analysis	-	-	-	-
13	Tu	4/15	Buffer	-	-	-	-
13	Th	4/17	Human-to-human communication Wrap up	16-H-H-commn.pdf 17-Wrap-up.pdf	-	Project 6: Design Iteration Project 7: Team Member Evaluations	2.0
14	Tu	4/22	Review and Faculty Evaluation (attendance required)	-	12	Homework 3 due All participation confirmation forms (and/or alternative usability problem reports) due Project 8: Oral presentations - Teams 1, 5, and 7	-
14	Th	4/24	Project presentations	-	-	Project 8: Oral presentations - Teams 2, 3, 4, and 6	-
15	Tu	4/29	Safety valve day	-	-	-	-
Saturday		5/3	Final Exam 7-9pm				-