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Dr. Franz J. Kurfess, Cal Poly Computer Science Department (http://www.csc.calpoly.edu/~fkurfess/)
Starting in Week 2, my office hours are tentatively scheduled for Tue/Thu 2:10-3:00 pm, and Wed 2:10-5:00 pm. My office is in building 14, room 218.
Section |
Activity |
Day/Time |
Bldg-Room |
01 |
Lecture | TR 9:40 - 11:00 |
14-303 |
| Lab | TR 12:10 - 1:30 |
14-257 |
Since the room used for the lab is not very well suited for some of the activities we will do, I am trying to find an alternative.
The Cal Poly Catalog 2003-05 describes the course as follows:
Introduction to the importance of user-centered principles in the design of good interfaces and effective human-computer interaction. Topics include: study of human characteristics affected by interface design, effective requirements data collection and analysis, user-centered approaches to software engineering, and evaluation of interface and interaction quality.
Prerequisites: Junior standing and CSC/CPE 205 (Software Engineering I). Students should be familiar with basic Web design and programming. Experience in the usage of the following Web design tools and technologies is advantageous:
The goal of this introductory course in user interface design and development is to raise awareness for the importance of user-centered principles to the design of good interfaces and effective human-computer interaction. In order to achieve this, human characteristics that are affected by interface design will be identified and discussed. The collection and analysis of effective human-centered data for interface and interaction requirements provides a firm foundation for the actual user-centered interface design and implementation, and the evaluation of an interface and its interaction quality.
I am planning to cover the topics below. Some adjustments in the sequence and coverage may be made as the quarter progresses.
The following textbook will be used in this course. The course schedule identifies the chapters in the book that correspond to a topic discussed in class. Students are expected to read the respective chapters before the topic is covered in class.
For further reading, here are some more textbook suggestions:
The main work in this class consists of four assignments, and one project.
One assignment will be an individual presentation, with an analysis of the user-centered design aspects of a product or system.
The three other assignments are designed to give you some practical experience in the use of tools, literature review, and techniques such as interface storyboarding and usability evaluation. The assignments are intended to provide an introduction to skills needed to design and evaluate good interfaces, which will lead to effective human-computer interaction. The requirements may include written reports and/or summaries to be posted on the class web site as well as oral presentation of results and relevant discussion in class. These three assignments will be done in small teams of three students.
The final design project will involve the design and development of a component or system, most likely with a Web interface. You will be expected to demonstrate good user-centered design principles, including extensive user analysis, requirements gathering and justifiable design decisions. Several milestones have been identified which will be evaluated both by the instructor and by your peers during class and lab presentations:
| Milestone 1 : User analysis and requirements gathering | |
| Milestone 2 : Prototype design (storyboards or demo pieces) | Presentation 1 - Results of first 2 milestones |
| Milestone 3 : Design revision and completion | |
| Milestone 4 : Get feedback from the client | Presentation 2 - Results of the entire project |
| Milestone 5 : Finish client interaction as needed |
This class will rely on interactive classroom activities, such as participation in group discussions, presentation of ideas and results (from textbook, class or assignments), leading discussions on selected readings, providing written summary materials (as web files via Blackboard), etc. Success in this class depends on regular attendance, preparation of assigned readings and homework exercises, as well as a level of professionalism in the class presentations. Peer evaluations may be included as part of the grade.
Much of the graded work in this class depends strongly on presentations. Once a team or individual has committed to a date for the presentation, extensions or changes in the dates will only be permitted for documented medical or documented emergency reasons.
The table gives an overview of the calculation of the grades. I reserve the right, however, to change the formula used.
Design & Development |
Presentations/Discussions |
Total |
|
| Assignments (4) | 5% + 5% + 5% + 5% |
5% + 5% + 5% + 5% |
40% |
| Class Participation | 10% |
10% |
|
| Web Design Project | 30% |
10% + 10% |
50% |
| Total: | 100% |
The project and most of the assignments will be done in teams. My evaluation will consider the performance of the team as a whole unless there is a clear disparity in the contribution of the individual team members. Should this be the case, I may ask for additional documentation like work sheets, email messages, or draft copies of documentation to evaluate individual contributions.
For the team grades, feedback through peer evaluations will also be considered.
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