Basic Stuff:

The intent of this course is to address the problem of how to improve the quality of interaction between an individual and a computer. Some of the material will come from the text, some from other books, much from experience (yours and mine), and the rest from research literature (Information sources). I expect the course to be fairly interactive, with lots of questions from me, and lots of answers from you; and vice versa too.

Here are the introductory slides (.pdf) from the start of the course.

The facts in this course are quite simple to grasp. The hard part is using them. This requires the right attitude, experience, and good taste. This requires learning and practice, which the course should provide.

This course differs from many other CS courses, as in interface design there are often no right answers, and no best solution.

The topics that will probably be covered in the course are given in an accompanying web page, The Story So Far.... We will try to follow the book quite closely, in order to make your reading of the book easier, and to make the book as useful as possible during the course.

You will be expected to read the book (even if I don't remind you), concentrating on the material covered in lectures. We will try to cover about 2 chapters per week. In addition, you will on occasion be given other material to read. This material will reinforce the lectures and present additional topics. ALL of this material will be examinable.

• The book was chosen because the author is a well known researcher and educator in the field, because its content is current, because it matches the way we teach the course, and because it justifies its facts using existing research.
• Yes, we know that it isn't very exciting.

My expectation is that you will spend at least 15 hours per week on this course (i.e., at least 2 hours per day). This is WPI's standard expectation for the time spent on each 1/3 unit. With the exception of the group project all work should be done by yourself.

A problem with the subject matter is that HCI is a rapidly changing field, with many small research results. However, there is only a limited amount of core knowledge that is applicable under all situations. It is also a field where "common sense" can play a large part. Much of what appears obvious, however, is being carefully tested to discover under which conditions (e.g., types of users) the assumptions are actually true, and why.

Obviously, the intent of this course is to expose you to the concepts being addressed in this swiftly growing field. This is not primarily a programming course. Programming is merely one aspect. There will be one programming project, to be done in Visual Basic.

Perhaps a more important additional aspect of this course is to try to make you "more sensitive" to the needs of the user -- i.e., most programs are not being used by their authors; many users of computers do not know much about computer science; naive users have different demands and expectations than experienced users.

There will be at least one HCI-related video shown during the course. Everyone is expected to attend. One that may be shown includes some quite rare footage of "early" interface developments, such as the first mouse, and first bit-mapped display [Kay]. Another is a very good, general overview of the design of interfaces [Trower].

Exams and Projects:

There will be two examinations, four projects and a possible presentation.

Projects may include reading current research literature, evaluating experts' opinions & evaluating interfaces, an HCI experiment, a challenging interface design problem, and an interface design and implementation. Other handouts/pages will explain the projects.

Project 3, and the associated presentations, will be done in TA-generated random groups. The other projects are to be done alone (see Academic Honesty section below).

Exam 1 will cover all the material up to that date (book, handouts & lectures), while Exam 2 will concentrate on the material presented since the first exam but will not necessarily exclude other material. Note that the exams are based mostly on material from the book, but will also include material from the lectures -- some of which is not in the book -- so class attendance is strongly encouraged.

Grading:

The grading is assigned as follows:

	Project 1  	10%	{1 week }
	Project 2  	20%	{2 weeks}

				    	               Note: projects 3 & 4 overlap in time.
	Project 3  	20%	{4 weeks}  Note: group project.
	Project 4  	20%	{3 weeks}  Note: programming project.

	Exam 1     	15%	{Closed book}
	Exam 2     	15%	{Closed book}

Late Work:

• Late work without a valid prior reason will automatically lose at least 10% of the possible points.
• Work must be handed in during class on the due date.
• Work that is turned in late will be penalized 10% per day.
• Work that is turned in more than 3 days late will not be graded.

  (Note that a "day" means a day of the week. not a weekday)

Exam Policy:

There will be two in-class exams. Good preparation for the final exam is the video by Tandy Trower. The format for each exam will be announced in class prior to the exam. The exams are closed-book.

If you are unable to be at an exam, you will receive an `incomplete' grade for the course, and you will be able to take a make up exam during the next term.

Important Dates:

Project 1 is due Monday 5th November 2001

Project 2 is due Monday 26th November 2001

Project 3 is due Monday 17th December 2001

Project 4 is due Thursday 13th December 2001

Exam 1 is on Monday 26th November 2001

Exam 2 is on Friday 14th December 2001

The group presentations will be on:

Monday 17th December 2001

Tuesday 18th December 2001

Note that not attending these will negatively affect your grade.

Standards:

The highest standards of programming, writing, and presentation will be expected. In addition, use of appropriate sections of the Computer Science Department Documentation Standard will be enforced.

We will expect you to deliver what is requested (e.g., answer all questions asked as part of the project description). The TAs will grade all the work according to a precise grading scheme that I will provide them.

The presentations at the end of term will be made by selected groups that worked together on Project 3 and will show the results from that Project, plus some of the rationale for the decisions made. The presentations and their content will be evaluated by everyone in the class.

Academic Honesty:

Cheating, defined as taking credit for work you did not do, is strictly forbidden. Offenders will receive a zero grade for the assignment or exam in question. In addition their case will be presented to the Computer Science Department Head (see the WPI Academic Honesty Policy).

Course Grades:

With respect to grading, an "A" is reserved for Excellent work, with a very rough expectation of a better than 90% score over the whole class. A grade of "B" represents high quality work, with a very rough expectation of a score at least higher than 60% and perhaps higher than 70%, depending on how hard the exams are and how hard the grading is. Above 50% but below the B boundary will probably be a "C" grade, which indicates reasonable but undistinguished work. Below 50% will probably get you an NR.

Please note that these boundaries are meant merely as an indication of my expectations, and may change according to circumstances.

Possible Additional General Reading:

WWW and HCI texts include:

"Don't Make Me Think! A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability", S. Krug, Que, 2000.

"Designing Web Usability : The Practice of Simplicity", J. Nielsen, New Riders Publishing, 1999.

"Web Design in a Nutshell : A Desktop Quick Reference", J. Niederst, R. Koman, O'Reilly & Associates, 1998.

"Human-Computer Interaction", A. Dix et al, Prentice-Hall, 1998.

"Human-Computer Interaction", J. Preece et al, Addison-Wesley, 1994.

"Principles and Guidelines in Software User Interface Design", D. J. Mayhew, Prentice Hall, 1992.

"When people use computers", Mehlmann, Prentice-Hall, 1981.

"The Human Factor", Rubenstein & Hersh, Digital Press, 1984.

"The Art of Computer Conversation", Gaines & Shaw, Prentice-Hall, 1984.

"The Art of Computer Interface Design", (Ed) B. Laurel, Addison-Wesley, 1990.

"Readings in Human-Computer Interaction", (Eds) R.Baeker & W.Buxton, Morgan Kaufmann, 1987.

"An Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction", P. Booth, LEA, 1989.

"The Human Interface", R. Bolt, Wadsworth Inc, 1984.

"User Interface Design", H. Thimbleby, ACM Press, 1990.