CS3041- Term D, 2007
Human Computer Interaction
Lectures: FL-320, Monday and Thursday, 1:00 - 2:50PM

Instructor: Prof. Matthew Ward, FL-134, 831-5671, matt@cs.wpi.edu, http://cs.wpi.edu/~matt
Office Hours (FL 134): Monday and Tuesday : 9AM, Thursday and Friday: 10:00PM, Others by appointment

Teaching Assistants: Juan Li, juanli@cs.wpi.edu, Abishek Mukherji, mukherab@cs.wpi.edu
Office Hours (FL A22):
Juan - Tuesdays: 3:00-5:00pm, Thursdays;3:00-5:00pm, Fridays: 3:00-4:00pm
Abhishek - Mondays: 3:00PM-5:00PM, Thursdays: 11:30PM-12:30PM, Fridays: 12:00PM-2:00PM.

Text: The primary text for the course is User Interface Design and Evaluation, by Stone, Jarrett, Woodroffe, and Minocha. An optional text is GUI Bloopers, by Jeff Johnson. Other texts you might find useful in developing your projects are any book on Java or Visual Basic. Supplemental texts will be placed on reserve in the library which may give you other perspectives on the topics we'll be discussing.

Facilities: You may use any PC running Windows or linux using Visual Basic or Java. You may also do projects by connecting to one of the school's UNIX servers. Your software projects must be able to run on a machine on campus, and it is up to you to provide the TAs with sufficient instructions for building and executing it.

Software Utilities: The programming project(s) must be implemented using either Visual Basic or Java. A limited version of Visual Basic is included with many books on VB, which should be sufficient for development.

Projects: The projects for the course will involve the design, prototyping, and evaluation of a user interface to a specific application (see the detailed project description on myWPI or off the course web page). You will be assigned an application, and it will be up to you to do the requirements analysis, user interface design (considering multiple alternatives), development of a working front-end to the application (all responses to user actions can be hard-coded), and detailed evaluations through all phases of design and development. Each team will maintain a portfolio (see detailed description) that will be turned in each week by Monday at noon. Portfolios should be submitted via myWPI. Late assignments will be penalized 10% per day. Grades and comments on projects can be retrieved via myWPI; we will attempt to get the grading done within 48 hours of the submission deadline.

Grade Policy: 50% exams, 50% projects, though low grades early in the term may be forgiven in cases where students are performing very well at the end of the course. You must obtain a passing grade for both the exam portion and project portion.

Supplemental Material: All handouts can be found in the CS3041 space on MyWPI and in the course web site http://cs.wpi.edu/~matt/courses/cs3041/.

Contact Info: Questions on assignments or any topic we cover can be directed to cs3041-staff@cs.wpi.edu or to the individual e-mail addresses at the top of this document. E-mail can be sent to the entire class (please use only sparingly!) at cs3041-all@cs.wpi.edu.

Notes:

1. Reading is mandatory, working ahead is encouraged. At least one question on each exam will be on material from the book that is not covered in class.

2. Projects are to be done in pairs. Partners will be assigned at the start of the term. If you believe your partner has dropped the course, please see me immediately for reassignment.

3. Exams are based on both lectures and readings, so class attendance is strongly encouraged. At least one question on each exam will come from material covered in class that is not in the readings. Over-sleeping is NOT an acceptable excuse for missing an exam.

4. Cheating, defined as taking credit for work you did not do, is strictly forbidden. First offenders will receive a zero grade for the assignment or exam in question and the offense will be brought to the attention of the Dean of Students Office. Repeat offenders will receive an NR for the course and the case will be brought before the campus judicial board (see Student Handbook).

5. In order to maintain a classroom environment conducive to effective learning, please refrain from the following activities during class: carrying on conversations (vocal or electronic), browsing the web, listening to music, playing games, eating (unless you brought enough to share with the whole class), or sleeping. Please set cell phones to silent mode. Your consideration for others would be greatly appreciated.

Schedule:

Week 1 (March 13-19)
   Topics: Introduction, Users and Tasks 
   Reading: Chapters 1-4

Week 2 (March 20-26)
   Topics:  Requirements Gathering and Conceptual Design
   Reading: Chapters 5, 6, 8, 9

Week 3 (March 27 - April 2)
   Topics: Interaction Design Process
   Reading: Chapters 10-13

Week 4 (April 3-9)
   Topics: Design Principles, Graphical User Interfaces
   Reading: Chapters 14, 16
   Midterm Exam 

Week 5 (April 10-16)
   Topics: Designing for the Web, Intro to Evaluation
   Reading: Chapters 17, 18, 20, 21

Week 6 (April 17-23)
   Topics: Evaluation Design
   Reading: Chapters 22-25

Week 7 (April 24 - May 1)
   Topics: Advanced Evaluation
   Reading: Chapters 26, 27
   Final Exam