CS 185:  Human-Computer Interaction

Winter 2008

This home page and the class mailing list will be used as centers of communication for the class. While the webpage provides you with up-to-date information about assignments and what is currently going on in class, the mailing list serves as an open forum: questions, answers, suggestions, etc.

General Information

Class Hours:    TR, 3:30-4:45pm
Class Location:	Phelps 3523
Discussion:     F, 11:00-11:50am, CTL (aka Collaborative Technology Lab, Trailer 932)

Instructor:     Tobias Höllerer
Office Hours:   Thu, 10-12, or by appointment
Office:         2155 Engineering I, (805) 893 8759
e-mail:         holl@cs...

TA 1:           Brynjar Gretarsson
Office Hours:   Wed. 3-4, in the Four Eyes Lab (Trailer 935, room 101, directly east of Phelps Hall)
e-mail:         brynjar@cs... 

TA 2:           Chris Bunch
Office Hours:   Thu 2:30-3:30, in the Four Eyes Lab (s.a.)
e-mail:         cgb@cs...

Course Description

The study of human-computer interaction enables system architects to design useful, efficient, and enjoyable computer interfaces. This course teaches the theory, design procedure, and programming practices behind effective human interaction with computers.

We will examine interaction design, implementation, and evaluation. The design process requires a solid understanding of the theory behind successful human-computer interaction, as well as an awareness of established procedures for good user interface design, including the 'usability engineering' process. Iterative evaluation is an important aspect of this procedure, and we will learn and practice prototyping and evaluation using scenario-based case studies. We will look at specific interface success stories and spectacular failures to learn from past experiences. Students will apply their gained knowledge in a series of practical assignments that highlight selected portions of the design cycle, as well as familiarize them with sound programming practices and effective tools and techniques to create successful user interfaces. The course will also introduce novel interfaces that go beyond what we normally see in today's graphical user interfaces.
 

Book

• Handouts in class
• Designing the User Interface, by Ben Shneiderman and Catherine Plaisant, 4th edition,
  Addison Wesley, 2004

Other Sources

• Usability Engineering, by Mary Beth Rosson and John M. Carrol, Morgan Kaufmann, 2002
• Universal Principles of Design, by W. Lidwell, K. Holden, and J. Butler, Rockport, 2003
• The Design of Everyday Things, by Donald Norman, Basic Books, 2002
• Readings in Human-Computer Interaction: Toward the Year 2000, Morgan Kaufman, 1995
• The Humane Interface, New Directions for Designing Interactive Systems, by Jef Raskin,
  Addison Wesley, 2000

Course Requirements and Grading

This class teaches the theory and practice of effective user interface design. You will learn about principles, procedures, and programming approaches. You will create, judge, and evaluate interaction designs.

There will be one exam (in week 8 or 9), as well as a series of design, prototype, evaluation, and implementation assignments that lead up to individual or group class projects. We will continuously assign reading material from the book and assorted handouts, which is supposed to help your design efforts and to stimulate class participation. Here is how your final grade will be determined:  

• Exam (30%)
• Up to 4 one-week homework assignments (30%)
• Final project implementation, documentation, and presentation (30%)
• Class participation and activities [paper summaries, UI critiques, quizzes, etc.] (10%)

In case you disagree with any grade, submit your grievance in writing (email or paper) to the grader responsible, explaining and documenting your case.

Lateness Policy

All assignments are due at midnight on the scheduled due date. To make the deadlines more manageable, each student will be allowed three ``late days'' during the quarter for which lateness will not be penalized. Late days may be applied to all assignments, including design sketches and programming assignments, but not the final project! Your  late days may be used as you see fit -- one or multiple per assignment -- but once you used a late day it's good and gone, you cannot reapply it to another assignment. Anything turned in after 12:00:00am until midnight the next day is one day late. Every day thereafter that an assignment is late, including weekends and holidays, counts as an additional late day.

Absolutely no late work will be accepted after the deadline if you have used up all your late days. If you're not done on time you must turn in what you have to receive partial credit. There will be no exceptions from this rule. Please make sure you understand this policy.

When making use of your late days, the online submission provides the timestamp that counts. 

Academic Misconduct

We will strictly enforce UCSB's academic misconduct policies. We use electronic tools to detect plagiarism among submitted homework solutions and sources from the internet. Read these guidelines before beginning each programming assignment. Any form of  plagiarism, collusion, or cheating will result in an "F" in this course and may result in suspension from UCSB for two quarters. When in doubt about any forms of receiving help on your assignments, ask us!

Open Door Policy

I would like the course to be informative and enjoyable. Let us know what you find just, good and interesting about the course. Let us know sooner if you feel something could be improved. See me, send an e-mail, or leave me a note.

Class Materials

See handout column in the class schedule!

Class Schedule

Tentative Topics:

Introduction, Motivation,
Overview and History of HCI

Formal Models for Interaction Design,
Model-based Analysis,
Fitts' Law

Usability Engineering Process,
Scenario-based Design,
Prototyping

Evaluation,
Formative Studies, Summative Studies,
Important Statistics for Usability Studies

Interaction Styles
Feedback and Visualization
Universal Principles of Design
Success Stories and Failures

UI Taxonomies (2D WIMP, 2D/3D Interaction, Multimedia)
Toolkits, UIMS, UI Builders

Programming: Event Models, I/O Models,
Software Engineering

Case Study: Computer Games

Novel Interfaces (Post-WIMP)
Research Frontiers (1995 and now)
Intelligence (AI) in User Interfaces
Mobile Systems
Collaborative Systems 

 

Assignments

• For Thu, Jan 11th: Watch Knowledge Navigator video (see handout column), note the realistic (already implemented) and unrealistic (far out) features. The video is from 1987 and set in 2007-10.
   
• HW assignment 1 is due Thu, Jan. 17th, 23:59:59. You can submit your answers in plain ASCII or PDF format (any other formats, check with the TAs). In order to submit your work, please email your file to the TA.
   
• HW assignment 2 is due Tue, Jan. 29th, 23:59:59. In order to submit, please use the turnin command on the CSIL computers:
  turnin hw2@cs185 <your-files-or-directory>
   
• HW assignment 3 is due Thu, Feb. 7th, 23:59:59. In order to submit, please use the turnin command on the CSIL computers:
  turnin hw3@cs185 <your-files-or-directory>
   
• HW assignment 4 is due Thu, Feb. 21st, 23:59:59. In order to submit, please use the turnin command on the CSIL computers:
  turnin hw4@cs185 <your-files-or-directory>
   
• Final Project