| Credit Hours: | 4 |
| Course Coordinator: | Jim Larson |
| Course Description: | Introduction to the basic theory of human-computer interaction. Principles of human cognition and interface design, interface evaluation techniques. Several prototyping tools will be presented. Projects are required.
Training, skill, and experience are necessary to design user interfaces that are truly easy to learn and use. This course presents the theory and principles behind great user interfaces, and enables students to put the theory into practice by (1) specifying criteria for evaluating user interfaces; (2) implementing a variety of user interfaces, including GUI (Graphical User Interface), VUI (Voice User Interface), and MMUUI (Multimodal User Interface); and (3) applying the evaluation criteria to the user interface. Students should be able to apply the knowledge they gain from this course to both design and evaluate user interfaces using technologies available today and tomorrow.
Spring 2009 course syllabus may be found at: http://www.larson-tech.com/CS410/CS410Syllabus.htm |
| Prerequisites: | Knowledge of HTML |
| Goals: | Determine the appropriate dialog style, modes, and modalities of user interfaces
Design and implement simple graphical, verbal, and multimodal user interfaces
Specify testable performance and usability criteria
Design testing strategies and testing instruments
Collect and evaluate performance and usability data |
| Example Textbooks: | Ben Shneiderman,Catherine Plaisant, Maxine Cohen and Steven Jacobs. "Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Human-Computer Interaction", 5th Edition. Pearson Education. (ISBN: 9780321537355) |
| References: | |
| Major Topics: | Introduction-Usability of Interactive Systems
Understand why usability is important
Specify usability requirements, measurements, and metrics
Learn UI design theories, principles and guidelines
Choose the appropriate dialog style (user-directed, system-directed, mixed-initiative)
Choose the appropriate media and modalities (GUI, VUI, MMUI)
Determine the degree of user involvement (direct manipulation, agent-directed)
Manage the User Inteface Lifecycle
Identify users' problems by shadowing and ethnography field studies
Specify user interface requirements with interviews and surveys
Implement simple GUI, VUI, and MMUI user interfaces
Evaluate and refine prototypes via "Wizard of Oz" experiements and focus groups
Maximize quality assurance and user acceptance with controlled testing
Refine and enhance the user interface with monitoring after deployment
Evaluate Interface Designs
Write testable performance criteria
Write testable usability criteria
Design testing strategies and instruments
Log data to measure performance criteria
Survey users to measure usability criteria
Iteratively test both inside and outside of the laboratory
User Interface Design Issues
Multiuser interaces for collaborative applications
Direct manipulation vs. instructional user interfaces
Anthropomorphic designs
Searching, filtering, and browsing
Information visualization
Managing the tradeoffs between user and business requirements
Help manuals, tutorials, and online help in context |
| Laboratory Exercises: | Build a Graphical User Interface (GUI): Choose appropriate menu selection, form fill-in, and dialog box widgets; choose appropriate colors shapes and sizes in a 2-dimensional layout; implement and usability test the GUI
Build a Voice User Interface (VUI): Choose appropriate voice menus and voice forms; choose an appropriate voice and specify dialogs in a one-dimensional temporal layout; implement and usability test the VUI
Build a Multimodal User Interface (MMUI): Use both voice and visual widgets in a 3-dimensional visual and temporal layout; implement and usability test the MMUI |
