ITI 230 - HCI - Jacek Gwizdka

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ITI 230 - Human-Computer Interaction- Fall 2010

This course studies how best to design the interface between human users and computer systems. Emphasis is placed on learning how to involve the user at different stages in the design process to improve the interface in a cost effective way. In particular, experience with iterative user-centered design, rapid prototyping and usability testing methods are developed. Students evaluate several computer interfaces as well as iteratively design and evaluate an interface prototype.

Course Description

This course provides an overview about the user interface design. The course particularly concentrates on the user interface design for information retrieval systems, based on human information seeking behavior. The user interface lies between the user and the information system. It is designed to facilitate user-system interaction. Information searching is a highly complex and intelligent task. Given the explosion of digital information available for search, information retrieval systems need more effective, efficient, and natural user interfaces to support access to information.

The course will cover basic concepts in human-computer interaction, user interface design principles, task and user analysis, interface design methods, user interface evaluation and usability testing. Students will be expected to do readings, participate in discussion, and complete all assignments. They will extensively use web design tools (Dreamweaver/MS PowerPoint) to prototype user interfaces. For further information about the topics covered in this class, please see the class topics and schedule.

This is NOT a course on Web page design. The course requires a basic understanding of information *systems* and hands-on skills with the use of prototyping tools.

Course
Objectives

The objective of this course is for students to learn how to design, prototype and evaluate user interfaces to interactive information systems by examining what research has uncovered, what developers have produced, and how people perform information tasks.

Objectives. At the end of this course students should be able to:

understand relevant HCI theories;
identify the strengths and weaknesses of interface designs and provide suggestions of how to improve them;
design interfaces to accommodate a wide range of users and skill levels;
undertake iterative and inexpensive user-centered design methods;
perform usability testing procedures;
apply practical design methodology to develop an interface prototype, based on market research, task analysis and user input

Organization & Method

The course combines lectures, discussions, demonstrations, and assignments/projects to help students understand UI design principles, task and user analysis, design methods, and UI evaluation and usability testing techniques in developing interactive information systems. Students are encouraged to discuss, question, and clarify course content in class meetings.

The assignments are individual and group work. The assignments reflect a process and each one builds on the results of the previous. All focus on conceiving, developing and testing an interface to information content. and will follow the material discussed in class.

Textbook & Readings

Please see the course readings webpage. (Note the book abbreviations.)

Additional readings are selected from a range of information science and human computer interaction books, journals and conference proceedings. Please see the course schedule webpage.

Required readings should be read in advance of the class; additional readings are included in this list for enrichment and supplementary purposes, and may be useful for assignments and further study.

Note about copyright: Some materials posted on the course website may be copyrighted. They are to be used only as a part of this course.

Class Policies

Announcements

Students are responsible for all announcements made in class, whether or not they are present when the announcements are made.

Late submissions

Deadlines are your responsibility. Late submissions will be accepted with a penalty of one grade level the assignment would otherwise deserve (e.g. B instead of B+). The penalty will be applied for each day of delay (e.g. a two-day late submission will get C+ instead of B+). In the case of unforeseen emergencies (e.g. with a doctor's note), or with a prior permission from the instructor (obtained before the due date), late submissions will be graded normally. Late submissions will not receive any verbal or written feedback.

Course Handouts

Handouts will be distributed electronically via the course website or mailing list as needed. You are expected to read all handouts and assigned articles, and may expect their content to appear in assignments and/or tests.

Communication

Email: Rutgers accounts preferred. Always include your name (esp. if emailing from non-Rutgers account) and use course name (ITI 230) in subject line.

Cellphones, Computer use, etc.

Cell phones should be set turned off during class. Please do not text nor view text messages during class. Please do not use computers (or laptops) to check e-mail, IM, surf the web, and other such activities. Please This is distracting for other students and there have been student complaints about this. If you are caught using a cell phone or other communication you will receive one warning, on the second occurrence you will be excused from classroom.

Attendance

Students are expected to attend and participate in all class meetings and lab sessions. If you cannot come to a class meeting, you should contact the instructor and provide an explanation. Note that participation accounts for 10% of the final grade (see the grading policy below). Participation means that you take an active part in discussions in classroom and/or on-line. You are responsible for obtaining any material that might have been presented or distributed in class the day when you were absent.

University Code of Student Conduct

Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. Please read the University's Policy on Academic Integrity. Learn more from these fun videos.

Plagiarism Detection

At the instructor's discretion, work presented in this course is subject to verification of originality, using the following service: www.turnitin.com

Assignment Submission

Assignments are submitted electronically via sakai and/or in a hard copy (details will be provided with each assignment).
Each submitted homework needs to include the following information: your name, assignment number and title (if applicable), course name, your email address, and date. For short assignments, please put it at the top of the first page, for longer assignment, put include a separate title page with the required information. If you are submitting your work electronically (e.g., via sakai, or email), please include the course number your name, and assignment number in the file name (e.g., ITI_230_YourName_A1.doc; ITI_230_YourName_P1.html).

Evaluation Criteria

Detailed criteria will be given for each assignment, project and presentation. General rough guidelines:

Written assignments: 90% content + 10% style
In-class presentations: 80% content + 20% style (presentation clarity, structure, quality of slides, body language)

Grading scale:

Grading is based on a your performance on all assignments, lab exercises, as well as class participation. Course grades are assigned according to The Graduate School-New Brunswick policy (see SCILS Catalog at http://ruweb.rutgers.edu/catalogs/scils.shtml) :

A (91-100%): Outstanding and excellent work of the highest standard, mastery of the topic, evidence of clear thinking, good writing, work submitted on time, well organized and polished.
B+ (85-90%:) Very good work, substantially better than the minimum standard, very good knowledge of the topic; error free.
B (80-84%): Good work, better than the minimum standard, good knowledge of the topic.
C+ (74-79%): Minimum standard work, adequate knowledge of the topic.
C (70-73%): Work barely meeting the minimum standard, barely adequate knowledge of the topic; errors.
D (65-69%) Writing not up to standard, disorganized, many errors
F (< 64%): Unacceptable, inadequate work
IN Incomplete or T: Temporary.

Assessment

The content of this course is best understood by assimilating the lectures, by readings, by analyzing examples and by practice. The assessment for this course is based on a series of assignments that match the real-world process and on class participation. Assignments are of two types: smaller exercises and a multi-part course project. Descriptions of the assignments are available on the course website. There will also be exercises that are not graded - in all cases, you will later use the same techniques/methods as a part of your project. Class participation includes participation in discussions; reading descriptions.

The course project is worth 50%; mid-term test 25%; the reminding 25% comes from smaller assignments, quizzes, class participation.

Detailed assessment criteria are given for each assignment, exercise, project and presentation. Please treat the detailed assessment percentage points for each assignment as guidelines only; they will inform you, which elements of the assignment are more important.