810:112
Spring 2007
Dr. Ben Schafer
schafer@cs.uni.edu
273-2187
ITTC 316
Office Hours (my schedule)
Class Info: 3 credits
Time and Place: MWF, 200-2:50, ITTC 328
Texts:
· The Design of Everyday Things (DOET) by Donald Norman. This book is a little bit dated. However, it is an excellent introduction to the human side of user interfaces. By focusing on everyday objects such as doors, kitchen appliances, and telephones, Norman is able to effectively and painlessly teach the psychology of human action.
· User Interface Design for Programmers (UIDP) by Joel Spolsky. We will actually use the online version of this book which can be found at http://www.joelonsoftware.com/uibook/fog0000000249.html. This book is more broad than deep. We are using this book as a general guide to usability and interface design
· Task-Centered User Interface Design (TCUID) by Clayton Lewis and John Rieman. This text-only shareware book (available at http://hcibib.org/tcuid/ also notice the link at the bottom of this page to a pdf version as well) is an efficient introduction to a very useful design process. We will use this book to guide us through the projects.
Students looking for a more research-oriented text on user interface design may wish to obtain a copy of Ben Shneiderman’s Designing the User Interface (4th edition), an excellent text covering a wide range of topics and issues related to UI design and human-computer interaction. There also are a dozen other VERY good books. Ask if you have questions.
Class Directory: http://www.cs.uni.edu/~schafer/courses/112/ (Check here for lecture notes, announcements and supplemental class materials)
Class Mailing List: 810-112-01-SPRING@uni.edu I frequently send e-mail to inform you of breaking news and to answer common questions. Furthermore, I encourage you to use this mailing list to ask questions of me and/or your fellow students. By default, mail to this list will go to your @uni.edu address and mail sent by you to this list will be rejected unless it comes from that address. Talk to me if this is a problem. Again, you are responsible for checking your email to be aware of announcements.
Description
This class covers the theory, design, evaluation, and implementation of interactive application interfaces. The course is built around a large project that is completed in groups. Topics include: human capabilities and limitations, the interface design and engineering process, prototyping, interface evaluation, and current topics such as data visualization, and world wide web interfaces.
The class format is lecture, in-class individual and group activities, and a partial "studio-based" approach. Class participation is expected, and your grade will be based in part upon it. Thoughtful questions are as important as answers.
All students will complete a group project. The project (described in detail in a separate handout) involves the design and evaluation of an interactive user interface. Students will work in groups of three or four students. Groups will need to meet outside of class, as well as in class, to complete the project. Groups will present their projects at the end of the semester.
Workload
This demanding course will require both substantial and sustained effort. In accordance with standard university guidelines, students should expect to spend about nine hours per week on this course to meet the minimum requirements for a C-level grade. Students aspiring to higher grades will need to work harder, more efficiently, or both.
Because of the integrated group activity in the course, students whose work or personal lives would lead them to miss more than one consecutive week of class during the quarter, or more than two weeks total, should not enroll in the course. Much of the material covered in this class can be learned in other venues more suitable for students who are unable to commit a semester to the material.
Working in Groups
Working in project groups may be new for some of you, and can be challenging for all. Spend time at the start of the course learning about prospective group members. Remember that you will have a better group experience if your group is diverse in talents and interest, but united in goals and compatible in work habits. Randy Pausch at CMU has developed a good set of tips for students working in groups: http://www.alice.org/bvw2001/tips.html. I am here to help your group resolve problems.
Course Computing
Students are welcome to work on the CNS laboratory computers. You may develop your software on any system that supports the tools you are using. It is important that you be able to demonstrate your project both periodically and at the end of the course. For these purposes, you must either arrange for your project to run on one of the lab machines, or you must bring a portable computer that runs your project.
Class Participation
Socrates reportedly said that the best learning takes place on a log, with the teacher on one end and the student on the other. In other words, learning is most effective if it is an interactive process. This course will sometimes utilize the traditional "lecture" you may be used to. However, the best learning will take place when class is an open discussion between instructor and students. Regular class sessions will be aided significantly by your participation in discussions, as well as your willingness to ask questions and share your experiences with your classmates. To encourage this, I will take attendance, and I will try to evaluate how much effort you seem to be putting into participating in the process. You can earn up to 4 points for each regular class session based roughly on the following guidelines:
At the end of this semester your average daily participation grade will be converted from this 4 point scale to a percentage scale.
Interface Hall of Fame/Hall of Shame
All students will be required to present a Hall of Fame/Shame interface in the first few minutes of a content session. I will make a few sample presentations during the first two weeks, and then we’ll have one presentation per content session after that. We will schedule these near the beginning of the semester. The requirements for this are:
Major Project
There is a separate handout describing the class project. The project, which will be completed by groups of students, is to be completed in stages and will be partially graded after each stage. Some intermediate deliverables will be individual assignments; most should be completed by the group. The final deliverable from the project includes a detailed set of design drawings, a poster-session presentation/demonstration at a class open house, and both group and individual self-evaluations. While projects will receive a single grade per group, group members may receive different grades if not all members contribute fully to the project (see the description of the individual multiplier on the project handout).
You should bring all project-related documents (e.g., analysis documents, paper prototypes, etc.) to each class. Many class sessions will include project-related activities.
Quizzes and Exams
A single final take-home examination will be held on the first week of April. This exam is a "show-what-you-can-do" exam that will ask you to apply the techniques from your project, individually, to a presented interface. The intent is for you to demonstrate your individual competence without needing to memorize details or study class notes. If you are unable to participate in this exam during that week, you will need to let me know as soon as possible so we can arrange an alternative.
In addition to the exam, there will be four very brief quizzes during the class. Quizzes will test content from the prior week or two (including discussion content), as well as readings and project steps due by the date of the quiz. Quizzes will generally be closed-book, and will be held at the beginning of class. Students may drop their lowest quiz score without penalty. Missed quizzes count as a zero. If you are absent from a single quiz, that quiz will be dropped (as your lowest score). If you are absent for more than one quiz, and can document good cause for the absence (illness, university-sanctioned event, etc.), then the other quiz scores will be scaled up to the higher percentage. Because quizzes are unannounced, there will not be make-up quizzes.
In this course, you have the opportunity -- and responsibility -- to perform as a computer science professional in an environment that is as realistic as possible, given the constraints of a course. This course expects professional behavior:
I try to accommodate student needs whenever possible, but I can do so only if I know about them. If you ever need to make alternate arrangements that will affect your participation in this course, contact me -- and your teammates! -- in advance. The safest way to make such arrangements with me is by sending e-mail regarding of your circumstances and of how you can be reached.
This will be very straight forward. Over the course of the semester you have the opportunity to earn 1000 points as follows:
|
Activity |
Points |
| Individual Points | |
| Participation (scaled) | 100 |
| Interface Hall of Fame/Shame | 25 |
|
Quizzes (scaled, based on highest 3 of 4) |
75 |
|
Exam |
150 |
| Individual Deliverables (weeks 1, 10, 11, 15 @ 25 points) | 100 |
|
Group Points (subject to individual multiplier) |
|
| Group Deliverables (14 deliverables @ 25 points) | 350 |
|
Final Project (week 15) |
200 |
Final grades will be assigned based on cut off points no “higher” than:
Incompletes are only
awarded in very rare circumstances when an unforeseeable event causes a
student who has completed all coursework to date to be unable to complete a
small portion of the work remaining in the course.
Because of the heavy groupwork nature of the course, incompletes will
generally not be awarded except in cases of severe medical or family
emergency. Making up an
incomplete grade will usually require completing a new project the following
year. Any incomplete grade will
require a written agreement on the work to be completed.
You are responsible for being familiar with the University’s Academic Ethics Policies (http://www.uni.edu/pres/policies/301.shtml).
Academic integrity is essential to a positive teaching and learning environment. All students enrolled in University courses are expected to complete coursework responsibilities with fairness and honesty. Failure to do so by seeking unfair advantage over others or misrepresenting someone else’s work as your own, can result in disciplinary action.
Any substantive contribution to your solution by another person or taken from a publication should be properly acknowledged in writing. Failure to do so is plagiarism and will necessitate disciplinary action. Cheating can result in failing the course and/or more severe disciplinary actions.
In this class it will still be judged on the course criteria
We live in a technological society, and many of you now carry a variety of electronic distractions with you. These include cell phones, laptops, PDAs, etc. While you are welcome to own and use these tools, the past few semesters have made me realize that I need to include a brief note on the etiquette of using these items.
It may be appropriate to use your laptop, PDA during course. You may do this to take notes about the discussion, or remind yourself of due items/due dates. However, their use should be limited to course related purposes. If they become a distraction for you or other members of the course (including me) then you will be asked to no longer bring them to class. The use of cell phones during class is basically never appropriate (a few rare situations exist, and I should be notified in advance of these situations). Please turn off your cell phone prior to the start of class.
The inappropriate use of any of these devices will cause your participation grade to be reduced one point for the first occurrence, and will earn a participation score of zero for all future occurrences.
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) provides protection from discrimination for qualified individuals with disabilities. Students with a disability, who require assistance, will need to contact the Office of Disability Services (ODS) for coordination of academic accommodations. The ODS is located at 213 Student Services Center. Their phone number is 319/273-2676. Additionally, please contact me immediately if you have a learning or physical disability requiring accommodation