CPE/CSC 484-W10 User-Centered Interface Design and Development Assignments

Types of Assignments

Assignments for the CPE/CSC 484 class will concentrate on activities that enhance your exposure to user-centered design and development and human-computer interaction. While some of them may involve program development, the emphasis usually is not on implementation and software engineering techniques, but on issues that affect the interaction of the user with the program or system you are working on.

Individual vs. Team Assignments

Unless explicitly stated otherwise, all assignments are team assignments. The size of the team should be around five students. Unless there is clear evidence of substantial differences in the contributions of individual team members, I will grade the assignments for the team as a whole.

Assignments and Project

The tasks in this class consist of several assignments and one project. All of these activities are team-based. To keep the administrative overhead low, my preference is to keep the composition of the teams consistent throughout the quarter, across all of the team-based activities. However, if there are problems within a team, the composition of teams can be changed. Please let me know if this is the case.

Development Tools

Unless explicitly specified in the assignment, you can select which tools to use for the assignment. If possible, use tools that produce platform- and OS-indepentent results (i.e., not only .exe files).

Distribution of Assignments

Assignments are usually made available through my Web page or via Blackboard. You can download them from the Class Schedule, or by following the links below:

• Assignment 1: UCD and HCI Tools
• Assignment 2: Storyboards and Use Cases
• Assignment 3: Data Collection
• Assignment 4: Usability Evaluation

The assignments will be made available when we discuss the respective topics in class.

Submission of Assignments

Unless noted otherwise, assignments should be submitted electronically via the Blackboard Wiki. You put the material on your team's TRAC wiki, and link to it from the Blackboard Wiki overview table.

Deadline and Late Submissions

The deadlines are specified on the assignment handout; you can also see the planned deadlines for future assignments on the Class Schedule. Assignments submitted late may be subject to a 10% deduction per late business day; no late assignments will be accepted after the assignment has been discussed in class.

Grading and Return of Lab Exercises

Usually I give points for assignments, not letter grades. All the assignments for a course add up to 100 points, which is then scaled to the contributing factor with respect to the overall grade (e.g. 50%). Alternatively, I may use 100 points per assignment, with a weight factor for each individual assignment.