User-Centered Interface Design and Development Assignments


Types of Assignments
Assignments for this class will concentrate on activities that enhance your exposure to 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; preferably the teams should be the same as for the class project. 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-independent results (i.e., not only .exe files).
Distribution of Assignments
Assignments are usually made available through my Web page. You can download them from the Class Schedule, or by following the links in the sidebar. The assignments will be made available when we discuss the respective topics in class.
Submission of Assignments
Unless noted otherwise, assignments should be made available via your team's project repository, with a link on the project teams sheet.
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
Usually I give points for assignments, not letter grades. All the assignments for a course usually 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.