General Information
Instructor
Dr. Franz J. Kurfess, Cal Poly Computer Science Department (http://www.csc.calpoly.edu/~fkurfess/)
Office Hours
My office hours are tentatively scheduled for Tue/Thu 4:40-5:30 pm, and Wed 2:10-5:00 pm. My office is in building 14, room 218. You can also check my Zimbra calendar.
Class Times
- Lecture: TuTh 9:10 AM - 11:00 AM in 14-257
- Lab: This is a seminar-style class, and has no official lab section or time.
The graduate special topics class in Spring 2013 will explore user experience across different interaction modalities, such as conventional computers, mobile devices, and systems using sensors like Microsoft’s Kinect or LeapMotion. While nominally the class is a seminar, the overall structure of the class will be similar to related classes like CSC 484 User-Centered Design. It will include three main activities: a team project, a set of assignments, and a research paper accompanied by a presentation.
Prerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of the instructor.
Students should be familiar with basic principles of User-Centered Design, User Experience, and Human-Computer Interaction. A class like CSC 484 is a good basis for that. Students who haven’t taken that class can visit the class Web page 484-W13 for presentation slides and other class material.
Goals and Objectives
The goal of this graduate course in Human-Computer Interaction is to explore current developments and challenges in that domain, with special emphasis on usability evaluation methods. We will examine three different interaction paradigms and usability evaluation methods suitable for those paradigms (more or less):
- conventional computers with screen, keyboard and pointing device (desktop, laptop)
- touch-based devices (smart phones, tablets)
- gesture-based and immersive devices (Kinect, LeapMotion, Augmented Reality approaches)
I am planning to cover the topics below. Some adjustments in the sequence and coverage may be made as the quarter progresses.
- Introduction: What are User-Centered Design (UCD) and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)? What are important components of UCD and HCI:
- Interaction Paradigms: Combining interaction methods into coherent systems
- Interaction/Interface Evaluation: The Role of Evaluation; Collection of Usage Data; Methods for Conducting Usability Studies
- Textbooks
- Carol Barnum: Usability Testing Essentials: Ready, Set...Test! Morgan Kaufmann, 2010. ISBN: 9780123750921. You can find additional resources such as sample plans, forms, and reports at the book’s companion Web site
- Jeffrey Rubin, Dana Chisnell,: Handbook of Usability Testing: How to Plan, Design, and Conduct Effective Tests, 2nd Edition. Wiley, 2008. ISBN: 978-0-470-18548-3. You can find additional resources such as sample plans, forms, and reports at the book’s companion Web site.
The main work in this class consists of a team project, some assignments, and a research paper/presentation.
Assignments
Most of the work in the assignments will be done in teams, although some assignments may have individual components.
The assignments are designed to give you some practical experience in the use of tools, literature review, and techniques with a focus on usability evaluation. The requirements may include written reports and/or summaries to be posted on the class web site as well as oral presentation of results and relevant discussion in class. There will be some freedom in the choice of tools, methods, or topics, and you are encouraged to coordinate the work on the assignments with the work on the project.
Design Project
This quarter, we will work with Cal Poly internal and outside partners. Student teams will have several project topics to choose from, with an emphasis on mobile devices. Details will be discussed during the first and second week of the quarter.
Class Presentations and Participation
This class will rely on interactive classroom activities, such as participation in group discussions, presentation of ideas and results (from textbook, class or assignments), leading discussions on selected readings, providing written summary materials, etc. Success in this class depends on regular attendance, preparation of assigned readings and homework exercises, as well as a level of professionalism in the class presentations. Peer evaluations will be included as part of the grade.
Policy on Late Work and Extensions
Much of the graded work in this class depends strongly on presentations and documentation material. Once a team or individual has committed to a date for the presentation, extensions or changes in the dates will only be permitted for documented medical or documented emergency reasons. Such changes may also have to be coordinated with the project contacts at the outside partner.
Grading Policy
Please follow the link to he tentative grading scheme. It is roughly based on the one below, but with some flexibility to shift the emphasis between the assignment, research paper, and project parts.
- 30% Assignments (10% each)
- 30% Research Paper (5% proposal/draft, 5% reviews, 10% final, 10% presentation)
- 30% Project (5% mid-quarter and final display each; 10% documentation; 10% team member feedback)
- 10% Participation
I reserve the right to change the formula used. The project and most of the assignments will be done in teams. My evaluation will consider the performance of the team as a whole unless there is a clear disparity in the contribution of the individual team members. Should this be the case, I may ask for additional documentation like work sheets, email messages, or draft copies of documentation to evaluate individual contributions.
For the team grades, feedback through peer evaluations will also be considered (although I will not use it directly in the calculation of the score).