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.
Class Times
- Lecture: MW 4:10 PM - 6:00 PM in 14-257
- Lab: This is a seminar-style class, and has no official lab section. Some of the class time will be used for student activities, including presentations, usability evaluations and work on the team projects.
This graduate special topics class in Fall 2015 will explore the notion of “Interaction Spaces”, in particular for interactions between humans and computational devices. An interaction space includes the physical space required for the interactions, but also a more abstract space, similar to the problem space or search space used in Artificial Intelligence and related disciplines. To examine this, let’s consider three different interaction paradigms: Conventional computers with interactions primarily involving keyboard, pointing device and screen; smartphones, with touch-based interactions, and gesture-based interaction as in the LeapMotion or Microsoft Kinect. For conventional computers, the physical interaction space is stationary, and roughly includes the desk surface, chair, and enough space for the user to perform typical interaction activities. For a smartphone, the interaction space is movable, and may be as small as the space around the device and the hands of the user, or somewhat larger, including the body of the user. For gesture-based interaction, the physical interaction space must be able to accommodate the gestures performed during interactions. For the Kinect, it is fairly large, about the size of a small room, whereas for the LeapMotion, it is much smaller.
The abstract interaction space is more complex. At its core, it contains a set of states, plus transitions between the states (“actions”, or “interactions”). An “interaction task” - similar to a “search task” for search-based activities - starts with the interaction partners in an initial state, and over a sequence of interactions leads to a goal state. In more formal interactions, such as two-person games like Chess or Go, the states and interactions are well-defined, and can be viewed as an “interaction language” that characterizes interactions permitted within the rules of the games. Even in less formal interactions, it can be helpful to analyze the “interaction space” by identifying the core states and interactions available to the participants.
In this class, we will use the notion of “interaction spaces” to analyze and compare different types of interactions and interaction paradigms, such as the ones mentioned above (conventional computers, smartphones, gesture-based interaction). Depending on the interests of the class participants, we may also explore others, such as “Natural User Interfaces”, Human-Robot Interaction, or interactions between multiple robots or software agents.
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 or CSC 486 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. In addition, familiarity with problem solving methods such as search algorithms, reasoning, or planning is beneficial, but not critical.
Goals and Objectives
The goal of this graduate course in Human-Computer Interaction is to explore and analyze interactions between humans and computational devices. We will examine three primary interaction paradigms:
- 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)
Overview of Topics
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 Spaces: Analyzing various aspects of interactions between humans and computational devices
- Interaction/Interface Evaluation: The Role of Evaluation; Collection of Usage Data; Methods for Conducting Usability Studies
Textbooks and Course Material
I have not been able to find a textbook suitable for this class, so the main repository for related material will be the Web. You can check the list of books from the 484-W13 Syllabus for more general books on User-Centered Design, User Experience, and Human-Computer Interaction. There are two books on Usability Testing that I’m using as reference material:
- 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.
Students are also expected to share material they find interesting, primarily through the research paper and accompanying presentation.
HCI Lab
The class uses the HCI lab, and students have access to the facilities and devices of the lab.Course Work
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 “Interaction Spaces”. 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
This is the tentative grading scheme that I am planning to use:
- 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).