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COMP 675 Winter 2000 Syllabus

General Information

Course Description: [from the Concordia Graduate Calendar]

Goals and Objectives The goal of the course is to learn how to design, prototype, and evaluate user interfaces using a variety of methods and tools especially user-centered design. In order to achieve this, students should aquire the understanding of:
- Tasks that a prospective user needs to accomplish,
- Cognitive and perceptual constraints that affect UI design,
- The techniques for analyzing user requirements and evaluating a user interface design,
- The importance of iterative design in producing usable software,
- The underlying technology used to prototype and implement user interface code, and
- How to work together on a team project and to communicate the results of work, both in oral and written form?
- Possess a working knowledge of the common user interface development tools. Students who are familiar with any specific tool are encouraged to use other toolkits or UIMSs.
- Have familiarity with some of the outstanding research and industry problems being studied in the field of human-computer interaction.
In addition to covering current HCI topics and challenges, students will design, prototype, and evaluate a user interface in a team-oriented environment.

Teaching Appproach

Humam computer interface design is best understood through practice andexamples. This is not a traditional CS course, and it is likely that you will find some materials; somewhat difficult at first. But over the term you will probably come to enjoy this different content of study and learning. The course will be taught using design examples as the basis for discussion in class. The course content is organized around a series of chapters. Each takes one or two weeks and coveres a particular HCI design issue.

Textbooks

The following textbook will be used in this course. There is a column in the course schedule which indicates the chapters in the book that correspond to a topic discussed in class.

Human-Computer Interaction
Alan Dix, Janet Finlay, Gregory Abowd, and Russell Beale, Prentice Hall, 2nd ed., 1998.

For further reading, here are some more suggestions:

Human-Computer Interaction
J. Preece, Y. Rogers, H. Sharp, D. Benyon, Addison-Wesley, 1994.
[This book is out of print, but you might be able to find a copy in a bookstore. There is also a copy on reserve in the library.]
Designing the user interface: strategies for effective human-computer-interaction
Ben Shneiderman, Addison-Wesley, 1998.
Tools for HCI Education and Training
by Roger Chapman and Ben Shneiderman. This Web site is based on the Sheiderman book.
Task-Centered User Interface Design: a Practical Introduction by Clayton Lewis and John Rieman
The Design of Everyday Things
Donald A. Norman, Doubleday/Basic, 1990
The Invisible Computer
Donald A. Norman, MIT Press, 1998

For those who are interested in learning advanced user-centered design methods, we recommended the following books:

Software for Use: A Practical Guide to the Models and Methods of Usage Centered Design; Larry L. Constantine, Lucy A. D. Lockwood; Addison-Wesley; April 1999.
Handbook of Human-Computer Interaction by Martin G. Helander (Editor), Thomas K. Landauer (Editor), Prasad v Prabhu; 2nd Rev edition; Elsevier Science; October 1997.

An extended list of references is available from the User-Centered Software Engineering Digital Library at http://www.cs.concordia/~faculty/seffah/UCSE

Grading Policy

Project	30%
Homework	30%
Midterm	20%
Final Exam	20%

The following table gives an overview of the calculation of the grades. We reserve the right, however, to change the formula used. Please note that the group project consists of several parts which will be graded separately. The performance of the team as a whole will be graded unless there is a clear disparity in the contribution of the individual team members. In order to verify the contributions of individual team members to the overall project, we may ask for additional evidence, such as protocols of team meetings, submission of individual documents, or access to the team account. The homework is designed as a series of related tasks, which together make up something like an individual project, in contrast to the group project. The homework will also involve some collaboration, but students will have to submit their own, individual assignments.

Instructors and Contact Information

Dr. Franz J. Kurfess

Contact		Office Hours
Phone:	(514) 848 3038	Friday 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Office:	LB 903-21	or by appointment
E-mail:	franz@cs.concordia.ca
Home page:	http://www.cs.concordia.ca/~faculty/franz

Dr. Ahmed Seffah

Contact		Office Hours
Phone:	(514) 848 3024	Friday 3 pm - 5 pm
Office:	LB 941-7	or by appointment
E-mail:	seffah@cs.concordia.ca
Home page:	http://www.cs.concordia.ca/~faculty/seffah

Franz Kurfess

Last modified: Mon Jan 10 07:19:31 EST 2000