Introduction

As society becomes increasingly mechanized (the computer revolution, devices with embedded computers, etc.) there is an ever increasing need for instruction which covers the design of interfaces between humans and machines. This problem area spans several disciplines such as psychology, cognitive science, engineering and computer science.

Human computer interaction is an exciting and growing field of cognitive science. The basic principles of cognitive psychology and perception are directly applicable to interface design and the problems of understanding user problems. Many cognitive psychologists have entered this area of study (e.g. Donald Norman). There is much opportunity for student involvement in research. Much is presented at major conferences in Psychology, Computer Science, and Cognitive Science such as SIGCHI, SIGGRAPH, SCIP, etc.

Course Objectives

In this course, as in many, there are multiple and occasionally conflicting objectives. These include the following:

1. Developing a design point of view -- a capacity for analyzing interaction problems on a technical, a cognitive, and a functional basis;

2. Developing an awareness of the range of general human-computer interaction issues that must be considered in creating any kind of program or product that people will use;

3. Developing a framework for orderly thinking and rigor in formulating, refining and implementing HCI designs.

Texts:

Norman, D., The Design of Everyday Things, Basic Books, New York, 1988.

Shneiderman, B., D., Designing the User Interface, Addison-Wesley, Reading, Mass, 1997.

Wallace, P. The Psychology of the Internet , Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Some Representative Journals:

Human-Computer Interaction

International Journal of Man-Machine Studies

Journal Educ. Comp. Research

Behavior and Information Technology

The Major WWW Resources for HCI Information

http://www.acm.org/sigchi

Syllabus:

Week I

A Introduction - The Psychology of Everyday Things and It's Relation to HCI

Reading: Norman - Chap. 1 & 2, Shneid. Chap. 1

Week II

Knowledge in the Head and in the World

Reading: Norman book, Chapter 3/4, Shneid. Chap. 2

Week III - Our first application

Reading: Norman book, Chapter 5-7; Shneid. Chap 3.

Project #1 DUE and to be presented in Class

Week IV

The Design Challenge

Reading Shneid. - Chap. 4, Afterword

Fisher (1991) Defining the Novice User. Behavior and Information Technology, 10, 437-441

Shneid. - Chap. 4, Afterword

Team Presentations: Groups of Two Students will present an article to class

Representative HCI research articles. To be presented in class.

Nass, et al (1995). Can computer personalities be human personalities. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 43, 223-239.

Muter (1993). User-Hostile Systems and Patterns of Psychophysical Activity. Computers in Human Behavior, 9, 105-111.

Coll, et al (1993). The Blinking Cursor: A two-experiment sequence investigating whether a blinking cursor facilitates user performance. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 39, 177-185.

Arend, et al (1987). Evidence for global feature superiority in menu selection. Behavior and Information Technology, 6, 411-426.

Sears and Shneiderman (1991) High precision touchscreens: design strategies and comparisons with a mouse. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 34, 1593-613.

Week VII - Building the Interface / Java

Shneid - Chap 6 - Software Tools

Week VIII.

Direct Manipulation Strategies - Shneid. Chap. 6

Programming the User Interface: Monitoring the Interface

Week IX

Wallace -Psychology of the Internet - Class will be assigned to demonstrate characteristics of various communities.

Week X

Menu and Command Line Issues - Shneid. 7 & 8.

Interaction Devices and Response Time Issues

Shneid. Chap. 9 and 10

Week XI

Presentation Style, Manuals and Help

Shneid. 11 & 12

Week XII

Window Strategies and Cooperative Work

Shneid. Chap. 13, 14

Week XIII

Hypermedia and the Web

Shneid. 15 and 16.

Week XIV

Presentation of Class Projects and Evaluation of Such

A. The Psychopathology of the VCR

Purpose: The goal of this assignment is to analyze an everyday object, a VCR, for its usability. We will use the concepts of good design that Norman introduces in his book: visibility, natural mapping, feedback, and good conceptual model.

Why are VCR's difficult to use?

1. Describe in detail two problems that you have encountered when operating your VCR. Sketch out its controls and displays as well as specify the steps that you have to go through to use this function.

2. Analyze these two problems using Norman's concepts of good design. Why does the design fail?

B. Evaluation of a Program

Purpose: The goal of this assignment is to analyze a current version of Microsoft Word for its usability. We will use the concepts of good design that Norman introduces in his book: visibility, natural mapping, feedback, and good conceptual model.

Is Word difficult to use?

1. Describe in detail two problems that you have encountered when using Word . Sketch out the interface as well as specify the steps that you have to go through to use this function.

2. Analyze these two problems using Norman's concepts of good design. Why does the design fail?

3. Describe how you would redesign Word to (hopefully) avoid this problem. Again, sketch out the features and displays/menus as well as specify the steps that you have to go through to use this function.

Is Word difficult to use?

C. Printing on a Palm Pilot.

Purpose: Palm Pilots are being ubiquitous. They use character recognition. Given a current model, how is it to use and learn?

1. Describe in detail two problems that you have encountered when using the Palm Pilot . Sketch out the interface as well as specify the steps that you have to go through to use this function

2. Analyze these two problems using Norman's concepts of good design. Why does the design fail?

3. Describe how you would redesign the Pilot to (hopefully) avoid this problem. Again, sketch out the features and displays/menus as well as specify the steps that you have to go through to use this function.

In each project, you might consider the following factors about your system:

1. Natural? 6. Adaptable / Intelligent?

2. Transparent? 7. Helpful?

3. Forgiving? 8. Consistent?

4. Obedient 9. Extensible?

5 . Customizable/ 10. Reasonable Modes?

A team of student will pick a small programming task and design an interface for the task. The design should be in accord with good design principles.

After design, the program will then be evaluated using established human factors and psychological principles.

Students should be able to present a topic for approval by week 6 of the semester. A brief presentation of the topic will be made to the class.