Principles of User Interface Design, Implementation and Evaluation

Computer Science  465
Fall 2008

WF 12:30 - 1:45 pm
Room 1105

Instructor:
Karrie G. Karahalios
kkarahal@cs.uiuc.edu
3110 Siebel Center

TA:
Tony Bergstrom
abergst2@cs.uiuc.edu
Office Hours: Mon. 10 am, SC 0207

Syllabus

Course Description
This class deals with the fundamental principles of user interface design, implementation, and evaluation. Throughout the course, there will be mini-project design exercises.  The course will conclude with the implementation and evaluation of a final project.

Topics covered in this course include current research approaches, interface perception analysis, user and task analysis, low and high fidelity prototyping, iterative design, evaluation techniques, and communication and collaboration skills.

The course begins with traditional interface techniques.  We then look to move beyond the traditional Graphical User Interface (GUI) mold and explore next-generation interfaces for the desktop.  Following this, we discuss interfaces for mobile devices, large-scale displays, Tangible User Interfaces (TUI's), and spatial interfaces.

Textbooks and Readings
Readings will be assigned from several texts. The required texts for this course are:

• The Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman. This book is an excellent introduction to the human side of user interfaces.
• Task-Centered User Interface Design by Clayton Lewis and John Rieman. This text-only shareware book (available at http://hcibib.org/tcuid/) is an efficient introduction to a very useful design process. We will use this book to guide us through the projects.
• Interaction Design:  Beyond Human-Computer Interaction  by  Jennifer Preece, Yvonne Rogers, and Helen Sharp.
  

Recommended Books

• HCI Models, Theories, and Frameworks: Toward a Multidisciplinary Science by John Carroll
• Human Computer Interaction by Alan Dix, Janet Finlay, Gregory Abowd, and Russell Beale
• Designing the User Interface by Ben Shneiderman (4th edition).
  
  These books cover a wide range of topics and issues related to UI design and human-computer interaction. 
  
  

Computer Accounts
All students enrolled in the course have a Computer Science Instructional Lab (CSIL) account. The labs are located in DCL and Siebel.

Course Newsgroup
The course will use a Usenet newsgroup named class.cs465. The name of the Usenet news server is news.cs.uiuc.edu. From this link, there are instructions about how to set up an account. You will then need to access the new server using a news reader application such as Microsoft Outlook. You will need to configure your news reader software appropriately to access the news server. If you need assistance, I can probably help or point you to the appropriate person.

Grading
25%  class discussion and participation
25%  homework assignments
25%  mini-projects and midterm
25%  final project

Academic Integrity 
For more information, please review the University Student Conduct Code for Academic Integrity.

Incompletes
Incompletes are only awarded in very rare circumstances when an unforeseeable event causes a student who has completed all coursework to date to be unable to complete a small portion of the work remaining in the course. Because of the heavy groupwork nature of the course, incompletes will generally not be awarded except in cases of medical or family emergency. Making up an incomplete grade will usually require completing a new project the following year. An incomplete grade will require a written agreement on the work to be completed.