On-line materials: The textbook will be supplemented by additional material made available through the class
web site loacted at http://www.csdl.tamu.edu/~shipman/courses/cpsc436/home.html (this page).
This material will include useful pointers and references for your projects and homeworks. Questions about the on-line materials will be included on the exams.
Exam I 15%
Exam II 15%
Exam III 15%
Team project 20%
Short assignments 25%
Class participation 10%
Homework late policy:
Homework is due at the beginning of class session on the due date. 10% is deducted from your grade for every
school day late up to a maximum of one week after the original due
date.
Individual Assignment Topics:
During the course of the semester there will be a number of
assignments that will involve considering the design of a particular
class of computer interface. Below is a list of applications that
may be helpful when coming up with a topic.
Example topics: word processor, spreadsheet, Internet browser, operating / file system, tax preparation software, drawing program, image processing software, inventory software, retail checkout software, presentation software, encyclopedia, dictionary / thesaurus, first-person action game, strategy game, ATM software, VCR software, videoconferencing software, meeting room whiteboard software, visual programming environment, math tutoring software, medical information software, air traffic control software, home design software, legal advice software, electronic textbook, music composition software, video editing software, home-control software, grocery shopping system, airline reservations system, foreign language translator, project management software, system debugging software, scanning / OCR software, real estate / rental location tool, electronic mail reader, computer chat system, peronalized newspaper, computerized roadmap, idea generation tool, visualization software, real-time shared editor, calendar / meeting scheduling system, algorithm visualization tool, software debugging tool, WWW visualization tool
Most class periods will include a discussion of one chapter from the textbook along with supplemental materials. Each student will sign up to present a brief (~5 minute) overview of the supplemental readings. This will be followed by class discussion of the materials in the textbook and those provided on-line. All students are expected to have read the materials and be able to participate in discussions. Lectures and discussions will include material not in the book that will be covered by the exams.
Students will form three to five person teams and define
a semester project. There will be two preliminary progress reports for
the projects emphasizing particular phases of the interface design
process:
(1) identifying a topic, determining cognitive and social issues, and
determining an approach. Also identify the task(s) to be performed by each team member.
(2) creating an initial system design, and instantiating the design in
a prototype implementation.
The final project report will also require the design of an evaluation
procedure for refining the resulting interface. The in-class
presentations of project progress will be 5-6 minutes long and the
final presentation on the project will be 15 minutes long.
Programming for projects:
Done in language and operating system of your choice on
machines to which you have access. It is your responsibility to ensure that your project can be demonstrated in the classroom.
| Aug. 31 | Introduction to class, overview |
| Sept. 2 | Chapter 1: Interaction Design, supplemental readings |
| Sept. 7 | Chapter 2: Understanding and Conceptulizing Interaction, supplemental readings |
| Sept. 9 | Guest Lecture (Cervantes Project, Picasso Project, Interactive Storytelling Engine--Slides) |
| Sept. 14 | Chapter 3: Understanding Users, supplemental readings |
| Sept. 16 | Project progress reports (topic, cognitive issues, approach, task distribution) |
| Sept. 21 | Chapter 4: Designing for Collaboration and Communication, supplemental readings |
| Sept. 23 | Chapter 5: Understanding How Interfaces Affect Users, supplemental readings |
| Sept. 28 | Guest Lecture (Visual Knowledge Builder, Graphical Requirements Exploration) |
| Sept. 30 | Exam I (over chapters 1-5, supplemental readings & guest lectures) |
| Oct. 5 | Chapter 6: The Process of Interaction Design, supplemental readings |
| Oct. 7 | Chapter 7: Identifying Needs and Establishing Requirements, supplemental readings |
| Oct. 12 | Chapter 8: Design, Prototyping and Construction, supplemental readings |
| Oct. 14 | Guest Lecture(MASH presentation) |
| Oct. 19 | Chapter 9: User-centered Approaches to Interaction Design, supplemental readings |
| Oct. 21 | Guest Lecture (Cathy Marshall) |
| Oct. 26 | Project progress reports (design, prototyping) |
| Oct. 28 | Chapter 10: Introducing Evaluation, supplemental readings |
| Nov. 2 | Exam II (over chapters 6-10, supplemental readings & guest lectures) |
| Nov. 4 | Chapter 11: An Evaluation Framework, supplemental readings |
| Nov. 9 | Chapter 12: Observing Users, supplemental readings |
| Nov. 11 | Chapter 13: Asking Users and Experts, supplemental readings |
| Nov. 16 | Chapter 14: Testing and Modeling Users, supplemental readings |
| Nov. 18 | No classes - Bonfire memorial inauguration? |
| Nov. 23 | Chapter 15: Design and Evaluation in the Real World, supplemental readings |
| Nov. 25 | Thanksgiving - no class |
| Nov. 30 | Exam III (over chapters 11-15, supplemental readings & guest lectures) |
| Dec. 2 | Project Presentations |
| Dec. 7 | Project Presentations |