CSC 540 : User Interface Development

Fall 2002, Dept. of Mathematical Sciences, UNCG

Web page: http://www.uncg.edu/~nlgreen/csc540/index.html

Instructor:  Dr. Nancy Green Department of Mathematical Sciences
Office Hours:  MW 3:30 - 4:30 pm & by appointment  Office: 322 Bryan 
Course Time: MW 2:00 - 3:15 pm Meeting Place: 121 Bryan 
Syllabus (Prerequisites, Description, Goals, Grading, Attendance, Project, Assignments, etc.) Course Resources (Textbooks, Reserve Room readings, Internet links)

Calendar

This is only a tentative schedule.  It will be updated during the semester.
Announcement of exact due dates and test dates will be made in class with at least 2 weeks advance notice.

Dates Monday  Wednesday  Readings 
Aug 19,21     Dix: Introduction & ch. 1; Review your Java books on GUI basics (event model, AWT, etc.); Cab.java & Dispatcher.java handouts 
Aug 26,28     Dix: ch. 2-3
Sep 2,4 Labor Day (no class)   Handout 9/4 on Gulfs & Gestalt
Sep 9,11     Dix: ch. 4; my .ppt slides on Direct Manipulation; (optional: Dynamic Queries Demo (to run, click on "View the 35 resources ..", then click on this title); (optional: Dynamic Queries paper)
Sep 16,18 HW 1 (Java warm-up) due.
Lecture: Examples of Guidelines:
Yale Web Style Guide,
Evidence-based Guidelines		   Dix: ch. 5 and my extra slides; handouts from Hix & Hartson on Usability Specification and IEEE Computer paper on GUI testing
Sep 23,25   HW 2 (Usability spec) due Dix: ch. 7 (note: ch. 6 will be covered after ch. 7 because ch. 7 is needed for HW3); (optional) research paper on task analysis of WWW by Byrne et al.; Dix: ch. 6.1-6.5 (my slides) (note: the rest of ch. 6 will be covered later)
Sep 30, Oct 2 Instead of class today, go to Ashby lecture Oct 3, 3:30 pm in Bryan 335 Dix: ch. 8 & my example STN slides
Oct 7,9   HW 3 (Task analysis) due, also get approval for project by today Dix: ch. 10; STN to BNF problem (handout in class); my MVC Architecture lecture notes, my MVC-real estate example
Oct 14,16 Fall Break (no class) Note: we really do have class today!! my widgit notes, my interface design notes (and figure)
Oct 21,23 Test 1 (covers Dix ch. 1-5, 6.1-6.5, 7, 8 & other related readings, my slides & lectures through Oct. 9 except not on ch. 10 or MVC) (We will have class today.  However, you are also urged to attend the Math Colloquium Thurs. 10/24 at 3:30 pm in Bryan 335 on a Multimodal Natural Language Dialogue system.) Dix: ch. 11; my Cognitive Walkthrough notes(PDF), my heuristic eval notes (html)
Oct 28,30  Kevin Jones (UNCG Art Dept.) presentation (Mr. Jones teaches a course in web design  and his works include a submarine voyage) usability evalution of  HW1 applets and scheduling tool today? my extra notes on informal user testing (PDF), Dix: ch. 6.6-ch. 6.12; (optional) extra info on questionnaires

Nov 4,6		  (Moates presentation) HW 4 (Project part 1) due previous readings continued
Nov 11,13 (L. Fritz, Gripe presentation)
(Liu presentation)		  (J. Meisner, LAAPhysics presentation) previous readings continued
Nov 18,20  (Xin presentation) HW 5 (Cognitive Walkthrough) due Dix:  selected topics
Nov 25,27 Test 2 (covers Dix ch. 10-11, 6.6-6.12, Dix selected topics, all related readings & lectures from Oct.16 through Nov. 20)  Thanksgiving Holiday (no class)
Dec 2,4  HW 6 (Final Project) due, Project Demos  Project Demos  
Dec 9 Project Demos
(Last class)
(no classes)
  

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Syllabus

Description:  A survey of concepts and techniques for human-computer interface development.

Prerequisites: Grade of C or better in CSC130, CSC230, and CSC330; also CSC339 or comparable experience in Java programming.  This course is not oriented towards graphic design or web page scripting; it is intended for computer programmers.  A student is expected to already have adequate programming skill and to be able to learn on his/her own any new features of the programming language (Java) required to implement the course project .

Objectives of Course:  To enable the students to design and implement sophisticated computer interface programs that meet the needs of the intended users.  To ensure that the knowledge and skills acquired from the course will be applicable in the future, the course will cover concepts and techniques that transcend currently available programming tools and current styles of human-computer interaction.

Relationship to HCI: This course covers one area in the broad field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI).  HCI has been defined as the study of the design, evaluation, and implementation of computer systems that interact with people.  This course is similar to CS1 in the Curricula for HCI published by ACM SIGCHI , and follows many of the recommendations of the report on New Directions in Human-Computer Interaction Education, Research, and Practice.

Student Learning Outcomes:  By the end of the course, all students should be able to: analyze and document usability requirements of user interfaces; design, implement, document and demonstrate a sophisticated computer interface program; and design, perform, and document usability evaluations of user interfaces.  In addition, graduate students should be able to locate, evaluate, and communicate information presented in the related technical literature.

Grading:  The final course grade will be assigned based upon the following factors:
 
Brief Description  Percent of grade
(Undergraduates only)		 Percent of grade
(Graduate students only)
Test 1(Undergrad & Grad versions may differ) 20 20
Test 2 (Undergrad & Grad versions may differ) 20 20
HW 1: Java warm-up (programming) 10 5
HW 2: Usability specification 5 5
HW 3: Task analysis 5 5
HW 4: Java project part 1 10 10
HW 5: Cognitive walkthrough 5 5
HW 6: Final Java project (with demo) 25 25
In-class presentation on special topic not applicable 5

Assignments will consist of programming assignments (including a project), short written assignments, and in-class presentations.  Detailed instructions will be given later for each assignment.

Policies:

  • Attendance is expected.  If you miss more than 5 classes (not counting days on which tests are given) you may be dropped from the course.
  • Late assignments (assignments that are not submitted in an appropriate manner on the due date) will not be accepted!
  • Unexcused absence from a test will count as a 0.  If you know in advance of the test that you will not be able to attend, contact me me before the test to see whether alternate arrangements can be made.  In case of an exceptional event that causes you to miss a test without making arrangements in advance, you must contact me within 24 hours of the test if you wish me to consider making alternate arrangements.  (Alternate arrangements may include substantial extra work to demonstrate mastery of the material covered on the test.)
  • All work (including tests) is subject to the UNCG Academic Integrity Policy.

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    Course Resources

    Textbooks: Java Textbooks (optional): Books on UNCG Library Reserve for CSC540
  • Baecker and Buxton.  Readings in human-computer interaction.
  • Card, Stuart, et al.  Readings in Information Visualization.
  • Hackos and Redish.  User and task analysis for interface design.
  • Johnson, Jeff.  GUI Bloopers.
  • Nielson, Jakob.  Designing Web Usability.
  • Nielson, Jakob.  Usability Engineering.
  • Spense, Robert.  Information Visualization.
  • Ware, Colin.  Information Visualization.
    • Journals (* if available on-line at UNCG)


    Conference Proceedings

    Upcoming Conferences Bibliographies Organizations Graduate Schools with HCI Research Institutes
  • Human-Computer Interaction Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
  • Human-Computer Interaction Lab, U. Maryland (free videos)
  • MIT Media Lab
    • Java at UNCG Java Miscellaneous Resources Local Job Opportunities in HCI


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    Send comments and requests about this web site to nlgreen@uncg.edu