Schedule for 17-770/46-863: Introduction to Human Computer Interaction for Technology Executives

Time: Tuesday and Thursday, 10:30AM - 11:50AM
Room: NSH 1305
Dates: Mini-1, Fall, 2006 (August 29 - Oct 12)

NOTE: This is the OLD version of the course. Please see the current year's version (Fall, 2008).

Schedule and Readings

1 Tue,
Aug 29

1. Why is UI Design Important and Why Is It Difficult?

PowerPoint Slides for Lecture 1, or
Coursecast video of the lecture

Required Readings:

  • Brad A. Myers. "Challenges of HCI Design and Implementation," ACM Interactions. vol. 1, no. 1. January, 1994. pp. 73-83. PDF
  • CD Text, chapter 1
  • Nielsen Text: Chapters 1,  2
Do Homework 0 in class (current student choices).
Fill out initial questionnaire in class
2 Thu,
Aug 31

2. Discovering what people can't tell you:
Contextual Inquiry and Design Methodology

PowerPoint Slides for Lecture 2, or
Coursecast video of the lecture

Required Readings:

  • CD Text, chapters 5-7
Recommended Readings:
  • Karen Cross, Adrienne Warmack, and Brad Myers. "Lessons Learned: Using Contextual Inquiry Analysis to Improve PDA Control of Presentations". Unpublished.. PDF.

Start on Homework 1.

3 Tue,
Sep 5

3. Contextual Design Methodology, cont.

PowerPoint Slides for Lecture 3, or
Coursecast video of the lecture

(Andy away)

Required Readings:

  • CD Text, chapters 8-10
4 Thu,
Sep 7

4. Prototyping

PowerPoint Slides for Lecture 4, or
Coursecast video of the lecture

(Andy away)

Required Readings:
  • Nielsen's text, chapter 4

Recommended Readings:

  • Brad A. Myers. "User Interface Software Tools," ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction. vol. 2, no. 1, March, 1995. pp. 64-103. ACM DL Reference
  • Marc Rettig, "Prototyping for tiny fingers", Communications of the ACM, Volume 37 , Issue 4 (April 1994), Pages: 21 - 27. PDF

Turn in Homework 1.
Start on Homework 2.

5 Tue,
Sep 12

5. How to design a good user study

PowerPoint Slides for Lecture 5, or
Coursecast video of the lecture

Required Readings: Recommended Readings:
  • Kathleen Gomoll, "Some Techniques for Observing Users," From The Art of Human-Computer Interface Design, Brenda Laurel, ed. New York: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc., 1992. Pp. 85- 90. PDF
  • Marc Rettig, "Prototyping for tiny fingers", Communications of the ACM, Volume 37 , Issue 4 (April 1994), Pages: 21 - 27. PDF

Turn in Homework 2.
Start on Homework 3.

6 Thu,
Sep 14

6. Graphic Design of User Interfaces

Guest lecture by Professor Ellen Ayoob

PowerPoint Slides for Lecture 6, or
Coursecast video of the lecture

Today we will talk about the basic design elements that comprise an interface. This lecture will also provide students with a high-level understanding of the design process.

7 Tue,
Sep 19

7. Overview of VB. Net

Resources for Visual Basic including PowerPoint Slides for Lecture 7, or
Coursecast video of the lecture

Presented by Andrew Ko (TA) [Brad out of town]

Turn in Homework 3.
Start on Homework 4.

8 Thu,
Sep 21

8. Usability Engineering Process

PowerPoint Slides for Lecture 8, or
Coursecast video of the lecture

Required Readings:

  • CD Text, chapters 2-4
Recommended Readings:
  • John D. Gould and Clayton Lewis. "Designing for usability: key principles and what designers think," Communications of the ACM. Volume 28 , Issue 3 (March 1985), pp. 300 - 311. ACM DL PDF
9 Tue,
Sep 26

9. Guest lecture: Interaction Design: Perspective from a local professional

Coursecast video of the lecture

 [Brad and Andy out of town]
10 Thu,
Sep 28

10. Evaluation using Heuristic Analysis

PowerPoint Slides for Lecture 10, or
Coursecast video of the lecture

Required Readings:

Recommended Readings:

  • Nielsen Text: Chapter 8
  • Jakob Nielsen, "Guerrilla HCI: Using Discount Usability Engineering to Penetrate the Intimidation Barrier", Cost-Justifying Usability, edited by Randolph G. Bias and Deborah J. Mayhew. On line in html format.
  • Rolf Molich and Jakob Nielsen. "Improving a human-computer dialogue", Communications of the ACM, March 1990. Volume 33 Issue 3. pp. 338 - 348. ACM DL PDF
  • Jakob Nielsen and Rolf Molich. "Heuristic evaluation of user interfaces," Proceedings CHI'90, Human factors in computing systems, 1990. Seattle, Washington ACM DL PDF

Turn in Homework 4.
Start on Homework 5.

11 Tue,
Oct 3

11. Examples of Good and Bad Interfaces

Coursecast video of the lecture

Presented by class members. Everyone should be prepared to present at least one good and one bad system.

See the list what which interfaces was presented

12 Thu,
Oct 5

12. What is Design?
("Examples of Good and Bad" continued first)

PowerPoint Slides for Lecture 12, or
Coursecast video of the lecture

Required Readings:
  • Norman book (all chapters)

Turn in Homework 5.
Start on Homework 6.

13 Tue,
Oct 10

Student Presentations and Critique, 1

Coursecast video of the lecture

See the Final Presentation Schedule

14 Thu,
Oct 12
(last day of class)

Student Presentations and Critique, 2

Coursecast video of the lecture

See the Final Presentation Schedule

Course Evaluation day. Fill out the official FCE at http://www.cmu.edu/fce or the Tepper equivalent, and the questionnaire for this course.

Turn in Homework 6.

  Fri,
October 20 8:30-11:30am

FINAL EXAM

See information about the final

3 hour exam in Wean Hall 5302, 10/20/06 8:30-11:30
Alternate Date: Wednesday, Oct 18th from 9:30am-12:30pm in NSH 3305

Official CMU Calendar

Date Day  
August 28 M Semester & Mini-1 Classes Begin
September 1 F Mini-1 Course Add Deadline without Dean's Permission (except TSB & HNZ/ISM)
September 4 M Labor Day; No Classes
September 11 M Mini-1 Course Add Deadline without Dean's Permission (HNZ/ISM only)
September 12 T Mini-1 Course Add Deadline without Dean's Permission (TSB only)
September 12 T Mini-1 Course Drop Deadline to Receive Tuition Adjustment (TSB only)
September 27 W Mini-1 Course Drop and Pass/Fail Grade Option Deadline; Assign Withdrawal Grade for Course Dropping After This Date
October 9-16 M-F Mini-1 Faculty Course Evaluations
October 16 M Mini-1 Last Day of Classes
October 23 M Mini-1 Final Grades Due by 9 p.m.