Important resources, click links:
DAY AND TIME: Lecture, Tues/Wednesday/Friday 9-10:20 am; STUDIO TIME allows for minimal lecture time and maximizes assignment "work" time.
Lecturer: Dr. Rosa Arriaga (arriaga@cc)
Office hours: by appointment but the professor is generally available 1hour after class.
Office hour: by appointment
Optional Readings for the Group
Rogers, Sharp, and Preece. Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction (2nd Edition; Wiley, 2007).
ISBN-13: 978-1119020752; ISBN-10: 1119020751
This book is an introduction to human factors and user interface design, but most of all it is a handbook for design and evaluation. It's a very practical and hands-on introduction to the field. We will cover almost all of the content of this book, but not in chapter order. The professor will provide notes on the chapter but students who need more information can refer to the actual text. Each group might want to purchase 1 text book.
Additional Readings Will be Posted on Canvas (see Schedule for details)
From the course catalog:
Describes the characteristics of interaction between humans and computers and demonstrates techniques for the evaluation of user-centered systems.
Beyond the course catalog:
This course is meant to introduce you to human centered computing. This mode of design puts the user first and “technology-for-its own sake” second. Students will be introduced to HCI concepts, design principles and techniques and will be expected to implement them in a variety of group assignments. In this course we work with a “real world” client and use a corporate approach where you are given a project and a team with whom to develop it.
This class is designed to help students develop and use the critical thinking skills and evaluation prowess that are characteristic of HCI researchers. My goal is to create a dynamic learning environment--one where I will set the stage for learning, and where students will take responsibility for their own learning as well as contribute to the learning of others. I encourage students to go beyond the class material and to seek information that supports this goal.
In completing this course you will…
Read primary sources in HCI relevant to content area
Be knowledgeable about human-computer interaction concepts and techniques.
Demonstrate that design is a systematic and evidence based process by working on a semester-long project
Learn the difference between User-Centered Design and other approaches to design
Design system that are contextualized for the user and are natural next step in accomplishing a task
Gain experience as a designer of interactive technology by prototyping interfaces and functions (but not programming or developing the back-end).
Practice qualitative and quantitative methods for requirement discovery and usability evaluation
Design technology that is easy to use, and useful
Gain an appreciation for being in class without digital devices.
LECTURE: The instructor will cover core concepts during lecture
STUDIO: The Professor will reinforce material covered in lecture and lead students through the weekly design activities. These assignments allow students to "apply" the concepts and "practice" the relevant techniques discussed during lecture.
Students will also use studio time to meet with their groups and make progress on their semester-long project.
Thus, attending your assigned studio and staying for the DURATION is mandatory.
Foundations of HCI (Weeks 1-3): What is HCI? Why is there no UI/UX specialization for MS and PhD at GT? What methods do HCI researchers use? HCI is in computer science why aren't the studies replicable? What if I want to conduct UI design research? How are science and design different? What constitutes an academic contribution?
Readings are posted in canvas, see the schedule for assigned readings.
User-centered Design in Context (Weeks 4-15) Topics: User-Centered Design Cycle: 1) Identifying needs and establishing requirements, understanding and conceptualizing interaction, 2) Ideation of novel interfaces and 3) System Prototyping and Evaluation framework.
Lecture slides are from the Interaction Design Textbook and are posted on Canvas.
This course is in large part activity and discussion based thus students need to be fully engaged. Further, there are many group activities where you need to share your deliverables and comment on other's work while they comment on yours-- thus we you need to have notebook paper and pens/pencils (different colors would be nice!)
Please turn your phones to airplane mode (no calls, texts, social media etc) while you are “in class/studio.” You are also discouraged from using computers for note taking (see this or this). Most of us feel that we are able to handle two tasks at once (i.e., taking notes and surfing the web). However, there is ample research that shows that multitasking is a fallacy (see this or this). Even your cell phones proximity effects your attention: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/691462
Take the class time as a break from your devices. Doodle if you prefer, it still engages other parts of your brain that are not engaged during typical device use!
Learning in this course requires that students attend class/studios regularly, arrive on time, contribute to course activities (discussions, etc) and do the required homework. Further, much of design is iterative so if a student fails to contribute to the deliverable for the day (class or studio), it negatively impacts the team. Thus, homework and participation assignments garner individual credit and missed deliverables can also negatively impact the individual's team grade for each report. For example, if your team grade is 90 (/100) for a given report and you have lost 4 points on various homework/participations assignments then your project grade would be 86 points. The idea is that group members should only get the same grade if they contributed equally to the team effort.
Attendance is required for both lecture and studio. It accounts for 10% of your grade. There are Attendance Polls that are used to monitor attendance. These will take place during class and studio.
Students are expected to stay the entire duration of the Studio time. This is critical since Studio time is also used for completing assignments.
Students will have participation activities DURING most lectures and studio sessions. The professor and GTAs will provide details about participation deliverables (date/ and time) and submissions.
Students will have participation activities due OUTSIDE of class and studio sessions. The professor and GTAs will provide details about participation deliverables (date/ and time) and submissions. You can also see these in the class schedule.
Individual grade (50%): “Unless specifically identified as group work; participation and homework, etc. are to be completed alone.”
Attendance= 10%
Participation=20%
NOTE: if you are "voted off" your group because you are not being responsive or productive you automatically get 0% for participation
Homework =20%
Grades reflect points earned/total points possible
Team grade (50%)
Note that individual will lose points based on missing participation and homework assignments. The idea is that group members should only get the same grade if they contributed equally to the team effort.
Project Description/ Part 0: Project idea and overview (Homework grade)
Part 1: Project requirements 20%
Part 2: Design alternatives 15%
Part 3: Prototyping and Evaluation plan 15%
Grades reflect points earned/total points possible
WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS: Reports and Homework
Written work is an important part of many of the evaluation components. Students are expected to use best practices when submitting written work. This means clearly citing material that is not the student's. A good guide can be found here.
The grade assignments will be as follow:
90% or > earns an A;
80%-89.999% earns a B;
70%-79.999% earns a C;
60%-69.999% earns a D;
59.999% or < earns an F
Note: Because I give students the opportunity to earn extra credit, I don’t “curve” grades, and I don’t “round up.” There are opportunities to gain extra credit. See policy below.
NO Late participation or homework ACCEPTED:
All participation assignments are due by the end of the class (lecture or studio).
All homework assignment are due as stated on the schedule or canvas.
Classroom Engagement
I am committed to creating a learning environment in which all of my students feel safe and included. Because we are individuals with varying needs, I am reliant on your feedback to achieve this goal. To that end, I invite you to enter into dialogue with me about the things I can stop, start, and continue doing to make my classroom an environment in which every student feels valued and can engage actively in our learning community.
You are allowed to “solidify” your final grade by 2 percentage points (earn 80% instead of 78%) by participating in studies with the Psychology Department (SONA) or HCI (in CoC). Three hours of experiments are equal to 1 grade point toward your final grade. Grade points only come in whole integers.
SONA CREDIT SUBMISSION: When you have all the credit you want to use toward your class grade (or by Monday of DeadWeek)-- you will take a screenshot that shows your name and that you allocated the credit to 3751. You will then upload it to Canvas to the SONA assignment.
QPR training: Worth 2-hours
Reports: Teams are allowed to resubmit 1 report for points that will lead to an improvement in 1 letter grade. There is a 1 week deadline for resubmissions.
Correspondence about Georgia Tech business must be conducted over GT email addresses. All GT-related business must be conducted with professional etiquette.
Students are responsible for:
documenting meaningful communication with the professor and TAs by sending an e-mail (with 3751 in the subject line) of the details to the person in question.
keeping track of all digital copies of your assignments.
The instructor and TAs will respond to email within 48 business hours (note that this does NOT include weekends).
Students with Disabilities
Students must provide the instructor with an accommodation letter from the Georgia Tech ADAPTS office (404-894-2564) within the first two weeks of class to have accommodations made. This will allow you to use your computer for note taking as well.
Georgia Tech requires students to adhere to high standards of integrity in their academic work, see Home | The Office of Student Integrity. All suspected breaches of academic integrity WILL BE REPORTED to the Office of Student Integrity AND MAY RESULT IN THE RELEVANT SANCTIONS. For any questions involving these or any other Academic Honor Code issues, please consult me, GTAs (when available), or www.honor.gatech.edu.
Use of generative AI is not allowed in this class (no exceptions). Suspected breaches will be reported to the Office of Student Integrity.
From the OSI Syllabus Checklist
Plagiarizing is defined by Webster’s as “to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own : use (another's production) without crediting the source.” If caught plagiarizing, you will be dealt with according to the GT Academic Honor Code. Remember:
“Quote and attribute any words that are not your own.”
”Do not cut and paste any percentage of material that is not your own.”
“Unauthorized use of any previous semester course materials, such as tests, quizzes, homework, projects, and any other coursework, is prohibited in this course. Using these materials will be considered a direct violation of academic policy and will be dealt with according to the GT Academic Honor Code.”
I am grateful to all of the colleagues that shared their instructional material with me, including Gregory Abowd, Colin Potts, Jim Foley, Jennifer Kim and many graduate assistants who helped me improve the content.