CS 342 Introduction to Human-Computer Interaction

Professor Adler's Fall 2018 Dynamic Course Outline

This schedule is tentative and may change throughout the semester.
All work must be submitted on time! All homework is due BEFORE 12pm (Noon) on the day it's due.

This is a hybrid course and will only meet on Thursdays. All lecture notes can be found on D2L.

Download Syllabus [PDF] [WORD]

Week Topic Homework
1: (Aug 30) Introduction
2: (Sep 6) Good and Bad Design

Due Thursday September 6 before Noon

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Go to the D2L Discussion board titled Good and Bad Design under the D2L Discussions Tab.
  1. Read one of the articles listed in the readings assigned this week.
  2. Create one thread and in it comment on something you agree or disagree with from the article (Cite which article!).
  3. Why do you feel it is/isn't important in good design? Your answer should be thought out. Provide an example if you can.
  4. Reply to at least two of your classmates' threads.
Answer all of the questions on the Survey under Content / Surveys
3: (Sep 13) Visual Design

Due Thursday September 13 before Noon

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Go to the D2L Discussion board titled Visual Design under the D2L Discussions Tab.
  1. Read any two of the articles listed in the readings assigned this week.
  2. Discuss a few principles you agree are important in design from each article (cite which article!).
  3. Please touch upon BOTH of these concepts: affordances and conventions.
  4. Reply to at least two of your classmates' threads.
Submit your file directly to the folder titled Product Review under the D2L Assignments tab:
  1. Pick a product that you like and write a product review. In this review, please touch upon the aspects of good design, bad design and contrast its features with a product, in the same category, that you think has a bad design.
  2. Include photos (or links to the image) of the good design AND a competing product with a worse design.
  3. Remember what we learned on how to write a good review.
  4. The review must be in your own words. Plagiarism will be checked.
4: (Sep 20) Qualitative Research/Needfinding

Due Thursday September 20 before Noon

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Go to the D2L Discussion board titled Qualitative Research under the D2L Discussions Tab.
  1. Read any two articles and answer the following questions:
  2. What is qualitative research?
  3. What is an ethnography
  4. Cite what you learned from each article appropriately.
  5. Reply to at least two of your classmates' threads.
Submit your file directly to the folder titled VisualDesign under the D2L Assignments tab:
5: (Sep 27) Storyboard

Due Thursday September 27 before Noon

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Submit your file directly to the folder titled Ethnography under the D2L Assignments tab:
6: (Oct 4) Prototypes

Due Thursday October 4 before Noon

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Submit your file directly to the folder titled Needfinding under the D2L Assignments tab:
Go to the D2L Discussion board titled Paper Prototypes under the D2L Discussions Tab.
  1. Read any two of the articles listed in the readings assigned this week.
  2. Using a bulleted list, discuss advantages of paper prototypes and sketching based on what you read in each article (cite the article).
  3. Reply to at least two of your classmates' threads.
7: (Oct 11) Heuristic Evaluation

Due Thursday October 11 before Noon

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Submit your file directly to the folder titled Storyboard under the D2L Assignments tab:
Go to the D2L Discussion board titled Heuristic Evaluation under the D2L Discussions Tab.
  1. Read any two of the articles listed in the readings assigned this week.
  2. Discuss what Heuristic Evaluation is and why it is useful. Specify specifically what you learned from each article (cite the articles).
  3. Reply to at least two of your classmates' threads.
8: (Oct 18) Usability Testing

Due Thursday October 18 before Noon

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Go to the D2L Discussion board titled Usability Testing under the D2L Discussions Tab.
  1. Read any one article from the first list and any one article from the second list in the readings assigned this week.
  2. Discuss Usability Testing in a couple of sentences and describe specifically what you learned from each article (cite each article).
  3. Reply to at least two of your classmates' threads.
9: (Oct 25)  Evaluating our Prototypes
Heuristics Cheatsheet

Due Thursday October 25 before Noon

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Submit your file directly to the folder titled Paper Prototype under the D2L Assignments tab:
10: (Nov 1)  Midterm Exam IN LIB 349 Review Sheet for Midterm Exam
11: (Nov 8)  Accessibility

Due Thursday November 8 before Noon

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Submit your file directly to the folder titled Heuristic Evaluation under the D2L Assignments tab:
Go to the D2L Discussion board titled Accessibility under the D2L Discussions Tab.
  1. Read any two of the articles listed in the readings assigned this week.
  2. In your own words, summarize each article and explain the importance of HCI research in Accessibility (cite each article)
  3. Reply to at least two of your classmates' threads.
12: (Nov 15)  Designing Experiments

Due Thursday November 15 before Noon

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Submit your file directly to the folder titled Intercoder Reliability under the D2L Assignments tab:
Go to the D2L Discussion board titled Designing Experiments under the D2L Discussions Tab.
  1. Read any two of the articles listed in this week's readings.
  2. In your own words, briefly summarize each articles (cite it).
  3. What did they set out to find? What was the result?
  4. Describe your own experiment: if you had the time/resources what you would do?
  5. Reply to at least two of your classmates' threads.
13: (Nov 22)  No Class - Thanksgiving
14: (Nov 29)  Research Experiment

Due Thursday November 28 before Noon

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Submit your file directly to the folder titled User Testing under the D2L Assignments tab:
Submit your file directly to the folder titled Accessiblity under the D2L Assignments tab:
15: (Dec 6)  Work on Final Presentations
Final Project Presentations Tuesday December 11 at 10-11:50am

Due TUESDAY December 11 at 9:45am

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All students must submit an individual contributions file directly to the folder titled Key Assessment under the Content > Final Project Submissions: