Announcements

• 10/01. This website has been moved to http://webct.sfu.ca . 
• 09/18. Class note has been posted. 
• 09/17. Class note [DRAFT] has been posted. The final version will be posted after class. Also, we are migrating the class website to Webct, please go to http://webct.sfu.ca and make sure you can logon to the system using your SFU ID.
• 09/10. Class note and HW 1 has been posted.
• 09/03. The first class is today, Sept 3. Notes to today's class is posted.

Instructor:  Dr. Herbert H. Tsang, htsang@cs.sfu.ca

TA: Alireza Ghane,: alireza_ghane@sfu.ca

Lecture: Wednesday 17:30 – 22:20, AQ3159

Office hours: TA Wed 12:00-13:00 in CSIL (TA Room 1), Instructor Wed 16:30 - 17:20 (TASC 1 9211) and by appointment.

Course web page:

·         http://www.sfu.ca/~htsang/cmpt363/

Prerequisites: CMPT 225 (or its equivalent, CMPT 201, which is no longer offered)

Course Objective:

This course will introduce you to the design of effective human-computer interfaces. The course is organized around a core group of design themes, which we will consider throughout the semester. Lectures will be minimized. Class time will mostly be spent on discussion and small group work, evaluating and redesigning interfaces. Assignments for activities outside the class will also emphasize design, prototype, and evaluate. Recognizing a bad interface is easy, and recognizing a good one is a little more work, but it's truly demanding to describe *why* an interface succeeds or fails. Once you've found the reason, though, you are well on your way to solving the problem. You will spend a lot of time talking and writing about interfaces, but don't worry: The course will progress from mostly informal exercises, with little impact on your final grade, to more formal ones that count more. You will have practice before you reach the high-stakes assignments.

Topics:

• Basic Concepts and Goals of Human Computer Interaction

• Human-Centered Design and Development Process

• Cognitive Psychology of Computer Use

• Interface Technologies

• Design Methods

• Prototyping Methods

• Evaluation Methods

• Committing to Good Design

Course Reference Text:

1. User Interface Design and Evaluation, Stone, Jarrett, Woodroffe, and Minocha, Morgan Kaufman, 2005 (This book in on library served and it is highly recommended that you have access to this book during this course.)
2. User-centered website development : a human-computer interaction approach, McCracken and Wolfe, Prentice Hall, 2004
3. The elements of user Experience: User-Centered Design for the Web, Garret, New Riders, 2002
4. The Design of Everyday Things, Donald A. Norman, Basic Books, 1989: Also published as The Psychology of Everyday Things
5. Designing the User Interface (4th Edition), Ben Shneiderman and Catherine Plaisant, Addison Wesley, 2005
6. Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction (2d.ed.), harp, Rogers , and Preece, John Wiley and Sons, 2007: Just published.
7. Usability Engineering, Mary Beth Rosson and John M. Carroll, Morgan Kaufman, 2002

Marking scheme:

• Course Project…………40%

• Assignments …………...15%

• Participation…………… 5%

• Midterm ……………….10%

• Final …………………..30%

Students must attain an overall passing grade on the weighted average of exams in the course in order to obtain a clear pass (C- or better).  

Gradebook - link

Important dates

• Assignments due: September 17, 2008
• Midterm: TBD
• Final exam: TBD

Homework and Midterm

• Homework 1 - link

Online submit - link 

Lecture notes:

• 2008-09-03 - Introduction - link
• 2008-09-10 - Info Processing - link & Requirements - link
• 2008-09-17 - Requirements 2 - link 

Relevant Links

• HCI Bibliography : Human-Computer Interaction Resources - http://www.hcibib.org/
• http://portal.acm.org/dl.cfm

Academic Honesty and Integrity

Participants should be familiar with policies T10.02, Code of Academic Honesty, and T10.03, Academic Dishonesty and Misconduct Procedures. Any confirmed cases of academic dishonesty (for example, of cheating on a mid-term, plagiarizing an assignment, or helping someone else to cheat on an exam or assignment) will result in an F for the course and could lead to a University Board of Student Discipline hearing if more severe discipline is deemed appropriate. (http://www.sfu.ca/policies/teaching/t10-02.htm).  Students are encouraged to read the School's policy information (http://www.cs.sfu.ca/undergrad/Policies/).

(C) 2008, Herbert Tsang