Note: This unit is an archived version! See Overview tab for delivered versions.
INFO3315: Human-Computer Interaction (2013 - Semester 2)
| Unit: | INFO3315: Human-Computer Interaction (6 CP) |
| Mode: | Normal-Day |
| On Offer: | Yes |
| Level: | Senior |
| Faculty/School: | School of Computer Science |
| Unit Coordinator/s: |
Professor Kay, Judy
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| Session options: | Semester 2 |
| Versions for this Unit: | |
| Site(s) for this Unit: |
http://www.ug.it.usyd.edu.au/~info3315/ |
| Campus: | Camperdown/Darlington |
| Pre-Requisites: | None. |
| Brief Handbook Description: | This is a course in HCI, Human Computer Interaction, with a focus on web-based Computing, but it introduces the key aspects of HCI and designing and evaluating user interfaces that encompass both conventional as well as emerging forms of interaction. |
| Assumed Knowledge: | Background in programming and operating systems that is sufficient for the student to independently learn new programming tools from standard online technical materials. Ability to conduct a literature search. Ability to write reports of work done. |
| Lecturer/s: |
Professor Kay, Judy
Associate Professor Kummerfeld, Bob |
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| Tutor/s: |
Jonathan Twyble Farahnaz Yekeh |
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| Timetable: | INFO3315 Timetable | |||||||||||||||
| Time Commitment: |
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| T&L Activities: | Laboratory: The weekly laboratory class will enable students to consolidate the key ideas for the week. Depending upon the topic, this laboratory session will involve small experimental activities, discussions or technical work. At the start of the semestre, this class start in the scheduled lab room. Later, we will make use of a new classroom that has interactive tabletops and wall interfaces. |
Attributes listed here represent the key course goals (see Course Map tab) designated for this unit. The list below describes how these attributes are developed through practice in the unit. See Learning Outcomes and Assessment tabs for details of how these attributes are assessed.
| Attribute Development Method | Attribute Developed |
| The essence of the course is to learn how to design interactive computing systems, where this includes learning the relevant theory, its application, the techniques and their use. | Design (Level 5) |
| The lectures and all practical and project work will build discipline specific expertise in the area of building interactive computing systems. | Engineering/IT Specialisation (Level 5) |
| The assessment of the group project is based on collaborative activities to design, evaluate and refine an interactive system that should demonstrably address a real problem. Students will write a report, create a multi-media summary of the group system (for display on an interactive wall) and a demonstration of the group members` designs for an interactive system. These will develop written and spoken communication skills. The practical class activities and the final examination will include short answers questions that will require good written communication skills. Homework will include reading published papers and online resources to learn independently. Students will summarise these in independent concept maps, using online software tools and will then wpork collaboratively in groups to share these summaries and discuss how the resources inform the design, evaluation, critique and refinement of the interfaces. | Communication (Level 4) |
| The major project involves working in a team. | Project and Team Skills (Level 4) |
For explanation of attributes and levels see Engineering & IT Graduate Outcomes Table.
Learning outcomes are the key abilities and knowledge that will be assessed in this unit. They are listed according to the course goal supported by each. See Assessment Tab for details how each outcome is assessed.
Design (Level 5)
1. Ability to analyse a context to define the overall goals of a new interactive system
2. Ability to select suitable techniques for establishing requirements for an interactive system, including the usability requirements. Ability to make use of these techniques.
3. Ability to apply standard design approaches to creating a user interface, and to adapt these to the particular emerging demands of interactive systems.
4. Ability to evaluate interfaces, based upon both discount and user-based techniques. Ability to select the most appropriate technique for a particular situation and to justify this.
5. Ability to explain how human factors influence aspects of design of interfaces.
6. Ability to bring together design and evaluation techniques to create a prototype interface that is designed to address a defined user need.
Communication (Level 4)
7. Write a report on the prototype system created, defining the requirements, describing the design processes, evaluation, in terms of the requirements and conclusions about its strengths and weaknesses.
| Assessment Methods: |
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| Assessment Description: |
The participation requirement is a BARRIER. Students must participate in lectures and labs. Failure to do so will result in a failing grade. To allow for the usual level of minor illness and similar minor problems, so long as students provide explanations of these, they may meet this requirement so long as they attend at least 80% of lectures and labs. Final examination. This assesses the lectures, labs and assignments. The exam mark, expressed as a percentage + 10% is a CAP on the final grade. (So, for example, a pass on the unit requires an exam mark of at least 40%; a final mark of 60 requires an exam mark of at least 50%). |
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| Assessment Feedback: | Each lab activity will have feedback. Some of this will be automatically generated by the interactive tabletop systems. Some will be based on peer review and critique within and between groups. Some will be from the tutor. Tasks 1 and 3 will be graded in class, with feedback and grades in class, either in the week of the deadline or the following week. Task 2 will be graded and returned in the last lab. |
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| Grading: |
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| Policies & Procedures: | IMPORTANT: School policy relating to Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism. In assessing a piece of submitted work, the School of IT may reproduce it entirely, may provide a copy to another member of faculty, and/or to an external plagiarism checking service or in-house computer program and may also maintain a copy of the assignment for future checking purposes and/or allow an external service to do so. Other policies See the policies page of the faculty website at http://sydney.edu.au/engineering/student-policies/ for information regarding university policies and local provisions and procedures within the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies. |
| Prescribed Text/s: |
Note: Students are expected to have a personal copy of all books listed.
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| Online Course Content: | http://www.ug.it.usyd.edu.au/~info3315/ |
| Note on Resources: | These are linked from the class web site |
Note that the "Weeks" referred to in this Schedule are those of the official university semester calendar https://web.timetable.usyd.edu.au/calendar.jsp
| Week | Description |
| Week 1 | Lecture: Introduction, HCI as a discipline and subject overview |
| Week 2 |
Lab: Introductions. Concept mapping in groups Lecture: Understanding the problem: in terms of Situation of Concern and using a Single Sentence Statement, CATWOE analysis, defining requirements. |
| Week 3 |
Lab: Affordances, team formation Lecture: Project - overview, teams and collaboration - Big-5, scripting, reflection - trac. |
| Week 4 |
Lab: trac, group contract Lecture: Design overview - prototyping - Balsamiq. |
| Week 5 |
Lab: Brainstorm user tasks, user goals Lecture: Studying and understanding users - overview, questionnaires, interviews, ethnographic studies - svn. |
| Week 6 |
Lab: Tabletop WellMet for group meeting to share first prototypes Lecture: Overview of usability techniques. Think aloud user studies. |
| Week 7 |
Lab: Brainstorm tasks for think-aloud. Revision concept mapping Lecture: Mid-semester quiz in lecture on lecture and readings Weeks 1-6 |
| Assessment Due: Mid-semester Quiz | |
| Week 8 |
Lab: Deadline: Prototype demos (group assessment) Parallel lab: half class - prototypes presentation Lecture: Cognitive walkthrough |
| Assessment Due: Project Task 1 - Prototypes | |
| Week 9 |
Lab: Tabletop WellMet for Group meeting Parallel: Other half class grading Lecture: People- psychological and physiological constraints, models of human information processing and interaction. Media Equation and avatars. Screen design. |
| Week 10 |
Lab: WellMet: Group meeting, feedback Lecture: Personalisation: web, mobile, ubicomp |
| Week 11 |
Lab: Deadline: Project report (individual) WellMet: refining presentations Lecture: Accessibility and special users. Emerging NUI interfaces: gesture, touch, brain, emotion. |
| Week 12 |
Lab: Deadline: Project Presentation (group assessment) Lecture: Software Engineering and Agile development. |
| Assessment Due: Project Task 2 - Report | |
| Assessment Due: Project Task 3 - Presentation | |
| Week 13 |
Lab: Concept Mapping revision Lecture: Hall of fame for assignment. What next? Class survey. About the exam. |
| Exam Period | Assessment Due: Final Exam |
Course Relations
The following is a list of courses which have added this Unit to their structure.
Course Goals
This unit contributes to the achievement of the following course goals:
| Attribute | Practiced | Assessed |
| Project and Team Skills (Level 4) | Yes | 0% |
| Design (Level 5) | Yes | 80% |
| Engineering/IT Specialisation (Level 5) | Yes | 0% |
| Communication (Level 4) | Yes | 20% |
| Professional Conduct (Level 4) | No | 0% |
These goals are selected from Engineering & IT Graduate Outcomes Table which defines overall goals for courses where this unit is primarily offered. See Engineering & IT Graduate Outcomes Table for details of the attributes and levels to be developed in the course as a whole. Percentage figures alongside each course goal provide a rough indication of their relative weighting in assessment for this unit. Note that not all goals are necessarily part of assessment. Some may be more about practice activity. See Learning outcomes for details of what is assessed in relation to each goal and Assessment for details of how the outcome is assessed. See Attributes for details of practice provided for each goal.
