Note: This unit version is currently under review and is subject to change!
INFO3315: Human-Computer Interaction (2019 - 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: |
Dr Withana, Anusha
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| Session options: | Semester 2 |
| Versions for this Unit: | |
| Site(s) for this Unit: |
| Campus: | Camperdown/Darlington |
| Pre-Requisites: | None. |
| Brief Handbook Description: | This is a first subject in HCI, Human Computer Interaction. It is designed for students who want to be involved in one of the many roles required to create future technology. There are three main parts: the human foundations from psychology and physiology; HCI methods for design and evaluation of interfaces; leading edge directions for technologies. This subject is highly multi-disciplinary. At the core, it is a mix of Computer Science and Software Engineering combined with the design discipline, UX - User Experience. It draws on psychology, both for relevant theories and user study methods. The practical work is human-centred with project work that motivates the formal curriculum. |
| Assumed Knowledge: | None. |
| Lecturer/s: |
Dr Withana, Anusha
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| Tutor/s: | Drew Cosgrove (TA), Kartik Arora, Negar (Seyedehnegar) Hosseini, Khushnood (Khushi) Naqshbandi, Srishti Patil, Jessica Wu, Jasmine He, Jack Chen, Ajit Gopinathan Pillai, Rowena Yu, Lin Fu | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Timetable: | INFO3315 Timetable | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Time Commitment: |
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| T&L Activities: | Lecture: Weekly lecture will deliver the key concepts and materials in an interactive class session. Students will be asked to conduct practical activities, short in class experiments. Tutorial: The weekly tutorial class will enable students to consolidate the key ideas for the week and work on the major projects and mini-assignments. |
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.
(6) Communication and Inquiry/ Research (Level 3)
1. Present the design and evaluation of a prototype interface, defining the requirements, describing the design processes and evaluation. Use evidence gathered in established methods, to draw conclusions about its strengths and weaknesses of the interface.
(4) Design (Level 3)
2. Ability to select suitable techniques for establishing user groups and their requirements for an interface, including the usability requirements. Ability to make use of these techniques.
3. Ability to apply standard design approaches to creating a user interface.
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. Knowledge of the main methods of interface design and evaluation and the relative strengths and weaknesses of each and their most appropriate uses.
(2) Engineering/ IT Specialisation (Level 3)
7. Ability to use a prototyping tool to create low fidelity prototypes.
8. Knowledge of the broad range of interfaces, such as social, NUI, emotion-aware interfaces, ubiquitous devices that are carried, work or embedded in the environment.
| Assessment Methods: |
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| Assessment Description: |
In-class quizzes: In class quizzes and activities are brief questions and small activities that will be individually completed and evaluated within the class/tutorial. Results will be discussed among the peers. Mini-assignments: The weekly mini-assignments will be dispatched through canvas in the tutorial. They cover the content of that week`s class. They are designed to give formative feedback, discussed in tutorial. The mini-assignments are due before the tutorial. They are critical preparation for the tutorial. They are also important foundations for the subject and the final exam. They are submitted online. The activities in the tutorial will provide formative feedback on these. They are graded by the tutor in the tutorial. There will be five (5) assignments each carrying 3.00 weight. Project: Phase 1: This is requirement gathering task for a given user interface design problem. Group report will be evaluated and discussed in the tutorial. Phase 2: This is lo-fi prototyping and pilot evaluation task for the requirements established in phase 1. Group report and presentation will be evaluated and discussed in the tutorial. Phase 3: This is hi-fi prototyping task for lo-fi design in phase 2. Group report will be evaluated and discussed in the tutorial. Phase 4: This is the evaluation of the hi-fi designed in phase 3. Group report and presentation will be evaluated and discussed in the tutorial. Note that there will be important tutorial activities that are part of the group work for the project. When groups are formed, commitment to attend tutorials/classes will be taken into account so that the group can make effective use of these classes. Final examination: This assesses the lecture (including all core, theme and breadth), lab, homework and assignments. |
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| Assessment Feedback: | Please see above. The tutorial provides formative feedback on the mini-assignments as well as the in-class activities. The tutorial and lecture activities provide formative feedback on the assignment and on practice examination questions. Feedback on the project phases will be at two levels. Detailed feedback to each group will be in the tutorial. Where necessary, individual feedback and assessment will be given proportional to contribution. |
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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 Computer Science 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: | Resources will be provided on the online learning platform. |
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/Tutorial: Introduction to semester, assignments and teams, learning objectives, What is HCI, UX, why HCI important, How to approach a good design |
| Week 2 | Lecture/Tutorial: Foundations of interaction design in HCI – Understanding fundamental concepts |
| Week 3 | Lecture/Tutorial: Evolution of user interfaces, command line, WIMP, NUI and ubiquitous and wearable computing |
| Week 4 | Lecture/Tutorial: Cognitive aspects of user interface design, cognition, perception and memory |
| Week 5 | Lecture/Tutorial: Establishing user groups and their requirements for an interface, data gathering. |
| Week 6 | Lecture/Tutorial: Design and prototyping 1: Sketching, Storyboards and Lo-fi prototyping techniques. |
| Assessment Due: Project Phase 1 report | |
| Week 7 | Lecture/Tutorial: Design and prototyping 2: Translation from lo-fi to hi-fi, hi-fi prototyping techniques. |
| Week 8 | Lecture/Tutorial: Evaluating user interfaces 1: Evaluation techniques and methodologies, experiment design |
| Assessment Due: Project Phase 2 report/presentation | |
| Week 9 | Lecture/Tutorial: Evaluating user interfaces 2: Evaluation techniques and experiment design continued, research ethics and other considerations. |
| Week 10 | Lecture/Tutorial: Design thinking, Ideation brainstorming and cultivating creativity |
| Week 11 | Lecture/Tutorial: Social interfaces, Computer supported collaborative work (CSCW), emotional and affective interfaces. |
| Assessment Due: Project Phase 3 report | |
| Week 12 | Lecture/Tutorial: Revision, Big picture and exam tips. |
| Week 13 | Lecture/Tutorial: Critical application areas, hot-topics and industry translation |
| Assessment Due: Project Phase 4 report/presentation | |
| 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 |
| (7) Project and Team Skills (Level 3) | No | 0% |
| (8) Professional Effectiveness and Ethical Conduct (Level 3) | No | 0% |
| (6) Communication and Inquiry/ Research (Level 3) | No | 7.75% |
| (5) Interdisciplinary, Inclusiveness, Influence (Level 3) | No | 0% |
| (3) Problem Solving and Inventiveness (Level 3) | No | 0% |
| (4) Design (Level 3) | No | 76.5% |
| (2) Engineering/ IT Specialisation (Level 3) | No | 15.75% |
These goals are selected from Engineering & IT Graduate Outcomes Table 2018 which defines overall goals for courses where this unit is primarily offered. See Engineering & IT Graduate Outcomes Table 2018 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.
