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UT INF 385P - Syllabus

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INF 385P – Introduction to Usability Syllabus Unique Number: 27460 Semester: Spring, 2009 Professor: Randolph G. Bias (w) 471-7046 (c) 657-3924 (h) 836-0845 [email protected] Office: SZB 562B Office Hours: Wednesday, 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. And by appointment. Class Time: Thursdays, 12:00 – 3:00 p.m. Classroom: SZB 546 TA: S. C. (Hans) Huang [email protected] Textbooks: Norman, Donald A. (1990). The design of everyday things. New York: Doubleday. Krug, Steve. (2006). Don’t make me think: A common sense approach to web usability. Berkeley, CA: New Riders Publishing. Rubin, J., Chisnell, D., and Spool, J. (2008). Handbook of usability testing: How to plan, design, and conduct effective tests. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Three readings Carroll, J. M. (1997). Human-computer interaction: on reserve in the Psychology as a science of design. Annual Review of Psychology, 48, iSchool IT lab: 61-83. Markman, A. B., & Gentner, D. (2001). Thinking. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 223-247. Olson, G. M., & Olson, J. S. (2003). Human-computer interaction: Psychological aspects of the human use of computing. Annual Review of Psychology, 54, 491-516. Other readings will be added along the way.Synopsis: The rapid expansion of the Internet and e-commerce has brought software usability engineering into prominence. As more and more information exists in electronic form (and sometimes ONLY in electronic form), the storage and retrieval of information is increasingly a human-computer interface (HCI) design problem. As computing oozes into every nook of citizenry, it’s increasingly important for software developers NOT to depend on their own intuitions as to what product designs are likely to be seen as usable. The way web and other user interface designers and developers address this intentionally is by pursuing a course of “user-centered design” (UCD). UCD involves employing a collection of usability engineering methods across the life-cycle of a software product. The class will cover three major areas: 1 – the perceptual psychological, cognitive psychological, and other scientific underpinnings of usability (i.e., the emerging “usability science”), 2 – the usability engineering methods used in the pursuit of UCD, and 3 – the justification for the application of usability engineering in a software development project. The course will entail four major instructional techniques: 1 – lecture on the scientific underpinnings and the methods of usability engineering, 2 – exercises, to demonstrate the use of such methods, 3 – site visits to and from local companies that have usability labs, to see and hear demonstrations of methods as applied to real-world software design problems, and 4 – individual usability engineering projects, to be carried out by each student, with the results to be shared with the class. Objectives: The student successfully completing this class will: · understand and be able to explain the rudimentary aspects of how human beings take in and process information, · know what the methods of usability engineering are and have experience with some of them, · understand and be able to explain why software developers should NOT depend on their own intuitions for what is a usable design, · be able to make the arguments for cost-justifying a user-centered design approach, · have had exposure to a variety of usability labs, · know how to carry out a usability evaluation and write a usability test plan and report.Grades: Your grade will be based on three things: 1. your general contribution in class (30%), 2. a “white paper” on some topic in the area of science applied to the design of human-computer interfaces (30%), and 3. a final project (work in pairs) entailing the usability engineering of a web site or traditional software user interface (40%). Late Assignments: Your grade will be docked one grade per day late, for your written assignment. Etc.: · If you have a question, please ask. I will be very receptive to emails at any time, and phone calls before 10:00 p.m. · Attendance matters. When you aren’t here, you deprive your classmates of your shared wisdom. · Any student with a documented disability (physical or cognitive) who requires academic accommodations should contact the Services for Students with Disabilities area of the Office of the Dean of Students at 471-6259 (voice) or 471-4641 (TTY for users who are deaf or hard of hearing) as soon as possible to request an official letter outlining authorized accommodations. · Policy on Scholastic Dishonesty: Students who violate University rules on scholastic dishonesty are subject to disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of failure in the course and/or dismissal from the University. Schedule (note, the site visits are tentative as of now – 1/21/2009): Week Date Topics Due at the beginning of class 1 1/22 - Introduction: What is usability engineering? - The context of usability. - Course logistics, and syllabus review. 2 1/29 - Norman book - Mental models - Read Norman book. - Read Markman and Gentner article. - One example each of good and bad design (NOT a web site)3 2/5 - The science and practice of usability - Perception and cognition - Read the Carroll article and the Olson and Olson article. - One example each of good and bad web site design 4 2/12 Lab visit: IX Lab - Hosts: Bias, Hans Huang, Sam Burns - Methods: End-user testing - Read Chapters 1 - 4 in the Rubin book. 5 2/19 Discount Usability Engineering - Discussion of Krug book - Heuristic Evaluation - Pluralistic Usability Walkthrough Discussion of Rubin book - Read Chapters 5 – 12 of the Rubin book. - Read Krug book 6 2/26 John Morkes, Expero, Inc. – User requirements gathering 7 3/5 Scott Isensee, IBM Eugenie Bertus, Kenshoo Inc. -- Bridge Methodology - White paper on a topic in the science of usability 8 3/12 David Richard, Design for Use -- Rapid iterative testing 9 3/26 Panel discussion – Usability and agile computing: - Jack Alford, IBM - Tanya Payne, Vignette - Gordon Montgomery, Neudesic - Test plan for project. 10 4/2 Panel discussion – Recent iSchool grads doing usability-y work in the field: - Will Meuer, Mumboe - Kijana Knight, projekt202 - Maybe one other. - Read Chapters 13 – 14 of Rubin book. 11 4/9 Workshop – We’ll help each other with our usability evaluations. Run as test subjects. Review test


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