Class Web Page
This website will be be used to post readings, assignments, etc. Any official course announcements will be posted here. You may receive an e-mail informing you of emergency announcements, but you are responsible for checking the main class site regularly.

Meeting Times: Tue/Thu 2:00pm-3:15 in PLS 1172.

Prerequisite: HDCC105

Course Description
When designing, whether software or hardware, whether the goals are increased productivity, entertainment, education, art, or others it is crucial to consider the "users" of your creation and the experiences they will have. It is important to be familiar with existing technologies as well as ideas from the past which can inform your design. It is also important to consider ethical issues associated with the technology you plan to build. As you are building a system you will want to assess its usability at several stages, from early paper prototypes through medium-fidelity prototypes through the creation of the final release.

The field of Human-Computer Interaction draws in researchers from many disciplines. Here at Maryland, our HCI Lab has had faculty and students from departments including Computer Science, Psychology, the iSchool, Journalism, Sociology, Business, and English. Individual project teams tend to have similar combinations of disciplines represented. These teams typically bring a wide range of background knowledge to their teams and work with "end users" who come from diverse populations such as medical doctors, children, older adults, and others. How do these teams proceed when designing new technologies for and with the people for whom the technologies are being built? If your core group is more science and engineering focused, how do you bring diverse viewpoints into a team's work? Once you have a bold new idea or prototype or research result, how do you share it with your local community as well as broader ones? This course will explore and answer questions such as these!

For certain parts of this course there will be an implementation component. However, it is important to note that programming or building isn't meant to be the "new thing" here. Much of the focus will on the things that should be done when designing what you want to program or build. The group project will working prototypes as one of their outcomes, but you will find that much of the design work and brainstorming will happen using "paper prototyping" via art supplies and graphical tools such as Photoshop and PowerPoint and that much time will be spent thining about and working with potential users.

Unlike many traditional courses where there is a single set of learning outcomes expected for all students who enroll, you will find that while there are some uniform goals this course also sets different goals for you based on your background. For example, students with non-technical backgrounds may gain new insight into technology, students with technical backgrounds may gain new insight into the power of diversity in technology projects, and students with diverse backgrounds will learn how to shape them.

Example Course Topics
• Defining the field of Human-Computer Interaction and exploring how it grew to include such diverse fields
• HCI -vs- User Interface Software and Technology
• Exploring the history and current issues in HCI through classic/historic readings and TED (or TED-like) talks
• Psychology of Everyday Things
• Ethical considerations such as avoiding Shneiderman's "Ten Plagues"
• User-centered design
• Task-centered design
• Idea-ation/Brainstorming/Prototyping
• Evaluating and critiquing (not criticizing) the work of others
• Creating and giving short presentations about technology
• Team building across disciplines
• Overview of rapid prototyping tools (software and hardware)
• Graphical Design
• Finding the strengths in both qualitative and quantitative evaluation (social science versus natural science approaches)
• The future direction of HCI and UIST in a more technologically diverse society

Some Student Learning Outcomes
Students completing this course will:
• obtain an understanding of how the areas of psychology and psychopathology and ethics connect to the design of hardware and software.
• gain a perspective of how the field of Human-Computer Interaction has grown and evolved as the technology as well as the users and their tasks have changed, and be able to discuss issues that have remained constant for decades as well as new issues designers face today.
• have the background, vocabulary, and experience to express to others the importance of elements of HCI such as task-centered and user-centered design.
• have the skills needed while watching presentations to identify new ideas, form opinions about them, summarize, and critique them and to share such through written and verbals presentations
• both have experiences in taking an idea and bringing it to the level of a low-fidelity prototype, as well as using the appropriate assessment techniques and technologies to evaluate the design of both prototype and production software.

Major Course Deliverables
Readings Journal: As you read the assigned papers and articles, you will need to add a brief summary of each and your thoughts on the way it relates to course topics to your journal. The journal will take the form of a Google Doc which you will share with me and which will be reviewed regularly.
Semester Project: There will be a team project where you will start by exploring real design challenges posted online and provided in class, consider which interest you, form teams to then develop the challenge into ideas for a new piece of software, and work through the process of user and task analysis, low-fidelity design, testing of that design, and likely building a medium-fidelity prototype and document describing your full implementation concept.
Class Presentations and Reports: There will be several in-class presentations and written reports. These will be a mixture of group and individual presentation/reports.
Individual Work: There will be individual homework assignments to explore specific topics that are covered as well as reflection essays based on their readings/viewings and a DCC activity related to the capstone projects of the sophomore class.. There will also be a written midterm and final exam.

Readings/Viewings
There will be readings (academic, newspaper, and magazine articles, book excerpts) posted on the class ELMS site during the semester and TED (or TED-like talks) that will be assigned to watch before class sessions. These will come from disciplines such as Psychology, Computer Science, Sociology, Engineering, English, and Ergonomics. Examples include "Psychology of Everyday Things" by Donald Norman and "Leonardo's Laptop" and "Designing the User Interface" by Ben Shneiderman and "The Rise of Human-Computer Cooperation" by Shyam Sankar.

Grading Distribution
• Class Participation: 15%
• Readings Journal: 5%
• Homework Assignments: 15%
• "TED" Presentation: 5%
• Technology ethics project: 5%
• Semester team project and written reports: 20%
• Midterm and Final Exam: 30%
• Attend one DCC Design Camp and one DCC workshop/talk/film: 5%

Academic Honesty
The University of Maryland, College Park has a nationally recognized Code of Academic Integrity, administered by the Student Honor Council. This Code sets standards for academic integrity at Maryland for all undergraduate and graduate students. As a student you are responsible for upholding these standards for this course. It is very important for you to be aware of the consequences of cheating, fabrication, facilitation, and plagiarism. The University of Maryland Honor Pledge reads: I pledge on my honor that I have not given or received any unauthorized assistance on this assignment/examination. Unless you are specifically advised to the contrary, the Pledge statement should be handwritten and signed on the front cover of all papers, projects, or other academic assignments submitted for evaluation in this course. Students who fail to write and sign the Pledge may be asked to confer with the instructor.

Special Needs
If you have a registered disability and wish to discuss accommodations, please email the instructor by the end of the second week of class. Disabilities can be registered through Disability Support Services (4-7682 or 5-7683 TTY/TDD).

Religious Observance
It is the student's responsibility to inform the instructor by e-mail of any religious observances that will conflict with your attendance, assignment deadlines, or final exam. The student should provide this notification to the instructor by the end of the second week of the term; the notification must identify the religious holiday(s) and the date(s). If this notification is not given to the instructor by this date, any missed assignments, activities, and/or exams are subject to grade penalties.