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BCS 228 Human-Machine Interaction
Spring Semester 2002
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Instructor: |
Keith S. Karn, Ph.D. Adjunct Assistant Professor 110 Meliora Hall(mailbox on 3rd floor) 271-9047 keith@cvs.rochester.edu (normal)keith.karn@usa.xerox.com (urgent) |
Teaching Assistant: |
Andrew R. Mills Senior Brain & Cognitive Sciences 274-2812 am002h@mail.rochester.edu |
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Office Hours: |
By appointment. |
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Texts: |
The Design of Everyday Things Donald A. Norman
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An Introduction to Human Factors Engineering Christopher D. Wickens, Sallie E. Gordon, & Yili Liu 1998. New York, Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. |
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Meetings: |
Tuesdays and Thursdays 7:00 - 8:15 PM in room 269, Meliora Hall |
About the Course:
The theme of this course is human-centered design. We will explore human capabilities and limitations (emphasizing cognitive factors such as perception, information processing, memory, and motor control) that must be considered in order to design human-machine systems that are safe, comfortable, efficient, and fun to use. By applying knowledge of these human factors in the design of a product students will bridge the gap between theory and practice. Team projects will be used to experience an iterative design process that includes analysis of user needs and product goals, conceptual design, physical design, prototyping, usability testing, and refining of the design.
Before starting the course, students should have a basic understanding of behavior and sensory processes, such as that taught in BCS 151 [Perception & Action] and BCS 110 [Neural Foundations of Behavior] or BCS 111 [Foundations of Cognitive Science].
Course Requirements and Grading:
Course requirements include reading, class participation, exercises, exams, and hands-on project work. The following scheme determines the students' grades.
Class participation and exercises 22%
Design Project 50
Midterm Exam 14
Final Exam 14
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Total 100%
Course Requirements in More Detail:
Class Participation & Exercises (22% of final grade).
The course is intended to involve significant participation by students focused on discussion of the readings, class exercises and the design project. Students are expected to read assignments before class and come prepared to discuss thoughts, ideas, questions, and examples from life experiences that relate to the topic. Readings from the textbooks and additional sources are outlined in the schedule. Additional readings may be added.
Hands-on exercises (both in and outside of class) will illustrate lecture and reading material and often relate to the design project. Exercises will be collected or reviewed in class from time to time so the instructor can assess student progress. Exercises may include:
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• teamwork role-playing |
• project planning |
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• task analysis |
• story-boards and scenarios |
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• user profiles |
• paper prototyping |
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• user requirements analysis |
• icon design |
Design Project (50% of final grade).
The design project will involve collaborative learning and problem solving in small teams assigned by the instructor. This will be an in-depth design project including:
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Each group member will receive an individual grade that is weighted by the individual's level of involvement in the project (as determined by the instructor with input from team members as necessary). Here is how the various parts of the project will contribute toward the student's course grade.
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User interaction planFront-end planning (user profiles, user requirements, benchmarking, user profiles, user requirements, etc.) |
10% |
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Conceptual & logical design (design notebook including scenarios, task analysis, storyboards, logical flow diagrams, etc.) |
16 |
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Usability test (test plan, methods, results) |
12 |
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Physical design (final design, prototype, presentation of final design) |
12 |
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Total design project contribution to final grade |
50% |
Exams (each of two exams contribute 14% for a total of 28% of the final grade).
There will be one midterm exam and a final exam. These may be a combination of short answer, multiple choice, and essay questions.
Schedule
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Day Date |
Topic |
Facilitator |
Reading Due |
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Thursday 1/17 |
Introduction and Overview |
Instructor |
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Tuesday 1/22 |
The Design of Everyday Things (Usability Evaluation Exercise) |
Instructor |
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Thursday 1/24 |
The Design of Everyday Things (Usability EvaluationInterdisciplinary Design Team Exercise) |
Instructor |
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Tuesday 1/29 |
Overview of The Iterative Design Processes Overview (Teamwork Exercise) |
Instructor |
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Thursday 1/31 |
Conceptual DesignFront End Planning: User Profiles (User Profile Exercise) |
Instructor |
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Tuesday 2/5 |
Front End Planning: Determining User Requirements |
Guest: Mr. Stanley S. Caplan |
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Thursday 2/7 |
Front End Planning: Benchmarking to Set Usability Goals and Gather Design Ideas (Project Planning Exercise) |
Instructor |
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Tuesday 2/12 |
Human Characteristics: Movement, Biomechanics & Work PhysiologyHuman Characteristics: Sensation and Perception |
Guest: Mr. P. HickeyInstructor |
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Thursday 2/14 |
Human Characteristics: Sensation and PerceptionHuman Characteristics: Movement, Biomechanics, and Work Physiology |
InstructorGuest: Mr. Paul Hickey |
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Tuesday 2/19 |
Human Characteristics: Cognitive Processing |
Instructor |
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Thursday 2/21 |
Basic Design Considerations for Displays and Controls |
Instructor |
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Tuesday 2/26 |
Conceptual Design: Task Analysis (Task Analysis Exercise) |
Instructor |
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Thursday 2/28 |
MIDTERM EXAM |
Teaching Assistant |
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Tuesday 3/5 |
Conceptual Design: Scenarios, Storyboards, Brainstorming (Storyboard Exercise) |
Guest: Ms. Kara K. Goldstein |
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Thursday 3/7 |
Group working session. |
Guests: Mr. W. Bubie |
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Spring Break
(Schedule continued on next page)
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Day Date |
Topic |
Facilitator |
Reading Due |
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Tuesday 3/19 |
Logical Design for Human Computer Interaction in Web-based Applications |
Guests: Mr. Walter W. Bubie & Mr. Christopher C. Koch |
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Thursday 3/21 |
Physical Design for Human-Computer Interaction: Design Guidelines, Standards, Widgets, and Nomenclature |
Guest: Mr. Gary G. Davis |
"Controls" sections from:
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Tuesday 3/26 |
Physical Design: Low Fidelity Prototyping (Paper Prototyping Exercise) |
Instructor |
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Thursday 3/28 |
Physical Design: High Fidelity Prototyping (Icon & sScreen prototyping exercises) |
Teaching Assistant |
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Tuesday 4/2 |
Physical Design: Visual Design for Icons and Graphics |
Instructor |
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Thursday 4/4 |
Usability Evaluation (Test Planning Exercise) |
Guest: Mr. Greg G. Nelson |
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Tuesday 4/9 |
Usability Assessment (Field trip - Xerox Usability Lab) |
Guest: Mr. Skip M. Meetze |
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Thursday 4/11 |
Usability Test: Pilot |
Instructor |
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Tuesday 4/16 |
Stress, Environmental Factors, and Workload |
Instructor |
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Thursday 4/18 |
Safety, accidents, and human error |
Instructor |
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Tuesday 4/23 |
Revising the Design Based on User Input / Current Topic in Design: Revolution vs. Evolution |
Instructor |
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Thursday 4/25 |
Training / Instructions /Help Systems |
Instructor |
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Tuesday 4/30 |
Design Presentations |
Student Groups |
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Thursday 5/2 |
Review Session |
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Thursday 5/9 |
Final Exam (Date determined by registrar) |
Teaching Assistant |
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Last updated: May 6,2002
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Last modified: 5/7/2002 questions and comments about this site |