Overview
- Course Title
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Section
- 1
- Prerequisites
- CS345
- CS222
- CS545
- CS524 or two semesters of programming and an algorithms course
- Meetings
- Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 1:00PM–1:50PM in RB122
- Instructor
- Paul Gestwicki, Ph.D.
- Office Hours
- See instructor Web site
The course catalog provides this short description of the course:
Investigation into the principles and practice of user interface design, evaluation, and implementation. Topics include user-centered design, graphical user interface programming, evaluation methods, and software architectures.
The Computer Science department has identified the following learning outcomes for this course.
- Explain why user-centered product development is important
- Explain principles for design of user interfaces
- Create a simple graphical user interface and justify its usability
- Plan and execute a usability evaluation
- Describe model-view separation and explain its value
Note that, because this is a three credit-hour course, undergraduates should expect to invest nine hours of attention to it per week—twelve for graduate students.
Resources
Required Books
- Don Norman. The Design of Everyday Things. Revised and Expanded Edition. Basic Books. 2013.
- Robert C. Martin. Clean Code. Prentice Hall. 2008. (Assigned readings for CS545 only.)
Recommended Books
One or both may be required later in the semester, as discussed in class.
- Bruce Hanington and Bella Martin. The Pocket Universal Methods of Design. Rockport. 2017.
- William Lidwell, Kritina Holden, and Jill Butler. The Pocket Universal Principles of Design. Rockport. 2015.
Hardware and Software
For version control, we will be using git. Install git according to the installation documentation; for Windows, I recommend the git for Windows project for easy access to Git BASH.
We will use Java for most of our examples and assignments. Install the latest versions of IntelliJ IDEA Community Edition and JDK 8.0.
We will manage some required elements of the course through Canvas as part of Ball State's pilot of that system. Log on to bsu.instructure.com to access our Canvas course page.
Accounts
You will need to sign up for a Google Account, if you don't have one already. Configuring two-step verification on your Google Account is so strongly recommended it may as well be required.
You will need to sign up for a GitHub account if you don't already have one. As always, remember to use strong and unique passwords for different Web services. As a student, you should also request the Student Developer Pack, which gets you limited no-cost private repositories and access to some powerful tools.
Schedule
The first few weeks of the course, we will focus on concepts of design, both generally and in the context of computing systems. We will then complete one or two small projects, following the principles we studied in the first part of the course. The assignments page provides a guide for what materials you need to read or prepare for each class.
The last several weeks of the semester will be spent on a larger project that will provide an opportunity to apply what you have learned with a real community partner. The project will be completed by small teams of students, and you will have significant freedom in your approach, subject to the community partner's constraints.
The course withdrawal period ends on Monday, March 19.
We will have a class meeting during the university-scheduled final exam slot, as per university policy.
Grading
Descriptions of how assignments, project reports, and source code are evaluated are provided on the evaluation page.
Your final grade in the class will be your final project grade, subject to the constraints given in the table below.
| Earning this level grade | Requires a C- or better grade on this many assignments |
|---|---|
| A | 90% |
| B | 80% |
| C | 70% |
| D | 50% |
Attendance and Related Policies
Your learning is commensurate to your participation, and so attendance is expected. You are responsible for your learning regardless of attendance. If you miss a class meeting, you should consult with trusted classmates to ensure you have the appropriate notes. I will not repeat myself unnecessarily over email, during office hours, or by appointment.
Meetings begin at the time scheduled, and you are expected to be ready to begin at this time; late entry is direspectful to me and your classmates.
Communication
Office Hours and Appointments
My office hours are listed on my Web site. Students who come to office hours are helped on a first-come, first-served basis; no appointment or prior contact is required. If a student wishes to make an appointment to meet outside of office hours, he or she should email the instructor the request along with several possible meeting times.
All email communication to the instructor should be from a BSU-affiliated address. This policy ensures that senders can be correctly identified and protects your privacy. Email sent from other domains may not be answered.
The instructor may access email through services not affiliated with the University. Please note that such messages necessarily pass through the campus firewall in an unencrypted format, and they may be stored on servers not owned or managed by Ball State University. It is therefore advisable to restrict confidential information to office hours or appointments.
If you are emailing regarding questions in a computer program, it is recommended that you send a copy of the code in question in your email. The preferred method is to copy the code into the body of your message, using plain text and following standard formatting conventions. Alternatively, if the code is in a publicly-readable repository, email the URL.
Telephone
Although my office telephone number is listed on my Web site, email and face-to-face communication are strongly preferred. I will respond to every student email I receive; I will likely not respond to telephone messages.
Miscellany
Academic Integrity
Students and faculty are bound by the Student Academic Ethics Policy of the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities.
Intellectual Property
It behooves you to be aware of fundamentals of copyright law and the university's intellectual property policies for student-created work.
File Formats
When file submission is necessary outside of Google Drive, all files must be submitted in open file formats. Good examples include HTML, PDF, OpenDocument, and plain text. Note that Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suite formats do not qualify.
Writing
Learning to be clear in communicating is one of the most important outcomes of higher education. The Elements of Style provides an excellent refresher on how to produce good, clear writing. It is a short, affordable book in its latest release, and the earliest printings are in the public domain (see archive.org, for example).
Want extra feedback on your papers? The Writing Center is a community of Ball State students and faculty who value writing. Come and collaborate with one of our trained peer tutors on any project for any major. The Writing Center is a comfortable, supportive environment for writers from all communities and backgrounds. It is located in Robert Bell 291. To make an appointment, go to http://ballstate.mywconline.com.
General Academic Success
One of my favorite guides for academic success in college is William Rapaport's “How to Study: A Brief Guide”. You may also be interested in the Future Authoring Program, a research-validated program designed to help people identify goals in the 3–5-year frame and to align their actions toward meeting those goals. If you spend some time with either of these, I would be eager to hear about your experience.
Notice for Students with Disabilities
If you need course adaptations or accomodations because of a disability, please contact the instructor as soon as possible. Ball State's Disability Services office coordinates services for student with disabilities; documentation of a disability needs to be on file in that office before any accomodations can be provided. Disability Services can be contacted at 765-285-5293 or dsd@bsu.edu.
Statement on Diversity
Ball State University aspires to be a university that attracts and retains a diverse faculty, staff, and student body. We are committed to ensuring that all members of the community are welcome, through valuing the various experiences and worldviews represented at Ball State and among those we serve. We promote a culture of respect and civil discourse as expressed in our Beneficence Pledge and through university resources found at http://cms.bsu.edu/campuslife/multiculturalcenter.