Course pages 2014–15
Human-Computer Interaction
Principal lecturer: Dr Alan Blackwell
Taken by: Part II
Past exam questions
Information for supervisors (contact lecturer for access permission)
No. of lectures: 8
Suggested hours of supervisions: 2
Aims
This course will introduce systematic approaches to the design and analysis of user interfaces.
Lectures
- The scope and challenges of HCI and Interaction Design.
- Visual representation. Segmentation and variables of the display plane. Modes of correspondence.
- Text and gesture interaction. Evolution of interaction hardware. Measurement and assessment of novel methods.
- Inference-based approaches. Bayesian strategies for data entry, and programming by example.
- Augmented reality and tangible user interfaces. Machine vision, fiducial markers, paper interfaces, mixed reality.
- Usability of programming languages. End-user programming, programming for children, cognitive dimensions of notations.
- User-centred design research. Contextual observation, prototyping, think-aloud protocols, qualitative data in the design cycle.
- Usability evaluation methods. Formative and summative methods. Empirical measures. Evaluation of Part II projects.
Objectives
On completing the course, students should be able to
- propose design approaches that are suitable to different classes of user and application;
- identify appropriate techniques for analysis and critique of user interfaces;
- be able to design and undertake quantitative and qualitative studies in order to improve the design of interactive systems;
- understand the history and purpose of the features of contemporary user interfaces.
Recommended reading
* Sharp, H., Rogers, Y. & Preece, J. (2007). Interaction design: beyond human-computer interaction. Wiley (2nd ed.).
Further reading:
Carroll, J.M. (ed.) (2003). HCI models, theories and frameworks: toward a multi-disciplinary science. Morgan Kaufmann.
Cairns, P. & Cox, A. (eds.) (2008). Research methods for human-computer interaction. Cambridge University Press.