Course pages 2017–18
Further Human–Computer Interaction
Principal lecturer: Prof Alan Blackwell
Additional lecturer: Dr L Church
Taken by: Part IB CST 75%
No. of lectures: 8
Suggested hours of supervisions: 2
Prerequisite courses: Interaction Design (Part IA)
Aims
This aim of this course is to provide an introduction to the theoretical foundations of Human Computer Interaction, and an understanding of how these can be applied to the design of complex technologies.
Lectures
- Theory driven approaches to HCI. What is a theory in HCI?
Why take a theory driven approach to HCI?
- Design of visual displays. Segmentation and variables of
the display plane. Modes of correspondence.
- Goal-oriented interaction. Using cognitive theories of
planning, learning and understanding to understand user behaviour,
and what they find hard.
- Designing smart systems. Using statistical methods to
anticipate user needs and actions with Bayesian strategies.
- Designing efficient systems. Measuring and optimising
human performance through quantitative experimental methods.
- Designing meaningful systems. Qualitative research
methods to understand social context and requirements of user
experience.
- Evaluating interactive system designs. Approaches to
evaluation in systems research and engineering, including Part II
Projects.
- Designing complex systems. Worked case
studies of applying the theories to a hard HCI problem. Research
directions in HCI.
Objectives
At the end of the course students should be able to apply theories of human performance and cognition to system design, including selection of appropriate techniques to analyse, observe and improve the usability of a wide range of technologies.
Recommended reading
* Preece, J., Sharp, H. & Rogers, Y. (2015). Interaction design: beyond human-computer interaction. Wiley (Currently in 4th edition, but earlier editions will suffice).
Further reading:
Carroll, J.M. (ed.) (2003). HCI models, theories and frameworks: toward a multi-disciplinary science. Morgan Kaufmann.