Dr.-Ing. Robert L. Baber
Office: ITC (T16)-168, tel. ext. 27874
Email: Baber@McMaster.CA
Office hours: Thursdays 14.30-16.30 or by appointment or when available

2. Course Structure

Three 50-minute lectures weekly:
Mondays and Thursdays 12.30-13.20, Tuesdays 13.30-14.20, room BSB/235

3. Teaching Assistants

Teaching assistants will be available to advise students and for assessing student assignments, tests, etc.

4. Prerequisite and Corequisite Knowledge

Prerequisites: SFWR ENG 3B04 and 3J03

5. Calendar Description

Design of user interfaces. Principles of good interface design. Human input. Displaying complex data using graphics and virtual reality. Modes and mode awareness problem. Health issues, information overload. Special purpose graphics hardware. Interface design tools.

6. Mission

Too many human computer interfaces (HCI) are designed by computer specialists and, unintentionally, for computer specialists. Although the computer specialist designers often consciously try to design the human computer interfaces for other categories of users, it is very difficult for computer specialists to "jump out of their own skins" and realize how others will use and interact with the systems they design. The designers all too often cannot imagine the often very different attitudes, background, psychology, knowledge and expectations of the ultimate users of the systems they design. The designer usually implicitly assumes that the user will form the same mental model of the system that the designer had in mind. Often, however, the user forms a very different mental model of the system. Different users form quite different mental models.

It is, of course, necessary to consider technical possibilities and limitations when designing a human computer interface, but this is never sufficient. Many technically good system designs have been rejected in practice because they do not adequately cater for the users' subjective as well as objective needs, desires and limitations. Also, software issues (e.g. testing, maintainability, etc.) arising from the human computer interface design must be considered in practice.

The mission of this course is, therefore, to make the student aware of

• relevant aspects of human psychology,
• the variety of uses (intended and unintended) to which the systems they design might be put,
• the variety of ways users might interact with those systems,
• the impossibility of predicting how the various types of users will understand and view the system and what they will expect of it,
• the need for obtaining information, views and feedback from representatives of all intended and expected types of users when designing human computer interfaces as well as
• hardware and software for implementing human computer interfaces and their advantages, limitations and implications.

After completing this course students will

• be familiar with human psychological characteristics of relevance to the human computer interface (e.g. characteristics and limits of sensory perception, sources of frustration and distraction),
• be aware of the psychological and other differences between various categories of users,
• know how to obtain the relevant information about the users of the system to be designed,
• be able to critically evaluate human computer interfaces,
• know how to design human computer interfaces for effective and easy operation in practice, taking into due account the above considerations as well as the technical possibilities and limitations of HCI hardware and software,
• be familiar with the typical building blocks and elements of human computer interfaces (e.g. VDU, keyboard, pointing devices, windows, icons, the several types of menus, buttons, radio buttons, sounds, sliders, text panels, scroll bars, etc.),
• learn about some of the tools currently available to support designing human computer interfaces and
• understand how issues of reliability, maintainability, testing, debugging, etc. influence the design of practical human computer interfaces.

The grade for the course will be made up of the grades for assignments, two class tests and the final examination weighted as follows:

• assignments, 15%
• two class tests, 15% each
• final examination, 55%

9. Literature

The following two books are prescribed texts for this course:

• Shneiderman, Ben, Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction, 3rd edition, Addison-Wesley, 1998.
• Raskin, Jef, The Humane Interface: New Directions for Designing Interactive Systems, Addison-Wesley, 2000.

Students should also consult other books on this subject. For computer and software oriented books, key phrases to look for in titles and bibliographical references are "human-computer interaction", "user interface", "usability engineering", etc.

Students are strongly urged to consult books dealing with interfaces and interaction between humans and devices, machines, systems, etc. more generally (i.e. not only specifically computer oriented). Many books on general aspects of engineering design (such as those written by Henry Petroski) consider the interaction between the human user and the artifact being designed.

The following are recommended as auxiliary references:

1. Constantine, Larry L.; Lockwood, Lucy A. D.; Software for Use, Addison-Wesley, 1999.
2. Dix, Alan; Finlay, Janet; Abowd, Gregory D.; Beale, Russell; Human-Computer Interaction, 2nd edition, Prentice Hall, 1998.
3. Galitz, Wilbert O.; The Essential Guide to User Interface Design, John Wiley & Sons, 1997.
4. Goldstein, E. Bruce; Sensation & Perception, (book and Study Guide), Fifth Edition, Brooks/Cole Publishing Co., 1999.
5. Mandel, Theo; The Elements of User Interface Design, John Wiley & Sons, 1997.
6. Mullet, Kevin and Sano, Darrell; Designing Visual Interfaces: Communication Oriented Techniques, SunSoft Press, 1995.
7. Nielsen, Jakob; Usability Engineering, Morgan Kaufmann, 1993.
8. Norman, Donald A.; The Design of Everyday Things, MIT Press, 1998, or Currency Doubleday, 1988/1990.

The following is a tentative schedule for key events during this course. Changes will be announced in class and/or a revised schedule will be published as required.

Assignments will be announced and due at various times during the term.
Test 1: October 10 Thursday
Test 2: November 14 Thursday
Final examination: during the examination period

It is possible that one or more field trips will be arranged during the term. The dates and times will be coordinated and announced as long in advance as possible.

11. Announcements

Please refer to http://www.cas.mcmaster.ca/~baber/Courses/4D03/Announcements.html frequently for announcements and news items relevant to this course. Notes and assignments prepared by the instructor will be distributed to the students via the course's web site at http://www.cas.mcmaster.ca/~baber/Courses/4D03.

12. Notes

• Discrimination
"The Faculty of Engineering is concerned with ensuring an environment that is free of all adverse discrimination. If there is a problem that cannot be resolved by discussion among the persons concerned, individuals are reminded that they should contact their Department Chair, the Sexual Harrassment/Anti-Discrimination Officer (SHADO), as soon as possible."
• Academic Dishonesty
"Students are reminded that they should read and comply with the Statement on Academic Ethics and the Senate Resolutions on Academic Dishonesty as found in the Senate Policy Statements distributed at registration and available in the Senate Office."