Course Syllabus

CS 3540: Human-Computer Interaction                

 

Instructor: Professor Eliane Wiese (eliane.wiese@utah.edu). Please call me Professor Wiese (note there is also another Professor Wiese in the School of Computing).

Teaching Assistants: John Lund, Monesha Murdeshwar, Rahul Thomas Benny

Class Time: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 3:40-5:00pm

Course meetings: https://utah.zoom.us/my/eliane.wiese (password: empathy) 

Course Website: https://utah.instructure.com/courses/630737

***NEW*** gcloud folder: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vQrFGAekqwn-5wyPU2rJBU85qSpC0Nlj?usp=sharing 

Contacting the course staff: Please use Piazza to post questions/comments to the class and to send messages to the course staff. According to University policy, the course staff is not permitted to send emails about the course content to any email address that does not end in "utah.edu".

Student Hours: Also called Office Hours. These times are set aside by the course staff to meet with you, individually or with your team, to help you better understand the material in the course. Please take advantage of this resource! Bring ideas, questions, and work in progress. Note: the scheduling of student hours may change over the semester. If none of the posted times work for you, please contact the course staff to make an appointment. 

What is Human-Computer Interaction?

The sentiment "technology pervades our lives, now more than ever before" has been true for my entire life, and probably yours too. Technology enables, scopes, constrains, and changes how we work, play, learn, develop relationships, shop, vote, and more. Many people go into computer science because they want to leverage technology to make people's lives better. How do we do that? I'm sure you've used technology that's frustrating or annoying to interact with, and that you've abandoned technology that you were initially excited about because it just didn't end up meshing with how you do things. You may even have been forced to use technology that made your work more burdensome. Badly designed technology abounds because good design is hard. Human-computer interaction explores what good design is, processes that make achieving it more likely, and the effect that technology has on us as individuals and as members of larger groups.

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

  • Use human-centered design processes to identify human needs and define problems. These processes will include contextual inquiry, task analysis, and heuristic evaluation.
  • Draft and iterate on design ideas that respond to user needs, using sketching, scenarios, storyboarding, wireframes, and prototypes.
  • Elicit meaningful feedback on your designs through user testing and peer critique.
  • Communicate effectively about the design process and your design solution, and offer actionable feedback to others on their designs.
  • Work effectively, remotely, as part of a team.

What you are expected to do in this course

Attend Class (to enable everything else)

Class time will be used for synchronous, interactive learning and teaching. This means that you must attend class during class time. The main source of learning in this class will come from trying out design methods with your group in the context of your group project. A common obstacle in group work is finding a time when everyone can meet. Using class sessions for group work alleviates this problem, and it means that you can get immediate feedback from the course staff as you work. We will take attendance based on your participation in the in-class activities, which will usually have a written component on Canvas or gCloud. See the table here: Attendance.

HCI Design Project (65%)

In this semester-long group project, you will identify user needs in our community and propose design solutions to address them. You will find that using a method is a very different experience than reading about it. You will also practice methods for working effectively in a team. The course project is structured as three stages: (1) Identifying user needs and proposing an initial solution; (2) Detailing the solution and creating a prototype; and (3) Communicating what your solution does and how it responds to user needs. The project builds over the semester - what you do in later stages will draw on your findings from earlier stages. Each stage will be broken down into milestones to help you with time management and give you ample opportunities for feedback.

Example projects from prior offerings include:

Note that assignment details change between course offerings, so your project may look quite different. Still, the overall methods will be similar and these projects can give you an idea of the design process you will use in this class. 

Working effectively in a remote team is a learning goal for this class. Effective teamwork is a component of the HCI Design Project and will be graded/evaluated. 

Reading, Watching, and Listening (10%)

Readings and videos will introduce you to the design methods, give you examples, and teach you elements of human-computer interaction that are not part of your course project. For the most part, you will engage with these materials outside of class. To help you check your understanding of the key ideas, there will be question prompts or reflections for you to answer and submit. All readings/videos will be online, and free to you.

Please see this page for more details, including clarifications on groupwork vs. cheating for the check-ins: Policies for Reading/Watching Check-Ins

Project Proposal (5%)  

Toward the end of course, you will propose an HCI project similar in complexity to the one you completed during the semester. This might feel a bit backwards. However, I'm planning it this way because it's hard to really understand what an HCI project involves until you go through it. After doing the semester project as a group, you will write a project proposal as an individual, with a better understanding of what is appropriate for a design project than you would have had at the beginning of the semester. 

Semester Reflection: December 1 (20%)

Near the end of the semester you will be given prompts to help you reflect on what you have learned overall in this course, and to help you think about the connections between the readings, lectures, videos, and the course project. This reflection will also be an opportunity for you to think about how will apply this knowledge after the course ends. This set of reflections will be written during class time on the last Tuesday of the semester (December 1). 

Grading 

  • Group Project: 65%
  • Semester Reflection (to be done during class time on December 1): 20%
  • Responses for readings and other out-of-class material: 10%
  • Project Proposal: 5%
  • Note: there will NOT be an exam during the U's final exam period.

Class attendance is mandatory. You are allowed to miss up to two classes without penalty. Each subsequent absence will result in a .5% penalty on your final grade.  

Grades will be calculated on a 100-point scale for the semester, and then mapped to letters:

A: 94 and above. A-: 90-93. B+: 87-89. B: 84-86. B-: 80-83. I think you can see the pattern from here. If you find yourself concerned about the boundary between grades less than B-, please talk with the course staff to help you understand the material so that you will earn a higher grade. Note: if a student earns less than 60% in any individual category, it will be at the Professor's discretion whether the student should pass the course overall. If you have earned less than 60% in any category, you must schedule an appointment to meet with Dr. Wiese if you want to be confident that you will pass.

Respect for other humans is a key part of this course (see below). You will be respectful with the users you are studying. User research can involve asking interviewees to do tasks in which they might make mistakes. Making an interviewee feel stupid or disrespected will result in penalties on your grade. I'm not saying this because I think you will do it - I anticipate that everyone will treat our users respectfully. I'm saying this because I want you to know I take it seriously.

Extra Credit

There are many opportunities for extra credit. To be eligible to earn points for extra credit, you must have completed all of the read/watch check-ins to that point. You do not need to have earned a perfect score. If you want to earn extra credit but you missed a read/watch check-in, do that check-in and contact the course staff. You will be marked as a 0 for the check-in, but you will be eligible to earn points for the extra credit.

Deadlines

All assignments will have a credit deadline: you must submit by that deadline to get credit, and you cannot change your score by improving your answers after that deadline. Work submitted after the credit deadline will get a 0.

Many assignments will also have a feedback deadline: if you submit by this deadline, you will get an initial score and feedback at least 24 hours before the credit deadline. This will give you the chance to improve your answers and your score. 

Recognize each other's common humanity. 

We are all people (yes, even me, your professor!). I will treat you with respect, recognizing that you are a full human with a life that exists outside of our course. I expect you to treat me, the TAs, your classmates, and the users we are studying with the same level of respect. This semester will involve many unknowns, and there will be many factors from outside of class that will affect your ability to learn. A plan from the beginning of the semester may not work in the middle of the semester. I will modify course plans, including plans in this syllabus, as needed to help you learn effectively. If something comes up that affects your ability to learn from and participate in this course (illness, family emergency, earthquake, etc.), please contact the course staff. Part of our humanity is that we all have basic human needs, such as food. If you need help meeting your basic human needs, please contact the Professor and make use of these resources: https://union.utah.edu/resources-spaces/basic-needs-center/

Do not cheat in this class (or any class)

Cheating happens when students focus on grades instead of learning. I don't think anyone is going to cheat in this class, and I think if anyone tried to, it wouldn't help them get a better grade. I expect that all work you submit will be your own, reflecting your own ideas and efforts (or your group's, for group assignments). This course will involve collaboration between groups and within groups. We expect you to share ideas through peer feedback and critique, and we encourage you to taking that feedback into account as you revise your work. That is not cheating, that is doing the assignment. Misrepresenting work as your own or fabricating data is cheating, and will not help you learn. Each assignment will have its own details for how to collaborate with others. If you want to collaborate with classmates but aren't sure if the way you are planning to do it is allowed, please talk with the course staff. We want you to be comfortable learning from and supporting each other. Note: the policies for citing sources in your read/watch check-ins also apply to your reports and all other work in this course. See Policies for Reading/Watching Check-Ins.

What happens if I need time away from class?

Students and faculty will be more likely to get sick or have family emergencies this semester. If something like that happens, please let me know by email that you will need time away from the class. I will encourage you to take the time that you need, with the plan that we will figure out your classwork when you are ready. You will likely be concerned about your grade and about making up work. All students' grades will be based on demonstrating their learning through their classwork, and all students will be held to the same standards. However, there may be alternate pathways for students to learn and demonstrate their learning. If you need time away, I will work with you to make a plan for how you will learn the content you missed and how that work will be evaluated, within the constraints of the amount of time that the course staff has. Depending on how far into the semester we are and how much time you need, you may need to retake the class in a future semester. The University policies on withdrawing from courses and "incompletes" are here: https://catalog.utah.edu/#/policy/B12v3LX0G?bc=true&bcCurrent=Grading%20Policies&bcGroup=Grade%20Information&bcItemType=policies.  

School of Computing, College of Engineering, and University of Utah policies and statements:

University Policy: Sexual Misconduct

https://oeo.utah.edu/ Title IX makes it clear that violence and harassment based on sex and gender (which includes sexual orientation and gender identity/expression) is a civil rights offense subject to the same kinds of accountability and the same kinds of support applied to offenses against other protected categories such as race, national origin, color, religion, age, status as a person with a disability, veteran’s status or genetic information. If you or someone you know has been harassed or assaulted, you are encouraged to report it to the Title IX Coordinator in the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action (801-581-8365), or the Office of the Dean of Students (801-581-7066). For support and confidential consultation, contact the Center for Student Wellness (801-581-7776). To report to the police, contact the Department of Public Safety, 801-585-2677(COPS).

Student Names & Personal Pronouns 

Class rosters are provided to the instructor with the student’s legal name as well as “Preferred first name” (if previously entered by you in the Student Profile section of your CIS account). Please advise me of any name or pronoun changes (and update CIS) so I can help create a learning environment in which you, your name, and your pronoun will be respected. If you need assistance getting your preferred name on your UIDcard, please email bpeacock@sa.utah.edu. 

Student Wellness 

Personal concerns such as stress, anxiety, relationship difficulties, depression, cross-cultural differences, etc., can interfere with a student’s ability to succeed and thrive at the University of Utah. For helpful resources contact the Center for Student Wellness at www.wellness.utah.edu or 801-581-7776.

Veterans Center 

If you are a student veteran, the U of Utah has a Veterans Support Center. Please visit their website for more information about what support they offer, a list of ongoing events and links to outside resources: http://veteranscenter.utah.edu/. Please also let me know if you need any additional support in this class for any reason.

Learners of English as an Additional/Second Language 

If you are an English language learner, please be aware of several resources on campus that will support you with your language and writing development. These resources include: the Writing Center (http://writingcenter.utah.edu/); the Writing Program (http://writing-program.utah.edu/); the English Language Institute (http://continue.utah.edu/eli/). Please let me know if there is any additional support you would like to discuss for this class.

Undocumented Student Support Statement

Immigration is a complex phenomenon with broad impact—those who are directly affected by it, as well as those who are indirectly affected by their relationships with family members, friends, and loved ones. If your immigration status presents obstacles to engaging in specific activities or fulfilling specific course criteria, confidential arrangements may be requested from the Dream Center. Arrangements with the Dream Center will not jeopardize your student status, your financial aid, or any other part of your residence. The Dream Center offers a wide range of resources to support undocumented students (with and without DACA) as well as students from mixed-status families. To learn more, please contact the Dream Center at 801–213–3697 or visit dream.utah.edu. 

Diversity

It is our intent that students from all diverse backgrounds and perspectives be well-served by this course, that students’ learning needs be addressed both in and out of class, and that the diversity that the students bring to this class be viewed as a resource, strength and benefit. It is our intent to present materials and activities that are respectful of diversity: gender identity, sexuality, disability, age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, nationality, religion, and culture. Your suggestions are encouraged and appreciated. Please let us know ways to improve the effectiveness of the course for you personally, or for other students or student groups.

 

This syllabus was inspired in large part by Evan Peck.