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IRLS575 Outline.

Last altered 6/11/06 Summer outline, under review (I will bring it completly up to date within d2l.)


The course is conceived of as discussions on 15 (or so) topics. A lecture course in the University of Arizona amounts to 37 1/2 hours of instruction spread through a semester. Our 'discussions' will be the virtual counterpart of 30 (or so) one and a quarter hour lectures, delivered at a rate of two a week. There will be notes, readings, discussion groups, and (of course) assignment.

General

 

We do not really use a set text. But were we to do so, we might have chosen one or more of

  • Preece, Jenny et. al. [1994], Human-Computer Interaction, Reading, Mass. : Addison-Wesley Pub. Co. ISBN 0-201-62769-8
  • Nielsen, Jakob [2000], Designing Website Usability, Indianapolis, IN.: New Riders Publishing. ISBN 1-56205-810-X
  • Clark, Andy [2003], Natural Born Cyborgs: Minds, Technologies, and the Future of Human Intelligence, New York: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-514866-5

You may also read

  • Landauer, T. K. [1995], The Trouble with Computers. Cambridge, Ma.: The MIT Press.

And you perhaps should read

  • Krug, Steve [2000], Don't make me think, Berkeley, CA.: New Riders Publishing. ISBN 0-7897-2310-7

Also very good are any of the writings of Donald Norman, for example

  • Norman, Donald [1988], The Psychology of Everyday Things
  • Norman, Donald [1992], Turn Signals are the Facial Expressions of Automobiles [Not so important for us]
  • Norman, Donald [1993], Things That Make Us Smart
  • Norman, Donald [1994], Defending Human Attributes in the Age of the Machine
  • Norman, Donald [1997], 'Symbiosis', Computerworld, 31(4), 87-8

The first four of these are available on a single Voyager-CD (which is certainly available for the Macintosh platform, I am unsure of its status for other operating systems).

Another useful book is

Shneiderman, Ben. [1997], Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction, Reading, Mass. : Addison-Wesley Pub. Co. (ISBN: ?).

The text contains extensive bibliographies and lists of information resources.

There is a useful Website devoted to this. Designing the User Interface

And we will make extensive use of electronic sources (which will be recommended piecemeal, when needed). A start (and a finish) is

The HCI Bibliography: Human-Computer Interaction Publications and Resources

Also good for consulting is

Helander, Martin ed. (1988), Handbook of Human-Computer Interaction

ACM Curricula for Human-Computer Interaction

And you should not miss

Bad Human Factors Designs (but not updated for a while)

Apparently many of the readings are available from EBSCO Host.

Other good sources include

Alan Cooper on Interaction Design (see the Website http://www.cooper.com/content/insights/cooper_books.asp)

AskTog Homepage. This is Bruce Tognazzini, another widely admired designer in the Norman, Nielsen,Raskin mold.

Raskin, Jef. [2000], The Humane Interface, Reading, Mass. : Addison-Wesley Pub. Co. (ISBN: 0-201-37937-6). This is a good piece by a lead designer of the Macintosh and Canon Cat.

 

E reserves are at http://eres.library.arizona.edu and use the password 'xxx'.

The Topics


1: What is HCI?

Designing computer systems to support people safely and productively (some see this as making more money). Nowadays everyone is a User, not just experts. Should be designed to meet the needs and capabilities of those for whom they are intended.

HCI design, evaluation, and implementation of interactive computer systems and study of major phenomena surrounding their use.

New challenges-- keeping up with the technology, putting it to good use

What is it that makes easy to use systems easy to use? Why is a car so good and a video recorder so bad?
Readings
Required

Clark, Andy [2003] Natural Born Cyborgs: Introduction (E-Reserves)

Have a look at The HCI Bibliography: Human-Computer Interaction Publications and Resources and follow through the Definition and Field of HCI

 

Optional
  • Gibbs, W.Wayt [1997], Taking computers to task. Scientific American, July, 81-89. [Online] Available http://www.sciam.com, Dec. 6, 1997. [They have started charging, you may get it through the library.]
  • September 95 Byte on Software Bugs (although most of these are not HCI errors).
  • Lee, Leonard [1992], The Day the Phones Stopped
  • Licklider, J. C. R. [1960]. 'Man-Computer Symbiosis.' IRE Transactions on Human Factors in Electronics, HFE-1(1), 4-11. This is a piece of history, but it is truly inspired.
  • Muller, Michael J. and Wharton, Cathleen [1997] HCI Research and Practice Agenda Based on Human Needs and Social Responsibility http://www.acm.org/sigchi/chi97/proceedings/paper/mm1.htm
  • anything written on the Three Mile Island or the Vincennes incidents eg Meltdown at Three Mile Island
  • Shackel, B. (1997). Human-Computer Interaction-- Whence and Whither. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 48(11), 970-986.

2: Cognitive Psychology and HCI

Cognition involves perception, memory, attention, learning and reasoning. HCI needs to take account of the views and theories covering these cognitive processes in order to exploit our cognitive strengths and avoid our weaknesses.
Readings
Required
Optional

I occasionally use Robert A. Wilson and Frank C. Keil (eds.) [1999], MIT Encyclopaedia of the Cognitive Sciences but there is no need for you to unless you are following something up.

  • Anderson J.R. [1990], Cognitive Psychology and its Implications
  • Card, Stuart K., Thomas P. Moran, and Allen Newell. [1983], The Psychology of Human-Computer Interaction
  • Gardner, Howard [1987], The Mind's New Science. A History of the Cognitive Revolution
  • Matlin, Margaret W. (1994). Cognition, 3rd ed. New York: Harcourt Brace Publishers.
  • Johnson, Peter.  Human-Computer Interaction: Psychology, Task Analysis and Software Engineering.  London:   McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1992.
  • Norman, Donald. [1980]. "Twelve Issues for Cognitive Science." Cognitive Science, 4 (pp. 1-32).  
  • Norman, Donald [1997], 'Symbiosis', Computerworld, 31(4), 87-8
  • Norman, Donald [1997], Melding Mind and Machine. Technology Review, April, 100(3), 29
  • Norman, Kent L. (1990). The Psychology of Menu Selection:Designing Cognitive Control at the Human/Computer Interface.Ablex Corporation: Norwood, NJ, p. 3.
  • Taylor, Gordon Rattray.[1979]. The Natural History of the Mind. Penguin Books:New York
  • Tufte, E. R. (1983). The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. [mainly for items other than cognitive psychology.]
  • Tufte, E.R. [1990], Envisioning Information [mainly for items other than cognitive psychology.]
  • Tufte, E. R. (1997), Visual Explanations. [mainly for items other than cognitive psychology.]

3: Social and Organizational Psychology and HCI

 

For a large part, computers are used in a social setting, for example the workplace, so designers would be wise to pay some attention to social context. Also for computers that are used within organizations there are organizational issues such as the impact of automation on work practices. Finally, groupware-- which allow a number of people cooperate to a common end using computers-- is an important and developing area.
Readings
Required

Have a look around Donald Normans site, including his essays, a very light (perhaps worthless) review of Andy Clark and Emotion and design: attractive things work better

Optional
  • Preece [1994] Chapters 8-10.
  • Baeker R.M. [1993], Readings in Groupware and Computer Supported Cooperative Work
  • Donald Norman [1993], Things That Make Us Smart
  • Donald Norman [1992], Turn Signals are the Facial Expressions of Automobiles [Not so important for us]
  • Greenberg S. (ed.) (1990), Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Groupware
  • Donald Norman [1988], The Psychology of Everyday Things

4: Input and Output Devices, and Interaction Styles

 

The User and the computer need to communicate with each other. Quite what devices are best for this depends on a) the user (eg elderly hampered by arthritis, children cannot do fine manipulations, Users with disabilities), b) the task (eg drawing, which is continuous, is different from typing or selecting from a menu, which is discrete), and c) the environment (eg speech no good where it is noisy).

Many possibilities for input: keyboards, mice, trackballs, joysticks, cursor keys, touchscreens, 3-d trackers. datagloves, pens, speech, tablets...

Many possibilities for output: screens, GUI, laptop palmtop, hypermedia (animations, sound). Virtual reality, 3 dimensional, speech and sound output, touch (eg braille). experimental, sound.

Some time ago the interactions between a user and a computer were like a conversational dialog: input text was typed in then output text was displayed then input text typed in etc. (in turns). Now, with GUI computers and the like, the interactions are much richer (and they don't have the my-turn-your-turn sequencing).
Readings
Required
  • Tufte, E.R. (1990), Envisioning Information: Narratives of Space and Time (E-Reserves)
  • Natural Language as an Interface Style
  • Roush, W. [2003] Computers taht Speak your Language, MIT Technology Review (E-Reserves)
Optional
  • Preece [1994] Chapters 11-13.
  • Clarkson, M.A. [1991], An Easier Interface, Byte, Feb. 1991, 277-282.

5: Direct Manipulation Interfaces

 

Users usually have knowledge of the target task domain-- be it desktop publishing, wordprocessing, or financial planning-- and perhaps some knowledge of computers and computer tasks. Direct manipulation interfaces aim to make the computer invisible to the User so that no knowledge of computer concepts or tasks is required and thus that the User's knowledge of the target domain is available of full without any obfuscating intermediaries.
Readings
Required

Hodgson, J. (1995). Direct Manipulation. [http://www.sju.edu/~jhodgson/gui/manip.html].

Optional
  • Preece [1994] Chapter 13.
  • Shneiderman [1992] Chapter 5. (he first classified these)
  • Hutchins, E.L., Hollan J.D. and Norman D. [1986], Direct Manipulation Interfaces, on the Voyager CD and in Norman and Draper's book on User-Centred System Design.
  • Winograd, T. & Flores, F. (1987). Understanding Computers and Cognition. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
  • Morgan. K., Morris, R. L., and Gibbs, S. [1991] When does a mouse become a rat? or... Comparing performance and preferences in direct manipulation and command line environment, The Computer Journal 34(3), 265-271
  • Nelson, Ted, Interactive systems and the design of virtuality, Creative Computing 6, 11, (November 1980), 56ff., and 12 (December 1980), 94ff.

6: Help Systems and Training

 

Users need to be able to learn how to use the system, there should be help available, and the system should be designed to accommodate error (assuming that the User is going to make lots of them).
Readings
Required
Optional
  • Clayton Lewis and Donald A. Norman [1986] 'Designing for Error', User Centered System Design, Lawrence Erlbaum and Associates. (or in the Essays on the Voyager CD)
  • Donald Norman [1988], The Psychology of Everyday Things
  •  old text Preece[1994] Chapter 15
  • some notes on Chapter 12 Printed Manuals, Online Help, and Tutorials of Shneidermann

8: Group Work and Virtual Environments


With groupwork (or computer supported collaborative work CSCW), there are two properties to consider : asynchronous vs. synchronous, and local vs. remote. Then examples of the possibilities are:- synchronous-local: computer assisted meetings or decision making; synchronous-remote: telephone and teleconference (voice, video, personal work surface, shared work surface, status etc.); asynchronous-local (same as asynchronous-remote): ordinary mail, email, listservs, threaded newsgroups or discussion groups, bulletin boards etc.
Readings
Required
Optional
  • Baecker, R. M., Grudin, J., Buxton, W. A. S., & Greenberg, S. (1995). Readings in human-computer interaction: Toward the year 2000. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufman. Especially Chapter 11
  • Grudin, J. [1988]. Why groupware applications fail: Problems in design and evaluation. Office: Technology and People, 4(3), 245-264.
  • Optional, old set text Preece [1994] Chapter 16.

9: Software Engineering

 

The problem of software engineering is to obtain high quality software within known resource constraints (time, money, equipment, effort). Ideas of what 'high quality' amounts to have changed. Some time ago it meant meeting the specification, and a specification was largely a statement of engineering requirements. A well-known technique here was the 'waterfall model' in which if the Users featured at all, they came in once only and early in the piece before the User requirements were really known. Nowadays most specifications would included the need to be User friendly. And this has led to User-centred design in which Users feature early and often in the design process.
Readings
  • Macro, Allen, and Buxton J. N. [1987], The craft of software engineering.
  • Cooper, Alan, "Three Models of Computer Software", Technical Communication, August 1996, v 43, n.3.
  • Optional, old set text Preece[1994] Chapters 17 and19

10: User-centred Design


Producers of software or websites-- designers, programmers, etc.-- have little or no idea how useful and usable the User will find their products. Couple this with the fact that late changes in software projects are expensive, and the conclusion is: consult the User.

Involve the Users early and often, and iterate. Some suggestions have been made as to how to involve the Users a) Soft Systems Methodology, b) cooperative design, c) multiview, d) an HCI design approach, and e) life cycle models for Website design.
Readings
Required
Optional
  • Avison D. and Wood-Harper T., [1990], Multiview Methodology.
  • Ameritech. Ameritech Graphical User Interface Standards and Design Guidelines: User-Centered Design. Online. 28 Nov. 1997.
  • Peter Checkland [1981], Systems Thinking, Systems Practice
  • Cooperstock, Jeremy R., Sidney S. Fels, William Buxton, and Kenneth C. Smith [1997]. 'Reactive Environments: Throwing away your keyboard and mouse.' Communications of the ACM. 40(9), 65-73.
  • Eason K.D.[1988], Information Technology and Organizational Change
  • Fuccella, J. [1997]. Using user centered design methods to create and design usable Web sites. SIGDOC '97. Proceedings of the 15th Annual International Conference on Computer Documentation, 69-77.
  • Hix D. Hartston H.R., [1993], Developing User Interfaces: Ensuring Usability Through Process and Product
  • Kawasaki, Guy, "The Beauty of Metaphor", Forbes, August 25, 1997.
  • Landauer, T. K. [1995]. The Trouble with Computers. Cambridge, Ma.: The MIT Press. Chapters 9-14
  • you might scan Lazar, Jonathan, [2001], <User-Centered Web Development>. Sudbury, Ma: Jones and Bartlett or similar (there are other choices here)
  • Optional, old set text Preece[1994] Chapters 17 and 18
  • Wilson, David L., "Scientist Uses Many Disciplines to Improve Computer Interfaces", The Chronicle of Higher Education, October 13, 1995.

11: Task Analysis and Task Centered User Interface Design


We standardly classify the human factors considerations into Users, technology, tasks, and environment. Task analysis deals with the third of these. Task analysis might do two things a) lay bare the 'logic' of a task (establishing what needs to be done to succeed with activity-- constraints, pre-requisites, efficiencies, etc.) and b) look at the cognition of a task (how people conceive of what they do).
Readings
Required

12: More on design, including prototyping


There are formal or semi-formal approach to design-- both for analysis of system (and evaluation of need) and design. Places design within a framework. The problem with structured design does not help you with that spark of creativity needed to produce good designs. Some suggestions have been made on this. Additionally, design can be guided by principles or rules of thumb and needs to the guided by standards. There are a variety of techniques for prototyping.
Readings
Required

13: Individuals and their Differences


We are all different. But there are certain predictors relating to human task performance on computers. And if a designer is aware of the target Users, some accommodations can be made. There are also issues involving children and Users with disabilities.
Readings
Required
Optional
  • Martin Helander (ed.), [1988], Handbook of Human-Computer Interaction, see Section III

14: Evaluation

 

Evaluation or testing is vital during the design and for ensuring that the end product performs as it should. There are many and varied techniques for testing.
Readings
Required
  • Head, A. (1999), Design Wise: A guide for Evaluating the Interface Design of Information Resources (Chapter 3: Deconstructing Evaluation) (E-Reserves)
  • Myers, Hudson & Pausch (2000) Past, Present and Future of User Interface Software Tools (213-231) (E-Reserves)
  • Raskin, J. [2000], The Humane Interface: New Directions for Designing Interactive Systems, Quantification) (E-Reserves)
Optional
  • Preece [1994] Part VI.

15: Graph theory, Network theory, and the Web

Graphs. Random networks. Degrees of separation. Small worlds. Hubs and connectors. Scale-free networks. The four continents of the Web.
Readings
Required
Optional
  • Albert-Laszlo Barabasi [2002] Linked: The New Science of Networks. Cambridge: Perseus

16: Hypertext and Hypermedia

 

Explanation of hypertext. History.Why do hypertext? Basic Elements of Hypertext .The Architecture of Hypertext Systems. Current Systems. Internet Systems With Hypertext or Hypermedia. Applications of Hypertext. Navigating Large Information Spaces. Multimedia. Usability and Intelligent Hypertext
Readings
Required
  • Bush, Vannevar. [1945]. 'As we may think' Or 'As we may think'. in Kochen Manfred. The Growth of Knowledge: Readings on Organization and Retrieval of Information. New York, NY: Wiley (Reprinted from the Atlantic Monthly, 176(1), July 1945, pp. 101-108); 1967:209-15.
Optional
  • Baecker, R. M., Grudin, J., Buxton, W. A. S., & Greenberg, S. (1995). Readings in human-computer interaction: Toward the year 2000. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufman. Especially Chapter 13
  • McKnight, C., Dillon, A., & Richardson, J. [1991]. Hypertext in context. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  • McKnight, C., Dillon, A., & Richardson, J. (Eds.). [1993]. Hypertext-- A psychological perspective. Chichester, UK: Horwood.
  • McAleese, Ray; ed. [1989]. Hypertext: Theory into practice. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation.
  • McAleese, Ray; and Green, Catherine; eds. [1990]. Hypertext: State of the art. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation.
  • Nielsen, Jakob. [1990]. Hypertext and Hypermedia. Boston: Academic Press, Inc.
  • Rada, Roy. [1991]. Hypertext: From text to expertext. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company.
  • Ventura C.A. [1988], 'Why switch from paper to electronic manuals?', Proc. ACM Conf. Docum ent Processing Systems (Santa Fe, NM, 5-9 Dec 1988), pp.111-116

17: Web Technologies and Their Interfaces 1: Introduction

 

Plain vanilla Web service. Server, Client. HTML the language of the Web. Pages and page editors. File types. Absolute and Relative addresses. Browsers.
Readings
Required

18: Web Technologies and Their Interfaces 2: Standard Practice

 

Stylesheets. CSS. Server includes SSI. CGI
Readings
Required

19: Web Technologies and Their Interfaces: 3 Standard Practice: Client Includes

 

Client includes. Dynamic HTML. Java and Javascript
Readings
Required

20: Web Technologies and Their Interfaces: 4 Standard Practice: XML

XML


Required

21:Web Technologies and Their Interfaces: 5 Additional Techniques and Review

Website and Database integration

.Net, PhP, SQL, mySQL
Readings
Required

22: Web Design: Introduction

Philosophy. Interface Design. Site Design. Page Design. Web Graphics. Web Multimedia and Animation. The law.
Readings
Required (seems like a lot--but much can be scanned)

Jakob Nielesn [2000], Designing Web Usability, New Riders Publishing (Page Design: Chapter 2) (E-Reserves)

23:Data Mining

Data-Mining: Can user behaviors be used to predict user behaviors?

 
Required

24. Information Architecture

What is Information Architecture?
Readings
Required
Optional
  • for those that haven't done (or aren't doing) IRLS501 scan something like Taylor, Arlene G. [1999], The Organization of Information