*[Taught for Carnegie Mellon University's
Tepper School of Business, MBA
Track on
Technology Leadership which is why the "for Technology Executives" is
in the title, but this course is appropriate for anyone
with some programming experience who wants a quick introduction to HCI.]
[Tepper students should register for 46-863; all others should register for ISR
course number 08-766 or HCII course number 05-863]
Time: Tuesday+Thursdays 3:30pm to 4:50pm
(But classes will be videotaped, so you can take the course even if you have
another course at the same time. We have confirmed with the Hub that this is OK.)
Room: NSH-1305
Dates: Mini-2, Fall, 2008 (Oct 23, 2008 - Dec 9, 2008)
Open to graduate students from all departments who have
sufficient computing background (see the prerequisites).
Required course in the
Technology Leadership MBA Track.
Approved as an elective in INI, MSE, IS, and other Master's programs.
May be available to undergraduates in SCS and Information Systems with
permission
of the instructor.
Enrollment limited to 60.
[This course is not appropriate for students in the degree
programs of the Human Computer Interaction Institute.]
6 units (1 mini course)
Office: Newell-Simon Hall (NSH) 3517
Phone: x8-5150
E-mail: bam@cs.cmu.edu
WWW: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~bam
| TAs: | Allison Gallant E-mail: agallant@andrew.cmu.edu WWW: http://www.allisongallant.com/ New Office hour: Mondays, 12noon – 1pm in NSH Atrium 12noon – 1pm in NSH Atrium |
Devin Blais E-mail: dblais@andrew.cmu.edu WWW: http://devinblais.com/ Office hour: (Tentatively) Sundays, 1pm – 2pm in NSH Atrium |
Jackie Weber E-mail: jweber1@andrew.cmu.edu WWW: http://jackieweber.net Office hour: (Tentatively) Mondays, 2pm – 3pm in NSH Atrium |
| Administrators: (for course add-drop problems) |
HCII - 05-863 | ISR - 08-763 | Tepper - 46-863 |
| Nicole Willis nicolewi @ cs.cmu.edu |
Linda Francona laf20 @ cs.cmu.edu |
Vickie Motz vmotz @ andrew.cmu.edu |
The URL is: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~bam/uicourse/08763fall08/index.html
The Hub's page for 05-863 and 08-763 and 46-863.
This course is also on Blackboard
Tepper's page for the technology leadership track
See the schedule of all lecture material, readings, homework and the exam. Includes the list of videos of the lectures available from Coursecast
The homeworks are described on a different page.
Human computer interaction (HCI) is an interdisciplinary field in which computer scientists, engineers, psychologists, social scientists, and design professionals play important roles. The goal of this field is to solve real problems in the design and use of technology, making computer-based systems easier to use and more effective for people and organizations. Ease of use and effectiveness are critical to the success of any systems that interact with people, including software systems, home, office and factory appliances, and web applications.
This course provides an overview and introduction to the field of human-computer interaction, with a focus on how it applies to managers, technology executives, and others who will work with HCI professionals. Particular emphasis will be placed on what HCI methods and HCI-trained specialists can bring to design and development teams. The course will introduce students to tools and techniques for creating or improving user interfaces, such as Contextual Inquiry, Heuristic Analysis, and Think-Aloud User Testing. Students at the end of the course will have learned some useful techniques and an understanding of systematic procedures for creating usable and useful designs and systems.
(See complete evaluations on onlinecourseevaluations.com).
"The class was very interesting. I got to know more about how to design systems taking the user into consideration and how to design user interfaces that would give the user a better experience while using the system."
"Very good introduction to HCI."
"Course materials are good and the instructor is also good."
Required:
Beyer, H. and Holtzblatt, K., Contextual Design: Defining Customer-Centered Systems. 1998, San Francisco, CA: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, Inc. ISBN: 1-55860-411-1 (paperback). Author's site; or Amazon
Jakob Nielsen. Usability Engineering. Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco, 1994. ISBN 0-12-518406-9 (paperback) [updated from the the older hardcover: ISBN 0-12-518405-0]. Author's site; or Amazon
Recommended:
Donald A. Norman, The Design of Everyday Things. Basic Books; 1st Basic edition (September 2002), ISBN: 0-465-06710-7 (paperback) [updated from the original 1988 hardcover version]. Author's site; or Amazon
No background in HCI is expected.
Grades will be based on 6 assignments and a 3-hour final exam. All assignments will be individual (not group). See the homeworks overview page.
| Assignment | Percent of Final Grade |
| Homework 0 | -- |
| Homework 1 | 12% |
| Homework 2 | 12% |
| Homework 3 | 12% |
| Homework 4 | 12% |
| Homework 5 | 12% |
| Homework 6 | 10% |
| Final Exam | 30% |