CSCI 6838 User Interface Design (Spring 2002)
The central goal of this course is to teach participants how to design user interfaces that will enable people
to learn
computer systems quickly and use them effectively, efficiently, and comfortably. The interface issues addressed
in the first half of the course are primarily cognitive, that is, having to do with mental activities such as perception,
memory, learning, and problem solving. Social issues, such as organizational issues influencing technology adoption
or use, will be covered in the latter half of the course. Physical ergonomic issues such as keyboard height or
display contrast are covered only briefly.
This course is designed to be most useful to people who are actually designing interfaces, as opposed to focusing on those who conduct human-computer interaction research. In this course, we will learn a particular design methodology: task-centered design. This is a process-oriented methodology structured around specific tasks that the user will want to accomplish with the system being developed. These tasks are developed early in the design process, then used to guide design and prototyping efforts, and to evaluate the design as it is developed. The underlying assumption is that the interface will be a failure if the underlying system doesn't do what the user needs, in a way that the user finds appropriate. In other words, the system has to match the users' tasks. While we will focus mainly on the design of software interfaces, this design methodology can be applied to a variety of design activities including hardware design and other types of product design.
INSTRUCTOR CONTACT INFORMATION
Tamara Sumner
Office: ECOT 734 (7th floor of the engineering tower block)
Phone: (303) 492 2233
Fax: (303) 492 2844
email: sumner@colorado.edu - Please include 'cs6838' in the subject field
of messages.
web: http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~sumner
Office hours: Tuesday 11 to 12pm; other times by appointment.
NOTE: Anything sent by post by CATECS students must be sent to Tammy Sumner, Campus Box 430, University of Colorado, Boulder CO 80309 and MUST be clearly labelled CSCI 6838 on the OUTSIDE of the envelope. If you do not mail material yourself BE SURE whoever does mail it follows these instructions.