Syllabus
Overview
This course focuses on techniques for improving the usability of interfaces to various systems. Students will get hands-on experience applying techniques covering the entire range of the usability engineering lifecycle, including: task analysis, heuristic evaluation, cognitive walkthroughs, and rapid prototyping. The course will also consider social and economic issues relevant to working in interface design organizations, for example, cost-justifying usability work. Students will work in teams and present project results using a variety of media (e.g., text, Powerpoint & oral presentation, video), and will give and receive critiques from other students.
This course will be half lecture (me speaking) and half discussion. I expect everyone to contribute to the discussion about the days topic.
Main Course Activities
Please use APA style for all your written assignments.
Readings. Each week, we will read a set of articles and discuss them. You are expected to read all the articles for a class before the class meeting. For each class session, your assignment is to write three comments/questions about any of your readings. You are expected to participate regularly in class discussion. Ask me at any time for an evaluation of how you are doing in terms of class participation.
User profile project. Students will work individually to develop a questionnaire that assesses characteristics of users of a technological system. They will also develop written descriptions of “personas” representative of users of this system. Typed questionnaires and persona descriptions are due 2/4.
Heuristic evaluation project. Students will work individually to perform a heuristic evaluation of an existing technological system, and will document their evaluation in a written report, 5 or more pages in length. Due 3/3.
Usability project. Students will work in teams (of 2-3) that will evaluate the usability of an existing technological system and propose ways of improving the usability of the system. This project will involve collecting and analyzing data (e.g., observational or test data) from people using the system. You will communicate the results of this project in two ways: (1) a 25-minute oral presentation (with graphical aids, e.g. Powerpoint, video clips), as if you were trying to convince the managers of your system to make your suggested changes, and (2) a written report at least 10 full pages in length. Both of these are due on 4/21.
Academic Integrity
As members of the Clemson University community, we have inherited Thomas Green Clemson’s vision of this institution as a “high seminary of learning.” Fundamental to this vision is a mutual commitment to truthfulness, honor and responsibility, without which we can not earn the trust and respect of others. Furthermore, we recognize that academic dishonesty detracts from the value of a Clemson degree. Therefore, we shall not tolerate lying, cheating, or stealing in any form.
In particular, avoid plagiarism; and make sure that all written and oral work you present in this course is your own (or that of your team). This means that if you use an author’s exact words in a document you hand in (even for a single sentence), you must use quotation marks and a citation (and page number) in order to give the author of those words credit. If you paraphrase an author’s words (i.e., put them in your own words), be sure to use a citation in order to give the author credit.
