Research Topics in Human-Computer Interaction Scott Klemmer 27 September 2005

Who am I? Assistant professor in computer science MS/PhD in CS from UC Berkeley BA in art-semiotics, computer science from Brown University Work in the HCI area tangible user interfaces user interface software tools 27 September 2005 cs376 Introduction

27 September 2005 cs376 Introduction

Administrivia Course Info My Info Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:00am-12:15pm, Gates 100 http://cs376.stanford.edu cs376@cs.stanford.edu My Info Office Hours: Tuesdays 1:15-2:15pm, Gates 384 http://hci.stanford.edu/srk srk@cs.stanford.edu 27 September 2005 cs376 Introduction

…and you? 27 September 2005 cs376 Introduction

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) the end-user of a program the others in the organization Computer the machine the program runs on Interaction the user tells the computer what they want the computer communicates results So far you have probably studied lots about Computers, but little about Humans and Interaction. This course will concentrate on how these three areas come together. 27 September 2005 cs376 Introduction

What is HCI? Organizational & Social Issues Task Design Technology Give Examples of Tasks: high level: - writing a paper - drawing a picture low level: - copying a word from one paragraph to another - coloring a line Technology Humans 27 September 2005 cs376 Introduction

User Interfaces Part of software program that allows user to interact with computer user to carry out their task HCI = design, prototyping, evaluation, & implementation of user interfaces (UIs) 27 September 2005 cs376 Introduction

Why Study HCI? Major part of work for “real” programs approximately 50% [Myers & Rosson ‘92] Stanford graduates work on “real” software intended for users other than “us” Bad UIs cost money (5% ^ satisfaction -> 85% ^ in profits) lives User interfaces are hard to get right Studies have shown that the design, programming, and evaluation of the UI can take up to 50% of the project time and cost for a wide range of commercial and in-house software people are unpredictable 27 September 2005 cs376 Introduction

UI Design Cycle Design Evaluate Prototype 27 September 2005 cs376 Introduction

How to Design and Build UIs User-centered design Task analysis Rapid prototyping Evaluation Programming Iteration 27 September 2005 cs376 Introduction

User-centered Design “Know thy User” Cognitive abilities perception physical manipulation memory Organizational / job abilities Keep users involved throughout project 27 September 2005 cs376 Introduction

Task Analysis Observe existing work practices Create examples and scenarios of actual use Try-out new ideas before building software 27 September 2005 cs376 Introduction

Rapid Prototyping Build a mock-up of design Low fidelity techniques paper sketches cut, copy, paste video segments Interactive prototyping tools Visual Basic, HyperCard, Director, etc. UI builders & IDEs Eclipse, Visual Studio, … 27 September 2005 cs376 Introduction

Evaluation Test with real users (participants) Build models Low-cost techniques expert evaluation walkthroughs 27 September 2005 cs376 Introduction

Iteration At every stage! Design Evaluate Prototype 27 September 2005 cs376 Introduction

Course Syllabus 27 September 2005 cs376 Introduction

Goals of the Course Learn the basics & the latest in HCI cognitive/perceptual constraints design techniques techniques for evaluating a user interface design technology used to prototype & implement UIs Carry out some publishable research 27 September 2005 cs376 Introduction

Lecture Format 11:00-11:25 I’ll present the area 11:25-12:15 Student-Led Discussion 27 September 2005 cs376 Introduction

Course Structure HCI literature For student-led discussions Conferences papers (chi, uist, cscw, …) journal articles (tochi, hci, …) 3-5 papers/week For student-led discussions email ronyeh@cs with list of 3 prefs by Friday Must come prepared email cs376@cs with 2 criticisms & 2 good points (w/ reasoning, evidence) 27 September 2005 cs376 Introduction

Grading 50% Projects 25% Paper Critiques 25% Participation & leading in-class discussion 27 September 2005 cs376 Introduction

Projects Research quality projects Meet with Ron and me about proposals 1 page proposals due Thursday, October 7th Mid-term demo/review Must include an evaluation & iteration Final report 3-4 page paper in chi format (Dec. 12th) 10-15 minute presentation in class (Dec. 13th) 27 September 2005 cs376 Introduction

Projects Working in pairs is encouraged A project related to your research (or another course project) is great Let me know if you do this Ron and I are happy to offer project suggestions 27 September 2005 cs376 Introduction

A few thoughts… 27 September 2005 cs376 Introduction

27 September 2005 cs376 Introduction

Next Time… Seminal Ideas As We May Think, Vannevar Bush The Xerox Star: A Retrospective, Jeff Johnson, Teresa L. Roberts, William Verplank, David C. Smith, Charles Irby, Marian Beard, Kevin Mackey User Technology: From Pointing to Pondering, Stuart K. Card and Thomas P. Moran 27 September 2005 cs376 Introduction

Some of this material is based on James Landay’s cs260 course at UC Berkeley 27 September 2005 cs376 Introduction