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

2. 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
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3. 27 September 2005
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4. Administrivia Course Info My Info
Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:00am-12:15pm, Gates 100
My Info
Office Hours: Tuesdays 1:15-2:15pm, Gates 384
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5. …and you?
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6. 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.
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7. 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
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8. 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)
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9. 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
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10. UI Design Cycle Design Evaluate Prototype 27 September 2005
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11. How to Design and Build UIs
User-centered design
Task analysis
Rapid prototyping
Evaluation
Programming
Iteration
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12. User-centered Design “Know thy User” Cognitive abilities
perception
physical manipulation
memory
Organizational / job abilities
Keep users involved throughout project
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13. Task Analysis Observe existing work practices
Create examples and scenarios of actual use
Try-out new ideas before building software
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14. 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, …
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15. Evaluation Test with real users (participants) Build models
Low-cost techniques
expert evaluation
walkthroughs
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16. Iteration At every stage! Design Evaluate Prototype 27 September 2005
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17. Course Syllabus
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18. 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
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19. Lecture Format 11:00-11:25 I’ll present the area
11:25-12:15 Student-Led Discussion
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20. 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
with list of 3 prefs by Friday
Must come prepared
with 2 criticisms & 2 good points (w/ reasoning, evidence)
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21. Grading 50% Projects 25% Paper Critiques
25% Participation & leading in-class discussion
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22. 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)
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23. 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
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24. A few thoughts…
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25. 27 September 2005
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26. 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
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27. Some of this material is based on James Landay’s cs260 course at UC Berkeley
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