1. Software Usability Course notes for CSI 5122 - University of Ottawa
2019 Deck B:
Required Student Work
Timothy C. Lethbridge
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2. Grading scheme details
20% Everybody writes a final exam unless you already have A+ (> 90%) from the other components multiplied by 1.25
80%: Coursework as follows
a) 10%. Either -
i. 7 minute oral summary of an assigned paper (P1-P10) in class
ii. 7 minute lightning presentation from your work in b or c
iii. A post for my course blog, an overview of work on b or c for the public
b) 30%: Research (literature review) paper (8-12 pages)
c) 40%. Evaluation Project: Either -
i. A formal experiment with 5+ users, and writing up (10-12 pages including charts, statistical analysis and screen shots)
ii. Standard heuristic evaluation or cognitive walkthrough of a user interface, followed by a think-aloud evaluation with at least two users (12-15 pages, including figures
Deck B: Student Work To Do
Lethbridge - CSI

3. Schedule and Deadlines
Deck B: Student Work To Do
Lethbridge - CSI

4. Approval of work choices
Send an by January 16 Subject line: CSI5122 Work choices <your name> Body: lastname=<your lastname> firstname=<your firstname> Stnum=<studentnumber> partA=< summary | lightning | blogpost > partB=<research paper topic in 1-5 words> partC=< experiment | standard >
Deck B: Student Work To Do
Lethbridge - CSI

5. First come first served for certain work choices
I need some paper summaries, and I need some lightning presenations
So it is first-come-first-served on your choices for part A
Those who send later might be assigned a different choice
I reserve the right to adjust your research topic
I may give special permission for some presenations to be longer than just 7 minutes if I particularly like your experiment, research report or evaluation
Deck B: Student Work To Do
Lethbridge - CSI

6. Deck B: Student Work To Do
On lateness
If you do not give me your work choices, I will assign them
5% marks lost per day for each item that is late
If you drop the course, PLEASE let me know so I can give your presentation time slots to others
Deck B: Student Work To Do
Lethbridge - CSI

7. How to do the various work items
We will learn in later classes how to do the work tasks described
What constitutes a good research paper
How to run an experiment and analyse the results
How to do different types of evaluation and present the results
Deck B: Student Work To Do
Lethbridge - CSI

8. Research papers: Ideas for finding topics
Browse the literature
I will give you some techniques for this later in this slide deck
I will not allow certain topics if I am going to teach them in class
More on searching for literature and example topics is covered in a separate deck
Deck B: Student Work To Do
Lethbridge - CSI

9. Research paper basic criteria
Must be written in the same style as if you are submitting a paper to a journal or top conference
E.g. SIGCHI, ICSE
We will be reading many papers in the course, so you can learn from the style of those papers
But I will also point out some bad things to avoid
You must have at least 6 peer-reviewed references (from good conferences or journals)
You must analyze what you have read
Just giving me lots of facts is no good
At all costs, avoid plagiarism.
To avoid getting zero on the work or F in the course
Deck B: Student Work To Do
Lethbridge - CSI

10. Evaluation project basic criteria
The system can be any of:
open source
commercial
your thesis topic
something from a work environment (past or present)
websites that have reasonably complex interaction
Everyone must be able to view screenshots of it, so avoid highly confidential software
You must follow the procedures we will learn about
Deck B: Student Work To Do
Lethbridge - CSI

11. Interim feedback on draft materials
Optional: Send me a draft of a research report or evaluation or experiment by the deadline (Jan 30 / Mar 6)
I will skim it in about 5 minutes and give you 2-3 ideas for improvement
I will not have time to read it in detail at the draft stage, so I can’t guarantee that I find any or all faults
But I will give you some basic feedback
Also optional: Send me your presentation slides 3 working days before your lightning presentation date.
I will give you a URL for sending me drafts.
Deck B: Student Work To Do
Lethbridge - CSI

12. Experiment plans involving people
Mandatory: Send me a 3 page summary the design of any experiment by February 27th
So you don’t waste people’s time
Deck B: Student Work To Do
Lethbridge - CSI

13. Deck B: Student Work To Do
Motivational example
Skype for the Mac
Creating a group of users
Accidentally deleting a conversation
Deck B: Student Work To Do
Lethbridge - CSI

14. Deck B: Student Work To Do
Homework
For next week please read: Regina Nuzzo, “Scientific method: Statistical errors: P values, the 'gold standard' of statistical validity, are not as reliable as many scientists assume.” Nature, 12 Feb 2014,
Deck B: Student Work To Do
Lethbridge - CSI