Studies the process of designing a User Interface (UI) and provides background material on Human Computer Interaction (HCI). HCI is the theory behind the UI design process and involves computer science, psychology, social behavior, and other human factors associated with computer use. This course focuses on an iterative, user centered design process to create usable interfaces.  Students apply the design process on a group project. This is a reading intensive course and requires student participation in class discussions. Corequisite:  SE3250W. (1st Semester)

Expectations:

E1. Students have a basic understanding of object-oriented programming and can create programs using classes and objects in C++. (CS2546)

E2. Students know the software development cycle and good OOP practices.  (CS3316)

E3. Students understand standard life-cycle process models such as the Waterfall, Incremental, Spiral, Rapid Application Development models, know their properties and, given a problem description, select an appropriate development process model. (SE3256)

Course Outcomes:

R1. Students understand why good user interface design is important. (SE12)

R2. Students know how to involve real users in all phases of designing and evaluating a UI. (SE2, SE6)

R3. Students know several techniques for gathering requirements for designing a UI and can select the best technique(s) for a given project. (SE4, SE6)

R4. Students know different usability factors and can create and evaluate usability requirements. (SE4, SE13)

R5. Students understand different human factors related to and how they influence computer and interactive system use. (SE12)

R6. Students know and can explain the reasons for key UI design principles. (SE15)

R7. Students can design a usable UI that makes effective use of I/O devices, text, color, images, and sound. (SE6)

R8. Students can create and evaluate an interface prototype. (SE9, SE15)

R9. Students can develop an evaluation plan, implement it, and use the results to improve the UI. (SE10, SE15)

R10. Students have experienced working in groups on designing and evaluating a UI and have written several progress reports during the process (SE2, SE5, SE7, SE10, SE15)