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  User Interfaces

Instructor: David Winegar, BA, MBA
Contact: E-mail: david.winegar@hkol.fi, Phone: 345-3383
Web Site: https://members.tripod.com/david_hkol

Required Text: Task-Centered User Interface Design, a Practical Introduction by Clayton Lewis and John Rieman. This text is a shareware book available freely over the Internet at ftp://ftp.cs.colorado.edu/pub/distribs/clewis/HCI-Design-Book/. The cost is $5.00 or 26mk.

 I. SCOPE OF THE COURSE

Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) have become a standard for many computer-based systems. This course will provide the student with theoretical and practical principles related to effective GUI design. The course will be taught through a combination of lectures, readings, and a series of group and individual projects. (note: this is not a programming class and we will be using the computers very little in this class. Students should come prepared to take notes via pen and paper.)

 II. PURPOSE OF THE COURSE

This course will provide opportunities for students to extend their knowledge, and provide hands-on experience in creating GUIs. This course is a precursor to the Visual Basic course where students will implement the knowledge gained in this course to create windows applications. The student will also find this course very useful in developing World Wide Web sites.

III. OBJECTIVES OF THE COURSE

Upon completion of the course the student will have:

  • Understood the basic principles of human cognition as related to the use of graphical user interfaces.

  • Learned the principles underlying graphical user interfaces.

  • Acquired knowledge of evaluation methods for graphical user interface designs.

  • Applied the principles learned to a practical design problem.

IV. PROCEDURES


Teaching strategies will include readings, lectures, student participation, demonstrations, laboratory experiences, assignments, and projects.

 

V. STUDENT ACTIVITIES

  • Each student will participate in class exercises, lectures, and individual and group projects.

  • Each student will be responsible for a final design project that will constitute 70% of your grade.

  • Homework exercises and group mini-projects and presentations will comprise another 30% of your grade.

VI. COURSE OUTLINE

This outline is not meant to be an exhaustive list of all the subjects covered but a general guide to the course and what will be covered. Subjects will be added (or deleted) as time dictates and as the course evolves.

 Introduction to GUI

  • What is a graphical user interface?

  • What is the difference between a graphical user interface and a character oriented one?

  • What are the possibilities and restrictions of graphical user interfaces?

 

B. Task-Centered Design

What is the task-centered design process and how to use it to develop effective user interfaces.

Reading: Chapter 1

C. Getting to Know Users and Their Tasks

Know your users before you begin development.

Reading Chapter 2

 

D. Creating the Initial Design

Steal from the best and use what your potential users are familiar with.

Modify what you find to work better on your system

Geometrical and Movement Arguments to be aware of

Design Principles

Reading Chapter 3

 

E. Evaluating the Design Without Users

Three approaches: a. Cognitive Walkthrough, b. action analysis, c. heuristic evaluation.

Reading Chapter 4

 

F. Testing Design With Users

Choose users carefully

Select tasks you wish them to complete carefully

Test early with mockups instead of completed prototypes

If necessary use the Wizard of Oz approach

Thinking Aloud

Reading Chapter 5

 

G. User Interface Management and Prototyping Systems

Object Oriented Programming

Event-Driven Programs

Interapplication Communication

Visual Basic

Features to look For in a UIMS

Reading Chapter 6

H. The Extended Interface

The manual

Online help system