Fall 2017
INF 385C Human-Computer Interaction
DESCRIPTION
This course introduces students to human-computer interaction theories and design processes. The emphasis is on applied user experience (UX) design. However, the course starts by discussing fundamental aspects of human perception and cognition and linking them with design principles. The course presents an iterative evaluation-centered UX lifecycle and introduces students to a broader notion of user experience, including usability, usefulness, and emotional impact. The UX lifecycle should be viewed as template intended to be instantiated in many different ways to match the constraints of a particular development project. The UX lifecycle activities we cover include contextual inquiry and analysis, requirements extraction, design-informing models, design thinking, ideation, sketching, conceptual design, and formative evaluation.
COURSE NOTES
This course will introduce you to human-computer interaction theories and design processes. The emphasis will be on applied user experience (UX) design. However, the course will start by discussing fundamental aspects of human perception and cognition and linking them with design principles. The course will present an iterative evaluation-centered UX lifecycle and will introduce you to a broader notion of user experience, including usability, usefulness, and emotional impact. The lifecycle should be viewed as template intended to be instantiated in many different ways to match the constraints of a particular development project. The UX lifecycle activities we will cover include contextual inquiry and analysis, requirements extraction, design-informing models, design thinking, ideation, sketching, conceptual design, and formative evaluation. It is a goal of this course to help students realize that UX design and engineering is an ongoing process throughout the full product life cycle, and developing the human-computer interface is not something to be done at the last minute, when the "rest of the system" is finished. Class time will be split between content-based lectures and in-class exercises to demonstrate techniques and principles and to practice the skills being presented. The part of class time used for lectures will be devoted to highlighting course materials, questions, and discussion. The in-class exercises will be an initial opportunity for experience with the UX development lifecycle activities. The composition of individual class meetings will differ somewhat throughout the semester. Outside of the classroom, students will acquire more in-depth hands-on experience in applying these skills and techniques in a semester-long team project. In this project, students will develop a usable interaction design for their own application system in a UX project for a ââ¬Åclientââ¬Â. Old Syllabus: https://www.ischool.utexas.edu/sites/default/files/images/webform/HCI_Syllabus_Fall2016_pub_v2.pdf
PREREQUISITES
Graduate standing.
RESTRICTIONS
Instructor permission required prior to enrollment.