ClassInfo

HCI 460 Usability Evaluation Methods

Craig Miller

Office: CDM 745
Winter 2013-2014
Class number: 20289
Section number: 810
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Online Campus

Summary

This course surveys methods for evaluating user interfaces. For projects, students will perform a heuristic evaluation, a cognitive walkthrough, a usability test and a comparison study. Class meetings will also introduce, discuss and occasionally practice additional methods such as user modeling and questionnaires.

By the end of the quarter, students will be able to...

  • Conduct a variety of methods for evaluating the usability of interactive systems
  • Select an appropriate evaluation method and articulate its advantages and disadvantages
  • Critique the validity of usability measures
  • Explain the role of evaluation in the design process
  • Establish useful test objectives
  • Prepare reports and present results

Tentative Projects

  • Heuristic Evaluation and Cognitive Walkthrough
  • Preparation for Usability Test
  • Usability Test and Results
  • Comparison Study



Texts

Handbook of Usability Testing, by Jeffrey Rubin, second edition (ISBN 0-470-18548-1).

Task-Centered User Interface Design A Practical Introduction by Clayton Lewis and John Rieman. This is an online text.



Grading

40% (80 points) 4 Projects (20 points each)
15% (30 points) Take-home midterm quiz
35% (70 points) Final Exam
10% (20 points) Individual contribution

Students receiving more than 90% of possible points are guaranteed at least an A-, more than 80% at least a B-, more than 70% at least a C-, and more than 60% at least a D.

All submitted work (e.g. project reports, peer reviews, online discussions) must be original work unless its source is clearly referenced. Failure to clearly attribute quotes or designs from other people's work constitutes plagiarism. Violations will generally receive no credit for a given submission.

The final exam is a proctored, comprehensive exam. A major component of the exam addresses knowledge and application of established design principles and patterns (a list will be provided near the beginning of the quarter). The midterm quiz provides a non-proctored means for learning about course expectations and practice answering questions.

The score for individual contribution to class and team projects is based on contributions to class activities, documented contributions in team reports, observed team activities (in class, email or group message boards) and team member reports at the end of the quarter. Students who make solid contributions to their team projects and regularly participate in class (i.e. weekly contribution) receive at least 90% of the contribution points. Exceptional contributions receive more than 90%.

Team presentations occur in the last week of class. All students must contribute to the presentation, although all members do not need to be physically present for the presentation. At the end of the quarter every student is expected to submit a completed evaluation form for each group member.

Team projects will generally be completed in groups of three, four or five. To form groups, students review individual project proposals and submit preferences to work on them. Groups will then be formed based on the preferences. Most groups will consist of students from both the on-campus section and the online section. Some class time will be used to coordinate among group members. When possible, online members are encouraged to communicate with the in-class groups using collaborative tools such as Skype and chat programs.

All group members are jointly responsible for the entire assignment, although the group may assign primary roles to each group member. Generally, each group member will receive the same score on each project. However, in some cases, additional credit may go to those who make an exceptional contribution to a project and reduced credit to those who contribute little to a project. Any adjustment will be based on a variety of indications including group participation in class, contribution summaries in reports, and student feedback at the end of the quarter.

Students are expected to attend every class or watch the lecture online.

Tests can be made up with a serious documented excuse (e.g. illness, death in the family) and must be arranged as soon as possible. Arrangements involving other excuses require prior permission from the instructor.

Late assignments will be accepted up to 3 days late, with a 1 point penalty. Assignments submitted more than 3 days after the due date will not be accepted without an excused absence cleared by the dean of students office (see forms for submitting an excused absence).

Additional assignments for extra credit will not be offered.

All grade challenges must be submitted in writing and include an explanation why the given score or grade should be reconsidered.



Prerequisites

HCI 440 and basic stats (e.g. IT 403) are prerequisites to this course.



Tentative Schedule

Week Topic Reading Assignment or Exam
Jan 8 Course overview, usability principles, heuristic evaluation, cognitive walkthrough Rubin ch. 1, Lewis and Rieman ch. 4 (except 4.2)
Jan 15 Other walkthroughs course notes
Jan 22 Prep for usability testing and testing materials Rubin ch. 5-8 Project 1
Jan 29 Conducting the usability test Rubin ch. 8-10
Feb 5 Pilot testing (meet as teams) Project 2
Feb 12 Writing findings and recommendations Rubin ch. 11-12 Midterm quiz
Feb 19 Comparison studies, statistical inferencing, subjective measures course notes
Feb 26 Remote testing and other variants, GOMS KLM Rubin ch. 13, course notes Project 3
Mar 5 KLM lab and other user modeling course notes
Mar 12 Presentations, Review Project 4
Mar 19 Final Exam


School policies:

Changes to Syllabus

This syllabus is subject to change as necessary during the quarter. If a change occurs, it will be thoroughly addressed during class, posted under Announcements in D2L and sent via email.

Online Course Evaluations

Evaluations are a way for students to provide valuable feedback regarding their instructor and the course. Detailed feedback will enable the instructor to continuously tailor teaching methods and course content to meet the learning goals of the course and the academic needs of the students. They are a requirement of the course and are key to continue to provide you with the highest quality of teaching. The evaluations are anonymous; the instructor and administration do not track who entered what responses. A program is used to check if the student completed the evaluations, but the evaluation is completely separate from the student’s identity. Since 100% participation is our goal, students are sent periodic reminders over three weeks. Students do not receive reminders once they complete the evaluation. Students complete the evaluation online in CampusConnect.

Academic Integrity and Plagiarism

This course will be subject to the university's academic integrity policy. More information can be found at http://academicintegrity.depaul.edu/ If you have any questions be sure to consult with your professor.

All students are expected to abide by the University's Academic Integrity Policy which prohibits cheating and other misconduct in student coursework. Publicly sharing or posting online any prior or current materials from this course (including exam questions or answers), is considered to be providing unauthorized assistance prohibited by the policy. Both students who share/post and students who access or use such materials are considered to be cheating under the Policy and will be subject to sanctions for violations of Academic Integrity.

Academic Policies

All students are required to manage their class schedules each term in accordance with the deadlines for enrolling and withdrawing as indicated in the University Academic Calendar. Information on enrollment, withdrawal, grading and incompletes can be found at http://www.cdm.depaul.edu/Current%20Students/Pages/PoliciesandProcedures.aspx.

Students with Disabilities

Students who feel they may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact the instructor privately to discuss their specific needs. All discussions will remain confidential.
To ensure that you receive the most appropriate accommodation based on your needs, contact the instructor as early as possible in the quarter (preferably within the first week of class), and make sure that you have contacted the Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD) at:
Lewis Center 1420, 25 East Jackson Blvd.
Phone number: (312)362-8002
Fax: (312)362-6544
TTY: (773)325.7296