Summary

This course is an introductory course on human-computer interaction, covering the principles, techniques, and open areas of development in HCI.

Expected Learning

The class covers three broad categories of topics within human-computer interaction: (a) the principles and characteristics of the interaction between humans and computers; (b) the techniques for designing and evaluating user-centered systems; and (c) current areas of cutting-edge research and development in human-computer interaction.

Although the free version of this course does not include any assessments, you are welcome to follow along with the assignments that Georgia Tech students complete as part of enrollment in this course.

Syllabus

Principles

• Feedback Cycles and Direct Manipulation
• Design Principles and Heuristics
• Mental Models and Distributed Cognition

Methods

• Needfinding and Requirements Gathering
• Low-Fidelity to High-Fidelity Prototyping
• Predictive, Empirical, and Qualitative Evaluation

Applications

• Virtual and Augmented Reality, and others
• Ubiquitous and Context-Sensitive Computing, and others
• Healthcare, Education, and Security, and others

Required Knowledge

This class does not have significant prerequisites before participation. In lieu of readiness questions, the following bullet points describe the tasks you will complete as part of this class; you may use this description of tasks to evaluate your readiness to take this class.

• You will analyze and evaluate user interfaces, both ones that we provide and ones that you go out and find on your own.

• You will conduct needfinding exercises to uncover problems that can be address through HCI methods.

• You will prototype user interfaces based on principles you learn within class in response to those needs.

• You will evaluate your user interfaces based on feedback you receive from potential users.

• You will revise your user interfaces accordingly and iterate on the prototyping process.

• You will apply those principles to an emerging area of HCI.