COMP4461 HCI (Fall 2020)

Course Description
This course is a broad UG-level introduction to Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), with an emphasis on techniques, models, theories, and applications for designing, prototyping, and evaluating current and future interactive systems for human use. HCI is an interesting and important area of study, providing the human perspective to computing. Besides technology and innovation, it also touches on issues like ethics and social responsibilities related to technologies in the real world. Selected topics may include multimodal interaction design, ubiquitous/mobile computing, virtual/augmented reality, agents and robots, and HCI applications in various domains such as education, health, urban sustainability, scientific discoveries, etc.
  • Course structure: 3hr lectures + 50min lab sessions per week (4 tutorials + 8 office hours); Time, location, TA to be determined.
  • Course materials and announcements are posted on Slack. Course-related communication and assignment submission are conducted through this channel as well.
  • Course evaluation: 3 projects + 2 midterm exercise + participation; outcomes, grading schemes, assessment rubrics and references are in Course Description.
  • Prerequisites for course projects: web programming (e.g., html, css), object-oriented programming (e.g., C++, java), python.
  • Textbook info is below the syllabus. Other recommended readings see the reference list at the end of each lecture notes.
  • Submission deadline is 11:59pm of the day. Late day request needs to be sent to the TA (email or Slack message) by 5pm of the day.

Syllabus (Lecture: Tue Thu 4:30~5:50pm; Lab: Thu 9:00~9:50am)
Week Date Topic Presenter Note
1 Tue Sep 8 Introduction to COMP4461 and to HCI Xiaojuan Ma P1.0 Topic announcement
1 Thu Sep 10 Fundamental: Human-Centric Design Xiaojuan Ma
2 Tue Sep 15 Fundamental: Understanding Humans I Xiaojuan Ma
2 Thu Sep 17 Fundamental: Understanding Humans II Xiaojuan Ma 9:00am VR Meeting Room Tryout (by TA)
3 Tue Sep 22 Design: Empathize Xiaojuan Ma Submission of "The Good, the bad, the ugly/secret" photo contest on noon Sep 21
3 Thu Sep 24 Design: Ideate Xiaojuan Ma 9:00am VR Meeting Room Tryout (by TA)
4 Tue Sep 29 Design: Prototyping Xiaojuan Ma
5 Tue Oct 6 Topic: Multimodal Interaction Xiaojuan Ma P2.0 Topic release
5 Thu Oct 8 Project: P1 Design Pitching Class P1.1 P1 prototype submission; P1.2 Peer evaluation; P1.3 P1 personal diary submission
6 Tue Oct 13 Topic: Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) Xiaojuan Ma P3.0 Topic announcement; Final Video Paper Topic Announcement
6 Thu Oct 15 Mid-term Exercise I Class 9:00am Chatbot Programming Lab (by TA)
7 Tue Oct 20 Topic: Ubiquitous Computing Xiaojuan Ma
7 Thu Oct 22 Topic: Virtual / Augmented Reality Xiaojuan Ma 9:00am Chatbot Programming Lab (by TA)
8 Tue Oct 27 Evaluation: Preparation and Questionnaire Xiaojuan Ma
8 Thu Oct 29 Topic: CSCW and Social Computing Xiaojuan Ma
9 Tue Nov 3 Project: P2 Demonstration Class P2.1 P2 prototype submission; P2.2 Peer evaluation; P2.3 P2 personal diary submission
9 Thu Nov 5 Evaluation: Heuristic Testing Xiaojuan Ma
10 Tue Nov 10 Evaluation: Usability Testing Xiaojuan Ma
10 Thu Nov 12 Mid-term Exercise II Class
11 Tue Nov 17 Evaluation: Result Analysis Xiaojuan Ma
11 Thu Nov 19 Project: P3 Presentation Class P3.2 P3 Peer Evaluation; P3.3 P3 Personal Diary Submission
12 Tue Nov 24 Topic: Computing for Good Xiaojuan Ma
12 Thu Nov 26 HCI: From Lab to the Real World Xiaojuan Ma
13 Tue Dec 1 Final Video Paper Showcase I Class Video Paper Submission
13 Thu Dec 3 Final Video Paper Showcase II Class

Textbook
REQUIRED:
OPTIONAL: