Academic year 2013-14

Person-Machine Interaction

Degree:	Code:	Type:
Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science	21442	Optional subject
Bachelor's Degree in Telematics Engineering	22616	Optional subject
Bachelor's Degree in Audiovisual Systems Engineering	21636	Optional subject

 

ECTS credits:

4

Workload:

100 hours

Trimester:

3rd

 

Department:	Dept. of Information and Communication Technologies
Coordinator:	Josep Blat
Teaching staff:	Sebastián Marichal, Josep Blat. Course responsible: Josep Blat
Language:	Sebastián Marichal, mostly Spanish Josep Blat, mostly English
Timetable:
Building:	Communication campus - Poblenou

 

Introduction

Human- Computer Interaction (HCI) is a multidisciplinary field, which lies in a set of areas dealing with different aspects of interaction with digital systems, such as design methodologies, interaction paradigms, tools, evaluation techniques, etc. Within our engineering degrees, the HCI course belongs to a block, where other courses are Interaction Engineering, Interactive Systems, Audiovisual Languages and Interactive Narrative, Narrative and Representation.

The goal of the HCI course is to provide the students with a grounding in HCI research, which is currently focused on User Experience (UX), framed in the context of previous generations of HCI, which focused first on Human Factors, and later, on Human Actors. Different perspectives of the current paradigm are explored. The course zeros in on users in their social context. Another aspect that is explored is the engineering perspective, and attention is paid to design, and implementation of prototypes to test and advance ideas – within this framework of current applications and interests.

The learning activities are mostly of two different types:

- Theory sessions, where after introduction by the lecturer of some topic(s) and relevant examples, the students will have a debate about the topic(s) based on some papers they should have previously read.

- Seminars and Labs, where students in groups work on the design and prototyping of an interactive application, while at the same time learning to use some technologies used in their projects (Processing and Android).

 

Prerequisites

The subject assumes previous background, mainly of the subjects Programming Fundamentals, Object Oriented Programming, Interaction Engineering, Audiovisual Languages and Interactive Narrative. Concepts from Computer Graphics and Distributed Applications Programming could be useful.

 

Associated competences

 

Assessment

This course consists of two main parts, debates and projects, and the mark in each represents 50 % of the final mark.

Debates marking

The 50 % debate mark is broken down into Moderation (compulsory) 10 %; Comments (compulsory) 20 %; Participation 20 % (according to three aspects,  Attendance 5 %, Attitude 5 %, Active participation
 10%)

The moderation mark comes from the work of the student as moderator of a discussion session.

The comments mark corresponds to the comments on articles read for each discussion session. Each student must submit 4 reviews (one for each discussion session in which the student is not moderator) within the scheduled deadline for each session. The comments mark will come from averaging the marks of the 4 comments .

The participation mark relates to student’s participation in the discussion sessions where s/he is not moderating: the average of the 4 marks. As indicated above, according to three aspects : attendance , attitude, and active participation in the discussion.

Project marking

The 50 % project mark is broken down into 10% Sketching, Project proposal 10%, Final Project 20 %, Final Presentation 10%.

The Sketching mark corresponds to the sketching activity to be held in Lab session P2.

At mid term each group shall submit a project proposal and present it in class, whose mark corresponds to this.

At the end of the quarter, each group must submit their final project and present it in class. The final project mark corresponds to the final prototype delivered and the final presentation mark corresponds to the class presentation .

Final mark

In summary, the final mark is computed as:

(0.1 * Moderation ) + ( 0.2 * comments) + ( 0.2 * Participation) + (0.1 * Sketching ) + ( 0.1 * Project Proposal ) + ( 0.2 * Final Project) + (0.1 * Final Presentation )

Note that the last 3 marks are group ones, while the remaining ones are individual.

To pass, you must:


Get at least 5 as a final mark

Moderate a discussion session

Deliver comments to the sessions you do not moderate

IMPORTANT: No part of the evaluation of this course will be recoverable in July.

 

Competencies & Activities

Activity	Competencies
Moderation	CG3, CG4, CG5
Comments	CG1, CG2, CG7
Participation	CG5, IPM2, IPM3, IPM4, IPM5, IPM6
Sketching	CG6, CG8, IPM1
Project proposal	CG1, CG2, CG3, CG4, CG6, CG7, CG8, IN34, IN36, IPM1
Final project	CG1, CG2, CG4, CG6, CG7, CG8, IN34, IN36, IPM2, IPM3
Final presentation	CG3, CG4

 

 

Contents

1. Introduction, Prototyping, Sketching

2. Agile User-Centred Techniques, Personas (Sketching with Data)

3. Users & Participatory Design (Debate 1)

4. Evaluation: in the lab vs outside the lab (Debate 2)

5. From Ergonomics to UX; emotions (Debate 3)

6. Beyond the desktop metaphor (Debate 4)

7. Ethics in online and offline research (Debate 5)

Processing, Android programming, and sensors integration will be the core of the Labs of the course, devoted to prototyping an application in groups.

 

Methodology

Theory sessions

There are some sessions where the lecturer presents theoretical aspects and others in which students present their work. However, most of them are divided into two parts. During the first part the lecturer presents some aspects related to one of the items of the subjectaccompanied by examples illustrating it. During the second part, students discuss the topic introduced. The discussion will be structured around a series of articles that the students should have read previously.

Before each debate, the students shall send a comment on any of the articles proposed for such a discussion. Each student can choose the most interesting article for her/him.

The comment must be brief (2 to 4 paragraphs) and should summarize the (grounded) opinions of the student: what surprised you most? What problems do you see in the work read? What questions does the paper bring you? What other ideas does it inspire you? ...

The comments must be sent (in text format) by 9 am in the morning prior to the debate (only counting lecturing days), i.e., if the debate is a Tuesday, the comments should be sent before Monday by 9 am; but if it is held a Monday, the deadline is 9 am the previous Friday

Each student has to serve as rapporteur/moderator at least once during the quarter. S/he is responsible for moderating the debate, and prepare a short presentation (approximately 10 min) and a series of questions to stimulate class discussion. Given that there are more students than sessions, each debate will be actually moderated by several students. The students that moderate each meeting will have access to the comments by their colleagues a day before the meeting, so that they can take them into account in preparing the presentation and encouraging debate.

 

Seminars and lab sessions

In these sessions, students work the practical aspects of the subject. Students will work, in groups of 4 members, in the design and prototyping of an interactive application. In addition, in these sessions students learn to use the tools and technologies to be used in their projects.

 

Session	Contact hours		Individual work
	Large group	Small group
T1	2		0,5
P1	2		2
T2	2		1
P2	2		0,5
T3	2		3
S1		2	2
T4	2		3
P3	2		2
T5	2		3
S2		2	6
T6	2		3
P4	2		7
T7	2		3
S3		2	7
T8	2		3
S4		2	7
P5	2		7
T9	2		4
Total	28	8	64

Total: 100 hours (4 ECTS*2.5)

Schedule

	Dilluns 12.30-14.30	Dimecres 08.30-10.30	Dijous 10.30-12.30
1 31 mar-4 abr	31/03   T1 Introduction, Sketching, Prototyping	02/04   P1 Processing	03/04
2 07-11 abr	07/04   T2 Agile User-Centred Techniques, Personas (Sketching with Data)	09/04	10/04   P2 Sketching
3 21-25 abr	21/04   FESTIU	23/04   FESTIU	24/04
4 28 abr-2 mai	28/04   S101-1 Visualization	30/04   S102-1 Visualization	01/05   FESTIU
5 5 -9 mai	05/05   T3 Users & Participatory Design (Debate 1)	07/05   P3 Android, sensors	08/05   T4 Proposals presentation
6 12-16 mai	12/05   T5 Evaluation: in the lab vs outside the lab (Debate 2)	14/05   S101-2 Projects	15/05   S102-2 Projects
7 19-23 mai	19/05   T6 From Ergonomics to UX; emotions  (Debate 3)	21/05	22/05   P4 Projects
8 26-30 mai	26/05   T7 Beyond the desktop metaphor (Debate 4)	28/05   S101-3 Projects	29/05   S102-3 Projects
9 02-06 jun	02/06 T8 Ethics in “online and offline” research (Debate 5)	04/06   S101-4 Projects	05/06   S102-4 Projects
10 09-13 jun	09/06   FESTIU	11/06   P5 Projects	12/06   T9 Final Presentations

Delivery Timetable

Activity	Submission deadline	Presentation
Sketching	24/04 (S101) 25/04 (S102)	28/04 (S101) 30/04 (S102)
Comments debate 1	02/05 (9:00)	05/05
Comments debate 2	09/05 (9:00)	12/05
Project Proposal	05/05	08/05
Comments debate 3	16/05 (9:00)	19/05
Comments debate 5	23/05 (9:00)	26/05
Comments debate 6	30/05 (9:00)	02/06
Final Presentation	10/06	12/06

 

Resources

Basic References

Saul Greenberg, Sheelagh Carpendale, Nicolai Marquardt, Bill Buxton: Sketching User Experiences: The Workbook. Morgan Kaufmann.

Casey Reas, Ben Fry: Getting Started with Processing. O'Reilly.

Casey Reas, Ben Fry: Processing: A Programming Handbook for Visual Designers and Artists. The MIT Press.

Complementary References

Marko Gargenta: Learning Android. O'Reilly. 


Paul J. Deitel, Harvey M. Deitel, Abbey Deitel, Michael Morgano: Android for Programmers: An App-Driven Approach. Prentice Hall.

Mike Kuniavsky: Smart Things: Ubiquitous Computing User Experience Design. Morgan Kaufmann.

Jeff Johnson: Designing with the Mind in Mind: Simple Guide to Understanding User Interface Design Rules. Morgan Kaufmann.

Clifford Nass, Corina Yen: The Man Who Lied to His Laptop: What Machines Teach Us About Human Relationships. Current.

Scott McCloud: Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. HarperCollins Publishers.

Rosalind W. Picard: Los Ordenadores Emocionales. Ariel.

Jonathan Lazar, Jinjuan Heidi Feng, Harry Hochheiser: Research Methods in Human-Computer Interaction. Wiley.

Other resources

There will be other resources available from the Aula Global, namely:

• Notes
• Seminar and Labs
• Articles to comment and discuss