CSE 440 - Introduction to HCI - Autumn 2024

Course Overview

Course Description

This course provides an introduction to human-computer interaction and the design process. Students will learn methods and skills for designing and prototyping interactive systems. The course covers a design process from the initial formulation of a design problem to creation of digital prototypes. Importantly, the course does not emphasize development but instead fully focuses on design.

The course structure is a mix of lectures, hands-on activities, and design critiques by peers and course staff. The course is overwhelmingly organized around a group project, in which students:

  • Ideate and Propose Design Problems
  • Study Existing Practices and Challenges
  • Explore Potential Design Opportunities and Tradeoffs
  • Evaluate and Iterate Upon a Design
  • Communicate a Problem and Resulting Design

Learning Objectives

  • Process-Focused Perspective on Interaction Design
  • Design Research Methods and Skills
  • Task-Focused Scenario Development, Sketching, and Storyboarding
  • Rapid Prototyping and Iteration
  • Critical Perspective on Design Solutions

Course Staff

James Fogarty

he/him

Jesse Martinez

he/they

Katelyn Mei

she/her

Course Coordination

  • Contact

    Email course staff at <cse440-staff [at] cs.washington.edu>.

    Please do not email individual course staff. Using the course staff email list promotes both staff coordination and a more prompt response.

  • Course Time & Location

    Tuesdays & Thursdays, 10:00-11:20. CSE2 Room G10

    The Calendar will provide any non-standard times, locations, or staffing.

  • Section Times & Location

    • Section B: Fridays, 11:30-12:20 MGH Room 058.
    • Section D: Fridays, 1:30-2:20 MGH Room 058.

    The Calendar will provide any non-standard times, locations, or staffing.

  • Office Hours

    • James, by appointment.
    • Jesse, Thursdays 12:00 to 1:00, CSE2 152.
    • Katelyn, Wednesdays 3:00 to 4:00, CSE2 152.

    Scheduled office hours require that you email beforehand (i.e., at least one hour beforehand). If nobody has emailed regarding an office hour, course staff may not be available. Hours are scheduled most weeks, but check the Calendar. Other meetings are by appointment.

  • Canvas

    https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1746586

Course information and material will primarily be provided on this website.

Canvas will be used for submissions and for necessary limitation of access to course materials.

Assignments

Course assignments consist of:

Grading

Strive to do good work because you care about your own opportunities to learn, including the opportunities this course provides working with a group in an intensive project.

Design is an inherently subjective practice, and so grading in this course is necessarily subjective. The stated project requirements are often the minimum, intended to leave room for groups to earn strong grades through strong work.

Project Milestones, Assignments, and Reports

The project is composed of five milestones. Each milestone includes contributing assignments and culminates in a milestone report or other final deliverables.

Assignments

Contributing assignments will be graded for completion of key components listed in the assignment. Because the course is designed around feedback and improvement, assignment grades indicate you have invested sufficient effort and insight at the time of the submission.

Completion grading will generally be on a 2 point scale, and can roughly be interpreted as:

  • 2: Meets completion expectations.
  • 1: Somewhat problematic or incomplete relative to expectations.
  • 0: Missing or severely problematic or incomplete relative to expectations.

Quality ratings will then generally provide lightweight feedback on each assignment's key components. Quality ratings do not directly impact grading of assignments or milestone reports, but suggest where staff feel you should invest effort to revise your materials as you continue in your design and assemble your materials for the milestone report.

Assignment quality ratings are on a scale from ⭐ to ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and can roughly be interpreted as follows:

  • ⭐⭐⭐⭐: High Quality

    Such work is very strong. This is above what is inherently expected and will not be a common rating, but allows course staff to indicate appreciation of very strong work.

  • ⭐⭐⭐: Meets Expectations

    Such work is good, but may still leave room for improvement.

  • ⭐⭐: Could Improve

    Such work is on the right track, but could benefit from substantial development and revision.

  • ⭐: Insufficient

    Such work does not accomplish the intended goal and will need much more work. If you do not already know why an assignment receives this rating, we encourage you to reach out to the course staff.

Milestone Reports and Final Deliverables

The bulk of project grading is then associated with milestone reports and final deliverables, which are evaluated more directly on their quality. Each milestone report will be predominantly composed of material you prepared in that milestone's assignments, with additional expectation of revision and refinement of previously-submitted content together with reflection on your design process.

Each milestone report will provide a point breakdown conveying how it will be graded.

Overall Course Grade

An overall course grade will be computed as follows:

  • 65%: Group Project
    • 5%: Milestone 1: Project Proposal & Ideation
      • Assignment Completion (2%)
        • 1.1: Individual Brainstorm
        • 1.2: Group Proposals
        • 1.3: Finalized Proposal
        • 1.4: Design Ideation
      • Milestone 1 Report (3%)
    • 15%: Milestone 2: Design Research
      • Assignment Completion (9%)
        • 2.1: Design Research Plan
        • 2.2: Design Research Check-in
      • Milestone 2 Report (6%)
    • 15%: Milestone 3: Getting the Right Design
      • Assignment Completion (9%)
        • 3.1: Task Review
        • 3.2: Design Review
        • 3.3: Design Presentations
        • 3.4: Design Scenarios and Storyboards
      • Milestone 3 Report (6%)
    • 15%: Milestone 4: Getting the Design Right
      • Assignment Completion (9%)
        • 4.1: Paper Prototype
        • 4.2: Heuristic Evaluation
        • 4.3: Usability Testing
      • Milestone 4 Report (6%)
    • 15%: Milestone 5: Communicating the Design
      • Assignment Completion (5%)
        • Digital Mockup
        • Initial Poster
        • Initial Web Post
      • Final Poster (5%)
      • Final Web Post (5%)
  • 10%: Participation
  • 25%: Exam

Late Policy

We generally expect all assignments will be submitted according to the deadline in Canvas and the assignment description. This is a fast-paced course, with many elements of the project depending on prior elements. The course staff's ability to give feedback also relies on timely submissions (e.g., course staff will often review submissions soon after they are submitted to be ready for course activities).

If your group feels that you would really benefit from an extension, or if there is an emergency impacting your ability to submit an assignment, contact the course staff before the submission deadline.

We will do our best to be flexible and work with you so that your group stays on track. Extensions of a few hours can often be facilitated. Except in extreme circumstances, we will typically not be able to give an extension of more than 1 day.

Regrade Policy

Any request for grade clarification or a re-grade must be submitted via the course staff email list. Requests will only be considered within 7 days of the release of a grade.

Upon calculation of final grades, we will explicitly check for any particularly unfortunate effects of rounding (e.g., adjusting a pre-rounding final grade of 3.649 to instead give a 3.7). This is intended to provide peace of mind that final grades were not defined by any minor point deduction.

Participation and COVID-19 Safety

Our goal is for this course to provide an opportunity for learning without undermining wellness or safety. Active participation in activities is central to this course, and we all share responsibility for preserving safety of this learning environment. Please review and adhere to related policies, including UW COVID-19 Illness and Exposure Guidance.

Expectation of In-Person Participation

The course heavily emphasizes a group project and participation in associated in-class activities. In-person participation is expected for both lecture and section, is part of participation grading, and can also impact grading of your contribution to the group project.

Remote Participation and Recordings

There may be reasons you cannot or should not attend in-person (e.g., COVID exposure, COVID symptoms). In these circumstances, contact the course staff for permission to attend remotely. If you are unsure whether you should attend, please reach out and know that we will do our best to be accommodating. Our goal is to encourage and support you in decisions that preserve everybody's safety.

Students with permission may attend via the Zoom link provided in Canvas. A member of the course staff will also aim to monitor the Zoom chat for questions. If class splits into project group activities, the Zoom meeting will end and remote students should join their group via a video call with a member of their group.

We will also use the in-room Panopto system to record lecture components of the course. This can support review of material, but is not a substitute for in-person activities.

Accommodations and University Policies

Additional university policies apply (e.g., regarding Academic Integrity, Conduct, Disability Resources, Face Coverings, Religious Accommodations):

https://registrar.washington.edu/curriculum/syllabus-guidelines/

Please do not hesitate to contact the course staff regarding these or any other accommodations. We are happy that you are here and want to support your engagement in this learning environment.

Course Website

This course website lives on GitHub:

https://github.com/uwcse440/web-cse440-24au

You can submit pull requests to update the website, and you will publish elements of your project to the website via pull request.