HCI 460 Usability Evaluation Methods

Fall 2007

Instructor

Dr. Craig Miller
Office: 745 CTI Building, 312-362-5085
Email: cmiller@cs.depaul.edu
Web page: http://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/cmiller
Office Hours: Announced on Web page

Course Meeting

Tuesday 5:45-9:00
TBA, Loop Campus

Required Text

Handbook of Usability Testing, by Jeffrey Rubin. ISBN 0-471-59403-2.

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

Optional Text

Usability Inspection Methods, edited by Jakob Nielsen and Robert L. Mack. ISBN 0-471-01877-5.

Prerequisites

HCI 440 and Elementary Statistics (e.g. IT 223 or PSY 240).

Overview

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.

Goals

Certainly, a primary goal is to learn how to conduct various methods for evaluating user interfaces. However, the course also practices skills with broader application. These include:

• Selecting an appropriate evaluation method and articulating its advantages and disadvantages
• Critiquing the validity of usability measures
• Understanding the role of evaluation in the design process
• Establishing useful test objectives
• Preparing reports and presenting results

Projects

1. Heuristic Evaluation and Cognitive Walkthrough
2. Preparation for Usability Test
3. Usability Test and Results
4. Comparison Study

Grade Determination

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.

Policies

While attendance does not comprise a formal part of the grade, students are expected to attend all classes and participate in in-class exercises. Class will start promptly at 5:45. Students are individually responsible for material they may have missed due to absence or tardiness. Furthermore, since some group work will occur during class, a student who misses class will jeopardize their standing with the group.

All projects will be completed in groups of three to five. While students will have some control on group selection, the instructor reserves the right to modify groups in order to meet course objectives. While the group may assign a primary role to each group member, all group members are jointly responsible for the entire assignment. 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 adjustement 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. At the end of the quarter every student is expected to submit a completed form for assessing individual contributions to the team projects.

Exams can only be made up with a serious documented excuse (e.g. illness, death in the family). A make-up exam must be arranged as soon as possible and always before the student attends the next class meeting. Arrangements involving other excuses require prior permission from the instructor.

Late projects will be accepted without penalty until 2pm the day following the due date. Projects turned in later than 2pm the day following the due date will not be accepted.

School policies on instructor evaluation, email, plagiarism, incompletes, and disabled student resources.

Tentative Schedule