Dr. Craig Miller
Office: 830 CTI Building, 312-362-5085
Email: cmiller@cs.depaul.edu
Web page: http://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/cmiller
Office Hours: Announced on Web page
Tuesday 5:45-9:00
Lewis 1106, Loop Campus
Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, second edition by Rosenfeld and Morville. Publisher: O'Reilly. ISBN: 0-596-00035-9.
Selected research articles.
This course is about structuring online content so that people can easily find what they are looking for. Using either keyword search or browsable categories, searching for online content is a common problem in FAQ pages, e-commerce sites, "how-to" documentation and hierachical menus. For this course, we will study methods for structuring information and how to evaluate their effectiveness. Information structuring methods will include variants of card sorting and statistical-based approaches. Evaluation methods will include server log analysis, usability experiments and model-based approaches. We will also study research in how people learn and use categories.
The major course project involves working with a large content domain, structuring the domain using a variety of methods and evaluating those methods. In addition, we will conduct small projects to illustrate and explore principles discussed in class. A major component of this course involves reading research articles and discussing their claims.
| 45% (90 points) | 6 Small projects (15 points each) |
| 30% (60 points) | Large project |
| 10% (20 points) | Midterm Test |
| 15% (30 points) | Final Test |
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.
While attendance does not comprise a formal part of the grade, students are expected to attend all classes, participate in in-class exercises and contribute findings from their projects (which are a formal part of the grade). Class will start promptly at 5:45. Students are individually responsible for material they may have missed due to absence or tardiness.
Projects may be completed individually or by collaborating with one other person. For projects completed by 2 students, each student should contribute to all parts of the assignment. Students may share products and results with other groups, but all analyses and reports must be completed by at most 2 people.
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.
Projects will be due at the time of class on the specified due date. Students will be expected to contribute their findings during class. Final versions will be accepted without penalty until 5pm the day following the due date. Projects turned in later than 5pm the day following the due date will not be accepted.
| Week | Topic | Text Reading | Exam or Due Project |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sept 16 | Course overview, example tasks, usability factors | R & M ch. 1-4 | |
| Sept 23 | Categories | Rosch article and Lakoff chapter 1 | Small project #1 |
| Sept 30 | Learning about tasks and contexts, Intro to navigation models | R & M ch. 10, articles on contextual inquiry; | Small project #2 |
| Oct 7 | Creating categories and structures | Articles on navigation models; R & M ch. 5, ch. 10 (card sorting) | Small project #3 |
| Oct 14 | Labeling, page layout and scanning strategies | R & M ch. 6 and 7, article on menu scanning | Small project #4 |
| Oct 21 | Testing structures | Midterm test | |
| Oct 28 | Creating deliverables, other evaluation methods | R & M ch. 11 and 12 | Small project #5 |
| Nov 4 | Keyword search | R & M ch. 8, article on thumbnail descriptions | Large project part 1 |
| Nov 11 | Practical issues | R & M ch. 13-19 | Small project #6 |
| Nov 18 | Presentations, overview, additional techniques | TBA | Large project part 2 |
| Nov 25 | Final test |