Human-Computer Interaction Syllabus (work-in-progress)

Description: this course offers a broad introduction to Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) - a discipline concerned with design, evaluation, and implementation of computer systems for human use. Course materials will cover key theories and concepts through topics such as information visualization, social media, collective intelligence, value-sensitive design, affective computing, security interactions, and more.

Supporting books for this course:

• The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman
• 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People by Susan Weinschenk
• Design for the Real World by Victor Papanek

With thanks to:

• Wellesley's HCI course for supporting materials
• Stanford's HCI reading list
• Northwestern's CS Education Reading Group for brainstorming and ideation

Course objectives

Students in this course will:

• Learn fundamental principles of human-computer interaction and design, especially the ability to empathize and advocate for user needs
• Practice applying HCI theory and principles to create interfaces
• Practice using common metrics and methods to evaluate interfaces
• Practice collaborating and communicating effectively with other stakeholders in projects related to human-computer interaction and design

Foundations of HCI (Part 1 of 3)

Topics Include:

• Introduction and Key Definitions
• Guiding Theories
• The Graphical User Interface
• Ethics and Values in HCI

Materials include:

• As We May Think (Vannevar Bush)
• Man-Computer Symbiosis (J.C.R. Licklider)
• A Research Center for Augmenting Human Intellect (Douglas Engelbart)
• Distributed cognition: toward a new foundation for human-computer interaction research (James Hollan, Edwin Hutchins, and David Kirsh)
• How Computer Systems Embody Values (Helen Nissenbaum)
• Human Values, Ethics, and Design (Batya Friedman and Peter H. Kahn, Jr.)
• Postcolonial computing: A lens on design and development (Lilly Irani, Janet Vertesi, Paul Dourish, Kavita Philip, and Rebecca E. Grinter)
• Feminist HCI: taking stock and outlining an agenda for design (Shaowen Bardzell)
• Making by making strange: Defamiliarization and the design of domestic technologies (Genevieve Bell, Mark Blythe, and Phoebe Sengers)
• Knowing by Doing: Action Research as an Approach to HCI (Gillian R. Hayes)

Design, Evaluation, and Feedback (Part 2 of 3)

Topics include:

• Fundamentals of Information Visualization
• Designing Systems
• Evaluating Systems
• Feedback Mechanisms

Materials include:

• The Science of Visual Data Communication: What Works (Steven L. Franconeri, Lace M. Padilla, Priti Shah, Jeffrey M. Zacks, and Jessica Hullman)
• A Tour through the Visualization Zoo (Jeffrey Heer, Michael Bostock, and Vadim Ogievetsky)
• Visualization Rhetoric: Framing Effects in Narrative Visualization (Jessica Hullman and Nick Diakopoulos)

Applied HCI (Part 3 of 3)

Topics Include:

• Information Visualization
• Designing for Accessibility
• Security Interactions
• Social Media
• Collective Intelligence

Conclusion: The Future of HCI and Design

• Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System (Donella Meadows)
• Your work future could depend on how well you can talk to AI (Charlie Warzel)