MSIT Human Computer Interaction

Course Name Human Computer Interaction – HCI

Course Code MSIT xxx
Course Type Professional
Credits 4
Instructor Pohanwal M. Shuaib Zarinkhail
References Dix A., Finlay J. and Beale R. Human-Computer Interaction
(3rd edition). Pearson Education Limited.
Pre-requisites Nil

Course Description
The Human Computer Interaction is one of the core courses in the Information Technology
Department Master program curriculum. The objectives of this course are: to obtain basic
knowledge about principles and methods of human computer interaction; to familiarize the
students with the evaluation and criticism of existing user interfaces.

In order to successfully conclude this course, students are required to do both individual and
group-based activities. Delivery is organized as a workshop where students work on evaluation
and criticism of the existing user interfaces. Theoretical topics are presented as short modules.
Independent work is divided into three parts: work on a group project; work on individual
assignments; work on literature.

Intended outcomes
By successfully completing the HCI course, students will be able to do the following:
 Criticize design of an interface including Web pages, application interfaces, etc.
 Analyze and measure usability and usefulness of an interface
 Ascertain user needs, requirement based, standards and cultural affairs
 Test and find results of interaction based on Bloom’s taxonomy of understanding
 Request changes to an interface to strengthen interaction between users and computers

Course Policies
Course policies include terms that students should know prior to attending this course as well as
during the semester while the course is in progress. Course policies are explained below:

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Attendance Policy
Class attendance for this course is mandatory. Students should be present during class hours and
they have to work on their projects to be prepared for the class. Based on the MOHE regulations,
students should attend at least 75% of class hours to be allowed to enter the final exam.

Grading Policy
This course has practical/assignment activities which need to be worked and presented by
students. We use below grading percentages for this course:

Midterm Exam 20%

Course Projects/Presentations 10% to 25%
Final Exam 55% to 70%
Note: based on the rules and regulations of the Ministry of Higher Education, any kind of
cheating and plagiarism is unacceptable and will result a fail (F) for the course grade.

Cell Phone and Laptop Usage

All cell phone calls during the lecture must be cancelled except very urgent calls. During the exams
cell phones must be turned off and be placed in pockets or boxes. Laptop computers and other
electronic devices would only be allowed when your lecturer(s) indicate; otherwise, they must be
turned off.

Assignment policy
Assignments are to be submitted on-time. Late assignment are accepted but with a penalty of 10
percent per day late. Assignment submitted after the solutions will not be accepted. You are free
to ask for information about assigned activities and the work must be completed by yourself. For
doing assignments/projects, group work and student collaboration is required. To complete each
assignment a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 3 student groups can be set.

Academic Honesty and Integrity

University is the place for learning, education and knowledge. Without honesty and integrity there
is no meaning for education and knowledge. The academic environment of university required from
all of us to follow all the academic and ethical principles. This is the obligation of all of us to be
honest in all dealings with fellow student, staff, and instructors. Behavior inconsistent with these

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obligations will not be tolerated. Cheating, plagiarism or any kind of disruptive behavior are all
examples of behavior that fall below the norms of academic integrity. A student who engages in
any such behavior will be immediately introduced to the faculty committee of discipline. All
penalties will be according to the rules and regulations of the Ministry of Higher Education. We all
need to create an environment conducive to learning, which means respect each other, being on
time, muted off cell phones, listening, and contributing to your lessons. If you need special learning
accommodations, it is important that we know about it as soon as possible.

Required and Optional Texts

1) Dix A., Finlay J. and Beale R. (2004). Human-Computer Interaction (3rd edition). Pearson
Education Limited.
2) Preece J., Rogers Y., and Sharp H. (2019). Interaction design: beyond human-computer
interaction-5th Edition. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Weekly Teaching Plan

Week Topics Tasks Materials
s
1 Getting familiar with the course  Read course policy Course
environments and technologies  Explore course resources policy
 Prepare textbook document
2  Requirements analysis  Prepare students for Textbook
individual and group
 Usability measures and Schneiderman and slides
assignments
theory  Discussion on project
ideas
3  Physical, cognitive and perceptual To be presented by Textbook
students:
variation and slides
 The software lifecycle
 Verification and validation
 Usability engineering
 Iterative design and
prototyping
4  Boom’s taxonomy of learning To be presented by Textbook
students:
and slides
 Design rational
(psychological, IBIS,
design space analysis
 Types of design rules
 Principles of learnability
 Principles of flexibility

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 Principles of robustness
5  Other cognitive modeling methods To be presented by Textbook
students:
(parallel design, GOMS, KLM) and slides
 Usability specification
 Errors and mental models  Using design rules
 Golden rules and heuristic
(Schneiderman’s 8 golden
rules, Norman’s 7
principles, Neilsen’s 10
usability heuristics)
6  Keyboard and keypad layouts To be presented by Textbook
students:
 Positioning and pointing devices and slides
 HCI design patterns
 Cognitive models (GOMS)
 Cognitive complexity
theory (CCT)
7  Dataglove and eygaze technologies To be presented by Textbook
students:
 Storage formats and slides
 Linguistic notations (Task
Action Grammar – TAG,
Backus Naur Form – BNF)
 Physical and device
models (Keystroke Level
Model – KML)
 Socio-technical modeling
(OSTA, custom)
 CATWOE
8  What is design? (golden rule for To be presented by Textbook
students:
design) and slides
 Participatory design and
ethnography
 CSCW issues and theory
(face to face
communication,
conversation, text based
communication, group
working)
Soft systems methodology /
design rationale
(psychological …)
9 Midterm
10  Human errors (design perspective) Group project presentations Textbook
and slides
11  The process of design Group project presentations Textbook
and slides

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12  User focus: (design perspective) Group project presentations Textbook
and slides
13  Navigation design Group project presentations Textbook
 Global structure and slides
14  Screen design and layout Group project presentations Textbook
and slides
15  User action and control Group project presentations Textbook
and slides
16  Appropriate appearance Group project presentations Textbook
and slides