teaching hci to computing students: some considerations
TRANSCRIPT
Teaching HCI TO UNDERGRADUATE COMPUTING STUDENTS: SOME CONSIDERATIONS
CHITALY 2015, Roma, 28 Sept 2015
Roberto PolilloDISCO – Università di Milano Bicocca
My experience HCI corse for Laurea Triennale Informatica (3d
year), University of Milano Bicocca 15 editions since 2000 Presently, 8 CFU (about 70 class hours)
(course size varied over the years 6 4 8 CFU
Elective; average attendance: 80-100 students p/y
The course is supported by my book “Facile da usare” (2010)
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Why HCI to computing undergrads Many undergrads will directly enter the
job market without additional studies Many will go to small organization or
work as freelancers… … so many will be the “sole” responsible
of design & implementation of small applications (mobile, web)
Practical experience of designing usable apps nowadays is essential
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Course goals A practical, hands-on introduction to the
design of usable software applications Introduction to the basic concepts and
principles of Human Computer Interaction
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Challenges1. Very scarce teaching time2. Typical computing students
are “left brained”3. Difficulty of linking theory to
the practice of design
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The “classical” course organization
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TheoryPractice
Principles Deduction Laboratory
TOP-DOWN - DEDUCTIVE
In short: it does not work!
Often left as a student
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The “experiential” organization
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It works (but is very demanding)
PracticeTheory
Laboratory Induction Principles
BOTTOM-UP – INDUCTIVE (EXPERIENTIAL)
MUST involve
the teacher
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The design project Groups of 3 students develop a mobile app
prototype, proposed by them (and approved)
Must follow a precise well structured process
No technical support for the OS & development toolkit (chosen by the group)
Final protype UI must be complete (but no algorithms and db)
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Typical mobile app examples Management of a personal library Management of payments for Milano ZTL Multi-user treasure hunt (geo-localized) Group excursion organization and
support (geo-localized) Support to footbal referee activity …
R.Polillo, 24.3.2014
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An evolutionary design process
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4Final exam
Requirements
Interactive “paper” prototype
Review
Video scenario
Navigation
prototype(toolkit)
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Graphical prototype (toolkit)
Usability test
(video & report)
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Review
Review
popapp.in
Conclusion: 10 Golden Rules
1) Practice first, concepts follow2) “Real world” app design, whenever possible3) Interaction, not description4) Coaching and co-design, not teaching5) Test with users 6) Improve prototypes until "WOW!"7) Learn design, not design tools8) Stimulate creativity 9) Leave technology details out of an HCI course10 Be prepared to allocate a lot of teacher time!
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