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Week 1
(Tuesday 4/3 and Thursday 4/5): Course Introduction
Week 1 Readings: Contextual Design Chapters 1-4 and Integrity of Scholarship
Understanding users is fundamental to good design. There are many approaches
to this complex issue. Our text details a process of contextual design that begins with one-on-one interviews with users in the places they work. The data from these interviews are then considered in meetings of the
whole team. The goals of the meetings are to help you understand the data and also to help the team
come to a shared view of the users based on the data.
Read the UCSD Policy on Integrity of Scholoarship.
Week 1 (Tuesday 4/3): Course Overview
The first class meeting will give you an overview of the course and what you will be doing during the quarter. We will begin to sketch potential project areas.
Week 1 (Thursday 4/5): Potential Projects
We will continue to sketch potential project areas. If you have suggestions
for alternative projects, this is the time to bring them up. Work we do
together here to focus the projects and ensure they are of a scale that
will permit you to finish them within the time we have available is extremely
valuable.
Week 1 (Sunday 4/8): First Commentary and Project Suggestions
Weekly commentaries begin this week. Please send commentary to the class email list
(102C@hci.ucsd.edu) by Sunday evening (4/8). Your commentary should focus on
the readings for week 1 (Chapters 1-4 in the text). If you have ideas for projects
to add to those discussed in class, you should email the instructors
(102C-instructors@hci.ucsd.edu) a brief overview of the proposed project and
explain why it would be an appropriate project for the course.
Week 2 (Tuesday 4/10 and Thursday 4/12): Seeing Work
Week 2 Readings: Contextual Design Chapters 5-10
People are members of communities of practice. It is exceedingly important to
see how the system you are designing fits within the larger context of the
work practices of users. The text describes five work models designed to
encourage you to look at representations of your data from a number of
different perspectives.
Design needs to focus not only on individual users but also groups of
users. In this design phase you want to look for the common structure inherent
in the work of users. The text suggests some diagramming techniques
to help see the scope and underlying patterns and structure of the work
process your design needs to address.
This week we will continue discussion of potential projects, choose those we
will pursue this quarter, and determine who will be on each project team.
Week 2 (Tuesday 4/10): Potential Projects and Teams
Continue discussion of potential projects and begin formation of project teams. There will be time in class to meet others interested in specific projects.
Week 2 (Wednesday 4/11) Potential Project Teams
One representative from each potential team that formed on Tuesday should email 102C-instructors@hci.ucsd.edu a brief description of the project focus and number of members of the group.
Week 2 (Thursday 4/12): Formation of Project Teams
We will continue discussions of projects and the selection of project teams.
Each team will need to arrange a time and place on campus that they can meet each week.
Week 2 (Sunday 4/15): Commentary Chapters 5-10
Week 3 (Tuesday 4/17 and Thursday 4/19: Innovation from Data and Design
Week 3 Readings: Contextual Design Chapters 11-16
Once one has a good understanding of the work process one can turn to inventing ways to improve that process. Here you will develop visions of how
people will work with new designs. The text suggests storyboards as a
mechanism to help your team develop shared visions of improved designs. This week we will also cover the chapters on system design. This is the
functional design of the system. The text suggests representing this
explicitly. The goal of depicting each part of the system is to understand how
it supports the user's work, what functions are available in each part, and
how these parts are connected.
Week 3 (Tuesday 4/17): Discuss and Focus Potential Projects
We will continue to discuss potential projects and assist you in forming project teams. One of the most important decisions you will make is in limiting and focusing your project. Groups typically try to take on a project that is too large to accomplish in ten weeks. That makes it very difficult to get experience with multiple iterations of contextual design.
Week 3 (Wednesday 4/18): Draft Project Slides
One representative of each potential project team should email three slides to 102C-instructors@hci.ucsd.edu by noon on Wednesday 4/13. The first slide should include a list of team members, their email addresses, and the weekly meeting time and location. The second should include a short description of the project and the third should explain how it meets the following project requirements:
- Access to User Community
- Access to Users With Time and Willingness To Interact With Your Team
- Your Understanding of Tasks Involved
- Ability To Do Multiple Iterations of Contextual Design:Gathering User Data, Seeing Work, Seeing Context of Work, Innovation from Data, System Design, and Prototyping,
Week 3 (Thursday 4/19): Commit to Project Team
We will continue discussion of projects and use class time to allow
you to make final your team membership. All members of a project team must be available to meet
together at a set time each week on campus. Establishing this time is extremely
important. You should make your ability to meet at the group meeting time a necessary condition of joining a project team. Your group's weekly meeting time and campus location should be cast in stone. You might decide to have additional weekly meetings at other times and places but you must not rescheduling the set weekly meeting time. Treat it as a class meeting time that is fixed.
Week 3 (Friday 4/20) Final Project Teams
A representative of each team should email to 102C-instructors@hci.ucsd.edu the final list of group members, their email addresses, the agreed on weekly meeting
time and location, and the group name. This should be sent before the end of the day on 4/20.
Week 3 (Sunday 4/22): Commentary Chapters 11-16
Week 4 (Tuesday 4/24 and Thursday 4/26): Prototyping
Week 4 Readings: Contextual Design Chapters 17-20
Prototyping is a crucial part of system design. We focus on the development of paper prototypes to help you test your design ideas. Prototypes will be employed to gather data as part of an iterative design process. The reading this week completes the textbook.
Week 4 (Monday 4/23 Evening): Slides for 10 Minute Presentations
Each group should email to 102C-instructors@hci.ucsd.edu the slides you plan to use for your short 10 minute project presentations. We will randomly choose half of the groups to present on Tues (4/24). The other groups will present on Thursday (4/26). If it is easy for you to create, we prefer to receive the slides as a PDF file.
Week 4 (Tuesday 4/24): 10 Minute Project Descriptions
Approximately half of the teams will have ten minutes each to present a description of their project. The description should communicate what you plan to do and how you plan to go about doing it. You should include a schedule detailing activities that will allow you to understand your user community and their tasks, what design activities you plan, how you will iteratively evolve designs, and how you will evaluate them.
Week 4 (Thursday 4/26): 10 Minute Project Descriptions
The teams that did not present on Tuesday will have ten minutes each to present a description of their project. The description should communicate what you plan to do and how you plan to go about doing it. You should include a schedule detailing activities that will allow you to understand your user community and their tasks, what design activities you plan, how you will iteratively evolve designs, and how you will evaluate them.
Week 4 (Sunday 4/29): Commentary Chapters 17-20
Week 5 (Tuesday 5/1 and Thursday 5/3):
Projects and Midterm Exam
Week 5 (Tuesday 5/1): Prepare for Midterm Exam
Week 5 (Thursday 5/3): Midterm Exam
The midterm exam will cover the textbook readings (Chapters 1-20). The format will be multiple choice, true-false, and short answer. Here are some example questions.
Week 5 No Commentary This Week
Week 6 (Tuesday 5/8 and Thursday 5/10): Presentations, Writing, Web Pages
Week 6 (Tuesday 5/8): Presentations and Writing
In lecture we will discuss your first presentations and provide advice about presentations and about writing your project paper.
Week 6 (Wednesday noon 5/9):
Project Blog
Setup a blog for your project. I recommend using blogger.com.
Send the url of the blog to 102C-instructors@hci.ucsd.edu
Week 6 (Thursday 5/10):
Go Over Midterm Exam
Week 6 (Sunday 5/13): Personal Commentary
Starting this week your commentary will focus on what you personally accomplished on your project during the week and your plans for the coming week. These commentaries should be posted on your group's blog.
Week 7 (Tuesday 5/15 and Thursday 5/17): Project Updates and Discussion
Week 5 (Tuesday 5/15): 10 Minute Description of Data
Five teams will have ten minutes each to present a description of the data they have collected. The description should communicate how you went about collecting the data and summarize your existing data. Also give a brief update on your plans for the rest of the quarter.
Week 5 (Thursday 5/17): 10 Minute Description of Data
Five teams will have ten minutes each to present a description of the data they have collected. The description should communicate how you went about collecting the data and summarize your existing data. Also give a brief update on your plans for the rest of the quarter.
Week 7 (Sunday 5/20): Personal Commentary
Week 8 (Tuesday 5/22 and Thursday 5/24): Alumni
Week 8 (Tuesday 5/22): UCSD Alumni
A group of
former students now working at a number of different companies return to talk about their design activities.
Week 8
(Thursay 5/24) UCSD Alumni
Week 8 (Sunday 5/27): Personal Commentary
Week 9 (Tuesday 5/29 and Thursday 5/31): Project Advice
Week 9 (Sunday 6/3): Personal Commentary
Week 10 (Tuesday 6/5 and Thursday 6/7 and One or Two Evenings that Week): Final Presentations
Final Exam (Wednesday 6/13 3:00 - 6:00) Final Project Papers Due
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