In this course we explore the interrelationships of cognition and technology from the new perspective offered by cognitive science. We address questions of crucial importance for our increasingly technological society: (1) How does technology shape our minds? (2) How should what we know about our minds shape technology? We look at issues surrounding these questions in domains ranging from everyday tasks to the interactions of groups with complex computer technologies. Throughout we focus on practical issues chosen to highlight principled and effective ways to think about cognitive systems. This is a project-based course focused on the process of cognitive design. Students work in teams to design and evaluate a prototype application or redesign an existing system. The purpose of projects is to provide exposure to all phases of cognitive design: understanding users and their tasks, exploring representational and technological opportunities, brainstorming design ideas, building scenarios of use, prototyping, and obtaining user feedback. The goal of the course is to help you develop a richer appreciation of user-centered system development by creating opportunities for you to practice the skills required for effective design. Cognitive design principles and practices have wide applicability. While projects can focus on human-computer interaction applications, projects in many other areas also fit well with the goals of the course. The course focuses on the process of design. You will participate as a member of a project team in designing or redesigning a system. In ten weeks you can only begin to understand the process of user-centered design but we think you will find that what you learn from your project to be quite valuable. This course provides an introduction to the field of human-computer interaction (HCI) and the broader discipline of interaction design. In addition to an overview of HCI and interaction design, the course surveys significant historical developments and current research that promises to be influential in the future. This is not a programming course. Cognitive Science 121 focuses on HCI programming techniques. The goals of the 120-121 sequence are to introduce you to the challenge and joy of design and provide you with the initial foundation required to become creative competent designers. This is the second course in the HCI 120-121 sequence. It focuses on interaction architectures, programming techniques, and cognitive and computational principles for designing effective systems. We begin by covering the fundamentals of user interface design for web-based systems and quickly move to larger scale design and implementation activities. A major component of the class is completion of a substantial programming project in which students work together in small teams. This seminar provides an introduction to selected current research in the new field of information visualization. Information visualization has origins dating to the beginnings of symbolic representation. It involves a diverse set of disciplines, ranging across computer science, epistemology, graphic design, linguistics, psychology, and semiology to newer perspectives emerging from cognitive science. As a field, it has grown dramatically in recent years. We may be in the midst of a paradigm shift in how to think about information, one that starts to view information as being much more dynamic and reactive to the nature of our tasks, activities, and even relationships with others. The goal of the seminar is not a comprehensive survey of information visualization but rather to help prepare you to propose an original research project in an information visualization area you find of interest. Seminar meetings will be devoted to discussion of readings and issues raised on this class wiki. Early in the quarter we will cover some basic background readings and discuss possible research topics. As the quarter progresses we will shift to specific readings chosen by seminar members to provide background for their proposals or projects.