CMSC 434: Human Factors in Computer and Information Systems

University of Maryland
Department of Computer Science
Dr. B. Shneiderman

Books:

• B. Shneiderman, Designing the User Interface, 3rd Edition, Addison Wesley Longman, (1998)
  
  
• R. Runyon & A. Haber, Fundamentals of Behavioral Statistics, 7th Edition, McGraw-Hill (1991) - Recommended to review statistics
  
  
• P. Badia and R. Runyon, Fundamentals of Behavioral Research, Addison-Wesley (1982). - Recommended to review experiment design:

Topics:

Human factors issues in the development of software, use of database systems, and design of user interfaces for interactive systems. Science base (theories, models, usability studies, and controlled experimentation), and software engineering with user interface development environments. Issues include: programming and command languages, menus, forms, and direct manipulation, graphical user interfaces, computer supported cooperative work, information search and visualization, input/output devices, and display design.

Projects:

Students will implement user interfaces with modern software tools such as SUIT or Visual Basic, and conduct a usability study on a working system or controlled experiment on a design issue. Critiques will be written for an experimental study and for a working system.

Final Grade:

Exams: 10+10+20%
Homework+class participation: 20%
Projects: 40%.
Project (Usability Study or Controlled Experiment will be done in teams of 2 )