User Interface Design and Development
CSE 4257/5257
Fall 1998


Instructor: Phil Bernhard, Ph.D.
Office: Crawford 230, 674-7294
Email: pbernhar@cs.fit.edu
Prerequisite: CSE 2010 or CSE 2502
Office Hours: MW 8:30 -- 10:30am, or by appointment

Texts:
Douglas A. Young, The X Window System, Programming and Applications With Xt, Prentice Hall.

Virginia Howlett, Visual Interface Design for Windows , John Willey & Sons.

Ben Shneiderman, Designing the User Interface, third edition, Addison Wesley (Recommended only).

Course Description:
A study of the theories and techniques of human-computer interaction and the design of direct manipulation graphical user interfaces that support menues, buttons, sliders, and other widgets for input, text and graphics for output. Students design, implement and evaluate graphical user interfaces.

Contents:
There are two primary topics that will be covered in this course; the first is human factors, specifically in terms of designing software interfaces, and the second is X-Windows/Motif programming.

Reading:
Reading will be assigned on a weekly basis. If at any time I get the impression that students are not keeping up with the reading, then I may start asking for a short writeup of the current reading assignment.

Exams:
There will be a midterm and a final exam, both in class.

Makeups:
Unless arrangements are worked out in advance, missed quizzes and tests cannot be made up, and 5 points per day will be deducted for late homework and project submissions. I understand that your job may occasionally take you out of town; so does mine. If you are going to be forced to miss class on the day something is due, let me know ahead of time, in writing, preferably by email.

Interface Evaluations:
Each student will evaluate approximately five interfaces from a human factors standpoint.

Programming Assignments:
Throughout the semester several programming assignments will be made. Unless otherwise noted on the assignment handouts, all interfaces must be developed in C or C++, using X-Windows/Motif.

Class Project:
Each student will complete a project that will involve designing and implementing a user interface.

Grading:
Final grade will be determined as follows (approximately): evaluations - 10%, project - 15%, programs - 20%, midterm - 25%, and final - 30%.

Important Dates:
9/4 - Last day to drop without a W
10/23 - Last day to drop with a W