CPSC 554M
Topics in Human Computer Interaction
Universal Usability, CSCW, and Personalization
UBC Computer Science - Winter 2016/17

NOTE: this is a draft and may be revised during the term

The course project is a group exercise intended to give you hands-on experience doing HCI research. The project that has three phases:

Phase I: Project Proposal + mini presentation
Phase II: Interim Project Report + mini presentation
Phase III: Final Project Report + formal presentation

The due dates for each of the three phases is given on the Schedule webpage.

Your are being given substantial flexibility in the type of project that you do. The first option is to do a classic HCI project in user-centered design, prototyping, evaluation, redesign, and implementation. The following documents provide a good outline for a project of that format:

Phase I: Proposal
Phase II: Project Task Analysis, Low-Fi Prototyping, and Evaluation
Phase III: Project Medium/High Fidelity Prototyping and User Evaluation

Alternatively, a second option is to deviate from the project outline above, perhaps by choosing a project that focuses more heavily on only one or two aspects of the usability engineering lifecycle; for example, a thorough evaluation of an interactive system that you have already created but not yet evaluated, or a thorough exploratory study evaluating existing technology used in context. (Note that the one aspect of the usability engineering lifecycle that you are not permitted to focus on exclusively is implementation.)

Regardless of which option you choose, the project still must be done in a group of 2 to 4 students, and it must have three phases. Those groups who do the second option must explicitly state this and include in their proposal an outline of the milestones they expect to achieve for both Phases II and III.

In general, the first option is the safer option. For students who have never done an HCI term project before, I strongly recommend the first option. I only recommend the second option if students have a specific desire to build skills in a  particular area, or if that format fits more naturally into a student's thesis research. 

In terms of project content, you are required to find a topic within the themes of the course. In terms of specialized equipment, we do have some, but it changes somewhat year to year. If you are thinking of a project that requires specialized equipment, please ask me and I will see what I can do.