CPSC 554M
Topics in Human Computer Interaction
Universal Usability, CSCW, and Personalization
UBC Computer Science - Winter 2014/15

Overview:

The course project is a group exercise intended to give you hands-on experience in task and user centered design, prototyping, evaluation, redesign, and implementation. You will first begin by proposing an idea that will form the basis of a course project. In subsequent parts of the project you will perform a task analysis, followed by low-fidelity prototyping and rough usability studies, ending with a high-fidelity prototype that can be user tested more rigorously.

Your current assignment is to form a group of 2 to 4 students and to propose the idea that will form the basis of your group project.

You must pick a topic within the themes of the course. You are not strictly limited to any particular technology platform, language, or development tool. You are also encouraged to think out-of-the-box and include new or different interaction techniques and technology platforms (e.g., mobile devices, tangible interfaces, speech interfaces, vision based interfaces). You should focus on improving or creating a specific tool, application or service. The more specific you get, the more likely you will be able to design, implement, and evaluate the user interface for your project within the course timeframe. Be aware of your group's skills and limitations when proposing a topic. Also be sure you know and have the appropriate tools to do the job. Note that the focus here is on the user interface and not all the other technological pieces that would be required to really get some of these projects working in the real world (some backend functionality is needed so that you can appropriately evaluate your system, but the whole system does not have to be "production ready").

Here are some sample, deliberately vague, topic areas:

collaboration or communication

• support for collaborative family meal planning
• tool for collaborative trip planning where planners are at a distance
• app to gamify improved health behaviours (e.g., getting more exercise)
• support for collaborative writing spanning multiple devices (laptops, tabletops, and/or large screen displays)
• support of interactive presentations spanning multiple devices
• interaction techniques to support collaboration on a tabletop display
• interaction techniques to support collaboration on a large screen display
• tool to allow working parents to communicate with their children throughout the day
• allowing visitors to an office to leave a message when the office occupant is away via a door mounted message board
• electronic corkboard analogous to the traditional corkboards found in many workspaces
• an electronic memorabilia sharing system (photo's, kid's drawings, ...)  your grandparents can use

universal usability

• a smartphone that is appropriate for a specific population such as older users, grade schoolers, people with visual impairment or motor impairments
• design a automated ticket dispensing kiosk for Vancouver Transit that is accessible to people visual impairments
• interaction techniques that allow visually/motor impaired people to work with a standard display and input devices
• make an everyday application/technology more accessible to people with cognitive impairments (such as email for people with aphasia)

personalization

• support for creating & using an email address contact list (some automatically scraped) based on your usage
• support for efficient command access where there are a large number of commands
• mobile device UI that is context aware
• application support for an "exploratory mode" where users can try out how features will affect their artifact (such as a document)
• techniques to help a user transition seamlessly from one version of an application to another version
• interaction techniques that enable novice users to transition seamlessly to expert users
• support for both feature-reduced and feature-rich interfaces together in the same application

 

Proposal:

The main body of your report should not be more than 4 pages of single spaced 12 point text. You can include an appendix (unlimited length) for any figures, tables, images that do not fit in the main body.

Include a cover page (not included in the page count) that lists the name of your group/project and the members' names.

Your report should address the following broad issues:

1. problem or idea
2. analysis
3. suggested improvements and what you intend to do

Here are some guidelines on writing this proposal:

Creativity 

The proposal should try to address a practical problem with a novel use of technology or present a new or enhanced work practice enabled by technology. Be innovative!

Writing

The writing must clearly present the important facts and be terse and concise. The nitty-gritty details aren’t needed at this point.

Problem or Idea

The problem description should be short and specific about the high-level goals of the project. It states what the problem is and why it is a problem or describes a new idea and why it will enhance an existing application or work practice. It should also drop a hint at the proposed solution to the problem.

Analysis

The analysis section should give more background for the problem or new idea. It doesn’t just focus on the negative aspects of the current situation, but also identifies some positive aspects that may be beneficial to retain. A few salient examples from existing systems or work practices should be used to support those claims.

Suggested Improvements

Here the proposal should propose specific changes to solve the problems or implement the new ideas described earlier and briefly explain why it is believed they will work.

Grounded in the Literature

Wherever possible, you should cite relevant literature.