HCC Assignments
Reading Responses
One page, single-spaced. Due weekly.
Response papers should be a thoughtful, engaged exploration of the ideas in the reading. They are an intellectual response to the reading; they are not a summary. They should be based on at least one of the assigned readings for the day, along with at least one relevant outside source found through your own research.
Make connections to other readings—does this text suggest any useful questions or methods that would apply to other texts or to your work activities? Does this text illuminate any issues raised by other texts or experiences? Explore the implications of the author’s work for information architecture or interaction design. (Use the ACM digital library for additional sources.)
As you evaluate the usefulness of the assigned text, feel free to suggest revisions and/or expansions. Extend the author’s ideas in new directions. Identify unresolved issues or questions that might suggest areas for further research.
Use the response papers to begin sorting out your own priorities, methods, and concerns about the practice and theory of information design and web design— whether you approach these issues in terms of your own scholarly & professional practice, or whether you want to look at issues of teaching I/A or interaction design to others.
Provide Kathryn with a paper copy of your response; put a link to each response on your student page.
Student pages
Create a course-related webpage for this class. Include a brief introduction to yourself on the page. Provide links to all of your response papers as you write them. Include links to any other course-related material that seems appropriate to you. Send me the url for posting on the Class List page.
Statement of Interest (one per group)
A one page description of your group's planned audience and approach. Include the following elements:
- Some background information on your chosen user group
- A description of the problem to be solved
- A list of resources you can use to find relevant research
- A few of the relevant sources you have already found
- A description of the approach you will take to the assignment (i.e., tell me what research topic each person will do as part of the overall effort).
Research Paper (one per group member)
Your assignment is to research the relevant cognitive, social, and motor characteristics of your target audience, summarize your findings, and then discuss the implications of your research for interface and interaction design.
Papers (about 8-10 pages not counting the bibliography)
- Summary of research findings
- Implications for information architecture and interaction design, including implications for the budget interface
- Annotated bibliography of sources
In both the papers and the presentations, make connections with other assigned readings and such major course topics as attention, perception and recognition, locus of attention, memory, learning, retention, transfer or problem-solving, cognitive consciousness, usability, efficiency, and pleasure.
The annotations in your bibliography should include both summary and evaluative information. This means you write a short paragraph for each source describing what it contains and what makes it valuable. Your goal is to enable readers to decide whether or not a particular source would be valuable to them.
Interface Design and Research Presentation (one per group)
Based on the combined research of your group, and the course readings, design a prototype of a visual "budgeting" interface appropriate for your specific audience. Assume that your tool will be incorporated into a banking website.
Prototype (Photoshop files, HTML mockups, Flash, or paper--one per group)
Presentations (one per group - 25 mins, 5 mins for questions)
- 10 minutes for the group's research results (total)
- 15 minutes to present the interface
In your presentations, keep your summaries of your research fairly brief. Then explore the implications of your research for your interaction and interface design.
After your presentation, turn in a group CD with electronic copies of the research paper from each group member, your group's presentation slides or other visuals, and whatever other files might be associated with viewing your group's prototype.