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.
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.
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 & critical practice, or whether you want to look at issues of teaching I/A or interaction design to others.
Statement of Interest (one per group)
A one page description of your group's planned audience and approach to the research presentation. Provide 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, and possibly a few of the relevant sources you have already found. Describe the approach you will take to the assignment (i.e., who will do what, and by when).
Research Paper
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 10 pages--one per group member)
- Summary of research findings
- Implications for information architecture and interaction design, including implications for the chat 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. Your goal is to enable readers to decide whether or not a particular source would be valuable to them.
Interface Design and Research Presentation
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)
- 10 minutes for each group member's research results
- 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.