AVI/Psych 358/IE 340: Human Factors

Section AL1 (MWF 9:00 – 9:50)

Fall 2008

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About me (1)

• Thomas George Kannampallil– (Temporary Address) Human Factors

Division, Room 104, 1 Airport Road, Savoy, IL – Email (temporary): thomasg@ist.psu.edu – Call/Text: 814-883-3773– Post on Facebook group (details to be

announced soon)

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About me (2)

• Went to grad school at Penn State– Research interests in HCI, cognitive modeling

and statistical methods

• Now I am a Post-Doc/Research Associate in the Human Factors Division.

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Announcements

• No lab sessions tomorrow

• Introductions (TA’s)

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Course Facilitators

• Graduate Teaching Assistants: – Chris DeSalvo (1 Airport Road, Savoy, IL)

cdesalv2@illinois.edu– Laura D’Andrea (2414 Beckman)

dandrea1@illinois.edu

• TA Office Hours (Laura)– Tuesday 1:00 - 2:30 pm @ 2414 Beckman (or

by appointment via email)

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Instructor Office Hours

• Beckman Café (1st floor, Beckman Institute)– Wednesday, 10:00-11:30 am or by

appointment via email

• Email correspondence: Subject line must include “Psych 358”

• If you text me, include your name! (otherwise I wont respond)

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About the course

• Introduction to Human Factors– How humans work with technology

• In this course, you will: – Learn how to identify good and bad designs– Learn human-centered techniques and

methodologies – Learn to design interactive systems

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Book

• Vicente, K. 2004 The Human Factor: Revolutionizing the Way People Live with Technology. Routledge.

• Where to get it: – Bookstore– Amazon ($10 - 17)

• What will we do with the book– Regular readings from the book– Discuss examples

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What will we actually do in this class?

• Study human-centered techniques and methodologies

• Apply these principles to real-world problems– e.g., What interface aspects make Facebook

successful? – What is makes myspace less attractive than

Facebook (at least among college students)?

• Re-contextualize human-computer interaction knowledge to other domains– e.g., Wii vs. Playstation, iPhone vs. other cell phones,

Facebook vs. other social networking sites

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Course approach

• Work with real-world problems

• Class in highly interactive (student participation is expected!)

• Group work

• Labs (in sync with class)

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Graded Work

• Homework 15%

• Quiz 20%

• Class Participation 10%

• Group Project 20%

• Labs 20%

• Final Exam 15%

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General instructions for graded work

• Submitted in hard copy at the beginning of the class

• Late submissions will be penalized (see details in the syllabus)

• Emailed submissions will not be graded

• Grading issues– Meet the TA first to solve it, if you are not

satisfied see me

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Homework/Quiz/Project

• 4 homeworks, based on lectures and in-class activities (mostly group)

• 6 quizzes (lowest score can be dropped)– Multiple choice, short answer questions– In-class

• Group project– Design oriented

• Labs– Will be in sync with class work– Will be discussed during your lab session

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Class Participation

• 10% of the total grade split between– Attendance– In-class activities– Discussion (online and offline)

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Teams

• Formed by the instructor– To ensure inter-disciplinary teams– To ensure balance in skills and knowledge– And most importantly, in the real-world you

DON’T get to pick your team

• Team conflicts– Try to resolve within your group (if not, I can

act as a moderator

• Make sure you fill out the survey (to be handed out later)

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Admin

• Academic integrity

• Students with disabilities

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Course Communication

• All general class announcements will be through your official email

• Facebook: Psych 358 group

[We will discuss this in detail on Weds] – Closed group (invite only group)– Class announcements will simultaneously posted on

group wall– Will have periodic discussion– Will be linked to course blog where I will try to keep

track of what we are doing in class– Any other suggestions?

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Course Communication

• Check the Psych 358 blog

http://psych358.blogspot.com

• Updates on what is happening in class– Week preview– What we actually do in class

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Course Communication

• All general class announcements will be through your official email

• Facebook: Psych 358 group – Closed group (invite only group)– Class announcements will simultaneously

posted on group wall– Will have periodic discussion– Will be linked to course blog where I will try to

keep track of what we are doing in class– Any other suggestions?

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Careers in Human Factors

• Human Factors (HF) professionals are in great demand – ACM job list – HF job list

• What skills are they looking for– Ability to recognize design problems– Ability (and knowledge) to conduct user evaluations– Suggesting design solutions– Designing (building) these solutions– Work in teams consisting of different professionals

(software engineers, designers, psychologists etc.)

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What are we doing in this class towards your career?

• We will work in inter-disciplinary teams• We will work on everyday real problems (e.g.,

why is my cell phone so difficult to use?)• We will learn to think critically on design

problems by applying HCI knowledge• We will do lots of discussion, writing and

presentation• Everyone is a designer: keep your eyes open for

things you come across in your everyday life

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Design examples (what not to design)

The impossible teapot (Source: Norman, D (2002): Emotional Design

Fitting the monitor cable

Almost inevitably spills!

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Design examples (what not to design)

Really difficult to dial numbers (impossible to do 1-800-Call Me numbers)

What would you do to open this door!

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Some good designs(?)