General Information

1. About CPSC 344

Human Computer Interaction (HCI) design is "design for human use". Computers are a ubiquitous part of many interactions in our lives, from the mundane every-dayness of light switches and vending machines to entertainment and education to sophisticated instruments and complex energy and defense systems.

In this course, we will guide you to broaden your grasp of what a user interface can and should be, what computer science is and can be, and try your hand at doing better yourself. It is a fast-paced, hands-on, project-based experience designed around active lecture sessions supported by readings, assignments, and weekly workshop sessions, where students practice and explore the concepts introduced in lecture, and go well beyond them to learn and apply HCI techniques in the assignments that build into group projects.

During this pandemic, the shift to online learning has greatly altered teaching and studying at UBC, including changes to health and safety considerations. Keep in mind that some UBC courses might cover topics that are censored or considered illegal by non-Canadian governments. This may include, but is not limited to, human rights, representative government, defamation, obscenity, gender or sexuality, and historical or current geopolitical controversies. If you are a student living abroad, you will be subject to the laws of your local jurisdiction, and your local authorities might limit your access to course material or take punitive action against you. UBC is strongly committed to academic freedom, but has no control over foreign authorities (please visit http://www.calendar.ubc.ca/vancouver/index.cfm?tree=3,33,86,0 for an articulation of the values of the University conveyed in the Senate Statement on Academic Freedom). Thus, we recognize that students will have legitimate reason to exercise caution in studying certain subjects. If you have concerns regarding your personal situation, consider postponing taking a course with manifest risks, until you are back on campus or reach out to your academic advisor to find substitute courses. For further information and support, please visit: http://academic.ubc.ca/support-resources/freedom-expression

Relationship to other UBC-CS HCI Courses (Full listing of our HCI offerings):
CPSC 344 and 444 form a two-course undergrad sequence; 444 covers more advanced evaluation material.

2. Instructor and Office Hours

Instructor: Dongwook Yoon (email: yoon at csDELETEthisTEXT.ubc.ca)

Office Location: ICICS/CS X663

Office Hours: 9:00 - 10:00 AM, Mon and Wed; Or, by appointment. Follow communication conventions (below) for fastest response.

3. Lecture, Workshops, TAs

Lecture: Mon and Wed 3:30-5:00 PM at MacLeod 2018. In-person only, but recordings will be posted on Canvas. Check Canvas - Modules for details and materials.

Workshops: CPSC 344 has four "workshops" (listed as Tutorials on SSC). In-person only at ICICS, X360 (no recordings provided); Check Canvas - Modules for details and materials. The waitlisted students can use the mirrored course materials here.

Section Time TAs Location
T2A Thu 10-12 Tommy Nguyen and Merry Shirvani ICICS/CS X360
T2B Fri 12-14 Zhe Liu and Merry Shirvani ICICS/CS X360
T2C Fri 14-16 Mui Tanprasert and Jackie Liu Forest Sciences Centre 1003
T2D Thu 12-14 Tommy Nguyen and Jackie Liu ICICS/CS X360

Each tutorial will be temporarily closed at the beginning of the term. This is because we need to fill each workshop to its maximum of ~30; and thus must optimize students' schedule constraints to accommodate access by students who wish to take the course. During the first two weeks of the term, we'll assign each student to a tutorial session based on their schedule flexibility by running a workshop balancing (assignment) survey. Students in the waitlist must finish the survey.

4. Prerequisite

CPSC 210 (or its equivalent) is a pre-requisite for CPSC 344.

The main purpose of the pre-requisite is to ensure that you have experience programming in at least two different languages. Having mastered two, it is feasible to pick up another relatively easily; during prototyping you may need to quickly learn a new language as well as the ones you already know.

The other most useful skill for you to bring to class is experience working on a team, a huge part of 344. You should also have strong written and verbal communication ability.

Please contact the instructor if any of these are a concern for you.

5. Communication

Please follow the logistics below:

6. Resources

Required textbook: Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction, Rogers, Sharp and Preece (RSP), 5th Ed, 2019, Wiley. Available on UBC Library website and Amazon.

Pre-readings, videos lectures, slides: Canvas - Modules

Course-Level Learning Goals

Policies

Waitlist Policy

Course waitlists are being handled centrally by the Computer Science department. Go here for more information. Students who attend workshops will be given waitlist priority.

If you do not plan to take the course, please remove yourself from lecture or waitlist, so others may get in.

Late Deliverables

Late assignments and pre-reading quizzes will receive no credit. In the extraordinary circumstance (e.g., medical or family emergency) that you are prevented from completing and submitting component on time, or fully participating in your group's work, we may allow late turn-in. In this case, contact your TA or the course staff well in advance of the deadline (a usual expectation would be 24 hours). At discretion of staff considering the circumstance, a penalty may still be imposed of a mark reduction of 0.98^(hours late).

Academic Expectations

In addition to all university rules, regulations, and academic guidelines, the following policies will hold in CS344:

Deliverables and Tentative High-Level Mark Allocation (tentative)

Your team's performance in the course project plays a large part in your individual mark. In addition, in your individual mark the peer component relates to your contributions and participation in your team.

Component Breakdown Weight Type
Deliverables Details on the deliverables page 45% 43% group, 2% individual
Exams Midterm (20%) and final (30%) 50% Individual
Peer evaluation Assessed on group deliverables 5% Individual
Total 100% 43% group, 57% individual

Workshop attendance: On-time attendance is expected at workshops. If you know of an unavoidable conflict in advance (e.g., a job interview that could not be scheduled at another time), inform your TA and teammates in advance.

Two absences (or four late arrivals) will be automatically excused. After that, each unexcused absence will be marked as 1% deduction from your final mark and each late arrival as 0.5%.