CS A110 Human Computer Interaction

You should think about this course if...

• You like using computers and are interested learning more about how they work. We will focus on web pages and computer games for most of the semester, so some experience in surfing the web or playing Nintendo will come in handy.
• You want to learn some computer programming but don't want to take Computer Science I, or don't feel you're ready for a full-blown programming course.
• You're thinking about majoring in Computer Science. Although this is an introductory course, it is designed to introduce some cutting-edge ideas about software engineering which will be useful even for the most serious programmers.
• You want make some money! We will be learning to write fancy interactive web pages using HTML and JavaScript. This is a highly marketable skill which you should be able to parlay into lucrative part-time or summer employment.

Topics:

• We will examine all of the ways humans interact with computers in a broad sense, including different kinds of hardware and software interfaces.
• We will discuss what aspects of a piece of software make it "usable".
• We will learn the basics of the software engineering process, and how software engineers improve usability through models of human-computer interaction.
• We will apply this theoretical background to the design and implementation of interactive web pages.
• We will discuss other cutting-edge issues in software design as time permits: future of hardware interfaces (virtual reality, voice and handwriting recognition, 3D displays, etc.), Internet security and encryption, software localization and internationalization (writing software for users of different cultural backgrounds).