HUMAN MACHINE INTERACTION AND SOFTWARE USABILITY

Giuliana VITIELLO HUMAN MACHINE INTERACTION AND SOFTWARE USABILITY

0522500013
COMPUTER SCIENCE
EQF7
COMPUTER SCIENCE
2021/2022



YEAR OF COURSE 2
YEAR OF DIDACTIC SYSTEM 2016
AUTUMN SEMESTER
CFUHOURSACTIVITY
648LESSONS
Objectives
STUDENTS WILL ACQUIRE ADVANCED CONCEPTS RELATED TO THE PHASES OF USABILITY ENGINEERING PROCESS, FROM USER REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATION TO DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING.

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:
THE STUDENTS WILL LEARN ADVANCED CONCEPTS OF THE PROCESS OF DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF USER-CENTERED SOFTWARE SYSTEMS. IN PARTICULAR, LEARNING THE USE OF METHODS AND TECHNIQUES OF ETHNOGRAPHIC SURVEY AIMING AT THE IDENTIFICATION OF USER REQUIREMENTS, THEY WILL UNDERSTAND THE ADVANTAGES OF AN ITERATIVE APPROACH TO USER-CENTERED DESIGN AND USABILITY ENGINEERING AND WILL LEARN TECHNIQUES, USEFUL BOTH IN THE DESIGN PHASE THAT IN THE PROCESS OF EVALUATION AND TESTING.

ABILITY TO APPLY KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:
FROM A PRACTICAL POINT OF VIEW, AT THE END OF THE COURSE, STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO DEVELOP USER CENTERED SOFTWARE SYSTEMS, EVEN WITHIN THE MOST ADVANCED INTERACTION SCENARIOS, SUCH AS THOSE RELATED TO HUMAN-ROBOT INTERACTION AND SOCIAL ROBOTICS. STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO CHOOSE AMONG THE METHODOLOGIES AND INTERACTION PARADIGMS LEARNED, THOSE MOST SUITED TO THE CONTEXT OF USE FOR WHICH A PARTICULAR SYSTEM IS INTENDED. THEY WILL ALSO BE ABLE TO APPLY EMPIRICAL USABILITY ENGINEERING TECHNIQUES FOR THE EXPERIMENTAL EVALUATION OF THE DEVELOPED PROTOTYPES
Prerequisites
NO SPECIAL TECHNICAL SKILLS ARE REQUIRED. KNOWLEDGE ABOUT WEB SITES DEVELOPMENT AND MULTIMEDIA APPLICATIONS CAN BE USEFUL.
Contents
THIS COURSE INTRODUCES THE CONCEPTS AND TECHNIQUES OF WELL-BEDDED HUMAN-MACHINE INTERACTION, ILLUSTRATING THEIR ADOPTION IN THE VARIOUS PHASES OF USER-CENTERED DEVELOPMENT. THE FIRST PART OF THE COURSE IS FOCUSED ON THE ANALYSIS AND REQUIREMENTS GATHERING, THE SECOND PART IS DEVOTED TO DESIGN METHODS OF INTERACTIVE SYSTEMS, AND THE THIRD IS DEDICATED TO USABILITY EVALUATION.
• BENEFITS OF 'USER-CENTERED' DEVELOPMENT OF A SOFTWARE SYSTEM AND THE FUNDAMENTALS OF USABILITY ENGINEERING.
• ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDIES AND CONTEXTUAL INQUIRIES AS TOOLS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE CONTEXT OF USE AND THE COLLECTION OF USER REQUIREMENTS.
• SCENARIO-BASED APPROACH TO THE DESIGN OF ITERATIVE USER-CENTERED SYSTEMS.
• USER-CENTERED TECHNOLOGIES TO SUPPORT THE PRINCIPLE OF UNIVERSAL DESIGN.
• DEVELOPMENT OF USER-CENTERED MULTIMODAL AND MULTI-USER SYSTEMS IN THE DOMAINS OF UBIQUITOUS COMPUTING AND COLLABORATION THROUGH ARTIFACTS. ISSUES OF USABILITY ENGINEERING SPECIFICATIONS FOR THOSE SYSTEMS.
• EMPIRICAL METHODS OF USABILITY EVALUATION.
• USABILITY ENGINEERING IN PRACTICE: THE ROLE OF USABILITY SPECIALISTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT TEAM; STANDARDS OF USER INTERFACES; ETHICAL ISSUES THAT AFFECT USABILITY.
• GUIDELINES FOR USER INTERFACE DESIGN FOR IOT DEVICES.
• THE CHALLENGES ON THE DESIGN OF HUMAN-ROBOT INTERACTION APPLICATIONS - NOTES.
Teaching Methods
LESSONS WILL TAKE PLACE WITH THE HELP OF MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATIONS. ALL SUBJECTS WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY PRACTICAL EXERCISES AND SIGNIFICANT CASE STUDIES.
STUDENTS WILL CARRY ON A GROUP PROJECT (EACH TEAM COMPOSED OF 2-4 STUDENTS) AIMED AT USABILITY ENGINEERING AN INTERACTIVE SYSTEM.
THIS WILL ALLOW EACH STUDENT TO EXOERIENCE SIMULATED GROUP DYNAMJCS CHARACTERIZING A REAL WORK ENVIRONMENT.

STUDENTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND CLASSES REGULARLY, ALTHOUGH THIS IS NOT STRICTLY REQUIRED TO TAKE THE FINAL EXAM.
Verification of learning
1.PERIODIC HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS INTENDED TO MONITOR THE LEARNING PROGRESS
2.INDIVISUAL REPORT WRITING: STUDY OF A CASE STUDY OF USABILITY ENGINEERING TO ASSESS STUDENT'S CRITICAL THINKING AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS
3. GROUP PROJECT PRESENTATION AND DOCUMENTATION TO ASSESS THE PRACTICAL SKILLS ACQUIRED
4. REPORT ON THE USABILITY EVALUATION ACTIVITIES OF AN INTERACTIVE SYSTEM PROTOTYPE REALIZED BY OTHERS (GROUP WORK).
THE INDIVIDUAL TEST WILL WEIGH 40% OF THE FINAL VOTE AND THE WORK CARRIED OUT IN GROUPS (POINTS 3 AND 4) WILL WEIGH 60%.

FOR THOSE WHO TAKE THE EXAM TEST WITHOUT FOLLOWING THE COURSE WILL HAVE TO
1. DELIVER AN INDIVIDUAL WRITTEN REPORT ON: ANALYSIS OF A USABILITY ENGINEERING CASE STUDY PROPOSED BY THE TEACHER TO VERIFY THE ACQUIRED CAPACITIES OF CRITICAL REASONING AND COMMUNICATION.
2. CREATE AND DISCUSS AN INDIVIDUAL PROJECT TO ASSURE THE ACQUIRED PRACTICAL CAPABILITIES.
THE EVALUATION CRITERIA WILL ALSO CONCERN THE COMPLETENESS AND CORRECTNESS OF THE PROJECT DOCUMENTATION.
3. TAKE AN ORAL TEST ON ALL THE TOPICS COVERED
THE THREE PARTS WILL HAVE EQUAL WEIGHT IN THE FINAL VOTE.
Texts
MARY BETH ROSSON & JOHN M. CARROLL. “USABILITY ENGINEERING- SCENARIO-BASED DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION”, MORGAN KAUFMANN PUBLISHERS-ISBN: 978-1-55860-712-5
DEBORAH J. MAYHEW, THE USABILITY ENGINEERING LIFECYCLE: A PRACTITIONER'S HANDBOOK FOR USER INTERFACE DESIGN, MORGAN KAUFMANN PUBLISHERS INC. SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA, 1999, ISBN:1-55860-561-4
More Information
THE E-LEARNING PLATFORM WILL BE ADOPTED TO DISTRIBUTE TEACHING MATERALS, TO COMMUNICATE WITH STUDENTS AND TO EVALUATE HOMEWORK AND INDIVIDUAL REPORTS AS WELL AS GROUP PROJECT DOCUMENTATION.
THE PLATFORM URL IS HTTP://ELEARNING.INFORMATICA.UNISA.IT/EL-PLATFORM/
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