welcome [cs 422]

We position human needs and desires at the forefront of the design of computing. We focus on user experience. We develop the role of computing in human terms, as communication, through interaction.

This foundational methods course is project-based. Projects are performed by student teams. The human-centered projects are rooted in user exerpience (UX).

We learn about what it means to design. We focus on interaction design, on principles that enable understanding how to build usable and even enjoyable interfaces. We learn just enough visual design, addressing color and space.

We realize how data is key for designing human experience. We pay attention to human tasks and, more broadly activities. We learn to gather and analyze data about human needs, as people engage in activities.

We use this data to drive the conceptualization, design, and development of computing systems. We formulate requirements and scenarios based on the data. We perform iterative design and prototyping processes. We invoke qualitative and quantitive evaluation methods, gathering and analyzing data to motivate and validate design, to develop understandings of, "Does it work?".

We learn fundamentals of UI programming, such as using event handling to read and use data from sensors such as the mouse.

We use computing to create new forms of human experience.

Note: this course is English language reading and writing intensive. Critical thinking is vital.