Human Computer Interaction: CPSC 544
UBC Computer Science - Fall 2009

The course project is a group exercise intended to give you hands-on experience doing HCI research. The project that has three phases:

Phase I: Project Proposal + mini presentation
Phase II: Interim Project Report + mini presentation
Phase III: Final Project Report + formal presentation

The due dates for each of the three phases is given on the 544 schedule webpage.

Your are being given substantial flexibility in the type of project that you do. The first option is to do a classic HCI project in user-centered design, prototyping, evaluation, redesign, and implementation. The following documents provide a good outline for a project of that format¹:

Phase I: Proposal
Phase II: Project Task Analysis, Low-Fi Prototyping, and Evaluation
Phase III: Project Medium/High Fidelity Prototyping and User Evaluation

Alternatively, a second option is to choose a project that focuses more heavily on only one or two aspects of the usability engineering lifecycle; for example, a thorough evaluation of an interactive system that you have already created but not yet evaluated, or a thorough exploratory study evaluating existing technology used in context. (Note that the one aspect of the usability engineering lifecycle that you are not permitted to focus on exclusively is implementation.)

Regardless of which option you choose, the project still must be done in a group of 3 to 5 students, and it must have three phases. Those groups who do the second option must explicitly state this and include in their proposal an outline of the milestones they expect to achieve for both Phases II and III.

In general, the first option is the safer option. For students who have never done an HCI project before, I would strongly recommend the first option. I would only recommend the second option if students have a specific desire to build skills in a  particular area, or if that format fits more naturally into a student's thesis research. 

In terms of project content, you are encouraged to find a topic within the themes of the course, but it is not strictly necessary. In terms of specialized equipment, we do have some, including a Smartboard, handheld devices, Graphire & CintiqTablets, Tablet PC, and Liberty tracking system. If you require any additional specialized equipment, please let me know and I will see what I can do.

The marking scheme for the project is given on the 544 assignment webpage. As an added incentive, however, you have the opportunity to achieve a grade of 90+ in the course, independent of your performance on other course deliverables, if you produce a project that I believe is of publishable quality at a top tier HCI conference². [This only applies to students who are equal contributors to a project of this quality.]

[1] Note that Phase II and III documents are still in draft form and may be revised somewhat by the time they are officially posted. They are included here simply to give you an idea of the scope of the project as a whole.

[2] You can of course achieve a grade of 90+ in the course through the regular means, namely, by achieving excellence in all components of the course.