• Course Title: Interface Design
  • Course code: VA 325
  • Course Type: CE2
  • Level of Course: 1
  • Year of Study:  3/4
  • Semester:  F
  • ECTS Credits: 6
  • SU Credits:  3
  • Name of Lecturer:  Murat Germen
  • Objective of the Course: The course is an introduction to the study and design of interfaces in general. Interfaces represent how people interact and are crucial to the success of any project as they link the projected audience to the material to be conveyed. The aim in this course is to enable students to apply the principles of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) to the study / design of useful, usable, and effective user interfaces. No programming skills are required, focus is rather on the design of an interaction type to be proposed by the student. Students will be expected to submit a design project during which they will be able to test themselves in developing a set of user scenarios, a user interaction model, a navigational / flow diagram and a prototype for an interactive application.
  • Prerequisites: No prerequisites.

·         Course Contents:

1.       Study of existing interactive systems and interface designs, a small history of Graphical User Interfaces (e.g. GUIs/computer operating systems like Windows XP or MacOS X)

2.       Psychological, perceptual (visual and auditory), metaphorical and cognitive aspects of human-computer interaction; discussion on how each culture affects the way that someone would use an interface

3.       Seeking answers to crucial questions like; What is a good user interface? What are the components of interface design? What is the right navigational model for a particular interface?

4.       Assessment of important components of interface design such as: Consistency, control, exploration, simplicity, safety, accessibility, usability, convention

5.       Interface technology (e.g., input / output devices, interaction methods, and common interface archetypes)

6.       Interface design methods and evaluation (evaluation and critique of existing systems, as well as proposing new human interfaces)

7.       Virtual communities (how people interact with each other over the Internet)

 

  • Recommended Readings:

Will be supplied / presented digitally by the course instructor in addition to books listed below:

- Donald A. Norman: “The Design of Everyday Things

- Alan Cooper, Andrew Singer: “About Face: The Essentials of User Interface Design

- Ben Schneiderman: “Designing the User Interface

- Steven Johnson: “Interface Culture: How New Technology Transforms the Way we Create and Communicate

- Stuart K. Card, Thomas P. Moran, Allen Newell: “The Psychology of Human-Computer Interaction

- Jeff Raskin: “The Humane Interface: New Directions for Designing Interactive Systems

- Jennifer Preece, Yvonne Rogers, Helen Sharp: “Interaction Design

- Kevin Mullet, Darrell Sano: “Designing Visual Interfaces: Communication Oriented Techniques

  • Teaching Methods: L, ST
  • Assessment Methods:  Participation 10 %, Class work 50 %, Final work: 40 %
  • Language of Instruction: E