Learning Partnerships, Unit Catalogue 2008/09 |
AS20106 Human computer interface |
| Credits: 5 |
| Level: Intermediate |
| Academic Year at Cirencester College |
| Academic Year at City of Bath College |
| Academic Year at Weston College |
| Academic Year at Wiltshire College |
| Assessment: CW 100% |
| Requisites: |
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Aims: To give learners the opportunity:
* To gain an understanding of the importance of and significant role played by the human computer interface (HCI) * To understand the importance of HCI in the design and development of safe, usable and efficient software * To understand the need for different HCIs for different user groups. Learning Outcomes: At the completion of the unit, learners should be able to : * Describe the latest HCI developments and the applications and user groups to which they are suited * Describe the different user groups and the way they interact with different interfaces * Produce different designs for interfaces using established HCI rules, guidelines and heuristics * Evaluate existing HCIs for usability, functionality and overall efficiency. Skills: Practical skills - interface design skills taught and assessed Personal skills - time management, personal organisation, independent research, problem solving - facilitated Communication skills - oral presentations, demonstrations, written reports - facilitated and assessed. Content: History of HCI * How the topic has developed and grown in importance Current developments in HCI * Hardware developments i.e. screens, keyboards, pointing devices, complete range of input/output devices, speech/face/hand/iris recognition Different user groups * Novice, regular, expert, visually impaired, blind, physically disabled, special needs How users interact with computers * Models of users, human memory, cognition, perception, attention, skills acquisition, use of metaphors Ergonomics, Health and safety considerations * Lighting, seating, office environment, RSI, legal implications Workstation environment * The 'ideal' workstation environment Prototyping * Rapid prototyping, low fidelity vs. high fidelity, selection of tools/methodology Evaluation of HCIs * Task analysis, measuring of usability, functionality. Use of metrics to measure performance, efficiency and user satisfaction. |