Integrating Usability Engineering into the Computer Science Curriculum

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Integrating Usability Engineering into the
Computer Science Curriculum

• A Proposal

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Have you ever

• Forgotten how to use features on cell phone?
• Had trouble finding something on a web site?
• Had problems using MS Word?

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Facts

• Standish Group
• 1994 16 of 9000 project surveyed met the
  criteria for success (completed on time, on
  budget with all features/functions)
• 1998 26 were successful
• Success contributors
• User involvement
• Executive support
• Clear business objectives
• Experienced management

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To many users, the interface is the product!
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What is a good interface?
CHROM fx-5000
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Issues

• GUIs how users interact and communicate
• Great diversity in users and user experience
• Globalization and internationalization
• Time vs. money vs. responsibility

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What do the new-age developers need to know?

• Its not about them!
• How to effectively build in interaction
• Understand the users behavior, perceptions, what
  and how they do a task
• Usability is everyones responsibility! (a team
  effort)

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Waterfall Model
Requirements Specification
Analysis
Design
Coding
Testing
Maintenance
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Integration of Usability Engineering Concepts

• CS1
• Introduce UE life cycle
• Lab exercises reinforce who the users are
• Assign different target audiences

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Parallel courses

• HCI 1 Psychology of the user (4)
• Cognitive psychology
• Mental models
• GUI design principles
• Organization, attention, perception, etc.
• CS2
• Reinforce HCI 1 concepts in assignments

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Parallel courses

• HCI 2 Principles of UI Design and
  Implementation (2)
• Interaction styles
• Heuristic evaluation
• Prototyping
• CS3
• Reinforce HCI 1 and 2 concepts in lab exercises
  and projects

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• CS4
• Usability test and modify GUI based on results
• SE
• Perform requirements analysis from a usability
  perspective
• Usability goal setting
• User and task analysis
• Extensive usability testing
• Adding globalization
• Select appropriate GUI tools
• Later courses should reinforce HCI concepts

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Usability concepts to be internalized
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• Involve the user throughout the entire process
• Allow usability and users needs to drive the
  design decisions
• Work in teams that include skilled usability
  specialists, interface designers, and technical
  communicators
• Set quantitative usability goals early
• Test with user often and thoroughly

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To make it happen

• CS commitment
• Tradeoffs which topics to cut?
• HCI education of CS faculty
• Are 1st year students mature enough?
• Course coordination
• Textbooks

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In conclusion

• Integrating Usability throughout CS curriculum is
  essential to the development of better software