Course syllabus — AY2025

* Note that in rare instances, such as disruptions to transportation networks, some classes may be delivered online.

Please read the the below carefully, prior to taking this course. The onus is on students to familiarise themselves with all course policies, deadlines, and expectations outlined in this syllabus. If you have any questions about any of the below, it is your responsibility to seek clarification from the instructor.

Course overview

This course introduces and examines the theory, concepts and practices of human-computer interaction (HCI) and interaction design (IxD). Students will learn and explore the various ways in which human beings cognitively process and experience digital environments. Students will learn how these factors influence user behaviour and explore the possible interactive design solutions that can be built as a result.

This course will be delivered through a series of interactive lectures and hands-on tutorials. The course will look at various models and methods for conducting HCI/IxD experiments, such as user studies, usability testing, and protopye development. There will be one major project, one mini project, and quizzes and tests, to test your knowledge of the course material. Feedback on assignment work will be given within approximately two weeks, via Manaba. You will also be assessed on your completion of in-class activities.

Prerequisites

While there is no official prerequisite course for this class, it is strongly advised that only students who have taken the Introduction to Communication Design class (Spring semester), or have equivalent design experience, take this class. It is also helpful, though not necessary, if students have some experience with web technologies, such as HTML and CSS.

Course objectives

Students who successfully complete this course will be able to:

• Understand and describe what human-computer interaction (HCI) is and its relationship to computing technology.
• Identify, describe and analyze the various concepts and theories of human factors and interactive elements in HCI.
• Know and understand methods for conducting HCI experiments, such as user studies and usability testing.
• Apply HCI concepts and theories to prototypes of practical design solutions.

What is expected of you

By taking this course, you are committing yourself to the following:

• reading all of the course materials
• contributing to class discussions
• completing the course assessment items

It is expected that you come to class having done any necessary preparation in advance.

What to expect from your instructor

The job of your instructor is to assist you in developing your understanding of the topics, and to help you develop your academic skills more broadly. Your instructor will also grade your assessments, which will include detailed feedback where appropriate. This feedback, which may seem quite critical at times, is intended to help you improve the standard of your work. If you need help, your first port of call should be contacting your instructor — it is their job to help your learning and do all that is feasibly possible to assist you.

Contacting your instructor

Email is the best method of contacting your instructor. Please do not use Manaba for contacting your instructor outside of class hours.

Some important points about emailing:

• On weekdays, email inquiries will be responded to within 24 hours as a general rule.
• Generally, emails sent after 6pm on weekdays, on weekends, or on public holidays, will be responded to on the following work day.
• If it is the first time for you to email your instructor, make it clear which course you are writing about.
• Please use your instructor's title and surname correctly in all email correspondence.
• If your email is about the course structure, content, or assignments, it is recommended that you carefully check the course syllabus, course content, or assignment descriptions, prior to emailing your instructor.
• Recognise that emails within a university setting to your instructors or university administration staff are formal, professional correspondence, so you should treat them as such ( See a list of professional email etiquette tips here ). Emails that don’t adhere to professional email etiquette will not be responded to.

Course readings

Selected readings from:

• Johnson, J. (2021). Designing with the mind in mind: Simple guide to understanding user interface design guidelines. Morgan Kaufmann.
• Norman, D. (2013). The Design of Everyday Things: Revised and Expanded Edition. Basic Books.
• Sharp, H., Preece, J., & Rogers, Y. (2019). Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction (5th ed.). Wiley.

These texts are available in the library, but Johnson and Sharp et al. texts are also available as ebooks via the library website. While it is not necessary to purchase a physical copy of these books, you are encouraged to do so if it is a topic you wish to explore more deeply. Previous editions are also OK.

Students are expected to read assigned readings before the lectures, and should bear in mind that all course materials (including readings and lecture notes) are relevant to the assessments.

We will also refer to w3schools.com throughout the tutorial sessions as a resource on HTML and CSS.

Software

For this class, we will use Lunacy software, which is available for free on both Mac and Windows. Mac users are also welcome to use Sketch, but you are responsible for acquiring your own Sketch licence. Students who wish to use other design software should contact their instructor.

For web coding, we will use Brackets, a free and open source code editor: https://brackets.io.

Regarding electronic devices

As a general rule, you should not use electronic devices in class, with the exception of using laptops for the portion of the classes where we are doing course-related tasks. When taking notes in class, paper is best, though tablet devices are OK if you are taking notes with a stylus pen. Phones are immensely distracting to you, those around you, and your instructor(s), and it is recommended that you leave them in your bag during the class period.

Weekly schedule

Note that the below schedule will be conducted over 13 weeks, with one additional session containing a week's worth of asynchronous content.

Part I: Foundations

1. Introduction to IxD and the User Experience (UX) (Reading Sharp et al., Chapter 1; Norman, Chapter 1)
2. Interaction (Reading Sharp et al., Chapters 3 & 6)
3. Interaction (continued) [Asynchronous session] Watch: Hustwit, G. (Director) (2009). Objectified [Film]. Film First.
   https://www.facebook.com/legenki/videos/objectified/230589739046607/
4. Interfaces (Reading Sharp et al., Chapter 7)

Part II: Human users

5. Human perception and visual structure [Online session for Golden Week] (Reading Johnson, Chapters 1-3)
6. Human vision (Reading Johnson, Chapters 4-5)
7. Memory and attention (Reading Johnson, Chapters 7-9)
8. Learning, problem solving, and decision-making (Reading Johnson, Chapters 10 & 12)
   — Mini project due 5pm Monday May 26 (Tech help available in the tutorial session May 23)

Part III: Processes in IXD

9. Processes in IxD   [Online session] (Reading Sharp et al., Chapter 2; Norman, Chapter 7) — In-class test #1 in tutorial class Friday May 30
10. Data gathering, requirements; personas and scenarios (Reading Sharp et al., Chapters 8, & 11)
11. Prototyping and designing (Reading Sharp et al., Chapter 12) - Guest lecture from Professor Verl Adams in tutorial session Friday June 13
12. Prototyping (continued)
13. Evaluating Interfaces (Reading Sharp et al., Chapters 14 & 16)
14. Course review/Technical support — In-class test #2 in tutorial class Friday July 4 
    — Main project due 5pm Monday July 7

Wednesday classes will be lectures, while Friday classes will be tutorials. Please bring your PC to all tutorial sessions. Note that asynchronous content in Week 3 is material that could be covered in both of the in-class tests, so should be reviewed before the tutorial session of Week 9. The content will also be part of in-class and/or online discussion prior to the first test.

Note that this schedule may change due to unforeseen circumstances. However, the overall topics and methods of assessment will not change. Students will be notified via Manaba immediately of any changes after the commencement of semester.

Please confirm all assignment deadlines on Manaba. Students are responsible for ensuring that their own work is completed and submitted on time.

Assessments

• Main project: 35%
• Mini project: 15%
• In-class tests: 30%
• Review quizzes: 10%
• In-class activities: 10%

Further information regarding assessments

• Details of assessments, including due dates, will be announced in class. Feedback for all assessment items will be given through Manaba and, where appropriate, in-person. Feedback on assignments will generally be returned within two weeks (10 working days), unless notified otherwise.
• All written work should use APA 7 referencing format. If you are modifying code snippets that you've found, you should include a reference in your code comments of where you found the code. You can find a "quickstart" guide at http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/~haimes/publications/citation.pdf. A more comprehensive resource is the official APA 7 guide at https://apastyle.apa.org.
• Quizzes and tests cover 1-3 of the course objectives. The main project and mini project cover all of the course objectives. Engagement in class activities is also relevant to all of the course objectives.

Main project

A multi-stage design project, from conception to a working design prototype for conducting user testing.

Mini project

There will be one small project, based on themes of the course.

In-class tests

Two in-class tests will be given to test students’ knowledge of the course material. The mid-term test will be worth 10%, while the end of semester test will be worth 20%.

Review quizzes

Quizzes will be given in class to review the course material.

In-class activities

There will be several practical activities in the tutorial sessions of this course. Students will be graded based on whether they submit the work by 7pm on the day of the tutorial or not.

Late policy

Students are responsible for meeting all deadlines as set by the course instructor. If a student cannot meet the submission deadline as specified by the course instructor the assignment will be deducted 5% (per 100 marks) for each 24 hour period passed. Any submission within a 24 hour period counts as the entirety of that period. Assignments will not be accepted for evaluation if the assignment is submitted five or more days late unless specified otherwise by the course instructor. Late assignments may receive fewer comments as feedback.

Furthermore, students should realise that deadlines are not just for students, but for instructors to help manage their time. Late assignments are frankly an inconvenience, and instructors are doing you a favour when they accept work submitted late. It's expected that students provide a compelling reason why they are submitting work late.

In the case of request for a makeup assessment or extension due to extenuating circumstances, students must consult the instructor in charge of the course. In such cases, students should contact the instructor prior to the deadline or in-class assessments.

Other policies

For the full list of academic policies, refer to the GLA Academic Handbook (“for All Undergraduate Students” and “for GLA Students”) posted on manaba+R. Click here to see the Curriculum Map and Course Numbering: http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp//students/pathways-future/course/curriculum.html.

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