PSY 341K (43192) --- Psychology of Design-W

T, Th 3:30-5:00 PM, NOA 1.116

Spring 2009 Syllabus

homepage: http://love.psy.utexas.edu/design/
Click here for a week by week class schedule.

Who Office Office Hours email
Bradley Love SEA 5.202 T 2:30-3:30; 5:00-6:00 PM (best to confirm)
 love@psy.utexas.edu
Marc Tomlinson SEA 5.108 M 2-4 PM
marctomlinson@mail.utexas.edu

General Course Description:

Here's the official description: Do you often find yourself fighting with the controls on your cell phone, computer, mp3 player, car, stove, adjustable chair, etc.? Do you ever wonder why so many accidents are caused by "human error"? Perhaps part of the problem is attributable to poor product design that does not respect what we know about human cognition. In this course, we will ponder such issues in the context of readings about product design and basic cognitive psychology. From the perspective of human-centered design, we will consider what makes for good and poor products.

In reality, we can tweak the focus of the class to the instructor's and students' interests. For example, if a student is very interested in the design of spaces (e.g., parks, shops, museums) and are proactive in helping to find suitable sources for the class, then we can consider that topic. However, the focus of this course will involve discussion of methods and results that can be empirically verified (i.e., science!). That said, there might be established ways of doings things in the design world that have never been formally evaluated, but nevertheless have stood the test of time and are highly likely to be valid. In these cases, we can run the course in the reverse direction and look for the psychology findings that are consistent with the design principle.

Format of Classes:

Class will be discussion oriented. As in most seminars, class participation is important. Students are expected to do the readings before each class and to come prepared to talk about issues related to those readings. Often, a designated student will lead discussion for a particular article. Students will bring two copies of due assignments to class so that the instructor can use the students' responses to help direct discussion (and the students can draw on their own work).
For sake of us all, please don't make me lecture! I will usually start off class with some comments and perhaps powerpoint slides, but the hope is that discussion will take over after ten minutes of framing. Of course, the instructor and TA will help guide the discussion.

Requirements:

Each class (see schedule below), Students will be graded on classroom participation and presentations (30%), short weekly writing assignments (30%), a ten page final project write-up (25%), and in class exercises/design labs (15%). Students will get feedback every few weeks about what percentage of their grade specific assignments comprise so that they know where they stand in the course. Because the structure of the course is somewhat flexible and dependent on students' interests, the exact number and nature of assignments cannot be specified at this time. Students who are engaged in class and complete their assignments on time will likely do well in the class.

Another requirement of class is to check your email somewhat frequently for course announcements. Here are some official notices.

Textbook

The Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman (ISBN 0385267746)
I believe the Psychology of Everyday Things is identical, but in hardback.

Additional Materials

Every week there will be additional readings. These readings will be available online as pdf files.

Class Schedule

Date Readings Due Assignment Due
January 20 Welcome, slides Buy the Norman book
January 22 Brad A. Myers, "Challenges of HCI Design and Implementation"
Designing a good toothbrush 		assignment
January 27 Class Cancelled
January 29 In class help with assignments.
February 3 Norman Chapters 1 and 2.
Gueckis and Love, "Short Term Gains, Long Term Pains: How Cues About State Aid Learning in Dynamic Environments" 		assignment
February 5 Keil's Folkscience assignment
February 10 Norman Chapter 3 assignment
February 12 Embodiment Reading assignment
February 17 Norman Chapter 4 assignment
February 19 Ecological Perception Reading, Action Reading assignment
February 24 Norman Chapter 5 assignment
February 26 Reasoning Reading, Schema Reading assignment
March 3 Brain-Machine Interfaces assignment
March 5 Affective Machines assignment
March 10 Norman Chapter 6 assignment
March 12 Visual Attention assignment
March 17 Spring Break
March 19 Spring Break
March 24 Catch-up
March 26 Augmented Reality assignment
March 31 Assisted Focus assignment
April 2 Adaptive Menus assignment
April 7 In class help for Thursday's assignment.
April 9 Adaptive Display assignment
April 14 Betting Living through Technology assignment
April 16 Norman Chapter 7 assignment
April 21 Personalization assignment
April 23 Reverse Engineering Humans assignment
April 28 Oral Presentations (10 min + 5 min Q/A) Presentation
April 30 No Class
May 5 Oral Presentations (10 min + 5 min Q/A)
May 7 Oral Presentations (10 min + 5 min Q/A) Final Paper due