Human Computer Interaction

The course introduces students to the theory and applications of human computer interaction (HCI). Students should achieve an understanding of human perception and psychology related to HCI, as well as learn about concepts and methods of interactive systems. The course builds on theoretical principles and numerous examples from research and practice.

Thematic priorities are:

• Goals and fundamentals of human computer interaction
• Human perception and cognition: fundamentals, preattentive perception
• Relations between psychology and interaction design
• Hardware used for man-machine interaction (I/O-devices)
• Human-centered approaches
• Usability: definitions and standards, measuring usability
• User Analysis – User Modeling, Task Analysis – Task Modeling
• Interaction models, interaction styles
• Scalability
• Interaction metaphors: basics, examples
• Evaluation: methods, techniques, basics

In the exercises, the lecture topics will be deepened and expanded. For this, the students work through current, lecture-related publications of the most important HCI conferences (e.g., CHI, UIST, IUI, Interact). Second, the prototypical implementation (from paper mock-up to concrete implementation, e.g., in Flash or HTML5) and evaluation of user interfaces is practiced in small groups.