CONTACT INFORMATION:

Dr. Paul Marty, Assistant Professor

Office: 240 LSB
Office Hours: Tuesday/Thursday, 3:30 to 5:00, or by appointment.
Office Phone: 644-5133

The best way to reach me is by email: marty@lis.fsu.edu

This syllabus and other class information is online at: http://mailer.fsu.edu/~pmarty/lis4277

Important Note: We will be using BlackBoard (http://campus.fsu.edu) for submitting and discussing assignments. The required format for all assignments (except for Portfolio posts) is HTML. URLs to your assignments should be submitted to the appropriate discussion board. We will be discussing this requirement in class--please see me individually if this will cause any kind of problem. I have posted an instruction guide to uploading html files to your garnet account at: http://mailer.fsu.edu/~pmarty/lis4277/uploading_instructions.html

COURSE MATERIALS:

There is one required text for this course...

• Nielsen, J. (1994). Usability Engineering. Boston: Academic Press.

Additional readings will be assigned each week. These readings will either be available online or on reserve at the library (see course outline for details). We will be reading several chapters from the following books, all available on reserve at the Goldstein Library:

• Nielsen & Mack, Usability Inspection Methods
• Landauer, The Trouble with Computers
• Norman, The Design of Everyday Things
• Norman, The Invisible Computer

The following list of websites will also provide you a good source of potentially relevant sources, opinions, articles, etc.:

• http://www.useit.com/
• http://www.asktog.com/
• http://www.hcibib.org/
• http://www.hcirn.com/
• http://www.usableweb.com/
• http://www.uiweb.com/
• http://jthom.best.vwh.net/usability/usable.htm

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

This course will provide a comprehensive overview of usability analysis. It has been designed to familiarize students with both the concepts and procedures involved in usability analysis by supplementing readings with hands-on experience. At the end of the course, students will possess both the resources and skills necessary to conduct basic usability analysis and evaluation in a systematic fashion for both technical and non-technical products and systems.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

After the completion of this course, students will be able to:

• Demonstrate knowledge of the basic concepts and terminology of usability engineering;
• Critically analyze and assess an information system from a usability perspective;
• Conduct usability evaluations with or without test users;
• Effectively report the findings of usability testing and recommend improvements to product usability;
• Use feedback from usability evaluations to iteratively design and develop interfaces to information systems.

COURSE POLICIES:

Attendance policy for this course is consistent with Florida State University Policy as stated in the Bulletin. Your regular attendance at class meetings of this course is expected. Missing classes or repeated tardiness without a reasonable excuse may adversely affect your course grade. If you will not be able to attend a specific class meeting, you must let me know ahead of time.

Late work is not acceptable. Work submitted late with a reasonable excuse will be accepted especially if this is discussed with the instructor before the due date. Do not expect an incomplete for the course without substantial rationale or extreme unforeseen circumstances. If a situation arises where you will not be able to meet a deadline, you must let me know well in advance!

You are required to check your acns email accounts and the course discussion boards on a regular basis. All emails to the instructor must include a subject line that begins with the number of the course. You should set up your email account so that full user name accompanies each email (e.g. I should receive email from John Q. Smith, not from jqs4432).

GRADING/EVALUATION:

The most important criteria for grading are thoughtfulness, completeness, and quality. The effort you put into your assignments is just as important as the final outcome. It is particularly important to demonstrate the reasons why you feel the way you do. Don't just claim that something is unusable; tell me why. Don't just show me what you did to fix it; tell me why. Please make every effort to clearly present your thinking at each stage in the process.

Assignments that have not been demonstrably spell-checked, grammar-checked, and proofread for absolute nonsense will not be accepted. Unacceptable assignments will receive a zero, and may be resubmitted at the instructor's discretion. Please note that all of your work for this class must be original.

Percentage weights for each assignment are listed below. Letter grades will be allocated on a straight scale (90 and up is an A, 80 and up a B, 70 and up a C, etc.). Pluses and Minuses will be assigned at the instructor's discretion.

ASSIGNMENTS/RESPONSIBILITIES:

Please see the course assignments page at the following URL: http://mailer.fsu.edu/~pmarty/lis4277/assignments.html

The following list is provided for quick reference...

• Class Participation = 15%
• Quizzes = 7%
• Portfolio of Usability Flaws (two contributions during semester) = 8%
• Assignment 1 (September 16) = 10%
• Assignment 2a (September 30) = 10%
• Assignment 2b (October 7) = 10%
• Assignment 2c (October 21) = 10%
• Assignment 3 (November 4 through December 4) = 25%
• Final Project Presentation (December 2 and 4) = 5%

COURSE CONTENT AND OUTLINE:

Please see the course outline at the following URL: http://mailer.fsu.edu/~pmarty/lis4277/outline.html

ACADEMIC HONOR CODE:

Students are expected to uphold the Academic Honor Code published in The Florida State University Bulletin and the Student Handbook. The Academic Honor System of The Florida State University is based on the premise that each student has the responsibility (1) to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity in the student's own work, (2) to refuse to tolerate violations of academic integrity in the university community, and (3) to foster a high sense of integrity and social responsibility on the part of the university community.

Please see the following web site for a complete explanation of the Academic Honor Code.
http://www.fsu.edu/Books/Student-Handbook/codes/honor.html
http://www.fsu.edu/Books/Student-Handbook/

AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT:

Students with disabilities needing academic accommodation should: (1) register with and provide documentation to the Student Disability Resource Center; (2) bring a letter to the instructor indicating the need for accommodation and what type. This should be done during the first week of class.

For more information about services available to FSU students with disabilities, contact the

Student Disability Resource Center
Dean of Students Department
08 Kellum Hall
Florida State University
Tallahassee, FL 32306-4400
(850) 644-9566 (voice)
(850) 644-8504 (TDD)
SDRC@admin.fsu.edu
http://www.fsu.edu/~staffair/dean/StudentDisability/

(This syllabus and other class materials are available in alternative format upon request.)

SYLLABUS CHANGE POLICY:

This syllabus is a guide for the course and is subject to change with advanced notice.