CSE566/666 User Centered Design of Medical Systems
CSE567/667 Developing User-Oriented Systems

Syllabus

Winter Quarter, January 9, 2008—March 19, 2008
Wednesdays 5:00-8:00 p.m., location on OGI campus WCC 403
Wednesday evenings, teleconferenced to OSHU campus at location TBD

Instructor
Jim A. Larson, Ph.D.
Larson Technical Services
16055 SW Walker Road #402
Beaverton, OR 97006

Fax (503) 645-3598
E-mail: jim@larson-tech.com

Textbook
Catherine Courage and Kathy Baxter, Understand Your Users, Morgan Kaufmann (now part of Elsievier) ISBN 1-55860-935-0, 2005

Course Description
This course explores a range of issues and methods needed to design and evaluate user-oriented software applications. Topics focus on field, ethnography, and participatory design methods, user laboratory studies, and usability testing. Students will experience a range of methods and tools that help uncover opportunities, breakdowns, and interactions that affect the design and use of computer systems. Students are challenged to evaluate the underlying perspectives of the various approaches and determine which approach or combination of approaches works best for particular problems. They apply the methods in field and classroom exercises and produce a real-world project. The intended result is to make students more effective not only at gathering relevant user-based information, but also at integrating it into the development process. 3 credits

Course Prerequisite: Knowledge of HTML so students can develop prototypes Graphical User Interfaces (Students may use any HTML generation tool such as Front Page, Dreamweaver, etc.)

Course Requirements
Students will form teams to identify the requirements, to design, and to prototype a user-oriented system by planning, conducting and documenting several sessions with subjects to identify requirements, and evaluate the prototypes of a user-oriented system.

For each session, students should follow the steps:

1. Training: In-class training (role playing, discussion) in how to use a tool.
2. Practice: Apply the method or tool to perspective users outside of class.
3. Meet with participants and apply the tool.
4. Document and Summarize: Summarize results and the advantages and disadvantages of the method in a written report to be distributed to other students in the course.

At the end of the course, students will hold a “country fair” to demonstrate their projects to other students, subjects of the various usability sessions, faculty, and local industrial experts. This will give students a chance to demonstrate what they learned during the course and receive additional feedback on their projects.

Tasks
Task A: Students enrolled in CSE566/666 will focus on the task enabling patients to capture their one temperature, blood prressure, gloclose level, and pain level.
Task B: Students enrolled in CSE567/667 will focus on the task of parents locating and communicating with children and teanagers

Teams
During the first class, teams of 2 to 3 students will be formed for the first half of the course. Each team will be responsible for completing the assignments and preparing the reports due at the beginning of class the following week. During the middle of the course the teams may be reorganized.

Subjects
During this course you will learn how to use several activities (also called tools, methods, or procedures) that involve subjects in the design and testing of computer applications. You will be asked to use the each activity with real subjects. After using each activity, you will be asked to explain what you learned about the subjects when using the tool. You will also be asked to evaluate the method or tool by enumerating its strengths and weaknesses. After completing this course, you should be able to select and use tools that are appropriate to any computer application.

Complete the following “subject profile” for each subject:

1. Subject’s name (use a factious name to keep information about the subject confidential)
2. Subject’s age
3. Subject’s gender
4. Subject’s occupation
5. Subjec’'s formal education
6. Subject’s experience with computing
7. Other info about the subject that you think is relevant to the project

Each team will be responsible for recruiting subjects for interviews and experiments. Do not use your family members and close friends as subjects. Do not use other computer science students as subjects.

Written Results and Evaluation Report Format

Students should document the results of each tool they apply. Each resulting report should be no longer than 2 typewritten pages (with actual data attached to the report) containing the following information:

1. Names of all team members
2. Name and brief description of ativity (including any variations or modifications to the tool as it was applied).
3. Brief analysis of the data
4. Conclusions (or models) based on the data
5. When to use this tool
6. Advantages of using this tool
7. Disadvantages of using this tool
8. Other comments
9. Attach raw data to the report

All actual data should be attached to the 2 typewritten pages for later review.

Course Grading

• The final exam is worth 100 points.
• The weekly quizzes are each worth 10 points. (The lowest quiz score is dropped.)
• Each homework assignment is worth 10 points.
• Each project is worth 50 points. Projects are due at 5 p.m. on the due date. Late projects will loose 10% of the possible points each day it is late.
• The final examwill be closed book. Cheating during the quizzes or exams will result in no credit for the course.
• The final grade will be assigned as follows:
  • Students earning more than 90% of the possible points will earn a course grade of A.
  • Students earning between 80% and 89% of the possible points will earn a course grade of B.
  • Students earning between 70% and 79% of the possible points will earn a course grade of C.
  • Students earning less than 70% will not earn credit for the course.

No late reports will be accepted. (If you are not able to attend class, make sure your team mate turns in reports. Alternatively, reports may be mailed, e-mailed, or faxed to instructor.)

Weekly Schedule

Class cancellation: In the event of bad weather or other unforeseen circumstances, the instructor will telephone and/or e-mail students at least one hour before the beginning of class. On bad weather days, please check you e-mail before coming to the classroom.

Sample Report

Team: Tigers (John Doe, Susan Nordman, Yu Shau Go)

Activity: Focus Group. Six adult subjects (subject profiles attached) with no computer training observed demonstrations of 3 multimodal applications: (a) calendar, (b) catalog order entry, and (c) business locator.

Brief descriptions of each application are attached. Each application was demonstrated to the focus group. Each member of the focus group was asked what they liked and disliked, and what changes they would make to each application. Finally, the focus group members brainstormed about additional multimodal applications. Observer notes form the focus group are attached.

Analysis of the data:

b. Calendar: Too complex and confusing, overloaded prompts were time consuming, tedious, and annoyed some subjects.

b. Catalog order entry: Subjects liked the verbal descriptions of products displayed on the screen. Subjects liked the speech navigational commands which did not clutter up the screen.

c. Business locator: Subjects liked that the map showed paths to the destination businesses. Verbal directions can be started and stopped by a car driver as he proceeds to the business. Subjects suggested the following new applications: foreign language training, music juke box, airline reservation

Conclusion: Focus groups are useful when prototypes can demonstrate the new capabilities so subjects understand the new capabilities.

Use this activity when prototypes are available, detailed design is not yet finalized, but there is still time to replace prototype applications by entirely new applications.

Other comments: More fun (and challenging) than ethnographic studies. More useful information per hour spent collecting data than ethnographic studies.