Appreciating Technology and Understanding Science Through Usability Studies

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Computer Science (31)This project is developing two courses on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), one for a general-education audience and one for Computer Science (CS) majors, in which students learn about and practice methods of empirical study ranging in rigor from exploratory studies to hypothesis-testing experiments. Because so many business and public policy decisions are made based on evaluation of empirical results, it is vital that all students, no matter their major, have an understanding of the methods of empirical work and how it is reported so they are better prepared to make and evaluate such decisions. The course provides a unique opportunity for students to learn about these methods in the context of problems with which the students are already familiar from their daily lives. Students carry out empirical studies on existing artifacts and they learn ways to rigorously evaluate their usability. They also work to design new artifacts and develop experiments to measure the usability of their designs compared to various alternatives. Alumni of this course are able to understand empirical approaches and appreciate the usability of well-designed artifacts.