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Humans, Computers, and Cognition |
{% include pdf.html %} How can you as an interaction designer positively affect what a user thinks and does? This course will introduce you to a range of concepts, theories, and empirical methods from social psychology, linguistics, cognitive science, and neurobiology. These theoretical underpinnings will enable you to better predict under what conditions user confusion or miscommunication may occur and potential strategies for repair. They will also provide you foundational tools for creating more positive and persuasive interactions.
Overarching questions we will address together:
- How can you use knowledge of how people process information to design more usable interfaces?
- How can you use knowledge of how people communicate to design less confusing interactions?
- How can you use knowledge of how people think to guide behavior?
Some beliefs we will examine closely include:
- We believe our senses (what we see, is what we believe)
- We believe we are rational beings
- We believe our thinking is largely conscious
- We believe what we say to be largely unambiguous
- We believe we make our own decisions
We will question these basic beliefs and show how they sometimes get us into trouble in communications design -- and also how we can use them to advantage.
Weekly Reading and Writing Assignments: Each week will include one or more readings of a topical nature. Students are expected to compose a short journal entry on that topic. 45% (5 points each, 1 point deducted for each day late)
Critical Review: Each student will write a short, critical review of a scientific article. A list of articles to choose from will be provided. (10 points/percent. 1 point deducted for each day late)
Presentation (Critical Review): During the course of the semester, each student will present her/his critical review to the class. (5 points/percent)
Case Study: Each student is required to complete a course project and present that project to peers at the end of course. The project is a case study with a focus on persuasive design. (30 points spread (20/10) across two deliverables - a written template and poster presentation)
Participation: Class participation on Slack and via Zoom. Excessive absence without pre-coordination will result in lost points. (10 points/percent)
Students will be able to:
- Critically review scientific papers and communicate key findings to peers.
- Communicate how theories of cognition and information processing apply to the design of interactive media.
- Understand when and how to apply key research methodologies used in the study of Human Computer Interaction (HCI).
- Propose and describe methods for testing a hypothesis centered on behavior change in interaction design.
- In the form of a case study, create a persuasive design and discuss the science behind it. Present your work in a poster session as you would at a real conference.
Inclement weather policy: Because Zoom is an option, we will communicate the day of class whether we hold class on Zoom instead of in the classroom depending on forecasted conditions.
| Date | Topic | Lab | Readings | Assignments Due |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 Jan | Introduction & getting started | Github, On being an ethical designer | Video: Dark Patterns, https://darkpatterns.org | |
| 4 Feb | HCI research methodology (Experimentation) | Reading and presenting scientific papers | Mabson et al., Price Ch. 9, Choose article | Case study idea |
| 11 Feb | HCI research methodology (Surveys and ethnography) | Your ethnographic study | Selected paper | Critical review |
| 18 Feb | How do we know what we see? (Sense & perception) | Case study template; Who is your user? | Ware Ch. 1-4 or Johnson Ch. 1-5 | Journal (rubric) |
| 25 Feb | How do we know about things? (Attention, memory, priming, and learning) | What is an insight? | Ware Ch. 6-7, Johnson Ch. 7-9,11 | Journal |
| 3 Mar | CLASS CANCELLED | |||
| 10 Mar | How do feelings affect our beliefs? (Emotion, feeling, and neuroaesthics) | Defining your behavioral objective | Damasio (Ch. 7), Alt. Video, Nadal & Skov | Journal, Case study elevator pitch |
| 17 Mar | Spring Break - No Class | |||
| 24 Mar | CLASS CANCELLED | |||
| 31 Mar | How do we think? (Attention and the | |||
| divided brain) | How do you craft your message? | Kahneman 1-9 | Journal | |
| 7 April Mar | How do we understand? (Communication as joint action) | Task flows and decision-making | Conversational UX Optional: Johnson Ch. 14 | Journal |
| 14 Apr | How do we make decisions? (Heuristics and biases, uncertainty) | Touchpoints, Fogg's persuasion model | Journal 1: Kahneman Ch. 11-14, Optional: Johnson Ch. 12, Journal 2: Kahneman Ch. 26, 28, 34, Thaler and Sunstein | 2 Journal entries |
| 21 Apr | How are we influenced through persuasion? | Why should we believe your design is persuasive? Evaluating the effectiveness of your design | Oinas-Kukkonen & Harjumaa | Journal |
| 28 Apr | How does culture affect thinking? How do social networks affect behavior? | What makes a good story? Designing an effective presentation | Journal 1: Hall & Hall, Journal 2: Christakis & Fowler | 2 Journal entries |
| 5 May | Poster Session | Case Study Presentation, Templates due |
Johnson, J. (2014). Designing with the Mind in the Mind. (2nd ed.) Morgan Kaufman.
Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, Fast and Slow. Farrah, Straus and Giroux.
Ware, C. (2008) Visual Thinking for Design. Elsevier.
Ariely, D. (2010). Predictably Irrational. Harper Perennial; Revised and Expanded ed. edition.
Akerlof, G., Shiller R.J. (2015). Phishing for Phools: The Economics of Manipulation and Deception. Princeton University Press.
Cialdini, R. B. (2003). Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. Harper-Collins.
Choy, E.K. (1017). Let the Story do the Work. Amacom.
Enfield, N.J. (2017). How we talk: the inner workings of conversation. Basic Books.
Fogg, BJ. (2002). Persuasive Technology: Using Computers to Change What We Think and Do. Morgan Kaufmann.
Olson, R. (2015). Houston, we have a narrative: Why science needs story. University of Chicago Press.
Pearson, Bob. (2016). Storytizing. 1845 Publishing.
Price, P., Jhangiani, R, & Chiang, I. (2015) Research Methods in Psychology. https://opentextbc.ca/researchmethods/
Thaler,R. & Sunstein, C. (2009). Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness. Penguin Books.
Sedivy, J., & Carlson, G. (2011). Sold on Language: How Advertisers Talk to You and What This Says about You.
Weinschenk, S. (2011). 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know about People. Pearson Education.