You will gain an overview of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), with an understanding of user interface design in general, and alternatives to traditional "keyboard and mouse" computing; become familiar with the vocabulary associated with sensory and cognitive systems as relevant to task performance by humans; be able to apply models from cognitive psychology to predicting user performance in various human-computer interaction tasks and recognize the limits of human performance as they apply to computer operation; appreciate the importance of a design and evaluation methodology that begins with and maintains a focus on the user; be familiar with a variety of both conventional and non-traditional user interface paradigms, the latter including virtual and augmented reality, mobile and wearable computing, and ubiquitous computing; and understand the social implications of technology and their ethical responsibilities as engineers in the design of technological systems. Finally, working in small groups on a product design from start to finish will provide you with invaluable team-work experience.

Students enrolling in this course should come with curiosity, eagerness to learn and discuss new ideas, as well as enthusiasm for working with a group of peers from diverse backgrounds. There will be and a strong emphasis on communication throughout the course. As noted below, the workload in this course is substantial. You have been warned.

Many students have commented that this should be a 6-credit course. But it's not.
(from a 2004 on-line course evaluation): "I do know that I have worked harder in this course than in some 5 credit courses I have taken and probably will not do as well. This is more than made up by the interesting content of the course and overall quality of the lectures. Someone just interested in their GPA would be better off just sitting in on the lectures if they could."
(from a non-student's comment): "I do remember students who took your classes. They were clearly divided as those who complained saying that you were a hard grader and expected them to do work, and those who were appreciative for the hard work and what they learned. All those who were willing to do work thought you were a great educator." (Full disclosure: Not all students agree with that comment.)

If you're a regular ECSE student, you already know the drill. Non-ECSE students wishing to enroll in this course must submit a brief statement to me, summarizing your relevant background, reasons for taking the course, what you expect to contribute, and what skills or experience you hope to gain from it. Graduate students wishing to enroll should select ECSE-689, confusingly named as "Recent Advances: Electrical Engineering 2". Note that for graduate credit, an additional project component or small seminar project will be required as a part of your term grade.

Each week, selected readings, all available on-line, will be assigned. As such, there is no official text required for the course, although many good HCI references are available, some on reserve in the Schulich library. Students are expected to complete their assigned readings each week. Note that you must be logged on to a McGill computer system (e.g., via VPN) in order to download the readings from the ACM web site.

Your marks will be based largely on the term project (55%), which includes an end-of-term presentation, in-class and take-home exercises (10%), a final examination (30%), in addition to participation and contribution to in-class and on-line discussions (5%). The term project will be done in groups -- ideally two-to-three students per group. Each member must take on a primary responsibility of at least one component and identify his or her role. While team members may work together on multiple aspects of the project and are encouraged to do so, specific responsibilities of each member must be delineated. If you're a grad student taking the 600-level version of the course, an additional project-related component will comprise 20% of your grade.

All assigned work is due at the start of class on the assigned date. At that time, a web agent will collect all of the material from the project web pages and copy it to a private directory. You may continue to modify your web pages beyond the deadline, but any such changes will not be seen by the marker. In cases of illness or other compelling reason warranting an extension, the group must notify the instructor at least one week in advance of the due date, in order to make special arrangements. Barring such advance notice, no credit will be given for late work.

Your instructor values it. Google my name with "academic integrity".