March 25, 2008

Student Projects - Part 2

So as promised this is the Part 2 of opportunities for student projects at SI.

I'll focus on classes with a considerable class project. Classes with a project component are wonderful because you actually get to practice what you are learning...immediately. Projects help cement your learning, you are better able to ask more educated and insightful questions to your professor as well as building a relationship with your team and finally....you are building your resume! Can it get any better??!

Why yes it can...!
Projects also allow you to learn a lot about your peers in SI and they provide an opportunity to learn from them (your peers I mean). If you are in Human Computer Interaction, Social Computing or Incentive-Centered Design, you will have more opportunities for in-class projects (compared to Library Sciences or Archives) and you'll probably want to get involved in projects outside of class (see Student Projects - Part 1). Team projects expose you to the motivations, skills and quirks of your team members. Successful work has as much to do with the skills of the team as with their relationship with each other. Being able to calmly and effectively communicate, recognize working and communication styles (including the strengths of your teammates) will take you far...oh going out for a drink or ice cream after a productive...or non-productive meeting won't hurt either ;) ...I brings a different level of understanding!

My philosophy is first assume no harm... So your group member sent you an email that just lit your fuse and you are about to go off!
Wait!...STOP right there...explain the situation to a neutral party and get their opinion. Consider what they might have been trying to say...its surprising how easy it is to take things out of context in email. Your group member may have written in the most loving yet unclear way.

I digress!!!! Here is a list of classes with cool project opportunities!


SI requires 6 (at minimum) Practical Engagement Program points (PEP) in order to graduate. Classes that have PEP points associated with it
allow the student to apply course concepts to real world settings via projects.

Three example of this include:
SI682 Interface & Interaction Design, SI501 Contextual Inquiry (this
course is a a foundations course and it is required for all incoming MSI students...so you're taking this one buddy!) and SI622 Evaluation of Systems and Services.

Each have semester long projects where the students work with a client from the real world and develop an end product for them based on the principles learned throughout the semester. Generally, these courses are based on incorporating the user into the design of product.

Contextual Inquiry is a development methodology based on bringing the
user into the development process. The course steps the student teams
through this methodology so that we can apply it to the project we are working on. SI500 is well known to companies who recruit out of SI and they seem to respect the knowledge and experience that the students gain as a result of it.

Interface & Interaction Design incorporates contextual inquiry as well as other methods (personas, scenarios) to gather requirements for a project (The design of the interface is the focus) develop a prototype, test it and provide the prototype and any report/recommendations back to the client.

You can check out the website my team created for this class here.


Both of these courses translate directly to tasks I would encounter in the HCI field.

Evaluation of Systems & Services Is also a great class taught by Mark Newman - a very good professor. SI622 is a far more cut and dry then SI682 but uses many of the same usability methodologies. I say that because you have multiple assignments back to back almost on a bi-weekly basis so that includes completing work for the method (such as Heuristic Evaluation or Survey Design) and then writing a report (rather detailed) about how you carried out the work and what your findings were. You will be sooooo tired of writing reports by the end of the semester ;) BUT! you will have some marketable skills that will help land you that fab internship/job.

And finally let me add...taking courses with a project component is NO JOKE. If you want to die feel free to take more than two courses with a project component. If you enjoy life and the ability to smile take no more than two.

Currently I am dieing. I naively didn't review the syllabi of my classes when I registered and I have three courses with considerable projects...Have you noticed that I failed to blog regularly like I said I would back in January... So have I. ;p

I must include this caveat...It is so hard to keep you group projects to two and under because so many courses have group projects (especially those HCI related ones)....soooo uuuhm you will be busy. I'm being facetious about "dieing"- you won't! ...and I'm not either! But if you are working part-time and have multiple projects you will be busy!

If I didn't mention it already, be sure to talk to more senior students to get their perspective on what to take and how to balance your courses.

Well...Hope this helps you out. As I say to those who I speak with via email...feel free to email me or reply directly through the blog tool (by posting a comment). It's a great way for all to see your question and my response!

Cheers!

Posted by krosalia at 10:35 AM | Comments (0)

March 11, 2008

What's Happening in HCI at SI

Recently there have been a number of news posts on research projects and student activities that fall under the realm of Human Computer Interaction. I thought I'd give you all a summary of some of the cool stuff our students and faculty are up to.

First I'd like to introduce to you Mark Newman.
Mark comes to SI from...dun dun duuuuuun... The Palo Alto Research Center (PARC)! Quick side bar---PARC is pure innovative gold in the HCI and research world. If you didn't know, PARC is responsible for "30 companies and is celebrated for such innovations as laser printing, distributed computing and Ethernet, the graphical user interface (GUI), object-oriented programming, and ubiquitous computing" (PARC website). In my humble opinion, I think Mark gets multiple cool points, gold starts and IQ credits for contributing to the knowledge of that organization and we are fortunate to have him at SI!

Back to the intro... ;) Mark received his doctorate in computer science from UC-Berkeley, was employed by PARC for 7 years with a focus in ubiquitous computing and now has made his way to the School of Information.

His research still revolves around ubiquitous computing and he is actively participating in several projects. Here are two to peak your interest.


  • Connecting home networks for collaboration and trouble shooting
    (Associate Professor Mark Ackerman is also working with Mark...er Newman)

  • nDash
    Collaborative project with SI research staff Josh Palay and MSI student Tanuj Shah.
    nDash is a public visual display project that seeks aggregate data streams from blog posts, twitter feeds, research publications and even...you guessed it good 'ol Facebook pages to promote awareness of SI events and activities of SI folks. Challenges for this project include combining large amounts of data streams and organizing it within the limits of screen real estate all while keeping in mind the limits of human attention. whew! Challenging stuff right!? But what...what about the issues of adapting the display to the user? Yes, they are taking that on too!

In addition to his many research activities, Mark is the new professor of SI622: Evaluation of Systems and Services. This class is a required course for HCI students so you HCI-ers will be sure to make contact with him through this course. I'm currently taking SI622 and I think he is doing a great job! Why?
(I'm a list person so here comes the bullets)


  • Feedback for our assignments is thoughtful and detailed. He gives constructive comments (both on the positive and negative) to help improve on your work.

  • He developed a rather involved in-class exercise to simulate a user testing session. It was a pretty aggressive undertaking but after talking to students that haven't done testing and even myself that has done a bit. It provided a great introduction to what should and should not happen during such an undertaking.

  • Personable teaching style. This class is relaxed yet full of information. SI622 presents a heavy workload - sometimes deadlines can be overwhelming in combination with the rest of your classes so having a prof that understands this and the hiccups that come from working with outside clients is greatly appreciated.

Lastly, Mark participates in the HCI reading group. Each week an article or two is distributed for your consumption. On Friday students come together to discuss its importance and impact in HCI.

For more information see the News of SI article here
or Mark's website: http://newmantaylor.com/newman/


Next!
More projects related to HCI:

MichiPoster
Led by Josh Palay, an alum of the MSI program. MichiPoster provides an environment for communal discussion (including the sharing of web sites, photos of SI events, questions for the SI community etc.) without clogging your inbox. You can access MichiPoster online (www.michiposter.com) or via the touch screen located in SI North and in the student lounge in West Hall.

Visualizing Course Paths
Led by Assistant Professors Lada Adamic and Mick McQuaid.
This is an excellent example of information visualization that is tailored to the interests of SI students. Lada and Mick have created a visualization of course paths followed by MSI students which is helpful when trying to determine your own path through the SI curriculum.

Use of Aesthetics in HCI Systems
Led by Jina Huh (doctoral student), Assoc. Professor Mark Ackerman, & Robert Douglas.
This research seeks to determine the additional impact decorative art can bring to HCI systems beyond its traditional use as a way to facilitate information visualization and decoration.

Social Computing Tools
Led by Professor Paul Resnick. Paul has initiated such tools as the SI Thank Yous which is an application that allows the SI community to post and display public thank you messages. The device is located on the 3rd floor landing of West Hall and the lobby of SI North. Look for it when you come to visit!

There are many more interesting areas happening within SI.
For more information you can view the complete news article or search the people and research pages within the SI website to browse current projects and research interests of our faculty and students.

International Recognition for HCI Student Projects!
I would be remiss if I failed to mention the THREE teams at SI whose projects were accepted into the semifinals of the Computer-Human Interaction international Student Design Competition. I might add that there were only nine other teams accepted...you do the math ;)

Our teams will present to CHI via a poster session in Florence, Italy in April. Four teams will then be chosen for the final round. These teams will give an oral presentation to a panel of judges.

Projects and teams include:

doGooder: Fostering volunteer communities to serve the homeless

doGooder connects people with service opportunities while fostering volunteer retention through community encouragement. By increasing volunteer involvement, doGooder enhances the capabilities of organizations that serve the diverse needs of homeless people.

Team members (Team Emantis):


  • Jacqueline Cerretani

  • Sameer Halai

  • James Laing

  • Joshua Morse

  • Melissa Perez


Learn more:
www.emantis.com →

www.emantis.info/hifi/doGooder.html → (hi-fi prototype)


Portalis: Using an online game to support aid initiatives for the homeless

Portalis is a competitive online game that improves the flow of expert domain knowledge to case managers working with the homeless. The game also enables contributions from individuals who would otherwise not be able to volunteer because of time constraints.


Team Portalis members:


  • Ayse Buyuktur

  • David Hutchful

  • Cheng-Lun Li

  • Satyendra Nainwal

  • Natasha Sant


QR-codes for the chronic homeless

This team is developing an information system with simple interfaces that uses quick-response codes to configure cell phones to perform basic functions that will improve the delivery of services to the homeless. These functions might include setting up reminders and augmenting current data entry methods used by homeless service agencies.

Team members:


  • Ahmad K. Aljadaan

  • Kumud Bihani

  • Meseret Gebrekristos



I briefly wrote about this awesome accomplishment in a previous blog about student projects which you can find here. Read the complete news article here.


Posted by krosalia at 11:31 AM | Comments (0)