Welcome to CS 160: User Interface Design and Development!
CS 160 is the introductory course to the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI). In this class, students will learn to design, prototype and evaluate user interfaces. Unlike most classes, CS 160 will not focus on any particular set of algorithmic techniques, instead students will learn techniques for user-centered interface design (e.g., prototyping, contextual inquiry, heuristic evaluation etc). This summer, we will use front-end web development technologies (HTML, CSS and JavaScript) and a backend for prototyping.
The course features two parts: (1) five weeks of curriculum and practice, and (2) three weeks of a final project.
Curriculum and practice: For the first five weeks, lecture occurs three days a week (Monday, Tuesday, and Friday), studio once a week (Thursdays during lecture) and section occurs twice a week. While lectures and studio focus on core HCI concepts, sections reinforce these concepts and help students improve technical skills. Outside of class, students will work individually or in pairs on weekly projects. Weekly projects allow students to engage in the design cycle and develop technical skills.
Final project: Using design methodologies and technical skills learned during the first five weeks, students will work in groups for the last three weeks to ideate, prototype and implement a final project. Students will choose their own design methodologies and project topic within a theme. During the last three weeks, final project studio will take the place of lecture and studio. Final project studio provides in-class time for teams to work together and receive feedback from course staff.
The instructors for this summer’s CS 160 course are Sarah Sterman and Andrew Head.
On this website, you can find the schedule of topics and course policies, and below, projects deadlines and readings, as well as office hours.
Upcoming Project Checkpoints
This is the authoritative list of upcoming deadlines. Come to lecture and check on this list regularly for updates.
Week 1 |
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Mon, June 24 — 11 am |
reading
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Tue, June 25 — 10 am |
project 1
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design
prototype
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11 am |
reading
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Wed, June 26 — 10 am |
project 1
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evaluate
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Thu, June 27 — 10 am |
project 1
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prototype
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project 1
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evaluate
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11 am |
reading
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reading
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Fri, June 28 — 10 am |
project 1
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slip ok
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prototype
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Week 2 |
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Mon, July 1 — 10 am |
project 1
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slip ok
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prototype
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project 1
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slip ok
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prototype
evaluate
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Tue, July 2 — 10 am |
project 2
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design
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11 am |
reading
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11 pm |
project 2
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evaluate
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Fri, July 5 — 10 am |
project 2
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design
prototype
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project 2
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evaluate
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11 am |
reading
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reading
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Week 3 |
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Mon, July 8 — 10 am |
project 2
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evaluate
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Tue, July 9 — 10 am |
project 2
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slip ok
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prototype
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project 2
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slip ok
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prototype
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project 2
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slip ok
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prototype
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11 am |
reading
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Wed, July 10 — 10 am |
project 2
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design
prototype
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Thu, July 11 — 10 am |
project 2
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evaluate
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11 am |
reading
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Fri, July 12 — 11 am |
reading
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Week 4 |
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Mon, July 15 — 10 am |
project 2
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slip ok
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prototype
evaluate
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11 am |
reading
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Tue, July 16 — 10 am |
project 3
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design
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project 3
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design
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11 am |
reading
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project 2
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evaluate
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11 pm |
project 3
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evaluate
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Thu, July 18 — 10 am |
project 3
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design
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project 3
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design
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project 3
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design
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project 3
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evaluate
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Fri, July 19 — 10 am |
project 3
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design
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Week 5 |
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Mon, July 22 — 10 am |
project 3
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design
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project 3
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prototype
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project 3
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design
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11 am |
reading
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11 pm |
project 3
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design
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Tue, July 23 — 10 am |
project 3
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slip ok
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prototype
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project 3
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slip ok
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prototype
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11 am |
reading
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11 pm |
project 3
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evaluate
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Fri, July 26 — 10 am |
project 3
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prototype
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project 3
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evaluate
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project 3
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evaluate
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Sun, July 28 — 12 pm | ||||
Week 6 |
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Mon, July 29 — 10 am |
project 3
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slip ok
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evaluate
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11 am |
reading
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Thu, August 1 — 10 am |
project final
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design
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11 am |
project final
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11 pm |
project final
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design
prototype
evaluate
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Fri, August 2 — 11 am |
reading
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reading
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Week 7 |
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Tue, August 6 — 11 am |
project final
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11 pm |
project final
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design
prototype
evaluate
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Thu, August 8 — 11 am |
project final
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Fri, August 9 — 10 am |
project final
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design
prototype
evaluate
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11 am |
project final
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Week 8 |
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Mon, August 12 — 11 pm |
project final
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design
prototype
evaluate
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project final
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design
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Tue, August 13 — 11 am |
project final
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Thu, August 15 — 10 am |
project final
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evaluate
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project final
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evaluate
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11 am |
project final
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04 pm |
project final
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evaluate
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project final
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evaluate
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project final
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evaluate
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Fri, August 16 — 11 pm |
project final
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evaluate
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09 am |
project final
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prototype
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Sat, August 17 — 01 pm |
project final
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Sections and Office Hours
There are two sections per week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays in Soda 320. On both days, section time is 2 - 3 pm, 3 - 4 pm, or 4 - 5 pm. There is no section on July 4th. Refer to the syllabus for section topics.
Office hours for the class are the following.
Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
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Andrew Head | Forrest Huang | Eric Yao | Sharanya Soundararajan | Sarah Sterman |
2 - 4 pm, Soda 411 | 9 - 11 am, Jacobs 310 | 1 - 3 pm, Soda 411 | 5:30 - 6:30, Soda 341B | 1:30 - 3:30 pm, Sutardja Dai Hall 143 |
Sona Dolasia | ||||
3 - 5 pm, Soda 411 |
Credits for this course
The syllabus, lecture slides, web content, and assignments of this course are only the most recent iterations of a long history of HCI classes. This iteration of the course, at the very least, draws from prior course materials by Amy Pavel, Cesar Torres Torres, Björn Hartmann, Eric Paulos, Valkyrie Savage, Maneesh Agrawala, Scott Klemmer, John Canny, and James Landay.