Utilizing the PDA as a Vehicle for User Interface Design Pedagogy
Michael E. Battig · EdMedia: World Conference on Educational Media and Technology · 2002
As computing and embedded systems become ubiquitous in our world, the importance of user interface design knowledge increases in our curriculum. Students of undergraduate information systems or computer science programs should possess some competence in this computing sub-discipline. However, many programs do not have the curricular space to host a separate course in usability or user interface design. To address this concern, results and observations of incorporating user interface design pedagogy in the context of a software engineering project course are presented. The project centers around a data collection application to be hosted on a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). The application has significant constraints concerning usability and human factors that provide a rich context for teaching and demonstrating user interface design concepts. An appendix highlights the evolution of the actual interface developed by one of the development teams. The user interface design changes were the result of feedback that students received from four sources: course materials on usability, direct instructor feedback, fellow classmate feedback, and outside-the-course student feedback. (Contains 10 references.) (Author/AEF) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. 1 PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY