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Teaching the empirical approach to designing human-computer interaction via an experiential group project

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Published:01 March 1998Publication History
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Abstract

Empirical research plays an important role in the design of user-interfaces and is frequently included in university courses on human-computer interaction. For instance, the ACM SIGCHI guidelines refer to the importance of empirical research, although they do not specify how this approach to user-interface design should be taught. In an Honours (fourth-year) course at the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, the theoretical foundation of empirical research is augmented with a real experience of running a simple experiment. This experiment is planned, executed and analysed by the class as a whole. This paper describes the type of empirical studies carried out and discusses the benefits and limitations of such studies in this educational context.

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        • Published in

          cover image ACM SIGCSE Bulletin
          ACM SIGCSE Bulletin  Volume 30, Issue 1
          Mar. 1998
          376 pages
          ISSN:0097-8418
          DOI:10.1145/274790
          Issue’s Table of Contents
          • cover image ACM Conferences
            SIGCSE '98: Proceedings of the twenty-ninth SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education
            March 1998
            396 pages
            ISBN:0897919947
            DOI:10.1145/273133

          Copyright © 1998 ACM

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          Association for Computing Machinery

          New York, NY, United States

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          • Published: 1 March 1998

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