Final Exam Topics
Note:This is the final exam study guide. It's not intended to be complete, but it should give you an idea about the scope and type of material covered on the final exam.
The final exam will be a closed-book, closed-notes examination. No electronic devices, notes, or other materials may be used. I expect relatively short answers or lists of bullet points. Below are areas to study, with a few general guidelines and example questions.
- Be familiar with the material in all the papers listed on the
class Web page. You are not responsible for material
marked Optional. Be able to identify and describe general
concepts covered in these papers.
- Sample question: What does Beaudouin-Lafon mean by instrumental interaction? How does this differ from more conventional views of HCI?
- Be able to analyze an interface or device in terms of its usability.
- Be able to define common terms in HCI (e.g. direct manipulation).
- Be able to diagram the Model Human Processor, its structure and how its components are parameterized. Be able to describe the general characteristics of human cognitive processing, structurally and procedurally.
- Be able to specify Norman's Execution/Evaluation Action Cycle (EEC). For a given example, be able to explain how the EEC applies.
- Be able to describe different interaction paradigms.
- Be able to describe, define, and decompose different design principles.
- For a given interaction style, be able to describe it, to give examples of guidelines in building interfaces using the style, and to summarize its advantages and disadvantages (i.e., situations in which a given style is appropriate or inappropriate, based on the characteristics of the task and the user.)
- Be able to use the vocabulary of implemented interactive systems
correctly and be able to perform small design tasks on the fly.
- Sample question: An interface must provide users with a list of ten items from which they can choose one or more. [For a given platform], provide two alternative designs for this functionality and identify the strengths and weaknesses of each.
- Be able to produce or explain a given keystroke-level model.
- Sample question: Consider [a given task]. Devise a KLM that represents this task. What assumptions have you made?
- Be able to produce a standard formal notation (e.g. a state machine) for a given scenario. Be able to decide on appropriate abstractions and simplifications, if necessary.
- Be able to identify and apply Nielsen's and Shneiderman's heuristics for interface design.
- For a given user interface, shown in a screen shot, and a given task to be carried out by a user with known characteristics, be able to critique the match between the interface, the task, and the user.