CS2013-final-report

Human-Computer Interaction, Stanford University
Offered Coursera.org
Scott Klemmer
srk@cs.stanford.edu
hci-class.org
Knowledge Areas that contain topics and learning outcomes covered in the course
Knowledge Area
Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) 7
Total Hours of Coverage
Where does the course fit in your curriculum
This course is a free, public, online class based on Stanford’s introductory HCI course. There are no prerequisites.
Enrollment numbers from the last three offerings of the class: 54,270 students, 87,725 students, 33,825 students.
What is covered in the course
Short-form description: Helping you build human-centered design skills, so that you have the principles and
methods to create excellent interfaces with any technology.
Long-form description: In this course, you will learn how to design technologies that bring people joy, rather than
frustration. You'll learn several techniques for rapidly prototyping and evaluating multiple interface alternatives --
and why rapid prototyping and comparative evaluation are essential to excellent interaction design. You'll learn how
to conduct fieldwork with people to help you get design ideas. How to make paper prototypes and low-fidelity
mockups that are interactive -- and how to use these designs to get feedback from other stakeholders like your
teammates, clients, and users. You'll learn principles of visual design so that you can effectively organize and
present information with your interfaces. You'll learn principles of perception and cognition that inform effective
interaction design. And you'll learn how to perform and analyze controlled experiments online. In many cases, we'll
use Web design as the anchoring domain. A lot of the examples will come from the Web, and we'll talk just a bit
about Web technologies in particular. When we do so, it will be to support the main goal of this course, which is
helping you build human-centered design skills, so that you have the principles and methods to create excellent
interfaces with any technology.
What is the format of the course
The class is online, spanning 9 weeks. For the first 7 weeks there is approximately 1 hour of recorded lecture content
to view. In the last offering, we experimented with online studios, in which students with similar project topics
shared and gave feedback to each other on a weekly basis via Google Hangouts. We also had weekly lecture
screenings, in which the teaching staff would screen that week’s lectures on Google Hangouts and invite students
who were interested in joining and watching simultaneously. We also encouraged students to form their own online
and in-person study groups.
How are students assessed
There are three “tracks” for this course:
Apprentice track:
Four quizzes (100%). Students who achieve a reasonable fraction of this (80% or higher) will receive a statement of
accomplishment from us, certifying that you successfully completed the apprentice track. To complete the
apprentice track, we suggest committing 4-5 hours a week.
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