76-887 On-Line Information Design

Units: 9.0 Department: English Prerequisites: 76-870 and (51-761 or 51-762) Cross-listed: 76-487 Related URLs: http://hss.cmu.edu/HTML/departments/engl This course introduces students to issues and practices in the design of on-line information. The primary focus will be on the design of textual information, though issues in on-line design for other media such as pictures, sound, animation and video, will be discussed, especially as they relate to the integration of text and these media. The course has five interrelated goals: (1) To introduce students to the major theories, methodologies, and practices in on-line information design. (2) To acquaint students with the research evidence about the effectiveness of various designs. (3) To develop students' skills in evaluating particular on-line information designs. (4) To develop students' ability to solve design problems involving on-line information. (5) To develop background knowledge necessary to succeed in the interdisciplinary world of information design. Topics will include theories about readers (e.g., models of how people read, models of their information-seeking behaviors) and their implications for how to design on-line information; methodologies (e.g., interviewing people about their information uses and needs; evaluating the effectiveness of designs to meet those needs); design practices (e.g., user-centered, participatory, iterative design) in the context of various on-line information genres (on-line books, magazines, forms, tables, help, search interfaces, etc.). Special topics may include virtual communities, information filtering, collaborative filtering, etc. There will be a class project involving the World-Wide Web as well as individual homework assignments and readings. See http://muffin.hss.cmu.edu/76-487-887/ for the S01 course.

Popularity index Rank for this semester: #284 Rank in this department: #19   Students also scheduled 60-453 Advanced PDP: Painting 76-888 On-Line Information Design Lab 60-415 Advanced ETB: 3-D Animation 98-000 Student Taught Courses (StuCo): Tea... 82-135 Intensive Elementary Chinese 05-600 HCI Pro Seminar 98-011 Student Taught Courses (StuCo): Fig... 05-610 Introduction to Human-Computer Inte... 05-601 HCI Seminar 60-450 Advanced PDP: Drawing

Spring 2005 times

Sec	Time	Day	Instructor	Location
A	1:30 - 2:50 pm	T	Instructor TBA	TBD TBD
		R	Instructor TBA	TBD TBD