Class Participation
Each class is critical to your learning experience. Your energy in
contributing to class discussions, small-group exercises, and on-going
research will be important. Therefore, coming to class prepared (e.g.,
reading all course readings, working on project research, etc.) will
be necessary to receiving full credit for class participation.
GRADING
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Class Participation
3 points x 15 class sessions |
45 points |
Online News Site Review
| 25 points |
Mid Term Paper/Presentation
| 60 points |
| Final Project/Presentation |
120 points |
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| Total |
250 points |
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Online News Site Review
You will be asked to choose an online news site to review. Use the readings we have
discussed in class to structure your written piece. It should be no longer than 500 words and should
include positive aspects and suggestions for revisions. Make sure to include a link to the website
you are reviewing! Please work carefully to produce a thoughtful well-organized, well-written piece
that makes constructive suggestions about low-level items (spelling, fonts, colors, layouts, etc.),
middle-level aspects (consistency, error handling, writing style, menu design, etc.), and
high-level concepts (information architecture, navigation, audience appeal, privacy protection,
credibility, etc.). Go to the class WIKI to submit your
piece. You must submit by 2pm Feb.15th. If it is not submitted on time that day, your grade
will be reduced by 5 points. For each subsequent day it is late your grade will be reduced by 5
points. If you have never used a WIKI, see me and we will go over a few basics.
All discussions will be graded for content, writing structure, and WIKI participation in the
following form.
Midterm Proposal & Presentation
You work for Google and you are the Director of User Happiness. Serge has decided he could like
to move Google into a completely new area of technology (he's bored with searching). Therefore,
he has asked you give him a proposal for what's next. In no more than 10 pages, but no less than 5,
offer the following:
- A user need that needs to be addressed
- Supporting information on why you know this is an important problem to solve (e.g., literature,
observation of others, personal experience, all of them...)
- Proposed methods for understanding how to satisfy this need
- Suggested timeline for implementation of solution
- Requested resource allocation
- Any refernces you have cited
All papers must be submitted to the class WIKI
between March 15-19, Spring Break week. If it is not submitted by March 19th, your grade
will be reduced by 5 points. For each subsequent day it is late your grade will be reduced by 5
points. You must also prepare a 5-minute presentation for March 22nd. It should summarize the
highlights of your Google proposal. You will be graded on your paper's content
and structure, and your summary presentation in class. The following
form will be used to assess your work.
Final Project & Presentation
You work for Smart Design a small design firm that does quite a bit of interface design and redesign for
for non-profits, government organizations, and educational eorganizations. You have been requested to do
a site visit by a new client. The week of March 29th, your interdisciplinary team will travel to the site and
begin needs analysis. Based on your data collection and work with users, develop a prototype (e.g.,
paper or midtech or interactive) and evaluate user response. In your final presentation to your client
please include:
- your process of research (e.g., needs analysis, data gathering, etc.)
- your prototype to-date
- initial findings from your evaluation
- proposed next steps for your eventual development process
The final project powerpoint presentation must be submitted by email the last day of class,
May 10th, 2pm. You will be graded on your content and structure,
and your summary presentation in class. If it is not submitted on time that day, your grade
will be reduced by 10 points. For each subsequent day it is late your grade will be reduced by 10 points.
All final projects will be graded based on the following form.
Academic Integrity
The University of Maryland, College Park has a nationally recognized
Code of Academic Integrity, administered by the Student Honor Council.
This Code sets standards for academic integrity at Maryland for all
undergraduate and graduate students. As a student you are responsible for
upholding these standards for this course. It is very important for you to
be aware of the consequences of cheating, fabrication, facilitation, and
plagiarism. Please visit the Code of Academic Integrity or the
Student Honor Council, for more information.
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