CSE 518 Foundations of Human Computer Interaction

Semester: Fall 2025
Time: Tue & Thu, 9:30 am - 10:50 am
Location: New Computer Science Building 120
Instructor: Dr. Xiaojun Bi
                    Office: NCS 161
                    Email: xiaojun [at] cs.stonybrook.edu
Office Hour: Tue, 10:55 am - 11:45 am

| Important Messages & News | Description | Schedule | Textbook | Grading Policy | Student Accessibility Support Center Statement | Academic Integrity Statement | Critical Incident Management |

Important Messages & News

  • Most of your questions (homework, deadlines, projects, etc.) should be publicly asked on Piazza, so that other students can benefit from the answers.
  • Any personal email to the instructor should include "[518]" in the title.

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    Description

    This course will provide an overview of the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), a discipline concerned with the design, evaluation and implementation of interactive computing systems for human use and with the study of major phenomena surrounding them. It will particularly focus on topics related to mobile computing. It will teach you guidelines, principles, methodologies, tools and techniques for analyzing, designing and evaluating user interfaces and interaction techniques. More specifically, this course will include the following topics:

  • Human Information Processing System
  • Interaction Behavior Modeling
  • Computational Interface Design
  • Interface Design Principles and Process
  • Usability Testing
  • Heuristic Evaluation
  • State-of-the-art Research in HCI

    • Goal: You will learn knowledge and skills to design, evaluate, and implement interactive computing systems and create intuitive, efficient, and user-friendly interfaces.

    Credits: 3

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    Schedule

    Subject to minor changes throughout the semester.

    Date Topic Note
    8/26 Tue Introduction to HCI - 1
    8/28 Thu Introduction to HCI - 2
    9/2 Tue Human Performance Modeling - 1
    9/4 Thu Human Performance Modeling - 2
    9/9 Tue Human Performance Modeling - 3 Project description due (Title and abstract in a one-page PDF)
    9/11 Thu Human Performance Modeling - 4 Homework 1 released
    9/16 Tue Human Performance Modeling - 5
    9/18 Thu Text Entry Systems- 1
    9/23 Tue Text Entry Systems- 2 Homework 1 due
    9/25 Thu Text Entry Systems- 3
    9/30 Tue Gestalt Laws Homework 2 released
    10/2 Thu Affordance, and Midterm Review
    10/7 Tue Midterm Exam
    10/9 Thu Biases in Decision Making
    10/14 Tue No Lecture (Fall Break)
    10/16 Thu Evaluation 1 Homework 2 due
    10/21 Tue Evaluation 2 Slides for project review due
    10/23 Thu Evaluation 3
    10/28 Tue Project Review
    10/30 Thu Evaluation 4
    11/4 Tue Evaluation 5
    11/6 Thu Evaluation 6
    11/11 Tue Evaluation 7 Homework 3 released
    11/13 Thu Trends in HCI Research
    11/18 Tue Third-quarter Exam
    11/20 Thu Project Presentation 1
    11/25 Tue Project Presentation 2 Homework 3 due
    11/27 Thu No Lecture (Happy Thanksgiving)
    12/2 Tue Project Presentation 4
    12/4 Thu Project Presentation 5 & Summary
    12/15 Mon No Lecture Project prototype and report due

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    Textbook

    There is no official textbook. The course content was developed based on the cutting edge research published in the premier HCI conferences such as ACM CHI and UIST, and the following seminal books:

  • The Design of Everyday Things (2013) by Don Norman
  • The Psychology of Human-Computer Interaction (1983) by Stuart K. Card, Thomas P. Moran, and Allen Newell
  • Doing Psychology Experiments (7th Edition, 2008) by David W. Martin

    • Grading Policy

    Subject to changes throughout the semester.

  • 20% Mid-term Exam.
          close-book exam.

  • 20% Third-quarter Exam.
          close-book exam.

  • 30% Three Individual Homework Assignments.
    The grading rubric for each assignment will be provided in the homework announcement.

  • 25% Individual Project for Research Project
         Points breakdown for project: 25% = execution (8%) + final report (8%) + presentation (5%) + project description (1%) + project review (3%).

    Grading rubric for project:


  • 5% Participation
          In class discussions

    • Student Accessibility Support Center Statementy

    If you have a physical, psychological, medical, or learning disability that may impact your course work, please contact the Student Accessibility Support Center, Stony Brook Union Suite 107, (631) 632-6748, or at sasc@stonybrook.edu. They will determine with you what accommodations are necessary and appropriate. All information and documentation is confidential.

    Academic Integrity Statement

    Each student must pursue his or her academic goals honestly and be personally accountable for all submitted work. Representing another person's work as your own is always wrong. Faculty is required to report any suspected instances of academic dishonesty to the Academic Judiciary. Faculty in the Health Sciences Center (School of Health Professions, Nursing, Social Welfare, Dental Medicine) and School of Medicine are required to follow their school-specific procedures. For more comprehensive information on academic integrity, including categories of academic dishonesty please refer to the academic judiciary website at http://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/academic_integrity/index.html

    Critical Incident Management

    Stony Brook University expects students to respect the rights, privileges, and property of other people. Faculty are required to report to the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards any disruptive behavior that interrupts their ability to teach, compromises the safety of the learning environment, or inhibits students' ability to learn. Faculty in the HSC Schools and the School of Medicine are required to follow their school-specific procedures. Further information about most academic matters can be found in the Undergraduate Bulletin, the Undergraduate Class Schedule, and the Faculty-Employee Handbook.

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