FIT5152 User Interface Design and Development - Summer semester , 2008

Caulfield

• Michael Smith

Prerequisites

Before attempting this unit you must have satisfactorily completed

FIT9004, FIT9003

, or equivalent.

Relationships

FIT5152 is a core unit in the Business Application Development of the major and an elective in the Enterprise Systems Major of the Master of Business Systems, Master of Information Management and Systems, and Master of Information Systems

Before attempting this unit you must have satisfactorily completed FIT9004, FIT9003 or equivalent.

You may not study this unit and IMS5302, CSE3030 or CSE5930 in your degree.

Unit leader

Lecturer(s) :

The lectures will provide material to stimulate discussion and debate where possible. Some reading will be required prior to the lecture.

Tutorials will involve discussions, debate, critiquing and practical activities. There will be reading that students will need to undertake for the tutorials.

Tutorial allocation

All students should register for a tutorial through Allocate+

Communication, participation and feedback

Monash aims to provide a learning environment in which students receive a range of ongoing feedback throughout their studies. You will receive feedback on your work and progress in this unit. This may take the form of group feedback, individual feedback, peer feedback, self-comparison, verbal and written feedback, discussions (on line and in class) as well as more formal feedback related to assignment marks and grades. You are encouraged to draw on a variety of feedback to enhance your learning.

It is essential that you take action immediately if you realise that you have a problem that is affecting your study. Semesters are short, so we can help you best if you let us know as soon as problems arise. Regardless of whether the problem is related directly to your progress in the unit, if it is likely to interfere with your progress you should discuss it with your lecturer or a Community Service counsellor as soon as possible.

Unit Schedule

Week	Topic	Key dates
1	Monday: Introduction, Wednesday: Theories, standards and guidelines	Tutorials and lectures commence on 05/01/2009
2	Monday: Interface design background, Wednesday: Componential design and interface design elements
3	Monday: Usability, Wednesday: Data gathering, task analysis and prototyping	Groups for Assignment 2 Finalised on 21/01/2009
4	Monday: University Holiday - No Lecture, Wednesday: User Centred design	Assignment 1, to be done in class on 28/01/2009
5	Monday: Evaluating and usability testing systems, Wednesday: The Web, Web 2.0 and other interfaces
6	Monday: Accessibility, Wednesday: Interaction
7	Monday: To be advised, Wednesday: Summary and review	Presentations for Assignment 2 on Monday &/or Wednesday, Assignment 2 report due 18/02/2009
Mid semester break

Prescribed text(s) and readings

Sharp, Rogers, Preece, (2007). Interaction Design: behond Human-computer interaction, 2nd edition. Wiley

Text books are available from the Monash University Book Shops. Availability from other suppliers cannot be assured. The Bookshop orders texts in specifically for this unit. You are advised to purchase your text book early.

Recommended text(s) and readings

Norman, D., (1990). The design of everyday things. Doubleday.

Shneiderman, B and Plaisant C. (2005). Designing the user interface. Addison Wesley.

Equipment and consumables required or provided

Students studying off-campus are required to have the minimum system configuration specified by the Faculty as a condition of accepting admission, and regular Internet access. On-campus students, and those studying at supported study locations may use the facilities available in the computing labs. Information about computer use for students is available from the ITS Student Resource Guide in the Monash University Handbook.

Study resources

Study resources we will provide for your study are:

* Weekly detailed lecture notes and details of required readings;
* Weekly tutorial or laboratory tasks and exercises ;
* Assignment specifications;
* This Unit Guide outlining the administrative information for the unit;
* The unit web site on MUSO, http://moodle.med.monash.edu.au,  where resources outlined above will be made available.

Library access

The Monash University Library site contains details about borrowing rights and catalogue searching.  To learn more about the library and the various resources available, please go to http://www.lib.monash.edu.au.

The Educational Library and Media Resources (LMR) is also a very resourceful place to visit at http://www.education.monash.edu.au/library/

Monash University Studies Online (MUSO)

• All unit and lecture materials are available through the MUSO (Monash
  University Studies Online) site. You can access MUSO via the Monash.Portal:
  http://my.monash.edu.au

Under “Online Systems” click the MUSO hyperlink

In order for your MUSO unit(s) to function correctly, your computer needs to be set up and certain programs may need to be installed such as a compatible Java version (eg version 1.5.0). This can easily be done by going to http://www.monash.edu.au/muso/support/students/browserset.html to update the relevant software.

You can contact MUSO Support by:

Jobdesk: http://jobdesk.monash.edu.au/login/index.cfm?jobdesk_id=14
Email: muso.support@calt.monash.edu.au
Phone: (+61 3) 9903-1268

Operational hours (Monday – Thursday) – local time

Australia: 8 am to 10 pm (8pm Non Teaching period)
Malaysia: 6 am to 8 pm (6 pm Non Teaching period)
South Africa: 11pm to 1pm (11 am Non Teaching period)

Operational hours (Friday) – local time

Australia: Australia: 8 am to 8 pm
Malaysia: 6 am to 6 pm
South Africa: 11pm to 11 am

Operational hours (Saturday-Sunday) – local time (Teaching and Exam Period Only)

Australia: 1 pm to 5 pm
Malaysia: 11 am to 3 pm
South Africa: 4 am to 8 am

Further information can be obtained from the following site http://www.monash.edu.au/muso/support/index.html

Unit assessment policy

The unit is assessed with two assignments, active participation in tutorials and the online discussion and a three hour closed book examination.

To pass this unit, a student must obtain :

* 40% or more in the unit's examination and
* 40% or more in the unit's non-examination assessment
and
* an overall unit mark of 50% or more

If a student does not achieve 40% or more in the unit examination or the unit non-examination assessment then a mark of no greater than 44-N will be recorded for the unit.

Further, a student MUST pass the exam, that is achieve a mark of 50% or above in the exam to be awarded a grade of C or higher.  If a student achieves more than 40% but less than 50% in the exam and has 40% or more in the non-examination assessment then a mark of no greater than 55P will be recorded for the unit.

Assignment tasks

• Assignment Task

  Title : Assignment 1: Practical design

  Description :

  In one tutorial students will design/modify some interface components to demonstrate the theories and guidelines covered to that point

  Weighting : 15%

  Criteria for assessment :

  A criteria for assessment will be provided with the assignment specification.

  Due date : During the tutorial class on 28/01/2009

• Assignment Task

  Title : Assignment 2: Evaluating for usability

  Description :

  Group assignment and presentation

  Weighting : 30%

  Criteria for assessment :

  A criteria for assessment will be provided with the assignment specification.

  Due date : 18/02/2009

  Remarks ( optional - leave blank for none ) :

  Assignment 2 is a group assignment. Groups will be organised from the start of semester and finalised, in the tutorial classes only, by 21st January 2009. No other arrangements will be allowed. Students MUST therefore attend their allocated tutorials from the first day of semester, 5th January 2009,  to acquaint themselves with other students in the tutorial.  

• Assignment Task

  Title : Online discussion and tutorial participation

  Description :

  Students will be expected to contribute to an online discussion forum and to actively participate in tutorial classes.

  Weighting : 15%

  Criteria for assessment :

  The criteria for assessment will be explained in the first lecture.

  Due date :

  Remarks ( optional - leave blank for none ) :

  Tutorials commence on the first day of semester - 5th January, 2009.

Examinations

• Examination 1

  Weighting : 40%

  Length : 3 hours

  Type ( open/closed book ) : Closed book

  
  

Assignment submission

Assignments will be submitted either during the tutorial or online submission to your tutor with the assignment cover sheet. If electronic submission is made, submit the coversheet in hardcopy to your tutor. The due date is the date by which the submission must be received/the date by which the the submission is to be posted.  The coversheet will be available on the MUSO website

Due dates and extensions

The due dates for the submission of assignments are given in the previous section. Please make every effort to submit work by the due dates. It is your responsibility to structure your study program around assignment deadlines, family, work and other commitments. Factors such as normal work pressures, vacations, etc. are seldom regarded as appropriate reasons for granting extensions. Students are advised to NOT assume that granting of an extension is a matter of course.

Requests for extensions must be made only to the unit lecturer at your campus at least two days before the due date. You will be asked to forward original medical certificates in cases of illness, and may be asked to provide other forms of documentation where necessary. A copy of the email or other written communication of an extension must be attached to the assignment submission. The length of an extension will be partly determined by when the extension was asked for. It will be assumed that students have been working on the assignment up to the point the extension was applied for.

Late assignment

Assignments received after the due date will be subject to a penalty of 10% per day and Assignments received later than one week after the due date will not normally be accepted.

Return dates

Students can expect assignments to be returned within two weeks of the submission date or after receipt, whichever is later.

Assessment for the unit as a whole is in accordance with the provisions of the Monash University Education Policy at http://www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/assessment/

We will aim to have assignment results made available to you within two weeks after assignment receipt.

Plagiarism, cheating and collusion

Plagiarism and cheating are regarded as very serious offences. In cases where cheating  has been confirmed, students have been severely penalised, from losing all marks for an assignment, to facing disciplinary action at the Faculty level. While we would wish that all our students adhere to sound ethical conduct and honesty, I will ask you to acquaint yourself with Student Rights and Responsibilities (http://www.infotech.monash.edu.au/about/committees-groups/facboard/policies/studrights.html) and the Faculty regulations that apply to students detected cheating as these will be applied in all detected cases.

In this University, cheating means seeking to obtain an unfair advantage in any examination or any other written or practical work to be submitted or completed by a student for assessment. It includes the use, or attempted use, of any means to gain an unfair advantage for any assessable work in the unit, where the means is contrary to the instructions for such work. 

When you submit an individual assessment item, such as a program, a report, an essay, assignment or other piece of work, under your name you are understood to be stating that this is your own work. If a submission is identical with, or similar to, someone else's work, an assumption of cheating may arise. If you are planning on working with another student, it is acceptable to undertake research together, and discuss problems, but it is not acceptable to jointly develop or share solutions unless this is specified by your lecturer. 

Intentionally providing students with your solutions to assignments is classified as "assisting to cheat" and students who do this may be subject to disciplinary action. You should take reasonable care that your solution is not accidentally or deliberately obtained by other students. For example, do not leave copies of your work in progress on the hard drives of shared computers, and do not show your work to other students. If you believe this may have happened, please be sure to contact your lecturer as soon as possible.

Cheating also includes taking into an examination any material contrary to the regulations, including any bilingual dictionary, whether or not with the intention of using it to obtain an advantage.

Plagiarism involves the false representation of another person's ideas, or findings, as your own by either copying material or paraphrasing without citing sources. It is both professional and ethical to reference clearly the ideas and information that you have used from another writer. If the source is not identified, then you have plagiarised work of the other author. Plagiarism is a form of dishonesty that is insulting to the reader and grossly unfair to your student colleagues.

Register of counselling about plagiarism

The university requires faculties to keep a simple and confidential register to record counselling to students about plagiarism (e.g. warnings). The register is accessible to Associate Deans Teaching (or nominees) and, where requested, students concerned have access to their own details in the register. The register is to serve as a record of counselling about the nature of plagiarism, not as a record of allegations; and no provision of appeals in relation to the register is necessary or applicable.

Non-discriminatory language

The Faculty of Information Technology is committed to the use of non-discriminatory language in all forms of communication. Discriminatory language is that which refers in abusive terms to gender, race, age, sexual orientation, citizenship or nationality, ethnic or language background, physical or mental ability, or political or religious views, or which stereotypes groups in an adverse manner. This is not meant to preclude or inhibit legitimate academic debate on any issue; however, the language used in such debate should be non-discriminatory and sensitive to these matters. It is important to avoid the use of discriminatory language in your communications and written work. The most common form of discriminatory language in academic work tends to be in the area of gender inclusiveness. You are, therefore, requested to check for this and to ensure your work and communications are non-discriminatory in all respects.

Students with disabilities

Students with disabilities that may disadvantage them in assessment should seek advice from one of the following before completing assessment tasks and examinations:

• Faculty of Information Technology Student Service staff, and / or
• your Unit Coordinator, or
• Disabilities Liaison Unit

Deferred assessment and special consideration

Deferred assessment (not to be confused with an extension for submission of an assignment) may be granted in cases of extenuating personal circumstances such as serious personal illness or bereavement. Information and forms for Special Consideration and deferred assessment applications are available at http://www.monash.edu.au/exams/special-consideration.html. Contact the Faculty's Student Services staff at your campus for further information and advice.