Education and Design: Using Human-Computer Interaction Case Studies to Learn

Hobby, Laurian and McCrickard, Dr. D. Scott (2006) Education and Design: Using Human-Computer Interaction Case Studies to Learn. Technical Report TR-06-19, Computer Science, Virginia Tech.

Abstract

Computers are essentially an ever-present tool that can be used in almost any discipline to make work faster and easier. Creating these programs, however, such that they fulfill the needs of the customer is a challenging process given the uniqueness of the discipline and circumstance. Thus, the use of a programming design methodology can enable the computer program designer to create a better system that meets the needs of the customer. Teaching this process, or in essence how to design, is the focus of this work. In this paper we present how using case studies in Human-Computer Interaction, and more specifically displaying the evolution of a case study, increases a designer’s ability to learn and then apply this knowledge. We investigate how to use this design evolution within case studies and the effects it had on application, while also exploring how case studies can be used in educating computer scientists.