The Design of Graphic User Interfaces: Home Page

This is the home page for CSC 5855 The Design of Graphic User Interfaces. This is not a course on programing in Visual C++, OWL, X-windows, Java or even the MAC interface. Rather it is intended to provide a basis on which you can build when you come to work with any of these (or other systems).

Emphasis in this course is on design principles that will lead to programs with graceful, uncluttered user interfaces. To this end the course considers the following topics

1. Cognitive Issues in Graphic user interfaces, particularly user modelling;
2. Graphic Design and Style Issues;
3. Devices and Response Time
4. The Design Process
5. System Architectures for GUI's;
6. Event driven Programs for Graphic user interfaces;
7. Window Implementations.

There are several books that I have found useful in preparing this material. The following is a partial list.

• Designing the User Interface. Ben Schneiderman. 2nd Edition. Addison-Wesley 1992.
• Designing Object Oriented User Interfaces. Dave Collins. Benjamin Cummings 1994.
• Windows Wisdom. Leendert Ammeraal. John Wiley 1993.
• The Humane Interface. Jef Raskin. Addison-Wesley 2000.
• The Design of Everyday Things. Donald A. Norman. Doubleday/Currency 1990
• Further references

Other Materials

• Course Expectation
• Assignment Formats
• Samples of Student Assignments 1995- 8.