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COMMUNITY WEB PROJECTS TO SUPPORT HUMAN-COMPUTER
INTERACTION EDUCATION
Carol Kilpatrick
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
Georgia State University
Atlanta, Georgia USA
matcek@cs.gsu.edu
Overview and Context
Rationale, goals and experiences related to class Web projects with community organizations are described. The projects
were done over the past eight months to support learning in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) classes at Georgia State
University (GSU). GSU is a large, urban university located in downtown Atlanta. HCI class size is usually 15-20
students (most students are computer science majors). Projects usually involved teams of two students and two members
from an Atlanta area organization.
Why Community Web Projects in HCI Education?
There are a number of reasons the Web is useful in HCI education. Interaction possibilities on the Web are increasing.
Students can apply results and techniques from HCI research and practice in their Web projects. They can modify and
reflect on these results and techniques within the context of the new technology of the Web. Current professional
involvement within the HCI community provides an excellent model for student involvement with usability and the
Web. Examples include workshops on HCI and the Web at CHI96 and Hypertext96, the recent symposium, The
Missing Link: Hypermedia Usability Research and The Web and the monthly Alert Box column by Jakob Nielson of
Sun Microsystems.
Project Goals and Examples
Six fundamental goals provide the framework I used for designing the structure of these HCI projects. Each goal is listed
followed by examples of how these goals were met with the community Web projects.
1. Provide student exposure to actual users. The HCI student role is to bring technical expertise about interaction and
usability to a project. The community participant role is to bring user, domain expertise. The community participants
provided concrete, relevant experience for students to test various HCI techniques associated with user-centered design.
In addition, the projects provided a springboard for consideration of social and organizational issues (important
considerations in HCI) related to the Web.
2. Provide students with experience concerning current HCI issues and methods. A goal of class projects is to
provide concrete experience that supports student understanding of course content areas. The following examples
describe HCI content areas incorporated.
One team used a technique discussed in the design of Sun's Web site. The technique is used to generate a user model of
an information space and is based on a card sorting technique outlined in the Sun Web site discussion. Several class
teams used a thinking-aloud protocol [Nielson 94] for user observation. For example, one team worked with a local
library to design a prototype document search application. They used a thinking-aloud protocol to observe use of several
similar Web-based search applications currently in use at other libraries. One class did an exercise using heuristic
evaluation [Nielson 94] and then read an article relating to heuristic evaluation of Web sites, "Guidelines for Designing
Usable World Wide Web Pages" [Borges et al. 96]. A team then led student heuristic evaluations of several student Web
applications.
Winter and summer quarters, all class teams used a software design technique based on the participatory design [CACM
93] method, PICTIVE [Muller 93, Muller et al. 95]. With PICTIVE, design team members use common office supplies
such as paper, index cards, felt-tip pens, sticky notes, etc. for group design work (see several PICTIVE-based student
examples). PICTIVE promotes mutual learning and equity in expression by all members of a design team. Students and
community participants found PICTIVE an effective communication vehicle during their Web project design.
3. Incorporate service learning. "Service learning connects young people to their community, placing them in
challenging situations where they associate with adults and accumulate experiences that can strengthen traditional
academic studies" [Service Learning 93]. Students chose projects from a variety of community organizations including,
a local geriatric center, a group involved with medically fragile children, the Georgia Lung Association, a small