This course is a combination programming course and design studio, and is for those who want to express their interactive ideas in working prototypes.  Students will learn how to use programming languages, how to design and implement effective GUI interfaces, and how to perform rapid, effective iterative user tests. The course will cover several prototyping tools and require a number of prototypes to be constructed in each. These will range from animated mock- ups through fully functional programs. The course will also cover usability testing of interactive prototypes. This course is intended for HCII Masters students who come to CMU with a minimal, but competent programming background. It is also appropriate for CMU HCI  undergraduate "second majors" in HCII who have had an introductory programming course. Because this course has a design studio component, class attendance is mandatory.

The course is project-based; the assignments all require implementing an interface in a prototyping system, iteratively testing that interface with real users, and then modifying the interface based on what you find. Some class sessions will be design reviews where students present their findings/modifications based on the user testing data. The students taking this course will often not be professional programmers, but will probably need to interact with programmers, and need to:

• Learn to express yourself in executable form
• Learn the basics of what is hard and easy to rapidly prototype
• Learn the basic terminology and approaches used by programmers, so you can work with them
• Experience the frustration and joy of programming a working prototype

Design and conduct informal user tests of prototypes to find flaws with your interfaces.