Course Content: Reading Responses
After the first few weeks (in which we will cover basic topics in UI design), the reading assignments primarily will be research papers from recent conferences and journals. For each set of assigned research papers (there will be 13) except those that you present (see below) you will write a short (1 page or so) critical response to the reading. See the course schedule for dates that reading responses are due.
After reading each set of papers you should write a short (1-2 pages) critical response to the papers. Although you may find it tempting to respond to each paper separately, try to structure your response to integrate your discussion of all of the papers.Your response should go beyond simply summarizing the papers and critically evaluate the work in the context of what we have studied in this class. The guidelines listed on William Griswold's "How to Read an Engineering Research Paper" are excellent advice for how to read a research paper, but you should also specifically relate the work to the UI design topics we have discussed in the first month of this class, addressing questions such as:
- What interface metaphor are the authors relying on?
- How did they incorporate traditional usability and UI design guidelines?
- What role does recognition play in the interface and does it present any unique challenges for interface design?
- In what ways did traditional UI design techniques work or not work for the interface presented?
These reading responses are vaguely specified on purpose. Exactly what you address in your reading response is up to you, but you should be sure that your response is well structured and clearly addresses salient and interesting points related to this class. Some points are more important to address than others (e.g., you should always address the paper's motivation, proposed solution, evaluation, and contributions.) If you are having trouble and feel that these responses are too open ended, please come talk to me and I will help you identify a direction for your response. Not understanding what you were supposed to do is not an excuse for a poor response.
Finally, keep in mind that these responses should be relatively short (aim for under 1.5 pages, single spaced, 12-point font, or shorter). It will be important to be concise in your writing, but also, don't go overboard with the content of your response. A short, focused response focusing on one or two main issues is better than one that tries to incorporate every issue we've talked about in class.