A Case Study: Applying Knowledge from the MsHCI Program in Industry

Speaker
Karen Cross and Keith Knudsen
Director of Usability and Project Manager, User Interface Development, Cerebellum Software

When
-

Where
Newell-Simon Hall 1305 (Michael Mauldin Auditorium)

Description

The Masters of HCI program at CMU teaches a variety of techniques and philosophies. Graduating students are familiarized with usability techniques, such as think-alouds, contextual inquiries, and heuristic evaluations; programming concepts related to user interface development; and design skills and experience in developing, critiquing, and iterating upon visual designs and prototypes. As two students (finished and almost finished!) from the Masters program, we have been working in industry trying to apply the skills that we have learned. In doing so, we have gained the painful (yet rewarding) experience of learning what techniques have worked for us, which have not, how to convince our supervisors to support our endeavors, and what we didn’t know but wish we did. Learn how the MsHCI program has helped us improve the usability, design, and architecture of a commercial product. The talk will be of particular interest for students and faculty of the undergraduate and Masters programs in HCI.

Speaker's Bio

Karen Cross (MsHCI, 2000) and Keith Knudsen (MsHCI, expected 2001) have been working at Cerebellum Software for the past two years. Cerebellum is a CMU technology start-up, a leader in the field of Internet Data Integration. Prior to working at Cerebellum, Karen worked with Ken Koedinger of the HCII on the PACT project. Keith worked with Bonnie John of the HCII performing research on a GOMS modelling tool.