Human-Computer Interaction for AI
Designing AI systems for human use: usability, interfaces, and the interaction between humans and intelligent systems.
Attendance in the practical sessions of the course is mandatory.
Learning objectives
At the end of this course, students will be able to: Knowledge and understanding: Describe the fundamental principles of user experience design. Describe fundamental input and output techniques for human-computer interaction. Applying knowledge and understanding: Gather requirements for designing interactive systems Design a human-agent interaction to answer a scientifically grounded research question. Apply low-fidelity and high-fidelity prototyping methods in HCI. Making judgements: Conduct user studies to empirically evaluate the UX and usability of their interaction design. Communication: Communicate design solutions and evaluations on an academic level. Lifelong learning skills: Work in teams to achieve a common goal.
This course introduces AI students to the theories and methods for designing and evaluating interactions between humans and intelligent computing systems. The aim is to give students an understanding of usability, user experience (UX), and user-centered design, and to equip them with empirical research skills for prototyping and iterative testing.
The course is divided into two complementary parts:
Theoretical Part (Lectures — Weeks 1–3): Five lectures (1.5 hours each) covering the textbook (MacKenzie, "HCI: An Empirical Research Perspective"). Topics include: the history of HCI and human factors (Ch. 1-2), interaction elements and prototyping (Ch. 3), scientific foundations and experimental design (Ch. 4-5), hypothesis testing and data analysis (Ch. 6), modeling interaction with Fitts' Law and the Keystroke-Level Model (Ch. 7), and writing research papers (Ch. 8).
Practical Part (Group Project — Weeks 6–8): Five mandatory practical sessions where groups of 4 students design, build, and evaluate a human-agent interaction using the Furhat social robot (or the Virtual Furhat tool). Groups choose a theme — Education & Learning, Healthcare & Therapy, or Customer Service — and follow the full HCI research cycle: define a use case and research question, conduct a literature review, build a low-fidelity prototype and run a pilot study (3+ participants), then develop a high-fidelity prototype and conduct a formal user study (8+ participants) with informed consent. The project culminates in a scientific report (max 5 pages) following standard paper structure (Introduction, Method, Results & Discussion, Conclusion).
Assignments: Four formative assignments (Complete/Incomplete) — two individual (Chapters 1–6 exercises) and two group-based (project planning and lo-fi prototype). These must be completed to qualify for the exam and project grading.
Exam: A digital TestVision exam with close-ended questions (multiple choice, true/false, fill-in-the-blank) covering all 8 chapters. Uses chance correction scoring. Students should be able to apply Fitts' Law, calculate KLM task times, select appropriate statistical tests, and identify measurement scales.
Assessment
The final course grade is composed of two assessment components: Written Exam (Individual - 50% of the final grade) Research project report (Group work - 50% of the final grade) The final grade will be calculated Final Course Grade = 0.5 x Individual Exam Grade + 0.5 x Group Project Report Grade To pass the course, students must pass both the individual exam and the research project report (for each component a grade >=5.5 is required). Please note: The group must submit one report, and all group members will receive the same grade. Resit opportunities will be provided for both the individual exam and the group project report.
Teaching methods
This course is taught on campus. The lectures will not be recorded. Attendance in the practical sessions of the course is mandatory.
Literature
MacKenzie, I. Scott. Human-Computer Interaction : An Empirical Research Perspective, Elsevier Science & Technology, 2013. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/vunl/detail.action? docID=1110719. (Students have free access to the online version of the book through their VUnetID)