t_hci_bk99

HCI Textbooks Recommendations, 2nd Edition

 

 

Created: 7/23/99, Last modified: 7/23/99

 

Dr. Ping Zhang compiled this 2nd edition of the HCI Textbooks Recommendations in 7/1999. The recommendations are from the HCI Education community. The 1st edition of HCI Textbooks Recommendations can be found at http://cindy.syr.edu/pzhang/t_hci_bk.cgi.

This report is organized as the following:

  1. The original request from Dr. Ping Zhang to the HCI Education community.
  2. The summary of the responses.
  3. The original comments from the HCI educators.

 

 I. The original request

Date: Wed, 7 Jul 1999 16:07:37 -0400
From: Ping Zhang <pzhang@mailbox.syr.edu>
Subject: Requesting recommendations on HCI textbooks
To: CHI-EDUCATORS@ACM.ORG

Dear colleagues,

I am asking for recommendations on HCI textbooks for a graduate level Intro to HCI course. The students never took HCI courses before and the course will have an overview of the entire field.

I have used Preece et al. 1994 book two years ago. The book worked quite well as a main textbook along with supplementary readings. I am wondering if there are newer textbooks available these days (ideally published after 1996 and covers Web HCI issues). I am aware of the ACM.ORG website with HCI readings by Gary Perlman. I would like to hear from you with experiences on what books work well or not well as textbooks. Other suggestions on teaching such a course are also highly appreciated.

I did a similar request two years ago and a summary of the recommendations is at URL http://cindy.syr.edu/pzhang/t_hci_bk.cgi. I will do another summary if the response to this request is informative.

Many thanks in advance! Date

Ping

 

II. Summary of the recommendations

# of Recom.

Author(s)

Title

Publisher

3

Shneiderman, Ben

Designing the user interface: Strategies for effective human-computer interaction, 3rd edition

Addison-Wesley 1998, ISBN 0-201-69497-2

2

Preece,J. et al.

Human-computer interaction

Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc., MA, 1994

1

 

CHI '99 Conference proceedings

 

1

Jordan, Patrick W.

An Introduction to Usability

Taylor & Francis 1999, ISBN: 0748407626

1

Mayhew, Deborah

Usability Engineering Lifecycle

Academic Press/Morgan Kaufmann 1999, ISBN: 1558605614

1

Landauer, Thomas K.

The Trouble with Computers: Usefulness, Usability, and Productivity

MIT Press 1995, ISBN: 0-262-12186-7, 0-262-62108-8

 

III. Original comments

Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 08:45:46 -0400
From: Laurie P. Dringus <laurie@scis.acast.nova.edu>
Cc: laurie@scis.acast.nova.edu
Subject: RE: Requesting recommendations on HCI textbooks
To: Ping Zhang <pzhang@mailbox.syr.edu>

Ping:

Greetings. I have taught HCI on the graduate level for about 10 years now. Perhaps I can be of some help regarding your request.

Generally, I use the Shneiderman text(now third edition, 1998) for a general overview book. I find that Shneiderman is comprehensive in presenting the breadth of the HCI field (as is Preece's book). He also provides depth by presenting findings from various HCI studies. He expends a bit more effort on theory, too. My gut feeling is that Preece's book works the best for the undergraduates, while Shneiderman's book can be used for either undergraduate or graduate.

I always require a second text and I offer my own personal bibliography on HCI for recommended reading. (Of course, I direct my students to Gary Perlman's website as well.)

The choice of the second text is tricky in that I like to choose something that is current and exposes the graduate student to both breadth and depth of HCI research. I have used extensively the Baecker et al., 1995 Readings in HCI text, but now that is getting a bit dated. This year, I will be using the CHI '99 Conference proceedings. I find that the non-HCI'ers in the class are amazed by the scope of HCI research and development being done today, particularly when they get deep into the conference proceedings.

Usability is an extensive area we cover on the master's level. Sometimes I require an indepth book on usability that offers both concepts (definition of usability, attributes, etc.) and techniques for evaluation. I have used Nielsen's 1994 extensively, but now that we need to use a more current text, we will be using either Jordan's book on Introduction to Usability or Mayhew's 1999 book on Usability Engineering Lifecycle.

So, that's it in a nutshell. It depends on the audience, too. Some of our graduate students are computer science majors, others are completing their master's or Ph.D. in Computing Technology in Education.

You can visit my HCI website at http://www.scis.nova.edu/nova/hci/top.html I have many resources in there for graduate level HCI courses.

Don't forget to visit Shneiderman's Book site at http://www.aw.com/cseng/titles/0-201-69497-2/website/welcome-roger.html. Roger Chapman from Ohio State is working hard to maintain this resource for us all.

Good luck.

Regards,

Laurie Dringus
Associate Professor
School of Computer and Information Sciences
Nova Southeastern University
laurie@scis.nova.edu

Date: Fri, 9 Jul 1999 09:25:20 +1000
From: jscott@csu.edu.au
Comments: Authenticated sender is <jscott@postoffice.csu.edu.au>
Subject: Re: Requesting recommendations on HCI textbooks
To: pzhang@mailbox.syr.edu

Hi Ping,

I am having the same problem of finding a suitable textbook. I agree that Preece et al (1994) is a good text and it would be nice to have a newer Preece et al which included material on the Web Issues.

Ben Schneiderman has a new edition "Designing the user Interface', Addison-Wesley 1998, ISBN 0-201-69497-2. This has a chapter on 'Hypermedia and the World Wide Web'. But I prefer the section in Preece on evaluation.

I also am looking for a new text for both an undergraduate subject in HCI as well as a post graduate subject. At this stage I am tempted to provide multiple readings and will be most interested to see the response to your e-mail

jan

Date: Fri, 9 Jul 1999 11:31:54 +0000
From: Tom Hewett <Hewett@drexel.edu>
Subject: Re: Requesting recommendations on HCI textbooks
To: Ping Zhang <pzhang@mailbox.syr.edu>

I have found that Landauer's book, "The Trouble with Computers" from MIT Press is an excellent supplimentary book for graduate level course. Most of the students find it quite thought provoking.

--tom hewett

Date: Mon, 12 Jul 1999 17:19:56 -0500
From: "Neal, Lisa" <lisa.neal@eds.com>
Subject: RE: Requesting recommendations on HCI textbooks
To: Ping Zhang
pzhang@mailbox.syr.edu

Ping,

I highly recommend Ben Shneiderman's Designing the User Interface. I used that, along with Jenny Preece's book and some supplemental materials, for an HCI class.

Lisa

 

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