An experiential approach to teaching students about usability and HCI

As computers are utilized more in the workplace, the need for developing "easy-to-use" computer hardware and software has become more important. This has led to increased interest in testing the ease of use of software, i.e., software usability testing, and in researching the nature of human-computer interactions. Today's management information systems and computer science students will be designing and implementing the software systems of the future and, therefore, will need to understand the procedures of usability testing. They will also need to learn and appreciate questions addressed by human-computer interaction (HCI) research. Students in a scholars section of an Introduction to Computers and Information Systems class (MIS 103) at the University of Dayton, in Dayton, Ohio, were given the opportunity to increase their knowledge about usability testing and HCI research by participating in a "hands-on" project. This article describes and evaluates their experience, thereby providing guidance for incorporating usability principles in course work via direct experience in usability testing.