CS190-1: Senior Seminar:
Human-Computer Interaction 🧑🤝💻

Fall 2025 • Pomona College

Tues 11:00am-12:15pm • Edmunds 129

Please see the overall CS190 homepage for more logistics.

Overview

This specific senior seminar section covers human-computer interaction research.

In addition to fulfilling the speaking intensive requirement at Pomona College, the goal of section 1 of CS190 is to provide students with a foundational understanding of the field of human-computer interaction. (Ambitiously, I am treating it as an introductory graduate seminar to HCI research.) Our journey will be informed through a lens of science, technology, and society scholarship. We will see how different fields such as psychology/human factors, then cognitive science, then anthropology/sociology have influenced how people think about interacting with computers. We will then use this theoretical foundation to analyze the current design of technology. By the end of the course, students will have an understanding of the key HCI theories, methods, and domains of current research. Students will discuss and critique the nature of computationally mediated interaction, which will inform generating their own final project proposal.

You are expected to do around 50 pages of reading per week for this class. In addition to your presentations and written assignments, you are expected to read all papers (chosen by the professor or your classmates) and submit a reading response for each of them when you are not presenting before class time (10:59 am Tuesday). For the two paper presentations (group and individual), you are expected to meet with me in office hours before your presentation and write a reflection of how the presentation went.

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This course is divided into two halves:

• HCI fundamentals

  We cannot have engaging and interesting discussions about HCI research without first understanding the foundational literature of the field. Because HCI is such an interdisciplinary field, many of these readings will come from other disciplines, such as cognitive science, phenomenology, and feminist technoscience. Some readings are more difficult to parse (e.g. through referencing humanities topics) than others, but hopefully your liberal arts education has prepared you for this point!

  The optional readings are for motivated, research-driven undergraduates who wish to supplement or deep dive into that week’s topic. HCI is an extremely broad field with way more influential works than the dozen I picked for the course. I am happy to discuss them any time in office hours.

• More modern HCI papers

  Each student will present on an HCI paper of their choice. Often modern HCI contributions are new interactive systems, empirical studies of human behavior, or smaller theoretical contributions. These papers may span diverse application domains such as creative tools, social computing, ubiquitous computing, human-AI interaction, accessibility, VR/AR, etc. See papers below the schedule for some starting points.

This course has 4 presentations; 3 like the other sections:

1. A pair presentation on a formative HCI reading (not always necessarily in the discipline of computer science)
2. An individual presentation on a more current computer science paper (preferably published in an HCI-adjacent ACM venue, such as CHI, UIST, CSCW)
3. An individual presentation on your final project proposal during finals week (12/11)
4. Specific to this section, a 3 minute argumentative “hot take” on any impassioned topic of your choice

All assignments will be submitted on Gradescope. The grading section specifies rubrics.

Schedule

Week	Date	Topic	Due this week (Mon)
1	Aug 26	Introduction: What is HCI? Slides Optional readings: The Three Paradigms of HCI (Harrison et al., 2007), Seven Research Contributions in HCI (Wobbrock, 2012)	Course survey (Thu 11:59 pm)
2	Sep 2	Visioning Presenters: Ari, Haram Slides • HT: Claudio Readings: As We May Think (Bush, 1945) (plain text version), The Computer for the 21st Century (Weiser, 1991) These two "thinkpieces" are canonical in establishing the field of HCI. Vannevar Bush, founder of the National Science Foundation, wrote a piece in The Atlantic magazine shortly after WWII about why computers should be used for thinking, not just mathematical operations. Mark Weiser, creator of the field of "ubiquitous computing" (which you can thank for your smartphones), put out his vision in Scientific American in the early 90s. How do have you seen their influence play out today? Prof Li's personal ratings: Difficulty: ★☆☆☆☆ • Interesting: ★★☆☆☆ Optional readings: The Psychology of Human-Computer Interaction (Card, Moran, & Newell, 1983)—notably, the human information-processor, keystroke model, and GOMS
3	Sep 9	Cognition & Representation Presenters: Emily, Vivian Slides • HT: Hannah Readings: Things That Make Us Smart - Ch. 3 (Norman, 1993), Understanding Computers & Cognition - Ch. 7 (Winograd & Flores, 1986) This week focuses on cognition, one of the traditional pillars of "second wave" HCI as it moved away from developing human factors models and towards how we can better think with computers. Specifically, much of HCI is concerned with designing the right representation for a thinking task—designing the right abstraction, a core concept of computer science. We'll hear from Don Norman, one of the founders of the field of cognitive science, and Terry Winograd & Fernando Flores, whose book influenced not only HCI but also thinking about how/if AI can think. Difficulty: ★★★☆☆ • Interesting: ★★★☆☆ Optional readings: Beyond the Interface: Encountering Artifacts in Use (Bannon & Bødker, 1991), The Design of Everyday Things (Norman, 1988), Understanding Computers & Cognition Chs 3-5 (if you want to deep dive into how Heidegger has influenced HCI)	Latex exercise
4	Sep 16	Situatedness Presenters: Hannah, Jenny Slides • HT: Ari Readings: Situated Knowledge (Haraway, 1988), Plans & Situated Actions - Ch. 4 (Suchman, 1987) Can we ever create "objective" knowledge, or is knowledge always subject to our unique experiences and biases? In contrast to the first wave of HCI that created prescriptive human factors models that were supposed to generalize to all users ("positivism"), this week we look at the importance of context in knowledge making ("interpretivism") that marks the shift into the third wave of HCI. Donna Haraway, one of the founders of feminist technoscience, argued for the importance of situated knowledge in the late 80s. Lucy Suchman, an anthropologist who worked at XEROX PARC, came to a similar conclusion observing her teammates trying to use a copier. Difficulty: ★★★★☆ • Interesting: ★★★★☆ Optional readings: Science in Action (Latour, 1987) (Bruno Latour is one of Prof. Li's academic idols—he argues that all science is just social activity)
5	Sep 23	Collaboration Presenters: Joey, Nathaniel Slides • HT: Emily Readings: Beyond Being There (Hollan & Stornetta, 1992), Distance Matters (Olson & Olson, 2000) These two papers are foundations of the CSCW (computer supported cooperative work) subfield. Computers let us communicate with each other remotely, but there are limitations to a digitally mediated interaction. How do these papers hold up 25+ years later, especially in the face of your experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic? Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆ • Interesting: ★★☆☆☆	Topic proposal
6	Sep 30	[Asynchronous] Research Methods Reading: Ways of Knowing in HCI Prof. Li is away at the ACM UIST conference this week. Instead of coming to class, please pick a chapter from this methods textbook (hopefully relevant to your project proposal) to read and respond to. More detailed instructions on the Gradescope assignment.
7	Oct 7	Embodiment Presenters: Tara, Claudio, Miriam Slides • HT: Joey Readings: Where the Action Is - Ch. 4 (Dourish, 2001), Mind in Motion - Ch. 5 (Tversky, 2019) In a distinct shift away from the cognitive interaction models that treat humans as brains with eyes (input) and hands (output), this week focuses on the full body. Dourish offers a summary of phenomenology as an argument for how we create and manipulate meaning in an embodied way. Unlike Winograd and Suchman who believe language is the foundation of thought, Tversky argues that physical motion and spatial reasoning are what drive thought. How do these claims intersect (or not) with the situated perspective from week 4? How do they change how we think about abstractions? (Note: the readings this week are longer than usual, but hopefully worth it!) Difficulty: ★★★★★ • Interesting: ★★★★★	Bibliography
8	Oct 14	Fall Break
9	Oct 21	HCI as Science Presenters: Leo, Asya Slides • HT: Tara Readings: The Sciences of the Artifical - Ch. 5 (Simon, 1988), Another Science is Possible - Ch. 5 (Stengers, 2018) Is computer science a science? Herb Simon discusses how natural sciences are more privileged and respected compared to "design" fields like engineering; as a result, engineering tries to look more like a science and less like design. However, he argues that design should be a rigorous method in and of itself. 30 years later, science still holds a dominant regard in society, so Isabelle Stengers argues for "slow science"—she believes science has become extractive and sloppy under the pressures of a go-go-go society. As we transition to individual presentations, you can create your own judgements if the work is inspiring, valuable, or good science/design, or simply research "slop". Difficulty: ★★★★☆ • Interesting: ★★★★☆	Annotated bibliography
10	Oct 28	Individual presentations Presenters: Tara, Ari • HT: Haram Papers: Things We Could Design for More Than Human-Centered Worlds - Ch 5 Prologue (Wakkary, 2021), Thrown from Normative Ground: Exploring the Potential of Disorientation as a Critical Methodological Strategy in HCI (Biggs & Bardzell, 2024)
11	Nov 4	Individual presentations Presenters: Miriam, Hannah • HT: Jenny Papers: Beyond Beautiful: Embroidering Legible and Expressive Tactile Graphics (Seehorn et al., 2025), Hitting Pause: How User Perceptions of Collaborative Playlists Evolved in the United States During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Park et al., 2022)	Outline & intro
12	Nov 11	Individual presentations Presenters: Haram, Vivian, Emily • HT: Vivian
13	Nov 18	Peer reviews Presenters: n/a • HT: Asya, Leo	First full draft (Mon); peer review (Fri)
14	Nov 25	Individual presentations Presenters: Jenny, Claudio, Asya • HT: Nathaniel
15	Dec 2	Individual presentations Presenters: Leo, Joey, Nathaniel • HT: Miriam	Final report (Weds)
Finals	Thu Dec 11	Final presentations: 9am-12pm

Suggested individual papers

Individual presentations should remain < 22 minutes (including discussion period) if you are presenting in a day with 3 people and < 30 minutes in a day with 2 people.

The following papers are some of Prof. Li’s favorites in HCI research. I think they will result in interesting discussions. If you do not pick a paper from this list, another option is picking an HCI paper from your bibliography. It is your responsibility to message me your paper reading pick at least 1 week before your presentation so the class may also skim the paper. I reserve all right to reject or veto your choice. If you took CS181DT with me, I recommend picking a paper we did not cover in class. If you do research with me, any of the papers we talk about in our research meetings could be fun candidates too.

Systems that reveal something about humans/creativity

• Being the Machine: Reconfiguring Agency and Control in Hybrid Fabrication by Devendorf et al. (CHI 2015)
• Philosophers Living with the Tilting Bowl by Wakkary et al. (CHI 2018)
• American Indian Pottery and Clay 3D Printing: An Exploration of Opportunities and Risks in Professional Practice by Lovato et al. (CHI 2025)
• Somaesthetic Appreciation Design by Höök et al. (CHI 2016)
• Phraselette: A Poet’s Procedural Palette by Calderwood et al. (DIS 2025)
• Griffith: A Storyboarding Tool Designed with Japanese Animation Professionals by Kato et al. (CHI 2024)

Systems that have interesting technical insights

• Extending Manual Drawing Practices with Artist-Centric Programming Tools by Jacobs et al. (CHI 2018)
• Teddy: a sketching interface for 3D freeform design by Igarashi et al. (SIGGRAPH 1999)
• Printing teddy bears: a technique for 3D printing of soft interactive objects by Hudson (CHI 2014)
• Draco: bringing life to illustrations with kinetic textures by Habib Kazi et al. (CHI 2014)
• Object-Oriented Drawing by Xia et al. (CHI 2016)
• Computational video editing for dialogue-driven scenes by Leake et al. (TOG 2017)
• Tandem: Reproducible Digital Fabrication Workflows as Multimodal Programs by Tran O’Leary et al. (CHI 2024)
• Webstrates: Shareable Dynamic Media by Klokmose et al. (UIST 2015)

Interesting/woke/power-shifting theory

• The Promise of Empathy: Design, Disability, and Knowing the “Other” by Bennett et al. (CHI 2019)
• Generative Theories of Interaction by Beaudouin-Lafon, Bødker, Mackay (TOCHI 2021) (longer article)
• Postcolonial computing: a lens on design and development by Irani et al. (CHI 2010)
• Feminist HCI: taking stock and outlining an agenda for design by Bardzell (CHI 2010)
• What Counts as ‘Creative’ Work? Articulating Four Epistemic Positions in Creativity-Oriented HCI Research by Hsueh et al. (CHI 2024)
• If What We Made Were Real: Against Imperialism and Cartesianism in Computer Science, and for a discipline that creates real artifacts for real communities, following the faculties of real cognition by Basman (PPIG 2017)
• What should we expect from research through design? by Gaver (CHI 2012)
• Thrown from Normative Ground: Exploring the Potential of Disorientation as a Critical Methodological Strategy in HCI by Biggs et al. (CHI 2024)
• Making Core Memory: Design Inquiry into Gendered Legacies of Engineering and Craftwork by Rosner et al. (CHI 2018)
• Data Refusal from Below: A Framework for Understanding, Evaluating, and Envisioning Refusal as Design by Zong et al. (Responsible Computing 2024)

Other papers (LLMs, qualitative work, programming tools, etc)

• Slowness, Politics, and Joy: Values That Guide Technology Choices in Creative Coding Classrooms by McNutt et al. (CHI 2025)
• Why Johnny Can’t Prompt: How Non-AI Experts Try (and Fail) to Design LLM Prompts by Zamfirescu-Pereira et al. (CHI 2023)
• The Role of Working Memory in Program Tracing by Crichton et al. (CHI 2021)
• Designing the whyline: a debugging interface for asking questions about program behavior by Ko et al. (CHI 2004)

Papers written by your classmates (You can’t present on a paper you wrote, but you could present on a paper your peer wrote! It might be an interesting discussion…)

• Computational Scaffolding of Composition, Value, and Color for Disciplined Drawing by Ma et al. (UIST 2025)
• Expanding Norms, Negotiating Bodies: How Artists with Disabilities Perceive and Use Creative Tools by Brody et al. (ASSETS 2025)

Labs I love Feel free to take any of their students’ work!

• Jennifer Jacob’s Expressive Computation Lab
• Nadya Peek’s Machine Agency Lab
• Laura Devendorf’s Unstable Design Lab

All papers should be accessible while on campus WiFi or the Pomona VPN.

Course staff

There are no TAs for this course. It’s just me, Prof. Li. My office hours are Mondays & Wednesdays 4-5pm, Tuesdays 1:30-2:45pm, or by appointment in Edmunds 111. I can also meet 10:30-10:55am (i.e., before class) on Tuesday morning by request only. (This is a special for CS190 students only to help you with your pre-presentation meetings. Don’t tell my CS62 students…)

My preferred method of contact is the course Slack channel. Slack is great for asking and answering questions: your classmates may have the same questions as you, you may have the answers to your classmates’ questions, and I can upvote and expand on student responses. I will be posting course announcements through Slack as well. Feel free to DM me for individual requests; I will try my best during the weekdays to respond within 24 hours.

Grading

Please see the overall CS190 grading policies for how grades are calculated. To focus on qualitative feedback for your presentations, all assignments are bucket graded. Note that to achieve an A in the course, all assignments must be marked excellent. Assignments may be resubmitted and retaken if you receive satisfactory or below.

Rubrics

Please see the uniform webpage for general presentation rubrics.

“Hot takes” rubric

The goal of the “hot takes” presentation is to practice speaking and communication skills while making a convincing argument. Note that an argument needs to have a position or stance; this is not a 3 minute mini lecture (though you should provide some brief background on your topic as necessary). The content of the presentation is less important than the delivery. This is not a debate club: we will not be poking holes in your argument; in fact, some ambiguity and openness lends itself to a good (but brief) discussion. Your hot take can be on any topic of your choice, not necessarily CS related: for example, opinions on food, fandom, music, culture, Pomona College, internet trends… Despite it being a “hot” take, your take does not have to be controversial in any way—just something you believe strongly enough to talk about with the class for a few minutes. Please avoid hot takes that can be viewed as discriminatory to certain groups. You can be a hater, but not a racist. If you’re unsure, you may check your topic with me in office hours.

The secondary goal of the hot takes presentation is to give you the skills to carry on fun conversations at parties. If you end up repeating your hot take in a social setting, I would love to know how it goes!

Logistics:

• 3 min talking, 2 min Q&A
• suggested 2 slide maximum

To be marked excellent:

• Speaker clearly communicates central argumentative thesis
• Speaker is engaged with the audience, such as
  • Making eye contact
  • Avoiding reading off presenter notes (glancing for reference is OK)
  • Speaking in an emphatic and confident way
• Presentation stays under 3 minutes
• Speaker answers questions successfully and respectfully

Unlike the other presentations, you are not required to have a pre-meeting for your hot take, but it is encouraged. You are required to write a post-reflection.

Course Policies

Please see the overall CS190 course policies. Our section specific discussion norms will be updated here after our first class.

Resources

Please see the presentation advice on the unified web page.

Tips for paper reading and giving good talks from other CS researchers:

• How to Read a Paper by S. Keshav
  • Good general skimming tips. For this class, the first pass usually is sufficient for papers you do not present. Probably more relevant to the individual presentation papers (more modern CS ones) than our foundational reading.
• Tips for Giving Good Talks by Kayvon Fatahalian
  • Very relevant for your final presentation (and any research presentation), moreso than presenter others’ work, but some tips are generalizable.
• How to Give an Academic Talk by Paul Edwards
  • Good general “soft skill” techniques for delivering a talk.

Potential research opportunity: If you find yourself extremely intrigued by any of the foundational reading topics, and you are a fan of making zines, contact Prof Li! The Doodle Lab is trying to make an accessible zine series to rephrase and reinterpret the history of HCI from an STS lens.

Credits

Some of the syllabus has been inspired from Stanford’s HCI research seminar, CS 347. Some of the syllabus has also been inspired by Eric Rawn. Thank you to the other CS190 faculty this semester (Prof. Clark, Prof. Thomas) for their collaboration in developing uniform course policies across the sections. This website was built with Jekyll using the Just the Class template.