COMS 3190

teaching
Computer Science
User Interface Design
Published

January 10, 2025

COMS 3190 – User Interface Design

📘 Course Description

COMS 3190 introduces students to the fundamentals of user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design through both theory and extensive hands-on development. The course covers human-computer interaction (HCI) concepts, front-end and back-end technologies, and the use of modern frameworks and APIs for developing web and Windows-based user interfaces.

Students gain experience with:

  • UI design principles
  • HTML, CSS, JavaScript
  • React, Node.js, Express
  • Databases (MongoDB and MySQL)
  • UML modeling and event-driven architecture
  • Web and desktop-based client/server applications

🧑‍🏫 My Role as Teaching Assistant

As a Teaching Assistant for COMS 3190, I supported over 100 students in learning full-stack web development principles within the context of UI/UX design. My key responsibilities included:

  • Technical Instruction: Provided lab support and walkthroughs for building responsive interfaces using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React, and Node.js.
  • Project Mentorship: Guided students through semester-long UI/UX projects, including front-end development, API design, and database integration.
  • Design & Modeling Help: Assisted students in using UML for system modeling and behavioral analysis, including use case and interaction diagrams.
  • Testing Support: Supported unit testing and UI testing procedures in JavaScript and helped students debug their web applications.
  • Code Review & Feedback: Reviewed student submissions and provided feedback on usability, design consistency, and code efficiency.
  • Office Hours: Held weekly office hours to help students troubleshoot development issues and understand best practices in UI/UX design.

🎯 Learning Outcomes

Upon completing the course, students are expected to:

  • Design and implement interactive and accessible user interfaces.
  • Apply principles of HCI, UI design, UX testing, and event-driven architecture.
  • Use industry-standard tools to build and evaluate responsive, full-stack applications.
  • Analyze and model system behavior using UML and interaction diagrams.
  • Deploy and test applications with modern development environments and version control.

📚 Topics Covered

  • Design Principles for User Interfaces
  • Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) Fundamentals
  • UX Testing and Evaluation
  • HTML, CSS, JavaScript
  • React, Node.js, Express
  • MongoDB, MySQL
  • Event-Driven Programming
  • API & Framework Integration
  • UML Diagrams (Structural, Behavioral, Interaction)
  • Unit & UI Testing in JavaScript
  • Windows-based UI Development
  • Client/Server Architecture

💡 Course Catalog | Email