COMS 3190: User Interface Design

Course
Computer Science
Teaching
A hands-on course exploring user interface and experience design through full-stack web development.
Published

January 10, 2025

User Interface Design

Course Description

COMS 3190 introduces students to the principles and practices of user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design through a balance of 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, and JavaScript
- React, Node.js, and Express
- Databases (MongoDB and MySQL)
- UML modeling and event-driven architecture
- Web and desktop-based client/server applications

User Interface Design Overview

Figure: Design-to-development process for building interactive and user-centered applications.

My Role

Computer Science Graduate Teaching Assistant (Fall 2024)

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 responsibilities included:

  • Technical Instruction: Led lab sessions and live demos on HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React, and Node.js, focusing on responsive, accessible design.
  • Project Mentorship: Guided teams through semester-long UI/UX projects, helping with front-end development, API design, and database integration.
  • Design & Modeling Support: Assisted students in using UML for system modeling and behavioral analysis, including use case and interaction diagrams.
  • Testing Assistance: Supported unit testing and UI testing in JavaScript and assisted with debugging web applications.
  • Code Review & Feedback: Evaluated submissions and provided feedback on usability, design consistency, and code efficiency.
  • Office Hours: Offered individualized technical support and design mentoring to strengthen students’ understanding of UI/UX best practices.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

  • Design and implement interactive, accessible user interfaces.
  • Apply principles of HCI, UI design, UX testing, and event-driven architecture.
  • Develop responsive full-stack applications using modern frameworks and tools.
  • Model system behavior using UML and interaction diagrams.
  • Test and deploy applications using 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