EECS 493
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EECS 493: User Interface Development

The University of Michigan
WINTER 2026

For students to gain conceptual understanding of user-centered design and practical experience with designing, implementing, and testing user interfaces. The course consists of 5 individual assignments, 1 group project, 6 quizzes, 1 midterm exam, and 1 final exam. Syllabus

Welcome to EECS 493!

We're excited to have you in the course this semester!

A few things to get you started:

  • Please familiarize yourself with the syllabus
  • Ensure you have access to Piazza and Canvas
  • Reach out to eecs493-w26-staff@umich.edu with any questions

    • Regarding AI use:

    We prohibit students from using AI to write large sections of code from scratch. You are allowed to use AI to assist with debugging, check the causes of errors, and learn about syntax. That said, we encourage using the Chrome Dev Tools to debug and inspect code/console output, before using ChatGPT/Claude etc. Ultimately, all work should be your own, and you should be able to explain every line of your code / work fully.

    Course Info

    Lecture
    In-person
    001/2
    T/TH 3:00-4:30pm
    2365 LCSIB
    Discussion
    In-person
    See calendar below
    Office Hours

    In-person and online

    Staff Office Hours
    See calendar below
    Professor Office Hours
    See calendar below
    Assignment 3

    Asteroids Game

    Due Feb 8
    Spec Submit
    Assignment 4

    Figma

    Due Mar 15
    Spec Submit
    Milestone 1

    User Needs and Breakpoints

    Due Feb 15
    Spec Submit

    Schedule

    Note: Classes labeled in orange require in-person attendance.

    Week Lecture Discussion Deadline
    Jan 5 - 11

    L01: Introduction to HCI
    Jan 12 - 18

    L02: User Interface Design Concepts & Principles

    L03: Web Basics, HTML, CSS

    		 Discussion 1
    Assignment 1 due
    Sun Jan 18 11:59pm
    Tue Jan 20 11:59pm
    Jan 19 - 25

    L04: JavaScript Basics, Objects, Selectors, Event Handling

    L05: Arrow Functions, JSON, jQuery

    		 Discussion 2
    Quiz 1 due Tue Jan 20 11:59pm
    Assignment 2 due Sun Jan 25 11:59pm
    Jan 26 - Feb 1

    L06: UI Architecture, Event Loops, Callback Queue

    L07: Human-Centered Design, Understanding Users

    		 Discussion 3
    Milestone 0 due Sun Feb 1 11:59pm
    Feb 2 - 8

    L08: Affinity Diagrams & Flow Diagrams

    L09: Storyboards & Speed Dating

    		 Discussion 4
    Quiz 2 due Tue Feb 3 11:59pm
    Assignment 3 due Sun Feb 8 11:59pm
    Feb 9 - 15

    L10: Iterative Prototyping and Design

    L11: High-fi Prototyping & Figma

    		 Discussion 5
    Quiz 3 due Tue Feb 10 11:59pm
    Milestone 1 due Sun Feb 15 11:59pm
    Feb 16 - 22

    L12: Industry Practitioner's Perspective

    Midterm Exam

    Midterm Exam Thu Feb 19 6-7 pm
    Feb 23 - Mar 1

    L13: Heuristic Evaluation

    L14: Project Showcase & Storyboards

    		Discussion 6
    Milestone 2 - Storyboards Thur Feb 26 Before Class
    Mar 2 - 8 (Spring Break)

    No Class
    Milestone 2 Deliverables due Sun Mar 8 11:59pm
    Mar 9 - 15

    L15: Think Aloud

    L16: Vue

    		 Discussion 7
    Assignment 4 due Sun Mar 15 11:59pm
    Mar 16 - 22

    L17: More Vue, Bootstrap

    L18: MVC, Web Frameworks

    		 Discussion 8
    Quiz 4 due Tue Mar 17 11:59pm
    Mar 23 - 29

    L19: Accessible and Universal Design

    L20: Evaluation Methods

    		 Discussion 9
    Quiz 5 due Tue Mar 24 11:59pm
    Milestone 3 due Sun Mar 29 11:59pm
    Mar 30 - Apr 5

    L21: Special Topic - Human-AI Interaction Design

    L22: Special Topic - Responsible AI and Computing
    Assignment 5 due Sun Apr 5 11:59pm
    Apr 6 - 12

    L23: In-Class Showcase of Final Prototype

    L24: Guest Lecture
    Milestone 4 - Revised Prototype due Tue Apr 7 before class
    Apr 13 - 19

    L25: Special Research Topics - Guest Lecture

    L26: Special Research Topics - Guest Lecture

    		 Discussion 10
    Apr 20 - 26

    Final Presentation Poster Session

    Quiz 6 due Tue Apr 21 11:59pm
    Final Exam Thu Apr 23 10:30-12:00 pm
    Milestone 4 Deliverables due Sun Apr 26 11:59pm
    Apr 27 - May 3

    People

    Staff email: eecs493-w26-staff@umich.edu

    Faculty

    Xu Wang head shot
    Xu Wang

    xwanghci@umich.edu

    Website

    Dhruv Jain head shot
    Vera Liao

    veraliao@umich.edu

    Website

    GSIs and IAs

    Placeholder head shot
    Jeremy Huang

    zjhuang@umich.edu

    Website

    Placeholder head shot
    Vadim Monakhov

    monakhov@umich.edu

    Placeholder head shot
    Vedika Narla

    vednar@umich.edu

    Acknowledgement: This website was originally adpated from eecs485.org and eecs280.org.