The human-computer interface is the system; a plea for a poor man's HCI component in software engineering curricula

Most software engineering approaches restrict the user interface to everything a user may perceive or experience. As a result, it is often designed rather independently of the system functionality. Chances are then that it does not get the attention it deserves. In the approach to software development we sketch, the design of the user interface and the design of the functionality go hand in hand. We give a number of examples of user interface problems, and illustrate how these can be caught early if a more integrated approach is taken. We conclude with an outline of a minimal course on human-computer interaction that we feel should be part of everyone's software engineering curriculum.