Fall 2026

Building User Interfaces

COMPSCI 571 teaches the development of user interfaces using modern paradigms, input processing methods, and multi-platform APIs.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Yuhang Zhao3.7/5Cole Nelson

Summary

1 / 6

The workload is high, but assignments are useful and interesting, with extensions and extra credit available to lighten the burden.

Grade history

average GPA
letter grades
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All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

COMP SCI 400 or graduate/professional standing

COMPSCI 571

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Fall 2026
/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 5.00/5 from 1 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Yuhang Zhao is described as passionate and supportive, prioritizing student success with generous extensions and extra credit. While the workload is high, reviewers find the assignments useful and interesting, suggesting the effort is worthwhile despite the difficulty.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2022: 3.51 GPA, 77.5% A/AB (n=102 letter grades); Fall 2023: 3.69 GPA, 82.7% A/AB (n=342 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.35 GPA, 66.7% A/AB (n=333 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.34 GPA, 61.7% A/AB (n=334 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.42 GPA, 72.5% A/AB (n=280 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.35 GPA, 69.6% A/AB (n=257 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

COLE NELSON is recorded teaching in Fall 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

YUHANG ZHAO is recorded teaching in Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 002Classroom Instruction105 / 1150
LEC 001Classroom Instruction96 / 1150

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records

Student experience

the class

Yuhang Zhao is a passionate instructor who prioritizes student success, offering extensions and extra credit to manage a high but useful workload.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.34 GPA, 61.7% A/AB (n=334 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.42 GPA, 72.5% A/AB (n=280 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.35 GPA, 69.6% A/AB (n=257 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

The workload is high, but assignments are useful and interesting, with extensions and extra credit available to lighten the burden.

Students find the course rewarding, noting that the instructor's support and the value of the work make the experience positive.

Topics

  • UI paradigms: event-driven, direct-manipulation, and dialogue-based interaction.
  • User input types: pointing, text, speech, touch, gestures, context, and physiological states.
  • Platform-specific development: web, mobile, desktop, natural user interfaces, and voice interfaces.

Skills

  • Implementing UIs using modern paradigms like event-driven and direct-manipulation interfaces.
  • Capturing and interpreting diverse user inputs including touch, speech, gestures, and context.
  • Developing UIs across multiple platforms using specific APIs and frameworks.
  • Building a professional UI development portfolio.

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Fall 2026.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

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BC
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F

Grades over time

Through Spring 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1283 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Selected offering source records
COMPSCI 571 · Fall 2026

Building User Interfaces

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records
[
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:266:026032",
    "course_id": "COMPSCI 571",
    "course_uid": "course_8db0bb2cfe30dfb4e729578a",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "026032",
    "source_subject_id": "266",
    "title": "Building User Interfaces",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Not Applicable"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Model & dataset provenance
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "ec7d1356cbc1c00ff48295db7c31c9b2c665d29025ee874f1bdfe4cedbfdfad4",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}