Interaction Models

Why use models

Models and frameworks provide a

theoretical basis for design, analysis and
evaluation

We will discuss two models

Some terminology
Domain, tasks, goals, intentions, actions
System and user: state and language

Normans Model

Execution-evaluation cycle

Execution
Establishing a goal
Formulating intentions
Specifying actions
Executing actions

Evaluation
Perceiving the system state
Interpreting the system state
Evaluating the system state

Two Gulfs

Gulf of execution

Difference between actions formulated by the user

and actions allowed by the system. The lesser this
difference, the more effective the interaction.

Gulf of evaluation

Difference between users expectation of state

changes and the systems presentation of its
changed state. The more effort user has to expend
to interpret this presentation, the less effective the
interaction.
Very important when designing error messages.

Good Design
Minimize both gulfs
Thinking assignment: come up with
examples of each gulf from any
interactive system that you are
familiar with, and explain the gulfs

The Interaction
Framework
O
Presentation
S

Observation
U
Articulation

Performance
I

The Interaction
Framework

Interaction requires translation between the

4 languages of user, input, system and
output
Language of thought: intentions, comprehension
Systems interface command language
Systems underlying computations
Systems interface presentation language
Articulation: intentions > commands
Performance: syntax > execution
Presentation: execution > presentation
Observation: presentation > comprehension

The Interaction
Framework
Articulation
Larger the gulf of execution, the more
difficulty user will face in translating
intentions to actions
Conversely, if articulation is easy, gulf of
execution will be small
Example: GUIs vs. Command-line interfaces
for file operations
Performance
A system design issue: implementation cost
Example: immersive VR vs. Command-line

The Interaction
Framework
Presentation
An interface design issue: interface must
be sufficiently expressive to show all
relevant system changes
Important in minimizing the gulf of
evaluation
Observation
Problems: incompleteness of the
presentation and misinterpretation by user
Examples: stove controls, progress meters

The Interaction
Framework

Interaction difficulties arise when

presentation, observation and/or articulation
are incomplete or difficult to accomplish.
System inefficiencies arise when performance
and presentation are poorly designed.
Thinking assignments:

Come up with examples of articulation and

observation problems from any interactive system
that you are familiar with.
Understand how these two models are related.

Human Factors

Study of the physical characteristics of interaction

Issues:

Physical layout of controls and displays

Design of work environment
Health issues
Aspects of presentations: color, sound etc

Reading assignment: 3.4, especially the design

focus, p.112
If you are interested in pursuing a HF topic for the
report/presentation project, see proceedings of the
annual meetings of human factors and ergonomics
society and the journal Human Factors.

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Next Topic

Interaction Objects & Styles

Read 3.5 and 3.6 from the text
AND
All of Ch. 3 in Reference

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