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Notes on Review Questions

Notes on Review Questions for Chapter 1


REVIEW QUESTION 1.1

What is the difference between the terms ‘user interface’ and ‘human–computer
interaction’?

Historically, the term ‘user interface’ has been used to describe the physical aspects of a
computer system that the user experiences directly. Chiefly, these include the interaction
devices for input and output and the way in which the communication takes place between
the user and the system. ‘Human–computer interaction’, however, is a much broader term
and refers to all aspects that impinge on the way in which users interact with computer
systems. The disciplines that make up HCI are computer science, psychology, ergonomics
and human factors, artificial intelligence, engineering and design, as well as philosophy,
sociology and anthropology.

REVIEW QUESTION 1.2

What is the importance of good user interface design? What are the potential
consequences of poor user interface design?

Good user interface design is important for several reasons. It can bring about benefits such
as reduced costs, improved productivity and efficiency, and reduced employee stress and
absenteeism. Training costs may also be reduced. Many benefits, though, are largely hidden
and cannot be quantified. Another important factor is safety: some kinds of computer
systems can endanger life if their user interface is poor.

Poor user interface design costs businesses and users money. In business, frustration with
technology can lead to stress and higher staff turnover. Training costs may also be
excessively high when UIs are difficult to use and do not support users in their tasks.
Notes on Review Questions for Chapter 2
REVIEW QUESTION 2.1

What are the main advantages and disadvantages of direct and indirect observation?

Direct observation is straightforward and easy to carry out, but you cannot record
everything that is happening. Indirect observation allows you to create a permanent record
of what you have observed, but takes a long time to analyse.

Notes on Review Questions for Chapter 3


REVIEW QUESTION 3.1

List the main activities involved in gathering requirements.

The main activities involved in gathering the requirements are as follows.

Understanding the users. This involves finding out about their age, gender, educational
background, and so on.

Understanding the environment. This involves discovering whether the environment is light
or dark, warm or cold, pressurised or relaxed, and so on.

Understanding the domain. This involves finding out about the task domain.
Understanding the tasks. This involves discovering whether the task is performed
frequently or only occasionally, is urgent or nonurgent, and so on.

Task analysis. This includes analysing how the task is performed on the present UI, using
techniques such as scenarios, concrete use cases and cognitive walkthroughs.

Understanding the non-functional requirements, such as cost and technical constraints.

Prototyping the requirements, using low-fidelity prototypes such as storyboards.


REVIEW QUESTION 3.2

Bargain Foods is a discount supermarket that uses laser scanning technology for reading
barcodes on grocery items. Who would be the real users of the system? Who would be the
secondary users of the system?

The real users of the system would be the cashiers who are employed to work the cash tills.
Secondary users or stakeholders would be the customers who shop at Bargain Foods. Other
secondary users would be store managers, who may use the tills infrequently for tasks like
correcting errors or making refunds. Stock clerks would also be secondary users, as they
would use the information about items sold to order replacement stock. (For larger stores
this may be an automated process, whereby the computer system creates a stock order on
the basis of goods sold.)

Notes on Review Questions for Chapter 4


REVIEW QUESTION 4.1

Define the terms goal, task and action.

A goal is an end result to be achieved. It must be described at a particular level of


abstraction, i.e. a high level of abstraction description indicating what is to be achieved.
The specific details of how it is to be achieved are not stated.

A task is a structured set of related activities that are undertaken in some sequence. Tasks
are what a person has to do (or thinks he has to do) in order to accomplish a goal.

An action is defined as an individual operation or step that needs to be undertaken as part of


the task.

REVIEW QUESTION 4.2

What is a mental model?


A mental model is a dynamic mental representation that allows people to make predictions
about future states, make inferences and imagine situations that have not been experienced
before.

REVIEW QUESTION 4.3

Give the three main differences between structural and functional models.

A main difference between functional models and structural models is that the former
develop from past knowledge of a similar domain while the latter have to be learned.
Another difference is that functional models are aimed at answering a set of task-related
questions whereas, hypothetically, structural models can be used to answer unexpected
questions and make predictions. In addition, functional models are context dependent and
hence easier to use, whereas structural models are largely context-free, making them easier
to extend and integrate with other knowledge.

Notes on Review Questions for Chapter 5


REVIEW QUESTION 5.1

What is the difference between a design principle and a design rule?

A design principle is a high-level (i.e. abstract) guide for design. Because of their high level
of generality, principles are difficult to apply as they must be interpreted and then translated
into specific design rules before they can be applied. ‘Be consistent’ is an example of a
design principle.

Design rules are low-level, specific instructions that can be followed with minimum
interpretation or translation by the designer. Because they are so specific, they are only
applicable in relation to a particular system platform, for example in commercial style
guides. You will also find company-specific house or corporate style guides, though these
are often considered to be commercially sensitive and not freely available.

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