HUMAN COMPUTER INTERACTION

Q1
a. Explain the goal of interaction design and briefly discuss the relationship between HCI and the Software
development process.
The goal of interaction design is to “A plan for arranging elements in such a way as to best accomplish a
particular purpose. Like many other design fields interaction design also has an interest in form but its main
focus is on behavior.
[10mks]
b. Describe any Five special factors that need to be considered when designing
for older users.
Designing products that address health issues such as cognitive impairment, visual impairment.
Provide Light weight products with less complicated features.
Creating systems that have mistake prevention ability.
Simple and clear messages offered by the system.
Easy to use systems i.e. process of maneuvering through the system is easy.
[10mks]
c. Explain why it is important to understand users while designing interactive computer
systems.
To create an effective interactive computer system design.Design of a user interface begins with task analysis--
an understanding of the user's underlying tasks and the problem domain. The user interface should be
designed in terms of the user's terminology and conception of his or her job, rather than the programmer's. A
good understanding of the cognitive and behavioral characteristics of people in general as well as the
particular user population is thus important. Good user interface design works from the user's capabilities and
limitations, not the machines.
[4mks]
d. “Recognition is easier than recall”. Discuss this statement in relation direct manipulation interfaces, stating clearly the
advantages and disadvantages of the same
Recognition involves being reminded of things by cues within our environment or within an interface of a system
whereas recalling information from memory simply involves extracting the information from our memories on
how to manipulate a certain interface or key information to extract results from an interface without any
prompting from an external source. Recognition therefore is usually much easier than recall.

Advantages
It;s faster to implement a task.
Allows easy learning
Encourages exploration
Less load on memory
Easy retrievable of information

Disadvantages
High Load on memory
Information is not readily retrievable
Required learning needs considerable efforts

[6mks]
Q3
a. Define the term External Cognition and with use of suitable examples, describe the role it plays in the
design of interactive computer systems.
External cognition is a phrase referring to ways that people augment their normal cognitive processes with
external aids, such as external writings, visualizations, and work spaces. External cognition is human or
cognitive information processing that combines internal cognition with perception and manipulation of
external representations of information

[4mks]
b. The use of prototyping tools has simplified the design and implementation of interactive systems. Explain
what toolkits are and describe the advantages they present to the developer.

[8mks]
c. Discuss any Four design guidelines for a command based interaction style.
Command naming conventions :- Ideally, all command names should be tested with users to ensure that the
majority readily understand what the command does and are not apt to confuse it with similar commands.
For example, "save" is considered a better command name than "file" for specifying the action of retaining
work for later use.
Command syntax :- Some command-based interfaces require exact entry of the command (and associated
options) including precise location of spaces and punctuation, and the use of upper or lower case letters. These
requirements determine the command syntax. Users readily learn command syntax at a conceptual level and
can use that understanding to reduce their error rates when using new commands. Important features of
commands are the names of options and how they are specified, punctuation used for separating options from
one another, and the specific ordering for options and other parts of the command (such as input and output
file names or devices).

Command sequencing :- In a command-based interface, the user inputs a sequence of commands in a step-by-
step fashion. Often, the sequencing of steps may not appear critical from the user's point of view but may be
quite important for successful completion.
Reducing users' cognitive load :- Command-based interfaces typically place more demands on the user than
menu-based or direct manipulation interfaces. In particular, users of command-based interfaces are required
to recall command names, options, syntax, and sequencing. Users who understand command functions
through training and experience are better able to recognize errors than users who know only the names of
commands and when to insert them into a procedure.

[8marks]
[6mks]

Q5
a Differentiate between the following terms:
(i) User Interface management systems and user interface toolkits
A user interface management systems should not be thought of as a system but rather a
software architecture, in which the implementation of an application's user interface is
clearly separated from that of the application's underlying functionality

User interface toolkits:-

(ii) Gulf of Evaluation and Gulf of Execution
Gulf of Evaluation - It’s were system provides representations that can be directly perceived
and interpreted in terms of the expectations and intentions of the user.

Gulf of Execution it’s the difference between the intentions of the users and what the system
allows them to do or how well the system supports those actions,
[6mrks]
 (iii) Intelligent interface and intelligent system
In intelligent interfaces, the intelligence might be in predicting what the user wants to do,
and presenting information with this prediction in mind. Intelligent interfaces can also make
doing a task more intuitive and helpful.
An intelligent system learns how to act so it can reach its objectives.

b. (i) Separating the user interface from the application leads to a

three-part division of a soft-ware system: Explain the three
major divisions and highlight the services provided by each level

[6mrks]

(ii) Explain any three styles of user support provided by a help System
Quick reference support: - This is reference to certain questions that one might have in
regards to certain tasks on certain applications.
Task specific Help: - This is where by applications have help services offering assistance to
specific tasks.
Full explanation Tutorial: - This is where you have help services offering full tutorials in
regards to certain applications.

[3mks] [3mrks]
[2mrks]

Q7
a. (i) Name and explain Four documents which should be delivered with a software
system, clearly stating the purpose.
User Documentation
Users of a system are not all the same. The producer of documentation must
structure it to cater for different user tasks and different levels of expertise and
experience. It is particularly important to distinguish between end-users and
system administrators

System Documentation
System documentation includes all of the documents describing the system
itself from the requirements specification to the final acceptance test plan.
Documents describing the design, implementation and testing of a system are
essential if the program is to be understood and maintained. Like user
documentation, it is important that system documentation is structured, with
overviews leading the reader into more formal and detailed descriptions of each
aspect of the system.

P r o c e s s d o c ume n t a t i o n
Effective management requires the process being managed to be visible.
Because software is intangible and the software process involves apparently
similar cognitive tasks rather than obviously different physical tasks, the only
way this visibility can be achieved is through the use of process documentation.
 Product documentat ion
Product documentation is concerned with describing the delivered software
product. Unlike most process documentation, it has a relatively long life. It
must evolve in step with the product which it describes. Product documentation
includes user documentation which tells users how to use the software product
and system documentation which is principally intended for maintenance
engineers

[6mrks]

(ii) Describe the requirements of user support systems. [4mrks]

b. (i) Explain briefly the major problems facing knowledge representation

and modeling of user interfaces. [4mrks]
Default reasoning and the qualification problem
Many of the things people know take the form of "working assumptions." For
example, if a bird comes up in conversation, people typically picture an animal that is
fist sized, sings, and flies. None of these things are true about all birds.
The breadth of commonsense knowledge
The subsymbolic form of some commonsense knowledge
Much of what people know is not represented as "facts" or "statements" that they
could express verbally. For example, a chess master will avoid a particular chess
position because it "feels too exposed"or an art critic can take one look at a statue
and instantly realize that it is a fake.

(ii) An intelligent interface employs some kind of intelligent technique.

Describe any Four kinds of techniques that are employed today. [6mrks]
[4mrks]
 User Adaptivity: Techniques that allow the user - system interaction to be adapted to
different users and different usage situations.
 User Modelling: Techniques that allow a system to maintain knowledge about a user.
 Natural Language Technology: Techniques that allow a system to interpret or generate
natural language utterances, in text or in speech,
 Dialogue Modelling: Techniques that allow a system to maintain a natural language
dialogue with a user, possible in combination with other interaction means (multimodal
dialogue),
 Explanation Generation: Techniques that allow a system to explain its results to a user.

[2mrks]

Q9
a (i) Define the term “Groupware”.
Groupware refers to programs that help people work together collectively
while located remotely from each other.

[2mrks]
 (ii) Groupware technologies are typically categorized along two primary
dimensions
if the users in a group are working together at same time is synchronous groupware.
Synchronous groupware is programming that enables real-time collaboration among
geographically-distributed work group members. Synchronous groupware typically includes file
transfer, chat, shared whiteboard, application sharing, voice, and video.

if the users are working for a same thing at different times is asynchronous
groupware
Groupware that enables multiple participants to collaborate but not in real time, at the same time.
Asynchronous groupware includes e-mail, version control systems, or collaborative writing
systems.

[6mrks] [6mrks]

(iii) Discuss Four organizational issues in the implementation of groupware systems.

"lack of top executive support, the proliferation of incompatible
collaborative tools, installation of inadequate tools, end-user
confusion, and existing work practices that are designed around
individual rather than collaborative work
the issue of standardization should also be considered. Will the systems
be used in the same way and with the same rules throughout the
organization? This should not be enforced if it may lead to a lack of
acceptance and/or if it is not practically feasible.
Selection of the groupware systems should be influenced by the users or
in the very least be carried out by someone who is knowledgeable in both
the functions of the system and the work practices of the users.
chosen tools relate to one another, and if one should invest in an
integrated solution. For instance, an integrated groupware system
composed of many complementary modules may be easier on the user since
it implies getting accustomed to one brand. The same systems
manufactured by different companies could be far harder to learn. At the
same time, they may not offer as many features individually, and this
too must be carefully balanced against the firm's specific needs.
Organizational culture

[6mrks] [8mrks]

b. (i) Describe briefly Four evaluation techniques used to assess the implementation
of the user interface of groupware systems .

Cognitive walkthrough [13] is a popular inspection method

for single user software. It allows designers to evaluate
software in the early stages of development while still
taking the use context into consideration. The technique
does not require a working prototype and can be
performed without users, providing benefits in terms of
time and expense. Cognitive walkthrough involves three
types of contextual information: a description of the users
and the knowledge they possess, descriptions of the tasks
the users will perform with the system, and a list of the
correct actions a user must perform to accomplish the tasks
with a particular prototype.

Group task analysis

The first component of groupware walkthrough is the task
model. We first provide a discussion of the level of
analysis that is used in the model, and then set out the
model’s structure and the steps involved in task analysis.

Roupware walkthrough methodology

Once scenario specifications and task analyses have been
compiled, a groupware walkthrough for a particular
prototype can be carried out. Figure 6 shows the
groupware walkthrough process. Evaluators step through
the tasks and determine how well the interface supports
group members in working toward and achieving the
intended outcome. The technique can be applied to any
groupware design, ranging from low fidelity prototypes to
functioning applications. However, the technique is
intended to be formative, where results are used as
redesign information in an iterative design cycle.
[4mrks]

(iv) Highlight Two main issues that should be considered in designing an

intelligent help system for a groupware application. [2mrks]

Consistency
Consistency relates to the likeness in behavior arising from similar situations or similar task
objectives. Consistency is probably the most widely mentioned principle in the literature on
users interface design

Flexibility- the multiplicity of ways in which the user and the system exchange information.