Chapter 4 –

Physical Engineering
HCI: Developing Effective Organizational Systems
Dov Te’eni
Jane Carey
Ping Zhang

Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Road Map
Context Foundation Application

4
1 Physical 7 8
Introduction Engineering Evaluation Principles &
Guidelines
3 5
11
Interactive Cognitive
Methodology
2 Technologies Engineering
Org & 9 10
Business 6 Organizational Componential
Context Affective Tasks Design
Engineering

12 13
Relationship, Collaboration, Social &
& Organization Global Issues

14
Changing Needs of IT
Development & Use

Additional Context

Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Learning Objectives
 Define physical engineering.
 Understand and discuss human performance.
 Understand and discuss human limitations.
 Understand and discuss human perception through
the various sensors including:
◼ Vision
◼ Audition
◼ Touch
 Explain Fitts’ law and how it pertains to HCI
understanding and physical engineering.

Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Learning Objectives
 Understand and discuss possible health problems
associated with computer use including:
◼ Emissions
◼ Repetitive motion problems
◼ Vision problems
◼ Muscular problems
 Understand, explain, and design technologies to
support disabled users including those who are:
◼ Visually impaired
◼ Hearing-impaired
◼ Physically disabled
Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc
Introduction
 Ergonomics has been at the heart of human factors
engineering. The word was coined in 1949 from two
Greek words, ergos, which means work, and nomos,
which means natural laws.
 It has come to mean "the fit between man and
machine". The group that coined the word,
ergonomics, was interdisciplinary and included
psychologists, design engineers, work study
engineers, industrial medical officers, and others
with an interest in human performance.
Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc
Introduction
 Ergonomics: the physical fit between human
and machine.
 Ergonomic Engineering: the science of
human engineering which combines the study
of human body mechanics and physical
limitations with industrial psychology.

Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Human Performance and Limitations
 Ergonomic engineering is concerned with the physical
interfaces between the human user and the computer and has
three main categories: analysis, design, and assessment
(Bullinger, 1988). The analysis category focuses on human
attributes and capabilities, the tasks to be performed, and the
technology that is being used to aid in task performance.
The performance-related goals of ergonomics are to improve:
◼ The human ability to handle physical load or demands of the work
situation,
◼ Performance (reduce errors, improve quality, reduce time required to
complete task), and
◼ End user acceptance of the system.

Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Human Performance and Limitations
 Human Performance: measured by reducing
errors, improving quality, and reducing time
required to complete task.
Human

Work

Environment Fit Performance

Work Space

Task Computer

Figure 4.1: The expanded Fit between human, task and computer in the work context
Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc
Human Limitations
 Human Limitations: human limitations
which are physical in nature and include such
aspects as levels of hearing, arm reach,
muscular strength, visual distance and others.
◼ Sensory Limits
 Human sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste have
thresholds and deficiencies.

Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Human Limitations
◼ Responder (motor) limits:
 Humans have limited reach and strength.
 Keyboard layout designs and required mouse actions
often cause users to change body positions in order to
execute them.
 Often resulting in health problems.

Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Fitt’s Law
 Fitts’ Law: measures the time it takes for a
human to move a certain distance.
◼ Fitts’ Law provides much of the theory
underpinning our understanding of human
performance and limitations. Fitts' law is a robust
model of human psychomotor behavior
developed in 1954. The model is based on time
and distance. It enables the prediction of human
movement and human motion based on rapid,
aimed movement, not drawing or writing.
Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc
Fitt’s Law
 It has obvious implication for GUI design,
which is heavily dependant on the act of
moving a cursor around the screen to activate
elements such as buttons, icons and menus.
 It can also be used to model drag-and-drop
operations.
 It is considered “one of the most robust and
highly adopted models of human movement”.

Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Fitt’s Law
 Mathematically, Fitts' law is stated as follows:
◼ MT = a + b log2(2A/W)
◼ Where
 MT = movement time
 a,b = regression coefficients
 A = distance of movement from start to target center
 W = width of the target

Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Sensory Perceptions and Implications
for Design: Vision
 Vision: the human process of seeing and comprehending
objects seen.
 Guidelines for visual display
◼ Characters in displays must be readable.
◼ Fonts should be as simple.
◼ Character definition should be as sharp.
◼ Characters should sufficiently contrast with the background.
◼ There should be adequate space surrounding each character.
◼ Highlighting should facilitate the task.
◼ Levels of intensity should not lead to fatigue.
◼ Underscoring used sparingly.
◼ Attention devices such as blinking, and reserve video should be used
sparingly.
◼ Displays should be relatively inert.
◼ Displays should read from left to right.
◼ Navigation should be consistent.
Sensory Perceptions and Implications
for Design: Audition
 Audition: the human process of hearing and
comprehending sound.
 Guidelines for Physical Characteristics of Auditory
Messages:
◼ The message should be short.
◼ Useful when:
 Response is time critical.
 Visual field is overburdened.
 User is already focusing visual attention.
◼ Nature of auditory messages
 high enough frequency and intensity to be heard, but not annoying.
 Duration is important.
 Modulated sound will attract more attention than a continuous sound.
◼ Use sparingly
◼ The user should be allowed to turn on or off keystroke clicks.
Audition
140 Ear damage possible
130 Painful sound
120
110 Loud thunder
100 Subway train
90
80 Truck or bus
70 Average auto: loud radio
60 Normal conversation
50
40 Quiet office, household sounds
30
20 Whisper
10
0 Threshold for hearing

Figure 4.2 Decibel levels for typical sounds.

Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc
Sensory Perceptions and Implications
for Design: Touch
 Touch: the human process of sensing
environment objects and conditions such as
temperature through skin as a sensory organ.

Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Health Problems associated with HCI
 Emissions: electronic radiation waves
emitted by visual display terminals.
 Repetitive Motion Problems: Physical
discomfort and inflammation of tendons and
tendon sheaths caused by frequent use of
keyboards and other input devices.
 Vision Problems: Blurred visions and
degraded ability to see brought on by frequent
use of computers.
Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc
Health Problems associated with HCI
 Muscular Problems: sore and damaged muscles brought on
by frequent use of computers.
 Constrained postures such as those required in prolonged
computer-based work result in static muscular work and such
symptoms as:
◼ Inflammation of the joints (arthritis),
◼ Inflammation of the tendon sheaths (tendonitis or peri-tendonitis),
◼ Inflammation of the attachment points of the tendons,
◼ Chronic degeneration of the joints (arthroses),
◼ Painful hardening of the muscles, and
◼ Inter-vertebral disc problems.

Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Technical Support for the Disabled
 Technical support for the visually
impaired: software and hardware design that
accommodates visually impaired users.
 Technical support for the hearing
impaired: software and hardware design that
accommodates hearing impaired users.
 Technical support for the physically
disabled: software and hardware design that
accommodates physically disabled users.
Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc
Summary
 Physical engineering combines the study of human
body mechanics and physical limitations with
industrial psychology to achieve a fit between
human and machine and thereby improve
performance and the user’s well-being.
 The ergonomics of information systems deals with
topics such as the physical workstation and furniture
design, lighting, noise, and keyboard height and
arrangement. These are all physical aspects of
human engineering within an information systems
context.

Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc

Summary
 The performance-related goals of physical
engineering are to improve:
◼ (1) the human ability to handle load or demands
of the work situation,
◼ (2) performance (reduce errors, improve quality,
reduce time required to complete task), and
◼ (3) end user acceptance of the system.

Copyright 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Inc