JOMO KENYATTA UNIVERSITY

OF
AGRICULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY
EXAMINATIONS FOR BACHELOR OF IT STAGE III SEM I

BIT 2305: HUMAN COMPUTER INTERFACE

DATE: TIME: 2 HOURS

Instruction: Answer Question One and any other two questions

QUESTION ONE

a. Distinguish the following as used in human cognition

i. Constructivist theory and Ecological theory [2mks]

ii. Knowledge in the head and Knowledge in the world [2mks]

b. Briefly explain any four principles that should be followed when designing icons. [4mks]

c. State the three principles that theoretically exist when applying Fitts’ law to interface designs.
[6mks]

d. A number of advocates of user-centred design have presented sets of ‘golden rules’ or

heuristics. While these are inevitably ‘broad-brush’ design rules, which may not always be
applicable to every situation, they do provide a useful checklist or summary of the essence of
design advice. It is clear that any designer following even these simple rules will produce a better
system than one who ignores them.

(i) Explain briefly any five of Norman’s Principles for transforming difficult
tasks into simple ones.
[5mks]

(ii) Explain briefly any five of the Shneiderman’s Golden rules for dialogue
design.

[5mks]

e. Metaphors convey an abstract concept in a more familiar and accessible form. The desktop
metaphor has been used successfully for operating systems. However, other metaphors have been
developed for specific types of applications. With the aid of relevant examples of application
areas and familiar knowledge, state any six of these metaphors.
[6mks]
QUESTION TWO

a. The Syslogic Technologies Ltd have been hired to design a form-based interface to a
new system that is intended to help Bank Staff process loan applications. When one of
the interface design team called on the Bank Staff they asked a long-serving employee
what they liked about the existing system:

"It's really difficult to say - there are some aspects that we like and some that we dont... It
all depends..."

Briefly explain why experts find it difficult to explain the strengths and weaknesses of
existing systems.
[6mks]

b. Describe the four principles of direct manipulation.

[4mks]

c. Explain the way in which schemata and scripts can guide the behaviors of a user, who is
experienced with a particular spreadsheet application, when interacting with a new,
unfamiliar spreadsheet application.
[6mks]

d. Discuss the significance of the theory of mental models for interface design.
[4mks]

QUESTION THREE

a. The focal point of Gestalt theory is the idea of "grouping," or how we tend to interpret a visual
field or problem in a certain way. Explain briefly the four main factors that determine
grouping.

[4mks]
b. Discuss the life cycle of usability engineering as applied in human computer interaction.
[7mks]

c. One of the techniques used in the usability life cycle is task analysis. In relation to task
analysis, explain the concept of GOMS.
[4mks]

d. Describe five interaction styles that a user may use when interacting with a computer. [5mks]
QUESTION FOUR

a. Representation for design can be used for a number of purposes, identify three of these
functions [3mks]
b. Discus four principles of user centered design. [4mks]
c. With the aid of a diagram briefly explain the concept of the Extended Human Information
Processing. [7mks]
d. There are a large number of factors which should be considered in the analysis and
design of a system using HCI principles. Many of these factors interact with each other,
making the analysis even more complex. State any six of these factors.
[6mks]