MIRPUR UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (MUST), MIRPUR

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

 Human Computer Interaction
BIT-3601

Lecture [09]
Computer and Interaction: Interaction Styles

Mr.Ghias Hamid
(Lecturer)

Date: May 01, 2020

 Contents
In this lecture we are going to understand the following concepts
 Computer and Interaction: Interaction Styles
• Interaction Styles
• Command line interface
• Menus
• Natural language
• Query interfaces
• Form-fills
• Spreadsheets
• Wimp
• Point and click
• Three–dimensional interfaces

Human Computer Interaction (HCI) 3

 Computer and Interaction: Interaction Styles

Interaction Styles
 Interaction can be seen as a dialog between the computer and
the user

 The choice of interface style can have a profound effect on

the nature of this dialog

 There are a number of common interface/Interaction styles

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Human Computer Interaction (HCI)
 Computer and Interaction: Interaction Styles

Interaction Styles
 command line interface
 menus
 natural language
 question/answer and query dialogue
 form-fills and spreadsheets
 WIMP
 point and click
 three–dimensional interfaces

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Human Computer Interaction (HCI)
 Computer and Interaction: Interaction Styles

1. Command line interface

 Way of expressing instructions to the computer directly
function keys, single characters, short abbreviations, whole words, or a
combination
 suitable for repetitive tasks
 better for expert users than novices
 offers direct access to system functionality
 command names/abbreviations should be meaningful!
 Typical example: the Unix system

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Human Computer Interaction (HCI)
 Computer and Interaction: Interaction Styles

2. Menus
 Set of options displayed on the screen
 Options visible
• less recall - easier to use
• rely on recognition so names should be meaningful
 Selection by:
• numbers, letters, arrow keys, mouse
• combination (e.g. mouse plus accelerators)
 Often options hierarchically grouped
• sensible grouping is needed
 Restricted form of full WIMP system

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Human Computer Interaction (HCI)
 Computer and Interaction: Interaction Styles

3. Natural language
 Familiar to user
 speech recognition or typed natural language
 Problems
• vague
• ambiguous
• hard to do well!
 Solutions
• try to understand a subset
• pick on key words

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Human Computer Interaction (HCI)
 Computer and Interaction: Interaction Styles

4. Query interfaces
 Question/answer interfaces
• user led through interaction via series of questions
• suitable for novice users but restricted functionality
• often used in information systems

 Query languages (e.g. SQL)

• used to retrieve information from database
• requires understanding of database structure and language syntax, hence
requires some expertise

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Human Computer Interaction (HCI)
 Computer and Interaction: Interaction Styles

5. Form-fills
 Primarily for data entry or data retrieval
 Screen like paper form.
 Data put in relevant place
 Requires
• good design
• obvious correction facilities

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Human Computer Interaction (HCI)
 Computer and Interaction: Interaction Styles

6. Spreadsheets
 First spreadsheet VISICALC, followed by Lotus 1-2-3
MS Excel most common today
 sophisticated variation of form-filling.
• grid of cells contain a value or a formula
• formula can involve values of other cells
e.g. sum of all cells in this column
• user can enter and alter data spreadsheet maintains consistency

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Human Computer Interaction (HCI)
 Computer and Interaction: Interaction Styles

7. WIMP Interface
Windows
Icons
Menus
Pointers

… or windows, icons, mice, and pull-down menus!

default style for majority of interactive computer systems,

especially PCs and desktop machines

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Human Computer Interaction (HCI)
 Computer and Interaction: Interaction Styles

8. Point and click interfaces

 used in ..
• multimedia
• web browsers
• hypertext

 just click something!

• icons, text links or location on map

 minimal typing

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Human Computer Interaction (HCI)
 Computer and Interaction: Interaction Styles

9. Three dimensional interfaces

 virtual reality
 ‘ordinary’ window systems
• highlighting
• visual affordance flat buttons …
• indiscriminate use
click me!
• 3D workspaces
• use for extra virtual space … or sculptured
• light and occlusion give depth
• distance effects

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 References
1. Human-Computer Interaction, by Alan Dix, 3rd Edition , Chapter 03, Section 3.5

2. https://www.studocu.com/in/document/anna-university/human-computer-interaction/lecture-
notes/hci-notes-all-units-1/3707695/view

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Human Computer Interaction (HCI)
THANKS