Two stages in vision: physical reception of stimulus processing and interpretation of stimulus retina contains rods for low

light vision and cones for colour vision .ganglion cells (brain!) detect pattern and movement Visual angle indicates how much of view object occupies (relates to size and distance from eye) visual acuity is ability to perceive detail (limited)familiar objects perceived as constant size (in spite of changes in visual angle when far away).cues like overlapping help perception of size and depth Humans can hear frequencies from 20Hz to 15kHz Stimulus received via receptors in the skin: thermoreceptors - heat and cold nociceptors pain mechanoreceptors - pressure (some instant, some continuous) Kinethesis - awareness of body position affects comfort and performance. Fitts' Law describes the time taken to hit a screen target: Mt = a + b log2(D/S + 1) where a and b are empirically determined constants, Mt is movement time ,D is Distance,S is Size of target targets as large as possible, distances as small as possibleThree types of memory function: Sensory memories (buffers for stimuli: visual iconic, auditory echoic, touch haptic) Short-term memory or working memory (Scratch-pad for temporary recall, rapid access ~ 70ms, rapid decay ~ 200ms, limited capacity - 7 2 chunks)Long-term memory Selection of stimuli governed by level of arousal. Repository for all our knowledge slow access ~ 1/10 second, slow decay, if any huge or unlimited capacity. Two types episodic - serial memory of events. semantic - structured memory of facts, concepts, skills information in semantic LTM derived from episodic LTM. LTM Storage of info rehearsal - information moves from STM to LTM, total time hypothesis - amount retained proportional to rehearsal time: distribution of practice effect - optimized by spreading learning over time: structure, meaning and familiarity - information easier to remember decay information is lost gradually but very slowly. interference new information replaces old: retroactive interference.. old may interfere with new: proactive inhibition LTM retrival recall information reproduced from memory, can be assisted by cues, e.g. categories, imagery . Recognition information gives knowledge that it has been seen before less complex than recall - information is cue. Thinking: reasoning and problem solving Reasoning Deductive: derive logically necessary conclusion from given premises .e.g. If it is Friday then she will go to work , It is Friday Therefore she will go to work. Logical conclusion not necessarily true: e.g. If it is raining then the ground is dry , It is raining Therefore the ground is dry. Human deduction poor when truth and validity clash e.g. Some people are babies ,Some babies cry, Inference - Some people cry Correct? People bring world knowledge to bear Inductive: generalize from cases seen to cases unseen e.g. all elephants we have seen have trunks therefore all elephants have trunks. Unreliable: can only prove false not true. Useful though. Humans not good at using negative evidence e.g. Wason's cards. Abductive reasoning: reasoning from event to cause e.g. Sam drives fast when drunk. If see Sam driving fast, assume drunk. Unreliable: can lead to false explanations. Human processing system Perception system: used to sense the info for human Motor control: stimuli that pple use Cognitive system: controls the info got from the environment /controls and coordinates; Sight Colour (hue-wavelength, intensity- brightness, saturation-whiteness of coluor)

Forms of interaction batch - usually when large quantities of data have to be read into the machine; it requires little user intervention interactive - when the user controls things all the time Types of keyboards Standardised layout (QWERTY) (although non-alphanumeric keys are placed differently, and there is a difference between key assignments on UK and USA keyboards). QWERTY arrangement not optimal for typing - layout due to typewriters. Other keyboard designs allow faster typing but large social base of QWERTY typists produces reluctance to change. Keypress closes connection, causing a character code to be sent, Usually connected by an umbilical cord , Allows rapid entry of text by experienced users. Alphabetic Keys arranged in alphabetic order, not faster for trained typists, not faster for beginners either. Dvorak common letters under dominant fingers, biased towards right hand common combinations of letters alternate between hands , 10-15% improvement in speed and reduction in fatigue, But - large social base of QWERTY typists produce market pressures not to chang. Chord keyboards only a few keys - four or 5, letters typed as combination of keypresses , compact size - ideal for portable applications ,short learning time - keypreses reflect shape of desired letter fast ,But - social resistance, plus fatigue after extended use

Text entry device Handwriting recognition -Handwritten text can be input into the computer, using a pen and a digesting tablet , common form of interaction.Problems capturing all useful information - stroke path, pressure, etc. in a natural manner , segmenting joined up writing into individual letters, interpreting individual letters, coping with different styles of handwriting,Handheld organisers being released now that incorporate handwriting recognition technology and do away with a bulky keyboard . Speech Recognition -Promising, but only successful in limited situations - single user, limited vocabulary systems Problems with external noise interfering , imprecision of pronunciation Mouses Two methods for detecting motion Mechanical -Ball on underside of mouse turns as mouse is moved, Rotates orthogonal potentiometers Can be used on almost any flat surface Optical light emitting diode on underside of mouse , sits on special gridlike pad on desk; less susceptible to dust and dirt detects fluctuating alterations in reflected intensity as mouse is moved over the gridlines, used to calculate relative motion in (x, z) plane. Also a device known as the footmouse - operated with the feet; a rare device, not in common use Alternative Output Devices Visual analogue representations: dials, gauges, lights, etc . head-up displays - found in aircraft cockpits . Auditory beeps, bongs, clonks, whistles and whirrs, used for error indications, confirmation of actions e.g. keyclick, speech: not a fully exploited area Types of printers dot-matrix printers use inked ribbon, with a line of pins that can strike the ribbon, dotting the paper. Typical resolution 80-120 dpi. May have many lines in parallel, making a matrix of pins. ink-jet and bubble-jet printers tiny blobs of ink sent from print head to paper: ink-jet squirts them, bubble-jet uses heat to create bubble. Quiet. Typically at 300 dpi or better . thermal printers use heat-sensitive paper that alters colour when heated. Paper heated by pins where a dot is required. Usually only one line of dots created per pass. Poor quality, but simple - fax machines are most common example laser printer like photocopier; dots of electrostatic charge deposited on drum, which picks up toner (black powder form of ink), rolled onto paper which is then fixed with heat. Typically 600dpi or better. Characteristics of fonts Pitch fixed-pitch , with each character having the same width (for example, Courier) variable-pitched , when some characters are wider than others (for example, Times Roman - compare the i and the m) Serif or Sans-serif . sans-serif , i.e. with squareended strokes (like Helvetica), or serif , with splayed ends (such as Times Roman or Palatino) Limits on Interactive Performance Computation bound -Computation takes ages, causing frustration for the user Storage channel bound -Bottleneck in transference of data from disk to memory Graphics bound -Common bottleneck: updating displays requires a lot of effort sometimes helped by adding a graphics co-processor optimized to take on the burden Network capacity -Many computers networked - shared resources and files, access to printers etc. - but interactive performance can be reduced by slow network speed Interaction: communication between the user and the system Why have a framework? allows contextualization, presents a global view Donald Normans Interaction framework 2--User establishes the goal, formulates intention, specifies actions at interface, executes action, perceives system state, interprets system state, evaluates system state with respect to goal Interaction Framework 3--Gulf of Execution users formulation of actions , actions allowed by the systemGulf of Evaluation users expectation of changed system state, actual presentation of this state Interaction Framework 4 extended by Abowd and Beale: their interaction framework has 4 parts : user , input , system , output each has its own unique language. interaction translation between languages . problems in interaction = problems in translation Interaction Framework 5---user intentions translated into actions at the interface translated into alterations of system state reflected in the output display interpreted by the user general framework for understanding interaction : not restricted to electronic computer system, identifies all major components involved in interaction, allows comparative assessment of systems, an abstraction Ergonomics-Study of the physical characteristics of interaction. Also known as human factors. Ergonomics good at defining standards and guidelines for constraining the way we design certain aspects of systems. Interaction Styles command line interface , menus , natural language ,question/answer and query dialogue , form-fills and spreadsheets ,WIMP . Menu design issues: which kind to use, what to include in menus at all, words to use (action or description), how to group items, choice of keyboard accelerators

Interaction affected by social and organizational context other people- desire to impress, competition, fear of failure . Motivation- fear, allegiance, ambition, self-satisfaction . Inadequate systems cause frustration and lack of motivation Paradigms for usability Time-sharing: (single computer supporting multiple users ). 40s and 50s explosive technological growth. 60s need to channel the power . J.C.R. Licklider at ARPA . .Video Display Units: (computers for visualizing and manipulating data) one person's contribution could drastically change the history of computing. More suitable medium than paper . 1962 Sutherland's Sketchpad .Programming toolkits :The right programming toolkit provides building blocks to producing complex interactive systems.Engelbart at Stanford Research Institute . 1963 augmenting man's intellect. 1968 NLS/Augment system demonstration Personal computing : Future of computing in small, powerful machines dedicated to the individual. A system is more powerful as it becomes easier to user . 70s Papert's LOGO language for simple graphics programming by children. Kay at Xerox PARC the Dynabook as the ultimate personal computer. Window systems and the WIMP interface windows, icons, menus and pointers now familiar interaction mechanisms. Humans can pursue more than one task at a time . windows used for dialogue partitioning, to "change the topic .1981 Xerox Star first commercial windowing system Direct manipulation .1982 Shneiderman describes appeal of graphically-based interaction visibility of objects, incremental action and rapid feedback, reversibility encourages exploration, syntactic correctness of all actions, replace language with action . 1984 Apple Macintosh .The model-world metaphor . What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) .Language versus Action- language paradigm, interface as mediator , interface acts as intelligent agent. actions do not always speak louder than words. DM(Direct Manipulation) interface replaces underlying system. Programming by example is both action and language. Hypertext 1945 Vannevar Bush and the memex . key to success in managing explosion of information mid 60s Nelson describes hypertext as non-linear browsing structure . hypermedia and multimedia Nelson's Xanadu project still a dream today . The metaphor relating computing to other real-world activity is effective teaching technique. LOGO's turtle dragging its tail , file management on an office desktop ,word processing as typing , financial analysis on spreadsheets , virtual reality user inside the metaphor .Problems some tasks do not fit into a given metaphor, cultural bias Multimodality a mode is a human communication channel emphasis on simultaneous use of multiple channels for input and output . Computer Supported Cooperative Work CSCW removes bias of single user/single computer system .Can no longer neglect the social aspects ,Electronic mail is most prominent success

Principles to support usability A structured presentation of general principles to apply during design of an interactive system. Learnability -the ease with which new users can begin effective interaction and achieve maximal performance. Flexibility -the multiplicity of ways the user and system exchange information Robustness -the level of support provided the user in determining successful achievement and assessment of goaldirected behavior. Principles of learnability Predictability -determining effect of future actions based on past interaction history operation visibility Synthesizability assessing the effect of past actions, immediate vs. eventual honesty. Familiarity how prior knowledge applies to new system guessability; affordance. Generalizability extending specific interaction knowledge to new situations. Consistency likeness in input/output behaviour arising from similar situations or task objectives . Principles of flexibility Dialogue initiative -freedom from system imposed constraints on input dialogue system vs. user pre-emptiveness . Multithreading - ability of system to support user interaction for more than one task at a time concurrent vs. interleaving; multimodality. Task migratability -passing responsibility for task execution between user and system. Substitutivity allowing equivalent values of input and output to be substituted for each other representation multiplicity; equal opportunity .Customizability modifiability of the user interface by user (adaptability) or system (adaptivity). Principles of robustness Observability -ability of user to evaluate the internal state of the system from its perceivable representation ,browsability; defaults; reachability; persistence; operation visibility Recoverability ability of user to take corrective action once an error has been recognized reachability; forward/backward recovery; commensurate effort . Responsiveness how the user perceives the rate of communication with the system Stability. Task conformance degree to which system services support all of the user's tasks task completeness; task adequacy.Paradigms for usability -the history of computing contains examples of creative insight that enhanced interaction. Principles for usability -repeatable design for usability relies on maximizing benefit of one good design by abstracting out the general properties which can direct purposeful design. The success of designing for usability requires both creative insight (new paradigms) and purposeful principled practice