COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND

TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN COMPUTER INTERACTION

BY. ADDISU OUMER

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  Outlines of the chapter
 Introduction to HCI
 The Goals of HCI
 The Scope of HCI
 The Importance of Good UI Design
 The Problems of Poor or Bad UI
 General principles of UI design

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 Introduction
HCI (human-computer interaction)
 is the study of how people interact with computers and to
what extent computers are or are not developed for
successful interaction with human beings.
 as its name implies, HCI consists of three parts: the user,
the computer itself, and the ways they work together.

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 User
 By "user", we may mean an individual user, a group of users
working together.
 An appreciation of the way people's sensory systems (sight,
hearing, touch) relay information is vital.
 Also, different users form different conceptions or mental models
about their interactions and have different ways of learning and
keeping knowledge.
 In addition, cultural and national differences play a part.

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 Computer
 when we talk about the computer, we're referring to any
technology ranging from desktop computers, to large scale
computer systems.
 For example, if we were discussing the design of a
Website, then the Website itself would be referred to as
"the computer".
 Devices such as mobile phones or VCRs can also be
considered to be “computers”.
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 Interaction
 There is obvious differences between humans and machines.

 In spite of these, HCI attempts to ensure that they both get on

with each other and interact successfully.

 In order to achieve a usable system, you need to apply what

you know about humans and computers, and consult with likely

users throughout the design process.

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 The Goals of HCI
 The goals of HCI are to produce usable and safe systems, as
well as functional systems and architectures. In order to
produce computer systems with good usability, developers must
attempt to
o understand the factors that determine how people use technology
:
o develop tools and techniques to enable building suitable systems
o achieve efficient, effective, and safe interaction
o put people first

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 The scope of HCI
 Has broadened to include the cognitive, social, and
organizational aspects of computer use.
 HCI can provide techniques to model people's interactions with
computers, guidelines for software design.
 Models of HCI serve much the same purposes as architectural,
scientific, or engineering models.

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 Users interact with a computer system via a user interface (UI).

 UI is part of the computer system that enables interaction and

serves as a bridge between users and the system.

The user’s view of a computer system is often limited to and based

solely on his or her experience of the user interface.

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 The Importance of Good UI Design
 “Good” UI is
o Easy to learn, effective to use, easy to understand.
o Encourages an easy, natural, and engaging interaction between
a user and a system.
o Allows users to carry out their required tasks.
 User interface strongly affects perception of software
o Usable software sells better
o Unusable web sites will not be visited.

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 The Problems of Poor or Bad UI
 If UI are confusing and inefficient, people will have greater
difficulty doing their jobs and will make more mistakes.
 Poor UI design
-- may chase some people away from a system permanently.
-- can lead to Dissatisfaction, frustration, and increased stress.
-- can have a huge financial cost to users and organizations.
>> Design it correctly now, or pay for it later
 Bad UI may lead the user to make an error that expose the systems
for high costs of failure and danger.
e.g., aircraft, space mission control
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 Cont..
Bad interfaces may cause users to:
• need more time for performing their tasks
• make more errors
• feel dissatisfied
• need more time for learning how to use the
software

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Examples of bad UI

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Cont..

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Cont..

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Cont..

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Cont..

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 General principles of UI design
 Systems should be designed to be usable, without modification, by as
many people as possible.
 Four characteristics of accessible design are simple, operability, simplicity,
and forgiveness.
 Perceptibility assures that a system’s design can be perceived, regardless of
a person’s sensory abilities.
 Operability assures that a system’s design can be used, regardless of a
person’s physical abilities.
 Simplicity assures that all users can easily understand and use the system,
regardless of experience, literacy, or concentration level.
 Forgiveness that a system minimizes the occurrence of, and on sequences
of, errors.
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 Simplicity
 Provide as simple an interface as possible.
 Ways to provide simplicity:
 Use progressive disclosure, hiding things until they are needed.
• Present common and necessary functions first.
• Hide more sophisticated and less frequently used functions.
 Provide an obvious visual hierarchy.
 Provide uniformity and consistency.
 Eliminate unnecessary elements
 Simplicity is achieved when everyone can easily understand and use a system
regardless of experience, literacy, or concentration level

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 Forgiveness
■ Tolerate and forgive common and unavoidable human errors.
■ Prevent errors from occurring whenever possible.
■ Protect against possible catastrophic errors.
■ Provide constructive messages when an error does occur.

 A system oversensitive to erroneous inputs will discourage users from

exploring and trying new things.
 Prevent errors from occurring by anticipating where mistakes may occur and
designing to prevent them.
 Permit people to review, change, and undo actions whenever necessary.

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 Availability
 Make all objects available at all time

-- > All aspects of a system should be available at any time

and in any sequence.

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 Clarity
 The interface should be visually, conceptually, and linguistically
clear.
 Visual elements should be understandable, relating to the user’s
real-world concepts and functions.
 Metaphors, or analogies, should be realistic and simple.
 Interface words and text should be simple, unambiguous, and free
of computer jargon.

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 Compatibility
User compatibility.
 Design must be appropriate and compatible with the needs of the
user or client.
 Effective design starts with understanding the user’s needs and
adopting the user’s point of view
 Adopt the user’s perspective.

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 Cont..

 One very common error among designers is to assume that users

are all alike.
 Another common error is to assume that all users think, feel, and
behave exactly like the developer.
 Users have quite different needs, aspirations, and attitudes than
developers.
 “Know the user” is the fundamental principle in interface design.

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 Consistency
■ A system should look, act, and operate the same throughout.
Similar components should:
–– Have a similar look.
–– Have similar uses.
–– Operate similarly.
■ The same action should always yield the same result.
■ The function of elements should not change.
■ The position of standard elements should not change.

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 Control

■ The user must control the interaction

Actions should result from explicit user requests.
Actions should be performed quickly.
Actions should be capable of interruption or termination.
■ The context maintained must be from the perspective of the user.
■ The means to achieve goals should be flexible and compatible with the user’s
skills, experiences, habits, and preferences.
■ Permit the user to customize aspects of the interface, while always providing
a proper set of defaults

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 Cont..

 Control is achieved when a person, working at his or her own

place, is able to determine what to do, how to do it, and then is
easily able to get it done.
 Simple, predictable, consistent, flexible, customizable, and
passive interfaces provide control

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 Directness
■ Provide direct ways to accomplish tasks.
–– Available alternatives should be visible.
–– The effect of actions on objects should be visible.
 Tasks should be performed directly.
 Available alternatives should be visible, reducing the user’s mental
workload.
 Tasks are performed by directly selecting an object, selecting an
action to be performed, and then seeing the action being performed

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 Familiarity
■ Employ familiar concepts and use a language that is familiar
to the user.
■ Keep the interface natural, mimicking the user’s behavior
patterns.
■ Use real-world metaphors (pictorial expression).

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 Cont..

 Build on the user’s existing knowledge, especially that they have

gained from experience in the real world.
 Build into the interface concepts, terminology, workflows, and
spatial arrangements that are already familiar to the user.
 Icons or images should look like the real-world objects they
represent.
 Familiar concepts enable people to get started and become
productive quickly

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 Cont..

 Flexibility is the system’s ability to respond to individual

differences in people.
 Permit people to choose the method of interaction that is most
appropriate to their situation.
 People should be able to interact with a system in terms of their
own particular needs including knowledge, experience, and
personal preference.
 Flexibility is accomplished by providing multiple ways to access
application functions and perform tasks.

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 Recovery
■ A system should permit:
–– Commands or actions to be abolished or reversed.
–– Immediate return to a certain point if difficulties arise.
■ Ensure that users never lose their work as a result of:
–– An error on their part.
–– Hardware, software, or communication problems.
 A person should be able to retract or reverse an action by issuing an undo
command.
 Knowing that an action can be reversed reduces much of the distress of
new users, who often worry about doing something wrong.

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 Operability

Ensure that a system’s design can be used by everyone, regardless

of physical abilities.
Operability requires that a system always be usable, regardless
of a person’s physical abilities.
Operability is achieved by minimizing repetitive actions and
sustained physical effort, fostering control use through making
their intents obvious and their sizes large enough for easy
activation, and positioning screen information and controls so
they can be easily accessed whether sitting or standing.
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 Benefits of HCI

 Gaining market share

 Improving productivity

 Lowering support costs

 Reducing development cost

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