Human-Computer Interaction

SSE3202 by Dr. Sufri Muhammad

Semester I 2020/2021
Chapter 1: Introduction
Overview

 Human Computer Interaction (HCI) definition

 The importance and scope of HCI

 The evolution of HCI

 Usability

 HCI methodology
Learning Outcomes

 Define HCI

 Explain the importance and scope of HCI

 Discuss the evolution of HCI

 Describe usability in HCI

 Explain the HCI methodology

Overview

 One 2016 design study of 408 companies found that the higher the investment in
UX, the greater the increase in sales, the higher their customer retention and
customer engagement was, and the faster the company moved through its
product cycles. Those companies which invested the most, and who considered
themselves to be fully user-centric, saw their sales increase by a staggering 75%.

 One of the main areas of saving that a UX focus brought about was development
time. UX designers reduce the time developers need to re-work or ‘fix’ a product
by up to 50%.

 It seems obvious, but with a UX designer on board a product idea can be fully
fleshed out, prototyped, reworked and tested before a developer has even come
on board. As we all know, it is a lot cheaper to fix a product before
implementation, than once development has started.
 We looked at a report from
eMarketer, which stated that by
2020, e-commerce sales will grow
to a global total of about $4.058
trillion. However the conversion
rate for e-commerce could be
improved by 35% simply through
better checkout flow and
design, another report found.
 When we looked at this data
together we were able to conclude
that by 2020, if checkout flow
and design isn’t improved in e-
commerce on an industrial scale,
we can expect a global loss of
$1.420 trillion.
Why Users Abandon?
 Introduction

How many interactive products are there in everyday use?

* Think for a minute about what you use in a

typical day

How many are actually easy, effortless, and enjoyable to

use?
What’s the Problem?

 Good programmer/designer need to understand the nature and needs

of the computer

 But the nature and needs of computer are utterly alien to the nature
and needs of the human being who will use it

 When the programmer/designer overlook how bad the the product it

is – instead they see how rich the product is in features and functions
 What’s the Problem? (cont.)

 They ignore how difficult it is to use, how many hours it takes to

learn etc

 Programmer/designer work hard to make their product easy to use --

> unfortunately their frame of reference is THEMSELVES, so they
only make it easy to use for other software engineers, BUT not for
normal human beings
“The interface is the system.”

 Interface provides/conveys the only view of the “underlying” system

 Provides:
 Model of task, system capabilities … more later

 User interface strongly affects perception of software

 Usable software sells better
 Unusable web sites are abandoned

 Perception is sometimes superficial

 Users blame themselves for UI failings
 People who make buying decisions are not always end-users
What to design

 Need to take into account:

 Who the users are
 What activities are being carried out
 Where the interaction is taking place

 Need to optimize the interactions users have with

a product
 So that they match the users’ activities and needs
Interfaces – Should and Must Do Right

 Always should have “good”

interfaces
 Computing time (power) is
getting cheaper
 Users’ time isn’t
 Ratio discussed last time

 Sometimes must have “good”

interfaces

 Disasters happen (notes)

 Therac-25 radiation therapy
machine
 Aegis radar system in USS
Vincennes
Leveson, N. (1995). Appendix - Medical Devices:
The Therac-25
http://sunnyday.mit.edu/papers/therac.pdf
In fact, User Interfaces are Hard to Design

 Software designers (let alone coders!) are not the user

 As we’ve discussed
 Most software engineering is about communicating with other
programmers
 UI is about communicating with users

 The user is always right

 Consistent problems are the system’s fault

 …except when the user is not right

 Users aren’t designers
What is Human-Computer Interaction?

 Human-computer interaction (HCI) is:

 “concerned with the design, evaluation and implementation of
interactive computing systems for human use and with the study of
major phenomena surrounding them” (ACM SIGCHI, 1992, p.6
 An “interdisciplinary design science”, Shneiderman
 Began by “combining data-gathering methods and intellectual
frameworks of experimental psychology with the powerful and
widely used tools developed from computer science…”
 … “contributions accrued from educational and industrial
psychologists, industrial and graphic designers, technical writers,
experts in human factors or ergonomics, information architects, and
adventuresome anthropologists and sociologists.”
What is HCI ?(cont.)

 Dix: “HCI is study of people, computer technology and the ways

these influence each other. We study HCI to determine how we can
make this computer technology more usable by people” (1998)

 Carroll: “HCI is the study and practice of usability. It is about

understanding and creating software and other technology that
people will want to use, will be able to use, and will find effective
when used.” (2002)
What is HCI? (cont)

 Human:
 Individual user, a group of users
working together, a sequence of users in an The User
organization

 Computer:
 Desktop computer, large-scale computer
Input Output
system, Pocket PC, embedded system (e.g.,
photocopier, microwave oven), software
(e.g., search engine, word processor) The System
 User interface:
 Parts of the computer that the user contacts
with

 Interaction
 Usually involve a dialog with feedback &
control throughout performing a task (e.g.,
user invokes “print” command and then
interface replies with a dialog box)
Why is HCI important?

 HCI is the kind of discipline bridging between the human and the technology

 What can the technology do? How can you build it? What are the possibilities?

 What are people doing and how would this fit in? What would they do with it?

 Need to consider the issue of

 Efficiency/Effectiveness
 Emotion
 Economy
 Health
 Safety
 Example: a navigation system with poor HCI
Interdisciplinary nature and scope of HCI
Software Computer
Engineering Engineering
Human Cognitive
Factors Science

Physical capabilities Methodology Hardware

Art Aesthetics Intelligent interfaces Cognitive
Theatre Psychology
Drama User modeling
Dialog Collaboration Cost-benefit Affective
Computing
Communications

Social Organizational
Psychology Psychology
Sociology
Management
Philosophy
Typical Topics in HCI

 Human cognition
 Perception; Visual/auditory cognition; Motion cognition; Memory &
attention; Learning; Language understanding; Mental model and
metaphors

 Designing for collaboration & communication

 Information visualization; Online communities; Presentation styles;
Group dynamics; Groupware and discussion-ware
Typical Topics in HCI (cont.)

 Understanding how interfaces/technology affect users

 Ergonomics; safety-critical systems; work environments; social and
behavioural impact (individual and group); diversity and the digital
divide

 User-centered approaches to interaction design

 Identify needs and establish requirements; integrate users into design;
prototyping and construction phases
Typical Topics in HCI (cont.)

 Usability evaluation
 Observing users; testing and modeling users; expert evaluations

 Interaction styles
 Virtual environments; Menus and forms; Commands and natural
language; hands-free input

 Interaction devices
 Keyboards; Pointing devices; Speech I/O; Image and video I/O; other
sensory devices; Mobile devices
The Evolution of HCI

 Batch processing
• 1950’s
 Timesharing
• 1960’s
 Networking • 1970’s
 Graphical display • 1980’s
 Microprocessor • 1990’s

• 1995’s
WWW
• This era…
 Ubiquitous computing

 Grid computing, clouds

 Human robot interaction

The Evolution of HCI (cont)

 Early interaction
 What were the first
interaction devices?
 Wires, punched tape and
cards, switches, teletype
 Lights
 ENIAC (1943)
 MARK 1 (1944)
 Stretch (1961)
The Evolution of HCI (cont.)

 The range of current devices?

 Keyboard
 Light pen, stylus
 Mouse, Touchpad, touch
screen
 Microphone
 Headphone
The Evolution of HCI (cont.)

 Future devices? Common use soon?

 Data gloves/suits (wearable computing)
 Natural language
 Head-up display
Usability

 Is it a “good” interface?
 In what ways?

 Usability:
 How well users can use the system’s functionality

 Dimensions of usability (quick look):

 Learnability: is it easy to learn?
 Efficiency: once learned, is it fast to use?
 Memorability: is it easy to remember what you learned?
 Errors: are errors few and recoverable?
 Satisfaction: is it enjoyable to use?
Usability Dimensions Vary In Importance

 So, what are the elements of usability?

 … It depends on the user

 Novice users need learnability
 Infrequent users need memorability
 Experts need efficiency

 But no user is uniformly novice or expert

 Domain experience
 Application experience
 Feature experience
Usability Is Only One Attribute of a System

 BTW, in developing large systems, development process entails a

(often large) team

 Software designers have a lot to worry about:

 Functionality – Usability
 Performance – Size
 Cost – Reliability
 Security – Standards

 Many design decisions involve tradeoffs among different attributes

 Which is the essence of the design process
A Methodology for HCI Development

 The methodology revolves around a systems

development life cycle that includes 4 phases:
planning, analysis, design, and
implementation/operation.
 Each phase focuses on 4 human concerns of HCI:
Physical, cognitive, affective, and usefulness.
 Evaluation is also key and includes both formative
(intermediary) and summative evaluation.
4 phases of HCI development methodology

 The planning phase determines the organizational information

needs.
 Analysis involves several unique HCI techniques. We believe
that HCI considerations should start in the analysis stage to
uncover user needs and opportunities. Three major analyses
are conducted: context, user, and task analyses.
 The design phase specifies the user interface on the basis of the
analysis according to HCI principles and guidelines and tested
against the evaluation metrics.
 Finally, the implementation stage makes the target system a
reality.
The HCI Methodology
Project Selection Project Selection Project Planning
& Planning

Requirements User Needs Test

Analysis Determination

Context User Task

Analysis Analysis Analysis

HCI Principles & Guidelines

Evaluation Formative
Metrics Evaluation

Human Concerns: Alternative Selection

Physical
Cognitive
Affective
Usefulness Interface Specification
Formative
Evaluation
Design Metaphor Design Media Design

Dialogue Design Presentation Design

Formative Summative
Coding
Evaluation Evaluation
Implementation
Different HCI Models

 Star lifecycle
 Suggested by Hartson and Hix (1989)
 Important features
 Evaluation is at the center of activities
 Interconnected via the evaluation activity
 No particular ordering of activities. Development may start in any
one of the activities
 Derived from empirical studies of interface designers
HCI Methodology (cont.)

 What is involved in the process of interaction design

 Establishing requirements
 Developing alternatives
 Prototyping
 Evaluating
HCI Methodology (cont.)

 Core characteristics of interaction design

 Users should be involved through the development of the project
 Specific usability and user experience goals need to be identified, clearly
documented and agreed at the beginning of the project
 Iteration is needed through the core activities
HCI Methodology (cont.)

 Why go to this length?

 Help designers:
 Understand how to design interactive products that fit with what
people want, need and may desire
 Appreciate that one size does not fit all
 Identify any incorrect assumptions they may have about particular
user groups
 Be aware of both people’s sensitivities and their capabilities
Different HCI Models (cont.)

Star Model
Different HCI Models (cont.)

 ISO 13407 Human-centered design process for

interactive systems
 It specifies 4 human-centered design activities which are
central to a system development project:
 Understand and specify the context of use
 Specify the user and organizational requirements
 Produce design solutions
 Evaluate designs against requirements
Different HCI Models (cont.)

ISO 13407 Human-centered design process

Conclusion

 HCI is an important discipline which involves various interdisciplinary

area.

 The HCI consists of the introduction, human, emotion/affective, design,

implementation and evaluation.

 Human and evaluation are major concern in developing a user-centered

system which includes various techniques such as prototyping,
gathering user requirement and alternative design.

 The designer aims are to design the best solution for the intended users.

 Usability is a major concern as well as user experiences

References

 Preece, J., Rogers, Y. and Sharp, H. (2011). Interaction Design

Beyond

 Human-Computer Interaction. 3rd Ed. Sussex: John Wiley & Sons

Ltd.

 cmpe.emu.edu.tr/.../AA%20HCI%20Chapter%20I
%20Introduction.ppt

 http://toastytech.com/guis/guitimeline.html

 http://www.theoligarch.com/microsoft_vs_apple_history.htm