Specific HCI Guide lines

Examples of Criteria/Categories for HCI Guidelines

There are several HCI guidelines that an application should follow in order to have correct HCI

aspects. Most of the guidelines used were drawn from those proposed by Johnston et al (2003). Further

guidelines were created by modifying the 10 usability heuristics proposed by Nielsen (1994). To further

refine the guidelines the first principles of interaction design (Norman, 2003) were studied and a number

of them were used to improve HCI-S. Ten equally significant guidelines were created and the

applications were evaluated against each one of them.

Guidelines

• more suggestive and general

• many textbooks and reports full of guidelines

• abstract guidelines (principles) applicable during early life cycle activities

• detailed guidelines (style guides) applicable during later life cycle activities

• understanding justification for guidelines aids in resolving conflicts

1. Visible system state and security functions: Applications should not expect that users

will search in order to find the security tools or have hidden features inside the

application. Furthermore the use of status mechanisms can keep users aware and

informed about the state of the system. Status information should be periodically updated

automatically and should be easily accessible.

2. Security should be easily used: The interface should be carefully designed and require

minimal effort in order to make use of security features. Additionally the security settings

should not be placed in several different locations inside the application, because it will

be hard for the user to locate each one of them. (Johnston et al., 2003)

3. Suitable for advanced as well as first time users. Show enough information for a first
time user while not too much information for an experienced user. Provide shortcuts or

other ways to enable advanced users to control the software more easily and quickly.

4. Avoid heavy use of technical vocabulary or advanced terms: Beginners will find it

hard to use the security features in their application if technical vocabulary and advanced

terms are used.

5. Handle errors appropriately: Plan the application carefully so that errors caused by the

use of security features could be prevented and minimized as much as possible. However when errors

occur, the messages have to be meaningful and responsive to the problem.

6. Allow customization without risk to be trapped: Exit paths should be provided in case some functions

are chosen by mistake and the default values should be easily restored.

7. Easy to setup security settings: This way the user will feel more confident with changing and

configuring the application according to their needs

8. Suitable Help and documentation for the available security: Suitable help and documentation should

be provided that would assist the users in the difficulties they may face.

9. Make the user feel protected: Assure the user‟s work is protected by the application.

Recovery from unexpected errors must be taken into account and the application should

ensure that users will not lose their data. Applications should provide the user with the

latest security features in order to feel protected. Furthermore some form of notification

would be useful in case a security update is available.

10. Security should not reduce performance: By designing the application carefully and

using efficient algorithms it should be possible to use the security features with minimum

impact on the efficiency of the application.

Hewett, T. T, Baecker, R. M., Card, S., Carrey, T., Gasen, J., Mantei, M., Perlman, G., Strong, G., Verplank,
W.,(1996), "Curricula for Human-Computer Interaction", ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human
Interaction, http://sigchi.org/cdg/cdg2.html [Accessed: 5 June 2004].
Johnston, J., Eloff, J.H.P., Labuschagne, L., (2003), “Security and human computer interfaces”, Computers &
Security, vol. 22, no. 8, pp 675-684.
Shneiderman’s Eight Golden Rules

Ben Shneiderman, an American computer scientist consolidated some implicit facts about designing and

came up with the following eight general guidelines −

 Strive for Consistency.

 Cater to Universal Usability.

 Offer Informative feedback.

 Design Dialogs to yield closure.

 Prevent Errors.

 Permit easy reversal of actions.

 Support internal locus of control.

 Reduce short term memory load.

These guidelines are beneficial for normal designers as well as interface designers. Using these eight

guidelines, it is possible to differentiate a good interface design from a bad one. These are beneficial in

experimental assessment of identifying better GUIs.

Norman’s Seven Principles

To assess the interaction between human and computers, Donald Norman in 1988 proposed seven

principles. He proposed the seven stages that can be used to transform difficult tasks. Following are the

seven principles of Norman −

 Use both knowledge in world & knowledge in the head.

 Simplify task structures.

 Make things visible.

  Get the mapping right (User mental model = Conceptual model = Designed model).

 Convert constrains into advantages (Physical constraints, Cultural constraints, Technological

constraints).

 Design for Error.

 When all else fails − Standardize.

Heuristic Evaluation

Heuristics evaluation is a methodical procedure to check user interface for usability problems. Once a

usability problem is detected in design, they are attended as an integral part of constant design

processes. Heuristic evaluation method includes some usability principles such as Nielsen’s ten

Usability principles.

Nielsen and Molich's Heuristic evaluation

 Simple and natural dialog

o no irrelevant or rarely used information

o natural means an order that matches the task

 Speak the user's language

o use concepts from the user's world

o don't use system-specific engineering terms

 Minimise user's memory load

o don't make user remember too much from one action to next

o leave information on screen until it is no longer needed

 Consistency
 o action sequences learned in one system area should apply in other parts

o don't mix yes/no defaults illogically

 Provide feedback

o show users the effect on the system

o show users background work is going on (eg hourglass)

 Provide clear EXITS

o users should be able to escape from any area easily

 Provide short cuts

 Good error messages

o not error 99 but "Disk unreadable"

 Prevent errors

o when you discover an error message, ask if error could have been prevented

The above mentioned ten principles of Nielsen serve as a checklist in evaluating and explaining

problems for the heuristic evaluator while auditing an interface or a product.

Interface Design Guidelines

Some more important HCI design guidelines are presented in this section. General interaction,

information display, and data entry are three categories of HCI design guidelines that are explained

below.

General Interaction

Guidelines for general interaction are comprehensive advices that focus on general instructions such as

−
  Be consistent.

 Offer significant feedback.

 Ask for authentication of any non-trivial critical action.

 Authorize easy reversal of most actions.

 Lessen the amount of information that must be remembered in between actions.

 Seek competence in dialogue, motion and thought.

 Excuse mistakes.

 Classify activities by function and establish screen geography accordingly.

 Deliver help services that are context sensitive.

 Use simple action verbs or short verb phrases to name commands.

Information Display

Information provided by the HCI should not be incomplete or unclear or else the application will not

meet the requirements of the user. To provide better display, the following guidelines are prepared −

 Exhibit only that information that is applicable to the present context.

 Don't burden the user with data, use a presentation layout that allows rapid integration of

information.

 Use standard labels, standard abbreviations and probable colors.

 Permit the user to maintain visual context.

 Generate meaningful error messages.

 Use upper and lower case, indentation and text grouping to aid in understanding.
  Use windows (if available) to classify different types of information.

 Use analog displays to characterize information that is more easily integrated with this form of

representation.

 Consider the available geography of the display screen and use it efficiently.

Data Entry

The following guidelines focus on data entry that is another important aspect of HCI −

 Reduce the number of input actions required of the user.

 Uphold steadiness between information display and data input.

 Let the user customize the input.

 Interaction should be flexible but also tuned to the user's favored mode of input.

 Disable commands that are unsuitable in the context of current actions.

 Allow the user to control the interactive flow.

 Offer help to assist with all input actions.

 Remove "mickey mouse" input.

Criteria Main categories Examples

User type  age/generation kids,elders,visually challlanged, baby

 Disability/accessibiliy bommer,students ,parents,east Asians,athletes

 Gende etc….

 Consumer group

 Occupaattion

 Culture/country

platform/system  Mobile/handheld Smartphone,padlike devcices,desktop,kiosk,

setup  Desktop embedded os,cloud based,navigation

 Large display/virtual system,personal gamesplayers,mp3 players e-book

reality etc

 Embedded

 Public installation

Vendor/organizat  Private NASA, korea university, android tm ,ios,windows

ions  Public etc…

 Design style/identity

interface  WIMP(windows, icons Voice/aural,gestures,singles/multitouch,tactile,mult

style/modality ,menus, pointers) imodal,menu driven,GUI/widgets, visual

/technology  Non-WIMP perception ect…

 3-D

 Multimodal
Task/operational
 Location/place
Office, outdoor, road/street, home, Automobile,

context subway, classroom, Eyes free, hands free,

 Time handedness, etc

 Noise/lighting

 Bodily constraints

Applications  Game

 Media/information

 Electronic commerce

 Design/editing

Social network service

General HCI design

 Display layout

 Information structure/navigation

 Soliciting input

 Information/output visualization

 Design process and practices

 User experience
  General aesthetics

 Display layout

The display layout should be such that it is organized according to the information content (e.g.,

importance, sequence, functionality), is sized manageably (e.g., divided into proper sections), is attention

grabbing, and is visually pleasing (e.g., aligned and with restricted use of colors)

 Structure for easy comparison

Structure pages so that items can be easily compared when users must analyze those items to discern

similarities, differences,

trends, and relationships

 Establish level of importance Optimize display density

Establish a high-to-low level of importance for information and infuse this approach throughout each

page on the website

To facilitate finding target information on a page, create pages that are not too crowded with items of

information

 Align items on a page Set appropriate page lengths

Visually align page elements, either vertically or horizontally Make page-length decisions that support

the primary use of the

web page

 Choose appropriate line lengths

If reading speed is most important, use longer line lengths (75–100 characters per line); if acceptance of

the website is most important, use shorter line lengths (50 characters per line)

Source: Leavitt, M. O., and Shneiderman, B., Research-Based Web Design and Usability Guidelines,

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC, 2006 [3].

 Information Structuring and Navigation consistence guideline

 Users with Disability /User Type

Federal law to ensure access to IT, including computers and web sites. (1998 Amendment to

Rehabilitation Act)

 Disabilities

Vision  Blind (bill-reader)

 low-vision

 color-blind

Mobility

Keyboard and mouse alternatives

Color coding

Font-size

 Contrast

 Text descriptors for web

images

 Screen magnification
  Speech Recognition

 Head mounted optical

mice

 Eye Gaze control

Hearing  Deaf

Limited hearing

 Learning  Dyslexia

 Attention,deficient,hemisphere

specific, etc.

 Text to Speech Check email on the road, in bright

(TTS) – JAWS sunshine, riding a bike

(web pages)

 Learning what helps  Present procedures, directions, and

those with disabilities instructions accessible to even

affects everyone poor readers

 Design feedback sequences that

 explain the reason for error and

help put users on the right track

 Reinforcement techniques with

other devices




 Good target area for a final project!