INTRODUCTION TO HCI  Social, economic, ethics

DEFINITION OF HCI

Human-computer interaction is a discipline

concerned with the design, evaluation and
implementation of interactive computing
systems for human use and with the study
of major phenomena surrounding them.

WHY HCI IS IMPORTANT?

The study of our interface with information.

It is not just ‘how big should I make buttons’ HCI TOOLS

or ‘how to layout menu choices’  Sound
It can affect  3D
 Effectiveness
 Animation
 Productivity
 Video
 Morale
 Devices
 Safety
 Size (small->very large)
Example: a car with poor HCI
 Portable (PDA, phone)
 Plasticity
WHAT FIELDS DOES HCI COVER?
 Context sensitive/aware
 Computer Science
 Personalizable
 Psychology (cognitive)
 Ubiquitous
 Communication
 Education
USABILITY REQUIREMENTS
 Anthropology
 Goals:
 Design (e.g. graphic and industrial)
 Usability
 Universality
HCI COMMUNITY
 Usefulness
 Academics/Industry Research
 Achieved by:
 Taxonomies
 Planning
 Theories
 Sensitivity to user needs
 Predictive models
 Devotion to requirements analysis
 Experimenters
 Testing
 Empirical data
 Product design
BAD INTERFACES
 Other areas (Sociologists,
 Encumbering
anthropologists, managers)
 Confusing
 Motor
 Slow
 Perceptual
 Trust (ex. windows crashing)
 Cognitive
 What makes it hard?
 Varies by culture
 Multiple platforms
 Variety of users
  Word/HTML/PDF/ASCII
REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS
 Ascertain users’ needs CASE STUDY: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
 Ensure proper reliability DATABASE DESIGN
 Promote appropriate  Two interfaces
standardization, integration,  Catalog New Books
consistency, and portability  3-6 hour training course – staffers
 Complete projects on schedule and  Search Catalog of Books
within budget  General public – too complex,
command language and complex
ASCERTAIN USER’S NEEDS cataloging rules
 Define tasks  Solution
 Tasks  Touch screen
 Subtasks  Reduced functionality\
 Frequency  Better information presentation
 Frequent  Eventually Web based interface
 Occasional  Same database and services,
 Exceptional different interfaces
 Repair
Ex. difference between a space USABILITY MEASURES
satellite, car engine, and fighter jet  How can we measure the ‘goodness’
of an interface?
RELIABILITY  What are good metrics?
 Actions function as specified  ISO 9241
 Data displayed must be correct  Effectiveness
 Updates done correctly  Efficiency
 Leads to trust! (software, hardware,  Satisfaction
information) – case: Pentium floating  Schneiderman
point bug  Time to learn
 Privacy, security, access, data  Speed of performance
destruction, tampering  Rate of errors
 Retention over time
STANDARDIZATION, INTEGRATION,  Subjective satisfaction
CONSISTENCY, PORTABILITY
 Standardization – common user- USABILITY MOTIVATIONS
interface features across multiple Life-Critical systems
applications
 Applications: air traffic, nuclear
Apple
reactors, military, emergency
Web
dispatch
Windows
 Requirements: reliability and
 Integration – across application
effective (even under stress)
packages file formats
 Not as important: cost, long training,
 Consistency – common action
satisfaction, retention
sequences, terms, units, layouts,
Industrial and Commercial Use
color, typography within an
 Applications: banking, insurance,
application
inventory, reservations
 Portability – convert data and
 Requirements: short training, ease
interfaces across multiple hardware
of use/learning, multiple languages,
and software environments
 adapt to local cultures, multiplatform, times
speed
Office, Home, and Entertainment
 Applications: E-mail, ATMs, games, PHYSICAL VARIATION
education, search engines, cell Ability
phones/PDA  Disabled (elderly, handicapped,
 Requirements: Ease of vision, ambidexterity, ability to see in
learning/use/retention, error rates, stereo [SUTHERLAND])
satisfaction  Speed
 Difficulties: cost, size  Color deficiency
Exploratory, Creative, Collaborative Workspace (science of ergonomics)
 Applications: Web browsing, search  Size
engines, simulations, scientific  Design
visualization, CAD, computer Lots of prior research
graphics, music composition/artist, Field of anthropometry
photo arranger (email photos)  Measures of what is 5-95% for
 Requirements: remove the weight, height, etc. (static and
‘computer’ from the experience, dynamic)
 Difficulties: user tech savvy-ness  Large variance reminds us there is
(apply this to application examples) great ‘variety’
Socio-technical systems  Name some devices that this would
 Applications: health care, voting, affect.
police  note most keyboards are the same
 Requirements: Trust, security,  screen brightness varies
accuracy, veracity, error handling, considerably
user tech-savy-ness  chair height, back height, display
angle
UNIVERSAL USABILITY Multi-modal interfaces
 Audio
Interface should handle diversity of users  Touch screens
 Backgrounds
 Abilities  COGNITIVE AND PERCEPTUAL
 Motivation VARIATION
 Personalities Bloom’s Taxonomy
 Culture  knowledge, comprehension,
Question, how would you design an analysis, application, synthesis,
interface to a database differently for: evaluation
 A. right-handed female, Indian, Memory
software engineer, technology savvy,  short-term and working
wants rapid interaction  long-term and semantic
 B. left-handed male, French, artist  Problem solving and reasoning
Does not mean ‘dumbing down’ Decision making
 Ex. Helping disabled has helped Language and communication
others (parents w/ strollers, elderly) Search, imagery, sensory memory
 Ex. Door handles Learning, skill development, knowledge
Goal: Address the needs of more users - acquisition
unlike yourself! Confounding factors:
Everyone is often not at full faculties at all  Fatigue
 Cognitive load
  Background (1998 Amendment to Rehabilitation
 Boredom Act)
 Fear Disabilities
 Drugs/alcohol Vision
 Blind (bill-reader)
PERSONALITY  low-vision
Computer anxiety  color-blind
Gender Hearing
 Which games do women like?  Deaf
 Pac-man, Donkey Kong, Tetris  Limited hearing
 Why? (Hypotheses: less violent, Mobility
quieter soundtracks, fully visible Learning
playing fields, softer colors,  Dyslexia
personality, closure/completeness)  Attention deficient, hemisphere s
 Can we measure this? pecific, etc.
 What current games are for women? Keyboard and mouse alternatives
Style, pace, top-down/bottom-up, Color coding
visual/audio learners, dense vs. Font-size
sparse data Contrast
No simple taxonomy of user personality Text descriptors for web images
types. Ex. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Screen magnification
 Extrovert vs. introvert Text to Speech (TTS) – JAWS (web pages)
 Sensing vs. intuition Check email on the road, in bright sunshine,
 Perceptive vs. judging riding a bike
Speech Recognition
 Feeling vs. thinking
Head mounted optical mice
Weak link between personality types and
Eye Gaze control
interfaces
Learning what helps those with disabilities
Think about your application, and see if user
affects everyone
personality is important!
Fighter jets vs. search engines  Present procedures, directions, and
instructions accessible to even poor
readers
CULTURAL AND INTERNATIONAL
DIVERSITY  Design feedback sequences that
Language explain the reason for error and help
Date / Time conventions put users on the right track
Weights and Measures  Reinforcement techniques with other
Left-to-right devices
Directions (!) Good target area for a final project!
Telephone #s and addresses
Names, titles, salutations ELDERLY
SSN, ID, passport Reduced
Sorting  Motor skills
Icons, buttons, colors  Perception
Etiquette  Vision, hearing, touch, mobility
Evaluation:  Speed
Local experts/usability studies  Memory
Other needs
 USERS WITH DISABILITIES  Technology experience is varied
Federal law to ensure access to IT, (How many grandmothers use
including computers and web sites. email? mothers?)
  Uninformed on how technology Three major technical challenges are:
could help them  Producing satisfying and effective
 Practice skills (hand-eye, problem Internet interaction (broadband vs.
solving, etc.) dial-up & wireless)
 Touch screens, larger fonts, louder  Enabling web services from large to
sounds small (size and resolution)
 Support easy maintenance of or
CHILDREN automatic conversion to multiple
Technology saviness? languages
Age changes much:
 Physical dexterity HCI GOALS
(double-clicking, click and drag, and Influence academic and industrial
small targets) researchers
 Attention span  Understand a problem and related
 (vaguely) Intelligence theory
Varied backgrounds (socio-economic)  Hypothesis and testing
Goals  Study design (we’ll do this!)
 Educational acceleration  Interpret results
 Socialization with peers Provide tools, techniques and knowledge for
 Psychological - improve self-image, commercial developers
self-confidence  competitive advantage (think ipod)
 Creativity – art, music, etc. Raising the computer consciousness of the
exploration general public
Teenagers are a special group  Reduce computer anxiety (error
 Next generation messages)
 Beta test new interfaces, trends  Common fears:
 Cell phones, text messages, I’ll break it
simulations, fantasy games, virtual I’ll make a mistake
worlds The computer is smarter than me
 Requires Safety  HCI contributes to this!
They
 Like exploring (easy to reset state) Near & Future Interfaces
 Don’t mind making mistakes  Let’s review
 Like familiar characters and  Minority Report
repetition (ever had to babysit a kid  Steel Battalion
with an Ice Age DVD?)  Eye Toy
 Don’t like patronizing comments,  Dance Dance Revolution
inappropriate humor  Nintendo Wii
Design: Focus groups
• Time to learn
ACCOMMODATING HARDWARE AND • Speed of performance
SOFTWARE DIVERSITY • Rate of errors
Support a wide range of hardware and • Retention over time
software platforms • Subjective satisfaction
Software and hardware evolution
 OS, application, browsers,
capabilities
 backward compatibility is a good
goal