Human Computer Interaction

• Earcons use structured combinations of notes, called motives, to represent

CHAPTER 10
actions and objects
• Compound earcons combine different motives to build up a specific action.
COGNITIVE MODELS
6. Howdoes autism affects a person? Cognitive Models: Introduction - Goals and Task Hierarchies - linguistic
Autism affects a person's ability to communicate and interact with people around Models - The Challenge of Display Based System - Physical and Device
them and to make sense of their environment.
l Models - Cognitive Architectures· .

***********

1. Discuss in detail about multi-modal interaction.·

2. Explain about the methods to be follo~ed in designing a system for disabled

users.
3. Discuss about the criteria's to be considered in designing a system for children

and elderly people.

***********
The presentations of the cognitive models are divided into the following
categories:

• Hierarchical representation of the user's task and goal structure - deals

directly with the issue of formulation of goals and tasks.
• Linguistic and grammatical models - deals with the grammar of the
articulation translation and how it is understood by the user.
• Physical and device-level-models - deals with articulation, but at the human
motor level instead of at a higher level of human understanding.
 Human Computer Interaction

--
cognitive Models

Where do we stop? We can go on decomposing tasks until we get down to the

Many models make use of a model of mental processing in which the user achieves . individual hand and eye movements of the user, or we can stop at a more abstract
goals by solving sub-goals in a divide-and-conquer fashion. level.
Example: To produce a report on sales of introductory HCI textbooks. Where do we start? In a similar way, we can start our analyses at different points
To achieve this goal we divide the goals into several sub goals as follows: in the hierarchy of goals.
• Gathering the data together
10.2.1. GOMS
• Producing the tables' and histograms The GOMS model of Card, Moran and Newell is an acronym for Goals, Operators,
• Writing the descriptive material.
Methods and Selection. A GOMS description consists ofthese four elements:
Concentrating on the data gathering, we decide to split this into further sub goals:
Goals:
• Find the names of all introductory HCl textbooks.
)- User goals are used to describe what the user wants to achieve.
• Search the book sales database for these books.
)-. Further, in GOMS the goals are taken to represent a 'memory point' for the user,
Similarly, each of the other sub goals is divided up into further sub goals, until
from which we can evaluate the following:
some level of detail is found at which we decide to stop. Thus we end up· with a
1.What should be done
hierarchy of goals and sub goals. .
2. Which we may return should any errors occur.
The example can be laid out.to expose this structure:
Operators:
produce report
gather data )- It is the lowest level of analysis ..
)- They are the basic actions that the user must perform in order to use the system.
. find book names
)- They may affect the system (for example, press the 'X' key) or only the user's
. . do keywords search ofnames database
<~urlhersubgoah»
mental state (for example, read the dialog box).
)- There is still a degree of flexibility about the granularity of operators.
. • sift through names and abstracts by hand
<~urlhersubgoah» Hence we may perform either one of the following:
. search sales database 1.Issue the SELECT command
<cfurther subgoals> 2.Move mouse to menu bar, press center mouse button .. .'.
layout tables and histograms Methods:
<cfurther subgoals> ~ There are typically several ways in which a goal can be split into sub goals.
write description
For instance, in a certain window manager a currently selected window can be
<~Urlhersubgoah»
closed to an icon either by:
 Human Computer Interaction Cognitive Models.
-----------,-----,--------------------
1.Selecting the 'CLOSE' option from a pop-up menu 2. Computer system (called the device in CCT).
2.0r by hitting the 'LT function key. The description of the user's goals is based on a GOMS-like goal hierarchy, but is
~ In GOMS these two goal decompositions are referred to as methods, so we have expressed primarily using production rules. The production rule 'program' is written
. the CLOSE-METHOD and the L7-METHOD: in a LISP-like language.
GOAL: ICONIZE- WINDOW The production rules are a sequence of rules:
. [select GOAL: USE-CLOSE-METHOD [ifcondition then action
.. MOVE-MOUSE-TO-WINDOW-HEADER condition:
.. POP-UP-MENU ~ . It is a statement about the contents of working memory.
.. CLICK-OVER-CLOSE-OPTION ~ . If the condition is true then the production rule is said to fire.
GOAL: USE-L7-METHOD action:
~ It may consist of one or more elementary actions, which may be either changes
.. PRESS-L7-KEY]
to the working memory, or external actions such as keystrokes.
The dots are used to indicate the hierarchical level of goals. EXAMPLE:
Selection: Consider an editing task using the UNIX vi text editor.
Task: To insert a space where one has been missed out in the text, this is a
~ Means of choosing between competing methods.
reasonably frequent typing error.
EXAMPLE: A user, Sam, never uses the L7-METHOD, except for one game,
Assumption: We have developed good procedures to perform the task.
'blocks', where the mouse needs to be used in the game until the very moment the key
Consider a fragment of the associated CCT production rules.
is pressed. GOMS captures this in a selection rule for Sam:
. User Sam: (SELECT-INSERT-SPACE
IF (AND (TEST-GOAL perform unit task)
Rule 1: Use the CLOSE-METHOD unless another rule applies.
(TEST-TEXT task is insert space)
Rule 2: Ifthe application is 'blocks' use the L7-METHOD.
(NOT (TEST-GOAL insert space»
GOAL: EDIT-MANUSCRIPT

. GOAL: EDIT-UNIT-TASK repeat until no more unit tasks .

(NOT (TEST-NOTE executing insert spacej) )
THEN ( (ADD-GOAL insert space)
10.2.2. COGNITIVE COMPLEXITY THEORY
(ADD-NOTE executing insert space)
CCT has two parallel descriptions:
(LOOK-TEXT task is at %LINE %COL»)
1. User's goalsi, r rc~h"<l"" t'kJw} ..
J (INSERT-SPACE-DONE
 --
Human Computer Interaction Cognitive Models

IF (AND (TEST-GOAL perform unit task) TEXT:

(TEST-NOTE executing insert space) }> Text ofthe manuscript that is being edited

(NOT (TEST-GOAL insert spacej) ) CURSOR:

}> Insertion cursor on the screen.
THEN «DELETE-NOTE executing insert space)
}> Of course, these items are not actually located in working memory - they are
(DELETE-GOAL perform unit task)
external to the user -- but we assume that knowledge from observing them is
(UNBIND,%LINE %COL») stored in the user's working memory.
(INSERT-SPACE-l LOCATION (5 23):
IF (AND (TEST-GOAL insert space) }> It is the line and column of the typing mistake where the space is required.
(NOT (TEST-GOAL move cursor» (CURSOR 8 7):
(NOT (TEST-CURSOR %LINE %COL» ) }> The current cursor position is at line 8 and column 7.
THEN ( (ADD-GOAL move cursor to %LINE %COL) » }> This is of course acquired into the user's working memory by looking at the
(INSERT-SPACE-2 screen.

IF (AND (TEST-GOAL insert space) Looking at the four rules above (SELECT-INSERT-SPACE, INSERT-SPACE-

(TEST-CURSOR %LINE %COL» DONE, INSERT-SPACE-l and INSERT-SPACE-2), only the first can fire.

THEN ( (DO-KEYSTROKE 'I') The condition for SELECT-INSERT-SPACE is:

(DO-KEYSTROKE SPACE) (AND (TEST-GOAL perform unit task)

(DO-KEYSTROKE ESC) true because (GOAL perform unit task) is in w.m.
(DELETE-GOAL insert spacej j) (T~ST-TEXT task is insert space)
Imagine that the user has just seen the typing mistake and thus the contents of true because (TEXT task is insert space) is in w.m.
j ' , ' /

working memory (w.m.) are '. (NOT (TEST-GOAL insert space»

(GOAL perform unit task) true because (GOAL insert space) is not in w.m. ,
r L._ •
..~ ...
(TEXT task is insert space) (NOT (TEST-NOTE executing insert spacej) )
(TEXT task is at 523) true because (NOTE executing insert space) is not in w.m.
(CURSOR 87)
So, the rule fires and its action is performed.

lS

1
 Human Computer Interaction
Cognitive Models
• This action has no external effect in terms of keystrokes, but adds extra
~ Eventually, assuming the cursor movement is successful, the cursor would be at
information to working memory. The (LOOKTEXT task is at. %LINE
(5,23) whence rule INSERT-SPACE-2 would be able to fire.
%COL) looks for a corresponding entry and binds LINE and COL to 5 and
~ This would perform the keystrokes: I, SPACE and ESC, which in vi puts the
23 respectively.
editor into insert mode, types the space and then leaves insert mode. The action
• These are variables, somewhat as in a normal programming language, which
also removes the insert space goal from working memory as this goal has been
is referred to again in other rules.
.achieved.
The contents of working memory after the firing of rule SELECT-INSERT-SPACE
The CCT rules are closely related to GOMS-like goal hierarchies; the rules may be
are as follows (note that the order of elements of working memory is arbitrary):
generated from such a hierarchy, or alternatively, we may analyze the production rules
(GOAL perform unit task)
to obtain the goal tree:
(TEXT task is insert space)
GOAL: insert space
(TEXT task is at 523)
· GOAL: move cursor - if not at right position
(NOTE executing insert space)
· PRESS-KEY-I
(GOAL insert space)
· PRESS-SPACE
(LINE 5)
· PRESS-ESCAPE
(COL 23)
Head2 Problems and Extensions of Goal Hierarchies
(CURSOR 8 7) '-'
>- The formation of a goal hierarchy is largely a post hoc technique and runs a very
>- At this point neither rule SELECT-INSERT-SPACE nor INSERT-SPACE- real risk of being defined by the computer dialog rather than the user.
. DONE will fire as the entry (GOAL insert space) will make their conditions >- One way to rectify this is to produce a goal structure based on pre-existing
false. manual procedures and thus obtain a natural hierarchy.
>- As LINE is bound to 5 and COL is bound to 23, the condition (TEST-CURSOR
%LINE %COL) will be false also, and hence only rule INSERT-SPACE-I can
fire. >- The user's interaction with a computer is often viewed in terms of a language
>- After this rule's actions have been performed, the working memory will include called BNF grammars.
the entry (GOAL move cursor to 523). >- It is frequently used to specify dialogs, understanding the user's behavior and
>- The rules for moving the cursor are not included here, but would be quite analyzing the cognitive difficulty ofthe interface.
extensive, moving up/down and right/left depending on the relative positions of
the cursor and the target location.
 Cognitive Models
Human Computer Interaction
--c;..ame ::= expression.
10.3.1. BNF
The '::=' symbol is read as 'is defined as'.
~ Only non-terminals may appear on the left of a definition. The right-hand side is
built up using two operators '+' (sequence) and 'I' (choice).
~ For example, the first rule says that the non-terminal draw-line is defined to be
select-line followed by choose-points followed by last point.
~ . All of these are non-terminals, that is they do not tell us what the basic user
actions are.
).> The second rule says that select-line is defined to be position mouse (intended to
• To select the function the user must select the 'line' menu option.
be over the 'line' menu entry) followed by CLICK-MOUSE.
• The line-drawing function allows the user to draw a polyline, which is a
).> This is our first terminal and represents the actual clicking Of a mouse.
sequence of line arcs between points.
To see what position-mouse is, we look at the last rule. This tells us that there
• The user selects the points by clicking the mouse button in the drawing area.
are two possibilities for position-mouse (separated by the 'I' symbol).
• The user double clicks to indicate the last point ofthe polyline.
• One option is that position-mouse is empty - a special symbol representing
draw-line ::= select-line + choose-points + last-point no action. That is, one option is not to move the mouse at all.
select-Iine ::= position-mouse + CLICK-MOUSE • The other option is to do a MOVE-MOUSE action followed by position-

choose-points ::= choose-one 1 choose-one + choose-points mouse.

This rule is recursive, and this second position-mouse may itself either be empty or
choose-one ::= position-mouse + CLICK-MOUSE
last-point ::= position-mouse + DOUBLE-CLICK-MOUSE .
bea MOVE-MOUSE action followed by position-mouse, and so on. That is, position-
mouse may be any number of MOVE-MOUSE actions whatsoever.
position-mouse ::= empty 1 MOVE-MOUSE + position-mouse
Drawbacks:
The names in the description are of two types:
).> It ignores the advantages of consistency both in the language's structure and in
I.Non-terminals: shown in lower case its use of command names and letters.
2. Terminals: shown in upper case.
I 10.3.2. TASK-ACTION GRAMMAR
).> Terminals represent the lowest level of user behavior, such as pressing a key,
Task-action grammar (TAG) attempts to deal with SOme of these problems by
clicking a mouse button or moving the mouse.
including elements such as param~!~!!~e~gr~mm~r!ules to emphasize consistency and
).> Non-terminals are higher-level abstractions. The non-terminals are defined in
encoding the user's world knowledge (for example, up is the opposite of down).
terms of other non-terminals and terminals by a definition of the form:
 Human Computer Interaction
COgnitive Models ~
Illustration of consistency:
-----
,. One would imagine that a measure of the complexity of the language based on
To illustrate consistency, we consider the three UNIX commands: the TAG description would be better at predicting actual learning and
~ cp (for copying files) performance than a simple BNF one.
~ mv (for moving files)
~ In (for linking files).
Each of these has two possible forms. ,. . The problem for grammars is the lowest-level lexical structure.

1.They either have two arguments, a source and destination filename. ,. Pressing a cursor key is a reasonable lexeme, but moving a mouse one pixel is

2. Or have any number of source filenames followed byadestination directory. less sensible.
,. In addition, pointer-based dialogs are more display oriented.
copy: := 'cp' + filename + filename
~ Clicking a cursor at a particular point on the screen has a meaning dependent on
I 'cp' + filenames + directory
the current screen contents.
move ::= 'mv' + filename + filename
~ This problem can be partially resolved by regarding operations such as 'select
I 'mv' + filenames + directory region oftext' or 'click on quit button' as the terminals of the grammar:
link ::= 'In' + filename + filename ~ If this approach is taken, the detailed mouse movements and parsing of mouse
I 'In' + filenames + directory events in the context of display information (menus, etc.) are abstracted away.

Goal hierarchy methods have different problems, as more display-oriented systems

Measures based upon BNF could not distinguish between these consistent
encourage less structured methods for goal achievement.
commands and an inconsistent alternative - say if In took its directory argument
first. EXAMPLE:

~ Task-action grammar was designed to reveal just this sort of consistency. Consider the high-level goal structure

~ Its description of the UNIX commands would be: WRITE LETTER

file-op[Op] := command[Op] + filename + filename · FIND SIMILAR LETTER

I command[Op] + filenames + directory . · COpy IT

command[Op=copy] := 'cp' · EDIT COPY
command[Op=move] := 'mv' However, the task of finding a similar letter would be exploratory, searching
command[Op=link] := 'In' through folders, etc. Such recognition-based searching is extremely difficult to
represent as a goal structure.
~ This captures the consistency of the commands and closely resembles the
original textual description.
 --
Human Computer Interaction cognitive Models

• R System response which may be ignored if the user does not have to wait
for it, as in copy typing.
10.5.1. KEYSTROKE-LEVEL MODEL
~ The execution of a task will involve interleaved occurrences of the various
;.. KLM (Keystroke-Level Model) uses this understanding as a basis for detailed
operators.
predictions about user performance.
~ For instance, imagine we are using a mouse-based editor.
;.. It is aimed at unit tasks within interaction - the execution of simple command
If we notice a single character error we will point at the error, delete the
sequences, typically taking no more than 20 seconds.
character and retype it, and then return to our previous typing point. This is
EXAMPLE:
decomposed as follows:
Examples of this would be using a search and replace feature, or changing the font
of a word. It does not extend to complex actions such as producing a diagram. .1. Move hand to mouse H[mouse]

Assumption: The more complex tasks would be split into subtasks (as in GOM~) 2. Position mouse after bad character PB [LEFT]

before the user attempts to map them into physical actions. 3. Return to keyboard H[keyboard]

Task: The task is split into two phases: 4. Delete character MK[DELETE]

1. acquisition ofthe task.when the user builds a mental representation ofthe task;
2. execution of the task using the system's facilities.
KLM only gives predictions for the latter stage of activity.
;.. During the acquisition phase, the user will have decided how to accomplish the
task using the primitives of the system.
;.. During the execution phase, there is no high-level mental activity - the user is
effectively expert.
5. Type correction K[char]
6. Reposition insertion point H[mouse] MPB [LEFT]
~ Notice that some operators have descriptions added to them, representing which
device the hand homes to (for example, [mouse]) and what keys are hit (for
example, LEFT - the left mouse button).
;.. The model predicts the total time taken during the execution phase by adding the
component times for each of.the above activities.

The model decomposes the execution phase into five different physical motor For example, if the time taken for one keystroke is tK, then the total time doing
operators, a mental operator and a system response operator: keystrokes is

• K Keystroking, actually striking keys, including shifts and other modifier 1K = 2tK
keys. Similar calculations for the rest of the operators give a total time of
• B Pressing a mouse button.
Texecute 1K+1B+TP+1H+1D+1M+1R
• P Pointing, moving the mouse (or similar device) at a target.
= 2t K + 2t B + t P + 3t H + 0 + 2t M + 0
• H Homing, switching the hand between mouse and keyboard.
In this example, the system response time was zero. However, if the user had to
• D Drawing lines using the mouse.
wait for the system then the appropriate time would be added. In many typing tasks,
• M Mentally preparing for a physical action.

1
 Human Computer Interaction cognitive Models

the user can type ahead anyway and thus there is no need to add response times. Where D Drawing-domain dependent -
needed, the response time can be measured by observing the system.
M Mentally prepare 1.35
~ The keying time obviously depends on the typing skill of the user, and different
R Response from system - measure -
times are thus used for different users.
wpm = words per minute
~ Pressing a mouse button is usually quicker than typing (especially for two-finger
typists), and a more accurate time prediction can be made by separating out the Fig. 10.1. Times for various operators in the keystroke-level model

button presses B from the rest of the keystrokes K. FITTS'LAW

.~ The pointing time can be calculated using Fitts' law and thus depends on the size The form of Fitts' law used with the original KLM is K log, (DIS + 0.5), where D is
and position of the target 1 . the distance to the target and S is the target size. We will use this form for calculations
~ Alternatively, a fixed time based on average within screen pointing can be used. in this subsection, but revert to the form a + b log, (DIS + 1) in the next subsection
~ Drawing time depends on the number and length of the lines drawn, and is fairly when we consider Buxton's three-state model,as this form was used for these
domain specific, but one can easily use empirical data for more general drawing experiments.
tasks. 10.5.2. THREE~STATE MODEL
~ Finally, homing time and mental preparation time are assumed constant. Typical
Buxton has developed a simple model of input devices, the three-state model,
times are summarized in Figure: 3.1
which captures some ofthese crucial distinctions.
\
Operator Remarks Time (s) Example:
Press key By looking at a mouse, if you move it with no buttons pushed, it normally moves

good typist (90 wpm) . 0.12 the mouse cursor about. This tracking behavior is termed state 1. Depressing a button
K over an icon and then moving the mouse will often result in an object being dragged
poor typist (40 wpm) 0.28
about. This is termed state 2.
non-typist 1.20

Mouse button press

B down or up 0.10
button up
click 0.20
Fig. 10.2. Mouse Transitions-Two states
Point with mouse
If instead we consider a light pen with a button, it behaves just like a mouse when it
P Fitt's law 0.1 log, (DIS + 0.5)
is touching the screen. When its button is not depressed, it is in state 1, and when its
average movement 1.10 button is down, state 2. However, the light pen has a third state, when the light pen is
H Home hands to and from keyboard 0.40
 Human Computer Interaction
Cognitive Models
not touching the screen. In this state the system cannot.track the light pen's position.
This is called state O. ;.- These observations are fairly obvious for state 0-1 devices.
button down )-- With a touchscreen, or light pen, a cursor will often appear under the finger or
pen when itcomes in contact with the screen.
)-- The accuracy with which you can move the cursor around will be far greater than
remove pen the accuracy with which you can point in the first place.
Fig. 10.3. Light Pen Transitions-Three states )-- Also it is reasonable to expect that the Fitts' law constant will be different,
~ At first, the model appears to characterize the states of the device by the inputs although not so obvious which will be faster.
available to the system. There is a similar difference between states 1 and 2. Because the user is holding a
~ So, from this perspective, state 0 is clearly different from states 1 and 2. button down, the hand is in a state of tension and thus pointing accuracy and speed
~ However, if we look at the state 1-2 transaction, we see that it is symmetric with may be different. Experiments to calculate Fitts' law constants in states 1 and 2 have
respect to the two states. shown that these differences do exist. Table 3.2 shows the results obtained for a mouse
~ In principle, there is no reason why a program should not decide to do simple and trackball.
mouse tracking whilst in state 2 and drag things about in state 1.
Device a (ms) b (ms/bit)
~ .That is, there is no reason until you want to type something! The way we can tell
state 1 from state 2 is by the activity ofthe user.
1) ------_.--- r-------
Pointing (state--------
-------~._-
J---- -
~ State 2 requires a button to be pressed, whereas state I is one of relative Mouse -107 223

relaxation (whilst still requiring hand-eye coordination for mouse movement). Trackball 75 300
~ There is a similar difference in tension between state 0 and state 1. Dragging (state 2)
It is well known that Fitts' law has different timing constants for different devices. Mouse 135 249
Recall that Fitts' law says that the time taken to move to a target of size S at a distance
Trackball -349 1688
Dis:
Fig. lOA. Fitt's Law coefficient
I a + b log2 (D/S + 1) I
We can recalculate the KLM prediction for the CLOSE-METHOD using these data.
Constants a and b:
Recall that the method had two pointing operators, one to point to the window's title
~ It depends on the particular pointing device used and the skill of the user with bar (with a distance to target size ratio of 10:1), the secondto drag the selection down
that device. to 'CLOSE' on the pop-up menu (4:1). Thus the first pointing operator is state I and
~ However, the insight given by the three-state model is that these constants also the second is state 2. The times are thus giving a further revised time for the CLOSE-
depend on the device state. METHOD of2.93 seconds using a mouse and 3.91 seconds using a trackball.
~ In addition to the timing, the final accuracy may be affected.
 Cognitive Models
Human Computer Interaction
Describing the problem as a search:
Mouse
» In computer science, it is common to describe a problem as the search through a
P[to menu bar] = -107 + 223 log2 (11) = 664 ms
set of possible states, from some initial state to a desired state.
P[to option] = 135 + 24910g2 (5) = 713 ms
» The search proceeds by moving from one state to another possible state by
Trackball means of operations or actions, the ultimate goal of which is to arrive at one of
P[to menu bar] = 75 + 300 log2 (11) = 1113 ms the desired states.
P[to option] = -349 + 688 log2 (5) = 1248 ms » This very general model of computation is used in the ordinary task of the
programmer.
Once the user has identified a problem and a means of arriving at the solution to the
10.6.1. THE PROBLEM SPACE MODEL problem (the algorithm), the programmer then represents the problem and algorithm in
a programming language, which can, be executed on a machine to reach the desired
Rational behavior is characterized as behavior that is intended to achieve a specific
state. The architecture of the machine only allows the definition of the search or
goal. This element of rationality is often used to distinguish between intelligent and
problem space and the actions that can occur to traverse that space. Termination is also
machine-like behavior.
assumed to happen once the desired state is reached.
Knowledge-level system:
Notice that the machine does not have the ability to formulate the problem space
In the field of artificial intelligence (AI), a system exhibiting rational behavior is
and its solution, mainly because it has no idea of the goal. It is th.e job of the
referred to as a knowledge-level system.
programmer to understand the goal and so define the machine to achieve it.
» A knowledge-level system contains an agent behaving in an environment. The
We can adapt the state-based computational model of a machine in order to realize
agent has knowledge about itselfand its environment, including its own goals.
the architecture of a knowledge-level system. The new computational model is the
It can perform certain actions and sense information about its changing
problem space model, it consists of a set of states and a set of operations that can be
environment. As the agent behaves in its environment, it changes the
performed on the states.
environment and its own knowledge.
Behavior in a problem space is a two-step process:
We can view the overall behavior of the knowledge-level system as a sequence
of environment and agent states as they progress in time. 1.The current operator is chosen based on the current state
» The goal of the agent is characterized as a preference over all possible sequences 2. After that it is applied to the current state to achieve the new state.
of agent/environment states. The problem space must represent rational behavior, and so it must characterize the
goal of the agent. A problem space represents a goal by defining the desired states as a
Contrast this rational behavior with another general computational model for a
subset of all possible states. Once the initial state is set, the task within the problem
machine, which is not rational.
 Human ComputerInteraction

space is to find a sequence of operations that form a path within the state space from
the initial state to one ofthe desired states, whereupon successful termination occurs.
--
Cognitive Models

Ies provides a more holistic view of- the user as an information-processing

machine. The emphasis is on determining how easy particular procedures of action

From the above description, we can highlight four different activities that occur sequences become as they are made more automatic within the user.

within a problem space: IeS attempts to incorporate two separate psychological traditions within one
cognitive architecture..
1.Goalformulation
2. Operationselection • Architectural and general-purpose information-processing approach of
3. Operation application short-term memory research.
4. Goalcompletion. • Computational and representational approach characteristic of
~ The relationship between these problem space processes and knowledge-level psycholinguistic research and AI problem-solving literature.
activity is key. The architecture of Ies is built up by the coordinated activity of nine smaller
~ Perception that occurs at the knowledge level is performed by the goal subsystems in which,
. formulation process, which creates the initial state based on observations of the • Five peripheral subsystems are in contact with the physical world
external environment. • Four are central, dealing with mental processes. Each subsystem has the
~ Actions at the knowledge level are operations in the problem space which are same generic structure.
selected and applied. A subsystem is described in terms of its typed inputs and outputs along. with a
~ The real knowledge about the agent and its environment and goals is derived memory store for holding typed information. It has transformation functions for
from the state/operator information in the problem space. processing the input and producing the output and permanently stored information.
~ Because of the goal formulation process, the set of desired states indicates the Each of the nine subsystems is specialized for handling some aspect of external or
knowledge-level goal within the problem space. internal processing.
~ The operation selection process selects the appropriate operation at a given point For example:
in time because it is deemed the most likely to transform the state in the problem • Peripheral subsystem - is the visual system for describing what is seen in
space to one ofthe desired states; hence rational behavior is implied. the world.
• Central subsystem - is the one for the processing of propositional
10.6.2. INTERACTING COGNITIVE SUBSYSTEMS
information, capturing the attributes and identities of entities and their
Barnard has proposed a very different cognitive architecture, called interacting
relationships with each other.
cognitive subsystems (ICS) Ies provides a model of perception, cognition and action,
• ICS - is another example of a general cognitive architecture that can be
but unlike other cognitive architectures, it is not intended to produce a description of
applied to interactive design. One of the features of IeS is its ability to
the user in terms of sequences of actions that he performs.
explain how a user proceduralizes action.
***********
 Human Computer Interaction
cognitive Models
'TWO .MARKS QUESTlqN& AN·

1. Define cognitive modeling.

~ Cognitive modeling is an area of computer science that deals with simulating
human problem solving and mental task processes in a computerized model.
~ Such a model can be used to simulate or predict human behavior or
performance on tasks similar to the ones modeled.

2. .Where cognitive models are used?

~ Cognitive modeling .is used in numerous artificial intelligence (AI)
applications, such as expert systems, natural language programming, and neural Where,
networks, and in robotics and virtual reality applications. • Condition is a statement about the contents of working memory.

~ Cognitive models are also used to improve products in manufacturing segments • Action consists of one or ~ore elementary actions, which may be either changes
such as human factors engineering, and computer game and user interface to the working memory, or external actions such as keystrokes.

design. 8. What are the problems of Goal Hierarchies?

3. List the categories ofcognitive model. ~ The formation of a goal hierarchy is largely a post hoc technique and runs a
1. Hierarchical representation of the user's task and goal structure very real risk of being defined by the computer dialog rather than the user.

2. Linguistic and grammatical models ~ One way to rectify this is to produce a goal structure based on pre-existing
3. Physical and device-level models manual procedures and thus obtain a natural hierarchy.

4. How does the user achieve goals in cognitive models? 9. Define BNF.
Many models make use ofa model of mental processing in which the user ~ Representative of the linguistic approach is Reisner's use of Backus-Naur
achieves goals by solving subgoals in a divide-and-conquer fashion. Form (BNF) rules to describe the dialog grammar.
~ This views the dialog at a purely syntactic level, ignoring the semantics of the
That is, the goal is divided into sub goals and they are again divided into further
sub goals and solved. This is done until some level of detail is found at which we language.
~ BNF has been used widely to specify the syntax of computer programming
decided to stop.
languages, and many system dialogs can be described easily using BNF rules.
5. Define GOMS.
10. Define keystroke level model.
A GOMS description consists ofthe following four elements:
~. KLM (Keystroke-Level Model) uses this understanding as a basis for detailed
1. Goals 2. Operation
predictions about user performance.
3. Methods 4. Selection
 Human Computer Interaction

~ It is aimed at unit tasks within interaction - the execution of simple command

sequences, typically taking no more than 20 seconds. CHAPTER 11
11. What is knowledge level system? SOCIO-ORGANIZATIONAL ISSUES
~ In the field of artificial intelligence (AI), a system exhibiting rational behavior
AND STAKE HOLDER
is referred to as a knowledge-level system.
~ A knowledge-level system contains an agent behaving in an environment. The
REQUIREMENTS
agent has knowledge about itself and its environment, including its own goals.
Socio-Organizational Issues and Stake Holder Requirements: Introduction
12. What are the four different activities that occur within a problem space? - Organizational Issues - Capturing Requirements - Summary
1. Goal formulation
2. Operation selection
3. Operation application ~ Organizational issues affect acceptance - conflict & power, who benefits,
4. Goal completion. encouraging use.
*********** ~ Stakeholders - identify their requirements in organizational context.
~ Socio-technical models - human and technical requirements.
~ Softsystems methodology - broader view of human and organizational issues.
~ Participatory design - includes the user directly in the design process.
1. Discuss in detail about goals and Hierarchies with example. ~ Ethnographic methods - study users in context, unbiased perspective.
2. Explain in detail about different elements in GOMS with example.
3. Explain Linguistic Models and discuss it in detail.
~ Some of the Organizational issues are as follows:
4. Discuss in detail about physical and device models.
• Systems may not take into account conflict and power relationships.
5. Explain briefly about cognitive architectures.
• Those who benefit may not do the work.
• Not everyone mayuse systems.
***********
~ In this section, we shall look at some of the organizational issues that affect the
acceptance and relevance of information and communication systems.
~ Organisational factors often sit 'outside' the system as such, and may involve
individuals who never use it.
~ Organisational factors can make or break a system.
~ Studying the work group is not sufficient.
 Human Computer Interaction
• Any system is used within a wider context.
• The crucial people need not be direct users.
~ Before installing a new system it must understand:
• Who benefits.
• Who puts in effort?
• The balance of power in the organization.
• How it will be affected.
11.2.1. COOPERATION OR CONFLICT?
~ The term 'computer-supported cooperative work' (CSCW)
• . People and groJ.lps have conflicting goals.
• Systems assuming cooperation will fail!
Exampk:Compurer~edSwckCon~ol
Stockma: loses control of information
=> Subverts the system
Identify stakeholders - not just tbe users
11.2.2. CHANGING POWER STRUCTURES
~ .The physical layout of an organization often reflects the formal hierarchy:
• Each department is on a different floor, with sections working in the same
area of ail office.
• If someone from sales wants to talk to someone from marketing then one of
them must walk to the other's office.
• Their respective supervisors can monitor the contact. Furthermore, the
physical proximity of colleagues can foster a sense of departmental loyalty.
• An email system has no such barriers; it is as easy to 'chat' to someone in
another department as in your own. This challenges the mediating and
controlling role of the line managers.
~ Furthermore, in face-to-face conversation, the manager can easily exert influence
. over a subordinate:
Socia-Organizational Issues and Stake Holder Requirements
• Both know their relative positions and this is reflected in the patterns of
conversation and in other non-verbal cues.
• Email messages lose much of this sense of presence and it is more difficult
for a manager to exercise authority.
• The 'levelling' effect even makes it possible for subordinates to direct
messages 'diagonally' across the hierarchy, to their manager's peers, or,
even worse, to their manager's manager!
• Many organizations are moving toward flatter management structures
anyway, so from a strategic viewpoint these effects may be acceptable.
11.2.3. THE INVISIBLE WORKER
~ The ability to work and collaborate at a distance can allow functional groups to
be distributed over different sites.
~ Telecommunications improvements allow:
• Neighbourhood work centres: where workers from different departments do
their jobs in electronic contact with their functional colleagues.
• Home-based tete-workers: to operate on similar terms to an office-based
equivalent.
~ Many ecological and economic benefits
• Reduce car travel.
• Flexible family commitments.
~ It reveals that the barriers to such working are not technological but managerial.
~ First of all, management style may make remote working all but impossible.
• 'Management by presence'- doesn't works that you know someone is
working because they are in the office, then there is no way a remote worker
is going to be trusted. So the presence increases perceived worth.
• 'Management by objectives'- subordinates are working because they are
doing .their jobs and producing results, then remote working is not so
problematical. So it consider as the problems for promotion
 Human Computer Interaction

--
Socio-Organizational Issues and Stake Holder Requirements
11.2.4. WHO. BENEFITS?
~ When, telephones were, only in public places, their use as a form of pervasive
);> One frequent reason for the failure of information systems is that the people who
interpersonal communication was limited.
get the benefits from the system are not the same as those who do the work
~ However, once a large number of people' have telephones in their homes it
Disproportionate effort
becomes worthwhile paying to have a telephone installed.
who nuts in the effort::f:who f!etsthe benefit ~ In cost/benefitterms, the early subscribers probably have a smaller benefit than

,.
Example: shared diary.

Effort: secretaries and subordinates, enter data. ~

the cost.
Only when the number of subscribers increases beyond the critical mass does the
• Benefit: manager easy to arrange meetings. benefit for all dominate the cost.
• Result: falls into disuse. ~ The situation for conferencing systems and email is, of course, very similar.
Solutions: We can learn something, from the lessons of the telephone system and other
successful technologies (but remember, telephones took the best part of 100 years to
1. Design in symmetry.
2. Coerce use! become pervasive in affluent countries). The telephone was useful for subgroups
before it became beneficial for all. Even when only a small proportion of the
11.2.5. FREE RIDER PROBLEM
population had personal telephones, they still formed a significant proportion of their
);>
, Even where there is no bias toward any particular people, a system may still not social group, so these cliques of use could grow gradually over time. Clearly, we must
function symmetrically, which may be a problem, particularly with_ shared design any new system so that it has benefits even when its user population is small.
communication systems. One issue is the/ree rider problem.
strong benefit when
Exampie: An electronic conferencing system lots of users '
-- .....-....-- ..
--"'--.. -.....
• Subscribing and, reading the contributions(possible to read but never "--... -.....
"'--"-- ~ ....
-~.~'
",,;
benefits of use
contribute)
• The effort of doing so may outweigh any benefits .>-- .>- :••• »>:..--
.. but little benefit
Solutions: for early users cost of use
...............,.
1. Strict protocols (e.g., round robin).
2. Increase visibility - rely on social pressure.
11.2.6. CRITICAL MASS
);>
1/ tI
I
number of users

solution - increase !
Another issue related to the free rider problem is the need to develop a critical zero point benefit critical mass
mass.
Fig. 11.1. Cost/benejit ofsystem use

1
~ Human Computer Interaction
11.2.7. AUTOMATING PROCESSES - WORKFLOW AND BPR
Workflow:
--....
);> Organizations have many such processes, and workflow systems aim to automate
much of the process using electronic forms, which are forwarded to the relevant
person based on pre-coded rules.
);> Some workflow systems are built using special purpose groupware, often based
on a notation for describing the desired workflow.
Examples:
1. Coordinator- the rules are heavily influenced by speech act theory.
2. The rigid form of a typical workflow system is an example of global structuring.
);> It may conflict with or inhibit more informal less structured patterns of activity
which also contribute to the organization's free running.
Business Process Re-engineering (BPR):
Socia-Organizational Issues and Stake Holder Requirements
---Examples:
Instead of sending an order to the accounts department to approve, a list of
customer credit limits could be given to the sales executives. They could then check
the credit rating of the customer whilst on th~ phone and only forward the order to
accounts if there are any unusual problems. Finally, and most radically, the whole
structure of the organization may be modified to reflect and support the key processes
more closely.
Typically, this involves stripping layers of middle management. BPR as an issue
engenders zealots and reactionaries in equal measure.
11.2.8. EVALUATING THE BENEFITS
);> We have seen several problems that can arise from the mismatch between
information systems and organizational and social factors.
);> The benefits from cooperative systems, especially organization-wide systems

);> A more radical approach to organizational processes IS found In Business such as email or electronic conferencing, are in terms of job satisfaction or more

Process Be-engineering (BPR). fluid information flow.

);> Traditionally, organizations have been structured around functions; );> Some, such as the video wall, are expected primarily to help social contact
.• Sales within the organization.

• Accounts );> The benefits are difficult to quantify, but, over time, it has become clear that the

• Stores competitive edge of information technology is necessary for survival in the

• Manufacturing. modern world.

);> However, the purpose of an organization can be seen in terms of key business
processes.
);> Need to identify requirements within context of use.
);> The ordering/delivery process described above IS a typical and important
);> Need to take account ofthe following:
example.
• Stakeholders
);> In BPR these processes are recorded and analyzed.
• Work groups and practices
);> Problems in the current process are noted and the whole process may be
• Organisational context
redesigned in order to make the path ofthe process more efficient.
);> We consider several approaches including:
 Socio-Organizational Issues and Stake Holder Requirements

•
Socio-technical modelling
Soft system modelling
--
Human Computer Interactio~
....:--
~ Primary stakeholders: travel agency staff, airline booking staff

~ Secondary stakeholders: customers, airline management

• Participatory design'. ~ Tertiary stakeholders: competitors, civil aviation authorities,

• Contextual inquiry customers' traveling companions, airline shareholders
~ All are aimed at understanding the reality of work contexts and the perspectives' ~ Facilitating stakeholders: design team, IT department staff .
of different stakeholders.
}> Designers need to meet as many stakeholder needs as possible:
~ All recognize that technology can be successfully deployed only if it is done
• Usually in conflict so have to prioritise
. with an understanding of the context of use, but each takes a slightly different
• Often priority decreases as move down categories e.g. Primary most
approach to the problem.
important
11.3.1. WHO ARE THE STAKEHOLDERS? • Not always e.g. !ife support machine
~ A stakeholder, therefore, can be defined as anyone who is affected by the
11.3.2. SOCia-TECHNICAL MODELS
success or failure of the system.
}> Technological determinism, the view that social change is primarily dictated by
~ It can be useful to distinguish different categories of stakeholder, and the
technology, with human and social factors being secondary concerns, was
following categorization from the CUSTOM approach is helpful for this:
prevalent.
1. Primary stakeholders are people who actually use the system - the end-users.
}> Socio-technical models for interactive systems are therefore concerned with
2. Secondary stakeholders are people who do not directly use the system, but
technical, social, organizational and human aspects of design.
receive output from it or provide input to it (for example, someone who
}> They recognize the fact that technology is not developed in isolation but as part
receives a report produced by the system).
of a wider organizational environment.
3. Tertiary stakeholders are people who do not fall into either of the first two
~ It is important to consider social and technical issues side by side so that human .
categories but who are directly affected by the success or failure of the system
issues are not overruled by technical considerations.
(for example, a director whose profits increase or decrease depending on the
~ The key focus of the socio-technical approach is to describe and document the
success ofthe system).
impact ofthe introduction of a specific technology into an organization.
4. Facilitating stakeholders are people who are involved with the design,
~ Methods vary but most attempt to capture certain common elements:
development and maintenance of the system.
• The problem being addressed: There is a need to understand why the
Example: Classifying stakeholders - an airline booking system technology is being proposedand what problem it is intended to solve.
An international airline is considering introducing a new booking system o The stakeholders affected, including primary, secondary, tertiary and
for use by associated travel agents to sell flights directly to the public. The facilitating, together with their objectives, goals and tasks.
stakeholders can be classified as follows: " The workgroups within the organization, both formal and informal.
 Human Computer Interaction
~--------------------------
•
•
The changes or transformations that will be supported.
The proposed technology and how it will work within the organization.
----
• External constraints and influences and performance measures.
~ Information is gathered using methods such as interviews, observation, focus
groups and document analysis.
~ The methods guide this information-gat~ering process and help the analyst to
make sense of what is discovered.
~ Several Approaches such as:
• CUSTOM
• OSTA
~. Socio-technical approaches aim to provide a detailed view of the role technology
will play and the requirements of successful deployment.
CUSTOM Methodology:
~ CUSTOM is a socio-technical methodology designed to be practical to use in
small organizations.
~ It is based on the User Skills and Task Match (USTM) approach, developed to
allow design teams to understand and fully document user requirements.
~ CUSTOM focuses on establishing stakeholder requirements:
• All stakeholders are considered.
• Not just the end-users.
~ It is applied at the initial stage of design when a product opportunity has been
identified, so the emphasis is on capturing requirements.
~ It is a forms-based methodology, providing a set of questions to apply at each of
its stages.
There are six key stages to carry out in a CUSTOM analysis:
• Describe organizational context, including primary goals, physical
characteristics, political and economic background.
Socia-Organizational Issues and StakeHolder Requirements
• Identify and describe stakeholders including personal issues, role in the
organization andjob.
• Identify and describe work-groups whether formally constituted or not.
• Identify and describe task-object pairs i.e. Tasks to be performed and
objects used.
• Identify stakeholder needs: stages 2-4 described in terms ofboth current
and proposed system - stakeholder needs are identifiedfrom the differences
between the two.
• Consolidate and check stakeholder requirements against earlier criteria.
~ , CUSTOM provides a useful framework for considering stakeholder requirements.
and the use of forms and questions (a. 'manual' for its use is available makes it
relatively straightforward; if somewhat time consuming, to apply.
~ For less complex situations, a shortened version of CUSTOM stakeholder
analysis is available.
.~ This also provides a checklist for investigations for stages 2- 4.
Open System Task Analysis (OSTA):
~ OSTA is an alternative socio-technical approach, which attempts to describe
what happens when a technical system is introduced into an organizational work
environment.
~ Like CUSTOM, OSTA specifies both social and technical aspects of the system.
~ However.whereas in CUSTOMlhese aspects are framed in terms of stakeholder
perspectives, in OSTA they are captured through a focus on tasks.
OSTA has eight main stages:
• Primary task identified in terms of users' goals.
• Task inputs to system identified.
• External environment into which the system will be introduced is described,
including physical, economic and political aspects.
• Transformation processes within the system are described in terms of
actions performed on or with objects.
 Human Computer Interaction Socia-Organizational Issues and Stake Holder Requirements

• Social system is analyzed, considering existing internal and external work- • Generate root definitions of system: Catwoe.
groups and relationships. • Conceptual model - identifying transformations
• Technical system is described in terms of configuration and integration with • Compare real world to conceptual model
other systems. • Identify necessary changes
• Performance satisfaction criteria are established, indicating social and • Determine actions to effect changes
technical requirements of system. ~ SSM has seven stages (see Figure 11.2). A distinction is made between the 'real-
• New technical system is specified. world' stages (1-2,5-7) and the systems stages (3-4).
~ Rich pictures are in themselves useful a tool to aid understanding of a situation.
11.3.3. SOFT SYSTEMS METHODOLOGY
~ The rich picture is informal and relatively intuitive.
~ No assumption of technological solution - emphasis on understanding situation
~ It captures succinctly. the potentially conflicting interests of the various
fully
stakeholders and the other influences on a design situation.
~ Developed by Checkland.
1. The problem 7. Action to CATWOE:
situation: improve the I-- 6. Feasible
Unstructured problem situation desirable ~ At the next stage in SSM we move from the real world to the systems world and
changes attempt to generate root definitions for the system, which define the essence of
!
2. The problem
-t what the system is about.
5. Comparison ~ There may be several root definitions of' a system, representing different
situation: of 4 with 2
Expressed
stakeholder perspectives.
________ ~~stl_~QIlq ___
------------------------- ------------------------------------ ~ For example: Root definitions are described In terms of specific elements,
Systems
thinking summarized using the acronym, CATWOE:
3. Root definition 4. Conceptual • Clients: Those who receive output or benefit from the system
.of relevant models
systems • Actors: Those who perform activities within the system

t •
•
Transformations: The changes that are affected by the system
Weltanschauung: (from the German) or-World View - how the system is
" ~

4a. Format 4b. Other

system systems perceived in a particular root definition.
concept thinking
• Owner: Those to whom the system belongs, to whom it is answerable and
Fig. 11.2. The seven stagesofsoft systemsmethodology
who can authorize changes to it
. ~ Seven Stages:
• Environment: The world in which the system operates and by which it is
• Recognition of problem and initiation of analysis influenced -:
• Detailed description of problem situation: Rich Picture. 17
 Human Computer Interaction socio-Organizational Issues and Stake Holder Requirements
-
IAIRLINEI Weltanschauung: Profits can be optimized by more efficient sales

Own~r: airline management.

Environment: Regulations of international civil aviation authorities and
national contract legislation. Local agency policies worldwide

).' SSM is a flexible approach, which supports detailed consideration of the design
context.
,""",.. ~ Competitor airlines ).' However, it takes practice to use effectively.
(especially budget)
).' There is no single right (or wrong) answer - the SSM is successful if it aids the
designer's understanding ofthe wider system.

11.3.4. PARTICIPATORY DESIGN

).' In participatory design: .
• workers enter into design context
).' In ethnography (as used for design):
Fill. 11.3. A rich picture ofa travel agency
• designer enters into work context
Example: Root definition for airline management:
~ Participatory design has three specific characteristics.
An airline booking system: • It aims to improve the work environment and task by the introduction of the
Revisiting our earlier example, an international airline is considering design. This makes design and evaluation context or work oriented rather
introducing a new booking system for use by associated travel agents to sell than system oriented.
.flights directly to the public. That is, a system owned by the airline management; • Secondly, it is characterized by collaboration: the user is included in the
operated by associated travel agency staff; working in associated travel agency design team and can contribute to every stage ofthe design.
offices worldwide;· operating within regulations specified by international civil • Finally, the approach is iterative: the design is subject to evaluation and
aviation authorities and national contract legislation; to sell flights to and reserve revision at each stage.
seats for customers; and to.generate a profit for the company. ~ Methods:
. Client: Customer. 1. Brain-Storming:

Actor: Travel agency staff. • Provides a range of ideas from which to work.
2. Story Boarding:
Transformation: Customer's intention and request to travel transformed into
• Describing the user's day-to-day activities as well as the potential designs
sale of seat on flight and profit for organization.
and the impact they will have
 Human Computer Interaction Socio-Organizational Issues and StakeHolder Requirements
3. Workshops: 8. Diagnose job satisfaction needs.
• Fill in the missing knowledge of both user and designer and provide a more
9. Analyze likely future changes.
focussed view of the design
10. Specify andprioritize objectives based on efficiency.
4. Pencil and Paper Exercises:
;.. The final stages of the ETHICS approach focus on the actual design and
• Allow designs to be talked through and evaluated with very little .
evaluationofthe system.
commitment in terms of resources. Users can 'walk through' typical tasks
;.. These are then specified in detail, implemented and evaluated.
using paper mock-ups of the system design.
;.. The ETHICS approach attempts to reach a solution that meets both user and task
Effective Technical and Human Implementation of Computer-based Systems
requirements by having specialist teams negotiate objectives and rank potential
(ETHICS):
solutions.
>- Participatory socio-technicalapproach devised by Mumford.
11.3.5. ETHNOGRAPHIC
• System development is about managing change'
• Non-participants more likely to be dissatisfied ;.. Ethnography is based on very detailed recording of the interactions between

">- . Three levels of participation: people and between people and their environment.
;.. It has a special focus on social relationships and how they affect the nature of
• Consultative - the weakest form of participation where participants are
asked for their opinions but are not decision makers. work.
);> The ethnographer does not enter actively into the situation, and does not see
• Representative - a representative of the participant group is involved in the
decision making process. things from a particular person's viewpoint.

• Consensus - all stakeholders are included in the decision-making process.

>- In particular, ethnography has become very influential, particularly in the study

>- Design groups including stakeholder representatives make design decisions. of group systems.

>- Job satisfaction is the key to solution. ETHNOGRAPHY AND PARTICIPATORY DESIGN
>- The design groups then address the following issues and activities: The ethnographic approach differs markedly from the approach of
1. Make the case for change. participatory design.

2. Identify system boundaries. In participatory design the workers come out of their work

3. Describe the existing system. situation, either physically or mentally, and share the design task with
the professional designers - effectively the workers become
4. Define key objectives.
designers. The participatory designer enters into the subjective
5. Define key tasks.
experience of the workplace.
6. Define key.information needs.
Ethnographic and other situated approaches take the analyst into
7. Diagnose efficiency needs.
 Human Computer Interaction

the workplace, while retaining a level of objectivity. The advantage is

that the analyst sees the whole group's perspective, rather than that of
--
Socio-Organizational Issues and Stake Holder Requirements

codes of behavior, common expectations (which mayor may not be explicit)

and value systems.
involved individuals, but the analyst, however much in tune with the 5. The artifact model describes the structure and use of a particular artifact
workers, is still 'out there'. On the other hand, involving the workers within the work process.
in the design process' in itself increases their motivation and ~ Each of the models above is also consolidated across users to provide a common
acceptance whether or not the resulting design is 'optimal'. view ofthe situation.
~ The result is a representation of the required task sequences; artifacts and
Contextual inquiry:
communication channels that must be supported in the new system as-well as the
~ Approach developed by Holtzblatt.
physical and cultural constraints that must be taken into account.
.~ In ethnographic tradition but acknowledges and challenges investigator focus.
~ Model of investigator being apprenticed to user to learn about work.
***********
~ Investigation takes place in workplace - detailed interviews, observation,
analysis of communications, physical workplace, artifacts.
~ Number of models created.
~ Sequence, physical, flow, cultural, artifact.
~ Models consolidated across users.
~ Output indicates task sequences, artefacts and communication channels needed
and physical and cultural constraints.
~ A number of models of the work are developed to capture what is important in
the user's work situation:
1. The sequence model elaborates the steps required to complete a specific task,
as well as the triggers that initiate that sequence of steps.
.2. The physical model maps the physical work environment and how it impacts
upon work practice, for example, an office plan showing where different work
activities happen.
3. The flow model shows the lines of coordination and communication between
the user and other participants within and outside the workplace.
4. The cultural model reflects the influences of work culture and policy and
shows the scope' of these influences. This may include official or unofficial
 Human Computer Interaction , Oraanizational Issues and Stake Holder Requirements
SOCIO- b '. ,

1. List some of the organizational issues.

-------
7. Define BPR.
. tlronaI processes is found in Business
A more radical approach to orgamza
);>

I» Systems may not take into account conflict and power relationships. Process Re-engineering (BPR).
s Those who benefit may not do.the work. );> The purpose of an organization can be seen in terms of key business processes,

s Not everyone may use systems. );> The ordering/delivery process described is a typical and important example.
2. What are the properties oforganizationalfactors? );> In BPR these processes are recorded and analyzed.
s Organisational factors often sit 'outside' the system as such, and may involve What are approachesfor capturing requirements?
8.
individuals who never use it. There are several approaches for capturing requirements which include:
s Organisational factors can make or break a system.. • Socio-technical modeling
3. Explain about the term "Computer- Supported Cooperative Work". • Soft system modeling
• People and groups have conflicting goals. • Participatory design
• Systems assuming cooperation will fail! • Contextual inquiry
Example: Computerised Stock Control 9. Explain about the types ofstakeholders.
There are four types of stakeholders. They are as follows:
Stockman loses control of information
I.Primary
=> Subverts the system
2. Secondary
Identify stakeholders - not just the users
3.Tertiary
4. Define Management by Presence. 4. Facilitating
'Management by presence"- doesn't works that you know someone is working ~ Primary stakeholders are people who actually use the system -the end-users.
because they are in the office, and then there is no way a remote worker is going ~ Secondary stakeholders are people who do not directly use the system, but
to be trusted. So the presence increases perceived worth. receive output from it or provide input to it.
5. Define Management by Objectives. ~ Te~tiary stakeholders are people who do not fall into either of the first two
'Management by objectives"- subordinates are working because they are doing categories but who are directly affected by the successor failure of the system.
their jobs and producing results, then remote working is not so problematical. So it ~ Facilitating stakeholders are people who are involved with the design,.
consider as the problems for promotion. development and maintenance ofthe system.
6. Explain about Free Rider Problem. 10. What are the different stakeholder needs that the designer meets?
Even where there is no bias toward any particular people, a system may still not Designers need to meet as many stakeholder needs as possible:
function symmetrically, which may be a problem, particularly with shared • Usually in conflict so have to prioritise
communication systems. One issue is thefree rider problem.
 Human Computer Interaction socia-Organizational Issues and Stake Holder Requirements ~
~----------,,..-----------------------------
• Often priority decreases as move down categories e.g. Primary most
important
---
14. What are the characteristics ofparticipatory design?
• It aims to improve the work environment and task by the introduction of the
• Not always e.g. life support machine design. This makes design and evaluation context or work oriented rather than
11. Explain about CUSTOM methodology. system oriented.
);> CUSTOM is a socio-technical methodology designed to be practical to use in • Secondly, it is characterized by collaboration: the user is included in the
small organizations. design team and can contribute to every stage of the design.
);> It is based on the User Skills and Task Match (USTM) approach, developed to • Finally, the approach is iterative: the design is subject to evaluation and
allow design teams to understand and fully document user requirements. revision at each stage.
);> CUSTOM focuses on establishing stakeholder requirements: 15. List out the different methods involved in participatory design.
• All stakeholders are considered. • Brain-storming
• Not just the end-users. • Story Boarding
12. Explain briefly about OSTA. • Workshops
• Paper and Pencil Exercises
• Open System Task Analysis is an alternative socio-technical approach, which
16. Explain about the Three Levels ofParticipation.
attempts to describe what happens when a technical system is introduced into
• Consultative - the weakest form of participation where participants are asked
an organizational work environment.
for their opinions but are not decision makers.
• Like CUSTOM, OSTA specifies both social and technical aspects of the
• Representative - a representative of the participant group is involved in the
system.
decision making process.
• However, whereas .in CUSTOM these aspects are framed in terms of
• Consensus -all stakeholders are included in the decision-making process.
stakeholder perspectives, in OSTA they are captured through a focus on tasks.
17. What are the different models that are developed to capture user's .work
13. What are the seven stages in Soft System methodology?
. situation?
• Recognition of problem and initiation of analysis
• The Sequence Model
• Detailed description of problem situation: Rich Picture. • The Physical Model
• Generate root definitions of system: Catwoe. • The Flow Model
• Conceptual model - identifying transformations • The Cultural Model
• Compare real world to conceptual model • The Artifact Model
• Identify necessary changes ***********
• Determine actions to effect changes
 Human Computer Interaction

1. Explain in detail about the Organizational Issues.

CHAPTER 12
. 2. Discuss in detail about Socio-Technical Models and Soft System Methodology. COMMUNICATION AND
3. What are the Requirements ofSocio-Organizational Work? COLLABORATIVE MODELS
-
. .-
Socio-Organizational Issues and Stake Holder Requirements: Introduction
*********** - Organizational Issues -, Capturing Requirements - Summary

~ Effective communication clearly underlies much collaborative work and many

systems aim to support communication at a distance.
• Face-to-face communication is often seen as the ideal to which computer-
mediated communication should aim.
• Body language, tone of voice and eye contact are all crucial in enabling
smooth conversation.
~ Groups are dynamic both ill composition and behavior, and effective group
working is dependent.on the work environment.
~ Because of these and other factors, the study of group behavior, and therefore
evaluating groupware, is far more complex than that of single-user systems.

ISSUES:
• All computer systems have group impact not just groupware
• Ignoring this leads to the failure of systems

~ Face-to-face contact is the most primitive form of communication - primitive,

that is, in terms oftechnology.
~ If, on the other hand, we consider the style of communication, the interplay
\

between different channels and productivity, we instead find that face-to-face is

the most sophisticated communication mechanism available.

.1.
 Human Computer Interaction Communication and Collaborative Models
---------~----~-------------------

Drawbacks
>- The rules of face-to-face conversation are not conscious, so, when they are • Naturally, all these clues are lost if we have no visual contact. However, the
broken, we do not always recognize the true problem.Most primitive and most misleading clues via a video connection can be worse.
subtle form of communication. • Poor quality video better than audio only
Examples ofpersonal space: Gestures and Body language
1. Passengers on Tube Train >- Much of our communication is through our bodies.
When we converse with one another we tend to stand with our heads a fairly >- Our conversation is full of expressions such as 'let's move this one there', where
constant distance apart. If people start to converse at opposite ends of a room, they will the 'this' and 'there' are indicated by gestures (or eye gaze). This is called
quickly move toward one another until they are a few feet apart. The exact distance deictic reference
depends somewhat on context; a high level of noise may make people come closer just Issues
to be heard.
• Video Conference
However, even in crowded rooms, conversant will dip their heads toward one
• Interruptions by objects between two persons
another whilst speaking and then straighten up to restore their personal distance.
12.2.3. BACK CHANNELS, CONFIRMATION AND INTERRUPTION
Direction is also important. We can accept people closer to us if they are at our sides
Example
or behind than if we are facing them. Because of this, passengers on tube trains forced
to be close will incline their face at an angle to one another whilst talking. Alison: Do you fancy that film ... err . . . 'The Green' urn ... it starts at eight.
>- Some other examples are: Brian: Great!
• Video conference Back channel responses from Brian at 1 and 2
• Among people with different cultures
a) Quizzical at 1
12.2.2. EYE CONTACT AND GAZE Alison says 'that film errs ...' she looks at Brian. From the quizzical look on his
>- Our eyes tell us whether our colleague is listening or not; they can convey face he obviously does not know which film she is talking about.
interest, confusion or boredom. b) Affirmative at 2
>- Sporadic direct eye contact (both looking at one another's eyes) is important in She can see it in his eyes and he probably makes a small affirmative sound 'uh
establishing a sense of engagement and social presence. People who' look away huh'.
when you look at them may seem shifty and appear to be hiding something. Back channels include:
>- Despite these problems with direct eye contact, many signals can be easily read
• Nods and grimaces
through a video channel.
• Shrugs ofthe shoulders
• Grunts and raised eyebrows
 Human Computer Interaction communication and Collaborative Models

Restricting media restricts back channels 12.i1. BASIC CONVERSATIONAL STRUCTU~E

• video loss of body language Alison: Do you fancy that film?
• audio loss of facial expression Brian: The uh (500 ms) with the black cat - 'The Green what sit'?
•. half duplex .- lose most voice back-channel responses
Alison: Yeah, go at uh . . . (looks at watch -1.2 s) ... 20 to?
• text based nothing left!
Brian: Sure.
12.2.4. TURN-TAKING
It is easy to think of conversation as a sequence of utterances: A says something, ~ The most basic conversational structure is turn taking. On the whole we have an
then B says something, then back to A. This process is called turn-taking and is one of alternating pattern: Alison says something, then Brian, then Alison again.

the fundamental structures of conversation. ~ The speech within each turn is called an utterance.
~ Often we can group the utterances of the conversation into pairs: a question and
In a meeting ...
an answer, a statement and an agreement.
speaker offers the floor (fraction ofa second gap)
~ The answer or response will normally. follow directly after the question or
listener requests the floor (facial expression, small noise).
statement and so these are called adjacency pairs,
Grunts, 'urn's and 'ah's, can be used by the:
~ We can codify this structure as: A-x, B-x, A-y, B-y, where the first letter denotes
- listener to claim the floor the speaker (Alison or Brian) and the second letter labels the adjacency pair.
- speaker to hold the floor ~ The requirement of adjacency can be broken if the pair is interposed with other
but often too quiet for half-duplex channels pairs for clarification, etc.: .
E.g. Trans-continental conferences - special problem
Brian: Do you want some gateau?
~ Lag can exceed the turn taking gap leads to a monologue!
Alison: Is it very fattening?

Brian: Yes, very.

Three uses of conversational theories:
Alison: And lots of chocolate?
~ They can be used analyze transcripts for example from an electronic conference.
Brian: Masses.
This can help us to understand how well the participants are coping with
electronic communication. Alison: I'll have a big slice then.

~ They can. be used as a guide for design decisions - an understanding of normal This conversation can be denoted: B-x, A-y, B-y, A-z, B-z, A-x. Adjacency pair 'x'
human-human conversation can help avoid blunders in the design of electronic ('do you want some gateau?'-'I'II have a big slice then') is split by two other pairs 'y'
media. and 't.'.
~ They can be used to drive design-structuring the system around the theory. 18
12.3.2. CONTEXT
Human Computer Interaction

Take a single utterance from a conversation, and it will usually be highly

--
communication and Collaborative Models .

"
"
Alison began the conversation with the topic of roses.
Brian shifts to the related, but distinct, topic of greenfly.
[!b1I

ambiguous ifnot meaningless: 'the uh with the black cat - "The Green what sit". Each " However, for some reason. Alison has missed this shift in focus, so when she
utterance an? each fragment of conversation is heavily dependent on context, which makes her second utterance, her focus and Brian's differ, leading to the
must be used to disambiguate the utterance. breakdown in communication.
We can identify two types of context within conversation: " The last two utterances are a recovery which re-establishes a shared dialog focus.

• Internal context - dependence on earlier utterances. " Looking at the task-related conversation, the utterances can be classified into

• .External context - dependence on the environment. three kinds:

• Substantive directly relevant to the development of the topic.
A specific form of context dependence is deictic reference.
• Annotative points Of clarification, elaborations, etc.
When accompanied by a pointed finger, an expression like 'that post is leaning a
• Procedural talking about the process of collaboration itself.
bit' is clearly dependent on external context. However, there are very similar uses of
internal context: 12.3.4. BREAKDOWN AND REPAIR
~ When Alison and Brian were talking about Brian's roses, they failed to maintain
Brian: (Points) That post is leaning a bit.
a shared focus.
Alison: That's the one you put in.
~ Brian tried to interpret Alison's utterance in terms of his focus and failed, or
Brian's utterance uses external context, whereas Alison's very similar utterance rather the meaning in that focus was unusual- greenfly are the symbol of the
U~5 internal context.
English summer?
12.3.3. TOPICS FOCUS AND FORM OF UTTERANCE ~ He then questioned Alison and the confusion was cleared. This correction after
~ Given that conversation is so dependent on context, it is important that the breakdown is called repair.
participants have a shared focus. ~ Despite the frequency of breakdowns in normal speech, our communication is
~ The objects that are visible to the participants - but it is also true of the internal not usually significantly affected because we are so efficient at repair. (Although
focus of the conversation. Brian may have some difficulty.)
~ Redundancy, frequency of tum-taking and back channels, all contribute to the
Alison: oi, look at your roses ...
detection of breakdown and its rapid repair.
Brian: Mmm, but I've had trouble 'with greenfly.
~ Electronic communications often reduce redundancy (a single channel), reduce
Alison: They're the symbol of the English summer.
the frequency ofturn-taking and reduce back channels.
Brian: Greenfly? ~ The problem is thus not so much breakdowns in communication, but a reduced
Alison: No roses silly! ability to recover from them.
[jb[] Human Computer Interaction Communication and Collaborative Models
-----------------------_._---------~

12.3.5. CONSTRUCTING A SHARED UNDERSTANDING ~ In addition, it depends on continuous interaction to correct misinterpretations
);> The major difference between a book and conversation is that the latter is and to confirm understanding.
interactive.
12.3.6. SPEECH ACT THEORY
);> The shared knowledge used in a book is static, whereas that used during a
~ A particular form of conversational analysis, speech act theory, has been both
conversation is dynamic, as the participants increase their understanding of one
influential and controversial in CSCW.
another and as they shift their focus from topic to topic.
~ The act of saying the words changes the state of the couple.
);> A consequence of this model of conversation is that the participants are aware, at
~ Other acts include promises by the speaker to do something and request that the
various levels both conscious and subconscious, that their common ground is
hearer do something.
incomplete.
~ These basic acts are called illocutionary points.
);> Their conversation is not then just an exchange of information about their task,
~ The basic structure of conversations can then be seen as instances of generic
but involves continual testing and cross-checking of the other party's
conversations. One example of such a generic .structure is a conversation for
understanding.
action (CfA).
);> Consider again a fragment from Alison's conversation about the way to the A: Decline

.cinema: A: Request B: Promise A: Declare

1 5
Alison: So, you turn right beside the river.
Brian: Past the pub.
Alison: Yeah ...
B: Reject
A: Withdraw
Alison makes an utterance concerning the way to the cinema. Brian interprets this
utterance given his current understanding of the conversation and the world. However, .
in order to check this understanding he makes the statement 'past the pub'. Now this is
not a question of clarification like his earlier question about the bridge; instead it
Fig. 12.1. Conversation/or action. Source: Understanding Computers and Cognition: A
merely echoes back some evidence that he has correctly interpreted Alison's utterance.
New Foundation/or Design by Terry Winograd/Fernando Flores, © 1986.Reprinted by
. Alison is happywith this and so confirms it 'yeah'. permission 0/ Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ

);> Two guiding principles for our utterances are that they should be relevant and ~ It represents the stages of two participants go through in initiating an external
helpful. action that oneofthem should perform.
. It To be relevant, an utterance should further the current topic. );> There are two variants,
It To be helpful, an utterance should be understandable to the listener and be It The one shown representing a conversation where the first speaker (A) is
sufficiently unambiguous given the listener's understanding. requesting that the other participant (B) does something.
 Communication and Collaborative Models
Human Computer Interaction
• linear - participant's messages are added in (usually temporal) order to the
end of a single transcript.
• non-linear - when messages are linked to one another in a hypertext
• Request
fashion.
• Promise
• spatial- where messages are arranged on a two-dimensional surface.
• Assert
12.4.1. BACK CHANNELS AND AFFECTIVE STATE
• Decline
~ One of the most profound differences between face-to-face and text-based
• Reject
communication is the lack of fine-grained channels.
• Withdraw
Y.,..nf~e:'iftl'A,,%'l L}:'iiT
t!::I
• Counter
• Accept
• Renege
• Declare
There are other generic conversation forms as well as CfA. These include:
• conversation for clarification usually embedded within a CfA to clarify the
required action (different from countering a request);
• conversation for possibilities looking toward future actions;
• . conversation for orientation building upa shared understanding.

~ Text-based communication is familiar to most people, in that they will have

written and received letters.
~ However, the style of letter writing and that of face-to- face communication are
very different.
.~ The text-based communication in groupware systems is acting as a speech
Fig. 12.2. Conference screen shot showing text transcript and pin-board"
substitute, and, thus, there are some problems adapting between the two media.
~ There are four types oftextual communication in current groupware: 12.4.2. GROUNDING CONSTRAINTS
• discrete - directed message as in email. There is no explicit connection ~ This grounding process is linked strongly with the types of channels through
between different messages, except in so far as the text ofthe message refers which the conversant communicate.
to a previous one.

1
 Human Computer Interaction Communication and Collaborative Models
~ These include: -----
,. Hypertext-based systems avoid the implied sequentiality of a linear transcript.
.. cotemporality - an utterance is heard as soon as it is said (or typed);
12.4.4. PACE AND GRANULARITY
• simultaneity - the participants can send and receive at the same time;
,. The term pace is being used in a precise sense above. Imagine a message being
• sequence - the utterances are ordered.
composed and sent, the recipient reading (or hearing) the message and then
~ Altogether, the lack of grounding constraints in text-based 'communication
composing and sending a reply. The pace of the conversation is the rate of such a
makes it more difficult to obtain a common ground.
sequence of connected messages and replies.
~ It has also been found that email and text-based meetings are less effective at
,. Clearly, as the pace of a conversation reduces, there is a tendency for the
resolving conflicts than a face-to-face meeting.
granularity to increase. To get the same information across, you must send more
12.4.3. CONTEXT AND DEIXIS
per message.
~ Utterances are highly ambiguous and are only meaningful with respect to ~ Even most monologs are interactive in the sense that the speaker is constantly
external context, the state of the world, and internal context, the state of the looking for cues of comprehension in the listener. Reducing the pace of a
conversation. conversation reduces its interactivity.
~---=------,
~ Both of these are problems in text-based communication. • •• Alison's turn

~ Most email systems and some bulletin boards lack any implied sequentiality and
thus any context to the messages.
Brian's turn
~. The users (ever inventive) get round this by including copies of previous
messages in their replies.
~ This is only partially effective and, of course, incredibly clumsy.
• • • Alison's turn
1. Alison:
Brian's got some
lovely roses

2 Brian:
/ <,
3. Clarise:
Brian:
Talking of love
Brian:
Thanks, I'll try
that next year
Brian's turn

Fig. 12.4. The Conversation <game'

I'm afraid they're I've seen them
covered in greenfly they're beautiful ~ In Figure 12.4, we can see some of the moves Alison and Brian can make whilst
talking in the garden (Clarise has gone home).
4 Clarise: ~ At each tum of the conversation, Alison or Brian can choose to say one thing
Have you tried
which continues the discussion.
companion planting?
~ That is, they gradually work out a path from the top ofthe tree downwards.
Fig. 12.3. Hypertext conversation structure
 Human Computer Interaction
Communication and Collaborative Models
.~ Whatever medium is used, you cannot normally progress down the tree faster
.___-----C------------------,------------
~ A potential problem of eagerness is that by following a particular branch of the
than the pace of the conversation.
conversation, other branches, which your colleague would have liked to explore,
~ To overcome these limitations, people adopt several coping strategies.
are missed.
~ The simplest strategy is just to avoid conversation.
12.4.5. LINEAR TEXT Vs HYPERTEXT
~ This can be done by delegating parts of a task to the different participants.
~ Of course, this approach reduces communication by reducing collaboration. ? Considerations of potential overlap suggest that hypertext-based
communications may be better suited as a text-based communication medium.
Two coping strategies:
~ Similarly, the problems of pace may be partially solved in a hypertext.
~ Multiplexing: The conversants hold several conversations in parallel, each
~ Multiplexed messages can be represented as updates to several parts of the
message referring to several topics. In terms of the conversation tree, this
hypertext, thus reducing the likelihood of breakdown and lost topics.
corresponds to going down several branches at once.
~ In addition, if the messages themselves can be mini-hypertexts, then eager
E: I don't like the other three being in
messages .listing several possible courses of action can be explicitly represented
cahoots - shall I form an alliance with
one to stitch them up? ItII move to by the message.
Holland first. ~ For the asynchronous reader trying to catch up with a conversation, a linear
Fig. 12.5. Excerpt oftranscript from Hewitt et al. [171J. Source: Courtesy ofProfessor Nigel transcript is clearly easier, but it is precisely in more asynchronous settings
Gilbert
where overlap in linear text is most likely to cause confusion.
~ Eagerness: The participants can foresee the possible course of the interaction ~ We can see that there is no best solution, with possibly the best course in many
and frame communications which encompass many of the possibilities:
situations being linear transcripts arranged by topic, with some automatically
Eagerness is less likely to lead to breakdown, except where the message tries to generated indication of overlap.
foresee too great a breadth of possibilities and becomes confusing.
/\:. SubJect: Report. C 123660
. The above mentioned report Is out of stock
~ Group behavior is more complex still as we have to take into account the
The remaining ones are CI2366 + C ·'23660.
What to do? Reprintl1n that case. do you have dynamic social relationships during group working.
any changes to suggest?
12.5.1. GROUP DYNAMICS
~ Groupware designers should in general be aware that new members can and will
A: Subject SIGSIM meetIng
A~ you going to Unkoping tomorrow? enter the group and should design their software accordingly.
In that case when are you leaving? ~ The group may also divide into subgroups for detailed discussion and then .
Does SIGSIM pay for the trip or what?
reform.
Fig. 12.6. Excerptfrom Severinson Eklundh's corpus [317J. SourcetCourtesy of Kerstln
~ Tools must be able to support this.
Severinson Eklundh

1
 Human Computer Interaction
Communication and Collaborative Models
~ For example, early versions of Co Lab's software only catered for a single --- L Shared Screen
WYSIWIS screen - that is, they only supported a single group.
~ Later versions were forced to allow subgroups to work independently and then
share results.

12.5.2. PHYSICAL LAYOUT

~ The designers of Capture Lab, an eight-person meeting room, considered all
these features and many other subtle effects.
~ However, the users still had some difficulty in adapting to the power positions in
the electronic meeting room.
~ At first sight, the electronic meeting room is not unlike a normal conference
room.
~ If the shared screen is a whiteboard or an overhead projector, then the most
powerful position is toward the front of the room. Fig. 12.7. Meeting roomlayout
~ Managers would normally take this seat as they can then easily move to the ~ For example, the drawings on a whiteboard.
whiteboard or overhead projector to point out some item and draw the group's ~ These are no longer just a means of communicating between the parties, but can
attention. be a concrete embodiment of group knowledge.
12.5.3. DISTRIBUTED COGNITION
***********'
.~ A school of thinking has recently developed which regards thinking as
happening not just within the head, but in the external relationships with things
in the world and with other people. This viewpoint is called distributed
cognition..
~ Traditional views talk about the movement of information between working
memory and long-term memory: it is not so difficult then to regard bits of
paper, books and computer systems as extensions to these internal memory
systems.
~ Distributed cognition has profound effects on the way we look at group working
and even individual work. It emphasizes the importance of mediating
representations.

1
1. What do you mean by an Effective Communication?
Human Computer Interaction
Effective communication clearly underlies much collaborative work and many
systems aim to support communication at a distance.
• Face-to-face communication is often seen as the ideal to which computer-
mediated communication should aim.
• Body language, tone of voice and eye contact are all crucial in enabling smooth
conversation.
2. What are the issues in Effective Communication?
• All computer systems have group impact not just groupware
• Ignoring this leads to the failure of systems
3. . Explain briefly about Face-to-Communication.
• Face-to-face contact is the most primitive form of communication - primitive,
that is, in terms of technology.
• If, on the other hand, we consider the style of communication, the interplay
between different channels and productivity, we instead find that face-to-face is
the most sophisticated communication mechanism available.
4. List the Examples ofPersonal Space.
.• Passengers on Tube Train
• Video conference
• Among people with different cultures
5. What are the drawbacks ofEye Contact and Gaze?
• Naturally, all the clues are l~st if we have no visual contact. However, the
misleading clues via a video connection can be worse.
• Poor quality video better than audio only
6. Define Turn Taking.
It is easy to think of conversation as a sequence of utterances: A says something,
then B says something, then back to A. This process is called turn-taking 'and is
one of the fundamental structures of conversation.
--
Communication and Collaborative Models
7. What are the three uses of Conversational Theories?
• They can be used analyze transcripts for example from an electronic
112.191 .
conference. This can help us to understand how well the participants are coping
with electronic communication.
• They can be used as a guide for design decisions - an understanding of normal
human-human conversation can help avoid blunders in the design of electronic ~
media.
• They can be used to drive design-structuring the system around the theory.
8. Define Utterance.
The most basic conversational structure is turn taking. On the whole we have an
alternating pattern: Alison says something, then Brian, then Alison again. The
speech within each turn is called an utterance.
9. Define Adjacency Pairs.
Often we can group the utterances of the conversation into pairs: a question and an
answer, a statement and an agreement. The answer or response will normally
follow directly after the question or statement and so these are called adjacency
pairs.
.10. What are the two types of context within conversation and define deictic
reference.
• Internal context - dependence on earlier utterances.
• External context - dependence on the environment.
A specific form of context dependence is deictic reference.
11. What are the three Classifications of Utterances?
• Substantive directly relevant to the development of the topic.
• Annotative points of clarification, elaborations, etc.
• Procedural talking about the process of collaboration itself.
12. Define illocutionary points.
The act of saying the words changes the state of the couple. Other acts include
promises by the speaker to do something and request that the hearer do something.
These basic acts are called illocutionary points.
 Human Computer Interaction Communication and Collaborative Models
13. What are the Generic.Conversation Forms? 17. Define Distributed Cognition.
• Conversation for clarification usually embedded within a efA to clarify the
A school of thinking has recently developed which regards thinking as happening
required action (different from countering a request);
not just within the head, but in the external relationships with things in the world
• Conversation for possibilities looking toward future actions;
and with other people. This viewpoint is called distributed cognition.
• Conversation for orientation building up a shared understanding.
14. Define Text-Based Communication and List out the types of Textual
***********
Communication.

Text-based communication is familiar to most people, in that they will have written and
received letters. However, the style of letter writing and that of face-to- face
communicationare very different.

Types ofTextual Communication:

• Discrete 1. Explain in detail about text based communication.

• Linear 2. Explain briefly about conversation.
• .Non-linear
3. Explain about face to face communication in detail.
• Spatial
15. What do you mean by the term pace?

The term pace is being used in a precise sense above. Imagine a message being ***********
composed and sent, the recipient reading (or hearing) the message and then
composing and sending a reply. The pace of the conversation is the rate of such a
sequence of connected messages and replies.

16. What are the two Coping Strategies?

Multiplexing: The conversants hold several conversations in parallel,' each message

referringto several topics.

Eagerness: Eagerness is less likely to lead to breakdown, except where the

message tries to foresee too great a breadth of possibilities and becomes
confusing.

19
 CHAPTER 13
HYPERTEXT, MUIATIMEDIA AND
THE WORLD WIDE WEB
Hypertext, Multimedia and the World Wide Web: Introduction -
Understanding Hypertext - Finding Things - Web Technology and Issues
.; Static Web Content - Dynamic Web Content

~ Hypertext allows documents to be linked in a nonlinear fashion.

~ Multimedia incorporates different media such as:
• Sound
• Images
• Video.
~. The World Wide Web is a global hypermedia system.
~ Animation and video can show information that is difficult to convey statically.
~ Applications of hypermedia include online help, education ande-commerce.
~ Design for the World Wide Web illustrates general hypermedia design, but also
has its own special problems.
~ Dynamic web content can be used for' simple online demonstration or for
complete web- based business applications.

UNDER$TANDING·HYPERT

13;2.1. HYPERTEXT DEFINITION - TEXT, HYPERTEXT AND MULTIMEDIA

Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4

this is text this is text this is text this is text
or is it or is it or is it
or is it
hypertext hypertext hypertext hypertext
------- .....
only links only links only links only links
can tell can tell can tell r:; can tell r:;
I:i I:i
 Human Computer Interaction
~ Text - the written word - that is commonly seen as. the defining point of
civilization.
~ Hypertext attempts to get around these limitations of text by structuring it into a
mesh rather than a line.
~ This allows a number of different pages to be accessed from the current one, and,
if the hypertext is well designed, the user should find it easier to follow his own
particular idea through the mesh rather than being forced down one route.
~ Typically, hypertext systems incorporate diagrams, photographs and other media
as well as text
~ Such systems are often known as multimedia or hypermedia systems, although
the three terms are often used interchangeably.
~ A hypertext system comprises a number of pages and a set of links that are used
to connect pages together.
~. The links can join any page to any other page, and there can be more than one
link per page.
Fig. 13.1. Typical structures oflinear text and hypertext
~ Thus a hypertext document does not simply start a linear progression and follow
it to an end, but goes in lots of different directions, some of which terminate,
while others link back into different parts of the document (see Figure 13.1,
which illustrates the difference between linear text and hypertext).
Hypertext, Multimedia and The World Wide Web
)0> There are many different ways of traversing the network, and so there are many
different ways of reading a hypertext document - the intention is that the user is
able to read it in the way that suits him best.
)0> Links can exist at the end of pages, with the user choosing which one to follow,
or can be embedded within the document itself.
13.2.2. RICH CONTENT
Animation:
~ Animation is the term given to the addition of motion to images, making them
. move, alter and change in time.
~ The common use for animation in current windowing systems is to animate the
cursor.
)0> Instead of simply having a basic pointer always on the screen, many inter- faces
now use the typical 16 x 16 bitmap that makes up the cursor to indicate more
complex information.
.~ Animating the cursor means that messages do not need to be printed out to a
window, making it a neat and concise way of presenting the desired information.
~ Animation can be used to great effect to show changes in data sets, where slow
fluctuations can be visualized with the help of rippling three-dimensional colored
surfaces, or abrupt changes shown by sudden. discontinuities in an otherwise
regular motion ..
.~ Animation is also used in a cartoon-like way, where animated objects are used to
perform particular functions for the user.
Video and audio:
~ Both audio and video material are expensive and time consuming to produce, but
increasingly even home-PC systems include video and audio editing as standard.
~ For example, the iMac includes a suite for editing video and burning DVDs.
~ Combined with digital video cameras these bring the production of audio/video
material into the reach of many.
 Human Computer Interaction Hypertext, Multimedia and The World Wide Web
>- Furthermore, standard formats such as QuickTime allow this material to be >- Longer video sequences are, of course, more linear than plain text.
embedded in web pages for easy distribution. );- This may be acceptable if the hypertext is acting effectively as an index for video .
>- The most common use of video is as a clip to be embedded within a text. or
material.
graphical document or web page.
>- . For example, one might have a collection of silent movies online and access
>- For example, Figure 13.2 shows an example of a prototype website produced by
them through a website.
Glasgow University for the Hunterian Museum [194] including video clips.
>- However, if the video is regarded as an integrated part of the hypermedia
(Notice, the use of the still picture for each video clip and the indication of the
experience it needs to be active in some way as well.
len h of the cli .)
>- It is possible to have hotspots in video images just as in graphics.
);- Audio material can be used in the same way as 'clips' within a document.
>- For example, in an interactive guide to Beethoven's music.
>- Because most hypertext material is visual, audio can also be used for either one
of the following cases:
• Background music or sound effects to establish mood.
• To provide 'voice-over' for static graphics or animations.
>- Audio material may be stored as sound samples I.e., digital recordings, which
can include instruments, voice or other sounds.

Computation, Intelligence and Interaction:

);- The good thing about a computer is that not only can it show things that have
previously been prepared, it can also do things.
>- This book has an index,' but it does not contain every word in the text (it may
also refer to parts of the text that do not have a particular word).
>- . More interactive hypermedia may contain embedded games or applications.
>- For example, Figure 13.3 shows a puzzle from the website of one of the authors
(Alan), a sort of2D Rubik's cube that you can play online.
);- Hypermedia running on the user's own computer may interact closely with other
Fig. 13.2. Hunterian Museum -learning about the Romans. Source {l94a] reprinted with applications.
permission ofSpringer- Verlag; Netscape browser window © 2002 Netscape
Communications Corporation, used by permission.
 Human Computer Interaction Hypertext, Multimedia and The World Wide Web ~
---
}> As older computers tend to have only CD-ROM drives, it is not possible yet to
supply, for example, tutorial material on DVD and know that it could be used on
any machine.
On the web:
}> The World Wide Web is the best-known multimedia hypertext system of all.
}> The World Wide Web offers a rich environment for the presentation of
information.
}> Documents can be constructed that are very different from paper versions.
~ Basic text can be augmented through the use of hypertext links to other
documents, while graphics can easily be incorporated as:
• Pictures
• Photographs
Fig. 13.3. Interacting with hypertext - Professor Alan's puzzle square. Screen shot frame
• Icons
reprinted by permission from Microsoft Corporation.
• Page dividing bars (or)
13.2.3. DELIVERY TECHNOLOGY
• Backgrounds
On the computer: ~ Pages can also have hypertext links embedded into different regions, which' take'
~ Some hypertexts, in particular help systems, are downloaded or installed \ the user toa different page or graphic if they are clicked on. These are known as
permanently on a computer. Active Image Maps.
~ This has the advantage of instant access and such applications need not use a ~ These features allow web pages to become interactive, acting as the interface to
standard viewer but may include their own bespoke browsing software. the information as well as its holder.
~ However, with media-rich hypertexts containing substantial graphics, video and ~ Dynamic material in the form of movies and sounds is also available to the
audio clips, it may be impractical to store everything on hard disk. designer.
~ Also, for. copyright protection, some systems will deliberately not allow ~ The web allows the user to browse documents and follow links transparently,
themselves to be copied from their original distribution media. with the underlying system taking care of the details of fetching the data from
~ Many hypermedia systems are supplied on CD-ROM. different parts of the world.
~ This has the advantage of reasonably large capacity (650-700 Mbytes), but
On the move:
access is slower than with installed systems.
~ Mobile phones, PDAs (personal digital assistants), and notebook computers have
~ DVD delivered material is interesting as it is not text enriched with video, but
all increased the demand to have hypermedia available on the move.
instead a movie that has been 'made interactive'.
 Human Computer Interaction
------~----------------------------
Hypertext, Multimedia and The World Wide Web
~ Notebook computers can use just the same mechanisms as desktop computers, ~ Each card can-hold
using CD-ROM or DVD for stand alone material, or connecting to the web
• Text
through wireless access points or through modems linked to mobile phone • Diagrams -- ---.....

.networks. • Photographs
~ However, the fact that the computer is mobile means that location can be used as • Bitmaps and so on.
a key into context-aware hypermedia showing different content depending on ~ The hot-spots on the cards allow movement between cards.
location. ~ Cards may also contain forward and backward buttons and a home icon, to allow
~ PDA access poses different problems. the user to move sequentially, and start from scratch respectively.
~ .They often have standard web browsers, but of course on a substantially smaller ~ HyperCard can be used for a range of applications, including information
screen. management and teaching.
~ However, HyperCard's simple scripting language and easy to produce graphical
~ This may mean designing special pages, or being especially careful to design
ones that resize well. interfaces meant it was also used extensively as a rapid prototyping tool for

~ Because PDAs are often not network connected there are also systems to allow generating interactive systems.

access to information when disconnected. Helpand documentation:

~ Mobile phones are (nearly) always connected to a network. ~ They allow user-oriented access to the information, and support browsing.
~ However, memory and screen size are even more constrained. ~ In addition, the information can be organized hierarchically.. with successive

~ Some phones allow downloadable applets so that small dynamic applications selections providing more detailed information.
~ This supports the varying needs that users have, such as quick reference, usage
can be used.
information, full details and so on.
~ More web-like content can be accessed via WAP (wireless application
.~ Many commercial help systems use hypermedia-style help.
protocol), which, like HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) for the web, gives
~ Good examples are as follows:
access to remote servers.
• The Sun Guide system
~ WAP content can be produced as static or dynamic content using a mark-up:
• HyperCard help
language called WML, which is a simplified version of HTML.
• Microsoft Windows help
13.2.4. APPLICATION AREAS
~ Hypermedia provides an environment for the learner to explore, in her own time
Rapid prototyping: and at her own pace.
~ HyperCard uses the metaphor of a card index, around which the user can ~ . The inclusion of animation and graphics can allow the user to see things happen
navigate. as well as read about them.
~ So, for example, animation can be used to simulate an experiment.
 Human Computer Interaction
Hypertext, Multimedia and The World Wide Web
Education and Esleaming:
~ . System includes text, diagrams, and photos and so on.
~ Both learners and teachers can add information and links, giving students access
to each other's opinions, as well as those oftheir tutors.
~ A map provides an overall view of the information for direct access and
navigation, with links providing browsing facilities in the normal way.
~ Intermedia has been successfully used for university-level teaching, and can be
seen as a fore-runner ofthe educational resources now facilitated by the web.

Fig. 13.5. e-Class - recording a lecture

Fig. 13.4. It allows users to browse through large amounts ofmultimedia in/ormation by
following links.
~ The e-Class project: It records pen strokes on an electronic whiteboard during a
lesson (Figure 13.5) along with audio and video, and then allows students to
review the material later using a web interface (Figure 13.6).
~ Each slide presentation and pen stroke is time stamped so that students can click
. .... available later
on a particular pen mark on the web interface and the audio or video is replayed through web interface
FiIg. 13•.
6 e-Class .
- indexed
. playback
" . on student's web browser. Source: Netscape
. . browser
from that point in the lecture.
window © 2002 Netscape Communications Corporation, used by permtsston.
 _ Human Computer Interaction
Collaboration and Community:
~ Although strictly not hypertext, the web has become a central platform for
collaborative applications and community.
~ These use the hypertext structure of the web to structure and access shared
resources and message areas.
~ For example, Yahoo Groups (groups.yahoo.com) allows mailing lists, shared
images (such as family photo albums), web archives of the mailing list and chat,
all accessed through a web interface.
E-commerce:
~ Hypertext's use of hierarchies, links, -images and so on, makes it ideal for
displaying certain kinds of product.
~ Actual buying and selling requires not only security at the level of the networks,
-
websites, etc., but also trust.
13.3.1.- LOST IN HYPERSPACE
~ It is easy to lose track of where you are, a problem that has been called, 'lost in
hyperspace' .
~ There are two elements to this feeling of 'lostness'. _
• Thefirst is cognitive, and related to content:
In a linear text, a topic can be browsed in any order. Each page or node has to be
written virtually independently, but, of course, in reality it cannot be written
entirely without any assumption of prior knowledge. As the reader encounters
fragmentary information, it cannot be properly integrated, leading to confusion
about the topic.
• The second is relatedto navigation and structure:
Although the hypertext may have a hierarchical or other structure, the user may
navigate by hyperlinks that move across this main structure. It is easy to lose track
of where you are and where you have been.
--
Hypertext, Multimedia and The World Wide Web
}> The solution to the former issue is to design the information better.
}> The solution to the latter is to give users better ways of understanding where
they are.
13.3.2. DESIGNING STRUCTURE
}> In a paper format one is stuck with a single structure, which can lead to tensions.
}> For example, the fact that in this book structural design is discussed in several
places.
~ If multiple structures are used, you have to consider what. to do about the
common material.
13.3.3. MAKING NAVIGATION EASIER
~ One solution is to provide a map of the hypertext document, identifying the
current position of the reader within it.
~ Links to home or end points can then be identified and the user is less likely to
get lost.
~ This maybe a separate part of the hypertext; for example, some websites have a
site map link leading to a special page, and many help systems have a table of
contents view.
~ Alternatively, the site map can be woven into the layout ofthe document.
~ One way to deal with the differing uses that are envisaged for a hypertext is to
provide the user with 'recommended routes' through hypertext documents.
~ If these are too strongly defined they defeat the objectives ofthe system. Another
type of hypertext takes the form of, 'levels of access' to a document.
~ Different levels of access privilege, 'see' different amounts of information.
• A document structured in this way may provide one level of access that
gives only a brief overview ofthe topic.
• The next level of access presents a fuller description of the system, while
the next level may also include information regarding the precise meaning
of technical terms used in the system.
• The final level of access may add historical information and such like.
 Human Computer Interaction Hypertext, Multimedia and The World Wide Web

The user can choose at which level he wants to read the document, cutting out ~ Search engines, too, may generate links to individual frames in a frameset.
irrelevant information while obtaining all the necessary details. Such a document 13.3.5. INDICES, DIRECTORIES AND SEARCH
tends to be linear in nature, which makes navigating and printing easier, but
~ An index is not a complete list of all words in a document.
removes the user's choice in structuring his progress through it. Once information
~ The words in an index are chosen because they are significant. key phrases or
has been retrieved, a paper version is often needed. Printing a document requires
. words with a domain meaning, and not every occurrence of a word is indexed,
the pages to be in a particular order, but hypertext does not support the concept of
only those deemed in some way important.
one single order.
~ Directory services such as Yahoo! (www.yahoo.com) or the Open Directory
13.3.4. HISTORY, BOOKMARKS AND EXTERNAL LINKS
Project (ODP) (www.dmoz.org) can be seen as a form of index.
~ Hypertext viewers and web browsers usually have some sort of history
~ The main difference is that while an index is simply an alphabetical list of
mechanism to allow you to see where you have been, and a more stack-based
keywords, web directories give a hierarchical categorization to sites.
system using the 'back'button that allows you to backtrack through previously
~ For exhaustive searching by keywords, some kind of automated search is
visited pages.
required.
~ The back button may be used where a user has followed a hyperlink and then
~ In the case of a standalone hypertext; the viewer application may do this either
decided it was to the wrong place, or alternatively, when browsing back and
by using a pre-computed electronic index of all word occurrences used by the
forth from a central page that contains lots of links.
hypertext, or by scanning it on demand.
~ The latter is called hub and spoke browsing.
~ Although the back button is used extensively, it is used relatively little to go
back more than one step.
13.4.1. BASICS
~. For longer-term revisiting, browsers typically support some form of book
~ The web consists of a set of protocols built on top of the internet that, in theory,
marking of favourite pages.
~ Both this and, on the web, external links from other people's sites mean that allow multimedia documents to be created and read from any connected

users may enter your hypertext at locations other than the top level or home computer in the world.

page. ~ The web supports the following:

~ On the web this is called deep linking. • Hypertext
~ The material you want to bookmark or link to may be one of the frame content • Graphics
pages, but the URL you can see or bookmark is that of the overall frameset. • Sound
~ This may either discourage linking to the site or, if circumvented, it may mean • Movies
linking directly to the content of one ofthe frames, which is then very likely to ~ To structure and describe the information, it uses a language called HTML
lack sufficient context, being designed to be seen within the frameset. (hypertext markup language) or in some cases, XML (extensible markup
20
language).
 Human Computer Interaction Hypertext, Multimedia and The World Wide Web [TI}lI
~ HTML is a markup language that allows hypertext links, images, sounds and ~ You can call it a client server because it contacts the web server for desired
movies to be embedded into text, and it provides some facilities for describing information.
how these components are laid out. ~ If the requested data is available in the web server data then it will send back the
~ HTML documents are interpreted by a viewer, known as a browser. requested information again via web browser.
~ There are many browsers, and each can interpret HTML in subtly different ways, ~ Examples of web browser:
or support different levels of functionality, which means that a web page viewed • Microsoft Internet Explorer
through one browser can look very different from the same page viewed through • Mozilla Firefox
another.
• Safari
~ The web requires no particular multimedia capabilities from the machines that
• Opera
run the browsers. • Google Chrome
~ First, The graphical browser Mosaic and continued in commercial browsers such They are more advanced than earlier web browser because they are capable to
as: understand the HTML, JavaScript, AJAX, etc.
• Netscape Navigator
13.4.3. NETWORK ISSUES
• Microsoft
~ Network capacity is called bandwidth.
• Internet Explorer
~ This is a measure of the amount of information that can pass down the channel in
• Opera.
a given time.
13.4.2. WEB SERVERS AND WEB CLIENTS ~ The available channel bandwidth and achievable signal-to-noise ratio determine
~ Web server is a computer system, which provides the web pages via HTTP the maximum possible throughput.
(Hypertext Transfer Protocol).
~ IP address and a domain name is essential for every web server. bandwidth latency
how much how long
~ Whenever, you insert a URL or web address into your web browser, this sends
request to the web address where domain name of your URL is already saved.
~ Then this server collects the all information of your web page and sends to
browser, which you see in form of web page on your browser.
~ Web browser is a client, program, software or tool through which we sent HTTP
request to web server. Receive c====~===:====t±===~±;:==!l~
~ The main purpose of web browser is to locate the content on the World Wide jitter
how variable
Web and display in the shape of web page, image, audio or video form.
Fig. J3.7. Bandwidth, latency andjitter

J
 Hypertext, Multimedia and The World Wide Web ~
Human Computer Interaction
y Paper does not have the same inbuilt hyper textual and active capabilities as the
Throughput:
web page, and will be accessed in a predominantly linear fashion.
~ Throughput is the number of messages successfully delivered per unit time.
13.5.2. TEXT
~ Throughput is controlled by available bandwidth, as well as the available signal-
~ Web pages are displayed on many different machines, there are only a small set
to-noise ratio and hardware limitations.
of fonts that can be guaranteed to be available.
Latency:
~ A standard font and a typewriter font (e.g. courier) with bold and italic versions
~ The time, the bandwidth takes for a message to get across the network from your
in different sizes.
machine to the web server and back.
~ However, it is possible to specify preferred fonts and many of these such as
~ This delay is called latency.
Arial, Verdana or Comic Sans are available on most web platforms.
~ Several factors such as the finite speed of electrical or optical signals and delays
~ The difficult thing is to balance fine tuning the appearance of the text on one
.at routers along the way that take messages from one computer network and pass
platform with making it readable on all.
them on.
~ The use of color is of great importance for web pages, but it is often abused.
~ This latency may not always be the same, varying with the exact route through
Y First, it should be remembered that a significant proportion of the potential
the network travelled by a message, the current load on the different routers, etc.
viewers of the page will have problems with color, either because they are 'using
Jitter: older machines with a limited color palette, or because they have some form of
~ Variability in the latency is called jitter. color blindness.
~ Feedback that involves a cycle to the web server and back, except for intranets Y Color, when used, should not be the only cue available.
on fast networks, will take several seconds, which is too slow for fluid y Users also bring a deep rooted emotional interpretation to colors.
interaction. y As we have seen, in some cultures:
• Red is associated with danger and anger.
It Green is regarded as go, or safe.
13.5.1. THE MESSAGE AND THE MEDIUM • Blue can be a cool color.
~ Pages do have to look immediately interesting and 'attractive if people are to e Orange a warm one, and so on.
spend time, effort and, because of the communication costs, money, in viewing y There are only a limited number of text-placing options: text can be left or right
them.
justified, or centered.
~ The user-centered nature of the medium makes this imperative.
y There are a few predefined formatting styles such as ordered and unordered
~ When it is likely that a user will require a paper copy of the information made
lists that. have additional structure, in the form of indentation from the left
available over the web, ideally they should be able to download it in one go as a
margin, with numbering in the case of ordered lists.
single complete file, with the same information content but possibly a different
layout.
 Human Computer Interaction Hypertext, Multimedia and The World Wide Web

~ Vertical positioning is even more limited, but tables and (cautious use of) frames
allow a greater degree of horizontal and vertical placement.
13.5.3. GRAPHICS
Obtaining graphics:
~ There are a number of sites on the web that contain archives of graphical images,
icons, backgrounds and so on.

Using graphics:
~ Graphical images take longer to load than text, and this may become a problem.
~ Text uses 8 bits to represent a character.
~ Some rough calculations show that approximately 2000 characters represent
about a screenful of information, and so 16,000 bits (2 K) are required.
~ For graphics, one pixel may use 8 bits to represent its color: a page-sized image
will be at least 600 by 400 pixels, which will take 1,920,000 bits (240 K), or 120
times as long to load.
~ GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) and JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts
. Group), the most widely used web graphic image formats, can be saved in forms
that allow them to be progressively transmitted.
~ This means that images appear as a whole, but very blurred, version that
becomes gradually sharper, rather than appearing in perfect resolution a line at a
time.
.~ The JPEG format is optimized for photographic images and makes use of their
properties to offer a higher compression ratio and hence faster loading.
~ Its compression is lossy, that is the image reproduced is slightly different from
the original, losing certain kinds of visually indistinguishable colors and, more
importantly, losing high-frequency change.
~ The GIF format also allows animated GIFs. These are a sort of mini-slide show
or movie where several images are stored in the same file and play one after
another.
~ Icons often appear on web pages, and while there are many available to choose
from, they should be used with care.
~ On web pages, icons are typically used in one of two ways.
~ They are either visual cues, associating some small picture with different parts of
the text (for example, some pages have icon-sized characters that appear next to
instructions).
~ In this latter case, they must represent their associated functionality in either a
concrete or an abstract form.
@:£!
Advantages and disadvantages ofIcons:
~ One advantage is that certain icons are already associated with specific
functionality (for example, a picture of a floppy disk to represent 'save').
~ Disadvantages are that it restricts the individuality and style icon sets can show,
and may mean that icons designed for one purpose are misunderstood by users
because they have seen something similar in another context.
Color:
~ Use standard 216 color web palette, and to reduce complex color images to
simpler approximations.
~ Reducing the number of colors used also allows the depth of the images to be
reduced.
 Human Computer Interaction l!ypertext,'Multimedia and The World Wide Web

;.. A change from a default of 8 bits to, say, 4 bits will produce a twofold speedup .1
in image loading. 13.6.1. THE ACTIVE WEB

13.5.4. MOVIES AND SOUND ~ In the early days, the web was simply a collection of (largely text) pages linked
together.
;.. One problem associated with them is actually obtaining appropriate sound and
~ The material was static or slowly changing and much of it authored and updated
,video clips as they usually require some sort of multimedia capability on behalf
by hand.
of the host machine in order to be ableto digitize sound and capture and digitize
~ Some pages were generated on the fly, in particular the gateways into ftp servers
video.
, and to gophers, which were so important in adding 'free' content to the web
;.. Video suffers from the same problems as graphics, magnified by an order of
13.6.2. WHAT HAPPENS WHERE?
magnitude or two.
~ The 'what happens where' question is the heart of architectural design.
;.. It can take extremely large amounts of time for a video segment to download.
web server ~ It has a major impact on the pace of interaction, both feedback, how fast users
user's machine see the effects of their own actions, and feed through, how fast they see the
effects of others' actions.
~4 ~ The user view:
~
(i) page
loads
(ii) user ;.. VVhatchanges?
watches
• This may be a media stream (video, audio or animation) which is changing
simply because it is the fundamental nature ofthe medium.
Fig. 13.8. Animated GfF or movie needs to download completely eo It may be the presentation or view the user has ofthe underlying content; for
;.. Streaming media over the internet, such as RealVideo, RealAudio and CuSeeMe, example, sorting by different categories or choosing text-only views for
allow potentially unlimited sources. blind users.
;.. Acceptable streaming video and audio is achieved' by a combination of high • A special form of presentation change is when only a selection of the full
compression and large client-end buffers. data set is shown, and that selection changes.
;.. The former leads to loss of quality including blurring and ghosting after rapid • The deepest form of change is when the actual content changes.
changes in screen content. );> By whom?
;.. The latter leads to delays, often of several seconds, which makes it impossible to • Who effects the changes?
support video conferencing. • In the case of a media stream or animation, the 'changes are largely
;.. The challenges of achieving high quality transmissions (e.g. for video on automatic - made by the computer.
demand) and low latency (e.g. for video conferencing) are active research topics • The other principal sources of change are the site autfior and the user;
in multimedia technology.
~ Human Computer Interaction Hypertext, Multimedia and The World Wide Web ~
13.6.3. FIXED CONTENT - LOCAL INTERACTION AND CHANGING VIEWS
• However, in complex sites users may see each other's changes - feed
~ Applets are just one of the techniques that can be added to give client-end
through.
interaction (and about the least well integrated into the rest ofthe page).
~ How often?
~ The most common alternatives are JavaScript, Flash and if you are prepared to
• Finally, what is the pace of change?
limit yourself to Windows platforms, ActiveX plug-ins.
• Months, days, or while you watch?
~ These techniques share the characteristic that they are downloaded to the user's
~ Technology and security:
• The fundamental question here is where 'computation' is happening. own machine (see Figure 13.9) and thereafter all interaction happens on the PC,

• If pages are changing, there must be some form of 'computation' of those not across the network (with caveats - see below).
web server
changes.
user's machine
~ Where does ithappen?

Client: One answer is in the user's web-browsing client enabled by Java applets,
various plug-ins such as Flash, scripting using JavaScript or VBScript with dynamic
~_
. - .. (i) page
loads once
\.:::::::,). (ii) user
interacts
HTML layers, CSS and DOM (Domain Object Model). locally

Server: A second possibility is at the web server using CGI scripts (written in Perl,
C, UNIX shell, Java or whatever you like!), Java Servlets, Active Server Pages or one Fig. 13.9. Java applet or JavaScript running locally

of the other server-specific scripting languages such as PHP.

• In addition, client-side Java applets are only allowed to connect to part of Alan's statistics tutorial
two horse races
networked resources on the same machine as they came from.
• . This means that databases accessed from client side JDBC (Java database Start Finish
connectivity) must run on the web server (see below).

Another machine: Although the pages are delivered from the web server, they may
be constructed elsewhere.
• For hand-produced pages, this will usually be on the page author's desktop
PC.
... 'press cointo toss
r=--~
total I 29 21 ceunt [--r-J

~==~ m.eanI9.7 7
For generated pages, this may be a PC or a central database server. • . . ~ ... ~ <ornpl.~. 11"'" ( restart I s.d, I
0.6 3

People: Of course, as noted earlier, the process of production and update may even
Fig. 13.10. Simulated coin tossing using Javascript. Screen shot frame reprinted by
involve people! permission from Microsoft Corporation
113.261
--
Human Computer Interaction Hypertext, Multimedia and The World Wide Web
._---_._------------
web server
For examples, see Alan's pages on coin tossing experiments (Figure 13.10), ------- user's machine
which use java Script to emulate real and biased coins, and dancing histograms
.... ....
(Figure 13.11), which use a Java applet.
@ o ...
'-../. (i) user fills
field in form
..
(ii) search
...........- - _ . . - / results returned
'*.

index file
pre-computed

interactlve stacked histograms Fig. 13.12. HCI book search

Jane ~reysto~ is ~~tUlg directorat Floppy Banana International the world's leading fresh fruit
supp'lier. She 15 reYIeVlIllg s~s trends overrecent years. Shecansee that overallsaleshavechanged only 13.6.5. AUTOMATIC GENERATION
marginally, but ~here are obvio.usly som: trends.Apple sales hadbeen increasing until1995, but are
now on the decline. But what 15 on the increase? Clementines lookgood-but are theirsalesany higher in » Database-generated websites have many advantages.
1997 t~ they we.re ill 1995? And what aboutbananas, it isnt clear whethertheirsales have been
mcreasmg, decreasing or simply keeping steady? » They make use of existing data sources.

Fruit Sales 1992-1997

» They guarantee consistency of different views of the data within the site and
between the site and the corporate data.
Happily Janeis usingan
int.eractive stacked . . dates » They allow easy generation oftables of contents, indices, and inter-page links.
histogram.
30 clementines » They separate content and layout.
20
10
Dbanan8.S
» The most dynamic way to get database content on the web is by accessing a
Click 011 the coloured -10
banana entryin the key, or .;20 apples database directly from a running·applet.
-30 199219931994199519961997
one af the banana parts of -40 );> The interface can· then have any look and feel that can be programmed in Java
any of the histogram bars -50 1995
~o clementines
20.0 and can allow very rapid interaction with the user.
» The Java applet can establish an internet connection back to the web server to
Fig. 13.11. Dancing histograms using Java applet. Screen shot frame reprinted by
access data files using HTTP (as if they were web pages), it can connect to a
permission/rom Microsoft Corporation
bespoke server (e.g. for chat type applications) or it can use standard database
13.6.4. SEARCH
access methods.
The user's keywords are submitted to the server using an HTML form, they are
The latter would normally use JDBC, the Java database access package.
compared against pre-prepared indexes at the server and all matching paragraphs
Using JDBC the applet can issue co~lex SQL queries back to the database
in the book are returned (Figure] 3.12).
meaning that some of the most complex work happens t~ere(Figure B.13)

J
 . Human Computer Interaction Hypertext, Multimedia and The World Wide Web ~

user's machine ------,

web server ---
}> Alternatively, standalone programs in languages such as Visual Basic, Java or C

( can access a database and output HTML pages.

© .. ~-..
.. }> These programs can run on a central computer, or on your own PC.

L_ .
~

~f~::
}> The snippet of Visual Basic in Figure 13.16 is a trivial but fully functioning
HTML generator!
Set db = openDatabase("C:\test.mdb");
l'illiiiiJlll;IIlI!l!I!II;!IIIIIlIll';IIIII;,;;;J sql = "select Name, Address from
Fig. 13.13. Java applet accesses database using JDBC Personnel;"
).- The more common solution is where the user uses a web forms' interface (or Set query = db.OpenRecordset(sql)
special URL) and then a CGI script runs at the server end accessing the database .Open "out.html'' For Output As #1
(Figure 13.14). Print #1, "<hl>Address List</hl>"
web server
user's machine query.MoveFirst

¥o~
\:::::) I~I. (i) request
to server
,. ..
(ii) CGI script
While Not query.EOF
Print#l, "<p>" & query("Name") & " ";
. . ~ (iii) server returns
generated
l accesses database
using SOI/JDSC query("Address")
pages - query.MoveNext
lriilJiiiimJDJiIlllIIlIlllIlllllllJJlJllllll
Wend
Fig. 13.14. CGl script accesses database
Close #1
13.6.6. BATCH GENERATION .
query.Close
).- A low-tech but very secure solution is to generate pages offline from a database
Fig. 13./6. Visual Basic code to generate a web page
and then upload them to the web server (Figure 13.15).
user's machine web server third machine
13.6.7. DYNAMIC CONTENT
o i -I (I---- - ) .· r.--··--·-- ---
@ <:> - ~") server return 'I "'::;:~-i;~~p:~;:~::--· ~ (;) p~~~~~~:ated
).- The most 'active' web pages are those where the content of the pages reacts to
and is updateable by the web user.
generated \- " - la ftp __. . ).- If pages are generated from database content using either the Java-applet/JDBC
pages
method or the CGI method, the same mechanisms can as easily be used to update
Fig. 13.15. Batch generation of Web Pages as to access the database.
).- Pages can be generated directly using many standard database packages such as ).- This involves multiple layers of software where the outer layers are concerned
Access or HyperCard. more with the user interface and the inner layers more with business
functionality. Figure 13.17 shows this using several web standards.
 Human Computer Interaction Hypertext. Multimedia and The World Wide Web

~ The user interacts through a web browser with a web server.

~ The pages are generated using
1. Define hypertext and list out the applicationsofhypermedia.
~ Java Servlet Pages (JSP). To generate the page the servlets connect to Java
Hypertext allows documents to be linked in a nonlinear fashion. The World Wide
Enterprise Beans (JEB) on an enterprise server.
Web is a global hypermedia system. Applications of hypermedia are as follows:
~ These are components that encapsulate 'business logic'.
• Online help
• Education
OJES

© [( . )) HTML
JSP
XML

00
JDSe
• E-commerce.

» Web
Enterprise
server
2. Define hypermedia.
server Hypertext systems incorporate diagrams, photographs and other media as well as text.
Such systems are often known as multimedia or hypermedia systems.
Fig. 13.17. n-tier architecture 3. How the basicpointer is replaced in Animation?
.Instead of simply having a basic pointer always on the screen, many inter- faces now use
***********
the typical 16 x 16 bitmap that makes up the cursor to indicate more complex
information.

4. List out the uses ofAnimation.

• Animation can be used to great effect to show changes in data sets, where
slow fluctuations can be visualized with the help of rippling three-
dimensional colored surfaces, or abrupt changes shown. by sudden
discontinuities in an otherwise regular motion.
• Animation is also used in a cartoon-like way, where animated objects are
used to perform particular functions for the user.
5. Define Active Image Maps.
• Pages can also have hypertext links embedded into different regions, which
take the user to a different page or graphic ifthey are clicked on.
• These are known as Active Image Maps.
• These features allow web pages to become interactive,· acting as the
21 . interface to the information as well as its holder.
 Human ComputerInteraction
. Hypertext, Multimedia and The World Wide Web ~
6. List out the Application areas in Hypertext.
• Rapid prototyping
----- ----
11. Explain aboutthe designing structure in hypertext.
• In a paper format one is stuck with a single structure, which can lead to
• Help and Documentation
tensions.
• Education and E-Learning
• For example, the fact that in this book structural design is discussed in
• . Collaboration and Community
several places.
• E-Commerce
• If multiple structures are used, you have to consider what to do about the
7. List the items that the HyperCard holds.
common material.
Each card can hold the following items:
12. What are the different levels ofaccess?
• Text • A document structured in this way may provide one level of access that
• Diagrams gives only abrief overview ofthe topic.
• Photographs • The next level ofaccess presents a fuller description of the system.
• Bitmaps and so on. • The final level ofaccess may add historical information.
8. Define E-Class Project. 13. What do you mean by hub and spoke browsing?

It records pen strokes on an electronic whiteboard during a lesson (Figure 13.5) along Browsing of back and forth from a central page that contains lots of links is
with audio and video, and then allows students to review the material later using a web known as hub and spoke browsing.
interface. 14. Define an Index.
9. Write short notes about Collaboration and Community. • An index is not a complete list of all words in a document.

• Although strictly not hypertext, the web has become a central platform for • The words in an index are chosen because they are significant key phrases
collaborative applications and community. or words with a domain meaning, and not every occurrence of a word is

• These use the hypertext structure of the web to structure and access shared indexed, only those deemed in some way important.
resources and message areas. 15. What are the different commercial browsers?
• For example Yahoo! Groups (groups.yahoo.com) allows mailing lists, • Netscape Navigator.

shared images (such as family photo albums), web archives of the mailing • Microsoft.
list and chat, all accessed through a web interface. • Internet Explorer.
10. What are the two elements oflostness? • Opera.
• The first is cognitive and related to content. 16. Define web server and web browser.
• The second is related to navigation and structure. • Web server isa computer system, which provides the web pages via HTTP
(Hypertext Transfer Protocol).
 Human Computer Interaction Hypertext, Multimedia and The World Wide Web

• Web browser is a client, program, software or tool through which we sent 20. What are the most widely used web graphic image formats?
HTIP request to web server. • GIF (graphics interchange format).
17. What are the purpose ofweb browser and list its examples. • JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group).
The main purpose of web browser is to locate the content on the World Wide Web 21. What are the advantages and disadvantages ofIcons?
and display in the shape of web page, image, audio or video form. • One advantage is that certain icons are already associated with specific
Examples of web browser: functionality (for example, a picture of a floppy disk to represent 'save ').
• Microsoft Internet Explorer • Disadvantages are that it restricts the individuality and style icon sets can
• Mozilla Firefox show, and may mean that icons designed for one purpose are misunderstood
• Safari by users because they have seen something similar in another context. .
• Opera
• Google Chrome ***********
18. Define Bandwidth.
• Network capacity is called bandwidth.
• This.is a measure of the amount of information that can pass down the channel in
a given time. 1. Discuss in detail about the Hypertext or Multimedia.
• The available channel bandwidth and achievable signal-to-noise ratio 2. Explain in detail about the different Application areas in Hypertext.
determine the maximum possible throughput. 3. Discuss about Web Technology and its Issues.
19. Define Throughput, Latency and Jitter. 4. Explain in detail about Static Web Content.
Throughput: 5. Explain in detail about Dynamic Web Content.

•
***********
•

• The time, the bandwidth takes for a message to get across the network from
your machine to the web server and back.
• This delay is called latency.
Jitter:

• Variability in the latency is called jitter.