Human-Computer Interaction

1. Human-Computer Interaction

2. Definition of HCI • Human-computer interaction is a discipline concerned with the design, evaluation and implementation of interactive computing systems for human use and with the study of major phenomena surrounding them.

3. Easy to say, Hard to Realize

4. Intro • What is a user interface? • Why do we care about design? • We see this all the time. • What’s good about the design of this error box? • The user knows there is an error • What’s poor about the design of this error box? • Discouraging • Not enough information • No way to resolve the problem (instructions or contact info)

7. Disciplines involved in HCI • Computer Science (User interface Management Systems - Techniques) • Cognitive psychology (Perception, attention, memory, learning, thinking) • Social and organizational psychology (attitude, behavior, group work) • Ergonomics (safety, performance, adaptation) • Linguistics (terminology, multilingual systems) • Artificial intelligence (automated behavior) • Philosophy (knowledge) • Sociology (group behavior) • Anthropology (ethnomethodology) • Engineering (tools, techniques, equipment) • Design (graphic design, layout, colors)

9. Second annual CTO Forum A CTO's frustration, Infoworld, July 2001 • one theme popped up again and again • For the average person, most technology is still too difficult to use • the situation is not necessarily improving • "Most of us pay far too much attention to the technology used to implement computer solutions, which distracts us from the user." Alan Cooper • "I have to be a systems administrator in my own home!“ Don Norman of Unext

10. Problem or not? • Is usability a real problem? • Or, maybe technology users are dumb What do you think?

11. US elections - Palm Beach County

12. Ballot problems • Al Gore and Joe Lieberman are the second names on the ballot, but the third hole to punch • Alignment of the text in each column • The layout of double pages with punch holes in between was novel & unfamiliar. Ballots in previous elections had used only a single column with punch holes on the right. • Confusing arrows and numbers • Stress induced by the voting process • “It was so hard to tell who and what you were voting for. I couldn't figure it out, and I have a doctorate,” voter Eileen Klasfeld said. • http://danbricklin.com/log/ballotusability.htm • http://www.humanfactors.com/library/election.asp

13. Harmless problems

14. SQ006 Accident – Taipei Design problem = Disaster

15. Taipei Airport Runway Layout

16. SQ006 – Human Factors in Design • Runways which are closed are normally not lit up to make it clear they are not in use. But this was reported to not be the case at Chiang Kai-shek airport, where a single switch controls green lights on the common taxiway to both runways and down the middle of 05R • the airport does not have ground radar and the plane was out of sight at the time of its takeoff

17. Why HCI is Important • The study of our interface with information. • It is not just ‘how big should I make buttons’ or ‘how to layout menu choices’ • It can affect • Effectiveness • Productivity • Morale • Safety • Example: a car with poor HCI • a plane with poor HCI

18. Examples • Q-keyboard • Dvorak keyboard (35% more efficient in English) • F-keyboard for Turkish

20. Interaction process

21. Usability problems • -gulf of evaluation: if user doesnt understand the message • Gulf of execution: if user understands the message but doesnt know what to do • Usability engineer tries to shorten these gaps

22. 4 basic strategies for Interface Design • Visibility: systemstateandalternativesshould be visible • Goodconceptual model: tasksandresultsshould be displayed in a consistedway. Users can predicttheresults of theiractions • Goodmappings: tasksandresultsshould be matched (red is forwarning, green is foraccept) • Feedback: usersshouldgetcompleteandcontinuousfeedback

26. Reference: As we may think, The Atlantic Monthly, July 1945 http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/194507/bush

27. TUBITAK Vizyon 2023 Report • 1. Kullanımı eğitim gerektirmeyen bilgisayarların geliştirilmesi. • Bilgi çağında yaşamanın gereği olan “bilgisayar okur-yazarlığı”, günümüzde en çok sözü edilen yeteneklerden birisi. Genç kuşaklar bilgisayarla barışık bir biçimde yetiştirilecek, böylece birçok alanda bilgisayar kullanımının önü açılacak. Ne var ki nüfusu giderek yaşlanan AB’de, öğrenme yeteneği zayıflamış, yaşlı insanların çokluğu ve bunların BİT olanaklarıyla örülen yaşam tarzları nedeniyle, bilgisayar kullanmaya giderek daha bağımlı duruma gelmeleri, çözümü ters yüz etme düşüncesini getirmiştir: “İnsanlar bilgisayara ayak uyduracağına, bilgisayarlar insanlara ayak uydurmalı; bir başka deyişle, “insan okur-yazarlığı” olan bilgisayarlar yapılmalı”. Hem yaşam düzeyine, hem ulusal katma değere katkısı olacağından, bilgisayarı “akıllı” kılacak olan yazılım ve donanımların ülkemizde tasarlanması, üretilmesi ve ayrıca dışsatımı hedeflenmektedir. (Sayfa 73) • http://vizyon2023.tubitak.gov.tr/Strateji_Belgesi-V211.pdf

30. What is Human Factors? • The short definition: • Designing for human use or • Bridging the gap between design and use • “When an information system is well designed, it almost disappears.” (Shneiderman, 1987)

31. Discovers and applies information about Human behavior, abilities, limitations and other characteristics to the Design of machines, systems, tasks, jobs, and environments for Productive, safe, comfortable, and effective human use What is Human Factors? Approach Focus Context Aims

32. Four Components of HF • The actions or inactions of these individuals are influenced by four components: • The organizations that they work for • The procedures (formal, informal, software) they use to perform their  activities • The structure and equipment involved in these activities • The environments in which the individual conducts activities.

33. What Human Factors is NOT • Not just applying checklists and guidelines (over 30 established graduate programs) • Not just using oneself as the model for designing things (it recognizes individual differences) • Not just common sense (a thought process) • Not applied after the fact (needs to be part of the entire design process)

34. Why is Human Factors difficult? • Human beings are difficult to study • Human Factors is ‘goal’ centered, rather than ‘content’ centered • Rapid development/spread of technology

35. User concerns • Will system deliver information I need? • How quickly and easily can I access data? • How will system operation fit into my daily business schedule?

36. Designer concerns • How much disk space will master file consume? • How many lines of program code will this function take? • How can we reduce cpu time? • What is the most efficient way of storing this data? • What database management system should we use?

37. Benefits of Human Factors(in relation to IT products in the marketplace) • Increased product sales • Increased user satisfaction • Decreased customer support costs • Decreased development costs

38. Benefits of Human Factors(in relation to IT systems in the workplace) • Increased user productivity • Decreased training costs • Decreased maintenance costs

39. Interfaces in the World • VCR • Mouse • Phone • Copier • Car • Airline reservation • Air traffic control • ………

40. So, What is usability?

41. Usability - A definition • Usability is: ‘……the effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction with which specified users can achieve specified goals in particular environments’ (ISO DIS 9241 -part 11)

42. Usability measuresEffectiveness • The extent to which a user’s goal, or task is achieved • Assessed by examining users’ successes/failures with product, e.g. • % of tasks completed • Ratio of successes to failures

43. Usability measuresEfficiency • The amount of effort required (resources expended) to accomplish a goal • Assessed by examining: • Deviations from critical path • Error rates • Time on task • Workload (physical and mental)

44. Usability measuresSatisfaction • The comfort and acceptability of use • Assessed by measuring: • subjective ratings of ‘ease of use’ (absolute and/or relative) • ratings of utility of functionality • likes and dislikes, etc.

45. Nielsen's 10 heuristics • can be applied by expert and non expert evaluators to a given interface in order to help improve usability • Simple and natural dialogue • Speak the user's language • Minimize the user's memory load. • Consistency • Feedback • Clearly marked exits • Shortcuts • Good error messages • Prevent errors • Help and documentation

46. Shneiderman's Heuristics (8 Golden Rules) • can be applied during design or afterwards as a means of checking for usability • Strive for consistency • Enable frequent users to use shortcuts • Offer informative feedback • Design dialogs to yield closure • Offer simple error handling • Permit easy reversal of actions • Support internal locus of control • Reduce short term memory load

47. Example: Telephone http://www.useit.com/papers/telephone_usability.html • Is it easy to use? • you pick up the handset • punch in the number • you are connected • Some Problems (from Nielsen) : • numbers are actually hard to learn and remember • hard to type, and there is no forgiveness if you mistype a digit • Talk to a person or a number • How about call-waiting or call-forwarding?

48. Activity • Take the cellular phone of your friend and try to add an appointment to the calendar to June 1st. • Is your friend as fast as you are? • Ask what is the difficulty in the task?

49. Design Diaries • Purpose: analyzing interaction through real-world examples of technological products • Document an example of technological products, itsusability problemsand recommend design improvements • Look around for bad designed products from your daily life (VCR, Palmtop, Microwave, OS, car, etc) Section 1-The description • Explain its functionality • Add pictures or figures Section 2 - Design problems • Explain the problem(s) • Refer to the heuristics (Nielsen, Shneiderman, Norman) Section 3- Recommended design improvements Check (but don’t use these examples in your assignment!) http://www.baddesigns.com/

50. Next week • Decide on your project topic • Decide on yor term paper topic • Volunteers for design diaries