Human Computer Interaction

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Dr Mark Wright - Informatics HCI Course 2012/13

Human Computer Interaction

Dr Mark Wright

University of Edinburgh and

Edinburgh College of Art Semester 1

2012/2013

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Dr Mark Wright - Informatics HCI Course 2012/13

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Key points:

– Definition

– The Three Paradigms of HCI – The Technological Background

– What knowledge does HCI have to make good interactions?

– When is this knowledge relevant and how do you apply it?

Principles and Overview Lecture 1

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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."

Association for Computing Machinery

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Human Factors

Engineering Epoc Classical Cognitive

Information Epoc Embodied/Situated Interaction Epoc The Three Paradigms of HCI

Harrison, Tatar and Sengers CHI 2007

The 3 Paradigms of HCI

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1st HCI Paradigm Human Factors Engineering Epoc

2nd HCI Paradigm Classical Cognitivism

Information Epoc

3rd HCI Paradigm Embodied Cognition

Interaction Epoc Metaphor of

Interaction Interaction as Man-

Machine Coupling Interaction as

Information Transfer Interaction as

Phenomenologically Situated

Central Goal for Interaction

Optimise fit between man and

machine

Optimise accuracy and Efficiency of Information

Transfer

Support of Situation Action in the World

Typical Questions

of Interest How can we fix specific problems

that arise in Interaction?

What mismatches arise in communication between humans and

computers?

How can we accurately model what people do?

How can improve the efficiency of HCI?

What existing situated activities should we support? How do users appropriate technology?

How can we support interaction with constraining it by what a computer can do/understand?

What is the wider context roles, politics and values?

How can we fix specific problems

that arise in Interaction?

What mismatches arise in communication between humans and

computers?

How can we accurately model what people do?

How can improve the efficiency of HCI?

What existing situated activities should we support? How do users appropriate technology?

How can we support interaction with constraining it by what a computer can do/understand?

What is the wider context roles, politics and values?

Awareness of the paradigms help us make sense of this huge field

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Interaction Epoc Appropriate

Disciplines for Interaction

Engineering, Programming,

Ergonomics

Laboratory and Theoretical Behavioural

Science

Ethnography, Action Research Ethnomethodology, Interaction Design, User Centred Design

Desirable

Methodologies Cool Hacks

Verifiable Quantitative design and evaluation methods that can be applied regardless of

context

A palette of situated design and evaluation strategies

Legitimate kinds

of Knowledge Pragmatic Objective Details

Objective facts and models with general

applicability

Thick Description of Context and Stakeholder Concerns.

How do you know something is

True?

You Tried it out and it worked

You confirm of refute your hypothesis based on a statistical analysis

of the evidence

You argue about the

relationship between your data and what you seek to

understand

Today Paradigms 2&3 Largely Predominate

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Interaction Epoc

Values

Reduce errors and make it work.

Ad Hoc is OK.

Cool Hacks that exploit a specific instance are desired

Optimisation.

Strive for Objective, Abstract, Quantitative,

Generalizable Knowledge wherever

possible.

Principled evaluation is a priori better than ad hoc, since design can be structured to suite

this paradigm.

Structured Design better than un- structured. Reduce Ambiguity. Top Down

View of Knowledge.

Construction of meaning is intrinsic to and unfolds from

interaction. What goes on around systems is more

interesting than what’s happening at the interface.

“Zensign” - what you don’t build is as important and what you do

build. Goal is to grapple with the full complexity around the system.Knowledge can not just

be a powerful abstraction but can be embedded in the world as hidden context and tacit skill

which is revealed through engagement

Viewpoints: Paradigm2 Analytic/Scientific Paradigm3:Phenomenological/Design

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Classical Cognitive

Information Epoc Embodied/Situated Interaction Epoc

The key question is not which of the paradigms is “correct” but what different perspectives, strengths, weaknesses, insights and tools they offer and when

they are appropriate to apply

Which HCI Paradigm is the correct one?

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Technological Context

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• HCI arose and evolved as Computer Technology arose and evolved.

• There are a number of recognisable eras and approaches associated with technologies which are useful to keep in mind

• One perspective is

PreDesktop,Desktop and Post-Desktop

• Before HCI

• Physical Switches

• Teletype Terminals

• Early language development from machine code can be seen as an attempt to make

programming easier.

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The First WIMP Interface: Small Talk Xerox Parc

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First Computer Mouse

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Wimp Interface - A relatively stable design - till recently?

• WIMP - Windows, Icons, Menus and Pointer

• The WIMP interface has remained relatively

unchanged during a great deal of rapid development in technology, platforms and interaction metaphors.

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Pre Internet - Stand Alone PC

• PC with little or no local network.

• No Internet

• Single Users on single machines using stand alone applications

• Spreadsheets were a huge early success of HCI

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Web 1.0 - Static Web

• Static Web Pages

• Server Creates

• Browser Only Reads

• Slow Internet

• Few Content Creators

• No E-Commerce

• The age of web usability layout, colour

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Web 2.0 - Dynamic Web

• Dynamic Web

• Client Side - Javascript

• Server Side Databases - PHP/

mysql

• Mashups - api’s, Browser rather than OS based

ecosystems

• Users as Content Creators

• Rich Internet Applictions (RIA) with the interactive experience of stand alone applications

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Typical Google Maps Mashup App for London Flats/Prices

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Mobile and Social Media

• Smart Phones

• Apps vs HTML5

• Location Based Services (LBS)

• Communication and Content Creation

• A post PC era of phones and tablets?

• Constantly changing interactions, social context and place.

• Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Google Maps

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Social Computing

• CSCW

Computer Supported Collaborative Working

• Beyond immediate

interaction to a web of surrounding relations

• Ethnography,

Ethnomethodology

• Actual Practices

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Virtual and Augmented Reality

• Virtual Worlds - Simulation, immersion

• Second Life, Massive Multi-player Online Role Playing Games MMORPG

• Virtual Reality - A separate virtual place

• HeadMounted Displays, Caves

• Augmented Reality - The Real World Plus

• Tablets, Phones, Google Glasses

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Ubiquitous Computing UbiComp

• Computers omni-present but “invisible”

• Computers escape from the desktop and disappear

• Wireless, Wearable, Small, Embedded

• RFID tags, Micro-controllers, Speckled computing, Machine to Machine

• Internet of Things IOT

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Tangible Computing

• Physical Interface

• Use of Embodied skills

• Rich tactile and

proprioceptive feedback

• Physical affordances and constraints of the physical world

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Tangible Bits: Towards Seamless Interfaces Between People, Bits and Atoms

Ishii and Ullmer, CHI 97

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What can we take from HCI to make better interactions?

• Science (Classical Cognitive Science) – Theory and Models

– Formal Methods

– Experimental Method – Statistical Inference

– Justification for laws and guidelines – BUT as the Interface can change

some knowledge is only speculative

• Embodiment and Situated Cognition suggest Ethnomethodology and Design are viable and useful methodologies too

• Social Context and Embedded

knowledge are crucial but often hidden

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Interaction Design Cycle

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Design Rules for HCI

n principles

– abstract design rules

– “an interface should be easy to navigate”

n guidelines

– advice on how to achieve principle

– may conflict; understanding theory helps resolve – “use colour to highlight links”

n standards

– specific rules, measurable

– “MondoDesktop links are RGB #1010D0”

n Many sets of rules have been proposed to encapsulate

understanding and best practice – Operate at various levels

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Design Rules for HCI - standard

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Shneiderman’s 8 Golden Rules (1987):

1. Strive for consistency

2. Enable frequent users to use shortcuts 3. Offer informative feedback

4. Design dialogs to yield closure

5. Offer error prevention and simple error handling 6. Permit easy reversal of actions

7. Support internal locus of control 8. Reduce short-term memory load

Design Rules

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Norman’s 7 Principles (1988):

1. Use both knowledge in the world and knowledge in the head.

2. Simplify the structure of tasks.

3. Make things visible.

4. Get the mappings right.

5. Exploit the power of constraints, both natural and artificial.

6. Design for error.

7. When all else fails, standardize.

Design Rules

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Nielsen’s 10 Usability Heuristics (1994):

1. Visibility of system status

2. Match between system and the real world

3. User control and freedom

4. Consistency and standards

5. Help users recognize, diagnose and recover from errors

6. Error prevention

7. Recognition rather than recall

8. Flexibility and efficiency of use

9. Aesthetic and minimalist design

10. Help and documentation

http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/

heuristic_list.html

Design Rules

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Consolidate the three lists here. Mark any you don’t understand with *

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Dix groups these and related principles as follows:

n Learnability

– the ease with which new users can begin effective interaction and achieve maximal performance (e.g. familiarity,

generalisability, predictability)

n Flexibility

– the multiplicity of ways the user and system exchange

information (e.g. customisability, substitutability, user control)

n Robustness

– the level of support provided to the user in determining successful achievement and assessment of goal-directed behaviour (e.g. observability, recoverability)

Design Rules

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n Many seem like common sense - but often violated

– Home exercise: pick one everyday object and one piece of software and assess with respect to these rules

n Some are grounded in our understanding of how humans perceive, think and learn

n Some are the result of empirical study (e.g. Nielsen’s heuristics are based on factor analysis of 249 usability problems)

n Some are derived from particular characterisations of the nature of human action (e.g. Norman’s principles are closely related to his theory of action)

n Some are collections of experience (e.g. Shneiderman’s rules)

n Some can be directly related to computational complexity

n In this course we will study the background and justification of these rules and elaborate on how they can be applied in specific contexts to design and assess human computer interaction.

Design Rules

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Mac OS X Human Interface Guidelines: Grouping Items in Menus

Arranging menu items in logical groups makes it easy for users to quickly locate

commands for related tasks. The guidelines in this section can help you list menu items in ways that make sense to users.

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Guidelines for various platforms

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When is this knowledge relevant and how do you apply it?

• HCI is a Research Discipline and a Design Practice

• HCI Research Goal is to gain insight whereas the practice is to make good interfaces.

• Quantitative and Qualitative approaches are useful for both.

• Need to judge if an issue is objective or subjective. Science it good at telling if a phenomenon is real or provide useful insight as to why an approach works.

• User Centred Design, Interaction Design, Scenarios, Prototyping are typical

approaches of actual practice to uncover the complex issues which contribute to the creation of successful digital

interactions in the real world ³¹

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The aim of this course it to give you the grounding necessary to understand the Principles and Practice of HCI and how to use that knowledge to create better interactions between

people and digital systems.

HCI Course Objective

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Key Texts

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