Session 8 Human-Computer Interaction 1

Person A: What's up?Person B: Not much.Person A: LOL. HEFY?Person B: ROTFL.Person C: PMFJ, but IMHO,OJIOGBUOLSWMRTJVAIFWNTMITSIHDHGCOAC.

http://www.coolquotescollection.com/index.php

Web Searchers get what Advertisers pay for

• International Herald tribune, 4th March 2002• Most search engines now present paid listings at

top of search results, often in ways resembling regular listings

• Eg. Search “George Bush” on MSN, Yahoo, AOL, Lycos: top matches likely to be links to eBay, Amazon, and other commercial agents

• Many search engines no longer operate own search engines, but employ other firms to deliver unpaid search results and sponsored links, often mixed together. User Internet Advertising Network “Overture Services” which has 35,000 advertisers

Teen “Sharpei” author combats sexismhttp://zdnet.com.com/2100-1105-851522.html

• 17 year old female hacker claims she wrote virus targeting Microsoft’s .NET Web services platform to prove women are capable of creating computer viruses and make a statement against sexism.

• Wrote the worm to make a point, and dispel perception that there aren’t female virus writers.

• Virus, called “Sharpei” worm, is first virus written in C-sharp, a programming language which runs on .NET platform

• Written to spread via Outlook email, with subject line: “Important: Windows update”

GPS (Global Positioning System) • The Tomahawk cruise missiles that strike Afghanistan and

Irak, costing about $750,000 each, are guided not only by terrain-radar but also by Global Positioning Satellites.

• GPS = system of 24 satellites for identifying earth locations, launched by the U.S. Department of Defense. The GPS system provides accurate navigational information for sailors, hill walkers, and even drivers.

• Technicians who program a missile's flight path plug in the coordinates of the target -- and the missile can be programmed to take any number of paths.

• They are only as accurate as the information about the intended target's precise location.

UPDATES

GPS (Global Positioning System)

• By 2000, in-the-dash GPS-based navigation systems were standard equipment or at least an option in most luxury cars, and third-party systems are available for all cars. They include a CD-ROM reader or hard disk that reads the digital maps, which can guide you to your destination city or street address and even take you to the nearest gas station, hotel, restaurant and many other points of interest.

U

P

D

A

T

E

S

GPS in the Car

Although common today on most luxury cars, Sony's NVX-F160 was

one of the first navigation systems for the road. It can direct you to the nearest restaurant, hotel or other points of interest.

National Geographic Information Systems (NGIS)

• Shortly Perth (Australia) company (NGIS) will be putting a searchable database of all Australia's public toilets on the Web. Heading across town? Across the country? Just type in a postal code, street name or landmark and, voilá -- back will come a list of relief-providing amenities.

National Geographic Information Systems (NGIS)

• The company sent out questionnaires to each of Australia's more than 700 local councils asking them to mark on maps where their public toilets were, as well as other information such as opening times and wheelchair accessibility. Surprisingly, more than 99 percent of the local councils responded.

National Geographic Information Systems (NGIS)

• One valuable sidelight to the survey is that it will enable researchers to do "gap analysis," a fancy way of saying they'll be able to locate where public toilets are few and far between.

• Of “location-based services" that might be made available through mobile telephones, this one seems an “on the spot”application. That's because mobile telephones are constantly in touch with multiple transmission towers, trading off between them to ensure maximum call quality.

GPS Considerations

• What privacy issues are raised here?• When is intrusion justifiable? • Is the concept of public service the more critical

issue here? (“That is, when you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go.”)

• Do we sacrifice privacy for comfort?• How do you feel about the implications of GPS?• Is the potential help such systems offer of major

importance?• Is this technology going too far?

Session Objectives

• To define the research and development field of Human-Computer Interaction

• To identify the key components of HCI• To examine fundamental principles of

design as it applies to HCI• To consider some design issues in

relation to quality

What is 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.

(Curricula for HCI)

“Our mission is to empower people by building better interfaces with advanced machines that will link minds globally and unlock the power of human intelligence into the 21st century”.

http://www.hitl.washington.edu/mission.html

Concerns of HCI

• Joint performance of tasks by humans and machines;

• Structure of communication between human and machine;

• Human capabilities to use machines (including the learnability of interfaces);

• Algorithms and programming of interface; • Engineering concerns that arise in designing

and building interfaces; • Process of specification, design,

implementation and evaluation of interfaces;• Design trade-offs.

Contributing Disciplines

• Machine side:Techniques in computer graphics, operating systems, programming languages, and development environments.

• Human side:Communication theory, graphic and industrial design disciplines, linguistics, social sciences, cognitive psychology, information seeking behavior, and human performance, plus usability studies

Dimensions of HCI

• Information Architecture / Design• Information Seeking Behavior• Nature of human-computer

interaction• Use and context of computers• Human characteristics • Development process.

Human-Computer Interaction

"Interaction Design as a discipline will succeed if it can drag interactivity away from technological fascination and wizardry into the realm of human experience and action. What is being designed is no longer a medium or a tool in the traditional sense, but something far more intangible when it is embedded in a continuously changing environment where everything is connected to everything."

L. Barfield, Interaction Design at the Utrecht School of Arts

Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)

“Many things difficult to design

prove easy to performance”

Information Architecture

The art of designing and organizing your site's information

Useful Resource

http://www.design.ncsu.edu/cud/univ_design/princ_overview.htm

Information

architecture

What distinguishes a well-designed web

site?

Issues

• Cognition, and cognitive dissonance, stress and coping, emotional / affective impacts

• Information Overload• Navigational complexities• Need to know vs Want to know• Who is the intended audience?• Relevance, preferences, importance and

appropriateness: subjective judgments: How do we identify and manipulate relevant, useful knowledge as well as useless knowledge? (KP)

7 UNIVERSAL PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN

Principles of Design

1. EQUITABLE USE: The design is useful and marketable to people with diverse abilities. HGUIDELINES

• Provide the same means of use for all users: identical whenever possible; equivalent when not.

• Avoid segregating or stigmatizing any users. • Provisions for privacy, security, and safety should

be equally available to all users. • Make the design appealing to all users.

Principles of Design

2. FLEXIBILITY IN USE: The design accommodates a wide range of individual preferences and abilities.

GUIDELINES • Provide choice in methods of use. • Accommodate right- or left-handed access and use. • Facilitate the user's accuracy and precision. • Provide adaptability to the user's pace.

Principles of Design

3. SIMPLE AND INTUITIVE: Use of the design is easy to understand, regardless of the user's experience, knowledge, language skills, or current concentration level. GUIDELINES

• Eliminate unnecessary complexity. • Be consistent with user expectations & intuition. • Accommodate a wide range of literacy and language

skills. • Arrange information consistent with its importance. • Provide effective prompting and feedback during and

after task completion.

Principles of Design

4. PERCEPTIBLE INFORMATION: The design communicates necessary information effectively to the user, regardless of ambient conditions or the user's sensory abilities. GUIDELINES

• Use different modes (pictorial, verbal, tactile) for presentation of essential information.

• Provide adequate contrast between essential information and its surroundings.

• Maximize "legibility" of essential information. Make it easy to give instructions or directions.

• Provide compatibility with a variety of techniques or devices used by people with sensory limitations.

Principles of Design

5. TOLERANCE FOR ERROR: The design minimizes hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions. GUIDELINES

• Arrange elements to minimize hazards and errors: most used elements, most accessible; hazardous elements eliminated, isolated, or shielded.

• Provide warnings of hazards and errors. • Provide fail safe features. • Discourage unconscious action in tasks that require

vigilance.

Principles of Design

6. LOW PHYSICAL EFFORT: The design can be used efficiently and comfortably and with a minimum of fatigue.

GUIDELINES • Allow user to maintain a neutral body position. • Use reasonable operating forces. • Minimize repetitive actions. • Minimize sustained physical effort

Principles of Design

7. SIZE AND SPACE FOR APPPROACH AND USE: Appropriate size and space is provided for approach, reach, manipulation, and use regardless of user's body size, posture, or mobility. GUIDELINES

• Provide a clear line of sight to important elements for any seated or standing user.

• Make reach to all components comfortable for any seated or standing user.

• Accommodate variations in hand and grip size. • Provide adequate space for the use of assistive devices or

personal assistance.

7 Deadly Sins of Information Design

• Sin 1: Forgetting who your users are • Sin 2: Not creating a flowchart• Sin 3: Not organizing your content• Sin 4: Not using consistent

navigation• Sin 5: Using unclear link colors• Sin 6: Using the TITLE tag incorrectly• Sin 7: Not looking ahead

• http://home.netscape.com/computing/webbuilding/studio/feature19980729-1.html

User-Centered Design

• http://home.netscape.com/computing/webbuilding/studio/feature19980729-2.html

• http://home.netscape.com/computing/webbuilding/studio/feature19980729-3.html

• http://home.netscape.com/computing/webbuilding/studio/designing.html

FRACTAL: repeating geometric pattern:  an irregular or fragmented geometric shape that can be repeatedly subdivided into parts, each of which is a smaller copy of the whole. Fractals are used in computer modeling of natural structures that do not have simple geometric shapes, for example, clouds, mountainous landscapes, and coastlines. Coined by the mathematician Benoît Mandelbrot.

FRACTALShttp://www.fractalus.com/galleries/index-thumbs.htmhttp://157.22.205.200/

The challenge “Are we

designers

of technology,

or using

technology

to redesign

the nature of

nature?”

News: Top stories

• Quiz grades to be announced on Tuesday• Office hours available but rarely used• Email etiquette to be enforced

And……

• :+)