Introduction to HCI

What is human-computer interaction (HCI)? * HCI is the study and the practice of usability. It is
about understanding and creating software and other technology that people will want to use,
will be able to use, and will find effective when used.
HCI tries to provide us with all understanding of the computer and the person using it, so as to
make the interaction between them more effective and more enjoyable
The goals of HCI
Ensuring usability. “A usable software system is one that supports the effective and efficient
completion of tasks in a given work context” (Karat and Dayton 1995).
To achieve usability, the design of the user interface to any interactive product, needs to take
into account and be tailored around a number of factors, including:
• Cognitive, perceptual, and motor capabilities and constraints of people in general
• Special and unique characteristics of the intended user population in particular
• Unique characteristics of the users’ physical and social work environment
• Unique characteristics and requirements of the users’ tasks, which are being supported by the
software
• Unique capabilities and constraints of the chosen software and/or hardware and platform for
the product
Three broad categories of computer user:
Expert users with detailed knowledge of that particular system. Occasional users who know well
how to perform the tasks they need to perform frequently.
Novices who have never used the system before. Users may well be novices at one computer
application but experts at another one, so users will belong to different categories for particular
computer systems.
ISO 9241 is a multi-part standard from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
covering ergonomics of human-computer interaction. It is managed by the ISO Technical
Committee 159. It was originally titled Ergonomic requirements for office work with visual
display terminals (VDTs).
From 2006 on, the standards were retitled to the more generic
Ergonomics of Human System Interaction.

International Electrotechnical Commission – Technical Committee 3 (IEC/TC3) is the information

structures and elements, identification and marking principles, documentation and graphical
symbols.

8 Golden Rules of Interface Design

1. Enable frequent users to use shortcuts
2. Offer informative feedback
3. Design dialogue to yield closure
4. Offer simple error handling
5. Permit easy reversal of actions
6. Strive for consistency
7. Support internal locus of control
8. Reduce short-term memory load
Guidelines for designing interface

Naturalness
The user should not be expected to significantly alter his or her approach to the task in order to
interact with the system., e.g. ordering of user input
Consistency
A consistent dialogue ensure that the expectations built up by the user through using one part of
the system are not destroyed by finding different conventions used in another part
Non-redundancy
This means to require the user to input only the minimum information for the system's
operation. For example, a user should never be forced to supply leading digits
Supportiveness
Refers to the amount of assistance the dialogue provides to the user in running the system. It has
three aspects - quality and quantity of instructions provided.
Flexibility
How well can the dialogue cater for or tolerate different levels of user familiarity and
performance?

Resemblance icons - here the icon looks like the object it is depicting (such as the pair of scissors
to represent the 'cut' operation.
Exemplar icons - provide a typical example of the type of object (e.g. an icon showing an
arrowed line to represent a drawing facility)
Symbolic icons - used to convey something in a symbolic form (for instance, showing a broken
line between two computers to represent a broken network connection)
Arbitrary icons - bear no relation to the underlying concept and so their meaning has to be
learned
Principles of Software Usability
( by Jakob Nielson and Rolf Molic)
• Simple and natural dialog. (Dialogs should not have any irrelevant or infrequently used
information. All information should be arranged in a way that is natural to users. )
• Speak the user’s language. (Dialogs should be expressed in text and concepts familiar to
users.)
• Minimize user memory load. (Users should not have to remember information as they
move from one part of the dialog to another. )
• Consistency. (Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or
actions mean the same thing. )
• Feedback (Users should always be informed about what is happening in the system.)
• Clearly marked exits. (System should have visible exits so that users can leave any
unwanted situation.)
• Shortcuts. (Accelerators that speed up tasks should be available for expert users.)
• Good error messages. (Messages should, in plain language, state the problem and
suggest a solution.)
• Prevent errors. (Systems should, whenever possible, prevent problems from occurring.)
• Help and documentation. (Information should be easy to retrieve and should list
required steps to complete tasks.)
Role of Principles and Guidelines
• Raising awareness of concepts
• Assisting in design choices
• Offering strategies for problem solving
• Supporting evaluation

Problems with Principles

• Principles must be interpreted, refined and extended for the particular environment.
Must be interpreted in context of use.
• Because of this can be applied wrongly.
• Skills are required to use them effectively
Principles and Guidelines in the Iterative Design Process ISO 9241