[edit] Introduction
[edit] Human-Computer Interaction
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.
[edit] The Evolution of HCI
[edit] Early Human Factors/Ergonomics (1900s ->)
[edit] Human-Computer Interaction (1980->)
- HCI: 80’s Dominant Model
- “Know the User†= Applied Cognitive Psychology
- Information Processing Model of Human
- User modeling, experimental manipulations, corpus of knowledge re. human sensory, perceptual, cognitive capacities…..
- Psychologist as user surrogate
- Belief in translation of theory into design practice
- Problems with HCI in the 90's
- Problems of Applied Cognitive Psychology approach
- Improvements in User Interfaces not due to HCI theories,applications….
- Little impact of controlled experiments
- Little impact of AI (user modeling) paradigm
- Design Practitioners disillusioned
- Academics questioning possible role.. (E.g. Landauer, Let’s Get Real (1991))
- Search for new conceptual frameworks, new methods …..
[edit] Participatory Design
- Influences on HCI in 1990’s
- “Scandinavian†IS approach.. 1970’s
- Explicit concern with democratization (-)
- Users tacit knowledge
- experience of future use situation
- importance of labour process (-)
- augmentation, not substitution model
- need for mock-ups, prototypes
- mutual learning required
- methods for understanding work (Future Workshops, Wallboarding, etc..)
- Cooperative Design (1990’s)
[edit] Computer Supported Cooperative Work ( mid 1980s->)
- emerged mid-1980s, emphasizing “socialâ€
- From Psychology to Sociology, Anthropology
- Understanding Cooperative Work - Articulation Work
- Ethnography - Role of Workplace Studies ***
- Emphasize support, not prescription
- Mechanisms of Coordination in work
- Related Topics
- Organizational “Memoryâ€
- Knowledge Management - focus on people networks
- CSCW = ((((C(S(C(W) = Work,cooperative, support, computerized
- “multiple individuals working together in a conscious way in the same production process or in different but connected production processes.†Karl Marx (1867)
- interdependence in work
- need for articulating their work with others
- cooperative work NOT= ‘Group Work’
- From Human Factors to Human Actors (Bannon,1991)
- Individuals --> Groups/ Ensembles
- Laboratory --> Workplace
- Novices --> Experts (Professionalization)
- Analysis --> Design
- User-centered --> User-involved
- Requirements --> Iterative Prototyping
- Product focus --> Process focus
- Additive model --> Combinative model
- [Usability --> Desirability?]
[edit] Interaction Design (mid 1990s->)
- “Interaction design is a new discipline: a fusion of aesthetics and culture, technology and the human sciences. It concerns the design both of the services these technologies might offer, and the quality of our experience of interacting with them.†Interaction Design Institute, Ivrea
- “software is not just a device with which the user interacts; it is also the generator of a space in which the user lives. Interaction design is related to software engineering in the same way architecture is related to civil engineering.†Terry Winograd
- The Design of Interaction
- From computation to communication
“there will always be a need for machinery and a need for software that runs the machinery, but as the industry matures, these dimensions will take on the character of commodities, while the industry-creating innovations will be in
what the hardware and software allow us to communicate.â€
- From machinery to habitat
From interface to interspace -“a space is not just a set of objects and activities but a medium in which a person experiences, acts and lives.†(Terry Winograd “The Design of Interaction†in P.J. Denning & R.M.Metcalfe (1997) Beyond
Calculation: The Next 50 years of Computing)
[edit] Current Trends
[edit] Human-centred Technology Design
- Understanding the everyday world of human activity
- Computers viewed as communication devices, not simply as calculators
- Artefacts as mediators in human activity
- Ubiquitous computing, sensors, as infrastructures
- Paying attention to location, and meaning of place
- Need for exploring novel interaction paradigms
- (e.g. haptic interfaces, multimodality, performance)
- Need to explore meaning of technology for people
[edit] Ubiquitous Computing, Ambient Intelligence
- Ubiquitous or Pervasive Technology (Weiser, early 90’s)
- Computers move “out of the box†into the human/social world…the ‘disappearing†computer…..
- New Topics for research
- Embedded systems Human “liberated†from PC
- Sensor Networks Wireless removes wires!
- “Wearables†Form & Settings are key
- Location systems more open Design Space
- Augmented Reality Usability needs
- Physical/Digital interfaces…
- Implications of UbiComp for HCI?
- Notion of “Interface: - between Human/Machine problematic
- Human Information Processing approach in HCI needs to be expanded…
- Human is not simply a “brain†- has a body!
- We also have feelings, experiences -fundamental to our thinking
- Social and Cultural world - make us human!
- Move away from fitting people to computers (e.g. computer literacy) to fitting computers into human and social life
- Need new concepts, methods to fully explore Weiser’s vision of UbiComp
[edit] Other Current Trends
- Bringing Design disciplines into HCI
- Moving from Use to Presence/ Experience
- New methods, ways of looking at technology
[edit] User Interface
- The user interface (or Human Machine Interface) is the aggregate of means by which people (the users) interact with a particular machine, device, computer program or other complex tool (the system). The user interface provides means of:
* Input, allowing the users to manipulate a system
* Output, allowing the system to produce the effects of the users' manipulation.
- UI Development
- UI Design
- Graphic Design
- Web Design
- UI Evaluation
[edit] Usability
- Usability is a term used to denote the ease with which people can employ a particular tool or other human-made object in order to achieve a particular goal. Usability can also refer to the methods of measuring usability and the study of the principles behind an object's perceived efficiency or elegance.
- In human-computer interaction and computer science, usability usually refers to the elegance and clarity with which the interaction with a computer program or a web site is designed. The term is also used often in the context of products like consumer electronics, or in the areas of communication, and knowledge transfer objects (such as a cookbook, a document or online help). It can also refer to the efficient design of mechanical objects such as a door handle or a hammer.(Wikipedia)
Evolution of Usability
From a senior UI research manager in a large multinational ICT company
- "Please evaluate our user interface, and make it easy to use.â€
- "Please help us designing this user interface so that it is easy to use.â€
- "Please help us find what the users really need so that we know how to design this user interface.â€
- "Look at this area of life, and find us something interesting."
Usability Evaluation:
- A typical task was: "Please evaluate our user interface, and make it easy to use."
- The user participates as a test subject.
Interaction Design
- A typical task was: "Please help us designing this user interface so that it is easy to use.â€
- The user participates as a test subject in the iterations.
User Research
- A typical task was: "Please help us find what the users really need so that we know how to design this user interface.â€
- The user is observed and interviewed, providing rich qualitative data about usage patterns, needs and desires
Strategic Design
- A typical task is: "Look at this area of life, and find us something interesting."
- End-users involved richly in all phases of the process.
[edit] Accessibility
- Accessibility is a general term used to describe the degree to which a system is usable by as many people as possible. In other words, it is the degree of ease with which it is possible to reach a certain location from other locations. It is not to be confused with usability which is used to describe how easily an entity (e.g., device, service, environment) can be used by any type of user. Accessibility can also be viewed as the "ability to access" the functionality, and possible benefit, of some system or entity; such a definition brings in access-based individual rights laws and regulations that are discussed below. One meaning of accessibility specifically focuses on people with disabilities and their right of access to entities, often through use of assistive devices such as screen-reading web browsers or wheelchairs.
[edit] Shifting Perspectives
- Human factors
- Interface designer
- Usability engineer
- Interface Evaluator
- “Evangelist†(ACM CACM, CHI)
- Engagement design
- User experience architect
- Inspiration officer
- Experience Design
- Visibility expert
- Multimedia wizard
- Information design
- Branding director (Doors of Perception,SIGGRAPH, Wired,...)
Implications of UbiComp for HCI?
- From H-C-I to H-C-H-I
- View computer as medium through which we act on world, communicate with others
- From interface to interspace?
- Need to understand interactivity in deeper way
- Need new foundations for our discipline
- Emerging field of Interaction Design provides some promise..
- Brings in Design disciplines and practices into HCI
- Opens up the field to issue of Experience
- Still need to explore technological possibilities, build and test software and hardware widgets, platforms…
- Companies beginning to re-think their corporate strategy to include human-centred design into their planning..e.g. Intel
[edit] Resources
[edit] Questions
- Describe the shift of focus in HCI from Applied Cognitive Psychology to Human-centred Technology Design.
- What are the main influences on CSCW, and what is its main focus as research domain?
- What do usability and accessibility mean when we speak of a web page?