Introduction to Human Computer

Interaction

Dr Hasan Tahir

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Introduction

• Interacting with technology has become an essential

part of everyday life for the majority of people.

• People are busy and may spend little or no time

actually learning a new system. This is the core
problem.

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Introduction..(cont.)

• Therefore, computer systems/ interfaces should be easy

to use, easy to learn, intuitive and with no errors.

• To design and develop such a system is a major concern

of HCI

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What is HCI?
Human-computer interaction (HCI): “is a
discipline concerned with the design, evaluation
and implementation of interactive systems for
human use and with study of major phenomena
surrounding them.”
(ACM SIGCHI, 1992, p. 6)
What is HCI?
• HCI (human-computer interaction) is the
study of interaction between people (users)
and computers.

• Interaction between users and computers

occurs at the user interface

• The golden principle in HCI is that “people

should come first”.

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What ..(cont.)
HCI consists of three parts:
• Human: could be an individual user or a group
of users.
• Computer: could be any technology ranging
from the general desktop computer to a
smartphone or a watch, etc.
• Interaction: any direct or indirect
communication between a human and
computer.
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HCI is Not about
• Making the interface look pretty

• Not only about desktop computers

• Something that would be nice to do but

usually there’s no time for it

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HCI is about
• Understanding the users
• Understanding users knowledge
• Understanding users tasks
• Understanding user limitations
• Understanding the surrounding environment
• GUI requirements gathering and analysis
• Design prototype
• Evaluate the system

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Disciplines Contributing to Human-
Computer Interaction

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The goals of HCI
• The goals of HCI are to produce usable and safe
systems, as well as functional systems. To do this,
developers must attempt to:
– Understand how people use technology
– Build suitable systems
– Achieve efficient, effective, and safe interaction
– Put people first
People needs, capabilities and preferences should come first. People
should not have to change the way that they use a system. Instead,
the system should be designed to match their requirements

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What is Usability?
• A usable system is:
– easy to use
– requires little effort
– easy to learn
– easy to remember how to use
– effective to use
– efficient to use
– safe to use
– enjoyable to use
– What about evolutionary design?

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Why is usability important?
A Good user-interface can:
1. Earn a company billions.
2. Increase users loyalty.
3. Increase users trust.
4. Retain users
5. Makes users happy : )
Question
Identify a poorly designed UI.
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Why ..(cont.)
A Bad user-interface can:
1. be annoying, embarrassing, frustrating, and
even deadly.
2. Increase mistakes in data entry and system
operation.
3. Makes functions become completely
inaccessible.
4. System failure because of user rejection.

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Why HCI is Important in the Context
of WWW?
• Competition is very close (just another link…)
• Comparison is easily possible (eg Online shopping)
o Users who can’t find the product in the shop can not buy it
o Users who are not able to fill in correctly the order form
are not going to buy

How long do you think users stay on a single website?

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Users often leave Web pages in 10–20 seconds,
but pages with a clear value proposition can
hold people's attention for much longer. To gain
several minutes of user attention, you must
clearly communicate your value proposition
within 10 seconds.

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It is not Simple to Make Good
User Interfaces

Basic misconceptions:
• If I (the developer) can use it, everyone can use it

• If our non-technical staff can use it, everyone can

• Good user interfaces are applied common sense

• A system is usable if all style guidelines are met

• If it looks good then it is highly usable

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A real life example

A real example: a pilot shuts down the wrong engine and

the plane crashes (as happened near Leicestershire, in
England on the M1 motorway in 1989), this is obviously
more serious. 47 died

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A real ..(cont.)

Example about: direct correlation between HCI and sales

• NYNEX: a telecommunication company in Italy
– Goal: to increase the performance of helpdesk
office
– Decided to improve the usability of the helpdesk
operator interface
– Reduced the process time 1 second per call
Result: $ 3,000,000 benefit / year

www.metu.edu.tr/~acengiz/biltek_sunu
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Examples of good and bad design

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Examples – common confusion
Hotter or colder

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Examples – Radio buttons or check
boxes

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Examples ..(cont.)

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Examples – conflicting methods

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The importance of HCI

1. Can prevent accidents

2. Health and safety concerns
3. Can reduce the cost of customer training and
support
4. Direct correlation between HCI and sales
5. HCI can provide you a job.

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Designer vs. Users

Designer meant by ‘C’ = Clear People thought that ‘C’ = Copy

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Examples – Overcrowded interface

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Examples – Poor input method

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Examples – Poor indicators/ colour
coding

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Examples – System dialogue

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Examples ..(cont.)

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What is Usability
Defined in ISO 9241
• It is a measure of the effectiveness, efficiency
and satisfaction with which specified users can
achieve specified goals in a particular
environment.

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Impact of Poor Usability
Poor usability results in
• Anger
• Frustration
• Decreased productivity in the workplace
• Higher error rates
• Physical and emotional injury
• Equipment damage
• Loss of customer loyalty
• Costs money
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