INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN

COMPUTER INTERACTION
HCI-102
AGENDA

INTRODUCTION

PRINCIPLES OF HCI
 WHAT IS HCI IS AND WHY IT IS IMPORTANT?

•Cross-disciplinary area that deals with the theory,

design, implementation and evaluation of the ways
the humans use and interact with computing devices.
•Interaction is a concept to be distinguished from
another similar term, interface.
 WHAT IS HCI IS AND WHY IT IS IMPORTANT?

• Interaction refers to an abstract model by which

humans interact with the computing device for a
given task, and an interface is a choice of technical
realization (hardware or software).
 WHAT IS HCI IS AND WHY IT IS IMPORTANT?
• The term high usability means that the resulting
interfaces are easy to use, efficient for the task,
ensure safety and lead to a correct completion of the
task.
• The simple aesthetics appeal of interfaces (while
satisfying the usability) is now a critical added
requirements for commercial success as well – Business
case: Apple products
 WHAT IS HCI IS AND WHY IT IS IMPORTANT?
• User experience (UX) – notion that not only
encompasses the functional completeness, high
usability and aesthetic appeal of the interactive
artifact, but also its seamless integration into one’s
lifestyle or even creating a new one around it.
• Goal of HCI:
• Functional completeness
• High usability
• Aesthetic Appeal
• Compelling user experience
PRINCIPLES
OF HCI
 PRINCIPLES OF HCI
KNOW THY USERS
• To devise interaction and interfaces around target users.
• Coined by Hansen in 1971, which simply states that the
interaction and interface should cater the needs and
capabilities of the target user of the system in design.
• Comprehensive information about the representative target user
should be collected and analyzed (ex: age, gender, education
level, social status, computing experience, cultural background).
 PRINCIPLES OF HCI
KNOW THY USERS
• A related notion to the user-centered design is the concept
of universal usability, which roughly promotes “human
interfaces” that cater to a wide (rather than specific)
range of users.
• However, as wonderful as it sounds, it is generally very
difficult to achieve this with a single interface.
 PRINCIPLES OF HCI
UNDERSTAND THE TASK
• Task refers to the job to be accomplished by the user
through the use of the interactive system.
• It boils down on identifying the sequence and structure of
subtasks at an abstraction level appropriate for the typical
user within the larger application context.
 PRINCIPLES OF HCI
UNDERSTAND THE TASK
• From the novice perspective, its as easy as invoking the settings and
enter the password.
• As for the expert’s perspective, they may opt to have few selection
screens catered for more technical configurations (i.e. changing from
LTE to 5G).
• However, the goal of both tasks is to connect to the WIFI / mobile
data.
 PRINCIPLES OF HCI • 1. What are the key
user needs that
UNDERSTAND THE TASK – case study Foodpanda must
address for a seamless
experience?
• 2. How does
Foodpanda determine
what customers want to
order and how quickly
they expect delivery?
• 3. How might the needs
of a customer ordering
during peak hours
differ from those
ordering at off-peak
times?
 PRINCIPLES OF HCI
REDUCE MEMORY LOAD
• Designing interaction with as little memory load as possible
is a principle that also has a theoretical basis.
• The capacity of the human’s short term memory (STM) is
about 5-9 chunks of information – famously knows as the
“magic number”.
 PRINCIPLES OF HCI
REDUCE MEMORY LOAD
Interfaces designed
for minimal short-
term memory:
1. Menu system with
fewer than 10
items
2. Categorizations
by types / colors.
3. Badges are used
to display status
information.
 PRINCIPLES OF HCI
STRIVE FOR CONSISTENCY
• This applies to both within an application and across
different application and both the interaction model and
interface implementation.
• Aside from being able to remember what to do,
consistency and familiarity also lead to higher
acceptability and preference.
 PRINCIPLES OF HCI
REMIND USERS AND REFRESH
• Any significant task will involve the use of memory, so
another good strategy is to employ interfaces that give
continuous reminders of important information and thereby
refresh the user’s memory.
• The human memory dissipates information quite quickly,
and this is specially true when switching tasks in multi-
tasking situations.
 PRINCIPLES OF HCI
REMIND USERS AND REFRESH
1. What are the major
similarities from both app?
2. What are “consistent”
between both apps
3. How each app differs
from one another?
 PRINCIPLES OF HCI
PREVENT ERRORS / REVEARSAL OF ACTION
• Interface should be designed to avoid confusion and mental
overload.
• One effective technique is to present or solicit only the relevant
information/action as required at a given time.
• Despite employing some of the principles and techniques
described, there is always a chance that the user will make
mistakes. Hence, a very obvious but east-to-forget feature is to
allowed an easy reversal of action.
 PRINCIPLES OF HCI
PREVENT ERRORS / REVEARSAL OF ACTION
1. Why cancellation is
important?
2. What do you notice even
performing cancellation?
 PRINCIPLES OF HCI
NATURALNESS
• A trait that is reflective of various operations in our
everyday life.
• A natural or metaphoric interface (assuming that the
metaphor is not contrived) will also have affordance, a
property (or additional cues) that appeals to our innate
perception and cognition, thus making it so intuitive that the
interface would require almost no learning.
THANK YOU!