6.

3 ERGONOMIC ISSUES

• In a different direction, less tiring output media will become

increasingly important as users spend more of their lives receiving
computer output.
• CRT displays continue to elicit complaints of muscle fatigue, eye
fatigue, and the like.
• While some of these seem to be caused by factors outside the display
device, such as poor job design and poor seating posture, some may
also be caused by the actual characteristics of the device.
• Better alternatives would be worthwhile.
6.4 BASIC RESULTS FROM COMPUTER GRAPHICS

• Visual computing and HCI are wide-ranging fields, encompassing such

topics as computer graphics, image processing, display and user
interface design, computer vision etc.
• Graphics is about the visuals on the screen, no user involved. HCI is
about the interaction between human and computer.
• Computation is fundamentally changing the way people see and
interact with the world. Many parts of society have been transformed
by graphics and user interfaces.
6.5 INTERFACE MODALITIES: COLOUR, SOUND, ETC

• Color:
• Color schemes have a large impact on human-computer interaction, color can greatly
improve user interfaces if used correctly, but can also reduce the functionality of the
interface if used inappropriately.
• Important factors of designing color interfaces include simplicity, consistency, and clarity.
• Firstly, you want to keep the color scheme fairly simple. Simplicity can be achieved by
using the four primary colors, which are red, green, yellow, and blue.
• Consistency is also another important factor when designing an interface. Colors should
be assigned to a particular type of concept or to help classify information.
• This technique helps users to retain more information in their short-term memory.
• Clarity and the concise use of color aids in helping users identify items more efficiently.
Sound:
• What are the advantages of using sound in interfaces?
• sound is a natural means of presentation
• vision and hearing are interdependent
• the use of sound would reduce the load on the visual senses
• sound is attention-grabbing
• most computers have facilities for the use of sound (which is generally
underused)
• Who might benefit from the use of sound in interfaces?
• Users of graphical interfaces. Sound can provide extra information not
displayed on the screen
• visually disabled people can be guided by the use of sound
• users of telephone-based interfaces; these users are dependent on
sound
• users of interfaces where eyes are busy
• portable computer users, where sound can compensate for lack of
screen space
6.6 THE ROLE OF GRAPHIC AND INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

• Graphic Design:
• Graphic design is a craft where professionals create visual content to
communicate messages.
• By applying visual hierarchy and page layout techniques, designers
use typography and pictures to meet users’ specific needs and focus
on the logic of displaying elements in interactive designs, to optimize
the user experience.
• It continues to cover a range of activities including logo creation.
• Graphic design in this sense concerns aesthetic appeal and
marketing. Graphic designers attract viewers using images, color and
typography
• graphic designers working in user experience (UX) design must justify
stylistic choices regarding, say, image locations and font with a human-
centered approach.
• That means you need to focus on—and seek to empathize the most with—
your specific users while you create good-looking designs that maximize
usability.
When designing for UX, you should:
• 1. Consider the information architecture of your interactive designs, to
ensure accessibility for users.
• 2. Use graphic design skills to create work that considers the entire user
experience, including users’ visual processing abilities.
Industrial Design:

• Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical products that are to be

manufactured by mass production.
• It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features,
which takes place in advance of the manufacture or production of the product.
• These ingenious examples of industrial design all combine aesthetic appeal with
creative problem-solving. Whether it's a mobile phone, a vacuum cleaner or a
chair, the very best examples of industrial design seamlessly blend form and
function to make products truly desirable.
• It is about balancing creative, conceptual, freeform thinking with the practical,
industrial constraints of actually getting something made, which requires
knowledge of production processes, materials and technology.
• Mini Cooper: Example
www.mimi.co.uk
6.7 TOOLKITS AND INTERFACE DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENTS

• Toolkits:
• Within HCI, defined toolkits as a way to encapsulate interface design
concepts for programmers, including widget sets, interface builders,
and development environments.
• Such toolkits are used by designers and developers to create
interactive applications.
Interface Development Environments:

• User interface development systems for software environments have

to cope with the broad, extensible and dynamic character of such
environments, must support internal and external integration, and
should enable various software development strategies.
• An integrated development environment (IDE) is software for building
applications that combines common developer tools into a single graphical user
interface (GUI). An IDE typically consists of:
• Source code editor: A text editor that can assist in writing software code with
features such as syntax highlighting with visual cues, providing language-specific
auto-completion, and checking for bugs as code is being written.
• Local build automation: Utilities that automate simple, repeatable tasks as part
of creating a local build of the software for use by the developer, like compiling
computer source code into binary code, packaging binary code, and running
automated tests.
• Debugger: A program for testing other programs that can graphically display the
location of a bug in the original code.