Interaction

1
 What is interaction?
• Interaction is a kind of action that occurs as
two or more objects have an effect upon one
another.
• The idea of a two-way effect is essential in the
concept of interaction, as opposed to a one-
way causal effect.
Models of Interaction
 Some terms of interaction
domain – the area of work under study
e.g. graphic design
goal – what you want to achieve
e.g. create a solid red triangle
task – how you go about doing it
– ultimately in terms of operations or
actions
e.g. … select fill tool, click over
triangle
 Donald Norman’s model
• Proposes 7 stages of an activity
– user establishes the goal
– formulates intention
– specifies actions at interface
– executes action
– perceives system state
– interprets system state
– evaluates system state with respect to goal

• Norman’s model concentrates on user’s view of the

interface
 Execution/Evaluation loop
goal

execution evaluation

system

• user establishes the goal

• formulates intention
• specifies actions at interface
• executes action
• perceives system state
• interprets system state
• evaluates system state with respect to goal
 Execution/Evaluation loop
goal

execution evaluation

system

• user establishes the goal

• formulates intention
• specifies actions at interface
• executes action
• perceives system state
• interprets system state
• evaluates system state with respect to goal
 Execution/Evaluation loop
goal

execution evaluation

system

• user establishes the goal

• formulates intention
• specifies actions at interface
• executes action
• perceives system state
• interprets system state
• evaluates system state with respect to goal
 Execution/Evaluation loop
goal

execution evaluation

system

• user establishes the goal

• formulates intention
• specifies actions at interface
• executes action
• perceives system state
• interprets system state
• evaluates system state with respect to goal
 An example: reading breaking
news on the web
(i) Set goal to find out about breaking news
decide on news website
(ii) Form an intention
check out BBC website
(iii) Specify what to do
move cursor to link on browser
(iv) Execute action sequence
click on mouse button
(v) Check what happens at the interface
see a new page pop up on the screen
(vi) Interpret it
read that it is the BBC website
(vii) Evaluate it with respect to the goal
read breaking news
 Gulf of Execution
• Does the system provide actions that
corresponds to the intentions of the person?
• The difference between the intentions and the
allowable actions is Gulf of Execution
• The gap between a user's goal for action and
the means to execute that goal
• Measure:
– How well the system allows the person to do the
intended actions directly without extra effort?
 Gulf of Evaluation
• Does the system provide a physical representation that
can be directly perceived and that is directly
interpretable in terms of the intention and expectations
of the person?
• The Gulf of evaluation reflects the amount of effort
that the person must exert to interpret the physical
state of the system and to determine how well the
expectations and intentions have been met
• The gulf is small when the system provides
information about its state in a form that is easy to get,
is easy to interpret, and matches the way the person
thinks of the system
 Good design reduces the gaps
• A good Conceptual Model
– the designs provides a good Conceptual Model for the user, with
Consistency in the presentation of operations and results and a
Coherent, Consistent System image.
• Good mapping
– it is possible to determine to relationship between actions and
results between controls and their effects, and between the
system state and what is visible.
• Feed back:
– the user receives full and continuous feedback about the results
of actions
• Visibility:
– By looking, the user can tell the stat of the device and the
alternatives of action.
 Good design
• Good idea of how each object works and how
to control it
• Interface itself discloses how it is used

• The art in design is to translate users cognitive

capabilities and existing mental models into
interfaces that work!
 Mental models
• Users develop an understanding of a system through
learning about and using it
• Knowledge is sometimes described as a mental
model:
– How to use the system (what to do next)
– What to do with unfamiliar systems or unexpected
situations (how the system works)

• People make conclude using mental models of how

to carry out tasks
 Everyday reasoning and mental
models
• You arrive home on a cold winter’s night to a cold
house. How do you get the house to warm up as
quickly as possible?
• Set the thermostat to be at its highest or to the
desired temperature?
• Same is often true for understanding how
interactive devices and computers work:
– poor, often incomplete, easily confusable, based
on inappropriate analogies and superstition
(Norman, 1983)
– e.g. elevators and pedestrian crossings - lot of
people hit the button at least twice
– Why? Think it will make the lights change faster or
ensure the elevator arrives!
 Users / designers communicate
through their mental models
• Designer’s model =
mental/conceptual model of
the system
• User’s model = mental
model developed through
interaction with the system
• Designer expects user’s
model to be the same as the
designer’s model

• But often it isn’t!

 Conceptual Model Mismatch
• Mismatch between designer’s & user’s
conceptual models leads to…
– Slow performance
– Errors
– Frustration
– ...
Example (bad)
Example (good)

Mercedes S500 Car Seat Controller

 Human error - slips and mistakes

slip
understand system and goal
correct formulation of action
incorrect action
mistake
may not even have right goal!
Fixing things?
slip – better interface design
mistake – better understanding of system
 Abowd and Beale framework
extension of Norman…
their interaction framework has 4 parts
– user O

– input
output

– system S U
core task
– output
I
input

each has its own unique language

interaction  translation between languages

problems in interaction = problems in translation

 Using Abowd & Beale’s model
user intentions
 translated into actions at the interface
 translated into alterations of system state
 reflected in the output display
 interpreted by the user

general framework for understanding interaction

– not restricted to electronic computer systems
– identifies all major components involved in interaction
– allows comparative assessment of systems
– an abstraction