Mario Čagalj

University of Split

2014/15.

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)

Human-Computer Interaction: Introduction

Based on slides by Saul Greenberg, Russell Beale, Tolga Can…

HCIThe study of how people interact with computers

And to what extent computers are developed for successful interaction with human beings

Consists of three partsThe userThe computerThe way they work togheter

Why HCI?

3

4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKT_09pARN4

Numerous badly designed things

5

http://www.baddesigns.com

Does it matter?

6

If the things are badly designed?Well, you can crash your car and get injuredYou can go out of businessLose elections (US 2000)Get angry and make

mistakes – then thething will take longerthan usual

Moor’s law

7

transistorsspeed

discscost

1950 1990 2030

Computerabilities

Psychology

1950 1990 20302000BC

human

abilities

8

Where is the bottleneck?

system performance

9

Human Computer Interaction

A discipline concerned with the

of interactive computing systems for human use

design implementation

evaluation

10

Articulate:•who users are•their key tasks

User and task descriptions

Goals:

Methods:

Products:

Brainstorm designs

Task centered system design

Participatory design

User-centered design

Evaluate

Psychology of everyday things

User involvement

Representation & metaphors

low fidelity prototyping methods

Throw-away paper prototypes

Participatory interaction

Task scenario walk-through

Refined designs

Graphical screen design

Interface guidelines

Style guides

high fidelity prototyping methods

Testable prototypes

Usability testing

Heuristic evaluation

Completed designs

Alpha/beta systems or complete specification

Field testing

An interface design process and usability engineering

Why an interface design process? 63% of large software projects go over cost

Managers gave four usability-related reasonsUsers requested changesOverlooked tasksUsers did not understand their own requirementsInsufficient user-developer communication and understanding

Usability engineering is software engineeringPay a little now, or pay a lot later!Far too easy to jump into detailed design that is

Founded on incorrect requirementsHas inappropriate dialogue flowIs not easily usedIs never tested until it is too late

12

Foundations for designing interfacesUnderstanding users and their tasks

Task-centered system designHow to develop task examplesHow to evaluate designs through a task-centered walk-through

Designing with the userUser-centered design and prototyping

Methods for designing with the userLow and medium fidelity prototyping

Evaluating interfaces with usersThe role of evaluation in interface design How to observe people using systems to detect interface problems

13

Foundations for designing interfacesDesigning visual interfaces

Design of everyday thingsWhat makes visual design work?

Beyond screen designRepresentations and metaphors

Graphical screen designThe placement of interface components on a screen

Principles for designDesign principles, guidelines, and usability heuristics

Using guidelines to design and discover usability problems14

Goals of the courseAt the end of this course, you will:

Know what is meant by good design (guidelines and models that can be applied to interface design)

Know and have applied a variety of methods for involving the user in the design process

Know and have applied methods to evaluate interface quality

15

In other words…Consciousness raising

Make you aware of these issues

Design criticQuestion bad design

16

Class projectDesign and evaluate an interface

Part 1 - Team formation & topic choice, understand and formulate the problem, roadmap

Part 2 - Design alternatives, prototype & evaluation plan, evaluation, user studies

17

Class project: detailsPart 1

Identify team (2-3) & topicDefine the problemDescribe tasks, users, environment, social context

18

Class project: detailsPart 2

Discuss design alternativesStoryboards, mock-ups/prototypes for multiple different

designsExplain decisionsSemi-working interface functionalityPlan for conducting evaluationEvaluation: Conduct evaluation with example users (2-3 users),

characterize what’s working and what’s not

19

Project Reports & PresentationsLast weeks of classes and lab

20 minute presentation of your project

20