HCI-BIT2101

Kassim Kalinaki

Lecture 1
 About the Course unit
Contact Hours / Assessment
o Contact Hours= 60 Hours
o Course work / Continuous Assessment=30%
o Final Examination=70%

Primary Texts/ Resources

1) Alan Dix, Janet Finlay, (2001) Human–Computer Interaction,
Third Edition
2) Katherine Hepburn (2004) Interaction Design, Beyond
Human-Computer Interaction
3) Gerard Jounghyun Kim (2015) Human–ComputerInteraction -
Fundamentals and Practice.
Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc
 How many times do you
interact with a computer in a
day?

Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc

Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc
Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc
What is HCI?

Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc

 HCI – Introduction

 What is HCI?

The Human

 The Computer

 The Interaction

Principals of HCI
Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc
 HCI – Introduction …
 What is HCI?
 HCI is a cross-disciplinary area (i.e a blend of Engineering,
Psychology, Ergonomics, Design) that deals with the theory, design,
implementation, and evaluation of the ways that humans use and
interact with computing devices.
 Interaction vs Interface vs Interaction Model:
 Interaction refers to an abstract model by which humans
interact with the computing device for a given task.
 Interface is a choice of technical realization (hardware or
software) of such a given interaction model
 Interaction Model is a design model that binds an application
together in a way that supports the conceptual models of its
target users. It ensures that users always stay oriented and
understand how to move from place to place to find information
or perform tasks.
Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc
 HCI – Introduction …
 Why is HCI important?
 HCI is becoming ever more important in interactive software
 Interactive software had for long been evaluated only in
terms of the availability and breadth of its functions and its
algorithmic efficiency.
 Today, software quality is increasingly judged from the users’
external point of view in terms of their expectations,
satisfaction, and experience
 HCI is even more critical as everything around us becomes
digital and unknowingly embedded with interactive
computing services.
 Therefore, interactive systems must be developed with HCI
as a core priority.
Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc
 HCI – Introduction …
The Human in HCI
 Information Input / Output is through:-
– visual, auditory, haptic, movement
 Information stored in memory
– sensory, short-term, long-term
 Information processed and applied
– reasoning, problem solving, skill, error
 Emotion influences human capabilities
- response to stimuli, stress levels, fatigue, etc
 Each person is different
- gender, age, intellectual abilities, etc
 Read about the above in more detail
Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc
 HCI – Introduction …
The Human in HCI …
 Psychology crucial in design of interactive
system.
Example: Blue acuity is poor
 Blue should not be used for important detail.

o Correct application generally requires

understanding of context in psychology, and
an understanding of particular experimental
conditions
Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc
Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc
 HCI – Introduction …
The Computer in HCI
 A computer system is made up of various elements
 Each of these elements affects the interaction
– input devices – text entry and pointing
– output devices – screen (small&large), digital paper
– virtual reality – special interaction and display devices
– physical interaction – e.g. sound, haptic, bio-sensing
– paper – as output (print) and input (scan)
– memory – RAM & permanent media, capacity & access
– processing – speed of processing, networks

Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc

 HCI – Introduction …
The Computer in HCI …
 Text entry devices :-

 Keyboards

 Handwriting recognition

 Speech recognition

 Numeric keypads
Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc
 HCI – Introduction …
 The Computer in HCI …
 Positioning, pointing, and drawing
 Mouse
 Touchpad
 Trackball and thumbwheels
 Joystick and keyboard nipple
 Touch-sensitive screen
 Sytlus and light pen
 Digitizing tablet
 Eyegaze
 Cursor keys
 Discrete positioning controls
Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc
 HCI – Introduction …
The Computer in HCI …
Display Devices
 Bitmap screens (LCD & CRT)
 Special displays (random scan, DVST), large
displays (technology – plasma, video walls,
projected, etc ), and situated displays (usually
display - only in public places)
 Digital paper

Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc

 HCI – Introduction …
The Computer in HCI …
 VR and 3D interaction

 Positioning in 3D space (3D mouse, gloves, etc)

 Moving and Grasping (Desktop VR, etc)

 Seeing 3D (Helmets and Caves)

Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc

 HCI – Introduction …
The Computer in HCI …
 Limitations on interactive performance
 Computation bound
o Computation takes ages, causing frustration for the user
 Storage channel bound
o Bottleneck in transference of data from disk to memory
 Graphics bound
o Common bottleneck: updating displays requires a lot of effort -
sometimes helped by adding a graphics co-processor optimised to
take on the burden
 Network capacity
o Many computers networked - shared resources and files, access to
printers etc. - but interactive performance can be reduced by slow
network speed
Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc
 HCI – Introduction …
The Interaction in HCI
 Interaction models
– translations between user and system
 Ergonomics
– physical characteristics of interaction
 Interaction styles
– the nature of user/system dialog
 Context
– social, organizational, motivational

Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc

 HCI – Introduction …
The Interaction in HCI …
 Models of Interaction
 Terms of interaction
o Domain – the area of work under study
e.g. graphic design
o Goal – what you want to achieve
e.g. create a solid red triangle
o Task – how you go about doing it
– ultimately in terms of operations or actions
e.g. … select fill tool, click over triangle

Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc

 HCI – Introduction …
The Interaction in HCI …
 Models of Interaction
 Donald Norman’s Model of Interaction
o Seven stages
– 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

Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc
 HCI – Introduction …
The Interaction in HCI …
 Models of Interaction
 Donald Norman’s Model of Interaction

goal
execution evaluation
system

Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc

 HCI – Introduction …
The Interaction in HCI …
 Models of Interaction
 Using Donald Norman’s Model of Interaction
• Some systems are harder to use than others
 Gulf of Execution
user’s formulation of actions
≠ actions allowed by the system
 Gulf of Evaluation
user’s expectation of changed system state
≠ actual presentation of this state

Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc

 HCI – Introduction …
The Interaction in HCI …
 Models of Interaction
 Abowd and Beale Framework
o Extension of Norman Framework – Their interaction framework has
4 parts
O
– user output
– input
– system S U
core task
– output
I
o Each has its own unique language
input

interaction  translation between languages

 Problems in interaction = problems in translation

Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc
 HCI – Introduction …
The Interaction in HCI …
 Models of Interaction
 Using Abowd and 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
Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc
 HCI – Introduction …
The Interaction in HCI …
 Interaction Styles
 Common interaction styles include :-
 Command line interface
 Menus
 Natural language
 Question/answer and query dialogue
 Form-fills and spreadsheets
 WIMP
 Point and click
 Three–dimensional interfaces

Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc

 HCI – Introduction …
The Interaction in HCI …
 Interactivity. It is easy to focus on look, what
about feel?
- Appearance + Behaviour = Look and Feel

 General Lesson: if you want someone to do

something …
– Make it easy for them!
– Understand their values!

Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc

 HCI – Introduction …
General Principles of HCI
1. Know Thy User
2. Understand the Task
3. Reduce Memory Load
4. Strive for Consistency
5. Remind Users and Refresh their Memory
6. Prevent Errors / Reversal of Actions
7. Naturalness

Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc

 What is
Human – Computer - Interaction
? ? ?

Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc

 END

Kassim Kalinaki - MSc/ BSc