Virtual University

Human-Computer Interaction

Lecture 5
Discipline of HCI

Imran Hussain
University of Management and Technology (UMT)

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 In the Last Lecture
• Usability
– Definition
“Ensuring that interactive products are easy to learn, effective to user
and enjoyable from the user’s perspective (Preece etal)”
– Usability Goals

Effectiveness Utility

Efficiency Learnability

Safety Memorablity

2 Virtual University - Human Computer Interaction © 2005 Imran Hussain | UMT

 In the Last Lecture
• User Experience
– Definition
– User Experience Goals
• Relationship of Usability and User Experience

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 User Experience Goals
• Satisfying • Aesthetically Pleasing

• Enjoyable • Supportive to Creativity

• Fun • Rewarding

• Entertaining • Emotionally Fullfilling

• Helpful

• Motivating

4 Virtual University - Human Computer Interaction © 2005 Imran Hussain | UMT

 In the Last Lecture
• Relationship of Usability and User Experience

5 Virtual University - Human Computer Interaction © 2005 Imran Hussain | UMT

 In the Last Lecture

Usability
Goals

User Experience Goals

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 Fun

Satisfying Emotionally
fullfilling
Efficient to
use
enjoyable Effective Rewarding
Easy to
to use
remember
Usability
Goals

Easy to Supportive of
Safe to creativity
Entertaining learn
use
Have good
utility
Aesthetically
helpful pleasing

Motivating
7 Virtual University - Human Computer Interaction © 2005 Imran Hussain | UMT
 In the Last Lecture
• History and Evolution of HCI
– 1960’s Research
– 1970’s Technological Explosion
– The Three Systems
• Dynabook
• Star
• Lisa

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 Last Lecture’s Revelation

“Don’t Make me THINK, is the key

to a usable product”

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 In Today’s Lecture
• Usability and Quality

• Interdisciplinary Nature of HCI

• Disciplines contributing to HCI

10 Virtual University - Human Computer Interaction © 2005 Imran Hussain | UMT

 Quote of the Day – Terry Winograd
“HCI is the kind of discipline which is neither the study of humans nor the study
of technology, but rather the bridging between the two. So you always have
to have one eye open to the questions:
– What can the technology do?

– How can you build it ?

– What are the possibilities?

And one eye open to the question
– What are people doing and how would this fit in

– What would they do with it ?

If you lose sight of either of those you fail to design well .. I think the challenge is
to really keep knowledge of both the technology and the people playng ff
against each other in order to develop new things”

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 Usability and Quality

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 Quality and Software
• What is Quality?
– You like a product
– Does not break down

• QA Teams

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 Quality is conformance to specifications
(British Defense Industries Quality Assurance Panel)

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 Quality is conformance to requirements
(Philip Crosby)

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 Quality is fitness for purpose or use
(Juran)

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 Quality is a predictable degree of uniformity and
dependability, at low cost and suited to the market
(Edward Deming)

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 Quality is synonymous with customer needs and
expectations
(R J Mortiboys)

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 Quality is meeting the (stated) requirements of the
customer- now and in the future
(Mike Robinson)

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 Quality is the total composite product and service
characteristics of marketing, engineering, manufacturing
and maintenance through which the product and service
in use will meet the expectations by the customer
(Armand Feigenbaum)

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 Totality of characteristics of an entity that bear on its
ability to satisfy stated and implied needs
(ISO 8402 : 1994)

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 What is a Product?

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 Product
• A generic term that refers to
– Goods
– Services
• Failure to meet quality requirements in either dimension can have
serious negative consequences

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 … implied needs must be turned into requirements …
PMBOK

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 Software Quality
• The extent to which a software product exhibits these characteristics
– Functionality
– Reliability
– Usability
– Efficiency
– Maintainability
– Portability

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 Software QA Teams
• Only test requirements

• Customers and users

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 The Dual Nature of Usability
• Usability is both

Strategic

Tactical

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 Interdisciplinary Nature of HCI

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 What is HCI?
• HCI is a large interdisciplinary area

• Emerging as specialty concern within several disciplines, each with different

emphases
– Computer science (application design and engineering of human interfaces)
– Psychology (the application of theories of cognitive processes and the empirical
analysis of user behavior)
– Sociology and anthropology (interactions between technology, work, and
organization)
– Industrial design (interactive products)

29 Virtual University - Human Computer Interaction © 2005 Imran Hussain | UMT

 What is HCI?
• HCI concerned with:
– Joint performance of tasks by humans and machines
– Structure of communication between human and machine
– Human capabilities to use machines
– Algorithms and programming of interfaces
– Engineering concerns in designing and building interfaces
– Process of design, specification and implementation
– Design trade-offs

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 What is HCI?
• Various aspects
– Science
• Human capabilities to use machines
– Engineering
• Building interfaces
– Design
• Design tradeoffs

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 Case Study – Ticketing System
• A small ticketing agency has many shops distributed throughout the
country

• Feels the need to install efficient ticketing system, for survival

• Manual Issuing Procedure

– Call airlines to check for vacant seats
– Check with customer if the available seat is suitable
– Then ticket is written out manually
– Customer receipts and intinerary

– Accounting for issued tickets every two weeks

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 Case Study – Ticketing System - Research
• The research on existing ticketing systems reveal
– Computers always going wrong
– Lack of trust in computers
– Staff unable to understand messages

• The Result
– Sales figures had dropped and were disappointing
– A large number of sales staff had left

33 Virtual University - Human Computer Interaction © 2005 Imran Hussain | UMT

 Ticketing System - Recommendations
• Immediate booking via Internet

• Automatic print-out of tickets, itineraries and receipts

• Direct connection between booking system and accounting system

• Elimination of booking forms

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 Ticketing System - Recommendations
• Layout of the agency needs to be changed for staff to operate
computers

• Staff training

• Changes to job design

• Support to older staff during period of change

• Changes to employment conditions must be examined

• Staff relationship with other non-techi staff members (Technology

Power)

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 Factors in HCI
Organizational Factors Environmental Factors
Training, job design, politics, roles Work organization Noise, heating, ventilation,lighting
Health and Safety Cognitive processes and capabilities Comfort Level
Stress, headaches, The User Seating
Musculo-skeleton, Motivation, Enjoyment, Satisfaction, Personality Equipment
disorders Experience level layout
User Interface
Input devices, output displays, dialogue structures, User of colour, icons, commands, graphics, natural language
3-D, user support materials, multimedia
Task Factors
Easy, complex, novel, Task allocation, repetitive,Monitoring, skills, multi-media

Constraints
Costs, timescales, budgets, Staff, equipment, building structure
System Functionality
Hardware, software, application
Productivity Factors
Increase output, increase quality, decrease costs, decrease errors,Decrease labour requirements, decrease
production time,
Increase creative and innovative ideas leading to new products

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 Interdisciplinary Nature of HCI
• HCI is understanding the Complex Relationship between Human
and Computers

• Two Distinct “Species”

• Successful Integration is dependent upon the a better

understanding of both Species

• Hence HCI borrows and establishes its roots in Disciplines

concerned with both

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 Interdisciplinary Nature of HCI
• HCI has roots in many disciplines

• HCI is inter-disciplinary in nature

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 Social
Cognitive Organizational
Psychology Psychology
Linguistics

Anthropology
Ergonomics
&
Human
Factor
HCI
Philosophy

Design

Computer
Science
Artificial Engineering
Intelligence

39 Virtual University - Human Computer Interaction © 2005 Imran Hussain | UMT

 Interdisciplinary Nature of HCI – Human Side
• Cognitive Psychology

• Social Organizational Psychology

• Ergonomics and human Factors

• Linguistics

• Philosophy

• Sociology

• Anthropology

40 Virtual University - Human Computer Interaction © 2005 Imran Hussain | UMT

 Cognitive Psychology
• Understanding human behavior and mental processes

• Human information processing

– See
– Feel
– Touch
– Smell
– Taste

• How much information can be processed and remembered

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 Social Organizational Psychology
• Studying nature and causes of human behavior in social context

• Four core concerns

– Influence of one individual on another person’s attitude and behavior
– Impact of a group on its member’s attitude and behavior
– Impact of a member on group’s activities and structure
– Relationship between the structure and activities of different groups

• Informs designers how computers affect working practices

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 Ergonomics or Human Factors
• To define and design tools and various artifacts for different work,
leisure and domestic environment to suit the capacities and
capabilities of users

• Ergonomist translates the above information from the above

mentioned sciences into context of design of products

• Increase feelings of comfort and satisfaction

• Concerns
– Hardware design
– Radiation from VDUs
– Repetitive Strain Injury (RPI)

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 Linguistics
• Scientific study of languages

• Command-object (delete ‘report’ OR ‘report’ delete)

• Understanding structure (syntax) and meaning (semantics)

• HCI goal is to develop natural language interfaces

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 Philosophy, Sociology and Anthropology
• Contribution in the sense of Soft Sciences for HCI

• Considers introduction of IT in society

• Ethnography involves observing people

• Cognitive psychology tries to predict

• Computer Supported Cooperative Writing

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 Interdisciplinary Nature of HCI – Computer Side
• Computer Science

• Artificial Intelligence

• Engineering

• Design

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 Other Disciplines
• Computer Science
– Provides knowledge about capability of technology
– Developing techniques to support software design, development and maintenance

• Artificial Intelligence
– Intelligent Computing concerned with simulating human behaviour
– HCI – development of expert and tutoring systems

• Engineering
– Engineering takes finding of sciences and utilizes them in the production of
artifacts

• Design
– Design contributes creative skills and knowledge to this process

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 Discipline of HCI

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 What We Learnt Today …
• Factors in HCI

• Interdisciplinary nature of HCI

49 Virtual University - Human Computer Interaction © 2005 Imran Hussain | UMT

 Social
Cognitive Organizational
Psychology Psychology
Linguistics

Anthropology
Ergonomics
&
Human
Factor
HCI
Philosophy

Design

Computer
Science
Artificial Engineering
Intelligence

50 Virtual University - Human Computer Interaction © 2005 Imran Hussain | UMT

 Next Lecture
• Human Side of HCI

51 Virtual University - Human Computer Interaction © 2005 Imran Hussain | UMT