Week 3 - by Lee Chen Yau

In week 3, our lecturer still continue the HCI for us. Generally, poorly designed human-machine interfaces can lead to many unexpected problems. The problem is HUMAN + COMPUTER and context of human / context of computers.

Context of humans have the information processing (memory, perception, motor skills, problem solving), language, communication and interaction (syntax, pragmatics, body language) & ergonomics (relationship to environment: health, furniture, lighting, design for disabled).
Context of computers have the input and output devices (hardware, software).

Achieving Fit?
1. Expressive interfaces : Color, icons, sound, graphical elements + animations to make Interface
    appealing.
2. User frustration.
3. Persuasive technologies.
4. Anthropomorphism.
5. Conceptual models : between a ect + user experience.

Error Messages:

“The application Word has unexpectedly quit due to a type 2

error.”

Why not instead:

“the application has expectedly quit due to poor coding in the

operating system”

Shneiderman’s 5 guidelines for error messages :
- Avoid using terms like FATAL, INVALID, BAD.
- Audio warnings.
- Avoid UPPERCASE and long code numbers.
- Messages should be precise rather than vague.
- Provide context + sensitive help.

Reference:
Lecturer's notes

Week 3 - by Alice Low Soo Ying

For the previous week, HCI is introduced to us and for this week, we continue discuss about HCI but focus more on the problem of HCI. The most common problem occurs between the interaction of human and computer is the output of the machine is not always what the user wants. Computer use input and output devices to process information that are upload into it while human process information through language, communication, and interaction. Why is it important to achieve FIT?

Expressive Interfaces

• Colour, icons, sounds, graphical elements and animations are used to make the ‘look and feel’ of an interface appealing

– Conveys an emotional state

• In turn this can affect the usability of an interface

– People are prepared to put up with certain aspects of an interface (e.g. slow download rate) if the end result is very appealing and aesthetic.

User frustration

Causes:

•When an application doesn’t work properly or crashes

•When a system doesn’t do what the user wants it to do

•When a user’s expectations are not met

•When a system does not provide sufficient information to enable the user to know what to do 

•When error messages pop up that are vague, obtuse or condemning

•When the appearance of an interface is garish, noisy, gimmicky or patronizing

Anthropomorphism

• Attributing human-like qualities to inanimate objects

- Cars and computers.

• Well known phenomenon in advertising 

– Dancing butter, drinks, breakfast cereals

• Much exploited in human-computer interaction

– Make user experience more enjoyable, more motivating, make people feel at ease, reduce anxiety

Criticism of Anthropomorphism

•Deceptive, make people feel anxious, inferior or stupid.

•People tend not to like screen characters that point out mistakes.

•Many prefer the more impersonal.

•Studies have shown that personalized feedback is considered to be less honest + makes users feel less responsible for their actions.

What will human react when they see this? What will they feel? Definitely, human will be unhappy and will start stressed out with it. It might take times and sometimes still could not solve it. With the technology we have nowadays, people keep trying their best to create computers which are user friendly. In my opinion, humans are the most unpredictable part of any system and therefore the most difficult to model for HCI design. No matter how good the design is in the future, it will still end with human own preferences. 

References:

http://www.interaction-design.org/encyclopedia/human_computer_interaction_hci.html

http://www.ece.cmu.edu/~koopman/des_s99/human/

Week 3 - by Yau Fen Nie

In this lecture class, we still discussed about HCI but it is something difference between them. We learned about the problem of HCI(Human Computer Interaction) and the interaction of human to machine, techniques for achieving fit and how is the interfaces affect the users and usage.

Problems of HCI included two main parts which are human and computer.

Concept of human : feeling, emotion, etc ; While computer : mechanical, information,etc.

Achieving Fit:
- expressive interface
- user frustration
- persuasive technology
- anthropomorphism
- conceptual models affecting users and models

HCI- by Tang Yook Meng

HCI (human-computer interaction) is the study of how people interact with computers and to what extent computers are or are not developed for successful interaction with human beings. In early 1980s, Human-computer interaction (HCI) is an area of research and practice, initially as a specialty area in computer science. HCI has expanded rapidly and steadily attracting professionals from many other disciplines and incorporating diverse concepts and approaches. To a considerable extent, HCI now aggregates a collection of semi-distinct fields of research and practice in human-centered informatics.

A significant number of major corporations and academic institutions now study HCI. Historically and with some exceptions, computer system developers have not paid much attention to computer ease-of-use. Many computer users today would argue that computer makers are still not paying enough attention to making their products "user-friendly." However, computer system developers might argue that computers are extremely complex products to design and make and that the demand for the services that computers can provide has always outdriven the demand for ease-of-use.

The important of HCI factor is that different users form different conceptions or mental models about their interactions and have different ways of learning and keeping knowledge and skills. In addition, cultural and national differences play a part. Another consideration in studying or designing HCI is that user interface technology changes rapidly, offering new interaction possibilities to which previous research findings may not apply. Finally, user preferences change as they gradually master new interfaces.

One of the most significant achievements of HCI is its evolving model of the integration of science and practice. This model was articulated as a reciprocal relation between cognitive science and cognitive engineering. Later, it ambitiously incorporated a diverse science foundation, distributed cognition, and ethnomethodology, and a culturally embedded conception of human activity, including the activities of design and technology development. Currently, the model is incorporating design practices and research across a broad spectrum.

Conceptions of how underlying science informs and is informed by the worlds of practice and activity have evolved continually in HCI since its inception. In each of the three eras of HCI, as briefly sketched above, paradigm-changing scientific and epistemological revisions were deliberately embraced by a field that was, by any measure, succeeding intellectually and practically. The result has been an increasingly fragmented and complex field that has continued to succeed even more. The continuing success of the HCI community in moving its meta-project forward thus has profound implications, not only for human-centered informatics, but for epistemology.

System Engineering Coordinates the Activities of HCI Engineering and Software Engineering

http://www.interaction-design.org/encyclopedia/human_computer_interaction_hci.html

http://searchcio-midmarket.techtarget.com/definition/HCI

Week 2 - by Lee Chen Yau

In week 2, our lecturer was talking about Human Computer Interaction (HCI). HCI is the study of interaction between people (users) and computers. The basic goal of HCI is to make systems user-friendly and receptive to the user’s needs so that people can achieve their results faster, with lesser mistakes and greater satisfaction.

The terms user and computer engulfs a wider meaning with users may be an individual user, a group, an organization or temporally or spatially separated peoples. Similarly computers may be any technology ranging from desktop PCs, to large scale distributed systems or any embedded system. The study of HCI focuses its attention to the "user" being the central part and systems and interaction to be designed and developed that satisfies the user goals in an efficient and cost-effective manner.

So, HCI has its roots in various disciplines like computers, psychology, cognitive sciences, social sciences and ethnography. In HCI we learn to apply these user centered fields of study to develop systems that are highly interactive, efficient, cost-effective and have high degree of usability.

HCI is a multi-disciplinary field

Goals of the HCI research field are

- improving interaction between human and computer

- improving communication and cooperation between humans

Reference:

https://sites.google.com/a/nu.edu.pk/hci-classroom/what-is-hci
http://www.deepamehta.de/docs/hci.html

HCI by Leng Cheok Kuan

What is HCI? HCI stand for Human computer interaction. HCI is the study of the interaction between human and computers. HCI is arose as a field from intertwined roots in computer graphics, operating systems, human factors, ergonomics, industrial engineering, cognitive psychology, and the systems part of computer science.
Interaction between human and computers occurs at user interface, includes software and hardware. For example, hand phone, laptop, mouse and others.
Interaction Design, nowadays everything also designed either good or bad. According from Wikepedia, Interaction design is the practice of designing interactive digital products, environment, system, services and others.
For another example, as a designer we used software of Adobe illustrator, Photoshop, Flash and others. These are all actually interacting with computer.

source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human%E2%80%93computer_interaction
http://old.sigchi.org/cdg/cdg2.html

Week 2 - by Alice Low Soo Ying

The first lecture in Interaction Studies class was about HCI. So, what is HCI? 

HCI actually is the short for Human-Computer Interaction, a discipline concerned with the study, design, construction and implementation of human-centric interactive computer systems. A user interface, such as a GUI, is how a human interacts with a computer, and HCI goes beyond designing screens and menus that are easier to use and studies the reasoning behind building specific functionality into computers and the long-term effects that systems will have on humans.

Although many other disciplines are concerned with HCI, it is important in computer science and systems design, because it involves the design, implementation and evaluation of interactive computer systems in the context of the users task and work. The ideal designer of an interactive system would have expertise in such diverse fields.

• Psychology and cognitive science for knowledge of the users.
• Ergonomics for the users physical capabilities.
• Sociology to understand the wider context of the interaction.
• Computer science and engineering to be able to build the necessary technology.
• Graphic design to produce a pleasing visual interface.
• Technical writing to produce the manuals.
• Business to be able to market the product.

Because human-computer interaction studies human aspects as well as machine side and it is often regarded as the intersection of computer science and behavioral sciences.

1) Behavioral Science:
Studies the human factors of computers. Focus on the evaluation of interactive computing systems for human use in terms of perceptions, beliefs, usabilities, and staisfactions which includes both software (characters or objects displayed by software on a personal computer's monitor) and hardware (input received from users via hardware peripherals such as keyboards and mice, and other devices).

2) Computer Science:
Studies the new interfaces and interaction techniques within given constraints. Focus in developing new design methodologies, experimenting with new hardware devices, prototyping new software systems, exploring new paradigms for interaction, and developing models and theories of interaction.

References:
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/H/HCI.html
http://searchcio-midmarket.techtarget.com/definition/HCI
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human%E2%80%93computer_interaction