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Eng. Suleiman Sead Ibrahim

Human Computer Interaction

Course purpose

• The purpose of this course is to give students basic knowledge regarding methods for designing and evaluating user interfaces (UI) & user experience (UX).

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Course organization

• This course will consist of
• Theoretical foundations of HCI
• GUI Programming sessions using Java Swing and Java Fx.

Textbooks

Chapter 1�Introduction to HCI

Chapter Outline

1. What is HCI?
2. Main components of HCI
3. The goals of HCI
4. Importance of HCI
5. Who is involved in HCI?
6. Usability

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What is HCI?

• Human computer interaction(HCI) is the study and the practice of usability.
• Human-computer interaction is a discipline concerned with the design, evaluation and implementation of interactive computing systems for human use.
• HCI tries to provide us with all understanding of the computer and the person using it, so as to make the interaction between them more effective and more enjoyable.

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Main components of HCI

• HCI consists of three parts: the user, the computer itself, and the ways they work together(interaction).

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User(human)

• By "user", we may mean an individual user or a group of users working together.
• Consider cultural and national differences which can play a part.

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Computer

• When we talk about the computer, we're referring to any technology ranging from desktop computers, to large scale computer systems.
• For example, if we were discussing the design of a Website, then the Website itself would be referred to as "the computer".
• Devices such as mobile phones or VCRs can also be considered to be “computers”.

Interaction

• Interaction is a communication between a user and system.

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The goals of HCI

1. Understand the factors that determine how people use technology.
2. Develop tools and techniques to enable building suitable systems.
3. Achieve efficient, effective, and safe interaction.
4. Put people first.

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Importance of HCI

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• In the past, problems with poor interface design of computer software have contributed to an enormous loss in productivity.
• A US study in the 1980s found that:
• only 20% of new systems studied were considered to be successes
• 40 % produced only marginal gains
• 40 % resulted in rejection or failure of the system
• this represents a huge loss of money, time and effort from all of the people involved.

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Who is involved in HCI?

• HCI is undoubtedly a multi-disciplinary subject.
• The ideal designer of an interactive system would have expertise in a range of topics
• Psychology and cognitive science to give her/him knowledge of the user’s perceptual, cognitive and problem-solving skills.
• Ergonomics for the user’s physical capabilities.

Cont.…

• Sociology to help her/him understand the wider context of the interaction.
• Computer science and engineering to be able to build the necessary technology.
• Business to be able to market it.
• Graphic design to produce an effective interface presentation.

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Principles of HCI

1. Know you user
2. Understand the Task.
3. Reduce Memory Load
4. Prevent Errors/Reversal of Action
5. Naturalness

Usability

• Usability is one of the key concepts in HCI. It is concerned with making systems easy to learn and use.
• A usable system is:
• easy to learn
• easy to remember how to use
• effective to use
• efficient to use
• safe to use
• enjoyable to use

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Most common usability goals

• Most common usability goals:
• Efficiency
• Errors
• Satisfaction
• Learnability
• Memorability

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Factors affecting usability

• The main factors affecting usability are
• Format of input
• Feedback
• Visibility
• Visibility is the mapping between a control and its effect.
• For example, controls in cars are generally visible – the steering wheel has just one function, there is good feedback and it is easy to understand what it does. Mobile phones and VCRs often have poor visibility – there is little visual mapping between controls and the users’ goals, and controls can have multiple functions.

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Factors in HCI

• There are a large number of factors which should be considered in the analysis and design of a system using HCI principles. Many of these factors interact with each other, making the analysis even more complex.

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Thank you