Overview of HCI     What is Human-Computer Interaction? Why should an Information Scientist be concerned with Human-Computer Interaction? Importance of Good User Interface Design Why user interfaces.

Download Report

Transcript Overview of HCI     What is Human-Computer Interaction? Why should an Information Scientist be concerned with Human-Computer Interaction? Importance of Good User Interface Design Why user interfaces.

Slide 1

Overview of HCI






What is Human-Computer Interaction?
Why should an Information Scientist be
concerned with Human-Computer
Interaction?
Importance of Good User Interface Design
Why user interfaces are so poor

Copyright 1999 all rights reserved


Slide 2

What is Human-Computer
Interaction?





HCI - short for human-computer interaction
Study and development of computer-based
interfaces with the express purpose of making
them easier for humans to use
HCI involves
– study of humans using interfaces
– development of new applications for users
– development of new devices and tools for users

Copyright 1999 all rights reserved


Slide 3

Why should Information Systems
be concerned with HCI?


IS personnel
– oversee the development of new applications
• they need to know how to make these systems usable

– oversee the introduction of new systems into their
organization
• they need to be able to evaluate the usability of off the
shelf systems

Copyright 1999 all rights reserved


Slide 4

Importance of Good User
Interface Design






Reduction in coding costs
High costs of interface problems
Serious life-threatening errors
Good interfaces sell products
Increased use of computers in the
environment

Copyright 1999 all rights reserved


Slide 5

User Interface Code


In a modern graphics user interface program
– Estimated 40 to 90 percent of code concerned with
user interface
– Most estimates around 70 percent !!!!!
– If done wrong, has to be redone
– If not fixed, cost passed on to users

Copyright 1999 all rights reserved


Slide 6

User Interface
Economics


Good user interface may result in:







Increased productivity
Reduced training costs
Preventable user errors
Reduced employee turnover
User satisfaction
Higher quality products produced

Copyright 1999 all rights reserved


Slide 7

Increased Productivity
X
X
X
=

20 users
230 days
100 screens per day
10 sec per screen (savings)
1278 hours
or 32 weeks

Copyright 1999 all rights reserved


Slide 8

Reduced Training Costs
20 employees
X 2 systems/applications per year
X 2 1/2 days per application
= 100 days
or 20 weeks

Training and support often more costly than
hardware and software
Copyright 1999 all rights reserved


Slide 9

Preventable User Errors
500 users
X 20 errors per year
X 15 minutes per error
= 2500 hours lost
or 63 weeks

Copyright 1999 all rights reserved


Slide 10

Increased Productivity
X
X
X
=

500 menu selections per day
3 sec per selection
230 days per year
480 hours
or 12 weeks

Reduce the menu selection time to 1 sec
8 extra weeks out of your best people

At $50K salary, that lost time will cost $9000
Copyright 1999 all rights reserved


Slide 11

Higher Quality Products






User spends less time on interface and more
on solving problem, e.g., one command
compiles and executes program
Interface matches the way user thinks about
problem, e.g., spreadsheet looks like
accounting sheets
Interface adds value to problem solution, e.g.,
multiple ways to view data

Copyright 1999 all rights reserved


Slide 12

Serious Life-Threatening Errors


Analysis of transcript of 911 call announcing
bomb in Centennial Park at Atlanta Olympics
indicated that 20 minutes were needed to call
dispatchers
– Dispatch system required an address for
Centennial Park
– Dispatch operators could not find anyone who
knew address
– Bomb was set to go off 30 minutes after call

Copyright 1999 all rights reserved


Slide 13

Serious Life Threatening Errors


Airline crashed in 1996 into a mountainside in
Colombia killing all aboard
– Pilot typed in “R” rather than full name of airport
– Guidance system took first airport in the list
beginning with “R” which was the wrong airport
– Plane ran into mountain

Copyright 1999 all rights reserved


Slide 14

User Interface Economics


Good user interfaces sell systems!
– Windows is a copy of the Mac interface
– The Mac interface is a copy of Bravo developed at Xerox PARC





User interface capabilities and awareness
help get contracts
Poor user interfaces can cripple a system
that is outstanding in all other respects

Copyright 1999 all rights reserved


Slide 15

Ubiquity of Computers


Computer driven interfaces placed in most
mechanical products we know
– Classic problem of users not being able to set the
clock on their VCR / microwave / car
– Users can often not use a duplicating machine, a
fax machine, a cash register, a candy machine, a
bank machine or even a telephone

– Cars will eventually be computer driven

Copyright 1999 all rights reserved


Slide 16

Motivation
Why Are User Interfaces so Poor?
 Problem lies in Software Engineering


Copyright 1999 all rights reserved


Slide 17

Why Are User Interfaces Poor?




Inadequate training of people developing
interfaces
Diversity of knowledge required to design
good interfaces
– hard to find good people
– huge market for people with user interface design
skills

Copyright 1999 all rights reserved


Slide 18

Why are User Interfaces so Poor?



Rapid technological advances
Reluctance of companies to commit resources
– not that true anymore



Poor management - programmers do not talk
to user design team and vice versa

Copyright 1999 all rights reserved


Slide 19

Lack of Real Engineering
of The User Interface




User Interface specialists rarely involved
The "bricklayers" (programmers) are left to do
the user interface architecture by default
“Ignorance by software engineers of usability
and how to measure it is roughly equivalent
to an electronics engineer not knowing what
volts and watts are and how to measure
them."

Copyright 1999 all rights reserved


Slide 20

Introduction & Historical
Perspective on Computing and
Decision Support Systems
A Brief History of Computing
 A Brief History of Personal Computing
 Human-Computer Interaction
Paradigms Shift


Copyright 1999 all rights reserved


Slide 21

A Brief History of Computing
 From

Beginnings to
the Present

Copyright 1999 all rights reserved


Slide 22

A Brief History of Personal
Computing






Beginnings to
Present
Apple OS
DOS
Mac OS
Windows 95

Copyright 1999 all rights reserved


Slide 23

Human-Computer Interaction
Paradigms Change









Switches
Paper Tape & Punched Cards
Dumb Terminals
Intelligent Terminals
“Point-and-Click”
Direct Manipulation
WIMPs (Windows/Icons/
Mouse/Pointer)
Ubiquitous Computers

Copyright 1999 all rights reserved