HCI 1) Introduction Flashcards
HCI Challenges -
Humans complexity
A human being is capable of conscious thought, language ability, motor movements, ability to develop and use tools to achieve goals.
Several of such abilities are applicable to HCI (e.g. motor control)
HCI Challenges -
Individual differences
Large individual differences that must be considered (e.g. physical, mental, cultural, social)
HCI Challenges -
Computer complexity
Modern computers rely on an elaborate stack of hardware for functionality which need to be considered.
(e.g. transistors, logic gates, memory chips, OS, libraries, parallel cores, networks)
HCI Challenges - Understanding systems
Successful deployment of HCI considers the ability to understand and relate observations to the wider system-level context (socio-technical background/location)
Purpose of HCI
To impact the design of applications, interaction techniques, systems, or services so that users can achieve their goals in an effective, efficient, safe, and satisfactory manner.
HCI Challenges -
Design
There is no perfect design - tradeoffs always exist. Design requires creating new ideas.
Design fixation is where a designer maintains an early identified solution despite being inferior to other possible designs.
HCI required skills
- Software development and architectures
- Analytical skills to model user performance
- Design practice (interaction, service, product)
- User research skills
Types of research in HCI
- Empirical problems: motivated by lack of understanding of some aspect of interaction
- Conceptual problems: explaining phenomena in interaction by reference to theoretical constructs
- Constructive problems: tackling knowledge needed for constructing interactive systems
HCI Practitioners
- Work to create an understanding of users and their activities using empirical research
- Actively contribute and drive constructive activities using design and engineering
- Evaluate interactive systems from user perspective
Human-centered implications
- Requirement to understand users, needs and motivations
- Requirement to engage with people for research
- Requirement for ethical considerations of how designs affect people
HCI - Interaction
Refers to the influence between people and an interactive system that takes place through the user interface.
HCI - User Interfaces
Refers to the parts of an interactive system that the user comes into contact with or shapes the users’ perception of the system.
HCI - Engineering
Refers to using technical principles such as mathematics or science to realize a design that best meets a given set of expectations.
HCI - Evaluation
Application of some systematic methodology to attribute some human-related value to a process. (e.g. performance, safety, experience)
Uses multiple methods to achieve robust, generalizable and reproducible findings.
HCI - Profitability
Financially viable if done correctly: open new markets, increase productivity and lower costs
