HCI Introduction Flashcards
What is Human-Computer Interaction?
“Human-computer interaction is a discipline concerned with the design, evaluation and implementation of interactive computing systems for human use and with the study of major phenomena surrounding them”
(definition in the ACM SIGCHI Curricula for HCI, 1992)
What are the three things we do as computer scientists in relation to HCI
- Develop interactive systems that people should be able to use successfully
- Design and implement user interfaces that support interaction
- Enable the joint performance of tasks by humans and machine
People and Machines
What is an Interactive System?
Is a computational system that allows users to interact in real time. Interactions receive instant feedback visible to the user.
What does “Real-time” refer to in an Interactive System?
Refers to system responses that users perceive as instant – typically in the order of 100ms
What is the User Interface?
The user interface is part of a system through which a user can interact, composed of software and/or hardware that supports input, output or both.
- Not restricted to digital and interactive systems
What are the example of Interactive System?
- Desktop OS, e.g. Windows 10 or MacOS
- Mobile devices, e.g. Android or iPhone
- Augmented Reality, e.g. MS Hololens
- Ticket vending machines
- Command line interfaces, text editors
What are the examples of User Interface
- GUI of any app or system, e.g. of search engine, or PowerPoint
- Voice user interface in a smart speaker (e.g. Alexa)
- Buttons, switches, wheels and levers in a cockpit
- Control panel of everyday devices, e.g. microwave oven, alarm clock
How do user interfaces impact us?
- The design of the user interface and of the interaction determines how we use products and services
- What we can do with a product, service, or
app - How easy or hard it is to work with a piece
of software - How quickly we learn to use a system
- How safe a product or system is to use
- What we can do with a product, service, or
- The user interface is the part of a system that we actually experience
- It determines our performance with the
system - It determines how we feel about the system
- It determines our performance with the
What is Utility?
What a system (device, product, app…) enables the user to do.
- The tasks they can complete in interaction with a system
- For a given goal, utility is an essential quality
What is Usability?
How well a user can use a system to achieve their goals
- This can different aspects
- How easy or difficult is the system to learn and use? How efficient and effective is the user interface? How safe is the operation of the system?
What is User Experience (UX)?
The actual experience of using a system
- How it behaves and what it feels like when we use it
- Utility and usability are fundamental for a good user experience
- But the user experience also depends on social and emotional factors
The economic relevance of HCI
- Products that are easy to use are good for business
- Improving usability can
a. Increase productivity of users – completing task more efficiently
b. Reduce costs - less training and less support needed
c. Increases sales / revenue (online shopping)
d. Enhance customer loyalty - dissatisfied user will not come back - Usability is often considered a sign of quality
- Usability can provide a competitive advantage
What are the things that are beneficial for business when improving usability?
a. Increase productivity of users – completing tasks more efficiently
b. Reduce costs - less training and less support needed
c. Increases sales/revenue (online shopping)
d. Enhance customer loyalty - dissatisfied users will not come back
Why Usability can be a discriminating factor?
With new media, there are many products that offer the similar functionality at similar price,
the user interface can becomes the discriminating factor when considering:
- Is your service or app easier to use?
- Can users get their tasks done faster?
- Do they have a better experience during the interaction?
