Week 9-RF Lecture

Question 1

Define Human-Computer interface

Answer 1

the in-between where information and control passes from the machine to the human and vice versa (how the person experiences the computer e.g.applications,layout/menu, components,functionality etc,)

Question 2

What does the interface include?

Answer 2

the full range of experiences on the user’s part with all aspects of the computer + full range of input to the computer from all sensors, input devices, networks, and databases.

Question 3

What does cognitive science blend?

Answer 3

psychology, language, artificial intelligence, philosophy and anthropology (human societies/cultures and their development)

Question 4

Define loop of interaction

Answer 4

the flow of information

Question 5

Define task environment

Answer 5

the conditions, goals and constraints (typically TE relates to humans)

Question 6

Define machine environment

Answer 6

connected to other machines (e.g. office laptop connected to company network)

Question 7

Define areas of interface

Answer 7

flow/overlap of information and control between humans and machines (e.g. the in between such as input/output flow)

Question 8

Define input flow

Answer 8

execution of an intention from humans (combo of knowledge and experience of the user, clarity of input method, required step numbers and difficulty of each step)

Question 9

Define output flow

Answer 9

info received and evaluated by humans

Question 10

Define feedback loops

Answer 10

evaluation, moderation and confirmation of processes as they pass through human, interface and machine

Question 11

Define software psychology

Answer 11

establishing the usefulness of a behavioural approach to understand software design, programming and the usage of interactive systems additionally, motivating and guiding system developers to consider human characteristics.

Question 12

What are the 2 main roles of a psychologist?

Answer 12

1.to produce a general description of human beings interacting with systems and software which developers could use as a guideline
2.verify directly the usability of systems and software as (typically after) they were developed

Question 13

What is the Waterfall model?

Answer 13

-a straight linear process following a “computer-centred” approach by focusing on the efficiency of the software and computer working together.
-designers work on a single requirement at a time, embody it in a scenario of user interaction to understand it, reason and develop a partial solution to address it, and then test the partial solution.

Question 14

What leading idea is the waterfall model based on?

Answer 14

the idea that designers often need to do design to adequately understand design problems.

Question 15

What is the main limitation of the waterfall model?

Answer 15

despite including input/output operations for human users, it doesn’t consider human needs and individual differences.

other design interface models are required to include user participation in the design and emphases on user-interface metaphors for presenting novel functionality through familiar concepts as a result.

Question 16

What research does cognitive models come from?

Answer 16

research on sensation and perception, memory, cognitive information processing, attention, problem-solving and language.

Question 17

What do cognitive models focus on?

Answer 17

focuses on the task performed as a function of human-computer interaction and has involved task specification and assessment of user performance.
These models help us predict how humans will perform when given specific tasks using a particular interface.

Question 18

What are the processes in the cognitive model?

Answer 18

psychical activities=humans provide the input information to a computer
mental activities=perceive, evaluate and interpret the output information from the computer.

Question 19

What can Goals, Operators, Methods and Selection (GOMS) be used for?

Answer 19

can be used for designers to decide between alternative designs to determine which one is better through task performance comparisons.
these models rely heavily on task analysis, which breaks down the task and the elements required to complete the task into subtasks, including both mental and physical operations.

Question 20

What is GOMS?

Answer 20

GOMS is one of the models that attempt to specify the steps to perform a task and the procedure used to generate the steps. This relies on the rule application and problem-solving strategies and employs a representation of both the task to be performed and the cognitive system of the user performing the task.

Question 21

Define operators

Answer 21

-perceptual, motor or cognitive actions used to accomplish goals. (usually in terms of actions at the human-computer interface e.g., red line underneath a word in a word document to determine that the word is not correctly spelt)

-Operators are not decomposable, each operator takes a certain amount of time to be perceived and be executable by humans. If the model lists all operators required to complete a task, one can add up the times to see how long it takes.

Question 22

What’s a method in relation to GOMS?

Answer 22

the procedures used to accomplish the goals. They’re procedures learned by the user determining the sequence of subgoals and/or operators that will accomplish the goal e.g., double-clicking the word and pressing the “Delete” key in Microsoft word.

Question 23

What’s selection in relation to GOMS?

Answer 23

Selection rules specify which method should be selected to satisfy a particular goal based on the context. Selection rules are conditional “if, then, else” statements. (“if the text to be deleted is one word, use the double-click delete method, else use the mouse down, drag over text, mouse up, delete method”)