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Introduction to
Human-
Computer
Interaction
By Sanie Bautista
Human-Computer
Interaction
What's in this unit?
In this Unit course you will learn:
• Human computer interaction (HCI) models, styles, and various
historic HCI paradigms.
• Explain the capabilities of both humans and computers form the
viewpoint of human information processing.
This Unit consists of 4 topics:
1. The human capabilities
2. The computer
3. The interaction
4. HCI paradigms

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The Human
Humans good at:
• Sensing low level stimuli,
• pattern recognition,
• Inductive reasoning,
• multiple strategies,
• adapting “Hard and fuzzy things”.
• Individual user, a group of users working together, a sequence of
users in an organization

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The Computer
• Computers good at: Counting and measuring, accurate storage and
recall, rapid and consistent responses, data processing/calculation,
repetitive actions, performance over time, “Simple and sharply
defined things”.
• Desktop computer, large-scale computer system, Pocket PC,
embedded system (e.g., photocopier, microwave oven), software
(e.g., search engine, word processor)

• User interface: Parts of the computer that the user contacts with.

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The Interaction
• The list of skills is somewhat complementary. Let humans do what
humans do best and computers do what computers do best.

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WHAT IS HCI?
a. not primarily the study of human
b. not primarily the study of Computer
c. the study of bridge between them, which includes:
• Observation of interactions between people & computers
• Analysis of the involved interactions (Are all the steps
involved necessary?)
• Human consequences after interacting with computers (Can
the user perform his task? Does he enjoy working with the
computer?)

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• ACM: discipline concerned with
the design, evaluation and implementation of interactive
computing systems for human use and with the study of
major phenomena surrounding them (1992)
• Dix: “HCI is study of people, computer technology and the
ways these influence each other. we study HCI to determine
how we can make this computer technology more usable by
people” (1998)
• Carroll: “HCI is the study and practice of usability. It is about
understanding and creating software and other technology
that people will want to use, will be able to use, and will find
effective when used.” (2002)

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WHY HCI?
• In the past, computers were expensive & used by technical people
only
• Now, computers are cheap and used by non-technical people
(different backgrounds, needs, knowledge, skills)
• Computer and software manufacturers have noticed the importance
of making computers “user-friendly”: easy to use, save people
time, etc.

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HCI Scope
• Use & Context: Find application areas for computers.
• Human: Study psychological & physiological aspects e.g., study
how a user learns to use a new product, study human typing speed.
• Computer: Hardware & software offered e.g., input & output
devices, speed, interaction styles, computer graphics.
• Development: Design, implementation & evaluation.

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PRINCIPLES of Human-Computer Interaction

1. “Know thy User”

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4. Strive for consistency
• consistency and familiarity lead to higher acceptability and
preference
5. Remind users and refresh their memory
• Any significant task will involve the use of memory, so
another good strategy is to employ interfaces that give
continuous reminders of important information and thereby
refresh the user’s memory.
6. Prevent errors or reversal of action
• the interaction and interface should be designed to avoid
confusion and mental overload (ex. reaffirming user’s action,
presenting only the relevant information at a given time,
making the user comfortable by always allowing an easy
reversal of action)

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7. Naturalness
• Naturalness refers to a trait that is reflective of various operations
in our everyday life
8. Ease of learning
• the system should be easy to learn so that the user can rapidly start
getting some work done with the system
9. Memorability
• Interfaces that have high memorability will be easier to learn and
use. Factors which affect memorability include:
Location: It will be easier to remember if a particular object is
placed in a consistent location, e.g., always putting the search
box in the upper right-hand corner of a Web page
Logical grouping: It will be easier to remember if things are
grouped logically, e.g., putting related options together in a
menu
Conventions: Conventional objects and symbols will be easier
to remember, e.g., shopping cart symbol

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10. Simplicity
If things are simple, they will be easy to understand and thus easy to learn and
remember.
• Progressive disclosure – Show the user only what is necessary
• Constraints – Involve limiting the actions that can be performed in a
particular design.
11. Flexibility
Allow more user control & accommodates variations in user skill and
preferences, i.e., give users choices.
12. Responsiveness
Computer should respond immediately to a user’s input or inform the user when
long delays are unavoidable.
13. Invisible Technology
No need to know the technical details.
14. Control
Users should feel more in control if the interface is passive.
15. WYSIWYG
What You See Is What You Get.

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HCI GOALS
Safety
• - protecting the user from dangerous conditions and undesirable
situations.
Users
• - Nuclear energy plant or bomb-disposal – operators should interact
with computer-based systems remotely.
• - Medical equipment in intensive care unit (ICU).
Data
• - prevent user from making serious errors by reducing risk of wrong
keys/buttons being mistakenly activated
• - provide user with means of recovering errors
• - ensure privacy (protect personal information such as habits and
address) & security (protect sensitive information such as passwords,
VISA card numbers).

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Utility
• extent of providing the right kind of functionality so that users
can do what they need or want to do.
Effectiveness
• concern a user’s ability to accomplish a desired goal or to
carry out work.
“Consider the scenario: a shopping Web provides all the
information, instruction and server-side support required to
perform an on-line purchase. However, the users cannot figure out
how to find the items they want to buy.”

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Efficiency
• a measure of how quickly users can accomplish their goals or
finish their work using the system
Usability
• ease of learning and ease of use
• Can I use the basic functions of a new digital camera without
reading the manual?
• Does the software facilitate us to learn new functions easily?
Appeal
• how well the user likes the system
• First impression
• Long-term satisfaction