Lecture 1 - Introduction to HCI

HCI Definition

Human-Computer Interaction is a discipline

concerned with the design, evaluation and
implementation of interactive computer systems
for human use and with the study of the major
phenomena surrounding them.
 An Interaction Definition

“Human-Computer Interaction is a set of

processes, dialogues, and actions through
which a human user employs and interacts
with a computer.”
 A Working Definition

• Understanding and supporting more efficient, effective

and enjoyable interaction with computer systems
by
employing a Human-Centered perspective to design
systems to fit human needs and capabilities, rather
than expecting users to adapt themselves to the
capabilities of a computer system
•
A Historical Perspective
• Pre 1980s

• Computers cost $$$$$$$

• Operators are trained to use IMSAI 8080: one of the first home
microcomputers computers ~1975
them

• Useful tasks

• Interfaces suit engineering

 Pre 1980’s “HCI”
• Some examples of what we would now refer to as HCI

• Ivan Sutherland (1963) invents sketchpad

• Douglas Engelbart (~1968) invents the mouse

• hypertext, on-line collaboration… etc.

• Xerox Alto (1973) First WIMP GUI

The Mother of All Demos (1968) https://youtu.be/yJDv-zdhzMY

 The 1980’s
• The IBM PC is launched

• Cheap ($1565)

• Computers start to be adopted in offices for

everyday work

• Typing, databases, financials

• Starts to show the deficiency in the User Interface

• Leads to foundation of Human-Computer

Interaction to study how to make computers fit
people better
Wordstar Most popular word processing application
in early 1980s
 1980s HCI
• First Wave HCI

• Multidisciplinary Collaboration

• Computer Scientists

• Cognitive Scientists

• Psychologist

• Engineers

• Focused on Users and User Dimensions

• Strictly focuses on interaction between computer and user

• Usability testing

• E.g. can the user change the font of the text. ACM CHI 1982: The first
conference on HCI
 1990s

• Computers get cheaper

• All offices have them

• Most employees have one on their desk

• Go Mobile

• The Internet Happens!

 1990s
• Second Wave HCI

• Still Multidisciplinary

• Social Scientists

• Sociologists

• More focus on context

Phantom Haptic Device - Sensable 1997
• How do computers fit into the wider work context?

• Birth of CSCW

• Begin to consider users as participants in the design of technology

• Incorporates needs, wants desires rather than just objective capabilities

• More Future thinking

• What human-capabilites are computers not exploiting (Audio, Touch)?

• What about accessibility, inclusiveness?

 2000’s+

• Super Cheap Computers, Super Powerful

• Expansion well outside of work

• Fitness, Games, etc.

• True Mobility

• Invades all parts of our lives

 2000+
• Third Wave HCI

• Greater focus on computer use in “rest of life” - outside work

• How people appropriate and use computers

• Greater emphasis on playful, pleasurable interaction

• Brings in designers, artists

• Questions “usability as a final goal” leads to User Experience (UX)

• Increasing Importance as technology moves into more parts of our lives

 What is HCI?
• The Goals of HCI

• Understands how people use computers in all of life

• Identifies where computers can meet needs, both individual and

societal

• Works to make interaction with computers easier, more efficient,

pleasurable and inclusive

• Carries these out in a multi-disciplinary way, employing diverse

techniques as appropriate, putting the needs of people first.
 CHI+Med
• Computer Human Interaction for Medical Devices

• Studied Infusion pumps (and other medical devices) in multiple ways

• Differences between assumed and actual use

• Can’t get easily at required information

• Need workarounds

• Key errors and slips not guarded against

• Impact of context (distractions)

• Lack of reporting on “user errors” in reports

• Many instances where users had been harmed by “user error”

based on design
 Taken from Norman D (1998) The Design of Everyday Things. MIT Press

• Poor HCI requires people to adapt. Lots of situations where that is

really undesirable
 Society/Legal
• We don’t always have a choice in using a computer or not

• Can all the people that need to use it do so correctly?

Apps
iPod vs Creative Nomad

$399 $299

Same thing, one worked (for people) much better

 The World Changes
• Don’t consider HCI as restrictive.

• Technologies mature, make new things possible

• Smartphones

• Those things make other things possible

• Uber, IoT?

• Makes understanding how these are used, and what they might offer even more important.

• Pizza et al (2016) Smartwatch in Vivo, Proceedings CHI 2016, ACM Press

• What do new technologies offer people?

• Lopes, P., Ion, A., Baudisch, P. Impacto: Simulating Physical Impact by Combining
Tactile Stimulation with Electrical Muscle Stimulation. In Proc. UIST'15. pp. 11-19.

• There is a distinction between practitioner and research.

 Some Definitions

• Human-Computer Interaction

• Usability

• User Experience (UX)

• Interaction Design
 Usability

• ISO defines usability as

• "The extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with
effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use."

• Usability is a qualitative attribute that assesses how easy user interfaces are to use (later).

• Leads to Usability Methods - Ways to improve ease of use through the Design Process
 Interaction Design

• The process of getting to a user experience, designing what

functions should be supported and how those should be effectively
designed.

• E.g. What should the User Interface to a smartwatch do, and how
should it work

• Leads to Interaction Designer

 User Experience (UX)
• Coined by Don Norman (1980’s)

• Wide ranging, covers the whole experience around the product.

• Buying, receiving, unboxing etc.

• Is it fun, enjoyable, engaging, frustrating, helpful, fun, supportive, motivating

• But often focused on how the product makes you feel

• Think Sodexo vs High-End Restaurant

• Usability vs Experience
 A Model of Human Computer
Interaction
Context

Input

Output

A “User” A “Computer”
 Norman’s 7 Stage Model
Gulf of
Goals Execution
Sequence of Execution of the
A “Computer”
Intention to Act
Actions Action Sequence

Evaluation of Interpreting the Perceiving the

Interpretation Perception State of the World

A “User”
Gulf of
Evaluation
 Norman’s 7-Stage Model
• A HIP Model of interaction

• Human-Information Processing

• But there are some drawbacks

• Humans are not Databases

• Arose from Laboratory Studies

• Assumes we are alone in the world

What should we be thinking about in
Interaction?
• PACT (Benyon, 2005)

• People

• Actions

• Context

• Technologies
 People
• Who will use the service/system?

• In what ways are they the same as each other?

• Cultural

• Age

• Ability/Disability

• both physical and mental

• In what ways are they different?

• usually called “the user”

 Activities
• Simple, atomic or longer term

• buying a ticket vs writing a report

• Temporal Aspects

• frequency, time pressure, interuptions

• How defined is the objective

• Buy a ticket vs Book a Holiday

• What about cooperation

• What different activities can you think of that do this?

 Context
• Activities always happen in a context

• Physical Context

• Social Context

• Alone, with others, expertise?

• Organisational Context

• Rules and Relationships matter

 Technologies

• Software + Hardware

• Important to consider the People,

Activities and Context

• Some technologies may be

inappropriate, unsuitable
Julie Rico and Stephen Brewster. 2010. Usable gestures for mobile
• E.g. gestures interfaces: evaluating social acceptability. In Proceedings of the
SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI
'10). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 887-896. DOI=http://dx.doi.org/
10.1145/1753326.1753458
 PACT
• PACT provides a good way to both scope a problem, and to identify where
knowledge is lacking

• Each stage can use a range of techniques:

• Brainstorming

• Interviews

• Observations

• But a good way to understand what questions you should be asking when
designing a Human-Computer Interface.