Human Computer Interface Design

Course Code: ITU O7409

Lecturer: Mutama, S
Msc. IT With Security

Email: isaac.mutama@ifm.ac.tz
Office # : 615 Block A
 Course Assessment
Academic year 2019 – 2020

Written Final examination – 60%

Continuous Assessment- CW – 40%

CW components by weight
One comprehensive written test (18%)
Class group project assignments (22%)
NO SPECIAL TEST
 HCI Design
•Human-computer interface Design (HCI
Design ) is:
•Human-Computer Interface Design seeks to discover
the most efficient way to design understandable
electronic messages
•HCI design focuses on proper design of menus, icons,
forms, as well as data display and entry screens.
•NB
•Study shows that 85% people use mobile devices more that 8
hours in a day.
•80% of us we interact with our mobile devices as the first thing
we do in the morning and the last thing before we go to sleep
•This has a tremendous impact in communicating electronic
messages hence designing
 Goal of HCI

Is to enhance the easy to use

interfaces between humans
and computer systems
 Computers
Huge range of types of computers and types of
applications – HCI Design is a concern for all of them

Desktop PCs
Airport control
systems
Wireless Devices Smart fridges
Laptops
Medical systems
Smart cities
Smart cars
Smart phones Web applications
GPS devices
Smart technologies
Disciplines contributing to HCI
Design
• Major disciplines contributing to HCI

– Computer Sciences

– Cognitive Psychology

– Ergonomics and Human Factors

Cognitive Psychology and HCI

• Concerned with understanding human

behaviour and underlying mental processes

• Cognitive psychology refers to ‘information

processing’. How we process and interpret
information
 Ergonomics and HCI
• Human factors

• Concerned with the capacities and

capabilities of users

• Ergonomist must produce a design which

is appropriate for users

• Sample concerns: Workstation design,

readability of information on VDUs,
repetitive strain injury etc
Ergonomics and HCI: examples
• arrangement of controls and displays
e.g. controls grouped according to function
or frequency of use, or sequentially
• surrounding environment
e.g. seating arrangements adaptable to cope with all sizes
of user

• health issues
e.g. physical position, lighting, noise,
environmental conditions - temperature, humidity

• use of colour
e.g. use of red for warning, green for okay,
awareness of colour-blindness etc.
 Evolution of HCI ‘interfaces’
• 50s - switch panels
• 60-70s - interface at the programming level -
COBOL, FORTRAN
• 70-90s - Interface at the terminal level - command
languages
• 80s - Interface at the interaction dialogue level -
GUIs, multimedia
• 90s - Interface at the work setting - networked
systems, groupware
• 00s - Interface becomes pervasive
– Bluetooth technology, mobile devices, consumer
electronics, interactive screens, embedded
technology & Systems
– Smart technologies and AI systems
– Voice guided apps, virtual Reality and
wearable/inplants
Example of bad and good design
• Elevator controls and labels on the bottom row
all look the same, so it is easy to push a label
by mistake instead of a control button

• People do not make same mistake for the

labels and buttons on the top row. Why not?

From: www.baddesigns.com
Why is this vending machine so bad?
•Need to push button
first to activate
reader
•Normally insert bill
first before making
selection
•Contravenes well
known convention

From: www.baddesigns.com
 What time is it?

From: www.baddesigns.com
 How much is the petrol?

From: www.baddesigns.com
 Lecture Topics ITU 07409
• Users
• Usability Guidelines, Theories & Principles
• Design Process
• Screen Design
• Tools
• Application Areas
 The User

The user is the most important entity of

the system
 The User

The User

Nature Human
of User Considerations
 The User

The User

Nature Human
of User Considerations
 Nature of User

•Many different categories of users,

impossible to consider all

User Groups

Computer skills Disabilities Age Cultural

& knowledge

Nature of User
 User Groups
•Users vary with respect to:
•Computer skills & knowledge
•Non-discretionary
•Discretionary
•Novice
•Expert

•Age
•Ageing user
•Young user

•Disabilities
•Physically disabled
•Cognitively impaired

•Culture

Nature of User
 Computer Skills & Knowledge

•Nondiscretionary Users
•computer is part of employment
•time and effort in learning to use computer are willing
invested
•high motivation is often used to overcome low usability
characteristics
•may posses technical background
•job may consist of single task or function
•bad design measured by productivity

•Flight reservations clerk, programmer etc.

Nature of User
 Computer Skills & Knowledge

•Discretionary Users
•more self-directed, not told how to work
•it’s the results, not the means that are more important
•utilisation of system not necessary
•will not invest extra effort to use the system
•technical details of no interest
•does not show high motivation to use system
•is easily disenchanted
•voluntary use must be encouraged
•multifunction knowledge worker

Nature of User
 Computer Skills & Knowledge

Impact on Design

Nondiscretionary Discretionary
Productivity is the most important Interface is extremely important,
factor first impression of the system

Interface is still important, but the Must cater for many different
user will be willing to invest time user types
and money for training
Must sell your product to user
Niche application area, one type
of user If system is not perceived as
achieving results with minimum
Post times has little choice with effort, may be refused
regards to using the system
May not need system
Nature of User
 Computer Skills & Knowledge

• Novices - learning a skill for the first time

Practice and Experience

• Experts – can perform the task automatically

without having to consciously think about each
move

Nature of User
 Computer Skills & Knowledge
Impact on Design
Novice Users Expert Users
System features should assist Rely upon free recall
recognition memory - menus,
prompts, help screens need less information
feedback
Need restricted vocabularies,
simple tasks, small number of Seek efficiency by
possibilities and information bypassing novice memory
feedback aids, reducing keystrokes
and summarising
View practice as an aid to information
moving up to expert status

Nature of User
 Computer Skills & Knowledge

Knowledgeable
Novice Expert
Intermittent
User User User

•User population is spread out between the two

extremes, e.g.,
•The knowledgeable intermittent user -
•has stable task concepts and a broad knowledge of interface concepts
•May have difficulty retaining the structure of menus or feature locations

•May vary between different parts of the system

•May be expert in one aspect, but novice in another

Nature of User
 Computer Skills & Knowledge

Impact on Design
•A well designed system must support novice
and expert behaviour at the same time
•Also must support all levels of behaviour in
between the two extremes such as the
knowledgeable intermittent user

Nature of User
 Age
Ageing User
mobility vision

Impairments hearing
memory
due to age

Loss of confidence
Difficulty in orientation
Absorption of information

Nature of User
 Age
Ageing User
Design Guidelines (Hawthorn, 2003)
•Simplify screen design
•Provide users with simple linear search spaces with few
options
•Increase size of fonts and controls
•Reduce both windows management tasks and scrolling
•Ensure contrast between text and background
•Menus can introduce problems, toolbars may be an
alternative

Nature of User
 Age
Young User
•Children are active learners drawing on physical and
social experiences
•Learn by doing
•Require something that they can see, touch and hear
•Prior to the age of 8, children are pre-operational i.e.
they rely on visual and auditory perception for
knowledge
•Knowledge is usually learned through first hand
experience

Nature of User
 Age
Young User
Design Guidelines (Wyeth & Purchase, 2003):
• Activities are open-ended and discovery-oriented,
children can be actively involved in the learning
process
•Interaction encourages child-initiated play
•Experiences involve active manipulation and
transformation of real materials
•Entry-level knowledge and skill is kept to a minimum
•Provision is made for children’s varied skill and ability
levels
•Construction activities that involve design, creation
and evaluation processes form the basis of interactions
Nature of User
 Disabilities

• Designers must plan early to accommodate users

with disabilities
• Needs are more critical
• Disabled users can be categorized as follows:

• Physically disabled users

• Cognitively disabled users

Nature of User
 Disabilities

Physically Disabled
• Impairments can include lack of mobility, low
vision, blind and hearing

• Alternative channels of interactions:

• Speech recognition
• Tune recognition
• Lip-reading
• Body-electric sensors

• The more sophisticated and complex a system is,

the more specialized its target group gets

Nature of User
 Disabilities
Physically Disabled (cont.)
Design Guidelines (Nielsen, 1995)
• Provide keyboard access to application features
• Follow key-mapping guidelines or the local environment
• Provide keyboard and mouse access to functions
• Avoid placing frequently used functions deep in a menu
structure
• Do not hard-code application colours, graphic attributes
or font sizes and styles
• Provide visual information that is redundant with audible
information
• Allow users to configure frequency and volume of
audible cues

Nature of User
 Disabilities
Cognitively Disabled

• Examples of cognitive impairments would be

learning disabilities, dyslexia and poor
memory

• Changes can be made to accommodate these

users by improving layouts, controlling
vocabulary, and limiting short-term memory
demand

Nature of User
 Disabilities
Cognitively Disabled
• Lewis (2004) made the following observations on
these users:
• The top value for many people with cognitive disabilities is
social inclusion
• Access to information is critical to social inclusion and
increasingly reliant on technology
• Some research shows that these users have the same
problems with web-sites as other users but with greater
severity
• Access to textual information is difficult
• Advances in language technology should be applied to text
simplification
• Access to human companionship and support is important

Nature of User
 Culture

• Cultural and international diversity

• Characters, numerals, special characters, and diacriticals
• Left-to-right versus right-to-left versus vertical input and reading
• Date and time formats
• Numeric and currency formats
• Weights and measures
• Telephone numbers and addresses
• Names and titles (Mr., Ms., Mme.)
• Social-security, national identification, and passport numbers
• Capitalization and punctuation
• Sorting sequences
• Icons, buttons, colors
• Pluralization, grammar, spelling
• Etiquette, policies, tone, formality, metaphors

Nature of User
Questions?

38
 Summary of Lecture
• Introduction to the subject of HCI
• User types
• Computer skills & knowledge
• Non-discretionary
• Discretionary
• Novice
• Expert
• Age
• Ageing
• Young
• Disabilities
• Physically disabled
• Cognitively impaired
• Culture

Nature of User
 Terms of Reference
• Preece, J. et al. (2002) Interaction Design
• Shneiderman, B. & Plaisant, C. (2005) Designing
the User Interface
• Benyon, D. et al (2005) Designing Interactive
Systems
• Wyeth, P. & Purchase, H. (2003) Using
Developmental Theories to Inform the Design of
Technology for Children
• Hawthorn, D. (2003) How Universal is Good
Design for Older Users
• Nielsen, J. (1995) Advances in Human-Computer
Interaction

References