CHAPTER 3 :

UNDERSTANDIN
G USERS
Lecturer Name: Suhaila binti
Khalip
Email: suhaila@msu.edu.my
Phone No: 017-5863896
 1. What is
cognition?
2. Cognitive
frameworks
TOPICS 3. Social
interaction
4. Emotional
interaction
2
 Insert Image 1. Explain what cognition is and why it is
important for interaction design.
2. Discuss what attention is and its
effects on our ability to multitask
TOPIC 3. Describe how memory can be
enhanced through technology aids
OUTCOME 4.
5.
Explain what mental model are
Show the difference between classic
internal cognitive frameworks and
more recent external cognitive
approach that have been applied to
3
HCI
INTRODUCTION

• Interacting with technology is cognitive

• We need to take into account cognitive processes involved and
cognitive limitations of users
• We can provide knowledge about what users can and cannot be
expected to do
• Identify and explain the nature and causes of problems users
encounter
• Supply theories, modelling tools, guidance and methods that
can lead to the design of better interactive products
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WHAT IS COGNITION?
WHAT IS COGNITION

• Cognition is what goes on in our heads when we carry out our everyday
activities.
• It involves cognitive processes, like thinking, remembering, learning,
daydreaming, decision making, seeing, reading, writing and talking.
• Psychological processes involved in acquisition and understanding of
knowledge, formation of beliefs and attitudes, and decision making and
problem solving.
• They are distinct from emotional and volitional processes involved in wanting
and intending.

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CORE COGNITIVE ASPECTS
Cognition has also been described in terms of specific kinds of
processes. These include:

1. Attention
2. Perception and recognition
3. Memory
4. Reading, speaking and listening
5. Problem-solving, planning, reasoning and decision-making, learning
Most relevant to interaction design are attention, perception and recognition,
and memory

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ATTENTION

• The process of selecting things to concentrate on at a point in time from the mass
of stimuli around us
• Allows us to focus on information that is relevant to what we are doing
• Involves audio and/or visual senses
• The extent to which this process is easy or difficult depends on (i) whether we have
clear goals and (ii) whether the information we need is salient in the environment.
• Focussed and divided attention enables us to be selective in terms of the mass of
competing stimuli but limits our ability to keep track of all events
• Information at the interface should be structured to capture users’ attention, e.g.
use perceptual boundaries (windows), colour, reverse video, sound and flashing
lights
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DESIGN IMPLICATIONS FOR ATTENTION

• Make information salient when it needs attending to

• Use techniques that make things stand out like colour, ordering, spacing,
underlining, sequencing and animation
• Avoid cluttering the interface
• follow the google.com example of crisp, simple design

• Avoid using too much because the software allows it

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PERCEPTION AND RECOGNITION

• Refers to how information is acquired from the environment via the different
sense organs – eyes, ears, fingers – and transformed into experiences of
objects, events, sounds, and tastes (Roth, 1986)
• Obvious implication is to design representations that are readily perceivable,
e.g.
• Text should be legible
• Icons should be easy to distinguish and read

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DESIGN IMPLICATIONS

• Representations of information need to be designed to be perceptible and

recognizable
• Icons and other graphical representations should enable users to readily
distinguish their meaning
• Bordering and spacing are effective visual ways of grouping information
• Sounds should be audible and distinguishable
• Speech output should enable users to distinguish between the set of spoken
words
• Text should be legible and distinguishable from the background

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MEMORY

• Involves recalling various kinds of knowledge that allow us to act

appropriately.
• We don’t remember everything
• involves filtering and processing what is attended to

• Context is important in affecting our memory (i.e., where, when)

• Well known fact that we recognize things much better than being able to
recall things
• Better at remembering images than words
• Why interfaces are largely visual

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PROCESSING IN MEMORY

• Encoding is first stage of memory

• determines which information is attended to in the environment and how it is
interpreted

• The more attention paid to something,

• And the more it is processed in terms of thinking about it and comparing it
with other knowledge,
• The more likely it is to be remembered
• e.g., when learning about HCI, it is much better to reflect upon it, carry out
exercises, have discussions with others about it, and write notes than just passively
read a book, listen to a lecture or watch a video about it

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CONTEXT IS IMPORTANT

• Context affects the extent to which information can be subsequently

retrieved
• Sometimes it can be difficult for people to recall information that was
encoded in a different context
• e.g., You are on a train and someone comes up to you and says hello. You don’t
recognize him for a few moments but then realize it is one of your neighbours. You
are only used to seeing your neighbour in the hallway of your apartment block and
seeing him out of context makes him difficult to recognize initially

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RECOGNITION VERSUS RECALL

• Command-based interfaces require users to recall from memory a name

from a possible set of 100s
• GUIs provide visually-based options that users need only browse through
until they recognize one
• Web browsers, MP3 players, etc., provide lists of visited URLs, song titles
etc., that support recognition memory

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THE PROBLEM WITH THE CLASSIC ‘7+2’

• George Miller’s theory of how much information people can remember

• People’s immediate memory capacity is very limited
• Many designers have been led to believe that this is useful finding for
interaction design

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WHAT SOME DESIGNERS GET UP TO…

According to a survey by Bailey (2000), several designers have been led to believe
the following guidelines and have even created interfaces based on them:
• Present only 7 options on a menu
• Display only 7 icons on a tool bar
• Have no more than 7 bullets in a list
• Place only 7 items on a pull down menu
• Place only 7 tabs on the top of a website page

But this is wrong? Why?

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WHY?

• Inappropriate application of the theory

• People can scan lists of bullets, tabs, menu items till they see the one they
want
• They don’t have to recall them from memory having only briefly heard or
seen them
• Sometimes a small number of items is good design
• But it depends on task and available screen estate

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PERSONAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

• Personal information management (PIM) is a growing problem for most users

• Who have vast numbers of documents, images, music files, video clips, emails,
attachments, bookmarks, etc.,
• Major problem is deciding where and how to save them all, then remembering what
they were called and where to find them again
• Naming most common means of encoding them
• Trying to remember a name of a file created some time back can be very difficult,
especially when have 1000s and 1000s
• How might such a process be facilitated taking into account people’s memory
abilities?

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PERSONAL INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

• Memory involves 2 processes

• recall-directed and recognition-based scanning

• File management systems should be designed to optimize both kinds of

memory processes
• e.g., Search box and history list

• Help users encode files in richer ways

• Provide them with ways of saving files using colour, flagging, image, flexible text,
time stamping, etc

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DESIGN IMPLICATIONS

• Don’t overload users’ memories with complicated procedures for carrying

out tasks
• Design interfaces that promote recognition rather than recall
• Provide users with a variety of ways of encoding digital information to help
them remember where they have stored them
• e.g., categories, color, flagging, time stamping

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READING, SPEAKING, AND LISTENING

• Three forms of language processing that have similar and different

properties.
• Many applications have been developed either to capitalize on people's
reading, writing, and listening skills, or to support or replace them where
they lack or have difficulty with them. This includes:
• Interactive books and web-based materials that help people to read or learn foreign
languages.
• Speech-recognition systems that allow users to interact with them by using spoken
commands (e.g. word-processing dictation, Google Voice Search app, and home
control devices that respond to vocalized requests).
• Customized input and output devices that allow people with various disabilities to
have access to the web and use word processors and other software packages.
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DESIGN IMPLICATIONS

• Keep the length of speech-based menus and instructions to a minimum.

Research has shown that people find it hard to follow spoken menus with
more than three or four options. Likewise, they are bad at remembering sets
of instructions and directions that have more than a few parts.
• Accentuate the intonation of artificially generated speech voices, as they are
harder to understand than human voices.
• Provide opportunities for making text large on a screen, without affecting the
formatting, for people who find it hard to read small text.

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PROBLEM SOLVING, PLANNING,
REASONING, AND DECISION MAKING
• Are processes involving reflective cognition.
• They include thinking about what to do, what the options are, and what the
consequences might be of carrying out a given action.
• They often involve conscious processes (being aware of what one is thinking
about), discussion with others (or oneself), and the use of various kinds of
artifacts (e.g. maps, books, pen and paper).

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DESIGN IMPLICATIONS

• Provide additional hidden information that is easy to access for users who
wish to understand more about how to carry out an activity more effectively
(e.g. web searching).
• Use simple and memorable functions at the interface for computational aids
intended to support rapid decision making and planning that takes place
while on the move.

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COGNITIVE FRAMEWORKS
TOPIC 3: COGNITIVE FRAMEWORKS

• A number of conceptual frameworks and theories have been

developed to explain and predict user behaviour based on theories of
cognition. These are:
• Internal
• Mental models
• Gulfs of execution and evaluation
• Information processing

• External
• Distributed cognition
• External cognition
• Embodied interaction
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MENTAL MODELS

• Users develop an understanding of a system through learning

and using it
• Knowledge is often described as a mental model
• How to use the system (what to do next)
• What to do with unfamiliar systems or unexpected situations (how the
system works)

• People make inferences using mental models of how to carry

out tasks

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ACTIVITY

a) You arrive home on a cold winter’s night to a cold house. How

do you get the house to warm up as quickly as possible? Set
the thermostat to be at its highest or to the desired
temperature?
b) You arrive home starving hungry. You look in the fridge and
find all that is left is an uncooked pizza. You have an electric
oven. Do you warm it up to 375 degrees first and then put it in
(as specified by the instructions) or turn the oven up higher to
try to warm it up quicker?

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HEATING UP A ROOM OR OVEN THAT IS THERMOSTAT-CONTROLLED
(ACTIVITY)

• Many people have erroneous mental models (Kempton, 1996)

• Why?
• General valve theory, where ‘more is more’ principle is generalised to
different settings (e.g. gas pedal, gas cooker, tap, radio volume)
• Thermostats based on model of on-off switch model

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HEATING UP A ROOM OR OVEN THAT IS THERMOSTAT-CONTROLLED
(ACTIVITY)

• Same is often true for understanding how interactive devices

and computers work:
• Poor, often incomplete, easily confusable, based on inappropriate
analogies and superstition (Norman, 1983)
• e.g. elevators and pedestrian crossings
• lot of people hit the button at least twice
• Why? Think it will make the lights change faster or ensure the elevator
arrives!

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THE GULFS

• The ‘gulfs’ explicate the gaps that exist between the user and
the interface
• The gulf of execution
• the distance from the user to the physical system while the second one

• The gulf of evaluation

• the distance from the physical system to the user

• Need to bridge the gulfs in order to reduce the cognitive effort

required to perform a task

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INFORMATION PROCESSING

• Conceptualizes
human performance
in metaphorical
terms of information
processing stages
• Human information
processing model

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MODEL HUMAN PROCESSOR (CARD ET AL, 1983)

• Models the information processes of a user interacting with a

computer
• Predicts which cognitive processes are involved when a user
interacts with a computer
• Enables calculations to be made of how long a user will take to
carry out a task

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• The human processor model

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DISTRIBUTED COGNITION

• Concerned with the nature of cognitive phenomena across

individuals, artifacts, and internal and external representations
(Hutchins, 1995)
• Describes these in terms of propagation across representational
state
• Information is transformed through different media (computers,
displays, paper, heads)

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WHAT’S INVOLVED

• The distributed problem-solving that takes place

• The role of verbal and non-verbal behavior
• The various coordinating mechanisms that are used (e.g., rules,
procedures)
• The communication that takes place as the collaborative
activity progresses
• How knowledge is shared and accessed

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• A cognitive system which information is propagated through
different media

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EXTERNAL COGNITION

• Concerned with explaining how we interact with external

representations (Scaife and Rogers, 1996)
• e.g. maps, notes, diagrams
• A main goal is to explicate the cognitive benefits of seeing
different representation for different cognitive activities and the
process involved.
• The main ones include:
1. Externalizing to reduce memory load
2. Computational offloading
3. Annotating and cognitive tracing
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EXTERNALIZING TO REDUCE MEMORY LOAD

• Diaries, reminders, calendars, notes, shopping lists, to-do lists

• written to remind us of what to do

• Post-its, piles, marked emails

• where placed indicates priority of what to do

• External representations:
• Remind us that we need to do something (e.g. to buy something for
mother’s day)
• Remind us of what to do (e.g. buy a card)
• Remind us when to do something (e.g. send a card by a certain date)

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COMPUTATIONAL OFFLOADING

• When a tool is used in conjunction with an external

representation to carry out a computation (e.g. pen and paper)
• Try doing the two sums below
(a) in your head,
(b) on a piece of paper and
(c) with a calculator.
• – 234 x 456 =?? – CCXXXIIII x CCCCXXXXXVI = ???
• Which is easiest and why? Both are identical sums
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ANNOTATION AND COGNITIVE TRACING

• Annotation involves modifying existing representations through

making marks
• e.g. crossing off, ticking, underlining

• Cognitive tracing involves externally manipulating items into

different orders or structures
• e.g. playing scrabble, playing cards

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DESIGN IMPLICATION

• Provide external representations at the interface that reduce

memory load and facilitate computational offloading
• e.g. Information visualizations have been designed to allow
people to make sense and rapid decisions about masses of data

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SOCIAL INTERACTION
TOPIC 4: SOCIAL INTERACTION

• Human are inherently social; they live together, work together, learn
together, play together, interact and talk with each other and socialize.
• A fundamental aspect of everyday life is being social – interacting with each
other.
• While face – to – face conversation remain central to may of our social
interactions, the use of social media has dramatically increased.
• Talking is something that is effortless and comes naturally to most people.
• A number of other technologies beside telephone have since been
developed that support synchronous remote conversation, including
videophones, video chat and VOIP.
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SOCIAL INTERACTION

• Social media has led to new ways of communicating and keeping in touch
remotely.
• Another area of research where computer tools and services have been
developed to support people who cannot be physically present during a
meeting or social gathering is telepresence.
• These has been designed to allow a person to feel as if they were present or
to give the appearance that they were present in the other location by
projecting their body movements, actions, voice and facial expressions to
the other location or person.
• Alongside telepresence there has been much interest in co-presence.
Numerous shareable interfaces have been developed to enable more than
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one person to use them at the same time.
SOCIAL INTERACTION

• Technologies are changing the way million of people keep in touch especially
the rend towards perpetual communication where day-to-day activities and
immediate plans are relayed back and fort.
• The internet has also dramatically changed how people find out about and
inform others of event and their news.

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EMOTIONAL INTERACTION
TOPIC 5: EMOTIONAL INTERACTION

• An overarching goal of interaction design is to develop products that elicit

positive responses from users, such as feeling at ease, being comfortable
and enjoying the experience using them.
• Designers are also concerned with how to create interactive product that
elicit specific kinds of emotional responses in users, such as motivating them
to learn, play or be creative or social.
• We refer to this emerging area as emotional interaction.

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EMOTIONAL AND USER EXPERIENCE

• Emotional interaction is concerned with how we feel and react when

interacting with technologies.
• Its cover different aspect of the user experience, from how we feel when first
finding out about a new product to retting rid of it.
• It also looks at why people become emotionally attached to certain product.
• Emotional interaction is about considering what makes us happy, sad,
annoyed, anxious, frustrated, motivated, delirious and so on and translating
this knowledge into different aspects of the user experience.

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EXPRESSIVE INTERFACES

• Expressive forms like emoticons, sound and virtual agents have been used
at the interface to
• Convey emotional state and/or
• Elicit certain kinds of emotional responses in users such as feeling at ease, comfort
and happiness.

• Other ways of conveying the status of a system are through the use of :
• Dynamic icons
• Animations
• Spoken messaging using various kinds of voices, telling the user what needs to be
done
• Various sonifications indicating action and events
• Vibrotactile feedback such as distinct cell phone buzzes that specifically represent
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special message from friends and family
FRUSTRATING INTERFACES

• In many situation, computer interfaces may inadvertently elicit negative

emotional responses, such as anger and disgust,
• The typically happens when something that should be simple to use or set
turns out to be complex.
• Interfaces if designed poorly can make people look stupid or feel insulted or
threatened.
• The effect can be to make them annoyed to the point of losing their tamper.

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MODEL OF EMOTION

• A number of theories of emotion and pleasure have either been imported

from other discipline or developed in interaction design.
• A goal is to help designer understand how people react and respond when in
different contexts and to help them know how to design for or try to reduces
certain emotions.
• Most well known is Norman’s approach to emotional design.
• Theories
• Emotional Design Model
• Pleasure Model
• Technology as Experience Framework

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SUMMARY
• Explained the importance of understanding users especially their cognitive
aspects.
• It has described relevant findings and theories about how people carry out
their everyday activities and how to learn from these when designing
interactive products.
• We also looked at some core aspects of sociality, namely communication and
collaboration.
• Describe the different was interactive products can be designed to make
people respond in certain ways.
• The extent to which users will learn, buy a product online, quit a bad habit or
chat with others depends on how convincing the interface is, how
comfortable they feel when using the product or how much they can rut it.
• If the interactive product is frustrating to use, annoying or patronizing users
will easily become angry and despondent and often stop using it.
• If on the other hand, the product is pleasurable, enjoyable to use and make
people feel comfortable and at ease the they will continues use it to make a
purchase of return to the website or continue learn.