Major project theme

  

Human-Computer interaction

 Human–computer interaction (commonly referred to as HCI) researches the design and use of computer technology, focused on the interfaces between people (users) and computers. Researchers in the field of HCI both observe the ways in which humans interact with computers and design technologies that let humans interact with computers in novel ways.

As a field of research, human-computer interaction is situated at the intersection of computer science, behavioral sciences, design, media studies, and several other fields of study. The term was popularized by Stuart K. Card, Allen Newell, and Thomas P. Moran in their seminal 1983 book, The Psychology of Human-Computer Interaction, although the authors first used the term in 1980 and the first known use was in 1975.The term connotes that, unlike other tools with only limited uses (such as a hammer, useful for driving nails but not much else), a computer has many uses and this takes place as an open-ended dialog between the user and the computer. The notion of dialog likens human-computer interaction to human-to-human interaction, an analogy which is crucial to theoretical considerations in the field.

Human-computer interaction is a discipline concerned with the design, evaluation and. implementation of interactive computing systems for human use and with the study of major phenomena surrounding them

GOALS 

A basic goal of HCI is to improve the interactions between users and computers by making computers more usable and receptive to the user's needs.  A long term goal of HCI is  to design systems that minimize the barrier between the human's cognitive model of what they want  to accomplish and the computer's understanding of the user's task WHY IS HCI IMPORTANT  User-centered design is getting a crucial role!  It is getting more important today to increase competitiveness via HCI studies (Norman, 1990) High-cost e-transformation investments  Users lose time with badly designed products and services  Users even give up using bad interface – Ineffective allocation of resources 3 DEFINING THE USER INTERFACE  User interface, design is a subset of a field of study called human-computer interaction (HCI). Human-computer interaction is the study, planning, and design of how people and computers work together so that a person's needs are satisfied in the most effective way.HCI designers must consider a variety of factors: – what people want and expect, physical limitations and abilities people possess, --how information processing systems work, – what people find enjoyable and attractive. – Technical characteristics and limitations of the computer hardware and software must also be considered. The user interface is to – the part of a computer and its software that people can see, hear, touch, talk to, or otherwise understand or direct.  The user interface has essentially two components: input and output.  Input is how a person communicates his / her needs to the computer. Some common input components are the keyboard, mouse, trackball, one's finger, and one's voice.  Output is how the computer conveys the results of its computations and requirements to the user.  Today, the most common computer output mechanism is the display screen, followed by mechanisms that take advantage of a person's auditory capabilities: voice and sound.  The use of the human senses of smell and touch output in interface design still remain largely unexplored. Proper interface design will provide a mix of well-designed input and output mechanisms that satisfy the user's needs, capabilities, and limitations in the most effective way possible. The best interface is one that it not noticed, one that permits the user to focus on the information and task at hand, not the mechanisms used to present the information and perform the task. 4 THE IMPORTANCE OF GOOD DESIGN With today's technology and tools, and our motivation to create really effective and usable interfaces and screens, why do we continue to produce systems that are inefficient and confusing or, at worst, just plain unusable? Is it because: We don't care?  We don't possess common sense?  We don't have the time?  We still don't know what really makes good design?  But we never seem to have time to find out what makes good design, nor to properly apply it. After all, many of us have other things to do in addition to designing interfaces and screens.  So we take our best shot given the workload and time constraints imposed upon us. The result, too often, is woefully inadequate.  Interface and screen design were really a matter of common sense, we developers would have been producing almost identical screens for representing the real world.  Example bad designs  Closed door with complete wood