Chapter 5

Key Topics:

• Design: Focuses on interventions, goals, and constraints. Design isn't just

about the product but also includes documentation, manuals, tutorials,
and interactions like how a stapler has evolved from manual to electric.

• Design Process: Includes steps such as requirements gathering, analysis,

design, iteration, prototyping, implementation, and deployment. It's a
cycle where understanding user needs is crucial.

• Users: Emphasizes understanding who the users are, what they are like,
and considering personas (detailed fictional users) to guide design.
Direct observation and cultural probes (tools to gather insights in real
environments) are used to inform design.

• Scenarios: Describes rich stories that communicate how a design will be

used. They help validate other models and explore user needs in a linear
manner, though they don't often show alternatives.

• Navigation Design: Involves designing how users find their way around a
system, both on individual screens (local) and across the entire system
(global). Important principles include knowing where you are, what you
can do, where you're going, and where you've been.

• Iteration and Prototypes: It’s about refining the design through

repeated testing and development. Prototypes help explore what is
needed and validate the design before full implementation.

Additional Notes:

• Golden Rule of Design: Understand the materials, which in HCI includes

both computers (their capacities and limitations) and people (their
psychological and social aspects).

• Human Error: Often seen as a design failure rather than a user error,
similar to structural failures in physical materials. Designing for human
error is crucial.
• Design Steps: Requirements gathering identifies what is needed;
analysis orders and makes sense of these requirements; design involves
deciding on features and layout; prototyping tests these designs; and
implementation brings the final design to life.

• Trade-offs in Design: Designers must balance time and resources,

deciding which usability issues are critical to address and which can be
deprioritized.

• Personas and Cultural Probes: Personas are fictional characters that

represent user archetypes, helping designers keep the user in mind.
Cultural probes are tools used in real-life contexts to inspire design and
gather user insights.

• Scenarios in Depth: They are narratives that outline step-by-step how

users interact with the design, including what they see, think, and do at
each step. They are useful for exploring dynamics and validating design
choices.

• Navigation Design Details:

o Local Navigation: Focuses on the flow from one screen to another

within a task.

o Global Navigation: Involves the overall structure and how

different parts of the application are connected.

o Design Principles: Include avoiding overly deep hierarchies and

ensuring that each screen or action leads logically to the next.

• Prototyping Pitfalls: Prototypes help identify issues, but designers must

ensure they don't just make incremental changes without a clear
direction ("moving little by little ... but to where").
Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Design Rules

Designing for Maximum Usability

• The primary goal of interaction design is to achieve maximum usability.

Types of Design Rules

1. Principles

o Abstract design rules.

o Low authority, high generality.

2. Standards

o Specific design rules.

o High authority, limited application.

3. Guidelines

o Lower authority, broader application.

Principles to Support Usability

1. Learnability

o How easy it is for new users to begin effective interaction.

2. Flexibility

o The variety of ways the user and system can exchange

information.

3. Robustness

o The level of support provided to the user for goal-directed

behavior.

Principles of Learnability
 • Predictability: Anticipating the effect of future actions based on past
interactions.

• Synthesizability: Assessing the impact of past actions (immediate vs.

eventual feedback).

• Familiarity: Applying prior knowledge to new system interactions.

• Generalizability: Extending specific interaction knowledge to new

scenarios.

• Consistency: Similarity in behavior across similar situations.

Principles of Flexibility

• Dialogue Initiative: Freedom from system-imposed constraints on input.

• Multithreading: Support for user interaction with multiple tasks.

• Task Migratability: Shifting task execution responsibilities between user

and system.

• Substitutivity: Allowing equivalent input and output values to be

interchanged.

• Customizability: Interface modification by user (adaptability) or system

(adaptivity).

Principles of Robustness

• Observability: User’s ability to evaluate the system’s internal state.

• Recoverability: Ability to correct errors once recognized.

• Responsiveness: Perceived communication rate between user and

system.

• Task Conformance: How well the system supports user tasks.

Using Design Rules

• Design rules suggest ways to enhance usability by offering guidelines

and standards that vary in authority and generality.

Standards
 • Set by bodies like ISO to ensure compliance across the design
community.

• Typically, hardware standards are more common than software

standards.

Guidelines

• Offer suggestions and general guidance, applicable across various stages

of the design process.

• They can be abstract or detailed, supporting design consistency and

aiding conflict resolution.

Golden Rules and Heuristics

• Collections of general design principles that serve as checklists for good

design, including:

o Shneiderman’s 8 Golden Rules: Strive for consistency, enable

shortcuts, provide feedback, design for error recovery, etc.

o Norman’s 7 Principles: Simplify tasks, make things visible, exploit

constraints, design for error, and standardize.

HCI Design Patterns

• A method for reusing knowledge of successful design solutions.

• Patterns represent common solutions to recurring problems in specific

contexts.

• They should be intuitive, readable, and connect to other patterns to

form comprehensive design languages.

Summary

• Effective interaction design relies on principles and practices that

enhance usability.

• Standards, guidelines, and design patterns are critical tools for directing
purposeful design and ensuring user satisfaction.
Chapter 9: Evaluation Techniques
Overview:
• Evaluation tests the usability and functionality of a system.
• Can occur in a lab, in the field, or with user collaboration.
• Should be considered at all stages of the design life cycle.
Goals of Evaluation:
• Assess the extent of system functionality.
• Assess the effect of the interface on users.
• Identify specific usability problems.
Evaluating Designs:
• Cognitive Walkthrough: Evaluates how well a design supports
users in learning tasks, typically performed by experts in
cognitive psychology.
• Heuristic Evaluation: Experts use predefined usability heuristics
(e.g., consistency, feedback) to identify usability issues.
• Review-Based Evaluation: Uses existing literature to validate or
challenge aspects of the design.
Evaluating Implementations:
• Requires a tangible artifact (e.g., simulation, prototype, full
implementation).
• Includes both laboratory studies and field studies, each with its
advantages and limitations.
Experimental Evaluation:
 • Controlled evaluation focusing on specific interactive
behaviors.
• Includes defining hypotheses, manipulating variables, and
measuring outcomes.
Experimental Factors:
• Subjects: Selection of representative users.
• Variables: Independent (manipulated) and dependent
(measured) variables.
• Hypothesis: Prediction of the experiment's outcome, aiming to
disprove the null hypothesis.
• Experimental Design: Could be within-group (same subjects
across conditions) or between-group (different subjects per
condition).
Analysis of Data:
• Before statistical tests, examine and preserve the data.
• Choose statistical methods based on the data type and
required information.
Observational Methods:
• Think Aloud: Users verbalize their thought process while
interacting with the system.
• Cooperative Evaluation: A collaborative variation of think
aloud, encouraging dialogue between the evaluator and the
user.
• Protocol Analysis: Utilizes various tools (audio, video, logging)
to record and analyze user interactions.
Query Techniques:
• Interviews: One-on-one questioning to gather subjective data.
• Questionnaires: Fixed questions distributed to a broader
audience; can be general, open-ended, scalar, multiple-choice,
or ranked.
Physiological Methods:
• Includes eye tracking and other physiological measurements
(e.g., heart rate, GSR, EEG) to infer user reactions to the
interface.
Choosing an Evaluation Method:
• Consider factors such as design vs. implementation stage, lab
vs. field style, subjective vs. objective data, and available
resources.
Chapter 10: Universal Design
Universal Design Principles (NCSW):
• Equitable Use: The design is useful and marketable to people
with diverse abilities.
• Flexibility in Use: The design accommodates a wide range of
individual preferences and abilities.
• Simple and Intuitive Use: The design is easy to understand,
regardless of the user's experience, knowledge, language skills,
or current concentration level.
• Perceptible Information: The design communicates necessary
information effectively to the user, regardless of ambient
conditions or the user's sensory abilities.
 • Tolerance for Error: The design minimizes hazards and the
adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions.
• Low Physical Effort: The design can be used efficiently and
comfortably with minimal fatigue.
• Size and Space for Approach and Use: Appropriate size and
space are provided for approach, reach, manipulation, and use
regardless of user's body size, posture, or mobility.
Multi-Sensory Systems:
• Definition: Systems that use more than one sensory channel
(e.g., sounds, text, hypertext, animation, video, gestures,
vision) in interaction.
• Applications: These systems are especially useful for users with
special needs and in virtual reality.
Usable Senses:
• Primary Senses in Use: Sight, sound, and touch are commonly
used in interaction with computers.
• Senses Not Commonly Used: Taste and smell are not yet
typically used in computing environments.
Multi-modal vs. Multi-media Systems:
• Multi-modal Systems: Utilize more than one sense or mode of
interaction (e.g., a text processor that echoes text visually and
audibly).
• Multi-media Systems: Use different media to communicate
information (e.g., video, animation, text, still images) but may
use the same mode of interaction (e.g., all visual).
Speech in Computing:
• Complexities: Human speech involves phonemes (smallest
units of sound), allophones (sound variations), and morphemes
(smallest units of meaning).
• Challenges in Recognition: Differences in accents, intonation,
and background noise complicate speech recognition.
• Speech Synthesis: The generation of speech by computers,
useful for screen readers and warning signals.
Non-Speech Sounds:
• Applications: Non-speech sounds like boings, bangs, and
squeaks are used for warnings, alarms, and feedback in
interfaces.
• Examples: Auditory icons and earcons are structured sounds
that represent actions and objects.
Touch:
• Haptic Interaction: This involves cutaneous perception
(vibrations on the skin) and kinesthetics (movement and
position), with applications like electronic braille displays and
force feedback devices.
Handwriting Recognition:
• Technology: Handwriting recognition captures strokes using
digitizing tablets and is used in devices like PDAs and tablet PCs.
• Challenges: Variations in personal writing styles and the effects
of context on handwriting (co-articulation).
Gesture:
 • Use in Interaction: Gestures can be used in input (e.g.,
pointing) and sign language, but are often user-dependent and
variable.
Users with Disabilities:
• Adaptations: Visual impairments might use screen readers,
hearing impairments might use text or captions, and physical
impairments might use speech or eye-tracking systems.
Additional Considerations:
• Age Groups: Designs should consider the needs of older adults
and children, who may have different abilities and preferences.
• Cultural Differences: Interfaces should be mindful of variations
in language, symbols, gestures, and colors that may be
interpreted differently across cultures.

Chapter 11: User Support

1. Overview:
• User support is essential for guiding users through systems
effectively.
• Different types of support are required at different stages,
including quick references, task-specific help, full explanations,
and tutorials.
• Support can be provided through help systems and
documentation, both of which need careful design and
implementation.
2. Requirements for Effective User Support:
 • Availability: Help should be continuously accessible alongside
the main application.
• Accuracy and Completeness: The help content must align with
the system’s actual behavior.
• Consistency: Uniformity should be maintained across different
parts of the help system and other documentation.
• Robustness: Proper error handling and predictable behavior
are crucial.
• Flexibility: Allows users to interact with the help system in
ways suitable to their experience and task.
• Unobtrusiveness: Help should not interrupt or hinder the
user's work.
3. Approaches to User Support:
• Command Assistance: Provides help on specific commands
(e.g., UNIX man, DOS help). Suitable for quick references but
assumes user knowledge of what to look for.
• Command Prompts: Offers usage information when an error
occurs, helpful for correcting simple mistakes but limited in
scope.
• Context-Sensitive Help: Provides help relevant to the current
context, such as tooltips.
• Online Tutorials: Guides users through the basics of the
application in a controlled environment; can be inflexible.
• Online Documentation: Electronic versions of paper manuals
that are available on the computer. While always accessible,
these can be challenging to browse without hypertext support.
4. Wizards and Assistants:
• Wizards: Lead users through tasks step-by-step by asking
specific questions. They are beneficial for completing complex
or infrequent tasks but offer limited flexibility.
• Assistants: Monitor user behavior and provide contextual
advice, like the MS Office Assistant. They can be helpful but
must not become intrusive.
5. Adaptive Help Systems:
• Use knowledge of context, the individual user, task, domain,
and instructional needs to tailor support.
• Challenges include extensive knowledge requirements,
managing control dynamics, and determining what aspects
should be adapted.
6. Knowledge Representation and User Modeling:
• User models help in tailoring support, ranging from generic
models to adaptable and adaptive ones.
• Approaches include:
o Quantification: Users progress through levels based on
their measured knowledge.
o Stereotypes: Users are classified into predefined
categories.
o Overlay Models: Compare actual user behavior with ideal
expert behavior, identifying commonalities or differences.
7. Design Considerations:
 • User support should not be an afterthought; it needs to be
integrated into the system design.
• Focus on the content and context of help, not just the
technology used to deliver it.
8. Presentation Issues:
• Help requests can be triggered through commands, buttons, or
separate applications.
• Display options include new windows, pop-ups, or split screens.
• Effective help content should use clear, familiar, and consistent
language with instructional tone, avoiding large text blocks.
9. Implementation Issues:
• Help systems can be embedded as OS-level commands, meta-
commands, or application-specific features.
• Structuring help data efficiently (e.g., single files, hierarchies, or
databases) is crucial for performance and usability.

Cognitive Models - Chapter 12 Notes

1. Cognitive Models Overview

- Goal: Model user understanding, knowledge, intentions, and processing.

- Categories:

- Competence vs. Performance

- Computational flavor

- No clear division between categories.

2. Goal and Task Hierarchies

- Mental processing follows a divide-and-conquer approach (e.g., producing a

sales report).

- Goals: Intentions, what you want to achieve.

- Tasks: Actions, how you achieve the goal.

- GOMS: Goals are internal.

- HTA: Actions external; tasks are abstractions.

3. Issues for Goal Hierarchies

- Granularity: Determining where to start and stop.

- Routine vs. Problem-solving: Routine learned behavior differs from problem-

solving.

- Conflicts: Multiple ways to achieve a goal.

- Errors: Handling mistakes.

4. Techniques

- GOMS (Goals, Operators, Methods, Selection):

- Goals: User’s objectives.

- Operators: Basic actions.

- Methods: Decompose goals into subgoals/operators.

- Selection: Choosing between competing methods.

- Cognitive Complexity Theory (CCT):

- Parallel descriptions (user production rules and device networks).

 - Example: Editing with "vi".

5. Linguistic Notations

- BNF (Backus-Naur Form): Common in computer science, focuses on the

syntax of dialogues.

- TAG (Task Action Grammar): Extends BNF by adding user world knowledge
and consistency of grammar.

6. Physical and Device Models

- Keystroke Level Model (KLM): Models physical motor tasks, mental

preparation, and system response.

- Execution time = TK + TP + TH + TD + TM + TR (where K = keystroking, P =

pointing, etc.).

- Buxton's 3-State Model: Focuses on the acquisition and execution of tasks.

7. Architectural Models

- Assumptions on the human mind's architecture (e.g., long-term/short-term

memory, problem spaces, connectionism).

8. Display-Based Interaction

- Most models don’t consider user observation and perception but can be
extended to handle system output (e.g., BNF with sensing terminals).

Chapter 13:
Key Themes:

1. Organizational Issues:

o Organizational dynamics heavily impact system success or failure. Systems are often
used in a broader organizational context, so it's crucial to understand how they
affect stakeholders, power structures, and benefit distribution.

o Conflicts and power struggles arise, especially when system benefits are not evenly
distributed. Systems should not assume cooperation but be designed to handle
conflicting goals.

2. Stakeholder Identification:

o Stakeholders are any individuals or groups affected by the system. They are
categorized into:

▪ Primary stakeholders: Direct users of the system.

▪ Secondary stakeholders: Those who receive output or provide input.

▪ Tertiary stakeholders: Indirectly affected individuals or entities.

▪ Facilitating stakeholders: Those involved in the design, development, or

deployment.

o Example: For an airline booking system, primary stakeholders could be travel agency
staff, while tertiary stakeholders might be competitors or regulatory authorities.

3. Organizational Structures and Power Dynamics:

o Systems can unintentionally alter organizational structures, creating new

communication patterns and shifting power. For instance, email systems might
bypass management hierarchies, causing dissatisfaction among middle managers.

o Home-based teleworking, enabled by telecommunications, offers flexibility but

creates issues of visibility and perceived worth within organizations, affecting
promotions and perceived contributions.

4. System Acceptance and Resistance:

o The success of a system depends on who benefits and who does the work. For
instance, shared diary systems may fail if secretaries do the input work while
managers reap the benefits.

o Problems like the free-rider problem arise when users benefit without contributing
(e.g., reading but not contributing to electronic conferences). Solutions include
stricter usage protocols or visibility to apply social pressure.

5. Critical Mass:

o Some systems (e.g., communication networks) require a critical mass of users to

become valuable. Early users face negative cost-benefit ratios until enough users
join the system, which provides value.
 o Design strategies should aim to target specific cliques or user groups to reach critical
mass and ensure sustained system use.

6. Measuring Benefits:

o Measuring the success of socio-technical systems is challenging. While costs

(hardware, software) are easily quantifiable, benefits like job satisfaction or
improved information flow are more diffuse and harder to measure.

o Sometimes, organizations rely on intangible benefits or "hype" to justify systems.

Requirement Capture Approaches:

1. Socio-Technical Modelling:

o Considers both technical and human factors in system design. It looks at how new
technologies impact organizations and user roles.

o Examples include the CUSTOM and OSTA methodologies:

▪ CUSTOM focuses on identifying stakeholder needs and task-object pairs,

comparing current and proposed systems to understand the impact on
different stakeholders.

▪ OSTA analyzes primary tasks, system inputs, environments, social systems,

and technical systems to identify performance and satisfaction criteria.

2. Soft Systems Methodology (SSM):

o A broader approach developed by Checkland that doesn’t assume a technological

solution. SSM aims to fully understand the problem situation, focusing on:

▪ Rich Picture: A detailed description of the problem.

▪ CATWOE Analysis: Identifies Clients, Actors, Transformations, Worldviews,

Owners, and Environment.

▪ Conceptual models are compared to the real world, and necessary changes
are identified.

3. Participatory Design:

o Actively involves users in the design process, making them part of the design team.
This ensures that the system meets their real-world needs.

o Encourages iterative, collaborative, and work-oriented design, where users are seen
as co-designers rather than just end-users.

4. Ethnography and Contextual Inquiry:

o Ethnography: Involves studying users in their work environment to understand their

social relationships and natural interactions. It helps uncover the real context in
which systems operate.

o Contextual Inquiry: Developed by Holtzblatt, this method combines interviews and

observations to build models of task sequences, artefacts, and communication
 channels. Investigators act as "apprentices" to users to learn about their work
firsthand.

5. Summary:

• Effective system design goes beyond the technology itself; it must account for
organizational, social, and human factors.

• The balance of effort and benefit among stakeholders, understanding power structures, and
encouraging participation in design are key to system acceptance.

• Critical mass, socio-technical models, and methodologies like participatory design and SSM
are essential tools for ensuring that systems are integrated successfully into their
organizational context.

6. Problems with Text:

• Text-based communication lacks non-verbal cues such as facial expressions or body

language, making it difficult to convey emotions and the illocutionary force of messages
(e.g., urgency).

• This can lead to misunderstandings, and users may compensate by using smilies or "flaming"
to express emotions..

7. Grounding Constraints:

• Grounding constraints such as cotemporality (instant feedback), simultaneity (speaking

together), and sequence are weaker in text communication.

• A common issue in text-based communication is the loss of sequence due to network delays,
which may cause overlapping conversations and breakdown in communication..

8. Loss of Sequence:

• In asynchronous or delayed text-based communication, responses may not align with the
original sequence of the conversation, leading to confusion..

9. Maintaining Context:

• Context is crucial for disambiguating utterances. In face-to-face communication, this is aided

by visual and environmental cues.

• In text-based systems, maintaining context is harder, especially without shared objects or

references..

10. Non-linear Conversation:

• Hypertext-based or threaded messaging systems allow for parallel conversations, where

multiple conversation threads can occur simultaneously. This helps in navigating and
managing complex discussions..

11. Pace and Granularity:

• Pace of conversation refers to the rate of turn-taking, which varies across media (e.g.,
seconds in face-to-face communication, hours or days in email).
 • Lower pace reduces interaction as feedback becomes less frequent, leading to reduced
engagement...

12. Coping Strategies:

• Users employ strategies to cope with slower communication media. These include increasing
granularity (providing more detailed responses) and multiplexing (handling several topics at
once)..

13. The Conversation Game:

• Conversation is viewed as a game where participants choose paths based on their

utterances. Hypertext allows participants to follow multiple paths simultaneously, enhancing
interaction flexibility..

14. Group Dynamics:

• Group structures and roles can change based on context and time, and systems must
account for such changes to maintain effective collaboration. Groupware systems often
struggle to reflect these dynamics, especially when social structures shift from democratic to
autocratic, or when sub-groups form..

15. Physical Environment:

• The layout of a physical workspace (such as meeting rooms) can significantly impact
communication. For instance, recessed terminals in a meeting room reduce visual impact
and promote eye contact, while specific seating arrangements may imply power dynamics.

16. Power Positions in Traditional Meeting Rooms:

• In traditional meeting rooms, power positions are often located at the front, near a
whiteboard. In contrast, augmented rooms with shared screens may shift power to the back,
where access to the shared screen or keyboard grants control..

17. Distributed Cognition:

• Distributed cognition emphasizes that thinking occurs not just in the head but through
interactions with people and the environment. This has significant implications for group
work, suggesting that external representations and collaboration tools should facilitate
shared knowledge, as the group's collective cognition can surpass individual efforts...

Chapter 15:

1. Definition of Task Analysis

• Task Analysis is a method used to understand what people do, the things they
interact with, and the knowledge they require to perform their tasks. It helps
designers model how users will interact with systems.
• Example: Cleaning a house involves getting tools, cleaning rooms, and knowing how
vacuum cleaners work.
2. Approaches to Task Analysis
• Task Decomposition: Breaks down tasks into subtasks, creating a hierarchical
structure.
• Knowledge-Based Techniques: Focuses on what the user knows and how that
knowledge is structured.
• Entity/Object-Based Analysis: Examines relationships between objects, actions, and
users.
3. Task Decomposition
• Aims to describe what people do, organize tasks hierarchically, and understand task
order.
• Variants:
o Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA): Most common method, with subtasks and
plans for performing them.
o CTT (ConcurTaskTrees): Uses temporal operators for modeling.
4. Generating the Hierarchy
• Steps:
1. List tasks.
2. Group tasks into higher-level tasks.
3. Decompose further until relevant.
• Stopping Rule: Stop when tasks are simple enough to model.
5. Tasks as Explanations
• Different users may describe the same task in various ways, such as explaining typing
a word as making a document or preparing a legal case.
6. Refining the Description
• Use heuristics like paired actions, balancing complexity, restructuring tasks, and
generalizing actions.
7. Types of Plans
• Fixed sequences, optional tasks, waiting for events, cycles, time-sharing,
discretionary, and mixtures of these.
8. Knowledge-Based Analysis
• Focuses on understanding objects and actions and organizing them into taxonomies
or hierarchies.
9. Entity-Relationship Techniques
• Focuses on objects, actions, and relationships similar to object-oriented analysis but
includes non-computer entities like tools and actors.
10. Example Entities and Relationships
• Objects: Tools like vacuum cleaners.
• Actions: Digging, planting.
• Attributes: Like capacity or status of objects.
• Events and Relationships: How actions trigger events, e.g., a pump turning on when
humidity drops below 25%.
11. Sources of Information
• Documentation: Manuals and instructions provide insights into how tasks are
supposed to be done, although they might not reflect real-life usage.
• Observation: Observing users in their natural settings (lab or field) helps to capture
actual user behavior.
• Interviews: Talking with experts, managers, or workers provides insights into the
tasks and processes they perform.
• Extraction from transcripts: Key terms and tasks can be gathered by analyzing
recorded conversations.
12. Early Analysis
• Extract Key Terms: Analyze transcripts for nouns (objects) and verbs (actions). It's
essential to distinguish between technical jargon and real-world actions (e.g.,
"pouring rain" vs. "pouring tea").
• Sorting and Classifying: Organize the collected data into categories, such as grouping
similar tasks or actions together.
• Ranking: Prioritize tasks based on relevance or frequency of use. This is often done
through exercises like card sorting or using outlining software.
• Iterative Process: Task analysis is an iterative process, where data is continuously
refined through multiple observations, interviews, and analysis rounds.
13. Uses of Manuals and Documentation
• Conceptual Manuals: Provide an overview of tasks and are useful for open-ended
tasks. These are generally based on knowledge-based or entity-relationship analyses.
• Procedural Manuals: Step-by-step instructions for novices, drawn from task
decomposition techniques like Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA). These manuals are
helpful for guiding new users through a specific process.
 o Example: For making tea:
▪ Step 1: Boil water
▪ Step 2: Warm pot
▪ Step 3: Make tea, etc.
14. Users’ Requirements and Design
• Requirements Capture: Task analysis helps lift the focus from system design to use,
providing insights into the user's conceptual model of how the system should
operate.
• Detailed Interface Design:
o Taxonomies derived from task analysis suggest how to organize interface
menus and objects.
o Action lists and task sequences guide the design of interface objects and
default choices.
• Task Frequency: Guides design decisions like which options should be most easily
accessible.
• Guided Dialogue Design: Ensures the system’s interface aligns with how users
naturally perform their tasks. Task sequences from the analysis provide a foundation
for creating dialogues within the system.

Chapter 16:

1. Dialogue Notations Overview

• Dialogue Notations are representations of user-system interactions,

focusing on the structure of the conversation between them.

• These notations are used to analyze and design interactive systems.

• There are two main types of notations:

o Diagrammatic Notations: Examples include state transition

networks, JSD diagrams, and flow charts.

o Textual Notations: Include formal grammars, production rules,

and CSP (Communicating Sequential Processes).
2. Levels of Dialogue

• Lexical Level: Involves the physical interactions such as key presses or

mouse clicks, as well as the visual representation of icons or elements.

• Syntactic Level: Focuses on the sequence and structure of inputs and

outputs, dealing with how the interaction progresses in order.

• Semantic Level: Refers to the impact of these inputs and outputs on the
underlying system, affecting the internal data or application processes.

3. Dialogue Structure and Analysis

• State Transition Networks (STNs):

o STNs are graphical models that use circles to represent states and
arcs to represent actions or events that move the system from
one state to another.

o These networks help visualize the flow of user interactions and

allow designers to analyze possible user journeys within the
system.

• Concurrent Dialogues:

o Complex systems often have multiple dialogues happening

simultaneously, such as toggling options in a dialogue box. STNs
can represent these concurrent dialogues.

• Hierarchical STNs:

o Used to manage complex dialogues by breaking them into sub-

dialogues, reducing complexity. Sub-dialogues can represent
different sections of a task or user interaction.

4. Graphical Notations

• Petri Nets:
 o One of the oldest and most common graphical notations used to
represent concurrent dialogues. Petri nets consist of places
(states) and transitions (actions or events).

o They are useful for analyzing systems where multiple interactions

or processes happen simultaneously.

• Flowcharts:

o A widely familiar method to map dialogues or tasks in interactive

systems.

o Boxes represent processes or events, and arrows depict the flow

from one state to another.

o Flowcharts are especially effective for mapping sequential

dialogues or processes.

5. Textual Notations

• Grammars:

o Grammars define the structure of commands or user inputs.

o BNF (Backus-Naur Form) and regular expressions are common

tools used to define possible sequences of inputs and outputs.

• Production Rules:

o A production rule consists of a condition and an action: "If

condition, then action."

o Production rules handle concurrency well, making them effective

for systems where multiple user actions may occur at the same
time.

• Event-Based Production Rules:

o These rules activate based on specific user events (e.g., a button

click). They define responses based on the occurrence of an event
and the system’s state at that time.
6. Dialogue Properties

• Action Properties:

o Completeness: Ensuring all possible user actions are accounted

for in the dialogue structure.

o Determinism: Ensuring that each action leads to only one

outcome or state.

o Consistency: Ensuring the same actions consistently result in the

same system behavior.

• State Properties:

o Reachability: Ensuring all system states are accessible from other

states.

o Reversibility: Ensuring users can navigate back to previous states.

o Dangerous States: Identifying and managing states that could lead

to undesirable outcomes or system crashes.

7. Dialogue Analysis

• Dialogue notations allow for pre-design analysis of systems, helping

designers identify potential issues before development.

• Formal Descriptions are analyzed to check for:

o Inconsistent Actions: Actions that cannot logically follow one

another.

o Difficult-to-Reverse Actions: Actions that are hard to undo or

navigate back from.

o Missing Actions: Essential actions that users might expect but are
not available.
 o Miskeying Errors: Potential for errors due to confusing inputs or
actions.

8. Presentation and Lexical Issues

• Visibility: Refers to how well users can see and understand the current
state of the system and the available actions.

• Style: Refers to the design of commands (e.g., verb-noun structures for

actions) or input methods (e.g., mouse-based input).

• Layout: The layout of the interface and dialogue structure, which is

important for creating intuitive and easy-to-navigate systems.

o Poor layout can lead to user errors, such as accidentally pressing

the wrong buttons or following the wrong process sequence.

Conclusion: Importance of Dialogue Notations

• Dialogue notations help in designing intuitive user interfaces by

providing structured and analyzable representations of user interactions.

• These notations enable designers to predict potential user errors, ensure

completeness and consistency, and design dialogues that are user-
friendly and logical.

Models of the System - Chapter 17 Notes

1. Models of the System Overview

- Standard Formalisms:

- Software engineering notations used to define the required behavior of

interactive systems.
- Interaction Models:

- Mathematical models to describe usability properties at a generic level.

- Continuous Behavior:

- Describes activity between events, continuous motion, and models of time.

2. Types of System Models

- Dialogue Models: Focus on modes of interaction.

- Full State Definition: Describes the complete state of the system.

- Abstract Interaction Model: Generalized description of system interaction.

3. Relationship with Dialogue

- Dialogue modeling links to system semantics, focusing on how actions affect

system state.

- Formalisms emphasize what actions do to the system, not just which actions
are legal.

4. Irony in Formal Techniques

- Computers are mathematical, but humans are not.

- Formal methods are accepted for user cognitive models but not widely for
system behavior.

5. Standard Formalisms in Software Engineering

- Formal Methods: Include model-based methods (e.g., Z, VDM) and algebraic

methods (e.g., OBJ, Larch).
- Use Cases: For communication, analysis (internal/external consistency), and
requirements fulfillment.

6. Model-Based Methods

- Utilizes mathematical concepts (numbers, sets, functions) to define system

state and operations.

- States are described using variables of different types (basic types, sets,
functions).

7. Mathematics and Programming

- Mathematical constructs correspond to common programming structures:

- Types are sets, lists are sequences, procedures are relations, etc.

8. Defining Operations

- State changes involve "before" and "after" representations, using variables to

define the new state.

- Operations include unselect, delete, and others, defined using formal

methods and invariants.

9. Display and Presentation

- Defines what is visible on the screen (e.g., shape types, highlights), while
maintaining internal consistency.

- Interface Issues: Include framing problems and ensuring external consistency

with system functionality.

10. Algebraic Notations

- Unlike model-based methods, algebraic notations focus on the relationships
between operations rather than explicit state representation.

- Ease of Use: Requires a shift in thinking compared to traditional

programming.

- Consistency: Both internal and external consistency need to be ensured.

11. Extended Logics

- Extends the use of propositional and predicate logic to address time,

responsibility, and usability requirements.

- Temporal Logics: Consider time as a succession of events, using operators like

always, eventually, and until.

12. Deontic Logics

- Focuses on responsibility and obligation, especially useful for multi-agent

systems where permissions and obligations must be clearly defined.

13. Interaction Models

- PIE Model: A formal model to express interactive properties like undo and
display behavior.

- General Properties: Define observability (understanding the system state) and

predictability (predicting future behavior).

14. Reachability and Undo

- Reachability involves transitioning between system states, while undo

reverses the last action.

- Special commands like undo require careful modeling to avoid

inconsistencies.
15. Issues with PIE Model

- Properties defined by PIE are necessary but insufficient for ensuring usability.

- Models are generic and scalable, though limited in their ability to prove
extensive properties of large systems.

Notes on Chapter 18: Modelling Rich Interaction

Key Concepts:

- Status–Event Analysis:

- Events: Happenings like alarms, beeps, or keystrokes.

- Status: Ongoing states, e.g., screen display, mouse position.

- Unifying Framework: Links system behavior (formal analysis) and user

interaction (psychology and heuristics).

- Time Behavior: Helps in detecting delays and giving feedback.

- Polling: An active agent identifies status changes.

- Rich Environments in Task Analysis:

- Input/Output Examples:

- Input: Keypress, mouse position.

- Output: Beep, display change.

- Internal/External Events:

- Internal: Interrupt, document state.

- External: Time, temperature.

- Standard Notations:

- Handle some but not all behaviors.

- Three main types of behavior:

1. State changes triggered by user-initiated events.

2. Status changes like stock falling below reorder levels.

3. Interstitial behaviors, e.g., dragging an icon.

- Design Implications:

- Lag between actual and perceived events affects user interaction.

- Too slow response may cause issues in time-sensitive environments (e.g.,

power plant emergencies).

- Too fast interrupts the user's focus (e.g., low stock alerts).

- Naïve Psychology:

- Systems need to predict where the user is focusing: mouse, insertion point,
or screen.

- Events like bells or visual changes should be designed to catch attention

without causing distractions.

- Closure and Mistakes:

- Lack of feedback leads to missed or unnoticed events.

- Feedback design for interactive elements (e.g., buttons) is critical to ensure

users perceive the action correctly.
Collaboration and Task Models:

- ConcurTaskTrees (CTT):

- Framework for modeling tasks where user and computer collaborate.

- Abstract tasks broken into user/computer tasks and cooperative tasks (e.g.,
booking flights).

- Groupware Task Analysis (GTA):

- Focuses on human roles in collaboration and physical/electronic objects.

- Rich ontology that connects tasks, subtasks, objects, roles, and goals.

Control Systems:

- Open Loop Control: No feedback, prone to errors.

- Closed Loop Control: Feedback is provided, making the system more robust.

Information Sources:

- Information for tasks can come from different sources such as user memory,
device displays, or environmental objects.

Triggers in Interaction:

- Triggers are events that prompt the next task. They can be immediate,
temporal, sporadic, external, or environmental.

Artefacts in Interaction:

- Artefacts: Objects used in tasks to aid in remembering steps or actions.

- Examples: To-do lists, workflow charts, or flight strips.

Design for Sensor-Based Systems:

- Sensors detect inputs and infer user activities.

- Inference: Use of machine learning or hand-coded rules to derive meaning

from sensor data.

- Architectures: Systems are designed to process sensor data, perform data

fusion, and model user contexts.

Designing Incidental Interaction:

- Systems must balance purposeful tasks with supported actions.

- Rich representations of tasks, environments, and artefacts are required for

designing meaningful incidental interactions.

Intentional Spectrum:

- Intentional: Deliberate actions by the user.

- Expected: System responses anticipated by the user.

- Incidental: Unnoticed system actions (e.g., air conditioning adjusting in the

background).

Challenges:

- Designing interactions that account for uncertainty and complexity in sensor-

based environments.

Question paper:
Q1
A) Discuss the scope of HCI with diagrammatic representation.
 • Scope of HCI (Human-Computer Interaction):
o Definition: HCI is the study of how people interact with computers
and design technologies that let humans interact with computers
in novel ways.
o Scope Includes:
1. Usability: Making systems easy to use, ensuring efficiency
and user satisfaction.
2. User Experience (UX): Focusing on the overall experience of
the user, including emotions and attitudes toward the
product.
3. Interaction Design: Designing interactive products that
meet users' needs and expectations.
4. Accessibility: Ensuring systems are usable by people with a
wide range of abilities and disabilities.
5. Cognitive Engineering: Understanding and designing for the
cognitive processes of users.
6. Ergonomics: Physical interaction aspects, ensuring comfort
and safety for users.
7. Human Factors: Integrating knowledge of human abilities
and limitations into design.
o Diagrammatic Representation:
▪ A typical HCI diagram might include the user, the computer,
and the interface connecting them, with arrows showing
the flow of interaction, feedback loops, and the context of
use.
B) Write a short note on ergonomics as physical aspects of interfaces.
• Ergonomics:
o Ergonomics in HCI focuses on designing systems that match the
physical capabilities and limitations of users. It aims to reduce
discomfort, prevent injuries, and increase efficiency by optimizing
the physical interaction between the user and the interface.
 o Key Aspects:
▪ Input Devices: Designing keyboards, mice, and
touchscreens that reduce strain.
▪ Display Design: Ensuring screens are readable, with
appropriate size, brightness, and positioning.
▪ Workspace Layout: Arranging the physical environment
(desk, chair, computer) to promote a healthy posture and
reduce strain.
Q2
A) Illustrate the process of design in detail.
• Process of Design in HCI:
1. Requirements Gathering: Understanding user needs, defining the
problem, and setting design goals.
2. Analysis: Analyzing the requirements to identify constraints, user
tasks, and context of use.
3. Conceptual Design: Developing initial design concepts, including
sketches and low-fidelity prototypes.
4. Prototyping: Creating prototypes at various fidelity levels to
explore design solutions.
5. Evaluation: Testing prototypes with users to gather feedback and
identify usability issues.
6. Implementation: Developing the final product based on refined
designs.
7. Deployment: Releasing the product to users.
8. Maintenance: Continuously monitoring, updating, and improving
the system based on user feedback.
B) List out Norman’s 7 Principles of design.
• Norman’s 7 Principles of Design:
1. Visibility: Ensure that users can see what functions are available.
2. Feedback: Provide immediate and clear feedback on actions.
 3. Constraints: Design constraints guide the user to the correct
actions and prevent errors.
4. Mapping: The relationship between controls and their effects
should be intuitive.
5. Consistency: Consistent design makes systems easier to learn and
use.
6. Affordance: Design elements should suggest how they can be
used (e.g., buttons look clickable).
7. Error Prevention: Design to minimize the occurrence of errors and
offer easy recovery methods.
Q3
A) Draw a neat labeled diagram for the representation of the PAC model.
• PAC Model (Presentation-Abstraction-Control):
o The PAC model is an architectural pattern used in HCI to structure
interactive systems:
▪ Presentation: Manages the user interface and interaction.
▪ Abstraction: Handles the data and business logic.
▪ Control: Manages the flow of information and control
between Presentation and Abstraction.
o Diagram: Usually, a diagram showing three layers: Presentation
(top), Abstraction (middle), and Control (connecting and managing
both).
B) List out examples of imaging models.
• Examples of Imaging Models:
1. Raster Graphics Model: Used for pixel-based images (e.g., BMP,
JPEG, PNG).
2. Vector Graphics Model: Uses mathematical equations for drawing
shapes (e.g., SVG, EPS).
3. 3D Graphics Model: Represents three-dimensional objects (e.g.,
OBJ, STL).
 4. Fractal Models: Used for complex patterns that are self-similar
across different scales (e.g., Mandelbrot sets).
C) Write a short note on Read-Eval-Print Loop (REPL) for programming
applications.
• Read-Eval-Print Loop (REPL):
o REPL is an interactive programming environment that takes user
inputs (Read), evaluates them (Eval), prints the result (Print), and
then waits for the next input (Loop).
o Usage:
▪ Common in scripting and interpreted languages like Python,
Lisp, and Ruby.
▪ Helps in testing code snippets quickly, debugging, and
learning programming by providing immediate feedback.
▪ Provides an interactive shell where users can experiment
with code and see results in real-time.