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Human Interaction With Computers

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Human Interaction With Computers

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sureshansmithi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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HCI

Human–computer interaction (HCI) is research in the design and the use


of computer technology, which focuses on the interfaces between people (users)
and computers. HCI researchers observe the ways humans interact with computers
and design technologies that allow humans to interact with computers in novel ways.
A device that allows interaction between human being and a computer is known as a
"Human-computer Interface (HCI)".

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 1983 book, The Psychology of Human–Computer
Interaction. The first known use was in 1975 by Carlisle.[1] The term is intended to
convey that, unlike other tools with specific and limited uses, computers have many
uses which often involve an open-ended dialogue between the user and the
computer. The notion of dialogue likens human–computer interaction to human-to-
human interaction: an analogy that is crucial to theoretical considerations in the field.
[2][3]

Humans interact with computers in many ways, and the interface between the two is
crucial to facilitating this interaction. HCI is also sometimes termed human–machine
interaction (HMI), man-machine interaction (MMI) or computer-human
interaction (CHI). Desktop applications, internet browsers, handheld computers, and
computer kiosks make use of the prevalent graphical user interfaces (GUI) of today.
[4]
Voice user interfaces (VUI) are used for speech recognition and synthesizing
systems, and the emerging multi-modal and Graphical user interfaces (GUI) allow
humans to engage with embodied character agents in a way that cannot be achieved
with other interface paradigms. The growth in human–computer interaction field has
led to an increase in the quality of interaction, and resulted in many new areas of
research beyond. Instead of designing regular interfaces, the different research
branches focus on the concepts of multimodality[citation needed] over unimodality, intelligent
adaptive interfaces over command/action based ones, and active interfaces over
passive interfaces.[5]

The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) defines human–computer


interaction as "a discipline that is concerned with the design, evaluation, and
implementation of interactive computing systems for human use and with the study
of major phenomena surrounding them".[4] A key aspect of HCI is user satisfaction,
also referred to as End-User Computing Satisfaction. It goes on to say:

"Because human–computer interaction studies a human and a machine in


communication, it draws from supporting knowledge on both the machine and the
human side. On the machine side, techniques in computer graphics, operating
systems, programming languages, and development environments are relevant. On
the human side, communication theory, graphic and industrial
design disciplines, linguistics, social sciences, cognitive psychology, social
psychology, and human factors such as computer user satisfaction are relevant.
And, of course, engineering and design methods are relevant."[4]
Due to the multidisciplinary nature of HCI, people with different backgrounds
contribute to its success.

Poorly designed human-machine interfaces can lead to many unexpected problems.


A classic example is the Three Mile Island accident, a nuclear meltdown accident,
where investigations concluded that the design of the human-machine interface was
at least partly responsible for the disaster.[6][7][8] Similarly, accidents in aviation have
resulted from manufacturers' decisions to use non-standard flight instruments or
throttle quadrant layouts: even though the new designs were proposed to be superior
in basic human-machine interaction, pilots had already ingrained the "standard"
layout. Thus, the conceptually good idea had unintended results.

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