IT 101

Human Computer
Interaction
LEARNING GUIDE

NOIME MUJERES-MANTE
2022
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A provider of relevant and quality education to a society

where citizens are competent, skilled, dignified, and
community-oriented.

Mission

An academic institution providing technological,

professional, research and extensions programs to form
principles men and women of competencies and skills
responsive to local and global development needs.

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 Learning Guide in

Title

IT 101: Human
Page

Computer
Interaction
 ii IT 101: Human Computer Interaction

Module 1: Introduction to
Human Computer Interaction
Module Overview/Description
This module serves as a foundational step in comprehending the importance
of designing technology that aligns with human needs, abilities, and behaviors.

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 iii

Lesson 1: Understanding Human

Information Processing

Let’s Hit These

• Explain the key processes involved in human information

processing, including perception, memory, reasoning, and
problem solving.
• Understand the limitations and strengths of human cognition
in the context of interacting with computer systems.
• Recognize the role of emotions and individual differences in
user interaction with technology.

Let’s Get Started

Why is it not enough for technology to be solely functional, and
why should designers and developers prioritize the human element in
their creations?

Let’s Find Out

What is HCI?
• HCI, or Human-Computer Interaction, is about how people
interact with computers and other technology.
• It helps us design systems that are easy to use and work well for
users.
Who is involved in HCI?
• HCI involves experts from various fields like psychology, design,
computer science, and more.
• These experts work together because each perspective brings
important information to create user-friendly technology.

Let’s Read

In this first lesson of our Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)

series, we're delving into the foundation of HCI: understanding the users
of interactive systems, which are designed to help them. We're exploring
cognitive psychology, which might seem unrelated to computers, but it's
closely linked because it helps us design systems that cater to users'
abilities and challenges. We're examining how humans perceive the
world, remember information, solve problems, and interact with things.
Using a model of humans as intelligent information processors, we'll
cover input-output, memory, and processing. We'll talk about how
humans receive and respond to information, how their memory works,
problem-solving skills, learning, and mistakes. This knowledge guides

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community -oriented.
Mission: An academic institution providing technological, professional, research and extensions programs to form
principles men and women of competencies and skills responsive to local and global development needs
 iv IT 101: Human Computer Interaction

us in creating user-friendly computer systems that match human

capabilities. While we're focusing on information processing for now,
remember that external factors also influence HCI. In upcoming lessons,
we'll connect these insights to practical system design decisions.

INPUT–OUTPUT CHANNELS
• When we use a computer, it's like having a conversation with it.
• We see, hear, and touch the computer, and it responds to us.
• Our senses, like eyes and ears, help us understand what's
happening on the computer.

Vision
Our eyes help us gather information. Think of it in two parts: the
eye's physical part that takes in light, and the brain's part that
understands it.
Light comes in and changes into signals our brain knows. When
light bounces off stuff, it's focused onto the back of the eye called the
retina. This is like a camera. The retina has special cells, rods for low
light and cones for color.
Rods help us see when it's dim, but not detailed. Cones help us
see colors. Rods are more around the edges, while cones are in the
center. The eye's front part, like a camera lens, focuses light on the
retina. Photoreceptors turn it into brain signals. So, the eye is like a smart
camera capturing images for our brain to understand.

Hearing
We often think seeing is most important, but hearing is big too.
Our ears tell us lots about our world. Like vision starts with light, hearing
begins with sound waves in the air. The ear takes these vibrations and
sends them to our brain. The ear has three parts: outer, middle, and
inner.
The outer ear, like the part you see and the tube inside, protects
and amplifies sound. The middle ear has tiny bones that move when
sound comes in, passing vibrations to the inner ear. Inner ear's fluid
helps turn vibrations into brain signals.
Just as eyes make sense of light, ears make sense of sounds.
Understanding ears helps make computer things that work well with how
ears work.

Touch
Touch is important. Imagine not feeling hot or cold, or holding
objects. Touch warns us and helps us. Like picking up a glass - without
feeling, it's harder and slower. Even in computer stuff, touch helps us
press buttons.
Touch isn't just in one place. Our skin senses things. It has
sensors for heat, pressure, and more. Some sensors react fast, others
to steady pressure. Different parts of the body feel differently. For
example, fingers are more sensitive.

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 v

Touch also helps us know where our body is. Sensors in joints tell
us if we're moving or staying still. This helps with comfort and using
things, like typing on a keyboard.
So, touch helps us understand and interact with the world,
including using computers.

Movement
When we move with computers, different steps happen. Imagine
clicking a button after seeing a question. Our senses pick up the
question, brain thinks, muscles move. Time is split between reacting and
moving.
How fast we move depends on age and senses. Reacting is
quicker for sounds than sights. Practice and skill help speed up
reactions.
Moving fast doesn't always mean less accuracy. It depends on
the task. Sometimes being a bit slower helps with accuracy. Skill matters
too.
On screens, how quick we click matters. Fitts' law says size and
distance affect time. Bigger targets and shorter distances mean quicker
clicks. Designing menus with important options closer can help.
Designing computer stuff means thinking about how people move
and react to make it easy and fast.

HUMAN MEMORY

Our memory is like a superpower that lets us do many things. It

helps us do things over and over, talk and understand language, and
learn new stuff we see, hear, or feel. It's also what makes us who we are
by keeping memories of our past experiences.

How Does Memory Work?

How we remember things like long lists, and why are some people
better at remembering than others? And what happens when we forget
things? To answer these questions, we need to learn about how our
memory functions. Think of memory as the second part of our "human
as a smart system" idea. But remember, it's not as simple as separate
parts - memory is involved in everything we do.
do

Different Types of Memory:

There are three main types of memory or ways our memory
works: the quick "sensory" memory that helps us right now, the "short-
term" memory that we use to remember things for a little while, and the
"long-term" memory that stores important things for a long time. Some
people debate if these are three separate systems or...

How They Work Together?

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 vi IT 101: Human Computer Interaction

... if they're all connected and work together. Imagine, when you
see a tasty cake, the sensory memory lets you enjoy its look for a brief
moment. Then, if you decide to eat it, the short-term memory helps you
remember the taste while you're eating. Later, the long-term memory
stores the memory of that delicious cake for a really long time.
But sometimes, we forget things. Ever tried to remember a
friend's phone number and it just slipped away? Well, our memory isn't
perfect. Sometimes, the information doesn't get stored properly or we
can't find it in our memory. It's like trying to find a lost toy in a big room.
So, memory is like our brain's super storage system. It helps us
do things, learn, and remember good times. It's like a puzzle with
different pieces, and when they all work together, we can remember
things like champs!
Think of our memory like a high-tech storage system in our brain.
It helps us remember things, just like a computer store’s files. There are
three main parts to our memory: the quick sensory memory, the short-
term memory, and the long-term memory.

Sensory Memory:
When we see, hear, or touch things, our senses send quick
messages to the sensory memory. It's like a temporary holding place for
these messages. Imagine waving your finger in front of your eye - even
after you stop, you still see a faint image. This is your sensory memory.
It helps us remember things for a really short time, like a sparkler's trail
after it's moved. This memory gets replaced by new information quickly,
within half a second.

Short-Term Memory:
Next comes the short-term memory, which is like our brain's
notepad. It helps us remember stuff for a little while, like a phone number
you need to dial. We use it to keep track of things we need right now,
like when we do math in our head. It's really fast, but the info only sticks
around for about 200 milliseconds. It's like writing a note on a whiteboard
- it's there for a moment, then it fades away.

Long-Term Memory:
The long-term memory is our big storage room. This is where we
keep important stuff for a long time, like facts, experiences, and skills
we've learned. Unlike the short-term memory, this one can hold a lot and
for a long time. It takes a bit more time to find things in here, about a
tenth of a second. Plus, things don't really disappear from here like they
do in the short-term memory - they stick around much longer.
Different Types of Long-Term Memory:
Inside our long-term memory, there are two special sections. One
is called "episodic memory," which helps us remember events and
experiences in order. It's like watching a movie of our past. The other
section is "semantic memory." This is where we store facts and
knowledge, like knowing that the sky is blue or how to ride a bike. It's like
a big organized library in our brain.

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 vii

When we want to remember something for the long term, we use

rehearsal. It's like repeating something over and over to remember it
better. Unlike the short-term memory that forgets quickly, our long-term
memory holds onto things for a very long time. It's like saving important
files on a computer's hard drive.
So, our memory is like a smart storage system with different parts.
It helps us remember things for a little bit, like notes on a whiteboard, or
for a really long time, like important files on a computer. It's made up of
sensory, short-term, and long-term memory, and these all work together
to help us remember the world around us.

Thinking: Reasoning and Problem Solving

We've explored how information gets into and out of the human
system, as well as how it's stored. Now, we're diving into the most
complex part: how information is processed and used. This is what sets
humans apart from other information-processing systems, whether
they're natural or artificial. While animals and AI can receive and store
information, humans uniquely use it to reason and solve problems, even
when the information is incomplete. Human thinking is conscious, self-
aware, and recognizable through our thoughts. We can think about
things we've never experienced and solve new problems. But not all
thinking requires the same amount of knowledge. Some tasks need
specific knowledge, while others demand extensive understanding from
various areas. For instance, doing a subtraction calculation needs
limited knowledge, whereas understanding news headlines requires
knowledge of politics, society, public figures, and global events. This
section covers two types of thinking: reasoning and problem solving,
which often overlap. Despite their distinctions, they help us grasp the
intricate processes at play.

Reasoning
Think of reasoning as the way we use what we know to figure out
new things. It's like connecting the dots in our brain to come up with new
ideas or conclusions. There are a few different kinds of reasoning:
deductive, inductive, and abductive. Let's break them down.

• Deductive reasoning is like following a clear path. We start with

some general rules or facts, and then use them to figure out
something specific. It's like if we know that all birds have feathers
and we know that a parrot is a bird, then we can assume that a
parrot must have feathers too.
Examples:
Christmas is always Dec. 25th; today is Dec. 25th,
therefore it's Christmas.
All dogs have ears; golden retrievers are dogs, therefore
they have ears.

• Inductive reasoning is a bit more like guessing. We look

at a bunch of specific things or examples, and from that,

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 viii IT 101: Human Computer Interaction

we make a general idea or conclusion. It's like if we see

lots of cats with stripes, we might guess that all cats have
stripes, even though it's not always true.

• Abductive reasoning is like being a detective. We have

some clues or evidence, and we use them to make the best
guess about what happened or what's true. It's like if we
see wet footprints and an umbrella by the door, we might
guess that it's raining outside.

We use these types of reasoning all the time without even

realizing it. They help us make sense of the world and make decisions
based on what we know. Each type of reasoning has its own special way
of helping us think and understand things better.

Problem Solving
Think of problem solving as the way we use what we know to
figure out solutions to new or unfamiliar challenges. It's like finding the
missing piece to a puzzle using what we already have. When we solve
problems, we're really good at adjusting what we know to handle new
situations. Sometimes, we even come up with creative and unique
solutions. There are different ideas about how people solve problems.
One old idea, the Gestalt view, suggested that we use both our existing
knowledge and moments of insight. Another theory, from the 1970s,
called the problem space theory, compares our mind to a computer that
processes information. There are more modern versions that combine
these ideas to explain how our brains work when we're figuring things
out. So, problem solving is like using our brain's tools to come up with
answers, and different theories help us understand how our minds do
this.
• Gestalt theory is about how we solve problems in a different way
than just trial and error. It says that we don't only use what we
already know, but we can also have "aha!" moments where we
suddenly see a new way to solve a problem. Imagine you have
two strings hanging too far apart, and you need to tie them
together. Most people might try to use something to reach or grab
the strings. But the Gestalt psychologists found that sometimes,
a new idea can come when something unexpected happens.
Like, if someone accidentally bumps into the strings and makes
them swing, we might suddenly realize we can use the swing to
tie the strings. This is like a lightbulb moment when our brain sees
a new solution. It also shows that sometimes we get stuck on one
way of thinking, and that can keep us from finding new and
creative answers. The Gestalt psychologists looked at
experiments with people and even apes to understand how we
solve problems in these different ways.
• Problem space theory is a way of understanding how we solve
problems. Imagine the problem as a space with different states,
like where you start (initial state) and where you want to get (goal
state). To solve the problem, you use different actions (operators)

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 ix

to move from the start to the goal. For example, think about
rearranging your office. You want to move your desk, but it's
heavy. So, you need to make it light by removing drawers, then
you can move it. This theory says that we use our knowledge and
the actions we know to solve problems step by step. But there are
limits - like how much we can remember and how fast we can
think. This theory helps us understand how our mind works when
we solve puzzles or problems. It's useful for clear problems, like
puzzles, but in real life, some problems need more knowledge
and can be trickier to define. This theory helps us think about
solving problems and can also be used for more complex tasks,
like learning new skills or dealing with knowledge-heavy
problems.
• Analogy in problem solving means using what we know from
one situation to figure out a new problem. It's like connecting the
dots between things we've seen before and a new situation. For
example, if we have a problem about destroying a tumor without
hurting healthy tissue, we can use a story about a general
attacking a fortress by splitting his men into small groups. This
helps us find a solution - using low-intensity rays from different
directions. Sometimes, this works better when the analogy is
similar to the problem, like using the story of a general with rays
to destroy a castle. This way, we can use what we already know
to solve new and tricky problems. It's like our brain finding
patterns to help us figure things out.

Skill Acquisition
Skill acquisition is about getting really good at something over
time. When we're learning, we start with basic rules and facts, and as
we practice, we develop specific tricks for different situations. Eventually,
we become so skilled that we use general rules that cover lots of cases.
This process happens in different stages. Imagine you're learning to
cook. At first, you might follow specific instructions for each dish. Then,
you figure out common steps for similar dishes. Finally, you create
general rules that work for a whole category of dishes. This is how
experts cook without looking at a recipe. Similar to cooking, experts in
fields like chess or programming remember patterns and tricks, and they
group problems in clever ways. This skill comes from lots of practice and
making their knowledge more efficient. It's like driving a car – experts do
it well, but explaining every little step can be tricky. This skill helps us
solve problems faster, but sometimes, if the situation changes, relying
on these automatic skills might lead to mistakes.

Errors and mental models

• Sometimes we make mistakes when our understanding of a
situation doesn't match reality.
• We create mental models in our minds to understand how things
work, but they can be incomplete or wrong.

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 x IT 101: Human Computer Interaction

• It's important for designs and systems to follow common

understandings to avoid confusion.

Emotions
• Emotions like happiness and fear affect how we think and interact
with things.
• Positive emotions can make us more creative and open to
complex tasks.
• Designing interfaces that make people feel positive can lead to
better results.

Individual differences
• People are not all the same; they have differences in abilities and
experiences.
• Designers need to consider these differences and create designs
that work for a variety of people.
Summary
• HCI is about making technology that's easy for people to use.
• People interact with computers through their senses, memory,
reasoning, and problem-solving skills.
• Emotions and individual differences also play a role in how we
use technology.
• Designers need to understand these factors to create user-
friendly and inclusive systems.

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 xi

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