TABLE OF CONTENT

1> Definition

Human
2> Goals of HCI
3> HCI Benefits
4> Why HCI is important?

Computer
5> HCI Frameworks/ models
6> Introduction to Evaluation
7> Goals of Evaluation

Interaction
8> Predictive Evaluation
9> Predictive Evaluation methods
10> Advantage//Disadvantage
11>Cognitive Models
12>Predictive Models
13>Keystroke-Level Model(KLM)
 Human computer analysis

Definition
 Human–computer interaction is the study of interaction between humans (users) and
computers.
 "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."

 Human means an individual user, a group of users working together, or a sequence of

users in an organization, each dealing with some part of the task or process. The user is
whoever is trying to get the job done using the technology.
 Computer means any technology ranging from the general desktop computer to a large-
scale computer system, a mobile phone or an embedded system.
 By interaction we mean any communication between a user and computer, be it direct
or indirect.
 Direct interaction involves a dialog with feedback and control throughout
performance of the task.
 Indirect interaction may involve batch processing or intelligent sensors controlling the
environment.
Goals of HCI
 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.
Specifically, HCI is concerned with:
1. Methodologies and processes for designing interfaces (i.e., given a task and a class of
users, design the best possible interface within given constraints, optimizing for a
desired property such as learning ability or efficiency of use)
2. Methods for implementing interfaces (e.g. software toolkits and libraries; efficient
algorithms)
3. Techniques for evaluating and comparing interfaces
4. Developing new interfaces and interaction techniques
5. Developing descriptive and predictive models and theories of interaction

 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.
 Understand the factors that determine how people use technology.
 At physical level, HCI concerns selecting the most appropriate input devices and output
devices for a particular interface or task.
 Determine the best type of interaction, such as direct manipulation, natural language,
icons, menus.
 For systems that include computers, develop or improve-
1. Safety- protecting the user from dangerous conditions and undesirable situations. Eg:
2. Utility- It refers to the extent to which the system provides the right kind of functionality
so that user can do what they need or want to do
3. Effectiveness- It is a very general goal and refers to how good a system at doing what it
is suppose to do.
4. Efficiency- a measure of how quickly users can accomplish their goals or finish their
work using the system
5. Usability- usability in generally regarded as ensuring that interactive products are easy
to learn, effective to use, and enjoyable from user perspective.
6. Appeal- how well the user likes the system
7. Learnability- It refers to how easy a system is to learn to use.
8. Memorability -It refers to how easy a system is to remember how to use, once learned.

HCI Benefits
1. Gaining market share- People intend to buy/use products with higher usability.
2. Improving productivity- Employees in a company perform their jobs in a faster manner.
3. Lowering support costs- If the product is not usable, calls to customer support can be
enormous.
4. Reducing development cost- Avoid implementing features users don’t want and creating
features that are annoying or inefficient.

Why HCI is important?

• User-centred design is getting a crucial role! It is getting more important today to increase
competitiveness via HCI studies.
• Users lose time with badly designed products and services, users even give up using bad
interface.
•In the past, computers were expensive & used by technical people only. Now, computers
are cheap and used by non-technical people (different backgrounds, needs, knowledge,
skills).

HCI Frameworks/ models

1. Norman’s model of interaction
Norman’s model of interaction is perhaps the most influential in Human Computer
Interaction, possibly because of its closeness to our intuitive understanding of the
interaction between human user and computer.
The user formulates a plan of action, which is then executed at the computer interface.
When the plan, or part of the plan, has been executed, the user observes the computer
interface to evaluate the result of the executed plan, and to determine further actions.
The interactive cycle can be divided into two major phases: execution and evaluation. These
can then be subdivided into further stages, seven in all. The stages in Norman’s model of
interaction are as follows:
1. user Establishes the goal.
2. Formulates the intention.
3. Specifies the action sequence.
4. Executes the action.
5. Perceives the system state.
6. Interprets the system state.
7. Evaluates the system state with respect to the goals and intentions.

Each stage is, of course, an activity of the user. First the user forms a goal. This is the user’s
notion of what needs to be done and is framed in terms of the domain, in the task language.
It is liable to be imprecise and therefore needs to be translated into the more specific
intention, and the actual actions that will reach the goal, before it can be executed by the
user. The user perceives the new state of the system, after execution of the action
sequence, and interprets it in terms of his expectations. If the system state reflects the
user’s goal then the computer has done what he wanted and the interaction has been
successful; otherwise the user must formulate a new goal and repeat the cycle.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Norman’s model is a useful means of understanding the interaction, in a way that is clear
and intuitive. It allows other, more detailed, empirical and analytic work to be placed within
a common framework.
However, it only considers the system as far as the interface. It concentrates wholly on the
user’s view of the interaction.
It does not attempt to deal with the system’s communication through the interface.

Abowd and Beale framework/ Interaction framework

The interaction framework attempts a more realistic description of interaction by including
the system explicitly, and breaks it into four main components.
The System, the User, the Input and the Output.
Each component has its own language.
 User- Task language
  System- core language,
 Input language and output languages for both the Input and Output component.
Input and Output together form the Interface.
As the interface sits between the User and the System, there are four steps in the
interactive cycle, each corresponding to a translation from one component to another.
The User begins the interactive cycle with the formulation of a goal and a task to achieve
that goal. The only way the user can manipulate the machine is through the Input, and so
the task must be articulated within the input language. The input language is translated into
the core language as operations to be performed by the System. The System then
transforms itself as described by the operations; the execution phase of the cycle is
complete and the evaluation phase now begins. The System is in a new state, which must
now be communicated to the User. The current values of system attributes are rendered as
concepts or features of the Output. It is then up to the User to observe the Output and
assess the results of the interaction relative to the original goal, ending the evaluation phase
and, hence, the interactive cycle.
There are four main translations involved in the interaction: articulation,
performance, presentation and observation.

3. HCI Framework
Frameworks provide providing a means of discussing the details of a particular interaction,
As well as provide a basis for discussing other issues that relate to the interaction.
The ACM SIGCHI Curriculum Development Group presents a framework for HCI and uses it
to place different areas that relate to HCI.
The field of ergonomics addresses issues on the user side of the interface, covering
both input and output, as well as the user’s immediate context. Dialog design and interface
styles can be placed particularly along the input branch of the framework, addressing both
articulation and performance. However, dialog is most usually associated with the computer
and so is biased to that side of the framework.
Presentation and screen design relates to the output branch of the framework. The
entire framework can be placed within a social and organizational context that also affects
the interaction. Each of these areas has important implications for the design of interactive
systems and the performance of the user.
HCI Paradigms from book
Unit-2
Introduction to Evaluation
– Tests usability and functionality of system
– occurs in laboratory, field and/or in collaboration with users
– evaluates both design and implementation
– should be considered at all stages in the design life cycle.

Goals of Evaluation
Evaluation has three main goals:
1. To assess the extent and accessibility of the system’s functionality.
The system’s functionality is important in that it must accord with the user’s requirements.
In other words, the design of the system should enable users to perform their intended
tasks more easily. This includes not only making the appropriate functionality available
within the system, but making it clearly reachable by the user in terms of the actions that
the user needs to take to perform the task. It also involves matching the use of the system
to the user’s expectations of the task.
2. To assess users’ experience of the interaction
This includes considering aspects such as how easy the system is to learn, its usability and
the user’s satisfaction with it. It may also include his enjoyment and emotional response,
particularly in the case of systems that are aimed at leisure or entertainment. It is important
to identify areas of the design that overload the user in some way, perhaps by requiring an
excessive amount of information to be remembered.
3. To identify any specific problems with the system.
The final goal of evaluation is to identify specific problems with the design. These may be
aspects of the design which, when used in their intended context, cause unexpected results,
or confusion amongst users. This is, of course, related to both the functionality and usability
of the design (depending on the cause of the problem). However, it is specifically concerned
with identifying trouble-spots which can then be rectified.

Predictive Evaluation
• Basis:
– Observing users can be time-consuming and expensive
– Try to predict usage rather than observing it directly
– Conserve resources (quick & low cost).
• Approach
– Expert reviews (frequently used)
HCI experts interact with system and try to find potential problems and give prescriptive
feedback.
– Best if
• Haven’t used earlier prototype
• Familiar with domain or task
• Understand user perspectives

Predictive Evaluation methods

1. Cognitive Walkthrough
Cognitive walkthrough was originally proposed and later revised by Polson and colleagues as
an attempt to introduce psychological theory into the informal and subjective walkthrough
technique.
The main focus of the cognitive walkthrough is to establish how easy a system is to learn.
– usually performed by expert in cognitive psychology.
– expert ‘walks though’ design to identify potential problems using psychological principles.
– forms used to guide analysis.

• For each task walkthrough considers

– what impact will interaction have on user?
– what cognitive processes are required?
– what learning problems may occur?
• Analysis focuses on goals and knowledge: does the design lead the user to generate the
correct goals?
2. Heuristic Evaluation
 A heuristic is a guideline or general principle or rule of thumb that can guide a design
decision or be used to critique a decision that has already been made.
 Heuristic evaluation, developed by Jakob Nielsen and Rolf Molich, is a method for
structuring the critique of a system using a set of relatively simple and general heuristics.
 Heuristic evaluation can be performed on a design specification so it is useful for
evaluating early design. But it can also be used on prototypes, storyboards and fully
functioning systems.
 It is therefore a flexible, relatively cheap approach. Hence it is often considered a
discount usability technique.
 The general idea behind heuristic evaluation is that several evaluators independently
critique a system to come up with potential usability problems. It is important that there
be several of these evaluators and that the evaluations be done independently.
 Heuristic evaluation `debugs' design.

• Advantage
– Cheap, good for small companies who can’t afford more
– Getting someone practiced in method is valuable
• Disadvantage(Somewhat Controversial)
– Very subjective assessment of problems
– Depends of expertise of reviewers

3. Discount Usability Testing

Hybrid of empirical usability testing and heuristic evaluation
Have 2 or 3 think-aloud user sessions with paper or prototype-produced mock-ups.
4. User/Cognitive Modeling
Build a model of user in order to predict usage

Cognitive Models
 Cognitive models represent users of interactive systems.
 Cognitive models capture the user’s thought (cognitive) process during interaction.
 Cognitive models attempt to represent the users as they interact with a system,
modeling aspects of their understanding, knowledge, intentions or processing.
 Although we said before that cognitive models are models of human thinking process,
they are not exactly treated as the same in HCI.
 Since interaction is involved, cognitive models in HCI not only model human cognition
(thinking) alone, but the perception and motor actions also (as interaction requires
‘perceiving what is in front’ and ‘acting’ after decision making). Thus cognitive models in
HCI should be considered as the models of human perception (perceiving the
surrounding), cognition (thinking in the ‘mind’) and motor action (result of thinking such
as hand movement, eye movement etc.)
Predictive Models
Predictive models, are widely used in many disciplines. In human-computer interaction,
predictive models allow metrics of human performance to be determined analytically
without undertaking time-consuming and resource-intensive experiments.

GOMS model
 GOMS model, is a description of the knowledge that a user must have in order to carry
out tasks on a device or system.
 It is a representation of the "how to do it" knowledge that is required by a system in
order to get the intended tasks accomplished.
 The model is used to analyze user’s physical , cognitive and perceptual interactions with
computer while achieving a task or a goal in best possible way.
 It describes the Goals, Operators, Methods, and Selection rules needed to perform a
task.

Goals are what users want to accomplish.

Operators are the basic actions that the user must perform in order to use the system to
achieve their goals.
Methods are the procedures or subgoals and operator sequence that can accomplish a goal.
Selection rules: In some occasions, there can be more than one method to accomplish a
goal a selection rule helps to choose the appropriate method in the particular circumstance.
Characteristics for GOMS
• Combines cognitive aspects with an analysis of a task
• Results in quantitative predictions of time
• Qualitatively
– GOMS can explain the predictions
– focus on methods to accomplish goals

When is GOMS analysis used?

• It applies to situations in which users will be expected to perform tasks they have already
mastered.
Advantages of GOMS
1. The GOMS approach to user modeling has strengths and weaknesses. While it is not
necessarily the most accurate method to measure human-computer interface
interaction, it does allow visibility of all procedural knowledge.
2. With GOMS, an analyst can easily estimate a particular interaction and calculate it
quickly and easily. This is only possible if the average Methods-Time
Measurement data for each specific task has previously been measured
experimentally to a high degree of accuracy.
Disadvantages of GOMS
1. GOMS only applies to skilled users. It does not work for beginners or intermediates
for errors may occur which can alter the data.
2. He model doesn't apply to learning the system or a user using the system after a
longer time of not using it.
3. Mental workload is not addressed in the model, making this an unpredictable
variable.
4. GOMS only addresses the usability of a task on a system, it does not address its
functionality.
Keystroke-Level Model(KLM)
 The KLM was developed as a practical design tool and allows a designer to ‘predict’ the
time it takes for an average user to execute a task using an interface and interaction
method.
 In KLM, it is assumed that any decision making task is composed of a series of
‘elementary’ cognitive (mental) steps, that are executed in sequence.
 These ‘elementary’ steps essentially represent low-level cognitive activities, which can
not be decomposed any further.
The model predicts expert error-free task completion times, given the following input
parameters:
 a task or series of sub-tasks
 method used
 command language of the system
 motor skill parameters of the user
 response time parameters of the system

A KLM prediction is the sum of the sub-task times and the required overhead.
The model includes four motor-control operators (K = key stroking, P = pointing, H =
homing, D = drawing), one mental operator (M), and one system response operator (R):
TEXECUTE = tK + tP + tH + tD + tM + tR
Some of the operations above are omitted or repeated, depending on the task.
Advantages
The KLM was designed to be a quick and easy to use system design tool, which means that
no deep knowledge about psychology is required for its usage. Also, task times can be
predicted (given the limitations) without having to build a prototype, recruit and test users,
which saves time and money.
Limitations
 It measures only one aspect of performance: time, which means execution time and not
the time to acquire or learn a task.
 It considers only expert users. Generally, users differ regarding their knowledge and
experience of different systems and tasks, motor skills and technical ability.
 It considers only routine unit tasks.
 The method has to be specified step by step
 The execution of the method has to be error-free.
The predictive models are:
 Keystroke-level model (KLM)
 Throughput (TP)
 Fitt's law
Fitts’ Law
• It is one of the earliest predictive models used in HCI (and among the most well-known
models in HCI also)
• First proposed by PM Fitts (hence the name) in 1954.
“The law states that the time it takes to move to a target is a function of the length of the
movement and the size of the Target”.
In other words, the bigger the target and the closer the target, the faster it is acquired.

 Fitts's law is a predictive model of human movement primarily used in human–computer

interaction and ergonomics. This scientific law predicts that the time required to rapidly
move to a target area is a function of the ratio between the distance to the target and
the width of the target. Fitts's law is used to model the act of pointing, either by
physically touching an object with a hand or finger, or virtually, by pointing to an object
on a computer monitor using a pointing device.
 Another important thing about the Fitts’ law is that, it is both a descriptive and a
predictive model

Hick-Hyman law
The Hick-Hyman law, is another important model in HCI but not as widely used as Fitts’ law.
Hick-Hyman law can be described as the average reaction time given a set of choices with
equal probability. In other words, it can be said that this law shows the time it takes a user
to make a decision based on the set of choices.

Hick-Hyman law for choice reaction time. This law takes the form of a prediction equation.
Given a set of n stimuli, associated one-for-one with n responses, the time to react (RT) to
the onset of a stimulus and make the appropriate response is given by
RT = a + b log2(n)
where a and b are empirically determined constants.

Descriptive models
Descriptive models are of a vastly different genre than predictive models. Although they
generally do not yield an empirical or quantitative measure of user performance, their utility
is by no means second to predictive models. Simply put, descriptive models provide a
framework or context for thinking about or describing a problem or situation.
– provide a basis for understanding, reflecting, and reasoning about certain facts and
interactions
– provide a conceptual framework that simplifies a, potentially real, system
– are used to inspect an idea or a system and make statements about their probable
characteristics
– used to reflect on a certain subject
– can reveal flaws in the design and style of interaction

Buxton’s three state model: this is used to determine how easy it is to use a mouse or the
wheel and will measure how much pressure a user puts on it and how much dexterity and
speed is used during this action. There are three states which are used to check this:

1. Out of range: Used to show re-positioning and clutching of the mouse.

2. Tracking: For moving an item around the screen such as a cursor.
3. Dragging: Checking the time it takes you to drag an object across the screen or to
group an amount of items together.
Guiard’s model: This focuses on how a user will prefer using specific hand during
interactions for example when typing a keyboard layout is most suitable for left handed
people as the more important keys are on the left side of the keyboard. Guiard’s model
looks at the actual position of the keys on the keyboard.
The above diagram shows that the preferred hand is the right one but this is not always the
case, it will be the left hand in the case of some people or in my case my preferred hands
change depending on which task I am doing (ambidextrous) such as I prefer to play darts
and write with my left hand and I prefer to play golf with my right hand.
Key-Action model(KAM): This allows you to look at how users will interact with keyboards
and therefore what kind of shortcuts they will use to carry out tasks.
This will show how what the user is expecting the computer to do when you try to use
certain shortcuts and what the computer will actually do when you press the shortcut.
An example of this I can think of is when gaming you can use the arrows keys to move
around as well as using (W,A,S,D) and if both options were not available then most gamers
wouldn’t like how the controls were laid out and therefore it could decrease the enjoyability
of the game.
Keys on a keyboard are described as either 1 of 3 different things. They are either a:
 Symbol keys deliver graphic symbols – typically, letters, numbers, or punctuation
symbols – to an application such as a text editor.
 Executive key-These tend to carry out specific actions for example the ENTER key or F1.
 Modifier key- these don’t actually type anything but they allow you set up a condition
necessary to modify the effect of a subsequently pressed key for example the SHIFT key.

 Ubiquitous computing (or "ubicomp") is a concept in software engineering and computer

science where computing is made to appear anytime and everywhere. In contrast to
desktop computing, ubiquitous computing can occur using any device, in any location, and
in any format.
Three Waves of Computing
1. Mainframe computing (60’s-70)
2. PC computing
3. Ubiquitous computing
Ubiquitous computing ( ubicomp) is a post-desktop model of Human Computer Interaction
(HCI) in which information processing has been thoroughly integrated into everyday objects
and activities. HCI is a very recent area of thrust as the human world is getting more and
more digital and one wants the digital systems to behave as close as to a human being. This
requires the devices or the information processing systems to mimic the human behavior
precisely.
Older HCI projects focused on software that people used for extended sessions in
front of a screen. Inventing a new menuing system, or analyzing user-error rates, or
developing a visualization for some productivity software would make a great old HCI paper.
Ubicomp projects typically involve some aspect of "context" e.g. something that the
system senses in the environment, like GPS location, or an accelerometer on a fitness
bracelet. Some ubicomp work uses social science methods to study how people use
technology out in the world, without building a project.

Some of the key characteristics of HCI in ubiquitous computing-

1. implicit input
2. multi-scale and distributed output
3. Seamless integration of physical and virtual worlds

Pervasive computing:
There seems to be a bit of a debate about whether they are two different things or not.
From my reading and understanding, they aren’t the same but are related. Ubiquitous
computing means that computers are everywhere, embedded, invisible, and/or transparent.
On the other hand pervasive computing means mobile computing - in other words it is
computing like smart phones, and other hand-held devices that can go anywhere.

A tangible user interface (TUI) is a user interface in which a person interacts with digital
information through the physical environment.
 Tangible user interfaces (TUIs) use physical objects to control the computer, most often
a collection of objects arranged on a tabletop to act as ‘physical icons’.
 An immediate problem is that physical objects don’t change their visible state very
easily.
 One advantage of the Tangible user interface is the user experience, because it occurs a
physical interaction between the user and the interface itself (E.g.: SandScape: Building
your own landscape with sand). Another advantage is the usability, because the user
knows intuitive how to use the interface by knowing the function of the physical object.
So, the user does not need to learn the functionality. That is why the Tangible User
interface is often used to make technology more accessible for elderly people.
Differences: Tangible and Graphical user interface
The graphical user interface is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with
electronic devices through graphical icons and visual indicators.
where as Tangible user interface (TUI) is a user interface in which a person interacts with
digital information through the physical environment.
A Graphical User Interface exists only in the digital world where as the TUI connects the
digital with the physical world.
A Tangible user interface is usually built for one specific target group where as the
Graphical user interface has a wide range of usages in one interface. Because of that it
targets a large group of possible users.
Interface type/Attributes Tangible user interface Graphical user
interface
Amount of possible Build for one specific application Build for many kinds of
application areas area application areas
How the system is driven physical objects, such as a mouse or Based on graphical bits,
a keyboard such as pixels on the
screen
Coupling between Unmediated connection Indirect connection
cognitive bits and the
physical output
How user experience is The user already knows the The user explores the
driven function of the interface by functionality of the
knowing the physical objects interface
function
User behavior when Intuition Recognition
approaching the system
Universal design is about designing systems so that they can be used by anyone in any
circumstance.
Universal design means designing for diversity, including:
– people with sensory, physical or cognitive impairment
– people of different ages
– people from different cultures and backgrounds.
Universal design is the process of designing products so that they can be used by as many
people as possible in as many situations as possible.
This means particularly designing interactive systems that are usable by anyone, with any
range of abilities, using any technology platform. This can be achieved by designing systems
either to have built in redundancy or to be compatible with assistive technologies.
Example of it might be an interface that has both visual and audio access to commands.

7 principles of universal design

1. Equitable use: the design is useful to people with a range of abilities and appealing to all.
No user is excluded or stigmatized. Wherever possible, access should be the same for all;
where identical use is not possible, equivalent use should be supported. Where appropriate,
security, privacy and safety provision should be available to all.
2. flexibility in use: the design allows for a range of ability and preference, through choice of
methods of use and adaptivity to the user’s pace, precision and custom.
3. the system be simple and intuitive to use, regardless of the knowledge, experience,
language or level of concentration of the user. The design needs to support the user’s
expectations and accommodate different language and literacy skills. It should not be
unnecessarily complex and should be organized to facilitate access to the most important
areas. It should provide prompting and feedback as far as possible.
4. Perceptible information: the design should provide effective communication of
information regardless of the environmental conditions or the user’s abilities. Redundancy
of presentation is important: information should be represented in different forms or
modes (e.g. graphic, verbal, text, touch). Essential information should be emphasized and
differentiated clearly from the peripheral content. Presentation should support the range of
devices and techniques used to access information by people with different sensory
abilities.
5. Tolerance for error: minimizing the impact and damage caused by mistakes or
unintended behavior. Potentially dangerous situations should be removed or made hard to
reach. Potential hazards should be shielded by warnings. Systems should fail safe from the
user’s perspective and users should be supported in tasks that require concentration.
6. Low physical effort: systems should be designed to be comfortable to use, minimizing
physical effort and fatigue. The physical design of the system should allow the user to
maintain a natural posture with reasonable operating effort. Repetitive or sustained actions
should be avoided.
7. Size and space for approach and use: the placement of the system should be such that it
can be reached and used by any user regardless of body size, posture or mobility. Important
elements should be on the line of sight for both seated and standing users. All physical
components should be comfortably reachable by seated or standing users. Systems should
allow for variation in hand size and provide enough room for assistive devices to be used.

Assistive technology is technology used by individuals with disabilities in order to perform

functions that might otherwise be difficult or impossible.
The following technologies help people use computers to access the web:
 Screen readers: Software used by blind or visually impaired people to read the
content of the computer screen. Examples include JAWS for Windows, NVDA, or
Voiceover for Mac.
 Screen magnification software: Allow users to control the size of text and or
graphics on the screen. Unlike using a zoom feature, these applications allow the
user to have the ability to see the enlarged text in relation to the rest of the screen.
This is done by emulating a handheld magnifier over the screen.
 Text readers: Software used by people with various forms of learning disabilities that
affect their ability to read text. This software will read text with a synthesized voice
and may have a highlighter to emphasize the word being spoken. These applications
do not read things such as menus or types of elements - they only read the text.
 Speech input software: Provides people with difficulty in typing an alternate way to
type text and also control the computer. Users can give the system some limited
commands to perform mouse actions. Users can tell the system to click a link or a
button or use a menu item. Examples would be Dragon Naturally Speaking for
Windows or Mac. Please note both Windows and Mac have some speech recognition
utilities, but they cannot be used to browse the web.
 Alternative input devices: Some users may not be able to use a mouse or keyboard
to work on a computer. These people can use various forms of devices, such as:
o Head pointers: A stick or object mounted directly on the user’s head that can
be used to push keys on the keyboard. This device is used by individuals who
have no use of their hands.
o Motion tracking or eye tracking: This can include devices that watch a target
or even the eyes of the user to interpret where the user wants to place the
mouse pointer and moves it for the user.
o Single switch entry devices: These kinds of devices can be used with other
alternative input devices or by themselves. These are typically used with on-
screen keyboards. The on-screen keyboard has a cursor move across the
keys, and when the key the user wants is in focus, the user will click the
switch. This can also work on a webpage: the cursor can move through the
webpage, and if the user wants a to click on a link or button when that link or
button is in focus, the user can activate the switch.
User modeling is the subdivision of human–computer interaction which describes the
process of building up and modifying a conceptual understanding of the user. The main goal
of user modeling is customization and adaptation of systems to the user's specific needs.
The system needs to "say the 'right' thing at the 'right' time in the 'right' way".[1] To do so it
needs an internal representation of the user. Another common purpose is modeling specific
kinds of users, including modeling of their skills and declarative knowledge, for use in
automatic software-tests.[2] User-models can thus serve as a cheaper alternative to user
testing.

A user model is the collection and categorization of personal data associated with a specific
user. A user model is a (data) structure that is used to capture certain characteristics about
an individual user, and a user profile is the actual representation in a given user model. The
process of obtaining the user profile is called user modeling.[3] Therefore, it is the basis for
any adaptive changes to the system's behavior. Which data is included in the model
depends on the purpose of the application. It can include personal information such as
users' names and ages, their interests, their skills and knowledge, their goals and plans, their
preferences and their dislikes or data about their behavior and their interactions with the
system.
 User modelling
 All help systems have a model of the user
 single, generic user (non-intelligent)
 user- configured model (adaptable)
 system-configure model (adaptive)
 Approaches
 quantification
 user moves between levels of expertise based on quantitative
measure of what he knows.
 stereotypes
 user is classified into a particular category.
 overlay
 an idealised model of expert use is constructed and actual use
compared to it. Model may contain the commonality between
these two or the difference.
 Special case: user behaviour compared to known error
catalogue (UT)

There are different design patterns for user models, though often a mixture of them is
used.[2][4]
  Static user models
Static user models are the most basic kinds of user models. Once the main data is gathered
they are normally not changed again, they are static. Shifts in users' preferences are not
registered and no learning algorithms are used to alter the model.
 Dynamic user models
Dynamic user models allow a more up to date representation of users. Changes in their
interests, their learning progress or interactions with the system are noticed and influence
the user models. The models can thus be updated and take the current needs and goals of
the users into account.
 Stereotype based user models
Stereotype based user models are based on demographic statistics. Based on the gathered
information users are classified into common stereotypes. The system then adapts to this
stereotype. The application therefore can make assumptions about a user even though
there might be no data about that specific area, because demographic studies have shown
that other users in this stereotype have the same characteristics. Thus, stereotype based
user models mainly rely on statistics and do not take into account that personal attributes
might not match the stereotype. However, they allow predictions about a user even if there
is rather little information about him or her.
 Highly adaptive user models
Highly adaptive user models try to represent one particular user and therefore allow a very
high adaptivity of the system. In contrast to stereotype based user models they do not rely
on demographic statistics but aim to find a specific solution for each user. Although users
can take great benefit from this high adaptivity, this kind of model needs to gather a lot of
information first.

What is User Centered Design?

User-Centered Design (UCD) is the process of designing a tool, such as a website’s or
application’s user interface, from the perspective of how it will be understood and used by a
human user.
User-centered design is an iterative design process in which designers focus on the
users and their needs in each phase of the design process. UCD calls for involving users
throughout the design process via a variety of research and design techniques so as to
create highly usable and accessible products for them

UCD is an Iterative Process

User-centered design demands that designers employ a mixture of investigative (e.g.,
surveys and interviews) and generative (e.g., brainstorming) methods and tools to develop
an understanding of user needs.
Generally, each iteration of the UCD approach involves four distinct phases. First, designers
attempt to understand the context in which users may use a system. Subsequently, we
identify and specify the users’ requirements. A design phase follows, wherein the design
team develops solutions. The team then proceed to an evaluation phase, and assess the
outcomes of the evaluation against the users’ context and requirements so as to check how
well a design is performing—namely, how close it is to a level that matches the users’
specific context and satisfies all of their relevant needs. From here, the team makes further
iterations of these four phases, continuing until the evaluation results are satisfactory.

UCD Drawbacks
 Passive user involvement.
 User’s perception about the new interface may be inappropriate.
 Designers may ask incorrect questions to users.

What is Usability?
Usability is a measure of the interactive user experience associated with a user interface,
such a website or software application. A user-friendly interface design is easy-to-learn,
supports users’ tasks and goals efficiently and effectively, and is satisfying and engaging to
use.
The official definition of usability is: “the extent to which a product can be used by specified
users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified
context of use.”
Jeffrey Rubin describes usability objectives as:
 Usefulness - product enables user to achieve their goals - the tasks that it was
designed to carry out and/or wants needs of user.
 Effectiveness (ease of use) - quantitatively measured by speed of performance or
error rate and is tied to a percentage of users.
 Learnability - user's ability to operate the system to some defined level of
competence after some predetermined period of training. Also, refers to ability for
infrequent users to relearn the system.
 Attitude (likeability) - user's perceptions, feelings and opinions of the product,
usually captured through both written and oral communication.

A usable interface has three main outcomes:

1. It should be easy for the user to become familiar with and competent in using the
user interface during the first contact with the website. For example, if a travel
agent’s website is a well-designed one, the user should be able to move through the
sequence of actions to book a ticket quickly.
2. It should be easy for users to achieve their objective through using the website. If a
user has the goal of booking a flight, a good design will guide him/her through
the easiest process to purchase that ticket.
3. It should be easy to recall the user interface and how to use it on subsequent visits.
So, a good design on the travel agent’s site means the user should learn from the
first time and book a second ticket just as easily.
Principles usibility
Usefulness
 Value: The system should provide necessary utilities and address the real needs of
users.
 Relevance: The information and functions provided to the user should be relevant to
the user's task and context.
Consistency
 Consistency and standards: Follow appropriate standards/conventions for the
platform and the suite of products. Within an application (or a suite of applications),
make sure that actions, terminology, and commands are used consistently.
 Real-world conventions: Use commonly understood concepts, terms and
metaphors, follow real-world conventions (when appropriate), and present
information in a natural and logical order.
Simplicity
 Simplicity: Reduce clutter and eliminate any unnecessary or irrelevant elements.
 Visibility: Keep the most commonly used options for a task visible (and the other
options easily accessible).
 Self-evidency: Design a system to be usable without instruction by the appropriate
target user of the system: if appropriate, by a member of the general public or by a
user who has the appropriate subject-matter knowledge but no prior experience
with the system. Display data in a manner that is clear and obvious to the
appropriate user.
Communication
 Feedback: Provide appropriate, clear, and timely feedback to the user so that he
sees the results of his actions and knows what is going on with the system.
 Structure: Use organization to reinforce meaning. Put related things together, and
keep unrelated things separate.
 Sequencing: Organize groups of actions with a beginning, middle, and end, so that
users know where they are, when they are done, and have the satisfaction of
accomplishment.
 Help and documentation: Ensure that any instructions are concise and focused on
supporting the user's task.
Error Prevention and Handling
 Forgiveness: Allow reasonable variations in input. Prevent the user from making
serious errors whenever possible, and ask for user confirmation before allowing a
potentially destructive action.
 Error recovery: Provide clear, plain-language messages to describe the problem and
suggest a solution to help users recover from any errors.
 Undo and redo: Provide "emergency exits" to allow users to abandon an unwanted
action. The ability to reverse actions relieves anxiety and encourages user
exploration of unfamiliar options.
Efficiency
 Efficacy: (For frequent use) Accommodate a user’s continuous advancement in
knowledge and skill. Do not impede efficient use by a skilled, experienced user.
 Shortcuts: (For frequent use) Allow experienced users to work more quickly by
providing abbreviations, function keys, macros, or other accelerators, and allowing
customization or tailoring of frequent actions.
 User control: (For experienced users) Make users the initiators of actions rather than
the responders to increase the users’ sense that they are in charge of the system.
Workload Reduction
 Supportive automation: Make the user’s work easier, simpler, faster, or more fun.
Automate unwanted workload.
  Reduce memory load: Keep displays brief and simple, consolidate and summarize
data, and present new information with meaningful aids to interpretation. Do not
require the user to remember information. Allow recognition rather than recall.
 Free cognitive resources for high-level tasks: Eliminate mental calculations,
estimations, comparisons, and unnecessary thinking. Reduce uncertainty.
Usability Judgment
 It depends: There will often be tradeoffs involved in design, and the situation, sound
judgment, experience should guide how those tradeoffs are weighed.
 A foolish consistency...: There are times when it makes sense to bend or violate
some of the principles or guidelines, but make sure that the violation is intentional
and appropriate.

Command Language-based Interface

A command language-based interface – as the name itself suggests, is based on designing a
command language which the user can use to issue the commands. The user is expected to
frame the appropriate commands in the language and type them in appropriately whenever
required. A simple command language-based interface might simply assign unique names to
the different commands. However, a more sophisticated command language-based
interface may allow users to compose complex commands by using a set of primitive
commands. Such a facility to compose commands dramatically reduces the number of
command names one would have to remember. Thus, a command language-based interface
can be made concise requiring minimal typing by the user. Command language-based
interfaces allow fast interaction with the computer and simplify the input of complex
commands.
Disadvantages of command language-based interface
Command language-based interfaces suffer from several drawbacks. Usually, command
language-based interfaces are difficult to learn and require the user to memorize the set of
primitive commands. Also, most users make errors while formulating commands in the
command language and also while typing them in. Further, in a command language-based
interface, all interactions with the system is through a key-board and can not take
advantage of effective interaction devices such as a mouse. Obviously, for casual and
inexperienced users, command language-based interfaces are not suitable.
Issues in designing a command language-based interface Two overbearing command
design issues are to reduce the number of primitive commands that a user has to remember
and to minimize the total typing required while issuing commands. These can be elaborated
as follows:ƒ
 The designer has to decide what mnemonics are to be used for the different commands.
The designer should try to develop meaningful mnemonics and yet be concise to
minimize the amount of typing required. For example, the shortest mnemonic should be
assigned to the most frequently used commands.
 The designer has to decide whether the users will be allowed to redefine the command
names to suit their own preferences. Letting a user define his own mnemonics for
various commands is a useful feature, but it increases the complexity of user interface
development.
 The designer has to decide whether it should be possible to compose primitive
commands to form more complex commands. A sophisticated command composition
facility would require the syntax and semantics of the various command composition
options to be clearly and unambiguously specified. The ability to combine commands is a
powerful facility in the hands of experienced users, but quite unnecessary for
inexperienced users.

What is a graphical user interface (GUI)?

A graphical user interface (GUI) is an interface, or interactive system, that allows
professionals to accomplish tasks on their computers through images and icons, rather than
text command systems. Graphical user interfaces appear in computers, tablet devices and
mobile devices. These graphical user interfaces can often be optimized to provide a more
positive user experience.
Advantages of graphical user interface:-
Easiness for non-technical people:-
For non-technical people or for beginners good GUI’s tends to make easiness in life. For
example with few clicks on buttons user can easily make his work done. Software in shops
for calculation of products sold and inventory can be better managed by an even non-
technical guy. Similarly listening songs in the car is easy for everyone.
Drag and drop feature:-
In most of the software, we have drag and drop functionality by which complex tasks are
managed easily. Like dragging and dropping folders. And in mobile games, it is also nice to
use. In much graphical software, drag and drop are awesome.
Looks nicer than text interface:-
In text interface, we have limited options to choose from and navigation is difficult. For non-
educated people, text interface is difficult to understand and use. In GUI user can use any
tool by detecting symbols or buttons.
Hotkeys usage:-
Sometimes we want a couple of functionality performed by single click then we use hotkeys.
Like we see some buttons or mouse clicks/movements by which a couple of actions
performed. This is very handy for speeding up tasks.
User-friendly:-
A user can easily navigate to the system without knowing a lot of details. Easy setup and
ready to start working are awesome. Most of the software hides the complexity of actions
from the users and display only required information is key to good interface.
Disabled people:-
In modern science, we can detect eyes movement and finger movement which is helpful for
disabled people. Now, most of the software use this functionality to make life easier for
disabled people. They can use software and websites easily with a few actions
Disadvantages of graphical user interface:-
Difficult to develop and high cost:-
Nice looking designs are difficult to make and may also cost extra hardware support. Like
high-quality games consume a lot of device space and memory and it also required very
skilled people to develop.
Slower than command line tools:-
In command line tools like MS dos, we perform some commands which do the work quickly.
But if we do the same task in GUI then it takes extra time to complete the task.
Extra attention required:-
If we are driving a car then controlling music/radio in the car requires attention which
makes our driving disturbed.
Using flat screen:-
Some graphical things do not display accurately on flat screens. In airplanes, sticks are used
to control most of the things because flat screen display is not very handy. This makes the
limitation of GUI.
Time consumption:-
It takes a lot of time to develop and design a good looking interface. If some bad interface
builds then it makes difficult for the user to understand and use.
Memory resources:-
I see a lot of good GUI’s consuming lot of memory resources which make system/device
slow to perform.
Implementation:-
Testing and implementation take a lot of time. Like we may require extra software for
running GUI’s

BASIS FOR CLI GUI

COMPARISON
Basic Command line interface enables a Graphical User interface permits a
user to communicate with the user to interact with the system by
system through commands. using graphics which includes images,
icons, etc.
Device used Keyboard Mouse and keyboard
Ease of Hard to perform an operation and Easy to perform tasks and does not
performing tasks require expertise. require expertise.
Precision High Low
Flexibility Intransigent More flexible
Memory Low High
consumption
Appearance Can't be changed Custom changes can be employed
Speed Fast Slow
Integration and Scope of potential improvements Bounded
extensibility

What is Information Visualization?

Information visualization is the process of representing data in a visual and meaningful way
so that a user can better understand it. Dashboards and scatter plots are common examples
of information visualization.
Information visualization plays an important role in making data digestible and
turning raw information into actionable insights. It draws from the fields of human-
computer interaction, visual design, computer science, and cognitive science, among others.
Examples include world map-style representations, line graphs, and 3-D virtual building or
town plan designs.
Information visualization is becoming increasingly interactive, especially when used
in a website or application. Being interactive allows for manipulation of the visualization by
users, making it highly effective in catering to their needs. With interactive information
visualization, users are able to view topics from different perspectives, and manipulate their
visualizations of these until they reach the desired insights. This is especially useful if users
require an explorative experience.
It is increasingly applied as a critical component in scientific research, digital libraries,
data mining, financial data analysis, market studies, manufacturing production control, and
drug discovery.

Natural language
Perhaps the most attractive means of communicating with computers, at least at first
glance, is by natural language. Users, unable to remember a command or lost in a hierarchy
of menus, may long for the computer that is able to understand instructions expressed in
everyday words! Natural language understanding, both of speech and written input, is the
subject of much interest and research. Unfortunately, however, the ambiguity of natural
language makes it very difficult for a machine to understand. Language is ambiguous at a
number of levels. First, the syntax, or structure, of a phrase may not be clear.
Requirements – what is wanted The first stage is establishing what exactly is needed.
Analysis The results of observation and interview need to be ordered in some way to bring
out key issues and communicate with later stages of design.
Design Well, this is all about design, but there is a central stage when you move from what
you want, to how to do it.
Iteration and prototyping Humans are complex and we cannot expect to get designs right
first time. We therefore need to evaluate a design to see how well it is working and where
there can be improvements.
Implementation and deployment Finally, when we are happy with our design, we need to
create it and deploy it. This will involve writing code, perhaps making hardware, writing
documentation and manuals

Help and Documentation

 Users require different types of support at different times but all user support should
fulfil some basic requirements.
 Implementation and presentation both need to be considered in designing user
support.
 Types of user support
 quick reference
 task specific help (context sensitive)
 full explanation
 tutorial
 These may be provided by help and/or documentation
 help
 problem-oriented and specific
 documentation
  system-oriented and general
 The same design principles apply to both

Characteristics
 Availability
 continuous access concurrent to main application.
 Accuracy and completeness
 help matches actual system behaviour and covers all aspects of system
behaviour.
 Consistency
 different parts of the help system and any paper documentation are
consistent in content, terminology and presentation.
 Robustness
 correct error handling and predictable behaviour.
 Flexibility
 allows user to interact in a way appropriate to experience and task.
 Unobtrusiveness
 does not prevent the user continuing with work nor interfere with application