Oromia State University

Human Computer
Interaction
chapter 5

Interaction design
 interaction design basics
• design:
– what it is, interventions, goals, constraints
• the design process
– what happens when, were
• users
– who they are, what they are like …
• scenarios
– rich stories of design
• navigation
– finding your way around a system
• iteration and prototypes
– never get it right first time!
 interactions and interventions
design interactions not just interfaces
not just the immediate interaction
e.g. stapler in office – technology changes interaction style
• manual: write, print, staple, write, print, staple, …
• electric: write, print, write, print, …, staple

designing interventions not just artefacts

• understanding and choosing how that is going to affect the way people work
not just the system, device but also …
• documentation, manuals, tutorials
• what we say and do as well as what we make
 Interaction
• Main aim: design interaction system not just
interface.
• Don’t think about just the immediate interaction,
but the interaction as a process
• Technology is just the tool that enables to create the
specific form of interaction
 what is design?

achieving goals within constraints

• goals - purpose
– who is it for, why do they want it
• constraints
– materials, platforms
• trade-offs
 golden rule of design

understand your materials

 for Human–Computer Interaction

understand your materials

• understand computers
– limitations, capacities, tools, platforms
• understand people
– psychological, social aspects
– human error
• and their interaction …
 To err is human
• accident reports ..
– aircrash, industrial accident, hospital mistake
– enquiry … blames … ‘human error’
• but …
– concrete lintel breaks because too much weight
– blame ‘lintel error’ ?
… no – design error
we know how concrete behaves under stress
• human ‘error’ is normal
– we know how users behave under stress
– so design for it!
• treat the human/user at least as well as physical materials!
Central message …

the user
 The process of design

scenarios
what is task analysis
wanted guidelines
principles
interviews analysis precise
ethnography specification
design
what is there
vs. dialogue implement
what is wanted notations and deploy
evaluation
prototype
heuristics architectures
documentation
help
 Steps …
• requirements
– what is there and what is wanted …
• analysis
– ordering and understanding
• design
– what to do and how to decide
• iteration and prototyping
– getting it right … and finding what is really needed!
• implementation and deployment
– making it and getting it out there
 … but how can I do it all ! !
• limited time design trade-off

• usability?
– finding problems and fixing them? 
– deciding what to fix?

• a perfect system is badly designed
– too good  too much effort in design
user focus

know your user

persona
cultural probes
 know your user

• who are they?

• probably not like you!
• talk to them
• watch them
• use your imagination
 persona
• description of an ‘example’ user
– Big picture of an imaginary person who represents your
core user group
– not necessarily a real person
• use as surrogate user
– what would Betty think
• details matter
– makes her ‘real’
 example persona
Betty is 37 years old, She has been Warehouse Manager for five
years and worked for Simpkins Brothers Engineering for twelve years.
She didn’t go to university, but has studied in her evenings for a
business diploma. She has two children aged 15 and 7 and does not
like to work late. She did part of an introductory in-house computer
course some years ago, but it was interrupted when she was
promoted and could no longer afford to take the time. Her vision is
perfect, but her right-hand movement is slightly restricted following
an industrial accident 3 years ago. She is enthusiastic about her work
and is happy to delegate responsibility and take suggestions from her
staff. However, she does feel threatened by the introduction of yet
another new computer system (the third in her time at SBE).
 cultural probes
• direct observation
– sometimes hard
• in the home
• psychiatric patients, …

• probe packs
– items to prompt responses
• e.g. glass to listen at wall, camera, postcard
– given to people to open in their own environment
they record what is meaningful to them

• used to …
– inform interviews, prompt ideas, enculture designers
 scenarios

stories for design

use and reuse
 scenarios
• stories for design
– communicate with others
– validate other models
– understand dynamics
– can be augmented by sketches, simulated screen shots,
etc(story board)
• linearity
– time is linear - our lives are linear
– but don’t show alternatives
– Our lives are linear as we live in time and so we find it
easier to understand simple linear narratives.
– We are natural story tellers and story listeners.
 scenarios …
• what will users want to do?

• step-by-step walkthrough
– what can they see (sketches, screen shots)
– what do they do (keyboard, mouse etc.)
– what are they thinking?

• use and reuse throughout design

 scenario – movie player

Brian would like to see the new film “Moments of Significance” and wants to
invite Alison, but he knows she doesn’t like “arty” films. He decides to take a
look at it to see if she would like it and so connects to one of the movie sharing
networks. He uses his work machine as it has a higher bandwidth connection,
but feels a bit guilty. He knows he will be getting an illegal copy of the film, but
decides it is OK as he is intending to go to the cinema to watch it. After it
downloads to his machine he takes out his new personal movie player. He
presses the ‘menu’ button and on the small LCD screen he scrolls using the
arrow keys to ‘bluetooth connect’ and presses the select button. On his
computer the movie download program now has an icon showing that it has
recognised a compatible device and he drags the icon of the film over the icon
for the player. On the player the LCD screen says “downloading now”, a percent
done indicator and small whirling icon. … … …
 also play act …
• mock up device
• pretend you are doing it

but where is that thumb?

use toothpick as stylus

 … explore the depths
• explore interaction
– what happens when

• explore cognition
– what are the users thinking

• explore architecture
– what is happening inside
 use scenarios to ..
• communicate with others
– designers, clients, users

• validate other models

– ‘play’ it against other models

• express dynamics
– screenshots – appearance
– scenario – behaviour
 linearity
Scenarios – one linear path through system

Pros:
– life and time are linear
– easy to understand (stories and narrative are natural)
– concrete (errors less likely)
Cons:
– no choice, no branches, no special conditions
– miss the unintended

• So:
– use several scenarios
– use several methods
 the systems

info and help management messages

start

navigation design
add user remove user

local structure – single screen

global structure – whole site
main remove
confirm
screen user

add user
 levels
• widget choice
– menus, buttons etc.
• screen design
• application navigation design
• environment
– other apps, O/S
 the web …

• widget choice • elements and tags

– <a href=“...”>

• screen design • page design

• site structure
• navigation design
• the web, browser,
• environment external links
 physical devices

• widget choice • controls

– buttons, knobs, dials

• screen design • physical layout

• modes of device
• navigation design
• the real world
• environment
 think about structure
• within a screen, individual view
– individual screens or the layout of devices will
have their own structure
• Local structure
– looking from one screen or page out
• Global structure
– structure of site, movement between screens
– between screens/within the application
• wider still
– relationship with other applications
 Dix , Alan

Finlay, Janet
Abowd, Gregory
Beale, Russell

screen design and layout

basic principles
grouping, structure, order
alignment
use of white space

ABCDEFHIJKLM
NOPQRSTUVWXYZ
 basic principles
• ask
– what is the user doing?
• think
– what information, comparisons, order
• design
– form follows function
 available tools
• grouping of items
• order of items
• decoration - fonts, boxes etc.
• alignment of items
• white space between items
 grouping and structure
logically together >>physically together

Billing details: Delivery details:

Name Name
Address: … Address: …
Credit card no Delivery time

Order details:
item quantity cost/item cost
size 10 screws (boxes) 7 3.71 25.97
…… … … …
 order of groups and items
• think! - what is natural order

• should match screen order!

– use boxes, space etc.
– set up tabbing right!

• instructions
– beware the cake recipie syndrome!
… mix milk and flour, add the fruit
after beating them
 decoration
• use boxes to group logical items
• use fonts for emphasis, headings
• but not too many!!

ABCDEFHIJKLM
NOPQRSTUVWXYZ
 alignment - text
• you read from left to right (English and European)

 align left hand side

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
boring but
Winston Churchill - A Biography readable!
Wizard of Oz
Xena - Warrior Princess

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Winston Churchill - A Biography
Wizard of Oz
fine for special effects Xena - Warrior Princess
but hard to scan
 alignment - names
• Usually scanning for surnames
 make it easy!

Alan Dix


Janet Finlay
Gregory Abowd
Dix , Alan

Finlay, Janet


Russell Beale Abowd, Gregory
Beale, Russell
Alan Dix
Janet Finlay
Gregory Abowd
Russell Beale
 alignment - numbers

think purpose! 532.56

179.3
256.317
which is biggest?
15
73.948
1035
3.142
497.6256
 alignment - numbers

visually: 627.865
long number = big number
1.005763
align decimal points
382.583
or right align integers
2502.56
432.935
2.0175
652.87
56.34
 multiple columns
• scanning across gaps hard:
(often hard to avoid with large data base fields)

sherbert 75
toffee 120
chocolate 35
fruit gums 27
coconut dreams 85
 multiple columns - 2
• use leaders

sherbert 75
toffee 120
chocolate 35
fruit gums 27
coconut dreams 85
 multiple columns - 3
• or greying (vertical too)

sherbert 75
toffee 120
chocolate 35
fruit gums 27
coconut dreams 85
 multiple columns - 4
• or even (with care!) ‘bad’ alignment

sherbert 75
toffee 120
chocolate 35
fruit gums 27
coconut dreams 85
white space - the counter

WHAT YOU SEE

 white space - the counter

WHAT YOU SEE

THE GAPS BETWEEN

space to separate
space to structure
space to highlight
 physical controls
• grouping of items
– defrost settings
defrost
– type settings
of food
typetoof
– time food
cook
time to cook
 physical controls
• grouping of items
• order of items
1) type of heating
2) temperature
1
3) time to cook
4) start

4
 physical controls

• grouping of items
• order of items
• decoration
– different colours
different colours for
for different
different functions
functions
– lines
linesaround
aroundrelated
related
buttons (temp up/down)
buttons
 physical controls
• grouping of items
• order of items
• decoration
• alignment
– centered text in buttons
?centred text ?in buttons
easy to scan
? easy to scan ?
 physical controls
• grouping of items
• order of items
• decoration
• alignment
• white space
– gaps to aid grouping
gaps to aid grouping
user action and control

entering information
knowing what to do
affordances
 Entering information
Name: Alan Dix
• forms, dialogue boxes Address: Lancaster
– presentation + data input
– similar layout issues
– alignment - N.B. different label lengths


Name: Alan Dix
Address: Lancaster

?
• logical layout
– use task analysis
Name: Alan Dix
– groupings
Address: Lancaster
– natural order for entering information
• top-bottom, left-right (depending on culture)
• set tab order for keyboard entry

N.B. see extra slides for widget choice

 knowing what to do
• what is active what is passive
– where do you click
– where do you type
• consistent style helps
– e.g. web underlined links
• labels and icons
– standards for common actions
– language – bold = current state or action
 affordances
• psychological term mug handle
• for physical objects
‘affords’
– shape and size suggest actions grasping
• pick up, twist, throw
– also cultural – buttons ‘afford’ pushing
• for screen objects
– button–like object ‘affords’ mouse click
– physical-like objects suggest use
• culture of computer use
– icons ‘afford’ clicking
– or even double clicking … not like real buttons!
appropriate appearance
presenting information
aesthetics and utility
colour and 3D
localisation & internationalisation
 presenting information
• purpose matters
– sort order (which column, numeric alphabetic) name size
– text vs. diagram chap10
chap1 17
12
– scatter graph vs. histogram chap10
chap5 12
16
chap11
chap1 51
17
chap12
chap14 262
22
• use paper presentation principles! chap13
chap20 83
27
chap14
chap8 22
32
…… …
• but add interactivity
– softens design choices
• e.g. re-ordering columns
• ‘dancing histograms’
 aesthetics and utility
• aesthetically pleasing designs
– increase user satisfaction and improve productivity
• beauty and utility may conflict
– mixed up visual styles  easy to distinguish
– clean design – little differentiation  confusing
– backgrounds behind text
… good to look at, but hard to read
• but can work together
– e.g. the design of the counter
– in consumer products – key differentiator (e.g. iMac)
 colour and 3D
• both often used very badly!
• colour
– older monitors limited palette
– colour over used because ‘it is there’
– beware colour blind!
– use sparingly to reinforce other information
• 3D effects
– good for physical information and some graphs
– but if over used …
e.g. text in perspective!! 3D pie charts
 bad use of colour
• over use - without very good reason (e.g. kids’ site)
• colour blindness
• poor use of contrast
• do adjust your set!
– adjust your monitor to greys only
– can you still read your screen?
 across countries and cultures
• localisation & internationalisation
– changing interfaces for particular cultures/languages
• globalisation
– try to choose symbols etc. that work everywhere

• simply change language?

– use ‘resource’ database instead of literal text
… but changes sizes, left-right order etc.
• deeper issues
– cultural assumptions and values
– meanings of symbols
e.g tick and cross … +ve and -ve in some cultures
… but … mean the same thing (mark this) in others

 
prototyping
iteration and prototyping

getting better …
… and starting well
 prototyping
• you never get it right first time
• if at first you don’t succeed …

OK?
design prototype evaluate done!

re-design
 pitfalls of prototyping

• moving little by little … but to where

1. need a good start point

2. need to understand what is wrong
HCI in the software process
 HCI in the software process
• Software engineering and the design process for interactive
systems

• Usability engineering

• devising human-computer interfaces that have high

usability or user friendliness

• Iterative design and prototyping

• Design rationale
 the software lifecycle

• Software engineering is the discipline for understanding the

software design process, or life cycle

• Designing for usability occurs at all stages of the life cycle, not
as a single isolated activity
 The waterfall model
Requirements
specification

Architectural
design

Detailed
design

Coding and
unit testing

Integration
and testing

Operation and
maintenance
 Activities in the life cycle
Requirements specification
designer and customer try capture what the system is expected to provide can be
expressed in natural language or more precise languages, such as a task analysis
would provide

Architectural design
high-level description of how the system will provide the services required factor
system into major components of the system and how they are interrelated needs
to satisfy both functional and nonfunctional requirements

Detailed design
refinement of architectural components and interrelations to identify modules to
be implemented separately the refinement is governed by the nonfunctional
requirements
 Verification and validation

Real-world
requirements
and constraints The formality gap

Verification
designing the product right
 Validation
designing the right product
 
The formality gap
validation will always rely to some extent on subjective means of proof
Management and contractual issues
design in commercial and legal contexts
The life cycle for interactive systems
cannot assume a linear
Requirements sequence of activities
specification
as in the waterfall model
Architectural
design

Detailed
design

Coding and
unit testing

lots of feedback! Integration

and testing

Operation and
maintenance
 Usability engineering
The ultimate test of usability based on measurement of user experience

Usability engineering demands that specific usability measures be made explicit as

requirements

Usability specification
– usability attribute/principle
– measuring concept
– measuring method
– now level/ worst case/ planned level/ best case

Problems
– usability specification requires level of detail that may not be
– possible early in design satisfying a usability specification
– does not necessarily satisfy usability
part of a usability specification for a
VCR
Attribute: Backward recoverability
Measuring concept: Undo an erroneous programming
sequence
Measuring method: Number of explicit user actions
to undo current program
Now level: No current product allows such an undo
Worst case: As many actions as it takes to
program-in mistake
Planned level: A maximum of two explicit user actions
Best case: One explicit cancel action
 ISO usability standard 9241
adopts traditional usability categories:

• effectiveness
– can you achieve what you want to?
• efficiency
– can you do it without wasting effort?
• satisfaction
– do you enjoy the process?
some metrics from ISO 9241
Usability Effectiveness Efficiency Satisfaction
objective measures measures measures

Suitability Percentage of Time to Rating scale

for the task goals achieved complete a task for satisfaction

Appropriate for Number of power Relative efficiency Rating scale for

trained users features used compared with satisfaction with
an expert user power features

Learnability Percentage of Time to learn Rating scale for

functions learned criterion ease of learning

Error tolerance Percentage of Time spent on Rating scale for

errors corrected correcting errors error handling
successfully
Iterative design and prototyping
• Iterative design overcomes inherent problems of incomplete requirements

• Prototypes
– simulate or animate some features of intended system
– different types of prototypes
• throw-away
• incremental
• evolutionary

• Management issues
– time
– planning
– non-functional features
– contracts
 Techniques for prototyping
Storyboards
need not be computer-based
can be animated

Limited functionality simulations

some part of system functionality provided by designers
tools like HyperCard are common for these
Wizard of Oz technique

Warning about iterative design

design inertia – early bad decisions stay bad
diagnosing real usability problems in prototypes….
…. and not just the symptoms
 Design rationale
Design rationale is information that explains why a computer
system is the way it is.

Benefits of design rationale

– communication throughout life cycle
– reuse of design knowledge across products
– enforces design discipline
– presents arguments for design trade-offs
– organizes potentially large design space
– capturing contextual information
 Design rationale (cont’d)
Types of DR:
• Process-oriented
– preserves order of deliberation and decision-making
• Structure-oriented
– emphasizes post hoc structuring of considered design alternatives

• Two examples:
– Issue-based information system (IBIS)
– Design space analysis
Issue-based information system (IBIS)
• basis for much of design rationale research
• process-oriented
• main elements:
issues
– hierarchical structure with one ‘root’ issue
positions
– potential resolutions of an issue
arguments
– modify the relationship between positions and issues
• gIBIS is a graphical version
 structure of gIBIS
supports
Position Argument
responds to
Issue
responds to
objects to
Position Argument
specializes

Sub-issue generalizes

questions

Sub-issue

Sub-issue
 Design space analysis
• structure-oriented

• QOC – hierarchical structure:

questions (and sub-questions)
– represent major issues of a design
options
– provide alternative solutions to the question
criteria
– the means to assess the options in order to make a choice

• DRL – similar to QOC with a larger language and more formal

semantics
 the QOC notation

Option Criterion

Question Option Criterion

Option
Criterion

… Consequent …
Question
Question
 Psychological design rationale
• to support task-artefact cycle in which user tasks are affected by the
systems they use
• aims to make explicit consequences of design for users
• designers identify tasks system will support
• scenarios are suggested to test task
• users are observed on system
• psychological claims of system made explicit
• negative aspects of design can be used to improve next iteration of design
 Summary
The software engineering life cycle
– distinct activities and the consequences for interactive system design
Usability engineering
– making usability measurements explicit as requirements
Iterative design and prototyping
– limited functionality simulations and animations
Design rationale
– recording design knowledge
– process vs. structure