Human Computer Interaction (HCI)

Chapter 4
 Users and their classification

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 Users

To design a good interface, we need to answer

these questions:
 Who is the user?
 What are the tasks?
 Environment in which a system will operate?

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 Users
User’s classification is based on:

 Different backgrounds
 Never used computer before
 Only played games
 Mix background: general public

 Disabilities / special needs

 Blind
 Visually impaired / partially sighted
 Colour blind
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 Users

User’s classification is based on:

 Different age groups
 Children
 Young
 Aged
 Different Cultures
 Asian / western / african ...
 Social norms (question style, attitudes, …)

Benefit: we can make generalization about a

group
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 i.e. by taking a group as an entity
 User Types

Novice users
 Who are they?
 Naive users
 Beginners
 Not used computer before / used rarely
 Limited STM
 No concept of chunking

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 User Types

HCI guidelines for novice users

 System designed should provide help

 Engage novice users by informing them about the

system

 Give them opportunity to ask questions about the

system

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 User Types
HCI guidelines for novice users
 User’s input to the system should be brief
 i.e. no lengthy data entry (else errors)
 Input procedures consistent with user expectations

 For example:
o In a text box, pressing Enter key should let user go
to next line
o Not pressing the OK or CANCEL button accidently
o Text entry from the same line in case of multiple
text boxes

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 User Types
HCI guidelines for novice users

 Provide most of the information on the screen

 Don’t let users remember too much

i.e. no load on memory

 Provide users clues about the system / interface

 i.e. in the first view they know what to do with the
system

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 User Types
HCI guidelines for novice users

 Information / messages must be clear

 Example: “Print command”

o “can’t open a printer ….”

o “unable to access printer …”

o “printer not installed …” etc.

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 User Types
HCI guidelines for novice users

 Give users small set of options to choose from

 Short menu options

Expand / collapse less frequently used menu options

 Small group of radio buttons

 Users should control the pace of interaction

 Let them examine the system
 Let them move the cursor on their own pace

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 User Types
HCI guidelines for novice users

 Prompt users when necessary

 Novice user may neglect the changes made in the
document
Closing a document (saving!)

 Provide sufficient feedback

Recycle bin containing data or empty

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 User Types
Intermittent users
 Who are they?
 Those who use computer on irregular intervals
 Take less time to perform an operation
 Although they have better knowledge still they need:
o Help / Documentation /Manuals, etc…
o For example: context sensitive help
• Tooltips
• Change of mouse pointer (hour glass / resize arrows, etc.)

 HCI guidelines for novices are also applicable here

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 User Types
Expert users
 Who are they?
 Those who use computer frequently
 They respond quickly
 Use abbreviated command sequences
o Keyboard shortcuts
o Sometimes prefer using keyboard than mouse
• Example: Unix commands
• Moving between widgets such as switching/focusing on the
login and password text boxes
• Frequent use of tab / enter keys especially during dialog
boxes

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 User Types

Comparison: Novice / Expert

Example: Login / Password

Novice Expert
Click Type
Type Tab
Click Type
Type Tab
Click Enter

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 User Types
Comparison: Novice / Expert
Example: Page Navigation

1- scroll button
2- scroll bar
3- scroll area
4- arrow keys
5- page up/down keys
6- mouse wheel button …

Novic
? Expert
e
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 Interaction Styles

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 Interaction Styles

Interaction:

 Dialog between computer and user

o In different styles !

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 Interaction Styles
Interface styles / Types of interface styles
 Different types of interfaces provide different types of
interaction
1. Command-line interfaces
2. Menu-based interfaces
3. Natural Language interfaces
4. Questions/Answers and Query Dialog interfaces
5. Form-fills and spreadsheets interfaces
6. Point-and-Click interfaces
7. 3D Interfaces
8. The WIMP interfaces
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 Interaction Styles

Command Line Interfaces

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 Interaction Styles

1. Command-line interfaces (CLI)

 cmd CLI

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 Interaction Styles

1. Command-line interfaces
 Apple Command Shell

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 Interaction Styles

1. Command-line interfaces

 Interact with the system through:

o Keyboard / Typing
o Alphabetic keys e.g. dir …

 Provide instructions / commands to the computer directly

o By using function keys e.g. F2/F10/F12 etc. for bootup menu

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 Interaction Styles

1. Command-line interfaces

 Example commands in cmd

o Telnet: remote connection with computer
o FTP: remote file access
o etc.
 Provide communication with the system
 Many command-line options with different parameters
o Unzip –xf filename.extension
• switches!

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 Interaction Styles

1. Command-line interfaces

 Drawback:

o Commands need to be remembered/recalled

o Load on memory !
o Retrieval may take longer

 Better for expert users !

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 Interaction Styles

Menu-based Interfaces

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 Interaction Styles

2. Menu-based interfaces

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 Interaction Styles

2. Menu-based interfaces

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 Interaction Styles

2. Menu-based interfaces

Credits: Anne Roudaut, Gilles Bailly, Eric Lecolinet

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 Interaction Styles

2. Menu-based interfaces

 Provide set of commands displayed on the screen

 These commands can be selected by mouse or keys

o Click / Alt+F+S

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 Interaction Styles

2. Menu-based interfaces

 Can be text-based
o Like menus with number choices (ATM …)

 Can be graphical
o Like in MS Word / Excel / Matlab / …

 Menus options with text and graphics

o Like save icon along with text “save”

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 Interaction Styles

2. Menu-based interfaces

 Better recognition of commands (rather than recall from memory!)

o Thus command names should be meaningful
o Better for novice users

 Menu options need to be grouped logically

o Use of separators

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 Interaction Styles

2. Menu-based interfaces

 Selection:
o Mouse
o Keyboard (arrow keys, shortcut keys, etc.)

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 Interaction Styles

2. Menu-based interfaces

 Drawbacks

o Hierarchies

o Menu breadth / Depth

• Breadth: no. of menu options
• Depth: no. of levels

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 Interaction Styles

2. Menu-based interfaces

 Drawbacks

o Increase number of clicks

o Unintentional clicking
• When items are not logically grouped

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 Interaction Styles

Natural Language Interfaces

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 Interaction Styles

3. Natural Language interfaces

 Natural language understanding

 Human language

 Familiar to user

 Typed or spoken

 Voice SMS

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 Interaction Styles

3. Natural Language interfaces

 Natural language understanding
 Human language
o Ambiguity in the meaning of the words i.e.
o Ambiguous at no. of levels e.g.

“Wife without her husband is nothing”!

“ Wife, without her husband, is nothing”!
“Wife: without her, husband is nothing”!

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 Interaction Styles

3. Natural Language interfaces

o Ambiguity in the meaning of the words i.e.
o Ambiguous at no. of levels e.g.
o Another example: (a sentence)

“The boy hit the dog with the stick”!

“The boy hit the dog, with the stick”!
“The boy hit the dog with the stick”!

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 Interaction Styles

3. Natural Language interfaces

 What about context?

 Another example: (a word)

 The word “pitch” is used for:
o Voice
o Cricket pitch (sports)
o Pitcher (baseball)

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 Interaction Styles

3. Natural Language interfaces

 What about context?

 Another example: (a word)

 The word “switch” is used for:
o Command line switch options (e.g. in cmd)
o Electric switch buttons on the wall

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 Interaction Styles

3. Natural Language interfaces

 What about context?

 The words: pitch / switch …

 Thus it may depend upon the context and our general knowledge

BUT

 How to inform system about the context and general knowledge?

 A difficult task

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 Interaction Styles

3. Natural Language interfaces

 Helpful while using short natural language messages
 For example:
o Delete
o Save
o Open …

 Removing mobile phone messages by using voice ["Delete”]

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 Interaction Styles

3. Natural Language interfaces

 Problems:
o Vague / Ambiguous

 Solutions:
o Subset of text
o Use of keywords

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 References:

1. Human Computer Interaction by Alan Dix, Janet Finlay, Gregory D.

Abowd, Russell Beale

2. The essence of Human Computer Interaction by Christine Faulkner

3. Designing Interfaces by Tidwell

4. GUI Bloopers 2.0 by Jeff Johnson

5. The elements of User Interface Design by Theo Mandel

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