User System Interface CSC Fall 2010 Instructor: Robert E. Beck

Introductions (1)  Information sheet Information sheet Information sheet  Questionnaire: student information  Questions 1.Who invented the computer mouse? When? Where? 2.What battery operated devices do you have with you tonight? 3.What (computer-based) POS systems do you typically encounter as a customer in a standard week? 4.What process would you use to find the latitude and longitude of the statue of Gregor Mendel on the plaza in front of the Mendel Science Center?

Introductions (2)  Name  If working –For what company? –In what capacity?  If a full-time student –Plans after graduation  Describe the user interface of the first computer you used.

Battery Operated Devices  Cell phone  Watch  Calculator  Laptop  iPod  Remote car key  Bluetooth headset  iPhone, droid, Blackberry, windows mobile  Remote house security  Flashlight  Laser pointer  Pedometer

Goals  Developing design principles  Investigating models and theories  Creating evaluation processes –Experimentation –Opinion  Outlining an effective design process—interface engineering  Proposing interface designs

Themes (1)  Hierarchy of design principles  Models  Theories (or theory)  Awareness –Mental models –Common interactions –Microsoft vs. Apple vs. others –General knowledge

Themes (2)  Multidisciplinary approach  Frontiers of HCI  Definitions, use of words  Examples

Strategies (Ways of Knowing)  Create concept maps for reading assignments –Combine individual maps  Slip-of-paper (SOP) questions and surveys –Summarize results  Lectures, sometimes  Discussion, always  Argumentation, when appropriate

Strategies (2)  Examples  Careful reading of research and survey articles  PowerPoint as a guide –Edited during class –Posted after class on course web site

Activities  Research project –Report –Presentation –Poster  Article presentation  Web-based project  Exercises  Experiments  Exam – in two parts –Second part: December 14

Responsibilities  Attendance  Reading  Team support  Dialog with classmates and instructor

Hot Topics Burning Questions Time for your thoughts  Pair up by twos  For the next few minutes, write down as many issues or problems in user- system interaction as you can.

Issue Summary  How do we do this?

Hot Areas; Burning Issues The List  Errors made through inadvertent gestures, e.g. iPad, Wii  Bad default choices; not checking device properties, e.g. zoom setting  Discrepancies between presentation and function, e.g. bad choice of icons  Error cost of wrongly pressed, chosen widgets.  Non-intuitive interfaces to systems, e.g. synching iPod and iTunes  System time-outs  Discoverability of functionality, especially advanced features  Foreshadowing completion of tasks

Hot Topics: Others’ Ideas  CHI 20XX topics CHI 20XX topics CHI 20XX topics  HCIL presentations HCIL presentations HCIL presentations  Interactions Interactions

Landscape of the Field  Taxonomy  Ontology

Sources  ACM Digital Library  Conference proceedings (MSC 159)  The Web—but be careful  The course web site course web sitecourse web site  University HCI labs, e.g. –U of Maryland  Popular press –Information Week –Financial Times  Falvey Library reference desk

Sources (2)  Steve Krug, Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, 2 nd Edition  Jeff Johnson, GUI Bloopers 2.0: Common User Interface Design Don'ts and Dos  Jakob Nielsen, Designing Web Usability

Contacts  PhillyCHI – Philadelphia region chapter of SIGCHI PhillyCHI  SIGCHI – ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Human Interaction SIGCHI

Conferences  ACE – Computer Entertainment Technology  AVI – Advanced Visual Interfaces  CHI – Computer Human Interaction  CSCW – Computer Supported Cooperative Work  DSV-IS  HCI International  HCIL Symposium (U Maryland) HCIL Symposium (U Maryland) HCIL Symposium (U Maryland)  HICS  Hypertext

Conferences (2)  IDC  Interact  IUI – Intelligent User Interfaces  IVA  SG – Smart Graphics  SIGIR – Information Retrieval  UIST – User Interface Software Technology  User Modeling  World Wide Web

Tools  Concept maps: –  EndNote  Task models: –ConcurTaskTrees Environment ConcurTaskTrees EnvironmentConcurTaskTrees Environment  Help compiler  Treemap: – history/ history/ history/

Tools (2)  UISK: User Interface Sketching Tool UISK: User Interface Sketching Tool UISK: User Interface Sketching Tool  NodeXL NodeXL

What Do We Mean when we write  USI  HCI  GUI  DMI  IUI  SUSI

What Do We Mean By  User  System  Interface  Human  Computer  Interaction  Graphical  Direct  Manipulation

Eras of HCI  Holes  Command lines  Menus and characters  Widget objects and bit maps  Small devices

iPad  A new small device  Issues of design and user interaction? –Discoverability of functionality –Easy to learn elementary functionality –Lack of multitasking, only single window –Keyboard design –Accidental gesture interpretation –Inconsistent interfaces across apps (extends to all software)

iPad(5) –Displaying non-mobile web sites –Pinch zoom –Scroll to end? –Is it trying to be a computer?

What to Study: Potential Topics  Tiny interfaces: Cell phones, smartphones, PDAs, ultramobile PCs, house systems, POS systems  Gesture-based input; pen interfaces  Intelligent interfaces (cf. IUI)  Task analysis (e.g. buying a ticket)  Collaboration tools/systems (cf. CSCW)  Personalization; recommender systems  Friendly forms  Creating digital libraries  Mashup tools  Web-based interfaces to systems, to information, for task completion

Reading a Research Paper  Expect to find –Abstract –Introduction –Description of experiment –Discussion of results –Conclusion –Proposals for future work –References

Reading (2)  Try the abstract—though it may be too abstract, too condensed.  Read the introduction until you get confused.  Read the conclusion.  Look at the reference list—hoping to find papers you already know about.  Check the headings and first few lines of the middle sections for ease of understanding.

Reading (3)  Examples: –Mackenzie: Unipad text entry Mackenzie: Unipad text entryMackenzie: Unipad text entry –Soukoreff and Mackenzie: Metrics for text entry errors Soukoreff and Mackenzie: Metrics for text entry errorsSoukoreff and Mackenzie: Metrics for text entry errors

Next Time  Read Wigdor & Balakrishnan, Tilt Text: using tilt for text input to mobile phones. (You can get a copy of the paper from the ACM Digital Library.)  Evaluate its structure and content as a research paper.  Identify design principles for user interfaces based on the paper.  Hand in your solution to the table exercise. table exercise.table exercise.

Next Time (2)  Install EndNote on your computer and record the references from the Wigdor paper in it. –EndNote has been available for loan from the library. Check with the Reference Desk  Install the CMAP software on your computer and capture the principal ideas of today’s lecture in it.

Next Time (3)  What is the difference between taxonomy and ontology?  How is the field of HCI divided?