Practical Programming COMP153-08S Week 5 L2: HCI

What is HCI? Human Computer Interaction 1.the study of humans 2.the study of computer technology 3.the study of how they influence each other Designing systems that are more usable

Usability Does what user wants in the way they can easily understand.

Microsoft Entourage –has a calendar/diary –you can have reminders that events are about to happen (eg meetings) –reminders appear in a popup window –but they don’t appear on top of all other windows –so you might never see them! Poor Usability is seen in software

Apple puck mouse –for a while was the standard mouse provided with Apple computers –too small to fit into hand comfortably –it’s round, so difficult to tell which way it is pointing –people had to buy add-on covers to make it usable Poor Usability is seen in hardware

Some Key Usability Concepts 1.Visibility

The control panel at the 5 mile Island Nuclear Power Plant. The controls were so badly designed that the user had to modify them. Some Key Usability Concepts 2.Affordance

Te Taka’s crock pot Some Key Usability Concepts 2.Affordance

Some Key Usability Concepts 3.Mappings

Some Key Usability Concepts 4.Feedback

RedBlueGreenYellowWhite US danger masculinity safetycowardicepurity France aristocracyfreedom, peace criminalitytemporaryneutrality Egypt deathvirtue, faith, truth fertility strength happiness, prosperity joy India life, creativity prosperity, fertility successdeath, purity Japan anger, danger villainyfuture, youth grace, nobility death China happinessheavenlyMing & others birth, wealth, death, purity Some Key Usability Concepts 5.Understanding Users

Designing for Usability 1.Understand user needs –Study them – what really happens in the world? –Involve them 2.Prototyping –Early on build versions of the system that the user can see and use –Get comments –Listen and adjust 3.Use design guidelines –Learn from others –Rules of good practice

So…. Paper sketches –Show user, modify.net forms –Just layout –Some functionality –Again, show users, modify

Design guidelines Through experience and experiments, lots of good design advice available. You’ve seen a range in the Zak book: –Tooltips (why?) –Access keys (why?); choice of letter? –“If an operation is destructive, prompt the user to verify that he or she wants to proceed with the operation” –Appendix B GUI Design Rules No easy, magic way for good design though. Guidelines are just guides…

Taking things further Read –“The psychology of everyday things” Don Norman. –Look at (site about how bad design makes life difficult) –Look at (site about usability) Practice good practice –Prototype your vb apps – sketch, show users, redesign –Apply good design guidelines Do COMP258 (Engineering Usable Systems)

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