1. User System Interface CSC 8570-001 Spring 2009 Instructor: Robert E. Beck

2. 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?

3. 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.

4. Battery Operated Devices  Cell phone  Laptop computer  Calculator  Headphones –One switch: on/off. Marking?  Wireless mouse: –Two buttons, scroll wheel?, ball  IPod (or other MP3 player)  Watch –Four buttons  Remote car entry –Three buttons

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

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

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

8. 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

9. Strategies (2)  Examples  Careful reading of research and survey articles  PowerPoint as a guide –Light on dark? Dark on light? –Posted after class on course web site

10. Activities  Research project –Report –Presentation –Poster  Article presentation  Web-based project  Exercises  Experiments  Exam – in two parts –Second part: May 5

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

12. 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.

13. Issue Summary  How do we do this?

14. Hot Areas; Burning Issues The List  Usability and clarity of interface components –Intuitiveness of actions required –Transparency of interaction –Meaningful feedback (closure) of operations –Conformity to standards –Consistency within and across systems  Safety from (user-caused) errors –Effective error handling –Minimum error cost  Accessibility of systems –Users with disabilities –Effective system security  Speed of response relative to complexity of operation

15. The List (2)  Flexibility of interactions –Multiple paths to the user’s goal  Aesthetics of the interface –Free from clutter –Free from distractions  Availability of system information –Effective help system –Clear user guides and tutorials  Affordability [economy of system resources]  Localization of interface in time and space

16. The List (3)  Security of use  Availability of input/output  Physical integrity of devices  Tactile response  Scalability  Memory of use –Undo and redo

17. Hot Topics: Others’ Ideas  CHI 200X topics CHI 200X topics CHI 200X topics  HCIL presentations HCIL presentations HCIL presentations  Interactions Interactions

18. Landscape of the Field  Taxonomy  Ontology

19. 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 www.cs.umd.edu/hcil www.cs.umd.edu/hcil  Popular press –Information Week –Financial Times  Falvey Library reference desk

20. 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

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

22. 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

23. 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

24. Tools  Concept maps: –http://cmap.ihmc.us http://cmap.ihmc.us  EndNote  Task models: –ConcurTaskTrees Environment ConcurTaskTrees EnvironmentConcurTaskTrees Environment  Help compiler  Treemap: – http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/treemaps/ http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/treemaps/ http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/treemaps/

25. Tools (2)  UISK: User Interface Sketching Tool UISK: User Interface Sketching Tool UISK: User Interface Sketching Tool

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

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

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

29. 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

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

31. 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.

32. Reading (3)  Examples: –MacKenzie: Unipad text entry MacKenzie: Unipad text entryMacKenzie: Unipad text entry –MacKenzie: Text entry errors MacKenzie: Text entry errorsMacKenzie: Text entry errors

33. 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.

34. 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.

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

36. The Future of HCI Take a few minutes to read John Canny’s introduction to the July/August 2006 issue of HCI.  Do Canny’s views match our ideas?  What did he miss?  What did we miss?

37. Handouts  John Canny, The Future of HCI, from HCI, 4(2006), July/August