fall 2012 prof. searleman jets@clarkson
TRANSCRIPT
Course objectives
Administrivia
Introduction to Interaction Design
Motivating Examples
Good & Bad Designs
This course is an introduction to the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
Students will learn how to design, evaluate and implement interactive systems from the user’s perspective
course webpage:
http://www.clarkson.edu/~jets/cs459
contact info: office: SC375 & Applied CS Labs:VR (SC364) phone: 268-2377
email: [email protected]
Designing the User Interface, 5th Edition, by Shneiderman & Plaisant, Addison Wesley, 2010,
ISBN-10 0-321-53735-1
ISBN-13 9780321537355
(referred to as DTUI
throughout the course)
Companion website to DTUI
Interaction Design: beyond human-computer interaction, 2nd edition, Preece, Rogers & Sharp, Addison-Wesley, 2005, ISBN 0-321-19786-0 (called the ID2 book)
User Interface Design and Evaluation, by Stone, Jarrett, Woodroffe & Minocha, Morgan Kaufmann, 2005, ISBN 0-12-088436-4
About Face 3: The Essentials of Interaction Design, Cooper, Reimann & Cronin, Wiley, 2007,
ISBN 0470084111
also see the “on-line resources” on the course webpage
CS459 CS559 Assignments* 20% 15%
Presentation(s) 20% 25%
Project* 40% 40%
Midterm Exams 15% 15%
Class participation 5% 5%
Attendance: Participation in class discussions are an
essential part of this course, so attendance is required
and you must be prepared for class (i.e. have done the
reading in advance).
*We will be using Clarkson’s Usability Lab (in CEC)
Each student in CS459 and CS559 will deliver a presentation based on an area of human-computer interaction (a list of suggested topics and references will be posted on the course webpage).
In addition to this, each student in CS559 will also present a research-level paper to the class. All students will write a reaction paper to it (details to follow later).
The presentation evaluation sheet is online
The goal of the course project is to give you experience with designing and evaluating an interactive product.
The focus of the project is on the interaction design and evaluation, so the actual application can be a simple (but working) prototype
This can be integrated with another software project you are working on (for example, for CS350), as approved by both instructors.
Late submission policy: Maximum 2 late days per assignment/project
deliverable
Each late day penalized with 10%
No late days for presentations and test
Legal notices on the world-wide web: Read and comply with accompanying legal notices of downloadable material
Specify all references used
Plagiarism and cheating: will not be tolerated
Why study Human-Computer Interaction?
Crashed near Cali, Colombia in 1995
Official cause: “pilot error”
Real cause: poor design
Boeing 757 cockpit
Pilots manually navigate only during takeoff, landing, inclement weather, emergencies.
Navigate by traveling between beacons
Flight management system
Most common way to navigate to next beacon
Enter first letter of beacon
To navigate to “Rozo” beacon
Pilots enter “R” on flight management system
Plane navigates towards “Romeo” beacon
Flight management system does not provide feedback on chosen beacon
Plane headed in the wrong direction, eventually crashing on a mountain
Speed brakes not disengaged when trying to accelerate
http://sunnyday.mit.edu/accidents/calirep.html
Lessons
Expert users make mistakes
Feedback
Consistency
System state needs to match state expected
by users
Software used to trade in Tokyo Stock Exchange
Trader for Mizuho tried to sell
1 share of J-Com for 610,000 yen
Instead he sold
610,000 shares of J-Com for 1 yen each
Software warned him, but he ignored warning
Attempted to undo, but it was not possible
Confidence in Tokyo Stock Exchange damaged
Shares in NTT, rival of software maker, jumped 11%
$331,000,000 loss from trade for Mizuho
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4512962.stm
Lessons
Busy people in a hurry more likely to make
mistakes
Users rarely read warning messages because
they rarely matter
Good designs expect mistakes to happen
Provide “undo” capabilities
Poll by UK charity found a third of men and a quarter of women drink to cope with stress
Almost one third said IT problems were a major cause of stress
Top cause of stress cited, followed by finances and commuting
Not as severe in effect as other issues (e.g. death, divorce), but much more common
Lessons
Widespread use of technology means stressful interactions can have negative impact on society
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4602872.stm
Technology available 10 years before WWW appeared
Graphical user interfaces
Modems
Internet
Hypertext
Interface made difference
Not geared towards experts
Tim Berners-Lee worked at CERN
Web browser
Simplicity
Consistency
Easy to recuperate from errors
Easy to learn and remember
Simple interface to access very powerful technology
Helps you notice and remediate typos
3G Mobile Phones
iTV
iPod
SMS Smart Fridge
Auto Mobile
Cooking Arrangement
Ubiquitous Computing Pervasive Systems Tangible Interfaces Ambient Intelligence Context-aware Systems Augmented Reality
Increasing influence of these technologies on our day-to-day lives has fuelled a shift to user-centric design
Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is: “concerned with the design, evaluation and implementation of interactive computing systems for human use and with the study of major phenomena surrounding them” (ACM SIGCHI)
Interaction Design (ID) is: Designing interactive products to support people in their everyday and working lives. (Sharp, Rogers and Preece 2007)
We will concentrate on the design of computer technologies
“The old computing is about what computers can do; the new computing is about what people can do” - Ben Shneiderman
Classic Software engineering
How to build functional, efficient, robust software on time given specifications
Usually not concerned with how users will interact with software
GUI design (Graphical User Interfaces)
Implies that you put something between people and code
Code developed independently from interface
Process does not start with users’ goals in mind
Academic disciplines contributing to ID: Psychology
Social Sciences
Computing Sciences
Engineering
Ergonomics
Informatics
Design practices contributing to ID: Graphic design
Product design
Artist-design
Industrial design
Film industry
Interdisciplinary fields that ‘do’ interaction design: HCI Human Factors Cognitive Engineering Cognitive Ergonomics Computer Supported Co-operative Work Information Systems
Many people from different backgrounds involved
Different perspectives and ways of seeing and talking about things
Benefits more ideas and designs
generated
Disadvantages difficult to communicate and
progress forward the designs being create
Increasing number of ID consultancies, examples of well known ones include: Nielsen Norman Group: “help companies enter the
age of the consumer, designing human-centered products and services”
Cooper: ”From research and product to goal-related design”
Swim: “provides a wide range of design services, in each case targeted to address the product development needs at hand”
IDEO: “creates products, services and environments for companies pioneering new ways to provide value to their customers”
interaction designers - people involved in the design of all the interactive aspects of a product
usability engineers - people who focus on evaluating products, using usability methods and principles
web designers - people who develop and create the visual design of websites, such as layouts
information architects - people who come up with ideas of how to plan and structure interactive products
user experience designers (UX) - people who do all the above but who may also carry out field studies to inform the design of products
Activity#1 (to prepare for class on Wednesday):
1. Find out more about at least 4 of the terms on Slide 29, and describe them in your own words
2. Take a critical look at Peoplesoft from an HCI point of view and list three good points and three bad points.
Type your answers and pass in a printout on Wednesday’s class.