Six Golden Rules toShake the Student’s Mind

Some results from a workshop on education in Human Computer Interactionheld by IFIP Working Group 13.1

at the INTERACT’99 conference in Edinburgh, 1999.

Edited byLars Oestreicher

TABLE of Contents

1 INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2 WORKSHOP PROCEDURE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

3 WORKSHOP DISCUSSIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

3.1 THE HCI TOPIC IN EDUCATION? ......................................................................................... 23.2 HCI VS. HMI OR HAI ....................................................................................................... 2

4 RESULTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

4.1 WORKSHOP DISCUSSIONS ................................................................................................... 24.2 THE SIX GOLDEN RULES................................................................................................... 3

1 . Read thought-provoking literature .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 . Observe real users using real tools .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 . Analyse the findings in the observation .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 . Mix the results from the analysis with theory .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 . Redesign the artefact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 . Iterate the observation phase.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

4.3 COMMENTS ON THE SIX GOLDEN RULES .............................................................................. 5

5 FURTHER WORK IN THE WORKING GROUP 13.1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

6 CONTACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

7 WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

8 REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

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Six Golden Rules to Shake the Students’ Minds

Some results from a workshop on education in HCI held byIFIP1 WG13.12 at the INTERACT’99 conference

1 IFIP is the acronym for International Federation for Information Processing. Information about IFIP and itsaims can be found on the IFIP official web-site: http://www.ifip.or.at/2 The IFIP Working Group 13.1 is concerned with the education aspect of HCI, including the production of acurriculum for HCI.

1 IntroductionAt the INTERACT’99 conference held inEdinburgh, a workshop was organised bythe IFIP working group 13.1, aroundeducation in Human-Computer Interaction(HCI). The conference attracted 13participants, representing 9 countries(Australia, Greece, Ireland, Korea,Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, Sweden,Switzerland, UK). The workshop wasinitially planned for one day, but wascontinued informally for another half day.

The aim of the workshop was to initiatework around the didactic issues that arespecific to the HCI area (see the workshopdescription in Cox, Oestreicher, Quinn,Rauterberg, & Stolze, 1999). It was also theintention that the problem of distanceeducation would be addressed by theworkshop. However, it turned out during theinitial discussions on this topic that thisissue would need a focused workshop on itsown.

The participants had sent in their positionstatements in advance, and these have beenpublished on the WG13.1 web-site.

2 Workshop procedureThe workshop was organised into twoseparate sessions, one on didactic issues inHCI, the other on the use of distanceeducation for teaching HCI. Each of thesessions was in turn divided into groupdiscussions where the two groups workedseparately on the same issue.

After each of the group sessions, theworkshop reunited for a conclusivesummary of the work in the respectivegroups. The summaries did encouragefurther discussions from the groups.

At the end of the first day a final sessionwas used to summarise the results from theworkshop into a poster, from which thepictures in this document are taken. Duringan informal half day continuation the posterwas sketched and finalised.

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3 Workshop DiscussionsThe discussions were vivid during most ofthe time, and it is impossible to describe allthe different statements that were madeduring this workshop. However, some of theitems discussed were laying the fundamentsof the final results. These statements will berelated in this section.

3.1 The HCI Topic in Education?One sub-discussion in the workshopconcerned the role of HCI education. Arewe to educate general HCI experts, and insuch case, for what purpose? What is therole of the HCI expert? Who is thepractitioner we are educating.

There was an agreement about that there is ageneral problem in that the teaching of HCIneeds some general change in order to givethe students a better possibility to apply theknowledge given in lectures and/or textbooks. How to achieve this is still to beworked out, although the conclusion fromthis workshop can be regarded as one stepin this direction.

3.2 HCI vs. HMI or HAIOne problem with HCI is the narrowfocussing on the computer, and it was alsostated that the HCI needs to free itself of theburden of the computer. Thus there will be atransfer from teaching Human-ComputerInteraction (HCI) to Human-MachineInteraction or even in the most generalperspective Human-Artefact Interaction.

For example, we may use the interface to aviolin or a flute as examples of hard-to-useinterfaces which, on the other hand, allowfor a very large expressivity. Thus, by takingmany of the examples for the educationfrom other areas of technology or design,we have a possibility to widen the view inthe student.

Further support for this direction comesfrom the current trends in ubiquitouscomputing, where the computers becomeless and less visible, and the interface isincreasingly merged within the product. Inthese cases the user is further distancedfrom the computer than in the traditionalhuman-computer interaction setting.

4 ResultsThe results form the workshop were of twodifferent kinds, the primary results that werepresented on the poster, and the secondaryresults, which are the basis for future workwithin the Working Group 13.1. Thesecondary results will be presented in theshape of a curriculum for the workinggroup.

4.1 Workshop discussionsThe workshop participants all agreed uponthat the current curricula for HCI educationsuffer from problems, especially in gettingthe ideas through to the users. There was ageneral agreement on that HCI as a fieldrequires education not only on theoreticalaspects of HCI, but furthermore there is abasic need for practical experience. It mighteven be said that education in HCI shouldhave the basic aim, not of teaching HCI, butmaking the student “think HCI”. From thisperspective most of the currently availabletextbooks are difficult to use in practicallearning. By attempting to provide a broadand covering perspective, they give thestudent difficulties in apprehending thegeneral outlook on human-computerinteraction.

One immediate problem with the approachthat was discussed in the workshop is thelack of textbooks that are suited foralternative education styles. The presentationin most of the books used is too traditionaland aimed at a more theoretical perspectivein the education.

The more practical oriented education is notaddressed in this kind of books. Students,on the other hand, often want knowledgethat is directly applicable, and that leadsquickly to the desired goals. There was alsoa general agreement on that the HCIcurriculum published by the ACM SIGCHICurriculum development group (ACMSIGCHI, 1992) has problems in that it is bynow outdated, although it gives a broaddefinition of the HCI area in educationalterms.

In the smaller group sessions one part of thediscussion centred on how to make thestudents experience HCI, rather thanlearning practical applications of HCI.

Almost all of the participants had their ownset of experience-creating exercises that they

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used in their own teaching. This wasconsidered to be a potentially usefulresource for new teachers.

4.2 The Six Golden RulesAs a conclusion from the workshop theparticipants produced a poster. The contentsof the poster were discussed during the finalhours of the first day.

The decided title of the poster was “SixGolden Rules to Shake the Students Mind”.The rationale behind the title was that thetheory taught through textbooks needspractical experience in order to make thestudents see and realise the problem. Mostof the practical exercises that the participantsdescribed during the workshop did have thismind-shaking quality.

1. Read thought-provokingliterature

The first step is to lay a mental fundamentfor the mind-shaking experience. This isdone by letting the student read literaturethat gives him or her a perspective on thetheoretical knowledge that they already have.Examples of books that were advanced asuseful in this respect were the sequel writtenby Donald Norman (1988; 1992; 1993).But there are also other sources that mightbe useful. Good books on industrial orgraphic design could be given as inspirationfor the preparations.

Note that this literature is not the traditionalset of HCI textbooks.

Figure 1. The student should be given good,thought-provoking literature.

One important continuation of thisworkshop will be to gather a source of asuitable bibliography for this mind-shakingexperience.

2. Observe real users using realtools

One way of raising the awareness of HCIproblems in the student is to make them goout in the real world and let them observepeople using real artefacts. By noting theproblems that people experience in usingwending machines, doors, copiers, etc. theywill experience many problems that peopleactually have.

Figure 2. The student should be sent to do realobservations of real users using real products.

If this real life experience is properlykindled in the following steps, it may leadthe student into a continuous observation ofcommon artefacts, i.e., they will have a betterawareness.

3. Analyse the findings in theobservation

By analysing the gathered data, the studentswill be forced to understand the problemsituation, they will also be started on theprocess of redesign, which will be made intoan awareness. The analysis can start fromtheir own understanding, combined with theideas from the thought provoking literature.

Figure 3. The studies should be analysed in groups,and the results from the analysis should beducumented in written reports.

The results from the analysis should be putinto written reports, so that the students areforced to rationalise their observations. The

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teacher can also use the report for a mid-study examination.

4. Mix the results from the analysiswith theory

The observations and the analysis has to beproperly anchored in a theoreticalfoundation. By adding the theory after (or inparallel with) the observation study, thestudents will hopefully retain the theorybetter, and also connect their knowledge tothe practical experience.

Figure 4. After the analysis theory and practiceneeds to be combined so that the students can getthe rationale for their observations.

The mixing of theory and practice requires agood knowledge source, where theknowledge in the theory is suited for themixing with the practical experiences. Thebook can of course be one of thetraditionally suggested course books, suchas Shneiderman (1992), Preece et al. (1994)or Dix et al. (1998) just to mention a fewthat were used by the participants in thegroup. However, more probably we wouldlike to device a new kind of textbook, whichwould be adapted to this kind of teaching.To create a textbook of this kind would beone major feat for the continued work ofthis working group.

5. Redesign the artefactBy redesigning the artefact, the students arerequired not only to criticise a design, butalso to make a constructive suggestion foran improvement. In the examination of theredesigned artefact, not only the usabilityaspects, but also other relevant properties ofthe artefact should be considered.

Figure 5. The results should be put to practical use,ideally into redesigning the observed product.

Since the students have been observing realworld artefacts, there might be someproblems in redesigning the actual artefact.Thus the redesign has to be made as aprototype or as a storyboard walkthrough.In the rare case where there is an actualpossibility for a real redesign, this could ofcourse be encouraged, but this will mostlikely be too time consuming for thestudent.

6. Iterate the observation phaseWhen the design is finished the studentsneed to get feedback on their own newdesign, and the prototype that has beendeveloped. This should be done byreiterating the observation, analysis andredesign phases.

Figure 6. The final step involves iteration of theprocess, possibly using the redesigned artefact as anew reference.

One important part of the iteration processis that the student is encouraged to assesstheir own ideas in relation to the initialproduct. It is a very important part of HCIeducation to make the student realise thattheir solution is not (necessarily) the bestsolution, but that new solutions will raisenew problems in the interface.

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4.3 Comments on the Six GoldenRules

The application of the rules to theeducational situation can of course be donein a variety of ways, incorporating some orall of the rules depending on the purposeand the situation.

The Six Golden Rules to change theStudents Minds are not intended to be a newcurriculum for HCI. Neither are theysomething that should be the soleeducational tool in any introductory coursein HCI.

Rather we would like to see the Rules asadditional means for a teacher to raise theawareness in the student; to make them seethe obvious traps in everyday design. Byraising the awareness level, we suspect thatthe students will be more open to the generalcontent in HCI education, rather than thespecific details that are taught within thetextbooks.

5 Further work in theWorking Group 13.1

IFIP has as one aim to support thedevelopment of computer science withindeveloping countries. Thus, one goal for thework within this working group is tosupport the education of HCI on awidespread arena over the world. One wayto do this is to start publishing a series ofinspiring, practically oriented educationalbooks, or booklets, that will support teachersin their ambition to spread the ideas of HCIto their students.

The workshop inspired a large number ofideas for the continuation of the work withinthe IFIP Working group 13.1 along theselines. The participants were more or lessagreed upon the education principle basedon the change of student’s mindset in thedirection of HCI. In order to reach this goal,there is a need for good teaching materials.

Especially we need a useful and accessibleset of good exercises, illustrative examples,and useful assignments for the students, etc.In the longer perspective we also need tocreate adapted textbooks, focussing more onthe practical application of the ideas in HCIthan on the more theoretical issues thatcurrently constitute the common base.

This report is hopefully a first step on theway to a series of small booklets that canbring forth this kind of material.

6 ContactIf you are interested in the work done withinthe IFIP Working Group 13.1 you arewelcome to contact us. The contactinformation can be found on the TC13 web-site: http://www.ifip-hci.org/.

You are also welcome to contact us if youhave material that you think would fit in withthe type of publication that we strive for atthis stage.

7 Workshop participants:The workshop was attended by (currentlocation within brackets):

Julio Abascal, Spain

John Cass, Ireland (Korea)

Daphne Economou, Greece (UK)

Judy Hammond, Australia

Adrian Houtmsa, Netherlands

Maddy Janse, Netherlands

Paula Kotzé, South Africa

Lars Oestreicher, Sweden

Matthias Rauterberg, Netherlands

Markus Stolze, Switzerland

Mark Toleman, Australia

All the participants contributed alike to theachivements in this report. The editing ofthis final report has been done by LarsOestreicher.

Illustrations for the poster (also included inthis report) were developed by the group incommon and later finalised by DaphneEconomou.

8 ReferencesACM SIGCHI (1992). Curriculum forHuman-computer Interaction No. ACMSpecial Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction CurriculumDevelopment.

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Cox, M., Oestreicher, L., Quinn, M.,Rauterberg, M., & Stolze, M. (1999). HCIin Education, Theory or Practise. In:INTERACT'99, . Edinburgh, UK: Kluwer.

Dix, A., Finlay, J., Abowd, G., & Beale, R.(1998). Human-Computer Interaction (2nded.). London, England: Prentice Hall.

Norman, D. A. (1988). The Psychology ofEveryday Things. New York, New York:Basic Books.

Norman, D. A. (1992). Turn Signals Arethe Facial Expressions of Automobiles.Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley.

Norman, D. A. (1993). Things that MakeUs Smart: Defending Human Attributes inthe Age of the Machine. Reading,Massachusetts: Addison Wesley.

Preece, J., Rogers, Y., Sharp, H., Benyon, D.,Holland, S., & Carey, T. (1994). Human-Computer Interaction. Wokingham,England: Addison-Wesley.

Shneiderman, B. (1992). Designing theUser Interface: Strategies for EffectiveHuman-Computer Interaction (2 ed.).Reading, Massachusetts: Addison Wesley.