Human Computer Interaction G52HCI

1. Human Computer Interaction G52HCI Steve Benford & Gail Hopkins Introduction

2. Goals of this module • Provide students with the knowledge and skills required to design usable interfaces • Knowledge goals • Appreciate why user interface design is important • Knowledge of user-centred design process especially techniques for prototyping and evaluating interfaces • Knowledge of guidelines for good interface design • Understanding the future trajectory of interfaces • Practice goals • Gain experience of low- and mid- tech prototyping • Gain experience of expert evaluation • Transferable skills • Group work • Documentation

3. Module structure • Introduction (1 lecture) • Understanding users (3 lectures) • Designing graphical user interfaces (3 lectures) • Participatory design & prototyping (2 lectures and 2 practicals) • Evaluating interfaces (2 lectures, 2 practicals) • Careers in HCI (1 lecture) • The future of the interface (2 lectures)

4. Lectures • Wednesday 11:00 in the Exchange Building room C3 • Friday 10:00 Business School South room A24

5. Resources • Web page for handouts & background reading • http://www.mrl.nott.ac.uk/~sdb/g52hci • Recommended text • Rogers, Sharp, Preece, Interaction Design: Beyond Human Computer Interaction, Wiley (2011, 3rd edition)

6. Assessment • Two assessed courseworks (no exam!) • 70% individual work and 30% group work • CW1: Prototyping (50%) • Create prototype interfaces and document in an individual report • CW2: Evaluation (50%) • Perform a group expert evaluation of each others’ prototypes and document in a group and individual reports • See module web page for the coursework schedule • Electronic hand-in

7. What kinds of interfaces are there?

8. What makes interfaces good or bad? • What is the best interface you have every used? • What is the worst? • Why?

9. My worst interface

10. Goals of designing ‘usable’ interfaces • Put the user (not the system) as the central focus: • Time to learn • Speed of performance once learned • Rate of errors • Retention over time • Satisfaction

11. How do we design good interfaces? Requirements Design Implement Test Maintain Not like this!

12. The Human Centred Design Cycle Context: Users, tasks, hardware, software, materials, physical and social environments Plan the user-centred process From: ISO 13407 0 Human Centred Design Process for Interactive Systems (1999) Understand and specify the context of use Specify the user and organisational requirements Evaluate Designs Against User Requirements Produce Design Solutions Meets requirements

13. First of all: Know thy users • Write down a ‘profile’ including: age, gender, physical ability, experience, culture, language, environment of usefor this scenario • Your local library has received funding from the city council to place a PC in its foyer for looking up bus timetables. • This will enable visitors to find out when buses for their town stop at the library • There are currently standard paper-based bus timetables available in the foyer. However, library users who visit by bus have complained that these are difficult to read and not specific enough to the library.

14. Different perspectives on users Social and organisational perspective Draws on sociology and management Focuses on organisational fit, environment, collaboration and legal and ethical issues Design perspective Draws on art and design Considers aesthetic, cultural and marketing aspects of interaction design Individual and cognitive perspective Draws on psychology Focuses on individual capabilities, task performance and dialogue User requirements