CS/Psych 6750 Human Computer Interaction

1. CS/Psych 6750Human Computer Interaction Jim Foley Kerry Young foley@cc.gatech.edukerryyoung@gatech.edu This material has been developed by Georgia Tech HCI faculty, and continues to evolve. Contributors include Gregory Abowd, Jim Foley, Elizabeth Mynatt, Jeff Pierce, Colin Potts, Chris Shaw, John Stasko, and Bruce Walker. Comments directed to foley@cc.gatech.edu are encouraged. Permission is granted to use with acknowledgement for non-profit purposes. Last revision: January 2012.

2. Agenda for Today • Introductions • Course Information • Project Information • Homework CS/Psych 6750

3. Introductions - Jim Foley • Founded GVU Center @ GT in 1991 • Industry and consulting and education • Direct MS-HCI and Barcelona Summer Program • Research Interests • HCI - now focused on technology in education • Information Visualization • Computer Graphics • Office hours • MWF 12-1 in CCB, location TBA • Or by email arrangement in TSRB355; foley@cc.gatech.edu • Something about me ….. CS/Psych 6750

4. CS/Psych 6750

5. CS/Psych 6750

6. Introductions – Kerry Young • Second-year MS-HCI Student • Research in BrainLab • GTA for 3750 (undergrad version) last semester • Several years work experience • kerryyoung@gatech.edu • Office hours / location TBA • Something about Kerry CS/Psych 6750

7. Textbooks • Interaction Design – beyond human-computer interaction, Third Edition, by Preece, Rogers and Sharp. Wiley, 2011. • Second edition, 2007, also OK • The Design of Everyday Things, by Donald Norman. Currency/Doubleday. • Any edition OK CS/Psych 6750

8. Course Information • Grading • Mid-term 18% • Final exam 18% • Homework 20% • Group project (4 parts) 44% • 11% per part • Attendance and participation • Expected CS/Psych 6750

9. Policies • No late homework accepted without documented personal issues (serious illness, family emergency, etc.) • Late = 0 • Individual HWs and LHWs done individually • Group projects are the work of your group alone • Talk to others for feedback; look at other systems for ideas; group synthesizes an original design • Review the Georgia Tech Academic Honor Code • http://www.deanofstudents.gatech.edu/Honor/ CS/Psych 6750

10. Web Site • Grades and turn-ins on t-square web site: • t-square.gatech.edu • Lecture notes, supplemental materials, assignments on regular web site at URL TBA prior to Wednesday. • Project description on t-square under resources. CS/Psych 6750

11. Course Goals • Learn a four-step process for designing, prototyping and testing user-computer interfaces • Learn theories, principles and methods relevant to the four steps • How to understand users and their needs • Principles involved in designing useful and usable user-computer interfaces. • UI styles and technologies • Human perceptual and cognitive capabilities and how they apply to UI design • Critique UIs in the context of user goals and objectives CS/Psych 6750

12. Course Topics • Requirements Gathering • Human abilities • Design • Prototyping • Evaluation (without users) • Evaluation (with users) • Dialog & interaction styles CS/Psych 6750

13. HW0- Due Wednesday  • Put up on the class T-Square Wiki • A paragraph about yourself • Home town / state / country • Undergrad major / school • GT major • Work experience – both general and UI-related • Programming languages / tools • Design skills / tools • Something most people don’t know about you • Picture of yourself • One-paragraph description of a project idea • Count of number of computers in your home CS/Psych 6750

14. And we’re off! • What is the User Interface? • Is it the screen layout? • Is it the documentation? • Is it the interaction devices and techniques? • Is it what the application does? • Is it the help system? • Is it the code? CS/Psych 6750

15. UI • UI is at the interface between a human and a computer performing a task • Task - write document, calculate budget, solve equation, learn about Bosnia, drive home, find a friend... • Task might be work, play, learning, communicating, etc etc • Essential user activities: • Express task (execution) • Interpret results (evaluation) • Not just on the desktop! Everywhere! • How many computers in your family home? CS/Psych 6750

16. Who Cares? • Computers (in one way or another) now affect every person in our society • Increasing % utilize computers at work and home • Tonight - count how many in your home/apt/room • Product success may depend on ease of use, not necessarily power • But not always – Macintosh OS vs. Microsoft Windows • Goal – increase satisfaction, utility, efficiency, and safety CS/Psych 6750

17. UI Influences Product Ratings CS/Psych 6750

18. Goals of HCI • Allow users to carry out tasks • Safely (Three-mile Island, ATC) • Effectively • Efficiently • Enjoyably • Bottom line • Lives or dollars or intangibles CS/Psych 6750

19. What is difference between • User-friendly interfaces and • Programmer-friendly interfaces? CS/Psych 6750

20. Famous Quotations “It is easy to make things hard. It is hard to make things easy.” (Al Chapanis, 1982) “Learning to use a computer system is like learning to use a parachute – if a person fails on the first try, odds are he won’t try again.” (anonymous) CS/Psych 6750

21. How Does UI Design Fit in Overall Software Development Process? • UI design MUST start at beginning • Do NOT wait ‘til the end • Good UI can not be pasted on top of poorly-designed functionality • Integrate UI design methods, techniques and knowledge into standard software development methodologies • Good paper “How To Get Amazing Software Out The Door Fast” from Macadamian • To retrieve, Google “How To Get Amazing Software Out The Door Fast” CS/Psych 6750

22. The Evolving Role of HCI • In the early days: Please evaluate our user interface and make it easy to use • The early enlightenment: Please help us design this user interface so that it is easy to use • The age of reason: Please help us find what the users really need so that we know how to design this user interface • The VC dream: Look at this area of life and find us something interesting Panu Korhonen as reported by Liam Bannon “Reimagining HCI: Toward a More Human-Centered Perspective,”ACM Interactions, July+August 2011

23. Where Does Steve Fit in?

24. Where Does Steve Fit In? • …when a reporter asked Jobs how much market research Apple had done before introducing the iPad, he responded, “None. It isn’t the consumers’ job to know what they want.” • http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/07/opinion/the-man-who-inspired-jobs.html?emc=eta1 • “It is in Apple’s DNA that technology alone is not enough—it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the results that make our heart sing.” • http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2011/10/steve-jobs-pixar.html#ixzz1aINBFKjx

25. UI Design / Develop Process If you are Steve  • User-Centered Design • Analyze (or imagine) user’s goals & tasks • Create design alternatives • Evaluate options (fail early, fail often) • Implement prototype • Test • Refine • IMPLEMENT THE REAL SYSTEM • Be prepared for further iterative refinement • This is NOT the classic waterfall development process!!!!! CS/Psych 6750

26. Know Thy Users! • Physical & cognitive abilities & special needs • Personality & culture • Knowledge & skills • Motivation • Two Fatal Mistakes: • Assume all users are alike • Assume all users are like you • Please leave your ego at the door You Are Here CS/Psych 6750

27. User Expectations (1) Some users expect the computer-based system to be just like the old system…. CS/Psych 6750

28. User Expectations (2) Other users expect the system to work magic….. CS/Psych 6750

29. Design Evaluation • “Looks good to me” is not good enough! • Both subjective and objective metrics • We can measure • Time to learn • Speed of performance • Rate of errors by user • Retention over time • Subjective satisfaction CS/Psych 6750

30. Characteristics of Great UIs? CS/Psych 6750

31. Characteristics of Great UIs? • Aaa • Bbb • Ccc • Ddd • Etc CS/Psych 6750

32. And now – more about that project CS/Psych 6750

33. Project Theme this Semester • Health IT • Unless you are passionate about something else • Post idea on Wiki for Wednesday • You choose platform • Computer, tablet (such as iPad), smart phone (such as iPhone), Kiosk, new type of device CS/Psych 6750

34. Project Groups • 4 people • Self-forming but MUST be diverse w/r to • Skills, gender, major • Group formation facilitated in next few classes CS/Psych 6750

35. Project Structure • Design and evaluate an interface • 0 - Team formation & topic choice • 1 - Understand the problem • 2 - Design alternatives • 3 - Prototype & evaluation plan • 4 - Evaluation • Parts 1-4 count 11% each CS/Psych 6750

36. Project Details • Part 0 - Topic definition • Identify team & topic, create web notebook • Part 1 - Understanding the problem • Describe tasks, users, environment, social context CS/Psych 6750

37. Project Details • Part 2 - Design alternatives • Storyboards, mock-ups for multiple different designs • Poster session 1-3pm (combined with a 3750 section) • Part 3 - System prototype & eval plan • Semi-working interface functionality - enough to evaluate • Plan for conducting evaluation • In-class walkthrough CS/Psych 6750

38. Project Details • Part 4 • Conduct evaluation with typical users • Characterize pros and cons of the UI • Fix the easy to fix UI problems • Present results to class – poster session(s) last one or two days of class • With 5-minute PPt CS/Psych 6750

39. Project Ideas • On Wednesday I will talk about a few project ideas • Convergence Innovation Competition projects welcome • One category is Health IT • http://cic.gatech.edu/drupal/categories • Past projects include: • Automobile navigator • Improved cell phone UI • Wardrobe planner • Teacher-parent communicator • Tourist guide • Vacation planner • Menu planning / grocery list creation • Self-service restaurant ordering system • Basketball scoring system • Shopping list creator and store guide • Roommate task management system • Calendar agent (speech) • Audio / Web sites CS/Psych 6750

40. Introductions - You • Name, major, area of specialization, home town • Previous HCI experience • An interesting fact about yourself • Project idea (optional) CS/Psych 6750

41. Coming up • Wednesday – sit where you expect to sit for rest of semester • Helps me associate names and faces :-) • Be on look-out for really good or really bad UIs • Hall of Fame / Hall of Shame CS/Psych 6750