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Introduction to Human Factors in Information Systems

ITM 734 Fall 2005. Introduction to Human Factors in Information Systems. Dr. Cindy Corritore Creighton University. The key. 3 legged stool Content Appearance Usability Folks involved: Graphic artists Designers Developers Domain experts HCI experts. Usability. The Human

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Introduction to Human Factors in Information Systems

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  1. ITM 734 Fall 2005 Introduction to Human Factors in Information Systems Dr. Cindy Corritore Creighton University

  2. The key • 3 legged stool • Content • Appearance • Usability • Folks involved: • Graphic artists • Designers • Developers • Domain experts • HCI experts Corritore, 2005

  3. Usability • The Human • Single user, groups, I/O channels, memory, reasoning, problem solving, error, psychology, perception, attention, cognitive resources • The Computer • Desktop, embedded system, data entry devices, output devices, memory, processing, PDA, cell phone, Blackberry, …. • The Interaction • Direct/indirect communication, models, frameworks, styles, ergonomics Corritore, 2005

  4. HCI and Human Factors • Human-Computer Interaction • Concerned with design, evaluation and implementation of interactive computing systems for human use. • Interaction Design rather than Interface Design • Usability vs. “easy to use” or “user friendly” Corritore, 2005

  5. Field of HCI • HCI is an interdisciplinary field • Computer science (technology, applications) • Psychology (human capabilities, how humans interact) • Sociology (interaction between people, collaboration, groups, work) • Anthropology (how people work, interact with their environment) • Industrial Design (interactive products, engineering design) Corritore, 2005

  6. History • Douglas Engelbart, 1962 “Augmenting Human Intellect: A Conceptual Framework” • In 1968, workstation with a mouse, links across documents, chorded keyboard Corritore, 2005

  7. History • XEROX Alto and Star • Windows • Menus • Scrollbars • Pointing • Consistency • Apple LISA and Mac • Inexpensive • High-quality graphics • 3rd party applications Corritore, 2005

  8. History • Invention of machines (cars, electronic devices) taxed people’s sensorimotor abilities to control them • Even after high degree of training, frequent errors (often fatal) • Result: human factors became critically important. Corritore, 2005

  9. Problems • However, designers still often consider cost and appearance over human factors • Software development issues • Bad design not always visible but sometimes blatantly obvious. • Demand today • Product differentiation • More demanding consumer • “… just fix that with training …” Corritore, 2005

  10. Today’s state • How many of you can program or use all aspects of your • digital watch? • Fax? • stereo system? • “… no need to understand the underlying physics … (or code) of everything – simply the relationship between the controls and the outcomes” – Donald Norman Corritore, 2005

  11. Corritore, 2005

  12. Problems • Computers far more complex to control than most physical devices • Most computer applications require component that provides for direct interaction with user. • This component typically represents more than half a system’s lines of code. • Goes way beyond intuition. Corritore, 2005

  13. HCI goals • easy to learn • easy to use/efficient • user satisfaction • enjoy it • meet goals with it Corritore, 2005

  14. Human factors overview • Main topics: • Senses: vision, audition, touch, taste • Perception • Memory • Attention • Language • Metaphor • Cognition • Reasoning • Design • Evaluation Corritore, 2005

  15. What do humans do well? • Sense low level stimuli • Pattern recognition • Inductive reasoning • Multiple strategies • Adapting • Hard and fuzzy things Corritore, 2005

  16. What do computers do well? • Counting and measuring • Accurate storage and recall • Rapid and consistent responses • Data processing/calculation • Repetitive actions • Simple and sharply defined things Corritore, 2005

  17. Let humans do: Sensing of low level stimuli Pattern recognition Inductive reasoning Multiple strategies Adapting Creating So …. • Let computers do: • Counting and measuring • Accurate storage and recall • Rapid and consistent responses • Data processing • Calculation • Repetitive actions Corritore, 2005

  18. Evaluate user interfaces • Evaluate user interfaces whenever possible • Analyze interfaces that are annoying or troublesome - why? bad design? • Watch other users of the interface • Test with actual users Corritore, 2005

  19. references • websitesthatsuck.com • http://www.hcibib.org/hci-sites/ • http://www.acm.org/sigchi/ Corritore, 2005

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