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Human Qualities. Teppo Räisänen http://www.oamk.fi/~teraisan/ Teppo.raisanen@oamk.fi. A Human Being. A human being is a psychofysiological entity Humans use their senses to find information about the surrounding world Human senses have abilities and limitations
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Human Qualities Teppo Räisänen http://www.oamk.fi/~teraisan/ Teppo.raisanen@oamk.fi
A Human Being • A human being is a psychofysiological entity • Humans use their senses to find information about the surrounding world • Human senses have abilities and limitations • Humans are very different from machines
A Human Being • Cognitive psychology • Senses • Mechanisms of reasoning • Physical qualities of humans are part of genetical heritage • Besides genetics there are cultural factors affecting our behaviour
Cultural Factors • Beliefs • Language • Art • Attitudes • Tools • Buildings • User Interfaces
Cultural Evolution • Cultural evolution is a much faster process than genetical evolution • We have learned, eg. • Respond on SMS-arrival signals • Not to pay attention to Web advertisements
Physical Qualities of Humans • We are usually from 1,5 meters to 2 meters tall • Young humans are much smaller than adults • We have hands capable of precise movements and adjustments • Child’s coordination of movements is not as good as adult’s
Embedded Systems • Embedded systems utilize microprocessors • Cars • Microwave ovens • Many industrial tools • Embedded systems have user interfaces very different from computer’s UI
Sense of Sight • Sight is the most important of our senses • User Interfaces are largely dependent on visual information they produce • They are two kinds of specialized cells in human’s eyes responsible for creating visual sensations
Sense of Sight • Humans are not very good at seeing in darkened environments • Differences between shades of blue color are more difficult to observe for humans • For older persons distiction between shades of blue becomes even more difficult
Sense of Sight • Ganglion cells in the eyes are largely responsible for shapes and movements • X type ganglion cells are located around the center of visual field => Shape recognition • Y type ganglion cells are located around edges of visual field => Movement recognition
Sense of Sight • Because of our two eyes and their placement our sense of sight is three-dimensional • It is possible to evaluate distances between objects • We also interpret two-dimensional pictures as three-dimensional, if there’s a clue of 3D in a picture
Gestalt Laws • Seeing is a very complicated process • Besides sensing light and movement there’s a need for interpreting an observation • Interpreting is partly innate and partly learned • Gestalt laws are essential to user interface design
Gestalt Laws • Gestalt laws define how humans group observed shapes • UI design should always follow these laws of natural observation
Gestalt Laws: Closeness • Shapes close to each other are observed as grouped
Gestalt Laws: Similarity • Objects of similar qualities are observed as grouped
Gestalt Laws: Connections • Objects that are connected are observed as grouped
Gestalt Laws: Closure • If an area is closed inside borders, objects inside borders are observed as grouped
Process of Reading • Reading is normally based on recognition of words, not individual letters • Hlleo wlrod • Eg. Use of CAPITAL LETTERS distracts reading, because we have learned to recognize words written in small letters • If a word is meant to be read as letters, it should be written used capital letters (PHP, ASAP)
Hearing • Humans are able to recognize vibrations of air molecules • We are also able to make assumptions about • Distance of the source of the sound • Direction of the source of the sound • Movement of the source of the sound
Hearing • Hearing is very important in communications between humans, since speech is a central way or communicating • Humans can make conscious efforts to distinct faint sounds amongst loud ones
Hearing • Hearing has traditionally been overlooked in UI design • Alarm sounds • Sounds to reinforce visual information • Sounds can be seen as disturbing others • Sounds may not be heard, when working in noisy conditions
Hearing • Some UIs like telephone are based solely on auditive information • Use of audio signals is recommendable especially when user performs tasks, which require his/her complete visual attention (eg. Outlook’s ’Incoming message’)
Other Senses • Human beings have reasonably developed senses of smelling and touching • Importance of aforementioned senses are often neglected in UI design • Also it is not easy to produce smells, although there have been some experiments
Other Senses • UI design leans heavily on our ability to remember and recognize things • Human beings have a very good memory of smells • Therefore use of smell can be considered as a possibility for UI designers
Other Senses • Haptical information is often crucial • Sensations of hot and cold • Sensations of pain • For example when typing with a keyboard a sense of key hitting the bottom sends us information of a succesful operation • Compare to touch-screen phone