intro to hci / why is design hard? - university of...
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Fall 2016 COMP 3020 1
Intro to HCI / Why is Design Hard?
September 12, 2016
Announcements
A02 notes:
http://www.cs.umanitoba.ca/~umdubo26/COMP3020/
A01 notes:
http://www.cs.umanitoba.ca/~bunt/COMP3020/lectureNotes.html
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Announcements
Assignment 1 is posted
Due Sept 23 by 5:00pm on UMLearn
A1 is an individual assignment
Please read through it and bring any questions to class on Wed
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Today
Interfaces vs. Interactions
Historical Overview
Interaction Paradigms
Visionaries
Why is design hard?
What makes a good interface?
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What makes a good experience?
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What makes a good experience?
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What makes a good experience?
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Now you…
Tell me about something you’ve used that provided you with a good experience.
Why?
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why…
…are we now talking about experiences as opposed to just “interfaces”?
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Terminology: Interaction
What is the difference between an interface and interaction?
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Interaction
An interface refers to what is presented to the user
Could be a visual, physical, or auditory presentation
Includes what you can manipulate
An interaction is the dialogue between the computer and the user
The actions the user must invoke to perform a task and the corresponding responses
The dialogue is ongoing
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Interactive Cycle
Reproduced from Dix, Finlay,Abowd, & Beale (2004)
Computer User
Input
Output
presentation
articulationperformance(execution)
observation(interpretation)
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Interactive Cycle
Input/output channels constitute the interface
Allows the system and user to communicate
Computer User
Input
Output
presentation
articulationperformance(execution)
observation(interpretation)
Interface
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Interactive Cycle
The conversation between the system and user constitutes the interaction
The interaction is the entire dynamic process.
Computer User
Input
Output
presentation
articulationperformance(execution)
observation(interpretation)
Interface
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Interactive Cycle: Steps
1. The user formulates a goal and plans a method to achieve the goal
2. The user translates the method into the system input language
3. The system executes the method instructions and updates its state
Computer User
Input
Output
presentation
articulationperformance(execution)
observation(interpretation)
Interface
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Interactive Cycle: Steps
4. The system translates its state into its output language
5. The user interprets the results, and repeats the cycle
Computer User
Input
Output
presentation
articulationperformance(execution)
observation(interpretation)
Interface
Interactive Cycle
The interactive cycle requires both the user and the system to make several translations:
From user’s intention to system input language
From input language to core system language
From core system language to output channel
From output channel to user’s interpretation of output
If the interface isn’t properly designed, these translations can result is two “gulfs”
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Gulf of Execution (Don Norman)
The manner in which the user must translate his/her plans into input the system can understand is not always natural or intuitive
A gulf of execution arises when the user has difficulties providing instructions that are executable by the system
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Gulf of Evaluation (Don Norman)
A Gulf of Evaluation arises when the users has trouble interpreting system output in light of his/her goals
Reflects the amount of effort the user has to exert to determine how well his/her expectations and intentions have been met
Examples?
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Gulf of Evaluation
“The gulf is small when the system provides information about its state in a form that is easy to get, is easy to interpret, and matches the way the person thinks of the system” (Norman, “Design of Everyday Things”)
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Interface Impacts the User’s Task
The more “translating” the user has to do, the more difficult it is for the user to accomplish his/her task
I/O channels affect what can and cannot be expressed
Sometimes interaction language is far from how the user would naturally do a task (i.e., the domain language)
Requires extra effort on behalf of user to translate back and forth
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Evolution of Interaction Paradigms
Over time, interaction paradigms have shifted focus from the machine to the user
The focus has shifted from what is easiest and fastest for the computer to what interfaces and interactions naturally suit users tasks
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Overview of History of Interaction Paradigms
Paradigms
Batch interfaces
Conversational interfaces
Graphical interfaces
Ubicomp
Visionaries
Vannevar Bush, Douglas Engelbart, Mark Weiser
Batch Interfaces (~1945-1965)
The user provides the system with all instructions in a single batch job
Instructions entered on punch cards, magnetic tape, paper tape
No interactivity
All system output presented to the user once the entire job was executed, often on a paper printout
Users: high degree of training required
System time was far more expensive than human time (e.g. $100s/hr vs. ~$10/hr)
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Conversational Interfaces or Command-Line Interfaces
Time Period: ~1965-1985+
Interaction style:
User enters commands in text at the command-line
System executes command
Sometimes feedback is displayed
System can request information from user during interaction
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Conversational Interfaces
Users: expert users
Why?
Advantages
Highly flexible: by combining commands, many sophisticated operations are possible
Disadvantages
Requires recall rather than recognition
During system execution, the user has little control
Why can the above be causes for concern?
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Vannevar Bush
Head of the Office of Science and Research Development
Involved in many WWII activities
In 1945 he wrote the inspirational and forward-thinking article “As We May Think”
Key idea: technology should support and augment human intelligence
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Vannevar Bush
The memex machine:
A device in which an individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility. It is an enlarged intimate supplement to his memory.
User can build associative trails
User can annotate content
His proposal for the physical instantiation of the memexsounds a lot like today’s desktop computers
Even suggested having multiple monitors
Also proposed direct connection to nervous system for input
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Douglas Englebart
Also advocated the need for computers to augment human intellect
Primarily known for inventing the mouse
Demonstrated in a 1968 video known as “The Mother of All Demos”:
Copy/Paste
Hypertext
Computer-supported collaborative work
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Beyond the Knowledge Worker
Ivan Sutherland’s Sketchpad (1963):
Input using a light pen
Direct manipulation
Early “WYSIWYG”
Computers useful for artists, draftsmen, etc
Interfaces closer to task domains
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Graphical Interfaces
Time period: 1985 -
Hardware advances
High-resolution display, keyboard, mouse
Typical style of GUI: WIMP
Windows, Icons, Menus and Pointers
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First Commercial GUIs
Xerox’s 8010 Star Information System (1981) first commercial
Followed by Apple’s Macintosh
First GUI desktop to be widely adopted
Graphical Interfaces: Interaction Style
Users in control
System waits for input, responds
Recognition vs. recall
Enables discovery and experimentation
Most focus on direct manipulation
Sense of directly manipulating objects of interest (Shneiderman, 1982)
Simulated real-world metaphor
What is it and why is this useful?
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Graphical Interfaces
Desktop metaphor
Interaction language closer to user’s own language and that of the task domain
E.g.,
Files, folders, trash cans (now recycling bins)
Users
Broader audience
But is training still required?
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Interaction Styles
Where are we heading?
What other paradigms can we explore?
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More Recent Interaction Paradigms
Utilizing computational power should not always require sitting at a desk
In the 1990’s two new visions:
Virtual Reality
Ubiquitous computing
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Mark Weiser
“The most profound technologies are those that disappear. They weave themselves into the fabric of everyday life until they are indistinguishable from it.” (Scientific American, 1991)
Computing should fade into the environment
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Ubicomp
Ubiquitous computing (ubicomp) is currently an active research area
Goal is to create language of interaction so close to task domain that the computer and its interface essentially become invisible
Not conscious of the fact that we are interacting with a computer
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Ubiquitous Computing Approaches
Make greater use of context in interaction
“the interrelated conditions in which something exists or occurs”
In interaction design, examples of relevant context include:
Details of the user’s physical location
The user’s emotional state
Information on others present
Why is context important?
Ubiquitous Computing Approaches
Increase the range of input and output devices
Sensors (e.g., heat, light, sound, etc.) throughout the environment
Artifacts in different sizes and form factors (e.g., palm pilots, smart phones, etc.)
Computation embedded in situationallyappropriate devices
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Ubiquitous Computing Approaches
Add computational intelligence
Machine learning and other techniques from the field of Artificial Intelligence to:
Make sense of all of the new input data
Tailor the interface/interaction accordingly
Goal is not necessarily to automate the users task
Instead, computational intelligence can enable the device to:
Act in a more situationally appropriate manner
Help the user sort through data to find interesting data points
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What is the Ultimate Goal?
Interfaces should meet the tasks that users want to perform
Users shouldn’t have to adapt their behaviour or learn new interaction techniques
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Inspirational Videos
MIT’s Counter-Intelligence (Bonanniet al., 2005)
IO Brush (Ryokai et al. 2004)
Why is design hard?
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“The user is not like me”
Familiarity with the interface problems being solved
Confidence
Designer’s setting vs. user’s setting
Designers have different skills (perceptual, cognitive, or domain)
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appropriation
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http://www.museumofunintendeduse.com/
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context: how are smartphones used?
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Designer’s Fallacy:
A designer can design into a technology, its purposes and uses.
Reality:
no control, hope for the best
Strategy:
try to understand people and how they already use the technology or similar technologies
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