National Diploma Unit 4 Introduction to Software Development Human Computer Interaction – HCI

Early computers Before the days of the GUI, interaction was normally menu based The user was presented with a variety of numbered options from which they entered their choice Programs were tricky to use and difficult to learn

Modern programs The point and click interface is more natural for us Even young children and babies can use their natural curiosity to learn new computer programs Adults tend to be more inhibited and worry about doing something wrong

HCI This is a relatively new science and contains a considerable amount of psychology theory For people to choose to do something, they need to be motivated An interesting program is more likely to do this than a boring one

HCI Also involves a good deal of observation of how people use computer programs Some things have become clear, there are elements of good program design that give users success at an early stage and this motivates them to carry on using the program

Good practice Provide visual metaphors in the form of icons for simple operations e.g. scissors for cut, a floppy disk for save Reason: we process pictures more quickly than we process words Provide help for the user and, perhaps, levels of expertise (e.g. shortcuts) Remember that if help is too long and complicated – it is even more confusing

Good practice Use tooltip text help (the controls property) Provide a simple manual – some people prefer to read information as this helps the learning process Make it easy to undo mistakes Make the program stable – users find it stressful to work on programs that crash

Good practice The program should behave like it looks as if it will behave Users don’t like surprises – a good program is an intuitive program (one which looks familiar to the user) Don’t clutter the interface – we can only take in limited amounts of information Don’t use too many forms and dialogue boxes – they can be annoying

Assignment tasks Briefly, as part of your testing and evaluation, state how your program addresses HCI issues Suggest ways in which your program could be improved and consider wider accessibility issues

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