Ergonomics in HCI.

Ergonomics (or human factors) is the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data and methods to design in order to optimize human well-being and overall system performance (International Ergonomics Association).

Ergonomics (or human factors) is traditionally the study of the physical characteristics of the interaction: how the controls are designed, the physical environment in which the interaction takes place, and the layout and physical qualities of the screen.

Ergonomics is employed to fulfil the two goals of health and productivity. It is relevant in the design of such things as safe furniture and easy-to-use interfaces to machines and equipment. Proper ergonomic design is necessary to prevent repetitive strain injuries, which can develop over time and can lead to long-term disability. Ergonomics is concerned with the ‘fit’ between computers and their technological robots and environments.

             Practitioners of ergonomics, contribute to the planning, design and evaluation of tasks, jobs, products, organizations, environments and systems in order to make them compatible with the needs, abilities and limitations of people. 

User Experience in HCI

User experience (abbreviated as UX) is how a person feels when interfacing with a system, what he expect of your interface and system. The system could be a website, a web application or desktop software and, in modern contexts, is generally denoted by some form of human-computer interaction (HCI).

User experience (UX) is about how a person feels about using a product, system or service. User experience highlights the experiential, affective, meaningful and valuable aspects of human-computer interaction and product ownership, but it also includes a person’s perceptions of the practical aspects such as utility, ease of use and efficiency of the system. User experience is subjective in nature, because it is about an individual’s feelings and thoughts about the system. User experience is dynamic, because it changes over time as the circumstances change.

·         all the aspects of how people use an interactive product: the way it feels in their hands, how well they understand how it works, how they feel about it while they’re using it, how well it serves their purposes, and how well it fits into the entire context in which they are using it.

·         User Experience (abbreviated: UX) is the quality of experience a person has when interacting with a specific design.

·         The user experience is the totality of end-users’ perceptions as they interact with a product or service. These perceptions include effectiveness (how good is the result?), efficiency (how fast or cheap is it?), emotional satisfaction (how good does it feel?), and the quality of the relationship with the entity that created the product or service (what expectations does it create for subsequent interactions?

 User Experience: Focuses on creating systems that are satisfying, enjoyable, entertaining, helpful, motivating, aesthetically pleasing, creativity supportive, rewarding, fun and emotionally fulfilling.

Low fidelity Prototype and High fidelity Prototype.

Fidelity:

refers to the level of detail, accuracy or coverage of a prototype. It can relate to functionality but most people use the term in relation to visual appearance.

A prototype is a working model built to develop and test design ideas. In web and software interface design, prototypes can be used to examine content, aesthetics, and interaction techniques from the perspectives of designers, clients, and users.

The main purpose of prototyping is to involve the users in testing design ideas and get their feedback in the early stage of development, thus to reduce the time and cost. It provides an efficient and effective way to refine and optimize interfaces through discussion, exploration, testing and iterative revision.

Low-fidelity prototypes

Low-fidelity prototyping is mainly about paper-based mock-up.

Low-fidelity prototypes are very quick hand sketches while the highest are fully detailed, pixel perfect renditions.They are built mostly to  design alternatives or screen layouts. Typical examples of low-fidelity prototypes include storyboards, drawings, paper mockups etc.

Low-fidelity prototypes are quickly constructed to design alternatives, and screen layouts, rather than to model the user interaction with a system

Examples

 Paper Prototyping•

 Balsamiq Mockups & iMockups

Advantages of Low Fidelity:

1. Less time and lower cost.

2. Evaluate multiple design concepts.

3. Useful communication device.

4. Address screen layout issues.

Disadvantages of Low Fidelity:

1. Limited usefulness for usability testing

2. Navigational and flow limitations.

3. Facilitator divisions.

4. Poor detailed specification.

 High fidelity prototypes

High-fidelity is mainly about computer-based simulation.

High fidelity prototypes offer more realistic interactions and are better at conveying the range of design possibilities. High fidelity prototyping, however, may make designers reluctant to change designs and less likely to fully explore the design space.

High fidelity prototypes are typically fully interactive, represent’s the product’s core

functionality and are often built with prototyping systems. They are used mostly for exploration and tests of the look and feel of the final product. A high fidelity prototype helps keep the focus of the team on the user experience.

high-fidelity prototypes are fully interactive, simulating much of the functionality in the final product.  Users can operate on the prototype, or even perform some real tasks with it.

High-Fidelity Prototyping

• Axure Pro 6

• Microsoft Expression BlendUI Prototyping Tool

Advantages of High Fidelity:

1. Partial/ complete functionality interactive.

2. User driven.

3. Clearly defines navigational schemas.

4. Use for exploration and test.

5. Marketing and sales tool.

Disadvantages of High Fidelity:

1. Time consuming to create

2. Inefficient for proof-of-concept designs.

3. Managements may think it is real.

Describe the role of HCI with Advantages and Disadvantages.

"Human-computer interaction (HCI) is the study of interaction between people (users) and computers. Interaction between users and computers occurs at the user interface (or simply interface), which includes both hardware (i.e. peripherals and other hardware) and software (for example determining which, and how, information is presented to the user on a screen)."

“Human-Computer  Interaction  is  a  discipline  concerned  with  the  design,  evaluation and  implementation  of  interactive  computing  systems  for  human  use .

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research is performed to provide and promote a scientific understanding of the interaction between humans and the computer technology and tools that we use. 

A basic goal of HCI is to improve the interactions between users and computers by making computers more usable and receptive to the user's needs.

There are 4 types of User Interfaces:

Command Line Interface (CLI)Menu Driven InterfaceGraphical User Interface (GUI)Natural Language Interface

         i.            Command Line Interface (CLI)

A CLI displays a prompt; the user types a command on the keyboard and executes the command. The computer executes the command, providing textual output.

Advantages

•          Very flexible with the use of “switches” (options)

•          Good for “expert” users - can quickly access commands

•          Uses the fewest  system resources

Disadvantages

•          Requires the user to learn “complex” commands or language

•          “Hidden” features i.e. if you don’t know the commands you won’t know the features are there!

•          Not very good for novice users

Command Line Interface Applications

•          System administration

•          Engineering applications

•          Scientific applications

•          Ideal for visually impaired users!!!

       ii.            Menu Driven Interface

The user has a list of items to choose from, and can make selections by highlighting one.

Advantages

•          No need to learn complex commands/language

•          Easier for a novice to learn/use

•          Ideal when there are a limited number of  options (efficient)

Disadvantages

•          Can be frustrating for experienced users i.e. the command they want to use is buried 5 levels deep!!!!

•          User interface may be limited by screen space and number of options available

Menu Driven Applications

•          ATM

•          Mobile Phone

•          MP3 Player

•          Video recorder

•          Household Devices

•          Digital/Cable TV

                    iii.            Graphical User Interface (GUI)

Uses windows, icons, menus and pointers (WIMP) which can be manipulated by a mouse (and often to an extent by a keyboard as well).

Most suitable interface for inexperienced or novice users but…

UIs use more system resources than other types of interface

 Many generic packages for a GUI will share common features

•          Layout of the screen

•          Names given to commands

•          Icons                    

•          Order of menus

•          Mouse operation

•          Dialog boxes

Benefits of a common interface

There are five advantages to the ‘common user interface’:

•          Increased speed of learning

•          Ease of use

•          Confidence for novice users

•          Increase the range of solvable tasks by users

•          Greater range of software available to the average computer user

       iv.            Natural Language Interface

Can range from simple command systems to voice activated text processing. Commands are spoken in “normal” language.

Advantages

•          No training required – you just tell the computer what you want to do!

•          Can be quicker than keyboard entry

•          Hands-free – could be invaluable in some environments

•          Can be used by the disabled

Disadvantages

•          Emerging technology – still contains “bugs”

•          Difficulty dealing with homonyms

•          Difficult to recognise all the different ways of saying things (and regional dialects)

•          Artificial languages are often more precise