Human-Computer Interaction. Ryan Doolittle

Transcription

1 Human-Computer Interaction Ryan Doolittle November 9th, 2010

2 Abstract The Association for Computing Machinery defines human-computer interaction, hereafter referred to as HCI, as a discipline concerned with the design, evaluation and implementation of interactive computing systems for human use and with the study of major phenomena surrounding them. But quite simply it is the study of how us users interact with the computer systems we deal with on a consistent basis. This interaction takes place at what we like to call the user interface. For those who dont know what a user interface is, it is where direct interaction takes place with the user and the system. A simple example is in your very own vehicle. You see, when your car was designed a HCl representative was put in charge of designing the layout of each and every button, knob, lever, and switch that controls a function in your car. An extensive example is in the cockpit of a plane. Airplanes require so much input from the user that there are almost twenty times more controls in a cockpit rather than your vehicle. It is someones job to make sure these controls are placed in the best and most efficient way possible. Now, HCI has two main goals. Its basic goal, which is what we explained, is to improve interactions between computers and its users by making them more useable and receptive to the users needs. Its long-term goal is to design systems that reduce the barrier between the users cognitive model of what they want to accomplish and the computer s understanding of the user s task.

3 Brief Overview Human-computer interaction has always been apart of our technological world, but as such fields as computer graphics, operating systems, human factors, ergonomics, industrial engineering, cognitive psychology, and the systems part of computer science became more and more popular, so did the need for human-computer interaction research (Hewitt, 1992). As more and more uses for technology came into play, more and more types of interfaces were created to help bridge that barrier between man and computer. Human-computer interaction severely depends on the research done by universities and corporations. Yet even though we have these two sources of research, corporate research depends on the university research. In fact, virtually all of today s major interface styles and applications have had significant influence from research at universities and labs, often with government funding. But overall, without this research many of the advances in the field of HCI would probably not have taken place, and as a consequence the user interfaces of commercial products we use today would be far more difficult to use and learn than they are now (Myers, 1996). As quoted, Government funding of advanced human-computer interaction technologies built the intellectual capital and trained the research teams for pioneer systems that, over a period of 25 years, revolutionized how people interact with computers. Industrial research laboratories at the corporate level in Xerox, IBM, ATT, and others played a strong role in developing this technology and bringing it into a form suitable for the commercial arena. (Card, 1996). As computers progressed so did their design, from what the monitor displays, how 1

4 your mouse works, to how the keyboard is set up. Then new features for vehicles, new software, improved operating systems, 3D movies, video games, industrial machinery, and so much more began to require human computer interaction research. As time went on the goals of human computer interaction research have grown greatly. In general, the 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. Specifically, HCI is concerned with methodologies and processes for designing interfaces, methods for implementing interfaces, techniques for evaluating and comparing interfaces, developing new interfaces and interaction techniques, developing descriptive and predictive models and theories of interaction. Professional researchers in HCI are usually designers concerned with the practical application of design methodologies to real-world problems. Their work often revolves around designing graphical user interfaces and web interfaces. Researchers in HCI are interested in developing new design methodologies, experimenting with new hardware devices, testing new software systems, exploring new paradigms for interaction, and developing models and theories of interaction. As new technologies are being invented everyday, new and more innovative ways are created to bridge this barrier. Yet as time goes means by which humans interact with computers continues to evolve rapidly. Human-computer interaction is affected by the forces shaping the nature of future computing. Some examples include decreasing hardware costs leading to larger memories and faster systems, miniaturization of hardware leading to 2

5 portability, reduction in power requirements leading to portability, new display technologies leading to the packaging of computational devices in new forms, assimilation of computation into the environment (embedded systems), specialized hardware leading to new functions, increased development of network communication and distributed computing, increasingly widespread use of computers, especially by people who are outside of the computing profession, increasing innovation in input techniques (voice, gesture, pen), combined with lowering cost, leading to rapid computerization by people previously left out of the computer revolution, and wider social concerns leading to improved access to computers by currently disadvantaged groups. With these factors the needs from the HCI world will continue to grow and change. HCI Applications Document oriented interfaces consists of applications such as text editing, document formatting, illustrators, spreadsheets, and hypertext. We all know about text and document editors but don t always realize the amount of work put into making the user interface as smooth as possible. It doesnt only consist of how the keyboard and mouse works but also how the screen is displayed. Basically every single button placement within the display has been very carefully put in that place for a specific reason, usually being the most efficient location. It was 1962 the first text editing software came out, and it wasnt until 1968 that you could use this software with a mouse. Hypertext is text displayed on a computer or other electronic device with references (hyperlinks) to other text that the reader can immediately access, usually by a mouse click 3

6 or keypress sequence. Apart from running text, hypertext may contain tables, images and other presentational devices. Hypertext is the underlying concept defining the structure of the World Wide Web, making it an easy-to-use and flexible format to share information over the Internet. Communication oriented interfaces consists of , computer conferencing, telephone and voice messaging systems. When it comes to and other computer applications the user interface referes to electronic display and placement of buttons in that display. As new providers have come into play newer and better ways of communicating through the internet have come about. When you look at your telephone, cell phone, or anyother communcation device, really pay attention to how each and every button is placed and how you input information. Make note if there is a better way the device could be set up to make it more efficient of a product for yourself. Design environments include programming environments, and CAD/CAM, which refers to software tools covering a number of engineering functions. Work in computer graphics has continued to develop algorithms and hardware that allow the display and manipulation of ever more realistic-looking objects, which referes to CAD/CAM machine parts or medical images of body parts. Computer graphics has a natural interest in HCI as interactive graphics, which is how to manipulate solid models in a CAD/CAM system. This tool is used when designers want to design an object in a computer system first. It must be able to create solid 3D images so the object can be accuratly represented. On-line tutorial systems and help systems are self-explanatory. It 4

7 refers to the automated systems that we use every day when we have an issue, complaint, need information, and for many more reasons. Almost every company utilizes this tool at least at a basic level. Usually being a customer service line that attempts every which way to not need a live operator. Most of the time users find these programs impossible to deal with and demand a live operator. But over time they have also improved with human-computer interaction research. Multimedia information kiosks consist of search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Ask.com, Alta Vista, Bing, etc. Have you ever wondered how this single website will take howev er many milliseconds to find hundereds upon hundreds of search results? Well lucky for us someone is hired to do that for us and close that gap between us users and the computer. A search engine website is pretty simple when it comes down to it but still every advanced search option and button is placed very strategically. In fact since these are simply websites, us users can notice a switich in appearence in a matter of a click. Continuous control systems include process control systems, virtual reality systems, simulators, cockpits, and video games. This field is constantly having an immense amount of research done to improve their products. Process control systems range from program that run machines for specific use, to operating systems that run personal computers. These systems are constantly have updates and even new versions coming out that include a, hopefully, more improved interface. Cockpits range from everyday automobiles to military jet cockpits. They also have extensive research done to make sure they have the 5

8 most efficient design to please its consumer. They use market research techniques to use everyday consumers to test their products, and provide input about what can be done to improve the interface and other components. Embedded systems contain the more simple applications of HCI yet still important. It includes Copier controls, elevator controls, consumer electronics, and home appliance controllers. For example, TVs, DVD players, microwave ovens, remote controls, etc. It is the barrier between the electrical systems that we use everyday. Computation is passing beyond desktop computers into every objects for which uses can be found. Embedded systems make the environment alive with little computations and automated processes, from computerized cooking appliances to lighting and plumbing fixtures to window blinds to automobile braking systems to greeting cards. To some extent, this field is expanding also. The expected difference in the future is the addition of networked communications that will allow many of these embedded computations to coordinate with each other and with the user. Human interfaces to these embedded devices will in many cases be very different from those appropriate to workstations. Aspects of HCI When we break it down there are five main aspects of human - computer interaction research. There is the nature of human-computer interaction, the use and context of computers, human characteristics, computer system and interface architecture, and the development process. To get in depth, use and context of computers referes to the fact that computer systems exist within 6

9 a larger social, organizational and work milieu. Within this context there are applications for which we wish to employ computer systems. But the process of putting computers to work means that the human, technical, and work aspects of the application situation must be brought into fit with each other through human learning, system tailorability, or other strategies. Now moving onto human characteristics, in addition to the use and social context of computers, on the human side we must also take into account the human information processing, communication, and physical (ergonomics) characteristics of users. On the computer side(computer system and interface architecture), a variety of technologies have been developed for supporting interaction with humans: Input and output devices connect the human and the machine. These are used in a number of techniques for organizing a dialogue. These techniques are used in turn to implement larger design elements, such as the metaphor of the interface. Getting deeper into the machine substrata supporting the dialogue, the dialogue may make extensive use of computer graphics techniques. Complex dialogues lead into considerations of the systems architecture necessary to support such features as interconnectable application programs, windowing, real-time response, network communications, multi-user and cooperative interfaces, and multi-tasking of dialogue objects. Finally, in the developmental process, there is the process of development which incorporates design for human-computer dialogues, techniques and tools for implementing them, techniques for evaluating them, and a number of classic designs for study. Each of these components of the development process is bound up with the others in a 7

10 relationship of mutual, reciprocal influence whereby choices made in one area impact upon the choices and the options available in the others. Historical Moments The human - computer interaction field began to make way with the direct manipulation of graphical design, mouse, and keyboard. The now ubiquitous direct manipulation interface, where visible objects on the screen are directly manipulated with a pointing device, was first demonstrated by Ivan Sutherland in Sketchpad, which was his 1963 MIT PhD thesis. SketchPad supported the manipulation of objects using a light-pen, including grabbing objects, moving them, changing size, and using constraints. It contained the seeds of myriad important interface ideas. The first commercial systems to make extensive use of Direct Manipulation were the Xerox Star in 1981, the Apple Lisa in 1982, and Macintosh in 1984(Myers, 1996). The mouse was developed at Stanford Research Laboratory in 1965 as part of the NLS project to be a cheap replacement for light-pens, which had been used at least since 1954.The mouse was then made famous as a practical input device by Xerox PARC in the 1970 s. It first appeared commercially as part of the Xerox Star in 1981, the Three Rivers Computer Company s PERQ in 1981, the Apple Lisa in 1982, and Apple Macintosh in Multiple tiled windows were demonstrated in Engelbart s NLS in Early research at Stanford on systems like COPILOT in 1974 and at MIT with the EMACS text editor in 1974 also demonstrated tiled windows. Alan Kay proposed the idea of overlapping windows in his 1969 University of Utah PhD thesis and they first appeared in 1974 in his Smalltalk system at Xerox 8

11 PARC, and soon after in the InterLisp system. The main commercial systems popularizing windows were the Xerox Star (1981), the Apple Lisa (1982), and most importantly the Apple Macintosh (1984). The early versions of the Star and Microsoft Windows were tiled, but eventually they supported overlapping windows like the Lisa and Macintosh. These foundations were the building blocks of this field. With these tools us human were able to go on to such great innovations. For example to drawing tools designed in the past were the foundations for the drawing applications we use today. The first computer painting program was probably Dick Shoup s Superpaint at PARC in In 1962 at the Stanford Research Lab, Engelbart proposed, and later implemented, a word processor with automatic word wrap, search and replace, user-definable macros, scrolling text, and commands to move, copy, and delete characters, words, or blocks of text. The first commercial text editors were the Star, LisaWrite and then MacWrite. This led to hypertext which soon helped the formation of the World Wide Web. Computer aided design became a huge field with direct maniuplation at play and the use of light pens. The first CAD/CAM system in industry was probably General Motor s about And also we cant forget about everyones favorite application, video games. These systems are almost purerly based on it s human - computer interation. The first graphical video game was probably SpaceWar in 1962 for the PDP-1, including the first computer joysticks. The first popular commercial game was Pong, about With these tools Atari made their gaming systems, which included a single button and a joystick. But now we have systems today, 9

12 like the Nintendo Wii or the Playstation 3, that can read your body movements, gestures, has many more controls, and looks more realistic than ever. 10

13 Bibliography [Card,1996] Card, S.K., Pioneers and Settlers: Methods Used in Successful User Interface Design, in Human-Computer Interface Design: Success Stories, Emerging Methods, and Real-World Context, M. Rudisill, et al., Editors. 1996, Morgan Kaufmann Publishers: San Francisco. pp [Hewitt,1996] Hewett, Baecker, Card, Carey, Gasen, Mantei, Perlman, Strong and Verplank ACM SIGCHI Curricula for Human-Computer Interaction Copyright 1992,1996 [Myers,1998] Brad A. Myers. A Brief History of Human Computer Interaction Technology. ACM interactions. Vol. 5, no. 2, March, pp