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Human Computer Interface (Hci)

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20 views2 pages

Human Computer Interface (Hci)

Computer

Uploaded by

egwujoshua880
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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INTRODUCTION TO HCI

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) research in mobile and wearable computing is a dynamic and rapidly evolving field that
focuses on understanding and improving the interactions between humans and these portable technologies.
Mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, have become integral parts of our daily lives, enabling us to access information,
communicate, and perform a wide range of tasks on the go.
Wearable devices, including smartwatches, fitness trackers, and augmented reality glasses, are gaining popularity, offering new
opportunities for seamless integration of technology into our everyday activities.
The computer/human interface refers to the modalities through which people interact with computational technologies. Looked at
over the last half century, the trend has been from a style of interaction in which the computer is approached as a mechanism to a
style of interaction in which the computer is approached as a behaving and aware organism. This first trend has been related to
another, from people acting directly on the machine to acting indirectly on its increasingly elaborate self presentation in which
many layers of programming stand between underlying processes and what is presented to the user. This movement is more than
technical. Computational technologies have served as objects to think with, that is, as carrier objects for ideas. Through their
changing interfaces, the computer has moved from being the carrier object of a culture of calculation to that of a culture of
simulation. The culture of simulation promotes a way of understanding in which users are encouraged to take computers ‘at
interface value
The human–computer interface can be described as the point of communication between the human user and the computer. The
flow of information between the human and computer is defined as the loop of interaction.

IMPORTANCE OF HCI
HCI is crucial in designing intuitive interfaces that people with different abilities and expertise usually access. Most importantly,
human-computer interaction is helpful for communities lacking knowledge and formal training on interacting with specific
computing Systems.
Let’s understand the importance of HCI in our day-to-day live
1. HCI in daily lives
Today, technology has penetrated our routine lives and has impacted our daily activities. To experience HCI technology, one
need not own or use a smartphone or computer. When people use an ATM, food dispensing machine, or snack vending machine,
they come in contact with HCI. This is because HCI plays a vital role in designing the interfaces of such systems that make them
usable and efficient.
2. Industries
Industries that use computing technology for day-to-day activities tend to consider HCI a necessary business-driving force.
Efficiently designed systems ensure that employees are comfortable using the systems for their everyday work. With HCI,
systems are easy to handle, even for untrained staff.
HCI is critical for designing safety systems such as those used in air traffic control (ATC) or power plants. The aim of HCI, in such
cases, is to make sure that the system is accessible to any non-expert individual who can handle safety-critical situations if the
need arise.
3. Accessible to disables
The primary objective of HCI is to design systems that make them accessible, usable, efficient, and safe for anyone and everyone.
This implies that people with a wide range of capabilities, expertise, and knowledge can easily use HCI-designed systems. It also
encompasses people with disabilities. HCI tends to rely on user-centered techniques and methods to make systems usable for
people with disabilities.
4. An integral part of software success
HCI is an integral part of software development companies that develop software for end-users. Such companies use HCI
techniques to develop software products to make them usable. Since the product is finally consumed by the end-user, following
HCI methods is crucial as the product’s sales depend on its usability
5. Useful for untrained communities.
Today, user manuals for general computer systems are a rarity. Very few advanced and complex computing systems provide user
manuals. In general, users expect the systems to be user-friendly and enable them to access the system within a few minutes of
interacting with it. Here, HCI is an effective tool that designers can use to design easy-to-use interfaces. HCI principles also ensure
that the systems have obvious interfaces and do not require special training to be used. Hence, HCI makes computing systems
suitable for an untrained community.

BRIEF HISTORY OF HCI


HCI arose as a field from intertwined roots in computer graphics, operating systems, HF, technicians, industrial engineering,
cognitive psychology, and computer science.
The early history of computer graphics, involving cathode-ray tube (CRT) displays and pen devices, led to the development of
much of today's HCI techniques in the area of GUIs. Sutherland's 1963 MIT doctoral thesis on Sketchpad essentially marked thee
Beginning of computer graphics as a discipline. This early work described direct-manipulation interaction techniques, where
users performed actions on screen entities to represent commands. The program allowed users to draw lines, circles, and points
on a computer's CRT display using a light pen. While these tasks are simple to program and use with today's computer hardware,
software, and interfaces, nearly 40 years ago this was a revolutionary effort that required immense computing power.
Sutherland's program assigned characteristics to graphic objects and built relationships between objects. Users could move, copy,
scale, zoom, rotate objects, and save object characteristics. Although this research never was commercially developed, most
software engineers credit Sutherland's Sketchpad research and designs as the first step in the evolution of GUIs.
Early research at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) produced a number of important building blocks for HCI, includingh
The mouse, bitmapped displays, personal computers (PCs), windows, the desktop metaphor, and point-and-click editors. The
mouse, now a critical input device for most computer users, was developed in the late 1960s. Douglas Engelbart began his work in
1964 on a handheld pointing device at SRI International in Menlo Park, CA, and carried on with his experimental designs at Xerox
PARC. The culmination of this work was the first patent for the wheel mouse in 1970. Continued research and design on the mouse
led to the patent for the ball mouse in 1974 by Xerox. The idea came suddenly to Ron Rider, “I suggested that they turn a trackball
upside down, make it small, and use it as a mouse instead. Easiest patent I ever got. It took me five minutes to think of, half an
hour to describe to the attorney, and I was done.” Apple Computer redesigned the mouse in 1979, using a rubber ball rather than a
metal one. Variations on the ball mouse are what GUI users mostly mouse with today.
The first operating system designed around the GUI was a Xerox in-house computer system called the Alto in the early 1970s.
It had multiple, overlapping windows; used pop-up menus; and, of course, came with a mouse. Around 1976, icons were added to
the on-screen desktop. The research and design of the Alto system led to the first commercial GUI product, the Xerox Star, in 1981.
The Xerox Star offered both tiled and overlapping windows, a menu bar for each window, and, of course, the mouse. The
Xerox Star was the first computer to follow the idea of the “desktop metaphor.” The desktop metaphor is still the guiding
metaphor for GUI today.
Smith et al. (1982) described the Xerox Star as, “Every user's initial view of Star is the Desktop, which resembles the top of
an office desk, together with surrounding furniture and equipment. It represents a working environment, where current projects
and accessible resources reside. On the screen are displayed pictures of familiar office objects, such as documents, folders, file
drawers, in-baskets, and out-baskets. These objects are displayed as small pictures, or icons.” This is the beginning of the desktop
metaphor that users now see on computer screens across the world. Metaphors are further discussed later in this article.
The Xerox PARC engineers were successful at research and technology, but ultimately unsuccessful at developing commercial
products. The Xerox Star was never a success, even though over 30 man-years of work went into the product. The development of
the first successful GUI computer systems was left to Apple Computer.

KEY CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES OF HCI


Crafting User-Friendly Systems
A major thrust of HCI is designing systems that balance functionality and user convenience. These systems aim to streamline tasks
by automation, creating interfaces that users find comfortable and efficient to navigate whilea mintaining a robust security
profile to ensure user safety.

Empathizing with Users


Creating empathetic design is central to HCI. By walking a mile in the end users' shoes, designers cultivate a better understanding
of their needs, leading to the development of systems and interfaces that resonate best with their requirement.

Developing Efficient Interactions


HCI's primary aim revolves around creating interactions that are efficient, effective, and safe. What this implies is that user
interactions should achieve the intended outcome swiftly and safely. This increased effectivenes, productivity levels and user
satisfaction.

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