Human-Computer Interaction
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Who are you designing for? What are they doing? What dimensions are you designing in? What are the measures of success? |
Human-computer interaction is 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. [1] Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) specialists
analyze how people interact with the computer interface. This principle is referred to as user centered design (UCD), which places the user at the forefront of decision making processes. UCD recognizes that the user is the reason the system is being created. According to HCI proponents this approach achieves the most effective results for the user. Often, computer systems and Web sites are built on a good idea without anyone checking-in with the users to see if it is something they need, want, or could potentially find of benefit.Web professionals that employ user centered design in their process, analyze the user, the user's goals, tasks needed to achieve those goals, and then build the appropriate functions for the user. Web users need to navigate information, search information, find and retrieve information, evaluate information, input information and make decisions based on information. Human-computer interaction should be considered when creating a visual language that visitors will use, such as a system of icons.
User-Centered Design is a method for designing ease of use into the total user experience with products. It enables organizations to consistently develop
engaging products that are easy to buy, easy to set up, easy to learn, easy to use, and easy to upgrade. It calls for a multidisciplinary team to design everything the user sees and touches and to gather user input and feedback
during each stage of the development process.
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In 1997, Ben Sneiderman proposed that Web sites be designed based on the Objects/Actions Interface (OAI) Model. This model was offered during the Web-days of the true metaphor but seems even more applicable today. An example of a 'true metaphor' is not just a small icon graphic of a printer that represents the print friendly version, but the heavier Web pages of several years ago such as a reservation desk filling the entire screen at an airline's Web site. These metaphorical sites are no longer on the leading edge of design and in fact are just not en vogue. However, the model does provide Web designers with a basis to break down the following four components:
Task
Structured information objects (e.g. hierarchies, networks)
Information actions (e.g. searching, linking)
Interface
Metaphors for information objects (e.g. bookshelf, encyclopedia)
Handles (affordances) for actions (e.g. querying, zooming)
"The metaphoric representation of traditional physical media is a natural starting
point: electronic books may have covers, jackets, page turning, bookmarks, position indicators, etc. and electronic libraries may show varied size and color of books on shelves
(Pejtersen, 1989). These may be useful starting points, but greater benefits will emerge as website designers find newer metaphors and handles for showing larger information spaces
and powerful actions....The OAI Model is still in need of refinement plus validation, but it may already be a useful guide for website designers and evaluators. It offers a way to
decompose the many concerns that arise and provides a framework for structured design processes and eventually software tools. It is not a predictive model, but a guide to
designers about how to break a large problem into many smaller ones and an aid in recognizing appropriate features to include in a website. In my experience, designers are
most likely to focus on the task or interface objects, and the OAI Model has been helpful in bringing out the issues of permissible task actions and visible representations of interface actions. "
A usability report done in 1997 by the researcher Jared Spool uncovered useful information about the success of links. Web icons do by their nature link to something, so following these insights should help developers created more effective icons. Spool found that success of a link depends on;
- How well users can predict where the link will lead?
- How well the user can differentiate one link from other, nearby links?
- How and where the links are arranged on the pages also affect the success. [4]
Web professionals can improve Web icons by asking a few questions during the development cycle such as; "Is this Web icon visible enough?", "Is this Web icon understandable?", "Will this Web icon create the desired effect?". Even asking simple questions will help, like; "Will my user get this?", "Will they know what I mean?", "When they clicked on it did the function that they anticipated occur?".
Jakob Nielsen suggests, in his Alertbox column for July 23, 2000 entitled End of Web Design, that standards have been developed, and are in the process of continuing to develop. He states, "It has long been true that websites do more business the more standardized their design is. Think Yahoo and Amazon. Think "shopping cart" and the silly little icon. Think blue text links." As a usability engineer Nielsen has called for Web design to be approached from a more ridged and minimalist style. However, this suggestion is perceived as a threat by the design community and represents a "communist" mentality (see Nielsen's reader comment area for the actual quote). He believes that certain sections such as the "About this company" have become standard, and as people go from site to site they expect to see similar site structures and similar icons. [5]
Additional information:
Jakob Nielsen's home at Ben Shneiderman's
Useit.com
Sources:
- ACM SIGCHI . Curricula for Human-Computer Interaction, July 2000
- IBM. User-Centered Design FAQ, July 2000
- Shneiderman, Ben. Designing Information - Abundant Websites: Issues and recommendations, 1997,
- Spool, Jared. Web Site Usability: A Designer's Guide, pg. 31
- Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox - End of Web Design, July 23, 2000
http://www.acm.org/sigchi/cdg/cdg2.html#2_1
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