Interaction Design - Beyond human-computer Interaction

More specifically, what does the paradigmatic shift from WIMP to GUI focus on?

The focus shifted from single users (WIMP) to people, places and concepts (GUI).

The shift in thought from WIMP to GUI lead to the creation of...

Ubiquitous Computing.

What are the 3 key design questions that the authors mention in regards to designing websites?

(1) Where am I? (2) What's here? (3) Where can I go? Each webpage should be designed with these three questions in mind.

The authors mention a common assumption behind using icons instead of text labels. What was it?

An assumption behind using icons instead of text labels is that they are easier to learn and remember especially for non-expect computer users.

The authors make mention to a common assumption regarding multimodal interfaces. What is this assumption?

An assumption is that multimodal interfaces can support flexible, efficient, expressive means of human-computer interaction that are more akin to the multi-modal experiences humans experience in the physical world.

What are "appliance interfaces"?

Appliances include machines for the home, public place, or car (e.g. washing machines, VCRs, DVD players, vending machines, remotes, photocopiers, printers and navigation systems).

In the reading, the authors mentioned a software that uses both command line and window interfaces combined in one. What was this software and what did it do?

AutoCAD LT - This software was created as a drafting package for professional builders and engineers. The command line allowed for echoing of error messages, direct command entering, command validation checks (e.g. are you sure you want to do this?) and allowed users to see the direct command when clicking on an icon.

Give two examples from the text of multimedia use.

Cardiac Tutor - Developed to teach students about cardiac resuscitation. BioBlast - A software for high school students to enable them to develop and test their own designs for life support systems.

What are menus that expand into submenu's called?

Cascading Menus

Describe a Command line Interface.

Command line driven interfaces require the user to type in commands that are typically abbreviations to perform actions.

What is Ubiquitous Computing?

Computers that are designed to be part of the environment, embedded in a variety of everyday objects, devices and displays. They are considered to be un-intrusive and disappear into the background.

What was the main DISADVANTAGE of VR/VE's that the authors made mention of?

Early VR/VE's were developed using head-mounted displays. However, they have been found to be uncomfortable to wear, sometimes causing motion sickness and disorientation. They are also expensive and difficult to program and maintain.

Assumption

Something that is accepted as true, without proof.

What is a DISADVANTAGE of speech interfaces?

Speech interfaces have earned the reputation for mishearing all too often what a person has said.

The authors make mention of someone who characterized the debate on usability vs. attractiveness in terms of the difference between how designers create websites and how users actually view them. Who did they mention and what did he argue?

Steve Krug argues that web designers create sites as if the user was going to pore over each page reading the finely crafted text word for word, looking at the use of images, color, icons, etc, examining how the various items have been organized on the site, and then contemplating their options before they finally select a link. Users, however, behave quite differently. They will glance at a new page, scan part of it, and click on the first link that catches their interest or looks like it might lead them to what they want.

What is meant by VR and VE and what are they?

VR and VE stand for Virtual Reality and Virtual Environments. They are used for computer generated graphical simulations, intended to create "the illusion of participation in synthetic environment rather than external observation of such an environment" Virtual Reality (VR) is a generic term that refers to the experience of interacting with an artificial environment. Virtual Environment (VE) is a term that is used more specifically to describe what has been generated using computer technology (although both terms are used interchangeably).

What are "speech interfaces" and what does VUI stand for?

VUI - Voice user Interface (also called speech interfaces) is where a person talks with a system that has spoken language application, like a train timetable, a travel planner, or a phone service.

The authors mention a particular kind of window that is commonly used in GUIs. What was it?

The dialog box. The dialog is a small window that communicates information to the user and prompt them for a response.

What is "Information Visualization"?

Information visualization is a growing field concerned with the design of computer-generated visualizations of complex data that are typically interactive and dynamic. The goal is to amplify human cognition, enabling the users to see patterns, trends, and anomalies in the visualization and from this to gain insight.

What are menu interfaces?

Menu interfaces offer users a structured way of choosing from the available set of options. Headings are used as part of the menu to make it easier for the user to scan through them and find what they want.

The authors mention a big ADVANTAGE to menu interfaces. What was it?

Menus enable more options to be shown on a single screen than is normally possible. This allows for more flexible navigation.

What are "mobile interfaces"?

Mobile interfaces are designed for devices that are handheld and intended to be used while on the move, such as PDA's and cellphones.

What is multimedia?

Multimedia, as the name implies, combines different media within a single interface, namely, graphics, text, video, sound, and animations, and links them with various forms of interactivity.

The authors mention a big DISADVANTAGE to menu interfaces. What was it?

Once deep down in a nested menu the user then has to take the same number of steps to get back to the top of the menu. Moving through previous screens can be tedious and frustrating.

What do the authors mean by "realism vs. abstraction"?

One of the challenges facing interaction designers is whether to use realism or abstraction when designing an interface. This means designing objects either to (i) give the illusion of behaving and looking like real-world counterparts, or (ii) appear as abstractions of the objects being represented.

According to the authors, what is a DISADVANTAGE of window displays?

One of the disadvantages of having window displays is that is can be difficult, when multiple windows are opened, to find specific ones.

The authors make a point to mention a distinctive feature of multimedia. What is this distinction?

One of the distinctive features of multimedia is its ability to facilitate rapid access to multiple representations of information.

The authors mention two major ADVANTAGES to VR/VE's. What were they?

One of the main attractions of VRs/VEs is that they can provide opportunities for numerous kinds of experience, enabling users to interact with objects and navigated in 3D space in ways that are not possible in the physical world. Another advantage is that simulations of the real world can be constructed to have a higher level of fidelity with the objects they represent compared with others forms of graphical interface, e.g. multimedia.

What is an ADVANTAGE to using realism within interaction design?

One of the main benefits of using realism at the interface is the idea that it can enable people, especially computer phobics and novices, to feel more comfortable when learning an application.

Research in Ubiquitous Computing lead to terms like "pervasive computing" and "ambient intelligence". What do these two terms mean?

Pervasive Computing - A direct synonym for Ubiquitous Computing (which is also considered a paradigm)! Ambient Intelligence - In computing, ambient intelligence (AmI) refers to electronic environments that are sensitive and responsive to the presence of people.

What are the key research points for menu interfaces, according to the authors?

Similar to command names, it is important to decide which are the best terms to use for menu options. Short phrases like, "bring all to front" can be more informative than single words like "front."

What are "multimodal interfaces"?

Similar to multimedia interfaces, multimodal interfaces follow the 'more is more' principle to provide a more enriched and complex user experience. They do so by multiplying the way information is experienced and controlled at the interface through using different modalities, i.e. touch, sight, sound and speech.

What is an ADVANTAGE of speech interfaces?

When it works, users can quickly be navigated to specific services (e.g. calling a helpline and speaking to a specialist in your problem area).

What did the authors mention as a DISADVANTAGE of multimedia?

While enabling users to select for themselves the information they want to view or features to explore, there is the dancer that multimedia environments may in fact promote fragmented interactions where only party of the media is ever viewed.

What were windows invented to overcome?

Windows were invented to overcome the physical constraints of computer display, enabling more information to be viewed and tasks to be performed on the same screen.

What does WIMP stand for?

Windows, Icons, Menus, Pointers.

What are common techniques of information visualization?

3D interactive maps, data via webs, trees, clusters, scatterplot diagrams and interconnected nodes.

What are the key research points in window design, according to the authors?

A key research concern is window management--finding ways of enabling users to move fluidly between different windows and to be able to rapidly switch their attention between them to find the information they need or to work on the document/task within each of them--without getting distracted.

Paradigm

A particular approach that has been adopted by the community of researchers and designers for carrying out their work, in terms of shared assumptions, concepts, values and practices.

WIMP eventually evolved into...

GUI (Graphical User Interface)

What is an example of an HCI paradigm from the 1980's?

How to design user-centered applications for the desktop.

The authors mention that icons have become pervasive. What do they mean by this statement?

Icons have become a pervasive feature of the interface. They now populate every application and operating system, and are used for all manner of functions besides representing desktop objects.

What are the limitations of WIMP?

In the 1990's people argued that WIMP was very limiting. They needed something to consider a higher degree of interactivity and that could also process parallel input/out exchange.

Which piece of software lead to the birth of WIMP and subsequently the GUI?

The Star workstation, officially known as the Xerox 8010 Information System, was introduced by Xerox Corporation in 1981. It was the first commercial system to incorporate various technologies that have since become standard in personal computers, including a bitmapped display, a window-based graphical user interface, icons, folders, mouse (two-button), Ethernet networking, file servers, print servers and e-mail.

According to the authors, what is "Icon Design"?

The appearance of icons at the interface came about following the Xerox Star project. they were used to represent objects as part of the desktop metaphor, namely, folders, documents, trashcans, an in- and out-trays.

What is a major assumption of multimedia?

The assumption is that learning and playing can be enhanced through interacting with engaging multimedia interfaces.

According to the text, what is an assumption in regards to VR/VE's?

The assumption is that learning and training applications can be improved through higher fidelity of the represented world.

According to the authors, what is a specific ADVANTAGE of a command line interface?

The authors claim that command line interfaces are more efficient, are precise and allow for speed.

According to the authors, what is a specific DISADVANTAGE of a command line interface?

The authors claim that command line interfaces have a massive overhead learning curve. It requires users to use the system for a longer amount of time to be able to effectively use the system.

Which example did the authors briefly mention in regards to VR/VE's?

The authors made mention to the Virtual Zoo Project where they found that people were highly engaged and very much enjoyed the experience of adopting the role of a gorilla, navigating the environment, and watching other gorillas respond to their movements and presence.

The authors user a very common example to describe menu interfaces, what was the example and how does it affect design?

The authors spoke of a restaurant menu design. They displayed two different menus, one American and the other Japanese. The American menu was displayed with enticing text while the Japanese menu used enticing photos. The authors make a claim that the display of menu information affects user behavior.

The authors use a specific example on the internet that describes the difficulty we often face with online web forms. What was the example they used?

The authors used the example of online shopping to illustrate the problems with online web forms. They claim that the web forms that we must fill out our billing information on is a hurdle that many users face when attempting to shop online. More specifically, they spoke on the 'country' menu box. Instead of typing the country they live in, users are forced to scroll down through a huge list of alphabetically organized countries to find their own.

Towards the end of the reading, the authors look at a case study from Vanessa Evers and Hans Hillen. Describe the case study.

The case study was about blind users experience on the internet. It discussed the redesign of a website's information architecture to provide audio navigation to assist blind users. This study is motivated by previous studies on Internet use with blind participants, which indicate that even with the help of screen readers such as JAWS and Window-eyes, blind users have more difficulty accessing the information on the Internet than seeing users.

According to the authors, how are the most effective icons designed?

The most effective icons are generally those that are isomorphic (similar in relation) since they have direct mapping between what is being represented and how it is represented.

What is the most relevant design principle, according to the authors, for a command line interface?

The most relevant design principle is consistency. The method used for labeling/naming the commands should be chosen to be as consistent as possible, e.g. always use first letters of operation when using abbreviations.

The authors mention that appliance interfaces should be transient. What does this mean?

Transient Interfaces are interfaces that last only for a short time, when needed.