Computer Science 482: Human–Computer Interaction

Study Guide: Unit 2

The Design Process

In Unit 2 we introduce the principles underlying the design of interfaces to computers and information systems. Section 1 looks at the basics of interaction design. Section 2 provides a HCI perspective on the software design process. Section 3 introduces rules for interaction design. Section 4 discusses design issues for highly diversified users.

Section 1: Interaction Design Basics

This section looks at the basic issues of interactive design.

Learning Objective 1

Discuss the meanings of design in the context of HCI.

Required Reading
  1. Read pages 192 to 195 of HCI.
  2. Read pages 1 to 13 of Interaction.
Exercise

You may want to use the Online Workspace to answer the following questions. Answer in 100 words or less.

  • What is the golden rule of design?
  • What are the “materials” of HCI? (pp. 193 to 194 of HCI)

Learning Objective 2

Briefly describe a design process.

Required Reading
  1. Read pages 195 to 197 of HCI.
  2. Read pages 15 to 16 of Interaction.
  3. Read the notes below on agile methods.
Agile Methods

In recent years, a new breed of design methodologies, termed agile methods, is getting more attention. It is outside the scope of this course to introduce agile methodologies, but a few highlights are worth mentioning:

  1. Iterations: Iteration is not limited to the analysis—design—prototyping loop. It is considered beneficial to use iterative development to produce working, though limited, systems in order to receive quick feedback. Some variants of agile methods, for example extreme programming, suggest iterations of one or two weeks. This method results in a number of well-tested versions of the final system. As these versions are thoroughly tested, flaws such as bugs, misunderstanding of requirements, or changes of environment can be caught earlier.
  2. People oriented: Rather than focus on rigorous design processes that all developers can follow, agile methods tend to focus more on the people involved, including, but not limited to, customers, developers, and testers.
Exercise

You may want to use the Online Workspace to answer the following question:

  • Give one reason why iteration and prototyping are important in design. (p. 196 of HCI)

Learning Objective 3

Discuss the importance of understanding the users during the design process.

Required Reading
  1. Read pages 197 to 201 of HCI.
  2. Review Chapter 4 of Interaction.
Exercise

You may want to use the Online Workspace to answer the following question:

  • What is a persona? (p. 201 of HCI)

Learning Objective 4

Explain how scenarios and user stories can be used in the design process.

Required Reading
  1. Read pages 201 to 203 of HCI.
Exercise

You may want to use the Online Workspace to answer the following question:

  • What are three uses of scenarios? (p. 203 of HCI)

Learning Objective 5

Discuss navigational design considerations for different levels of interaction.

Required Reading
  1. Read pages 203 to 211 of HCI.
Exercise

You may want to use the Online Workspace to answer the following questions:

  • What are the issues or concerns of local structure? (pp. 203 to 208 of HCI)
  • What is the argument for and against deep hierarchy? (p. 209 of HCI)

Learning Objective 6

Describe HCI issues for screen design and layout.

Required Reading
  1. Read pages 212 to 220 of HCI.
Exercise

You may want to use the Online Workspace to answer the following question:

  • Define affordance and give an example in which the affordance depends upon computer literacy (pp. 216 to 217 of HCI).

Learning Objective 7

Describe the roles of iteration and prototyping in interface design.

Required Reading
  1. Read pages 220 to 221 of HCI.
  2. Read pages 434 to 445 of Interaction.
Exercise

You may want to use the Online Workspace to answer the following question:

  • What are the two things that need to be done in order for prototyping to work? (p. 221 of HCI)

Learning Objective 8

Summarize the basics of interactive design.

Required Reading
  1. Read pages 222 to 223 of HCI.
Review Exercise

You may want to use the Online Workspace to answer the following question:

  • Do exercise 5.1 on page 223 of HCI.

Section 2: HCI in Software Process

This section deals with HCI constraints on the software development cycle.

Learning Objective 1

Discuss the implications of HCI for software engineering.

Required Reading
  1. Read page 226 of HCI.
Exercise

You may want to use the Online Workspace to answer the following question:

  • What is the most important point to remember regarding HCI issues in the software design cycle? (p. 226 of HCI)

Learning Objective 2

Describe a traditional software development cycle and its shortcomings for interactive systems.

Required Reading
  1. Read pages 226 to 237 of HCI.
  2. Read pages 37 to 66 of Interaction.
Exercise

You may want to use the Online Workspace to answer the following questions:

  • List and briefly describe the six main activities of the software life cycle (general or waterfall) model. (pp. 227 to 233 of HCI)
  • What are the shortcomings in the traditional software cycle in regard to ensuring usability? (pp. 235 to 237 of HCI)

Learning Objective 3

Explain the role of usability testing in designing usable systems.

Required Reading
  1. Read pages 237 to 241 of HCI.
Exercise

You may want to use the Online Workspace to answer the following question:

  • What is a problem in usability engineering? (pp. 240 to 241 of HCI)

Learning Objective 4

Describe the role of prototyping in designing usable systems.

Required Reading
  1. Read pages 241 to 248 of HCI.
Exercise

You may want to use the Online Workspace to answer the following question:

  • What are the three techniques for prototyping? Briefly describe the characteristics of each of them. (pp. 244 to 247 of HCI)

Learning Objective 5

Describe the purpose and content of design rationales.

Required Reading
  1. Read pages 248 to 256 of HCI.
Exercise

You may want to use the Online Workspace to answer the following question:

  • What differentiates process-oriented design rationales from structure-oriented design rationales? (pp. 255 to 256 of HCI)

Learning Objective 6

Provide a summary of HCI constraints in the software process.

Required Reading
  1. Read page 256 of HCI.
Review Exercise

You may want to use the Online Workspace to answer the following question:

  • Do exercises 6.1 (a) and (b) on page 257 of HCI.

Section 3: Design Rules

This section introduces principles, rules, standards, guidelines, and heuristics of interactive design.

Learning Objective 1

Describe various types of design rules that support usability.

Required Reading
  1. Read pages 259 to 275 of HCI.
Exercise

You may want to use the Online Workspace to answer the following question:

  • List the key components of learnability, flexibility, and robustness. (pp. 260 to 275 of HCI)

Learning Objective 2

Outline the standards of interactive design.

Required Reading
  1. Read pages 275 to 277 of HCI.
  2. Read pages 15 to 30 of Interaction.
Exercise

You may want to use the Online Workspace to answer the following question:

  • How does the applicability of standards differ for hardware and software? (p. 275 of HCI)

Learning Objective 3

List the guidelines for interactive design.

Required Reading
  1. Read pages 277 to 281 of HCI.
Exercise

You may want to use the Online Workspace to answer the following question:

  • What is the purpose of a style guide? (p. 280 of HCI)

Learning Objective 4

Explain the golden rules and heuristics of interface design.

Required Reading
  1. Read pages 282 to 284 of HCI.
Exercise

You may want to use the Online Workspace to answer the following questions:

  • List Shneiderman’s eight golden rules of interface design.
  • List Norman’s seven principles for transforming difficult tasks into simple ones. (pp. 282 to 284 of HCI)

Learning Objective 5

Discuss the idea of HCI patterns.

Required Reading
  1. Read pages 284 to 286 of HCI.
Exercise

You may want to use the Online Workspace to answer the following question:

  • What features characterize HCI patterns from other design rules? (p. 285 of HCI)

Learning Objective 6

Provide a summary of design rules.

Required Reading
  1. Read pages 286 to 287 of HCI.
Review Exercise

You may want to use the Online Workspace to answer the following question:

  • Do exercises 7.1 and 7.2 on page 287 of HCI.

Section 4: Universal Design

This section examines the principles and guidelines of universal design.

Learning Objective 1

Define universal design.

Required Reading
  1. Read page 366 of HCI.
Exercise

You may want to use the Online Workspace to answer the following question:

  • Why should we not assume a “typical” user is like us? (p. 366 of HCI)

Learning Objective 2

List the main principles of universal design.

Required Reading
  1. Read pages 366 to 368 of HCI.
Exercise

You may want to use the Online Workspace to answer the following question:

  • What are the seven principles of universal design? (pp. 366 to 368 of HCI)

Learning Objective 3

Outline the features of multi-modal interaction.

Required Reading
  1. Read pages 368 to 370 of HCI.
Exercise

You may want to use the Online Workspace to answer the following question:

  • What is multi-modal interaction? What advantages might it have? (pp. 368 to 369 of HCI)

Learning Objective 4

Discuss sound and speech in interaction.

Required Reading
  1. Read pages 370 to 379 of HCI.
Exercise

You may want to use the Online Workspace to answer the following question:

  • What are three levels of speech in speech interaction? (p. 375 of HCI)
  • What is an auditory icon? (pp. 376 to 377 of HCI)
  • What is an earcon? (p. 378 of HCI)

Learning Objective 5

Discuss touch, handwriting, and gesture in interaction.

Required Reading
  1. Read pages 379 to 383 of HCI.
Exercise

You may want to use the Online Workspace to answer the following question:

  • What is the problem of co-articulation in handwriting recognition? (pp. 382 to 383 of HCI)

Learning Objective 6

Discuss design issues for diversity.

Required Reading
  1. Read pages 384 to 392 of HCI.
Exercise

You may want to use the Online Workspace to answer the following question:

  • What is the challenge of designing for an “average” user? (pp. 384, 390 to 392 of HCI)

Learning Objective 7

Provide a summary of universal design issues.

Required Reading
  1. Read page 393 of HCI.
Review Exercise

You may want to use the Online Workspace to answer the following question:

  • Do exercises 10.1 and 10.2 on page 393 of HCI.

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