Human Computer Interface

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the field of human-computer interface (HCI) technology and solutions. HCI is viewed as an extremely critical component of software and device development as miniaturization and portability are seen as fundamentally changing the fashion in which humans and computers interact and in how humans access services across a spectrum of activities. Various aspects of HCI are discussed in detail such as its historical development and its reliance on I/O technology.

Outline:
User Interface Design Principles
Descriptive Models
Human Capabilities
Human-Centered Computing

From the Paper:

" The complex, interdisciplinary nature of human-computer interface (HCI) design, as it seeks to prove a satisfactory user experience for differing classes of users within given constraints, makes designing useful and intuitive man-machine interaction (MMI) difficult. Creating effective HCIs is a considerable challenge given user expectations and capabilities relative to both the machine and the machine logic involved. HCI is, at its core, a design challenge and design, as a school of thought, has long influenced the character of the world in which the human condition is at play.
"After several thousand years of evolution in design concepts, design itself has moved from the external to the internal whereby the design of everyday utilitarian and functional devices is meant to mirror human thought processes: "...cognitive processes of fault management activities involving situation awareness, decision making, and implementation of actions in order to obtain requirements for human-machine system design"(Itoh & Inagaki, 2004, p.4). Clearly, the design of what humans regularly use to interact and manipulate the world around them has evolved into a representational model of the human thought process itself. This development is most apparent in the design and structure of computing systems and software where the degree of human and the conceptual machine (program) interaction is so integrated: "...mental models of a controlled process was heavily affected by human-interface design...the human interface must be carefully designed to externalize a mental model of the controlled process for better support of situation awareness..." (Itoh & Inagaki, 2004, p.23). This degree of interaction between human activity and machine design has so intrinsically changed the way humans interact with their environment that, indeed, many of the reasons humans used to have to go out of the home have been removed from the human condition: going to the library, going to the store or even the bank. This is a profound influence by design upon the human condition itself."

Sample of Sources Used:

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• Haley, F. (2006, December). Tech Toys: Our 10 Gift Choices Are to Make Everyone on Your Shopping List Happy!. Black Enterprise, 37, 60+.

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