Human Centric Computing

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Human Centric Computing

• Assignment 2
• Proposal 15

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The new Interface

• The new interface which I have designed is based
  on the old library interface, but has been
  updated in order to make up for any areas the old
  interface lags.
• It has been designed with a direct manipulation
  scheme which is more user friendly and easy to
  use.

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The new applications of the interface

• The user will now be able to hold up to three
  books, in order for him/her to pick them up when
  they will be available.
• The user will be able to see if the book is
  suitable for him/her by entering the books
  information without having to go to the library.
• Also the first renewal of any book which the user
  has borrowed will be done automatically by the
  interface, (in case the user forgets), and a
  warning letter will be sent to the users home
  address.

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The Metaphor

• The metaphor which I used is a real life library
  and all the actions of the interface are linked
  to the actions done by the user physically being
  in the library (e.g. searching for a book).
• The objects e.g. a book in real life are a 3D
  object that unfolds, a book in the interface is
  very much like a real book.
• The input devices of the interface are the mouse
  and the keyboard and they have been designed so
  that there is no problem when switching between
  them.

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Interface Attributes

• The user is able to arrange the content of the
  screen and can have more than one displays of
  different contents in parallel (e.g. window
  systems)
• Switching between contexts is easy and is done by
  a click of a mouse on the icon created each time
  a new window is opened.

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The Interface

• Metaphor The workstation represents the library
  interface
• which can contain a number of books organized
  into collections
• and hyperlinks/icons representing search services
  (such as searches or renews)
• a book is very much like a real book, and can be
  renewed as well
• direct manipulation commands operation on objects
  on the interface.
• Exploit knowledge of
• How students manipulate the library interface and
  the objects in a real life library (books,
  journals, theses)

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Metaphor source characteristics

• Objects and Attributes
• Interface size, colour
• Shelf collections stack, code number
• Books name, author, content
• Relationships
• Shelf collections can be accessed by students to
  search for books
• Books can be borrowed by students
• Shelf collections contain books
• Actions pick up book, put book in shelf
  collection

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Metaphor target characteristics

• Objects and Attributes
• Interface on screen size, colour
• Database shelf collections, books
• Directories name, size
• Hyperlink icons name, image, size
• Records name, size
• Relationships
• Hyperlink icons can be visualized on the
  screen/interface so the user can choose the
  actions he/she wants to make (e.g. search for a
  book)
• Books are organized in the directories of the
  database
• Directories contain book collections
• Books are represented as records in the database

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Mappings
task how the user performs it how the interface performs it
task 1 remove book from a shelf collection to borrow select a book from the database to edit
task 2 search through shelf collections to find the book search the database for the specific book (record)
task 3 open the book by pulling back over to view contents and information select the book/record by double-clicking on hyperlink icon and opening the record to view
task 4 request from library staff to hold a specific book when it is available when the book is available, set the books record on hold for the user and set unavailable for all other users
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Possible mismatches

• users may think the book can be on hold for a
  long time
• solution a warning message will be displayed on
  screen when the user selects to hold a book
• users may think that the book will be renewed
  automatically every time
• solution a warning message will be displayed on
  screen that the book will be automatically
  renewed only the first time and a letter will be
  sent to his/her home address
• user think that dragging a book to his/her
  account basket will hold a book
• solution provide clear menu items, or create
  such a method
• user may not know how to manipulate the interface
• solution provide clear menu items or create
  hyperlink icons for doing specific tasks

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Interface design

• The basic objects of the interface as in a real
  life library are the books. The main objective of
  the user is to borrow the book he/she is
  interested in, for the application he/she has in
  mind. The interface is a tool for the user to
  which he/she can use to search for books and also
  find out information about the book contents from
  any internet access point.

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Some examples

• When a user searches for a book from the
  interface the library database is scanned. In a
  real life library the user would scan through
  the library book shelves.
• When a user places a book on hold the interface
  will wait for the book to be available (that is
  returned to the library from the user that has
  the book at the time) and then will make the book
  unavailable to all other users except the user
  that has set it on hold until he/she goes to the
  library and picks the book up. In a real life
  library the user would go to the helpdesk and
  request from the staff to hold a book for him
  when it will be available again. As we can see
  with the interface most of the actions have been
  automated.