Designing an HCI

1
Designing an HCI

• 3.3.2

2
This presentation covers

• The use of colour, layout, quantity of
  information on screen, size of font, complexity
  of language and type of controls when designing a
  human computer interface.

3
Introduction

• When designing any system the most important
  thing to consider is the user.
• Ultimately, the user is the person that will use
  the system.
• The system may be really good at processing data,
  but if the user struggles to use the system then
  the speed at which data can be processed is
  irrelevant as the user may not be able to input
  data into the system fast enough!

4
Introduction

• There are certain principles that should be
  followed when designing an HCI but in general a
  designer must consider the following
• Use of colour
• Layout
• Quantity of information on screen
• Font size
• Complexity of language
• Type of controls

5
Introduction
Quantity of information
Font
6
Colour

• The use of colour can make or break a system.
• Companies invest millions of pounds in developing
  a house style so that customers know which
  organisation a product or service belongs to.
• With that in mind, a designer should consider how
  a house style could be incorporated into a system.

7
Colour

• A designer should make sure that any colours used
  are used not to make the product look pretty
  but help improve its functionality.
• Although making the product look good and modern
  is important also!
• For example, the use of colour could be used to
  indicate stages of data input.

8
Colour

• Another thing to remember is that 9 of the
  population is colour blind.
• The most common form is Red/Green colour
  blindness.
• People with this problem use shades to
  distinguish between the colours but you have to
  check that the colours used will not hinder the
  efficiency of those users.

9
Colour

• Colours could also be used to indicate certain
  things. For example
• Red highlight to indicate test grades that were
  lower than MEG grades and Green highlight to
  indicate grades which are higher than MEG grades.
• This example might cause difficulties for those
  are colour blindness.

Student MEG Test Grade
Student 1 C C
Student 2 B A
Student 3 A B
10
Layout

• Where possible, the layout of a system should
  remain consistent within itself and another
  similar applications that may have been used by
  the staff.
• This will ease the transition from one system to
  another.

11
Layout

• The location of tools should remain consistent
  across system screens also.
• In terms of what icons to use - these should
  follow the standard format e.g. A floppy disk for
  saving, a printer icon for printing, scissors for
  cutting etc.

Hardly anyone uses a floppy disk to save work on
anymore! But...we still use the icon to
represent saving. You would like that a more
modern save icon would be a USB pen or
something? Because people are so used to looking
for the floppy disk it is unlikely to change for
a long time!
12
Layout

• Making sure the user knows what to interact with
  is important also.
• A good way of doing this is disabling features of
  the application which arent needed for the
  current task.
• For example, when setting up print options only
  the print option tools are enabled. Other tools,
  such as font style and size, are disabled.

13
Layout
Look closely and youll see that all the tools in
the main application window have been disabled
whilst the Print toolbox is active.
14
Layout

• Warning messages should be displayed in a
  location which is clear to the user and will
  demand their immediate attention.
• Help facilities should be in place but arent
  always needed the user just needs to know how
  to access them.
• Help icons are often used for this.

15
Quantity of information

• Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur
  adipiscing elit. Curabitur nisi purus, tristique
  vitae congue at, molestie ac lectus. Donec quam
  massa, condimentum commodo auctor et, tempus sit
  amet tellus. Nam dapibus, turpis vel consectetur
  tempor, risus metus ullamcorper ante, eget
  rhoncus tortor orci nec ante. Nam laoreet, augue
  non pharetra ornare, ligula augue convallis
  magna, id gravida mauris tellus non velit. Aenean
  rutrum nibh eget risus posuere ultrices. Nam quam
  ligula, egestas sit amet dapibus in, volutpat at
  neque. Maecenas quis tortor sed nibh convallis
  cursus. Fusce nunc diam, consectetur sit amet
  consequat sit amet, imperdiet vel odio. Sed
  tincidunt arcu non nisi imperdiet mollis. Sed
  felis elit, eleifend eu consectetur id, imperdiet
  non libero.
• Etiam dapibus, nisi ut semper congue, arcu purus
  elementum felis, sit amet venenatis mi odio quis
  metus. Aliquam erat volutpat. Ut mauris odio,
  lobortis eget fermentum ac, sagittis ac est.
  Aliquam vitae odio massa, a tristique ante.
  Aenean bibendum, tortor nec ornare ultrices, elit
  turpis aliquam lacus, imperdiet eleifend dui
  tellus non justo. Maecenas placerat leo quis
  massa pharetra nec cursus metus tempus.
  Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et
  netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas.
  Curabitur quis augue scelerisque lorem
  consectetur molestie et id enim. Mauris
  ullamcorper euismod euismod. Duis feugiat massa
  eu justo placerat at dignissim lectus semper.
  Praesent quis commodo sapien.
• Nullam eget adipiscing magna. Ut molestie auctor
  turpis nec scelerisque. In vitae euismod erat.
  Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis
  parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec
  interdum bibendum massa eget suscipit. In sit
  amet erat enim. Aliquam sodales nibh non ipsum
  iaculis convallis. Cras rutrum ullamcorper
  euismod. Vestibulum non velit libero. Cras ornare
  egestas arcu, sed scelerisque orci malesuada et.
  Etiam non tortor eget ipsum pretium facilisis in
  sit amet velit. Cras molestie hendrerit massa
  mattis malesuada. Sed sagittis bibendum egestas.
  Phasellus tellus metus, fringilla ac imperdiet
  at, tempus vitae augue. Sed nec nisi a ipsum
  ullamcorper sodales sed non nunc. Aenean non odio
  arcu. Maecenas pellentesque, dolor id dictum
  sagittis, leo augue gravida leo, sit amet
  eleifend purus dui ac lacus. Donec in convallis
  augue.
• Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur
  adipiscing elit. Pellentesque volutpat tempor
  iaculis. Suspendisse potenti. Praesent ac nibh
  urna, sed tristique lorem. Cras convallis
  sollicitudin nulla in faucibus. Nunc viverra leo
  eget quam bibendum condimentum. Nulla in augue in
  mi vestibulum eleifend. Mauris sit amet blandit
  urna. Nunc vitae eros eget tellus rutrum
  lobortis. Quisque id purus ac tellus lobortis
  cursus.
• Curabitur in risus ut dui elementum pellentesque
  at a nibh. Suspendisse potenti. Donec nec nibh at
  felis iaculis condimentum scelerisque et ligula.
  Duis fringilla ante mollis est iaculis lacinia.
  Curabitur quis dictum eros. In hac habitasse
  platea dictumst. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad
  litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos
  himenaeos. Suspendisse porttitor, risus a
  sagittis bibendum, orci lectus accumsan nisl, sed
  viverra turpis nisi sit amet metus. Aenean
  aliquam justo ut diam tempor pulvinar. Cum sociis
  natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient
  montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Proin gravida
  rhoncus erat nec commodo. Aenean sit amet erat
  magna.
• Donec consequat est ut erat fringilla id cursus
  est accumsan. Donec sit amet odio ut risus
  faucibus dapibus vel vitae ipsum. Duis egestas
  felis nec lacus porttitor in ultrices magna
  placerat. Donec id turpis enim. Suspendisse nec
  ipsum sed quam euismod euismod nec id diam.
  Mauris lobortis dapibus velit, ac ullamcorper
  lacus pellentesque vel. Nullam dapibus
  sollicitudin dictum. Duis vestibulum faucibus
  dolor, dapibus rutrum enim tincidunt sit amet.
  Sed ut mauris metus. Sed ut erat sed nisi mattis
  gravida. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora
  torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos
  himenaeos. Sed vehicula risus elit, a sodales
  felis. Morbi lacus sapien, adipiscing pharetra
  pharetra vel, congue quis lorem. Donec at ligula
  tortor, quis congue ante. Sed tincidunt libero
  quis leo venenatis eget viverra dolor vehicula.
  Aliquam tempor aliquam massa vitae luctus.
• Donec consequat est ut erat fringilla id cursus
  est accumsan. Donec sit amet odio ut risus
  faucibus dapibus vel vitae ipsum. Duis egestas
  felis nec lacus porttitor in ultrices magna
  placerat. Donec id turpis enim. Suspendisse nec
  ipsum sed quam euismod euismod nec id diam.
  Mauris lobortis dapibus velit, ac ullamcorper
  lacus pellentesque vel. Nullam dapibus
  sollicitudin dictum. Duis vestibulum faucibus
  dolor, dapibus rutrum enim tincidunt sit amet.
  Sed ut mauris metus. Sed ut erat sed nisi mattis
  gravida. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora
  torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos
  himenaeos. Sed vehicula risus elit, a sodales
  felis. Morbi lacus sapien, adipiscing pharetra
  pharetra vel, congue quis lorem. Donec at ligula
  tortor, quis congue ante. Sed tincidunt libero
  quis leo venenatis eget viverra dolor vehicula.
  Aliquam tempor aliquam massa vitae luctus.

16
Quantity of information

• Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur
  adipiscing elit. Curabitur nisi purus, tristique
  vitae congue at, molestie ac lectus. Donec quam
  massa, condimentum commodo auctor et, tempus sit
  amet tellus. Nam dapibus, turpis vel consectetur
  tempor, risus metus ullamcorper ante, eget
  rhoncus tortor orci nec ante. Nam laoreet, augue
  non pharetra ornare, ligula augue convallis
  magna, id gravida mauris tellus non velit. Aenean
  rutrum nibh eget risus posuere ultrices. Nam quam
  ligula, egestas sit amet dapibus in, volutpat at
  neque. Maecenas quis tortor sed nibh convallis
  cursus. Fusce nunc diam, consectetur sit amet
  consequat sit amet, imperdiet vel odio. Sed
  tincidunt arcu non nisi imperdiet mollis. Sed
  felis elit, eleifend eu consectetur id, imperdiet
  non libero.
• Etiam dapibus, nisi ut semper congue, arcu purus
  elementum felis, sit amet venenatis mi odio quis
  metus. Aliquam erat volutpat. Ut mauris odio,
  lobortis eget fermentum ac, sagittis ac est.
  Aliquam vitae odio massa, a tristique ante.
  Aenean bibendum, tortor nec ornare ultrices, elit
  turpis aliquam lacus, imperdiet eleifend dui
  tellus non justo. Maecenas placerat leo quis
  massa pharetra nec cursus metus tempus.
  Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et
  netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas.
  Curabitur quis augue scelerisque lorem
  consectetur molestie et id enim. Mauris
  ullamcorper euismod euismod. Duis feugiat massa
  eu justo placerat at dignissim lectus semper.
  Praesent quis commodo sapien.
• Nullam eget adipiscing magna. Ut molestie auctor
  turpis nec scelerisque. In vitae euismod erat.
  Cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis
  parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Donec
  interdum bibendum massa eget suscipit. In sit
  amet erat enim. Aliquam sodales nibh non ipsum
  iaculis convallis. Cras rutrum ullamcorper
  euismod. Vestibulum non velit libero. Cras ornare
  egestas arcu, sed scelerisque orci malesuada et.
  Etiam non tortor eget ipsum pretium facilisis in
  sit amet velit. Cras molestie hendrerit massa
  mattis malesuada. Sed sagittis bibendum egestas.
  Phasellus tellus metus, fringilla ac imperdiet
  at, tempus vitae augue. Sed nec nisi a ipsum
  ullamcorper sodales sed non nunc. Aenean non odio
  arcu. Maecenas pellentesque, dolor id dictum
  sagittis, leo augue gravida leo, sit amet
  eleifend purus dui ac lacus. Donec in convallis
  augue.
• Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur
  adipiscing elit. Pellentesque volutpat tempor
  iaculis. Suspendisse potenti. Praesent ac nibh
  urna, sed tristique lorem. Cras convallis
  sollicitudin nulla in faucibus. Nunc viverra leo
  eget quam bibendum condimentum. Nulla in augue in
  mi vestibulum eleifend. Mauris sit amet blandit
  urna. Nunc vitae eros eget tellus rutrum
  lobortis. Quisque id purus ac tellus lobortis
  cursus.
• Curabitur in risus ut dui elementum pellentesque
  at a nibh. Suspendisse potenti. Donec nec nibh at
  felis iaculis condimentum scelerisque et ligula.
  Duis fringilla ante mollis est iaculis lacinia.
  Curabitur quis dictum eros. In hac habitasse
  platea dictumst. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad
  litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos
  himenaeos. Suspendisse porttitor, risus a
  sagittis bibendum, orci lectus accumsan nisl, sed
  viverra turpis nisi sit amet metus. Aenean
  aliquam justo ut diam tempor pulvinar. Cum sociis
  natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient
  montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Proin gravida
  rhoncus erat nec commodo. Aenean sit amet erat
  magna.
• Donec consequat est ut erat fringilla id cursus
  est accumsan. Donec sit amet odio ut risus
  faucibus dapibus vel vitae ipsum. Duis egestas
  felis nec lacus porttitor in ultrices magna
  placerat. Donec id turpis enim. Suspendisse nec
  ipsum sed quam euismod euismod nec id diam.
  Mauris lobortis dapibus velit, ac ullamcorper
  lacus pellentesque vel. Nullam dapibus
  sollicitudin dictum. Duis vestibulum faucibus
  dolor, dapibus rutrum enim tincidunt sit amet.
  Sed ut mauris metus. Sed ut erat sed nisi mattis
  gravida. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora
  torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos
  himenaeos. Sed vehicula risus elit, a sodales
  felis. Morbi lacus sapien, adipiscing pharetra
  pharetra vel, congue quis lorem. Donec at ligula
  tortor, quis congue ante. Sed tincidunt libero
  quis leo venenatis eget viverra dolor vehicula.
  Aliquam tempor aliquam massa vitae luctus.
• Donec consequat est ut erat fringilla id cursus
  est accumsan. Donec sit amet odio ut risus
  faucibus dapibus vel vitae ipsum. Duis egestas
  felis nec lacus porttitor in ultrices magna
  placerat. Donec id turpis enim. Suspendisse nec
  ipsum sed quam euismod euismod nec id diam.
  Mauris lobortis dapibus velit, ac ullamcorper
  lacus pellentesque vel. Nullam dapibus
  sollicitudin dictum. Duis vestibulum faucibus
  dolor, dapibus rutrum enim tincidunt sit amet.
  Sed ut mauris metus. Sed ut erat sed nisi mattis
  gravida. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora
  torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos
  himenaeos. Sed vehicula risus elit, a sodales
  felis. Morbi lacus sapien, adipiscing pharetra
  pharetra vel, congue quis lorem. Donec at ligula
  tortor, quis congue ante. Sed tincidunt libero
  quis leo venenatis eget viverra dolor vehicula.
  Aliquam tempor aliquam massa vitae luctus.

WARNING Information Overload!
17
Quantity of Information

• One of the biggest challenges a system designer
  faces is passing on information to the user in
  the most minimal way.
• Some designers create input forms with so many
  text boxes, labels and instructions on the user
  simply gets confused.
• Sometimes it is better to break up tasks over a
  series of screens.
• Many websites use this technique when you are
  setting up an account.

18
Font Size and Style

• Font size is often an issue when designing a
  system.
• Too large and work space becomes an issue.
• Too small and the font is hard to read.
• Choosing a good default font size is important
  but it should also be changeable. Some users
  might have difficulties in seeing small text so
  systems should have an option in place to change
  the default font size.

19
Font Size and Style

• Choosing the right font style is important also.
• Sans-serif fonts like
• Verdanna
• Calibri
• Ariel
• are more suited for on screen reading.
• Serif fonts like Times New Roman are better
  suited for printed works.
• Some fonts are designed solely for small amounts
  of text like on posters. These tend to be very
  hard to read.

20
FUN FACTS

• Our eyes are deisnged to anasyle shaeps.
• Wehn you raed a wrod you dnot atcaully raed ecah
  letetr...but you look at the shpae of the wrod.
• As lnog as the frsit and lsat letetr are corecrt
  and you hvae all the leterts in the wrod, you can
  undresantd waht a wrod syas eevn if it is slpet
  icnorertcly.

21
Complexity of language

• Some people enjoy giving instructions...and some
  of those people like to sound really clever by
  using fairly complex language...
• Thats fine for them...but for some of us it
  leaves us feeling confused and lost.

A complex question is the fallacy of phrasing a
question that, by the way it is worded, assumes
something not contextually granted, assumes
something not true, or assumes a false
dichotomy.  To be a fallacy, and not just a
rhetorical technique, the conclusion (usually the
answer to the question) must be present either
implicitly or explicitly. What do you think?
...
22
Complexity of language

• Making sure instructions are clear and in the
  simplest form of the language is essential.
• Assumptions should not be made that all users
  have a good handle on their spoken language!
• Ok it is safe to assume that the users will be
  able to speak their language but remember...not
  all users are technically minded.
• Providing help with errors is essential dont
  just give them an error code! Explain what the
  error means and how to fix it!

23
Types of controls

• Early systems consisted of a command line
  interface.
• These were slow and didnt really help those who
  were new to computer systems.

24
Types of control

• Modern systems now make use of a combination of
  buttons, forms and menus to help the user
  navigate and use the system.

25
Buttons

• Buttons allow complex tasks to be carried out
  very quickly.
• Macros can be created which perform a number of
  tasks with just a click of a button.
• This saves the user time as they have less
  repetitive tasks to carry out.
• Also, because a button now carries out the tasks
  less mistakes are made through human error.
• The use of buttons also helps new users of the
  system. By performing the tasks for the user,
  the only things the user needs to worry about is
  making sure the conditions are valid and they
  know which button to press.

26
Buttons

• There are problems with using buttons though.
• If the conditions that the button requires to
  operate are not valid then an error will occur.
• Data could be missing?
• The button could be pressed too early?
• If the macro the button uses doesnt work
  correctly then the user will need to have some
  knowledge of how to use macros in order to fix it.

27
Forms

• Forms are highly directed.
• They know what kind of data they are going to
  receive.
• They are often used on the World Wide Web.
• Text boxes
• Radio buttons
• Check boxes.

28
Forms

• Used for collecting predictable information.
• They usually consist of certain input objects
  with clear instructions regarding how those
  inputs should be dealt with.
• Submit buttons used to start validation of data.

29
(No Transcript)
30
Forms

• Question
• Under what circumstances would a lead designer
  want to design a form-based interface for the
  users of a system?
• Answer
• When he knows that predictable data will be
  entered into the system.

31
Tabbed Forms

• Designers will often use tabbed interfaces to
  help users access information quickly and easily.
• Using tabbed browsing enables users to minimise
  the time they spend interacting with the mouse.
• When you have completed inputting data into one
  text box or radio button, a user can press the
  tab button to move to the next input.

32
Tabbed Forms

• Microsoft have gone down the tabbed route in
  their new Office suite.
• They found that by putting tools in tabs helped
  increase the efficiency in which people used
  their software (after getting used to it!).

33
Menus

• Provides easy access to software.
• Usually grouped together logically.
• Editing tools all under one menu
• Formatting tools under another menu
• Basic input is mouse driven.
• Used to help break down large information systems
  so information can be found quickly and
  efficiently.
• Especially good for weaker users of ICT.

34
Menus

• Most applications make use of a menu system to
  help people use their application.

35
Activities

• Investigate the following
• What colours should be used if the person has
• Colour blindness
• Dyslexia
• What is the recommended font style and size for
  web pages?
• What readability tests are available to ensure
  the language you use is suitable for the intended
  audience?
• What form controls are available and describe how
  they could be used on an HCI?