Rationale

The  design  and  development  of displays,  alarms,  and  interfaces  for  small  or  large screens is an activity captured in the study of the human computer interface and in a study of human computer interaction. This discipline is increasingly software based and design needs require guidance by insights from psychology and informed by an appreciation  of  human  diversity  including  matters  such  as  colored  blindness  and deafness; in these circumstances, multimedia approaches often have a role to play. It is important  to  note  that  in  certain  applications  there  are  crucial  requirements  for reliability and other kinds of performance that have implications for matters such as safety and security.  Emphasis is placed on understanding human reactions to displays of various kinds and on human behavior in the context of interactive objects. Based on these, students need to understand the principles associated with the evaluation of interfaces  including  those  that  embody  interaction.  Students  need  to  know  the principles and guidelines that reflect best practice in the design, development, and maintenance of interfaces for multiple types of systems.

Objectives

By covering the course in Human Computer Interaction (HCI), the student will be able to:

  • Identify   some   contributors   to   human-computer   interaction   and   relate   their achievements  to the knowledge area, define HCI, explain the reasons for proper HCI  designs  in  engineering,  provide  a  good  reason  for  having  a  small-screen graphical user interface, provide a good reason for having a large-screen graphical user interface, give an example on how one might evaluate an engineering design using  some  principles  of HCI  and  describe  how  computer  engineering  uses  or benefits from human-computer interaction.
  • Develop a conceptual vocabulary for analyzing human interaction with software: to include terms such as affordance, conceptual model, and feedback, summarize the basic science of psychological and social interaction relevant to the development of human computer interfaces, differentiate between the role of hypotheses and experimental results recognizing the role of correlations, distinguish between the different interpretations that a given icon, symbol, word, or color can have in (a) different human cultures and (b) in the context of human diversity, and create and conduct  a simple  usability test  for  an existing  software  application,  taking  into account human diversity.
  • Identify  several  fundamental  principles  for  effective  GUI  design  relevant  for different applications in computer engineering, use a GUI toolkit to create a simple application   that  supports   a  graphical  user  interface,   illustrate  the  effect  of fundamental design principles on the structure of a graphical user interface, and conduct a simple usability test for each instance and compare the results.
  • Recognize  contexts in which to deploy the various technologies associated with intelligent systems and demonstrate an awareness of the capabilities as well as the limitations of the available techniques and technologies.
  • For a range of contexts in which intelligent  systems are deployed in a computer engineering context, identify the technical implications for devices, for computing power and for software, identify the potential for the use of intelligent systems in a range  of  computer  engineering  equipment,  discuss  the  professional,  legal  and ethical implications of deploying intelligent systems in a range of computer engineering situations, describe situations from computer engineering applications when intelligent systems can be relied upon to deliver a required response, describe situations in which intelligent systems may or may not be reliable enough to deliver a  required  response,  giving  reasons  for  the  answer,  explain  the  necessity  for heuristics in the general context of intelligent systems, and differentiate between the concepts of: optimal reasoning and human-like reasoning; of optimal behavior and human-like behavior.
  • Discuss  the  full range  of evaluation  criteria  appropriate  for  one  of a range  of computer engineering applications, conduct a walkthrough and a Keystroke Level Model analysis, summarize the features of the major guidelines and standards associated with human-centered software evaluation, and evaluate one of a range of  existing   interactive   system  with  appropriate   human-centered   criteria   and usability, giving reasons for selection of techniques.
  • Explain  the  basic  types  and  features  of human-centered  software  development, indicate three functional and three usability requirements that may be useful in developing human-centered software, specify an interactive object using one of the common methods as well as appropriate standards or guidelines, and demonstrate the application  of guidelines  and fundamental  principles  in developing  one  of a range of possible computer engineering applications that rely on a human computer interface.
  • Summarize  common interaction styles, explain good design principles of each of the following: common widgets; sequenced screen presentations; simple error-trap dialog;  a  user  manual,  design,  prototype,  and  evaluate  a  simple  2D  GUI,  and discuss the challenges that exist in moving from 2D to 3D interaction.
  • Compare the event-driven paradigm with more traditional procedural control for the user interface, identify common differences as well as similarities in cross- platform user interface design, and demonstrate an ability to outline an approach to interface  design  for  a  computer  engineering  application  that  utilizes  an appropriately chosen selection of technologies from event management, widgets, geometry management, and GUI builders.
  • Understand  the  nature  of  graphical  design  and  implement  a  simple  graphical activity using a standard software package, appreciate the role of visualization technologies   and   demonstrate   them  through   the   development   of  a   simple application,   appreciate   the  benefits  of  virtual  reality  and  the  nature  of  the advantages this offers, and demonstrate a simple application of computer vision technology in a computer engineering context.
  • Select  system components  which are  suitable  for the realization  of multi-media interfaces  of high quality,  and design  and develop  a multi-media  interface  for a simple computer engineering application.
Attachment Name Attachment Type
CMP3202 Human Computer Interaction DOC PDF PS