Designing Human Centered Systems Notes

Lecture 2

Class Questions

  • Why do punch cards have diagonal lines? To help them algn if you drop them
  • Absolute vs Relative Pointing?
  • Many early input devices were part of radar systems - why?

Class Challenges

  • When were the following invented?
    • GUI
    • Mechanical Computer
    • Electrical Computer
    • TouchScreen
    • Mouse
  • Input device that fits criteria (XYZ positioning)/ XY and rotation in Z axis)

Intro

  • Man Machine interfaces preceded HCI
    • Knobs/buttons/slides, good interfaces preceded computers
    • Jacquard Loom (1801)
    • Tabulating machines (1890)
    • knobs/levers/mechanical used till ~1950s (e.g. Charlie Chaplin’s view of the Modern times in 1936)
  • Electronic Interfaced
    • Plugboards (1906-1940).
    • Batch Interfaces (1945-1968; ENIAC 1943-6; Key Punch Machine)
    • Terminals/CLIs (1969-90)
    • Micros (1970s/80s)

Pre vs Post 1950s Computing

  • Users had to accomodate computers, and UI was overload
  • Military applications were valuable, pieces came together

Vannevar Bush

  • Influential policy maker, Director of Office of Scientific R&D, foundes NSF.
    • Ideas: Memex (palm pilot/smartphone) / Hyperlinks

Augment the power of the human brain now, not just physical abilities

Grace Hopper

  • Wrote A0 compiler (1950s)

Interfaces

  • Joysticks (1908/20’s)
  • Trackball (1942)
  • Light Guns/Pens (1950)
  • Sage (1954)
  • Sketchpad (1963, CMU Alum Ivan Sutherland)
  • Glove Keyboard (1960)
  • Knee Operated Pointers (1960)
  • Touch Screen (1965)
  • Mouse (1964-7)
  • Input Taxonomies

JCR Licklider

  • Man-Computer Symbiosis, HCI Researcher

Lecture 1

Class Questions

  • What is HCI?
  • What is UX?
  • Why do we care?

Class Challenges

  • Make 5 progress bars and try to see if your participants can guess what % full they are

Intro

  • Everything has a design criteria and is done within a context
  • HCI:
    • Human: End user/Other people in org/Surrounding Culture Context
    • Computer: Hardware/Software
    • Interaction: User tells computer what it wants, Computer communicates results
  • 3 Legged Stool Analogy (Components of HCI): Computer Science, Design, Behavioral Sciences

Design Myths!

  1. Good Design is just cool graphics
  2. Good Design is just common sense
  3. We can fix the interface at the end (USPS card reader example, and adult swim video about guy trying to use auto mail thing).
  4. Marketing takes care of understanding customer needs

(There are 5 more we don’t talk about)

Why is Good Design Important?

  • 50% of work developing
  • Bad user interfaces cause loss of money, reputation, time, security, lives!
  • UX IS KING
    • hardware isn’t a differentiating factor anymore
  • How do we make good interfaces?
    • Iterative Design (waterfall is eww)
    • Great ideas are often simple: Mouse, Guis, Touchscreens, Emoticons, Hyperlinks,
    • Good ideas stick around: Wheel & Axle, String/Rope/Shoes, Beds, Doors
    • Physical & Human factors change slowly!
    • Culture and tech change alot!

(Look at examples of badly designed UIs)

Homework: Decorate your tile! … and get markers

Written on January 14, 2016