What is HCI?

CSE/ISE 323 Spring 2011Tony Scarlatos

ACM SIGCHI Definition of HCI

“Human-computer interaction is a discipline concerned with the design, evaluation and implementation of interactive computing systems for human use and with the study of major phenomena surrounding them.”

Visualizing HCI

An Interdisciplinary Field

• Computer Science (application design and engineering of human interfaces)

• Psychology (the application of theories of cognitive processes and the empirical analysis of user behavior)

• Sociology and Anthropology (interactions between technology, work, and organization)

• Industrial Design (interactive products)

Related Research & Application Areas

Is HCI the same as Ergonomics?

The word "Ergonomics" comes from two Greek words, "ergon" meaning work, and "nomos" meaning "laws."

A typical ergonomics diagram for a computer workstation

International Ergonomics Association:

“Ergonomics is the scientific discipline concerned with the understanding of interactions among humans and other elements of a system, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data and methods to design in order to optimize human well-being and overall system performance.”

So what about Human Factors?• Human factors science is a multidisciplinary field incorporating

contributions from psychology, engineering, industrial design, statistics, operations research and anthropometry.

• The science of understanding the properties of human capability (Human Factors Science).

• The application of this understanding to the design, development and deployment of systems and services (Human Factors Engineering).

• The art of ensuring successful application of Human Factors Engineering to a program (sometimes referred to as Human Factors Integration). It can also be called ergonomics.

• In general, a human factor is a physical or cognitive property of an individual or social behavior which is specific to humans and influences functioning of technological systems as well as human-environment equilibriums.

Anthropometry

Anatomical measurements of an “average” man, woman and child

What is Interaction Design?

A New Term – User Experience (UX)

• User eXperience (UX) is about how a person feels about using a system. User experience highlights the experiential, affective, meaningful and valuable aspects of human-computer interaction and product ownership, but it also includes a person’s perceptions of the practical aspects such as utility, ease of use and efficiency of the system.

• International Organization for Standards (ISO): “a person's perceptions and responses that result from the use or anticipated use of a product, system or service.”

Why User Experience?

Recent advances in mobile, ubiquitous, social, and tangible computing technologies have moved human-computer interaction into practically all areas of human activity. This has led to a shift away from usability engineering to a much richer scope of user experience, where user's feelings, motivations, and values are given as much, if not more, attention than efficiency, effectiveness and basic subjective satisfaction.

Usability Vs. User Experience

Elements of UX

Design Components of UX