HCI - Human Computer Interaction is about making computers and digital technology in general easier to use. HCI is about how scientists approach the design of computers to make sure that people can do what they want with them. This means that what you see on the screen is easy to use and easy to learn. It means that the steps you need to do a job on a computer are clear. It means that when you make a simple mistake the computer tells you clearly what the mistake was and it's easy to fix that mistake. Scientists have been working in the US and UK for the last 30 years on building up knowledge on Human Computer Interaction and User Interface Design, so that the Software Designers and Computer Engineers who develop computer applications make them fit for people to use.
This website takes some of that scientific knowledge about HCI and asks three new media artists to play around with it to produce some interactive art that is fun and engaging to use, but has a serious message about making using computers fun. We have Simon Poulter's Automated Knowledge Machine which is an ATM interface that dispenses knowledge rather than money. Caen Botto's COD3 gets us away from the mouse to using our voice to generate strange but beautiful patterns of light and sound. Josh Nimoy presents two pieces: Mixed Hello lets people use their shadow to interact with the computer, whilst icon==function puts the user in charge of what appears on the screen and how that affects the behaviour of the machine.
We hope you enjoy the pieces on the website and also come and visit the exhibition at FACT (30th March to 27th May 2006). Please use the blog to leave your comments.
What can you do next?
If you are a consumer of computers and electronics and you find a product that is hard to use - take it back and complain! If the retailer or manufacturer ignores you, contact a comsumer organisation or your government representative to press for better design.
If you are a young person contemplating a computer or business related course in higher education make sure they include topics on Human Computer Interaction or User Interface Design in their cirricullum.
If you are a designer or manufacturer of computers and applications make sure you and your staff understand the needs of users in your products. Follow up the links on this site or contact your local professional body for more information.
David England
d.england@ljmu.ac.uk
The aim of the programme is to explain to the public the science behind making technology usable. The individual measurable objectives will be:
The method of work will be to provide an interactive HCI science lab, www.hci-fun.org on the Web. Users will explore the Human Factors of common (and not so common) pieces of information technology. A set of three small experiments will be developed so that we can roll out a new experiment every three months to maintain interest in the Web site. The three experiments would be:
- A space ship
- A e-home control panel
- A mobile phone ring composer
In the first experiment users would be taken on a mission (landing or docking a ship) but their user interface would be broken in several (randomly assigned) ways. After the mission they would be interactively debriefed about their experience and be presented with ways they could improve the space ship before continuing on the next mission. Thus they could explore such issues as:
- Naturalness of dialogue (awkward ways of operating the space ship)
- Use of techincal jargon in error messages
- Aspects that overload their working memory
- Inconsistencies in the interface
- Lack of feedback (e.g. audio-only feedback, limited graphics)
- Slow response times
The aim is to expose people to issues in user interface design and let them become evaluators by making instant changes and seeing their effects. The random aspect would present users with different challenges each time they used the display. Web technologies would be used so that the program can also be used on the Internet. The program would be based at the Liverpool John Moores Web Site.
The development part of the work would be undertaken by a Liverpool John Moores placement student directed by the principal investigator. The development of the first experiment would provide a framework to ease the building of the subsequent experiment. The Internation Centre for Digital Content , ICDC, would be commissioned to provide multimedia scenarios and the visual design of the experiments.
The work would be under continuing evaluation using standard HCI techniques such as questionnaires and interviews from a sample of users, Web-based questionnaires, analysis of the usage logs and users choices of interface changes, plus more controlled testing of a representative sample of users. Formative evalaution, using the foregoing techniques, will be used during the project to make changes to the interface in the light of user feedback. We expect that the results of the experiments will form the basis of publications in such conferences as BCS HCI and ACM SIGCHI and journals such as Interacting with Computers.
Our audience will follow the demographics of the Web. Currently 60% of the UK population have access to the Web with 65% of surfers coming from the 24+ year old age group. 50% of Web users are female and 12% are teenagers. We aim to have 10,000 registered users by the end of project. Anthony Burrows, Head of IT at Wirral Grammar School, and a part-time PhD student in the School of Computing, will advise us on design for the School age group.
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