Human Computer Interaction Overview

Study Notes

Human Computer Interaction (HCI) focuses on the human as the central character.
It's essential to comprehend human capabilities and limitations for successful HCI design.
A simplified model of human characteristics relevant to HCI is used to understand human-computer interactions.
This model includes input-output channels, human memory, and human processing.

Vision (Visual Perception):
- Involves image transformation and interpretation influenced by expectations.
- Compensates for movement, color, and brightness.
- Helps resolve ambiguities.
Hearing (Auditory Perception):
- Humans perceive sounds between 20Hz and 15kHz.
- Precise frequency changes are discerned, especially at lower frequencies.
Touch (Haptic Perception):
- Crucial for feedback; a lack of tactile feedback reduces response speed and accuracy.
Taste (Gustatory Perception) and Smell (Olfactory Perception):
- These senses are not widely used in current interface design.

Sensory Memory:
- Iconic (Visual): Briefly retains visual information after the stimulus is removed.
- Echoic (Aural): Allows short playback of auditory information.
- Haptic: Short-lived memory of tactile sensations.
Short-Term Memory (STM):
- Acts as a temporary holding place for quickly accessed information.
- Limited capacity (around 7 +/- 2 chunks of information).
- Patterns and organization aid in memory retention.
Long-Term Memory (LTM):
- Contains information stored for extended periods.
- Episodic Memory: Stores sequential events, allowing reconstruction of past experiences.
- Semantic Memory: Represents factual knowledge, concepts, and skills derived from episodic memory.
- Procedural Memory: Holds information on performing tasks, skills, and habits, enabling automatic execution.

Semantic Networks:
- Represent interconnected memories or associations.
- Limited in modeling complex objects or events.
Frames:
- Contain slots or attributes representing default, fixed, or variable information about objects.
- Example: "Cat" – Legs (fixed - 4), Diet (default - Omnivorous), Sound (default - Meow), Size (variable), Color (variable).
Scripts:
- Represent stereotypical scenarios with default information about entry conditions, results, props, roles, scenes, and tracks.
Production Rules:
- Condition-action (if-then) statements representing rules and responses based on specific conditions.

Storing:
- Total Time Hypothesis: Amount learned is proportional to time spent learning.
- Distribution of Practice Effect: Learning is more effective when distributed over time.
- Meaningful information is easier to store.
Forgetting:
- Decay Theory: Memories fade over time if not revisited.
- Interference Theory: New or old memories interfere with retrieval.
Remembering:
- Retrieval: Accessing stored information.
- Recognition: Recognizing previously learned information.
- Recall: Recalling information from memory without cues.
Reasoning:
- Deductive Reasoning: Drawing specific conclusions from general principles.
- Inductive Reasoning: Forming generalizations from specific observations.
- Analogical Reasoning: Applying knowledge from one situation to another.

User-Centered Design: Focus on understanding user needs and goals.
Usability: Making interfaces easy to learn, use, and remember.
Accessibility: Designing for diverse users with different abilities and disabilities.
Cognitive Load: Minimizing mental effort for users by simplifying tasks and interfaces.

Artificial Intelligence (AI): Enhancing interaction with intelligent agents and personalized experiences.
Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR): Immersive and interactive experiences enhancing reality.
Wearable Technology: Integrating technology seamlessly into everyday life.