Introduction to HCI PDF

Introduction to HCI Human-computer interaction (HCI): Studies the interaction between users and computers, aiming to improve user experience by minimizing frustration and enhancing enjoyment. Definition of HCI o HCI encompasses the design, evaluation, and implementation...

Introduction to HCI Human-computer interaction (HCI): Studies the interaction between users and computers, aiming to improve user experience by minimizing frustration and enhancing enjoyment. Definition of HCI o HCI encompasses the design, evaluation, and implementation of interactive computer systems for human use. o It aims to improve user interactions by aligning computer functionality with human cognitive expectations. What is the importance of HCI o User-centered design is increasingly vital for competitiveness in today's market. o Poorly designed products lead to time loss, user frustration, and inefficient resource allocation. o Tasks affected by screen layout directly impact organizational relations and profitability. HCI goals are divided into 2 1. A basic goal: o To improve the interactions between users and computers By making computers more usable and receptive to the user's needs 2. A long term goals: o To design systems that minimize the barrier between the human’s o Cognitive model of what they want o To accomplish the computer's understanding of the user's task What is a user interface "UI"? o The user interface is part of HCI that focuses on the design of how users interact with computers, fulfilling their needs effectively. o It consists of input (how users communicate needs) and output (how computers convey information).  What's the importance of good design? o Inefficient designs often stem from a lack of care or common sense, leading to confusion for users. o Identifying and resolving design issues can yield significant economic benefits, such as reduced training costs and improved customer service. Interaction Design "ID" o The goal of interaction design is to create products that are effective, easy, and pleasurable to use from the user's perspective. o Interaction design aims to support human communication and interaction through product and service design. o It is broader than HCI, being concerned with the theory, research, and practice of designing user experiences across various technologies. What is the process of Interaction Design "ID"? 1. Establishing requirements 2. Designing alternatives 3. Prototyping 4. Evaluating User Experience "UX" o Central to interaction design, the user experience encompasses how a product behaves in real-world use and the emotional responses it elicits. o Various aspects like usability, aesthetics, and cultural identity influence the user experience. What are the Usability Goals? o Ensures that products are easy to learn, effective to use, and enjoyable. o Comprises effectiveness, efficiency, safety, utility, learnability, and memorability.  What are the User Experience "UX" Goals? o Desired qualities include satisfaction, enjoyment, and motivation, while undesirable qualities may involve frustration or annoyance. Design Principles o Key principles include: 1. Visibility: Balances user needs with business objectives to prioritize navigation. 2. Feedback: Ensures communication through motion, animation, and clear messaging. 3. Constraints: Guides user actions by limiting distractions. 4. Consistency: Maintains usability across devices design systems. 5. Affordances: Ensures clear task instructions through UI elements. Trends in UI/UX Design for 2024 Anticipated trends include responsive UI, augmented and virtual reality, micro-interactions, and AI integration. Other notable themes involve accessibility, personalization, and innovative layouts. Introduction to User-Centered Design (UCD) and Human-Centered Design (HCD) o Design is vital in product development, significantly influencing user experiences. o User-centered design (UCD) and human-centered design (HCD) are two approaches that help designers to create products that meet the needs of the user. o UCD focuses on the users’ preferences and feedback to create easy to use systems while HCD takes a broader view by considering the socio-cultural and environmental factors that affect the user experience. Understanding User-Centered Design (UCD) o UCD is an interactive system development approach geared toward user-friendliness (ISO/IEC 1999). o It leads to products that are: Helpful for user goals Desirable to use  Understandable Successfully operable Satisfying to users Minimizes user errors o The main aim is to grasp user needs early in the design process to ensure product acceptance. Phases of the UCD Process o The UCD process includes: a. Specifying the context of use: Identifying user demographics and usage scenarios. b. Specifying requirements: Determining necessary business and user goals for success. c. Creating design solutions: Progressing from rough concepts to complete designs. d. Evaluating designs: Conducting usability testing with real users as an integral part of quality assurance. Understanding Human-Centered Design (HCD) o HCD derives from various semi-scientific fields, prioritizing user experience through ergonomic and usability principles. o It includes characteristics such as multidisciplinary skills, comprehensive understanding of users, user involvement, and an iterative design process (ISO 9241-210). Relationship among Usability, HCI, UCD, and UX Highlights the interconnectedness of usability, human-computer interaction (HCI), user- centered design (UCD), and user experience (UX). User Research Methods o User research is a systematic study of target users, revealing their needs and pain points, and providing designers with valuable insights for effective design  o It comprises: Qualitative research: Involves ethnographic studies and interviews for behavioral insights. {Helps understand why users behave the way they do but requires careful collection of non- numerical data. } Quantitative research: Employs structured methods like surveys for measurable data. {Uses a larger sample of representative users to test assumptions and identify patterns within a larger user group} o User research can be divided into a. Attitudinal approach: listen to what users say b. Behavioral approach: observe what user do Utilizing User Research Throughout Development o Recommended methods from Nielsen Norman Group include: Diary studies and contextual inquiries to discover user needs. Organizing information for logical design and creating customer journey maps. Testing designs for usability and accessibility. Listening to feedback and analyzing user data for trends. User Personas and Scenarios o Personas are crafted from real user data to assist in the design process o Scenarios illustrate user behaviors to foster empathy in design efforts. o Effective personas are based on research, avoiding stereotypes, and focusing on specific user contexts and actions. DESIGN PRINCIPLES & GUIDELINES Introduction to CARP CARP stands for Contrast, Alignment, Repetition, and Proximity, which are essential elements in design. Achieving these principles contributes to creating an aesthetically pleasing web page or application.  Contrast Contrast establishes a hierarchy for efficient task completion, allowing users to identify which object to focus on easily. Designers can use visual cues like color, pattern, scale, and shape to create contrast. Functions of contrast include: o Highlighting prominent features and crucial information on a site. o Organizing content effectively to minimize user errors. Alignment o Alignment improves the organization and aesthetics of content, making comprehension easier for users. o A well-aligned layout enhances the product's polish and freshness, allowing designers to identify connections and hierarchies within the content. Repetition o Repetition ensures design consistency by maintaining uniformity in typography, size, color, shape, and spatial connections. o It helps users determine relationships between content pieces and signals that they are still on the same product. Proximity o Proximity groups related content to enhance user comprehension, making layouts appear neater and clearer. o Functions of proximity include: Simplifying extensive content comprehension. Enhancing content organization into cohesive groups. Usability Principles: Nielsen's Heuristics o Nielsen's heuristics provide broad guidelines, not strict usability rules, for creating intuitive and accessible digital products.  10 Usability Heuristics 1. Visibility of System Status: Timely feedback maintains user trust and informs them about system status. 2. Match between System & the Real World: Systems should use familiar terms for seamless user experiences. 3. User Control & Freedom: Users need a clear option to undo actions, fostering confidence. 4. Consistency & Standards: Maintain consistency to reduce cognitive load and confusion. 5. Error Prevention: Good design prevents errors by minimizing error-prone situations and providing confirmations. 6. Recognition rather than Recall: Visible elements reduce memory load and enhance usability. 7. Flexibility & Efficiency of Use: Shortcuts for advanced users enhance interaction efficiency. 8. Aesthetic & Minimalist Design: Content should be concise and focused, avoiding distractions. 9. Help Users Recognize, Diagnose, & Recover from Errors: Clear error messages help users resolve issues. 10. Help & Documentation: Providing easy-to-search documentation supports user tasks effectively. Fitts’s Law o Fitts's Law quantifies how the distance and size of a target affect the speed of interaction, emphasizing that larger and closer targets are easier to acquire. Interaction Costs o Interaction costs refer to the mental and physical efforts required to interact with a website, with designers aiming to minimize these costs by following Fitts’s Law. Tips for Using Fitts’s Law o Increase the size of actionable elements and ensure they are conveniently located to enhance user selection accuracy. Concepts for UI Design  o Focus on using larger targets, minimizing distance between targets, and utilizing prime and magic pixels for optimal user access. Prime and Magic Pixels o Prime pixels are where users naturally position their cursor or fingers, while magic pixels refer to screen corners and edges, reserved for important functionalities. Examples of Fitts’s Law in UI Design o Successful applications like Google, iPhone, and Airbnb utilize Fitts's Law principles to enhance user interactions and minimize errors through strategic UI placements. Information Architecture (IA) Information architecture: Is for organizing information, structuring websites and apps, and enabling user navigation for efficient information retrieval. A well-structured IA allows users to find information quickly, reducing effort and enhancing user experience. Key responsibilities of IA 1. Identifying themes in content 2. Organizing related items 3. Optimizing search functionality IA involves extensive research and testing to ensure content accessibility, aiding in maintaining a competitive advantage. What is the differences Between Information Architecture and UX? Information architecture is not the same as user experience (UX); IA focuses more on cognitive effort and user goals. UX encompasses a broader scope, including ensuring interface friendliness and meeting psychological needs. Eight Principles of Information Architecture 1. The Principle of Objects Treats content as a living entity with its lifecycle, aiding in flexibility and clarity of relationships.  2. The Principle of Choices Addresses the paradox of choice, encouraging limited options to mitigate cognitive overload for users. 3. The Principle of Disclosure Emphasizes progressive disclosure of information allowing users to absorb content at a comfortable rate. 4. The Principle of Exemplars Suggests using common examples to help categorize concepts effectively. 5. The Principle of Front Doors Stresses the importance of intuitive homepage design that clearly states the website's purpose and structure. 6. The Principle of Multiple Classification Allows for various search approaches while balancing the number of ways users can find information. 7. The Principle of Focused Navigation Advocates for organized navigation strategies that categorize information well for user understanding. 8. The Principle of Growth Recognizes the expected growth of content due to digital expansion. Steps to Design Information Architecture 1. Understand User Goals: Conduct user research to tailor content organization. 2. Define Business Objectives: Collaborate with stakeholders to identify key business goals. 3. Conduct Competitor Analysis: Perform SWOT analysis to inform IA design according to market needs. 4. Define Content: Conduct content audits to determine necessary information for the user and business. 5. Categorize & Prioritize Content: Utilize analytical tools to group content logically. 6. Create a Sitemap: Visually represent website hierarchy to assist in structural communication. 7. Label Content: Use clear labels to guide users on the content structure. 8. Design Navigation System & User Flows: Develop a navigation system that supports user interactivity. 9. Prototype User Flow: Create clickable wireframes for demonstrating navigation and hierarchy. 10. Validate Your Design: Conduct usability testing to assure task completion effectiveness. Interaction Design Overview o Interaction design enhances human-computer interaction using elements like animations and transitions. o Effective interaction design contributes to improved user satisfaction and engagement with products. Interaction Design vs. UI and UX Design o Interaction design focuses on user interactions and responsiveness, while UI design emphasizes visual aesthetics. o Interaction design is a specialization within UX, focusing on responsiveness to user actions. Interaction Design Principles 1. Visibility: Balances user needs with business objectives to prioritize navigation. 2. Feedback: Ensures communication through motion, animation, and clear messaging. 3. Constraints: Guides user actions by limiting distractions. 4. Mapping: Creates intuitive layouts for user ease. 5. Consistency: Maintains usability across devices design systems. 6. Affordances: Ensures clear task instructions through UI elements. 7. Cognition: Applies cognitive psychology principles to prevent overwhelming users. What are basic Activities of Interaction Design 1. Discovering requirements for new interactive products. 2. Designing alternatives that meet user needs. 3. Prototyping designs for communication and assessment.  4. Evaluating user experience throughout the process Practical Considerations in Interaction Design Identifying target users and their needs is crucial for effective design. Interaction Design Checklist Includes considerations such as defining interfaces and providing user clues, aimed at improving usability. Introduction to Visual Design Principles o Visual appeal can be immediate but is challenging to articulate. o Good visual design enhances engagement and usability by guiding the integration of design elements. Key Visual Design Principles Impacting UX o Scale: The relative size signifies importance; larger elements are more noticeable. A visually pleasing design should use no more than three different sizes to establish hierarchy. o Visual Hierarchy: A clear hierarchy guides the user's eye to different elements based on importance through variations in scale, color, and placement. 2-3 typeface sizes and bright colors for key content help create clarity. o Balance: An arrangement that equally distributes visual signals on both sides of an imaginary axis, which can be symmetrical or asymmetrical depending on the intended message. o Contrast: The use of dissimilar elements to highlight differences; contrast should enhance legibility without sacrificing accessibility. o Gestalt Principles: These principles explain how humans organize complex images into wholes, emphasizing how proximity and similarity affect perception. Importance of Visual Design Principles o Enhanced usability leads to higher task success rates and user engagement. o Effective visual design evokes positive emotions, fostering user goodwill towards usability issues. o A robust visual system strengthens brand perception and user trust.  Accessibility in Design o Accessibility: Ensures products/services are usable for all, benefiting both disabled individuals and designers. o Accessibility vs. Usability: Usability focuses on design efficiency, while accessibility ensures all users can engage with the content meaningfully. Common Accessibility Issues o Users may face various barriers including visual impairments, mobility issues, auditory limitations, and cognitive challenges. Practical Guidelines for Accessibility o Follow Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to ensure diverse user needs are met. o Use an accessible content management system and optimize templates for accessibility. o Incorporate personas with varying abilities and make use of proper HTML elements. o Ensure high contrast and simplified language to reach broader audiences. o Validate design accessibility using tools like WAVE and Color Oracle. o ## What is a Design System? o - A design system is a collection of reusable UI elements that product teams utilize to create user interfaces for various digital platforms, encompassing code, documentation, design guidelines, and other workflow building blocks. It serves as a "single source of truth" for design and development teams, ensuring consistency in visual language and design across products. o - Key components include UI components, code snippets, design files, style guides, design guidelines, content guidelines, and other resources. o o ## Why Are Companies Building Unique Design Systems? o - Organizations like Shopify, Google, and Airbnb create unique design systems to enhance consistency, transparency, scalability, reusability, and clarity across their design and development processes. o o ## Components of a Design System o - **Design Systems**: The foundational collection that encompasses resources, processes, and guiding principles for product ecosystem design. o - **Component and Pattern Libraries**: Reusable visual elements and interaction patterns with detailed documentation. o - **Foundational Elements**: Visual language that includes branding components such as typography, color, and logo. o o ## Elements of Design System o - A design system consists of a design repository, which includes style guides and libraries, as well as the people who manage it, comprising designers and developers. o o ## Style Guide o - Style guides provide design principles, visual references, and guidelines focusing on branding, content, and tone. o o ## Component Libraries o - Component libraries offer resources for implementing specific UI elements, including names, descriptions, attributes, states, and code snippets. o o ## Design System Team o - The management team for a design system should include interaction designers, visual designers, developers, and other roles as needed, supported by an executive sponsor. o o ## How to Approach Design System Adoption o - Approaches include adopting an existing system, adapting an existing one, or creating a custom design system to meet specific organizational needs. o o ## Steps to Create Your System Design o - Steps include conducting an inventory audit, defining a design language, creating a pattern library, and archiving guidelines for design elements. o o ## What is a UI Kit? o - UI kits are collections of reusable components designed for creating interfaces, focusing on elements like icons, buttons, and templates. o o ## Difference Between a UI Kit and a Design System o - Design systems provide more comprehensive documentation and resources compared to UI kits, which are primarily aimed at designers. o o ## Pros of Using Design System o - Benefits include faster product development, improved consistency, easier changes, a unified brand outlook, simplified quality control, and reduced development costs. o o ## Cons of Using Design System o - Challenges include maintenance time, potential reduction in creativity, the learning curve, and less exploration. o o ## Examples of System Design o - Many companies publicly share their design systems, providing insights into their approaches. Examples include design systems from Shopify, GitHub, and various government entities. o o ## Conclusion o - Design systems are vital tools that foster efficiency and consistency in digital product design and development. They serve as essential frameworks that guide teams in creating cohesive and user-friendly interfaces and experiences.