Lecture 9: Interaction Styles

Lecture 9: Interaction Styles

1. conceptual model: interface metaphors

   • 4 interaction styles: instructing, conversing, manipulating, exploring

2. recap

   • HCI extend & support all manner or human activities in all manner of places
   • facilitating UX through designing interfaces [make work effective, efficient & safer; improve & enhance learning & training; provide enjoyable & exciting entertainment; enhance communication & understanding; support new forms of creativity & expression

3. assumption

   • taking smth for granted when it needs further investigation [ppl will want to watch TV while driving]
   • realistic / wish-list?
     • ppl would not mind wearing glasses tht r needed to see in 3D > reasonable
     • ppl would not mind paying a lot more for new 3D-enabled TV screen > not reasonable
     • ppl would really enjoy the enhanced clarity & colour detail provided by 3D > reasonable
     • ppl will be happy carrying around their own special glasses > reasonable only for select bunch of users

4. claim

   • stating smth to be true when it is still open to question [multimodel style of interaction for controlling GPS > one tht involves speaking while driving > is safe

5. from problem space to design space

   • having a good understanding of problem space can help inform design space [eg: what kind of interface, behaviour, functionality to provide]
   • but for deciding upon these, it is important to develop a conceptual model

6. conceptual model

   • high-level description of hoe a system is organized & operates
   • enables: designers to straighten out their thinking b4 start to lay out their widgets
   • componenets
     • metaphors & analogies [understand what a product is for and how to use it for an activity]
     • concepts that ppl r exposed to through the product [task > domain objects, attributes & operations (saving, revisiting, organizing)]
     • relationship & mappings btwn these concepts [eg: item can be contained in shopping cart; there is no ordering items inside the cart]
   • describe in terms of core activities & objects & interface metaphors; appear obvious; the operations they support being intuitive to use

7. interface metaphors

   • interface designed to be similar to physical entity but also has own properties [eg: desktop metaphors, web portals]
   • can be based on activity, object or conbination of both
   • exploit user's familiar knowledge, help them understand "the unfamiliar"
   • conjures up the essence of the unfamiliar activity, enabling users to leverage of this to understand more aspects of the unfamiliar functionality
   • examples: sticky notes, biefcase, recycle bin, shopping cart on website, bookmarks, piece of paper in word processor
   • benefits
     • makes learning new system easier
     • help users understand underlying conceptual model
     • can be very innovative & enable realm of computers & their applications to be made more accesible to a greater diversity of users

8. materail metaphors

   • material properties are added, give appearance & physical behaviour [eg: surface of paper]

9. icon design considerations

   • components
     • lexical [brightness, colour, blinking]; syntatics [appearance & movements (lines, shapes)]; semantics [object represented]; pragmtics [legibility, utility]; dynamics [receptivity to actions]
   • represent object / action in familiar manner; limit number of diff icons; make icons stand out from background; 3D icons
   • ensure a selected icon is visible from unselected icon; dynamic icons [size change, thumbnails]; interaction btwn icons

10. activity

    • describe components of conceptual model underlying most online shopping websites [eg: shopping cart, proceeding to check out, 1-click, gift wrapping, cash till]

11. interaction types

    • instructing [issuing commands & select options]
      • user instruct a system & tell it what to do [eg: tell the time, print file, save file]; common conceptual model, underlying a diversity of devices & systems [eg: word processor, VCRs, vending machine]; main benefit is instruct spports quick & efficient interaction [good for repetitive kinds of actions performed on multiple objects]
    • conversing [interacting with a system as if having conversation]
      • underlying model of having a conversation with another human; range from simple voice recognition menu-driven systems to more complex "natural language" dialogs; eg: timetables, search engines, advice-giving system, help system; also virtual agents, toys & pet robots designed to converse with you
      • pros: allow users, especially novices & technophobes to interact with system in their familiar way [makes them feel comfortable, at ease & less scared
      • cons: misunderstanding can arise when system does not know how to parse what the user says
    • manipulating [interact with objects in virtual / physical space by manipulate them]
      • involve dragging, selecting, opening, closing & zooming actions on virtual objects; exploit users' knowledge of how they move & manipulate in physical world; can involve actions using physical controllers (eg: Wii) or gestures (eg: Kinect) to control movement of an on screen avatar; tagged physical objects (eg: balls) that are manipulated in physical world result in physical / digital events (eg: animation)
      • direct manipulation
        • continuous representation of objects 7 actions of interest (visibility of objects of interact); physical actions & button pressing instead of issuing commands with complex syntax (eg: pointing to item of interest); rapid, reversible actions with immediate feedback on object of interest
        • eg: drag file to trash can; games; scientific viz; VR / AR (gestures, gloves, tracked devices)
        • video games: design for diff platforms [age, gender, portability, resolution, genre, multiplayer, cultures]; diff controllers; effect of having score [public display, compare with friends, competition, better than encouragement]; direct manipulation for education [SimCity, The Sims]
        • computer aided-design [extensively use direct manipulation; autoCAD; structural engineer, landscaping, automobiles; change design & evaluate design quickly; computer aided manufacturing (CAM); allow many of the specification tools to be used for large design (grp review); few complex commands; analogy / familiar designs important]
        • evolution
          • create good direct manipulation interface [model reality well, visual interface, know the users]; Aesthetic Computing; Personal Finanace [Quicken]; home design; robot programming [guide robots hand]
          • future [VR / AR; Ubiquitous computing; wearable computing; tangible interfaces]
          • goals [comprehensive; rapid learning; predictable actions; appropriate feedback]
          • results [retention; learning; lowered anxiety; user feel empowered & satisfied]
        • why direct manipulation interfaces so enjoyable?
          • novices can learn basic functionality quickly; experienced user can work extremely rapidly to carry out wide range of task, even defining new functions; intermittent / infrequent users can retain operational concepts over time; error msg rarely needed; user can immediately see if their actions are furthering their goals & if not do smth else; user experience less anxiety; user gain confidence & mastery & feel in control
        • disadvantages
          • graphical user interfaces were a setback for vision-impaired users; consume valuable screen space & thus force valuable info iffscreen; user must learn the meanings of visual representations; visual representation may be misleading [draw incorrect conclusion abt permissible actions]; move mouse around the screen can be slower than [ressing function keys to do same actions
    • exploring [moving through virtual environment / physical space]
      • involve user move through virtual / physical environments; explore & interact with environment [digital / physical]; virtual environments include 3D worlds & augmented & virtual reality systems; physical environments with embedded sensor technologies
      • virtual & augmented reality
        • virtual reality breaks physical limitations of space & allow user to act as though they were somewhere else; augmented reality shows user & enable user to see the real world with an overlay of additional interaction
        • successful virtual environments depend on smooth integration of [visual display, head position sensing, hand position sensing, handheld manipulatives, force feedback, I/O sound, other sensation, cooperative & competitive virtual reality]

12. conceptual models: interaction & interface

    • interaction type [what user is doing when interact with system (eg: instructing, talking, browsing)]
    • interface type [type of interface used to support the mode (eg: speech, menu-based, gesture)]
    • direct manipulation is good for "doing" type of tasks [eg: designing, drawing, flying, driving]; issuing instructions is good for repetitive task [eg: spell-checking, file management]; having a conversation is good for children, computer-phobic, disabled users & specialised applications [eg: phone services]; hybrid conceptual models are often employes, where diff ways of carrying out same actions is supported at the interface [but can take longer to learn]

13. spectrum of directness

    • an example of progression towards more direct manipulation: less recall / more recognition, fewer keystrokes / fewer clicks, less capability to make errors & more visible context