INF3720/201/2/2011

INF3720
Human-Computer Interaction II
Tutorial letter 201
Discussion of Assignment 1

School of Computing

Assignment 1
Nota aan Afrikaanse studente: Weens die tegniese aard van die studiemateriaal is hierdie studiebrief in
Engels. Moet asb. nie huiwer om ons te kontak indien iets vir u nie duidelik is nie.
The answers to the questions in this assignment are open-ended and every student approached them differently.
There is thus no set solution to this assignment and you must compare your own answers to the page references
and answers as presented here. If you presented us with a satisfactory attempt in your assignment you were
rewarded with the credits for that question.
We allocated one mark for each question Q1 to Q9 (excluding Q6), added two and multiplied it by 10 to give
you a percentage mark.
Question 1
Explain the difference between usability goals and user experience goals.
See Chapter 1 page 20 and 26. UG concerned with meeting specific usability criteria such as efficiency. UEG
more subjective measures, and are concerned with explaining the nature of the user experience such as
enjoyment.
Note the importance of the (Norman) five design principles in chapter 1- which are from Don Normans book
The Design of Everyday Things.
Question 2
Briefly describe the four interaction types, discussed in Chapter 2 of the prescribed book.
See Chapter 2 page 64. Instructing, Conversing, Manipulating and Exploring.
Related to this in the same Chapter, is that it is also important that you should be able to explain the four
components of a conceptual model in terms of a design example such as a spreadsheet and a web browser etc.
For the latter example the main metaphor is browsing, and the analogy is that of window-shopping. The
concepts include web pages and links, URLs etc. The relationships can refer to a container (a page) of related
links, whilst the mapping refers to giving task-support to the user whilst browsing the Internet.
Question 3
Give five examples of collaborative technologies that support coordination.
See Chapter 4 page 136, 161, 164. Coordination implies people working and interacting together towards a
common goal. Examples are Electronic scheduling, electronic, whiteboards, group calendars, project
management tools, workflow tools.
Question 4
Describe the four types of pleasure proposed in Patrick Jordans pleasure model.
See Chapter 5 page 209-210. Physio, socio, psycho and ideo-pleasure.
Question 5
Compare notes plus still camera, audio plus still camera, and video in terms of their flexibility and reliability as
data recording techniques.
See Chapter 7 page 295-297. Table 7.1 lists flexibility and reliability comparisons.
Question 6
What, according to the ISO 9241 standard are the four principles of human-centered design?

INF3720/201

See Chapter 9 page 462-463. Active involvement of users, allocation of functions, iteration and multidisciplinary
design. (Note: This is not in the 3rd edition of the textbook)
ISO 13407 and ISO 9241 Human-centered design (HCD) processes for interactive systems.
ISO 13407 is defined as the planning and management of a design process to facilitate the goal of making
computer systems usable. Simply put, it establishes how user research should be involved in designing products.
Its objectives range from enhancing effectiveness and productivity, improving human working conditions, to
counteracting the possible adverse effects of use on human health, safety and performance.
Principles for Human-centered Design The 4 principles required for human-centered design (HCD):
The ISO 9241 UCD process consists of four key principles:
1. Active user involvement and a clear understanding of the user and the task requirements. This means
involving the users to the design process. The users can give valuable information about context and tasks.
2. An appropriate allocation of function between the users and technology. This means taking into account
which functions can be done by human and which are more appropriate for technology. The allocation can be
based on the human beings capabilities and limitations. Machines are for instance better doing routine repetitive
tasks.
3. Iteration of design solutions. This refers to making of design solutions and repeated evaluation and
improvement of those in order to minimize the risk of system not meeting the user and the organizational
requirements. The users of the system can take part into evaluation for instance in usability tests.
4. Multi-disciplinary design. This refers to a group of people with various backgrounds participating in the user
centered design. These people may be for instance usability experts, software engineers, end users and
marketers. People with different insights and expertise can share their knowledge in a valuable way during the
design process.
It specifies the following activities:
Planning of the human-centered design process
Specification of the user and organisational requirements
Understanding and specification of the context of use
Production of design solutions
Evaluation of designs against requirements
Question 7
What is a scenario and how can it be used in requirements elicitation?
See Chapter 10 page 505-508.
Question 8
Briefly explain the three evaluation approaches discussed in chapter 12 of Preece, et al. (2007).
See Chapter 12.3 page 590.
Question 9
What are the three steps of heuristic evaluation?
See Chapter 15 page 700. Briefing, evaluation, debriefing.

UNISA 2011