MAY, 2012

EMU – SOFTWARE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

CMSE323 HUMAN COMPUTER INTERACTION
Sample Questions

Q1. List the types of interaction styles and briefly explain their advantages and
disadvantages.
CMSE323 CHAPTER V THE INTERACTION slide 14

○ command line interface

■ Adv:
● Flexible
● Appeals to “power” users
● Allows user initiative
● Allows convenient creation of macros
● Cheap

■ Disadv:
● low visibility
● requires substantial training and memorization
● not useful for “novice” users
● poor error handling

○ menus
■ Adv:
● Reduces learning time
● Reduces keystrokes
● Structures decision making
● Easy to support error handling
■ Disadv:
● Too many manus for complex tasks
● Can be slow for frequent users
● Consumes screen space
● Requires rapid display rate

○ natural language
■ Adv:
● More familiar to users
● Uses speech recognition or typed natural language
■ Disadv:
● Vague
● Ambiguous
 ● hard to do well!

○ question/answer and query dialogue

○
○ form-fills and spreadsheets
■ Adv:
● Simplifies data entry
● Requires modest training
● Convenient assistance(recognition vs. recall)
● Allows for form-management tools
■ Disadv:
● Consumes screen space
● Context and application dependent
● Uses menu style for parameter fill-in

○ WIMP (Window, Icon, Menu, Pointing device) this is another term for GUI
(Graphical User Interface)
■ GUI
● Adv: visually presents task cncepts
● Learnability
● Retention over time
● Error avoidance
● Encourages exploration
● High subjective satisfaction
●
● Disadv: can be difficult to program(especially error hangling)
● Non-sighted users
● Requires high-end equipment

Q2. List the types of human memory and explain main characteristics of each of them.
CMSE323 CHAPTER III C HUMAN FACTORS IN INTERFACE DESIGN

o Short-term memory
-Short-term memory is also named as quick memory or working memry.
-Working memory is tied to your ability to focus attention. To maintain information in working memory,
you must keep your attention focused on it.

·
o Long-term memory/ cevap yok
Q3. What is meant by user-centered design?
AA HCI Chapter I Introduction 27.slide

identify needs and establish requirements; integrate users into design, prototyping and construction
phases

The objective of UCD is to develop a design framework that enables interaction designers to build more
usable systems.

● The three basic points of focus of user-centered design are:

○ Early focus on users and their tasks
○ Continuous evaluations to determine ease of learning and ease of use
○ Iterative design

Q4. Write up and briefly explain Fitt’s Law for estimation of pointing time.
AA HCI Chapter II The Computer
-The basic idea to keep in mind is that there is a relationship between speed, accuracy, and
distance.
-If possible, keep people on the keyboard or with the mouse as long as possible and minimize
the switching.

Fitts' law is used to model the act of pointing, either by physically touching an object with a hand
or finger, or virtually, by pointing to an object on a computer monitor using a pointing device.

Paul Fitts (1954) developed a model of human hand movement

Used to predict time to point at an object

§ D – distance to target
§ W – size of target
Ø Just from your own experience, is this function linear?
§ No, since if Target A is D distance and Target B is 2D distance, it doesn’t take
twice as long
Ø T = a + b log2(D/W + 1)
§ T = mean time
§ a = time to start/stop in seconds (empirically measured per device)
§ b = inherent speed of the device (empirically measured per device)

Q6. What kind of information we can be perceive by our eyes and by our ears? Can we fully
trust our eyes and ears? Explain Why/ Why not.
Q5. State the goals of HCI and explain them briefly.
AA HCI Chapter I Introduction
CMSE323 Chapter V Principles of Interface Design I

• Effective to use (effectiveness)

• Efficient to use (efficiency)
• Safe to use (safety)
• Have good utility (utility)
• Easy to learn (learnability)
• Easy to remember how to use (memorability)

Safety: Does the system prevent danger?

Functionality: How many things can the system do?
Efficiency: How few resources does it take to get a task done?
Usability : How easy to learn and use is the system?

These goals are achieved by thoughtful planning, sensitivity to user needs, devotion to
requirements analysis, and diligent testing, all while keeping budget and on schedule.

Q6. What is a malfunction? What are the levels of malfunctions and how can we detect
them?
CMSE323 CHAPTER V Principles of Interface Design I
Ø A mismatch between what the user wants, needs or expects and what the system
provides”
Ø “A breakdown in usability”
Ø “An obstacle to performing a desired task”

Malfunctions Levels are;

a) Task level (Task and goals not supported)
b) Conceptual level (User has wrong mental model; does not understand intended conceptual
model)
c) Interaction style level (system wide problem)
d) Interaction element level (specific detail inappropriate)
e) Physical element level (Physical execution incorrect)

We can detect ;
a) Malfunctions detected by the system (easiest to detect)
● omission of an argument
● incorrect date format
b)Malfunctions detected by the user during operation
● taking wrong path in menu hierarchy
● not finding required help
● not being able to perform a certain action
● not being able to tell which state system is in
c) Malfunctions undetected (until later)
● output produced is wrong due to wrong inputs
● unnecessary work performed
d) Inefficiencies
● excessive response time
● excessive think time
● unnecessarily long command sequences
● unnecessary repetitions
● complex operations that require use of reference

Q7. Explain the extended interaction framework by Abowd and Beale.

CMSE323 CHAPTER V THE INTERACTION

• General framework for understanding interaction

• is not restricted to electronic computer systems
• identifies all major components involved in interaction
• allows comparative assessment of systems
• is an abstraction of the actual interaction

User intentions are translated into actions at the interface

® translated into alterations of system state
® reflected in the output display
® interpreted by the user
• User
• Input
• System
• Output
Q8. List the criteria used in evaluation of Interaction Styles. Briefly explain each of them.
CMSE323 CHAPTER V THE INTERACTION
Depending on Context and
○ Time to learn
○ Speed of performance
○ Rate of errors
○ Retention over time
○ Subjective satisfaction

Q9. Describe the three main activities of in the interaction design life cycle.
CMSE323 CHAPTER V THE INTERACTION

Requirements specification
Designer and customer try capture what the system is expected to provide, which can be
expressed in natural language or more precise languages, such as a task analysis document.

Architectural design
High-level description of how the system will provide the services required. Mainly, the system is
factored into major components and specify how they are interrelated so that both functional
and nonfunctional requirements are satisfied.
Detailed design
refinement of architectural components and interrelations to identify modules to be implemented
separately the refinement is governed by the nonfunctional requirements

Q10. Write down three rules in using colors in an interface design.

CMSE323 CHAPTER III A HUMAN FACTORS IN INTERFACE DESIGN - Copy

1 Avoid putting blue and red or green and red near each other on a page or screen.
2 Avoid blue or green text on a red background, and red or green text on a blue
background.
3 If you are designing for people in different parts of the world, then you have to also
consider the color meanings in other cultures.A few colors have similar meanings
everywhere (gold, for example, stands for success and high quality in most cultures), but
most colors have different meanings in different cultures.
Q11. Write down three rules in using fonts in an interface design
CMSE323 CHAPTER III B HUMAN FACTORS IN INTERFACE DESIGN

–Limit the number of fonts and styles in any screen to 2 or 3

–Use a serif font for most printed text
–Avoid ‘fancy’ fonts
– Use a sans-serif font for most on-screen text

Q12. Write down three rules in using icons in an interface design

–Always, always, always user-test all icons!!!

–Keep icons as simple as possible
–Keep icons distinct from each other

Q13. What are the five key ideas in HCI? Explain them very briefly.
CMSE323 Chapter V Principles of Interface Design I

● Visibility: The UI should help the user always understand...

○
The current state of the system
○
What operations can be done
E.g. When you position the cursor over a point on the screen, it should be clear
what would happen if you clicked the mouse
● Feedback: When anything changes it should be made visible
○ When you delete a file, the system should not just say ‘ready’
● Goal: A state the user wants to reach
○ to move a file from location to another
○ to have saved a file

● Affordance: The set of operations and manipulations that can be done to a particular
object
○ ‘Perceived affordance’ is what typical users think can be done to an object.
○ To improve visibility/feedback we need to:
■ Choose objects with good perceived affordance
■ Design the UI to generate better perceived affordance
● Task: An action the user wants to do. e.g. to execute an application, to save the file,
etc.
○ Goals are results of tasks, tasks are due to goals.
Q14. What is WIMP interface? Explain briefly.
CMSE323 CHAPTER V THE INTERACTION

• Windows Icons Menus Pointers

(or windows, icons, mice, and pull-down menus)

• This is another term for GUIs

• This is the default style for majority of interactive computer
systems, especially PCs and desktop machines

Windows
Areas of the screen that behave as if they were independent terminals
• can contain text or graphics
• can be moved or resized
• can overlap and obscure each other,
or can be laid out next to one another (tiled)
• scrollbars allow the user to move the contents
of the window up and down or from side to side
• title bars describe the name of the window

Icons
• are small pictures or images
• represent some object in the interface
often a window or an action
• windows can be closed down (iconised)
small representation --> many accessible windows
• icons can be many and various
highly stylized or realistic representations.

Pointers
• are important components
WIMP style relies on pointing and selecting things
• usually achieved with mouse
• also joystick, trackball, cursor keys or keyboard shortcuts
• wide variety of graphical images

Menus
Choice of operations or services are offered on the screen.
Required option is selected with pointer
GOOD LUCK IN THE FINAL EXAMS
Dr.Adnan ACAN