LIS 575: Human Factors in Information Systems: Martin Frické

Spring, 1997 Syllabus

This is current as of 1/8/97. More material will be added or changed on a continuing basis. One file that will remain untouched throughout is that containing the course requirements.

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Although Human Factors in Information Systems is the official title of the course, the actual content of the course deals primarily with Human-Computer Interaction (HCI).

 

HCI itself considers the problem of designing composite systems, of humans and computers, which are both safe and efficient.

 

This is an extremely important problem these days because everybody is, or will be, a User. [30 years ago, computers could have all sorts of interface shortcomings because only experts used them and the experts could use their skills to overcome the difficulties. But shortly we will all be Users.]

 

When looking at HCI, four considerations, and their interactions, are prominent

• human capabilities. These include physical and cognitive issues: what folk can do with their hands, eyes, and brains. Humans highly variable.
• the technical features of the computing machines. What the computer presents, and receives by way of input and output; and the style of the interaction.
• the tasks being undertaken. A modern trend is that of moving from the single user-- single interface to group working and multitasking.
• the environment. What is the work, or task, setting? What are its physical and socio-cultural characteristics?

Many academic disciplines have a role to play.

 

Cognitive psychology

• knowledge about what users can and cannot be expected to do
• identify and explain the nature and causes of some of the problems that Users encounter
• supply modelling tools and methods to help build interfaces that are easy to use

Social psychology (social knowledge)

• knowledge of context of use
• identify and explain how people work together and what computer systems are needed to support collaborative working
• frameworks for social interaction and conversation that can form the basis of HCI frameworks

Organizational psychology (organizational knowledge)

• provide models of processes and structures in organizations
• identify 'trouble spots' in organizations which stop computers being used optimally
• supply methods for design and evaluation of new technologies that are being introducedinto the work settings

Computer Science

• transforming the information from the input devices into input that the computer can make use of (both software and hardware)
• tranforming the output from the computer into a form suitable for the output devices (both software and hardware)
• producing the computing environments to host the favoured interaction style (both software and hardware)

Ergonomics

• matching the physical characteristics of the devices with the physiological characteristics of the User
• special considerations for Users with disabilities (eg. what kind of mouse is suitable for a User with arthritis)
• safety issues connected with the Users being injured (RSI etc.)

Linguistics

• understanding language issues
• designing syntactically simple, yet semantically powerful and unambiguous, language fragments
• help with iconic or diagrammatic languages

Artificial intelligence

• leverage the abilities of both the User and the computer
• agents, knowbots, wizards
• intelligent help systems
• intelligent interfaces

Philosophy (helps with most academic disciplines)

Sociology

• how different people, of different cultures, behave, individually and in groups, when carrying out tasks using computers

Anthropology.

• how different people, of different cultures, behave, individually and in groups, when carrying out tasks using computers

 

HCI, then, is a multi-disciplinary field encompassing cognitive psychology, social and organizational psychology, computer science, ergonomics, linguistics, artificial intelligence, philosophy, sociology and anthropology.

HCI is concerned with the design, evaluation, and implementation of interactive computer systems and study of major phenomena surrounding their use.

Assignments received

Coursework and Assignments

Notes

Readings

Requirements

Your classmates

For more information, contact Martin Frické