HCI DESIGN PRINCIPLES

HCI DESIGN PRINCIPLES

​DR. RODA N. SANARES

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What comes in your mind when you say DESIGN?

• It is a multidisciplinary field that focuses on designing and evaluating the interaction between humans and computer systems.

• It is concerned with creating user interfaces and experiences that are effective, efficient & enjoyable.

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​DESIGN

​Design Principle

• It is used by interaction designers to aid their thinking when designing for the user experience.

• The do’s and don'ts of interaction design.

• What to provide and what not to provide at the interface

​Goals of Interaction Design

• Develop usable products

• Usability means easy to learn, effective to use and provide an enjoyable experience.

• Involve users in the design process

Multiple Choice

The following are principles and heuristics for designing good interfaces, except -

• feedback

• constraints

• perceptibility

• portability

​Design Principles and Heuristics

​(1) Discoverability

• Is it possible to even figure out what actions are possible and where and how to perform them?” – Don Norman

• Minimize the user's memory load by making objects, actions, and options visible. -Jakob Nielsen

Multiple Choice

TRUE or FALSE:

In discoverability principle, it is important that users can easily find & use system's functions and features.

• TRUE

• FALSE

• Easy to understand regardless of the user's experience, knowledge, or language skills

• Usage of universal design's special concern with appealing to users of a variety of different levels of expertise, ages & disabilities

​​(2)SIMPLICITY

Multiple Choice

TRUE OR FALSE:

The simplicity principle suggests that making interfaces more complex and cluttered tends to enhance the user experience.

• True

• False

​(3) Affordances

• are an object’s properties that show the possible actions users can take with it, thereby suggesting how they may interact with that object

• an object with an affordance,  basically tells the user by its very design,  how it's meant to be used.

​(4) Mapping

• connect elements of computing artifacts to the real world. They are the link between what you want to do and what is perceived possible. It is the relationship between moving a control, and the results in the real world. It is the relationship between controls and their movements or effects.

• “Mapping is actually a technical term coming from mathematics that means a relationship between the elements of two sets of things.” – Don Norman

• “The system should speak the users' language, with words, phrases, and concepts that are familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order” – Jakob Neilsen

Multiple Choice

TRUE OR FALSE:

Don Norman describes mapping by saying the system should speak the users' language, with words, phrases, and  concepts that are familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms.

• TRUE

• FALSE

Example: Burner Knobs

​Good mapping makes products easier and more intuitive to use. Done well, it can create a powerful connection between a product and its users.

​(5) Perceptibility

• The user’s ability to perceive the state of the system. Are they closer or farther away from accomplishing their goals? This is very important with digital systems, so users do not feel helpless when attempting to accomplish their tasks.

• “The system should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within reasonable time“– Jakob Neilsen

Multiple Choice

TRUE OR FALSE

In PERCEPTIBILITY principle, everyone using the interface should be able to perceive the current state. The design should communicate necessary information effectively to the user

• TRUE

• FALSE

The ceiling fan,  you might have one just like it.  It has two chains.  One controls the light,  one controls the fan speed.  But both only when the switch on the wall is on. Appropriate feedback missing.

​(6) Consistency

• “Consistency in design is virtuous.  It's a powerful word there.  It means that lessons learned with one system transfer readily to others.  If a new way of doing things is only slightly better than the old, it's better to be consistent” -Don Norman

• “Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations or actions mean the same thing.  Follow platform conventions” – Jakob Neilsen

Multiple Choice

TRUE OR FALSE:

It is important to maintain consistency so the user doesn't have to think as much

and can focus on the task at hand instead of on interface.

• TRUE

• FALSE

​(7) Flexibility

• refers to the diversity of ways in which the user and the system exchange information

• “Accelerators may often speed up the interaction for the expert user, such that the system can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users.  He advises that we allow users to tailor frequent actions. “-Jakob Neilsen

• “The design should accommodate   a wide range of individual preferences and abilities.” – Ronald Mace

• Wherever possible, we should support  the different interactions in which people engage naturally, rather than forcing them into one against their expertise or against their preference. ( Options matter)

​(8) Equity

• “The design should accommodate a wide range of individual preferences and abilities.  But the principle of equity says the design is useful and marketable to people with diverse abilities”- Ronald Mace

• “It goes on to say we should provide the same means for all users, identical whenever possible and equivalent when not. And we should avoid segregating or stigmatizing any users” -Ronald Mace

•  Equity is largely about helping all users have the same user experience, while flexibility might be  a means to achieve that. 

​(8) Equity

• “The design should accommodate a wide range of individual preferences and abilities.  But the principle of equity says the design is useful and marketable to people with diverse abilities”- Ronald Mace

• “It goes on to say we should provide the same means for all users, identical whenever possible and equivalent when not. And we should avoid segregating or stigmatizing any users” -Ronald Mace

•  Equity is largely about helping all users have the same user experience, while flexibility might be  a means to achieve that. 

​Example: Requirements for password resets.
We want to design a system so that both expert and  novice users experience the same level of security. Security is part of the user experience.  Now, experts, we would assume, understand the value  of a complex password.  Novices might not. You could actually see this as a violation of the flexibility principle, that we're not flexibly accommodating in the kind of interaction that novices want to have.  But the important thing, is we're extending the same security benefits to everyone, and  that's equitable treatment. 

​(9 & 10) Ease and Comfort

• “The design can be used efficiently and comfortably and with a minimum amount of fatigue”-Ronald Mace

• “Appropriate size and  space is provided for approach, reach,  manipulation and  use regardless of the user's body size, posture or mobility. “ – Ronald Mace

• Ease and comfort are two similar ideas that come from the principles of universal design.  And they also relate to  equitable treatment,  specifically in terms of  physical interaction.

Multiple Choice

It is a principle that concerned with the overall architecture of a user interface

• Constraints

• Affordance

• Structure

• Tolerance

​(11) Structure

• “Design should organize a user-interface purposefully, in meaningful and useful ways,  based on clear, consistent models that are apparent and recognizable to users, putting related things together and separating unrelated things, differentiating dissimilar things and making similar things resemble one another.“- Larry Constantine & Lucy Lockwood

• Organize our user interfaces in ways that helps the user's mental model match the actual content of the task.

​(12) Constraints

• Affordances suggest the range of possibilities, constraints limit the number of alternatives. The thoughtful use of affordances and constraints together in design lets a user determine readily the proper course of action, even in a novel situation.

• “Constraints are powerful clues limiting the set of possible actions.  The thoughtful use of constraints in design lets people readily determine the proper course of action,  even in a novel situation”-Don Norman

• One way we can avoid error is by preventing the user from performing erroneously in the first place.  This is the idea of constraints.  Constraining the user to only perform the correct actions in the first place. 

Multiple Choice

The following are categories of constraints, except -

• physical

• semantic

• logical

• rational

Cultural are those rules that are generally followed by different societies, like facing forward on escalators, or forming a line while waiting.  In designing we might rely on these, but we should be careful of  intercultural differences.

Physical constraints are those that are literally physically prevent you from performing the wrong action.

Categories of Constraints:

Semantics are constraints that are inherent to the meaning of a situation.

Logical constraints are things that are self-evident based on a situation, not just based on the design of something like a semantic constraint, but based on the situation at hand.

​(13) Tolerance

• The design should be FLEXIBLE AND TOLERANT, reducing the cost of mistakes and allowing UNDOING, while also PREVENTING ERRORS by tolerating varied inputs and interpreting all reasonable actions.

• "A computer shall not harm your work or through inactivity, allow your work to come to harm.“-Jef Raskin

• Universal design simply says,  "The design minimizes hazards and

   the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions.“ 

​(14) Feedback

•  “Feedback must be immediate, and it must be informative.  Poor feedback can be worse than no feedback at all.  Because it's distracting, uninformative, and, in many cases, irritating and anxiety-provoking.” – Don Norman

• “Error messages should be expressed in plain language (no codes),  precisely indicate the problem, and constructively suggest a solution.”-Jakob Neilsen

•  “The design should keep users informed of  actions or  interpretations, changes of state or condition, and errors or exceptions...  through clear, concise, and unambiguous language familiar to users.”- Constantine & Lucy Lockwood

​(15) Documentation

“Even though it's better if the system can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation. 

Any such information should be easy to search, focused on user's task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and not be too large.” – Jakob Neilsen

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What do you think is the MOST important design principle?