IT and learning is a large and many faceted field. It covers such widely separate issues as how new technology changes learning (changes in characteristics, improvements or deterioration) and how the increasing information flow affects traditional educational institutions (e.g. schools and universities).
The purpose of this lecture is to describe the basics of the interaction between humans performing tasks and computers or other kinds of technical systems.
The lecture covers basic techniques, principles and metaphors and a brief discussion about theoretical models of human-computer interaction. Later, we will look into how to design user interfaces (UI) in practice, and discuss some good and bad examples of UI design.
Each section provides a brief summary followed by some reading instructions.
All interaction between the human being and technology is mediated by our senses. The human being is equipped with a number of "channels" through which we perceive and convey information. We have "input" channels that we use for perceiving information in our surroundings, which is then passed on to our cognitive system. We use our "output" channels for conveying information to the computer and the technical surroundings.
Note that we use the concepts input and output from the human point of view. From the computer point of view, computer input is the same as the human output, i.e. the information the user feeds into the system, and computer output is the input perceived by the human being.
There are numerous guidelines for how to design the workplace in computer-supported (VDU) work and how to adapt technical systems to the abilities and limitations of the human being, see, for instance:
There are a number of basic principles for how to design the dialogue between the user and the computer. These principles are related to the historical development of technology.
In the early days of computer technology, only very simple interaction was possible. The current, more advanced, technology allows for a number of different interaction styles and techniques. Graphic user interfaces, e.g. the Windows and Macintosh user interfaces, are predominant. Modern interfaces are, however, partly based on the previous, simpler, interaction principles. Below, I briefly describe the different types of techniques. I will discuss the pros and cons of the different techniques later on.
This section discusses how metaphors can be used as building blocks in a modern user interface. A metaphor is an analogy, e.g. a picture, symbol or concept, that we use to make interaction simpler and more intuitive. In the user interface, we give information and operations a physical (graphical) appearance. The idea is to create images that facilitate the user's understanding, learning, performance, information organisation, etc. Metaphors are used on different levels, e.g. as a basic building block or as a principle for grouping information on the screen.
Some examples of metaphors are icons, "drag-and-drop", the desktop metaphor, etc. Metaphors are used as concepts and building blocks when we create the user interface. It is important to select metaphors that make sense to the users and that support the users' tasks.
This section briefly describes some theoretical models for human-computer interaction. The models can be used for describing and understanding how the interaction works. They can also be used in evaluations to predict how a particular type of interaction will work in practice. This is not a complete survey, but just a few examples to give you some ideas of the contents and use of such models.
The above provides a brief overview of interaction techniques and styles. In order to complete the picture you should read the literature and visit the links listed below.