This is a WWW page originally created by students (see other credits on this page) but now copied and stored by Steve Draper as part of the CSCLN ATOM.

Lecture 1

Introduction to HCI

Header Details

Date page last modified 14.04.98
Who maintains the web page: Graham Jardine, Catherine Lawson, Andy Tracey and Zoe Cantrill
Who decides the content (has editorial responsibility): as above.
Lecture 1 (Tuesday of week 1)
Topic: Introduction to HCI

The questions

What is the purpose of ,HCI and how does that affect you?
There is no hand out for this lecture so you are stuck with us

Human Time Now Costs More Than Computer Time

Balance

HCI arose out practical needs not out of prior theory. In the 1950's and 60's computers were considerably more expensive. Intially less attention was paid to ease of use and human participation. With the shift in economics more effort was put into time saving and useablity. Technology has advanced to such a degree that more emphasis can now be placed on human computer interaction. The outcome has been an increased ability to identify problems and consequently improve efficiency and time management for the user.

The Problem With Doors

If a door has no handle and the hinges are hidden do you push or pull? How long does it take you to decide?
So do you push or pull first?
How many times a day is this experiment conducted?
How much human time and energy is expended on this problem?

This seems a very simple problem, hardly worth bothering with, but if thousands of people have to conduct this experiment per day this mounts up to a huge waste of precious human time.

Pesky Light Switches

Another analogous situation in the physical world which illustrates the need for HCI, is that of the poorly wired lightswitch, highlighted in lecture 1. The time spent fiddling with the lightswitch, represents a significant amount of wasted effort if done every day. Effort that could have been saved, if a little attention had been paid at the design and implementation stage of the switch.

Credits, Acknowledgements

Who did what in the team

This was a real CSCW page, we all talked and typed.Graham hosted the page, Andy managed the replies to all the email discussion, Catherine wrote The Problem With Doors as well as finding the links and Zoe wrote Pesky Light Switches.

Report on the Process


We sent the following email to all theHCI students, we are still awaiting replies and therefore have no contributions or replies to mention as yet.

We are doing the web page for the first HCI lecture -
(http://students.dcs.gla.ac.uk/~jardingd/hcilect1.html) - but it's not there yet (it's still under construction.....:) So, please could you tell us why you have decided to either drop or take the module after attending the first lecture? After looking at the page, do you agree with the summarising question? Please add anything to your answer that you think should be included!
Please reply to: traceyam

Cheers and thanks for your time....... :),

Andy, Graham, Catherine and Zoe


Do you have any ideas ? If so please email us at the address stated above.

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