HUMAN COMPUTER

INTERACTION
(Lecture2)
Engr. Rabia Afzal Minhas

Department of Software Engineering

Capital University of Science and Technology
Affordance
• Range of possible (physical) actions by a user on an
artifact:
• Perceived Affordance:
• actions a user perceives to be possible
• Real World Affordance:
• actions actually possible
Affordance
Affordance
Perceived Affordance Problems
Mappings
• Mappings are the relationships between
controls and their effects on a system.
• Natural mappings take advantage of physical
analogies and cultural standards.
• Examples:
• Turn steering wheel clockwise to turn a
car right. Actually, there are two
mappings here:
• which control affects steering,
• which direction to turn it.
• Move a control up to move an object up.
• Use a louder sound to mean a greater
amount.
Types of Mapping
Constraints
• The difficulty of dealing with a novel situation is directly
related to the number of possibilities.
• Types:
• Physical constraints such as pegs and holes limit possible
operations.
• Semantic constraints rely upon our knowledge of the situation and
of the world.
• Cultural constraints rely upon accepted cultural conventions.
• Logical constraints exploit logical relationships. For example a
natural mapping between the spatial layout of components and
their controls.
• Where affordances suggest the range of possibilities,
constraints limit the number of alternatives.
Constraints Example
• Constraints in Lego Motorbike
• Motorbike toy with 12 parts. Constraints make its construction
simple, even for adults!
• Physical: Front wheel only fits in one place.
• Semantic: The rider sits on the seat facing forward.
• Cultural: Red is a rear light, yellow a front light.
• Logical: Two blue lights, two white pieces, probably go together.
Conventions
• Conventions are cultural constraints.
• Initially arbitrary, but evolve and become accepted over
time.
• They can however still vary enormously across different
cultures, for example:
• Light switches:
• America down is off
• Britain down is on
• Water taps:
• America anti-clockwise is on
• Britain anti-clockwise is off
Conventions- Example
• The color red:
• America danger
• Egypt death
• India life
• China happiness
The Principle of Causality
• Causality is the relation between two events, cause and
effect, where the second occurs as a consequence of the
first.
• Apparent causality is when something which happens
immediately after an action, appears to have been caused
by that action.
• We associate the effect with the apparent cause.
False causality
• There are two kinds of false causality:
• Coincidental effects lead to superstition:
• Touch a computer terminal just before it fails, and you are apt to
believe you caused the failure.
• Start an unfamiliar application, just before the computer crashes.
False Causality
• Invisible effects lead to confusion
• When an action has no apparent result, you may conclude it was
ineffective (and repeat it).
• For example, repeatedly clicking the “Stop” button when the
system is unresponsive. Or sending a print command waiting for
your print
The Structure of Human Memory
• Short-Term Memory (STM)
• Short-term memory is the memory of the present, used as working
or temporary memory
• Long Term Memory (LTM)
• Long-term memory is the memory of the past.
• It takes time to put stuff into LTM and time and effort to get stuff out
• Capacity is estimated at about 100 million items
GUI Hall of Shame and Human Memory
Knowledge in the Head and in the World
• Not all of the knowledge required for
precise behavior has to be in the
head. It can be distributed:
• Partly in the head
• Partly in the world
• Partly in the constraints of the world
Placing Knowledge in the World
• Having knowledge in the world reduces the load on
human memory:
• An example of the input format can be provided in the
interface:
• Please enter the date (yyyy/mm/dd):
To Err is Human
• People make errors routinely, you must design for error.
• Assume that any error, that can be made, will be made!
• You can never anticipate all the ways which users will
(attempt to) use your interface.
Categories of Error
• Two fundamental categories of error:
• Slips result from automatic behavior, when subconscious actions
toward a correct goal go wrong

• Mistakes result from conscious deliberations, which formed an

inappropriate goal.
Conceptual Models
• A conceptual model is a mental model of how something
works, which is formed inside a person’s head.
• A user’s conceptual model is built up and influenced by
numerous factors, including:
• familiarity with similar devices (transfer of previous experience)
• affordances
• mapping
• constraints
• causality
• instructions
• interacting with the device.
• Conceptual models may be wrong, particularly if the above
factors are misleading.
A Conceptual Model of a Fridge Freezer
• A fridge-freezer with two compartments:
• the fridge for fresh food at the bottom
• the freezer for frozen goods at the top,
• The two control dials suggest a particular conceptual
model for operating the fridge freezer.
• Unfortunately, the apparent conceptual model does not
match the way the fridge freezer actually works
Figure
Activity( 16th March 2021)
• Write down your own conceptual model of how cash
machine (ATM) works
• Answer the following questions:
• What happens to prevent you taking out more than the
limit by using several machines in turn?
• What information is on the card itself, and how is it used.
• Why are there pauses between steps.
• What happens to the card while in the machine.
• Do you count the money? Why or why not?
Deduction
• The designer expects the user’s model to be the same as
the design model, however all communication takes place
through the system image.
• The system image should make the design model clear and
consistent.