Welcome to Week 1, Introduction to Human Factors!
Learning Outcomes
Understand:
- If the user can’t use it, it does not work.
- Designing a good user interface is multifaceted.
- Whether a system is good or usable always depends on the context in which it is used.
- People come in different shapes, sizes, and ability levels – as system designers, we need to accommodate them
Remember:
- What are the ABCS of designing user interfaces?
- What are the four main steps in designing a good user interface according to ISO 9241-1?
Apply:
- List potential factors (from the ABCS) that impact the way in which a person would interact with a piece of technology
- List aspects of human function that need to be considered in inclusive design
Preparing for the Lecture
If you only have time to do one thing, check out Susan Dray’s Rap at CHI 2014. (The cheerleader in the scarf and the black top is Elizabeth Churchill, by the way.)
The ABCS of User Centred Design [PDF]
What does User-Centred Design involve? The slides about the ABCS of UCD take you through a whirlwind tour of different aspects.
7 Aspects of Design [PDF]
What do we need to consider when designing and evaluating an IT system? The slides about 7 aspects of design discuss relevant properties of IT systems.
Here is a short podcast [5 minutes, 9 MB, MP3] to explain more.
ISO Requirements [PDF]
What are the processes involved in designing a good IT system? This is the take of the standards organisation ISO. If you would like more context, listen to this short podcast [3 minutes, 5MB, MP3]
Being Inclusive and Accessible
Accessibility means that people with disabilities can use the product, app, software, or IT system that you have developed properly. What this means for the internet, more specifically web browsing, was outlined by the World Wide Web Accessibility Initiative.
Our definition of what accessibility is depends on our definition of disability. Disability, at its core, relies on a detailed study of what can be considered normal function. However, normal function can vary substantially. To what extent are short people disabled? To what extent are tall people disabled? Would you consider dwarfism a disability? Would you consider an actor who is as tall as Danny DeVito disabled? What is the psychological, anatomical, or physiological impairment? What tasks can a person not do due to their impairment? To what extent does this handicap their daily life? (see World Health Organisation definitions).
So, it is actually more useful to think of accessibility in terms of inclusion. What kinds of people are included in the user base of our product, what kinds of people are not? The business case for accessibility is that the more people are included, the more people will be able to use and purchase the product.
This approach to design is called Inclusive Design. Revisit the resource we already looked at in Week 2 and see how the principle of Inclusive Design relates to different levels of function.
Core Paper
Gilbert Cockton: Usability Evaluation, in particular Sections 15.6 and 15.7
Those who have already taken the HCI course should also look at his take on usability metrics (15.4 and 15.5), while Design Informatics students will be interested in the first sections on the history of usability.
Course Materials “The Human Factor” von Maria Klara Wolters ist lizenziert unter einer Creative Commons Namensnennung-Nicht kommerziell 4.0 International Lizenz.