MERU UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
P.O. Box 972-60200 – Meru-Kenya
Tel: +254(0) 799 529 958, +254(0) 799 529 959, + 254 (0) 712 524 293,
Website: info@must.ac.ke Email: info@must.ac.ke
University Examinations 2018/2019
FOURTH YEAR FIRST SEMESTER EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF
BACHELOR OF BUSINESS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGYAND BACHELOR OF
SCIENCE IN INFORMATION SCIENCE
THIRD YEAR FIRST SEMESTER BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN COMPUTER SCIENCE,
BACHELOR OF COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY, BACHELOR OF INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY AND BACHELOR OF EDUCATION SCIENCE
CIT 3300: HUMAN COMPUTER INTERACTION
DATE: JANUARY 2019
TIME: 2 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer question one and any other two questions
QUESTION ONE (30 MARKS)
a) Briefly explain what is meant by the terms perception, physiology and cognition
(6 marks)
b) What is the significance of 7(+ or – 2) for human computer interaction
(4 marks)
c) Describe two problems with formal, lab-based usability evaluations. Illustrate with
examples
d) Describe what is involved in the process of interaction design
(6 marks)
(4 marks)
e) Discuss in brief the organization and working of the model human processor(MHP)
(6 marks)
f) In Norman’s 7 stage model, he identified two gulfs. Distinguish between the two
(4 marks)
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QUESTION TWO (20 MARKS)
a) You have been asked to help in the development of a new computerized call center.
Customers from a national bank will ring if they wish to change the details of their
account. For instance, they might want to open a new account, close and so on. Briefly
explain how you might use any two different requirements elicitation techniques to
identify the potential usability problems that might arise for people working with this
new system. Identify the principle strength and weaknesses of each technique
(8 marks)
b) We have learnt the role and relevance of User centered design as a philosophy and
design method
i.
How do we involve users in UCD?
(4 marks)
ii.
List two disadvantages of UCD?
(4 marks)
c) What are the differences between mock-ups and prototypes?
(4 marks)
QUESTION THREE (20 MARKS)
a) As an interface designer in a company, you have assigned a task to design a computer
based system that will encourage autistic children to communicate and express
themselves better. Create a simple interactive design that is eligible and user friendly
for such an environment
(6 marks)
b) What type of interaction would be appropriate to use at the interface for this particular
user group?
(1 mark)
c) Analysis of stakeholders is an important step for the usability design. What is a
stakeholder? What kind of aspects of the stakeholders do we need to analyze before
designing a system? Why is stakeholder analysis important for a system design?
(6 marks)
d) Use internet bank system as example to explain the categories of the stakeholders
(4 marks)
e) Explain the main concerns of HCL
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(3 marks)
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QUESTION FOUR (20 MARKS)
a) Nowadays, the mobile phones are used not only for making phone calls, but also can
be used as digital camera, mp3 and walkman, etc. One can access internet and play
games on it as well. For such kind of product
i.
How can you evaluate its usability?
(3 marks)
ii.
What are the usability requirements for such an advanced mobile phone?
(3 marks)
b) User interaction is considered to be task oriented. Different kinds of task analysis are
used in the design of software; for the design of interactive software systems task
analysis is an important tool. One class of tasks analysis methods is the cognitive task
analysis
i.
Explain the main goal of cognitive task analysis and discuss three (3) methods
for cognitive task analysis
ii.
(6 marks)
Another class of task analysis is that of hierarchical task analysis. Explain how
this class differs from the cognitive task analysis; what are the two major
techniques that are applied for hierarchical task analysis
iii.
(6 marks)
Task allocation is a concept that is used in the hierarchical task analysis.
Explain the concept of task allocation in the context of task analysis (2 marks)
QUESTION FIVE (20 MARKS)
a) Outline the design implications for the following human cognitive processes:
(9 marks)
i.
Attention
ii.
Memory
iii.
Learning
b) A modern hotel has installed a sandwich making robot to supply room service
sandwiches at any hour or the day. The hotel also has an automated delivery system
that will take the completed sandwich to a specified room. You have been asked to
program a software agent interface that guests can phone to order sandwiches
i.
Write a short scenario describing how a guest would order a sandwich using
your interface
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(4 marks)
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ii.
Provide a hierarchical task description of the sandwich ordering process. Note
particularly where there might be choice points or alternative methods. Also
explain your criteria for the level of decomposition used
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
(7 marks)
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