Welcome to
Introduction to Human
Computer Interaction
IMD07101 & IMD07401
Week 2 – 25 January 2024
An Introduction To HCI
Dr Rachel Salzano
r.salzano@napier.ac.uk
Today’s plan
Course admin
Meet the Team
Module Structure / Delivery
Assessments
Tutorials
Intro to HCI
What is HCI
Technology Landscape
The Team
 Dr Rachel Salzano – Module Leader, first point of contact
 Email: r.salzano@napier.ac.uk
 MS Teams Area (you’ll get access in the first tutorial)
 Tutors:
 Tatiana Huskova
 Lijuan Luo
 Demonstrators:
 Catherine Campbell
 James Marsh
 Kunjal Sancheti
Module Structure
 Lectures:
 Thursday, 14.00-16.00
 In-person: Room A17, B02 (projected)
 Tutorials:
 Thursday, 16.00-18.00 (JKKC Clusters 1-5)
 Friday, 9.00-11.00 (JKCC Cluster 1-5)
Module Structure
Reading List:
 Benyon, D. (2019) Designing User
Experience: A guide to HCI, UX and
interaction design.
 Rogers, Yvonne (2011).Interaction Design :
Beyond Human-Computer Interaction.
 Benyon, D. (2013). Designing interactive
Systems: A Comprehensive Guide to HCI, UX
and interaction design. Pearson Education
 Additional resources on Moodle
Module Structure
Moodle
 Reading list
 Tutorial activities
 Lecture slides
 Assessment information
MS Teams
 Questions
 Conversations
 Group work
Assessments
Coursework 1 – 60%
Group Project
Design, Prototype, and Evaluate
7-minute presentation
Class Test – 40%
Week 12 (opens at 2 p.m.)
Via Moodle
Module Structure
 Tutorial wk 2:
 Know Team: 1-4
 Need to Find a Team: 5
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of this module you will be able to:
 LO1: Explain how effective design can ensure usability and
accessibility
 LO2: Apply human-centred approaches to the design of
systems and experiences
 LO3: Design and evaluate a variety of interactive applications
 LO4: Deploy a range of strategies for the communication of
technical material
 LO5: Work effectively as a member of a team
Any Questions?
Introduction to HCI
(The main lecture)
Week 2 Lecture
25th January 2024
Dr Rachel Salzano
Some content adapted from Dr. Gemma Webster and Dr. Frances Ryan
A (very brief) tech timeline
1937: First electronic, digital computer
1960s/70s: Early progress on what became the Internet
1974: First personal computers (Altair 8800)
1989: The Internet (with the WWW)
1991: First websites + Linux
1997: WiFi becomes standard
2001: Apple’s MP3 player, Wikipedia
2007: iPhone
2020: LOCKDOWN!
2024: What’s next … ?
What is Human Computer Interaction?
The study of people using
computers and people trying to
do things using computers
What is Human Computer Interaction?
“…Discipline concerned with the
design, evaluation, and
implementation of interactive
computing systems for human use
and with the study of major
phenomena surrounding them.”
What is Human Computer Interaction?
 HCI has been an important area of study within computing
since the 1980s
 But increasingly it is about people doing things with
phones, websites, sports watches, TVs, streaming video,
augmented reality (like Pokémon Go), and other
technologies
What is Human Computer Interaction?
 How humans interact with computers
 Assisting humans to achieve objectives through
interactions with computer technology
 Requires us to design our components, technologies, and
systems so they meet people’s needs
 Enables systems designers and software engineers to
develop computing applications that better respond to the
needs of customers, clients, and end-users
Human Computer Interaction
 Human-Centred Design (HCD)
 User-Centred Design (UCD)
 Man-Machine Interfaces (MMI)
 User Experience (UX)
 Interaction Design (IxD)
(Covered in week 4 in detail)
Things aren’t always used as intended
A better way to save: Discuss
HCI is not just about The Internet!
 Not all computer tech uses the Internet
 What about:
 Personal medical devices
 Household appliances/tools
 “Old skool” video games
 Children’s educational toys
 Others … ?
 Don’t get fooled into thinking that
computers = internet
iPhone
 Launched in 2007, changing
the face of mobile technology
 Beautifully made; purposedesigned interface
 Revolutionary touch-screen
 Facilitated new interaction
techniques
 Directional sensors
iPhone
 App store launched in 2008,
creating entire industry of
app development
 Combined with iTunes,
turned iPhone into
multimedia device
 New experiences and
services for new set of
customers
 Spread to other devices
(Android, Windows)
Rembrandt’s “The Night Watch”
Running with tech
Hacking children’s toys
Facebook?
 A popular website that allows people to keep in contact with
their friends.
 Known as social networking sites, or social media, there are
many similar systems around.
 The most popular social networking site, worldwide.
 An important platform for a variety of activities.
 Used to store/share digital photos, message
people, and stay updated with family and friends.
Interactive Systems
 The term we use to describe the technologies.
 Intended to cover components, devices, products, services and software
systems that are primarily concerned with interactively processing
information content.
 ‘Content’ is the term often used for this and includes all ways of
presenting information including text, graphics, video, audio, 2D
animation, 3D animation in all the various formats and high
medium or low definition.
 Interactive systems and services are things that deal with the
transmission, display, storage or transformation of content that
people can perceive.
 They are devices and systems that respond dynamically to
people’s actions.
Being Human Centred
 Interactive systems design is ultimately about creating
interactive experiences for people
 Being human-centred is about:
 Thinking about what people want to do rather than what the
technology can do
 Designing new ways to connect people with people
 Involving people in the design process
 Designing for diversity
People & Tech
 A fundamental challenge for HCI is to deal with the fact that
people and interactive systems are different.
 Many designers take a machine-centred view of interaction
because it is quicker and easier for them,
 But it is not good for the person who finishes up using the
product.
 Another difference between people and machines is that we
speak different languages.
 People express their desires and feelings in terms of what they
want to do or how they would like things to be (their goals).
 Machines need to be given strict instructions.
Why be human-centred?
 Being human-centred in design is expensive.
 It involves observing people, talking to people and trying
ideas out with people, and all this takes time.
 Being human-centred is an additional cost to any project,
so businesses rightly ask whether taking so much time to
talk to people, produce prototype designs and so on is
worthwhile.
 The answer is a fundamental ‘yes’.
 Taking a human-centred approach to the design of
interactive systems is advantageous for a number of
reasons.
Summary of today’s lecture
 Overview of the module
 What is HCI and why is it important to study this subject?
Any Questions?