ESCUELA DE ARQUITECTURA Y TECNOLOGÍA

Human-Machine Interaction

Lecture 2.3
The Interaction
 Outline
1. Interaction: definition and concepts
2. Interaction models
– Norman’s model
– Abowd and Beale framework
Activity: interaction models
3. Conceptual models
– Metaphors
– Affordances

4 – The interaction 2
 Interaction
• Interaction is the communication between the user
and the system

• Multimodal interaction:
– Uses multiple communication channels simultaneously

• Interaction style: generic term to describe the

different ways in which users communicate or
interact with the computer.

4 – The interaction 3
 Interaction
Some terms:

domain – the area of work under study

e.g. graphic design
goal – what you want to achieve
e.g. create a solid red triangle
task – how you go about doing it
– ultimately in terms of operations or actions
e.g. … select fill tool, click over triangle

4 – The interaction 4
 Interaction models

• Donald Norman’s model: 7 stages

– user establishes the goal
– formulates intention
– specifies actions at interface
– executes action
– perceives system state
– interprets system state
– evaluates system state with respect to goal

• Norman’s model concentrates on user’s view of the

interface

4 – The interaction 5
 Interaction models
execution/evaluation loop
goal
execution evaluation
system

• user establishes the goal

• formulates intention
• specifies actions at interface
• executes action
• perceives system state
• interprets system state
• evaluates system state with respect to goal

4 – The interaction 6
 Interaction models
execution/evaluation loop
goal
execution evaluation
system

• user establishes the goal

• formulates intention
• specifies actions at interface
• executes action
• perceives system state
• interprets system state
• evaluates system state with respect to goal

4 – The interaction 7
 Interaction models
execution/evaluation loop
goal
execution evaluation
system

• user establishes the goal

• formulates intention
• specifies actions at interface
• executes action
• perceives system state
• interprets system state
• evaluates system state with respect to goal
8
4 – The interaction 8
 Interaction models
Gulf of Execution  how do I do what I want to
do?

user’s formulation of actions ≠ actions allowed by the

system

Examples:

• to record a TV channel using menus vs. a dedicated button

• to list all files in a directory using command line vs. double

click on a folder

4 – The interaction 9
 Interaction models
Gulf of Evaluation  what happened?

user’s expectation of changed system state

≠ actual presentation of this state

Examples:

• no feedback vs. progress bars during long tasks

• confusing vs. clear feedback

tweeted by @idiot
4 – The interaction 10
 Interaction models
Abowd and Beale framework

4 – The interaction 11
 Interaction models
Abowd and Beale framework

4 – The interaction 12
 Activity: Interaction models
Think of a computer interaction you’re familiar with (e.g. placing
a call with your smartphone, setting an alarm on your bedside
alarm clock, …) and answer the following questions:
1. Describe the interaction using Norman’s model, identifying
the 7 steps.
2. Think of possible problems of translation according to Abowd
and Beale’s framework. Provide an example for each type of
translation (observation, articulation, etc).
3. How would you decrease the gulf of execution? And the gulf
of evaluation?

Submit your work to the PDU on a .pdf file.

4 – The interaction 13
 Outline
1. Interaction: definition and concepts
2. Interaction models
– Norman’s model
– Abowd and Beale framework
Activity: interaction models
3. Conceptual models
– Metaphors
– Affordances

4. Interaction styles

4 – The interaction 14
 Conceptual model
A conceptual model is:
– “a high-level description of how a system is
organized and operates” (Johnson and
Henderson, 2002)

Basically, a conceptual model is the

designer's intended mental model for the user
of the system
4 – The interaction 15
 Components
• Metaphors and analogies
– understand what a product is for and how to use it
for an activity
• Concepts that people are exposed to through
the product
– task–domain objects, their attributes, and operations
(e.g. saving, revisiting, organizing)
• Relationship and mappings between these
concepts

4 – The interaction 16
 Interface metaphors

4 – The interaction 17
 Benefits of interface
metaphors

• Exploit user’s familiar knowledge, helping them to

understand ‘the unfamiliar’
• Makes learning new systems easier
• Helps users understand the underlying conceptual
model
• Can be very innovative and enable the realm of
computers and their applications to be made more
accessible to a greater diversity of users

4 – The interaction 18
 First steps in formulating a
conceptual model
• What will the users be doing when
carrying out their tasks?
• How will the system support these?
• What kind of interface metaphor, if any,
will be appropriate?
• What kinds of interaction modes and
styles to use?
always keep in mind when making design
decisions how the user will understand the
underlying conceptual model

4 – The interaction 19
 Affordances
• psychological term mug handle
• for physical objects
‘affords’
– shape and size suggest actions
grasping
• pick up, twist, throw
– also cultural – buttons ‘afford’ pushing
• for screen objects
– button–like object ‘affords’ mouse click
– physical-like objects suggest use
• culture of computer use
– icons ‘afford’ clicking
– or even double clicking … not like real buttons!

4 – The interaction 20
 Affordances

4 – The interaction 21
 Mappings

4 – The interaction 22
 Four principles of good
design
• Visibility - the user can tell the state of the device
and the alternatives for action.
• A Good Conceptual Model - consistency in the
presentation of operations and results, and overall
look.
• Good mappings - between actions and results,
between the controls and their effects, and
between the system state and what is visible.
• Feedback - The user receives full and continuous
feedback about the results of the actions.
4 – The interaction 23
 Which is easiest and why?

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