Outline of human–computer interaction

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to human–computer interaction:

Human–Computer Interaction (HCI) – the intersection of computer science and behavioral sciences — this field involves the study, planning, and design of the interaction between people (users) and computers. Attention to human-machine interaction is important, because poorly designed human-machine interfaces can lead to many unexpected problems. A classic example of this is the Three Mile Island accident where investigations concluded that the design of the human-machine interface was at least partially responsible for the disaster.

What type of thing is human–computer interaction?

Human–Computer Interaction can be described as all of the following:

A field of science – systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.^[1]
- An applied science – field that applies human knowledge to build or design useful things.
  - A field of computer science – scientific and practical approach to computation and its applications.
- An application of engineering – science, skill, and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, economic, social, and practical knowledge, to design and also build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes.
  - An application of software engineering – application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the design, development, operation, and maintenance of software, and the study of these approaches; that is, the application of engineering to software.^[2]^[3]^[4]
    - A subfield of computer programming – process of designing, writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining the source code of computer programs. This source code is written in one or more programming languages (such as Java, C++, C#, Python, PHP etc.). The purpose of programming is to create a set of instructions that computers use to perform specific operations or to exhibit desired behaviors.
- A social science – academic discipline concerned with society and human behavior.
  - A behavioral science – discipline that explores the activities of and interactions among organisms. It involves the systematic analysis and investigation of human and animal behavior through controlled and naturalistic observation, and disciplined scientific experimentation. Examples of behavioral sciences include psychology, psychobiology, and cognitive science.
A type of system – set of interacting or interdependent components forming an integrated whole or a set of elements (often called 'components' ) and relationships which are different from relationships of the set or its elements to other elements or sets.
- A system that includes software – software is a collection of computer programs and related data that provides the instructions for telling a computer what to do and how to do it. Software refers to one or more computer programs and data held in the storage of the computer. In other words, software is a set of programs, procedures, algorithms and its documentation concerned with the operation of a data processing system.
A type of technology – making, modification, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems, methods of organization, to solve a problem, improve a preexisting solution to a problem, achieve a goal, handle an applied input/output relation or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, modifications, arrangements and procedures. Technologies significantly affect human as well as other animal species' ability to control and adapt to their natural environments.
- A form of computer technology – computers and their application.

Styles of human–computer interaction

Related fields

Human–computer interaction draws from the following fields:

psychology
- human memory
- human perception
  - sensory system
sociology and social psychology
cognitive science
human factors / cognitive ergonomics / physical ergonomics
- repetitive strain injury
computer science
visualization
- information visualization
- scientific visualization
- knowledge visualization
design
Interactive Art and HCI
library and information science, information science
information security
- HCISec
speech-language pathology
personal information management
phenomenology

History of human–computer interaction

Interaction paradigms

Time-sharing (1959)
hypertext (Ted Nelson 1963), hypermedia and hyperlinks
Direct manipulation (ex. lightpen 1963, mice 1968)
Desktop metaphor (197x XEROX PARC)
Windows-Paradigm
Personal computer
CSCW: Computer Supported Collaborative (or Cooperative) Work, collaborative software
Ubiquitous computing ("ubicomp") coined 1988
World Wide Web (Tim Berners Lee 1989)
Mobile interaction
"sensor-based / context-aware interaction"-paradigm

Notable systems and prototypes

Office of the future (1940s)
Sketchpad (1963)
NLS and The Mother of All Demos (1968)
Dynabook (circa 1970)
Xerox Alto (1973)
Xerox Star (1981)
Apple Macintosh (1984)
Knowledge Navigator (1987)
Project Looking Glass (circa 2003 or 2004)
The Humane Environment (alpha release, 2004)

General human–computer interaction concepts

Hardware

Hardware input/output devices and peripherals:

List of input devices
- unit record equipment
- barcode scanner
- keyboard
  - computer keyboard
  - keyboard shortcut
  - ways to make typing more efficient: command history, autocomplete, autoreplace and Intellisense
- microphone
- pointing device
  - computer mouse
    - mouse chording
List of output devices
- visual devices
- auditory devices
  - speakers
  - earphones
- tactile devices
  - refreshable Braille display
  - braille embosser
  - Haptic devices

Interface design methods

Usability

Models and laws

Hick's law
Fitts' law
Steering law
GOMS – goals, operators, methods, and selection rules
Keystroke-level model (KLM)

Cultural influences

Movies

Motion pictures featuring interesting user interfaces:

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)
Alien (1979)
Blade Runner (1982)
Tron (1982)
The Last Starfighter (1984)
Ghost in the Shell (1991/1995)
The Lawnmower Man (1992)
Johnny Mnemonic (1995)
The Matrix (1999)
Serial Experiments Lain (1998)
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)
Minority Report (2002)
Simone (2002)
I, Robot (2004)
Iron Man (2008)
Avatar (2009)
Her (2013)

Human–computer interaction organizations

Industrial labs and companies

Industrial labs and companies known for innovation and research in HCI:

Alias Wavefront
Apple Computer
AT&T Labs
Bell Labs
HP Labs
Microsoft Research
SRI International (formerly Stanford Research Institute)
Xerox PARC

Persons influential in human–computer interaction

References

^
"... modern science is a discovery as well as an invention. It was a discovery that nature generally acts regularly enough to be described by laws and even by mathematics; and required invention to devise the techniques, abstractions, apparatus, and organization for exhibiting the regularities and securing their law-like descriptions." —p.vii, J. L. Heilbron, (2003, editor-in-chief) The Oxford Companion to the History of Modern Science New York: Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-511229-6
- "science". Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Merriam-Webster, Inc. Retrieved 16 October 2011. 3 a: knowledge or a system of knowledge covering general truths or the operation of general laws especially as obtained and tested through scientific method b: such knowledge or such a system of knowledge concerned with the physical world and its phenomena
^ SWEBOK Pierre Bourque; Robert Dupuis, eds. (2004). Guide to the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge – 2004 Version. executive editors, Alain Abran, James W. Moore ; editors, Pierre Bourque, Robert Dupuis. IEEE Computer Society. p. 1. ISBN 0-7695-2330-7.
^ ACM (2006). "Computing Degrees & Careers". ACM. Archived from the original on 17 June 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2010.
^ Laplante, Phillip (2007). What Every Engineer Should Know about Software Engineering. Boca Raton: CRC. ISBN 978-0-8493-7228-5. Retrieved 21 January 2011.