Flashcards Qs and As for Topic 3: HCI

Why does the Consistency of Signposting and Pop-up Information need to be Considered?

Because all the ways of navigation such as the Next and Previous buttons need to look the same on every screen and appear in the same place as well.

Why is On-screen Help Helpful?

 - Because they explain things in the simplest of terms through giving examples

 - Because it recognises and anticipates a user's goal and offers help in order to make the task easier to complete

 - E.g. Microsoft Office uses Wizards (quicker)

Why is a Layout Appropriate to Task Important?

 - Because otherwise it will be hard to use for the user

 - E.g. Children learning to spell should have things such as a minimum amount of text and bright colours and speech synthesis

 - E.g. For a CAD system it should have pull-down menus and be customisable

What are the Three Types of Users? For each Include a Little Description

- Novices -> These are people who have never used the software before

- Experienced -> These are people who have used the software before but only know and use some of its features

- Experts -> These are people who have lots of experience with the software so therefore know and use all of its tools

How can a HCI be used to Differentiate between Users?

- Provide short cuts for experts

- Provide lots of different ways of performing the same task e.g. a novice may use icons whereas an experienced user may just use the short cut 'Ctrl+P'

Why Should Buttons be Positioned in the same Place on the Screen?

- Because it allows the user to navigate quickly from page to page

How can a HCI be Designed to suit the Needs of the Disabled?

- Sensory Impairment -> May not be able to read all of the text on the screen properly so a font which is easy to read and a good size should be used

- Blind -> 'Talking' computer' where the words are spoken when typed, Braille keyboards and printers

- Physical Disability -> May not be able to use their hands and arms or walk or they may be completely paralysed so voice-activated systems are required

What are the ways of Improving the Accessibility of a Website or other ICT Systems?

- By using plain, simple language

- Use a glossary to explain words/phrases

- By providing different languages

- By allowing the website to be read out

- By giving the user the option to change the size of the text and the colour of the background