Human%20Qualities

1
Human Qualities

• Teppo Räisänen
• http//www.oamk.fi/teraisan/
• Teppo.raisanen_at_oamk.fi

2
A Human Being

• A human being is a psychofysiological entity
• Humans use their senses to find information about
  the surrounding world
• Human senses have abilities and limitations
• Humans are very different from machines

3
A Human Being

• Cognitive psychology
• Senses
• Mechanisms of reasoning
• Physical qualities of humans are part of
  genetical heritage
• Besides genetics there are cultural factors
  affecting our behaviour

4
Cultural Factors

• Beliefs
• Language
• Art
• Attitudes
• Tools
• Buildings
• User Interfaces

5
Cultural Evolution

• Cultural evolution is a much faster process than
  genetical evolution
• We have learned, eg.
• Respond on SMS-arrival signals
• Not to pay attention to Web advertisements

6
Physical Qualities of Humans

• We are usually from 1,5 meters to 2 meters tall
• Young humans are much smaller than adults
• We have hands capable of precise movements and
  adjustments
• Childs coordination of movements is not as good
  as adults

7
Embedded Systems

• Embedded systems utilize microprocessors
• Cars
• Microwave ovens
• Many industrial tools
• Embedded systems have user interfaces very
  different from computers UI

8
Sense of Sight

• Sight is the most important of our senses
• User Interfaces are largely dependent on visual
  information they produce
• They are two kinds of specialized cells in
  humans eyes responsible for creating visual
  sensations

9
Sense of Sight

• Humans are not very good at seeing in darkened
  environments
• Differences between shades of blue color are more
  difficult to observe for humans
• For older persons distiction between shades of
  blue becomes even more difficult

10
Sense of Sight

• Ganglion cells in the eyes are largely
  responsible for shapes and movements
• X type ganglion cells are located around the
  center of visual field gt Shape recognition
• Y type ganglion cells are located around edges of
  visual field gt Movement recognition

11
Sense of Sight

• Because of our two eyes and their placement our
  sense of sight is three-dimensional
• It is possible to evaluate distances between
  objects
• We also interpret two-dimensional pictures as
  three-dimensional, if theres a clue of 3D in a
  picture

12
Gestalt Laws

• Seeing is a very complicated process
• Besides sensing light and movement theres a need
  for interpreting an observation
• Interpreting is partly innate and partly learned
• Gestalt laws are essential to user interface
  design

13
Gestalt Laws

• Gestalt laws define how humans group observed
  shapes
• UI design should always follow these laws of
  natural observation

14
Gestalt Laws Closeness

• Shapes close to each other are observed as grouped

15
Gestalt Laws Similarity

• Objects of similar qualities are observed as
  grouped

16
Gestalt Laws Connections

• Objects that are connected are observed as grouped

17
Gestalt Laws Closure

• If an area is closed inside borders, objects
  inside borders are observed as grouped

18
Process of Reading

• Reading is normally based on recognition of
  words, not individual letters
• Hlleo wlrod
• Eg. Use of CAPITAL LETTERS distracts reading,
  because we have learned to recognize words
  written in small letters
• If a word is meant to be read as letters, it
  should be written used capital letters (PHP,
  ASAP)

19
Hearing

• Humans are able to recognize vibrations of air
  molecules
• We are also able to make assumptions about
• Distance of the source of the sound
• Direction of the source of the sound
• Movement of the source of the sound

20
Hearing

• Hearing is very important in communications
  between humans, since speech is a central way or
  communicating
• Humans can make conscious efforts to distinct
  faint sounds amongst loud ones

21
Hearing

• Hearing has traditionally been overlooked in UI
  design
• Alarm sounds
• Sounds to reinforce visual information
• Sounds can be seen as disturbing others
• Sounds may not be heard, when working in noisy
  conditions

22
Hearing

• Some UIs like telephone are based solely on
  auditive information
• Use of audio signals is recommendable especially
  when user performs tasks, which require his/her
  complete visual attention (eg. Outlooks
  Incoming message)

23
Other Senses

• Human beings have reasonably developed senses of
  smelling and touching
• Importance of aforementioned senses are often
  neglected in UI design
• Also it is not easy to produce smells, although
  there have been some experiments

24
Other Senses

• UI design leans heavily on our ability to
  remember and recognize things
• Human beings have a very good memory of smells
• Therefore use of smell can be considered as a
  possibility for UI designers

25
Other Senses

• Haptical information is often crucial
• Sensations of hot and cold
• Sensations of pain
• For example when typing with a keyboard a sense
  of key hitting the bottom sends us information of
  a succesful operation
• Compare to touch-screen phone