Task: First, review the basic principles of HCI. Then, looking at the diagram reproduced above on HCI “in the past and now”, ask yourself:
Do the principles (and criteria) of “usability” that you’ve been working through and finding examples of, (from Issa & Isaias, 2015, 2.4.3), fit into HCI’s ‘present’, as set out in the above diagram? Or do these principles (and criteria) of “usability” fit better in its ‘past’?
I think that the principles and criteria of “usability” from Issa & Isaias, 2015, 2.4.3 look towards the future. Issa & Isaias make sure to point out that a major change in modern digital design has come from when the HCI experts are consulted. Instead of consulting towards the end of a project and trying to shoehorn in a user-friendly interface, user-centered concerns are now a part of the design process from the get-go. Especially important to present digital design is the incorporation of user trials and an iterative process that includes a clear criteria for when a tool is “done”.
Looking at both the useability criteria and principles through the “now” lens, here is how I would categorize each one.
There is definitely some overlap between these present HCI and those in the past HCI. For example, “satisfaction” is one of the past HCI design processes as well as one of the usability principles. Interestingly though, I put satisfaction under the “seeking to understand and support human beings” because satisfaction can mean different things to different people. Some people might feel satisfaction when they learn to master a difficult, but exceedingly useful tool, while others may find satisfaction from one that is very intuitive. I think that what the present HIC does is give a much broader and open definition for designers to work within. The useability criteria and principles when used in conjunction with the present HCI framework give good direction for designers, but the past HCI is limiting and pushes what I would consider to be a very corporate, anti-humanist view of how to go about tech design. I think that the useability criteria and principles flow much more logically with the present human-centered HCI approach than they do with the past.
References
Issa T. & Isaias P. (2015) Usability and Human Computer Interaction (HCI). Sustainable Design. London: Springer. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/10.1007/978-1-4471-6753-2_2
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