Lecture 2 -- The H, The C, and The I
Readings: DTUI ch 1
Readings: DOET ch 1
I. The H
Humans good at: sensing low level stimuli, pattern recognition,
inductive reasoning, multiple strategies, adapting,
"Hard and fuzzy things" (paraphrasing George Miller)
II. The C
Computers good at: counting and measuring, accurate storage and recall,
rapid and consistent responses, data processing/calculation,
repetitive actions, performance over time,
"Simple and sharply defined things" (again paraphrasing George Miller)
III. The I
The list of skills is somewhat complementary --
Let humans do what humans do best and computers do what computers do best!
Affordances
classic cartoon using CD-ROM drive as a cup holder
Real-world examples of affordances
car windows, radio, wipers, bright lights, emergency brake, slippery trunk
Computer examples of affordances
Athena widget toolkits (2d vs 3d): buttons, scrollbars particularly
benefit from affordances (see what to push, grab, etc)
Take home message when dealing with humans
- provide a good conceptual model
- make things visible