Book Image

Learn Human-Computer Interaction

By : Christopher Reid Becker
Book Image

Learn Human-Computer Interaction

By: Christopher Reid Becker

Overview of this book

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is a field of study that researches, designs, and develops software solutions that solve human problems. This book will help you understand various aspects of the software development phase, from planning and data gathering through to the design and development of software solutions. The book guides you through implementing methodologies that will help you build robust software. You will perform data gathering, evaluate user data, and execute data analysis and interpretation techniques. You’ll also understand why human-centered methodologies are successful in software development, and learn how to build effective software solutions through practical research processes. The book will even show you how to translate your human understanding into software solutions through validation methods and rapid prototyping leading to usability testing. Later, you will understand how to use effective storytelling to convey the key aspects of your software to users. Throughout the book, you will learn the key concepts with the help of historical figures, best practices, and references to common challenges faced in the software industry. By the end of this book, you will be well-versed with HCI strategies and methodologies to design effective user interfaces.
Table of Contents (17 chapters)
1
Section 1 - Learn Human-Computer Interaction
5
Section 2 - How to Build Human-Centered Software
11
Section 3 - When to Improve Software Systems

Summary

To summarize, we started with discussing how software design thrives within the vast community of designers and developers. We covered software as a culture and discussed how collaboration on open source problems creates opportunities for HCI designers to scale their contributions around the globe. We also considered how software design is difficult and time-consuming, and therefore, sharing has become essential to speeding up solution times. The community and team environment in which software solutions are produced also lends itself to maintaining and building for culture of that environment and community. The open source ethos has birthed ideas like the internet, and therefore, we reviewed why iteration and software development aimed at the betterment of mankind is not just a pie-in-the-sky idea but rather something that we as HCI designers can continue to hang our hats on at the end of the day.

In the next chapter, we will focus on more skills in Part 3 as we discuss methods...