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

Throughout this chapter, we started to get our hands into some skills and activities that an HCI designer can use to start designing software development. The skills and tools used by most HCI designers and are why HCI skills are such a vibrant and sought-after talent. The role of this chapter was to allow you to get some practice with them, and hopefully they will stick with you long after you have completed this book.

Because the skills and activities of an HCI designer are so vast, this chapter covered the potential roles that designers with HCI skills can occupy. The reality is that software is a team endeavor, and we covered why the HCI design process is related to interaction, and frontend and backend responsibilities that utilize an agile development ethos and cycles to create software solutions. Throughout this chapter, many challenges were thrown at you and hopefully, they got you to start practicing the HCI way with prototyping first and validating your ideas with users...