Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996
Objectives At the completion of this subject students should know cognitive and psychological aspects of computer system design and use; understand contemporary directions in the evolution of interface design; be able to design system structures and interfaces appropriate to the environment in which they are to be used; and appreciate how to evaluate their own and others' interface designs.
Synopsis Cognitive styles: human cognitive styles, cognitive styles in computing. The impact of early hardware and software limitations on contemporary systems. Cognitive research on man-computer interactions. Current models of interaction and their limitations. Natural language: the nature of language. The early history of natural language systems. Early translation programs. The attractions of natural language. Pitfalls. Chomsky and deep structures. Syntax and semantics. Dialogue management: existing interaction techniques. The nature of conversation. Redundancy, human communication. Dialogue components. Dialogue context and control. How humans give instructions. How humans teach. Conversational computing versus command mode computing. Levels of interaction. Graphic representation techniques: graphic and advanced tools for professional and end-user human-machine interaction. Graphic representation in object-based programming languages. Principles of intelligent graphic interface design and use.
Assessment Written (3000 words): 50% + Examination (3 hours): 50%