Introducing HCI and UX design

In the beginning, there was nothing but darkness, and then there was light, a binary relationship understood by all—zero (0) and one (1). Binary means related to or composed of two things. Binary relationships dictate a vast majority of our decisions: up or down, left or right, yes or no, like or don't like. Let's practice thinking about some binary concepts through a challenge. The challenges in this book are designed to get you to practice the HCI skills and knowledge necessary to function as an HCI practitioner in the real world. Each challenge will take between 10 minutes and 2 hours to complete.

Challenge 1 – Capturing conceptual relationships – binary and beyond

Setup:

1. Get out a sheet of paper or a Google Doc/Word doc.

Part 1: Binary concepts:

1. Think of some binary relationships in your own life.
2. Write them down.
   
   Binary relationships:
   _______________________________ versus ______________________________
   

Part 2: Other relevant concepts:

1. Think of other conceptual relationships (such as logic/emotion, frontend/backend, and so on).
2. Write them down.
   
   Relevant concepts:
   _______________________________ +  ______________________________

Part 3: Write a short paragraph (~300 words) on why "concepts" are valuable to HCI designers:

• Lots of concepts are useful to HCI designers and the creation of great software. 
• Documenting these over time will help you use many of the concepts we will discuss in the future.

The binary relationship in computing is expressed in a system of numerical notation that has two digits (zero - 0 and one - 1) or ON and OFF. Binary is how a computer operates a transistor, where "0" represents no flow of electricity, and "1" represents electricity is allowed to flow. In this way, numbers are represented physically inside the computing device, permitting calculation. A computer processes 1s and 0s in the trillions allowing the creation of software to be possible which is deeply connected with the practice of HCI. Computers utilize this essential binary truth to create something entirely new: computation. Computation is the ability of a computing machine (comprising both software and hardware) to evaluate a binary logic to produce a variety of solutions based on the computational outcome. Binary is the root of all computer processing. Luckily for you and me,  binary code has been made easier to program over time through computer programming languages including HTML, CSS, C++, JavaScript, and so on, and we will be discussing how an HCI designer can use tools and computer coding languages to build software solutions throughout this book.  

At its core, a computer is just crunching away a bunch of 1s and 0s. When the software systems and user interfaces we use and design get more complicated, it's still just 1s and 0s. The computer in all its forms has limitations, and how we use this binary processing power is also constrained. The constraints of the computer are incredibly useful as they start to define what is possible and impossible with computer technology. We will discuss in greater detail some of these computing constraints, including size, modes of interaction, connectivity, and others, as we explore all the possibilities of designing technology as an HCI designer.

HCI is a vast field of multidisciplinary study, as shown in the following diagram:

The areas of study in the field of HCI include the following: 

• Computer science and engineering: The computer component, including the concepts, theories, and coding languages that allow us to build computer software.
• Behavioral science and psychology: The human component, including the concepts, theories, behavior, and ways people think about systems.
• Design and media (product design, visual design, and content): The design and interaction component including methodologies, theories, concepts, and best practices that make up the products that are used by people. 
• Human factors and ergonomics: The interaction component of HCI, including the concepts, best practice, form factors, and physical constraints of products so that people can use them without any injury.
• Other professions: HCI also extends into professions such as information architecture, informatics, cultural anthropology, user research, education, and business, which all overlap with HCI. 

HCI focuses on the design of computer technology and the interaction between humans and computer software systems. HCI is situated at the intersection of computer science and engineering, design and media, human factors and ergonomics, behavioral sciences and psychology, and several other fields of study and research.

Personal computing started turning up in homes and offices during the 1980s, as computer technology started to get smaller, faster, and cheaper. These sophisticated electronic systems started to become widely available to the general public for the first time. The explosion of the usefulness of computers, as well as the need to create human-computer interactions that are easy and meaningful, has lead to the adoption of HCI not just among academic institutions but generally by all of society. 

HCI has been essential in propagating the idea of interaction between a user and a computer. HCI further investigates how the experience between a user and a computer should model human-to-human communication and foster an open-ended dialogue. We will discuss this in greater depth later in the book, but at its core, HCI believes in the computer as an extension of human empathy and our ability to infuse software solutions with human values to ultimately makes those solutions more valuable and scalable in our culture.

Following the leader – HCI pioneers

HCI has many thought leaders and academic institutions that continue to add to the canon of knowledge. Throughout the book, I will be referencing and pointing you to designers and authors to pay attention to. For example, John M. Carroll (https://jcarroll.ist.psu.edu/) is a faculty member at Penn State's College of Information Sciences and Technology, an author, and a founder of the field of HCI with many good things to say about how HCI design has come to develop and mature. I highly recommend reading some of his thinking and paying attention to the other founders of our field.

Operating in the HCI sandbox

HCI is a sandbox in which we get to play. The reality is that technology is not limitless; the HCI designer operates inside technological constraints. The constraints of the computer give us some rules and boundaries that we will define and help you define yourself. Your computer sandbox is made up of your HCI tools, your thoughts on HCI, your ideas for software, and the software you will create:

How you choose to manipulate these rules and technology constraints is where your creativity, ingenuity, and pure curiosity about humans and computers can thrive and influence people's lives and professional practices. 

Learn Human-Computer Interaction will help you define your computer sandbox as you build your knowledge of HCI, your HCI tools, activities, understanding of your users, how the computer works, and more. An expectation as you continue to read this book is that you are willing and able to jump into the HCI computer sandbox. The edges of your sandbox are undefined at the moment, but we will start by defining some boundaries and then rolling around in the sand. I promise that while reading this book, we will not make you "comb the desert" to find what you are looking for, but it will require some effort on your part.

However, if you are willing to get your hands dirty, we will dig some holes in the sand and uncover many HCI skills. Some skills are right on the surface of your sandbox, and others will require some digging, but the outcome of your journey nonetheless will be to build your digging skills and improve yourself as an HCI designer.