Human-computer interaction

Human-computer interaction

Human-computer interaction (HCI) is the study of interactions between people and computers. It is an interdisciplinary field, relating computer science, psychology, cognitive science, human factors engineering (ergonomics), sociology, library and information science, and other fields. One of the goals of the field is to make computers more user-friendly.

Although much of the practical work in HCI revolves around the design of graphical user interfaces, HCI is concerned with a number of topics, including

Interface design methods

user-centered design
participatory design
value-sensitive design
rapid prototyping
iterative design

Usability testing

user testing
heuristic evaluation
keystroke-level modelling (KLM)
cognitive walkthrough
cognitive dimensions of notation

Technologies

GUI toolkits
software architecture
input and output devices
computer vision
speech recognition and natural language processing

Computer accessibility

Laws and theorems

Fitts' law

The Internet

Computer-supported collaborative work

Direct manipulation interface

Software agents and intelligent interfaces

Information retrieval

Information visualization

Virtual reality

Ubiquitous computing

Wearable computers