Human-computer interaction comes as an interdisciplinary subject, which brings together knowledge from different disciplines such as computer science, psychology, and sociology. This ubiquitous computing is a new paradigm where each activity or object encountered links to information processing. This is contextual with mobile communications, which involve mobile phones and Personal Digital Assistants. (PDAs) has gained pervasive usage in our daily lives from both a social and economic perspective.
What is Human-computer interaction (HCI)
Human-computer interaction (HCI) is the study of human and computer activities. Three significant characteristics of human-computer interaction are
- productivity
- safety
- entertainment
The above three support fulfill the activities associated with human-computer interaction. Not only in mobile computing, but also we find human-computer interaction in other systems like air traffic control, computer gaming, nuclear processing, and offices.
Mobile human interaction – another form of Human-computer interaction
Understanding mobile human-computer interaction is essential to analyze the users, various technological capabilities, and user expectations. These factors are imperative to consider while designing a mobile system and applications to make it successful. However, the key emphasis here is on the users. What are the key areas here to stress?
1. The system designer should understand the purpose of the user to use the mobile device
2.What tasks they possibly perform on the device?
3.Demographic details such as age, physical condition, etc. of the users.
4. Technologies users are using, which could have a significant impact on the mobile device in the way they interact with each other.
5. Development and testing of the system as per the design.
6. Once the system is tested, based on the feedback, the designer may need to evaluate the system further and update the version.
Know more - How Mobile Edge computing is contributing to the 5G
What are the disciplines involved in mobile Human-Computer interaction?
Human-computer interaction is a multidisciplinary area where we find various contributions from different academic fields. This exists from the complicated nature of the individual user interaction with a computer system. Mainly three factors motivate human-computer interaction principles –
- An understanding of the user and the task he wants to perform with the system
- An understanding of the design to mobile human-computer interaction software packages required to achieve this
- An understanding of software engineering tools.
This follows is a list of some of the primary disciplines as follows -
Psychology
Psychology has a major contribution to the human-computer discipline. Different research and system evaluation techniques borrow the theories and understanding of psychology. Suppose a mobile device is being designed focusing on the photoshoot. So, this should cover different psychological aspects of the users of different demographic criteria.
Computer Science
Mobile development is not possible without computer science and its different practices. These include software development tools such as and Javaâ„¢ 2 Platform, Micro Edition (J2MEâ„¢), visual basic, etc. These are required to develop devices such as mobile phones and PDAs (personal digital assistants). Its mobile information device profile (MIDP) provides end-to-end security and protects the device against any unauthorized attempt to access data held on your device. This is very important considering a dynamic mobile environment. Besides, it uses connection standards such as hypertext transfer protocol (http).
Sociology
The sociological aspect of human-computer interaction also plays a significant role. Sociologists use methods and techniques from the social sciences to design and evaluate mobile devices and applications.
Design
UI is a critical factor in any mobile design and development and a crucial area of mobile HCI research. This is due to the limited screen space available on a mobile screen where the design layout must be perfect. That means the colors, positioning of text or graphics on a PDA screen must fit the user demand.
Information systems
People interact with information systems from three perspectives
- Organizational
- Managerial
- Business context.
Information system professionals and researchers are interested in looking at how mobile technologies and mobile applications can be used to make an organization more effective in conducting its business on a day-to-day business.
Why is human-computer interaction a challenge for mobile devices?
No doubt, Mobile human-computer interaction is one of the most significant barriers in the present technology arena. Since mobile devices are of limited sizes, so implementing human-computer interaction is genuinely challenging. Some of the challenges associated with it are -
#1 – Battery Life
It is true that with an easier battery recharging option, the possibility of reduced battery health has been eliminated. However, with the intense use of GPS, 3G, or 4G and WiFi connections, battery drainage occurs frequently. This limits the number of tasks via bandwidth usage that a user can perform over a mobile device.
#2 – Screen Real Estate
Screen real estate on mobile devices is the amount of display space available on a mobile device to provide output. This has improved significantly in the last five years. However, the expected screen real estate still does not meet the limit. Thus, applications get a limited workspace, limited GUI components, and scope at any given time. This also makes neededly-smaller components interaction a bit more difficult as well.
#3 – Resolution
Low resolutions have limited screen real estate mobile devices, so they are easier to see and make out. On the other hand, higher resolutions show everything smaller, which is harder to read and sometimes resulting in the same issue in the other extreme. Though the solution for this is not apparent, some prototype technologies like foldable screens and similar innovations may soon resolve it.
#4 – Computing Power
Computing power handles the number of simultaneous tasks and the speed at which they may be performed. Now, the battery life is directly related to the processor speed. Also, as the processor works harder and faster, they become hotter. Since a mobile device is tiny in size, handling such enormous heat is almost impossible.
#5 – Compact Design
Compact design is also a hindrance to mobile human-computer interaction. Interestingly, the design is directly related to all other features like resolutions in tandem with screen real estate, CPU power, and power issues. This is a significant limitation since we can't make a mobile device immensely heavy or large. Besides, due to compact design, only a limited number of buttons can be provided, which restricts various functions.
#7 – Hand occupation
A mobile device is a handheld, and it keeps one hand of the user always occupied, which limits the user to work with one hand while using the device. Unfortunately, there is no feasible solution for it.
#9 – Audio
Audio on mobiles is a forever issue. Though headphones interact with audio, this does not fit in social situations and sometimes turn out dangerous for health. Using an external speaker can be a viable solution, but that can also disrupt people around the user.