MacKenzie S. Human-Computer Interaction. An Empirical Research Perspective

Morgan Kaufmann, 2013, -370 p.This book is not about designing a better watch. Of course, the end game is better designs and products, but the focus here is on the ideas — ideas for new and improved user interfaces or interaction techniques. The journey from idea to product is long, however. Before embedding in a product, an idea must be implemented, refined, tested, refined again, tested again, and so on. Testing is key: Is the idea any good? How good? Does it improve on current practice? According to what criteria and by how much? Will users like it? Is it intuitive, efficient, even fun, or will users find it awkward or frustrating? This book is about answering questions like these.
The questions above are expressions of curiosity. They capture the true and unstructured spirit of innovative thought. But answering these questions is a challenge. Terms like any good and improve on are highly subjective. To answer with clarity and assurance, the questions must be recast and narrowed — to make them answerable, so to speak. Well-formed questions about new ideas for user interfaces invite observation and measurement of human interaction with the technology of interest. In the narrowed form, the questions are research questions. Furthermore, questions that are pursued through observation and measurement are empirical. With this, we arrive at this book’s theme: human-computer interaction, with an empirical research perspective.
This book’s study of empirical research in HCI is admittedly narrow. The reader is implored not to view this as dismissive of research methods in HCI that are also empirical but with a qualitative or non-experimental emphasis. HCI is a tremendously broad field with a considerable amount of empirical research, particularly in the social sciences, that uses observational methods as opposed to experimental methods. The emphasis on experimental methods in the pages ahead is a by-product of the book’s single-author design. To expand the treatment of observational methods here, giving them equal page space with experimental methods, would be a disservice to the substantial community of researchers skilled in these methods. This book reflects one researcher’s perspective and that perspective has more to do with the author’s personal experience and expertise than with any suggestion that certain methods are superior to others. For this reason, the empirical research label is delegated to the book’s subtitle, or secondary title. Bracketing empirical research with perspective and the indefinite article an is deliberate. The book presents one perspective on empirical research in HCI. Often, the focus is broad (What is empirical? What is research?); but when laying down the details, there is an emphasis on research that is empirical and experimental. If there is one deliverable in this book, it is the knowledge and skills required to design and conduct a user study — a factorial experiment with human participants where two or more facets of a user interface are empirically and quantitatively compared.Historical Context
The Human Factor
Interaction Elements
Scientific Foundations
Designing HCI Experiments
Hypothesis Testing
Modeling Interaction
Writing and Publishing a Research Paper