HCI is not the Matrix…. Yet
Computer human interface (HCI).
I’m not an artist. I don’t really have the talent or the patience. I’ve gone through most of my life not really noticing concepts like symmetry, complementary colours, or the way font, size, and images interact to make me like or dislike an advertisement, website, or product. I never realized that there are millions of people in the world that obsess over how many pixels make up a line, or what distance text and images should be when they are displayed on a screen. Their work makes the digital world go around.
I really appreciate their obsession because their attention to detail makes my life easier in a million different ways. Chen and Zhai (2023) went into great detail about how the layout, colours, text font, and image placements on shopping sites reduced cognitive load and simplified the shopping experience. And sure, they didn’t do it out of the goodness of their hearts, but a smoother user experience, even an enjoyable one, reduces stress. While the designers at the e-commerce sites are trying to get your to buy more, the designers in education are trying to use these same methods to get your to learn more.
When I first saw this week’s topic of human-computer interface (HCI), I imagined connecting to the Matrix through a neural link, but the simple clacking of a keyboard, clicking of the mouse, and the swiping of a touch screen are all variations of interacting with digital technology. I think I took for granted the complexity and detail that went into making that user experience. And now that user experience is moving off the screen. Exploring Mayer’s 12 principles of multimedia e-learning made me realize these principles to simplify, organize, and structure information so that it can be acquired as efficiently as possible in everything around us.
Computer engineers are taking the next step in HCI. Meunier et al. (2022) discussed digital assistants like Siri and Alexa and how interacting with them will be the next frontier in HCI. The experiment focused on pronunciation, but the capabilities of the latest AI assistants by large language model companies like ChatGPT and Google Gemini go far beyond that. You can now have meaningful conversations with AI where they respond and react to your verbal input with natural banter and meaningful follow-up statements and questions. This new way to interface with the computer is already starting to be a game changer as it’s being integrated into learning platforms like Duolingo. These systems will only be more sophisticated, and further research into how we can integrate their benefits into our pedagogy should be explored.
I’m excited and nervous to see what is next. I’m not sure I want to be connected to the Matrix just yet, but exploring the new HCI possibilities is going to open doors to teaching methodologies that were impossible in the classroom.
Sources:
Chen, C.H., & Zhai, W. (2023). The Effects of Information Layout, Display Mode, and Gender Difference on the User Interface Design of Mobile Shopping Applications. IEEE Access, 11, 47024–47039. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2023.3274575
Meunier, F., Pikhart, M., & Klimova, B. (2022). Editorial: New perspectives of L2 acquisition related to human-computer interaction (HCI). Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 1098208. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.10982
Digital Learning Institute. (n.d.). Mayer’s 12 principles of multimedia learning. https://www.digitallearninginstitute.com/blog/mayers-principles-multimedia-learning
