Lab 11: Human-Computer Interaction

Outline

In this lab you will:

consider the affordances and interactions you have designed and implemented
query and reflect on the work you have done or plan to do
continue working on portfolio 2

Introduction

It’s time to think about interaction design again! You may recall last year, we went through examples of interaction design. Your portfolio 2 is due next week and it’s a good time to consider how you have designed interaction in your work to make it more engaging, and what you could work on in the next week to improve upon your plan.

Part 1: Reviewing Interaction Design

Interactions are mediated between the human and the computer through affordances. They show “how technologies can be used. by whom, and under what circumstances”. Affordances can also be hidden/secret or revealed only when needed.

reflect on your work so far:

What are the affordances (hooks/hails)? (hails)
What are the actions required of the viewer/listener?
What are the rewards for engaging?
What will the viewer/listener invest/emotionally experience from this artwork?

If you have yet to create your interactions in your sketch, consider the interactions you have planned. What will they look like? How will audiences know how to engage? How will this be implemented in p5.js?

It’s a good opportunity to write these things down to help formulate your interaction statement in Portfolio 2.

Part 2: Reflections

Reflection is a cyclic and integral part of the creative process. There are many different frameworks of reflection for different use cases. Driscoll’s “What?” Model was developed in the mid-1990s, creating a cycle of the following three questions:

What?
So what?
Now what?

In our context, I’d like you to consider the following:

What is your artwork? (visually, interactively, etc.)
Why have you done it that way? (So what?)
What changes can you make to the work, if any? (Now what?)

Part 3: Human-Computer Interaction

The actual research field of HCI is a wide one. It spans across many different fields and focuses, brought together by the connection between a human and a machine. You’ve already been looking at how we embed interaction in your artworks through affordances. Given portfolio 3’s focus on HCI, it’d be good to start thinking about how interactions with computers can change when the idea of ‘intelligence’ is introduced.

Consider the following:

What is your current understanding of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI)?
Where does ML and AI already exist in terms of Human-Computer interactions?
How have ML and AI already changed the way people interact with computers and machines?