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The Human-Computer Interaction Handbook: Fundamentals, Evolving

Technologies, and Emerging Applications

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 Book Review - Booth / Journal of Occupational Psychology, Employment and Disability, 6 (2), Autumn 2004, Pages 85 - 87

Book Review

The Human-Computer Interaction Handbook: Fundamentals,

Evolving Technologies and Emerging Applications
Edited by Julie A. Jacko and Andrew Sears
Published by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, London, 2003, ISBN 0-8058-3838-4, $95, 1277 pp

Reviewed by David Booth

DWP Psychology Division, Porterbrook House, 7 Pear Street, Sheffield, S11 8JF

The cost of this massive book may seem prohibitive we interact with computers in an effort to
but at the current exchange rate it amounts to a little understand the reasoning behind good and bad
over £52. Still rather a lot, you may think, for a user experiences so that recommendations can be
personal purchase but libraries can order it for you made for enhancing that experience in terms of
and for anyone who is interested or working in the efficiency and effectiveness of use and user
field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI), and once satisfaction.
you flip the bonnet you can really see where the
money goes. The potential resource that this book This book is based on the premise that in spite of
offers just goes on and on. Not only do you get 65 how far we’ve come in terms of HCI, we still have far
papers from some of the key authors in the field but to go and many inane situations to overcome. A
some of these papers can also be used as working comical quote from the book that exemplifies this is
resources in their own right for developing tools. ‘If [un-named automobile company] had developed
There is even a website technology like [un-named software vendor], we
(www.isrc.umbc.edu/hcihandbook) that is a stripped would all be driving cars with the following
down version of the book, probably to aid sales, but characteristics:
the graphics and models used in the book are
available in a larger printable format making them 1. Occasionally, your car would die on the freeway
ideal for overheads and teaching aids, etc. unexpectedly, and you would just accept this,
restart and drive on.
I must admit that I have not read everything in the 2. The oil, water temperature and alternator
handbook; I’ve got a life you know. I have read warning lights would be replaced by a single
about a quarter of it in detail and skipped through “general car fault” warning light.
the rest so I apologise for my wimpishness but hope 3. Occasionally, your car would lock you out and
that the things that I have read give you an refuse to let you in until you simultaneously
indication of the undoubted quality and usefulness lifted the door handle, turned the key and
of this publication. grabbed hold of the radio antenna.
4. Every time they introduced a new model, car
I would, first of all, like to take issue with the title. A buyers would have to learn to drive all over
handbook is supposed to be a concise manual or again because none of the controls would
reference book providing specific information or operate in the same manner as the old car…’
instruction that can be carried in the hand. I could
just about carry it in both hands so I suppose it just No prizes for guessing who the manufacturers are,
about makes the grade…but concise! This means to but this bit of fantasy makes a point that workers in
express much, clearly and in few words. I rest my the field of HCI know only too well, i.e. that the only
case (try reading it in the bath). thing that makes a software developer’s job a
nightmare is the damn user and when a system
Human-Computer Interaction, sometimes known as goes wrong it’s because the user is an idiot! Our
Computer-Human Interaction, is the study of how job, then, is to ensure that the user gets a fair

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 Book Review - Booth / Journal of Occupational Psychology, Employment and Disability, 6 (2), Autumn 2004, Pages 86 - 87

hearing and it’s the job of this book to provide the covers some useful techniques that ought to form
HCI professional with the tools they need to do just part of the skilled HCI worker’s toolkit, e.g.
that. requirement specification, task analysis, context-of-
use, style guides, prototyping and scenario building.
The Handbook has very helpful and readable
section introductions. The major sections are: Some sections contain heavily detailed elements of
I The History of HCI cognitive psychology but these are worth sweating
II Humans in HCI over because (a) it’s good for revising long forgotten
III Computers in HCI experiments in cognitive psychology and (b) the
IV Human Computer Interaction (including implications for workstation design are significant,
papers that look generally at HCI issues e.g. the discovery that the mouse was better than
such as interface design, and specific other input devices because of the faster pointer-
issues like those around wearable positioning time. Because of the heavy cognitive
computers and the web) basis, the intricate detail of some of the articles and
V Application Domains (looking at particular the assumption of prior knowledge, the book is not
areas of computer function, e.g. for newcomers or the casual reader. A regular
telecommunications and health) undergraduate cognitive textbook or introduction to
VI The Development Process HCI would be a good place to start because some
VII Managing HCI and Emerging Issues of the concepts would be described at a higher
VIII Perspective on HCI ( the conclusion and level. It will, however, probably become an
future directions) occasionally used but much loved resource for
workers in the field although a persistent, interested
The sections, particularly at the beginning, don’t reader would also get much out of the experience.
really serve much of a purpose except to break up Even for HCI workers, however, the handbook gets
the large number of papers – useful in itself I rather heavy, the first piece of portable data, i.e. that
suppose but they ought not to give the reader the can be directly applied to projects, appears on page
idea that HCI can easily be broken up into ‘the 61. This is about understanding users’ mental
human’, ‘the computer’ and ‘the interaction’. models and at this point the publication begins to
feel like a real handbook. The writing style,
The most obviously useful sections for those particularly in the early parts of the book, is
working in the field of disability are Sections B and occasionally impenetrable, because of repetitious,
C of Part IV, i.e. ‘Interaction for Diverse Users’ and unclear use of words and the sudden introduction of
‘Interaction Issues for Special Applications’. jargon that is not previously defined. To balance this
‘Interaction for Diverse Users’ deals with disability is the sheer scope of the book and its potential
issues, cognitive impairments and designing usefulness along with the emphasis, in later parts,
systems for older users, which has much that can on practical tools and some fascinating articles like
easily transfer to the field of disability because of the one on emotion and its impact on users’
cognitive issues and elements like familiarity and evaluations of an interface.
learning styles. These issues are themselves some
of the features of the digital divide that separates There are some notable contributors to the
the computer-enfranchised from the handbook. Jakob Nielsen is on the advisory board
disenfranchised and as such ought to be of interest and Alan Newell contributes a paper. Newell used to
to anyone concerned about the power of ICT to work with Herbert and Simon on human-like
either empower or isolate vulnerable groups like computer decision-making models but he now
those comprising people with a disability. works on computer interaction and elder users. S.K.
‘Interaction Issues for Special Applications’ is also Card both contributes a paper and is on the
useful within the disability sphere as it contains advisory board. Card was co-developer of GOMS
papers on the social issues around computing, technology (Goals, Operators, Methods, and
computer-based teaching, speech interfaces and Selection Rules), a major step forward in the fine-
the web. A number of other sections are, however, grain analysis of operator actions. As a result of the
extremely useful for those working in HCI generally, seminal work (Card et al., 1980) and the excellent
especially Part 5 ‘The Development Process’. This The Psychology of Human-Computer Interaction

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 Book Review - Booth / Journal of Occupational Psychology, Employment and Disability, 6 (2), Autumn 2004, Pages 86 - 87

(Card et al., 1983) Card, colleagues and GOMS Card, S. K. et al. (1983). The Psychology of Human-
devotees were able to show, using GOMS, that new Computer Interaction, Lawrence Hillsdale: Erlbaum
interfaces were not necessarily the cost-saving Associates, Inc.
devices that companies thought they were.
Norman, D. A. (1998) The Design of Everyday
Things, Massachusetts, The MIT Press.
Unfortunately, there are also some notable
absences. Jakob Nielsen himself doesn’t contribute
a paper. I think this is a shame because although he
isn’t everyone’s favourite usability guru, he is at the
forefront of establishing the emerging principles
around website usability. Additionally, he has been
accused of not contributing enough academic-
standard commentary; this would have been an
easy hit for him and, therefore, a lost opportunity for
us. Additionally, his partner Donald Norman doesn’t
contribute in any capacity. Norman is one of the
most readable and humane writers in the field and
particularly with his recent quest to remind usability
specialists that the aesthetic quality of things is
important in their usability, a necessary foil for the
over technical, it is a shame that he doesn’t
contribute. For a good read try his The Design of
Everyday Things. Norman is an avid collector of
unusual teapots, which explains the design of the
front cover (if you’re curious, get – and read – the
book).

Notable absences from the content of the book are,

to any great extent, the GOMS methodology: I
would have appreciated a ‘how to…’ section on this
detailed area. There is no lack of individual papers
that try to do this and so this sort of thing ought to
be in a publication calling itself a handbook for the
profession. Although web standards are still
emerging, the Word Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
is acknowledged by most in the field as being the
authority to turn to for definitive answers in
accessibility for people with a disability. W3C is
mentioned only once in a single paragraph.
In summary, I would recommend the purchase of
the Handbook for anyone working in the field of HCI.
It is of less value, but still a good resource, for those
interested in the use of ICT by people with a
disability, particularly cognitive impairments.

REFERENCES

Card, S. K. et al. (1980). Computer text-editing: An

information-processing analysis of a routine
cognitive skill, Cognitive Psychology, 12, 32-74.

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