Glasgow Caledonian UniversityAn International Scottish University

Professor Caroline ParkerAssociate Dean International

Where are we?

1 hour from London by air

Scotland??

• One of the 4 countries that make up the UK

• Population of 5.1 million, 9% of UK total

• Own parliament since July 1999 with power over areas such as education and health

• Temperate climate (-5° to 25° C)

• Things we are famous for ……..

Scottish landscape

Scottish history

Scottish snow

Fun!

Scottish food & drink

Bagpipes & kilts

Hogmanay (New Year)

Loch Ness Monster

Glasgow?• Top tourist destination

• Top 10 City of the World• 12th in New York Times world

‘Places to Go in 2012’

• Great shopping!• 2nd biggest shopping destination in

the UK

• Safest city in the UK • (Mercer Consultancy, 2011)

• Lively & friendly• Largest student population in

Scotland

• Beautiful countryside less than 1 hour from the city centre

• Commonwealth games 2014

•Modern university• Founded 1875 as college• University status 1996

•Research Excellence in 3 areas in 2008

• 1st UK - Rehabilitative Health Sciences• 1st in Scotland, top 10 UK - allied health• 1st in Scotland, top 20 UK - built

environment

•17,000 students in Glasgow•All courses professionally accredited• 96.4% graduate employment• Top for International student satisfaction 5 years in a row

Glasgow Caledonian University?

MSc campus City centre London

City centre campus in New York - 2013

Academic Schools

Glasgow School for Business & Society

Engineering & Built Environment

Health & Life Sciences

Network engineering

Computer Games development

Digital Forensics

3D Animation

Mechanical Engineering

Civil Engineering

Environmental Management

International Project Management…..

Glasgow Caledonian University

MBA

Accounting

Banking, Finance & Risk

Human Resource

Management

International Business

Fashion Marketing

Media & Communication

Tourism …

Nursing

Biomolecular & Biomedical Science

Clinical Nutrition & Health

Diagnostic Imaging

Physiotherapy

Vision Science …

Interaction Design

Why should you consider the human component in the development of engineering & computing systems?

Lecture overview• What do I mean by engineering

• Human as ‘critical component’• Some interesting things about

this ‘component’• Consequences of leaving

people out

Engineering Disciplines

• Engineering– Mechanical, Electrical, Electronic, Computer,

Software, Civil, Games, Multimedia …..

DesignDesign Develop/buildDevelop/build MaintainMaintain

Materials/languagesMaterials/languages

MechanismsMechanisms

PropertiesProperties

CompositionCompositionStructuresStructures

BehaviourBehaviourBehaviour under different

physical conditionsBehaviour under different

physical conditions

Behaviour in combination with other materials

Behaviour in combination with other materials

Limits/boundariesLimits/boundaries

Best working conditionsBest working conditions

One thing in common

Interacted withInteracted with

DrivenDriven

Played withPlayed with

Sat onSat on

Worked with

Worked with

Lived inLived in

AssembledAssembled

WatchedWatchedManipulatedManipulated

OperatedOperated

LearnedLearned

Exercise

• 2 minutes• What functions on a mobile phone are

important to make a user happy?– Talk to person sitting next to you– Write down notes

• Who did you imagine when you thought about the user?

• What did they look like?• What age were they? Male/Female? What

brand of phone were they using? Where?

• Did I tell you who the user would be?• Where it would be used?

One problem of not understanding user

• Use own experience as a guide for design• Engineers tend to be

– Male– Between 18-50– Able-bodied

– Very comfortable with technology…..

• What do you know about other users characteristics, needs, requirements?

24

Poor understanding = poor design

25

The user as a key component

• As engineers you learn about– Tolerances, metal fatigue characteristics

• As computer & network engineers you learn about– Cache, jitter, throughput, RAM,

• As media engineers you learn about– Formats, storage, display speed

• Do you think you could design, build good systems/structures without knowing about these things?

So what do you know about the human ‘component’?

E.g.• Storage characteristics (memory)• Information processing & mental

loading capacity (attention & perception)

• Change in physical characteristics of hardware and software over time (ageing)

No two people are exactly the same

Some human characteristics

Storage

Processing

Performance

MemoryMemory

PerceptionPerception

LearningLearning

AttentionAttention

VisionVision

EnergyEnergy

Memory

• Two well known types of human memory *– Short term or working memory– Long term memory

• Short term/working memory– RAM– Conscious processing, short storage

* Generally speaking

209 453 192 748

572 099 131 367

895 270 293 374

706 914 885 691

Short Term Memory

• Very limited!

7 plus or minus 2

The short-term memory capacity of most people is 5-9 items, some people have less, others have more.

The short-term memory capacity of most people is 5-9 items, some people have less, others have more.

Long term memory - limitless

• Stores learning– Creation of pathways, synaptic links

• Well learned = well trodden pathways– Chance of recall increases with number of links– Strength of learning increases with frequency of access– Routines, patterns of behaviour– Unlimited but….

• Forgetting/loss of skill– Change in strength of links– Weaken over time

Learning

• Long term memory• We store patterns & use them to reduce

cognitive load– Swimming, initially difficult, then store procedures

and don’t think about it– Finding way around a new place

• Learning takes effort• People prefer to stick to known things

– Qwerty keyboard

Affordance

• Concept – Donald Norman• Expectation of the way things should work

Push

Pull

Turn

Perception affected by learing

• You see what you know• E.g. Cultural expectation & learning

In most cultures red is associated with danger and green with safety.

In most cultures red is associated with danger and green with safety.

Save failed Save succeeded

Save failed Save succeeded

http://visualfunhouse.com

Human Attention

• Exercise – Imagine– You’re designing a warning system to let operators

know a very dangerous problem has occurred in a nuclear plant

– What would it do? How would you ensure you attracted their attention and then directed it to the problem area?

• Lights? Sound?

Hold that idea in your head while I tell you something about human attention

Human Attention

• Two parts– Powerful scanner (parallel processing)– Very limited focused attention

• We only perceive what we pay attention to• Crowded room – pick out our name being spoken

• Originally good for survival– Focus on task– Be aware of danger

Attention - Mixed channel

• Hard to do two things at once– Watch film and listen to parent!

• but can do some things at same time– different types of activity (sound, sight, balance etc)

• Summary – human attention– broad background filter system (parallel)– focused attention, powerful but serial– Can do more if inputs are different

Your nuclear alarm warning system?

Different design?

Visual characteristics

Visual characteristics

Click hereClick hereClick hereClick here

Contrast: The amount of light that passes through the eye of a sixty year old is only one third of that passing through the eye of a twenty year old.

Contrast: The amount of light that passes through the eye of a sixty year old is only one third of that passing through the eye of a twenty year old.

Colour: 6.39 percent of individuals (mostly male) confuse greens, yellows and reds (Fowler & Stanwick, 1995).

Colour: 6.39 percent of individuals (mostly male) confuse greens, yellows and reds (Fowler & Stanwick, 1995).

Click here

Ageing

Individual differences

Levels of energy

• Human performance is highly variable• Tiredness is a major problem• Effects

– Mood and motivation differences– Thinking, decision making, multitasking and situational

awareness– Basic reaction times and vigilance– The brain’s awake state also becomes unstable: lapses and

microsleeps interrupt performance.

• .

Energy through the dayA

lert

ness

High

Low

0900 1500 2400 0900

Different energy levels

1200 1800 0600 Time of day

Why is it important to know about the Human component?

• Increase safety• Increase usability• Increase the success of products & services

Safety - Human Component failure

• Human error is most frequently blamed by the media and official reports for major accidents– Operator or other human errors blamed for 60-80% of

all accidents in technology systems (Perrow, 1999).• Costs in terms of human life and money are high

Pressurised chamber accident• Release pressure before opening• Very experienced operator• Failed to release pressure and

died instantly- Memory, attention – just 1 hour

before his holiday

Memory limitation

Learned pattern

Cash machine

- Europe design change- Card then cash- Stop people leaving card!

Human error is inevitable• Serial focused attention, parallel

unfocused• Limited short term memory• Reliance on learned patterns• Fatigue, distraction, cognitive

differences

Accidents are not

Meets need

Usability & success

Apple focused on understanding human characteristics– Mental and physical characteristics -> usability– Desires and aspirations

Technical innovation?

Speed, efficiency?

Large range of functions?

Offers a unique solution?

DesirableFits task Enjoyable

Intuitive

Technically

Aesthetically

Summary

• Engineers and engineering teams need to include knowledge of the properties and behaviours of the human ‘component’ in addition to traditional knowledge in order to support the safety, reliability, usability & commercial success of the products and processes they produce

Thank you for listening

Any Questions?

Interaction design research at

• Three research themes– Interactive and Communications Engineering– Energy and Engineering Systems– Sustainability in the Built Environment

• Three research themes– Interactive and Communications Engineering– Energy and Engineering Systems– Sustainability in the Built Environment

eMotion lab• emotion capture• interaction recording studio• physiological evaluation• emotional analysis software• play testing• focus groups• depth interviewing• body movement capture

3D/VR lab

• Design and evaluation of Head-Up Display (HUD) Interfaces

• Driving simulator development• Driver behaviour• 3D visualisation• Virtual Prototyping.

User testing Game & entertainmentsE.g. BBC, STV, Denki

Mobile phonese.g. Orange, Vodafone

Development & testingHealthe.g. NHS, Ambulance service

Automotivee.g. BMW, Strathclyde Police

Building SurveyingConstruction ManagementCivil EngineeringEnvironmental ManagementFire Risk EngineeringProperty Management and ValuationQuantity SurveyingBuilding Services Engineering

Our Undergraduate ProgrammesBuilding & Surveying

School of Engineering & Built Environment

Computer Aided Mechanical Engineering Electrical Power Engineering Power Electronic Systems Mechanical Electronic Systems Engineering Mechanical and Power Plant Systems Engineering

Our Undergraduate ProgrammesEnergy Systems Engineering MEng/BEng

Our Undergraduate ProgrammesComputer, Communications & Electronic Systems

Web systems Development Information Systems Development Games Programming Digital Systems Instrumentation Systems Network and Communication Engineering Robotic and Mechatronic Systems Engineering Audio Technology with Electronics

3D Computer Animation Audio technology with Electronics Computer Games Design Computer Games Art Graphic Design for Digital Media

Undergraduate ProgrammesCreative Technologies (BA or BSc)

Building Services Engineering Quantity Surveying Construction Management Real Estate Management International Project Management International Project Management

(Oil & Gas)

Our Postgraduate ProgrammesBuilding & Surveying

Information Technology Computer Science Digital Forensics IT Security Wireless Communication Advanced Computer Networking Wireless Networking Voice over IP and Unified Communication 3D Design for Virtual Environments Design Practice & Management Web Systems Development (.Net)

Our Postgraduate ProgrammesComputer, Communication & Interactive Systems

Energy & Environment Management Waste Management Sustainable Energy Technology Maintenance Management Mechanical Engineering (Design) Mechanical Engineering (Control) Applied Instrumentation and Control Electrical Power Power Electronic Systems Particulate Solids Handling

Our Postgraduate ProgrammesMechanical, Electrical & Environmental Engineering

Thank you

Fees

• GCU Glasgow- Undergraduate £10,200 to £11,000- Postgraduate £10,400 to £14,500

• GCU London- MSc courses £12,000- MBA programmes £16,000

Up to £2000 discount

• £1000 guaranteed Student Bursary• Merit based discount up to £1000

- further information can be found at www.gcu.ac.uk/international

Living Expenses

• Glasgow: Approx £7,500 for 12 months

• London: Approx £10,200 for 12 months

Tuition Fees and Living Costs

Approx costs of Accommodation

Standard Room £83 per week *

En-suite Room £96 per week*

Private sector Room £70 per week (approx)**

* Inclusive of electricity and heating costs

** Excluding bills

How to apply

Undergraduate applications Via UCAS

Email undergraduate documents to PRIORITY@GCU.AC.UK

Postgraduate Applications to HTTP://WWW.GCU.AC.UK/STUDY/APPLYONLINE/

Or via PRIORITY@GCU.AC.UK

Research excellence

• 1st in the UK for Rehabilitative Health Sciences*

• 1st in Scotland and top ten in the UK for its research in allied health*

• 1st in Scotland and in the top twenty in the UK for research in the built and natural environment*

• Awarded UK Times Higher Education Award 2010 for Outstanding Support for Early Career Researchers.

* In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise