Specification Content - ICT2
11.10 Human Computer Interface

Human Computer Interface is all about how humans communicate with computers. A bit like Dr. Doolittle but with computers instead of animals really. This topic gets revisited (in much more detail) in ICT5 so it might be well worth having a look in the A2 stuff when it eventually goes online.
 

• Understand the need to facilitate an effective dialogue between humans and machines.
   

• Explain the need to design systems which are appropriate to users at all levels and in different environments; the impact of clarity of structure and layout.
   

• Describe how the user-interface can be designed for effective communication with the user.
   

• Describe the advantages of common user interfaces between different generic application packages.
   

• Describe the advantages and limitations of a natural language interface.
   

 

11.10 Book references

See the books page for more details about the titles listed below

McWeeney

Mott & Leeming

Doyle - page 117

Heathcote

AQA past papers
Past papers. Not as useful as the Psionica database AQA shamefully closed but...

Practice questions
A couple of past paper practice questions for 11.10 (.rtf file - opens in Word/Writer).

Past paper answers
Answers to the questions above. Password protected .doc file. Sorry but the password is only available to teachers.

Older Exam Papers
Past papers (pre 2000) not included on the official AQA site from Colchester VI Form College. These still contain some relevant questions for this topic. Look for IT02/ICT2 papers.

Links to general online resources for 11.10. I'd recommend right clicking links/icons and "Save Target As..." for anything other than web pages (see key below)

	Flash Notes
Steve Longley's excellent online flash notes for 11.10 - Human Computer Interface
	Flash Notes
Offline version of the above.  Right click the link (or icon) and Save Target As...
	HCI Notes
Excellent online course from the University of Sunderland covering all aspects of HCI - from interface design to ergonomics.
	User Interfaces
Short PowerPoint presentation based on chapter 30 of the Heathcote A level textbook.
	Human Computer Interface
Excellent handout from Clive Morley. It's for ICT5 (14.7) but don't let that put you off!
	Command Driven Interfaces
Nice PowerPoint presentation on this topic by two students. I'm thinking of adding more student stuff so let me know if you have anything useful.
	User Interfaces
Short set of class/revision notes from Whitby CC. I think the questions at the end of the sheet refer to the Heathcote book???
	Human Computer Interface
Summary notes and questions from North Chadderton High School. These are actually for ICT5 but still pretty useful
	Introduction to HCI
Some examples of pretty awful interface design give a neat introduction to this topic. From Kesgrave High School.
	HCI
Short set of online notes covering this topic from Antonine-Education. What does Antonine actually mean? Is it like an anteater or something?
	Natural Language Systems
The START Natural Language Question Answering System. Try it then read the bit at the bottom of the page about how it works.
	Good Interface Design
This is only a very short PowerPoint from Kesgrave High but neatly summarises this topic. Highly recommended by FatMax

Key to resources:

PowerPoint presentation Word file Web page Macromedia Flash

Word, PowerPoint and Excel resources will also open in OOo Writer, Calc and Impress - check the downloads page.