Human-Computer Interaction: Trends, Research, Future (Essay Sample)

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Akhmetov, K. (2013). Human-Computer Interaction: Trends, Research, Future. Foresight-Russia, 7(2), 58-68.
Akhmetov in this article asserts that recent advancements in communication technology has changed the nature of human computer interaction. According to Akhmetov information and communication technology is increasingly becoming an essential part of our life. Although recent advancements in human computer interaction are aimed at improving the ease with which the user interacts with the computer, it also helps augment certain human values. However, HCI advancements may contradict with some human values hence leading to adverse implications for quality of life. The author recommends that there should be a set of immutable human values which essential for supporting human identity. According to Akhmetov, these immutable human values should retain a dominant position in face of modern technology-driven transformations.
This is a good source which gauges the effect of HCI features on human values. Most of the times the concept of human values is overlooked and thus HCI designs should take care of that.
Ashraf, A., & Raza, A. (2014). Usability Issues of Smart Phone Applications: For Visually Challenged People. World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, International Journal of Computer, Electrical, Automation, Control and Information Engineering, 8(5), 760-767.
Ashraf and Raza conducted a research on the usability of common mobile applications. They found that most of the applications are freely available from Playstore but are devoid of accessibility and effective usability. Most of the applications lack talkback features and other usability enhancing features for the blind. This means the users were not involved in the design process and their feedback. Applications for the visually impaired should be redesigned to better fulfill the needs of users. It is according to the authors, it is not easy to learn the usability of most of the applications while the efficiency in use is poor and the levels of satisfaction of the users is low.
This source helps designers understand that it is important to consult the intended end user when designing software for a specific group of users. The failure to involve the user in the design process significantly weighs down on the usability. Redesigning the programs with the interests of the user can significantly increases, accessibility, feedback and usability
Bowman, S. (2012). Impact of Electronic Health Record Systems on Information Integrity.
Although EHR promises improved accuracy and reliability of medical records they should be designed with care so that design features and functions augment their indented purposes. According to Bowman, design issues can significantly compromise service delivery. Software design issues are detrimental to healthcare quality, reliability and integrity. Bowman adds that issues in system design can lead to involuntary medical errors, misdiagnosis or erroneous prescription which is costly and deadly.
This source makes me question the accuracy of most of the health care technology we use today. Unfortunately physicians are increasingly being prosecuted for medical errors despite recent advancements in health care technology. Could some of the errors they are accused or convicted for be blamed on the software they use?
Carta, S., & Boratto, L. (2016). Introduction to the Special Issue on Human-Computer Interaction and the Social Web.
With the recent exponential growth in human computer interaction and social platforms, the privacy of the user comes to question. Carta and Baratto claim that users are concerned about the safety of their information but do not really understand the information software can obtain from the interaction. The authors also suggest that HCI research and developments can help enhance social media interaction between people but at the expense of their private information.
This source made me start questions the safety of the software and applications that I use. Could my private information be at risk? Software and program designers and developers should be moral and ethical enough to respect the right of the user to privacy.
Kwon, T., Lee, J., & Song, J. (2009, July). On the Privacy-Preserving HCI Issues. In International Conference on Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction (pp. 544-549). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Humans interact with the computer through software or hardware. According to Kwon and Song, there are serious privacy issues with improved interactive human computer interface. There are applications or software which spy on identity, key words, passwords and other privy information without the awareness of the user or consent. The authors emphasize that for efficient and reliable user interface to be realized, all intrusions and observations over the user activity should be eliminated. Some manufactures create software which shoulder surf the user data secretly which is unethical.
After going through this source, I realized some unethical software developers make their software vulnerable to intrusion. Third parties or the software developers should avoid wiretapping data of user and using it without the consent of the owner. For example, most touch keyboards learn the typing patterns of the user and use the commonly typed words are used to develop customized ads.
Smith, B. A., Bi, X., & Zhai, S. (2015, April). Optimizing touchscreen keyboards for gesture typing. In Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 3365-3374). ACM.
Smith and his colleagues attest that despite its growing popularity in gesture typing today, the accuracy of gesture typing is poor. Unlike touch keyboards, gesture keyboards suffer from gesture ambiguity which compromises the accuracy of typing. The authors recommend that rigorous mathematical optimization methods should be applied to analytically investigate and optimize gesture typing. Optimized gesture typing enhances not only accuracy but also speed. According to their findings, keyboards with optimized layout for gesture clarity and Qwerty similarity significantly enhance the accuracy of gesture typing and reduce error rates.
This source underlines is useful in understanding issues faced by fanatics of gesture typing. Increasing the accuracy and speed of gesture typing increases the usability of keyboards and hence computers and mobile devices.
Phillips, W., & Fleming, D. (2009). Ethical concerns in the use of electronic medical records. Missouri medicine, 106(5), 328.
EHR systems are increasingly being used in the health c are system. Phillips and Fleming assert that its use raises important ethical concerns about patient safety, privacy and confidentiality as well as medical errors. Systems with unfamiliar interactive user interface compromise the integrity of the system and patient care. Systems with critical usability issues such as lack of user friendly functionality, complex user interface, incompatibility of workflow and limitations of the user can cause costly medical errors. To minimize this, the government should regulate all key medical software so as to enhance safety, reliability and usability.
This source presents some of the key usability issues and their effect on health care. System failures and usability issues are contributing significantly to various medical errors in care and documentation. Before being certified, the system should tested extensively.
Stålberg, A., Sandberg, A., Söderbäck, M., & Larsson, T. (2016). The child’s perspective as a guiding principle: Young children as co-designers in the design of an interactive application meant to facilitate participation in healthcare situations. Journal of biomedical informatics, 61, 149-158.
Stålberg et al argue that over the past few centuries, interactive technology has entered mainstream society and include children including the youngest. Today children use technology for both fun and educative purposes. The authors recommend that children should be involved in the design for interactive applications which are meant for them so they can be age-appropriate. Interactive applications can be used to increase participation of young children in healthcare situations.
This is a source that helps one understand the role of the target user in improving the quality of interactive software or application. Involving the user to integrate the user’s perspective in design of HCI systems helps enhances the usab...