Human Computer Interaction
Contents
1:Human Computer Interaction .....................................................................................................1
2:User's Classification Based on Literacy .....................................................................................1 2.1:Functional Illiterate .....................................................................................................1 2.2:Absolute Illiterate .........................................................................................................1
3:Interfaces for Absolute Illiterate...................................................................................................2
3.1:Visual Aids..............................................................................................................2
3.2:Audible instructions. ...............................................................................................2
3.3:Easy Navigations.....................................................................................................2
3.4: Text Free User Interfaces. ......................................................................................2
3.5:Combination of Visual and Audible instruction......................................................3
4:Recent Works for Illiterate ..........................................................................................................3 4.1:SmartPhone Application for Farmers .....................................................................3 4.2:SmartPhone Application for Employment search ..................................................3
5:Summary ......................................................................................................................................3
6:Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................3 7:Bibliography 4

Human Computer Interaction
Human Computer Interaction:
Human Computer Interaction (HCI) aims to develop a positive and successful interaction among users (Human) and computer systems, by making these systems more adaptive, usable and interactive. It includes the study, designs and planning of interactive systems. HCI is not regarded as a devoted field for computer science rather it is a field including computer science, behavioral science, social science, Human psychology and many other diversified fields of study. Human psychology, and computer knowledge is studied in conjunction. As on the development side computer graphics, operating systems ,programming languages and other development environments are of concern where on the human side communication theory, cognitive psychology, social sciences, linguistics and other user system satisfaction are relevant. Attention to human computer interaction is highly considerable because poorly designed interfaces may lead to many unexpected problems. HCI focuses on , * Interface evaluation techniques * Interactive Interface development * Methods for implementing interfaces * Interface developing methodologies and processes. * Descriptive and predictive models and theories of interaction.[1]
HCI intends to address a number of users that vary in their fields of interest, they also vary in their physical, social, psychological and mental needs. Users classifications for HCI varies according to needs and interests. Classifying users on the basis of literacy is one of the many classifications that can be made for understanding and progress in HCI.
User's Classification based on literacy: * Literate User * Illiterate User * Functional Illiteracy * Absolute Illiteracy
Functional Illiterate: Users who are illiterate about a particular area. Their field of interest/work are in contrast with others. They are well aware about the areas they are working.
Absolute Illiterate: Before defining Absolute illiterate the illiteracy is considerable.
"Literacy is the ability to read and write one's own name and further for knowledge and interest, write coherently, and think critically about the written word. The inability to do so is called illiteracy or analphabetism. (Wikipedia)"

Human Computer Interaction
"literate person as someone who can with understanding, both read and write a short simple statement in his or her everyday life"(Wikipedia)
Novice users who are naive and blank about the use of computer systems. For such users HCI responsibility is increased as on the computer side evaluation and its emergence is increasing day by day aiming to aid ,ease and facilitate users of every age, sect and grade. Interactive and easy to use interfaces for such users demand more critical eye and concentration of HCI.
Interfaces for Illiterates: * Visual Aids. * Audible instructions. * Easy Navigations. * Text Free User Interfaces. * Combination of Visual and Audible instruction.

Visual Aids: According to human psychology humans are more responsive and comprehending to images as compared to rich texts.[4]Recent work under the banner of information and communication for development considers how computing technology can impact socio-economic development for poor Much of this work is devoted to providing computer applications to support activities in agriculture healthcare or education Use semi-abstracted graphics, and increase photorealism with deeper interaction. Pay attention to subtle graphical cues. User response may depend on psychological, cultural, or religious biases. Audible Instructions: Sometimes visual clues are not understandable by a class of users, therefore audible cues may help at the moment because almost all users(excluding impaired hearing or mental disorders) can comprehend their native language. it is often proved to be fast and effective and more accurate. TTS systems (Text-to-Speech conversion systems are an example of such systems but till the time these systems are not supported in every language). (Mehdi, Toyama, & sagar) Text Free UI's: Illiterate users are more offensive to texts as they are blank or a little aware about texts. As literate user is also offensive to rich text therefore text for novice user is like making the system hard to be usable for them. Although numbers can be added to the UI's as these are often readable by even illiterate user reading (one, two three..) is quite difficult than (1,2,3...) pictorial representation and understanding is often much easier but still not
Human Computer Interaction the last option left.( such UIs are commonly supported in Mobile Phones and proved to be successful in interactivity) (Knoche & Huang) Easy Navigations: Illiterate users are just clicking and understanding. Screen reading/ comprehending/searching over screen is not a part of their interest. therefore easy, clear and visible navigations also play a vital role in interface designs for such absolute illiterate users. Combination of Audible and Visual Instructions: A combination of audible and visual instructions helps a lot but somewhere it is proven to be heavy and weighted in terms of resources. But still it works better in systems that are designed for illiterate people with a very low literacy level and minimal comprehending power, especially for disables and physically disordered audiences. Recent Work for Illiterates: * SmartPhone Application for farmers: SmartPhone Application for farmers to let them share among one another, know about seeds, pesticides, problems, diseases etc. They share/receive iconic messages and text-to speech and speech to text applications to communicate. * Employment Search App : Literate and semi literate user can use this application to search for a job relative to their interest and location/area. This App is promoting Text free UI , audible help at every step, map-wise navigations (Mehdi, Toyama, & sagar) Summary: Absolute illiterate user's preferences for interface usability are critical. This group of people intend to use, simple, pictorial, audible instructions. Deprived of rich text . Complexities navigations and other things that force them to remember data is not liked by them. Along with software perspectives hardware design also infer for such users that is compatible with physical aspects. Considerable points while designing for illiterates, (Gavaza, 2012) * The amount of information displayed must be controlled. * Use lower case when possible. * The interface must be consistent * Touch Interfaces * Use of Images/pictures/icons * Consistent Help Feature * Voice Annotation / Speech Feedback
Human Computer Interaction
Conclusion:
Designing for illiterates should leverage multiple media and create more robust and supple interactions in the socio-technical setting in which they learn and make use of computer systems and software. Illiterates aspire to owning the same systems as literates and have effective coping strategies to overcome their inability to read both in the physical world and on computer systems. The latter, however, have reduced capabilities to structure and recall information.
Bibliography:
Gavaza, T. (2012). Culturally-relevant Augmented User interfaces for illetrates.
Knoche, H., & Huang, J. (n.d.). Text is not the enemy.
Mehdi, I., Toyama, K., & sagar, I. (n.d.). Text-Free User Interfaces for Literates and Illiterates. Information Technology and Development , 41-46.