HCI Core Content Principles

In this lesson, you will be introduced to HCI principals on a basic level. There are entire books and many Web sites devoted to effective implementation of HCI and UCD principles. The purpose of this lesson is to familiarize you with some of the most important basics of HCI. The following Slide Show will illustrate some of the issues of HCI. You will see examples of flawed page design followed by a corrected version.

Human- Computer- Interface - Standards
You should also know about several other elements of design and content management that are addressed by HCI standards. First we will look at two other elements of Visual Content.

Very small text can be hard to read, especially for those who have visual impairments. You are limiting your audience if your site text is too small. On the other hand, fonts that are too large are usually a sign of amateur web design--they cause the text to take up too much space, resulting in unnecessary scrolling.

Animations and flashing images can be very appealing and interesting. However, they can also detract from the important ideas on the site and can be annoying or disturbing to some users. It is best to use them sparingly, especially on pages that will be displayed for more than a few seconds or will be seen over and over by a user.
Next, we will look at four elements of Editorial Content.

Most people prefer not to read long texts on the Web (they prefer to print long passages to read offline). In general, text for the Web should be as short as possible.

Many users prefer not to scroll down a page. If you decide to avoid scrolling, it will affect the structure and chunking decisions you make.

As with any writing project, Web content should be developed with one's audience in mind. Style and tone should be appropriate for the audience and for the subject matter.

Because Web projects often have accelerated schedules, proofreading and final edits are frequently skipped. This can be a mistake, because poorly written content reflects negatively on your site. Taking time to catch language, grammar, and punctuation errors is worth the trouble.
In the next lesson, you will learn about building an international perspective into your site planning.

Click the link below to review your knowledge of some of the major concepts of HCI.
HCI Concepts - Overview

Click the Exercise link below to apply your knowledge of HCI standards.
HCI Planning Challenges - Exercise