UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS: 2016/2017
EXAMINATION FOR THE DIPLOMA IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
DIT406 HUMAN COMPUTER INTERACTION
DATE: AUGUST, 2017 TIME: 2 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer Question One & ANY OTHER TWO questions.
QUESTION ONE [30 MARKS] – COMPULSORY
a) Define the following terms and acronyms as used in HCI 12Marks
i. HCI
ii. usability
iii. perception
iv. MHP
v. mental model
vi. GOMS
b) Describe the four stages of Human Information Processing (HPI). Draw a neat diagram 6Marks
c) Differentiate between structural and functional mental models 4Marks
d) Define user centered design 2Marks
e) Describe the three types of memories in humans and their application 6Marks
QUESTION TWO [20 MARKS]
a) Explain why HCI requires that we put the human first in all design goals 2Marks
b) The following are some principles of usability. Outline each briefly
12Marks
i. forgiveness
ii. familiarity
iii. consistency
iv. Accessibility
c) Discuss visual limitations that afflict users. Describe possible remedies in interface design.
6Marks
QUESTION THREE [20 MARKS]
a) Define perceived affordance as used in websites 4Marks
b) List four instances of false affordance that should be avoided when creating websites 4Marks
c) Ouline four guidelines to ensure that system commands are more meaningful 4Marks
d) Ouline three types of meaningful icons. Give an example used in computer systems today for
each, sketch each example given 6Marks
e) Mention any memory constraints that users have 2Marks
QUESTION FOUR [20 MARKS]
a) Differentiate between gulf of execution and the gulf of evaluation 4Marks
b) Describe how the gulfs above can be reduced 4Marks
c) Differentiate between computational and connectionist cognition 4Marks
d) Define distributed cognition and give an instance in application 2Marks
e) Describe the stroop effect 3Marks
QUESTION FIVE [20 MARKS]
a) Describe the Gestalt laws of grouping 6Marks
b) Ouline any two input devices 8Marks
