The Impact of HCI on Society, Culture and Economy

The Impact of HCI on Society

Improved Usability – Has a large impact on society because if something is easier to use it is normally less time-consuming meaning that people will have more free time and will be more sociable.

User Friendliness – User friendliness has had a huge impact on culture. For example computers used to be extremely hard to use as early PCs would have no screen and you would have to program it to do something in 1s and 0s using a panel of switches on the front, whereas now we have GUIs and keyboards which allow everybody to use computers with ease and they have become part of everybody’s everyday lives.

Domestic Appliances displays – Have also had a huge impact of society because now that we have so many appliances that we can use to speed up everyday tasks that, in the past would have taken an entire afternoon, we can go out and socialise rather than having to stay in doing jobs around the house. Domestic appliance can now have displays which makes them even easier to use allowing people to spend as little time and effort using them as possible.

Specialised interfaces – Specialised interfaces for example interfaces for those with sight or speech problems have had a large impact on society as devices such as portable text readers with keyboards where you type a message that the machine will read out which allow people with speech problems to communicate more easily.

Interfaces for hostile environments:

Remote control – Remote controls have had a large impact on society because it makes things easier to control such as TVs or stereos which you can interact with using a remote control from a distance. Also scientists can use remote controls when experimenting with dangerous or explosive chemicals to allow them to perform their tests from a safe distance. Furthermore remote controls can be used by disabled people to help them get around or interact with things without being near enough to touch them and use controls on the devices themselves.

Data logging – Data logging has a large effect on society because it allows us to monitor and predict events to do with the weather and the environment. This can mean simply predicting when it will rain in certain places or even attempting to predict when earthquakes are more likely allowing people to make plans and not have to change them because of the weather.

Complexity:

Fly by wire – Using fly by wire technology has made many things less complex such flying an aeroplane. There is now a person who is blind but thanks to fly by wire HCI is able to pilot an aeroplane.

Virtual Reality – Is still developing but it is estimated that by 2037 we will be able to have virtual reality in our homes which will impact greatly on society as it would allow us to connect with people all over the world and speak face to face.

The impact of HCI on Culture

The ways in which people use computers

Laptops – Laptops have had a large impact on culture because they are portable meaning that we can work, play computer games or watch videos on a computer wherever we are allowing for a portable version of PCs which nearly everybody has at least one of in their homes and have become fully integrated into our everyday lives.

Mobile Phones – Have had a very large impact on society because they allow people to communicate with each other easily from almost anywhere in the world meaning that people can interact with each other more easily but also meaning that people may not go out as much as they can talk to people very easily without as much effort.

Texting – Texting has had a large impact on culture because it is a cheap and fast alternative to phone calls which you can do quickly and on the move. Also recent advances in HCI such as mobile phones with ‘qwerty’ keyboards rather than older mobile phones that have up to four letters for one key make it easier to text faster. In addition to this some mobile phones have the option to turn predicative texting on and off so the phone can try to predict the word you are writing so that if it gets it right you can press enter and move on to the next word.

Mobile entertainment – Mobile entertainment has had a large impact on the way we use computers because it interests everybody which computers originally didn’t because they were designed to be used in business. Also mobile entertainment allows for us to take media and video games with us wherever we go so we can use it when we are on the move and when we are finished we can put our device into a pocket or shoulder bag etc.

Mobile computing – Mobile Computer allows for us to take work with us everywhere which means that we will eventually become totally dependent on them as we will spend so much time using them.

Domestic appliances – Domestic appliances have had a large impact on culture as everybody has them in their homes and they have become part of our everyday lives.

Games and games controllers - Have had a large impact on society because they make games easier to play meaning that more people will play them more often rather than going out, also Xbox 360 controls allow you to insert a microphone so that you can speak to other gamers over the internet meaning that people will be able to speak to people from all over the world.

Touch Screens - Touch screens have changed the way we live because they have made it much easier to use devices such as mobile phones allowing us to multitask more easily. Also they have allowed devices to be more versatile because with a touch screen you can have any buttons or keyboard that you want when you make software for it whereas if you have a device such as a mobile phone that has a keyboard then all of its software must be compatible with the keyboard whereas if all phones had touch screens there would be no issue with interface compatibility allowing everyone to use the same software.

Psychological and sociological impact

Impact of de-skilling work – De-skilling work has had a very large impact on culture because there are many people that have lost their jobs to machines that can do the job faster, cheaper and more efficiently. Also some people’s jobs have been made easier because machines do some of the work for them meaning that people will be able to get jobs that used to be complex and are now simple because of machines that do work for us. This means that we will not have to work as hard and as a result we will not be as smart as we would have been if we weren’t so dependent on machines.

Addiction – It can increase psychological addiction especially with people who play games. Also sometimes people feel that they need to always have the latest technology.

Impact of HCI on economy

Banking - E-commerce - Stocks and shares have all been affected by HCI now people can buy and sell from their computers or even from their mobile phones. They can buy shares in companies or access their bank account; they can also withdraw money from cash machines rather than having to go to a bank.

More jobs are available due to technology e.g. IT technician or call centre person

Also more people are being replaced by machines and are losing their jobs.

There are also products that have been spread all over the world now such as mobile phones which people spend millions of pounds on every year. For example O2s GDP on hardware alone in 2003 was over £1,000,000.

Mobile phones - Mobile phones have had a very large impact on the economy because they are being bought by everybody and they also allow business people to make calls from anywhere rather than just at their offices or at home, furthermore you can access the internet over the phone and buy things online or spend money on calls and text messages causing the mobile phone networks to make a lot of money.

Touch screens - Touch screens have had an impact on economy because they make things easier to use and are seen to be a good selling point for something and so people will pay extra for a device that has a touch screen.

Speed up inputs - there is software available that can help you to speed up your input such as automatic spelling correction software or speech recognition software, this can mean that you work faster and are more productive.

Reduced complexity of input - Reduced complexity of input will mean that people don’t need to waste time with complex input systems and will be able to concentrate on their work. Also less complex input systems will mean that they are easier to use so people will not need to have as much training to use it.

Increase automation - Increase automation means that more and more people will be replaced by machines that can do jobs more cheaply and more efficiently which causes more people to lose their jobs.

Text readers Help- people who cannot read writing from the screen can be productive and get a job if they listen to the writing being read back to them by software that can read text that you highlight.

Automatic judgement of output - Automatic judgement of output means that people won’t have to work as hard to do things as they will be done automatically and they won’t have to waste as much time checking

Thought input - Thought input can increase someone’s productivity by enabling them to use a computer when they normally wouldn’t be able to, allowing them to get jobs and earn money.

Voice input - Voice input can increase your productivity because you may find it easier than typing. It may also allow someone who can’t type using a keyboard to work and become productive.