Human-Computer Interaction, 2nd Edition

Chapter 5: Designing HCI experiments

Abstract

This chapter presents the key elements in designing and conducting HCI experiments. The merits of a consistent methodology conforming to accepted standards for experiments with human participants are emphasized. Ethics approval, participant selection, and population sampling are explained. Through examples, independent variables, dependent variables, control variables, random variables, and confounding variables are defined. The choice of a task and the experiment procedure are elaborated with attention given to within-subjects vs. between-subjects designs, and counterbalancing using a Latin square or random assignment of test conditions. Order effects, group effects, and asymmetric skill transfer are ...