DESIGNS THAT FIT - Human-Computer Interaction and Management Information Systems: Foundations - page 187

C HAPTER 10
DESIGNS THAT FIT
An Overview of Fit Conceptualizations in HCI
D OV T E ' ENI
Abstract: It has been argued that fitting the human-computer interface to the user and the task
enhances performance. This chapter reviews these claims and asks whether such claims have theo-
retical and practical value. It begins with an overview of three types of fit: physical, cognitive, and
affective. Each type of fit is assessed for its value. The analysis then expands to consider dynamic
aspects of fit to increase its value both in changing the practice of design and providing more pow-
erful explanations of user behavior. The analysis concludes that there is value in the notion of fit in
HCI design, yet the current fragmented and incomplete treatment of fit and the current shortcomings
in its measurement hinder progress in this area.
Keywords: Fit, Design, Cognitive Fit, Affective Fit, Physiological Fit, HCI Metaphor,
Communication, Personalization
INTRODUCTION
Several researchers, using different conceptualizations and models of fit, claim that fitting the
human-computer interface to attributes of the user and of the task at hand enhances performance.
This chapter comments on these claims and asks whether such claims have theoretical and prac-
tical value. In particular, is the relationship between fit and performance nothing more than a tau-
tology, too trivial to be of any value? Or put in another way: Is “good fit” nothing more than “good
design”? Does the concept of fit facilitate better explanations or predictions of behavior? Do con-
ceptualizations of fit offer practical insights into how to achieve a better design?
The paper demonstrates that the concept of fit has potential value in theory and practice, yet
the current fragmented and incomplete treatment of fit and the current shortcomings in its mea-
surement hinder progress in this area. In an attempt to judge the theoretical and practical value of
fit, this chapter brings together several extant treatments of fit, providing a broad view that high-
lights existing, as well as missing, elements of fit. It ends with some unanswered questions left for
future research.
The idea of fit in HCI is not new. In fact, it can be seen explicitly, but sometimes implicitly, in
most metaphors of HCI. For instance, Kammersgaard (1988) characterizes four general perspectives
that can be applied to HCI: the systems perspective, the dialog partner perspective, the tool perspec-
tive, and the media perspective. The systems perspective considers a phenomenon as consisting
of similarly characterized components, all having a set of data types and a set of actions that enable
the components to process and transfer data. The systems perspective is important in providing a
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