Ch. 9 User-centered approaches to interaction design

1. Ch. 9User-centered approaches to interaction design Kevin Clark Matt Bergstein Carol Lawson Angelo Mitsopoulos Phil Townsend

2. Introduction • Involves finding out a lot about the users and their tasks • Recall Ch. 7 – Data gathering techniques • Naturalistic observation – studying people in their natural surroundings as they go about their work. • Discuss issues surrounding user involvement, and principles of a user-centered approach.

3. Goals of the chapter • Goals: • Advantages of involving users in the development • The main principles of a user-centered approach • Ethnographic-based methods aimed at understanding users’ work • Participative design techniques that help users take an active part in design decisions.

4. Why is it important to involve users at all? • To ensure that development continues to take users into account. • Helps developers understand their needs and goals. • Two important reasons for involving the user: • Expectation management • Ownership

5. Expectation Management • The process of making sure the users’ views and expectations of the new product are realistic. • Purpose – to ensure there are no new surprises for the users when the product arrives. • Tries to avoid the users feeling of “cheated” • Adequate and timely training • Better to exceed expectations

6. Ownership • Ownership – feeling that users have who are involved with and feel that they have contributed to the product’s development.

7. Degrees Of Involvement • Co-opting users to the design team • Informing users through newsletters • Some think that short projects (web), users require too much time to involve • Case Studies that disprove: • Web shopping application • Video game website

8. What is a user-centered approach? • Means that real users and their goals are the driving force behind development, not technology • Less a technique, more a philosophy • 3 Principles for a “useful and easy to use computer system”: • Early focus on users and tasks • Empirical measurement • Iterative design (Gould and Lewis, 1985)

9. Early Focus on Users and Tasks • User’s tasks and goals are the driving force behind development • Users’ behavior and context of use are studied and the system is designed to support them • Users’ characteristics are captured and designed for • Users are consulted throughout development from earliest phases to the latest and their input is seriously taken into account • All design decisions are taken within the context of the users, their work, and their environment

10. Understanding Users’ Work:applying ethnography in design • Ethnography is a method that comes originally from anthropology and means “writing the culture” • Aim is to make the implicit explicit • Force you to see and evaluate their everyday situations • Experience rather than a data collection exercise

11. Ethnography in Design • Stock exchange example • Can warn against attempts to integrate new technologies into a workplace without thinking through the implications for the work practice • Ethnography is about being reasonable, courteous and unthreatening, and interested in what’s happening

12. Ethnographic Framework in Design • Distributed Co-ordination • Means and mechanisms by which tasks are coordinated among users • Plans and procedures • Organizational support and how workflow models are used to support the work • Awareness of work • How people keep themselves in touch with others’ work and how information is shared in the workplace

13. Coherence • The Coherence Method: combines experiences of using ethnography to inform design with developments in requirements engineering • It is intended to integrate social analysis with object-oriented analysis from software engineering (which includes use cases) • It does not prescribe how to move from the social analysis to use cases, but claims that presenting the date from an ethnographic study based around a set of “viewpoints” and “concerns” facilitates the identification of the product’s most important use cases • http://www.acm.org/sigchi/chi97/proceedings/tutorial/ts.htm

14. Viewpoints and Concerns • Coherence provides a set of focus questions for each of the three dimensions (a.k.a. viewpoints) • The focus questions are intended to guide the observer to particular aspects of the workplace (see page 294, Figure 9.1) • Coherence also has a set of concerns and associated questions • Concerns are a kind of goal, and they represent criteria that guide the requirements activities • The concerns are addressed within each appropriate viewpoint • Once a concerns is deemed relevant to a particular viewpoint, then a more in-depth set of questions is used to explore the concern further (see page 295 Figure 9.2)

15. Some Common Concerns • Paperwork and computer work—these are embodiments of plans and procedures, and at the same time are a mechanism for developing and sharing an awareness of work (see page 296 Figure 9.3 for an example) • Skill and the use of local knowledge—refers to the “workarounds” that are developed in organizations and are at the heart of how the real work gets done • Spatial and temporal organization—looks at the physical layout of the workplace and areas where time is important • Organizational memory—formal documents are not the only way in which things are remembered within an organization. Individuals may keep their own records, or there may be local gurus

16. Contextual Design • Is a technique that was developed to handle the collection and interpretation of data from fieldwork with the intention of building a software-based product • Provides a structured approach to gathering and representing information from fieldwork such as ethnography, with the purpose of feeding it into design • See page 297 Box 9.5 for project example • http://www.incent.com/cd/cdhow.html

17. 7 Parts to Contextual Design • Contextual Inquiry • Work Modeling • Consolidation • Work Redesign—involves changing work practices • User Environment Design—produces a prototype that is used with customers • Mockup and Test with Customers • Putting It into Practice—concerns the practicality of the working system

18. Contextual Inquiry • Is an approach to ethnographic study used for design that follows an apprenticeship model: the designer works as an apprentice to the user • The most typical format is contextual interview, which is a combination of observation, discussion, and reconstruction of past events • 4 Main Principles to Contextual Inquiry • Context—emphasizes the importance of going to the workplace and seeing what happens • Partnership —states that the developer and the user should collaborate in understanding the work • Interpretation —says the observations must be interpreted in order to be used in design, and this interpretation should also be developed in cooperation between the user and the developer • Focus —“how do you know what to look for?”—a project focus is established to guide the interviewer, which will then be augmented by the individual’s own focus that arises from their perspective and background

19. Differences in Contextual Inquiry and Ethnographic studies • CI is much shorter than a typical ethnographic study. A contextual inquiry interview lasts about two or three hours, while an ethnographic study tends to be longer, probably weeks or months • The interview is much more intense and focused than an ethnographic study, which takes in a wide view of the environment • In the interview, the designer is not taking on a role of participant observer, but is inquiring about the work. The designer is observing, and is questioning behavior, but is not participating • In the interview, the intention is to design a new system, but when conducting an ethnography, there is not particular agenda to be followed

20. Contextual Inquiry Session • Data Collected by: • Notes • Audio • Video • Mental • Document ASAP

21. Work Modeling • Customer Centered Design • Shift from system to customer potential • What is work?

22. 5 Aspects of Modeling Work • Work Flow Model • Sequence Model • Artifact Model • Cultural Model • Physical Model

23. Work Flow Model • Diagram 9.5 • People involved in work along with communication and coordination

24. Sequence Model • Detailed work steps to achieve a goal • Don’t ignore goals

25. Artifact Model • Physical things needed to do the work • Eg. Sticky notes

26. Cultural model • Shows constraints on system caused by organized culture • Diagram 9.7

27. Physical Model • Physical structure • Eg. Office, Show how everything is linked

28. The Interpretation Session • Captures work model • Communication contextual inquiry • Interviewer • Conducts interview • Whose models are being examined? • Team must question • Work Modelers • Draw the model • Recorder • Keeps notes • Rest of team • Participate • Observe • Moderator • Manages • Rat hole watcher • Steers away from distraction

29. Consolidating the Models • Effinity diagram • Diagram 9.9 • Organize structure and theme • Built by induction • Consolidate • Consolidated sequence model • Structure • Common strategies • Artifact modes • How to organize and structure • Physical space • Area of constraint • Cultural models • Identify the influences

30. The Design Rule • Where models are kept pinned on wall • Contextual design

31. Involving users in design: Participatory Design • Users are actively involved in development • Users become equal partners in design team • Two influences on this early work: • Desire to be able to communicate about complex systems • Labor unions pushing for workers to have control over changes in their work

32. UTOPIA Project • Involving users is not simple • Cultural differences become acute when users and designers are asked to work together • This confusion lead to the development of the mockup • Simulates the working situation • Makes effective use of users’ experience

33. PICTIVE • Plastic Interface for Collaborative Technology Initiatives through Video Exploration • Motives for development were to: • Empower users to act as full participants in design • Improve knowledge acquisition for design • What you need: • Video recorder, pens, pencils, paper, sticky notes, cards, etc.

34. PICTIVE cont’d • Users generate scenarios of what they want system to do • Developers generate set of components that are relevant • Session divided into 4 main parts • All stakeholders introduce themselves and stake in project • Brief tutorials are given about different domains • Design brainstorming and manipulation of design objects • Walkthrough of design and decisions discussed • Video is a record-keeper of events

35. CARD • Collaborative Analysis of Requirements and Design • Similar to PICTIVE but more macroscopic • Uses cards with pictures of screendumps and computers • CARD is a form of storyboarding

36. CARD cont’d • Cards manipulated to show workflow during brainstorming session • Cards can represent users’ goals or specific task elements • New cards can be generated at any time • CARD can be used to compliment PICTIVE • CARD being macroscopic and PICTIVE being microscopic

37. Different levels of user involvement • Each project determines the level of user involvement • Projects can use one or any combination of the techniques discussed • Different techniques expand the level of user involvement • See Table 9.1 for a good comparison