Need-finding and Ideating

1. Need-finding and Ideating John C. Tang September 4, 2007 Turn in your Idea Lists! Sit at tables in groups of SIX (6)

2. Today’s newspaper (S.J. Merc)

3. Today • Complete intro to contextual inquiry • Other methods • Task analysis • Ethnography • Design • Ideating • Sketching • Brainstorming

4. Intro Christine Robson

5. Last time: Doing a Contextual Inquiry • Direct Observation + Interviewing • In natural context of activity • Intentionally pick participants, location, time • Follow where the participant leads (partner) • Learn user’s vocabulary • Gather artifacts, recordings

6. Outcome of CI • Experiencing it is perhaps the most important! • What are we going to do with all this data? • Analyze • Reporting Goal: Gain understanding of user

7. Understanding of user • What resources are used to accomplish task? • What hindrances encountered in accomplishing task? Analyze data to get better description and understanding of resources and hindrances

8. Resources used • Tools, devices • Cell phone, computer, shovel • Information • Web page, phone directory • Other people • Expert, peer, grad student

9. Hindrances encountered • Not having the right tool • Workarounds • Unable to access resources needed • Can’t find information • People unavailable • Unaware of important information • Confusion

10. Analyzing data is collaborative • Researchers involved in CI • Designers • Project leads • Software developers • Users Multiple perspectives elicit details

11. Analysis session • Each researcher presents each CI case • Resources used to accomplish activity • Hindrances encountered • Things that surprised you • Things that seem unusual, interesting • Other participants ask questions, share similar or contrasting examples from their data

12. Analysis session (2) After all cases are presented, team looks for patterns across cases • Commonly used resources • Commonly encountered hindrances • Common themes, patterns, sequences • Try out possible design ideas • What if…?

13. Report • Descriptive understanding of activity • Common resources used • Common hindrances encountered • Common patterns • Illustrated with stories, pictures, clips • Design implications / insights

14. Revisiting Jim and dating • Resources • Great looks • Witty stories • Good listening skills • Hindrances • Facial bruise from ultimate frisbee • Matching story with prospect’s interests • Noisy environment

15. Contextual Inquiry in CS160 • Asking for a Contextual Inquiry of group project (future assignment) • Each group member should do at least one contextual inquiry • Analysis done by whole group • Report

16. Task analysis • Goals • A state of the system that the user wishes to achieve • Tasks • The activities required, used, or believed to be necessary to achieve a goal • Actions • Simple tasks that involves no problem solving or control structure

17. Task analysis example Communicate with family student@berkeley.edu MomandDad@home.net GOALS Ask for $$ Add personality Starting the school year Hi Mom and Dad, The school year has gotten off to a fast start. I’m in a great Human-Computer Interface class! Write email Add emphasis Add to email TASKS Oh, by the way, please send more money for books. Gotta go! Open Compose window Type text Type text ACTIONS

18. Task analysis example Communicate with family student@berkeley.edu MomandDad@home.net GOALS Ask for $$ Add personality Starting the school year Hi Mom and Dad, The school year has gotten off to a fast start. I’m in a great Human-Computer Interface class! Hi Mom and Dad, The school year has gotten off to a fast start. I’m in a great Human-Computer Interface class! Write email Add emphasis Add to email TASKS Oh, by the way, please send more money for books. Gotta go! Oh, by the way, please send more money for books. Gotta go! Open Compose window Type text Format text Type text ACTIONS luv u bunches, student

19. Task analysis example Communicate with family Identify bundles student@berkeley.edu MomandDad@home.net GOALS Ask for $$ Add personality Starting the school year Hi Mom and Dad, The school year has gotten off to a fast start. I’m in a great Human-Computer Interface class! Write email Add emphasis Add to email TASKS Elicit breadth of tasks and goals Oh, by the way, please send more money for books. Gotta go! Open Compose window Type text Format text Type text ACTIONS luv u bunches, student Use standard actions

20. Ethnography noun -- The branch of anthropology that deals with the scientific description of specific human cultures. • Typically applied to study of foreign cultures

21. It’s a jungle out there Ethnography in the workplace Lucy Suchman, Human-Machine Reconfigurations: Plans and Situated Actions

22. Ethnography • Natural settings • a commitment to studying activities in the “natural” setting in which they occur • Descriptive • an interest in developing detailed descriptions of the lived experience • Members’ point of view • understanding the participant’s activity from the participant’s point of view • Focuses on what people actually do • understanding the relationship between activities and environment

23. Ethnographic HCI studies • Long-term, direct observation • Rich, detailed, qualitative description • Analysis takes at least 2X duration of data recorded • To learn, apprentice with a mentor

24. Other terms you’ll hear • Participatory Design (PD) • Besides partnering in the observation process, users can also actively participate in the design process • Primarily reacting to prototype designs • User-Centered Design (UCD) • Focused on the user, not the technology (we’ve been presuming this)

25. NEEDS DESIGN EVALUATE IMPLEMENT Design • Ideating – expressing ideas • Representing • Sketching • Enacting • Brainstorming • More ideas  more creative  better • Group vs. individual creativity

26. Design “ideology” • Sketching – “Visual Thinking” • Number of ideas, alternatives

27. Sketching in design • Allows quick iteration through many ideas (fast and cheap) • Suggests and explores rather than confirm • Stimulates left-brain / right-brain interaction • Invites sharing ideas • Product design roots

28. Sketching & Cartooning

29. Design sketch http://www.visionunion.com/article.jsp?code=200504140031

30. Screen sketch http://www.agilemodeling.com/essays/initialRequirementsModeling.htm

31. Screen sketch http://www.graphicalwonder.com/?p=12

32. Sketching exercise • Buying / Pumping gas in 6-8 frames • From memory of using these devices • Draw actions  focus on goals and tasks • Individually create series of sketches • Quality of drawings, details not important • Must convey the interface and the interactions • Learning by doing! 10-minutes

33. Approach pump • Open gas lid • Payment mode • Type in zip code • Select grade of fuel (optional services) • Pumping gas (auto-on feature) • Do you want a receipt?

34. Reflecting on sketching • Hard? Easy? • Did exercise suggest any ways of improving the taskflow to better match users’ goals? • Collect: Please make sure your name is on it • Discussion section: Perspective drawing

35. Computational sketching • Many software tools for “sketching” • Freeware gimp – GNU Image Manipulation Program http://www.gimp.org/windows/

36. Screenshots (Windows) • Windows “Print Screen” key • Typically found in upper right corner • Puts screenshot into paste buffer • Currently active window only

37. Screenshot (Macintosh) • Copy entire screen • <command> + <shift> + 3 • Copy region of screen • <command> + <shift> + 4 • Copy active item on screen • <command> + <shift> + 4 + <space>

38. Brainstorming • Technique for facilitating group creativity • Popularized by Alex Osborn, 1930s, Applied Imagination • Defer judgement • Wildest possible ideas • Go for quantity • Build on others’ ideas

39. Rules for brainstorming 1. Be visual 2. Defer judgment 3. Encourage wild ideas 4. Build on the ideas of others 5. Go for quantity 6. One conversation at a time 7. Stay focused on the topic

40. Brainstorming exercise • Create ideas that would help you communicate with your family, from your 90 yr. old grandfather, to your 10 yr. old younger sister • What are their user characteristics? • What kinds of info would you like to communicate with them? • Work in groups 15 minutes

41. Brainstorming + • Alternatives • Magnify • Minimize • Reverse • Leverage • Distort • Integrate 1. Be visual 2. Defer judgment 3. Encourage wild ideas 4. Build on the ideas of others 5. Go for quantity 6. One conversation at a time 7. Stay focused on the topic

42. Reflecting on brainstorming • Explore new ideas? • Surprised at number of ideas? • How much longer would you go?

43. “Manipulative” verbs • Adapt • Modify • Magnify • Minify • Substitute • Rearrange • Reverse • Combine • Multiply • Divide • Eliminate • Subdue • Invert • Separate • Transpose • Unify • Distort • Rotate • Flatten • Squeeze • Complement • Submerge • Freeze • Soften • Fluff-up • By-pass • Add • Subtract • Lighten • Repeat • Thicken • Stretch Extrude • Repel • Protect • Segregate • Integrate • Symbolize • Abstract • Dissect

44. Processing a brainstorm • Take a short break • Poll on interesting ideas (~10%) • Group ideas together • Identify and apply criteria • Prioritize • Identify follow-up tasks

45. Assignment: Map of Berkeley (Due Sept. 11) • Draw conceptual map of Berkeley that conveys your experience of the area • Introduce me to Berkeley! • Express visually, not with words (like Pictionary) • Create feature list • Show map to one other person not in CS160 • “Here’s a map of Berkeley I drew—tell me what you learn from it” • Record number of features they recognize • Hand in 2 copies (black & white copy OK)

46. Example Feature list • BART station • Soda Hall • Hill between BART and Soda • “The Play”, Cal vs. Stanford, 1982

47. Next time • Return to Soda 405 • Readings: • Millen, Feinberg, & Kerr, "Dogear: Social Bookmarking in the Enterprise" • Kathy J. Lee "What Goes Around Comes Around: An analysis of del.icio.us as social space“ • Guest speaker from facebook: • Dave Fetterman, Senior Engineer, founder of Facebook Platform • Ami Vora, Facebook Developer Community My office hours TODAY 2:00-3:00 6th floor alcove