Administrivia Issues – EPost and Portfolio Insights on supplemental readings Themes and insights from exercises UCD and Usability Usability – evaluation Contextual Inquiry – observation Feedback on exercises Overview of first Deliverable

Project Sharing Team discussions Class-level discussion Share results of user synthesis Discuss your choice of methods and results Answer student question list Class-level discussion Each spokesperson: share one challenge, one surprise, and one lesson learned Review answers to Student Questions Note: Ken & Elisabeth circulate, distribute exercises, and answer questions

Discussion of Readings Insights from supplemental readings. Facilitate class discussion of topics / ideas / themes garnered from the online discussion, related to assigned readings. Discussion Leaders 1. Linda Moschell 2. Cynthia Putnam 3. Susan Shinoda 4. Dina Fesselmeyer Leaders to turn in their 200-300 word statements.

Topic D: Characterizing Tasks, Goals and Context Driving Questions: What would we want to record and share about tasks? About the environment and circumstances under which users do tasks? How will information on users, tasks, and the task environment be used in design? What properties do user and task characterizations need to have in order for them to serve as useful tools for the design team? What challenges and issues can arise in user and task characterization?

Analyzing Tasks Goal of analyzing tasks Risk Develop an understanding of what people do Understand how they do things Learn about constraints Example: tying your shoe Inform the team so that they can create a design that Works the way that people do Succeeds Meets user’s goals Supports user’s values Accepted Risk A device-driven design rather than a user-centered design Developing a product/system that will not be used because it is incompatible with the user’s work Example: Visio the goal is “understanding”?

Task Analysis Fundamentals A task: observable, measurable action that has an observable beginning and an observable end Goal oriented Compare demands on the user to the capabilities of the user Understanding the interaction of a task’s components A framework for describing people’s behavior Attributes Order Frequency Criticality Tools involved Process (flexibility?) Time to complete Difficulty Sequences Interactions Examples of values: price is important; certain make of car, brand loyalty, Examples of capabilities: Can you type? Can you build a website? Can you write a program? Can you understand computer logic? Are you technically savvy? What skills do you have / not have?

Motivation Users decide when and how to use things People often have many options of tasks to choose from Depends on Time Cost Skills Capabilities Confidence Ease of learning Values You learn about a user’s tolerance and self-imposed constraints by observing. If you observe variations, try to understand how important that flexibility is to the users. Cooper/Reimann (About Face 2.0, Ch 5), pp. 60. Goals are shorthand notation for motivations Understanding WHY a user performs certain tasks gives designers great power to improve, or even eliminate those tasks, yet still accomplish the same goals.

Task Diagrams Types of Diagrams Decomposition Hierarchical Task Analysis Task List / Inventory

Decomposition Consider Inputs Outputs Triggers Goals extracted from interviews Bottom-up approach – start with actions Parallel actions as options/alternatives Understand the mental decisions users make while doing a specific task Often quite messy, but very informative Can you imagine/think of others?

Hierarchical Task Analysis Best for Optimizing the task Arranging the actions in a coherent flow Goal tree Goals Subgoals Actions Optional actions Substitute actions Checking task diagram for validity and completeness Why do I _______? (look to the box above) How do I _______? (look to the box below)

Actions Consider Purpose (why does this action move the task toward its goal?) Cues (what tells the user it’s time for the action?) Objects (what does the action operate on?) Method (what IS the action?) Options Errors Projections Recovery What if the action is not done? An example of a product/system that meets end goals, but fails to satisfy experience goals is Travel Manager. Meeting manager – developer “don’t want to talk about it”; technical issues trump user needs (database design overruled user needs) Developer – “I don’t have time to make that challenging technical solution work”

Task List / Inventory Granularity – what qualifies as a “task” Break down into sub-tasks until you arrive at the level that is likely to map to menu choices and icons. Add tasks that Users don’t do now They would not think to put on the list because they don’t know that they will able to do them An example of a product/system that meets end goals, but fails to satisfy experience goals is Travel Manager. Meeting manager – developer “don’t want to talk about it”; technical issues trump user needs (database design overruled user needs) Developer – “I don’t have time to make that challenging technical solution work”

Synthesizing Task Information Challenges Figure out the best way to help people easily and quickly do their tasks (and meet their goals!) Arbitrarily change task sequences without good reason. Tendency to become solutions-oriented. An example of a product/system that meets end goals, but fails to satisfy experience goals is Travel Manager. Meeting manager – developer “don’t want to talk about it”; technical issues trump user needs (database design overruled user needs) Developer – “I don’t have time to make that challenging technical solution work”

Context Develop an awareness Users influenced by context Activity around them Physical environment (workplace) Example: Clock radio Equipment Example: Postal Kiosk Relationships with others Pressure on users To go fast To not make mistakes Timed, tracked or evaluated on performance Is there help to answer questions and solve problems? Local computing focal Help Desk/Help Center Coworker System Administrators or Technicians Social Example: Failure of the computer-based training for call center staff Cultural Experiences related to Corporate Regional Professional Socioeconomic Metaphors – obscure or inappropriate Example: food labels (culture affects how a message is received) Cultural bias you bring to your observations (awareness) Good interaction design is devising interactions that achieve the business goals without violating the goals of users.

Project Exercise Task Analysis Using the contextual inquiry data generated collectively by the team, generate a synthesis of what you know about the tasks – frequent and critical. Description should also include information on the context/circumstances in which the tasks are completed. Prepare a one-page description of these results and potential implications for redesign. Bring copies of the exercise to class (one copy for each member of the team, one copy for the instructor) and also post it to your design portfolio. Due next Thursday

Problem Definition USER DATA PROBLEM DEFINITION User Task Context Field notes Profiles / personas Task Analysis

Looking back / Looking ahead Where we’ve been Topics – Readings and discussion What is UCD? What to know about users? Collecting information about users… Doing contextual inquiry… Project Insights about users, tasks, and contextual issues Actual data from observing real users Sharing among team members Resulting in… task information to analyze and synthesize Where we’re going Project exercise: Results of synthesis of task information Readings: On design, translating user and task information into design Summaries: One page Issue Statement: A reminder 1. David Rosten 2. Eric Lewallen 3. Arlene McBride 4. Les Kendrick