Observing Users (finishing up) Intro to HCI

Announcements Notice upcoming due dates (web page) Discussion: Did your observations have enough detail to make us feel “there”? If we had been following the inventory guidelines Formative studies’ output

Input Input: Surveys/questionnaires Interviews Observation Documentation Automatic data recording/tracking Formative studies’ output Diagram architectural diagrams, notes during meetings Interaction logs

Output Output: making sense of the input: List of problems (e.g., Steve Krug min 6-7:30) When is this what you need? Task Outlines Scenarios & Use Cases After we show these, again ask: when is this what you need? Diagrams and Flow charts Visualizations with counts of Phenomena After we show these, again ask: when are these what you need? Number of ways

Task Outline Using a lawnmower to cut grass Step 1. Examine lawn Make sure grass is dry Look for objects laying in the grass Step 2. Inspect lawnmower Check components for tightness Check that grass bag handle is securely fastened to the grass bag support Make sure grass bag connector is securely fastened to bag adaptor Make sure that deck cover is in place Check for any loose parts (such as oil caps) Check to make sure blade is attached securely Check engine oil level Remove oil fill cap and dipstick Wipe dipstick Replace dipstick completely in lawnmower Remove dipstick Check that oil is past the level line on dipstick …

Task Outlines When is this what you need? Advantages/disadvantages: Good for sequential tasks Does not support parallel tasks well Does not support branching well When is this what you need? To understand users task What they do without computers and what can they with computer systems

Scenarios Describe tasks in sentences. (Especially good if user describes it.) Effective for communicating general idea of task. Not effective for tasks with much branching, or parallel tasks Scenarios: “informal narrative description” Focus on tasks / activities, not system (technology) use ~ One path thru a use-case, but from user/task perspective. “Say I want to find a book by G. Jeffries. I don’t remember the title, but I know it was ... I go to the catalog and enter my ... I don’t understand why I have to do this, since ... However, once ..., I am given a choice of ... or ..., but not ... I chose the ... because ... but now ... When I see this, I realize that in fact I made a mistake on ..., so I ... Finally I see the entry I want. Scemario : one user way of doing task Use case: understanding several users task Example ix excerpted from Rogers, p. 506

Use Cases Use Cases – usually comes from documentation Focus on supported paths through user-system interaction, not tasks. Not effective for the user persepctive, emotions and reasoning. eg: 1. System displays options for ... 2. User chooses the option to find out ... 3. System prompts user for ... 4. User enters ... ... Alternative courses: 3. If the option entered is invalid: 3.1 System displays error message. 3.2 System returns to step 1. 5. If the ... Example excerpted from Rogers book p. 511 (?)

A use case expressed in UML.

Diagrams, Flow Charts. To show sequence, space, relationships…

Other Visualizations Eg: count user behaviors/phenomena over time dotted bar is where task 1 ended and task 2 began

Visualizations (cont.) Eg: Co-occurrence of phenomena

Visualizations (cont.) Eg: Across time to show interesting change. Time Gaps opened (light) and closed (dark) over time.

Summary Inputs: Data from interviews, observations, etc. Lot of raw test and/or recordings. Outputs: Ways to make sense of it. Task outline (understand task) Scenario (understand one user’s way of doing things) Use case (shows supported paths thru) Diagram/flow charts (relationships, paths, sequences) Visualization (Understand frequencies, patterns and relationships)