Requirements Gathering …along with Ethics

Agenda Questions? TA introduction Ethics Requirements gathering Project brainstorming and informal group time Project – must have some computing and interface component. Can have some physical aspect too that can be prototyped.

Assignment 2 Semi-structured interview Think about your project topic 2 people, 10 minutes each List of questions Summarize responses Think about your project topic Due: next Tuesday by class time

In class exercise – observe someone Swap cell phones and observe each other Look up most recently called and return call Add your name to the phone book

Impressions? What was surprising? What problems did you observe? How would this be different in real world? How did you feel about being observed?

Working with People Issues of rights, respect, ethics YOU will be observing and talking to people to: Gather requirements Get initial design feedback Perform evaluations of your design Important to be professional with any interaction with potential users

Why an issue? Usability testing can be arduous; privacy is important Each person should know and understand what they are participating in: what to expect, time commitments what the potential risks are how their information will be used Must be able to stop without danger or penalty All participants to be treated with respect

Consent Why important? People can be sensitive about this process and issues Errors will likely be made, participant may feel inadequate May be mentally or physically strenuous What are the potential risks (there are always risks)? Examples? “Vulnerable” populations need special care & consideration Children; disabled; pregnant; students (why?)

IRB, Participants, & Ethics Institutional Review Board (IRB) Federal law governs procedures Reviews all research involving human (or animal) participants Safeguarding the participants, and thereby the researcher and university Not a science review (i.e., not to asess your research ideas); only safety & ethics

IRB @ UNCC http://www.research.uncc.edu/comp/chuman.cfm On-line tutorial Guidelines Consent procedures and template forms Protocol application forms Ethics certification Standardized training to ensure everyone understands the issues

Why are requirements important? To understand what we are going to be doing We build systems for others, not for ourselves Requirements definition: the stage where failure occurs most commonly Getting requirements right is crucial

Functional vs. NonFunctional Historically requirements Features, functions that the system should do Properties of the overall system “-ilities” (quality, evolveability, flexibility, etc.) Usability requirements

Not just “requirements” Overall goals, success criteria User characteristics Task analysis Environment – physical, social, technical Constraints Usability goals, criteria

(Not All) Requirements Gathering Methods 1. Observation 2. Thinking Out Loud & Cooperative Evaluation 3. Interviews 4. Questionnaires 5. Focus groups 6. Study Documentation 7. Look at competitive products Ethnography is emphasis here. Jeff - please say somemore about 2 and 3 and more about diff with 1

Know Thy User You want to know Who your users are What they are doing When they are doing it Why they are doing it What tools they are using How they are using them

Human Characteristics Physical attributes (age, gender, size, reach, visual angles, etc…) Perceptual abilities (hearing, vision, heat sensitivity…) Cognitive abilities (memory span, reading level, musical training, math…) Personality and social traits (likes, dislikes, preferences, patience…) Cultural and international diversity (languages, dialog box flow, symbols…) Special populations, (dis)abilities

User Characteristics Attitude, morale, willingness to change, motivation, reading level, typing skill, education, frequency of use, training, color-blindness, handedness, gender,… Novice, intermediate, expert System experience, task experience, computer literacy Cultural factors Uses of icons, colors, words, metaphors

Design implications Consider the implications: Fact Implications Users 16-80 yrs Range of text sizes Range of grip strength Some French speakers Multilingual interface Astronaut users Extensive training available Military context Aesthetics less of an issue Ruggedness is critical

What are the implications? Young, busy professionals. Product for use in their home/personal lives Busy professionals. Product for use in the office, discretionary use. Range of office workers. Product for us in the office, mandatory use.

Are Cultural Differences Important? Anna: the IKEA agent Designed to be different for UK and US customers What are the differences and which is which? What should Anna’s appearance be like for other countries, like India, South Africa, or China?

Physical Environment Amount of space to work Lighting levels / directions Noise level Temperature, humidity, dust… Standing / sitting Power availability Dangers Implications?

Technical Environment Computers/platforms for application Technology to interact with Networking Mobility Implications?

Social Environment How do users interact with system? Roles? How do users interact with others? Social implications of problem or solution? Interruption Privacy Implications?

Stakeholders Primary – targeted end users Secondary – receive output or provide input to system Tertiary – others directly receiving benefits from system success or failure Facilitating – design, development, maintenance

Stakeholder analysis Cell phone Bus location web page Nuclear power plant control system

Task Analysis Process of analyzing and documenting how people perform their tasks or activities Learn what users do, why they do it, how they do it, when they do it, with what tools or people they do it Task-subtask decomposition More next week…

Typical Real-World Constraints Elapsed time to market Cost/effort to design and implement Size/footprint/weight/power/price Computer power/memory (related to cost and power) Consistency with overall product line Backward compatibility Differentiation from competitive products

Usability Requirements Usability goals: such as learnability, consistency, robustness, etc. Ways to measure and judge success Time to complete key tasks - min, max Time to become proficient - do given set of tasks in given time Subjective satisfaction

Example What factors (environmental, user, usability) would affect the following systems? Self-service filling and payment system for a gas station On-board ship data analysis system for geologists searching for oil Fashion website for buying clothes

Bus location web page User characteristics Context: Environment, types of users Constraints: device, market, etc. Functional requirements Non-functional requirements

(Not All) Requirements Gathering Methods 1. Observation 2. Thinking Out Loud & Cooperative Evaluation 3. Interviews 4. Questionnaires 5. Focus groups 6. Study Documentation 7. Look at competitive products 8. Ethnography - learn by immersion/doing Ethnography is emphasis here. Jeff - please say somemore about 2 and 3 and more about diff with 1

Formative & Summative Evaluation Formative evaluation Conducting this process to help guide the formation (ie, design) of a UI Summative Evaluation Conducting this process to help summarize (sum up) the effectiveness of an existing or developmental UI Many techniques can be used for both formative and summative evaluation Our focus right now is on formative evaluation Will revisit some of the methods again later

Observation & Thinking Out Loud Watch user(s) doing activity of interest to you Video or audio record (with permission) Think out loud - encourage user to verbalize what they are thinking Not everyone is good at this Hard to keep it up for long time while also doing something; need breaks

Observing Tips Carefully observe everything about users and their environment Think of describing it to someone who has never seen this activity before What users say is important, so are non-verbal details

Cooperative (Participative) Evaluation Sit with user doing activity of interest to you Talk with user as the do their activity Ask questions Why are you doing that? How did you know the result was what you wanted? Are there other ways to achieve the same goal? How did you decide to do things this way? Relaxed version of thinking out loud Observer and participant can ask each other questions

Example: mall kiosk What could you observe? How could you use coop eval?

Interview Users Semi-structured: predetermine sets of questions Example question types How do you perform task x? Why do you perform task x? Under what conditions do you perform task x? What do you do before you perform…? What information do you need to…? Whom do you need to communicate with to …? What do you use to…? What happens after you…? What is the result or consequence of…? What is the result or consequence of NOT…? See ID 7.4 for more tips and discussion

Domain Expert Interviews Expert describes how it should be done (not necessarily how it is done)

Focus Groups Interview groups of users – 3 to 10 at a time Use several different groups with different roles or perspectives Relatively low cost, quick way to learn a lot Use structured set of questions More specific at beginning, more open as progresses Allow digressions before coming back on track More challenging to lead than single interview Some people quiet, some dominating Easier to get off track

Questionnaires (or Surveys) Easier to give to broader audience Shorter, more focused than interview General criteria Make questions clear and specific Ask some closed questions with range of answers Sometimes also have a no opinion option, or other answer option Do test run with one or two people

Other Typical Questions Rank the importance of each of these tasks (give a list of tasks) List the four most important tasks that you perform (this is an open question) List the pieces of information you need to have before making a decision about X, in order of importance Are there any other points you would like to make? (open-ended opinion question; good way to end)

Questionnaires - Example Numerical scales: On a scale of 1 to 7, how comfortable are you… Could also use just words Strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree See ID 7.5 for more tips

Example: mall kiosk Who to interview? What questions? Who to give questionnaire to? What questions? What about focus group? What are differences between methods?

Study Documentation Similar in some ways to the expert interview Often describe how things should be done rather than how they are done Try to understand why not done “by the book”

Look at Competitive Products Looking for both good and bad ideas Functionality UI style Do user task performance metrics to establish bounds on your system

Which Methods to Use? Depends on Resources Current knowledge of tasks and users Context Can’t use talking out loud if work involves two people working together Essential to use some methods Not likely you will use all methods See pg. 343 in ID

Which Methods to Use? Self-service filling and payment system for a gas station On-board ship data analysis system for geologists searching for oil Fashion website for buying clothes at large department store

Assignment 2 Semi-structured interview Think about your project topic 2 people, 10 minutes each List of questions Summarize responses Think about your project topic Due: next Tuesday by class time

Project brainstorming Your ideas?? System for monitoring energy/water usage in your home System to monitor energy/gas usage in your car System to help track the carbon footprint of your daily activities Web pages or mobile system to suggest alternative methods of travel to get from A to B. Mobile device to suggest greener product alternatives at the store

Reminder: MUST have interface component Think of someone else Avoid being biased by your intuitions Think of everyday problems Think about people and problems first, then technology Suggested Project Theme: Design a service to promote, encourage or support sustainability of the environment.