User Centered Design Lecture # 5 Gabriel Spitz

Problem with User Interfaces Nearly 25% of all applications projects fail Overrun budgets due to frequent changes to functionality and task flow Products are hard to learn and difficult to use Users are often slowed down, they make mistakes and they are unhappy with the product – The product is not centered around their: Needs – User wants to do A but system does not allow it Capabilities – User can not see the handle (paint) Experiences – User does not know what “expunge” means It is not User Centered Gabriel Spitz

UI Design Principles Meeting User Needs Visibility - Expose the interaction to the user Controllability - Let the user control the interaction Learnability - Capitalize on what the user already knows Consistency -Maintain consistency at the interface Feedback – Keep the user in the loop Memorability - Minimize reliance on user memory Tolerance - Minimize the impact of user error Aesthetic – Ensure good visual design; it matters Affordance – Let controls guide the user Know your user Gabriel Spitz

Example of a Poor Interface Design There is a nice hierarchy, but no headers. Users need to examine all the tabs Gabriel Spitz

To design a usable interface we need to adopt a User Centered Design approach (UCD) Gabriel Spitz

Example of a User Interface Design Concept: Active Time Out

Surgical Time Out A mandatory pre-surgery verification checklist Designed to: Eliminate human errors Ensure that valuable pre-surgery procedures were performed e.g., give antibiotic to reduce infection Ensuring that everybody on the clinical team is aware of basic case information e.g., allergies Provide an opportunity for a team introduction and a team huddle Gabriel Spitz

Surgical Time Out - Poster Gabriel Spitz

Observations on Poster Time-Out Usage Time-out is always performed, but it is performed fast and often with minimal attention The focus of many surgical teams is on the “Challenge” not on the data Team members often move around during time-out and can easily miss an item (not hear it) Team members seemed reluctant to challenge the time-out leader Gabriel Spitz

What is Needed Help the teams focus to the challenges as well as the data Ensure a common baseline understanding of the case details among team member Increase the likelihood of detecting errors Help team members challenge assumptions about the case Gabriel Spitz

Organization of an Interface Checklist Panel Checklist Focus Aras Challenge Category Challenge Cross Checked Information Option Selector

Initiating the process Mechanism User Intent

The Design of Active Time Out Goal Encourage users to perform the check Ensure awareness of the detail Provide a paper trail Some UI design principles that were followed Minimize interaction Provide predictability as to how long the process will take Compatibility with how people read Provide a focal point for discussion Overall design philosophy – focus on user Gabriel Spitz

What is User Centered Design A design approach that place the user at the core of the design process It is not centered on: Technology or what a technology can do Developer or what a developer knows how to do Aesthetics or what looks beautiful Although all of the above and more are important factors in the design Gabriel Spitz

Some Variations on UCD Goal centered – Design toward what the user is trying to achieve Usage centered – Design around how users will use an application or a product Work centered – Design to optimize the work users perform These approaches are user centered, but they conceptualize the user within a context of what users do These approaches include usefulness in addition to usability as their goal Gabriel Spitz

Developer Centered Interface? What makes this design more developer centric then user centric design? Organization of the information Use of technical jargon Gabriel Spitz

Objectives of User Centered Design Support the design of products that: Help users achieve their goals Are compatible with users’ characteristics Meet users’ needs Gabriel Spitz

Principles of User Centered Design (1) John Gould (1988) Early focus on users Establish direct contact with users to understand their characteristics, needs, and motivation Specify measurable usability goals that the new system should meet Integrated design All aspects of usability evolve in parallel – displays, controls, documentation, etc. All aspects of usability under one focus-Design, documentation, evaluation Gabriel Spitz

Principles of User Centered Design (2) Early and continual evaluation Measure the performance and reaction of the intended users when they do real work with simulation and prototypes of the user interface Iterative design The user interface as well as the functionality of the system is modified based upon results of users’ input and test results Involve users in the design Gabriel Spitz

Why Involve Users in the Design User Interface design is still a craft Our ability to predict human behavior during interaction with a given UI is limited Users’ needs extend over several domains including personal, professional, organizational Users’ needs change from situation to situation and time to time Our understanding of the processes underlying HCI are limited We need users’ input and feedback Gabriel Spitz

Benefits of Involving the User User inform designers about their jobs What is involved in their jobs What tools they use How these tools are used Users help developers identify what could be useful What is missing in current application or tool Users try prototype and comment on it Developers make incremental changes and iterate Gabriel Spitz

Factors to Consider in User Centered Design Organizational Factors Environmental Factors Health & Safety Factors Comfort Factors The User User Interface technologies Task Factors Cognitive process / capabilities Input devices, output displays, use of color, Easy, complex, novel Equipment layout Stress Training, job design, politics Noise, lighting Gabriel Spitz

User-Centered Design at its best? Developers working with target users Help define what the system will do and how Lots of iterative exploration and feedback Think of the world from users’ perspective Users and customers are not the same person Understand work process Points where human and computers interact Gabriel Spitz

Summary User-centered design is different than traditional technology approaches Leads to solving use problems up front Cheaper It involves users and know - how about users Gabriel Spitz