Mid-Term Evaluation  Course and Instructor evaluation  Jennie Dorman

 “It was years after we had taken usability to guide us that it was said by some other companies that they could not afford to employ a usability specialist. Had they known the truth then, they would have known that they could not afford to be without one.” - Who said this?

 “It was years after we had taken chemistry to guide us that it was said by the proprietors of some other furnaces that they could not afford to employ a chemist. Had they known the truth then, they would have known that they could not afford to be without one.” - Andrew Carnegie, 1920 “Robber Baron” of steel mills “Robber Baron” of steel mills

Project Sharing  Team discussions –Share results of synthesis –Discuss your choice of methods and results  Class-level discussion –Each spokesperson share  One challenge  One surprise  One lesson learned

Administrivia  Example of the impact of Context  EPost participation impacts your grade  Exercises complete before class  Refrain from working on exercises and during class  Insights from exercises

Insight  … explore the differences between tasks we assumed users would be able to perform and what they actually performed. Participants struggled valiantly to perform what should have been easy tasks, if the interface had been designed with them in mind. As it was, yes, they performed some tasks, but at what cost in frustration and enmity for the company that designed such junk! A very real insight into a common problem.  --Mark Hoffman

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. Kelly Lillis 2. Angie Moulden 3. Mark Hoffman

Where are we in the UCD process?

Topic E: Moving toward problem definition Driving Questions:  How do designers use knowledge of users, tasks, and contexts to understand observed usability problems?  How does one set priorities for a UCD redesign? How does one constrain redesign?  How do designers manage the scope of a project? What are the challenges associated with managing scope (e.g., scope creep)?

Problem Definition  Beginning the process of translating robust (user) models into design solutions  Requirements Definition –Based directly on research and user models –Problem Statement (objective of the design)  A situation that needs changing for both: –Personas (users) –Business  Frame the design in terms of both user and business goals –Vision Statement (high level design mandate)  Start with user’s needs  Tie in with how business goals are met  Activity: create problem & vision statements for the Photo Book (Cooper)

Design Activity

 Usability Activity  Review Phase 1 design –Functionality problems –Usability problems (instructions)  Exercise: think, pair, share –How would you remedy the problems?  Discuss design ideas  Review Phase 2 design

Design Activity

 Usability Activity  Review Phase 1 design –Functionality problems –Usability problems (instructions)  Exercise: think, pair, share –How would you remedy the problems?  Discuss design ideas  Review Phase 2 design –Functionality –Usability problems  Exercise: think, pair, share –How would you remedy the problems?  Review Phase 3 design

Design Activity

Persona Expectations  Mental model of the persona should match the design model (how the design behaves and presents itself)  Car stereo anecdote (developing mental models)  Behaviors they expect from the product/system  Influences –Attitudes –Past experiences –Social and environmental factors –Cognitive factors

Context Scenario  Map out the big picture  Help people imagine  Focus on mental model, goals, activities  Only behaviors of the user and the system  Broad context, includes environment considerations  Illuminate frequent and regular use–describing an optimal, yet feasible experience  Key aspects –Setting –Complexity (related to persona skill and frequency of use) –Primary activities (to meet goals) –End result of using the product  Tool: pretend the product has magical powers to meet user goals (creative, outside the box)

Usability Goals  Measurable  Organizational goals  Format –A conditional statement –How many of what type of user will be able to perform what task within what measure –Establish the context in which a goal must be met –Conditions are generally quantitative (countable) or qualitative (subjective )

Usability Goals  Format –How many of what type of user will be able to perform what task within what measure  Examples –80% of managers are able to complete enrollment in the XYZ system without calling the Help Desk –90% of employees will be able to find their paycheck online within 30 seconds, beginning from the Home page of the intranet –80% of experienced users will rate their satisfaction with TME at least 5, on a scale of 1 to 7, where 1=Extremely dissatisfied, 7=Extremely satisfied  Activity –Write a measurable usability goal for selecting raters

Requirements  Balancing user, business and technology requirements  Fit criterion (success)… makes you THINK –Quantifiable & Measurable –How will you know if a solution satisfies the requirement? –Validate (test whether, or not, it truly is a requirement)  Skill: separating the real requirements from the solution ideas.  Within a business team –Get the conflicts out in the open, keep them visible –Conflict is a respectable form of creativity, of processing ideas  Waiting room (novel idea to deal with team/politics)  Consider non-user goals (corporate, technical, customer), but not at the expense of the user.  Successful products meet user goals first.  Good interaction design is devising interactions that achieve the business goals without violating the goals of users.

Rationale  Rationale for the problem –What evidence supports the conclusion that this is a problem to be solved by a design change?  Rationale for the solution –Why will this solution remedy the problem? –What design principles or patterns does the solution rely on? (rather than opinion) –Explain

Rationale  Example 1 –The middle area of the home page should be a portal to the different features and services available. Also, a portal gives users a context should they return to the site after taking their attention away for a period of time.  Example 2 –According to the practice of grouping related user interface elements together [3], the site needs to have a layout which more closely matches the customer’s work flow. Items which relate to a given task must be more closely situated. We will reposition components of the payment interface so that like items are in the same space. For instance, move the X and Y components within closer proximity of the payment area.

Business Case  Why should a business invest money in this solution?  Examples –Version Changes: The number one most common technical support inquiry is related to version changes (upgrades and bug fixes) to the program. A web-based interface would eliminate these inquiries as upgrades can be done centrally, behind the scenes, without knowledge of the user. –Using user-centered design methodologies, we found new users may not easily understand the site’s purpose, what the site can do for them, and how they would use it. Based on FY06 business goals of lowering user registration attrition rates and increasing net user base by 20%, we recommend home page and quick tour design changes to improve the user’s first experience.

Project Exercise Preliminary Design (first of 2 weeks)  For the first week of the two-week preliminary design effort, prepare a draft of key components of the project proposal in which you describe your analysis of the redesign situation and the problem that you wish the redesign to address: –Problem Statement  Clearly state what you think the problem is. –Rationale for Solution  Propose a solution that addresses the problem, justifying design decisions with user-centered analysis (i.e., using design principles as well as the information you have about your users, their tasks, and the context for their tasks. –Business Case  Provide justification for investing in moving the redesign forward.  This draft should be no more than one page in length.  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

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 Deliverable: –Describe the problem –Propose a redesign –Justification  Readings: –On design: visual, navigation; heuristics, prototyping  Upcoming Exercises: –Design –Heuristic Evaluation –Usability Study  Issue Statement: A reminder 1. Steve Messerer 2. Laurent Gherardi 3. Maren Costa