Design and Agency

Designers, Users, and Users as Designers Traditional models of software design often keep users separate from design – Requires designer to anticipate users without much input from users – Ignores that technology and its use co-evolve Alternatives that mitigate these issues – Participatory design – Iterative design that looks at actual practice rather than purely controlled experiments

Traditional ‘waterfall’ lifecycle

A simple interaction design model Exemplifies a user-centered design approach

The Star lifecycle model Suggested by Hartson and Hix (1989) Important features: —Evaluation at the center of activities —No particular ordering of activities; development may start in any one —Derived from empirical studies of interface designers

The Star Model (Hartson and Hix, 1989)

Characteristics of approaches Usability testing Field studies Analytical Usersdo tasknaturalnot involved Locationcontrollednaturalanywhere Whenprototypeearlyprototype Dataquantitativequalitativeproblems Feed backmeasures & errors descriptionsproblems Typeappliednaturalisticexpert

Who are the stakeholders? Check-out operators Customers Managers and owners Suppliers Local shop owners

More Points on Design “We don’t predict the future, we design it.” – Technological determinism? Users will attempt to solve problems – Design systems to be adoptable and adaptable Structured vs. unstructured representations – What is CAD good for? What ends up as notes? The value of plans – Facilitating coordination, without constraining it (e.g. early workflow systems)

Interface Agents Modern versions of ELIZA Animated agents presenting emotions and collaboration Visions often seem to require deep knowledge of us and the world Interesting result: – Students playing Doom exhibited more stress during difficulty configuring software than playing the game

Affective (Emotional) Design HCI has traditionally been about designing efficient and effective systems Now more about how to design interactive systems that make people respond in certain ways – e.g. to be happy, to be trusting, to learn, to be motivated Color, icons, sounds, graphical elements and animations are used to make the ‘look and feel’ of an interface appealing – Conveys an emotional state In turn this can affect the usability of an interface – People are prepared to put up with certain aspects of an interface (e.g. slow download rate) if the end result is appealing and aesthetic

Example: Friendly interfaces Microsoft pioneered friendly interfaces for technophobes - ‘At home with Bob’ software 3D metaphors based on familiar places (e.g. living rooms) Agents in the guise of pets (e.g. bunny, dog) were included to talk to the user – Make users feel more at ease and comfortable

Slight Detour: Anthropomorphism Attributing human-like qualities to inanimate objects (e.g. cars, computers) Well known phenomenon in advertising – Dancing butter, drinks, breakfast cereals Much exploited in human-computer interaction – Make user experience more enjoyable, more motivating, make people feel at ease, reduce anxiety

Evidence to support anthropomorphism Reeves and Naas (1996) found that computers that flatter and praise users in education software programs -> positive impact on them “Your question makes an important and useful distinction. Great job!” Students were more willing to continue with exercises with this kind of feedback

Criticism of anthropomorphism Deceptive, make people feel anxious, inferior or stupid People tend not to like screen characters that wave their fingers at the user & say: – Now Chris, that’s not right. You can do better than that.Try again.” Many prefer the more impersonal: – “Incorrect. Try again.” Studies have shown that personalized feedback is considered to be less honest and makes users feel less responsible for their actions (e.g. Quintanar, 1982)

Disadvantages of Interface Agents Lead people into false sense of belief, enticing them to confide personal secrets with chatterbots (e.g. Alice) Annoying and frustrating – e.g. Clippy Not trustworthy – virtual shop assistants?

Responses and Actions Visceral – Unconscious, almost hard-wired response Behavioral – Result of unconscious, learned knowledge Reflection – Conscious reaction