designing for your user's needs

What will you learn?

The age of context

Simple guidelines to design for context

The first step in creating adaptive interfaces

How we will be interacting with our apps in the future

What is context?

Sometimes your greatest strength can emerge as a weakness if the context changes.

Harsha Bhogle

“

The amount of wearable technology is growing exponentially

820x

2010 - 2014

The Quantified Self

BIG DATA

9287Tweets per Second

Wearable computing + Big Data + Sensor Data + Social media =

A highly personalized world

Adaptive SystemsGetting quick answers to quick questions

The ProcessDesigning products directly from an understanding of how the customer

works

Research Storyboard

Prototype

The 3 stages of contextual design

Classifying ContextLooking for context when doing field research

Device

Device Features

● Size

● Input Methods

● Operating System

● Outputs

● Network Connectivity

● Battery

● Sensors

Environment

Environment

● Weather

● Brightness

● Temperature

● Ambient Noise

Beginning of Adaptive Interfaces

Time

Time

● Time of Day

● Weekend/Weekday

● Holidays (ecommerce)

Activity

Lean Forward vs Lean Back

Questions About Activity

● Do users have simple tasks to fulfil, or a more complex network of activities?

● Are these activities or tasks digital, or do they support real-world activities?

● Does the current activity have a physical component? How can we support that?

● Are the interactions likely to be lean-forward, lean-back, or both?

Individual

Individual Limitations

● The human body (Ergonomics)

● Memory

● State of mind

● Behavioral preferences

● Motivations

Human Behavior

Edward T. Hall’s Personal Space Research

Social

Questions To Consider A Social Context

● Will the app be used in more of a private or public context?

● Who else is involved in this activity other than the user?

● Is there benefit in asking the user to authorise my app with their social

networks?

● Does my app protect the user’s sensitive information with sufficient care?

Location

Context StereotypesAlways give users a way out

Mobile Isn’t Mobile

68%

of mobile usage occurs at home

http://advertising.aol.com/sites/advertising.aol.com/files/insights/research-reports/downloads/aol-bbdo-7-shades-mobile-abstract-final.pdf

VS

Data-Implied Context

Data alone cannot assure us of intent

Microinteractions

What are they good for?

● Accomplishing a single task

● Managing an ongoing task

● Interacting with a piece of data

● Controlling an ongoing process

● Adjusting a setting

● Viewing or creating a small piece of content

● Turning a feature on/off

The difference between a product you love and one you tolerate are often the

microinteractions you have with it.Dan Saffer

“

The pebble in the shoe effect

Creating Microinteractions

Triggers Rules Feedback Loop

Manual Triggers vs System Triggers

Rules for a Light

1. Turn on when switch is flipped.

2. Stay at full brightness until switch is flipped back to off.

Rules for a Light w/ Motion Sensor

1. Check every 2 seconds for movement

2. Movement detected

3. Is there enough to turn the light on?

4. Turn the light on

5. Check every 10 seconds for movement

6. If there’s no movement after 1 minute, turn light off

Feedback

Feedback

Short Loops

Long Loops

Don’t Start From Zero

Future Present

Thanks!Follow me @joezeoli

jzeoli@milestechnologies.com