barbara white : interactive mobile system design

Who are our Users? Who are our Users?

barbara white : interaction design

Who are the Who are the users/stakeholders?users/stakeholders?

• Users are not as obvious as you think:— those who interact directly with the product— those who manage direct users— those who receive output from the product — those who make the purchasing decision — those who use competitor’s products

•Three categories of user (Eason, 1987): — primary: frequent hands-on— secondary: occasional or via someone else— tertiary: affected by its introduction, or will influence its

purchase

barbara white : interaction design

Why involve users at Why involve users at all?all?

•Expectation management • Realistic expectations • No surprises, no disappointments• Timely training• Communication, but no hype

•Ownership • Make the users active stakeholders• More likely to forgive or accept problems• Can make a big difference to acceptance and success of product

barbara white : interaction design

Degrees of user Degrees of user involvement involvement

•Member of the design team

•Newsletters and other dissemination devices

•Combination of these approaches

Full time: constant input, but lose touch with usersPart time: patchy input, and very stressfulShort term: inconsistent across project lifeLong term: consistent, but lose touch with usersReach wider selection of usersNeed communication both ways

barbara white : interaction design

User-centered approach is based on:

– Early focus on users and tasks: directly studying cognitive, behavioral, anthropomorphic & attitudinal characteristics

– Empirical measurement: users’ reactions and performance to scenarios, manuals, simulations & prototypes are observed, recorded and analysed

– Iterative design: when problems are found in user testing, fix them and carry out more tests

What is a user-centered approach?What is a user-centered approach?

barbara white : interaction design

What do we need to find out What do we need to find out about usersabout users

• Users’ tasks and goals are the driving force behind the development

• Users’ behavior and context of use are studied and the product is designed to support them

• Users’ characteristics are captured & designed for

• Users are consulted throughout development, from earliest phases to the latest, and their input is seriously taken into account

• All design decisions are taken within the context of the user, their work and their environment