Chapter 9Chapter 9User-centered approaches to User-centered approaches to

interaction designinteraction design

By:

Sarah Obenhaus

Ray Evans

Nate Lynch

Introduction

Some advantages of involving users Main principles of user-centered approach Ethnographic-based methods to understand

user’s work Design techniques that help users take

active part in design

Why involve users? Best way to ensure that users’ activities

taken into account Expectation management

– Process that makes sure what user expects is realistic

– Users will know what to expect-no surprises– Users less likely to be disappointed

Ownership– Users involved in design have a sense of

“ownership” and will be more receptive

Degrees of Involvement Co-opted full time

– Consistent input– Could lose touch with user group

Co-opted part time– Consistent input with careful management– Remain in touch with user group

Newsletters, Workshops– Good solution for large amount of users

What if short on time? Some argue that if the project is large scale

and the time is short, users will be a waste of valuable time

Braiterman conducted 2 studies that prove otherwise:– 3-week web shopping application

• Use paper prototypes

– 3-month gaming website• Observed 32 teenagers to gain insight

“Too much of a good thing?”

Heinbokel (1996) – Users could make project have less flexibility and lower team effectiveness

Communication problems:1. Users want more sophisticated designs later in

project

2. Users’ fears lead to less constructive participation

3. Users unpredictable and unsympathetic

4. Higher stress levels from higher aspirations

What is user-centered approach?

Real users and their goals should be the driving force behind design

Three principles:1. Early focus on user and their tasks

2. Empirical measurements

3. Iterative design

Early focus on user Five principles that expand on this:

1. User’s goals are driving force

2. System designed to support users’ behavior

3. System designed for user’s characteristics

4. Users consulted from beginning to end, with their input taken seriously

5. Design decisions taken within context of users, their work, and environment

What is Ethnography?

“writing the culture” (Hammersley and Atkinson, 1983)

Used to understand work Observers sit in on user’s work

environment and participate in daily activities

Experience is collected and documented

Ethnography and design

Three ways it is associated with design:1. “Ethnography of”

– Studies of developers and workplace

2. “Ethnography for”– Studies of organizational work

3. “Ethnography within”– Integrated into methods for development

Ethnography continued

Design deals with abstraction, and ethnography deals with detail

Framework of ethnography for designers:– Distributed co-ordination– Plans and procedures– Awareness of work

Could train developers to do studies

Coherence

Intended for integration of social analysis and object-oriented analysis

Present data from ethnographic studies through – “viewpoints” – “concerns”

“Viewpoints”

Focus question for each that guide observer through users’ workplace– Distributed coordination– Plans and procedures– Awareness of work

See figure 9.1 for some questions

Concerns

1. Paperwork and computer work Plans and procedures; awareness of work

2. Skill and use of local knowledge “workarounds”

3. Spatial and temporal organization Physical layout

4. Organization memory Records and formal documents

Contextual Design

Structural approach to gathering info from field

Seven parts: – Contextual Inquiry, Work Modeling, Consolidation,

Work Redesign, User Environment Design, Mockup and Test with Customers, Putting into Practice

Contextual Inquiry

Approach to ethnographic study that follows apprenticeship model– designer works as apprentice to user

Typical format includes interview, observation, discussion, reconstruction

4 main principles

4 principles of Inquiry

1. Context– Importance of going to workplace

2. Partnership– Developer and user should collaborate

3. Interpretation– Observations must be interpreted together by

developer and user

4. Focus– What do you look for?

Contextual Inquiry v. Ethnography

1. Contextual Inquiry shorter (2-3 hours)

2. Inquiry interview more intense and focused

3. Designer inquiring, not observing

4. Inquiry has intention of designing a system, ethnography has no intent

Working Model

Five aspects of “work” modeled:– Work flow model– Sequence model– Artifact model– Cultural model– Physical model

Interpretation Session Session occurs after inquiry, work models

produced at this time as team composes view of users’ work

Roles of team:– Interviewer– Work modelers– Recorder– Moderator– Participants– Rat-hole watcher

Consolidate Models

Affinity diagram-organizes notes taken during session into hierarchy– Work flow – identify key roles– Sequence – structure of tasks/strategies– Artifact – how people organize– Physical – physical structure commonality– Cultural – what matters to workers

Work Flow Model

Sequence Model

Artifact Model

Physical Model

Cultural Model

Design Room

Where all work models kept All known about customers found here Key element to contextual design

Participatory Design

Users actively involved in design as equal to design team

Cultural differences has been a problem UTOPIA project PICTIVE CARD

PICTIVE

Plastic Interface for Collaborative Technology Initiatives through Video Exploration

Uses typical office supplies to design screen and window layouts

Group or one-on-one sessions of design

CARD

Collaborative Analysis of Requirements and Design

Uses playing cards with pictures of computers’ screens to study work flow options

Form of storyboarding

Review of techniques

Ethnography Coherence Contextual design Participatory design

Key Points Pros and cons of user involvement User-centered approach requires much info about

users Ethnography good method for studying users in

natural surroundings Coherence-method that provides focus questions Contextual design-method that provides models

for gathering data PICTIVE and CARD-participatory design

techniques that empower user