S556 Systems Analysis & Design

Week 12: November 18, 2008

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Announcements

Guest lecture by Mark Notess Next week’s readings

System specification document Sample outline available online

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Idea for Design/Usability Testing Report

The report should include three components: Idea for design (this can be a sketch,

etc.) Usability testing report Feedback from users/clients

2-3 pages

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Creating a Vision

Visioning: Encourages you to think more

systemically about your redesign Is both a “grounded brainstorm” and

storytelling session A method to lead groups in future

scenario building

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Creating a Vision

A drawing shows what the new work practice (see

HWW p. 215) shows people in the role they play, the

systems they use, how they communicate, and how the systems are structured

See p. 226 for an example

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Creating a Common Direction

How do you choose among multiple visions?

Instead of choosing, synthesize a new solution

Create a better solution by Identifying elements that work Recombining them to preserve the best parts Extending them to address more of the work

and overcome any defects

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Evaluation and Integration

Look at each vision and first list the positive points of that vision

List each positive point on a sheet and attach it to the vision

List the negative points and attach them to the vision also (e.g., HWW p.224)

Look across the visions and at the positive points

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Evaluation and Integration

Identify the core parts of each vision that you don’t want to lose Think how to combine them

If two visions support the work well, choose the simpler or the easier to implement

Choose the ones that are supported by data

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Making the Vision Real

Code/programming Documentation & services Marketing (users’ buy-in) Testing plan

Feasibility of the vision Technical investigation Management buy-in Scope adjustment

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Process & Organization Design

For internal system, the vision may imply changes to business process or business organization

The vision offers a new way of working

The business structure may have to change to adopt the way of working, e.g., ???

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Storyboards

A vision describes what the new work practice will be

The vision in storyboards will show how the system works

Each frame in the storyboard captures a single scene, I.e., an interaction between two people, a person and the system, a person and an artifact, or a system step (see HWW, p. 238, )

Build storyboards in pairs

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Storyboard Example

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Storyboard Example

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Redesigning Work

Understand the structure of work as it exists & issues implicit in the work

Become knowledgeable about possibilities for redesign

Vision a new world Work out specifics in storyboards

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Next Step

The vision & storyboards

A system design

Usability

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The Difficulty of Communicating a Design

Presenting a demo Hard to envision new work practice in the

presence of the new system Requirements specifications

Text-oriented Work models

Hard for customers to understand the work models ???

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The Difficulty of Communicating a Design

Customers need not just an artifact but an event, a process that will allow them to live out their own work in the new system and articulate the issues they identify (c.f., participatory design)

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Including Customers in the Design Process

We want to co-design the system with the users

3 obstacles: No one articulates their own work

practices as an ordinary thing Customers have not spent time studying

all the users of the proposed system Customers aren’t technologists

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Including Customers in the Design Process

The challenge for design is to include users in the process to iterate, refine, and extend the initial design concept

The starting point is an initial design concept an initial prototype

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Using Paper Prototypes to Drive Design

Prototypes: are not a demo are prop in a contextual interview enable the user to play out the

experience of living with the new system act as a language for communicating

between user and designer

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Using Paper Prototypes to Drive Design

To look at structure, the first prototypes are paper

Paper prototypes are easy to change Working through a prototype of a new

system and discussing the interaction of the system with the work reveals issues that would otherwise remain invisible

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Prototyping as a Communication Tool

The prototyping process not only brings the users into the design process, but it changes the design process itself

Paper prototyping reduces the cost of getting data so low that the team can demand on having it

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Discussion

What Is Usability Testing?

To get feedback from users about the To get feedback from users about the usability of a product.usability of a product.

What kind of usability testing experience do you have?

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Real Users

Testers must be people who currently use or will use the product in the future

“If the participants in the usability test do not represent the real users, you are not seeing what will happen when the product gets to the real users”

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Doing Real Tasks

“The tasks that you have users do in the test must be ones that they will do with the product on their jobs or in their homes”

“The tasks that you include in a test should relate to your goals and concerns and have a high probability of uncovering a usability problem”

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Observing & Recording

Test one person at a time You record both performance and

comments Measure: learning time, time to perform,

errors, ease of remembering and amount remembered, subjective measures

Ask the participant for opinions about the product

Usability testing is NOT focus groups, surveys, or beta testing

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Guideline for Usability Testing

Develop a prototype of a system List several tasks that users should be able

to accomplish with the system Make a list of potential usability testers Plan for data collection Schedule the test Listen and observe

think-aloud, video-taping

Usability professionals’ association: http://www.upassoc.org/

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Feedback Session (HWW Ch 13 & 14)

Do not have too much attachment to your ideas Open to your users/clients’ ideas

The goal is co-design Provide ownership to the users

Develop the ideas that would work

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Cost-Benefit Analysis

1. Identify the problem clearly 2. Explicitly define the set of objectives

to be accomplished 3. Generate alternatives that satisfy

the stated objectives 4. Identify clearly the constraints (e.g.,

technological, political, legal, social, financial

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Cost-Benefit Analysis

5. Determine and list the benefits and costs associated with each alternative

6. Calculate the benefit/cost ratios and other indicators (e.g., present value, payback period) for each alternatives

7. Prepare the final report, comparing the results

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Cost-Benefit Analysis

Title Budget (Million)

Domestic BO (M)

World BO (M)

The Lord of the Rings: The fellowship of the ring

$109 $313.8 $860.7

The Two Towers

$94 $340.5 $920.5

The Return of the king

$94 $377 $1129.2

http://www.the-movie-times.com/thrsdir/alltime.mv?domestic+ByDG

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Shortcomings of the B/C Methodology

Doesn’t identify the scale of the projects (ratio only)

Do not assess unquantifiable items in financial terms

Introduce biases in the approaches to a problem

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Analyzing Forces Force Field Analysis:

Is a method used to get a whole view of all the forces for or against a plan, so that

Helps decision making which takes into account all interests.

Is a specialized method of weighing pros and cons

Where a plan has been decided on, FFA allows you to look at all the forces for or against

the plan. It helps you to plan or reduce the impact of the

opposing forces, and strengthen and reinforce the supporting forces.

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Analyzing Forces

List all forces for change in one column, and all forces against change in another column.

Assign a score to each force, from 1 (weak) to 5 (strong).

Draw a diagram showing the forces for and against, and the size of the forces

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Analyzing Forces

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Adjusting Forces By training staff (increase cost by 1) fear of technology

could be eliminated (reduce fear by 2) It would be useful to show staff that change is necessary

for business survival (new force in favor, +2) Staff could be shown that the new machines will

introduce variety and interest to their jobs (new force, +1) Wages could be raised to reflect new productivity (cost

+1, loss of overtime -2) Slightly different machines with filters to eliminate

pollution could be installed (environmental impact -1) These changes swing the balance from 11:10 (against the

plan), to 8:13 (in favor of the plan)

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Group Activity

You are a member of a UITS usability team. UITS is ranching a new Onestart. Before implementing, President McRobbie asked your team to conduct a usability testing of Onestart’s student interface.

Your team needs to submit a plan for the usability testing.