ukupa mar 10 william hudson: the psychological basis of nerdiness and it's implications for ucd
DESCRIPTION
This talk is based on William’s short paper to the CHI and British HCI conferences in 2009 about his large-scale study of IT workers.The application of empathizing-systemizing tests found that technologists have substantially reduced empathizing skills and consequently have real difficulty in appreciating that others do not understand technology in the same way they do.This will not come as a surprise to anyone who has worked in the IT industry for any length of time, but it does serve as justification for many of the activities undertaken in user-centred design.TRANSCRIPT
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The Psychological Basis of Nerdinessand its Implications for UCD
William HudsonPrincipal [email protected]
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Empathizing/Systemizing Theory
• Large-scale study of 450 IT workers (see Hudson, William, 2009, Reduced Empathizing Skills Increase Challenges for User-CenteredDesign, CHI 2009 Conference, Boston and British HCI Group Conference, Cambridge)
Agile UCD 2
Empathizers
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Systemizers
Please select1 bag at a time
RTFMAgile UCD 6
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The Perfect User
Visual acuityof an eagle
Memory ofan elephant
Navigation skillsof a bat
Stamina ofa camel
Dexterity ofa monkey
Copyright © Syntagm Ltd – www.syntagm.co.uk
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Technologists have strong systemizing but reduced empathizing skills
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(There is a small effect for the few female technologists, but no ‘crossover’)
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Men Women
Systemizing
EmpathizingEmpathizing
Systemizing
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SQ minus EQ Predicts Programming Ability
• In a separate study of 19 male programming students, there was good correlation (r=0.67) between SQ-EQ and programming ability tests (see Wray, Stuart, 2007, SQ Minus EQ can Predict Programming Aptitude, PPIG 2007)
• Individual correlations with SQ and EQ were much weaker
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Increasing Empathy
• Developers need to at least be aware that users may have different views or understandings of a problem and its potential solutions
• Partitioning UCD into a separate team or department not realistic in small teams (using Agile approaches, for example)
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Increasing Empathy
• Two points to consider– People-oriented people have higher EQ scores
than technologists– Even the lowest EQ scores for women were above
the average for men
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The Agile Team
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EmpathyBarrier
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Increasing Empathy
• Because of the ‘empathy barrier’ increasing the EQ balance in a team alone may not be sufficient to improve engagement with UCD
• We need to consider other ways of increasing empathy– Teaching it– Applying empathy-promoting design techniques
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Increasing Empathy
• ‘Mind Reading’ is an interactive DVD from Simon Baron-Cohen and colleagues at the ARC
• Active research in empathy and its mechanisms– Oxytocin improves "mind-reading" in humans
Domes, G., M. Heinrichs, et al. (2007). "Oxytocin improves “mind-reading” in humans." Biological Psychiatry 61(6): 731-733.
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Increasing Empathy
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(www.jkp.com/mindreading)
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Empathetic Design
• Research has found that empathy is related to specific components of the brain called mirror neurons
• They are activated when performing a task but also when seeing the same task performed by others
• To promote empathy we should rely on the adage ‘seeing is believing’
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Field Research
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Personas
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Usability Testing
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syntagmsyntagmEmpathy-Assistive Technology
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Agile UCD One-Day CourseCentral London, 10 May 2010• Understanding Agile, users and the relationship
between them • Promoting empathy with UCD techniques• Knowing what evidence will be most effective in
selling UCD• Adding value to an Agile team with UCD
• Early booking discount until 9 April• Special offer: Book 3 places for the price of 2
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www.agileucdcourse.com
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www.syntagm.co.uk/design
Agile UCD