User Research 2

University of Washington HCDE 518

User Research 2

HCDE 518Winter 2010

With credit to Jake Wobbrock, Dave Hendry, Andy Ko, Jennifer Turns, & Mark Zachry

University of Washington HCDE 518

Agenda Announcements, Hand in

assignments Sketching Critiques Lecture – Interviews Design Activity Break – 10 mins Lecture – Questionnaires Design Activity Lecture – Observation

(direct & indirect) Design Activity

Break – 10 mins Readings Discussion –

Two Case Studies Next Class Group Project Work Time

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Announcements

R2 returned today A1 returned today Reminder to talk to me about team project if

needed

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Reflection 2 Nice work! Similarities

Focus on users Focus on context of use

Differences Level of specificity Differing relationship and degree of influence

Appropriateness All can be appropriate depending on the design problem Likely inappropriate to do just one technique alone Look for techniques that complement each other

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Assignment 1

Very interesting descriptions of what you love and hate

Many insightful design principles

Avg. score: 18.8

Common problems: Not explaining why an

interaction was successful or not

Not defining your design principles

Not applying design principles to your loved/hated things

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A1 – Some of Your Design Principles

Improve situation Accessible Aesthetic Sustainable Useful Intelligent defaults Safe Efficient Consistency

Error mitigation Expectation fulfillment Avoid errors Comfortable Feedback Understandable Learnable Flexible/Customizable Simple

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A1 – Things you love and hateLove :) Hate :(Beer can Super glue containerDropbox Plugin Automatic Paper

Towel DispenserRega P3 Turntable Cort Acoustic guitarBicycle ToasteriPhone 3GS iPhone 3GSiPhone GUI Alarm ClockAeron Chair Sieg HallPower cord Otis ElevatorUW Home page image slide show

Flickr

XBOX 360 controller TiVo title searchKenmore Canister vacuum

Cobbled Yard hotel website

iPhone Thermostat

Love :) Hate :(iPod Touch Nokia 6350Adobe After Effects CS5 Hard plastic packagingAutoCad welcome screen Interior Car Light ControlDental floss Rotating on/off knob on

floor lampAlarm Clock Android phoneAmeriTrade iPhone app McSweeney’s appDroid Incredible Bluetooth headsetsMacBook pro power adapter

Sircuit Skin bottle

Digital Camera Shower KnobSonicare Toothbrush DishwasherMacBook pro Microsoft OfficeiPod Texas Instruments

graphing calculatorWine Bottle Opener Universal Remote ControlKindle Bing Maps

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Sketching Critiques – Sports & Recreation

Break into groups of about 4 people Take turns showing off and explaining your 3

sketches with each other Each critic should offer advice and feedback about

the idea Strengths, Weaknesses, Originality, Feasibility Sketcher: take notes about what feedback was offered Critic: be critical, but constructive and courteous!

Each critic should sign the page after the sketches and date it with today’s date

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LECTURE – USER RESEARCH 2

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User Research – Data Gathering

Recording techniques Triangulation Interviews Questionnaires Observations

Direct vs. Indirect

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Triangulation

All user research techniques havetheir own limitations

Use multiple techniques to fully understand a design process Choose techniques that account

for the weaknesses of each other Choose techniques to cover both a

breadth and depth of the user experience

Key Concept

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Triangulation

What are some complementary techniques you might use to account for the weaknesses of each other?

What are some techniques that cover both breadth and depth when combined?

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Data Recording Approaches

1. Notes2. Notes + still camera 3. Notes + Audio4. Notes + Audio + still camera 5. Video

What are the advantages and disadvantages to each of these?

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Interviews

Purpose: Collect detailed information about tasks, activities, technologies

Suitable for relatively small number of people (5 – 30) - Shoot for ~12 to reach data saturation

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Interviews

UnstructuredBroad questions concerning some general area

StructuredNarrow questions concerning specific area

Semi-structuredBalance between broad/narrow questions

Focus groupsGroup discussion around a topic

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Creating an Interview Guide

Who do you need to interview and why? Demographic questions Open questions Closed questions Activities

Sketching Demonstrations

Reliability and validity Be careful about leading questions

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Running an Interview

0. Recruitment1. Introduction 2. Warm up session 3. Main session 4. Cool-off period 5. Closing session

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Design Activity: Devising an Interview Plan – 10 minutes

Scenario: You’ve been asked to gather information on the design of a patient education system for hospital/doctor's office waiting rooms

You’ve decided to conduct some interviews and to collect data with questionnaires. Propose a plan answering these questions: What is the goal of the interview? Who do you need to interview? How many? What kinds of questions/activities? List a few specific questions

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BREAK – 10 MINUTES

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Questionnaires

Purpose: Deepen understanding by collecting information from a broad range of people

Suitable for large number of people 20 – 1,000

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Questionnaires

Be clear on the goal Open and closed

questions Rating scales (e.g. Likert) Be sure to pilot your

questionnaire and expect to iterate 3-4 times

Online or on paper?

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Design Activity: Devising Questions for Questionnaires – 10 minutes

Scenario: You are designing a new video sharing system and would like to determine how people share videos online and what features they find useful and not useful Propose three questions (at least 1 open and 1

closed) Discuss ideas for distribution & recruitment

techniques, paper vs. online, etc.

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Observations in the Field

Helps you understand people’s context, task, activities, goals

What people do is different than what people say they do

People are notoriously poor and describing their work

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What to Pay Attention To

Key features Space Actors Activities Objects / workarounds Acts Events / triggers Time Goals Feelings

Questions How is the physical space

adapted to the job? What are the key

constraints on the job? Where are strategic

decisions made? Where are tactical decisions

made?

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Examples

What might you observe about each case? Is observation appropriate?

A nurse as she treats patients in a hospital A teacher while he is teaching a classroom full of

kindergartners A team of emergency medical technicians working

on a case A writer working on a book

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Laboratory Studies

Useful for studying and recording the details of how people perform: Goals Tasks Action sequences

Disadvantages: Not the user’s natural environment, missing context

Better for doing tests of prototypes

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Example

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Indirect Observations

Diary studies Beeper/Pager studies Interaction logs

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Diary Studies

Have users carry a diary with them to answer specific questions about activities throughout the day

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Example

PAL diary study Fits in one’s pocket Record when PAL is desirable

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Beeper/Pager Studies

Have users carry around a device that has them answer questions at given intervals Cell phone, PDA, Pager

Example: page user once every 3 hours and ask them to fill out a short survey on their current activity and rate sleepiness level on a scale from 1 to 7

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Diary vs. Beeper Studies

Both can collect similar types of information Diary is less intrusive Beeper can be more reliable at getting regular

data User is less likely to forget

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Interaction Logs / Usage Logs

Use software to automatically log interactions with a system e.g., number of clicks, time spent on task, etc. e.g., pages visited within a site: Google Analytics

Can also be used on other platforms using interesting sensors to sense context of use Example: Logging steps with a pedometer

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Example

Using Bluetooth tags to track people’s distance from their cell phones Intent: Inform design of “always on” ubiquitous

computing applications

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Design Exercise: Improving Picture Messaging – 5 minutes

Suppose you wanted to improve the picture messaging feature on a mobile phone.

Describe TWO different kinds of indirect observational approaches that might be useful.

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Summary: Consider study needs and purposes, pros/cons of methods

InterviewsFocus groupsQuestionnaires Direct observation in the field Direct observation in the labIndirect observation What types of recording techniques?

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Discussion: Your projects

What methods are you considering for your project?

How do they cover both breadth and depth? How do they complement one another?

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BREAK – 10 MINUTES

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Readings Discussion Preece, J., Rogers, Y., Sharp, H. (2002) Data Gathering. In Ch. 7

of Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. Wiley. 2nd Edition. pp. 290-352.

Huang, E.M. and Truong, K.N. (2008). Breaking the disposable technology paradigm: opportunities for sustainable interaction design for mobile phones. CHI '08. pp. 323-332.

Tee, K., Brush, A.J.B., and Inkpen, K.M. (2009) Exploring communication and sharing between extended families. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 67,2, pp. 128-138.

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Case Studies Huang & Truong

Questionnaire and Interviews Focus on understanding how and why

people dispose of their old mobile phones Identify design opportunities

Tee, Brush, & Inkpen Interviews, family trees Understand ways that families currently

communicate Identify design opportunities

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Questions

What were your overall thoughts? What did you like about the approach? What would you have changed about the

approach? Why do you think they chose the approach

they did?

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Next Class

Tuesday, February 1st Personas, Scenarios, & Storyboarding

Due Next Week Reflection 4 Sketching, Week 4

Sketch 3 sketches relating to “Entertainment” movies, music, video games, television, reading,

museums, etc.

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GROUP PROJECT MEET TIME