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User ModelingLecture # 5

User-Interface design - Steps/Goals

UnderstandWhat is the problem

who are the users

what do they do

Articulatehow will users work

in the future

Conceptualizethe user interface

and interaction

DesignAn aesthetically

pleasing and consistent interface

EvaluateIdeas,

concepts, designs

Effective User Interface

Fits the user Is an interface that matches user characteristics

Fits the task Enables the user to perform his or her task effectively and efficiently

Fits the environment Is suitable for use in its intended environment

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Different design styles match different needs and users characteristics

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A Design Catering to Conservative Attitudes When It Comes To Money

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A Design Catering to Fun Loving Teenagers

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A Design Catering to subdued attitudes of seniors – Colorful, but quiet

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An Early Step in UI Design Identify and Describe Our User

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Why Consider Users - Examples

Characteristics

Role

Domain Knowledge

Demographic

Education

Design Implications

Information to display

Terms to be used

Design Style

Language to be used

How to Identify Our Users

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Narrow Down the set of potential Users to Primary users Secondary Users

Identify 2-3 focal groups

Create a Persona for each group

Narrow Down the Set of Potential Users

• To maximize the fit between our application and the users we need to design for a very clearly defined group of users

• A design for everyone is often a design for no one

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Also: Identify Direct and Indirect Users

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Nurse

Patient

DirectUsers Indirect

Users

e.g., Do we need to support large font in out form

Design that Ignores Secondary UsersGabriel Spitz

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Should a patient sign this document too?

Do you know what is this?

Before and After ConsideringSecondary Users

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Identify Focal Groups

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All potential users Focal users

How We Identify Focal Groups

Select 2-3 types of users or user roles to support based on: Type and category of the application we build Its business goals and objectives Business Case

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Focal Groups for Media Streaming Reports

Engineers System Performance

Marketing Quality of user exp.

Business Event Performance

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Describe the User – Create a Persona

Once the focal groups are identified, we need to describe the user

Description of the user in general terms such as All Students, Every Senior Person is not helpful It does not help us make effective design decisions

To support effective design we need to have in mind real users and envision the way they will react to a feature or design decision in our UI

A good tool to help us is User Persona

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What is a Persona?

User Persona is an instantiation of a hypothetical user

It is a description of a typical user along with stories about how s/he might use an application to meet his/her goals

It is an archetype of the user which will help guide decisions about the product and its characteristics

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Example of a User Persona

Example of User Persona

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the goal of persona is to bring the user to life and use it to design and communicate

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Use of Personas in Design

Examine a design feature in the context of our persona Will this feature meet the goals of our persona Is the feature important enough to our persona to justify

the development costs How should the feature be characterized to provide

optimal usability for our persona

Methods for Creating User Personas

Use ethnographic interviews with real people Immersive observation and direct 1:1 interviews

Focus on what users know and capable of achieving

Gather indirect information from marketing, sales, and technical support people They have a good understanding of who are the users

and what capabilities they poses Make sure their information is current

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Content of User Persona

User Persona includes in its description Name Role and job title Description of relevant goals, motivations, pain points Quotes and stories in the person language Relevant demographic information User characteristics Description of primary activities

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Design Questions for a Persona

Persona should inform the designer about: Specific knowledge they have of our application

E.g. Would the term “Enter” be meaningful to them Domain knowledge

E.g. Credit vs. Debit How often will they use our application

E.g. Once a month Where will they be when using the application

E.g. Outside the bank What expectations they have when using our application

E.g. Can take out unlimited amount of money All of the above help us anticipate the characteristics of the application

we need to consider

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Guidelines for Creating Persona (1/2)

Focus on behavioral pattern, not job description It is a narrative that describes the flow of someone’s day

Keep persona set small Too many personas will impose a memory load and reduce

their effectiveness

Focus on the user not the buyer

Kim Goodwin; http://www.uie.com/articles/perfecting_personas

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Guidelines for Creating Persona (2/2)

Add life to persona add a few personal details to reinforce the persona

characteristics

Use the right goals things users want to accomplish

Persona must be specific to the design problem We can not use persona that was created for a different

domain

Kim Goodwin; http://www.uie.com/articles/perfecting_personas

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Benefits of Using Personas

Help understand the users - who they are, what do they know about our tasks, what features will they need

Clarifies assumptions about users and usage – will this persona really “sky dive”?

Fully explore the design - use scenarios or how would this persona perform this task

Provide context for reviewers – will this persona know the meaning of “expunge”

Example of Relevant User Information

Check In Kiosk Users’ goals – e.g. Get home fast Users’ Characteristics – e.g. Limited

language skills, forgetful (I don’t know my flight number), uptight, etc.

Usage environment– e.g. Standing vs. sitting, heavy bag on shoulder, infrequent use

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In Summery

Persona is a valuable tool to guide the design But it needs to be specific

Keep number of Personas small So you can remember them

Persona is not us

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@ Focus on Behavioral Pattern Not Job Description

It is a narrative that describes the flow of someone’s day

It includes a description of their skills, attitude, and environment

It helps answer questions about job description, not specific tasks - e.g., are people multitasking, are there lots of interruptions

Sometimes for a given job we need several personas e.g., an experienced user and a novice one. This is because skill level here makes a big difference

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@ Keep Persona Set Small

The goal of persona is to provide context for decision

Too many personas will impose a memory load and reduce their effectiveness

Limit the number of personas to distinct behavioral patterns, not demographic E.G., A manager and an employee will have different

behavioral patterns when it comes to CRM, but probably not for email

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@ Focus on the User not the Buyer

Marketing people focus on people that bring in most money or a growing segment of the population

Design needs to focus on the people that will use the application, not those that will buy it E.G., in commercial setting the buyer and therefore the

target of Marketing is the executive. The user is the technician

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@ Add Life to Persona

Focus on goals, behavior patterns, environment, and attitudes first

Than add a few personal details to reinforce the persona characteristics

Remember Persona is first a design tool

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@ Use the Right Goals

Each persona should include 3-4 goals

Goals are things users want to accomplish tasks are the way to accomplish goals

Select goals that are related to or will help the design

Thus goals should be with respect of what an end user would like to get out using the tool – Outcome

E.G., Passengers do not want a boarding pass;They want to get home

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@ Make Persona Unique to a Design Problem

We can not use persona that was created for a different domain.

Within each domain personas will have different goals and different behavioral patterns