Users
Dan Fleck
(slides adapted from Jeff Offutt and Joao Sousa)
SWE 632
User Interface Design and Development
Cooper Ch. 3,4,5
Know the User
outside-in design in a nutshell:
• know the user
• know the tasks
task
task
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task
• design the interface
© Fleck 2012
What to know about users?
• work experience
• reading skills
• computer experience
• language skills
• age
• visual acuity
• sex
• dexterity…
• education
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© Fleck 2012
Example
Example: We are developing a UI for a DVR (TiVo)
• work experience
• reading skills
• computer experience
• language skills
• age
• visual acuity
• sex
• dexterity…
• education
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© Fleck 2012
example
what representation
would map the designer’s intent
to the user’s understanding?
hill
intended workout
representation/manifestation
most users are familiar with hills
phys ed specialists are familiar
with effort charts
outside-in design
bridging implementation to user models
picture on the
bike’s screen
more generally:
how to capture meaning in a way
users will understand?
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© Fleck 2012
form vs. meaning
aka syntactic vs. semantic knowledge
• things that exist
• representations
thank you
• words
xie xie
• sentences
• symbols (icons)
gracias
cám ón
• combination & sequences
• objects
• people
• things that may happen
• actions
• causes and effects
• abstract concepts
• responsibilities
• goals
• tasks
SWE 632 – UI Design
© Fleck 2012
form vs. meaning
aka syntactic vs. semantic knowledge
• things that exist
• representations
• words
• sentences
• symbols (icons)
• objects
• people
• things that may happen
• actions
• causes and effects
• combination & sequences
• abstract concepts
various dialects
dependent on device,
OS, app…
rote memorization
easily forgotten
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• responsibilities
• goals
• tasks
computer-supported tasks
© Fleck 2012
form vs. meaning
examples of syntax
• find files
• find . –name “*.ppt”
• Start – Find – Files or Folders
• …
• search within files
• grep “b.b” filename
• open - focus - Ctrl-F – focus – “bob” - Enter
• …
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© Fleck 2012
form vs. meaning
more than one aspect/layer
semantic knowledge
task
computer
• technology-specific knowledge
• domain-specific knowledge
• what needs to be done
• domain concepts
• order of actions
• interaction concepts & devices
• keyboard, mouse, windows, buttons…
• OS & applications
• file storage
• printing…
enough?
+ app-specific syntactic knowledge
how to carry out the task using a computer
SWE 632 – UI Design
© Fleck 2012
traditional assessment does a poor job at
distinguishing different kinds of experts
the techie
domain expert
task semantics
the domain
H
expert
the all round expert
aka the pink elephant
the domain expert
with app training
H
the techie
M
the techie with
app training
M
L
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M
the staff with
app training
H
© Fleck 2012
different competencies
need different UI strategies
• the techie
• help with domain concepts
• some app-specific help
task semantics
H
• not how to do a search
• not how to get focus on field
the domain
expert
• the domain expert
• help with computer concepts
H
M
the techie
M
L
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the staff with
app training
M
H
• how to print
• how to import data...
• detailed app-specific help
• the staff...
© Fleck 2012
Example: Evaluate our users
Example: We are developing a UI for a DVR (TiVo)
• Evaluate a generic user in all types of knowledge:
• App-specific syntax, comp-semantic, task-semantic
• Is “computer semantic” relevant? Why or why not?
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© Fleck 2012
Syntactic & Semantic
• Syntax knowledge is about the specific form to
manipulate things, without regards to the concepts
• How to type, without knowing language
• How to turn a radio on, without understanding the sounds
• Semantic knowledge is about the meaning
• The language we type in
• The meaning of the music and the words
• “thank you”, “xie xie”, “gracias”, “cám ón” all have
the same semantics, but very different syntax
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© Fleck 2012
Perpetual Intermediates
• Cooper argues that most users are always “perpetual
intermediates”
• Beginners want to progress to make their lives better (and
because nobody wants to be beginner!)
• Experts frequently fall back to intermediates when they stop
being frequent users
Do you agree? (next slide)
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© Fleck 2012
Perpetual Intermediates
Do you agree?
• For what types of applications are people perpetual
intermediates? When is it not true?
• For what types of knowledge are people perpetual
intermediates? Syntactic? Task-semantic? Comp-semantic?
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© Fleck 2012
Summary
• Know the user
• Know the tasks
• Design the interface
• Know the users’ knowledge in multiple dimensions
• Semantic
• Task
• Computer
• Syntactic
• Computer syntactic
• Application specific syntactic
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© Fleck 2012
Qualitative Research: Finding
Information about the User
Cooper Ch. 4
• Know the user
• Know the tasks
• Design the interface
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© Fleck 2012
What to know?
• How does the product fit into the broader context of
people’s lives?
• What goals motivate the use of the product? What
basic tasks help accomplish these goals?
• What experiences do users find compelling? How do
these relate to the product being designed?
• What problems do people encounter with their
current ways of doing things?
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© Fleck 2012
Research Types
You can get information in many ways
• Interviews – stakeholders, subject matter experts
(SMEs), users, customers
• User observation/ethnographic field studies
• Literature review
• Product/prototype competitive audits
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© Fleck 2012
Ethnographic Field Studies
Observe the user interacting in their own
environment
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Avoid a fixed set of questions (you don’t know enough yet!)
Focus on goals first, tasks second
Avoid making the user the designer
Avoid making the user the developer
Encourage storytelling
Ask for a show and tell (demo)
Avoid leading questions
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© Fleck 2012
Applying Information about the
user through Personas and
Modeling
Cooper Ch. 5
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© Fleck 2012
Modeling Users: Personas and Goals
• a persona is not a real person – it’s a model
• skills & demographic profiles
• how users perceive & behave
• goals, motivations,
responsibilities
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task semantics
• a persona captures
H
the domain
expert
H
M
the techie
M
the staff with
app training
L
M
H
© Fleck 2012
Persona models
inform evaluation and design decisions
• which characteristics to model depends on the specific
problem
• user & stakeholder goals
• demographics: vocabulary, interpretation of symbol/signs, age
• pref. on graphical representation
e.g., map vs. list vs. augmented reality
• disabilities, sight, color-blindness
see http://www.section508.gov/
• voice: native speaker vs. foreigner
• left-handed, right-handed
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© Fleck 2012
Understand all relevant roles
• primary users
• each interface typically targets one primary persona
and maybe one or a few more secondary personas
• the primary target persona shapes most design decisions
• served persona
• don’t use the UI, but benefit/are hurt by it
e.g., nurse uses system while treating patient
• negative persona
• clarify who each interface will not cater for
e.g., hospital director
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© Fleck 2012
Example: TiVo
• For our example, lets create some “provisional
personas” (aka personas based on assumptions, since
we cannot do research!)
• Create provisional personas for the example using
the next slide as a guide.
• Remember: Personas are specific instances with
details.
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© Fleck 2012
what’s relevant for the tasks
User Personas:
more than demographics & expertise
• knowledge
• task semantics, computer semantics, app syntax
• goals
• priorities, commitment, attention, responsibilities
• skills & perceptions
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• short & long-term memory,
graphical interpretation,
language speaking/understanding,
visual impairment,
dexterity…
© Fleck 2012
Summary Modeling Users
• Determine the user’s goals, motivations, needs using
research, ethnographic observations, user
evaluations
• Understand and evaluate users knowledge in
multiple dimensions
• Generate personas for primary and other user types
to guide design decisions and evaluations based on
your research
• Know the user
• Know the tasks
• Design the interface
© Fleck 2012
SWE 632 – UI Design