Course Introduction
HCDE 518
Autumn 2011
With credit to Jake Wobbrock, Dave Hendry, Andy Ko, Jennifer Turns, & Mark Zachry
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Was that painful?
 How do you know?
 Sometimes, painful isn’t so obvious
University of Washington
HCDE 518
University of Washington
HCDE 518
University of Washington
HCDE 518
University of Washington
HCDE 518
University of Washington
HCDE 518
University of Washington
HCDE 518
University of Washington
HCDE 518
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Bad design is everywhere!
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Bad design can have big consequences
 Money
 $60,000
disappeared
 Social issues
 Voting
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Bad design can have big consequences
 Human Lives
 Therac-25 Radiation Therapy machine
 Air traffic accidents
 !!$rhi Iran Air 655 Airbus shot down by USS Vincennes’ missiles
(290 dead); Human error plus confusing and incomplete Aegis
interface (S 13 4); Commentary on Tom Wicker article on
Vincennes and SDI (S 13 4); Aegis user interface changes
recommended; altitude, IFF problems (S 14 1); Analysis implicates
Aegis displays and crew (Aerospace America, Apr 1989); Discussion
of further intrinsic limitations (Matt Jaffe, S 14 5, R 8 74); USS Sides
Cmdr David Carlson questions attack on Iranian jet (S 14 6)
University of Washington
HCDE 518
But we can try to help
 NYNEX was going to buy new workstation for
their telephone operators
 Each second saved per call saves $3M/yr.
 User modeling discovered it would be 3% slower
than original
 NYNEX did not buy workstation
 Prevented mistake, saved $2M/yr.
University of Washington
HCDE 518
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Summary
 Design is everywhere
 Design is hard
 Most everything is designed
 Much of it poorly
 Economic ramifications
 Life and death in certain situations
 There is hope!
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Agenda
 Motivation – Bad
Interface Designs
 More bad designs:
http://www.baddesigns.co
m/
 Introductions
 Instructor, You
 Break – 5 mins
 Review of Syllabus
 Basic Info, Assessment,
Assignments, Project,
Policies, etc.
University of Washington
 What this course is about
 10 minute break
 IDEO Deep Dive Video &
Discussion
 What is design?
 5 minute break
 Perspectives on design
videos and discussion
 Next class
HCDE 518
Introductions - Instructor
 Instructor: Julie Kientz
(pronounced like “Keentz”)
 Call me Julie
 Assistant Professor in HCDE and iSchool
 Ph.D. in Computer Science from Georgia Tech
 Research in Human-Computer Interaction
 Computing for Healthy Living & Learning (CHiLL)
 Personal Interests: Travel, Skiing, Running, Pets (have 1
dog, 2 cats), Volunteering, Reading, Games
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Introductions – You – Design Activity
 Invent a control for a smart home of the
future by:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Describing your users
Describing your users’ needs
Describing the functions
Sketching its appearance
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Design Activity: Process
1. Design Time (10 minutes)
a. Work in teams of 4
b. Define users, needs, and functions
c. Create a sketch
2. Presentation Time (1 minute each)
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
My Name is …
My Name is …
This is our control <show sketch>
This control is for … <describe users>
Use this control to … <describe functions>
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Design Activity: Reflection
Interaction Design – designing interactive
products to support the way people
communicate and interact in their everyday
and working lives in a way that creates an
overall positive, engaging, and productive
experience
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Distraction: http://www.drawastickman.com/
BREAK – 10 MINUTES
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Syllabus






Basic Info
Assessment
Assignments
Project
Labs
Course Topics
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Basic Course Info
 Website:
 http://courses.washington.edu/hcde518/
 Mailing List:
 hcde518b_au11@uw.edu
 Readings:
 All posted online, but you can buy several of the
books for easier reading:
Moggridge
University of Washington
Buxton
HCDE 518
Assessment
Component
Class Participation
Reading Reflections
Individual Assignments
Sketching Project
Group Design Project
Final Exam
Worth
10%
15%
15%
10%
40%
10%
Grades will be posted via Catalyst’s GradeBook
and handed back in class
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Participation – 10%
• Treat all with respect – be constructive in all discussions
• Come to class prepared – read carefully prior to class
meetings
• Be an active listener – be attentive, be engaged, use inclass technology with discretion
• Ask challenging questions
• Comment, build on, or clarify others' contributions
• Help your classmates use technologies
• Post useful or interesting information to the class
discussion list
• Visit the instructor during office hours to chat, to ask
questions, or to give feedback.
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Readings – 15%
 There is a lot of reading in this course
 As graduate students, I assume that you like to read
 Readings are all available on course web page
 None of the readings are pointless
 Reading Reflections




Rn on the schedule
8 total reflections
About 400-600 words per response
Post on GoPost by classtime the day they're due
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Assignments – 15%
Assignment
A1: Thinking About Design
A2: Look, Learn, Ask, Try
A3: Paper Prototype
University of Washington
Worth
5%
5%
5%
Due
10/7/11
10/21/11
11/16/11
HCDE 518
Project – 40%
 Group project enabling you to apply the
lessons learned in class to a real problem
 Work in teams of 4
 Teams & research questions determined
weeks 2-3
 Class time will be provided for coordinating
team efforts
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Project Topics
 CHI 2012 Student Design Competition Theme
 Space, Place, Threshold: Considering the Experience
of Home from Within and Without
 http://chi2012.acm.org/cfp-studentdesign.shtml
 Industry Sponsored Projects from HCDE
Corporate Advisory Board




Salesforce.com
GeneralUI
Microsoft
Others
 Anything else you’re interested in
 More guidance will be given later on
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Project
Project Component
P0: Design Question & Team Form
P1: User Research & Personas
P2: Ideation & Sketching
P3: Prototypes
P4: Final Report including Evaluation
University of Washington
Worth
1%
10%
5%
10%
14%
Due Date
10/14/11
11/4/11
11/9/11
12/2/11
12/14/11
HCDE 518
Team Composition
 4 members from a diverse team
 I get to choose teams….
 …but you get some input
 Fill out team form
 Turn in at the end of class
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Sketching Project – 10%
• Think about the products and things you use
in everyday life
• They were all designed by someone!
• Designs are rarely perfect the first time
• Sketching is an important skill in design
• Quantity + Practice increases ability
• Sketching is an activity and thought process and
way of communicating ideas to others
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Sketching Project
 In weeks 2-9, sketch at least 3 new ideas for how you
might improve everyday interactive objects relating
to that week’s theme
 Must have at least 24 sketches by the end of the
quarter
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Sketching Project
 Each Friday in weeks 2-9 bring your
sketchbook to class with 3 sketcthes
 You will meet in small groups to critique each
others’ ideas and take notes
 At the end of the quarter, you’ll submit your
sketchbook and a short report that reflects on
your experience
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Themes








S1: 10/5: Open-ended: Sketch three new improvements or design ideas to any problem you want
S2: 10/12: Theme: Travel & Transportation: Sketch three ideas relating to air and car travel, bus
travel, bicycling, etc.
S3: 10/19: Specific: Mobile Phone Re-use: Using today’s Huang & Truong reading as your user
research, sketch three ideas for how you might re-use recycled cell phones
S4: 10/26: Theme: Recreation, Fitness & Sports: Sketch three ideas relating to playing sports,
moving your body, exercising, spectator sports, outdoor activities, etc.
S5: 11/2: Specific: Your Project: sketch three ideas for solutions to your team project’s design
question based on your own user research
S6: 11/9: Open-ended: sketch three new improvements or design ideas to any problem you want
S7: 11/16: Theme: Education: Sketch three ideas related to class lectures, assignment turn-ins,
elementary school education, classroom designs, etc.
S8: 11/30: Very Specific: Using the Tee et al. article from Week 3 as user research, sketch three
ideas for components of a website that can be used to support communication between distanceseparated families
University of Washington
HCDE 518
A Note about Drawing Skills
 Good drawing skills are not required…
 Stick figures, scribbles, boxes, lines, and
annotations are perfectly acceptable! Quality is
not important, only idea and quantity.
 However, you can take a drawing class if you want
to get better
 ASUW Experimental College offers classes:
• Drawing for Absolute Beginners
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Final Exam – 10%
 Finals week – Wednesday, Dec. 14, 6:00-7:50
P.M.
 Based on readings
 Conducted at home, but timed
 Designed to take approximately 2 hours
 Should be easy if you keep up with the
readings and lecture material
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Policies








Academic integrity
Grading
Extensions
Late assignments
Accommodation
Quality of written assignments
Attendance
Food
University of Washington
HCDE 518
My Expectations of You








Be here on time
Do the readings before class
Turn in everything on time
Speak up in class
Turn off cell phones, no texting
No email, IM, web
Respect each other
There are no stupid questions/ideas
University of Washington
HCDE 518
What You Can Expect of Me
 I will be here on time
 Your assignments will be graded in a timely manner
 Typically within 1-2 weeks
 I will respond to email in a timely manner
 Typically within 24 hours
 If I don’t know the answer to your question, I will
find out
 I will treat you as professional colleagues
 You will have several chances to evaluate the course
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Course Topics
• Design Process, Fundamentals of Interaction
• User Research Methods
• Conveying User Research
•
Personas & Scenarios
• Sketching
• Prototyping
• Lo-Fi, Hi-Fi
• Evaluation
• Current Trends & Issues
University of Washington
HCDE 518
What this course isn’t




This course isn’t about technology
It isn’t (just) about user interfaces
It isn’t about “user friendly”
It isn’t about programming
University of Washington
HCDE 518
What this course is
 This course is about engaging users to design
the human-computer system
 It is about interaction, not interface
 It is about user success
 “User friendly” isn’t enough
 Mantra: “The user is not like me!”
University of Washington
HCDE 518
What you will learn
 Design
 design process
 design methods
 creating useful and usable things!
 Science
 conduct usability evaluations
 empirical methods, how to handle data
 Art
 an eye for the good, the bad, and the
 what to do about them
University of Washington
ugly
HCDE 518
IDEO’s Deep Dive
 Excellent example of the user-centered design
process
 IDEO’s Deep Dive Video
 Part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooN05Q030Qo
 Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7_sZy-kusw
 Part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxO8t9Sonk8
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Discussion
University of Washington
HCDE 518
BREAK – 10 MINUTES
University of Washington
HCDE 518
What is Design?
Creative endeavor
 Process of creating or shaping tools or
artifacts for direct human use
Outputs are things
people-centered concerns
Processes, methods
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Characteristics of Design
 Design…







is conscious
keeps human concerns in the center
is a conversation with materials
is creative
is communication
has social implications
is a social activity
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Design vs. Engineering
 Engineering





Make a mostly-known outcome possible
Construct a sturdy bridge based on specifications
Concerned with what can be done
Reliance on well-established formulae
Humans may or may not be directly “in the loop”
 Design




Envision new possibilities, new outcomes
Determine what outcome should result among infinite possibilities
Reliance on process over formulae
Humans are central actors “in the loop”
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Design vs. Art
 Design (as we regard it) concerns the creation
of something useful and usable
 Art does not bother with this restriction
 The test: how to deem what is “good”?
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Other Contrasts
 Interface vs. interaction design
 Artifact versus sequence
 Graphic < interface < interaction < user experience
 Usability vs. user experience (UX) design
 Evaluation versus holistic design
 Designing it right vs. the right design
University of Washington
HCDE 518
design vs. Design
 design: the general activity we’ve been talking
about so far
 Design: the formal field, including theory,
methods, literature, and practice
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Who Does Design?
 Designers!
 Designers are often…















Applied anthropologists
Design ethnographers
Social psychologists
Cognitive psychologists
Experimental psychologists
Computer scientists
Engineers
Interface designers
Interaction designers
Industrial designers
Graphic designers
Information architects
Usability professionals
Technical writers
Dramatists
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Can Anyone be a Designer?
 Don Norman says “yes”
 Mostly in the “design” sense
 Bill Buxton says “no”
 Mostly in the “Design” sense
 What do you think?
University of Washington
HCDE 518
University of Washington
HCDE 518
University of Washington
HCDE 518
What is Designed?
 “Look around you. The only
thing not designed is Nature.”
 David Kelley
 Anything consciously intended
for human use is designed
 Often poorly, though :(
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Why is Design Hard?
 Interface design is multidisciplinary
 Judging/predicting which designs will be
successful and which will not is difficult
 It is simply hard to come up with good
solutions
 The space of “the possible” is vast compared to
the space of “the good”
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Why is Design Hard?
 All design involves making tradeoffs
 Can’t maximize everything
 Good designs are non-obvious
 Humans are unpredictable
 Humans make errors
 Mistakes
 Slips
 Design relies on process expertise, not knowledge
expertise
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Core Skills of Design
 To synthesize a solution from all of the relevant
constraints, understanding everything that will make
a difference to the result
 To frame, or reframe, the problem and objective
 To create and envision alternatives.
 To select from those alternatives, knowing intuitively
how to choose the best approach.
 To visualize and prototype the intended solution
University of Washington
HCDE 518
One View of the Design Process
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Sketches on Design Thinking (Andy Ko)
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Design is not just “lipstick on a pig”
 Not just changing how things look
 Or making things pretty
 Or designing graphics
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Interaction design mantras
 “The user is not like me.” –Don Norman
 “The best way to have good ideas is to have
lots of ideas.” – Linus Pauling
 “Fail often to succeed sooner.” – IDEO
 “Enlightened trial-and-error succeeds over the
careful planning of the lone genius.” – IDEO
University of Washington
HCDE 518
“The user is not like me”
 Why not? (from Norman)
 Designers are much more familiar with the
interface and with the problems being solved than
users.
 Designers are confident. Users are often fearful.
 Designers work in settings that are different than
the context in which the product may be used.
 Designers may have different skills than users
(e.g., perceptual, cognitive, or domain skills).
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Repeat it out loud
 “The user is not like me”
University of Washington
HCDE 518
BREAK – 5 MINUTES
University of Washington
HCDE 518
A1: Thinking about Design
 Think about the objects with which you
interact and how they’re designed
 Derive design principles
 Assignment description posted online (A1)
 Due next Wednesday, 10/5/11
University of Washington
HCDE 518
VIDEOS – WHAT IS DESIGN?
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Interviews from Moggridge (2007)
 Gillian Crampton Smith (Director, Ivrea)
 What is interaction design?
 4 minutes
 Bill Verplank (Xerox Star)
 MyPC
 3 minutes
 Cordell Ratzlaff (Mac OS X)
 MyPC
 3 minutes
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Lessons?
 What lessons do these interviews hold?
University of Washington
HCDE 518
Next Class Topics
 Wednesday, October 5th
 The User-Centered Design Process
 Upcoming Work
 Get started on readings and reflections
 Assignment 1
 Obtain a sketchbook
 Sketch 3 sketches on whatever you want (open-ended)
University of Washington
HCDE 518