10. CONTEXT
The physical context
Placement
 The first and most tangible part of
the context is the physical
placement of the system.
Public areas
 A system will be designed for use in
a public area.
- major part
 A system may be intended for
personal use but may occasionally
be used in a public space.
– some influence
Other information sources
available
 Part of the context of an interactive
system is the presence of other
associated sources of information.
Environment
 One obvious influence that the
immediate environment exerts upon
a system is dirt.
Audio context
 A system can influence its use is in
the effect of sound.
 Sound can also have an impact on
the privacy of the user’s interaction.
Visual context
 Too dark or too sunny
Colored light
 Less obvious are the situations
where a system is used in a context
where the ambient light source is a
colored light.
User ‘baggage’
 A part of the physical environment
often overlooked is user baggage.
 Conventional baggage
 Casual baggage
 There are few places to put
baggage
The user’s context
Introduction
 Cultural context
- The Japanese spreadsheet
• The user group context
- Different levels of expertise
- Different user groups
- Users with accessibility requirements
- Existing users
Cultural context
◈ Consideration
• Different work environments
• Culture is so deeply ingrained in us
The Japanese spreadsheet
 Many things change when culture
switched
 Date is different in Japan
 A large American burger
 There is no exception of cultural
context on design
The user group context
 Different sorts of users using the
system
 What should be considered in the
design process?
→ As easy and as efficient
Different levels of expertise
 Different levels of expertise and styles
of use
→
→
→
→
The keen photographer
The musician
The Adobe Photoshop whizz
The secretary
Different user group
 All sorts of different user groups
characterized
 Online system for the publishing of
scientific journals 1
→
author, editorial board, librarian,
society board, maintenance staff,
marketing people, and so on.
Users with accessibility
requirements
 Users with hearing or vision difficulties
 Designer’s responsibility
 It makes good economic sense
Existing users
 When redesign, that keep in mind
 ‘cognitive lock-in’
→ layout of supermarket
 Other Contexts
Other contexts
… also important
… less relevant
… deserve a mention
Vital issue - The technological context
Cross-platform
software
Web
(especially)
A vital
Issue of
context
Technological
context
The technological context
Apple
PC
CD-ROM
&
Other
media carriers
Great variety in the actual hardware
Screen
sizes
etc.
Speed of
the computer itself
Screen
resolution
Great
variety
Speed of
the cd-rom
drive
Support for
sound
Speed of
the internet
connection
Great variety in the actual hardware
This Hardware impact becomes even
greater as…
Introduction of games consoles
Ability to
standardize
All the
different variations
game designers didn’t have to take all …
On the software front
Simple
Suite
ofTrade
programs
Era
affect:
Focus:
Experience
of the interaction
Sell Surplus
TT
Focus:
To view:
PDF Files
Sales Era
Focus:
To view:
Beat Competition
Digital
video clips
The question of which web browser
Netscape
Communicator
Microsoft
Internet Explorer
• VBScript
• JavaScript
• ActiveX
• Plug-in
OR
• <marquee>
• <blink>
• Features
• Features
• etc.
• etc.
Standards
Increasing number of
standards
More pressure to make
obligatory
Voluntary at the
moment
Standards
Standard
Can be useful for justifying
a design to clients
The Designer
should be aware of
them…
A tool for designing
Standards
“This is the best way of designing it”
“This way conforms to ISO 8763”
YOU
© 2005 :: http://wave.or.kr
“Well, couldn’t we do it this way..”
“OK!”
Clients
Standards - Becoming more important is accessibility
Use of newmore
Becoming
media
important
systems is
accessibility
by
users with disabilities
Legislation for disabled users..
…Against online information
providers regarding
accessibility of information