User Needs
HCI 510
Human-Computer Interaction – Methods I
(Design and Evaluation)
Work Contact Details :
Dr. Damian Schofield
Director of Human Computer Interaction
Computer Science Department
State University of New York (SUNY) at Oswego
7060 Route 104, Oswego, New York, 13126-3599
Tel: +1 (410) 504-3178
Email : schofield@cs.oswego.edu
Web : http://www.cs.oswego.edu/hci
HCI 510 – Human-Computer Interaction Methods I
Dr. Damian Schofield
User Needs
What is Usability ?
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Usability is the degree to which something is easy to use and a good fit for the people who use it.
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It is a quality or characteristic of a product.
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It is whether a product is efficient, effective and satisfying for those who use it.
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It is the name for the techniques developed by usability professionals to help create usable products.
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It is a shorthand term for a process or approach to creating those products, also called user-centered design.
Definitions of Usability :
Usability means that the people who use the product can do so quickly and easily to accomplish their own tasks. This
definition rests on four points: (1) Usability means focusing on users; (2) people use products to be productive; (3) users
are busy people trying to accomplish tasks; and (4) users decide when a product is easy to use. 1
After all, usability really just means that making sure that something works well: that a person of average (or even
below average) ability and experience can use the thing - whether it's a Web site, a fighter jet, or a revolving door - for
its intended purpose without getting hopelessly frustrated.2
It is important to realize that usability is not a single, one-dimensional property of a user interface. Usability has
multiple components and is traditionally associated with these five usability attributes: learnability, efficiency,
memorability, errors, satisfaction.3
Usability has an ISO standard (ISO 9241-11), where usability is defined as: effectiveness, efficiency and user satisfaction. 4
Quotes about Usability (my order) :
1.
“Once the product's task is known, design the interface first; then implement based on the interface design. As far
as the customer is concerned, the interface is the product.”5
2.
“More time is wasted in front of computers than on highways.”6
3.
“The trouble with software is... it sucks. That's not a nice thing to say... but it is a fundamental truth. Software
customers -- you, me, CIOs of multibillion-dollar companies...have learned to live with mediocre software. We do
not count on software to be intuitively easy to understand or to work consistently. Instead, we make do.”7
4.
“One reason so many large, important systems are not being used, or that users have to work around the system to
get the work done, is that the programmers didn't understand what the users were doing. They develop the
application according to their own interpretation.”8
5.
“Usability is about human behavior. It recognizes that humans are lazy, get emotional, are not interested in putting
a lot of effort into, say, getting a credit card and generally prefer things that are easy to do vs. those that are hard
to do.”9
6.
“People want less information, they don't want more information. They want it to be easier for them to use. Easier
for them to get what they want. Easier for them to do what they want to do. The next big breakthrough, in my
mind, is going to come from the usability standpoint... A lot of the technology is there right now. The pieces are
there... [Technology] is ahead of the software curve... ahead of people's and companies' ability to integrate the
technology and to support the technology.”10
Janice Redish and Joseph Dumas, A Practical Guide to Usability Testing, 1999, p. 4
Steve Krug, Don't Make Me Think, 2000, p. 5
Jakob Nielsen, Usability Engineering, 1993, p. 26
4 International Organisation for Standards, 1997.
5 Jef Raskin, Digital Ground, 2004
6 Ben Shneiderman, Universal Usability, 2000
7 Stewart Alsop, The Problem with Software, Fortune, 6/16/96.
8 Finn Kensing, Roskilde University, Denmark, CIO, 10/15/96.
9 David McQuillen, "Taking Usability Offline" Darwin Magazine, June 2003
10 Ted Waitt, chairman, CEO and founder, Gateway, Inc. ("Charlie Rose", PBS, 5/27/98)
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HCI 510 – Human-Computer Interaction Methods I
Dr. Damian Schofield
User Centered Design – Process
Understanding who users are and what they are doing can and should be a critical component of any HCI investigation.
The techniques and methods used to obtain user and task information come from usability engineering, which is a group of
development methodologies that combine engineering, psychology, computer science and usability methodologies.
In broad terms, User Centered Design (UCD) is a design philosophy and a process in which the needs, wants, and
limitations of end users of a product, interface or document are given extensive attention at each stage of the design
process. User centered design can be characterized as a multi-stage problem solving process that not only requires
designers to analyze and foresee how users are likely to use an interface, but also to test the validity of their assumptions
with regards to user behaviour in real world tests with actual users. Such testing is necessary as it is often very difficult
for the designers of an interface to understand intuitively what a first-time user of their design experiences, and what
each user's learning curve may look like.
The chief difference from other interface design philosophies is that user-centered design tries to optimize the user
interface around how people can, want, or need to work, rather than forcing the users to change how they work to
accommodate the developers approach.
One of the international standards that is the basis for many UCD
methodologies (ISO 13407: Human-centered design process) defines a
general process for including human-centered activities throughout a
development life-cycle, but does not specify exact methods.
In this model, once the need to use a human centered design process has been identified, four activities form the main
cycle of work11:
1. Specify the context of use
Identify the people who will use the product,
what they will use it for, and under what
conditions they will use it.
2. Specify requirements
Identify any business requirements or user goals
that must be met for the product to be
successful.
3. Create design solutions
This part of the process may be done in stages,
building from a rough concept to a complete
design.
4. Evaluate designs
The most important part of this process is that evaluation - ideally through usability testing with actual users - is as
important as quality testing is to good software development.
User Centered Design Models
Models of a user-centered design process help software designers to fulfill the goal of a product engineered for their
users. In these models, user requirements are considered right from the beginning and included into the whole product
cycle. Their major characteristics are the active participation of real users, as well as an iteration of design solutions.



Cooperative Design: involving designers and users on an equal footing. This is the Scandinavian tradition of
design of IT artifacts and it has been evolving since 1970.12
Participatory Design (PD): a North American term for the same concept, inspired by Cooperative Design,
focusing on the participation of users. Since 1990, there has been a bi-annual Participatory Design Conference.13
Contextual Design: “customer-centered design” in the actual context, including some ideas from Participatory
design14
What is User Centered Design, The Usability Professionals Association, 2009
Greenbaum and Kyng (eds), Design At Work - Cooperative design of Computer Systems, Lawrence Erlbaum, 1991
Schuler and Namioka, Participatory Design, Lawrence Erlbaum 1993 and chapter 11 in Helander’s Handbook of HCI, Elsevier, 1997
14 Beyer and Holzblatt, Contextual Design, Kaufmann, 1998
11
12
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HCI 510 – Human-Computer Interaction Methods I
Dr. Damian Schofield
A Typical User Centered Design Methodology
Most user-centered design methodologies are detailed in suggesting specific activities, and the time within a process when
they should be completed. The following shows a typical UCD process.15
In this version, the UCD activities are broken down into four phases:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Analysis,
Design,
Implementation and
Deployment,
The list below proves suggested activities for each phase, these are:
1.
Analysis Phase



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





2.
Design Phase










3.
Begin to brainstorm design concepts and metaphors
Develop screen flow and navigation model
Do walkthroughs of design concepts
Begin design with paper and pencil
Create low-fidelity prototypes
Conduct usability testing on low-fidelity prototypes
Create high-fidelity detailed design
Do usability testing again
Document standards and guidelines
Create a design specification
Implementation Phase



4.
Meet with key stakeholders to set vision
Include usability tasks in the project plan
Assemble a multidisciplinary team to ensure complete expertise
Develop usability goals and objectives
Conduct field studies
Look at competitive products
Create user profiles
Develop a task analysis
Document user scenarios
Document user performance requirements
Do ongoing heuristic evaluations
Work closely with delivery team as design is implemented
Conduct usability testing as soon as possible
Deployment Phase



Use surveys to get user feedback
Conduct field studies to get info about actual use
Check objectives using usability testing
You may notice that “usability testing” appears several times throughout the process, from the first phase to the last.
Providing a positive user experience is an ongoing process.
15
What is User Centered Design, The Usability Professionals Association, 2009
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HCI 510 – Human-Computer Interaction Methods I
Dr. Damian Schofield
User Centered Design – Methods
It is necessary to think carefully about who is a user and how to involve users in the design process. Obviously users are
the people who will use the final product or artifact to accomplish a task or goal. But there are other users as well. The
people who manage the users have needs and expectations too. What about those persons who are affected in some way
by the use of the artifact or use the products and/or services of the artifact? Shouldn’t their needs and expectations be
taken into consideration in the design process?16
Eason identified three types of users: primary, secondary, and tertiary17. Primary users are those persons who actually use
the artifact; secondary users are those who will occasionally use the artifact or those who use it through an intermediary;
and tertiary users are persons who will be affected by the use of the artifact or make decisions about its purchase. The
successful design of a product must take into account the wide range of stakeholders of the artifact. Not everyone who is
a stakeholder needs to be represented on a design team, but the effect of the artifact on them must be considered.18
One can see how difficult it is for designers to know or imagine all the usability criteria that are important to the users. It
is only through feedback collected in an interactive iterative process involving users that products can be refined.
The following are a few typical top-level characterisations of the most popular user-centered design methods in the
approximate order in which they are carried out during the design process:
Background Interviews and Questionnaires:
Collecting data related to the needs and expectations of users; evaluation of design alternatives, prototypes
and the final artifact at the beginning of the design project.
Sequence of Work Interviews and Questionnaires:
Collecting data related to the sequence of work to be performed with the artifact early in the design cycle.
Focus Groups:
Include a wide range of stakeholders to discuss issues, share their thoughts, feelings, attitudes, ideas, and
describe their requirements early in the design cycle. It's often necessary to have an experienced moderator
and analyst for a focus group to be effective.
On-Site Observation:
Collecting information about the environment and context in which the artifact will be used early in the design
cycle.
Participatory Design:
Participatory design does not just ask users opinions on design issues, but actively involves them in the design
and decision-making processes. This often takes the form of a mini-project to generate prototypes that feed
into an overall project's design process. Participatory design sessions usually require an experienced
moderator. This usually occurs early in the design cycle.
Role Playing, Walkthroughs, and Simulations:
Evaluation of alternative designs and gaining additional information about user needs and expectations;
prototype evaluation. This usually occurs early to mid way through the design cycle
Usability Testing:
Collecting quantitative data related to measurable usability criteria in the later stages of the design cycle.
Final Interviews and Questionnaires:
Collecting data related to user satisfaction with the artifact in the final stages of the design cycle.
16
17
18
Abras, C., Maloney-Krichmar, D. and Preece, J, User-Centered Design, in Bainbridge, W., Encyclopedia of HCI, 2004.
Eason, K., Information Technology and Organizational Change, London: Taylor and Francis, 1987.
Preece, J., Rogers, Y., and Sharp, H., Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction, New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2002.
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HCI 510 – Human-Computer Interaction Methods I
Dr. Damian Schofield
The following table shows the cost, output type and sample size required for each of these techniques.
Method
Cost
Output
Sample Size
(High/Low)
(Statistical/Non Stat)
(Large/Small)
Background Interview
High
Non Statistical
Low
Background Questionnaires
Low
Statistical
High
Sequence of Work Interviews
High
Non Statistical
Low
Sequence of Work Questionnaires
Low
Statistical
High
Focus Groups
Low
Non Statistical
Low
On-Site Observation
High
Non Statistical
Low
Participatory Design
Low
Non Statistical
Low
Role Playing, Walkthroughs, and Simulations
High
Non Statistical
Low
Usability Testing
High
Both
Low
Final Interviews
High
Non Statistical
Low
Final Questionnaires
Low
Statistical
High
Affordance
An affordance is a quality of an object, or an environment, that allows an individual to perform an action. The term is
used in a variety of fields: perceptual psychology, cognitive psychology, environmental psychology, industrial design,
human–computer interaction, interaction design and artificial intelligence.
Psychologist James J. Gibson originally introduced the term19 and explored it more fully in his book The Ecological
Approach to Visual Perception.20 He defined affordances as:
“All ‘action possibilities’ latent in the environment,
objectively measurable and independent of the individual's
ability to recognize them, but always in relation to the actor
and therefore dependent on their capabilities.”
For instance, a set of steps which rises four feet high does not
afford the act of climbing if the actor is a crawling infant.
Gibson's is the prevalent definition in cognitive psychology.
Two different affordance definitions have developed. The
original definition describes all action possibilities that are
physically possible; a refinement to that definition describes
action possibilities of which the actor is aware. In a further shift
of meaning, the term has come to be also used in the HCI context
as indicating the easy discoverability of action possibilities.
19
20
James J. Gibson, The Theory of Affordances. In Perceiving, Acting, and Knowing, Eds. Robert Shaw and John Bransford, 1977.
James J. Gibson, The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception, 1979.
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