Chapter 3 SAD

Interviewing, joint application design (JAD), Questionnaires

an important method for collecting data on human and system information requirements

• Interviewee opinions• Interviewee feelings• Goals• Key HCI concerns

- reading background material

- Establishing interview objectives

- Deciding whom to interview

- Preparing the interviewee

- Deciding on question types and structure

OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS, CLOSED QUESTIONS

- allow interviewees to respond how they wish, appropriate when analyst is interested in depth of reply

Example: Whats ur opinion

- limit the number of possible responses

- are appropriate for generating precise, reliable data that is easy to analyze

- methodology is efficient, and itrequires little skill for interviewers toadminister.

Example: How many users are registered in your system?

• Puts the interviewee at ease• Allows the interviewer to pick up on theinterviewee’s vocabulary• Provides richness of detail• Reveals avenues of further questioning thatmay have gone untapped• Provides more interest for the interviewee• Allows more freedom• Makes phrasing easier for the interviewer• Useful if the interviewer is unprepared

• May result in too much irrelevant detail• Possibly losing control of the interview• May take too much time for theamount of useful information gained• Potentially seeming that theinterviewer is unprepared• Possibly giving the impression that the interviewer is on a “fishing journey”

• Saving interview time• Easily comparing interviews• Getting to the point• Keeping control of theinterview• Covering a large area quickly• Getting to relevant data

• Boring for the interviewee• Failure to obtain richdetailing• Missing main ideas• Failing to build rapportbetween interviewer andinterviewee

data reliability: low

time use efficiency: low

data precision: low

depth: much

skill required: much

ease of analysis: difficult

data reliability: high

time use efficiency: high

data precision: high

depth: little

skill required: little

ease of analysis: easy

answered with a “yes” or “no” or “agree” or “disagree”

- to get more meaning

- to clarify

- to draw out and expand on interviewee's point

- can be open-ended or closed

Example: "why?" or "Please explain more for me"

• Starting with closed questions andworking toward open-ended questions

• Is useful if interviewees need to bewarmed up to the topic or seemreluctant to address the topic

• Starting with open-ended questions and working toward closed questions

• Provides an easy, nonthreatening way to begin an interview

• Is useful when the interviewee feelsemotionally about the topic

• begins in a very specific way

• Then more general issues areexamined

• Concludes with specific questions

• Combines the strength of both thepyramid and funnel structures• Takes longer than the other structures

• Always ask “Is there anything else that you would like toadd?”• Summarize and provide feedback on your impressions• Ask whom you should talk with next• Set up any future appointments• Thank them for their time and shake hands.

• Write as soon as possible after theinterview• Provide an initial summary, thenmore detail• Review the report with therespondent

• Stories originate in the workplace• Organizational stories are used to relay some kind of information• When a story is told and retold over time it takes on a mythic quality• Isolated stories are good when you are looking for facts• Enduring stories capture all aspects of the organization and are the ones a systems analyst should look for

1. Experiential stories describe what the business or industry islike2. Explanatory stories tell why the organization acted a certainway3. Validating stories are used to convince people that theorganization made the correct decision4. Prescriptive stories tell the listener how to act

- replace series of interviews with the user community

- technique that allows analyst to get requirements and design user interface in group settings.

• Users are restless and want something new• The organizational culture supports joint problem- solving behaviors• Analysts forecast an increase in the number of ideas using JAD• Personnel may be absent from their jobs for the length of time required

EXECUTIVE SPONSOR, IS ANALYST, USERS, SESSION LEADER, OBSERVERS, SCRIBE

• Offsite, away from yourorganization for 2 to 4 days with Comfortable surroundings and Minimize distractions

• Attendance • Schedule when participants can attend • Agenda • Orientation meeting

• Time is saved, compared withtraditional interviewing• Rapid development ofsystems• Improved user ownership ofthe system• Creative idea production isimproved

• JAD requires a large block oftime to be available for allsession participants• If preparation or the follow-up report is incomplete, thesession may not be successful• The organizational skills andculture may not be conduciveto a JAD session

useful about gathering information from key organization members about :

• Attitudes of people• Beliefs of people• Behaviors• Characteristics

1. Choose words carefully, department or unit, managers or supervisors2. Organization members are widely dispersed3. Many members are involved with the project4. Exploratory work is needed5. Problem solving prior to interviews is necessary

completion speed: Slow

exploratory nature: High

depth: High

Ease of preparation: easy

Ease of analysis: Difficult

completion speed: fast

exploratory nature: low

depth: low

Ease of preparation: Difficult

Ease of analysis: Easy

• Simple• Specific• Short• Not patronizing• Free of bias• Addressed to those who are knowledgeable• Technically accurate• Appropriate for the reading level of the respondent• Choose words carefully

NOMINAL SCALES, INTERVAL SCALES

- used to clarify things

- weakest form of measurement

- data may be calculated

- used when intervals are equal

- there is no absolute zero

Leniency, Central Withdraw, Halo Effect

• Caused by easy raters• Leniency error is thetendency of a manager torate an employee higher thanhis actual performance.• Reasons that a managermight do this could includeavoiding confrontations, orfeeling that by giving theemployee a high rating, hewill work harder to live up tothe rating

• Central tendency occurswhen respondents rateeverything as average• Improve by making thedifferences smaller at the twoends• Adjust the strength of thedescriptors• Create a scale with morepoints

• When the impression formedin one question carries intothe next question.• The halo effect is when amanager forms a positiveimpression of an employee'sskill in one area and thengives her high ratings acrossall rating criteria• Solution is to place one traiton each page ofquestionnaire

• Allow ample white space• Allow ample space to write or type in responses• Make it easy for respondents to clearly mark their answers• Be consistent in style• Order of Questions1. Place most important questions first2. Cluster items of similar content together3. Introduce less controversial questions first

1. Convening all concerned respondents together at onetime2. Personally administering the questionnaire3. Allowing respondents to self-administer the questionnaire4. Mailing questionnaires5. Administering over the Web or via email

• reduced costs• collecting and storingthe results electronically

is the degree to which the questionmeasures what the analyst intends to measure

of scales refers to consistency inresponse—getting the same results if the same questionnaire was administered again under the sameconditions

- Convenience

- Simple random

- purposive

- complex random

• This sample is easy to arrange• The most unreliable

• Need to obtain a numbered list of population toensure that each document or people in thepopulation has equal chance of being selected.• However this is not practical for samplingdocument or reports

• A purposive sample is based on judgment• Choose a group of individuals who appearknowledgeable and are interested in the newinformation system• Only moderately reliable

The complex random samples that are mostappropriate for a systems analyst are:Systematic samplingStratified samplingCluster sampling

The act of discovery and analysis of data

1. Reports used for decision making2. Performance reports3. Records4. Data capture forms5. Ecommerce and other transactions

• Checking for errors in amounts and totals• Looking for opportunities for improving the recording formdesign• Observing the number and type of transactions• Watching for instances in which the computer can simplify thework (calculations and other data manipulation)

• Collect examples of all the forms inuse• Note the type of form• Document the intended distributionpattern• Compare the intended distributionpattern with who actually receivesthe form

• Key or guiding metaphors• Insiders vs. outsiders mentality• What is considered good vs. evil• Graphics, logos, and icons in common areas orweb pages• A sense of humor• Example:• Email messages and memos• Signs or posters on bulletin boards• Corporate websites• Manuals• Policy handbooks

• provides insight on what organizationalmembers actually do• See firsthand the relationships that exist between decisionmakers and other organizational members• Can also reveal important clues regarding HCI concerns

• Talking• Sampling• Corresponding• Deciding

OFFICE LOCATION, DESK PLACEMENT, STATIONARY EQUIPMENT, PROPS, EXTERNAL INFORMATION SOURCES, OFFICE LIGHTING AND COLOR, CLOTHING WORN BY DECISION MAKER

narrative is confirmed

as a cue to look further

observation modifies the narrative

narrative is supplemented by observation