Text-Free User Interfaces

1. Text-Free User Interfaces Kentaro Toyama Assistant Managing Director Microsoft Research India Based on work with Indrani Medhi TCS Excellence in Computer Science January 10, 2008 – Pune, India

2. Lead Researcher Indrani Medhi Collaborators Kentaro Toyama Archana Prasad Vibhore Goyal Shibili G Nimmi Rangaswamy Sean Blagsvedt Interns Aman Sagar (Adobe) Bharathi Pitti (CMU) Chandima Patabandhige (Univ. of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka) Renee Kuriyan (UC Berkeley) People Photo: Indrani Medhi Indrani (holding baby) and some interns visiting a family in Bangalore

3. Outline: Text-Free User Interfaces Introduction Initial ethnography and iterative rapid prototyping Initial evaluation Optimal audio-visual representation Full-context video Methodology Discussion

4. Outline: Text-Free User Interfaces Introduction Initial ethnography and iterative rapid prototyping Initial evaluation Optimal audio-visual representation Full-context video Methodology Discussion

5. Illiteracy 1-2 billion illiterate population in the world. 98% live in developing countries. India’s rate of literacy estimated at ~60%. Many labeled “literate” are semi-literate with low functional literacy. Photo: Indrani Medhi Two residents of a slum in Jayanagar, Bangalore

6. Target Users Women from Bangalore slums Informal sector domestic workers Income range: INR 800-2500 (US$20-60) per month Illiterate or semi-literate Most have never seen a PC (those who have seen have never touched) Photo: Indrani Medhi initial explorations before text-free UI work

7. Stree Jagruti Samiti Head: Geeta Menon Small NGO Works with several Bangalore slums Focus on children’s rights, women’s empowerment, fair wages for domestic laborers NGO Partner Photo: Indrani Medhi Geeta Menon leading a Saturday Stree Jagruti Samiti meeting

8. The Problem How can an application UI be converted into one that is usable by non-literate users?

9. Outline: Text-Free User Interfaces Introduction Initial ethnography and iterative rapid prototyping Initial evaluation Optimal audio-visual representation Full-context video Methodology Discussion

10. Initial Ethnography TVs, radios, CD players common; some mobile phones; no PCs Established slums – some with 30-year history in city; concrete housing Subjects most concerned about… • Jobs • Healthcare • Education Photo: Indrani Medhi Nimmi interviewing a subject

11. Text-Free UI? Design principles: • Pen or touch interface • Liberal use of imagery • No text • Semi-abstracted cartoons • Voice annotation • Aggressive use of mouse-over functionality • Consistent help icon Naukri.com for domestic labourers?

12. Text-Free UI Details Nouns vs. Verbs Goal is to achieve exact association between image and word. Without action cues drawings tend to be interpreted as nouns. With action cues, drawings tend to be interpreted as verbs. Phenomenon well-understood by cartoonists and diagram designers. “Kitchen sink” or “washing dishes”? “Pot” or “cooking”?

13. Text-Free UI Details Cultural Differences Goal is to achieve as global a representation as possible. Abstracted representations are very dependent on culture. Minor misrepresentations can result in major confusion. Testing, testing, testing! An urban family of three?

14. Text-Free UI Details Religious Differences Goal is still to achieve as global a representation as possible. Religious differences can be the strongest of cultural differences. There is no “neutral” culture or religion. Testing, testing, testing! From when to when? Increasingly general representations for time indication

15. Text-Free UI Details Quirks of Non-Literacy Various degrees of literacy • Total illiteracy • Numbers, but not alphabets • Alphabets, but not words • Words, but not sentences • Semi-literate, but not fluent • Etc. Many who are non-literate can read numbers • Accustomed to currency • Able to do basic arithmetic • Not necessarily 100% accurate Testing, testing, testing! Illiteracy doesn’t necessarily mean inability to read numbers.

16. Text-Free UI? Original design Revised design

17. Text-Free UI Design principles: • Pen or touch interface • Liberal use of imagery • No text (but numbers OK) • Semi-abstracted cartoons • Aggressive use of mouse-over functionality • Voice feedback • Consistent help icon Screenshot of text-free job search

18. Other Domains Principles transfer to other applications: Text-free maps Text-free healthcare information

19. Outline: Text-Free User Interfaces Introduction Initial ethnography and iterative rapid prototyping Initial evaluation Optimal audio-visual representation Full-context video Methodology Discussion

20. Initial Evaluation Questions • Can non-literate users use traditional text-based user interfaces at all? • Do the proposed design principles for text-free user interfaces allow non-literate users to use computers, and to what extent? • Which of the design principles make the most difference for a text-free UI?

21. Three versions: Text-based Text-free without help icon Text-free with help icon Subjects: Illiterate or semi-literate (no literate subjects) No PC experience Subject grouping: Five-women group x 2 Individual x 4 Total time up to one hour per session Task: For a friend who is unemployed, find the best-paying job in her neighborhood. Measured: Task completion (yes/no) Time required (second) Number of prompts required (n) All comments recorded; some trials video-recorded. Initial Evaluation Experimental Set-Up

22. Quantitative Results Text-based UIs were completely unusable. Obvious, but first formal such test in literature With text-free UI, 30% were able to complete task. (However, not enough participants for statistical significance.) Initial Evaluation Tabulation of initial results

23. Qualitative Results Strong preference for text-free principles, in particular… Voice annotation Help icon Collaborative use more successful Subjects eager to engage, once comfortable with set up Various barriers to technology: fear, lack of awareness, lack of cognitive model Initial Evaluation Indrani and a subject during initial evaluation

24. Initial Evaluation Questions • Can non-literate users use traditional text-based user interfaces at all? • Do the proposed design principles for text-free user interfaces allow non-literate users to use computers, and to what extent? • Which of the design principles make the most difference for a text-free UI? NO Yes, but only partially; more work required • Hypothesis: • Voice feedback • - Imagery • Help

25. Outline: Text-Free User Interfaces Introduction Initial ethnography and iterative rapid prototyping Initial evaluation Optimal audio-visual representation Full-context video Methodology Discussion

26. Text-Free UI From initial round of research… Design principles: • Pen or touch interface • Liberal use of imagery • No text (but numbers OK) • Semi-abstracted cartoons • Voice feedback • Aggressive use of mouse-over functionality • Consistent help icon Screenshot of text-free job search

27. Goal of Study Determine what types of icon representations are best for UIs for non-literate users. • Audio: • With voice annotation • Without voice annotation • Visual: • Photorealistic video • Hand-drawn animation • Photograph • Hand-drawn image • Text

28. Domain of Testing Desired characteristics of domain: • Admits to visual representations, • Consists of information which subjects are not exposed to on a daily basis, • Has universally recognized meaning, • Offers a range of cognitive complexity, • Offers a range of visual complexity, and • Can be applied to a practical purpose. Healthcare / medical imagery • 13 medical symptoms: multimodal in nature, involving elements of color, temperature, proprioception, and some requiring motion spanning some temporal duration

29. Creation of Representations Ensure consistency across representations… Video Photograph Animation Drawing

30. Tested Representations Video Photograph Animation Drawing Text Each with and without voice annotation (total 10 representations), for 13 medical symptoms

31. Representations: One of 10 types Evenly distributed among subjects All 13 symptoms per subject Subjects: Illiterate or semi-literate (no literate subjects) No PC experience Size: Individual; n = 200 20 for each representation Total time up to one hour per session Threefold task: Speak phrase that first comes to mind when shown a representation. Explain symptom representation is intended to convey Enact or depict the intended symptom (as explained by tester), for analysis Measured: Accuracy (correct, close, wrong) Response time (seconds) All comments recorded Experimental Set-Up

32. Quantitative Results • Voice annotation critical, with dominant effect • 30% quicker response time with audio • Among cases with audio, hand-drawn representations (both animation and static imagery) most accurately recognized • But, effect not dramatic • Among cases without audio, animation most accurately identified • 23% more accurate than static drawing Number of accurate responses (out of 20) for various representations

33. Qualitative Results Test / text anxiety of subjects • Subjects uncomfortable with test-like environment of studies Short-term category conditioning • Priming for “aches” over other types of symptoms when they appeared in sequence Richer information is not necessarily better understood overall • Photorealism contains clutter; associated with actual instance Context-laying activity provides additional in dynamic imagery Socio-economic conditions correlated with cognition • Those with less formal education had difficulty processing visuals and audio at the same time; confused by multi-modal interface

34. Outline: Text-Free User Interfaces Introduction Initial ethnography and iterative rapid prototyping Initial evaluation Optimal audio-visual representation Full-context video Methodology Discussion

35. Quantitative Results Text-based UIs were completely unusable. Obvious, but first formal such test With text-free UI, 30% were able to complete task. However, not enough participants for statistical significance. From initial evaluation… Help icon only!!! Tabulation of initial results UI instruction video Insufficient for end goal!

36. Qualitative Results Strong preference for text-free principles, in particular… Voice annotation Help icon Collaborative use more successful Subjects eager to engage, once comfortable with set up Various barriers to technology: fear, lack of awareness, lack of cognitive model From initial evaluation… From post-experiment interviews: • Afraid to break PC • Intimidated by use of complex technology • Confusion as to value of PC for job search • Lack of understanding about how PC contains relevant information • Task better accomplished by asking people • Verbal explanations by tester not convincing Indrani and a subject during initial evaluation

37. New Problem! Original question: How can an application UI be converted into one that is usable by non-literate users? ILLITERACY FEAR OF TECHNOLOGY LACK OF TRUST IN TECHNOLOGY LACK OF AWARENESS OF WHAT TECHNOLOGY CAN DELIVER New question: Can a UI be developed to allow an illiterate, first-time PC user to access information he/she needs without any assistance or prompting?

38. What’s the Underlying Problem? If you were told that, if you put anything in this box and spelled the object’s name in reverse 100 times out loud, it would come to life… “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” – Arthur C. Clarke would you bother to do it?

39. Photo: Indrani Medhi Photo: Indrani Medhi Solution? Observations about TV: • Many households have TVs • Soap operas a common topic of discussion • Even households without TVs are familiar with TV Observations about subject’s cognitive styles: • Subjects engage in long linear narratives • General ideas conveyed through specific instances • Stories included real people, specific objects, or actual instances of events (Based on intuition developed through prolonged engagement with subjects!) Televisions common in households

40. Full-Context Video Solution: Full-Context Video A full-context video explains the broader context of the application and how it works, in addition to instructional material about how to use the application.

41. Two versions: Original text-free (without full-context video) Text-free with full-context video Subjects: Illiterate or semi-literate (no literate subjects) No PC experience Subject grouping: Individuals x 35 Total time up to one hour per session Task (the same): For a friend who is unemployed, find the best-paying job in her neighborhood. Measured: Task completion (yes/no) Time required (second) Number of prompts required (n) All comments recorded; some trials video-recorded. Full-Context Video Experimental Set-Up

42. Full-context video has clear value: Without video first, only one out of 17 (6%) was able to complete the task at all, taking 11 prompts and 8.2 minutes With video first, 18 out of 18 completed the task, with an average of 4.7 prompts and 6.5 minutes User Studies

43. Qualitative Results Other observations: Round-two subjects were incredulous that round-one subjects didn’t understand the application. Impact of video not permanent for most subjects. Many wanted to see the full-context video each time, even after seeing it before. Full-context video appears to increase motivation, as well as performance. Those who saw full-context video were interested in providing feedback on the specifics of the UI. Photo: Indrani Medhi

44. Text-Free UI Design principles: • Pen or touch interface • Liberal use of imagery • No text (but numbers OK) • Semi-abstracted cartoons • Aggressive use of mouse-over functionality • Voice feedback • Consistent help icon • Full-context video Full-context video playing at start of application

45. Outline: Text-Free User Interfaces Introduction Initial ethnography and iterative rapid prototyping Initial evaluation Optimal audio-visual representation Full-context video Methodology Discussion

46. Methodology Initial Ethnography Open-ended interviews • Various combinations: focus groups and individuals • Topic: everything and anything • Follow leads around hardships Structured interviews • Focus on themes from open-ended interviews • Prepare questions • Be willing to deviate Goal: Information, intuition,rapport Photo: Indrani Medhi An open-ended interview in a subject’s home Time and attention critical!

47. Methodology Iterative Prototyping Build initial prototype, based on intuition from interviews. Iterate prototype and test. • Maintain informality • Work with small groups • 2-4 people • Prompt whenever necessary • Record every comment • Video-record, if possible (but, high procedural overhead) • Listen to every comment • Modify prototype Refine until steady state. Photo: Indrani Medhi Testing a prototype

48. Participative Design Modify standard methods for non-literate partners. Encourage storytelling. Use aids that can be physically manipulated. Be prepared for long, counseling-like sessions. Methodology Photo: Indrani Medhi Eliciting descriptions of medical symptoms with physical design aids Subject enacting medical symptoms

49. Methodology Formal Evaluation Base on techniques from courses, textbooks • Plan according to standard practices Avoid direct counterfactuals • Place task in a story • Use friend or neighbor as protagonist, but not subject • Chavan’s “Bollywood method” Be flexible on… • Location (avoid labs) • Formal instructions • Etc. Video: Archana Prasad Scene from a full-context video: hypothetical user and NGO worker

50. Outline: Text-Free User Interfaces Introduction Initial ethnography and iterative rapid prototyping Initial evaluation Optimal audio-visual representation Full-context video Methodology Discussion