Laura Moody & Joan Burtner Mercer University

1. Work In Progress - Using User Experience Research to Develop Needs Assessment Skills of Undergraduates Laura Moody & Joan Burtner Mercer University Savannah, GA

2. Goals • Develop potential research opportunities in the area of cell phone design and use. • Provide hands on opportunities for engineering students to • understand the needs of customers, clients, and end users • develop specific skills to research and assess needs of customers • analyze and evaluate real world data in a variety of forms Savannah, GA

3. The study • Purpose • Explore methodologies for developing an integrated understanding of the user experience. • Identify principal components that describe two of the three foci of the user experience. • Method • 19 undergraduate students in 2 courses • 3 cell phones • Interview • Simple task • IRB approval Savannah, GA

4. The cell phones Savannah, GA

5. Data • Phase 1 - Personal experience • “Story-telling” • 3 descriptors – current and ideal cell phone • Phase 2 – Test phones • First impressions – semantic differential • “Practice” and individual impressions • Simple task performance • 3 descriptors – test phones • Ranking Savannah, GA

6. Student participation • In the study • 2 courses • participants and observers • Data analysis • partial data sets • in-depth analysis • Implications • customer service & voice of the customer • human factors design Savannah, GA

7. Course Activities • IDM 355 -Quality Mgt. (Spring ’04) • Cell phone study • participation • observation • Link to course content • the “voice of the customer” • survey design • understanding data types Savannah, GA

8. Course Activities • IDM 404 - IDM Case Studies (Spring ’04) • Use of quality tools • Reporting quality results • ISE 428 - Quality Egr. (Fall ’04) • Collecting and evaluating customer service data • Review of data analysis techniques • Use of quality tools and reporting results Savannah, GA

9. Course Activities • ISE 311 – Ergonomics & Work Mst. (Spring ’04) • Participation in study • Performance data analysis • Implications • “handtool” design • design of human factors studies Savannah, GA

10. Course Activities • ISE 412 – Human Factors Egr. (Fall ’04) • Research methods • Study design & data collection • Modeling human-technology interaction • Design of human-machine systems Savannah, GA

11. Independent study • Undergraduate student • Collecting and organizing data • Evaluating qualitative data • e.g., semantic differential results Savannah, GA

12. Independent study • Evaluating quantitative data • e.g., dialing errors Savannah, GA

13. Independent study • New techniques • e.g., card sorting Savannah, GA

14. Independent study • Next steps • Statistical analysis of quantitative data • Classify descriptors • Link between descriptors and preferences • Evaluate story-telling results • Develop ideas for future project • Report Savannah, GA

15. Independent study • Student’s perspective • Her view of the project • Benefit of working with faculty as a team: “I feel like I’m on an engineering project team.” • Deliverables and time requirements • Relevance of the experience Savannah, GA

16. Ongoing student involvement • Use of data in the classroom • understanding data types and data gathering • qualitative vs quantitative data • data analysis and modeling • Continued exploration of research methods • human factors research and design • understanding customer needs and the voice of the customer Savannah, GA