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Needs – Need finding

NEEDS. DESIGN. EVALUATE. IMPLEMENT. Needs – Need finding. John C. Tang August 30, 2007. Pop quiz!. How do you pronounce my last name? Where did I graduate from? Anyone want to share what else they found by Googling me?. Class admittance.

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Needs – Need finding

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  1. NEEDS DESIGN EVALUATE IMPLEMENT Needs – Need finding John C. Tang August 30, 2007

  2. Pop quiz! • How do you pronounce my last name? • Where did I graduate from? • Anyone want to share what else they found by Googling me?

  3. Class admittance • Everyone who submitted a course petition last time is in! • If you haven’t submitted a petition, do so today • Don’t worry about which discussion section you registered for (but be consistent)

  4. Grading • 10% class participation • Attendance plus contribution in discussion section • 20% individual assignments • 20% midterm • 50% group final project • Fair (not easy) grader

  5. Assignments • Due at beginning of class • Hardcopy • 2 copies (one original, one black & white copy ok) • At top of every assignment • Name • CS 160 • Date

  6. Today • Share stories of noticing (un)design • Need finding • Contextual Inquiry • Variation: Contextual Interview • Assignment Please ask questions / add insights along the way

  7. Noticing (un)design • What designs or un-designs did you become aware of? • What bugs you about it? • How could it be improved?

  8. I hate opening these!

  9. NEEDS DESIGN EVALUATE IMPLEMENT Design process Modified from Preece, Rogers, and Sharp, Interaction Design

  10. The Waterfall Model of the Software Life-Cycle Requirements Specification Architectural Design Detailed Design Implementation and Unit Testing Integration and Testing Operation and Maintenance

  11. NEEDS DESIGN EVALUATE IMPLEMENT Design process Modified from Preece, Rogers, and Sharp, Interaction Design

  12. Needs and need-finding • Identifying users needs • Latent needs, root causes • Not wants, symptoms, bugs • Techniques for eliciting and interpreting users’ needs • Interviews • Direct Observation • Needs belong to people (not entities)

  13. Avoiding three common mistakes • The first of hopefully many ways this class helps you think differently

  14. Building without a need DESIGN EVALUATE IMPLEMENT Usable vs. useful

  15. Usability vs. usefulness • Usability – how easy user interfaces are to use • Usefulness – whether the system can be used to achieve some desired goal Jakob Nielsen

  16. DESIGN IMPLEMENT EVALUATE DESIGN EVALUATE IMPLEMENT EVALUATE DESIGN IMPLEMENT EVALUATE Trial and error innovation NEEDS

  17. NEEDS DESIGN EVALUATE IMPLEMENT Designing for “me”

  18. Identify needs to avoid these mistakes • Building without a need • Trial and error innovation • Designing for “me”

  19. Tools for need-finding • Market research/competitive analysis • Identifying gaps in the current market • Identifying gaps in competitors’ offerings • Business perspective, customer (rather than user) focus • Team with business folks • Interviewing prospective users • Direct observation

  20. What’s an unfulfilled need you have? • Not wants • Not symptoms • Not solutions Needs ~ verbs Solutions ~ nouns

  21. What if I followed you around for a day? • I might discover that what you really need is: • Better way to manage your schedule • More sleep • To communicate with your family more often!

  22. Asking vs. Observing • Some of the best designs are unnoticeable • Norman examples • Some work-arounds become invisible • Observing helps you see what, but often need to ask to understand why • Asking and observing are complementary • Immersion leads to direct observation and better interviews

  23. Collecting user data • Mostly common sense! • But only common sense after you’ve done a few examples • Presenting ideal, taking shortcuts for the class • Other useful resources • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contextual_design

  24. Contextual Inquiry “Field interviews are conducted with users in their workplaces while they work, observing and inquiring into the structure of the users’ own work practice. This ensures that the team captures the real business practice and daily activities of the people the system is to support, not just the self-reported practice or official policies.” -- Holtzblatt, Wendell, & Wood Rapid Contextual Design, 2005

  25. Contextual Inquiry • Hybrid approach • Involves direct observation • Involves interviewing to elicit more details

  26. Subject vs. Participant? • In traditional science, “subjects” are “subjected to” experiments and research to help the researcher develop understanding • In direct observation-oriented design, “participants” “participate” in helping the researcher develop understanding

  27. Your relationship to the subject In a scientist/subject relationship: • Scientist does controlled actions or asks questions • Subject responds in some way • Scientist collects data, goes back to their office, and analyzes the data to understand the subject

  28. Your relationship to the interviewee In an interview relationship: • Interviewer asks a question • Interviewee responds immediately • As soon as there is a pause, the interviewer asks another question from the list, repeat until done Great if you know what questions to ask in advance.

  29. Your relationship to the master In a master/apprentice relationship: • Master is doing stuff • Master explains what they’re doing to the apprentice • Apprentice asks clarification question, master answers and continues doing, repeat until apprentice can do it This relationship is at the heart of contextual inquiry

  30. Your relationship to the participant In a CI researcher/participant relationship: • Participant is doing stuff • Participant explains what they’re doing to the researcher • Researcher asks a clarification question, the participant answers, keeps doing • Researcher’s goal is to develop understanding • of what the participant is doing • in partnership with participant

  31. Not quitea master/apprentice relationship • Researcher’s goal is not to learn to do the task • Instead, goal is to learn how the participant does the task, to learn how to support it • And to enlist the participant’s active assistance in understanding the task

  32. Partnership • In Contextual Inquiry, the researcher and the participant are partners • Participant knows their process better than the researcher • Researcher has the distance to see patterns and important features in the participant’s process and practice • Researcher needs to partner with participant for rich understanding

  33. Direct Observation Observe participants engaged in the desired activity • In the typical context of that activity • In a manner that allows you to partner with them to elicit more rich details about the process

  34. Participant Observation • Doing the activity along with the participant • First-hand experience • May require acquiring domain knowledge • Actively engaged, and allows questions along the way • May be harder to take notes

  35. Passively observe • Some activities don’t afford involvement by the researcher • Solitary • Remote • Time-shifted • Less disruptive • May miss some details • May require follow-up to ask questions • Perhaps augmented via technology

  36. Asking questions • Confirming understanding • How do they feel about… • What is frustrating them about… • How they compare one thing with an other • Why did they just do that? (but try to phrase without “Why”)

  37. Asking open-ended questions • Confirming understanding • Did you just delete all your messages? • How do they feel about… • How do you like the organization and colors of this interface? • What is frustrating them about… • It looks like you can’t do something, what are you trying to do? • How they compare one thing with an other • What are the reasons you prefer searching rather than foldering? • Why did they just do that? (but try to phrase without “Why”) • It looks like you just deleted 10 messages, what was the reason for doing that?

  38. Avoid asking about • Predicting what they would do / like / want • Imagining a hypothetical scenario • Whether they would like a certain feature or product • Estimating how often they do things

  39. Decide how you’re going to record the inquiry • Written notes • Audio record • Pictures • Video • Usage logs • An additional observer • Combination of methods • Privacy and informed consent (more later)

  40. Good method only part of the answer! • Good participants • Good setting • Good timing • Flexibility

  41. Good participants • Screen participants you’re targeting • List attributes you’re looking for • Wouldn’t go to a senior center to study facebook • Can learn from why people aren’t good subjects • Some people tell you what they think you want to hear • Some people tell you more than you want to hear!

  42. Good settings • In situ – Latin phrase for in the place • Location and circumstances where they will engage in the desired activity • Relaxed, natural, no distractions • Dissuade interruptions (cell phones) • Avoid potential for social pressures • Largely driven by the activity

  43. Good timing • Avoiding hectic times • Sometimes can schedule during times of high concentrations of activity • Respect the schedule • State duration in advance • Stick to it (unless they give permission) • Honor scheduled appointments

  44. Flexibility • Follow the participants where they “lead” • The participant who didn’t use it • Then proceeded to explain why she didn’t use it • Not every participant will be useful

  45. Contextual Inquiry example • Say you want to design an on-line dating service • You want to improve the process of finding dates • It’s a social networking topic • It’s a topic where people act very differently than they say they act • Hopefully fun (without offending anyone)

  46. Picking people to observe • People who find dates very easily (expert) • People who have a hard time finding dates (problem child) • People who have never been on a date before (novice) • People who said yes when you asked them • Availability is not a skill

  47. Picking a place • Senior Center? • Bar? • Dorm dances / frat parties? • Student Union? • Perhaps best informed by your participant

  48. When’s a good time to observe • Finals week? • Spring break? • Weekend

  49. How are you going to observe • Participant Observation • Make it a double date • Informed consent less of an issue • Passively observe with follow-up • But if Jim is successful, it might be hard to follow-up with him for a while! • How would you get informed consent? • Have Jim explain the situation • Inform afterwards • Limit data collected on others

  50. How are you going to record it? • Written notes? Could be awkward • Audio record? Maybe in just momentary dictations • Pictures? Perhaps you could work a few in as a double date with a cameraphone • Video? That’s a (bad) reality TV show • This inquiry may rely heavily on your own memory and reconstruction

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