The People-Technology System

1. The People-Technology System IMD07101: Introduction to Human Computer Interaction Brian Davison 2011/12 With material from Tom McEwan

2. Content • What is a system? • Socio-technical success factors • Usability • Acceptability • Engagement • Accessibility

3. Examples An set of elements standing in interrelations What is a system?

4. Generic systems • Generic = describing a whole class • Opposite of specific • Natural systems • Human-made systems • Social systems • Socio-technical systems People Organisation Technology

5. Ludwig von Bertalanffy • General systems theory (1968) • Goal/purpose System boundary Throughput Input Output Environment

6. Success factors • Usability • The quality of the interaction – e.g. time taken to perform tasks, number of errors made, the time needed to become a competent user. • Acceptability • The “fitness for purpose” in the “context of use”. • Also: personal preferences that contribute to users “taking to” an artefact, or not. • Engagement • Designing for great, exciting and riveting experiences. • Accessibility • Removing the barriers that exclude some people from using the system at all. • Often summarised as “design principles” or “values”

7. Usability • Usable systems are • Efficient – you can turn your effort into results • Effective – has what you need and is well-organised • Easy to learn and remember how to use • Safe to use • Useful – high utility to do the things you need done • Usable, useful, used • Don Norman • Gulf of Execution: difference between what you want to do (your goal) and what you have to do (with the system) • Gulf of Evaluation: difference between what the system tells you, and your understanding it

8. Acceptability • Politics • Will groups in the organisation find your design unacceptable? eg changing the balance of power • Convenience • Does your design fit into what people are trying to do? • Culture and society • Does your design go against aspects of lifestyle that people value? • Usefulness • It might be easy to use and full of desirable features, but can you check your schedule while talking to someone on the phone, for example? • Economics • Can people afford it? Will suppliers maintain it? e.g. the history of MP3

9. Engagement • Shedroff: • Identity – reinforces our identities (eg Mac v PC) • Adaptivity – can be used with different situations/skill levels • Narrative – a good story • Immersion – total engagement • Flow – smooth movement • Designing for “pleasure”

10. Accessibility • This is not just political correctness • “The World Health Organisation in 1976 drew distinctions between • impairment (which is part of an individual), • disability (contrasting the individual’s abilities with those of society as a whole) and • handicap (society’s accommodation of people with an impairment). • Thus both “disability” and “handicap” are societal constructs – a consequence of a flawed attempt to understand the user’s context. • We must choose whether or not to discriminate against, or exclude, other people. • McEwan, T., Anderson, A., Bartholomew, C., Clarke, P, & Morrison, A. (2003) Learning about universal access. In P. Gray, & H. Johnson, (Eds), Designing for Society, proceedings of the 17th British HCI Group conference HCI2003 (September8-12, 2003) Volume II. Swindon: BCS • World Health Organization. (1976) Document A29/INFDOCI/1, Geneva, Switzerland.

11. Incidence of Impairments in the EU In 2002, 16% of men and women aged 16-64 in the EU report a long-standing health problem or disability. (http://ec.europa.eu/social/BlobServlet?docId=3008&langId=en , p10) Gill (1997) lists the following incidence (in millions)

12. Blurred distinctions • In fact, accessibility refers to us all • There are things we do better or worse than the person sitting beside us • This is because we have a range of capabilities • We have a range of physical attributes • We have a range of mental abilities • We have “talent” • After the age of 25, we are all gradually losing ability, and abilities don’t vanish, they fade. • Mosquito? http://www.jetcityorange.com/mosquito-ringtone/mosquito-ringtone.mp3 • There are also environments where we are less able to use technology. • Can you suggest any?

13. Users' capabilities • Office of National Statistics survey 1997 • i~design project at Cambridge University • 7 capability categories • Vision • Hearing • Thinking • Communication • Reach and stretch • Dexterity • Locomotion Waller et al. (2010) Using disability data to estimate design exclusion. Universal Access in the Information Society 9:195–207

14. eg. dexterity • D1 Cannot pick up and hold a mug of coffee with either hand • D4 Cannot pick up a small object such as a safety pin with either hand • D8 Has difficulty wringing out light washing or using a pair of scissors • D11 Can pick up a small object such as a safety pin with one hand but not with the other. Can pick up and carry a pint of milk with one hand but not the other. Has difficulty tying a bow in laces • D12 Full dexterity ability

15. Environmental issues • Designers need to focus on the demands their designs make on people’s abilities. • Is there much difference between • an ordinary user in an extraordinary environment (under stress, time pressures, etc.) • an extraordinary user (e.g. a user with an impairment) in an ordinary environment. • People and Context

16. Types of exclusion • Physical • inappropriate location of equipment • input and output devices making excessive demands on their abilities. • Conceptual • people may be excluded because they cannot understand complicated instructions or obscure commands • they cannot form a clear mental model of the system. • Economic • people are excluded if they cannot afford some essential technology. • Cultural • making inappropriate assumptions about how people work and organise their lives. • Social • equipment is unavailable at an appropriate time and place

17. Short break

18. A model for (relative) ignorance! Source: Will Taylor, NCNM, Oregon, USA - http://www.businessballs.com/consciouscompetencelearningmodel.htm

19. Removing barriers to access • Universal design • Eliminates need for “special features” • Fosters individualisation and end-user acceptability • Does not imply a single solution for all users • Suits the broadest possible end-user population • Different solutions for different contexts of use • Inclusive design • Design for all

20. Principles of Universal Design • Equitable use • Don’t disadvantage or stigmatize any group of users. • Flexibility in use • For a wide range of individual preferences and abilities. • Simple, intuitive use • Easy to understand, regardless of the user's experience, knowledge, language skills, or current concentration level. • Perceptible information • User gets necessary information, regardless of ambient conditions or the user's sensory abilities. • Tolerance for error • The design minimizes hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions. • Low physical effort • The design can be used efficiently and comfortably, and with a minimum of fatigue. • Size and space for approach & use • You can approach, reach, manipulate, and use, regardless of your body size, posture, or mobility

21. Inclusive design toolkit

22. Inclusive design toolkit http://www.inclusivedesigntoolkit.com/

23. Why bother with Accessibility? • Legal/Ethical • Political: http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=429&langId=en • Solutions: UN and W3C have relevant declarations and guidelines. • Ignore WCAG2.0 at your peril http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG/

24. Why bother with Accessibility? Charge: In 2000 the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) was sued for having an inaccessible web site by a visually-impaired user who was unable to access ticketing information, event schedules or postings of event results. Verdict: The court determined that the complaint was correct and SOCOG was found guilty of breaching the Disability Discrimination Act and fined $20,000.

25. Automated readers • Web authors write mainly for the 90% who are able-bodied. • But – 80% of referrals to web pages come from search engines • Search engines use an indexing robot to crawl the pages. • The indexing robot is BLIND – it can only read text. • It also has a number of verbal and spatial reasoning limitations • Professional spammers use software which will automatically create an email account, and then use it to send spam until the ISP closes down the account

26. Humans only • Completely • Automated • Public • Turing test to tell • Computers and • Humans • Apart • http://webinsight.cs.washington.edu/projects/audiocaptchas/

27. Design Principles (Benyon p.90) • Access, Learn and Remember • Visibility • Consistency • Familiarity • “Affordance” • A Sense of Control • Navigation • Control • Feedback • Safety and Security • Recovery • Constraints • Suitable • Flexibility • Style • Conviviality