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User Needs

User Needs. Robert Munro 2005. Users and user needs. Identifying the users of a multimedia product: who is your audience? is it one homogenous group of users, or a variety? is your audience best defined in terms of:

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User Needs

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  1. User Needs Robert Munro 2005

  2. Users and user needs • Identifying the users of a multimedia product: • who is your audience? • is it one homogenous group of users, or a variety? • is your audience best defined in terms of: • occupation, language(s) spoken, nationality, recreational activities, age, level of education, other… • why?

  3. User Assessment • How do you know what users need? • your own expertise – what assumptions are you making? • ask people with better knowledge • ask potential users – will the possible scope & scale of multimedia productions be clear to them? • user research: “user research is a reality check. It tells you what really happens when people use computers. You can speculate on what [users] want, or you can find out.” (Jakob Nielsen, 2004)

  4. User Assessment • The users’ goals • Personal, social and cultural characteristics • Previous knowledge and experience • The context of use • What features will users value?

  5. 1. The users’ goals • What are the users trying to achieve? • This will determine: • Your choice of the genre of the production • Your choice of the development platform • The method(s) of distribution • Will different users have very different goals? • how many of these can you address? • how many of these will you address?

  6. 2. Social and cultural characteristics • These will depend on the user community and the project objectives, and could include: • For what language(s) will the users be speakers, hearers, readers and/or writers? • Restrictions on the content of the materials • The appropriateness of grouping certain materials

  7. 2. Social and cultural characteristics • You will not be able to predict the full importance of social and cultural characteristics: • Incorporate users in the production (prototyping, screenshots, storyboards)

  8. 2. Personal characteristics • If the user group is small, the production can be tailored to the specific user(s), for example: • recording of an event for a small diasporic community • a sampler for visiting royalty

  9. 3. Previous knowledge / experience • What computer literacies do the users have? • What genres & platforms of multimedia material have they used? • Are they familiar with the contents of the material? • perhaps more familiar than you are

  10. 4. The context of use • What is the (expected) context of the use of the production? • private use • public use - individual or multiple users? • mediated use - a guided demonstration, a teaching tool…

  11. 5. What features will users value? • Will depend on the genre and context of use, and could include: • Accuracy and comprehensibility (dictionary) • Relationship to context (museum kiosk) • Fun (language learning)

  12. Example: Hearing Voices • Users • Visitors to the museums • Khoi and San speakers

  13. Example: Hearing Voices • The users’ goals: • discover information about the sound installation, its context and themes

  14. Example: Hearing Voices • Personal, social and cultural characteristics • Users may not read English • The users will be from a variety of language backgrounds • Therefore, the functionality should not rely on text

  15. Example: Hearing Voices • Previous knowledge and experience: • We expect that most visitors have the computer literacies allowing them to navigate a point-and-click • Some speakers of Khoi and San languages who visit specifically for the exhibition may not have previously used computers

  16. Example: Hearing Voices • The context of use: • It is an exhibition in a museum • It should complement the installation it is accompanying in both content and design • It is a public environment, allowing multiple people to concurrently view the kiosk

  17. Example: Hearing Voices • The context of use: • The time a person may spend viewing the kiosk could vary greatly: 20 seconds to 2 hours • It is unmediated (visits by speakers of Khoi and San languages are mediated by the artist)

  18. Example: Hearing Voices • What features will users value? • Information about: the artist, the exhibition, Khoi and San languages, language endangerment • The choice of brief and/or comprehensive information • Quick to learn / intuitive / unintimidating (especially because it is public) • Heritage materials: songs, stories (especially because it is a museum)

  19. References Nielsen, Jakob. 2004. Acting on User Research. http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20041108.html

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