User Centered Design

1. User Centered Design Mary Czerwinski Microsoft Research

2. Agenda • User Centered Design (UCD) Process • How does it fit into the dev cycle? • How do I get started? • What is done in those studies? • How Research Can influence UCD • Principles from perception, attention and memory • Other resources Microsoft Research

3. Why User Test? • Cost savings (well documented, see Neilsen, 1993) • Not always directly visible (PSS calls, resales, product returns, distributed productivity benefits to user, sw development costs) • Competitive market--user expectations • Political demands • Help might not Microsoft Research

4. Goals of UCD? • Useful - Does it accomplish a user goal? (teach, find, manage $, escape) • Usability Is it easy to learn? Is efficient to use? Do no or only few errors occur? Is it comfortable? Is it easy to remember? • Desirability - Is it fun to use? Do you want to keep using it again and again? Microsoft Research

5. Development • Iterative test and design • Heuristic evaluation • Spec reviews • Low/Hi fidelity Quality Assurance UCD in your product cycle the earlier the better! Planning • Establish usability goals • Field research--tasks • Cognitive modeling • Competitive testing • Participatory design • UI design guidelines • Applied research • PSS communication • Roundtables • Low fidelity prototyping • Focus groups • Competitive testing • Field testing • PSS communication Microsoft Research

6. Ideal user interface to technology • Functions and features should be discoverable Users can easily identify the controls or features that match the tasks they want to do Users can quickly identify what the software lets them do EVEN if they didn’t previously know this action was possible--principle of gradual disclosure Microsoft Research

7. Ideal user interface • Functions/ features should be learnable If the feature is new or unfamiliar, the technology (and help) should contain information that guides the user through learning what the feature is for and how it works • Functions/ features should be memorable After time spent on other activities, the user should be able to return to a feature and use it correctly Microsoft Research

8. Early focus on users... • Feature Prioritization, Task Analysis • Participatory Design, Focus Groups • Heuristic Evaluation, Design Guidelines • Advisory Panels/Design Buddies • Field Studies • Cognitive Modeling exercises • Competitive Testing • Work with PSS Microsoft Research

9. Toward a User-Centered Design • Modeling customers’ activities (especially mental ones) Understand activities, then create a solution A way to share information as a team • Generating multiple design solutions • Developing usability goals Measuring against clear, quantifiable goals Microsoft Research

10. Usability Goals • Prior to research, develop usability goals with design partners • Could be to beat a competitor on key tasks, could be to get install time < 1 hour, etc. • Mix of multiple quantitative measures + qualitative satisfaction ratings • This short list of goals is then utilized repeatedly throughout dev cycle • Tracks progress toward goals Microsoft Research

11. Usability goals--data analysis • Collecting data: video, protocols, subjective ratings and objective observations; debrief • Averages: times, % error time, # of trials before success, # of experimenter interventions, subjective ratings, # of task interrupts, % completed • Usability issues with # of Ss • Look for patterns of behavior and lines of converging evidence Microsoft Research

12. Recruiting participants • Need to find external users that match your target population—not your friends or your mother • External users preferred to avoid “bias” • Work with marketing to understand user characteristics and screen for them • Screen via phone or Internet • Background questionnaire at beginning of study session • NDA, video consent Microsoft Research

13. Making Users Comfortable • Greet the users promptly • Offer beverage, washroom • Give tour of lab, explain cameras, confidentiality • Emphasize it’s the UI design that’s the issue, not the user’s expertise • Adjust chair, table heights--ergo concerns • Be enthusiastic, encouraging, listen! Microsoft Research

14. During the Study Session… Record EVERYTHING (and videotape) • Every keystroke, comment (use video) • Too hard to know ahead of time what’s important or a trend • If you must give help (3 levels) record it: 1. Encouragement (“You’re doing great!”) 2. Hint (“Have you looked under Find?”) 3. Walk them through the task (“1st go here, then here…”), but note it! Microsoft Research

15. At Session’s End…. • User Satisfaction Questionnaire (SUMI, WAMMI, Chin, Diehl & Norman or your own) • Debrief Remind of key successes, failures and review Disclose total purpose of the study • Provide gratuity and thank participant • Escort out of the building Microsoft Research

16. Interpreting Results… • Be quick and back up all of your usability issues with data (quantify it) • Lines of converging evidence tell a story • Check your recommendations out with the team--some might not be possible • Design solutions--recommend well thought-out UI changes; treat them like bugs • Retest to see if the changes fixed the problems Microsoft Research

17. Usability Issues Table • Table contains the issue #, its severity, the Ss that experienced the issue, its description, and its recommendation • Record “status”--e.g., did group agree to fix the issue and how, when? • Another alternative is to use your corporation’s bug reporting tools Microsoft Research

18. Golden Rule(s) • List of top priority issues to team in 24 hours from last participant • Report with recommendations out in 1 week • Provide screen shots of tested UI and the recommended design solutions • This implies learning a “quick and dirty” drawing or prototyping tool (Gives you more influence and gets you designing) Microsoft Research

19. Development Stage: design, test & redesign • Not traditional “waterfall” model—more like a cyclone • Developing low-fi/hi-fi prototypes Broad and shallow, Narrow and deep • Testing with a few users • Redesigning based on feedback • Testing again Microsoft Research

20. Drawing Conclusions • Usability issues and recommendations • Updated usability goals table • Important to mark specifics down and publish for archival purposes • Usability issues should be tracked with PSS if unresolved, or monitor sales (e.g., on website) Microsoft Research

21. Toward Beta…. • Identify usability “showstoppers” before ship; fit and finish (e.g., audio tweaks, text) • Competitive benchmarking • Prioritize usability enhancements for next version • Field research to understand real usage of products in context and usability opportunities • NOT THE TIME TO START TESTING Microsoft Research

22. Cautions about Lab Testing • Doesn’t usually tell you what to design--structured user visits and interviews do • YOU set the tasks, the design, and the analysis based on prior research • Best case performance • Look for patterns of behaviors--the usability issues with the UI design Microsoft Research

23. Accessibility Issues • Include users with disabilities, seniors, children during the design phase--Lighthouse for the Blind, etc. • Run through “Bobby” tool • Also available--Design guidelines for accessible products Microsoft Research

24. Important Considerations... • Ethical treatment of Ss, consent forms and NDAs • Statistical power and significance • Guided exploration v. free discovery, learning v. initial use • Validity, reliability, and generalizability • Objectivity Microsoft Research

25. Research and Ideal Design • Research on human cognitive abilities: • attention; perception • memory; learning • Research on human-computer interaction • GOMS modeling; cognitive “chunking” • principles for good 2D and 3D design • Anthropology->Contextual Inquiry • Scenario-based design Microsoft Research

26. Basic Cognitive Principles Memory • Associations are built by repetition • Scaffold model - more likely to remember items that have many associations • Recognition is easier than recall • Working memory has small capacity (time & size) • Long-term memory has large capacity (time & size) Microsoft Research

27. Basic Cognitive Principles Attention • Attention is a resource - gets divided between the different senses, different tasks • Automatic well-learned processes don’t require very much attention - we can concentrate on new items • Context can • provide information supporting focus • make observer focus attention on one part of the display • prime an observer so they’re biased towards what you want them to see Microsoft Research

28. Basic Cognitive Principles Perception • We excel at pattern recognition • We automatically try to organize visual displays - gestalt principles • Motion, contrast, color, outlining can provide salience Also, audio and motor control becoming more important with advances in technology Microsoft Research

29. Memory, Attention, and Perception Dynamically Interact Basic Cognitive Principles MEMORY PERCEPTION What is this feature? Does it match the task? Recognition Pull info from memory Feedback ATTENTION Motor Control Microsoft Research

30. Resources: Books • Rubin, J. 1995. Handbook of Usability Testing. • Dix, A., Finlay, J., Abowd, G. & Beale, R. (Eds.), 1999, Human Computer Interaction , 2nd Ed. • Helander, M. (Ed.) 1988; 1998. Handbook of human computer interaction: I & II. • Hix, D. & Hartson, H. 1993. Developing user interfaces • Nielson, J. 1993. Usability engineering • Preece, J. 1995. Human-computer interaction Microsoft Research

31. Resources: URLs • HCI-BIB - http://www.cmd.uu.se./html/hcibib.html/ • SIGCHI - http://www.acm.org/sigchi/ • HCI Index - http://is.twi.tudelft.nl/hci/ • HCI Resources on the Net - http://www.ida.liu.se/labs/aslab/groups/um/hci/ • http://www.hfes.org Microsoft Research

32. Questions?