MS 2306 – NEW MEDIA RESEARCH CONCEPTS and METHODOLOGIES 2013/14

1. MS 2306 – NEW MEDIA RESEARCH CONCEPTS and METHODOLOGIES 2013/14

2. MS2306Lecture one • MS 2306 – NEW MEDIA RESEARCH CONCEPTS & METHODOLOGIES • MODULE LEADER: TONY SAMPSON • Tuesday Lecture 3.00 – 4.30 in EB 1.03 • Seminar with Tony (MMDT, IMD, MCI) 5.00 – 6.30 in EB.2.45 • Seminar with Stacey (CGD and CGT) 5.00 – 6.30 in EB.3.11

3. Full Module Guide: http://homepages.uel.ac.uk/T.D.Sampson/DocLand/MS2306/MS2306.htm • Lecture Notes http://ms2306.blogspot.com/ • Finding the blog and guide via Google

4. Introduction to module • Aims and objectives • To enable you to approach new media concepts, methods and practice in a research context • To identify a user experience to research • To think through how user experience can be researched as part of the design process • To prepare you for level 3 projects

5. Thesis A set of ideas (concepts) posed as a research question(s) Dissertation Vehicle for ideas Methodologies Testing the idea Series of research tools Concepts Framework of ideas Terminology

6. Researching User Experience

7. To develop awareness of Concepts – experience/affect/emotion/ cognition/pervasive/ubicomp /flow/gamification Methods – questionnaires/focus groups/user testing/biometric testing To help you expand knowledge of digital media field (interactive, multimedia, games etc) To critically assess research methods, concepts in relation to new media forms and experiences To produce crediblenew media research proposals Specific aims

8. CW1 Illustrated Essay setting out a conceptual approach to user experience. Printed essay of 2000 words with a minimum of 3 good quality printed colour images used to support analysis 60% DEADLINE:SED April 29th Formative assessment: There will be a compulsory but informal pitch of chosen experience on Tuesday March 18th CW2 development of research proposal (Printed and bound 1,600 words) - including reference to the following: title, aims, context, method, theoretical framework 40% DEADLINE: SEDMay 13th Assessment

9. CW1 = Essay • Illustrated Essay: “Apply a conceptualapproach to a defined new media user experience.” • As design students you will be expected to submit a hardcopy written essay that uses images to illustrate and support your analysis. These images can be original and/orsources images (fully referenced). • 2,000 words with a minimum of 3 good quality printed colour images (60%) • SED DEADLINE: April 29th

10. CW1: 4 Steps Step one: • Choose and define an experience. • This might be an analogue game, entertainment pursuit or everyday task which you intend to make into a video game or interactive software. • It must be described as an experience, not as a completed design or product. • For example,the experience of waking up in the morning including your interaction with various hardware, like an alarm clock or toaster. The idea is to learn from the experience so that you can go on to design a software version of it. Illustrations might include a storyboard or images that represent the user experience.

11. Step two Referring to the lecture notes,select a conceptual approach (affect, emotional design, user experience design, funology, flow, ubiquitous computing, gamification for example). Clearly identify and describe how it can support the development of… (a) a theoretical understanding of the experience (b) an experience that relates to a practical outcome (something you can design and make) Include illustrations - examples of the experience or evidence of ethnographic research. CW1: 4 Steps

12. Step three Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your chosen conceptual approach in terms of how it can be used as a research tool to better understand the chosen user experience. For example, how useful is the concept of affect or ubiquitous computing to the development of a better understanding of user experience Again, illustrations might include practical examples of ubi comp, for example. CW1: 4 Steps

13. CW1: 4 Steps • Step four: Reflect on how your conceptual approach responds to the notion of a third paradigm of human computer interaction research* • *See Harrison, Tatar and Sengers, (2007) “The Three Paradigms of HCI,” Proceedings of CHI, San Jose, CA,. Archived at: http://people.cs.vt.edu/~srh/Downloads/TheThreeParadigmsofHCI.pdf • *See McCarthy and Wright (2004) Technology as Experience, MIT Press • Read chapter one online: • http://mitpress.mit.edu/sites/default/files/titles/content/9780262633550_sch_0001.pdf

14. CW1 = Illustrated Essay • For more detail see full module guide and discuss with seminar tutor • See MS2306 Blog • Full Module Guide: http://homepages.uel.ac.uk/T.D.Sampson/DocLand/MS2306/MS2306.htm

15. CW2 = The Proposal (7 parts) • Assignment MS2306B1: Research Proposal – 1,600 words (40%) • SED DEADLINE: May 13th • “Researching a New Media User Experience: Theory and Practice.” • It is very important that the proposal relates the research question to BOTH the proposed written thesis and practical project (discuss with seminar tutor) • A full research proposal agreed with your seminar tutor(s). This will include the seven elements introduced in the module.

16. CW2 = The Proposal (7 parts) • Research question • Clear aims and objectives • Specific research questions • A project summary • Research concepts • Methodology • List of references

17. CW2 = The Proposal (7 parts) • One research question covering both conceptual approach and practical outcome. The question must have a clearly identifiable independent and dependent variables. • Clear aims and objectives - what you want to achieve and how you intend to achieve it! • Specific research questions - a list of no more than six subsidiary questions you think your project will also address

18. CW2 = The Proposal (7 parts) 4. A project summary- a short introduction to your research topic which provides both a description of the user experience you are researching and context for the research – say why it matters 5. Research concepts- developing on the work you carried out in coursework one, what concepts/ideas does your project draw on? Is there a certain game design theory or design theory you intend to apply, or are you drawing on ideas from other disciplines, like psychology (affect or emotion e.g.).

19. CW2 = The Proposal (7 parts) 6. Methodology - Set out a clear and logical set of research tools (focus groups, user testing, prototyping, ethnography e.g.) which tests the variables described in your research question. 7. List of references for published work you think you will use in the project - this list must evidence an extensive literature search in both the library and online. Books and articles must be credible academic texts and relate to the above sections.

20. MS2306 Week-by-Week Four Blocks • User Experience • Concepts • Methods • Assessment (focus on proposal)

21. 1. USER EXPERIENCES

22. 2. CONCEPTS

23. 3. METHODS

24. Two Week Vacation

25. 3. METHODSContinued

26. 4. ASSESSMENT

27. What is an experience? “The apprehension of an object, thought, or emotion through the senses or mind: a child's first experience of snow.” “An event or a series of events participated in or lived through.” User Experience Design

28. Felt Experience • Experience as something that is “felt” • “… felt experience points to the emotional and sensual quality of experience.” • McCarthy and Wright (2004) Technology as Experience, MIT Presshttp://mitpress.mit.edu/sites/default/files/titles/content/9780262633550_sch_0001.pdf

29. Technology as Experience?

31. Technology as Experience • Why, for so long, have the designers of interactive computer systems failed to grasp the importance of experience?

32. Begins with Ergonomics Definition: “The applied science of equipment design, as for the workplace, intended to maximize productivityby reducing operator fatigue and discomfort.”

33. General ergonomic principles which apply to the design of dialogues between humans and information systems (ISO 9241-110:2006) See ISO website: http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=38009 Suitability for the task Suitability for learning Suitability for individualisation Conformity with user expectations Self descriptiveness Controllability Error tolerance Ergonomics http://www.system-concepts.com/

34. Human Computer Interaction (HCI) • Grew out of engineering, industrial design and computer science in 1970s

35. HCI collaborates with psychology focusing on the cognitive processes of perception, attention, memory, learning and goals (action)

36. The history of “the user” in HCI 1970s-1980s User as “a cog in a rational machine” and “a source of error.” 1980s-1990s User as “a social actor.” 1990s-to date User as “a consumer.” (See Kuutti (2001) cited in McCarthy and Wright (2004) Technology as Experience, MIT Presshttp://mitpress.mit.edu/sites/default/files/titles/content/9780262633550_sch_0001.pdf

37. User as a Cog in a Rational Machine

38. “User as a Social Actor” Lucy Suchman, 1987 (influence of sociology on HCI) Ethnographic studies of humans and technology Don Norman 1988 See slides on Norman’s seven stages: http://courses.cs.vt.edu/~cs3724/summer2-03somervell/lectures/cs3724-stagesofaction.pdf

39. Why focus on the user? • “… usability is a necessary condition for survival. If a website is difficult to use, people leave.” • Clear Purpose • Easy to Navigate • Legibility • “There are plenty of other websites available; leaving is the first line of defense when users encounter a difficulty.” • (Nielsen, cited on the useit.com website http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030825.html)

40. Usability (User Centred Design) • Research User Requirements • “Testable” user actions of usability that can be measured (See Bennett (1984) and Shackel (1990) in Stone et al). (See chapter 6 of Stone et al (2005)User Interface Design and Evaluation (Morgan Kaufmann) http://www.elsevierdirect.com/companion.jsp?ISBN=9780120884360

41. Four Heuristic ConceptsBennett (1984) and Shackel (1990)

42. Concepts updated by Nielson

43. Measurement Criteria (Tyldesley, 1988) 1. Time to complete task. 2. Percentage of task completed. 3. Percentage of task completed per unit time (speed metric). 4. Ratio of successes to failures. 5. Time spent on errors. 6. Percentage or number of errors. 7. Percentage or number of competitors that do this better than current product. 8. Number of commands used. 9. Frequency of help or documentation use. 10. Time spent using help or documentation. 11. Percentage of favourable to unfavourable user commands. (See chapter 6 of Stone et al (2005)User Interface Design and Evaluation (Morgan Kaufmann) http://www.elsevierdirect.com/companions/9780120884360/casestudies/Chapter_06.pdf

44. Measurement Criteria(Tyldesley, 1988) 12. Number of repetitions of failed commands. 13. Number of runs of successes and of failures. 14. Number of times the interface misleads the user. 15. Number of good and bad features recalled by users. 16. Number of available commands not invoked. 17. Number of regressive behaviors. 18. Number of users preferring your system. 19. Number of times users need to work around a problem. 20. Number of times the user is disrupted from a work task. 21. Number of times the user loses control of the system. 22. Number of times the user expresses frustration or satisfaction. (See chapter 6 of Stone et al (2005)User Interface Design and Evaluation (Morgan Kaufmann) http://www.elsevierdirect.com/companions/9780120884360/casestudies/Chapter_06.pdf

45. Morae

46. A New Paradigm? McCarthy and Wright (2004) Technology as Experience, MIT Press Read chapter one online: http://mitpress.mit.edu/sites/default/files/titles/content/9780262633550_sch_0001.pdf

47. “User as a Consumer”focus on consumer experience • Strong penetration of computers into the home • Dotcom Boom • Games industry • Wireless • Mobile • Ubiquitous computing

48. IBM UX concept cited in McCarthy and Wright See also http://www-01.ibm.com/software/ucd/designconcepts/whatisUXD.html

49. The Experience of Living with Technology • “A man who works in a library is having a normal working day: checking books in and out, helping people find the author they were looking for, organizing inter-library loans, and so on. Then he receives a mobile phone text message from a friend who is visiting New Zealand. It is a short message, no more than 160 characters, yet it feels like a very personal, intimate contact—a hug or an affectionate touch. He is moved to send a reply. It is even shorter than the message he had received, and it is in a personal, intimate style not typical of him. For a moment, the two friends, though a world apart, feel intensely present to each other.” • (See chapter one of McCarthy and Wright (2004) Technology as Experience, MIT Press) http://mitpress.mit.edu/sites/default/files/titles/content/9780262633550_sch_0001.pdf

50. A father comes home from work. As he rushes into the hall, he keys in the password to disable his house alarm. His daughter comes in behind him. He needs to get the dinner prepared, so he switches on the computer in the study for his daughter and sets up her favorite game for her. Once she is settled in, he goes to the kitchen, prepares the food, and places it in the oven. He listens to his phone messages while doing this. Eventually he sets the temperature and timer and leaves the food to cook. As he passes down the hallway to the sitting room, he pops his head into the study. His daughter asks him to play with her. “Back in two minutes love.” In the sitting room, he programs the VCR to record a drama that he and his wife want to watch later. Now he is heading for the study to play his daughter’s computer game with her.