HCC 729

1. HCC 729 Human Centered Design Shaun Kane

2. Discussion

3. Discussion (in pairs) • Have you ever interacted with something that sucked? • Did it ever improve? • How do you think it got better? • How could it have gotten better? • Talk to your neighbor for 5 minutes, then we will share stories as we introduce ourselves.

4. Objectives • Things you will learn in this course: • HCI methods • Techniques for understanding users • Techniques for determining interface user needs and requirements • How to collect and analyze data • You will gain fundamental UX / usability skills • Evaluate and redesign something • Illustrate concepts for something new

5. What is this course about? • Methods, theories, heuristics and tools for the design, implementation and evaluation of user interfaces • These fundamental skills are useful for designing and evaluating any interactive system (high or low tech)

6. How you will be assessed • No exams! • Limited Reading! • Small weekly assignments!

7. How you will be assessed • Assignment 1: software redesign: 35% • 20% weekly deliverables • 15% final paper • Assignment 2: designing the future: 35% • 20% weekly deliverables • 15% final paper • Reading reflections and course blog: 15% • Class participation: 10% • Mini-lecture: 5%

8. Project 1: software redesign • Why? Have an opportunity to test methods without significant implementation. • This is exactly what usability specialists have to do • Topic: Help someone who needs something redesigned (so your work can go to good use) non-profit or volunteer organizations • Something related to your job? • Open-source software • Community organization • University group

9. Project 1: software redesign • Week 1: identify domain • Find something to study (ideally you will have access to this population: someone you know IRL or online) • Find a partner (or work independently), Note: I will expect more from teams. • Week 2: user / task / environmental analysis and create 3 personas • Week 3: Heuristic evaluation of existing website (technique you do alone)

10. Project 1: software redesign • Week 4: Recruit 3 target users for a think aloud study of original system • Week 5: Prototyping revision based on prior work • Week 6: Recruit 3 target users for a think aloud evaluation of redesigned system • Week 8 (end of spring break): turn in summative report

11. Assignment grading • This is a fast paced class, where I expect everyone to keep up. You will have weekly assignments and 2 summative reports • I will provide weekly feedback for your assignments through ✓,✓+,✓- grades. • You will get additional feedback from your peers (in class), and you can always ask me if you have additional questions. • You will get letter grades for your summative reports

12. Assignment grading ✓ • Completed the minimal requirements for the milestone • Demonstrate depth, creativity, and went beyond the minimal requirements • Did not meet the minimal requirements for the milestone, and / or content is missing from the blog ✓+ ✓-

13. Project 2: designing the future • Why? Sometimes we have to design and test interactions when the technology doesn’t exist yet, or we are trying to make technology relevant to a new population. • Topic: Explore the future of wearable computing (smart watches, wearable displays)

14. Project 2: designing the future • Week 9: form new groups, and choose user / task / environment • Week 10: Gather data about target users about interests / current experiences through interview or observation, create personas • Week 11: Work with your users to create sketches / ideas for useful scenario

15. Project 2: designing the future • Week 12: Create concept video (from stills) of your concepts • Week 13: Evaluate first draft of video with target users • Week 14: Revise video and write summative report

16. Participation (10%) • In-class discussions, and activities • If you miss class and an in class assignment you must come up with an alternative activity • Failure to contribute sufficiently will result in a lower than average grade • 5 points for showing up to each class and answering question when called upon • >5 points for “actively” participating • Everyone should talk in every class!

17. Weekly readings + blog (15%) • There will always be 1-2 required readings • Post reactions to readings (200+ words) • What did you learn, how does it related to your life or your project? • There may be 1+ optional readings • You can read and reflect on these for a small amount of extra credit. • Note: you can only receive extra credit for the current readings, and not for previously assigned ones

18. Mini lecture (5%) • 5-10 minute presentation on a topic of your choosing • Teach the class something we wouldn’t cover otherwise • Main goal: provide interesting additional topics; show interesting examples • Sign up sheet available next week

19. Mini lecture ideas • How class topics relate to your work, volunteering, hobbies • Design technique that we won’t cover in class • Analyzing a research paper’s design methods • HCI and design issues in different cultures (or subcultures) • I’d be happy to discuss ideas with you during office hours

20. Extra Credit: HCI / UI News • Why? because there is so much good stuff out there! • Post a design example, video, or news story that interests / inspires you and write a 100+ word blog post describing why (be sure to include a ref / image) • We’ll discuss in class 1 point on your final grade for every 4 weeks you post an inspiration

21. My expectations of you • Arrive to class on time • Let me know if you will be late or absent • Turn in assignments on time • Let me know 24 hours before deadline if you won’t make it and need a new deadline • Be willing to spend 9 hours a week on this class (outside of lecture) • Cite all collaborators or references clearly

22. What you can expect from me • Office hours (or by appointment) • 30 minutes before class • 20 minutes after • Respond to email within 24 hours • I check email in the evening • Graded assignments within 1 week • Post slides within 24 hours after class

23. Required Materials: Blog • Your own class blog • Name it anything you want (it should only contain materials from this class) • Post reactions to readings (200+ words) • Tie to your own projects, interests • Weekly inspiration(s) / HCI News • optional, extra credit • Assignments (this will create a portfolio)

24. Class format • Every class will have the following format • In-class critique of past assignment • Discussion about inspiration and reading • Lecture • In-class design exercise • Guest lecture (2 or 3 throughout semester) • Details will be posted here: http://hcc729s14.wordpress.com

25. Review from 629 / 303

26. Concepts from HCC 629 / 303 • Principles of Good Design • User centered design: User, task, environmental analysis • Basic principles of visual design • User abilities (cognitive, perceptual, motor) • Input: Fitts’sLaw • Cognitive modeling (?) • Personas(?)

27. Principles of good design

28. Don Norman’s thoughts on Design • Well designed objects are easy to interpret and understand • Poorly designed objects are frustrating to use

29. What can designers do? Provide products that help to provide a suitable user experience by considering: • Visibility • Feedback • Mappings • Constraints and Forcing Functions • Metaphors • Mental model • Consistency • Affordances Note: getting it “right” takes time. Norman has suggested 5-6 tries…

30. Visibility Feedback • Users can’t interact with it if they don’t know it is there. • Users need to know system isn’t dead • Feedback for actions • Feedback for status

31. Mappings Constraints • User must understand mapping between input and output • Restrict actions user can perform to minimize errors

32. Metaphors Mental Models • Leverage what user already knows to teach them something new • How user expects something to act or behave • “user is not like me” “Hello Computer” “Desktop Metaphor” Microsoft Bob

33. Consistency Affordances • Don’t make users re-learn simple things • Appearance of object tell us how to use it

34. User Centered Design User, Task, Environmental Analysis

35. User, Task, Environmental Analysis • Must have a deep understanding of the following: • Who is your user? • What tasks are they doing? • What environment are they happening in? • This gives you important context to focus your design. • Learning this information is hard…

36. Basic principles of visual design

37. Principles of visual design • Gestalt principles • Proximity, similarity, symmetry, continuity, figure-ground, closure • Typography, layout, and organization (and why they matter) • Note the significant overlap here with 710 • How do all of these principles come together to create a design language?

38. User abilities cognitive, perceptual, motor

39. Humans, and their abilities • Memory • short vs. long term, and how information moves from one to the other • How to help people remember things • Recall vs. recognition • Attention: where is it? How can we direct it? • Motor • Fitts’s law

40. Interaction Basics

41. Interaction Basics • What are the different types? • Relative vs. absolute • Matching user/task/environment information to choose appropriate device • Command line vs. direct manipulation • Input and output alternatives

42. Cognitive modeling ?

43. What is a Cognitive Model? • computational model that captures how people perform tasks and solve problems based on psychological principles • Enable us to make predictions about: • Performance times • Task errors • Decision making • What buttons and menu items people choose • How different designs might be better or worse

44. Personas ?

45. Affective Interfaces / Interaction Designing for and with emotion

46. Affective design

47. For next time

48. For next time • Milestone 1: • Find software that needs to be redesigned • Create your own class blog (and email me the URL) • Post URL for the software you will redesign • Write 100 word blurb about its purpose • Decide if you will work in a pair or solo • Comments/questions on syllabus/assignments • Reading • Alan Dix et al. Chapter 15: Task Analysis