SIMS 213: User Interface Design & Development

Marti HearstThurs, Jan 27, 2005

Slide by James Landay

Why User-Centered Design?

System will fail if it:– does not do what the user needs– is not appropriate for the user

Why don’t we just define a “good interface”?– There is a huge variety of users and tasks– Guidelines are usually too vague

e.g. “Provide feedback”, “Be intuitive”

User-Centered Design OverviewNeeds assessment– Find out

• who users are• what their goals are• what tasks they need to perform

– Task Analysis• Characterize what steps users need to take• Create scenarios of actual use• Decide which users and tasks to support

Design based on thisEvaluation– Test interface by “walking through” tasks– Do this before implementation

Slide adapted from Ben Shneiderman

Participatory Design

A subset of user-centered designUser actively participates in design of the systemPros:– potentially more accurate information about the tasks– more opportunity for users to influence the design

decisions– buy-in from sense of participation– potential greater acceptance of final system

Slide adapted from Ben Shneiderman

Participatory Design

Cons (potential):– more costly– lengthier implementation period– antagonism from those whose suggestion are not

incorporated– force designers to compromise design– exacerbate personality conflicts between designers and users– highlight organizational politics

Slide by James Landay

Caveats

Politics– advocating change can cause controversy– get a sense of the organization– important to get buy-in from all those involved

Don’t design forever without prototyping– rapid prototyping, evaluation, & iteration is key to

technique

Example: Student Course Enrollment:How to Help Students Achieve their Goals?

enroll in sims 213

learn to build useful systems

become successful IT manager

achieve lifetime of success

Help Users Achieve Goals

Example: Course Enrollment Software– What matters from the programmers’ point of view?– What matters from users’ point of view?– What about the course administrators?

User-Centered Design Example

Course Registration (Tele-bears re-design)SIMS 213, Spring 2003

Group Manager: Amy TodenhagenDocumentation Manager: Kimberley ChambersSoftware Manager: Nadine FiebrichDesign Manager: Zhanna ShamisUser Testing Manager: Anna Teplitskaya

User-centered Design Example

Problem Statement

User-centered Design Example

Participants

User-Centered Design Example

Needs Assessment Procedure:– Answer the needs assessment questions– Make a table showing

• user types• tasks• (guesses about) relative frequencies of tasks

– Decide which of the new tasks users may perform using the new interface.

• Make note of which ideas you decided to drop based on your interviews.

Slide adapted from James Landay

Needs Assessment Questions

Who is going to use the system?What tasks do they now perform?What tasks are desired?How are the tasks learned?Where are the tasks performed?What is the relationship between the user and the data?

Slide adapted from James Landay

Needs assessment Questions

What other tools does the user have?How do users communicate with each other?How often are the tasks performed?What are the (time) constraints on the task?What happens when things go wrong?What happens when things go wrong?

User-centered Design Example

Needs assessment techniques:– Observation– Interviews– Study existing successful designs

User-Centered Design Example

Interview– Prepare a list of questions about how people do their task

now and what they would like to have be different.– Interview at least three people

• Try to identify people with different needs and preferences, with respect to their attitudes about using online ordering systems.

– Ask them what, if anything, must be in the system in order for them to prefer it over the current system

• Refer to needs assessment questions shown above.– Go look at existing interfaces for the goal and see how

they handle the necessary tasks.

User-centered Design Example

Interview Participants:– Graduate: 1st Year Masters– Graduate: PhD– Undergrad: Freshman1– Undergrad: Freshman2– Undergrad: Junior Transfer– Undergrad: Senior Transfer– Undergrad: Senior

User-centered Design Example

Interview Questions & Summary Results

User-centered Design Example

Interview Questions & Summary Results

User-centered Design Example

User-centered Design Example

Interview Questions & Summary Results

User-centered Design Example

User-centered Design Example

Interview Questions & Summary Results

Slide adapted from Ben Shneiderman

Task Analysis

Characterize what happens when users perform typical tasksTools:– table of user communities vs. tasks

• Who x What– table of task sequences– flowchart or transition diagram– videotape depicting scenario

Slide adapted from James Landay's

How Often Do Users Perform the Tasks?

Frequent users remember more detailsInfrequent users may need more promptingWhich function is performed– most frequently?– by which users?– optimize system for tasks that will improve

perception of its performance

User-Centered Design Example

Task Analysis Table

User-Centered Design Example

Task Analysis Table

User-Centered Design Example

Task Analysis Table

Augment Table with Percentages(What percentage of the is this task done by this person)(Numbers are only suggestive, adapted from Shneiderman 98)

J ob Title Query by Patient Update Data Query acrossPatients

Add Attributes

Nurse 14% 11%

Physician 6% 4%

Supervisor 1% 1% 4%

Appointmentadministrator

26%

Clinical researcher 8%

Databaseprogrammer

2% 2%

Next Week

Readings:– Cooper (Inmates, Chs. 9-11) – Holtzblatt (in reader)– Newman & Landay

Topics:– Scenarios, Personas