Virtual University - Human Computer Interaction 1 © Imran Hussain | UMT Imran Hussain University of...

Virtual University - Human Computer Interaction1 © Imran Hussain | UMT

Imran Hussain

University of Management and Technology (UMT)

Lecture 22

User Modeling

Virtual University

Human-Computer Interaction


In the Last Lecture

• Qualitative Research Techniques– Conducting ethnographic field studies


In Today’s Lecture …

• Personas

• Goals


Modeling


Why Model?

• Used extensively in design, development and sciences

• Represent complex structures and relationships

• Have to make sense of unstructured, raw data

• Good models– Emphasize features of structures or relationships they represent– De-emphasize less significant details

• Create models based on patterns in data– E.g., physicists on the atom


Usage Patterns

Goals Personas

Sets of observed behaviors that categorize

modes of use

Research Modeling

Use ethnographic research techniques to obtain qualitative data:• user observation• contextual interviews

Specific and general desired outcomes of

using the product

Qualitative Data


Moving from Research to Modeling

• Need to synthesize patterns

• This leads to the systematic construction of patterns in interaction– Matching

• Behaviors• Mental models• Goals of users

• Personas provide this formalization


Personas


Personas

• A precise descriptive model of the user– What he wishes to accomplish? and why?

– A.k.a. user models

• Personas based on motivations and behaviors of real people

• Personas based on behavioral data gathered from actual users through ethnographic interviews

• When to create– Discovered during Research phase

– Formalized during Modeling phase


Strengths of Personas

• How do you successfully accommodate a variety of users?

• Do not design for everyone!

• Different needs (e.g., a car for everyone’s needs)– Person A (Minivan)– Person B (Pickup)– Person C (Sports Car)

• Design for specific types of individuals with specific needs

• These users should represent a larger set of users



• Personas are a tool for– Understanding user needs

– Differentiating between types of users

– Prioritizing users



• Determine what a product should do and how it should behave

• Communicate with stakeholders, developers and designers– Common language for discussing design decisions

• Build consensus and commitment to design– Common understanding through narrative structures

• Measure the design’s effectiveness– Can be tested on personas

• Contribute to other product-related efforts– Sales, marketing planning, business strategies


Personas and User-Centered Design

• Personas resolve 3 user-centered issues:– The elastic user

– Self-referential design

– Design edge cases


The Elastic User

• The term user causes imprecision

• During design decisions user becomes ‘elastic’– Accommodating, computer-literate

– Unsophisticated first-time user

• Persons not elastic and represent real user needs


Self-referential Design

• Developers’ mental model, skills, goals, motivations projected onto product design

• Manifested by a ‘cool’ product

• Not understood by users


Design Edge Cases

• What could possibly happen, but probably never will

• Personas provide reality check


Personas Based on Research

• Personas synthesized from data

• Primary source of data – Ethnographic interviews, contextual inquiry

• Supplemental sources of data– Interviews with users outside their use context– Information about users supplied by stakeholders and SMEs– Market research data (focus groups, surveys)– Market segmentation models– Data from literature reviews

• Every detail in personas should be traceable– From user quotes, observed behaviors


Personas Represented as Individuals

• Personas are user models represented as specific, individual humans– Represented as specific individuals– Not actual people, but synthesized

• Engage empathy of development team towards human target of design

• Allow designers and developers to role play in scenarios


Personas Represent Classes of Users in Context

• Personas identify usage patterns– Usage patterns are behavior patterns regarding the use of a particular product

• Patterns along with work/life-related roles define personas as user archetypes (archetype: an original model or pattern of which all things of the same type are representations or copies)

• Personas a.k.a. composite user archetypes– Composites assembled by clustering related usage patterns across individuals

• Personas and reuse– Personas context-specific

• Cannot be reused across products

• Archetypes vs. stereotypes– Stereotypes antithesis of personas

• Reflect biases of designer biases


Personas Explore Ranges of Behavior

• Personas do not establish an average user– Identifies different kinds of behavior in form of ranges

• Designers must collect a cast (collection) of personas associated with a product


Personas have Motivations

• Humans have emotions

• Personas capture motivations in the form of goals– Identify usage patterns

– Identify why behaviors exist


Personas vs. User Roles

• A.k.a. role models

• User roles and user profiles– both describe relationship of users to products

• User roles are– an abstraction

– A defined relationship between class of users and their problems


Problems with User Roles

• More difficult to identify relationships in the abstract

• Focus on tasks, neglect goals as organizing principle

• Cannot be used as a coherent tool for communication and development


Personas vs. User Profiles

• User profile– Usually a ‘brief biographical sketch’

• Name• Demographic data• Fictional paragraph

• Personas derived from ethnographic data


Personas vs. Market Segments

• Market segments– Based on demographics and distribution channels

• Personas– User behavior and goals


User Personas vs. Non-user Personas

• Product definition error is to target people who review, purchase or administer the product

• ‘IT Managers’ better served if real end user served

• Cater for non-user personas where necessary– Enterprise systems


Goals


Goals and Personas

• Personas contain sets of behaviors

• Goals drive behaviors

• Personas without goals– Communication tool [useful]

– Design tool [useless]

• Goals should determine functions of product

• Function and Behavior of Product must address Goals via Tasks


Goals Motivate Usage Patterns

• Goals motivate people to behave in a certain way

• Goals provide answer to– Why personas use a product?

– How personas desire to use a product?

• Goals serve as shorthand (in designer’s mind) for complex behaviors


Goals Must Be Inferred from Qualitative Data

• Can’t ask a person what his goals are directly– He can’t articulate them

– He won’t be accurate

– He won’t be honest

• Goals constructed from:– Observed behaviors

– Answers to questions

– Non-verbal cues

– Clues from environment

• Goals expressed succinctly– Each goal expressed as a single sentence


Types of Goals …

• User Goals

• Non-User Goals


User Goals …

• Life goals

• Experience Goals

• End Goals


Life Goals

• Reflect personal aspirations of user

• Go beyond the context of product being designed

• Examples– Be the best at what I do– Get onto the fast track and win that big promotion– Learn all there is to know about this field– Be a paragon of ethics, modesty and trust

• Not directly related to design of interface

• Addressing life goals creates fanatically loyal users


Experience Goals

• Product-related (general)

• How someone wants to feel when using a product

• People desire to be treated with dignity and respect and supported

• Examples– Don’t feel stupid

– Don’t make mistakes

– Feel competent and confident

– Have fun


End Goals

• Product-related (specific)

• Expectation’s of the tangible outcomes of using a product

• Examples– Find the best price

– Finalize the press release

– Process the customer’s order

– Create a numerical model of the business


Combining End Goals and Experience Goals

• End goals have more appeal to– Business people

– Programmers

• Most products satisfy end goals and not the experience goals

• Satisfying only end goals users not happy

• Satisfying only experience goals product becomes a toy


Non-User Goals

• Must be considered, but not at expense of user goals

• Types …– Customer Goals

– Corporate Goals

– Technical Goals


Customer Goals

• Consumer products – Concerned about happiness and safety (parents, relatives, friends)

• Enterprise products– Concerned about security, ease of maintenance, ease of customization

(IT managers)


Corporate Goals

• Businesses and organizations have goals for product

• Enable designers to remain focused

• Examples– Increase profit

– Increase market share

– Defeat the competition

– Use resources more efficiently

– Offer more products or services


Technical Goals

• Programmer’s goals

• Ease task of software creation

• Often take precedence over user’s goals

• Examples– Save memory– Run in a browser– Safeguard data integrity– Increase program execution efficiency– Use “cool” technology or features– Maintain consistency across platforms

• Users do not care about technical goals (e.g., type of databases used)


Successful Products Meet User Goals First

• Good products– Serve a purpose in a context for people

– Key tool in designing is personas

– Personas are specific people working towards specific purposes (goals)

• Goals of real people using product are always more important than:– A corporation

– IT manager

• Users will try to meet business goals– But not at expense of their dignity


Meeting user goals

• Successful products meet user goals• Don’t make me (user) think

– i.e. don’t make em’ feel stupid


A user’s most important goal is always to retain his human dignity

(Don’t make the user feel stupid)

Today’s digital products degrade human beings


Constructing Personas



• Personas derived from patterns observed during interviews and observations

• Well-developed personas include information about– Goals– Attitudes– Work or activity flow– Typical workday– Use environment– Skills and skill levels– Current solutions and frustrations– Relevant relationships with others


Process for Constructing Personas …

1. Revisit the persona hypothesis.

2. Map interview subjects to behavioral variables.

3. Identify significant behavior patterns.

4. Synthesize characteristics and relevant goals.

5. Check for completeness.

6. Develop narratives.

7. Designate persona types.


Revisit the persona hypothesis

• Compare patterns in data with assumptions in persona hypothesis

• List behavioral variables

• Behavioral variables in enterprise applications related to job roles– 15 to 30 behavioral variables per role

• Modify assumptions if at variance with data


Map interview subjects to behavioral variables

• Map each interviewee against each applicable variable range

• Place interviewee on a range according to a scale

• Clusters indicate behavior patterns

• Behavioral range a.k.a. behavioral axis


Map interview subjects to behavioral variables


Identify significant behavior patterns

• Note clusters of subjects across multiple ranges

• Set of interviewees that cluster in 6-8 variables possibly represent a persona based on pattern

• May have 2-3 such patterns


Synthesize relevant characteristics and relevant goals

• Synthesize details from data

• List characteristics of behavior in brief bullet points

• Add little description of personalities

• Only first and last names of persona should be fictional

• Add some demographic info– E.g., age, location, income

• From this point on, refer to persona by assigned name

• List goals by inference from behavior data


Check for completeness

• Check persona characteristics and goals for any gaps

• Eliminate redundancies– E.g., 2 personas only varying in location

– Each persona must vary from another in at least one behavior



• Well-developed personas include information about– Goals– Attitudes– Work or activity flow– Typical workday– Use environment– Skills and skill levels– Current solutions and frustrations– Relevant relationships with others


Develop narratives

• Introduce third person narrative to convey persona’s attitudes, needs and problems

• Persona narrative < 1-2 pages

• Narrative– Introduces persona in terms of job or lifestyle

– Sketches a day in his life, including interests and concerns related to product

• Choose photographs of persona


Designate persona types

• Each interface designed for single, primary persona

• Prioritize personas


Persona types

• Primary– Primary target for design of interface

• Secondary– Secondary personas per interface: 0 to 2

• Supplemental

• Customer

• Served

• Negative


Process for Constructing Personas

1. Revisit the persona hypothesis.

2. Map interview subjects to behavioral variables.

3. Identify significant behavior patterns.

4. Synthesize characteristics and relevant goals.

5. Check for completeness.

6. Develop narratives.

7. Designate persona types.

Virtual University - Human Computer Interaction 1 © Imran Hussain | UMT Imran Hussain University of...

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