Topic 7

Whole

**User-Centered Design and the User, Task & Environment**

*UCD is a design process paying particular attention to the needs of potential users of a product through involvement of users at all stages of the design process.*

Empathetic 

When the designer takes the place of the user to see who potentially could use the product and the object could be better suited for the consumer.

User

Person utilising the product, person who is being affected by the product or who is reaping benefits/drawbacks.

Task

The thing that the product is supposed to do, however the user may have several sub uses for the product.

Environment

The place where a product is likely to be used.

Iterative

Act of repeating a process with the aim of approaching a desired goal, target or result. Each repetition of the process is also called an iteration, and the results of one iteration are used as the starting point for the next iteration.

Five Stages of UCD

**Research**

* Business and User problems and requirements are analysed.
* The user, task and environment are considered
* This can be done with a multi-disciplinary teams of ethnographer, anthropologists and psychologists
* NB the above diagram for Research

**Concept**

* Initial ideas are put forward
* Concept modelling takes place, including paper models
* Allows for  tactile and appearance evaluations
* Evaluation is fed back into the design cycle
* It is quick and cheap to carry out.
* A multi-disciplinary team of designers, various engineers and psychologists.
* NB the above diagram for Concept

**Design**

* Development of ideas
* Scaled models such as prototypes, mock ups etc are made
* Monitoring of performance against usability requirements
* Allows for more continued evaluation by the user and design team.
* Evaluation is fed back into the design cycle
* NB the above diagram for Design

**Implementation**

* Various testing and evaluations are carried out with a wide range of end users
* Evaluation is fed back into the design cycle
* A multi-disciplinary team is used to measure the end-users psychological and physiological experience.
* NB the above diagram for Implementation

**Launch**

* The end product is launched
* Continuos evaluation is carried out
* Monitoring of performance against usability requirements
* NB the above diagram for Launch

**Inclusive Design**

*The design of mainstream products and/or services so that they are accessible and usable by as many people as possible without the need for adaptation or specialised design.*

* Welcoming to everyone
* Responsive to people’s needs
* Intuitive to use
* Flexible
* Convenient so they can be used without undue effort or special separation and so that they maximise independence

User Experience

A person’s perceptions and responses that result from the use or anticipated use of a product, system or service, this can modify over time due to changing usage circumstances.

**Usability objectives**

**Usefulness**

* Once users have learned the design, how quickly can they perform tasks?
* Efficiently – fast and with minimum effort

**Effectiveness**

* Use the design completely and accurately
* Prevents errors
* User can recover if errors occur.

**Learnability**

* It is the ease at which the user can learn to use a product?
* The intuitiveness to use a product, service or system design.
* How easy is it for users to accomplish tasks the first time they encounter the design?
* Memorable – when the user returns they do not have to re-learn how to use it.

**Attitude**

* Satisfaction or likability  when the client uses or interacts with the product, service or system design.
* How pleasant is it to use the design?

**Enhanced usability**

Benefits of enhanced usability include:

* improved product acceptance
* improved user experience
* improved productivity
* reduces user error
* reduces the need for training and support

**Characteristics of good user-product interfaces**

* Simplicity

Simple design allows for clarity on how the design can be used such as an iPod interface.

**Characteristics of good user-product interfaces**

* Ease of use

IPod interface has limited menu items that are easily and quickly accessed.

**Characteristics of good user-product interfaces**

* Intuitive logic and organization 

Novice users of a product should be able to learn all its basic functions within one or two hours.

**Characteristics of good user-product interfaces**

* Low memory burden

The user does not need to have to memorise many features, how to use it, etc.

* Do not have to relearn functions.  Poor organization of a product imposes a memory burden on users, who have to learn and remember how the various functions work.
* This results in them not using the full functionality of a product but focusing on a limited set of features and ignoring those that are difficult to remember.
* Thinking about how intuitively the product features can be accessed by users can reduce memory burden and make the product more user-friendly.

**Characteristics of good user-product interfaces**

* Visibilty

Controls should be visible and it should be obvious how they work.

* They should convey the correct message, for example, with doors that need to be pushed, the designer must provide signals that indicate where to push.

**Characteristics of good user-product interfaces**

* Feedback

Feedback is the provision of information, for example, an audible tone to a user, as a result of an action.

* The tone on a telephone touchpad or the click of a key on a computer keyboard provides feedback to indicate that a key has been pressed.
* The “egg timer” icon on a computer screen tells the user that an action is being undertaken.

**Characteristics of good user-product interfaces**

* Affordance

Affordance is the property of an object that indicates how it can be used.

* Buttons afford pushing, and knobs afford turning.
* On a door, handles afford pulling, whereas push plates afford pushing.

**Characteristics of good user-product interfaces**

* Mapping

Mapping relates to the correspondence between the layout of the controls and their required action.

**Characteristics of good user-product interfaces**

* Constraints

Constraints limit the way that a product can be used.

* The design of a three-pin plug or a USB (universal serial bus) device ensures that they are inserted the correct way.

**Population stereotypes**

When a person is catorgerised into a population based on culture, class, gender, etc. This allows assumptions and associations on how that particular stereotyped population may, react in a situation, dress, use of products, aesthetics, values and so on.

Advantages and disadvantages of using population stereotypes for designers and users.

Advantages:

* Allows you to form assumptions and associations about  of a group of people. D
* Judgements and decisions can be made quickly. D
* Possibly predict the behavior or possible use of a product or system. D & U
* The user needs and behavior can be identified and thus usability considerations are met. U

Disadvantages:

* Assumptions and associations of a particular stereotype may not fit all people of that population. D
* Judgements and decisions could be incorrect. D
* Not all people who ‘look alike act/think alike’ there fore behavior or way a product was intended to be used may be wrong. U & D

**User population**

* User population is a range of users for a particular product or system.
* A product maybe design for a particular population.
* Easy grip can opener for people with arthritis

**Classification of users**

* People of user populations are classified into groups based on age, gender and physical condition. 
* physical conditions may include mobility issues, amputees, blindness, arthritis and so on.

 **The use of personae**

*Designers can observe and interview members of a user population in order to create fictional characters known as personae, secondary personae and anti-personae.*

**Scenarios**

* Offer a  physical and social context for different personae
* A scenario is an imagined sequence of events in the daily life of a persona based on assumptions by researchers and designers.

 **Use case**

* A set of possible sequences of interactions or event steps between a user and a product to achieve a particular action.

### **The strategies for UCD:**

* Field Research

Advantages

* Gain first hand knowledge
* Gain first hand experience
* Obtain detailed data of people and processes
* It emphasizes the role and relevance of social context.

Disadvantages

* Data will be very narrow
* emotional taxing as the relationship between interviewer and client has to be established.

**The Strategies for UCD:**

Method of extremes

A common sampling method where users are selected to represent the extremes of a user population, typically the 2.5th and 97.5th percentile.

Advantages

* greatest number of users are accommodated

Disadvantages

* maybe sensitive for extreme groups to be involved

**The Strategies for UCD:**

Observations

* Essentially is a user trial where the intended client uses the product and the expert observes.
* This can be in the field (natural environment) or in a lab (controlled environment)

Advantages

* Help to unveil usability issues
* Tested under conditions of use

Disadvantages

* Data collected maybe difficult to analyse

**The Strategies for UCD:**

Interview and Focus groups

* A collection of responses from users, a trail of observation of users interacting with the product

Advantages

* It is dynamic
* Face to Face
* Body language and gestures can be observed
* Easily measure reactions
* Clarifying questions can be asked

Disadvantages

*  Expensive as interviewees are often compensated
* Participants may not wish to share sensitive issues
* Small sample size may not be truly representative of the whole
* Moderator bias

**The Strategies for UCD:**

Questionnaires

* A series of questions to solicit information

Advantages

* Cheap
* Easy to administer
* large numbers of questionnaires can be administered
* sent easily to a wide local, national, global regions

Disadvantages

* Static
* poor number of responses
* maybe only interested people fill out the survey thus perhaps a bias

**Affinity diagramming**

* A graphical tool that identifies a general theme to collect facts, opinions and ideas.
* They express data and infromation in a common format by creating clusters and groups of common information.

Advantages

* Simple
* Cost effective
* Easy to get data from a group
* builds teamwork

Disadvantages

*  time-consuming
* can get quite large

Participatory design

An approach to design attempting to actively involve all stakeholders (e.g. employees, partners, customers, citizens, end users) in the design process to help ensure the result meets their needs and is usable.

Usability testing

*Carried out in a* ***usability laboratory****. Typically, users are seated with an instructor who observes them performing a particular task with the product.* 

Attitude

The perceptions, feelings and opinions about a product by a user.

### The four-pleasure framework

***Socio-pleasure*** 

***Physio-pleasure*** 

***Psycho-pleasure***

***Ideo-pleasure***  

Socio-pleasure

* *Is derived from social interaction.*
* *Products and services can facilitate social interaction in a number of ways.*

Physio-pleasure

Is derived from the feel of a product during use

Psycho-pleasure 

* *Is derived from the cognitive demands of using a product or service and the emotional reactions engendered through the experience of using it.*
* *The outcome may also be more emotionally satisfying and less stressful.* 

Ideo-pleasure

* *Is derived from products that are aesthetically pleasing by appealing to the consumer’s values.*
* *Values could be philosophical or religious or may relate to some particular issue such as the environment or a political movement.*

### **Design for emotion**

Designing for emotion can increase:

* User engagement
* Product or brand loyalty
* Satisfaction with a product by incorporating emotion and personality

Visceral design

Design that speaks to people’s nature in terms of how they expect products and systems to function and how they expect to interact with them.

Reflective Design

Design that evokes personal memory focussing on the message, culture and the meaning of a product or its use.

Behavioural design

Focussed on use and understanding, this considers how people will use a product, focussing on functionality.

ACT Model

 Attract/Converse/Transact 

* *The* ***attract*** *part of the model is aesthetics oriented.* 


* *The* ***converse*** *part of the model is interaction oriented.* 
* *The* ***transact*** *part of the model is function oriented.*

*When all three elements are addressed, products can become desirable, usable and useful.*