IS 303 Exam 1 UMBC

How many terms are there in the Human-Computer Interaction hierarchy of needs (UX pyramid)?

1. User Experience (UX)

2. Usability

3. Utility/Functionality

Utility/Functionality

Baseline: Does it work?

Can a product be used to solve a problem

Does it perform the function(s) that it was designed for

Usability

Baseline: Can users get it to work?

How easily can a user use a product to solve a problem or perform a desired function

User Experience (UX)

Baseline: What is the value gained from a product’s use?

How a product is used by people in the real world

How people feel about a product, their satisfaction using it

Andrew Grimes’ quote to systems development

“The best experiences result from designers matching the way the computer behaves with the way our users are thinking, feeling, and interacting.” ← The Goal

“...interaction modes [however] are often an afterthought.” ← The Problem

How many usability goals are there?

1. Effectiveness

2. Efficiency

3. Safety

4. Utility

5. Learnability

6. Memorability

Effectiveness

How good a product is at doing it’s function/purpose (aka functionality)

Efficiency

The way a product supports users in carrying out their tasks: can they help them stay productive

Safety

The system should protect the user from dangerous and undesirable situations

Utility

The extent at which a product provides the right kind of functionality so a user can do what they need to do

Learnability

How easy a system is to learn

Memorability

how easy a product is to remember how to use, when learned

Interaction Design

designing a space that supports dialogue between a person and a product, system, or service

UX Goals and how they differ from Usability Goals (subjective and practically infinite)

UX Goals: Focus on the user’s experience and satisfaction with the product; more difficult to measure

Usability Goals: Focus on the product’s practical, functional effectiveness and ease of use; measurable data

Human Learning Styles

1. Visual

2. Auditory

3. Tactile

4. Kinesthetic

What is the most preferred learning style for learning technology?

Kinesthetic learning

The implications of the quote, “…one cannot design a user experience, only design for a user experience.”

You can create the conditions for a good user experience but it might not reflect how users feel about the product

How many design principles are there?

1. Discoverability (Visibility)

2. Feedback

3. Consistency

4. Constraints

5. Affordances

6. Mappings

Discoverability (Visibility)

Appropriate cues for how to use something to make the product easier to use

-make functions visible to users so that they know what
to do next

Feedback

Communicate an immediate and appropriate response to user action

Consistency

Design interfaces to have similar operations and similar elements for achieving similar tasks

Constraints

Ways of restricting the kinds of interaction that can take place at a given at a given moment moment

How many types of constraints are there?

1. Physical

2. Semantic

3. Cultural

4. Logical

Physical Constraint

physical limitations constrain possible interactions

Semantic Constraint

Rely upon the meaning of the situation to control the set of possible actions

Ex. Traffic lights: red=stop, green=go

Cultural Constraint

Rely upon accepted learned conventions shared by a cultural group even if they don’t affect the physical operation of the device

Ex. Driving on the left side of the road in EU compared to right in the US

Logical Constraint

Use reasoning to determine the alternatives and may come by process of elimination

Affordances

Let a user know if and how they can interact with an object, a “signifier”

Ex. A chair signifies being able to sit on it

Digital Affordance

mimics a real-world object

Ex. A button on a website signifies pressing/flipping

Hidden Affordance

no perceptual information for an existing affordance

Ex. A button with a shadow vs without one

False Affordance

Looks like an affordance exists but isn’t

Mapping

attribute of an object that allows people to know what happens when you interact with it

Tell where/in what way to expect a change

Norman’s explanation of why he “invented” the term “User Experience”

The terms “human interface” and “usability” were too narrow and he wanted to cover all aspects of the person’s experience with this system

Jacob’s Law of Internet User Experience and how it relates to the “Consistency” principle

“Users spend most of their time on other websites”

Relates to Consistency

Forcing Functions

Actions are constrained so failure at one stage prevents you from moving forward

Two Types of Errors

1. Mistake

2. Slip

Mistake

Users have inappropriate goals for a problem or task; even if they take the right steps the result is an error

Slip

When users intend to perform one action, but end up doing another (often similar) action

Signifier

any perceivable indicator that communicates appropriate behavior to a person

Skeuomorphism

An object or feature copying the design of a similar artifact in a different material

Ex. A clickable photo mimicking a hyperlink

How many steps does Donald Norman’s “Stages of Action” have?

1. Need

2. Choose a Method

3. Mentally outline steps

4. Execute the steps

5. Has “the world changed?

6. What in “the world” has changed?

7. Is it the change that I wanted?

Step 1: Need

Forms a goal

Ex. Eating leftover pizza

Step 2: Choose a Method

Forms the intention

Ex. Microwaving, putting it in an oven, eating it cold

Step 3: Mentally outline steps

Specifies the action

Ex. Open microwave door, put the plate in the microwave, close door, enter cooking time, wait for finish indicator, open microwave door

Step 4: Execute the steps

Executes the action

Step 5: Has “the world changed?

Perceives the state of the world

Ex. Is my pizza warm?

Step 6: What in “the world” has changed?

Interprets the state of the world

Ex. I see a plate with a warm slice of pizza

Step 7: Is it the change that I wanted?

Evaluates the outcome

Ex. This was successful, I wanted a warm slice of pizza

What are the two gulfs that may occur?

1. Gulf of Execution (Stages 2-4)

2. Gulf of Evaluation (Stages 5-7)

Gulf of Execution (Stages 2-4)

How easy/difficult it is for the user to accomplish their goal

Gulf of Evaluation (Stages 5-7)

How easy/difficult it is for the user to see if their goal was accomplished

Concept Design

Concerned with developing a concept model

Taking an idea from your head and bringing it into visual form

Conceptual Model

The way a designer represents a product, how it works, how to interact with it, and how the user should use it

Mental Model

Used by humans when needing to reason about something (e.g. technology)

The way a user thinks a concept should work

The Action “Cycle”

Actions (what we do to the world) → The world “responds” to our actions → We then compare what happened with what we wanted to happen

What is a “Good Concept Model”?

A conceptual model that is designed to match the user’s mental model

Assumptions

Taking something for granted that should require further investigation

How assumptions can affect creating a good concept model?

Can lead to models with unrealistic or flawed aspects

Claim

Stating something to be true when the question is still open

How claims can affect creating a good concept model?

Can lead to models with inaccurate predictions

Metaphor

Figure of speech, object, activity, or idea denoting one kind of object/idea used in place of another as an analogy between them

Interface Metaphor

A metaphor that combines familiar knowledge with new knowledge that helps users understand the product

Ex. A battery icon being used to represent device power/health

What are Thomas Erikson’s 3 steps for choosing a good metaphor?

1. Identify functional requirements (what the system will/must do)

2. What subtasks might cause users problems/complicated/critical

3. Generate metaphors to support the above

Perception

How information is acquired from the environment

Ex. sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell

Which senses are important for interaction design?

Sight, hearing, and touch

Cognition

Mental activity/process of acquiring, organizing, and using knowledge

What are the 3 interacting subsystems of the Model Human Processor model?

1. Perceptual

2. Cognitive

3. Motor

Perceptual

How we acquire stimuli from the world

Cognitive

How we understand/interpret stimuli

Motor

How we execute tasks based on our perception and understanding

How much data do we process per second?

400 Billion bits/second

Sensory Memory

Received through the senses

Lost when information that isn’t attended to

399.999998G bits are lost

2000 bits/second are attended to

Working Memory

Received through focused attention

Lost through forgetting

Long-term Memory

Received through rehearsing and encoding

Possible to regain working memory

Why is attention so difficult to get and/or keep?

There is a ‘universe of diversions’ which makes focusing on a single task challenging

Selective Attention

Information that is selected for processing at the expense of other information, external or internal factors, or stimuli

Focused Attention

An aspect of attention that brings some information into conscious awareness

Sustained Attention

Enables sustained performance on tasks over extended periods of time

Flow

A state of concentration or complete absorption with the activity at hand

Distractibility

Inability to block out environmental stimuli while trying to concentrate on an activity

Digital Amnesia( The ”Google” Effect)

The tendency to forget information due to the belief that a digital device will store and remember it for you

The magic number 7+ or – 2

The number of objects an average human can hold in short-term memory is 7 ± 2

The Curve of Forgetting

A mathematical model that illustrates how quickly people forget information over time

60% after 20 minutes

50% after an hour

20% after days

Recognition

Refers to our ability to “recognize” an event or piece of information as being familiar

Recall

Designates retrieval of related details from memory

Implications of Attention that affect cognition

1. Salience

2. Uncluttered

3. Scannable

Salience

Make the information stand out when it needs attending to at a given stage of a task

Uncluttered

Avoid cluttering the interface with too much information

Scannable

Interaction is easier when users can quickly find where on the screen interaction should take place

Implications of Memory that affect cognition

1. Promote recognition v recall

2. Keep it simple

3. Categorize

Keeping it simple

Do not overload users’ memories with complicated procedures for carrying out tasks

Categorize

Provide a variety of ways for encoding digital information

Ex. categories, color, time stamping, etc.

Implications of Learning that affect cognition

1. Exploration

2. Constrain and guide

3. Link concrete representations and abstract concepts

Exploration

Design interfaces that encourage exploration

Constrain and Guide

Design interfaces that constrain & guide to appropriate actions when initially learning

Link Concrete Representations and Abstract Concepts

Help users to form a mental representation that makes the abstract idea more tangible