Thursday, 10 December

Week 15: The Really Big Picture

Housekeeping
Everyone will receive a 3 point curve on your final grade 

The following four groups have chosen to have have some portions of P4 to count for others -- anyone else -- see your mentor today after class? 

Baylie Burd (group) 4.2 grade to count for 4.1

Sloan Toby (group) 4.3 to count for 4.2

Andrew Leguina 4.3 to count for 4.2

A. MaCrackin group 4.3 to count for 4.2 

Patrick Bane group 4.3 to count for 4.2

Rachel Reid group 4.3 to count for 4.2 


How did your projects turn out?


Complete Final Reflection paper due tonight at 11:59 pm addressing:

1. How has your understanding of HCI/d changed through the semester?

2. How has what you've learned relate to your own interests and career goals?

3. What's the most useful thing you've learned this semester?

4. Explicitly relate your own experiences to the ideas conveyed in your textbook's Conclusion (pp. 170 - 171)?


I300 Projects + Topics • Fall 2015

Projects

Mini-Projects

1. Logotype Design exercise

2. Emotional Design analysis


Group Projects

1. Assessing User-Interaction

2. User-Interface Design Analysis

3. Usability Testing

3.1. Pilot usability test of website and app

3.2. Final Project

4. User-Centered Design

4.1. Problem identification

4.2 Project research and preliminary prototype design and testing

4.3 Final project

Topics

Dieter Rams’ 10 Principles of Good Design. Have a working knowledge of each and be able to cite an example of one of your favorite principles.

Flow, and the characteristics of the flow state

Fonts, and be able to recognize Sans Serif fonts as distinct from Serif ones.

Affordances and Constraints, what are they? Be able to identify good and bad examples, and explain why, for each.

Emotional Design, what is it and to be able to identify the three aspects of it.

The Four Types of Pleasure, and to be able to recognize examples of socio-pleasure, physio-pleasure, psycho-pleasure, ideo-pleasure

Fallibility, and be able to recognize the four types of error and their characteristics.

Feedback, what is it and be able to recognize its importance and the three types of feedback discussed in your book .

Motivation, what is it and be able to understand the two types of motivation and their importance in UXD.

Usability, what is it and why is it important?

Responsive Design, what is it, why is it important, cite an example

UXD, what is it and why is it important?

Layout, what is it and what are its characteristics on paper and digitally?

Grids, what are they and what is their usefulness in the UXD context?

Images, what, according to the textbook, are the advantages of incorporating images in a presentation?

Simplicity, what is its definition according to your textbook and why is it important in HCI/d?

Fun, what is it in the UXD context and why is it important?

Mapping, what is it and be prepared to give a good and bad example of it.

Metaphors, what are they and why are they important in the UXD context. Be prepared to give some examples.

Expectation, what are the four aspects the authors of your textbook identify. What is the importance of each?

Interactive design processes, what are the two basic questions that underlie them?

Why is user-research important? And what are four of the ways of learning about users and the context in which designing takes place?

Project Life Cycle, what is it and what are its characteristics?

Iteration, what is it and why is it important in UXD?

Trust, in IT, what does that mean and why is it important?

Usability Testing, what is it, why is it important, and what are the six stages of a usability test?

Trunk Test, what is it and what are the six aspects of one?

Empathy, what is it and why is it important in HCI/d?

Project Management, what is it, why is it important, and what are some examples of programs that facilitate this process?

Interface Design Visualization, give some examples of how this can be done?

Prototypes, what are they, what is their importance, and what are the two types?

Stakeholders, who are they, what is their importance, and how can you track their interest (be very specific)?

Ethnography, what is it, what are its characteristics, and what is its importance to HCI/d?

Heuristic Analysis, what is it, what is its importance, what are the ten dimensions of it?

The Stanford dSchool’s Five Modes of Design Thinking, what are they and what are the characteristics and significance of each?

Personas, or Composite Character Profiles, what are they, how are they useful, and what are their characteristics?

Scenarios, what are they and what is their role, according to your textbook’s authors, in relationship to Personas?

Beginners Mindset, what is it and why is it important in the HCI/d context?

Observation, what are the two main types of observation? Which of the five dSchool modes is it associated with? What is its usefulness?

Interviewing, what is its importance and which of the five dSchool modes is it associated with. How do you prepare for and conduct an interview (i.e. what are the stages of conducting an interview)?

Extreme Users, who are they and how do you engage them in the HCI/d process?

Brainstorming, what is their purpose, what are the eight rules of brainstorming, how is a brainstorm conducted, and how are their results evaluated?

The ISO’s Six Principles of User-Centered Design, what are they and what is their significance?

Testing with Users, what is it, how does one do it, and what is its significance?

“Cradle to Cradle,” “Design for Disassembly,” and “Life-Cycle Design,” what approach to design are all of these terms associated with and what are the specific aspects of each?


Final Thoughts


Assignment for Thursday, 10 December at 11:59 pm

Complete Final Reflection Paper (3)


For Tuesday, 15 December at 8:00 am (in Bal 109)

Prepare for Final Exam

Tuesday, 8 December

Week 15: The Really Big Picture

Project 4.3 due date extension: Wednesday, 9 December at 11:59 pm

Final reflection paper extension: Thursday, 10 December at 11:59 pm

Grading Options

You may choose to have your Project 4.3 grade count for Project 4.2 and/or Project 4.1. If you wish to do so please email your mentor, copying Tom, by Wednesday, 9 April at 11:59 pm. 

Clarification re: Personas, Composite Character Profiles

From textbook:

From dSchool Bootcamp Bootleg

New York Times: "Can't Put Down Your Device? That's by design"

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/06/technology/personaltech/cant-put-down-your-device-thats-by-design.html?mwrsm=Email&_r=0

Key Concepts in Sustainability

View Objectified on Sustainability and Design Thinking

Cradle to Cradle

William McDonough and Michael Braungart

Life Cycle Design

 

http://www.businessinsider.com/k-cup-inventor-john-sylvans-regret-2015-3

Design for the Environment (DfE)

Green Drinks Bloomington

Informatics Professor Eli Blevis: A leading researcher in sustainable interaction design

Blevis-SustainabilityBestPaper-CHI2007.pdf

More at: http://dl.acm.org/author_page.cfm?id=81100365314

Things to consider:

• The amount of energy and resources that go into making digital devices
• The amount of energy used by servers
• What happens to our digital devices once they become obsolete (in a few years time)

Irony: 22% of plug in electric and hybrid owners are trading in and getting SUVs
 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2015/04/21/earth-day-electric-ev-hybrid-dissatisfied-suv/26121125/

Exam Question: Are plug in electric hybrid cars like the Nissan Leaf, Chevrolet Volt, BMW i3 (and, for that matter Teslas) "green" or sustainable designs?

Group time and Mentor check off

Homework for Wednesday, 9 December at 11:59 pm through Canvas Assignments:

Complete Project 4.3, team member evaluations, and individual reflection paper


Homework for Thursday, 10 December at 11:59 pm through Canvas Assignments:
 
Complete Final Reflection Paper answering the following four questions:

1. How has your understanding of HCI/d changed through the semester?

2. How has what you've learned relate to your own interests and career goals?

3. What's the most useful thing you've learned this semester?

4. Explicitly relate your own experiences to the ideas conveyed in your textbook's Conclusion (pp. 170 - 171)?

Tuesday, 1 December

Week 14: User-Centered Design 4/4

Housekeeping

Thursday is a "Work Period" -- your Mentors and I will be here to help but there will be no formal class activities

Your final quiz, on this week's topics, will be given next week.

Looking ahead (re: Syllabus)

Final Exam (Tuesday, 15 December: 8:00 - 10:00 am (in this room)) Study Questions


Review of Quiz Questions

What is “brainstorming”? What is the value of it? What are the eight rules of brainstorming?

Brainstorming is a great way to come up with a lot of ideas that you would not be able to generate by just sitting down with a pen and paper.

The intention of brainstorming is to leverage the collective thinking of the group, by engaging with each other, listening, and building on other ideas. Conducting a brainstorm also creates a distinct segment of time when you intentionally turn up the generative part of your brain and turn down the evaluative part.

The eight rules of brainstorming: 

1. Defer Judgment; 2. Go for volume; 3. One conversation at a time; 4. Be visual; 5. Headline your idea; 6. Build on the Ideas of others; 7. Stay on topic; 8. Encourage wild ideas

How are brainstorming sessions facilitated?

There are three main aspects for facilitate brainstorm. 

ENERGY – As the facilitator it is your task to keep the ideas flowing. 

CONSTRAINTS – Add constraints that may spark new ideas. 

SPACE – Be mindful about the space in which you conduct a brainstorm.

What is “selection” in the brainstorming process? Why is it important and how is it done?

Selection is to choose a range of ideas generated from brainstorming. 

Your brainstorm should generate many, wide-ranging ideas. Now harvest that brainstorm, so those ideas don’t just sit there on the board.

How can you “Prototype for Empathy”? Please give an example of this that could be done by your group in the context of Project 4.

Empathy prototypes are often best used when you have done some work to understand the design space, and want to dig deeper into a certain area or probe an insight you are developing. Think about what aspect of the challenge you want to learn more about. Then discuss or brainstorm ways you might investigate that subject. You can create prototypes for empathy to test with users or with your design team.

What is the purpose of the “Prototype to Test” method? Please give an example of this that could be done by your group in the context of Project 4.

Prototyping to test is the iterative generation of low-resolution artifacts that probe different aspects of your design solution or design space. The fundamental way we test our prototypes is by letting users experience them and react to them. In creating prototypes to test with users you have the opportunity to examine your solution decisions as well as your perception of your users and their needs.

What is the procedure you would follow, in the context of Project 4, to “Test with Users”?

1. Let your user experience the prototype. 

2. Have them talk through their experience. 

3. Actively observe.

4. Follow up with questions.

Who, according to your textbook’s authors, is design for? Be comprehensive in your answer.

The book argues that design is for other people; not for us. Being a more empathic designer requires that you step out of yourself, and recognize that different people have different needs and expectations.

What are some of the benefits and challenges of design for user experience?

The benefits are to get to know the needs of real users and understand what they think. 

Challenges are that UXD methods require designers to actively inviting other people to be critical of their work and of their ideas. What is more, designers may have to leave the comfort of the familiar environment to hear this and respond constructively at all times.

Clarifying what is due for Project 4.3 (re: Project Brief)

Group meeting time, mentor check-in

Assignment for Monday, 8 December at 11:59 pm through Canvas Assignments

Project 4.3 due along with Group Member Evaluations and Individual Reflection Paper

Thursday, 19 November

Week 13: User-Centered Design 3/4

Project 4.2 Wrap Up

Looking ahead to Project 4.3

View Tim Brown "From Design to Design Thinking" critically, i.e. be prepared to answer three questions afterwards.

Group and mentor check-in time

Homework for Tuesday, 1 December:

Work on Project 4.3

Read Stanford dSchool Bootcamp Bootleg pp. 28 – 30, 33 - 35, “Brainstorming,” “Facilitating a Brainstorm,” “Selection,” “Prototype for Empathy,” “Prototype to Test,” “Testing with Users” and “User-Driven Prototyping” and UXD pp. 170 – 171 “Conclusions”

1. What is “brainstorming”? What is the value of it? What are the eight rules of brainstorming?
2. How are brainstorming sessions facilitated?
3. What is “selection” in the brainstorming process? Why is it important and how is it done?
4. How can you “Prototype for Empathy”? Please give an example of this that could be done by your group in the context of Project 4.
5. What is the purpose of the “Prototype to Test” method? Please give an example of this that could be done by your group in the context of Project 4.
6. What is the procedure you would follow, in the context of Project 4, to “Test with Users”?
7. Who, according to your textbook’s authors, is design for? Be comprehensive in your answer.
8. What are some of the benefits and challenges of design for user experience?

Tuesday, 17 November

Week 13: User-Centered Design 3/4

Housekeeping

The deadline for Project 4.3 is now extended to Monday, 7 December at 11:59 pm

Final grades for those of you who earned extra credit now correct.

Review of Potential Quiz Questions

Why is it necessary to prepare for an interview?

Time with users is precious, we need to make the most of it! While we always must allow room for the spontaneous, blissful serendipity of a user-guided conversation, we should never abdicate our responsibility to prepare for interviews. Especially in following up with users (after testing, etc.), it is imperative to plan your interviews. You may not get to every question you prepare, but you should come in with a plan for engagement.

What steps are involved in preparing for an interview?

• Brainstorm questions
• Identify and order themes
• Refine questions

 What are the seven stages of an interview with empathy?

1. Introduce yourself
2. Introduce project
3. Build rapport
4. Evoke Stories
5. Explore Emotions
6. Question statements
7. Thank and Wrap-up

Why is it important to engage with “extreme users” in a design research project?

Designers engage with users (people!) to understand their needs and gain insights about their lives. We also draw inspiration from their work-arounds and frameworks. When you speak with and observe extreme users, the needs are amplified and their work-arounds are often more notable. This helps you pull out meaningful needs that may not pop when engaging with the middle of the bell curve. However, the needs that are uncovered through extreme users are often also needs of a wider population.

What is the end goal of the method “saturate and group”?

The end goal is to synthesize data into interesting findings and create insights which will be useful to you in creating design solutions. 

What is the advantage of imposing constraints in a user-centered design process? Give examples of three areas where imposing constraints can be useful.

Imposing constraints with intention can actually increase your creative potential.

[Students' examples]

What are the six principles of user-centered design as set out by the ISO (International Organization for Standardization)? To what extent are you following these in your work on Project 4?

1. The design is based upon an explicit understanding of users, tasks and environments.
2. Users are involved throughout design and development.
3. The design is driven and refined by user-centered evaluation.
4. The process is iterative.
5. The design addresses the whole user experience.
6. The design team includes multidisciplinary skills and perspective.

Mentor Yi Nie to Present [in Canvas Assignment 4.2 folder]

The Final Two Modes:

Prototype and Test 

• Prototype for Empathy (p. 33)

• Prototype to Test (p. 34) 

• Testing with Users (p. 35) 

• User-Driven Prototyping (p. 38)

Next Steps in Project 4.2 

Findings, based on what you found in your research create a “Composite Character Profile” (or Persona) of the potential users of your design.

Design Brief, What are the parameters for your prototype design project? In other words, what (specifically) are you trying to accomplish through your design? What is the key question in the design, i.e. what must be addressed for your design to be a success? (You may find it useful to apply the “Impose Constraints” method from the Bootcamp Bootleg document at this stage).

In this interim phase each team should start with their Design Brief and develop and test a paper prototype with your client/user group. 

Each group’s write up should show the evolution of your prototype – its iterations, indicate the rationale for them, highlight the response from testing, and indicate how your understanding of client needs improved through the prototyping process. Video might well be usefully incorporated here.

Assignment for Wednesday, 18 November at 11:59 pm:

Complete and submit Project 4.2 -- one per group

Thursday, 12 November

Week 12: User-Centered Design 2/4

Quick Check on Project 4.2 Progress

Big Picture:

1. Identify organization

2. Make contact with them

3. Apply whichever methods you need to determine a specific need for design to benefit them -- it's a real world scenario so reflect and be flexible

4. Engage in Prototype Design and Testing with the client -- and document the evolution of your design idea.

Mentor Yi Nie to Present [in Canvas Assignment 4.2 folder]

The Final Two Modes:

Prototype and Test 

• Prototype for Empathy (p. 33)

• Prototype to Test (p. 34) 

• Testing with Users (p. 35) 

• User-Driven Prototyping (p. 38)

Next Steps in Project 4.2 

Findings, based on what you found in your research create a “Composite Character Profile” (or Persona) of the potential users of your design.

Design Brief, What are the parameters for your prototype design project? In other words, what (specifically) are you trying to accomplish through your design? What is the key question in the design, i.e. what must be addressed for your design to be a success? (You may find it useful to apply the “Impose Constraints” method from the Bootcamp Bootleg document at this stage).

In this interim phase each team should start with their Design Brief and develop and test a paper prototype with your client/user group. 

Each group’s write up should show the evolution of your prototype – its iterations, indicate the rationale for them, highlight the response from testing, and indicate how your understanding of client needs improved through the prototyping process. Video might well be usefully incorporated here.

Group Time and Mentor Check in

Assignment for Tuesday, 17 November:

Continue work on Project 4.2

Read Stanford dSchool Bootcamp Bootleg pp. 9 – 11, 14, and 32 “Interview Preparation,” “Interview with Empathy,” “Extreme Users,” “Saturate and Group,” and “Impose Constraints” and UXD pp. 130 – 131 “Standards” and prepare for a quiz on the following topics:

1. Why is it necessary to prepare for an interview?
2. What steps are involved in preparing for an interview?
3. What are the seven stages of an interview with empathy?
4. Why is it important to engage with “extreme users” in a design research project?
5. What is the end goal of the method “saturate and group”?
6. What is the advantage of imposing constraints in a user-centered design process? Give examples of three areas where imposing constraints can be useful.
7. What are the six principles of user-centered design as set out by the ISO (International Organization for Standardization)? To what extent are you following these in your work on Project 4?

Tuesday, 10 November

Week 12: User-Centered Design 2/4

How is Project 4.2 Going?

Any remaining issues with your student group or organization?

You should be making observations and interviewing now

Next steps to be introduced in class today

Housekeeping

You may choose to have your Project 4.2 grade count for Project 4.1 as well, if you choose to do this please notify your mentor by email

Project 3.2 Observations

A lot of people seemed to enjoy the project.

Most of groups gave a design recommendation based on their usability tests. The recommendations addressed well the issues they discovered though research.

Balancing user needs and business needs is a critical lesson to be learned here. We cannot simply remove ads from a site - it's an important source of revenue.

Most group found some important usability issues from the test, like, lacking of feedback inconsistency layout of different OS and did design recommendations based on them.

Almost all teams had sketches/ illustrations for their design recommendations and they did a pretty good job.

Review Potential Quiz Questions:

What are the five modes of design thinking according to the dSchool? Please summarize the nature and characteristics of each mode.

Empathy is the foundation of a human-centered design process. To empathize, we need observe, engage, and immerse.

Define is when you unpack and synthesize your empathy findings into compelling needs and insights, and scope a specific and meaningful challenge. It is a mode of “focus”. Two goals of the define mode are to develop a deep understanding of your users and the design space and, based on that understanding, to come up with an actionable problem statement: your point of view.

Ideate is the mode during your design process in which you focus on idea generation. It is a mode of “flaring” that “going wide” in terms of concepts and outcomes. The goal of ideation is to explore a wide solution space.

Prototyping is getting ideas and explorations out of your head and into the physical world. Prototype is used for empathy gaining, exploration, testing and/or inspiration. We also prototype to learn, solve disagreements, start a conversation, fail quickly and cheaply and manage the solution-building process.

Test is the chance to refine our solutions and make them better. We do test for three main reasons: to refine our prototypes and solutions, to learn more about our user, to test and refines our POV.

What are Personas, or Composite Character Profiles? What are their characteristics and what purpose do they serve?

A persona is a fictional description of a model user based on high-quality user research of actual users in the target user group. It will include details about the user’s education, lifestyle, interests, values, attitudes and patterns of behavior. Personas make the design task less complex and the goal of creating a good user experience for the defined group much more achievable.

What is the relationship between Personas and Scenarios? Please be specific.

Personas can be given life by creating scenarios that feature them in the role of a user. Scenarios usually start by placing the persona in a specific context with a problem to solve. When used alongside personas, scenarios can provide really useful pointers to a design team striving to provide a good user experience.

What, according to your textbook's authors, are the five steps in building a prototype?

1. Preparing to build; 
2. Make the interface and interface elements; 
3. Build; 
4. Try it out; 
5. Test it.

What are the benefits of assuming a beginner's mindset?

So that you step out of yourself, recognize that different people have different needs and expectations, and avoid constraint of your design experience.

Final Exam Study Topics

Now available in Canvas Assignments under Exams, Final Exam

Review Next Set of Methods

Empathize: observation, interview, etc.

Define

• Saturate and Group (p. 14) 

• Composite Character Profile [Personas] (p. 17) 

• Impose Constraints (p. 32)

Ideate

• Brainstorming (p. 28) 

• Facilitate a Brainstorm (p. 29) 

• Selection (p. 30)

Next Steps in Project 4.2 

Findings, based on what you found in your research create a “Composite Character Profile” (or Persona) of the potential users of your design.

Design Brief, What are the parameters for your prototype design project? In other words, what (specifically) are you trying to accomplish through your design? What is the key question in the design, i.e. what must be addressed for your design to be a success? (You may find it useful to apply the “Impose Constraints” method from the Bootcamp Bootleg document at this stage).

In this interim phase each team should start with their Design Brief and develop and test a paper prototype with your client/user group. 

Each group’s write up should show the evolution of your prototype – its iterations, indicate the rationale for them, highlight the response from testing, and indicate how your understanding of client needs improved through the prototyping process. Video might well be usefully incorporated here.

Prototype and Test

• Prototype for Empathy (p. 33) 

• Prototype to Test (p. 34) 

• Testing with Users (p. 35) 

• User-Driven Prototyping (p. 38)

Group Meeting Time -- and discuss your progress with your mentor (for a Professionalism and Participation grade)

Assignment for Thursday, 12 November:

Continue work on Project 4.2, specifically:

1. Identify your organization to work with
2. Do structured observations of the physical space
3. Observe the activities taking place
4. Prepare to conduct interviews of relevant stakeholders

Thursday, 5 November

Week 11: User-Centered Design 1/4

Invitation to participate in Master's Project Study of Microsoft

Mentor Ceci Gutknecht to Present

Review Project 4.1 Issues

Introduce Project Research, Prototype Design and Testing

Each group will do a near-complete version of their Case Study including:

Process, adopting the seven mindsets and working through the five design process modes identified in the dSchool documents, applying the relevant methods at each stage.

Methods, choose relevant methods, such as those from the dSchool Bootcamp Bootleg document (page numbers (in parentheses)). Note: methods without page numbers will be introduced in class.

Research Context

•  Adopt the Seven Mindsets (on third actual page of PDF) 

• Assuming a Beginner’s Mindset (p. 6) 

• Literature Survey

Empathize

• Extreme Users (p. 11)

Observation

•  Physical Traces 

• Environmental Behavior 

• User-Camera Study (p. 8) 

• Shooting Video (p. 42) 

• Video Editing (p. 43)

Interviewing

• Interview Preparation (p. 9) 

• Interview with Empathy (p. 10)  

Define

• Saturate and Group (p. 14) 

• Composite Character Profile [Personas] (p. 17) 

• Impose Constraints (p. 32)

Ideate

• Brainstorming (p. 28) 

• Facilitate a Brainstorm (p. 29) 

• Selection (p. 30)

Prototype and Test

• Prototype for Empathy (p. 33) 

• Prototype to Test (p. 34) 

• Testing with Users (p. 35) 

• User-Driven Prototyping (p. 38)

Findings, based on what you found in your research create a “Composite Character Profile” (or Persona) of the potential users of your design.

Design Brief, What are the parameters for your prototype design project? In other words, what (specifically) are you trying to accomplish through your design? What is the key question in the design, i.e. what must be addressed for your design to be a success? (You may find it useful to apply the “Impose Constraints” method from the Bootcamp Bootleg document at this stage).

In this interim phase each team should start with their Design Brief and develop and test a paper prototype with your client/user group.

Each group’s write up should show the evolution of your prototype – its iterations, indicate the rationale for them, highlight the response from testing, and indicate how your understanding of client needs improved through the prototyping process. Video might well be usefully incorporated here.

Group Meeting Time

Assignment for Tuesday, 10 November:

Begin work on Project 4.2, specifically:

1. Identify your organization to work with
2. Do structured observations of the physical space
3. Observe the activities taking place
4. Prepare to conduct interviews of relevant stakeholders

Read Standford dSchool Bootcamp Bootleg [read from beginning to page 6, and read page 17 as well (linked to Canvas Assignment page for Project 4.1)] and UXD pp. 114 - 119 "Personas" through "Scenarios" and pp. 166 - 169 "Build a Prototype" and prepare for a quiz on the following possible questions:

1. What are the five modes of design thinking according to the dSchool? Please summarize the nature and characteristics of each mode.
2. What are Personas, or Composite Character Profiles? What are their characteristics and what purpose do they serve? 
3. What is the relationship between Personas and Scenarios? Please be specific. 
4. What, according to your textbook's authors, are the five steps in building a prototype? 
5. What are the benefits of assuming a beginner's mindset?