Thursday, 24 September

Week 5: Emotional Design

How did your emotional design projects turn out?

We're now moving on to Project 2: User-Interface Design Analysis

Key Concepts:

• Affordances and Constraints
• Metaphors
• Mapping
• Feedback (the three types)
• Errors committed (with reference to the four aspects of fallibility)

Mapping Overview

Mapping in the design context involves anticipating the mental models, the tacit understandings, that people bring to their interactions with things – physical and virtual.

There is good mapping when the design supports people’s expectations, e.g. if the knobs controlling heat to the burners on a stove:

Bad mapping exists where there is no correct mental model “embedded” in the design, as in the case below. The user doesn’t know the relationship of the knobs to the burners based on this design:

In the context of this project what you are trying to determine is the extent to which the mapping of the interface designs do or do not support the actions of potential users.

To study this you can ask someone to approach the equipment and walk through all the actions needed to get it operational. The easiest way to track this is to videotape the process. Prompt the “subject” to vocalize each step they engage in and the extent to which it does, or does not help them. Afterwards you can do a diagram like the ones in Krug’s “Breadcrumbs” chapter (below) on the stages of use (though yours may well be simpler):

Remember: there are two types of users: naïve and experienced; their points of view are different. Ideally you would study each but in this case you can choose one or the other.

Within the interface design itself there will be a variety of affordances (e.g. buttons, perhaps a display) and perhaps some constraints (e.g. the “safety cord” on treadmills). Articulate the relationships of these to the overall mental model.

Ultimately you’re trying to “tell the story of use” of the machine, from an interface point of view, and draw conclusions based on what you’ve learned of the affordances, constraints, metaphors, mapping,  feedback provided and errors encountered in interacting with the interface.

http://designerliness.blogspot.com/2014/02/affordances-constraints-and-natural.html


Applying Mapping to the HCI/d Context: "Navigation," or "Wayfinding":

Metaphor: Street Signs and Breadcrumbs

Project 2 is about:

1. Understanding the design of the interface of a piece of professional exercise equipment.
2. Recognizing the physical elements of the interface.
3. Identifying the feedback that is given step-by-step.
4. Determining if each step is effective.
5. Recommending how the user-interface design could it be improved.

We're essentially reverse-engineering the design of the user-interface.

What are the elements of the interface?
Taking my LiveStrong 13.0E elliptical trainer as an example:

A good process to follow:

1. One group member engages in the workout, describing each action s/he takes and the feedback given
2. A second group member videos the process for documentary purposes -- you need not necessarily include the video in your final report
3. A third member photographs the actions taken in the interface and the feedback given
4. A table can then be generated in time sequence setting out the user-interaction process
5. Based on your findings a new interface design will be generated.

How to engage in the process:

How to begin generating a table documenting the process:

Original Interface Design

Revised Interface Design by Student Group

Look at Resources on Canvas

Meet with Your New Group Members

Homework for Tuesday, 29 September:

Meet with your Project 2 Group members, look at potential exercise machines to study, choose one to focus on

Read UXD pp. 60 - 63 "Expectation" through "Motivation" and prepare for a quiz with the following potential questions:

1. What are the four aspects of expectation that the authors identify?
2. What are the three types of feedback identified in the book? Please give an example of a situation incorporating all three.
3. Explain the importance of each type of expectation in the UXD context and cite an example from your own experience, explaining it in terms of the rationale presented in the book.
4. What are the two types of motivation? How does understanding a user's motivation affect the UXD process?
5. The authors state, “It is important that experiences should promote a feeling of security and trust…” Please cite an example from the IT context of an experience that did promote trust in you and of one that did not. Explain why for each.