H0: intro to the course
HCI key concepts
- Usability
o =extent to which a system, product or service can be used by
specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness,
efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use
Example Users have to be specified bc it can be usable for a young person but
not for someone old, also the goal is important bc a students will use toledo for
different thing than a teacher, context eg if I use toledo on my phone or via my
laptop or eg if youre watching videos somewhere in silence or in a library the
usability can change, some parts of it can be user-friendly and maybe other
not
- User experience UX
o =people’s emotions, beliefs, preferences, perceptions, physical and
psychological responses, behaviors and accomplishments that occur
before, during and after use
o is a consequence of the ‘thing’ (e.g. presentation, functionality, system
performance, interactive behavior & capabilities of system), the user (e.g.
internal & physical state from prior experiences, attitudes, skills,
personality), and context of use
o UX is umbrella term that encompasses usability
once techno became more usable people become more interested
in eg a more beautiful phone, higher quality camera, …(how it looks,
feels,..) and these things weren’t captured in the usability
dimension shows importance of UX
o <>more difficult to measure
Can be abt platform design (microlevel)
Can be abt context when using it (macro)
- Interaction design (aka human interaction design)
o = designing spaces for human commu & interaction
o Focusses on
What is being done (designing interaction that makes something
possible)
Not separate components but what happens when you put
human and compu together in a space/ in commu
- Spaces & places
o Spaces are designed for specific purpose & to communicate the
purpose/intention
o Spaces are used for human commu & interaction
o Places could be better word choice, space focuses more on what
something actually is (eg house, more structural) and place focuses
more on what it feels like the difference of the same space for a different
person (eg your home, how the space is used), even though special context
might be the same (an aula or theater looks very similar but if you would
start to sing as a teacher in the aula it would be considered out of place to
do that)
o Mentioned by Harrison & Dourish ‘space is the opportunity, place is the
understood reality’, with paper ‘re-space-ing’ place
technological opportunities and challenges (space) is
interwoven with its social layer, values and practices (place)
1
, Both space and place are products of embodied social practices, the
outcome of collective meaning-making and appropriation processes
thats why you have to look at interaction with techno and not study it In a lab bc
you need to know how people will interact and make sense of itrelates to later waves
- User/human centered design (UCD)
o =design new techno in intuitive way (not linear) that is more human
centered & focuses on user experience
o Focus on needs, wants, and limitations of end user at each stage of design
process, designers do research and usability test with users to inform
design choices (users provide feedback for decisions already made by
designers, they’re not involved in design decision making process), aim to
create highly usable products that meet users’ need and expectations
o Involving people/users is not an end it itself goal is to involve users for a
better product
- HCI as a domain
o Started in early 1970 in response to emergence of computers in workplace
H2:User-centered design principles, processes &
methods
H2.1: Key UCD Principles
UCD principles Gould & Lewis vs Cockton
Gould & Lewis
https://d.docs.live.net/96a27cda9bd51552/Documenten/uni/Leuven/SEM%202/human
%20computer/hoofdstuk%20Z/2.2_Gould%20Lewis%201985.pdf
Focus on 3 principles:
1. Early focus on users &tasks
a. designer must understand who the users will be (not “identifying,”
“describing,” “ stereotyping)
i. by studying their cognitive, behavioral, anthropometric, and
attitudinal characteristics
ii. by studying the work expected to be accomplished (1st wave
perspective)
b. designers in direct contact with potential users instead of
hearing/reading abt them
c. potential users become part of design team from the start (co-
designers & consulted on regular basis) (only then you can speak of
UCD) when their perspectives have the most influence (also still
cheapest to make adjustments), prior to system design, instead of first
designing the system and then subsequently “presenting,” “reviewing,”
and “verifying” design with users
d. techno pull: By putting these 2 first they become most important in
design new systems >< techno push (start with what users require and
then creating systems for those tasks)
e. Types of users
i. Primary users: the ones who will be directly using the techno
ii. Secondary: only occasionally use
iii. Tertiary users: people who aren’t using it directly but affect
purchase behavior/use (like parents and toys for their kids)
2
, f. Methods to find users’ needs doesn’t only include asking users (bc
users often don’t know whats possible/some inventions do not yet exists so
people have hard time understanding it)(eg Henry ford ‘if I asked people
what they wanted they would have said faster horses’)brings us to…
2. Do empirical measurements
a. early in development process, users should use simulations and
prototypes to carry out real work, and their performance and reactions
should be observed, recorded, and analyzed
b. Make sure you have enough info on how people behave & set criteria of
goals (eg usability goals & make sure you can test these)
3. Iterative design
a. Fix problems found during user testing design must be iterative: must
be a cycle of design, test, measure, redesign, repeated as often as
necessary
b. Not linear design process, allow for feedback, interaction, trail & error,
creating different design & selections
Problem: principles are undervalued & not intuitive bc;
- Not Worth Following: designers question value of design principles, arguing
that alternative design approaches exist.
- Confusion with Similar Ideas: Designers often confuse recommended principles
with similar but different ideas, leading to misunderstandings and
misinterpretations
- Misestimation of Interaction with Users: Designers underestimate diversity
among users and overestimate users' ability to articulate their needs.
- Belief That Users Do Not Know What They Need: belief that users aren’t
aware of alternate ways of performing tasks or are intimidated when
communicating with designers
- Belief That Job Does Not Require or Permit It: Organizational constraints, rigid
development processes, and lack of time or resources hinder designers from
interacting with users during design process
also includes case study with example of that the three principles lead to usable
systems
Cockton: Revisting Usability’s three key principles
Formulates 3 critiques (liked to the way & the moment these principles have been
created, and he revisits the 3 principles in the light of 3rd wave(opkomst van derde
wave), reflects on subjective factors (that are not sufficiently captured by G&L)
1. principles are defined post hoc without reflective self-criticism
1. Principles/methods should be grounded in systematic reasoning/theories
rather than being derived after the fact by just observing users (otherwise
methods aren’t objective and there would be no self-criticism of designers)
2. principles do no longer embody third wave HCI values
1. advocating for more value-driven principles and worth-centered design & not
just tasks-centered
3. Design is inherently subjective -> prescriptive
- Not only critique but also revisit them on 5 levels
o The rise of theory
o Transdisciplinary tendencies
o Organizational sensitivity
o New frontiers to non-work settings
o A growing design focus, focusing on alternative design means-ends
3
, design goals and processes should be central, not just user focus
and evaluation
- Proposes alternate approaches
o More value-driven principles, worth-centered design and evaluations,
participatory design based on moral reasons
o advocates for a shift towards a design-oriented approach, where design
goals and processes are central, rather than just focusing on users and
evaluation and good product outcome
- Critique:
- On ‘early focus on users and tasks’
O asking for the impossible, i.e., asking that the human factors or user
experience people get in first, They almost never will, Invention always
precedes innovation
O Users may not yet exist, thus envisaged users is a more accurate
refinement.
Participatory design
What?
Definition
- No uniform defi (but some shared principles)
- “An approach towards computer system design in which the people destined
to use the system play a critical role in designing it”(Schuler and
Namioka,1993)
- “A set of theories, practices and studies related to end-users as full
participants in activities leading to software and hardware computer
products and computer-based activities.”(Muller, 2002)
- Spinuzzi: defines how end users can participate in activities that lead to design
(users participate intensively in process of designing new techno )
Historically
- 80s: origins of PD ‘Scandinavian’
o work environment increasingly computerized (Automatization of work
environment; Taylorism) & workers not consulted in these decisions
o In a response, action researchers, unions, employers united, gave
workers a voice (empowerment) to pursue workplace democracy
include workers in decisions with large impact on their lives
o Incorporate users in design and develop more democratic processes
o The process of participation design is of concern (not only end product is
important, but including people through the entire process) >< user-
centered design
- Gradually
o People started using techno in daily life in societies
o Not only for workplace but broadened focus to pursuing inclusion &
societal change
o Broader interpretation of PD
Narrow interpretation: exploration of design alternatives (e.g.
use of PD to get improved or better products)
Broader interpretation: creating benefits derived from process of
participation, e.g. in terms of learning opportunities; emphasizing
process over the outcome
Broadest sense: improving people’s quality of life (use PD to
enhance overall well-being)
- Two parallel evolutions
4
