Human Computer Information

• Gulfs of Execution and Evaluation

  During use, people face two challenges:

  1. Figuring out how to operate something (Gulf of Execution)
  2. Figuring out what happened (Gulf of Evaluation)
• The role of the designer is to help people bridge the two gulfs
• Seven Stages of Action

  1. Goal (form the goal)

  2. Plan (the action)

  3. Specify (an action sequence)

  4. Perform (the action sequence)

  5. Perceive (the state of the world)

  6. Interpret (the perception)

  7. Compare (the outcome with the goal)
• The seven-stage action cycle provides a useful framework for understanding human action and guiding design
• Not all activity in the stages is conscious, with goals tending to be conscious but even they may be subconscious
• Most behavior does not require going through all stages in sequence, but most activities will not be satisfied by single actions
• There are multiple feedback loops where the results of one activity are used to direct further ones, and goals lead to subgoals and plans lead to subplans
• The seven stages provide a guideline for developing new products or services, as the gulfs are opportunities for product enhancement
• Most innovation is done as an incremental enhancement of existing products
• Reflective


  The highest level of human thought, which is conscious
• Overlearning


  When skills have been practiced and studied for thousands of hours, performance becomes effortless and automatic
• Declarative memory


  Memory for factual information
• Procedural memory


  Memory for activities and how to perform them
• Levels of processing in the mind and brain

  • Visceral (basic, "lizard brain")
  • Behavioral (learned skills)
  • Reflective (conscious cognition)
• All three levels of processing work together to determine a person's like or dislike of a product or service
• The behavioral level is the home of interaction and expectation-based emotions
• Understanding arises at a combination of the behavioral and reflective levels, and enjoyment requires all three levels
• User-centered design (UCD)


  A collection of processes that focus on putting users at the center of product design and development
• User-centered design (UCD)


  • Involves the users of a product throughout its lifecycle, from planning through post-release assessment
  • Continuously collects feedback and iterates on designs accordingly to future-proof the product and ensure it stays relevant
• Human-Centered Design


  An approach that focuses on fully understanding the perspectives of the people the design is for in each step of the process
• User-centered design


  Very often used interchangeably with human-centered design, but there is a difference in that
• To create a winning user-centered design, you'll need a deep knowledge of your target audience
• Goal of UCD


  To create products that users find useful and usable
• What UCD seeks to answer

  • What is important to users
  • The tasks users do, how frequently, and in what order
  • The users' work environment
  • The users' problems and constraints
  • Users' expectations in terms of functionality
  • Output required and in what form
  • How can the design of this 'product' facilitate users' cognitive processes?
• UCD cuts costs and increases user satisfaction and productivity
• UCD can improve the usability (ease-of-use) and usefulness (relevance) of everything from "everyday things" to software to information systems to processes…anything with which people interact
• UCD seeks to answer questions about users and their tasks and goals, then use the findings to drive development and design
• What UCD can help achieve

  • Easy-to-use products
  • Satisfy customers
  • Decrease expenditures on technical support and training
  • Advertise ease-to-use successes
  • Ultimately increase market share
• Frank Chinero: 'People ignore design that ignores people'
• Important UCD Principles


  • Involve users from the very beginning
  • Critical design decisions are evaluated based on how they work for end-users
  • User-centered design should be empathetic
  • Use an iterative design process
  • Involve multiple feedback loops
  • Follow the fundamentals of design
• Visibility


  Users should be able to see from the beginning what they can do with the product, what is it about, how they can use it
• Accessibility


  Users should be able to find information easily and quickly. They should be offered various ways to find information for example call to action buttons, search option, menu, etc.
• Legibility


  Text should be easy to read
• Language


  Short sentences are preferred. The easier the phrase and the words, the better
• UCD Methods


  • Focus Groups
  • Questionnaires and Surveys
  • Interviews
  • Usability Testing
  • Card Sorting
  • Participatory Design
• Focus Groups


  • A good way to get multiple perspectives at once
  • Great for defining product use cases
  • Requires an experienced moderator
  • Data is largely qualitative
  • Generally, a small sample size
  • Relatively low costs, especially when done remotely
• Questionnaires and Surveys


  • Feedback is generally brief and simple
  • Care needs to be taken to design effective questions that are unbiased
  • Data can be both qualitative and quantitative
  • Allows for a larger sample size
  • Relatively low costs of respondents are sourced from your user base
• Interviews


  • Good for gathering in-depth information regarding individual needs and behaviors
  • Requires an experienced interviewer and detailed analysis of answers
  • Data is mostly qualitative
  • Small sample size
  • Time consuming and therefore high opportunity cost
• Usability Testing


  • Used to generate feedback on designs and user interaction
  • Requires at least a developed prototype to test
  • Data can be qualitative and quantitative
  • Small to medium sample size
  • High cost when done live, cheaper when done with tools
• Card Sorting


  • Important for making decisions on architecture
  • Data is quantitative
  • Usually a medium sample size
  • Relatively time-consuming