Design Fixation for UX Professionals in 10 Minutes or Less! (Dec. 11, 2013)

What UX Designers Need to Know about Design Fixation

Robert J. Youmans, Ph.D.Department of Psychology

Creative Design and User Experience (CDUX) Laboratory GroupGeorge Mason University

December 11, 2013

Design Fixation

1. Psychological Problem: Design Fixation

2. How Design Fixation Can Disrupt Optimal UX Design

3. Ways to Avoid Design Fixation Based on Psychological Research

The Problem: Design Fixation

In clinical psychology, 'fixation' is a type of Freudian symptom whereby one person becomes obsessed with an idea or person.

The Problem: Design Fixation

Design Fixation – a measurable, blind adherence to past ideas or concepts that limits the creativity and output of designers (Jansson & Smith, 1991).

Examples of Design Fixation:

(American Mechanical Engineers; Jansson & Smith, 1991)

The Problem: Design Fixation

Design Fixation – a measurable, blind adherence to past ideas or concepts that limits the creativity and output of designers (Jansson & Smith, 1991).

Examples of Design Fixation:

(European Industrial Design Students; Cardoso & Badke-Schaub, 2011)

The Problem: Design Fixation

Design Fixation – a measurable, blind adherence to past ideas or concepts that limits the creativity and output of designers (Jansson & Smith, 1991).

Examples of Design Fixation:

(Teams of 3 American Engineers; Linsey, Tseng, Fu, Cagan, Wood, &

Schunn, 2010)

Design Fixation

1. Psychological Problem: Design Fixation

2. How Design Fixation Can Disrupt Optimal UX Design

3. Ways to Avoid Design Fixation Based on Psychological Research

Design Fixation & UX Design

Atlas Remote(~1990's)

Infrared LED Circuit (1990's)Infrared LED Circuit (2010's)

New Version (2010)

Design Fixation!

Design Fixation & UX Design

Design Fixation!!!

'Champion' Remote (2012) Really?

Design Fixation

1. Psychological Problem: Design Fixation

2. How Design Fixation Can Disrupt Optimal UX Design

3. Ways to Avoid Design Fixation Based on Psychological Research

Researching Design Fixation

• *We recruited nine GMU Civil Engineering students enrolled in a mixed graduate/undergraduate course on ‘Inventive Engineering’ (Average Age = 22.4 years; 33% Female).

• We asked them to design another version of a poorly-designed recruitment poster for Psi Chi (the psychology honor society).

• An SR Research Eye Link II head-mounted eye tracker was used to watch designers’ eye movements while viewing an example design.

*See: Smith, M. A., Youmans, R. J., Bellows, B. G., & Peterson, M. S. (2013). Shifting the focus: an objective look at design fixation. In Design, User Experience, and Usability. Design Philosophy, Methods, and Tools (pp. 144-151). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

Researching Design Fixation

The following is a bad poster example that did not work…PLEASE design something better.

1. We told participants a cover story.

Researching Design Fixation

1. We told participants a cover story.2. They viewed a bad example (2 min)

Researching Design Fixation

1. We told participants a cover story.2. They viewed a bad example (2 min) (while wearing an eye tracker)

Researching Design Fixation

1. We told participants a cover story.2. They viewed a bad example (2 min) (while wearing an eye tracker)

Researching Design Fixation

1. We told participants a cover story.2. They viewed a bad example (2 min) (while wearing an eye tracker)

Researching Design Fixation

1. We told participants a cover story.2. They viewed a bad example (2 min) (while wearing an eye tracker)

Researching Design Fixation

?

1. We told participants a cover story.2. They viewed a bad example (2 min) (while wearing an eye tracker)3. They Brainstormed (10 min)

Blank Screen…

Researching Design Fixation

1. We told participants a cover story.2. They viewed a bad example (2 min) (while wearing an eye tracker)3. They Brainstormed (10 min)4. They drew a new design (10 min)

Up, up, and away with

GMU PSYCHOLOGY!

Researching Design Fixation

1. We told participants a cover story.2. They viewed a bad example (2 min) (while wearing an eye tracker)3. They Brainstormed (10 min)4. They drew a new design (10 min)5. Questionnaire about designing

Researching Design Fixation

1. We told participants a cover story.2. They viewed a bad example (2 min) (while wearing an eye tracker)3. They Brainstormed (10 min)4. They drew a new design (10 min)5. Questionnaire about designing

What did you look at:-First?

Researching Design Fixation

1. We told participants a cover story.2. They viewed a bad example (2 min) (while wearing an eye tracker)3. They Brainstormed (10 min)4. They drew a new design (10 min)5. Questionnaire about designing

What did you look at:-First?-Most Frequent?

Researching Design Fixation

1. We told participants a cover story.2. They viewed a bad example (2 min) (while wearing an eye tracker)3. They Brainstormed (10 min)4. They drew a new design (10 min)5. Questionnaire about designing

What did you look at:-First?-Most Frequent?-Longest Duration?

Researching Design Fixation

1. We told participants a cover story.2. They viewed a bad example (2 min) (while wearing an eye tracker)3. They Brainstormed (10 min)4. They drew a new design (10 min)5. Questionnaire about designing

What did you look at:-First?-Most Frequent?-Longest Duration?

Why did you look at those items?

Researching Design Fixation

End of Data Collection.

1. We told participants a cover story.2. They viewed a bad example (2 min) (while wearing an eye tracker)3. They Brainstormed (10 min)4. They drew a new design (10 min)5. Questionnaire about designing

Researching Design FixationAnalysis 1: Did Designers Fixate – and if so, by how much?

Researching Design FixationAnalysis 1: Did Designers Fixate – and if so, by how much?

Researching Design FixationAnalysis 1: Did Designers Fixate – and if so, by how much?

Researching Design Fixation

Fixation Score = 2

Analysis 1: Did Designers Fixate – and if so, by how much?

Researching Design FixationAnalysis 1: Did Designers Fixate – and if so, by how much?

Researching Design FixationAnalysis 1: Did Designers Fixate – and if so, by how much?

Fixation Score = 9

Researching Design FixationAnalysis 1: Did Designers Fixate – and if so, by how much?

Average Fixation of Engineers = 4.44 (out of 25 possible fixation features)

Most Frequently Fixated Items:

- Rainbow Text (n = 5)

- Head Profile (n = 4)

- Trees (n = 4)

Researching Design FixationAnalysis 2: Did eye gaze during scene viewing predict design

fixation?Eye Tracking:1st – DuckFrequent – Speech BubbleLongest – Slide

Researching Design FixationAnalysis 2: Does locus of attention during scene viewing predict

design fixation?

First Most Frequently Longest Duration0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

22.00%

11.00% 11.00%

Eye Tracking Data

Chance (17.76%)

Researching Design Fixation

Researching Design Fixation

Researching Design Fixation

Researching Design Fixation

TAKE HOME MESSAGES:

1. Professionals (from all backgrounds) experience design fixation.

2. Design fixation affects UX design because old design concepts are often not the best in terms of UX.

3. Given that many of us in the design community often work from prior example, taking a balanced approach to their critique may protect against design fixation in your own work.

UX at George Mason University

The Human Factors/ UX Program at GMU:

• The graduate program in Human Factors and Applied Cognition (HFAC) provides instruction and research training (MA and PhD) for students wishing to pursue careers in the academic, public, and private sectors. Certificate programs in usability and human factors in transportation are also offered.

• Check out http://humanfactors.gmu.edu for more information.

• Applications to the department's MA program in Human Factors are due on: February 1, 2014

What UX Designers Need to Know about Design Fixation

Robert J. Youmans, Ph.D.Department of Psychology

Creative Design and User Experience (CDUX) Laboratory GroupGeorge Mason University

December 11, 2013

Many Thanks to the Following:

My Funding Agent: The NSF's EAGER Program (Award CMMI-1226933)

My Colleagues: Drs. Matt Peterson (Psychology) and Tom Arciszewski (Engineering)

My Students: Melissa Smith, Brooke Bellows, Jordan Higgins, Ivonne Figueroa, Christian Gonzalez, Melody Weaver, Mallory DeMarines, Chris Ummen, Amy Higgins, Kevone Bennett, David Kim.