Teaching Human-Computer Interaction Using Participatory Design Methods Dr. Jerry Weinberg, SIUE Dr. Mary Stephen, SLU Ms. Kristin Caufield Supported by.

Teaching Human-Computer Teaching Human-Computer Interaction Using Participatory Interaction Using Participatory

Design MethodsDesign Methods

Dr. Jerry Weinberg, SIUEDr. Mary Stephen, SLU

Ms. Kristin Caufield

Supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation

Human-Computer Interaction&

User-Centered Design

• Programs are used by somebody– In a general sense this means designing for

human hardware/software capabilities and limitations:

» Short term memory: Miller’s magic number

» Long term memory: recognition vs. recall

» Limits of perception: color pollution

Human-Computer Interaction&

User-Centered Design

• Programs are used by somebody– More specifically this means designing for how

the user thinks about the tasks the application is supporting:

» How do they organize the work?

» What strategies do they use to accomplish tasks?

» How is information recorded and communicated?

» What is their conceptual model?

Human-Computer Interaction&

User-Centered Design

• Typically students (and many programmers) take a system-centered view of design.

• Design is a creative activity of making artifacts that are usable for a specific purpose.

• “Usable” requires the designer take into account who is using the system, what they are using it for, and how does it fit within their overall activities.

Usable Vs. User-Friendly

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Potential Design

Participatory Design Methods

• Participatory design methods create situations in which the user becomes a partner in the design process.

– User-Centered Design [Landauer]

– Human-Centered Systems [Flanagan, Huang, Jones, and Kasif]

– Participatory Design [Muller and Kuhn]

– Contextual Design [Beyer and Holtzblatt]

The Designer/Programmer• As a computer professional, they are most

likely going to be both the designer and programmer of a system.

• Poor design results in non-use, misuse, abuse, and (potentially severe) errors

Case of the Tell-Tale Heart

Project Goal

• Develop an experiential learning environment– learn and practice methods for collecting user

data– modeling user data, – and designing from the data

Participatory Design & Human-Computer Interaction Curriculum

• Present & practice Ethnographic Techniques

• Team design project that encompasses entire process from gathering data to prototyping an application

• Create a lab environment for team design activities and user interaction

• Students from lower division courses become potential users of the project application

Overview of Contextual Design

• Contextual Inquiry– Gathering raw data– Ethnographic Techniques: interviewing, observation, and field

notes

• Work modeling– Visual representations of work

• Consolidation– Drawing conclusions about the general population of users from

individuals

• Visioning– Brainstorming solutions

• User Environment Design– System Blueprint and interface specification

• Paper Prototyping– Lo-fidelity testing of interfaces

HCI Course Description• Covers human aspects of interaction

design, on technological aspects of interface design, and design methodologies.

• 15 week, required course

• Prerequisite is Interaction Programming

• Enrollment is between 15 and 30

• Course is usually taken in the junior year prior to the Senior Project course

What Is Ethnographic Research?

Attempt to understand what is happening in natural setting and use that understanding to make implications.

Components

• Observations

• Field notes

• Interviewing skills

• Analyzing data

Observational Data

• Rough materials collected during observation

• Relevant data needed to improve and/or change systems

Focus of Observations

• Physical setting

• Activities

• Human, social environment

• Formal interactions

• Informal interactions

• Non-verbal communications

• What does not happen

Characteristics of Field Notes

• Accurate

• Detailed, thorough

• Descriptive

• Content part and reflective part

• Different formats

Types of Interviews

• Informal conversational interview

• General interview guide

• Standardized open-end interview

• Closed, fixed response interview

• Focus group interview

Student Examples

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Types of Questions

• Descriptive

• Follow-up

• Experience/example based

• Compare/contrast

• Opinion

• Background/demographics

• Role-laying/simulation

Wording of Questions

• What is your opinion of this application?• Who was the project director?• What types of information were you

looking for at this stage?• When did you interview people?• How did the changes you make affect the

way people used the program?• What have you learned in this course?

Sample Exercises

• Interview another student about his/her job. Students videotaped pairs of students doing interviews and then critiqued the interviews.

• Observe someone working in a public area for 10 minutes. Record field notes related to observation.

Work Modeling

Affinity DiagramAffinity Diagram

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Paper Prototypes

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Paper Prototypes

Hi-Fi Prototypes

Human-Computer InteractionSoftware Design & Usability Testing Lab

Design War Room User Interaction Room

Original Conceptual Design

Joe Grant,

Grant Consulting

• Design & Brainstorming Sessions

• “Working on the Wall”

Create a shared understanding & group Memory

Immersion in the data – “Walking the Wall”

Group Memory – Group Conscience

Design War Room

Design War Room

• Writing Walls with Metal Backing

Poster sized paper for models & design ideas

Magnets allow multiple teams to use as a “War Room”

• Re-Configurable Tables

Conference room - access to the working wall area

Observation room – clear view of video monitor

User Interaction Room

• User Interviewing

• Paper Prototyping

• Usability Testing

• Cameras for observation and videotaping

• Monitor in Design War Room is slaved to user’s computer

User Interaction Room

• User sessions video taped to view later for details and review

• Two cameras – user’s face, user’s actions

• One camera can be rotated to focus on the table or the computer screen

• Microphones are mounted in the ceiling

• Partition provides a division to reduce user anxiety

Evaluation

General Questions

The project looks at two general questions with respect to the HCI students:

1. How well do the course material and lab experiences translate to an understanding of design principles and practices?

2. How well does the HCI students’ understanding of design principles and practices relate to their actual design practices.

Components of Evaluation Plan

• Questionnaires

• Student interviews

• Analysis of videotapes of students working on projects

• Following students in senior project course using interviews, analysis of project materials, and observations

Observations from Fall 2000 Class

• Students rated ethnographic skills activities as very useful.

• Some students with work experience in computing reported viewing their jobs differently after the course.

“I made the transition at work from being a software engineer to a software designer. I didn’t know there was a difference between the two job titles. Now I do.”

“I had an internship and all I did was sit in a cubicle and code all day. They kept telling me that that was all there was to it – sit in a cubicle and code, and I was really disappointed. So, when I got to this class, it was a relief to me because I realized that’s not all there is to it. I had hoped there was a way you could work with people but I had no idea it was so intense with the interviews and all.”

• Traditional students reported no previous experience with a group project in computing courses, and exhibited discomfort at the prospect of a group project.

• Traditional students reported this was their first experience with the design phase of a project.

“At the beginning of the semester, I was pretty scared at the thought of a group project. I didn’t think everyone would do their share. After my experience [in this course], I think you should definitely keep the group project.”