Analytical Evaluation Flashcards
Evaluation 1
- Evaluation is a process of systematically assessing a system, guided by questions about the system and criteria
- Does the system work as it is supposed to work?
- Does it meet certain standards?
- Is the performance improved over a previous version?
Evaluation 2
In HCI, evaluations are concerned with how well users can learn and use a system to achieve their goals, and how satisfying the system is to use.
- Can users complete the tasks the system is meant to support?
- Can users achieve their goals faster or with less effort, compared to earlier versions, or competing products?
- Would a first-time user be able to figure out how to use the system?
- Has a change made in interface had the desired impact?
Why Evaluation is important
- Motivation
- Developers are often not aware of the effect their system has on users
- People are often vague about their goals and expectations
- Developers often see no need for evaluation when the system “works”, but there are always ways to improve it!
- Getting the right design / getting the design right
- Comparing different ideas against each other, for example by making prototypes and simulating functionality
- Identifying usability problems in the design of an interface, to improve it
- Economical importance
- Evaluating usability as differentiating factor / Assesing return on investment
Objectives & Criteria
Evaluations are a goal-directed process for which objectives and criteria need to be clear\
- What aspects of the system and user experience is being evaluated? For example:
- Accessibility of the system
- Design alternatives for the interface
- What the user thinks and feels about the system
- Impact of small changes
- Criteria (for example)
- Compliance with rules, guidelines, standards
- Performance against metrics
- Identification of problems
- Insight into how users use a system and reason about it
Forms of Evaluation #1
- Reviews
- Informal or formal, for example using scenarios, guidelines or checklists
- By the design team and/or external reviewers (usability experts)
- Using models
- Formal models of interactive systems, for example to analyse complexity of tasks, and whether goals are reachable
- Models that predict joint performance of human and system
- Evaluation with experts
- Having usability experts try out and critique with the system
- Expert walkthrough, putting themselves in the shoes of a user
- Evaluation with users
- Usability tests, interventions, experiments
Forms of evaluation
Formative / Summative
Evaluating an Axe
- Analytical evaluation identifies the object properties
- “If the axe does not cut well, what do we have to change?”
- Empirical evaluation helps to understand the tool and it’s properties in the context
- “Why does the axe have a special-shaped handle?”
Evaluation - Key Points
- Evaluation is fundamental in HCI research
- Can be approached analytically or empirically
- with users, with experts, or model-based
- Can have a focus on qualitative and/or quantitative data
- Allows us to assess how users perform with a system and how the system affects users
- It enables improvement of a system, at all stages of the development
- … must be carefully considered to be able to draw the right conclusions!
Models
- Models are useful for understanding and analysing behaviour of interactive systems
- Models are not perfect: as simple possible, as complex as necessary
Descriptive models
- Describing a system or phenomenon
- Providing a structure for understanding, designing, specifying, analysing (classification, taxonomy, process model, …) - e.g. 7 Stages of Action, Layered Model of Input
Predictive Models
- Mathematical model of system behaviour
- Makes it possible to simulate and predict future behaviour
Cognitive Modelling
- Cognitive models in HCI are based on viewing humans as rational informational processors
- Modelling goal-directed interaction
- Applies for routine tasks with clear goals
- Cognitive modelling supports analysis of tasks
- How can the user accomplish a goal?
- What steps are involved?
- How complex is the task?
- Are there different ways of doing it?
- Some models extend to the prediction of performance
- How long does it take to complete a task?
Hierarchical-Sequential Organisation
GOMS
GOMS is a formal model that describes interactions in terms of Goals, Operators, Methods and Selection rules.
Goals in GOMS
Description of what the user aims to accomplish
Action-object pair, e.g. print-document, delete-word
Operators in GOMS
Actions that cause change in the system
- Elementary operations on the interface
- Action-object pair, e.g. voice-command, click-button
- Defined by the basic operations an interface supports