Block 2

Question 1

Name Hofstede’s four cultural dimensions

Answer 1

Power distance (PD)
Individualism (IND)
Masculinity–femininity (MAS)
Uncertainty avoidance (UA)

[Unit 1, review question 1]

Question 2

In terms of Power Distance (PD), describe briefly the characteristics of those cultures which score high, and those which score low.

Answer 2

In a culture with high power distance, people feel comfortable with power being invested in an elite, who have the responsibility of care and protection for others. In a culture with low power distance, people aspire to equality and shared responsibility.

Question 3

In terms of Individualism (IND), describe briefly the characteristics of those cultures which score high, and those which score low.

Answer 3

In a culture which rates highly on the individualism index, freedom of the individual is valued over the interests of the group. In a culture which rates low, the interests of the group are paramount.

Question 4

In terms of Masculinity–femininity (MAS) describe briefly the characteristics of those cultures which score high, and those which score low.

Answer 4

In a culture which rates highly on this index, people tend to be competitive and assertive, and differences between gender roles are marked. In a culture which rates low, people tend to be caring and nurturing and the differences between roles become blurred.

Question 5

In terms of Uncertainty avoidance (UA) describe briefly the characteristics of those cultures which score high, and those which score low.

Answer 5

In a culture which rates highly on this index, uncertainty is avoided as much as possible and rules, plans and frameworks are valued. In a culture which rates low, people are happy to explore and innovate and experiment with new situations.

Question 6

Give three different types of reasons why all interaction designers should be concerned with accessibility.

Answer 6

The three different types of reasons for an interaction designer to consider accessibility are:

– Ethical reasons – a disabled person, so far as is possible, should have the same opportunities as anyone else

– Reasons of good practice – making an interactive product more accessible often represents a general improvement in the product

– Legal reasons – conforming to existing legislation.

[Unit 1, review question 2]

Question 7

What is the difference between the medical (individual) and social models of disability?

Answer 7

The medical (individual) model locates the ‘problem’ of disability within the individual; the social model locates the ‘problem’ as everything that imposes restrictions on disabled people.

[Unit 1, review question 3]

Question 8

Name the three different types of requirements.

Answer 8

Functional requirements
… capture what the product should do.

Data requirements
… the type, volatility, size/amount, persistence, accuracy, and value of the required data.

Environmental requirements
…. context of use, which refers to the circumstances in which the interactive product will be expected to operate.

Beyond interaction design 10.3.1

Question 9

Name three techniques for data gathering.

Answer 9

Interviews, questionnaires, and observation.

Beyond interaction design 7.1

Question 10

Describe the two main aims of the requirements activity.

Answer 10

Firstly, we need to understand the users, their work and the context in which they work, in order to design a system or product which supports their goals – that is, we need to identify users’ needs.

Secondly, we need to establish a basic, stable set of requirements on which to base an initial design (or designs).

[Unit 2, review question 1]

Question 11

In user-centred design, would you expect the initial set of requirements, once established, to remain stable?

Answer 11

In user-centred design, it is expected that the set of requirements will be modified after the initial requirements-gathering, analysing, interpreting and representing phase. As users interact with alternative designs, it is expected that individual requirements might be added, or deleted, or modified, as in the simple lifecycle model for interaction design.

[Unit 2, review question 2]

Question 12

Describe the four main activities in establishing requirements.

Answer 12

1. data gathering
2. analysing the data
3. interpreting the data
4. presenting the findings in a form that can be expressed as requirements.

[Unit 2, review question 3]

Question 13

Identify the non-functional requirements described in Section 10.3 of the Set Book.

Answer 13

• data requirements
• environmental requirements/context of use: the physical, social, organisational and technical context of use
• user characteristics
• usability goals and user experience goals.

[Unit 2, review question 4]

Question 14

Name the four key issues of data gathering?

I.e what should you always consider when embarking on data gathering?

Answer 14

• setting clear goals
  
  • determining the level of formality of the relationship with participants
  • triangulation of data-gathering techniques or data analysis approaches
  • and pilot studies.

Block 2, Unit 2, review question 5, p 132

Question 15

Name the four most common forms of data recording.

Answer 15

The four most common forms of data recording are:

• taking notes;
• taking photos;
• audio recording;
• video recording.

Block 2, Unit 2, review question 5, p 132

Question 16

What is the difference between open and closed questions?

Answer 16

In a closed question, the respondent has to choose between a number of predetermined answers. An example of a closed question is:
‘In which month were you born?’ In an open question, the answer is not predetermined. An example of an open question is: ‘Which aspects of this interactive product do you particularly like?’

Block 2, Unit 2, review question 7, p 132

Question 17

Describe briefly the four different main types of interviews.

Answer 17

The four types are:

• unstructured, where the interviewer has an agenda – knows what his/her goals are – but does not stick to predetermined questions;
• structured, where the interviewer asks the same questions of each interviewee, as if using a script;
• semi-structured, in which the interviewer has some predetermined questions but is prepared to follow leads offered by the interviewee;
• and group (which may also be unstructured, semi-structured or, possibly, structured).

Block 2, Unit 2, review question 7, p 132

Question 18

What is the difference between a Likert scale and a semantic differential scale?

Answer 18

A Likert scale uses gradations of values (for example, from ‘totally disagree’ through to ‘totally agree’). A semantic differential scale uses pairs of semantic opposites to label opposite ends of the scale, for example, ‘clear’ at one end and ‘confusing’ at the other.

Block 2, Unit 2, review question 8, p 134

Question 19

Why might observations be used during the requirements activity?

Answer 19

Observations are useful during the requirements activity in order to identify the nature of the users, the tasks that the proposed system/ product is intended to support, and the context. They might also be used to investigate the use of similar systems/products, or the use of an existing system/product which is to be redesigned.

Block 2, Unit 2, review question 9 p 139

Question 20

Identify a type of direct observation which is probably more useful for evaluation than for requirements activities.

Answer 20

A controlled direct observation (see Section 7.6.2) is probably more useful as an evaluation than as a requirements activity.

Block 2, Unit 2, review question 9 p 139

Question 21

Why might it be useful to have more than one observer doing an observation?

Answer 21

It is useful to have more than one observer conducting an observation so that more ground can be covered; the data is more reliable;
and different perspectives on the data enable deeper reflection
(see page 328).

Block 2, Unit 2, review question 9 p 139

Question 22

What are the four factors which have the most impact on the choice of data-gathering techniques?

Answer 22

• the focus of the study, which determines the nature of the data to be collected;
• the characteristics of the participants involved;
• the nature of the technique;
• and the available resources.

Block 2, Unit 2, review question 10 p 140

Question 23

Name seven techniques for gathering data as part of the requirements activity.

Answer 23

• interviews
• focus groups and workshops
• questionnaires
• direct observations
• indirect observations such as those using interaction logs or diaries
• studying documentation
• researching similar products.

Block 2, Unit 2, review question 11 p 143

Question 24

Give four guidelines for gathering data specifically for requirements.

Answer 24

• focus on identifying stakeholders’ needs
• involve all the stakeholder groups
• involve more than one representative from each stakeholder group
• support the data-gathering session with suitable props such as task descriptions or prototypes.

Block 2, Unit 2, review question 12 p 143

Question 25

There are essentially two different types of scenarios. What are they?

Answer 25

The two different types of scenario are:

(i) those which describe existing behaviour; and
(ii) those which are described as being ‘futuristic’, that is, those which describe the envisioned behaviour with the new interactive product.

Block 2, Unit 2, review question 13 p 156

Question 26

Write brief descriptions to illustrate the essential differences between scenarios, use cases and essential use cases.

Answer 26

A scenario is an informal narrative description. In this context, it is usually a reasonably rich description of how a particular individual achieves his/her goals.

Use cases describe the interaction between a user role (‘actor’) and a system/product as a sequence of high-level actions.

Essential use cases are more abstract than use cases, and just allocate subtasks to users and system (or interactive product) in terms of the user’s intention and system responsibility, with no indication as to how these might be achieved. They contain no assumptions of the technology used, and can thus be implemented in a number of ways. They must have a name which expresses the user’s intention.

Block 2, Unit 2, review question 13 p 156

Question 27

Of scenarios, use cases and essential use cases, which is most useful:

(i) in the very early stages of establishing requirements;
(ii) when you are beginning to think of implementing a prototype?

Answer 27

Scenarios of existing behaviour are probably the most useful of these task descriptions when you are just at the beginning of establishing requirements, and that scenarios of envisioned behaviour and use cases (with their indication of how input/output is effected) are most useful just before implementation.

Block 2, Unit 2, review question 13 p 156