Block 2 Flashcards
Knowing the users
Interaction design requires really good understanding of users and activities they are carrying out, plus access to appropriate tech
Physical capabilities
- Tech increasingly embedded in physical environment
- Physical capabilities - Height, flexibility, strength, weight, manual dexterity, stamina
- Understanding physical ability of user group important when defining requirements
Sensory capabilities
- Touch
- sight
- hearing
- taste and smell
- cognitive capabilities
Touch
- Refers to sensation resulting from contact or pressure on skin
- Kinaesthetic and cutaneous bundled together and talked about as haptic perception
- Involves both to understand and explore world
Kinaesthetic sense
physical awareness of static or dynamic body position
Cutaneous sense
Feeling of touch
Sight
- User interaction with tech still relies heavily on sight
- If developing product for people with one or more visual issues, important to research topic carefully and work with vision specialist
Hearing
Ability to hear becoming important with tech
Taste and smell
Might become more relevant in future tech
Cognitive capabilities
- Mental skills needed to carry out activities from basic to most complex
- Attention
- perception
- memory
- learning
- reading, speaking, listening
- problem-solving, planning, reasoning, decision making
Attention
Selecting what to concentrate on
Perception
Acquiring sensory data from physical environment and processing it
Memory
Involves recalling something one already knows
Learning
Involves acquiring new knowledge
Reading, speaking, listening
Complex forms of language processing
Problem-solving, planning, reasoning, decision making
Complex processes that involve reflective cognition
Background
- Culture plays role as integral part of user’s background
- Education concerned with developing knowledge and skill. Also contributes to beliefs, values and judgement
- Important to be aware, in broad terms, of users knowledge, skills, culture, education, interests and preferences
Experience
- Experience influences people’s perception and attention
- Also influences people’s interests and preferences
- Familiarity can have profound effect on usability and user experience
Why whole design context matters
Well chosen requirements take into account whole design context
Activities
- Can be interpreted or executed differently
- Understanding what user needs to do as important as understanding user
Is activity simple or complex?
- Scope of activity important
- Some simple and well-defined
- Some complex and variable in nature
Different users
- User goal for activities may differ
- As a consequence, users goals for activity may affect user experience
Environment
- Requirements can vary with environment
- Complexity if environment reflected in additional requirements and eventually in interactive product design
- Interaction not defined solely in terms of actual users, other stakeholders may have influence on interaction requirements