Block One

Question 1

Give four questions you need to answer in order to optimize user interaction with a n interactive product.

Answer 1

• Who is going to be using the interactive product?
• How is it going to be used?
• Where are they going to use it?
• What activities will the user be doing when interacting with the product?

Question 2

List 5 design problems that can cause frustration.

Answer 2

• When we cannot find the function that we need.
• When we select an option and either we are not sure what its effect has been, or the effect is not the one we wanted.
• When icons are so small we cannot see what they are suppose d to represent.
• When it is unclear what icons mean.
• When the software requires us to work very inefficiently, perhaps requiring more key clicks than is really
  necessary.

Question 3

ID has a lot of jargon, some of which has been adopted by industry in order to sell pruducts. Some organisations use this jargon in a misleading way. Using Normans definition, what is a ‘red flag’ ?

Answer 3

A red flag is a term that claims to indicate sensitivity to human needs but may in fact reflect a complete lack of understanding of people.

Question 4

Summarise the possible unfortunate implications of the red flag ‘fool-proof’.

Answer 4

You think your customers are fools.

Question 5

Summarise the possible unfortunate implications of the red flag ‘user-friendly’.

Answer 5

The product holds users by the hand and forces them to do things one step at a time, in prescribed order, whether they like it or not.

Question 6

Summarise the possible unfortunate implications of the red flag ‘intuitive’.

Answer 6

‘so automatic it is not conscious’, but almost everyting we call intuitive, such as walking or using a pencil, took years of practice.

Question 7

What is ID, and what are the results of good ID?

Answer 7

ID is surprisingly difficult to define. That is because it is a relatively new term and the meaning of such terms tends to evolve over time.
The main definition for the purposes of M364 says ID is designing interactive products to support the way people communicate and interact in their everyday and working lives.

A second definition: It is about developing interactive products that are easy, effective and enjoyable to use. It encourages an easy, natural and engaging interaction between a user and a system.

Question 8

Why is it important for the process of ID to identify the needs and establish the requirements for the user experience?

Answer 8

The characteristics of the users, how they will be using the product, the environment in which they will be using it, and the activities they will be using it for must all be taken into account. All these issues relate directly to the design of the interaction. It places a particular emphasis on understanding what the users do, and on the cultural differences between users.

Question 9

Why is it important to evaluate what is being built throughout the ID process and the user experience it offers?

Answer 9

Evaluation is necessary to establish whether or not the product is usable. This is usually achieved by involving users in the evaluation process, as they are in the best position to establish the effectiveness of the design. The evaluation process also enable you to develop a fuller understanding of the users.

Question 10

List the six usability goals.

Answer 10

effectiveness
efficiency
safety
utility
learnability
memorability

Question 11

Which usability goal answers the following question:

Is it possible for the user to work out how to use the product by exploring the interface and trying out certain actions?

Answer 11

learnability

Question 12

Which usability goal answers the following question:

What is the range of errors that are possible using the product and what measures are there to permit users to recover easily from them?

Answer 12

Safety

Question 13

Which usability goal answers the following question:

Is the product capable of allowing people to learn well, carry out their work efficiently, access the information they need , or buy the goods they want?

Answer 13

Effectiveness

Question 14

Which usability goal answers the following question:

Does the product provide an appropriate set of functions that will enable users to carry out all their tasks in the way they want to do them?

Answer 14

Utility

Question 15

Which usability goal answers the following question:

What kinds of interface support have been provided to help users remember how to carry out tasks, especially for products and operations they use infrequently?

Answer 15

Memorability

Question 16

Which usability goal answers the following question:

Once users have learned how to use a system to carry out their tasks, can they sustain a high level of productivity?

Answer 16

Efficiency

Question 17

What does the user experience goal ‘Satisfying’ mean?

Answer 17

When you use the interactive product it allows you to do what you want to do easily and quickly - it lines up with your expectations.

Question 18

What does the user experience goal ‘Enjoyable’ mean?

Answer 18

Using the interactive product is something you look forward to, for example, choosing a holiday on the Web.

Question 19

What does the user experience goal ‘Fun’ mean?

Answer 19

There are light-hearted elements involved in using the interactive product. For example, most games are designed to be fun - presenting enjoyable challenges, giving rewards and so on.

Question 20

What does the user experience goal ‘Entertaining’ mean?

Answer 20

This is similar to enjoyable and fun, but I think that if I am being entertained, I am taking a more passive role. For example, when listening to music on my MP3 player I am being entertained.

Question 21

What does the user experience goal ‘Helpful’ mean?

Answer 21

When you experience difficulties sing the interactive product it helps you achieve your goals, For example, the spelling-checker in Word underlines misspell t words an can suggest possible correctly spelt replacements.

Question 22

What do you think is the key usability goal and user experience goal for a mobile device that allows young children to communicate with each other and play collaborative games?

Answer 22

A collaborate device should be easy to learn and memorable, fund and entertaining.

Question 23

What do you think is the key usability goal and user experience goal for a video computer conferencing system that allows students to learn at home?

Answer 23

A learning device should be easy to learn, efficient, motivating and rewarding.

Question 24

Page 29 of the Set Book describes design principles as ‘generalizable abstractions intended to orient designers towards thinking about different aspects of their designs.’ Using this definition, is the following a design principle, and why?

You must always put the Help menu at the left-hand end of the menu bar at the top of the screen.

Answer 24

It is not a design principle because it is very detailed and prescriptive, so rather than guiding your thinking it tells you precisely what to do. Such statements are usually referred to as design rules and you may find them in style guides such as those for computer operating systems such as Windows or Mac OS

Question 25

Give three reasons why user involvement can be useful.

Answer 25

• To ensure users activities and goals are taken into account.
• Expectation management (the process of making sure that the users views and expectations of the product are realistic).
• To ensure ownership (users with a sense of ownership are more likely to be receptive to a product when it is completed).

Question 26

A user-centered approach to development means that real users and their goals are the driving force behind the development of a product. What are the possible driving forces behind the development process if it is not user-centered?

Answer 26

Where the development is not user-centered, other forces will drive it, such as the characteristics of the technology or the preferences of other stakeholders (for example, managers and the software development team). For a project to be user-centered, whilst there are important, they should not be the main driving force.

Question 27

Why would the waterfall model lifecycle be less effective than the ID lifecycle when developing an interactive product?

Answer 27

Unlike the ID lifecycle, iteration is not built into this model. It is very unusual to create the perfect design first time for an interactive product, so iteration is very important. It also does not emphasise user involvement, which is of particular importance for interaction design.

Question 28

Why would the Rapid Application Development (RAD) model lifecycle be less effective than the ID lifecycle when developing an interactive product?

Answer 28

Like the ID lifecycle, this takes an iterative, user-centered view. However, unlike the ID lifecycle, the user involvement appears to be limited to the JAD (Joint Application Development) workshops and iteration to te design and build phase.

Question 29

Why evaluate and interactive product?

Answer 29

Evaluation checks that users can use the product and that they like it. Evaluation assesses how well, or otherwise, the usability goals and user experience goals for and interactive product have been satisfied in a particular design.

Question 30

What is formative evaluation?

Answer 30

Formative evaluation refers to evaluations done during design to check that the product continues to meet users needs.

Question 31

What is summative evaluation?

Answer 31

Summative evaluation refers to evaluations that are done to assess the success of a finished product, such as those to satisfy a sponsoring agency or to check that a standard is being upheld.

Question 32

What is the role of users in field studies?

Answer 32

In field studies it is the role of users to behave naturally, continuing as usual whilst they are being observed by the evaluators.

Question 33

What is heuristic evaluation?

Answer 33

It is a method which identifies usability problems by evaluating the design against a collection of heuristics, based on design guidelines and common sense knowledge.