Glossary Flashcards
accessibility
The degree to which an interactive product is usable by people with a
disability.
aesthetically pleasing
One of the user experience goals of interaction design, meaning the
device is visually appealing. Aesthetics may also relate to other senses
such as the quality of sound or the tactile feel of the device
affinity diagrams
Diagrams which cluster individual statements into hierarchies showing
common themes.
affordance
An attribute of an object that allows people to know how to use it. For
example, a button should invite being pressed and a knob invite being
turned. See also perceived affordance
analytical evaluation
An approach to evaluation that does not involve users. This approach
includes various inspection methods and predictive models.
assistive technologies
Technologies (hardware and software) which enable disabled users to
interact with a device (usually a computer) in a way that is independent
of the software application being used. Examples include screen readers,
head-mounted pointing devices and voice recognition products.
bias
A factor which can affect or distort the results of an evaluation study.
Potential sources of bias include: participants that don’t match your user
profile; overly specified tasks which direct participants; an unrealistic
environment for an evaluation study; evaluator/observer bias;
methodological biases; and reporting/analysis biases, where the evaluator
reviews the data subjectively rather than objectively.
card-based prototype
A kind of low-fidelity prototype that consists of a set of index cards ea
of which represents one screen or one element of a task.
Chinese value survey
A value survey inspired by Hofstede’s but based on inputs by Chinese
social scientists.
closed questions
Questions with a pre-specified set of responses.
cognition
What goes on inside our heads when we are carrying out our everyday
activities. Cognitive processes relevant to interaction design are: attention,
perception and recognition, memory, learning, reading, speaking and
listening, problem-solving, planning, reasoning and decision-making.
cognitive walkthrough
A technique for exploring a user’s mental processes while he or she
performs particular task(s) with an interactive product. For evaluation, a
cognitive walkthrough may be used to assess the usability of a user
interface design by examining whether a user can select the appropriate
action at the interface for each step in the task.
collectivism
A society in which people from birth onwards are integrated into strong,
cohesive in-groups, which throughout people’s lifetimes continue to
protect them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. Collectivism is at the
opposite end of a cultural dimension from individualism
conceptual design
Conceptual design involves producing the conceptual model for the
product. The conceptual model is a high level description of how a
system is organised and operates.
conceptual model
A high level description of how a system is organised and operates. A
conceptual model is an abstraction that outlines what people can do with
a product and what concepts are needed to understand how to interact
with it. Conceptual models are comprised of four components: metaphors
and analogies; concepts the users are exposed to through the product;
relationships between those concepts; and mappings between concepts
and the user experience
consistency
A consistent interface is one that follows rules, such as always clicking
the left mouse button to select graphical objects on the user interface.
constraints
Ways of restricting the kind of interaction that can take place at a given
moment; for example, deactivating menu items.
contextual inquiry
An approach to establishing requirements which emphasises the
importance of context.
continuous input devices
Devices designed to handle tasks that cannot be split easily into a number
of discrete steps, such as dragging icons across the screen or drawing
informal sketches. A mouse is an example of a continuous input device.
counterbalancing
A strategy used in the design of experiments to control for order effects
such as practice effects or fatigue effects. An example of
counterbalancing would be: group A completes condition 1 followed by
condition 2, and group B completes condition 2 followed by condition 1.
cultural dimensions
Measurable attributes of a culture by which a culture can be
characterised.
culture
The system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviours, symbols and
language of a particular group of people.
data requirements
Requirements concerned with the characteristics (type, volatility,
accuracy, etc.) of the data needed by the interactive product.
descriptive statistics
A way of summarising quantitative data using techniques such as the
mean, median and mode
design model
The conceptual model developed by the designer. This is the model the
designer has of how the system should work.
design principle
A generalisable abstraction intended to orient designers towards thinking
about different aspects of their design. Providing appropriate feedback is
a well-known design principle. Design principles are derived from a mix
of theory-based knowledge, experience and common sense.
design rule
Design guidance that is highly specific and which should be followed. A
design rule does not require interpretation to apply.
direct manipulation
An instantiation of the interaction type of manipulating and navigating.
Direct manipulation has three fundamental properties: continuous
representation of the objects and actions of interest; rapid reversible
incremental actions with immediate feedback about the object of interest;
physical actions and button pressing instead of issuing commands with
complex syntax.
direct observation
An approach to data gathering in which users are observed directly by the
investigator.
direct pointing devices
Input devices that allow a user to point directly at the object he or she is
interested in. Examples include the touch-screen, and the stylus (as used
in pen systems). Direct pointing devices tend to be more intuitive to use
than indirect pointing devices.
disability
Two definitions of disability are given in Block 2, one from the UK
Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) of 1995, and one from the World
Health Organisation (WHO). 1. According to the DDA, a person is
disabled if: they have a mental or physical impairment; the impairment
has an adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day
activities; the adverse effect is substantial and long-term (meaning it has
lasted for 12 months, or is likely to last for more than 12 months or for
the rest of their life). 2. According to the WHO, disability is any
restriction or lack of ability, resulting from an impairment, to perform an
activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human
being.
discrete data
Data that has a finite number of states, steps or increments. The state of a
light switch is an example of discrete data: it can be on or off. Numbers
6
Glossary
and letters are also discrete data, as they can be represented by binary
digits.
discrete input devices
Input devices that can be used to enter discrete data, such as letters and
numbers or commands. A keyboard is an example of a discrete input
device, being made up of a number of keys, each of which can be in one
of two states: pressed or not pressed.
displacement joystick
A joystick that is lever mounted in a fixed base. A displacement joystick
can be moved in two dimensions.
distributed cognition
A theoretical framework which looks at a cognitive system distributed
across individuals, artefacts and internal and external representations,
rather than cognition just within a person’s head
domain of application
An area of expertise and knowledge in some real-world activity,
providing the underlying concepts for an interactive product. An example
of a domain might be ‘travel’, with associated concepts including ‘flight’,
‘reservation’ and ‘airport’.
Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM)
An industry standard Rapid Applications development (RAD)-based
method.
dyslexia
Dyslexia literally means ‘difficulty with words’, but the term covers a
range of cognitive impairments.
effectiveness
How good a product is at doing what it is supposed to do – does it allow
users to learn well, carry out their work efficiently, access the information
they need, buy the goods they want, and so on?
efficiency
How well a product supports users in carrying out their tasks. Does it
allow users to sustain a high level of productivity?
environmental requirements
Requirements concerned with understanding the context of use of the interactive product (physical; social; organisational; technical) and the constraints this imposes on the product.
essential use cases
These describe the interaction between a user and the system/product in
terms of user intentions and system/product responsibilities
ethnography
An approach used to understand activity whereby a designer or researcher
immerses himself or herself into the environment of interest for a period
of one or two years, to experience at first hand the culture of the
environment and users’ work activities in their natural setting. Rather
than true ethnography, interaction design makes practical use of an
ethnographical approach through workplace site visits, and the use of
ethnographical techniques such as direct and indirect observation of users
while they are engaged in their work activities
evaluation approach
Each of the three main evaluation approaches is based on a distinct set of
values and assumptions as to how evaluation should be conducted.
evaluation method
An evaluation method is the practical technique deployed to answer the
questions set in relation to an evaluation goal. The Set Book lists five
categories of evaluation method: observing users, asking users their
opinions, asking experts their opinions, testing users’ performance, and
modelling users’ task performance.
evolutionary prototyping
An approach to prototyping in which the final product evolves through a
series of prototypes
expectation management
The process of making sure that users’ views and expectations of the new
product are realistic.
external cognition
External cognition is concerned with explaining the cognitive processes
involved when we interact with different external representations.
external consistency
This refers to a user interface being consistent with the external world.
For example, on the dashboard of a particular car, the icon used to
indicate that the fog lights are on is the same icon used throughout the
whole range of cars produced by the same manufacturer.
feedback
The information sent back to the user about what action has been done
and what has been accomplished.
femininity
In the context of cultural dimensions, femininity stands for a society in
which social gender roles overlap: both men and women are supposed to
be modest, tender, and concerned with the quality of life. Femininity is at
the opposite end of the dimension from masculinity on the MAS index
field studies
A general term used to describe studies conducted in the natural setting
of the activity. While the course specifically uses this term to describe an
evaluation approach, note that field studies may be used more generally
in all of the interaction design phases, where the basic techniques of
interview and observation may be used for data gathering.
field study evaluation approach
Evaluation study that is undertaken in a natural setting with the aim of
increasing understanding about what users do naturally and how
technology impacts them. The benefit of a field study is that you can gain
an understanding about what users do naturally and how technology
impacts them.
Fitts’ Law
A law which predicts the time it takes to reach a target using a pointing
device.
focus groups
These consist of a representative sample of the target population and take
the form of a group interview with a facilitator present. See also
groupthink.
formative evaluation
Evaluations carried out during design to check that the product continues
to meet users’ needs.
functional requirements
Requirements as to what the interactive product should do
GOMS (Goals, Operators, Methods, Selection rules) model
A predictive modelling technique which models the knowledge and
cognitive processes involved when users interact with systems.
graphics tablet
An indirect pointing device. It is a flat panel placed near the screen. The
user moves a stylus or finger across the tablet, and the motion is reflected
by the movement of a cursor on the screen.
groupthink
A phenomenon in which individual opinions become subsumed into that
of the group.
head-up display
An output device which is a specialised form of projection system often
used in aircraft cockpits and vehicles, where key information is projected
just in front of the vehicle’s front window. This means the user does not
need to keep looking down at the control board.
