Lecture 4: HF Research Methods Flashcards
What is a literature review?
A paper that defines the “volume” of the research, the region of work or areas or fields that particularly pertain to your area of interest
How different is a systematic review?
It’s more rigorous because it’s comprehensive and requires the timeline of the review to be documented
What is a task analysis?
A way of systematically describing human interaction with a system to understand how to match the demands of the system to human capabilities
What is usability testing?
A form of task analysis that helps diagnose problems and identify opportunities for improvement as part of an iterative development process
What are the usability testing steps?
Define the audience and their goals
Create tasks that addresses goals
Find/recruit the right people
Observe them performing the task
What are one pro and con of usability testing?
Pro: get feedback directly from the target audience
Con: small sample size, does not represent 100% of the users
What are interviews?
A method of gathering information in which the interviewer asks users questions to acquire either qualitative and/or quantitative data
Can be structured or unstructured
What are the pros and cons of interviews?
Pros: can gather data on difficult-to-observe aspects of behavior, get users to elaborate on points, high qualitative focus
Cons: subject bias, experimenter bias
What is survey and questionnaire?
use of questionnaires to gather information about specific aspects of subjects’ behaviors or preferences with open or closed-end questions
What are types of sampling biases in surveys and questionnaires?
timing, invitation, presentation, self-selection
What are the pros and cons of survey and questionnaire?
Pros: easy to collect data, reliable answers, quantitative focus
Cons: self-report data can be unreliable
What is a focus group interview?
a group of 6-10 users led by a facilitator, and helps spark discussion to get more information out of people
What are the pros and cons of focus group interviews?
Pros: easily to measure reactions, provides insights, time saving
Cons: participants may be represented enough, can be influenced by others, can get off topic
What is a field observation?
observing people using a product in their natural environment
What are the pros and cons for field observations?
Pro: reveals how work is actually done
Cons: different behavior when being watched
