User-centered Analysis And Conceptual Design Flashcards
What is usability about?
Effectiveness- can users do what they need to?
Ease of learning- how fast can they learn?
Efficiency of use- how fast can they complete tasks?
Memorability- can users remember how to reuse interface?
Error prevention- can they complete tasks without making mistakes?
Satisfaction- how much do they like using system?
What is user-centered analysis?
Who are the users?
How do they think and work?
What are the stakeholder goals and objectives
What does user centered analysis collect data on?
User profiles
Work environment
Scenarios of how user will use interface
Task analysis
What is the goal of user centered analysis?
To collect and analyze data to make informed interface design decisions
What is first major goal of UCA?
Uncover user mental model
What drives mental models?
Past experiences
Why are mental models important?
They set expectations, which drive and shape behavior
80% of usability derives from matching the conceptual model
Must design conceptual model to match mental model!!
Can users accurately describe own mental model?
No.
Users don’t understand how they actually work
Is UCA part of the typical project life cycle?
No
How do freedom of design and time relate?
More freedom early on- as you go along, design becomes more rigid yet better understanding of user
Important: goal is to know user early while still have design freedom.
What are 5 UCA techniques?
Interview Surveys Contextual observation Focus groups Jad sessions
What are 6 usability testing techniques?
Walk through Performance test Subjective rating Heuristics A-b testing Click stream
What’s the difference between UCA and UT?
UCA- focused on how users think and work, what users want and expect, and what are problems and motivations? PROACTIVE
UT- evaluation of existing design, does the design match the users mental model, REACTIVE
What are some downfalls of UT?
Results are limited to tasks asked
May not understand reason behind user reactions
Does not identify how to fix problems uncovered
ROI examples to support UCA?
80% of cost is in maintenance phase
80% of maintenance is from unforeseen or unmet user requirements
How to determine ROI in information sites (instead of more easily determined e-commerce)?
Test with tasks to get baseline. Redesign. Retest with identical and compare results.
How are design and costs related?
The less user-centered the design is, the greater the costs
What are the main components of a design strategy?
Business goals Target users General tasks Any constraints Marketing/branding goals Critical success factors
What are the 3 key values of a design strategy?
Fosters cross-departmental communication
(everyone on same page)
Specifies description of problem and definition of good solution
Communicates positive message to team
Name examples of documents with valuable info?
Statement of work Org charts Legal documents Requirement specs Screen shots Standards Feedback reports (incident reports, help desk tix, previous usability results)
What organizational departments have good info? Who should you research with?
Marketing Help desk Human resources Customer support Sales IT
What are SMART measurements?
Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic/relevant Time-bound
Why are stakeholder meetings important?
Incorporates UCA into existing process
Builds trust
Increase understanding of needs
Why are profiles and personas important?
Clarify assumptions of users, tasks and environment
Highlight aspects of user group that influence design
Provide means for documenting and supporting rationale behind design decisions
What 3 things go into profile for user group?
User
Task
Environment
What are the basic parameters of user profiles?
Health/age/gender Education Language Computer experience Domain expertise Expectation
How does age/gender/health impact design?
Visual acuity and motor skills, which can influence font size and color and contrast used
How does education impact design?
Reading level and general knowledge impact documentation and training, the writing style and screen density and complexity
How does user language impact design?
If english is not first language, impacts writing style and level, labeling and layout and if an alternate version is needed
How does user computer experience impact design?
How much and what kind impact need for wizards, tutorials and certain mnemonics
How does user domain expertise impact design?
How much expertise influences complexity and need for documentation and training
How does user expectation impact design?
User behavior impacts UI structure along with the theme and detai of design
What are key factors in environmental profiles?
Location Workspace Lighting Hardware Software
What is a persona?
A persona is a fictional amalgam of key traits from user group
Best practice is to create a persona for each target user group
Why are personas important?
They are psychologically more real
Helps distinguish between developer desires and user needs
Gives a voice to user
Can help prioritize what needs to get done
What is biggest obstacle to persona?
Convincing worth the time to make this step
What are the three dimensions of data-gathering methods?
Direct v indirect
Individual v group
Performance v discussion
What is the richest data gathering methods?
Direct and Individual
When do you use a 1:1 interview?
If it is difficult to have people perform a task while being observed (ex: online banking site)
Gives more info on perspective and idea bc you can ask for more info
What should you do in an 1:1?
Focus on the how- how users are thinking
Ask diagnostic questions- determine what user assumptions are
Ask performance questions to get more accurate data
What is typical focus of application-based vs content-based site?
Content- focus on organization
App- focus on tasks
When to use user observation?
When users notions about how recurring schedules and complex devices are too abstract to express any other way
User can’t describe difficulties experienced
What are complimentary data gathering methods? (v field studies)
Why and when to use them?
When you have time and $ limitations
Focus groups, JAD (joint application development) sessions, round tables
What is a JAD session?
Joint application development
Mix of stakeholders, developers, ba’s, users etc. similar to a focus group
When are focus groups best used?
Early in development
What to remember about focus groups?
8-10 people
Good for generating ideas, not for making decisions
Great for rapid feedback
Great for capturing things that might have been overlooked
Behaviors do not match what’s observed in usability studies
Participants may influence each other
Risk of dominance from individuals
What’s the point of scenarios?
They provide the how to perspective
They describe real life scenarios of how something would be used…by the personas - they are the stories the personas follow
What factors should be included in a scenario?
Range of tasks Frequently performed tasks Things users most want to do Mission critical tasks Very complicated or intricate tasks
What is the difference between a scenario and a use case?
A scenario is about the user (personas) and not the technology
A use case is about user and technology equally
What is task analysis?
The process for evaluating a task or activity to determine the criteria for successful completion
It also helps with task efficiency by showing user understanding and expectations of task
It defines the current tasks and helps show unnecessary steps, unnecessary complexity, bottlenecks, and other issues.
Task analysis leads to better information architecture
What are primary nouns?
Things users take action on or manipulate. The actionable items
Where am I?
What is the purpose of the page?
What can I do here? (<—- primary nouns)
How do primary nouns help navigation?
A view of a primary noun equals a screen or page
An action will take the user to a new page
Why is good information architecture important?
Realizes all content in the interface Organizes info Increases efficiency Focuses users on high priority content Facilitates finding an item intuitively
What are some examples of IA schemes?
Alphabetical Chronological Geographical Categorical By topic By user By task
Warning hybrid schemes can be either clear or confusing
What factors influence users success in learning info hierarchies?
Breadth and depth
Transparency of labels
Relative size of categories
Shape of hierarchy
