Week 4 | Interface Design and Social Engagement

Question 1

Disruptive technologies

Answer 1

Businesses must be able to respond to disruptive technologies in order to survive and stay financially viable. For some, their responsiveness to information system challenges can lead to the creation of a competitive advantage, due to innovative adaptions to the new environment. What we do know is that when talking about disruptive technologies; disruption is speeding up.

Question 2

Digital Darwinism

Answer 2

Disruptive Technology Is Changing Business for Good Social media, mobile, wearables, Internet of Things, real-time — these are just some of the technologies that are disrupting markets. Changes in how people communicate, connect, and discover are carrying incredible implications for businesses and just about anything where people are involved. It’s not so much that technology is part of our everyday life or that technology is relentless in its barrage on humanity. The real threat and opportunity in technology’s disruption lies in the evolution of customer and employee behavior, values, and expectations. Companies are faced with a quandary as they invest resources and budgets in current technology and business strategies (business as usual) versus that of the unknown in how those investments align, or don’t, with market and behavior shifts.

Question 3

Uptake of technologies in business and the community

Answer 3

The first generation of the internet (Web 1.0) was characterised by static pages (content not dynamically changing) and a lack of user-generated content. Today although Web 2.0 suggests a new version of the World Wide Web, it is not a technical ‘update’. For businesses, Web 2.0 offers a more mature, distinctive communications platform features new qualities such as collaboration and sharing.

Question 4

eCommerce

Answer 4

In simple terms eCommerce is the buying and selling of goods and services over public and private computer networks. In short doing business over the internet. Whether shopping online or completing internet banking, participating in eCommerce transactions has become part of our daily lives.

Question 5

Business-to-Consumer (B2C)

Answer 5

• Internet based.
• Sales between a supplier and a retail customer.
• Involves a Web storefront.

Question 6

Business-to-Business (B2B)

Answer 6

• Internet and extranet.
• Sales between compaines.
• Example: Supply chain management.
• Companies conveniently and quickly check their suppliers’ inventories and make instant purchases.
• Competition online can force prices for materials and supplies to drop dramatically.
• B2B often use an extranet: a shared intranet vendors, contractors, suppliers, and key customers.
• Web services– allow computers from different businesses to communicate.

Question 7

Business-to-Government (B2G)

Answer 7

• Sales between government agencies and businesses.

- The government market is strikingly similar to B2B.

Question 8

Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)

Answer 8

• eBay.

- Gumtree.

Question 9

Social Networks

Answer 9

ocial networking sites allow users to share ideas, activities, events, and interests within their individual networks. The main types of social networking services are those which contain category places (such as former school year or classmates), as a means to connect.

Question 10

Social networks in business

Answer 10

Recent trends and studies have shown that a lot of customers now are looking for more than a quick buy and run experience. They want to experience a more engaging experience, including:- reviewing people’s honest comments of products purchased

• able to contribute to a community of users
• remain informally in touch with the business
• add to the discussion and feedback on issues relating to the business and the products
• be seen by the business and other customers as an avid user or expert of the product.

Question 11

Revenue

Answer 11

he most obvious opportunity is to generate revenue. This can be done through building a community or advertising your products or services within the social media platform. If you choose to advertise in social media, the ads can either link back to your business’ social media page or sometimes to your website.

Question 12

Brand development

Answer 12

Using social media allows your customers to connect and interact with your business on a more personal level. If you already have an established brand, social media might be an opportunity to further develop your brand and give your business a voice.

Question 13

Attracting customers

Answer 13

Social media can be a good way of attracting new customers. For example, when considering social media campaigns, you could try to attract followers with promotions or giveaways. Once you have a good following you can focus on more personalised social media campaigns to encourage them to stay.

Question 14

Research

Answer 14

Even if you think social media is not suited to your business or that you don’t have the time, simply logging on to see what your competitors are doing in this space, or finding out what your customers are saying about you might be a valuable exercise.

Question 15

Network

Answer 15

Networking can be a valuable way to exchange ideas with like-minded people to improve the way you do business. Using online networking sites can also be valuable to your business, often for the purpose of knowledge sharing and word-of-mouth referrals.

Question 16

Recruitment

Answer 16

Some organisations use social media to advertise vacant positions. Job networking sites like LinkedIn are dedicated to the job market and can help you use networks to attract skilled people.

Question 17

Search engine discoverability

Answer 17

. By reacting to a relevant ad aimed at bringing people inside the business, the research shows that business can reap a tangible benefit.

Question 18

Key differences between a Facebook business page and a personal profile

Answer 18

• Business pages allow you to designate multiple administrators so you can have more than one person help manage the account. In addition, if one of your administrators leaves the company, you can still have control over the Page.
• Business pages are, by default, public, and are starting to rank in Facebook and public search results.
• Business pages are split into different categories (local businesses, brands, musicians) that help you get listed in more relevant search results.
• Personal profiles have friends, which require mutual acceptance, whereas anyone can become a fan of your business page without needing administrator approval.

Question 19

Facebook Groups Vs Facebook Business Pages

Answer 19

The key distinction between Groups and a Facebook business page is that a Group is for a community of people with a common interest, while a business page represents a brand or entity of which there are consumers or fans.

Question 20

• Call-for-action content. (E.g. Contests, giveaways)

Answer 20

• Be interactive, fun and helpful.
• Embed videos on your Facebook page.
• Create a connection between Facebook and the outside world.
• Call-for-action content. (E.g. Contests, giveaways)
• Integrate traditional advertising with Facebook.
• Use Facebook to grow your email list and vice versa.
• Introduce new products on Facebook first.
• Have a welcome page for new visitors.
• Integrate social content on your Facebook page.
• Like other businesses’ Facebook pages.

Question 21

Twitter in business

Answer 21

• act as local communications tool to contact employees - Twitter is a great collaboration tool, which can be successfully used to save time and money
• communicate special offers and promotions - offer incentives to those who follow you on Twitter
• handle customer complaints - by accepting customer complaints in the open, other consumers can see what kind of company you really are
• act as a Customer Help Desk - Twitter could be used as a method to report technical problems within an organisation.

Question 22

Interface design basics and design principles

Answer 22

• aesthetic design: the overall visual look and feel
• information design: how the information is presented and organised on the site
• interface design: how the user interacts with the site.

Question 23

Simple design guidelines

Answer 23

An interface needs to be ‘easy to learn’. This can be achieved through consistency of screen layouts; that is, place key elements in expected locations on the interface. It is especially key to be consistent in design when moving from screen to screen.

Designing good usable interactive interfaces requires the consideration of:

• who the user will be (target audience) and
• the environment in which they will be operating (e.g. mobile vs tablet vs desktop).

Question 24

Interface metaphors

Answer 24

The purpose of the interface metaphor is to give the user instantaneous knowledge about how to interact with the user interface.

Question 25

Design principles - Visibility

Answer 25

The principle of visibility suggests that usability and learnability are improved when the user can easily see what commands and options are available. Controls should be made clearly visible, rather than hidden, and should be placed where users would expect them to be.

Question 26

Design principles - Affordance

Answer 26

Affordance is a term used to refer to an attribute of an object that allows people to know how to use it. When the affordances of a physical object are perceptually obvious it is easy to know how to interact with it.

Question 27

Design principles - Constraints

Answer 27

he design concept of constraining refers to determining ways of restricting the kind of user interaction that can take place at a given moment. There are various ways this can be achieved. A common design practice in graphical user interfaces is to deactivate certain menu options by shading them, thereby restricting the user to only actions permissible at that stage of the activity.

Question 28

Design principles - Consistency

Answer 28

This refers to designing interfaces to have similar operations and use similar elements for achieving similar tasks. In particular, a consistent interface is one that follows rules, such as using the same operation to select all objects.

Question 29

Design principles - Feedback

Answer 29

Feedback is about sending back information about what action has been done and what has been accomplished, allowing the person to continue with the activity. Various kinds of feedback are available for interaction design–audio, tactile, verbal, visual, and combinations of these. Deciding which combinations are appropriate for different kinds of activities and interactivities is central.

Question 30

Elements of good interface design

Answer 30

t is important to note that a user interface should be aesthetically pleasing to the eye and mind. The consideration of graphic design, choice of colors, positioning of key elements, attractive and appropriate design all contribute to an ‘enjoyable user experience’. One of the aims of HCI (Human Computer Interaction) is to increase user satisfaction and this will in turn aid in increased productivity by the user.

Question 31

Visibility of system status

Answer 31

Similar to the design principle, the system should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within reasonable time.

Question 32

Match between system and the real world

Answer 32

The system should speak the users’ language, with words, phrases and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural
and logical order.

Question 33

Use control and freedom

Answer 33

Users often choose system functions by mistake and will need a clearly marked ‘emergency exit’ to leave the unwanted state without having to go through an extended dialogue. Support undo and redo.

Question 34

Consistency and standards

Answer 34

Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform conventions.

Question 35

Error prevention

Answer 35

Even better than good error messages is a careful design which prevents a problem from occurring in the first place. Either eliminate error-prone conditions or check for them and present users with a confirmation option before they commit to the action.

Question 36

Recognition rather than recall

Answer 36

Minimise the user’s memory load by making objects, actions, and options visible. The user should not have to remember information from one part of the dialogue to another. Instructions for use of the system should be visible or easily retrievable whenever appropriate.

Question 37

Flexibility and efficiency

Answer 37

Accelerators—unseen by the novice user—may often speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the system can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions.

Question 38

Aesthetic and minimalist design

Answer 38

Dialogues should not contain information which is irrelevant or rarely needed. Every extra unit of information in a dialogue competes with the relevant units of information and diminishes their relative visibility.

Question 39

Help users recognise, diagnose and recover from errors

Answer 39

Error messages should be expressed in plain language (no codes), precisely indicate the problem, and constructively suggest a solution.

Question 40

Help and documentation

Answer 40

Even though it is better if the system can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation. Any such information should be easy to search, focused on the user’s task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and not be too large.