SIMS 213 User Interface Design Development Marti Hearst

SIMS 213: User Interface Design & Development Marti Hearst Tues, Feb 1, 2005

Today Finish Task Analysis example Personas

Task Analysis Characterize what happens when users perform typical tasks Tools: – table of user communities vs. tasks • Who x What – table of task sequences – flowchart or transition diagram – videotape depicting scenario Slide adapted from Ben Shneiderman

User-centered Design Example Interview Questions & Summary Results

How Often Do Users Perform the Tasks? Frequent users remember more details Infrequent users may need more prompting Which function is performed – most frequently? – by which users? – optimize system for tasks that will improve perception of its performance Slide adapted from James Landay's

User-Centered Design Example Task Analysis Table

User-Centered Design Example Task Analysis Table

Augment Table with Percentages (What percentage of the is this task done by this person) (Numbers are only suggestive, adapted from Shneiderman 98)

User-Centered Design Example The next step: – Use Task Matrix to Create Scenarios – Scenarios indicate the sequence of steps the personas go through to complete certain tasks A more recent development – First create Personas – Use these to create Scenarios

Cooper on Designing for Goals We do tasks to achieve goals – don’t equate them! – Traveling safely in 1849 vs. 1999 Goal of good design: help users achieve practical goals while not violating their personal goals – No “unnatural acts” Distinctions: – Personal goals – Corporate goals – Practical goals

Think Outside-in versus Inside -out Do not expect others to think or behave – as you do – as you would like them to Assess the meaning of the displays and controls based on what a user can be assumed to know, not based on what you know

Example: Playing Pictionary Getting into someone else’s head

Observation (from Cooper) Being a victim of a problem does not necessarily bestow the power to see the solution An individual is not always representative – Company president example

Personas (from Cooper) “Hypothetical Archetypes” – Archetype: (American Heritage) • An original model or type after which other similar things are patterned; a prototype • An ideal example of a type; quintessence A precise description of a user and what they want to accomplish – Imaginary, but precise – Specific, but stereotyped • Real people have non-representative quirks

The Essence of Personas Describe a person in terms of their – Goals in life (especially relating to this project) – Capabilities, inclinations, and background People have a “visceral” ability to generalize about real and fictional people – We can have detailed discussions about what Harry Potter, Scarlett O’Hara, or Colin Powell will think or do. – They won’t be 100% accurate, but it feels natural to think about people this way

Reasons for Personas A compromise design pleases no-one – The broader you aim, the more likely you miss the bulls-eye – 50% of the people 50% happy doesn’t work • Car example – soccer mom, carpenter, dot-com exec – “Every time you extend functionality to include another constituency, you put another speed bump of features and controls across every other user’s road. ” A targeted design can achieve – 10% people 100% ecstatic – Examples: • Ram pickup truck

Reasons for Personas Examples of results of targeted design – Dodge Ram pickup – Roller suitcases – Sony Aibo • Isn’t useful for anything • Not fuzzy and warm • Too delicate to let children use it, but – Passionate fan clubs – Brisk sales despite steep price – and prices now coming down

Reasons for Personas Avoid the “elastic user” – If the description is not specific, it can easily wiggle to suit the design needs of the moment Piston analogy Helps prevent designer / programmer from imagining they are the user Image from www. howstuffworks. com

Reasons for Personas Puts an end to feature debates – Makes hypothetical arguments less hypothetical • Q: “What if the user wants to print this out? ” • A 1: “The user won’t want to print often. ” • A 2: “Emilee won’t want to print often. ” User Persona, not Buyer Persona – This is one way HCI differs from marketing – Eventually it pays off in more sales

Next Time Practice Persona development Holtzblatt on Task Analysis