Re: [IxDA Discuss] data/research distribution templates?

[Chauncey Wilson]

While it is a lot of work, a triangulatiuon matrix can be a powerful
summary across studies, methods, users

For example, you might set up a spreadsheet with studies across the
top and problems on the left and indicate in the cells which problems
come up across different methods, studies, and users.

I've done this a few times and the ability to triangulate might
indicate that you have a problem come up across all methods, users,
and contexts.

I wrote an essay on triangulation a few years ago in the ACM
iteractions magazine where I discussed this as a technique for
lookiing across studies.  I've also done this at several positions.
You could also tag the problems to indicate if they were global or
local problems and the UI component where the problem occurs.

In the example matrix below, you can see that Problem 1 came up in 5
studies (let's assume different methods).  If you walked in to a
meeting with a table like this, you will be very persuasive.

Problem/Study   Study 1 Study 2  Study 3 Study 4
Study 5Study 6...   Study 7

Problem 1  x   x   x
x  x

Problem 2   x
  x

Problem 3x
 x

Problem 4  x   x
 x  x

Problem 5  xx

Problem 6  x x

..

Problem N
x

Once you set up a database or develop a spreadsheet to do this, you
can enter problems after each study and then note whether they have
come up before.  You could then link to the full report by putting a
URL in the spreadsheet or database.  You might end up seeing that
there is some code that creates problems in different sites or
different parts of the same site.

Chauncey


On Fri, Feb 5, 2010 at 3:13 AM, bekee gibson  wrote:
> we have data from google analytics, crazy egg, usability tests,
> customer comments/feedback, online surveys, empirical evidence, etc.
>
> i'm being asked to come up with a document to distribute research
> results, findings, and recommendations. up until this point, my
> results and recommendations have been specific to projects and not a
> comprehensive snapshot of the "state of [our] web".
>
> my challenge is coming up with the right way to present all of this
> information concisely, and i wonder if anyone here has a template or
> method that works well and is willing to share?
>
> thanks!
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Q: Affinity diagrams with remote participants?

[Chauncey Wilson]

With a tool like GoToMeeting, you can use the sticky notes tool (free
from Microsoft).

You can also use Google Spreadsheet with multiple people moving items
from cells to clusters in the spreadsheet.  You need a few ground
rules, but you can do it.  I've written up a technique for doing it
using the spreadsheet model (which can by synchronous or
asynchronous).  Google does allow multiple people to move things
around and shows different people with different colors.

With a remote collaboration tool, you could even use PowerPoint or
tools like Inspiration (for $70).  You could also push some of the
card sorting tools though those tools have some quirks that might get
in the way.

Chauncey

On Thu, Feb 4, 2010 at 8:30 AM, Nina Gilmore  wrote:
> Hi All,
> Does anyone know of a service/app that allows participants in remote 
> locations to work collaboratively on an affinity diagram?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Nina
>
>
>
>
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Survey Design | Usability Issues

[Chauncey Wilson]

The Fowler book is a  very good book.  I like the very practical book:

Dillman, D. A., Smyth, J. D., & Christian, L. M. (2009). Internet,
mail, and mixed-mode surveys: The tailored design method (Third
Edition). New York, NY: Wiley.  This is perhaps the best and
comprehensive book on survey design. This is the latest book from Don
Dillman, a guru of questionnaire and survey design. Dillman's book is
full of practical advice backed up by decades of research.

The comments by others are very good.  The length of the survey will
depend on how usable the survey is, the motivation of your
respondents, the relevance of the questions, and the trust that people
have in your survey.  The Dilllan book has many tips on how to ensure
trust and indicate how the survey will benefit the respondents.

Thanks,
Chauncey




On Wed, Jan 20, 2010 at 3:29 PM, live  wrote:
> Yeah, I suggest picking up a book about survey writing for research. I like
> Survey Research Methods by Fowler.
> Also, simple small thing which can make a big difference: make sure to the
> user how many pages/what page they are on.
>
> On Jan 20, 2010, at 12:08 PM, Linda/JingYing Chen wrote:
>
>> Hi Everyone,
>>
>> I am in the process of designing a survey for work. The survey consists of
>> 45 questions to be conducted online using a the Checkbox tool (
>> http://www.checkbox.com/ which seems to be down at the moment).
>>
>> Because it is a lengthy survey, I am worried about a couple of things:
>> 1. Does the number of question per page matter? If so what is the average
>> number of questions a participant should answer per page before they lose
>> patience?
>> 2. Alternatively, what is the maximum number of pages a survey should
>> have?
>> 3. 30 of the 45 questions will be requesting the answers to be on a scale
>> of
>> 1 - 5. Each of these ratings will have an associate description. What is a
>> good length (e.g. 4 - 5 words) for these rating descriptions?
>> 3. And lastly, are there any good books / online resources that I could
>> use
>> to answer these questions?
>>
>> Any response is much appreciated!
>>
>> Take care,
>>
>> lin.
>
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Software for transcription?

[Chauncey Wilson]

I experimented with Dragon Naturally Speaking transcription features
using an approved digital recorder.  The transcription of your own
voice is reasonable, but when I tried to transcribe voices other than
my own, the text came out like really bad beatnick poetry - it was
very entertaining and was something like this:

"The red snake came dow the light of the blue moon and trees are kind
to beagles which workflow is not like gardenias that flow from left to
right."

Chauncey

On Fri, Jan 22, 2010 at 9:41 PM,   wrote:
> Hi Suzanne,
>
> Unfortunately no such software exists, as was the big issue with
> spinvox. You're best bet is to use some transcription software such
> as Express scribe (which is free) http://www.nch.com.au/scribe that
> will allow you to control the speed of the playback while you are
> transcribing the interviews. Or, as already suggested you could crowd
> source the entire work.
>
> Hope that helps
>
> Graham
>
>
> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> Posted from ixda.org (via iPhone)
> http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=48573
>
>
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Indexing / storing usability study results

[Chauncey Wilson]

I've long been of the opinion that part of our UX infrastructure
should be a usability/UX/design database where we can track the
results of all types of user research/design critiques, field data,
and other types of data.  The data can then be cataloged in many ways
and allow UX and others to:

1. Look at common problems across different products as well as the
same problem within a product.  This would be useful for consistency
(of many different types) and the development of patterns, standards,
and guidelines.
2.  Track the work of the team and metrics like the number of users,
effort spent on testing.
3.  Conduct meta-analyses across different products.
4.  Track what gets fixed.
and much more.

With a database, you could tag problems in many ways and also tag user
requirements (since one of the biggest problems in product design is
obtaining good requirements).

I've worked up an Access database as a pilot for a usability database
and loaded it with over 5000 items from open-ended surveys, usability
tests, user feedback, data from interviews, etc.  If you set up your
templates for recording data for your studies in something like Excel
and use the same column headings, you can import into Access (as an
example) and merge the results.  With each set of data, you would
indicate the type of study, the date, the method used, etc.  You could
tag something as an "idea", a "requirement", a "problem", or some
other general tags and look across studies for patterns of different
sorts.

You could build a form as a front end to the database and allow others
to access some aspects of the database.  You could link to the reports
themselves, but the database would allow you to slice and dice your
data and do some powerful triangulation that would make your team very
powerful and persuasive.  I think that one of the flaws of our field
is that we often gather immense amount of data, but have no easy way
to look at it from different perspectives easily.  Wikis allow some
tagging, but I don't think that is sufficient from the kind of
analyses that would yield significant benefits.

If you develop a database, you will need to plan some education about
what meta data are important and how to enter data consistently.

Chauncey






On Tue, Jan 5, 2010 at 4:17 AM, Audrey Crane  wrote:
> I am working in an organization that is focused on doing quick,
> lightweight usability research, especially once the work has a good
> foundation: bringing a design into a coffee shop, for example,
> running 5 quick (15 minute) studies, making changes, showing 3 more
> people the next day, etc.
>
> In this model, I've seen things get revised and re-tested 10 or more
> times.
>
> At the same time, there is a formal research organization that would
> like to have all the results organized and indexed so they can find
> them later. Ideally they'd like to have a standard report completed
> for every round, but 10 reports is somewhat onerous.
>
> What the researchers are currently doing for the team is posting
> video with 3-5 key takeaways from every session on basecamp.
>
> Does anyone have any experience with or suggestions for a solution
> that:
> - doesn't burden what's supposed to be a very lightweight /
> flexible testing process
> - makes materials available an at least a minimally organized fashion
> so people later can search for things like "filter testing", or
> whatever
> - keeps people not immediately involved appraised of progress
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Survey design

[Chauncey Wilson]

This is good advice.  I like to ask people doing surveys to list
business and user experience (or other goals) explicitly and then link
any question directly to those goals.  There should always be a link
between business goals, user experience goals, and specific questions.
 It is useful to create a matrix before you do detailed survey design
that list that connection.

As Runar said, avoid the tendency to "tack on some interesting
questions that others may have".

There is some research (I'll see if I can dig it up) about the effects
of location of general satisfaction questions - do you put it early
because you ask specific questions about a product or service or do
you put it at the end when you have asked questions that will likeliy
evoke more critical thinking about a product?

One of the principles that I push on survey designers is to put
demographic questions (that are not explicit screeners) at the end of
any survey since these questions - to the respondent - are not
interesting or relevent (though they are to the survey lead).  This
was advice by Dillman in several of his books on survey design.

I wrote a short essay in the ACM journal Interactions related to this
topic:  Designing useful and usable questionnaires: you can't just
"throw a questionnaire together"  It was in the May 2007 issue of
interactions and available in the ACM Digital Library.

Good topic.  Thanks to those who responded.

Chauncey

On Wed, Nov 18, 2009 at 7:48 PM, Runar Normark  wrote:
> My general advice is to make it short and relevant as pointed out by
> others here. Go through the questions and ask your self, what will
> you use the results of this question, and remove all nice-to-know
> questions. You do not say what the purpose is, but I guess it is to
> improve the site. In general make sure all questions are relevant for
> the participants and for your purpose. If you want to repeat the
> survey after the changes, you should include questions that target
> the purpose of the redesign.
>
> In general, I would include an overall satisfaction question E.g.
> "How satisfied are you with the site overall?" and then go into
> details.
>
> Group questions according to theme and end it with an open ended
> question to let the participants comment or give you suggestions.
>
> Here is a short checklist that could be helpful:
> http://www.questback.com/outside/check_list_before_sending_out_your_survey.html
>
> Regards
>
> Runar Normark
> Logica UX Norway
>
>
> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> Posted from the new ixda.org
> http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=47480
>
>
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Should tab order always strictly follow visual order?

[Chauncey Wilson]

Hello Alex,

Can you describe how people will use the form that you are describing?
Is this a form that people will fill in once or one where they fill in
data hundreds of times a day?

Second thought - I've done studies with complex forms that are used
for heavy data input and users get into a rhythm and what your propose
regarding skipping default fields might disrupt that since there will
be some hesitation while they think if they need to go to the default
field.

Skipping fields that could be enterable would seem to violate strong
guidelines for keyboard navigation in forms.

How do you fill in one of the fields with a default when you need to
do that?  I don't understand how someone would fill in a default from
your description.

>From experience observing users tabbing through complex forms like
those in a CRM, I think that your idea of skipping common fields that
MIGHT need to be changed would result in hesitation that would through
off the rhythm of the data entry person and might actually take more
time because of extra cognitive load

I would just let them tab through the fields.  They could jump using
shortcut keys in the form (Alt+underlined character) but that requires
some thinking time as well, but might work if the changes to default
fields aren't required.

Chauncey

On Fri, Nov 13, 2009 at 4:24 PM, Alan Wexelblat  wrote:
> I'm wondering if people have feedback on the use of tab to move from
> field to field in a form, in a situation where some of the fields have
> likely defaults.
>
> To expand a little bit:
> - the logical flow (how people think about) entering this kind of data
> is A-B-C-D-E-F-G.
> - in the context of the application I can reliably pre-fill values for
> fields C, D, and E.  (here "reliably" means >90% of users tested will
> want the default values in >90% of the use cases)
>
> What I'd like to do is have  move the user from A-B but then from
> B-F, skipping the defaulted fields.  I know this is going to
> inconvenience that 10% of users who want to change the default, but
> the alternative seems to be inconveniencing the 90% who have to hit
>  four times to get to the next field they care about.
>
> Obviously I can build and test both alternatives, and it's really a
> simple bit of code difference.  What I'm wondering is whether anyone
> has data or experience with this kind of breaking the usual shortcut
> behaviors?
>
> TIA,
> --Alan
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Good books or resources for interview techniques

[Chauncey Wilson]

Hi,

Here are some books that you might find useful.  The best books on
interviewing probably come from the anthropology, psychology, and
sociology domains.

I'm finishing a book where I include chapters on the three basic types
of interviews: structured, semi-structured, and unstructured.  In many
studies we use a hybrid interview method (start with structured
questions and then move to semi-structured for example).  Many books
focus on individual interviews so for group interviewing, there are
also a number of good books.  Here are few.  My full list is on aother
machine at home so I'll do an update, but here is a start:

Kvale, S. (1996). InterViews: An introduction ot qualitative research
interviewing. Thousands Oaks, CA: Sage.

Robson, C. (2002). Real world research (Second edition). Malden, MA:
Blackwell Publishing.
This book is an excellent reference in that it covers many methods of
research that includes some background.  It covers all types of
interviews, focus groups, and other techniques like card sorting, and
the development of Likert scales (versus Likert-like scales).  This is
a very good handbook that is readable and practical with advice and
supporting references.

Fontana, A., & Frey, J. H. (2000). The interview: From structured
questions to negotiated text. In N. K. Denzin, and Y. S. Lincoln
((Eds.). Handbook of Qualitative Research (Second Edition). Thousands
Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. 645-672.

Spradley, J. P. (1979). The ethnographic interview. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

More to come.

Chauncey

On Wed, Nov 11, 2009 at 11:05 AM, Liou Yamane  wrote:
> I just did a short focus group and light usability test with a couple of 
> children. What I noticed is how important the phrasing of interview questions 
> and usability tasks is, especially with children but also with adults in 
> general.
>
> Has anybody recommendations for books or other resources that can help me in 
> phrasing questions and tasks as neutral as possible?
>
> PS. I found http://www.ixda.org/discuss.php?post=6191 but I thought that the 
> books are rather general and broad.
>
>
>
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Article on Number of Usability Test Participants

[Chauncey Wilson]

Laura Faulkner has written a reasoned article on sample size.  You can
find a copy at:

http://www.geocities.com/faulknerusability/Faulkner_BRMIC_Vol35.pdf

The number of participants issue depends on a number of issues
including the risk inherent in the product, the number of distinct
user groups, whether you are using the sample in many rounds of
iterative evaliuation designed to filter out problems over the course
of the design cycle (formative versus summative), the complexity of
the UI, the number of paths possible, .

If you look in the ACM Digital Library, you will find a number of
articles related to the number of participants.

Chauncey




On Thu, Oct 1, 2009 at 2:05 PM, Chris Ryan
 wrote:
> I have been looking, unsuccessfully, through back issues of interactions 
> magazine for an article, published a few years back, written I believe by 
> someone from Microsoft as part of a debate about statistical significance in 
> usability testing. There was something of a debate about testing with large 
> numbers of users, and this article, as I recall, made an eloquent case for 
> sticking to six to eight participants. Does anyone remember this? Perhaps I'm 
> wrong in recalling that it was in interactions.
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] The appropriateness of Wizards (not the magical kind)

[Chauncey Wilson]

There is a discussion of Wizard best practices in the out of print
book Gui Design Handbook and in the online version at:

http://www.fast-consulting.com/gdhb/gdhb_table.htm

Scroll down a bit to find information on wizards.  You can find some
thoughs on wizards in various pattern collections and user interface
guideline documents.

Key issues with wizards:

Frequency of use - would you want a wizard for a frequent task?
Generally no, though if the task is somewhat  frequent, but complex
and memory deteriorates between sessions because of complexity of an
operation, then a wizard might still be useful (if reduces errors and
isn't too inefficient).

Complexity of the UI - a wizard might be helpful (especially is
something is very infrequent), but you might also consider redesigning
the UI to be more memorable and less complex.

Impact of errors - a wizard can be used to constrain a process to
reduce or eliminate possible errors.  That was the case for early
install/configuration wizards.

Memorability - a wizard can be used as a memory aid for infrequent,
complex, error prone, UIs.

Training/experience - Tax programs are designed for once a year
interactions with complex UIs and consequences that could lead to jail
or fines.  They are also designed to help the great majority of people
who are not tax experts.  Most tax programs do offer a non-wizard UI
for those who are more skilled about taxes.

Stress levels - Under stress, you may need some guidance.

Those are some of the larger issues that would affect whether a wizard
is appropriate.


>From what you describe, it doesn't really sound like a wizard would
much value unless it is used to create a special object where you need
to have some rigid control over the impact of errors or what a user
can do in a particular context.

Chauncey

On Fri, Sep 18, 2009 at 5:14 PM, Tom Dell'Aringa  wrote:
> Afternoon,
>
> I'm developing a UI for a tool we have. I've built a wireframe version that
> is kind of dynamic, where you drag and drop things into a central area where
> you are configuring something. When you have your configuration built, you
> send it off, you can even schedule it or save it for later.
>
> This is part of an existing piece of software. Currently they do some other
> things that are similar using wizards. They want to do this in a wizard as
> well. While the processes are similar, they are not the same.
>
> I feel like the dynamic version I have wireframed is more intuitive than a
> procedural wizard. But I'm open to looking at both, I want to do what is
> best for the user. So the big question is when is it appropriate to use a
> wizard in an interface?
>
> If anyone has any good resources on that, I'd appreciate it. I did find this
> article which is good:
>
> http://blog.componentoriented.com/2007/10/wizard_ui_dysfunction/
>
> But I'd like to do some further research. I want to say I heard somewhere
> that a wizard is essentially a lazy way to design, but I cannot locate (or
> verify if it is true.)
>
> Welcome any thoughts.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Tom
>
> --
> Marooned - A Space Opera in the Wrong Key!
> http://www.maroonedcomic.com
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Non-disclosure agreements

[Chauncey Wilson]

While it is rare, a non-compete (in states where they are legal) can
prevent you from working for a specific company or even a specific
technical area for a designated period of time.  While this might be
rare in the UX area, a court could definitely restrict work activities
in a particular area or set of companies.  This is most often true
with senior management where a person jumps to a competitor, but if a
UX person works on a new and/or highly valued technology that is at
the core of a company's product portfolio/profit, that person could be
restricted from working for direct competitors.  Non-competes have
been held up in court so yes, a court can prevent you from working in
a specific area and it is up to you to read non-competes carefully,
ask a lawyer to review them, and then negotiate with the employer
where you believe that things are too restrictive.

Chauncey

>
> Net/Net:  No court is going to prevent you from making a living.
>

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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Non-disclosure agreements

[Chauncey Wilson]

You need to see a lawyer about this and it should be someone who is an
intellectual property attorney (my wife is one so I get good advice).

State laws do vary and while a non-compete can have a non-disclosure
statement, an NDA related to the specific project is not the same.

Companies will often negotiate terms of non-competes and NDAs if you
bring things to their attention though some are also very resistant to
changes.

See an IP attorney to be safe.

Chauncey

On Wed, Sep 2, 2009 at 3:44 AM, Stefanie Kelly wrote:
> I have a new client who wants me to sign an NDA. The issue is, what I
> would be working on has to do with consumer experience. There is a
> line in the NDA she sent me that says "all information or material
> that has or could have commercial value or other utility in the
> business in which Disclosing Party is engaged." That to me seems way
> too broad and could negate my ability to work on other projects
> related to user experience. Obviously, I am in no way willing to do
> that. It does seem like a pretty good project though, so I wanted to
> take some time to adjust the NDA she sent me to something I actually
> would be willing to sign. I was hoping maybe some of you on here have
> an NDA template that is less vague and more protective of designer's
> rights. In lieu of any examples, any suggestions as to wording that
> would not write myself out of future opportunities, yet promise not
> to reveal details of the client's specific idea, would be greatly
> appreciated.
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Fundamental interactions?

[Chauncey Wilson]

I always thought that the "U" was "update"

Chauncey

On Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 12:58 AM, Christian Crumlish wrote:
> don't know your source, but it sounds a tad like CRUD, the database acronym
> for "create, read, upload, delete" which are the four basic verbs with data.
> sounds line navigate might correspond to read...
>
> but then is search/find the same as navigate or something else?
>
> -x-
>
>
> On Sun, Aug 16, 2009 at 9:54 PM, Russell Wilson wrote:
>
>> I seem to recall reading an article some time ago about "fundamental"
>> interactions.  I think there were 5:
>> 1) Create content
>> 2) Modify content
>> 3) Navigate content
>> 4) ...
>> 5) ...
>>
>> Does anyone know what the others are? Am I remembering this wrong?
>> Thx,
>> Russ
>>
>>
>> 
>> Russell Wilson
>> Vice President of Product Design, NetQoS
>> Blog: http://www.dexodesign.com
>> LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/russwilson
>> 
>> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
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>>
>
>
>
> --
> Christian Crumlish
> I'm writing a book so please forgive any lag
> http://designingsocialinterfaces.com
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Company goals vs. user goals

[Chauncey Wilson]

A very good reference for this topic is the book by Karen Donoghue (2003):

Built for Use: Driving Profitability Through the User Experience

The book deals with the relationship between business goals and user
experience goals.  Someone mentioned a matrix in the book by Steve
Mulder.  There is a similar one (more detailed perhaps) in Donoghue.
The matrix is something like the one below

Business Goal   Tasks that support   Product featureExperience
  Best Practices  User InterfaceMetrics Testing Plan &
& Success metric   business goal  that supports   Goal

Acceptance
   business
goal
  Criteria


Business goals/success metrics would be things like Increase revenues
by 30%; increase customer satisfaction by 10% over last year; increase
customer loyalty; promote new brand image

Experience goals might related to efficiency, reduced errors, reduced
learning, improved consistency, etc.
Best practices might related to patterns, style guides, or the best
way to provide a good interaction.  The user interface might specify
the general approach that you intend to follow (or major options).
For example, you might use tabs or menus to highlight features.  The
metrics would be what you measure to see if you meet your experience
goals; learning time reduction over trials, success rates, time on
task, number of errors, the last column notes that the minimum level
of a metric (e.g., success rate) is acceptable given your business and
experience goals.

If you can trace through this matrix, you can relate business goals
all the way down to individual features and ensure that you are
designing and building something that is in line with your business
and user experience goals.

Chauncey



On Thu, Aug 6, 2009 at 11:35 AM, jennifer wolfgang wrote:
> Thanks to all of you who responded. It was good to hear that my
> notions of this topic were definitely not off-base. And, it was good
> to get your comments about how to negotiate this difficult territory.
>
> The common element to all your comments is to turn the language of
> what I'm saying around to make it sound like it's purely to benefit
> the company (which, really it ultimately is). So, thanks :)
>
> What I've come to realize while reading your responses and mulling
> it over a bit more is that our VP, as well as many in our
> organization, honestly - in their hearts - feel that what the company
> is doing on the website is exactly what our visitors want/expect.
> Whether that is the case or not, I cannot say, as we do not have any
> research beyond our reliance on things like Web Trends to tell us
> what is working and what's not.
>
> I've learned that we are sort of haphazardly setup (I am the sole UX
> person (and I'm not a natural evangelist, so that's tough). Good
> news, though, is that though our VP is fairly new to the web (he
> comes from a traditional marketing bg), he is seeking the best and
> brightest in our field to consult with. So, that will help
> tremendously.
>
> Best to all!
>
>
> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> Posted from the new ixda.org
> http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=44399
>
>
> 
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[IxDA Discuss] [JOB]: Senior Interaction Designer, Waltham, MA, Autodesk, Inc. Fulltime

[Chauncey Wilson]

Senior User Interaction Designer, Autodesk, Inc. (Waltham, MA)

ROLE: 
This is your chance to help shape the user-centered future of
model-based design tools in the building industry. As a User
Interaction Designer for Autodesk Revit, you will be responsible for
interaction design and usability for a product based on an emerging
platform. You will help articulate design specifications and drive
your work through the software development process as a champion of
our users’ needs. 

Responsibilities: 
• Conceptual and detailed design of the user interaction for specific
features (including low fidelity wireframes, task analysis, UI flow
charts, and high fidelity Photoshop mockups representing appropriate
layout and control relationships) 
• Assist in creation and maintenance of interaction and style guides
for UI 
• Collaborate with subject matter experts on the team with research
and specification development; provide training and leadership by
example in user-centered design methods 
• Coordinate and facilitate usability tests and other customer
research to validate existing and future feature design (including
paper prototype testing) 
• Provide expertise in user research activities including persona
creation, heuristic evaluation, interviews, and site visits including
ethnographic observation
• Create and analyze quantitative customer satisfaction data measures

• Track development issues and drive closure of design projects
related to improving usability 
• Maintain familiarity with other Autodesk products to ensure
compatibility with features shared across our product family 
• Consult with others in the division and company on user interaction
design as required; provide leadership in methods and deliverables for
user-centered design processes. 

Attributes: 
• A portfolio demonstrating superior design skills and deliverables
from a user-centered design process 
• Excellent skills in problem analysis including the ability to
identify and describe the “right” problem from a set of data of
varying types 
• Verbal and written fluency in the English language and strong
verbal and visual communication skills 
• A solid understanding of both quantitative and qualitative research
methods 
• Ability to solve complex problems and drive projects from concept
to conclusion; work independently, manage multiple tasks, and set
priorities with direction or feedback from management and teammates 
• Interact with and influence others effectively via teamwork and
diplomacy 
• Demonstrates interest in the details and the results of the design
process, not just the initial high concept! 

Desired Knowledge/Skills: 
• An advanced degree in an HCI-related subject 
• Familiarity with HCI research literature and the ACM digital
library as a tool 
• Ability to develop interactive prototypes and documentation to aid
development in the implementation of proposed user models 
• Technical background and/or a demonstrable understanding of modern
software development processes and concerns as they relate to design

• Previous experience designing for complex creative applications, 3d
tools, and/or engineering analysis tools, and building industry
applications 
• Expertise with design support tools such as Photoshop, Illustrator,
Visio 
• 7+ years of professional experience doing interface design and
usability evaluation/research

Autodesk provides one of the most exceptional compensation and
benefit packages, including stock options for all employees, 401k
matching, six week sabbatical after four years of employment,
domestic partner policy, on going employee training and development,
flexible work hours and more! 

Please send resumes and cover letter to Denise Johannensson at
denise.johannes...@autodesk.com. 

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Re: [IxDA Discuss] "His/Her" vs. "Their" in website copy

[Chauncey Wilson]

The New York Times Magazine has an article on the debate about "they"
as singular versus plural.

I have a NY Times account, but I think that you can access this for a
limited time.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/26/magazine/26FOB-onlanguage-t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine

They state as some have here that many people, including some famous
authors, have used "they" as singular, but that isn't yet accepted as
universal.

Chauncey

On Fri, Jul 24, 2009 at 2:33 AM, Sarah Weise wrote:
> Who are your users?  Is this a formal website, or is it something more
> casual?
>
> If it's a more formal website or something with a serious tone (such
> as a health-related site that a user would rely on to provide accurate
> information), you might lose credibility with some folks by using
> "their."
>
> Not sure how reliable that Grammar Girl site is that someone else
> posted, but here's what it recommends:
>
> "Rewrite your sentences to avoid the problem. If that's not
> possible, check to see if the people you are writing for have a style
> guide. If not, use he or she if you want to play it safe, or use they
> if you feel bold and are prepared to defend yourself."
>
>
> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> Posted from the new ixda.org
> http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=43910
>
>
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Looking for creative ways to run a Data Analysis & Brainstorming session

[Chauncey Wilson]

After your team has worked through the data, you could have them pair
up and do some braindrawing which is visual brainstorming of ideas or
pieces of ideas related to your data.  The brainstorming could involve
different types of sketches including some workflow diagrams, features
that emerge from your data, or features ideas.

If this sounds interesting, I can send you some more details.

Chauncey

On Fri, Jul 24, 2009 at 7:01 PM, Sally Abolrous wrote:
> I'm planning a 3 hour meeting for my team to:
> - read through stories of our 3 field observations and 7-8 phone
> interviews and identify tasks, pain points, and insights
> - build an affinity diagram
> - brainstorm design ideas for our product (which we don't know
> anything about yet)
>
> This is a new team and this is our first project together. I've run
> similar sessions in the past with other teams (not covering so much
> though), but I'd like to learn more about how other people are
> running sessions like these and if anyone has any good tips/advice to
> ensure success.
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] "His/Her" vs. "Their" in website copy

[Chauncey Wilson]

This is a good debate and both sides have some good points. Language
does evolve of course, but the results of evolution might be good or
bad.  I might have missed a few of the messages, but I'm curious about
the distribution of reactions of users who read the constructions that
we are discussing.  Personally, I still like "data are" and I will
edit constructions like "the user . they" but what are the
reactions of the people reading these constructions.  Do those users
who follow "traditional" rules of grammar consider the
writer/designers sloppy?  There was a web survey some time ago about
the impact of a typo on credibility and it did result in a drop in
credibility.

Chauncey

On Wed, Jul 22, 2009 at 4:05 AM, Mariano wrote:
> Their
>
> Great thoughts here!
>
>
> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> Posted from the new ixda.org
> http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=43910
>
>
> 
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[IxDA Discuss] [JOB]: Senior User Interaction Designer @ Autodesk (Manchester, NH or Waltham, MA)

[Chauncey Wilson]

Please send questions or resumes to our HR contact at the end of this
job description.  Thanks, Chauncey


Autodesk AEC User Experience - Senior Interaction Designer

Your Role
Do you thrive in a fast-paced, high-energy environment? Are you a
creative problem solver who enjoys collaborating with motivated
individuals from diverse backgrounds? Do you have the drive to make
things happen?

If so, this is your chance to help shape the future of design tools
for the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industries.
As a Senior User Interaction Designer for the AEC User Experience team
you will be responsible for the application of user-centered design
methods and practices to the creation of best in class applications
for the civil engineering industry. Specifically, you will be
responsible for the research, design, prototyping, and specification
of product experiences that meet demanding quality standards and that
exploit new technologies to capitalize on emerging industry trends.
You will work with local and remote design, development, and quality
assurance teams to guide your work through the software development
process to deliver innovative, exciting, and emotionally engaging
products that solve real customer problems.

Responsibilities
Lead and support other members of the User Experience team by:
• Driving  research, analysis, conceptual design, and detailed design
phases of the product development process for one or more projects
• Establishing and tracking project goals, design tenets, and design
and usability requirements
• Planning, conducting, and documenting user research such as
heuristic evaluations, field observations, interviews, focus groups,
workshops, and surveys with other designers and researchers to
understand user needs.
• Iteratively designing solutions that satisfy project goals,
requirements, and design tenets based on research, design patterns,
and UI standards.
• Documenting design solutions through sketches, wireframes,
storyboards, UI flow charts, high fidelity mockups, and interactive
prototypes
• Planning, conducting, and analyzing formative and summative
usability testing and other user research to validate existing and
proposed designs
• Documenting and presenting the findings of research to a variety of
different audiences
• Partnering with the development team to drive the successful
implementation of designs and to resolve implementation issues
• Assisting in creation and maintenance of interaction and style
guides and pattern libraries
• Providing training and leadership by example in user-centered design methods.
• Providing leadership by contributing to improvement in methods and
deliverables to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the team
• Representing the AEC User Experience team and Autodesk in the design
community through participation in conferences and industry gatherings
• Maintaining familiarity with other Autodesk products to ensure
compatibility with features shared across our product family

Your Attributes
• A portfolio demonstrating superior design and research skills and
deliverables from a user-centered design process
• Demonstrable understanding of modern software development processes
and concerns as they relate to design
• Excellent skills in problem analysis including the ability to
identify and describe the "right" problem from a set of data of
varying types
• Verbal and written fluency in the English language
• Strong verbal and visual communication and presentation skills
• Interact with and influence others effectively via teamwork and diplomacy
• Ability to adjust to changing priorities
• A solid understanding of both quantitative and qualitative research methods
• Ability to solve complex problems and drive projects from concept to
conclusion; work independently, manage multiple tasks, and set
priorities with direction or feedback from management and teammates
• Demonstrate interest in the details and the results of the design
process, not just the initial high-level concept.

Desired Knowledge/Skills
• An advanced degree or equivalent experience in an HCI-related subject
• 7+ years of professional experience doing interface design and
usability evaluation/research
• Previous experience designing for complex creative applications, 3D
tools, and/or engineering analysis tools (civil engineering industry
applications a plus)
• Experience with a range of low, medium, and high-fidelity prototyping tools
• Experience with ideation techniques such as brainstorming and design workshop

Please send your resume to Denise Johannesson at
denise.johannes...@autodesk.com if you are interested in this
position.

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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Going beyond Usability: The need to design for Persuasion, Emotion, and Trust

[Chauncey Wilson]

Hello Philip,

You mentioned a book in your note.  What book was that?  B. J. Fogg's
book, Persuasive Technology takes principles of persuasion from
Marketing and Social Psychology and discusses how they can be applied
to the design of technology.  Technology can be usable, but not
persuasive.

If there is another book out, I would be curious to read it.  There is
a book by Robert Cialdini who is the guru on persuasion in the real
world and I would highly recommend that.  Just search for "robert
cialdini persuasion" and it should pop up.

Chauncey

On Sun, Jul 12, 2009 at 7:48 AM, Phillip
Hunter wrote:
> I haven't read the book, but I did sit through a presentation about
> it from HFI and have read a couple of essays.
>
> I think that what he's done is two-fold: A) put some decent
> packaging around a set of concepts that, as you say, have been part
> of design forever (though with various levels of realization by
> practitioners); and B) help bring the ideas a little further out of
> the fuzziness that they tend to have around them so the discussion
> can be more convincing and eye-opening.
>
> Many of us in this field have already learned about these things
> through other means (there are many good books about them), but
> Schaffer seems to help focus the concepts better on our specific
> issues.
>
> ph
>
>
> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> Posted from the new ixda.org
> http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=43652
>
>
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Research methods when you only have 2-3 hours or 2-3 days

[Chauncey Wilson]

Here are a few methods;

The bridge method
Futures workshops
Claims analysis
Q-sorting
Reality mapping/CUTA/CARD
Predictive task analysis/supergoaling
Free listing

Chauncey

On Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 8:23 AM, Todd Zaki Warfel wrote:
> So, yesterday I asked what your favorite methods for rapid research were.
> Nobody responded. Does that mean that no one here is using research to
> inform your designs? Are you guys all just winging it?
>
> Do you just skip the research phase if your client tells you "we don't have
> time."? I realize this group is geared more towards design or organizing
> information, but how do you inform your decisions? Have we gotten so
> complacent that we just go with our gut or based on our past knowledge?
>
> Come on people. If you only have a few hours or a few days to produce some
> research, what method(s) do you use?
>
> Cheers!
>
> Todd Zaki Warfel
> Principal Design Researcher
> Messagefirst | Designing Information. Beautifully.
> --
> Contact Info
> Voice:  (215) 825-7423
> Email:  t...@messagefirst.com
> AIM:    twar...@mac.com
> Blog:   http://toddwarfel.com
> Twitter:        zakiwarfel
> --
> In theory, theory and practice are the same.
> In practice, they are not.
>
>
>
>
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Which is more affective, ratings vs. recommendation

[Chauncey Wilson]

When you are presenting data, please include a measure of variability
and a distribution of scores.  The 3.5/5 rating could mean a bunch of
2s and a bunch of 5s and you might have a bimodal distribution which
might have some design implications.  I see so many reports where
there is no indication of variability or the actual shape of the curve
formed by the individual ratings.

A mean without a measure of variability is pretty weak in my view
since you don't know what the shape of the distribution is.

Chauncey

On Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 9:36 AM, Chad Mortensen wrote:
> Does anyone have past experience  with whether displaying a users
> rating (average rating 3.5/5) vs. a users recommendation (65%
> recommend this) performed better than the other on a commerce site.
> Specifically a travel site but any commerce experience would probably
> still be relevant.
>
> Thanks
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] In 10 words or less, what is software design to you?

[Chauncey Wilson]

Software design does involve the user interface as well as underlying
code (alogithms that drive the system). There have been surveys of the
percentage of code devoted to the user interface and UI code for many
modern products (ignoring infrastructure perhaps) is quite high, often
over 50%.   Many job descriptions call for UI developers and in most
products, software developers do much of the final design.
Interaction designers might hand over detailed specs, but the final
widgets are screen, are mostly the province of software developers.
Even the underlying code can can affect the UI -- I'm thinking about
performance, often one of the top 3-4 usability complaints may be the
direct result of inefficient code that is not UI code, but has
implications for the user's interaction with the product.

So, software design deals both with "underlying code" and user
interface code - sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly.  The
underlying software architecture can have a profound effect on
interaction design.

Chauncey




>
> It seems there is some misconception about software design going on
> here. Software design isn't concerned with the interface, but code.
>

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Re: [IxDA Discuss] In 10 words or less, what is software design to you?

[Chauncey Wilson]

Hello Russell,

Just for fun here is my 10-word describing software design.

Creating
quality
code
that
drives
useful
usable
engaging
user
interfaces

Chauncey

On Sat, Jul 4, 2009 at 10:01 AM, Russell Wilson wrote:
> Jared's additions make my definition so much better!
>
> I specified software for 2 reasons:
> 1) that's how the question was worded to me
> 2) I don't feel qualified to define design beyond software design
>
> As for my choice - we aren't designing Ferrari's... we are designing tools
> for people to
> buy children's clothing and calculate their taxes.  Hence the "ordinary"...
>
>
>
> 
> Russell Wilson
> Vice President of Product Design, NetQoS
> Blog: http://www.dexodesign.com
> LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/russwilson
>
>
> On Sat, Jul 4, 2009 at 7:54 AM, Jared Spool  wrote:
>
>> Exactly. Why is the word "software" in the question? Does hardware design
>> just keep the ordinary ordinary? Does service design insist on making the
>> ordinary into something horrific?
>>
>> It feels, from your description, that you want to make this your entry for
>> IxDA's What-Is-Design Semantics Debate contest, but the word "software"
>> threw me.
>>
>> Jared
>>
>>
>> On Jul 4, 2009, at 12:56 AM, mark schraad wrote:
>>
>>  arranging code to perform a function on a computer
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Jul 3, 2009 at 10:08 PM, Russell Wilson >> >wrote:
>>>
>>>  At the end of a recent interview, the candidate asked me “What is
 software
 design to you?”  I can probably come up with a thousand different answers
 but the one that popped into my mind immediately that day was “*software
 design is making the ordinary extraordinary*.”

 Okay, so maybe it won’t get me a mention in Businessweek, but what I was
 trying to capture and communicate was that software design in particular
 is
 largely about taking unglamorous tools and making them functionally
 robust
 and efficient, rewarding to use, and aesthetically pleasing.  We aren’t
 artists, but we are creatives.  We aren’t rocket scientists, but we’re
 smart
 and talented. And every day we have to use our creativity, smarts and
 talent
 to design the best tools for people to use.

 *So I’m interested… in 10 words or less, what is software design to you?*
 Enter more than one if you like (as seperate comments).

 (would love to get comments on my post about his so that I can collect
 them
 all in one place):


 http://www.dexodesign.com/2009/07/03/in-10-words-or-less-what-is-software-design-to-you/



 
 Russell Wilson
 Vice President of Product Design, NetQoS
 Blog: http://www.dexodesign.com
 LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/russwilson
 
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>>
>>
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] References to clients/colleagues/managers/companies in social networking discussions/posting

[Chauncey Wilson]

You make some great points Jared.

While I see your point about archiving and understand your objections,
knowing that your statements are archived in a public database or
Googleable (not sure if that is a word) can certainly influence how
freely one discusses a topic and how much detail to include and what
to discuss.  One's perceptions of the extent to which conversations
are saved and distributed and accessible to others can influence the
style and content of conversations. Social norms (whether you like
them or not) and other social psych principles do have an impact on
one's interactions over social networks.

You are right that anyone can forward a message of course.  No
disagreement there.  However, there are risks for forwarding based on
the appropriate social, business, and legal  constraints. Perhaps
there should be strict no-forward choice for emails as well as a
no-archive choice (whoa, another controversy) :-).

So there are several things that are important with regard to
conversations on social networking systems.

1.  Consider that your conversations are public and could be forwarded
2.  Ask whether there is an archive and how accessible it is
3.  Avoid inflammatory language.
4.  Consider whether what you are discussing would be perceived as proprietary.
5.  Engage in strong debates, but don't flame or be abusive.

While we are on this topic - there is a pretty lively discussion at
UPA about Twittering during sessions, especially with loud keyboards.
I'm curious what others think about twittering during a session?

Chauncey





On Thu, Jul 2, 2009 at 12:07 PM, Jared Spool wrote:
>
> On Jul 2, 2009, at 6:10 AM, Chauncey Wilson wrote:
>
>> It would be useful to be able to choose whether you wanted something
>> archived or not. I'm on another group where we don't archive any of
>> the conversations (people can of course, save copies) to encourage
>> more freedom of speech and  less concern over the issues we've been
>> discussing.  Of course, some people disagree with the no-archive
>> policy, but overall, it seems to work and the policy is clearly
>> spelled out when you join. That approach is more like a conversation
>> where you are not being recorded the entire time.
>
> It's a falsity that the group that doesn't archive is somehow more free to
> have conversations that this group, which does archive.
>
> As a member of that group, you never know who else is on the list. You don't
> know who is saving messages or who might forward them to someone else. (The
> group has a policy that you not supposed to forward, but there's no way to
> enforce it.)
>
> So, even in a group which doesn't archive, you can't assure the sender that
> a client/colleague/manager or someone else won't see the email.
>
> In my opinion, it would be detrimental to the long-term social value of this
> group to have a choice of archiving. If you gave the choice on individual
> messages, then threads would be sporadic (not to mention the problem of
> quoting unarchived messages in archived responses). If you gave the choice
> on entire threads, then important information would be missing, making the
> value of the archives unreliable.
>
> The reality is that once you press the SEND button in any email, that
> message is then broadcast to hundreds of computers, logged, and archived on
> systems you don't even know exist. (For Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, many US
> corporations now log every incoming and outgoing message.)
>
> So, if you don't want someone to see your thoughts, don't put them in an
> email. Period.
>
> My $0.02.
>
> Jared
>
> Jared M. Spool
> User Interface Engineering
> 510 Turnpike St., Suite 102, North Andover, MA 01845
> e: jsp...@uie.com p: +1 978 327 5561
> http://uie.com  Blog: http://uie.com/brainsparks  Twitter: @jmspool
>
>

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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interview Questions for Persona Development

[Chauncey Wilson]

You might want to consult the book by Jon Pruitt and Tamara Adlin that
goes into detail on entire persona lifecycle.  There is a wealth of
information.

http://www.amazon.com/Persona-Lifecycle-Throughout-Interactive-Technologies/dp/0125662513/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1246533383&sr=1-1

I'm not sure what the BBA site is for sure but one thing, but one
question I have is "what are the consequences associated with using
the site?"  Some university sites may have significant consequences
like the course registration site or the site for applying for
financial aid.  You could ask students to describe positive or
negative critical incidents in prior use of the site.

Chauncey


On Wed, Jul 1, 2009 at 9:55 AM, Andrea
Richeson wrote:
> As part of an independent study project (U Texas iSchool student),
> I'm developing personas to help guide the BBA site redesign efforts.
> I have access to a wealth of demographic, survey and web analytics
> information and also plan to speak to the undergraduate program
> office about their perceptions of the site and its users.
>
> Please send your advice about what questions to ask (undergraduate
> business school students) when doing interviews for persona
> development. I hope to tease out user goals and behaviors.  Examples
> would help.
>
> Possible questions, so far:
>
> Why do you come the the site?
> What do you do when you come to the site?
> How do you find information on the site?
> What are the things you like most about the site?
> What do you like the least about the site?
> What would you most like to change about the site?
> Is the site easy to use?
> Are there other business school sites that you find particularly
> useful?
>
> Thanks,
> Andrea
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] References to clients/colleagues/managers/companies in social networking discussions/posting

[Chauncey Wilson]

It would be useful to be able to choose whether you wanted something
archived or not. I'm on another group where we don't archive any of
the conversations (people can of course, save copies) to encourage
more freedom of speech and  less concern over the issues we've been
discussing.  Of course, some people disagree with the no-archive
policy, but overall, it seems to work and the policy is clearly
spelled out when you join. That approach is more like a conversation
where you are not being recorded the entire time.

Chauncey



On Wed, Jul 1, 2009 at 4:06 PM, michele marut wrote:
> I agree with Joshua about awareness of items being on-line forever. As
> a community awareness thing , I'd like to add that the IXDA list is
> not just distributed on email to be found by google at some point -
> but is publicly archived on the website. I'm posting this now from
> the site. Therefore anyone can google your name or email and find
> your postings.
>
>
> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> Posted from the new ixda.org
> http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=43305
>
>
> 
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[IxDA Discuss] References to clients/colleagues/managers/companies in social networking discussions/posting

[Chauncey Wilson]

There was  a message earlier today that had a lively discussion about
printing out passwords, but the subject line brings up another
meta-issue of how we address those we work with/for.  The subject line
referred to "crazy client". In this world of social networking and
myriad connections, should we be careful about references to those we
work with. I've seen Twitter messages where people are talking about
their "bad manager" and "their crazy company"  and wonder how these
references might hurt in the long run.  I know of a few instances
where private things got back to managers and the result was not
pretty.  You never know who is on a discussion for sure - your client
or manager might be "on the line" without awareness or someone in
his/her organization.

I'm curious what others think about this.

Thanks,
Chauncey

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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interviewing sales teams and customer call centers for project research

[Chauncey Wilson]

One thing to consider would be the questions that different
stakeholders on the product team have.  You could invite stakeholders
from product management, QA, training, doc, development, etc. to each
list all the questions that they might have and then review those.
This method of asking each group what questions can also lead to
insights about different perspectives of the groups and even biases
that they might have. I've done this using the brainwriting technique
where you go to a meeting of a group of stakeholders, give each person
a page, and then ask them to quite a few questions that might might
want to ask users. After a minute or 2, you have them hand their
questions to the person next to them who then adds his/her questions,
then you do that one or two more times and you have a large list of
questions in 5-10 minutes.  You can look for themes that cut across
groups and key concerns.

Chauncey

On Tue, Jun 30, 2009 at 10:12 AM, Alan Salmoni wrote:
> Personally, I would start with a question for yourself: what is it
> that you want to find out about? That should guide the questions that
> you ask of the staff.
>
> If you're not clear what it is that you want to find out, then your
> research could be aimless.
>
> Of course, feel free to change mid-stream if some interesting stuff
> comes up that you didn't anticipate, but having a framework to guide
> things is useful so that you don't get distracted into irrelevant
> topics and focus instead upon what is relevant to what you want to
> do.
>
>
>
> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> Posted from the new ixda.org
> http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=43265
>
>
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Interactive Excel prototyping

[Chauncey Wilson]

The Excel prototype can be powerful if you are designing financial
tools or complex forms where you might want to simulate data input and
usage within the form.  I teach a prototyping class and invite
students to use either PowerPoint or Excel to create interactive
prototypes.  Excel is tougher, but I've seen some wonderfully
interactive forms that use the Excel functions to simulate data input,
output, and calculations - with little or no coding.

The big trick with Excel is understanding how the graphical layer and
the cell layer interact with each other.

For many things, PowerPoint and Axure are better tools, but for
looking at interactions for tools where data input, output, and
calculations are important, you can gain some good insight with Excel
as your prototyping tool.

Chauncey

On Mon, Jun 22, 2009 at 8:11 PM, Petra wrote:
> I created a paper prototype that was fun testing on local users but
> when it got to testing remote users I thought perhaps I'd try to
> create an online prototype. I started with PowerPoint but found the
> macros deficient and a couple of things I wanted to do I couldn't. I
> then ordered Effective Prototyping with Excel by Bergen et al,
> expecting that their prototypes would involve some basic coding but
> found they didn't. A programming colleague showed me a couple of
> very basic code statements in Excel and I realised that with the
> Control Toolbox widgets, .Visible = True and .Visible = False
> statements, a couple of If statements, a little googling and a little
> recording of macros to figure out some code, I could create a pretty
> workable prototype, albeit only able to handle very specific use
> cases.
>
> I would appreciate responses on:
> * the value of this type of prototype
> * whether it is possible to have more control over formatting of the
> Control Toolbox widgets, or, alternatively substitute the Forms
> toolbar widgets which are more formattable
> * other "bits of code" that non-coders can add to the repertoire
> * ways of making the prototype more like a real prototype, that is,
> not totally use case dependent, without going into real coding
> territory
> * any other suggestions
>
> http://excelprototyping.weebly.com
>
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] deactivating or remove not available context menu commands

[Chauncey Wilson]

There are two different principles at work in context menus:
Predictability and efficiency.  If your users are novices or casuals
users, then it might be better to disable some items and keep them
around (assumming that they are used often across contexts).  If your
users are expert, then you may want to keep the menus as short as
possible to maximize efficiency. If you are designing for software
developers who might use context menus then efficiency might be more
important than high predicability.

If you are designing context menus try to avoid submenus and consider
that the purpose of context menus originally was to keep a person's
focus on the work area and minimize travel to and from the menu bar.
I now see some context menus that are way too long and that would
offer little advantage in efficiency over a toolbar or menu or ribbon
item.

In the later 1980s, the design of context menus was considered high
priority since they were a key accelerator for graphics programs,
spreadsheets, and text editors.  Now, I often see them thrown together
without great thought about what items to choose, where they should be
placed, how things should be grouped.

Chauncey
On Tue, May 26, 2009 at 4:35 AM,   wrote:
> hello,
>
> i have a question about the behavior of context menu commands in tables which are not available. The tables could be contain different "objects" with different options (commands) and supporting multiple selections.
>
> My favored behavior is to remove commands which are not available. But when i distinguish between single and multiple selection and the different options of the objects i think it could be not self-explanatory about for the user which commands generally available.
>
> But in some cases i think it would be better to deactivating the commands which are not available or mixed the both bevaviors.
>
> Example:
> When i select a single row i can open in context menu the object properties. At multiple selection the user could not be realised that the option to open the object properties is generally possible.
>
>
> Has anyone experience about the problem?
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Looking for usability test moderator guide template

[Chauncey Wilson]

I would also recommend:

Moderating Usability Tests: Principles and Practices for Interacting

http://www.amazon.com/Moderating-Usability-Tests-Interacting-Technologies/dp/0123739330/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243086230&sr=1-1

Chauncey

On Fri, May 22, 2009 at 10:24 AM, JG  wrote:
> Hey folks -
>
> Does anyone have a favorite usability test moderator's guide template they 
> can share?
>
> Thanks!
>
>
> [Jeff]
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Testing for Learnability

[Chauncey Wilson]

Hello Kevin,

The first thing you need to consider is what type of learnability are
you considering.  Consider the following types:

1.  New user to a product with no domain knowledge.
2.  New user to a product with domain knowledge.
3.  Novice to Intermediate learning (have to define "intermediate")
4.  Novice, Intermediate, expert user learning new features.
5.  Expert learning.
6.  Transfer learning (moving from one product to another in the same area).

 I see another message by Whitney that lists some attributes related
to usability.  She makes a great point.  One additional conceptual
issue is that when you are talking about learnability, you are
considering the shape of the learning curve.  To improve learnability
is to change the shape of the learning curve.  This is a constant
discussion in user assistance/tech writing groups - what can we do to
help people learn the product faster - short videos, better tutorials,
just-in-time training (for new features perhaps)?

There is an excellent  paper by some of my Autodesk colleagues in the
ACM Digital Library that relates directly to your question. They look
quite deeply at "learnability".

Grossman, T., Fitzmaurice, G., and Attar, R. 2009. A survey of
software learnability: metrics, methodologies and guidelines. In
Proceedings of the 27th international Conference on Human Factors in
Computing Systems (Boston, MA, USA, April 04 - 09, 2009). CHI '09.
ACM, New York, NY, 649-658.

Here is the abstract:

"It is well-accepted that learnability is an important aspect of
usability, yet there is little agreement as to how learnability should
be defined, measured, and evaluated. In this paper, we present a
survey of the previous definitions, metrics, and evaluation
methodologies which have been used for software learnability. Our
survey of evaluation methodologies leads us to a new
question-suggestion protocol, which, in a user study, was shown to
expose a significantly higher number of learnability issues in
comparison to a more traditional think-aloud protocol. Based on the
issues identified in our study, we present a classification system of
learnability issues, and demonstrate how these categories can lead to
guidelines for addressing the associated challenges."

Chauncey

On Fri, May 22, 2009 at 10:00 AM, Kevin Silver  wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> After a long hiatus I'm back designing in the realm of enterprise software
> and I have been shifting my thinking back to the land of the intermediate
> user. Subsequently I've been thinking a lot about designing and usability
> testing for learnability–how learnable is the application? It seems to me
> that there is a big difference between testing a check-out flow and a
> complex interface. I have some broad assumptions in mind, but I'm sure there
> are many of you who have been through this before.
>
> So, my questions are:
>
> How do you test for learnability?
>
> Is there a difference between "learnability testing" and usability testing?
> If so, what are they?
>
> And maybe a pertinent question is how do you design for learnability?
>
> Hopefully these are good friday and pre-holiday weekend questions.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Kevin
>
>
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] When to use icons and when to use text

[Chauncey Wilson]

Jared, could you post your results of your study - I've been getting a
similar question about icons.

There is some literature regarding icons versus text only versus
text+icons in the HFES literature.  This was a big topic in the early
days of toolbars.  Deb Mayhew has some research results in her book
Principles of Software User Interface Design.  As I recall, the
combination of text + icon lead to the best performance (redundant
cues is one explanation for this I believe) though as Scott pointed
out there is a trade-off of space and text size and translation and
frequency of use.

I think that you'll find some information on this topic in some of the
traditional HF textbooks.

I'll see if I can dig up the performance literature and post a summary.

Chauncey

On Thu, Mar 26, 2009 at 6:46 PM, Jared Spool  wrote:
>
> On Mar 26, 2009, at 3:45 PM, Patrick Neeman wrote:
>
>> It really depends on expert vs. novice users. Novice users aren't
>> going to pick up on icons right away. Expert users who use the
>> application 8 hours a day will.
>
> Based on what data? I have studies that say that, in most apps, most experts
> can't tell you what the icons they look at, day-in and day-out, do or
> represent.
>
> Jared
>
> Jared M. Spool
> User Interface Engineering
> 510 Turnpike St., Suite 102, North Andover, MA 01845
> e: jsp...@uie.com p: +1 978 327 5561
> http://uie.com  Blog: http://uie.com/brainsparks  Twitter: jmspool
> UIE Web App Summit, 4/19-4/22: http://webappsummit.com
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] UI Performance Testing Methodology

[Chauncey Wilson]

Performance or system responsiveness comes up often in usability
surveys as one of the top 3 usability problems.  There are a few
issues here:

1.  Consider both performance and performance variability.  If a
system has a great deal of variance in performance that lends
unpredictibility to the user experience, that might be worse than a
long, but predictable experience where you can do other tasks.
2.  There are many factors that affect perceived responsiveness.  For
example, good progress feedback can influence the perception of
responsiveness.
3.  In your testing, consider realistic databases.  You might have a
small testing database, but gather data on the sizes of your customers
databases.
4.  Consider that performance can be too fast.  There is some research
showing that performance that is too fast or too slow will result in
more errors than a mid-range response.
5.  Direct manipulation and immediate control responses need to be
responsive or people will feel like they are working in a tub of
jello.
6.  Perceived time will be influenced by the user's perception of the
size and complexity of an operation.  So, if you are loading gigabytes
of photos, you will accept fairly slow response, but the same may not
be true of operations that are judged as not so complex.
7. If you are looking at performance of your system, consider response
time, response variability, scalability, and startup or launch time as
three major buckets to consider.

Chauncey


On Wed, Mar 25, 2009 at 7:00 AM, Baruch Sachs  wrote:
> I am talking more on the technical performance side, keeping in mind the UX
> ramifications. For instance, a lot of UIs might be designed well from the
> design side but perform poorly (slow loading, refreshing a whole page vs a
> section on the page, etc) which ultimately negatively affects the UI.
>
> I have been asked to assist with the development of this methodology, using
> the UX to drive what we should be testing for. I have my own experience, but
> wants to get a broader sense of the topic. I sense that we do not often have
> the opportunity to influence this area..
>
> On Thu, Mar 19, 2009 at 9:24 PM, Chauncey Wilson 
> wrote:
>>
>> Hello Baruch,
>>
>> Could you describe a bit more what you mean by performance testing of
>> the user interface?  There is benchmark usability testing, but also
>> performance testing of widgets under different loads and system
>> testing of various types of responsiveness.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Chauncey
>>
>> On Thu, Mar 19, 2009 at 6:19 PM, Baruch Sachs  wrote:
>> > Lookng for any resources available on methodologies for performance
>> > testing,
>> > focusing specifically on the User Interface...preliminary searches
>> > bringing
>> > up very little. Hoping someone can assist...thanks in advance!
>> > 
>> > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
>> > To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Idea Generation Activities

[Chauncey Wilson]

Some other ideas you can try are:

1.  metaphor brainstorming
2.  brainwriting
3.  braindrawing
4.  future workshops
5.  Persona/perspective based brainstorming (similar in concept to six
thinking hats technique)
6.  Unfocus groups
7.  the crawford slip method
8.  Freelisting
9. The card exchange technique (Geschka, 1983)
10. The Nominal group technique
11. Buzz sessions


Chauncey


On Sat, Mar 21, 2009 at 4:08 AM, Cone  wrote:
> I think De Bono's 'Six Thinking Hats' technique works great, whether in a
> group or alone. The six different colored 'hats' represent a different ways
> of thinking.
> The six thinking hats cover positive, negative, neutral, creative emotional
> and organizationally inclined ways of thinking.
>
> It's like saying you would want people of these six 'hats' to be a part of
> your team because you look at problems and think about solutions in a way
> that views them from all angles, so to speak.
> -Abhay
>
> --
> Cone Trees- User Research & Design
> http://www.conetrees.com
> http://www.twitter.com/conetrees
> http://www.theuxbookmark.com
> http://uxbookclub.org/doku.php?id=new_delhi
>
> On Thu, Mar 19, 2009 at 12:52 AM, Alan Cox  wrote:
>
>> I'm thinking about leading some discussions to help my team and
>> company generate ideas about what sort of experience we want our
>> users to have when they interact with a new version of our software.
>>
>> Have you ever participated in, or led, an activity that you found
>> really helpful in generating these ideas?  I anticipate a group of
>> 5-7 people working together for about 1 week to do this; I've got a
>> number of ideas already, but I am searching for more.
>>
>> My ideas, still in an toddler stage, are:
>>
>> 1) Come up with two companies, similar to each other but different
>> from us.  What attributes do they have in common, and how are they
>> different?
>>
>> 2) "Promise, Symbol, Proof" - For ten (or so) companies, come up
>> with what they're promising their customers, the mark that
>> symbolizes the promise, and the proof that shows they're meeting
>> their promise.
>>
>> 3) "What are we? and the rule of opposites" - Come up with
>> attributes that describe our product and our users' experience with
>> it.  What are the opposites of those attributes, and what would
>> things be like if we switched to the opposite?
>>
>> 4) "Weird What-ifs" - Fill in the following sentence "What if we
>> were __?" and then answer it.  For instance, "What if we
>> were a religion?
>>
>> I would love to hear what other types of activities you have found
>> successful.
>>
>> (By the way, I haven't called this "brainstorming" because I
>> don't want to limit the responses.)
>>
>>
>> 
>> Reply to this thread at ixda.org
>> http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=40167
>>
>> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] UI Performance Testing Methodology

[Chauncey Wilson]

Hello Baruch,

Could you describe a bit more what you mean by performance testing of
the user interface?  There is benchmark usability testing, but also
performance testing of widgets under different loads and system
testing of various types of responsiveness.

Thanks,
Chauncey

On Thu, Mar 19, 2009 at 6:19 PM, Baruch Sachs  wrote:
> Lookng for any resources available on methodologies for performance testing,
> focusing specifically on the User Interface...preliminary searches bringing
> up very little. Hoping someone can assist...thanks in advance!
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Where bounce off design concepts?

[Chauncey Wilson]

Just as a side note, most employee agreements in the USA have
non-disclosure statements that vary in restrictiveness.  Some even
restrict who you can work for if you quit (a few states like CA have
made non-competes illegal) - PA has a strong non-compete law so if you
live in PA you should read the non-compete especially carefully.  I've
seen discussions about how companies can't enforce non-competes, but
unless they are illegal in a particular state, non-competes as long as
2 years hold up in court (side note - my wife is a senior software IP
attorney).

Chauncey

On Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 3:47 PM, Katie Albers  wrote:
> On Mar 17, 2009, at 9:09 AM, jennifer.r.vign...@jpmorgan.com wrote:
>
>> What would the nature of this work for critique consist of?
>> How would you handle nondisclosure agreements that stipulated that you
>> could not show work to anyone outside of the company that the work is for?
>> I never met a consultant who didn't have to sign an NDA.
>
> Hi, Nice to meet you.
>
> I don't *always* not have to sign an NDA, but I've worked with many
> companies that didn't make me sign one and others in which we carved out
> certain exclusions regarding my work and work product for such uses as
> portfolio pieces, etc.
>
> I don't remember signing NDAs as an employee, but I'm pretty sure I didn't.
>
> kt
>>
>> And, as an employee, the agreement to work for a firm usually has the same
>> policy, though it may not be stated outright as it is for a consultant.
>> That might impair the ability of people to participate.
>>
>> Jennifer
>> Jennifer Vignone
>> User Experience Design
>
>
> Katie Albers
> Founder & Principal Consultant
> FirstThought
> User Experience Strategy & Project Management
> 310 356 7550
> ka...@firstthought.com
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] White text on dark background?

[Chauncey Wilson]

This topic was an area of active research in the 1970s and 1980s with
early monitors.  Some of this is reported in classic human factors
textbooks I believe as well as early books on "ergonomics of VDTs (or
VDUs - visual display units).  You might also want to look in the
Human Factors and Ergonomics journal database and check on more recent
research in this area.

Chauncey



On Thu, Mar 12, 2009 at 9:26 PM, yunlingl @ gmail. com
 wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> There's a debate in our team on whether we should use dark or white
> background when displaying texts (say around 200 words).
>
> Not considering the fonts, font size, and color contrast, I found
> myself feel more comfortable to read texts on dark background for
> longer period time on screen. Some posts  I found on web (such as
> http://my.opera.com/Vorlath/blog/show.dml/283240) also state print
> media and computer screen are different. Computer screen itself
> outputs lights and thus white background can be blinding. However,
> most of the news site and even the IXDA forum is still using white
> background. Is this just a convention or has some scientific reasons
> behind it?
>
> -Yun-Ling
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Standard font size

[Chauncey Wilson]

How far away will your audience be from the text.  There is quite a
bit of research and a general formula that uses values of visual angle
and the distance from the eye to the object to determine the actual
physical size of text for people with normal or less than normal
vision.  You can search the IxDA archives or I'll post it tonight.
Age makes a difference and you may want to design not for the average,
but for a range that includes older adults.

Chauncey

On Tue, Mar 10, 2009 at 6:50 PM, Marty DeAngelo  wrote:
> I know that there was a discussion on this list a while back, but I'd
> love to get a more recent update as to what people feel is the best
> 'standard' font size for an average audience.  We are currently in
> a bit of a debate with a client about their 'standard' font size.
>
>
> Their guidelines dictate using 14px Arial / 13px Verdana for content,
> which we feel is too large.  We feel that a 12px Arial / 11px Verdana
> standard is more reasonable to most users (in essence, using the 75%
> base font adjustment from the browser standards and then using ems
> from that point forward).
>
> I've done some research of different usability sites and found that
> MOST agree that a standard of 75%/0.8em/12px seem to be the best
> size, but it is by no means unanimous.  But I trust the opinions here
> to help me prove my point or theirs.
>
> P.S. We do use font-sizers on all of our sites, and they run at
> settings of 1.0/1.2/1.5em (effectively 12px, 14px, 18px), which I
> think takes care of the normal gamut of needs; in my opinion, most
> users who need a font size larger than that already know how to get
> it and don't need us to intervene.
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Persona skeptics

[Chauncey Wilson]

Following up on Peter's note, I think that part of the persona
planning process is to develop a "Public Relations" or "Advertising
Plan" for your personas.  That should be an explicit part of the
persona process.  This could mean that:

1.  Personas are displayed in the work area
2.  Personas are required in deliverables
3.  The persona team is expected to promote the user of personas by
actually referring to them in all meetings.
4.  The data behind personas is highlighted occassionally in senior
management messages
5.  Methods used to evaluate products used persona-based methods.

There are many ways to publicize personas and I've seen really good
work, based on solid data, that is wasted because there was not a
solid plan to make people aware of the personas and kept them in mind
throughout design and development.

Chauncey


On Mon, Mar 9, 2009 at 12:44 PM, Peter Merholz  wrote:
> I just wrote about field research and personas for HarvardBusiness.org
>
> http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/merholz/2009/03/the-best-way-to-understand-you.html
>
> The heart of my message there is that the best way to understand your
> customers is to Go To Them.
>
> The follow on is that not everyone in a company can Go To Them, and we need
> means by which field research findings and insights can be shared. Video
> highlight reels are very powerful, but, I think, insufficient.
>
> In my experience, a well-crafted persona, and placing that persona in some
> strong scenarios, is the single best tool we have to spread empathy
> throughout an organization. It probably shouldn't be the only tool, but if
> you have time for just one, and you want to help your colleagues achieve a
> visceral understanding of your customers, I don't know of a better tool than
> personas.
>
> --peter
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Knowledge and Skill Requirements of the Industry

[Chauncey Wilson]

On Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 12:15 PM, Petra Bennett
 wrote:

> Can someone perhaps identify some of the key trends in the field and
> how they are affecting the knowledge and skill requirements of the
> profession?
>
> I appreciate your thoughts on this!


Hello Petra,  Here are some ideas for you based on my experience
teaching HCI related courses in the Boston, USA area.

1.  Prototyping/ideation methods.  There has been some debate on this
forum, but putting aside, a solid course on techniques for generating
ideas, examining those ideas from different perspectives, and
evaluating those ideas.  Things that the course might include range
from braindrawing/sketching to workflow models to storyboards to
wireframes to interactive prototypes etc.
2.  A survey of design principles (visual, interaction, human factors)
3.  Persuasive principles.  This is becoming a popular topic and the
main book on this in the HCI area is B.J. Fogg's book on Persuasive
Technology.  Persuasive is important now for almost every product.
This would merge social psychology with product design
4.  Interviewing skills.  This is a fundamental skill for
understanding our users, stakeholders, etc.  If you are an
anthropologists, you get many chances to practice, but a course that
mixes practice with theory would be great.  Many HCI schools give
basic interviewing skills short shrift.
5.  Widget Wisdom.  This would be a short course, but after 30 years
or so of GUIs being around, many designer/developers make fundamental
mistakes in the choice of widgets and how the attributes of the task,
user, and environment interact and affect what widgets we put forth in
our designs.  Every week in this forum, there are debates about bad
calendar objects, poor selection mechanisms, etc.
6.  Quantitative wisdom and looking closely at numbers.  I get so
tired of getting the "5 users is enough" thrown at me when the number
of participants is a function of the complexity of the interface, the
tasks presented to the user, the size of the database (small versus
millions of items) and understanding the various types of sample that
we employ (often our sampling is convenience).  There are a number of
books out that get into cognitive biases that affect our beliefs and
interpretations (the work of Kahneman and Tversky and others on things
like the "availability bias" and the "fundamental attribution error".
7. The politics of interaction design - a case study approach of
different political problems and possible solutions
8. Designing for the very small (iPhone) and the very large (multiple
large monitors or HD TV or huge panels for nuclear power plants)

Those are a few ideas that come to mind.

Chauncey

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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Prototyping tools resources

[Chauncey Wilson]

While the discussion on this list about vocabulary shows that we have
different views of common terms, the words you use in organizations
can have powerful effects since words like "design" and "prototype"
are often loaded terms (think companies where developers think that
they are the "designers" and the user experience team thinks that they
are "designers" and "prototypes" are viewed by the company as working
code models whereas "prototypes" to the first new interaction designer
fits into one of the categories that we are debating.

The debate here is among people with different experiences who view
prototyping and design differently and while it may seem a bit
hostile, it is useful is understanding how the groups we work with
might also react to our personal definitions and might even help us
think about how our view isn't the only view.

Buxton made a big deal out of this topic in his book and though I
disagree with him, his distinctions are still useful as are the ones
revealed by our debate about the meaning of "prototype".

Though, perhaps we have exhausted this for now :-).

Chauncey

On Sat, Mar 7, 2009 at 4:00 PM, Katie Albers  wrote:
> Oh, for...
>
> This will probably surprise a lot of you, but I don't actually care what we
> take "prototype" to mean, vs. model vs. sketch vs whatever. I get my
> panties in a bunch when people claim a commonality of understanding of a
> word, when that commonality clearly isn't extant. Hence my dictionary
> definitions. They demonstrate that there are recognized definitions for
> these words outside of our little sphere. The ongoing discussion illustrates
> that there are not commonly held definitions for those words *inside* our
> little sphere. My plea is simply that we stop using words as though we were,
> individually, the final arbiters of their meaning to the community.
>
> There are perfectly good modifiers that can help us. For example, while some
> of us may believe that to say "Paper prototype" is deeply wrong, I think we
> do understand what is meant by it. Similarly, "interactive model" may appear
> to be both redundant and oxymoronic, but I suspect that we would have a good
> general idea of what it referred to.
>
> I don't mind having a professional vocabulary - I think it's a very good
> idea - but the fact that we argue over its elements is ample evidence that
> it doesn't exist as a commonly understood set of words. The professional
> vocabulary is still shaking out.
>
> In the meantime, can we try to communicate our questions, comments, answers
> and discussion in such a fashion that we can understand one another, rather
> than scoring points off one another for word usage?
>
> Katie Albers
> Founder & Principal Consultant
> FirstThought
> User Experience Strategy & Project Management
> 310 356 7550
> ka...@firstthought.com
>
>
>
>
>
> On Mar 7, 2009, at 11:54 AM, Todd Zaki Warfel wrote:
>
>>
>> On Mar 7, 2009, at 2:48 PM, Will Evans wrote:
>>
>>> does it really matter what websters or the OED defines as a prototype
>>
>> Not sure how much Webster's definition applies, since that appears to
>> focus primarily on physical object prototypes rather than software system
>> prototypes. Perhaps they should update their definition.
>>
>>
>>
>> Cheers!
>>
>> Todd Zaki Warfel
>> Principal Design Researcher
>> Messagefirst | Designing Information. Beautifully.
>> --
>> Contact Info
>> Voice:  (215) 825-7423
>> Email:  t...@messagefirst.com
>> AIM:    twar...@mac.com
>> Blog:   http://toddwarfel.com
>> Twitter:        zakiwarfel
>> --
>> In theory, theory and practice are the same.
>> In practice, they are not.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Prototyping tools resources

[Chauncey Wilson]

Just some snippets of definitions of "prototype":

“…An easily changeable draft or simulation of at least part of the
interface” (Hackos & Redish, 1998, p. 376)

"Prototypes" are representations of a design made before final
artifacts exist. (Buchenau & Suri, 2000)

“Tangible speculation” (Robert Graves)

“…an approximation of the product along one or more dimensions of
interest.” (Ulrich & Eppinger, 1995).

“…externalizing and making concrete a design idea for the purpose of
evaluation.” (Munoz, 1992)

A prototype is a common artifact that represents the evolving system
under development (Atwood, Burns, Girgensohn, Lee, Turner, Zimmermann,
1995)

A way to explore questions at each phase of the development cycle

Any representation of design ideas; this can include existing products
that provide design advice; a model of a final product; a sketch, a
simulation, 

In understanding interaction, we can use a sketch of the
social/physical environment and indicate flow and concerns (the Rich
picture, for example, is a prototype of the stakeholder environment).
Some very simple sketches can convey much about interaction (I'm
thinking Feynmann diagrams from physics and various flow models that
we use in product design).  Link analysis for example, is a human
factors diagram that can show how often controls or equipment are used
and how often the operators have conflicts or wasted motion.

Chauncey









On Sat, Mar 7, 2009 at 2:48 PM, Will Evans  wrote:
> also -
> does it really matter what websters or the OED defines as a prototype - what
> matters is the proper conveyance of information within a community of
> practice, that is, Interaction Designers. We no doubt need it when
> discussing something, which no doubt will be something totally different for
> architects, for whom testing behaviors is irrelevant, or car designers, who
> will have their own use and definition of a prototype. Is it a mound of
> clay? No - that is a model. Can you drive a prototype? Yes - then you are
> testing interactions within a context of behaviors of user with system.
>
> ~ will
>
> "Where you innovate, how you innovate,
> and what you innovate are design problems"
>
> 
> Will Evans | User Experience Architect
> tel: +1.617.281.1281 | w...@semanticfoundry.com
> http://blog.semanticfoundry.com
> http://www.linkedin.com/in/semanticwill
> aim: semanticwill
> gtalk: semanticwill
> twitter: semanticwill
> 
>
> On Mar 7, 2009, at 2:41 PM, Todd Zaki Warfel wrote:
>
>> I'd call that a bucket test. Now, if you'd put together some lower level
>> pages that go beyond that top level nav to let people actually explore the
>> pieces underneath and see how they interact with it, then I'd say w/o
>> question you've got a prototype.
>>
>> On Mar 7, 2009, at 2:34 PM, Adrian Howard wrote:
>>
>>> Prototype? Not-prototype? Does/should anybody care? :-)
>>
>>
>> Cheers!
>>
>> Todd Zaki Warfel
>> Principal Design Researcher
>> Messagefirst | Designing Information. Beautifully.
>> --
>> Contact Info
>> Voice:  (215) 825-7423
>> Email:  t...@messagefirst.com
>> AIM:    twar...@mac.com
>> Blog:   http://toddwarfel.com
>> Twitter:        zakiwarfel
>> --
>> In theory, theory and practice are the same.
>> In practice, they are not.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> 
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>
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Prototyping tools resources

[Chauncey Wilson]

There are different types of prototypes and a sketch can, for example,
be used to illustrate a prototype of a visual or layout style or even
suggest interaction.  Buxton makes a big point about sketches not
being prototypes (see pages 138-141) in his recent book on Sketching
though his chart on page 138 shows a gradual transition.  You can use
a sketch with annotation to describe how someone might use a single
component in a larger system and that would shift from pure sketch to
a representation where there is some interaction. Storyboards can
prototype interaction, but they can be just a series of sketches so we
have to ask if a single sketch is just a sketch, but more than one
sketch is a prototype (even with clickable links?).  I think that you
can see how something works at a particular level of granularity with
a sketch. It is sometimes useful to give people rough sketches and ask
them to envision how something might work (perhaps in future
workshops).

Chauncey

On Sat, Mar 7, 2009 at 1:38 PM, Todd Zaki Warfel  wrote:
> Explain to me how a one page sketch can be a prototype? A concept, sure. But
> a prototype?
>
> The point of a prototype is to communicate a design concept and see how it
> works. You can't really see/show how something works with just one sketch.
>
> On Mar 6, 2009, at 8:02 AM, Jordan, Courtney wrote:
>
>> I disagree. Even a one-page paper sketch can be a prototype - just a
>> low-fidelity prototype. See Carolyn Snyder's book, Paper Prototypes. I
>> often sketch ideas out before heading to Visio where they become
>> mid-fidelity prototypes. Once you add some colors and images - then it's
>> a high-fidelity prototype.
>>
>> Courtney Jordan
>
>
> Cheers!
>
> Todd Zaki Warfel
> Principal Design Researcher
> Messagefirst | Designing Information. Beautifully.
> --
> Contact Info
> Voice:  (215) 825-7423
> Email:  t...@messagefirst.com
> AIM:    twar...@mac.com
> Blog:   http://toddwarfel.com
> Twitter:        zakiwarfel
> --
> In theory, theory and practice are the same.
> In practice, they are not.
>
>
>
>
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Design/UX goals in your company

[Chauncey Wilson]

Here are some classic references that discuss usability goals.  The
earliest examples of usability specifications that I could locate came
from Tom Gilb in the late 1970s and early 1980s.  Whiteside, Bennett,
and Holtblatt's chapter in the Handbook of HCI described usability
specifications and highlighted how field work can inform usability
goals.  Mayhews book describes how goals fit into the usability
engineering lifecycle.

Gilb, T. (1988). Principles of software engineering management.
Wokingham, England: Addison-Wesley.
In his book on software engineering Gilb actually uses "Usability" in
some of his examples as a quality attribute of his products and he had
principles for developing attribute specifications that include:
“measurability” (all attributes should be made measurable) and
"result-oriented attributes (the attributes should be specified in
terms of the final end-user results demanded).  Gilb also gets into
principles for choosing solutions to help designers meet those
objectives.

Mayhew, D. (1999). The usability engineering lifecycle: A
practitioner’s handbook for user interface design. San Francisco. CA:
Morgan Kaufmann.
Mayhew’s book is a detailed blueprint of the usability engineering
life cycle with a wealth of practical advice. This book has four
sections: Requirements Analysis, Design/Testing/Development,
Installation, and Organizational Issues.  Each chapter discusses
usability engineering tasks, roles, resources, levels of effort, short
cuts (quick and dirty techniques to use when a rigorous approach isn’t
possible), Web notes, and sample work products and templates. The book
is both detailed and readable and worthwhile for both new and
experienced usability specialists.

Whiteside, J.,  Bennett, J., & Holtzblatt, K. (1988).  Usability
engineering: Our experience and evolution.  In M. Helander, (Ed.),
Handbook  of human-computer interaction (pp. 791-817). Amsterdam:
North-Holland.
This chapter laid out the general guidelines for a usability
specification which is the deliverable listing a product’s  "usability
requirements".  A usability specification contains the usability
attributes that are critical to the product's quality, the technique
for measuring the attributes (which would include the context,
constraints, user data requirements, etc), the quantitative metric
that represents the usability value (say task completion rate without
assistance), and the minimum level of usability for each attribute and
the planned level.  The Whiteside, et. al. chapter also made a point
that usability requirements (and the scenarios for obtaining usability
requirements) should be based on field input (through contextual
inquiry or other methods) so that the requirements are realistic.

Wixon, D. & Wilson, C. E.  The Usability Engineering Framework for
Product Design and Evaluation. Handbook of Human-Computer Interaction
(Second Edition). Elsevier: Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1998, pp.
653-688.

Scott brought up some good issues about the impact of metrics.  If you
metric is around finding problems and you are not persuasive enough to
get them implemented then your impact might be low.  Paul Sawyer,
Dennis Wixon and Alicia Flanders wrote about a metric they called the
impact ratio.  Here is the reference and abstract

Sawyer, P., Flanders, A., and Wixon, D. 1996. Making a difference—the
impact of inspections. In Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on
Human Factors in Computing Systems: Common Ground (Vancouver, British
Columbia, Canada, April 13 - 18, 1996). M. J. Tauber, Ed. CHI '96.
ACM, New York, NY, 376-382. DOI=
http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/238386.238579

ABSTRACT
In this methodology paper we define a metric we call
impact ratio. We use this ratio to measure the effectiveness
of inspections and other evaluative techniques in getting
usability improvements into products. We inspected ten
commercial software products and achieved an average
impact ratio of 78%. We discuss factors affecting this ratio
and its value in helping us to appraise usability
engineering's impact on products.


So this metric gets at how many are implemented, but there is another
step - how much did the changes that were implemented improve the
product on whatever usability attributes are most important.  What if
you implement fixes for 80% of the problems, but the fixes are bad.

So, perhaps you can measure how fixes from one version to the next
make the product better but does it impact the revenues/profits of the
company.  It could be that you made your product 20% better and met
your goal, but your competitor just came out with a really usable and
useful product and was 20% better than your version.

So the link between goals and revenues is often really hard to figure.
 You might want to read some of the chapters in the Bias and Mayhew
book Cost-Justifying Usability (Second Edition, 2005).
http://www.amazon.com/Cost-Justifying-Usability-Second-Interactive-Technologies/dp/0120958112/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1236384677

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Design/UX goals in your company

[Chauncey Wilson]

Hello Alan,

You might want to get the book Built for Use: Driving Profitability
Through the User Experience
By Donoghue, Karen and Schrage, Michael D

The book never got the attention it should have, but it is full of
good information and stories about how to connect:

Business goals with User Experience Goals with Product Features with
specific metrics.

There is much discussion on how to set usability goals (multiple
metrics or a composite metric).

There is an approach called SUM that is a usability metric for
comparing products or different versions of a product.  A paper on
that is found at:

http://www.measuringusability.com/papers/HCII2005_sauro_kindlund-V9.pdf

In your goal setting, you might examine the corporate goals and then
fit your goals to the corporate goals (see the Donoghue book for a
matrix that lays this out in a very powerful fashion).

Chauncey

On Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 4:24 PM, Alan Cox  wrote:
> As it grows, the company I work for is becoming more metric-driven.
> Ultimately, I support the idea of having goals and metrics that help
> us understand whether we're doing good work, the right work, etc.
>
> I don't expect goals & metrics to ever tell the whole story; the
> world is squishy and numbers are unlikely to paint a completely
> honest picture.  I do think, however, that they'll help us start
> conversations and give us something to shoot towards.
>
> I'm curious: what type of goals and metrics exist in your company
> that are related to good user experience and good design?  Do you
> have goals & metrics that are company-wide, team-wide and
> individual?
>
> Alan
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Heuristic Evaluations - A Personal Approach

[Chauncey Wilson]

Hi,

This is a very interesting approach.  Some general points:

What is your measure of success for your new heuristics?  There is
some lively debate about success metrics with some examples being:
number of problems found; number of major problems found relative to
usability testing, abiltiy of developers to find problems in their
software, ..  There are some good papers by Woolrych and Cockton
discussing the efficacy of inspection methods.

One of the criticisms of the original heuristics is that they are not
complete.  There have been additional sets of heuristics.  The
originals for example, don't really deal with collaboration for
example or basic human factors problems like foreground/background
contrast.

The context for an inspection will vary by the user/task/environment
context.  For example, transparency may be good or bad depending on
context.  Guiding might always be good for a product used once a year
(tax program) or once when you set something complex up, but guiding
is not always good.

Here are some weaknesses of heuristic evaluations that you might consider:

• Different evaluators often find different problems for the same
product. This “evaluator effect” (Jacobsen, Hertzum, & John, 1998) has
implications for deciding what changes should be made to a design.
What do you do if five evaluators each come up with quite different
sets of problems (Kotval, Coyle, Santos, Vaughn, & Iden, (2007)?
• The heuristic evaluation method is based on finding usability
“problems”, but there is debate about what constitutes a problem and
whether heuristic reviews are good at finding “real problems”
• Heuristic reviews may not scale well for complex interfaces
(Slavkovic & Cross, 1999).  In complex interfaces, a small number of
evaluators may find only a small percentage of the problems in an
interface and may miss some serious problems.
• Evaluators may report problems at different levels of granularity.
For example, one evaluator may list a global problem of “bad error
messages” while another evaluator lists separate problems for each
error message encountered. The instructions and training for a
heuristic review should discuss what level of granularity is
appropriate. The facilitator of a heuristic evaluation will invariably
have to extract important high level issues from sets of specific
problems.
• Lack of clear rules for assigning severity judgments may yield major
differences; one evaluator says “minor” problem while others say
“moderate” or “serious” problem. In a recent study comparing the
results of usability testing with those of heuristics review there
were a few instances where some reviewers listed the same observation
as both problem and a “positive design feature”.
•  Some organizations find heuristic evaluation such a popular method
that they are reluctant to use other methods like usability testing or
participatory design.

> Begin each Heuristic with 'A design should be...'
>
> 1. Transparent
> At all times a person should understand where they are, what actions
> are available and how those actions can be performed. Information and
> objects should be made visible so that a person does not have to rely
> on memory from one screen to another
>
> Ask Yourself:
> •     Where am I?
> •     What are my options?

Transparency is a complex concept and is not always good.


>
> 2. Responsive
> Whenever appropriate, useful feedback should let a person know what
> is going on within a reasonable amount of time. If a person initiates
> an action, they should receive a clear response.
>

"Reasonable amount of time" depends on the context for the most part
and there is perceived versus real responsiveness.


> Ask Yourself:
> •     What is happening right now?
> •     Am I getting what I need?
> 5. Consistent
> A person should not have to wonder whether different words,
> situations, or actions mean the same thing. Additionally a person
> should not discover that similar words, situations or actions mean
> different things. Establish and maintain conventions.

Consistency is very complex.  What about consistency within different
parts of an app; consistency with other apps the user works with,
consistency with corporate style, consistent with OS, etc.  See the
classic article by Grudin on consistency for a good notion about when
it is consistent to be inconsistent.
Grudin, J. 1989. The case against user interface consistency. Commun.
ACM 32, 10 (Oct. 1989), 1164-1173. DOI=
http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/67933.67934

> 7. Guiding
> A person should feel capable of learning what is required to
> accomplish their goals. Help documentation and information should be
> easy to locate and search, focused on the task at hand and be only as
> long as necessary.

Guiding and flexible can be contradictory.  One person's guiding can
be another person's flexibility.  Guiding can be good or very bad
depending on the user training and task frequency.

Chauncey
_

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Performance on different kinds of button bars?

[Chauncey Wilson]

There is some research in Mayhew's 1992 book *Principles* and Guidelines in
*Software User Interface* Design as well as in the HFES database where many
studies have been done with icons and words in toolbars/button bars.

What aspect of performance are you most interested in:  time to find a
button, legibility, error rates, aesthetic appeal, ..

Chauncey

On Mon, Mar 2, 2009 at 2:13 PM, Alan Wexelblat  wrote:

> Can someone suggest a good reference for general performance by people
> trying to use different kinds of button bars?
>
> In particular, I'm thinking about things like word buttons (e.g.
> Gmail) versus pure images (e.g. Outlook) versus mixed (e.g. Firefox
> boomarks toolbar).
>
> Thanks,
> --Alan
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Working group for psychology & social media

[Chauncey Wilson]

I'm with Robert on this.  I have graduate training in social psychology and
co-authored a number of papers in books and social psychology journals in
the 1970s and early 1980s and still keep up with the literature.  Since the
advent of "groupware", social psychology has been an important (although
sometimes implicit) aspect of interaction design.

So, how about establishing an interest group for those with formal training
and a serious interest in social psychology (and related disciplines).

Thanks,
Chauncey

On Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 11:31 AM, Robert Hoekman Jr  wrote:

> >
> > I've set up a private google google group for psychologists interested in
> > social media.
>
>
> Why limit it to psychologists? It sounds like your intent is to have a
> discussion on psychology's role in social media. Anyone interested in both
> topics could benefit from and contribute to such a discussion. I'm not a
> psychologist, but I have studied it extensively and am particularly very
> interested in social psychology and its role in design.
>
> -r-
>  
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] A list of mobile situations

[Chauncey Wilson]

Common activities, situations, and contexts related to mobile design:

1.  Light levels and impact on legibility
2.  Cold weather (wearing gloves - not good for iPhone for example)
3.  Speed of walking/running (impacts how mobile devices are
carried/stored/used
4.  Privacy (miniature cameras and cellphone cameras are now prohibited in
my health club for example)
5.  Size of hand (affect typing)
6.  One handed use
7.  Status
8.  Used for emergencies and design for emergencies
9.  Serves as entertainment center (watch movies, listen to books, play
games)
10. Facilitates interaction with particular people (smartbadges that glow
when you approach someone with common interest).
11. Interaction with non-mobile devices or ambient systems

Chauncey




On Wed, Feb 25, 2009 at 1:33 PM, Pietro Desiato wrote:

> Hi all, since we're all interested in the design for mobile, I thought it
> would be interesting to have a list of situations, common activities and
> contexts that could related to the mobile design. The list would help us to
> reflect upon mobile and would be truly INSPIRATIONAL for all the designers.
> Sometimes, in fact, we don't reflect on what are the contexts in which our
> users are going to interact.

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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Anyone familiar with Balsamicq Mockups?

[Chauncey Wilson]

I was using Balsamiq when your message came through to create a toolkit of
UI objects that I then printed on magnetic sheets for a study where some
colleagues will use the parts to create a UI design.  The scrolling toolbar
with objects is a little awkward and the palette of attributes in the upper
right can be a bit irritating - it got in my way today when I was creating
my toolkit.  The search for icons is a mess with the icons in some haphazard
order.

But, it is OK for $79.

Another tool that I use occasionally is MockUp Screens (
http://www.mockupscreens.com/).  It is good for quick sketching and
annotation and also costs $79 for an individual license.

Chauncey

On Tue, Feb 24, 2009 at 12:58 PM, Mary Deaton  wrote:

> I actually clicked a Google ad and found this Adobe AIR application
> designed
> for doing quick mockups. It played with it a bit and find it most
> intriguing. Does anyone have experience with this product who would like to
> share their thoughts?
>
> --
> Mary Deaton
> Yes we can. Yes we did. Yes we will
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Mathematical theory of beautiful design - Fun weekend post

[Chauncey Wilson]

I will be going in the next two weeks and report more on the math and
exhibit.  I'll report back to the group.

There are a number of mathematical models in the user interface research
area on complexity and aesthetics.  I'll try to dig those up.

Chauncey

On Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 6:17 AM, Maria  wrote:

> Uhm, I'm also curious to learn more about the catalogue content.. I
> heard about a similar study regarding beauty in human faces, based on
> mathematical formulas...
>
> Waiting to find out more...
>
> cheers..
>
>
> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> Posted from the new ixda.org
> http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=39063
>
>
> 
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[IxDA Discuss] Mathematical theory of beautiful design - Fun weekend post

[Chauncey Wilson]

There is an interesting article in Sunday edition of The Boston Globe
newspaper about a mathematical theory of beauty in design - the claim is
that you can determine what people will find beautiful in design artifacts
(painting, buildings, furniture, ) through a mathematical relationship
of complexity and transformations.

http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2009/02/22/beauty/?page=1

When I was a grad student working in social psychology I wrote a paper
called "The calculus of dating" with graphs and regression equations. I
based the paper on social exchange theory and balance theory.  I applied the
 concept 20 years later and it helped me meet my wife :-)

I'm going to the exhibit next weekend to get the exhibit brochure and will
report on the math.

Chauncey

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Re: [IxDA Discuss] A business case for switching Mac

[Chauncey Wilson]

As an aside, it would be interesting to have Mac devotees list the negative
aspects of the Mac or a person who uses both the PC and Mac highlight the
differences.  I use both a Mac and PC, everyday, and find the single menu on
the Mac antiquated (it fits the philosopy of the original Mac and has not
really evolved).  The Mac "toolbar" with all the apps can get really
cluttered if you are a software junkie - the icons are nice, but it is hard
to pick them out. I like the dialogs in Windows that allow you to resize
from more than one corner.

The Mac seems to connect to networks more easily than my Windows PC where I
often have to do some tweaking.  Some of the apps are more elegant like the
one that creates separate workspaces (but that isn't new, Xerox used the
same ideas in its Room tool on Windows 3.1).  I admit to liking some of the
small animation touches on the Mac.

Has there been a shoot-out lately using the same tool and two people trained
to equal levels?  There is a technique called a User Interface Race
suggested by Ben Shneiderman in the early Brenda Laurel anthology from the
late 1980s that might be fun.

Chauncey

On Wed, Feb 18, 2009 at 5:25 AM, Nik Lazell
wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Currently our UX team are PC-based and use Visio. I would like to move
> back to Mac and start using Omnigraffle again.
>
> I have been asked to write a business case for switching. Does anyone
> have an suggestions or experience of writing such a case?
>
> Thanks,
> Nik
>
> 
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[IxDA Discuss] Fwd: Terms Every IxD Should Know

[Chauncey Wilson]

Forgot to reply to all.
Chauncey

-- Forwarded message --
From: Chauncey Wilson 
Date: Mon, Feb 16, 2009 at 1:48 PM
Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] Terms Every IxD Should Know
To: caronnect 


I don't think that I've seen:

medium-fidelity prototyping
persuasive technology
ambient interface
ubiquitous interface
The bridge method
conjoint analysis
repertory grid technique
persona-based inspections
HTA - hierarchical task analysis
Link analysis
Forms follows function
Stroup effect
Visual angle
rapid ethnography
between-subjects design
within-subjects design
mixed factor design
binomial theorem
cognitive dissonance
the fundamental attribution error (or FAE)
availability bias
Layering
Law of Pragnanz
Inverse pyramid
wayfinding
figure-ground
virtual metaphor
spatial metaphor
temporal metaphor
production blocking (as in brainstorming - things that block the production
of ideas like background conversations)
Nominal group technique
Delphi method
SWOT (planning technique)
Evaluation apprehension
Metaphor game
Affinity map
KJ method
Insight sheet
Cognitive walkthrough
Cost-benefits chart
Function analysis
Value engineering
Mixed-mode surveys
SUS
QUIS
ASQ
PSSUQ
WAMMI
NASA-TLX
Likert-like scales
Likert scales
Semantic differential
Process flow diagrams
CUTA
Laddering
Readibility
Legibility
Contrast
Progressive disclosure
means-end analysis
5 Whys method

Chauncey
















On Mon, Feb 16, 2009 at 9:12 AM, caronnect  wrote:

> A few more terms:
>
> - heuristics
> - low-fi (low-fidelity) prototype
> - high-fi (high-fidelity) prototype
> - paper prototyping
> - storyboards / storyboarding
> - solution visualisation: conceptual visualisation
> - user scenarios
> - user personas
> - user interface specification ('UI spec')
> - user-centred design / UCD
> - pattern library
> - component control library
> - user interface guidelines ('UI Guidelines')
> - UX / user experience
> - graphical user interfaces / GUIs
> - evaluations / usability evaluations
> - widget
> - components
> - controls
> - structural components (menus, toolbars)
> - navigation
> - orientation
> - labels
>
>
> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> Posted from the new ixda.org
> http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=38736
>
>
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Terms Every IxD Should Know

[Chauncey Wilson]

Hello Dan,

Here are a few other terms:


Reliability
Validity
User profile
Open sort
Closed sort
Q-sort
Reverse sort
Hierarchical sort
QOC
Design rationale
User interface inspection
Use case
Pattern
Affinity diagram
Artifact analysis
Baseline
Beeper study
Diary study
Metaphor
Braindrawing
Claims analysis
Scenario-based design
Participatory design
Cognitive task analysis
Concept mapping
Ethnography
Internal validity
External validity
Greeking
Kano method
Parallel design
Participant observation
Rich picture
Sampling (stats)
Transparency
Triangulation
Wizard of OZ study

Chauncey





















On Sun, Feb 15, 2009 at 8:38 PM, Dan Saffer  wrote:

> At I09, there were a lot of calls for a vocabulary we can all understand,
> no matter what medium we're working in. As part of my "crowdsource the book"
> effort, I'd like to include these terms in the second edition of Designing
> for Interaction I'm currently working on.
>
> Here's the list I have. What else should be on here?
>
> 5-way
> Actuator
> Adaptation
> Affordance
> Agile
> Button
> Comparator
> Conditional
> Constraint
> Customization
> Deliverable
> Dial
> Direct Manipulation
> Drop-Down Menu
> Eye tracking
> Feedback
> Feedforward
> Indirect Manipulation
> Input
> Hover
> Jog Dial
> Latch
> Metadata
> Mockup
> Mode
> Output
> Persona
> Personalization
> Pixel-Perfect
> Prototype
> Sensor
> Service
> Slider
> Stakeholder
> State
> Switch
> Toggle
> Usability Testing
> Use Case
> Waterfall
> Widget
> Window
> Wireframe
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] To use a colon or not to use a colon after field labels

[Chauncey Wilson]

Hello Courtney,

The colon issue is one of the classic debates in UI design and it has raged
since the early 1990s.

I generally agree with Caroline, but if you have fields that are read-only
with no 3D appearance, the colon can serve as an indicator that some text
will follow.  The colon serves to differentiate label from text (since in
some cases there may be no text by the label and the label will look like a
lost piece of text).

Another consideration is whether you are following the particular style.  I
believe that the Vista guidelines call for a colon so if you are following
Vista, you might want to follow that style.

Chauncey




On Wed, Feb 11, 2009 at 12:55 PM, Jordan, Courtney wrote:

> Could anyone help me on the subject of whether to use colons after field
> labels. I have found one accessibility paper and a few other
> not-so-respected sources that indicate that colons after field labels
> help screen reader users, as well as normal vision users, to expect an
> input field. However, after years of including colons after field
> labels, our copy dept now maintains that a colon is punctuation and
> shouldn't be included after field labels. I've also found Jarrett's, "No
> one cares about colons but UX people" and Luke W doesn't mention it in
> his book :(.  Has anyone fought this battle before? Do you have any
> sources that you could point me to?
>
> Thanks in advance,
> Courtney Jordan
>
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Right-Click Actions in Web Applications (Enterprise)

[Chauncey Wilson]

The context (or pop-up) or right-click (as a default) menu was originally
created to reduce the amount of movement that a user had to make to activate
a function that would operate on text or objects. If, for example, you were
creating a large drawing, you could select an object at the bottom of your
screen and operate on that object without moving to the pull-down menu or
toolbar at the top of the screen.
As others have noted, the context menu was considered a shortcut, but for
some applications like graphics programs or project management tools, the
context menu was actually the primary way to access common functions.

Context menus were probably more designed for expert users as an efficiency
aid.  So, when using context menus with the Web, a web application, or a
software application, will those context menus actually reduce the effort?

One of the design principles for context menus was that only functions that
were available in the current context (e.g., a particular type of object was
selected) would be displayed - no disabled items, only active functions.
Over time, several variations of context menus started appearing:

1.  The lean, efficient menu with no disabled functions
2.  Context menus with a mix of enabled and disabled functions
3.  Hybrid context menus where part of the menu was static because it
applied to many cases and another part that was dynamic.
4.  Context menus with submenus

So, one question to ask when using context menus is whether they will
provide a more efficient user interface for an important sample of users.

I tested context menus in the 1980s when they were a new UI object and
helped write early specs and style guides that included context menus that
were activated by the secondary mouse button. The overriding goal was to
reduce physical work and improve efficiency.

Chauncey




On Tue, Feb 10, 2009 at 5:13 PM, Shimone Samuel wrote:

> Although less destructive, offering web users right click is like
> offering them keyboard shortcuts: you're counting on them to
> interact with your website uncommonly. While you may find a few power
> users who appreciate the enhancement, far fewer users will notice such
> a feature in the same way they might notice Search, RSS, or Contact
> for instance.
>
> With that said, right-click in a browser-based applications has
> potential if:
>
> a) it does not contain essential interactivity
> b) is clearly communicated to the user
> c) is available by other means (e.g. button, hyperlink)
>
> Adding enterprise to the equation is a bit different as that is an
> acutely targeted demographic. If the application is built for a
> specific company, the company has the option to educate their users
> directly.
>
>
> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> Posted from the new ixda.org
> http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=38441
>
>
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Theories/principles in interface design

[Chauncey Wilson]

This is a good topic.

Consider Fitts' law:
A mathematical law that predicts how long it takes to move from a starting
point to a target object of a particular size. Fitts' law has been applied
in UCD to tasks involving pointing at objects on the screen.

 and Hick's (or the Hick-Hyman) law (how long does it take to choose an item
from a menu).

There are a whole set of cognitive biases that influence our perception of
events. Here are two biases that con strongly influence design:

Availability – memorable items are weighted as more significant than
everyday items.

Re  Representativeness – people tend to overestimate the representativeness
of small samples.

Other biases can be found in Wikipedia at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_bias


Other principles of interest might be:

Theories and principles of vigilance (what are the issues around noticing
relatively rare events)

In this realm of social computing, there are a number of principles of
social psychology that are now being applied (consciously).  The whole set
of principles of persuasion and group influence and group formation applies
to all the social networking tools (see B.J. Fogg's book on persuasive
techologies).  Principles of social perception are quite important now.

A good reference for a wide range of principles that affect design is:


Lidwell, W., Holden, K., & Butler, J. *Universal principles of design: 100
ways to enhance usability, influence perception, increase appeal, make
better design decisions, and teach through design. *
There is a two page summary of each principle, a few key references and
examples.  Fun to read and the information is generally quite good.

The best sources for a good overview of a range of principles beyond visual
perception might be some of the classic graduate texts in human factors
like:

Wickens, C. D., Gordon, S. E., & Liu, Y. (1998).  *An introduction to human
factors engineering.* New York, NY: Addison-Wesley (Longman Imprint).



There is the most recent major textbook on Human Factors Engineering and is
an excellent reference for general human factors topics. There is a chapter
on basic HCI, but the real value comes from chapters on vision, cognition,
decision-making, display and control principles (some of the basic research
here on memory, layout, compatibility, labeling, and alerting is quite
relevant to software design and usability). There are also some good review
chapters on stress and workload, human error, and selection and training
(EPSS, adaptive training, performance support).

Colin Ware's book is very good.

Ware, C. (2000). *Information visualization: Perception for design.* San
Francisco, CA: Morgan Kaufmann.

Ware does a masterful job describing the mechanisms of attention,
perception, and sensory physiology. Complex topics like chromaticity
coordinates, gestalt principles, and texture coding are explained clearly
without sacrificing rigor. This book explains many of the principles that
are behind user interface guidelines like "don't use red and blue together"
and "don't rely solely on color coding".



Chauncey


On Thu, Feb 5, 2009 at 8:46 PM, oliver green  wrote:

> Other than Gestalt's principles what are some common design principles
> that are based on human sensory perception (not just visual but also
> memory, auditory, haptic etc.?)
>
> Thanks,
> Oliver
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] List ordering: alphabetical vs. logical?

[Chauncey Wilson]

Many menus have some kind of progressive disclosure, but they key to showing
a subset of items is knowing which items are of extremely high frequency -
which is possible for a copier but not always for complex software that
people might use in different ways or where there are different groups that
use different clusters of problems.  Of course, you could have role-based
progressive disclosure where the items you see are determined at login.

In the early days of GUIs, Apple tried to have"Novice" and "Expert" menus on
some of the core products, but that was scrapped because it was slightly
condescending and it was hard to define what "novices" and "experts" were.

The description of the SAS system is probably chunked into "most frequent"
at the top and then the rest in alphabetical order (usually repeating the
ones at the top).  This works well when you have good logging software or
know that the first 5 items cover say 80-90% of the choices that users wil
make.


Chauncey

On Wed, Feb 4, 2009 at 3:18 PM, Simon Clatworthy  wrote:

> I have seen combinations a few times. SAS airlines have a drop down
> list of destinations that is alphabetical (and very long) but have
> the major nordic destinations pulled out first as well.
> That makes it a hell of a lot easier to use:
>  - is my destination one of these 5
>  - if not, find it on the long list
>
> Isn't this really a use of the old photocopier rule: show a subset
> of options and hide the full functionality under a cover until
> needed?
>
> try it yourself  at www.sas.no
>
>
> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> Posted from the new ixda.org
> http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=38149
>
>
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] List ordering: alphabetical vs. logical?

[Chauncey Wilson]

There is a good discussion of ordering in the old, but classic book by
Deborah Mayhew, *Principles* and *Guidelines* in *Software* User Interface
Design.

The book has a nice if-then chart which highlights a rough way to choose how
to order items. The chart and guidelines are based on research into order
items.  Alphabetical ordering is generally used when the list if very long
and/or there is not better way to order the items. There is some research on
ordering of items in the ACM digital library if you have access to that.
Menus are often hybrid designs as Elizabeth notes where you have a general
structure that might be frequency of use, but within that structure use
other grouping schemes as well (like semantic similarity). General grouping
schemes include:

Alphabetical
Task order
Frequency
Numerical (font size)
De facto standard
Legal order
Complexity (simple to hard)
Semantic similarity
First-in, first out

This is a good topic since much of what we do is to organize things in an
order which helps understanding or makes us more efficient or supports easy
recollection.

Thanks,
Chauncey





On Wed, Feb 4, 2009 at 12:20 PM, Dmitry Nekrasovski
wrote:

> Does anyone know of any studies, tests, or standards of practice that
> discuss when to organize a list of items in alphabetical order vs.
> another designed order (such as one based on expected frequency of
> use)?
>
> I'm most interested in this topic for web site navigation, but
> applicable references for other contexts (e.g. menu design in desktop
> applications) would also be appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Dmitry
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Livescribe Pen / was: User Research: Three user groups, five hours. What would you do?

[Chauncey Wilson]

Hi Eva,I've been using the Pulse pen since it came out and find the pen and
the software quite good. I used it at our user conference and even gave it
to some users so they could describe something to me while they drew
diagrams.  I found the sound fine and there are some adjustments for
sensitivity and a special mike that you wear.  I like that you can use codes
to note where there was something useful.  The software allows you to speed
up the sound which is helpful and since you can bookmark or code good stuff,
the pen is quite useful and efficient.  The company is continually improving
the software and I believe you can now print your own paper on a laser
printer.  There is a version for the Mac as well as the PC.  I've been
experimenting with pen based systems for probably 15 years and this is the
first one that is truly useful.  You can buy them on sale at Target for $179
and buy nice looking black notebooks - lined or unlined.

Chauncey

On Tue, Feb 3, 2009 at 12:29 PM, Marijke Rijsberman <
mari...@interfacility.com> wrote:

> Yes. The automatic coding of the recording to the notes makes it completely
> worth it, even if the audio quality is disappointing.
>
> Marijke
>
> -Original Message-
> From: discuss-boun...@lists.interactiondesigners.com
> [mailto:discuss-boun...@lists.interactiondesigners.com] On Behalf Of Eva
> Kaniasty
> Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2009 9:23 AM
> To: disc...@ixda.org
> Subject: [IxDA Discuss] Livescribe Pen / was: User Research: Three user
> groups, five hours. What would you do?
>
> Anyone else use the livescribe pen?  Looks like pretty cool
> technology.  Is it worth the $$?
>
> -eva
>
> xda.org/help
>
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Usability Tools and Products

[Chauncey Wilson]

Seems like you are being a bit harsh Jared -- the equipment/tools do not
generate the predictions and bad predictions are often due to poor choice of
tasks, small samples, or lack of background in analysis and interpretation
methods.

I would suggest getting the new Pulse pen by Livescribe (www.livescribe.com)
that allows you to tape record as your take notes.  The software
highlights the association between your audio and your notes so you can do
things like have a symbol for "good quote" and then click on the symbol to
play the exact quote and not the paraphrase that so often happens
when someone talks quickly.  It is $179 at Target in the USA.  At out last
user conference, I had a user draw a sketch using the pen and narrating as
he drew and it was extremely useful.

 Other suggestions might be subscriptions to remote collaboration tools like
GoToMeeting, a good digital camera, and one of the new miniature and
relatively inexpensive video systems that run for about an hour or so and
have only a few buttons.

A good tripod can be useful for documenting your work nicely.

Chauncey
On Mon, Feb 2, 2009 at 12:27 PM, Jared Spool  wrote:

>
> On Feb 2, 2009, at 7:04 AM, Rony Philip wrote:
>
> Even in this recession time, I have been given a decent budget for my user
>> experience team. I have planned to invest in usability tools/ products
>> (assets) for our team. E.g. Eye tracker.
>>
>
> One of these days, I'm going to make a "Just Say No to Eye Trackers"
> t-shirt.
>
> How about a Ouija Board? They run about 1/3000 the price and produce just
> as good predictions of what works and what doesn't. (Hell, for that price,
> buy two.)
>
> :)
>
> Jared
>
> p.s. Better not just buy two Ouija boards. What if they don't agree? You
> need to buy 3, so that you can see which two are close to being the same
> answer. Now, this is getting expensive, not to mention the cost of the staff
> needed to run them.
>
>
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Tag clouds (and tagging)

[Chauncey Wilson]

Hello Maureen,

If you have access to the ACM Digital Library, you'll find some articles
that might be useful.  For example, here is one that has some information on
the visual properties of tag clouds:

Bateman, S., Gutwin, C., and Nacenta, M. 2008. Seeing things in the clouds:
the effect of visual features on tag cloud selections. In *Proceedings of
the Nineteenth ACM Conference on Hypertext and Hypermedia* (Pittsburgh, PA,
USA, June 19 - 21, 2008). HT '08. ACM, New York, NY, 193-202. DOI=
http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1379092.1379130

Here is a portion of the abstract:
"Tag clouds are a popular method for visualizing and linking
socially-organized information on websites. Tag clouds represent variables
of interest (such as popularity) in the visual appearance of the keywords
themselves - using text properties such as font size, weight, or colour.
Although tag clouds are becoming common, there is still little information
about which visual features of tags draw the attention of viewers. As tag
clouds attempt to represent a wider range of variables with a wider range of
visual properties, it becomes difficult to predict what will appear visually
important to a viewer. To investigate this issue, we carried out an
exploratory study that asked users to select tags from clouds that
manipulated nine visual properties. Our results show that font size and font
weight have stronger effects than intensity, number of characters, or tag
area; but when several visual properties are manipulated at once, there is
no one property that stands out above the others."

A few more Web references:

 Kasser, O., & Lemire, D. Tag-Cloud Drawing: Algorithms for Cloud
Visualization. Proc. Tagging and Metadata for Social Information
Organization Workshop. In conjunction with WWW '07. 10 pages. Available at
www2007.org/workshops/paper_12.pdf

Hassan-Montero, Y., & Herrero-Solana, V. Improving tag-clouds as visual
information retrieval interfaces. Proc. InfoSciT2006. 6 pages. Available at
http://www.nosolousabilidad.com/hassan/ improving_tagclouds.pdf

Zeldman, J. Tag clouds are the new mullets. Accessed Sept. 8, 2007.
http://www.zeldman.com/daily/0405d.shtml

You might deconstruct tag clouds into goals, objects, and attributes and
look at the consequences of changes in those items:

Number of items presented
Algorithms for sizing
Size difference to input difference
Color
Font
Ordering (alpha versus most frequent to least frequent)
Size of text
Goals and whether there is a user goal that calls for tag clouds
Degree of clutter of the cloud
Number of words allowed in an item in the cloud
Using other variables beside frequency to create the cloud
Adjusting the tag cloud (look at the cloud by gender/age/and other
variables.  I might be curious what items are popular with "Interaction
designers" for example.

Chauncey
..











On Thu, Jan 29, 2009 at 1:32 PM, USABILITY MEDIC
wrote:

> Hi All,
>
> Does anyone know of any resources regarding the drawbacks of tag clouds or
> the debate about their value versus their drawbacks.  I have a bee in my
> bonnet about them and would like write a point of view but want to do
> appropriate research first.  I found one previous thread herein and intend
> to google into the wee hours but if anyone can help shorten my research time
> by pointing me in a direction, I'd be most appreciative.
>
> And of course, if anyone in the group has opinions, they are most welcome
> as well J
>
> Thanks,
> Maureen
>
>
> Maureen Murphy
> President
>
>
>
>
>
>
> 516-670-8000
> www.usabilitymedic.com
>
>
>
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] What to do in an environment run by engineers??

[Chauncey Wilson]

I agree with Jared's comment that we should not be demonizing developers and
engaging in an us versus them battle.  I spent a few years as a development
manager and during my first week on the job when I reviewed my developers'
performance goals, discovered that there was not a single goal about good
design or usability - they were judged on good technical code, knowledge of
new software technologies, how well they fixed bugs, and how well they kept
to schedules.  I changed the job descriptions and performance goals of my
team and found that my developers became much more in tune with good design
and the importance of sketching and rough prototypes and usability issues
when the job performance had design and usability goals.  If we demonize a
group and use language that views that group as unchangeable, then we have
little hope of ever collaborating well because personality traits are
perceived by most people as less malleable than external factors like how
people are measured (this is spelled out in much research in social
psychology in the area of attribution theory).
 Chauncey

On Mon, Jan 26, 2009 at 7:04 PM, Samantha LeVan  wrote:

> I agree with Jared and Josh. There's no use arguing back and forth.
> Stop and take a deep breath and think about the other side. Rather
> than presenting a new idea as being better, ask the engineers about
> their ideas. What do they believe works best and why? Getting to
> their rationale might inspire an entirely new idea that was a
> collaborative effort, one that can be shared and embraced by the team
> instead of an idea from one side to the other.
>
>
> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> Posted from the new ixda.org
> http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=37605
>
>
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Living the Job >> Enterprise UX Research by Doing (vs. Observation)

[Chauncey Wilson]

A good overview of participant observation can be found in the book
"Participant Observation" by James P. Spradley.  The book discusses
different levels of participation and the ethical and data collection and
interpretation issues that emerge with differing levels of
participation. The book describe a general procedure for participant
observation starting out with how to locate the observation situation, how
to choose the level of participation, how to make description observations,
how to make domain analyses and focused observations, how to take a cultural
inventory, and how to write up the overal results of the participant
observation study.

Spradley, J. P. (1980). Participant observation. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace
College Publishers.

Another small handbook (one of the Sage series on methods) that deals with
overt and participant observation is:

Jorgensen, D. L. (1989).  Participant observation: A methodology for human
studies. Sage Publications.

As part of one of my jobs, I had to listen to a day's worth of support calls
with a member of the support team and when "how to" questions came up on on
a product I was working on, the tech support person would bring me into the
call.  It was very difficult and some people were outraged and you had to
calm them down first.  I gained a tremendous amount of respect for tech
support as a result of a few days of being on the line with them.

Chauncey

On Thu, Jan 22, 2009 at 11:00 AM, christine chastain <
chastain.christ...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Participant observation is well documented in anthropological literature so
> I may have a look there. There are, of course, issues with this
> methodology,
> like all others. Mainly, they are of the ethical kind - how not to
> influence
> the observed, whether or not to let them know that you are participating in
> order to observe them or not, whether you should interfere in interactions
> that are uncomfortable for you or unethical in your eyes (domestic
> violence,
> drug dealing, etc.), etc. Just a heads up because I have seen, in my own
> work, that these issues do have an influence on outcomes.
>
> Also, self-reporting techniques are useful in conjunction with participant
> observation. That way, you can be a bit more sure that it isn't your
> perception of participation that feeds the analysis.
>
> Cheers,
> Christine
>
> On Thu, Jan 22, 2009 at 8:22 AM, Joshua Ayers  >wrote:
>
> > I've never heard of anyone doing this, but I have to agree that it is
> > an excellent idea. Having personas to help develop applications is one
> > thing, but to actually take on the role of a potential user is even
> > better!
> >
> >
> > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> > Posted from the new ixda.org
> > http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=37492
> >
> >
> > 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Designing for keyboard-oriented users

[Chauncey Wilson]

This is an interesting note since keyboard design to support high-volume
users where errors can be catastrophic is not all that common though there
are still many, many users like yours and order-entry clerks, and sales
professionals, who use tools not to mention tech support personnel.

Some really basic things and later this weekend, I'll try to dig up some of
my references on keyboard design issues:

1.  Preventing errors.  I've worked with traders and they move quickly so
you want to avoid having high-frequency "save" keyboard functions adjacent
to low-frequency, but destructive keys.  You want to avoid bad one-off
errors.
2.  Awkward combinations of shortcut keys that require a stretch or that
result in undue crossing.
3.  Mnemonic value
4.  Data entry forms and data validation (don't interrupt too much with
inline validation)
5.  Lag times and typeahead problems
6.  Consistency among their specialized apps and with standard apps
7.  Feedback for key operations that allows the user to start again after an
interruption (of which there are many)
8.  Data logs would be quite useful here.
9.  The GOMS KLM model could be quite helpful in your work since you can
model keystroke and mouse operations and get estimate of tasks times early
in design.
10. The design of all forms and use of keyboard efficient widgets.  For
example, instead of yes/no/maybe radio buttons, you would just use a text
field since they would quickly learn the 3 codes.
11.  The use of efficient and consistent codes for text entry where you
don't want to force mouse-focused widgets on the users.
12.  Consistent rules for assignment of keyboard accelerators, shortcuts,
function keys.

Chauncey

I'll dig up some references

On Thu, Jan 22, 2009 at 12:32 PM, Douglas Hollinger <
doughollin...@hotmail.com> wrote:

>
> I'm putting together a discovery and research plan for improving the
> usability of an equities direct trading application. The primary users of
> the application are day traders, and because they need to act quickly to
> dynamics in the market in real time, they tend to be very keyboard-oriented.
> They are constantly scanning across multiple screens/views and don't like to
> take their hands off the keyboard to use a mouse.
>
> Thus, as we look to improve the interface and functionality of the
> application, we need to keep mouse usage to an absolute minimum. The traders
> like to use hotkeys and shortcuts to execute standard commands. In addition,
> they would like the ability to execute more complex workflows by setting up
> customizable hotkey shortcuts. Any new UI will need to accommodate this
> behavior.
> Has anyone developed for this kind of environment and specialized user
> group? Are you aware of related research that might be helpful in terms of
> designing for keyboard-oriented users?
> Thanks in advance for any advice.
>
> Doug
> _
> Hotmail(R) goes where you go. On a PC, on the Web, on your phone.
>
> http://www.windowslive-hotmail.com/learnmore/versatility.aspx#mobile?ocid=TXT_TAGHM_WL_HM_versatility_121208
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Long list with multi-select

[Chauncey Wilson]

Hi,
A few questions and comments here:

1.  What is the frequency of use of the long-list-selector mechanism?  Is
this something that will be a rare task or one where people will be using
many times a day?
2.  How long is long?
3.  Will the items have more than on attribute on which you might want to
search?
4.  You might want to brainstorm on metaphors where there are many items in
some kind of list.
5.  How many items might be in an average sample?
6.  Will the first letter or "starts with" search approach work or will
users possibly remember something that is "contained" in the list item.
7.  Do you operate on the items in any way other than selecting them
(delete, rename, etc.)?

Chauncey


On Tue, Jan 20, 2009 at 2:51 PM, Rachel  wrote:

> I'm looking for a solutions for a form that includes a very long list of
> items, where user needs to select one or more items in the list. User needs
> to have a sense of what has been selected (or number of items that have
> been
> selected). User needs to be able to jump quickly to items in the list that
> they want.
>
> Traditionally, this is solved by a listbox where multiple items can be
> selected (using Ctrl-Click). Or the pattern that Tidwell calls "List
> Builder" that has 2 listboxes - you pick items from box on the left and
> click an arrow button to move them to the right, so you can easily see what
> you've selected (Example:
> http://welie.com/patterns/showPattern.php?patternID=parts-selector)
>
> I think that these are difficult to use, and it is hard to navigate to the
> item you are interested in. And the List Builder takes up a lot of real
> estate.
>
> Do you have examples of good alternatives?
>
> One option we are considering is putting the list of items is in an iframe,
> alphabetically sorted, with a checkbox next to each item. There could be a
> "jump to" text entry field above it. As you type in letters, the list jumps
> down to the first item that starts with those letters. You can
> check/uncheck
> items. There would be a way to check all or uncheck all items. Above the
> list it would say how many items are selected. Does anyone have examples of
> something like this?
>
> Thanks!
> Rachel
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] How many alternatives, concepts, or sketches are enough?

[Chauncey Wilson]

Persuasion and passion are important and I'm seeing more references to
principles of persuasion in design discussions (for example the work of
Cialdini).  In fact, a solid grounding in persuasion principles should be
part of our professional training. I wrote an essay on the use of persuasive
techniques for usability practitioners in 2007 issue of the
ACM interactions.  Methods (or more accurately, the output of methods which
can be qualitative or quantitative) should, as you say, provide data and
interpretations for discussion and debate and different methods can even
provide different sides of the problem (method triangulation).

I profoundly dislike the autocratic application of "standard" methods and
like to consider how different methods can examine different angles to a
problem.  For example, you wrote an excellent essay on how to run
brainstorming sessions.  Group brainstorming is a complex social environment
and hard to do well.  There is another technique called brainwriting (which
you might have written about) which can be used to gather input when groups
are shy or there are political concerns or you have a mix of old and new
people.  The brainwriting method can complement group brainstorming and
often provides an outlet for those who may be anxious in a group setting.

So, methods and their output should be used to expose a range of issues,
contribute to debate and discussion, and support the triangulation of data
that will reduce risk to stakeholders and eventually customers.

I very much enjoyed your brainstorming write-up by the way and reference it
in a chapter that I've written on brainstorming, brainwriting, and
braindrawing.

thanks,
Chauncey

On Mon, Jan 19, 2009 at 3:01 PM, Scott Berkun  wrote:

> True - you didn't - Sorry for criticizing you for something you did not say
> :)
>
> My bias is against teams pretending to quantify the unquantifiable. I like
> opinions. I like things that designers believe but can not prove
> mathematically, but can explain through argument. Any decision making
> process that doesn't make use of conviction, persuasion and passion is one
> I
> doubt will work out well.
>
> Decision models/methods are great provided they're fodder - that they're
> used to help the discussion and debate, but not to replace it. Too often
> managers becomes slaves to methods, and they follow them to the letter
> because of the temptation to dodge their responsibility to think and be
> accountable: they can blame the method. Or in the case of pure democratic
> method, blame the team (You voted for it!). Methods can can easily
> encourage
> the tolerance for design-by-committee type decisions.
>
> So in the case of "how many alternatives", I'm a huge advocate of
> delegating
> the design decisions to the point where a small group of people (possibly
> one), can easily figure this out for themselves - based on the resources
> they have, divided by the short ordered list of which design decisions are
> most important. If no such list exists, they should be motivated to make
> one.
>
> If power is distributed well, you're less likely to need a "method".
>
> -Scott
>
> Scott Berkun
> www.scottberkun.com
>
>  _
>
> From: Chauncey Wilson [mailto:chauncey.wil...@gmail.com]
> Sent: Monday, January 19, 2009 11:44 AM
> To: Scott Berkun
> Cc: disc...@ixda.org
> Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] How many alternatives, concepts, or sketches
> are
> enough?
>
>
> You make a good point though I didn't specifically mention equal voting at
> all.  You could have a small group who, as you say, have their necks on the
> line or you could have private voting of the 10 top designers in the
> country
> using polling software or you could generate criteria and have your small
> group use the criteria as a starting point for a deeper discussion of the
> type you suggest. You mention listing the criteria on the board which is a
> great starting point, because many groups fail to explicitly identify
> criteria that they are using (that method sounds like the QOC method -
> Questions-Options-Criteria - that is described in the "design rationale"
> literature.)  \
>  
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] How many alternatives, concepts, or sketches are enough?

[Chauncey Wilson]

You make a good point though I didn't specifically mention equal voting at
all.  You could have a small group who, as you say, have their necks on the
line or you could have private voting of the 10 top designers in the country
using polling software or you could generate criteria and have your small
group use the criteria as a starting point for a deeper discussion of the
type you suggest. You mention listing the criteria on the board which is a
great starting point, because many groups fail to explicitly identify
criteria that they are using (that method sounds like the QOC method -
Questions-Options-Criteria - that is described in the "design rationale"
literature.)

Some time ago, I worked with a group of people who necks were on the line
and the use of a group Q-sort on the dimension of 'project risk" for
particular requirements worked much as you described with the different
items getting much discussion among respected team members and then getting
placed into low, medium, and high risks. The discussion for each item often
elaborated on what was risky for the different representatives.

Chauncey



On Mon, Jan 19, 2009 at 1:59 PM, Scott Berkun  wrote:

>
> All of these methods you listed strike me as limiting in they emphasize
> equal voting - often I don't believe everyone deserves an equal vote.
> Heretical perhaps, but I'd much rather let a small number of people who
> will
> be held accountable for the final design entirely drive these explorations.
> It's their necks on the line. They should at least win or lose on their own
> intuitions.
>
> Having people vote on one sentence, or one sketch, descriptions of ideas is
> always a crap-shoot: people are heavily biased to the ideas they're
> familiar
> with, and they can't be equally familiar with all the ideas.
>
> With a pile of 50 ideas and only time to explore 5,  I'd sit down with the
> three or four people most accountable for the final result and talk it out.
> I would depend on intuition, debate and persuasion more than any sort of
> numerical/polling/ranking system.
>
> If I did anything "methody", which I'd try to avoid, I do one of two
> things:
>
> 1) Have a list of criteria, or project goals, or desirable attributes up on
> the whiteboard during that discussion to help us frame our opinions.
>
> 2) Make the goal to pick one high risk idea, three medium risk ideas, and
> one low risk idea. This frames the problem of picking alternatives as a
> risk
> portfolio, where our goal is to distribute the creative risks in some way.
> This makes it ok to advocate a crazy idea, since that's desirable to fit
> the
> high risk slot.
>
> But most importantly, if I didn't have the power to grant this much
> authority to those 3 people, my real problem is political, not the quest
> for
> the perfect number of alternatives.
>
> -Scott
>
> Scott Berkun
> www.scottberkun.com
>
>
> -Original Message-
> From: discuss-boun...@lists.interactiondesigners.com
> [mailto:discuss-boun...@lists.interactiondesigners.com] On Behalf Of
> Chauncey Wilson
> Sent: Monday, January 19, 2009 10:26 AM
> To: christine chastain
> Cc: Dave Malouf; disc...@ixda.org
> Subject: Re: [IxDA Discuss] How many alternatives, concepts,or sketches are
> enough?
>
> I would be curious to hear what tools colleagues do use for prioritization
> of ideas.  The key issue here is what the criteria are for choosing ideas.
> In the early stages of ideation, the criteria might be different for
> choosing what to consider further (the 10 ideas out of 300) versus what to
> consider when you move into detailed design.
>
> Some general methods for prioritization are:
>
> 1.  The monetary method where a sample of people are given a fixed amount
> of
> "money", a list of ideas or requirements along with their relative costs
> and
> then asked to "buy" the things of most value.
> 2.  The criterion matrix where you list the criteria (weighted or
> unweighted) and then calculate a score with the top scores meeting more of
> the criteria.
> 3.  Q-sorting where you ask people to sort on an important criteria on a
> scale ranging from low to high.
> 4.  Private voting for the best ideas
> 5.  Public voting for the best ideas (red dots on the best ideas) 6.
> Consensus 7.  Decision by a leader 8.  Decision by another group 9.  The
> target method (good for a first cut between good and not-good idea)
>
>  
> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
> To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org
> Unsubscribe  http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe
> List Guidelin

Re: [IxDA Discuss] How many alternatives, concepts, or sketches are enough?

[Chauncey Wilson]

I would be curious to hear what tools colleagues do use for prioritization
of ideas.  The key issue here is what the criteria are for choosing ideas.
In the early stages of ideation, the criteria might be different for
choosing what to consider further (the 10 ideas out of 300) versus what to
consider when you move into detailed design.

Some general methods for prioritization are:

1.  The monetary method where a sample of people are given a fixed amount of
"money", a list of ideas or requirements along with their relative costs and
then asked to "buy" the things of most value.
2.  The criterion matrix where you list the criteria (weighted or
unweighted) and then calculate a score with the top scores meeting more of
the criteria.
3.  Q-sorting where you ask people to sort on an important criteria on a
scale ranging from low to high.
4.  Private voting for the best ideas
5.  Public voting for the best ideas (red dots on the best ideas)
6.  Consensus
7.  Decision by a leader
8.  Decision by another group
9.  The  target method (good for a first cut between good and not-good idea)

In braindrawing exercises, the design team would look at lots of sketches
and mark ideas that seem worth pursuing which would be consensus or voting
and would then have a product team do a second level of prioritization on
specific criteria.

What other techniques do people use?  This is something that doesn't seem to
get discussed much.

Chauncey

On Mon, Jan 19, 2009 at 12:41 PM, christine chastain <
chastain.christ...@gmail.com> wrote:

> More than the issue of "how many ideas", I always end up without adequate
> prioritization mechanisms/tools by which to decide alternatives to choose
> for inclusion in the iteration process.
>
> On Mon, Jan 19, 2009 at 7:31 AM, Dave Malouf  wrote:
>
> > I take the pop-corn in the microwave approach to this. take it out
> > when the pops start to happen infrequently. But as Jonas says usually
> > other factors create limitations before this.
> >
> > BTW, sketching/exploration, is not to create "alternatives" and
> > "iterations" but is a ideation generation process. Even though you
> > do 100 sketches, only 10 concrete ideas may come out of the process.
> >
> > -- dave
> >
> >
> > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> > Posted from the new ixda.org
> > http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=37356
> >
> >
> > 
> > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
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> >
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[IxDA Discuss] New Book: Practical Prototyping with Excel

[Chauncey Wilson]

Nevin Berger, MIchael Arent, Jonathan Arnowitz, and Fred Sampson have
a new book out:

Berger, N., Arent, M., Arnowitz, J.,  Sampson, F. (2009) Effective
prototyping with Excel: A practical handbook for developers and
designers. Amsterdam: Morgan Kaufmann.

Excel is not often mentioned as a prototyping tool in the
UX/Interaction design community, but it can be a powerful tool for
generating  active forms, wireframes with links, and medium or
high-fidelity prototypes. Using Excel for prototyping can be tricky
because you have a graphics layer and a spreadsheet layer, but this
book provides practical advice about how to make use of both the
graphics and the calculation features in Excel.

Chauncey

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Re: [IxDA Discuss] A Study on how End User's perceive change

[Chauncey Wilson]

It might interesting to brainstorm the variables here.  For example:

1.  Feature delta - how many new features are added?
2.  How many old features have new interaction mechanisms?
2a. How many old features are in new places?
3.  What types of transition support is available to the participants
4.  What are the consequences of errors for users (for example, in a
series of bank mergers where there was a migration from one banking
system to another, there were many problems including $20,000 that we
had in the bank that was lost for 3 days!)?
5.  How loyal are the users?
6.  Do people perceive some long-run benefit that will sustain them
through the initial learning curve?
7.  How consistent are the basic interaction mechanisms between the
products (for example, do they follow the OS guidelines - Apple used
to be an enforcer of their guidelines and that generally made
transitions easier; MS was a bit looser.

Chauncey

On Thu, Jan 8, 2009 at 4:28 PM, shashank raval  wrote:
> Hey guys,
> I am planning a study which aims to answer how end user's perceive change.
> 'Change' here could be upgrading of a software ( e.g. MS word 2003 to MS
> word 2007), OS, switching between similar applications (e.g. MS Expression
> Web to Dreamweaver) etc. I am currently trying to find similar studies from
> backgrounds such as Behavioral Psych, Computer Science, HCI etc.
>
> Has anyone conducted similar studies? Could anyone point me to any
> studies/books/papers that could be related to this?
>
> Thanks!
> Shashank
> MS-HCI @ Georgia Tech
>
>
> --
> cheers...!!!
> shashank...
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Ux Trends to watch out for in 2009

[Chauncey Wilson]

At the Boston UPA mini-conference last year, we brought this issue up
because people in Boston had reached a point of saturation with
meetings of the myriad organizations in Boston.  There was a fairly
strong sentiment that we could do some collapsing of organizations or
at least having multiple organizations do things that are of general
interest as joint events. This problem may only be prevalent in
relatively high-density areas like Boston, but last year many people
started to wear out (with mostly high-quality events and speakers).

Thanks,
Chauncey

On Wed, Jan 14, 2009 at 9:31 AM, Caroline Jarrett
 wrote:
> Chauncey Wilson
>>
>> Here is another prediction:
>
>> Growing frustration about the continuing splitting of communities (IA, UX,
> information design, HF, UI design, usability, CHI, IxDA,) results in the
> merging or re-integration of communities.
>
> I wish you were right but I don't think so. We're all still very tiny groups
> (the biggest is only a few thousand), and there are few barriers to setting
> up another group. If someone feels that a particular group isn't precisely
> right for their particular interests then it's easy to use any of the many
> social networking and other methods to set up a new one.
>
> It's only when you see a professional group get pretty big that the
> advantages of staying in it, but with slightly different interests, start to
> outweigh the benefits of a group that's 'just right'. My estimate: at least
> 10,000. Then what happens is that you get SIGs setting up - within the
> bigger grouping. And indeed: closing down again, as interests change.
>
> Even IEEE, one of the biggest there is at over 300,000, has a stable of
> specialist groups that changes somewhat. Some of those groups are themselves
> bigger than the whole UX community put together.
>
> Finally, what does it matter? One of the joys of the internet is that people
> with highly specific interests can find each other. Forms specialists, say.
>
> Best
> Caroline Jarrett
>
>

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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Ux Trends to watch out for in 2009

[Chauncey Wilson]

Here is another prediction:

Growing frustration about the continuing splitting of communities (IA,
UX, information design, HF, UI design, usability, CHI, IxDA,) results
in the merging or re-integration of communities.

Chauncey

On Wed, Jan 14, 2009 at 5:31 AM, Daniel Szuc  wrote:
> Here is one : User Experience and Customer Experience to become even
> more adopted terms in industry (without the industry fully
> understanding what make up these terms and why its important)
>
> So here is a second: The UX community (independent of your stripes -
> IA, IXD, Usability blah blah) to do more in the way of educating the
> market outside of our comfortable communities as to what it is and
> how to implement the thinking into organizations.
>
> And finally a third: Working out how we can all work in tandem to
> help with number two above.
>
> rgds,
> Dan
>
>
> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> Posted from the new ixda.org
> http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=37096
>
>
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] RE : Re: Ux Trends to watch out for in 2009

[Chauncey Wilson]

It has been a long time since I have heard a reference to Magnus,
robot fighter (I  have the 1st issue from 1963 I think.  I still have
a few issues of the Magnus comic books in my attic and he was a hero
of mine :-). I always thought that the ability to destroy metal with
one's hands was a useful skill.  There have been advances in robot
technology and a recent TV show that focused on the ethical issues
around the use of robotic technology.

So, perhaps there is a serious issue about the user experience
associated with robotic technology.

Chauncey

On Tue, Jan 13, 2009 at 3:28 PM, Alain  wrote:
> Sorry, the flying cars, along with "Online Banking that doesn't
> frustrate" will not be around untill 4,000 AD. Magnus, robot fighter
> will also be there in case of general robot nastiness.
>
> Alain Vaillancourt
>
> --- Jared Spool  a écrit :
>
>> Flying cars!
>> Online Banking that doesn't frustrate!
>>
>
>
>
>  Découvrez les styles qui font sensation sur Yahoo! Québec Avatars.
> http://cf.avatars.yahoo.com/
>

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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Ux Trends to watch out for in 2009

[Chauncey Wilson]

There is a book out with a history of jet packs - I'll dig out the reference.

The latest issue of the IEEE Spectrum has the best and worst of new
technology.  "Brainwave user interfaces for games" got a loser award
because 1.  they barely worked and 2. it took thirty seconds to fire a
weapon.

Chauncey

On Tue, Jan 13, 2009 at 12:54 PM, Jared Spool  wrote:
> Jet Packs!
> Flying cars!
> Online Banking that doesn't frustrate!
>
> On Jan 13, 2009, at 9:47 AM, Chauncey Wilson wrote:
>
>> How about
>>
>> Explicit persuasive design comes of age
>> The repertory grid method becomes a primary tool for understanding
>> user experience
>> Brain wave user interfaces make a big leap
>> Moral user interface design makes headway (e.g., systems that remind
>> us of carbon footprints)
>> The field argues much about what Sustainable design means for UX
>> The current generation finally discovers that not everything should be
>> discussed or illustrated on social networking tools.
>> Metaphor brainstorming becomes a common tool in the UX practitioner's
>> toolbox
>>
>> Chauncey
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Jan 13, 2009 at 9:30 AM,   wrote:
>>>
>>> Anyone got any ideas? I tried looking amongst the mailing lists and
>>> boards
>>> but all I really discovered was noise (Again) about the mobile
>>> interaction
>>> tipping-point, semantic will/web and gestural interfaces.
>>>
>>> Has anyone seen a good article or blog post prophesising about the year
>>> ahead?
>>>
>>> John.
>

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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Ux Trends to watch out for in 2009

[Chauncey Wilson]

How about

Explicit persuasive design comes of age
The repertory grid method becomes a primary tool for understanding
user experience
Brain wave user interfaces make a big leap
Moral user interface design makes headway (e.g., systems that remind
us of carbon footprints)
The field argues much about what Sustainable design means for UX
The current generation finally discovers that not everything should be
discussed or illustrated on social networking tools.
Metaphor brainstorming becomes a common tool in the UX practitioner's toolbox

Chauncey


On Tue, Jan 13, 2009 at 9:30 AM,   wrote:
> Anyone got any ideas? I tried looking amongst the mailing lists and boards
> but all I really discovered was noise (Again) about the mobile interaction
> tipping-point, semantic will/web and gestural interfaces.
>
> Has anyone seen a good article or blog post prophesising about the year
> ahead?
>
> John.
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] 10 Most Common Misconceptions About User Experience Design

[Chauncey Wilson]

This is a good post Thanks Whitney.

A comment on your point 5.

5. … not just about the user-- very good point.  Any design is a
balancing act among the range of stakeholders where the user might be
the most import stakeholder, but other stakeholders also have input
including lawyers, financial officers, suppliers, advertisers,
journalist (including now bloggers), 3rd parties whose products work
with yours, resellers, the product design team, the dev team, QA, etc.
 Your reminder is a good one that design is not all about the user --
I like to use the word "stakeholder" here.

Thanks for sending out the link.

Chauncey




On Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 9:02 PM, Whitney Hess  wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> Just wanted to share an article I wrote titled ³10 Most Common
> Misconceptions About User Experience Design² that was published today on
> Mashable.
>
> http://mashable.com/2009/01/09/user-experience-design/
>
> I really look forward to hearing your thoughts.
>
> Thank you, and thanks to everyone who helped make the article possible,
> Whitney
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Peer Review in User Experience Design

[Chauncey Wilson]

There are a number of books and articles on formal walkthroughs and
inspections that might be relevant.  The books have detailed procedures for
planning, conducting, and analyzing the output of these sessions.

Chauncey


Freedman, D. P., Weinberg, G. W. (1990). Handbook of walkthroughs,
inspections, and technical reviews: Evaluating programs, projects, and
products (Third Edition).New York, NY: Dorset House Publishing.



Gunn, C. (1995). An Example of Formal Usability Inspections in Practice at
Hewlett-Packard Company. CHI'95 Proceedings Interactive Posters.



IEEE Std 1028-1997. (1999). I Standard for software reviews. IEEE
Standards Software Engineering. New York: The Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineerings, Inc.



Kahn, M.K., & Prail, A., (1994). Formal Usability Inspections in J.Nielsen
and R. L. Mack, (Eds.). *Us- ability Inspection Methods. *John Wiley & Sons,
Inc. New York. 141-171.



Lockwood, L., & Constantine, L. (2003). Usability by Inspection:
Collaborative Techniques for Software and Web Applications. Retrieved from
http://www.foruse.com/articles/inspections2003.pdf.



Nielsen, J., & Mack, R. L. (Eds.). *Usability Inspection Methods. *John
Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York.



Wiegers, K. E. (2002). Peer reviews in software: A practical guide. Boston,
MA: Addison-Wesley.



Wheeler, David A. (Ed.), Software Inspection : An Industry Best
Practice,
1996, IEEE Computer Society, ISBN: 0818673



On Mon, Jan 12, 2009 at 9:03 AM, Danny Hope  wrote:

> On 06/01/2009, Robert Powers  wrote:
> > Anyone have a set of guidelines or suggested best practices with peer
> review
> > in UXD?
>
> The UX Brighton group has used Scott Berkun's 'How to Run a Design
> Critique' as a basis for several crit session meetups:
>
> http://www.scottberkun.com/essays/23-how-to-run-a-design-critique/
>
> --
> Regards,
> Danny Hope
> http://linkedin.com/in/dannyhope
> 07595 226 792
>  
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] prevention, prediction and wellness

[Chauncey Wilson]

This might be off on somewhat of a tangent, but there are tools to indicate
risk, but then there are all the cognitive biases that affect how people
perceive risk in the social and cognitive psychology.  The work of Tversky
and Kahneman and others on biases like the salience bias where perceptions
of risk are influenced by the salience of related events.  For example, a
person who just had someone die from a medical condition is likely to view
risk differently.
I'm not near my references now, but if this seems relevant, I can provide
some more detailed references.

Good topic and interesting research.
Chauncey

On Sat, Jan 10, 2009 at 12:24 PM, christine chastain <
chastain.christ...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Good morning!
>
> Thanks to those that responded to me offline and I'm sorry I have been so
> nebulous however I wanted to see what  - anything - that would come back
> with such a broad, undefined question.
>
> I work for the Innovation Center at the Mayo Clinic and also as a
> researcher
> on various clinical trials. I am very active in the prevention and
> prediction space i.e. how can we study the use of prevention and prediction
> tools and then develop better or entirely different tools that
> enable patients, providers and the larger community to understand risk and
> actively participate in their healthcare.
>
> We have a number of prototypes up and running in various areas, the most
> interesting in genomic testing and family history. I'd be interested in
> work
> that has been done in this area in the past - these do NOT have to be
> healthcare related necessarily. These could be risk/prediction models of
> any
> kind and any research or first-hand knowledge that has been successful or
> not in the past.
>
> Thanks again!
> Christine
>
> On Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 3:56 PM, Andrew Boyd  >wrote:
>
> > Thanks for asking the question, David :)
> >
> > I spent a couple of years in the health space myself - I think Christine
> > might be using wellness in the holistic health/preventative medicine
> sense.
> >
> > Cheers, Andrew
> >
> >
> > On Sat, Jan 10, 2009 at 10:17 AM, David Shaw  >wrote:
> >
> >> Can you define "prevention, prediction, wellness"?  I do work in the
> >> healthcare space, but I don't know if what I do fits what you are
> looking
> >> to
> >> find out.
> >>
> >> Thanks,
> >> David
> >>
> >> On Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 3:01 PM, christine chastain <
> >> chastain.christ...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> > Hi all,
> >> >
> >> > Happy new year!
> >> >
> >> > Has anyone or is anyone working on or know anyone working in the
> >> > prevention,
> >> > prediction and wellness space? If so, I'd like to connect.
> >> >
> >> > Thanks much - Christine
> >> > 
> >> > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
> >> > To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org
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> >> >
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> "Making peoples lives easier daily... since 1969"
> >>
> >> w: http://spinjunkey.wordpress.com
> >>  
> >> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
> >> To post to this list ... disc...@ixda.org
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> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > ---
> > Andrew Boyd
> > http://uxcommunity.org -- User Experience Community
> > http://uxbookclub.org -- connect, read, discuss
> >
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Product design 101 primer?

[Chauncey Wilson]

You might want to introduce the concept of the Rich Picture (or Stakeholder
diagram) that shows the wide range of stakeholders which can include:
 designers, developers managers, senior executives, support, 3rd parties
involved iwth the product, journalist who write about the product, lawyers,
competitors (an odd type of stakeholder in that the quality of your product
will affect your competitors), regulators (standards bodies or medical
organizations for example), etc.  Sometimes we focus on "user-centered"
design and forget the wider range of stakeholders who often have an impact
on our ability to design.  There is a good article by Monk and Howard in a
past version of the ACM interactions magazine. It is a simple technique, but
very useful in examining the concerns of the various stakeholders.
Chauncey

On Thu, Jan 8, 2009 at 6:34 PM, Peyush Agarwal wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> A friend of mine who is going to begin pursuing an executive MBA program
> has asked me the following on behalf of his class -
>
> "...As a user of so many products (websites, appliances, electronics,
> furniture etc.), at times i feel frustrated that how could the product
> makers miss out on such a basic feature or get it wrong. A lot of us would
> end up in marketing, product development or interfacing with customers.
> Would you be able to give this group some sort of primer on product design
> (101)? If you can come up with a PPT over the next few weeks, i think it
> would help a lot of us in seeing things from a user perspective..."
>
> I'll be sending him stuff, not presenting in person. This is that one time
> I have an opportunity to introduce to his class the concept and process of
> productizing via a UCD process. As he says, these guys will control many
> aspects of product creation in the future, and I really want to communicate
> to them among other things, a) what product design is, b)the importance of
> understanding the user in a non-focus-group based way, and c) how is it done
> (that there exists a system to do it, and people who specialize in this
> etc.). This is not just software product related, but product creation in
> general.
>
> BTW, I shared this article with him -
> http://interactions.acm.org/content/?p=1205 which sparked the
> conversation. So I think they already have some exposure to the notion that
> product design needs to be contextual.
>
> I'm looking for suggestions on possible slide-shares, ideas to include,
> stuff that's important to talk about to this particular audience etc.
>
> Thank you
> -Peyush
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Thinking about an "abuser" and not only a "user"

[Chauncey Wilson]

Hi Alan,
There is no problem with separating scenarios into those that result from
malicious intent versus actions with no true malicious intent.  From the
perspective of the owner though the results could be the same from
intentional or unintentional behaviors. My thought is that we need to
consider a set of scenarios that include:

Normal scenarios
What-if scenarios
Misuse scenarios
Exception scenarios

Chauncey

On Thu, Jan 8, 2009 at 4:27 PM, Alan Wexelblat  wrote:

> On Thu, Jan 8, 2009 at 3:01 PM, Chauncey Wilson
>  wrote:
> > Designers need to consider misuse scenarios in planning.
>
> I tend to agree but I think we need to separate two concerns:
>
> One is "how should the system respond to out-of-bounds information".
> Putting a heavy child on a postal scale, for example.
> Two is "how should the system respond to behavior that may be
> malicious." Ripping the scale out of the kiosk, for example.
>
> In considering the design of a whole system both factors should be
> considered to some degree but I'm uncomfortable with mixing the two
> up.
>
> Best regards,
> --Alan
>

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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Thinking about an "abuser" and not only a "user"

[Chauncey Wilson]

Designers need to consider misuse scenarios in planning.  Here is brief note
that I wrote up about misuse (and related) scenarios for my class on
scenarios:

"While many scenarios focus on actions leading to the successful or
unsuccessful completion of user goals, there are also scenarios that you
might call "misuse scenarios" where you describe ways that your system is
abused or mishandled. Take the case of a postal kiosk in a mall. Scenarios
that could affect the success of your system could include common misuse
scenarios like vandals who pour glue into the payment and postage openings
or well-intentioned customers who put heavy packages (or chubby children) on
the postal scale while rummaging through their purses or wallets for credit
cards to pay for the postage. Misuse scenarios can be developed from field
interviews, technical support databases, and "misuse workshops" where
stakeholders brainstorm how bad things that a user can do to your system.
Related scenario types include "exception scenarios" where there is an
analysis of what could go wrong at various steps in a process and "obstacle
scenarios"  that describe things that might hinder progress toward a goal.


There is a book that anyone interested in scenarios should consider by
Alexander (2004).  It has some examples of misuse scenarios.



Alexander, I. (2004). Negative scenarios and misuse cases. In I. F.
Alexander, & N. Maiden (Eds.) *Scenarios, stories, use cases through the
systems development life cycle.* New York, NY: Wiley, pp. 119-139.

Chauncey
On Thu, Jan 8, 2009 at 10:11 AM,  wrote:

> I am watching a discussion with Dr. Herbert Thompson:
> "Dr. Herbert Thompson is an internationally renowned expert in application
> security testing, research and training. He was Security Innovation's
> second employee, joining Founder Dr. James Whittaker in 2002. Dr. Thompson
> earned his PhD in Applied Mathematics from Florida Institute of Technology
> and is co-author or editor of 12 books, including "How to Break Software
> Security: Effective Techniques for Security Testing." Dr. Thompson has
> authored more than 50 academic and industrial articles on software
> security."
>
> He talks about IT firms forgetting security threats/issues when developing
> IT products. We as Interaction Designers also stress the importance of
> user interaction but do we include abusers too?
>
> Dr. Thompson talks about an airline incident where he was able to hack
> into a system due to boredom. He believes that the developers forgot to
> see the "abuser" point of view. Do you think that this only concern the
> engineers and programmers or can Interaction Designers provide useful help
> here? (If they ever think about "abusers")
>
> Ali
>
>
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Peer Review in User Experience Design

[Chauncey Wilson]

Just to clarify - do you mean review of the performance of your peers
(yearly performance appraisal for example) or specific reviews of their
project work (a design review of conceptual prototype for example where the
focus is the deliverable, not the person)?.

Chauncey




On Tue, Jan 6, 2009 at 10:13 AM, Robert Powers  wrote:

> Anyone have a set of guidelines or suggested best practices with peer
> review
> in UXD?
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Soliciting opinions on voice recognition software for general computer interfaces

[Chauncey Wilson]

The command line can be very effective and efficient for some activities.
There was a lot of research in the 1980s about how to develop an effective
and usable command line and some research showing that a well-designed
command line can be as usable as a menu or direct manipulation system for
some task.

Mark notes that command lines are coming back into style and in fact, many
of our systems are hybrid interfaces with a combination of:

Direct manipulation interfaces
Menu interfaces
Command line interfaces
Form user interfaces
Voice user interfaces\
..

Chauncey

On Sat, Dec 27, 2008 at 1:27 PM, Mark Young  wrote:

> > It is like the command line.
>
> Have you noticed that the command line is coming back into style?
> Take a look at how people use the search box and how it is evolving.
> Try out Google Voice Search on a handset and imagine what more it
> will be able to do in 5 years.
>
> What do you think will happen as our PCs become more integrated with
> our homes? How will you perform input when you're working in your
> kitchen? Even if we have GUIs that follow us around we'll need help
> for hands-free situations - voice input is the best option in that
> case.
>
> How will visually-impaired people use computers?
>
>
> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
> Posted from the new ixda.org
> http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=36596
>
>
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Soliciting opinions on voice recognition software for general computer interfaces

[Chauncey Wilson]

I've been using Dragon Naturally speaking since version 1 or so as an
adjunct to document creation (mostly with Word, PPT, and email) and the last
2 versions are finally useful.  I've taught several people with various
repetitive strain injuries how to use the tool and use it often myself.  I'm
often surprised at what the software will now recognize out of the box, but
as others have noted, to get it really useful requires training and some
dedication, more for the commands than the actual voice input. If you put
the time in to train the system, take advantage of features like the tool
that searches your documents for particular words in your domain that are
uncommon for general speaking, and buy a really good microphone (not the
cheap one in the box) and you have a really powerful computer, you can have
quite a useful system.

Chauncey

On Mon, Dec 22, 2008 at 10:42 AM, Alan Wexelblat wrote:

> I'm interested in finding out if anyone has recent data or evaluations
> of voice recognition software for general interaction purposes with
> desktop/laptop computers (not specifically voice UIs to stand-along
> apps and not voice-only UI such as telephony).
>
> I'm interested in data on both absolute recognition success and
> anything on general user satisfaction with using the software. The
> obvious application here is for people who cannot use keyboard/mouse
> either due to disability or because hands are occupied with other
> things.
>
> Pointers and feedback greatly appreciated. Thanks,
> --Alan
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Articles etc on interface structures

[Chauncey Wilson]

The old book GUI Design for Dummies by Laura Arlov (I don' thave it in front
of me, so I might be off on Author/Title a bit) had an excellent section on
"GUI architectures" that discussed the GUI architectures of the 1990s like
MDI, SDI, task panel, hierarchy, wizard, CRUD, button panel, hub and spoke
design etc.  That book was not for dummies, it had a good section on GUI
architectures and tied them to task and frequency of use which are two key
variables.  Now we have Web User Interface architectures (WUIs).

The Yale Style Guide from earlier Web days had a discussion of various Web
Architectures and it put them on a scale of difficulty versus power.

There are hybrid architectures that you get from combining some of the basic
architectures.

Someof the architectures are amenable to a single type of object while
others can support multiple objects.

I've talked on this before and created a matrix of UI architectures against
key criteria.

Some of the Microsoft GUI Style guides have discussed this (When to use a
Tabbed architecture versus a panel architecture).

Another factor that comes up in discussion about high-level structures is
the underlying metaphor - for example, tabs imply random access so if you
have a tab structure, then putting required fields on a tab could be a
problem.

This is a topic that doesn't get much serious discussion.  I'm going a
workshop for BostonCHI and will be including this as one topic.

HFI used to have a module in the GUI training that reviewed various
high-level UI structures and the conditions where you would use them (I
taught the course many years ago so I'm not sure if they still do), but it
was actually a popular part of the course since it looked at the high-level
first before getting into all the details of widget design.  the point was
that if you picked the wrong UI architecture for a tasks (e.g., a wizard for
a tasks that is done many times a day) then the rest of your design could be
very good, but the product would still fail because of fundamental flaws.

Good topic.
Chauncey

On Wed, Dec 17, 2008 at 6:02 PM, Donna Spencer  wrote:

> Hi guys
>
> I'm writing some workshop material on high-level structures for interfaces
> - explaining different high-level patterns that an interface may use (e.g.
> linear, two/three panels, canvas plus tools, dashboards etc)
>
> I always like to provide additional reading, but can't find any good
> references for this material, except for the Tidwell book.  Most pattern
> libraries focus on much more granular combinations of components, not the
> high-level structure.
>
> Any ideas for articles or references? Otherwise I'm just gonna have to
> write something up myself ;)
>
> Donna
>
> --
> Donna Spencer - Maadmob
> do...@maadmob.net
> 02 6255 4993 / 0409778693
> http://maadmob.com.au/
> http://www.rosenfeldmedia.com/books/cardsorting/
>
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Research on ebook usage preference

[Chauncey Wilson]

There was an essay in the New York Times Magazine on Sunday about the
Kindle.  The story can be found at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/magazine/02wwln-medium-t.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=kindle&st=cse&oref=slogin
(you might need to register to read the essay).

I'be been getting e-books since the Rocket ebook which I really liked. I
even placed 3rd in a writing contest and have thousands of people read my 99
word short-short story about my worst date which involved Al Hirt and
Chicken Burgers!  I have a Sony Bookreader which is thin and pretty and
powerful, but didn't have enough content (though it would handle PDFs. I
recently got a Kindle and like the author of the Times essay, find it ugly
and dislike the fragile and easily activated paging controls. What I love
about the Kindle is the Amazon content that is available.  Sometimes in the
rush to list all the features of ebooks, people forget that content is still
the driving issue behind ebooks.  The good news with a Kindle is that you
can load dozens of books on the system and not have to lug their physical
versions around.

What I miss from my Rocket E-book is backlighting. Backlighting saps the
battery, but I would rather have 4  hours with backlighting than 6 hours
without.

Chauncey



On Mon, Nov 3, 2008 at 12:26 PM, Fernandes, Fabio (APG) <
[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Hello,
> I'm looking for any research you could share that relates to the use of
> ebooks and possible user preference on its delivery format (true to text vs.
> not).
>
> Thanks in advance for any insight or documents you can point me to.
>
> Best,
> Fabio Fernandes
>
>
> Fabio L. Fernandes
> User Experience Design Manager, CUA
>
> Cengage Learning, Digital Solutions Group
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] In the Event of My Death

[Chauncey Wilson]

With access to a person's email, you could set up a "send once death
message".  My wife and I were discussing this topic (she's a lawyer so
digital rights are part of her interests) and she said that part of the
electronic valut contents could be a final message to people who are part of
the electronic community.  A few years ago, a very good friend of mine died
-- she had been a friend for about 30 years and we had kept in touch by
email and occasional double dates with our spouses.  Her husband was a great
guy and we hit it off, but I was on his wife's email and not on his and I
found out later that I had been sending her messages after her death because
he didn't even think about turning off her email in his grief. After awhile,
I did a search when my emails were not answered and discovered her
obituary.  She had a sudden and fatal re-occurrence of cancer and her
business email was left running until after her death.

I think that I will draft a message now - something about how I have died
and any responses may take an infinite amount of time :-).

Chauncey

On Sun, Nov 2, 2008 at 12:46 AM, Martin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Another issue -- how to inform people that you are only in contact with
> online that you have passed on? A Final Tweet?
>
> Cheers,
>
> --
> Martin Polley
> Technical writer, interaction designer
> +972 52 3864280
> Twitter: martinpolley
> <http://capcloud.com/>
>
>
> On Sat, Nov 1, 2008 at 2:40 PM, Chauncey Wilson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > wrote:
>
>> What are the issues with designing for death?  Here are a few:
>>
>>
>

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Re: [IxDA Discuss] In the Event of My Death

[Chauncey Wilson]

This is a good topic - designing for death.

There is a resource called http://www.assetlock.net/
There is a review of this service at:
http://www.assetlock.net/elements/press/sfgate.pdf

What are the issues with designing for death?  Here are a few:

1.  Financial information that heirs may need.
2.  Back from the grave - there have been movies about people who died, but
left a series of letters or videos for their loved ones.  Seems a little
eerie, but I figure that my wife my enjoy my odd sense of humor or pithy
sayings when I'm gone.
3.  Revenge :-).  You can have letters sent to people who had irritated you
at some point in your life.
4.  The letters you send to people explaining something that was always a
mystery ("so you didn't marry me because I have white rugs" :-).
5.  Photo collections on disk or online.
6.  Cancelling various services no longer wanted.
7.  Password storage.
8.  Inheriting digital access
9.  Important update information is more and more likely to be done online
(to save resources) so perhaps we should be designing UIs that allow a
second trusted person to receive membership and registration information.
10. Access to emails after death - this is trickier since emails can mix
business and personal stuff and if you are in the military sending emails
through military servers, who owns those messages?

I'm 58 and have less than 20 years left if I go by the morbidity tables so I
started thinking about this a few weeks ago and have started pulling
together all my passwords and main resources onto a terabyte drive that will
go in a safe and will be updated 4 times a year or so.

Good topic.
Chauncey
On Sat, Nov 1, 2008 at 7:13 AM, Andy Polaine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Thanks for that, I'll have a listen.
>
> I've been thinking about it quite a bit since my mother-in-law died a
> couple of years ago. Her stuff was all analogue, so we could go through all
> the old folders and boxes of documents and sort everything out. I have so
> much digital stuff, a lot of which is protected by passwords. Even on my own
> machine (and even getting into my own machine) would be an issue.
>
> But I'm not a security nor legal expert and I can imagine there might be
> some issues and approaches that already exist that one could draw upon. From
> a personal standpoint, the questions it raises for me is who you would trust
> and whether you would trust a "digital executor" or a third party company?
> How much would someone pay for, ahem, lifetime membership?
>
> Best,
>
> Andy
>
>
>
> On 31 Oct 2008, at 09:54, Meredith Noble wrote:
>
> Andy, you might be interested in this segment from CBC's great
>> digital culture show, Spark:
>>
>> http://www.cbc.ca/spark/blog/2008/04/full_interview_derek_k_miller_1.html
>>
>> (CBC = Canadian Broadcasting Corporation... Canada's BBC or NPR)
>>
>> It's an interview with a man who has cancer and is thinking about
>> his digital legacy.
>>
>> "One of the things that Derek has been thinking about his digital
>> legacy, and what should happen to our web presence when we die. Do we
>> need to appoint a digital executor to oversee our online belongings?
>> Someone who would know all of your passwords and keep up the payments
>> for your domain name, for example, so your site would live on even
>> after you have gone?"
>>
>> I listened to it a few months back so don't remember details, but
>> I'm sure you'd find it interesting.
>>
>
>  
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Terms and Conditions with a twist

[Chauncey Wilson]

The underlying issue here is how legal forms are evaluated.  We can evaluate
whether people understand the terms, but that is not the same as the
evaluation that goes on in court. So, apart from all the opinion about
reading comprehension, is there any empirical data on the efficacy of
simplified legal forms over more complex legal forms.

I see an assumption in these discussion that "no one reads the T&Cs", so is
it possible that we are making assumptions without digging in to the
details.  Perhaps there are many good T&C's but we rarely look at them so we
are biased toward only the worst examples.

Chauncey


On Mon, Oct 27, 2008 at 1:10 PM, Eva Kaniasty <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Perfect timing for this discussion.  I get to copy & paste  my thoughts
> from
> another list.  :)
>
> I think this is an interesting area for us usability folks to talk about.
> Does legalese really have to be written in a style that is inaccessible to
> 99% of the population?
> I would argue that there is a way to express even the most complex legal
> ideas in language that can be understood by the rest of us.
>
> I also think that the tradition of the 6 page terms & conditions is often a
> subterfuge used to slip in terms that users would never agree to if those
> same terms were put forth in a briefer/clearer form.  Legalese is a way to
> pay lip service to transparency while hiding behind an implementation that
> is anything but.   To me, the very importance of legal considerations
> argues
> for making those considerations clear to those who are unwittingly entering
> into legal agreements by using websites or software.  Some recent examples
> that come to mind are sites whose user agreements conveniently hand over
> rights to any user-generated content to themselves.
>
> Has anybody seen examples of sites that manage to cover themselves legally
> while using language that is clear and transparent?  I have seen some
> examples on newer websites, but now for the life of me I can't remember
> where.
>
> -eva
>  
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Terms and Conditions with a twist

[Chauncey Wilson]

Actually

Terms and conditions are complex and in the USA, states generally follow the
UCC, the Uniform Commercial Code, which generally harmonizes all the
different laws into one that is complex, but can be used across state
borders and one that lawyers recognize across the USA.  So, complex terms
and conditions are that way partly because of the many slightly different
state (and international laws).

Chauncey

On Mon, Oct 27, 2008 at 10:17 AM, Andy Polaine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

>  Great intention, for sure. But doesn't that make the situation even more
>> complex? You'd have to account for scenarios like "I agreed to what was
>> mentioned in the Simple English!" versus "Well, no, you agreed to the
>> legalise. The Simple English and raw versions have no technical relation to
>> one another" in cases where the Simple English version fails to mention
>> some sort of feature or caveat.
>>
>
> Yes, I imagine that would happen. Lawyers write in that convoluted way in
> order not to be misinterpreted. Ironic huh?
>
> The law is an ass.
>
> Best,
>
> Andy
>
> 
> Andy Polaine
>
> Research | Writing | Strategy
> Interaction Concept Design
> Education Futures
>
> Twitter: apolaine
> Skype: apolaine
>
> http://playpen.polaine.com
> http://www.designersreviewofbooks.com
> http://www.omnium.net.au
> http://www.antirom.com
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Terms and Conditions with a twist

[Chauncey Wilson]

Terms and conditions can be important and they do impose legal obligations
so perhaps we should encourage reading them through good design.  I bought
some clip art once and since my wife is an IP lawyer was always encouraged
to read the Terms and Conditions I discovered that I could use the clip art
for up to one hundreds copies per presentation, but after that I owed the
company some additional fees.  If you own a small company and use open
source software, you can lose some of the rights to your own intellectual
property if you don't read the fine print when you integrate an open source
utility with your own code.

Perhaps we should encourage people to read the terms and conditions.

Now I will wait to get skewered :-).

Chauncey

On Mon, Oct 27, 2008 at 9:19 AM, Andy Polaine <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> It's such an insane way of thinking about T&Cs though because it assumes
> people actually read them. Nobody does. At least nobody that I know.
>
> I once told a legal team from a bank that calling the legal info "important
> information" was terrible because it isn't important to anyone except other
> lawyers. Certainly not someone using the website. They agreed to "legal
> information" on the button instead, which of course meant nobody read it but
> they were covered.
>
> Sigh.
>
> p.s. To answer your question, sort of, Apple's installers do something
> similar. They show a screen of legal cack, then when you just hit continue
> it pops up an "Accept" "Don't Accept" alert that you have to click on one of
> to continue.
>
>
> Best,
>
> Andy
>
> 
> Andy Polaine
>
> Research | Writing | Strategy
> Interaction Concept Design
> Education Futures
>
> Twitter: apolaine
> Skype: apolaine
>
> http://playpen.polaine.com
> http://www.designersreviewofbooks.com
> http://www.omnium.net.au
> http://www.antirom.com
>
>
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Human Factors International Persuasion, Emotion, and Trust (PET) design class?

[Chauncey Wilson]

I haven't taken the HFI course, but did attend the presentation on
Persuasion at the last UPA conference and thought that they did a good job
discussing the issues.  For a solid overview of the role of persuasion in
design, you might want to get B.J. Fogg's book on persuasive technologies
which highlights a set of principles about how to design persuasive
technologies. We are almost always designing our systems to be persuasive
implicitly if not explicitly and Fogg was one of the first to try and codify
some of the principles, most of which are derived from research in social
psychology. The emotional aspect of design has been getting more publicity
with Affective design, an early book by Patrick Jordan on pleasurable
computing, and more recent books on emotional design by Don Norman and
others.

I think that much of what we do in our work is designing a system to
be persuasive in some way and understanding the principles of persuasion and
persuasive technologies is useful for an interaction designer. If you want
some entertaining reading on persuasion, get the books by Robert Cialdini
(he has coauthored a recent book with many short essays on persuasion).
Wikipedia has a short blurb on Cialdini.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Cialdini

Chauncey

On Thu, Oct 23, 2008 at 11:41 AM, Maerz, Torey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote:

> Has anyone been to the PET design class offered through Human Factors
> International?  http://www.humanfactors.com/training/PET.asp
>
>
>
> Is it any good?  What do you think about the topic?  Any alternatives?
>
>
>
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] Online Questionnaire Best Practices (Anyone remember that Interactions article?)

[Chauncey Wilson]

The reference that Steve gave is a good one.  Here are some additional
references:


Dillman, D. A. (2007). *Mail and internet surveys: The tailored design
method 2007 update with new internet, visual, and mixed-mode guide**.* New
York, NY: Wiley.**



Robson, C. (2002). *Real world research (Second edition)*. Malden, MA:
Blackwell Publishing.

Robson provides a readable and detailed handbook of experimental designs,
data collection methods, data analysis, and data presentation. There are
detailed chapters on interviews, surveys, and observational methods.



Schuman, H. & Presser, S. (1996). *Questions and answers in attitude
surveys: Experiments on question form, wording, and content.* Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage.

Schuman and Presser report a set of studies on attitude surveys. The studies
focus on question-answer issues in surveys such as: the assessment of no
opinion, measuring middle position, acquiescence, and open versus closed
questions. The studies were largely done in the 1980s using carefully design
probability samples. The research reported by the authors is compared with
similar research done in the 1940s and some observations are made about
changes over time.



Sudman, S., Bradburn, N. M., & Schwarz, N. (1996). Thinking about answers:
The application of cognitive processes to survey methodology. San Francisco,
CA: Jossey-Bass.
*Thinking About Answers* explores cognitive issues associated with survey
methods. These issues include: context effects in surveys, order effects,
event dating, counting and estimation, and autobiographical memory. The
final chapter summarizes implications of cognitive research for survey
design, administration, and interpretation.

One of the issues that I try to impress on my colleagues is that
questionnaire design is not a simple activity.  A questionnaire is a complex
design problem where you have to consider things that a single word can
change results substantially and the order of questions and type of scale
and the type of labels and the physical layout of questions can influence
the respondents' interactions with the instrument.



Chauncey






On Tue, Oct 21, 2008 at 6:29 PM, Steve Baty <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Chad,
>
> If you want to get into the question component in-depth, I'd highly
> recommend "Improving Survey Questions" by Floyd J Fowler.
>
>
> http://www.amazon.com/Improving-Survey-Questions-Evaluation-Research/dp/0803945833/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1224628035&sr=8-1
>
> Regards
> Steve
>
> 2008/10/22 Chad Jennings <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
> > Howdy all -
> > I am looking for a resource which outlines list best practices for online
> > questionnaire creation. Want to provide some guidance to our marketing
> team.
> > I remember reading a great one or two page article on "Top Ten Best
> > Practiced for User Questionnaires" or something like that in an issue of
> > Interactions magazine a year or so ago, but cannot for the life of me
> track
> > it down. It had a some great items such as starting with easy to answer
> > questions and to not include a middle, neutral point (i.e. Satisfied,
> > Neutral, Dissatisfied), etc..
> >
> > Anybody remember this article or have a similar resource?
> >
> > As an aside, this Quant research will be complimented with some
> Qualitative
> > studies, just mentioned to avoid starting a thread on the pros and cons
> of
> > each.
> >
> > Thanks for the help.
> > Cheers,
> > Chad
> >
> > ...
> > Chad Jennings
> > VP, Design and User Experience
> > [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >
> > Blurb, Inc.
> > ...
> >
> >
> >
> > 
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> --
> --
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> Principal Consultant
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>
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] An alternative to Transfer boxes

[Chauncey Wilson]

You can also use a multi-select list box to choose the items for a
list.  The list box that includes check boxes for each item seems
simpler, but if you have lots of items in the list, can require as
much or more scrolling as the transfer box.  It also has the
disadvantage of hiding items that are in the visible portion of the
list.  If you use this method then you should include a counter near
the label that indicates how many items are selected.  There is also a
problem when you have a checkbox that there can be two types of
selection (checkbox and normal list item selection).  That can create
some usasbility problems as well.  The transfer box does clearly show
what is in the "created list" whereas that is not so easily
discernable in the multi-select list box.  Both the transfer box and
the multi-select list can create problems.  One of the questions I
would ask is how often will people use the transfer facility and how
many items do you expect them to move into the new list?  You could
also use a drag and drop approach like some card sorting tools, but
that can be laborious if you allow only single item moves (though some
transfer boxes do allow drag and drop though very, very few people
will use the drag and drop facility).

Another question to ask about moving items from a source to a target
list is what proportion of the items do people generally move.  If
they often move many items, you might have a feature to exclude
selected items and move the large number of unselected items.

Somewhere at home, I have several other approaches to move items from
a source to a target list. It is probably buried.  I seem to recall
that an old book, GUI design for Dummies has a discussion of this
(from Windows 95 or so) when this type of widget was gaining
popularity.  If you have a lot of items in the single-list chooser,
you can add a filter.

Chauncey


On Mon, Oct 20, 2008 at 11:23 AM, Charusmitha Ram <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Transfer boxes have been around for a long time and is a classic UI control
> for multi-selecting items and creating/building lists. However, it has a
> very bloated UI and a cumbersome interaction. Are there variations or
> alternatives to transfer boxes to perform multiselect functions? Online
> Examples?
> Thanks.
> --
> Smitha Ram
> Senior Interaction Designer
> Thomson Reuters | www.thomsonreuters.com
> --
> 
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Re: [IxDA Discuss] consistency or usability

[Chauncey Wilson]

The issue here is that there are many types or levels of consistency
that you need to consider.  The basic types of consistency are:

Internal consistency - consistency in layout, controls, colors,
commands, features, sizes of objects and areas, and branding

External consistency - consistency with the user interfaces of other
products that people use together (for example, Cut, Copy, Paste)

Metaphorical Consistency - consistency of user interface objects
(individual or composite objects) with their metaphorical counterparts

and perhaps the most important category - Consistency with how people
work - the one that is sometimes lost in the push to be internally
consistency.

Each of these four categories can be broken down.  Here is an
unordered list of some of the items that might go under the general
categories above:

For example:

• Visual inconsistencies
• Interaction inconsistencies (different ways to do the same thing).
• Control inconsistencies (for example, different pages on the same
Web site use different calendar controls).
• Inconsistencies between the system model and the user's mental model
(Grudin, 1989))
• Error prevention inconsistencies (for example, in one case you
provide a cue on the required format for phone numbers while
elsewhere, you have no cues and get an error message if you use the
wrong format)
• Terminology inconsistencies ("Login" and "Log in" are both used as
labels in different parts of the site or product and "sign-in" is used
in the Help for the product).
• De facto inconsistencies where a product does not follow common
designs, for example, the use of underlining to indicate that an item
is a link.
• Inconsistencies with corporate, legal, or technical standards.  For
example, most large companies have clear rules on how trademarks are
to be displayed. Failure to be consistent in how trademarks are
displayed could, in rare cases, lead to a challenge on that trademark.
• Inconsistencies across different media (at a corporate level, this
can involve marketing materials, the documentation, technical guides
for support, advertising, and the software interface).
• Inconsistencies among versions for different languages or cultures.
• Inconsistencies across different platforms (for example, Web pages
on PCs, versus cellphones, versus PDAs for example).

So, in the example that Jeff gave, making a button larger might very
well be consistent with the way people work (they are doing hundreds
of operations a day and a larger button is an easier target and the
the default target 95% of the time - consistency with the way people
work though visually inconsistent.

When people speak of consistency, they tend to focus on visual and
basic interaction, but neglect the most important issue of consistency
with how people work.

There is an extremely important paper by Jonathon Grudin that
discusses how inconsistency can actually be consistency when it
supports the users work.  This is a paper that doesn't get the
accolades it deserves for critical and deep thinking about
"consistency".

J. Grudin (1989) The Case Against User Interface Consistency. In:
Communications of the
ACM, vol. 32, no. 10, 1989, pg. 1164 - 1173.   If you dig around, I
think that you can find a copy on the net.  The paper is old, but the
examples can easily be applied to more modern interfaces as well.

A strong recommendation for those who are asked to "make the product
consistent" is to define what type of consistency is most important
given your personas/user groups, tasks (consider that the frequency
and criticality of a task can influence the design greatly and
possibly might require some visual or interaction consistency to
support multiple user groups.

I would invite anyone involved in your consistency projects to read
this article so they understand that consistency is not something
simple that you can just mandate without clear definitions.

Chauncey




On Tue, Oct 14, 2008 at 4:11 PM, Jeff Noyes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I'm so tired of this argument, and I'm hoping this group can help provide
> facts.
>
> I recognize that some things in the UI should remain consistent - like an
> interaction model.  But often a deviation is required - ironically for the
> sake of usability.  Maybe you need to enlarge a button to emphasize it's
> importance, or maybe the interaction model that worked 80% of the time falls
> down in some cases.  For me, deviation is a battle with stakeholders outside
> of design.  They want everything consistent. Because hey, consistency equals
> usability.
>
>
> Are their facts (white papers, reports, etc.) that suggest deviation is
> acceptible.  Perhaps reports that show that consistency for your equaled
> poor usability?
> I recognize this is a loose request.  Partially by design as I'd like to
> pull in a bunch of infromation.
>
> I'm all ears.
>
> Jeff Noyes
> 
> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
> 

Re: [IxDA Discuss] Standards of Professional Practice

[Chauncey Wilson]

The most stringent standards of professional practice is probably
those of the American Psychological Association (APA).  They have a
bound manual that is probably 75 pages.  Some of the sections deal
with medical and therapy ethics for humans and animals and may not be
so relevant.

When I was working on the UPA code of conduct, I reviewed a number of
ethics codes.  I'll see if I can dig those up.

Chauncey

On Fri, Oct 10, 2008 at 12:06 PM, Chauncey Wilson
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I helped draft the UPA Code of Conduct and would be interested in
> comments.  I could fill in some of the background that went into the
> code of conduct.
>
> Chauncey
>
> On Fri, Oct 10, 2008 at 10:08 AM, William Evans <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> UPA has one too on their site
>>
>> will evans
>> emotive architect &
>> hedonic designer
>> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>> 617.281.1281
>> twitter: semanticwill
>> aim: semanticwill
>> gtalk: wkevans4
>> skype: semanticwill
>> _
>> Sent via iPhone
>>
>>
>> On Oct 10, 2008, at 9:55 AM, Kevin Silver <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> Does anyone know of or use (abide by) Standards of Professional Practice
>>> other than the one AIGA has outlined? I'm interested to see if there are any
>>> alternatives.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Kevin
>>> 
>>> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
>>> To post to this list ... [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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>>
>> 
>> Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)!
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>

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