CSE 440 Exam Review – Questions & Answers
| Latest Update 2026 | Exam Prep | Graded A+
Personal Informatics - correct answer"We define personal informatics systems as those
that help people collect personally relevant information for the purpose of self-reflection
and gaining self-knowledge. There are two core aspects to every personal informatics
system: collection and reflection."
Five Stage Model of Personal Informatics - correct answer1. Preparation
2. Collection
3. Integration
4. Reflection
5. Action
Iterative Design Process - correct answer
Design Diamond - correct answerDesign as Choice
Generate --> select --> repeat
Two Openings for Creativity:
- palette of choices (elaboration)
- heuristics to choose (reduction)
Sketch vs. Prototype - correct answerPrimary difference is the intent
Properties of Sketches
- quick
- timely
- inexpensive
- disposable
- plentiful
- clear vocabulary
- distinct gesture (openness and freedom, imprecise)
- minimal detail
-appropriate refinement (as refined as the idea)
- suggest and explore (rather than confirm)
- ambiguous (can be interpreted in different ways)
Sketching as a conversation
Sketch vs. Prototype
invite attend
suggest describe
,explore . refine
question answer
propose . test
provoke . resolve
tentative . specific
Serial and Parallel Prototyping - correct answerSerial - series of prototypes presented
with feedback after head
Parallel - more diverse presented multiple ideas and gets feedback on all of them
Ethnography - correct answerExplores why groups think and act as they do.
Learn local language, record myths, customs, and ceremonies.
Attempts to understand a group or individual phenomenologically (understanding the
subject as the subject understands itself) rather than traditional science which attempts
to understand objectively.
Master/Apprentice Relationship - correct answerMaster does stuff, master explains what
they are doing, apprentice asks clarification questions, master answers.
Nothing any person does is done for no reason.
As opposed to:
1. Scientist/subject relationship
- scientist does, subject responds, scientist collects data and analyzes
2. interviewer relationship
- interviewer asks a question, interviewee responds
- works through questions on a list
Contextual Inquiry - correct answerApplied design ethnography
"go where the customer works, observe the customer as [they work], and talk to the
customer about the work. Do that, and you can't help but gain
Hugh Beyer and Karen Holtzblatt
a better understanding of the customer"
Not quire master/apprentice, but close. The goal is to learn how the participant does the
task in order to learn how to support it. For the researcher to enlist the participant's help
in understanding.
Participant is doing, participant is explaining, researcher offers interpretation, participant
agrees and corrects.
Not an interview, not an apprentice --> partners.
, Contextual Inquiry Stages - correct answer1. Interview / Warm Up
2. Transition
3. Observe Behavior --> 4 or 6
4. Share Interpretation
5. Refine Interpretation --> 3 or 7
6. Withdraw / Return --> 5
7. Wrap Up
Design Research Methods - correct answerAffinity Diagrams:
post-it notes generated in group session, organized hierarchically into themes
Questionnaires / Surveys:
quantitative data
Interviews:
like contextual inquiry lacks context of direct observation
Focus Groups:
good to hear conversations, prompts discussion
Diary Study
Experience Sampling
Personal Inventories
Cultural Probes
Behavior Mapping
Graffiti Wall
Shadowing
Four Ethnographic Principles - correct answerNatural Settings:
- conducted in the setting of the participant
- focus on naturally occurring, everyday action
- cannot use laboratory, experiment, or phone calls
Holism:
- behavior can only be understood in its larger social context
Descriptive:
- study how people actually behave, not how they ought to. defer judgement
| Latest Update 2026 | Exam Prep | Graded A+
Personal Informatics - correct answer"We define personal informatics systems as those
that help people collect personally relevant information for the purpose of self-reflection
and gaining self-knowledge. There are two core aspects to every personal informatics
system: collection and reflection."
Five Stage Model of Personal Informatics - correct answer1. Preparation
2. Collection
3. Integration
4. Reflection
5. Action
Iterative Design Process - correct answer
Design Diamond - correct answerDesign as Choice
Generate --> select --> repeat
Two Openings for Creativity:
- palette of choices (elaboration)
- heuristics to choose (reduction)
Sketch vs. Prototype - correct answerPrimary difference is the intent
Properties of Sketches
- quick
- timely
- inexpensive
- disposable
- plentiful
- clear vocabulary
- distinct gesture (openness and freedom, imprecise)
- minimal detail
-appropriate refinement (as refined as the idea)
- suggest and explore (rather than confirm)
- ambiguous (can be interpreted in different ways)
Sketching as a conversation
Sketch vs. Prototype
invite attend
suggest describe
,explore . refine
question answer
propose . test
provoke . resolve
tentative . specific
Serial and Parallel Prototyping - correct answerSerial - series of prototypes presented
with feedback after head
Parallel - more diverse presented multiple ideas and gets feedback on all of them
Ethnography - correct answerExplores why groups think and act as they do.
Learn local language, record myths, customs, and ceremonies.
Attempts to understand a group or individual phenomenologically (understanding the
subject as the subject understands itself) rather than traditional science which attempts
to understand objectively.
Master/Apprentice Relationship - correct answerMaster does stuff, master explains what
they are doing, apprentice asks clarification questions, master answers.
Nothing any person does is done for no reason.
As opposed to:
1. Scientist/subject relationship
- scientist does, subject responds, scientist collects data and analyzes
2. interviewer relationship
- interviewer asks a question, interviewee responds
- works through questions on a list
Contextual Inquiry - correct answerApplied design ethnography
"go where the customer works, observe the customer as [they work], and talk to the
customer about the work. Do that, and you can't help but gain
Hugh Beyer and Karen Holtzblatt
a better understanding of the customer"
Not quire master/apprentice, but close. The goal is to learn how the participant does the
task in order to learn how to support it. For the researcher to enlist the participant's help
in understanding.
Participant is doing, participant is explaining, researcher offers interpretation, participant
agrees and corrects.
Not an interview, not an apprentice --> partners.
, Contextual Inquiry Stages - correct answer1. Interview / Warm Up
2. Transition
3. Observe Behavior --> 4 or 6
4. Share Interpretation
5. Refine Interpretation --> 3 or 7
6. Withdraw / Return --> 5
7. Wrap Up
Design Research Methods - correct answerAffinity Diagrams:
post-it notes generated in group session, organized hierarchically into themes
Questionnaires / Surveys:
quantitative data
Interviews:
like contextual inquiry lacks context of direct observation
Focus Groups:
good to hear conversations, prompts discussion
Diary Study
Experience Sampling
Personal Inventories
Cultural Probes
Behavior Mapping
Graffiti Wall
Shadowing
Four Ethnographic Principles - correct answerNatural Settings:
- conducted in the setting of the participant
- focus on naturally occurring, everyday action
- cannot use laboratory, experiment, or phone calls
Holism:
- behavior can only be understood in its larger social context
Descriptive:
- study how people actually behave, not how they ought to. defer judgement
