Chapter 1 Overview:
- Good design:
1. Fulfills intended function efficiently and engagingly
2. Helps to find information effortlessly
3. Prioritizes substance over style
4. Does not rely too much on pictures and animations
5. Anticipates user’s needs and delivers them promptly
- Bad design:
1. Incoherent design choices
2. Buried key information/navigation
3. Low quality graphics/fonts and unconventional colours
- Prototype is essential and tractable
1. Acquire feedback (usability testing)
2. Paper prototype from design ideas to representations
a. Fast and inexpensive to test interface before writing codes for application
b. Design the visual UI early in the development stage for stakeholders
3. Low to high fidelity prototyping
a. For simple and quick to close-to-final product
- Comparing alternatives
1. Good for evaluation to improve application
a. Strategies that varies by accuracy and cost of execution
b. Field or lab test, respondent or theoretical methods
- Iterations
1. Deliver incremental improvements
2. From low-fi to hi-fi
a. Low fidelity: fast, inexpensive, rough guide
b. High fidelity: more detailed, better than the first
- Principles: (to identify more important and prominent features)
1. Fitt’s Law: The quicker you can reach a target goal, the more convenient and easier it is to use.
2. Power law of practice: Practice gets ideas into long term memory
3. Heuristic evaluation:
a. Let user know what the system does
b. Speak the user’s language
c. Provide clearly marked exits (i.e. back or undo)
d. Consistency is key
e. Prevent errors
f. Give user the information rather than them relying on recalling
g. Provide shortcuts
, h. Keep design simple and clean
i. Errors in plain language to help user recover
j. Provide a help option for user to find out more
- Thinking Video 1 → David Kelly: Incorporated human behavior into design
1. Build on the ideas of others (Collaborate)
2. People with different background (Diversity)
3. Watch and understand users (Empathy)
4. Tinkering and building the prototype
- Thinking Video 2 → Deep dive: Experts on process of innovation
1. No titles or permanent assignment (Diversity)
2. Find experts and users to learn quickly (Empathy)
3. Mantras for innovation (Mindset)
- Iterative process to design and innovate: (Design Thinking)
1. Empathize: Discover what people really need
2. Define: A point of view and design space
3. Ideate: Or brainstorm to generate ideas
4. Prototype: Make ideas tangible and easy to learn
5. Test: Refine prototype and learn about your users
,Chapter 2: Observation
- Empathy part in the iterative process (design thinking)
1. Foundation of human-centered design process
2. Observe by viewing users and their behaviours
3. Engage by interviewing the users
4. Immerse into what your user experiences
5. Inspire new thinking by discovering what people really need
OBSERVE:
- How to observe?
1. What do people do?
2. What values or goals do they have?
3. How are these particular activities embedded in a larger ecology?
- Tacit knowledge (Understood or implied without being said)
1. Deep Hanging Out: We can know more than we can tell
2. Agile methodology: Relying on tacit knowledge embodied in the team rather than writing
down in plans
- Process VS Practice
Process Practice
Well know rules or defined workflow How people handle situations when the rules fail
Easy to discover because it’s easy to see how Hard to discover but equally important
an organization operates (Usually documented)
- What practice to observe?
1. Look for workarounds & hacks
a. Users employ hacks to get around limitations → evidence of breakdown that could
be fixed in new design
b. Users write usage tips on post-it notes and stick them to something
• Notes with step-by-step instructions to remind them how to use something
• Notes with reminders of frequently-forgotten information
- Pay attention to artifacts
1. Objects that people have with them when doing the activity that you are doing and note how
they are used
2. Take pictures whenever possible
- What errors to observe
Slips Mistakes
Something that prevents completion Errors that cannot correct
, Make small physical design Provide more information or have a
improvements design model that is easier
- Finding people to observe
1. Requires skill and the user must match your targeted user group
- How to document your findings
1. Set Goals for interview and observation sessions
2. List the artifacts that you will look for and list questions that you will ask (however, do take
note that the questions may not be asked in order or be answered at all)
a. Notes and Camera: Look out for critical incidents and think-aloud comments
b. Video: Rich in data but reviewing and transcribing can take a long time
c. Audio: Smaller files and less intrusive but same troubles as video documentation
ENGAGE:
- Interviewing
1. Open-ended questions are better because some of the open-ended questions will give you
summaries. However, remember that not all open-ended questions are good
2. Avoid ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions
3. Ask the question and wait in silence → “Silence is golden”
4. Avoid biased questions where the user is inclined to give you the answer that you want to hear
- Interviewing mechanics:
1. Before the real interview, practice
2. Tips:
a. Introduce, explain purpose, ask the question and let them answer
b. Ask open, unbiased questions
c. Follow up with related/interesting questions, pick up on answers and ask for
examples
d. Be flexible
3. Where?
a. In their own setting/environment where they feel comfortable
IMMERSE:
- Observation Strategies for improvement
- Contextual Inquiry: part of contextual design
1. Master/apprentice relationship where you work with them, observe the environment and
validate
- User-led innovation
1. Learn from “lead users” who find innovative workarounds and adapt their ideas into your
system
2. New solutions
- Good design:
1. Fulfills intended function efficiently and engagingly
2. Helps to find information effortlessly
3. Prioritizes substance over style
4. Does not rely too much on pictures and animations
5. Anticipates user’s needs and delivers them promptly
- Bad design:
1. Incoherent design choices
2. Buried key information/navigation
3. Low quality graphics/fonts and unconventional colours
- Prototype is essential and tractable
1. Acquire feedback (usability testing)
2. Paper prototype from design ideas to representations
a. Fast and inexpensive to test interface before writing codes for application
b. Design the visual UI early in the development stage for stakeholders
3. Low to high fidelity prototyping
a. For simple and quick to close-to-final product
- Comparing alternatives
1. Good for evaluation to improve application
a. Strategies that varies by accuracy and cost of execution
b. Field or lab test, respondent or theoretical methods
- Iterations
1. Deliver incremental improvements
2. From low-fi to hi-fi
a. Low fidelity: fast, inexpensive, rough guide
b. High fidelity: more detailed, better than the first
- Principles: (to identify more important and prominent features)
1. Fitt’s Law: The quicker you can reach a target goal, the more convenient and easier it is to use.
2. Power law of practice: Practice gets ideas into long term memory
3. Heuristic evaluation:
a. Let user know what the system does
b. Speak the user’s language
c. Provide clearly marked exits (i.e. back or undo)
d. Consistency is key
e. Prevent errors
f. Give user the information rather than them relying on recalling
g. Provide shortcuts
, h. Keep design simple and clean
i. Errors in plain language to help user recover
j. Provide a help option for user to find out more
- Thinking Video 1 → David Kelly: Incorporated human behavior into design
1. Build on the ideas of others (Collaborate)
2. People with different background (Diversity)
3. Watch and understand users (Empathy)
4. Tinkering and building the prototype
- Thinking Video 2 → Deep dive: Experts on process of innovation
1. No titles or permanent assignment (Diversity)
2. Find experts and users to learn quickly (Empathy)
3. Mantras for innovation (Mindset)
- Iterative process to design and innovate: (Design Thinking)
1. Empathize: Discover what people really need
2. Define: A point of view and design space
3. Ideate: Or brainstorm to generate ideas
4. Prototype: Make ideas tangible and easy to learn
5. Test: Refine prototype and learn about your users
,Chapter 2: Observation
- Empathy part in the iterative process (design thinking)
1. Foundation of human-centered design process
2. Observe by viewing users and their behaviours
3. Engage by interviewing the users
4. Immerse into what your user experiences
5. Inspire new thinking by discovering what people really need
OBSERVE:
- How to observe?
1. What do people do?
2. What values or goals do they have?
3. How are these particular activities embedded in a larger ecology?
- Tacit knowledge (Understood or implied without being said)
1. Deep Hanging Out: We can know more than we can tell
2. Agile methodology: Relying on tacit knowledge embodied in the team rather than writing
down in plans
- Process VS Practice
Process Practice
Well know rules or defined workflow How people handle situations when the rules fail
Easy to discover because it’s easy to see how Hard to discover but equally important
an organization operates (Usually documented)
- What practice to observe?
1. Look for workarounds & hacks
a. Users employ hacks to get around limitations → evidence of breakdown that could
be fixed in new design
b. Users write usage tips on post-it notes and stick them to something
• Notes with step-by-step instructions to remind them how to use something
• Notes with reminders of frequently-forgotten information
- Pay attention to artifacts
1. Objects that people have with them when doing the activity that you are doing and note how
they are used
2. Take pictures whenever possible
- What errors to observe
Slips Mistakes
Something that prevents completion Errors that cannot correct
, Make small physical design Provide more information or have a
improvements design model that is easier
- Finding people to observe
1. Requires skill and the user must match your targeted user group
- How to document your findings
1. Set Goals for interview and observation sessions
2. List the artifacts that you will look for and list questions that you will ask (however, do take
note that the questions may not be asked in order or be answered at all)
a. Notes and Camera: Look out for critical incidents and think-aloud comments
b. Video: Rich in data but reviewing and transcribing can take a long time
c. Audio: Smaller files and less intrusive but same troubles as video documentation
ENGAGE:
- Interviewing
1. Open-ended questions are better because some of the open-ended questions will give you
summaries. However, remember that not all open-ended questions are good
2. Avoid ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions
3. Ask the question and wait in silence → “Silence is golden”
4. Avoid biased questions where the user is inclined to give you the answer that you want to hear
- Interviewing mechanics:
1. Before the real interview, practice
2. Tips:
a. Introduce, explain purpose, ask the question and let them answer
b. Ask open, unbiased questions
c. Follow up with related/interesting questions, pick up on answers and ask for
examples
d. Be flexible
3. Where?
a. In their own setting/environment where they feel comfortable
IMMERSE:
- Observation Strategies for improvement
- Contextual Inquiry: part of contextual design
1. Master/apprentice relationship where you work with them, observe the environment and
validate
- User-led innovation
1. Learn from “lead users” who find innovative workarounds and adapt their ideas into your
system
2. New solutions
