Information & Information & Interaction DesignInteraction Design

Fall 2005

Bill Hart-Davidson

Session 6: analyzing work practices – rationale and challenges; the 5 Contextual Design work models; Exercise 2: CD interviews, flow & sequence models

Today in Class…Today in Class…

Introduction to Contextual Design Overview of your work in phase 2 Challenges in analyzing & designing

work (Bill H-D talks about the most obvious ones for each project team)

CD’s 5 work models explained Exercise 2: Conducting CD interviews

to build flow and sequence models

Contextual Design, what is it?Contextual Design, what is it?

An approach to system design that

1. uses qualitative research techniques to directly observe actual, ongoing work

2. ties design decisions to the results of research, using work models in 5 visual formats in order to facilitate shared understanding

What does CD do?What does CD do?

1. It reveals “hidden” patterns of work

2. It makes work structures visible and intelligible so that they can become the basis for system design

3. It meshes nicely with Activity Theory and Embodied Interaction, allowing designers to focus on implementation without ignoring user centered goals while still

CD: PhilosophyCD: Philosophy

Design processes work when they build on natural behavior

• go to where the work is, and watch it happen

• learn by paying attention to what matters to the people who do the work

• see the details!

CD: MethodologyCD: Methodology

Seeing the work reveals structure

• people learn to do work and become expert by observing others…you can do the same

• commit to watching multiple instances and multiple users

• current activity recalls past instances…ask about them!

CD 4 Principles: ContextCD 4 Principles: Context

Context Lessons– gather evidence of ongoing vs. summary experience; concrete vs. abstract data

• avoid surveys, general interview questions such as “what do you think of the current system”…this is summary data

• gather actual artifacts, observe and talk about real events, explore ongoing work

CD 4 Principles: PartnershipCD 4 Principles: Partnership

Partnership Lessons – build a reciprocal relationship with participants to ensure good data

• avoid relationships that position you as the expert, the “guest” or the typical interviewer

•help users to explain work by reflecting back what you think you see, verifying, asking them to show you, etc.

CD 4 Principles: InterpretationCD 4 Principles: Interpretation

Interpretation Lessons– build your interpretation over time, with the help of the whole team and users

• gather facts and make interpretations of those that you can share with your team and with users for verification

• consider design decisions the end of a chain of reasoning that begins with interpretation of your data

CD 4 Principles: FocusCD 4 Principles: FocusFocus Lessons– commit to challenging your assumptions about the activity, not confirming them

• your “focus” is a powerful tool that can help you to see detail, but also to miss important aspects of the big picture

• take time, as a team, to talk about the focus for each data gathering session so you can understand what you may see and what you may miss

Doing Contextual DesignDoing Contextual Design

In phase 2, You’ll observe and interview people in the various user roles you identified in Phase 1, gathering data to build interpretations of the work that your system must support. You’ll share your interpretations using the 5 work models, and then build prototypes of the user environment for the system that allow you to test the design ideas that come from your interpretations.

3 Priorities of the Conceptual 3 Priorities of the Conceptual Design PhaseDesign Phase

Gather & interpret concrete data about ongoing experiences for each user role

Understand the work

Use visual models to achieve shared understanding and see possibilities

Represent the context

Design the functionality of the system with few or no specific implementation choices

Model the system

How it breaks down in class…How it breaks down in class…Session 6 – intro to CD, work models; teams plan CD activities and begin building flow and sequence models

Session 7 – the big picture: cultural models; teams share their CD research plans

Session 8 – consolidating the data w/ affinity diagrams; teams present examples of work models (flow, sequence, cultural) in class

How it breaks down in class, cont.How it breaks down in class, cont.

Session 9 – modeling the user environment; OO modeling concepts (objects, views, relationships); Exercise 3: artifact and physical models

Session 12 – prototyping: testing design concepts, not system features;

Session 13 – conceptual design presentation guidelines

Phase 2 homework: CD InterviewsPhase 2 homework: CD Interviews

Your homework for phase 2 is to conduct 1-3 contextual design interviews as described on pp. 64-66.

You’ll use the data to create and share two sequence models (see ch. 6). Post these for sharing in class session 7.

Challenges of Challenges of Work Analysis Work Analysis

& Design& Design 1. “Normal”

2. Intermittent

3. Uninterruptable

4. Extremely long

5. Extremely focused

6. Internal

Seeing work that is:

Where do your Where do your challenges lie?challenges lie? 1. “Normal”

2. Intermittent

3. Uninterruptable

4. Extremely long

5. Extremely focused

6. Internal

Seeing work that is:

For each user role, let’s consider which of these complicating factors come into play…and how they can be dealt with

Team Student Team Student Body Politic: Body Politic: participantsparticipants 1. “Normal”

2. Intermittent

3. Uninterruptable

4. Extremely long

5. Extremely focused

6. Internal

Seeing work that is:

You may need to ask participants to keep a record of activity over some period of time that can be the basis for a retrospective interview

Team mmFood: Team mmFood: menu plannersmenu planners

1. “Normal”

2. Intermittent

3. Uninterruptable

4. Extremely long

5. Extremely focused

6. Internal

Seeing work that is:

“Normal” actions planning meals may not be enough…you may need to ask about “critical incidents;” probe to discover complicating issues

Team +9SoV: Team +9SoV: SchedulersSchedulers

1. “Normal”

2. Intermittent

3. Uninterruptable

4. Extremely long

5. Extremely focused

6. Internal

Seeing work that is:

The scheduling portion of meeting planning is a heavily mediated activty, involving the coordination of information from potentially many sources

Team Fitting Team Fitting Room: Room: Frequent Frequent

Clothing Clothing ShoppersShoppers 1. “Normal”

2. Intermittent

3. Uninterruptable

4. Extremely long

5. Extremely focused

6. Internal

Seeing work that is:

Frequent shoppers may, in some sense, always be shopping: reconciling what they have with what’s available to buy, etc.

5 work models5 work modelsFlow – what patterns of communication/

coordination exist?Sequence – what are the detailed steps

necessary to perform actions?Cultural – what are the influences on the work

that come from organizational & social sources?

Artifact – what do the resources used to perform work look like? How are they employed in real work situations?

Physical – what does the workspace look like? How does it influence the work? What patterns of activity shape it?

Building a flow modelBuilding a flow modelGather data about:

RolesResponsibilitiesGroupsFlow patternsArtifactsTopicsActionsPlacesBreakdowns

See coordination by noting when people interact, what they use, why and where they do it.

Simple flow model: Simple flow model: scheduling a consultationscheduling a consultation

Instructor

Students TA

schedule

Request to coordinate schedule

Please arrange a

time…

website

calendar

Building a sequence modelBuilding a sequence model

Gather data about:Goals

Triggers

Actions

- steps

Artifacts

Outcomes

Errors

Start with a user role, and trace the work practice from that user’s point of view.

Simple sequence model: Simple sequence model: InstructorInstructor

Intent: Delegate Task

Trigger: upcoming presentations

Request TA coordinate schedule

Send e-mail to students asking them to coordinate with TA

Receive e-mails with schedule requests

Post schedule on website

Receive revised schedule

Re-post schedule on website

Forward to TA

For Next WeekFor Next Week Be ready to share…

– A sequence model based on your already collected data

As before, It is best if you can post some representation of it for us to look at as well

- the main purpose: to discover what you still need to learn more about

Set up and conduct your initial CD interviews/observations; start working on flow and sequence models

We’ll talk about the big picture: cultural models

What’s a Research Plan?What’s a Research Plan? The research focus - what does

your team need to know? The interviews/observations you

will do broken down by roles The approach you will take in each

of these How you will deal with the

challenges your project poses

Something to think about…Something to think about…

“Culture is as invisible as water is to fish”

“The cultural model speaks the words people think [and believe] but don’t say”