week six user centric design
DESCRIPTION
An overview of how human needs, limitations and expectations drive our perception of reality and interface.TRANSCRIPT
User-centric Design
Wayne MacPhail
Week Six
Overview
• The Why of Bad Design
• The Realities of Being Human
• Know Thy User
• How to Know Thy User
Bad Design
• Complex
• Arcane
• No cues
• Inhuman(e)
The hated Meridian phone system
The hated remote
Good Design
• Elegant
• Easy
• Adored
Why the Difference?
LOVE HATE
Why Design Fails
• No communication
• Geeks like buttons
• Mechanists vs. Humanists
• No understanding of human factors
When Design Works
• Listening well
• One button
• Human focus
• Accessible elegance
The Realities of Being Human
Count the Passes
Our experience of the real world is filtered through our imagination, our senses, expectations, limitations and memories.
Realities of being human
We can be absolutely blind to data
we don’t expect.
Being Human
• Our short-term memory is fragile, limited and easily taxed.
• Our long-term memory compresses events and is unreliable.
Realities
• Limited bandwidth - especially when busy or focussed
• We are easily distracted
We often believe people
experience the world the same way we do.
Human NatureWe understand symbols, conventions, narratives, patterns and scripts.
Being Human
We don’t always have the full function of our senses, brains or limbs.
Human experience
We don’t all share the same pool of human experience and cultures
Social Relations
We easily form social relationships, especially under stress.
We Satisfice
We need feedback.
You must understand these realities to design effective interfaces for
other human beings.
User Interface Design
• Users? Variety of birds.
• Their goal? Getting food.
• Their interface? The perches.
• The design? In progress.
User Interface Design
Prototype
Simple iterative design
Interface supports the users and their goals
Rule #1
“Know thy users for they are not you.”
Who is the user?
• Who are they?
• What do they need?
• What do they want?
• What are their expectations?
• What are their limitations?
Rule #2
“If you want to know your users, you have to spend time with
them.”
Maybe they’re not
like you at all
• Younger
• Older
• Busy
• Color blind
• A “Newbie”
• A senior citizen
• Impaired
Sites for Sore Eyes
Probably, they don’t care
• About your cool design
• About your graphics
• About your buttons or code
• Your Flash program
….unless it helps them find what they want to find.
Rule #3
“Your user is on a mission, and it isn’t to learn how
great you are at building a fancy web page.”
User Hell Site
Learning From Your Users
Fact Finding Methods
• Competitive Analysis
• User Needs Assessment
• Surveys
• Interviews
Competitive Analysis
• Research other sites for your niche
• Research other sites for niches like your niche
• List features, note language, pay attention to graphic design
• Don’t take them as the gold standard
User Needs Analysis
• Start open-ended and wide
• Probe for emotions, language
• Discover needs, goals
• Probe for limitations, environment
• Don’t limit choices
Surveys
• You want to find out who they are and what they want.
• Keep the list under 10 questions
• Between 5 and 10 minutes to complete
• Use yes/no questions and open ended
Interviews
• Choose people to represent your user groups.
• Decide what you want to learn.
• Write up a protocol and question list.
• Ask questions in a neutral manner. Take good notes.
Contexual Interviews
• Go to where the users work or play.
• Watch them closely.
• Combine this with a regular interview for more information.
