Unit 2

Design Process
Shivani Agarwal
 Obstacles and Pitfalls in Development
Path
• No body ever gets it right for the first time
• Development is chock full of surprises.
• Good design requires living in a sea of
changes.
• Designers need good tools.
• Performance design goals
• People may make mistakes while using a
good system also

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 Common Pitfalls
• No early analysis and understanding the
users needs and expectations.
• A focus on using design features or
components .
• No usability testing.
• No common design team vision.
• Poor communication

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 Common Usability Problems
• Ambiguous menus and icons.
• Languages that permit only single
direction movement through a system.
• Input and direct manipulation limits.
• Complex linkage.
• Inadequate feedback.
• Lack of system anticipation.
• Inadequate error messages.

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 Irritating Characters
• Visual clutter
• Impaired information readability
• Incomprehensible components
• Annoying distractions.
• Confusing navigation.
• Inefficient operations
• Inefficient page scrolling.
• Information overload
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 Design Team
• Development
• Human factors
• Visual Design
• Usability assessment
• Documentation
• Training

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 Human Interaction with Computers
Understanding How People Interact with
Computers
Characteristics of computer systems, past and
present, that have caused, and are causing,
people problems.
We will then look at the effect these problems
have –
•Why people have trouble with computers
•Responses to poor design
•People and their tasks

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 Why People have trouble with
Computers
• Extensive technical knowledge but little behavioral
training.
• With its extensive graphical capabilities.
• Poorly designed interfaces.
• What makes a system difficult to use in the eyes of
its user?
• Use of jargon
• Non-obvious design
• Fine distinctions
• Disparity in problem-solving strategies an "error-
preventing" strategy
• Design inconsistency
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 Psychological responses to poor
design
Confusion:
• Detail overwhelms the perceived structure.
• Meaningful patterns are difficult to ascertain, and
• the conceptual model or underlying framework cannot be
understood or established.
Annoyance:
• Roadblocks that prevent a task being completed, or a need from
being satisfied, promptly and efficiently lead to annoyance.
• Inconsistencies in design,
• Slow computer reaction times,
• Difficulties in quickly finding information, outdated information, and
visual screen distractions are a few of the many things that may
annoy users.

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 Psychological responses to poor design
Frustration:
• An overabundance of annoyances,
• An inability to easily convey one's intentions to the computer, or
• An inability to finish a task or satisfy a need can cause frustration.
• Frustration is heightened if an unexpected computer response
cannot be undone or if what really took place cannot be
determined
• Inflexible and unforgiving systems are a major source of frustration.
Panic or stress:
• Unexpectedly long delays during times of severe or unusual
pressure may introduce panic or stress.
• Some typical causes are unavailable systems or long response
times when the user is operating under a deadline or dealing
with an irate customer.

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 Psychological responses to poor design
Boredom:
• Boredom results from improper computer pacing (slow
response times or long download times) or overly simplistic
jobs.

These psychological responses diminish user effectiveness

because they are severe blocks to concentration.
--Thoughts irrelevant to the task at hand are forced to the
user’s attention, and necessary concentration is impossible.
--The result, in addition to higher error rates, is poor
performance, anxiety, and dissatisfaction.

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 Psychological responses frequently lead to, or are
accompanied by, the following
physical reactions
Abandonment of the system:
•The system is rejected and other information sources are relied upon.
•These sources must, of course, be available and the user must have
the discretion to perform the rejection.
•In business systems this is a common reaction of managerial and
professional personnel.
•With the Web, almost all users can exercise this option.
Partial use of the system:
•Only a portion of the system's capabilities are used, usually those
operations that are easiest to perform or that provide the most
benefits.
•Historically, this has been the most common user reaction to
most computer systems.
•Many aspects of many systems often go unused.

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 Physical Reactions
Indirect use of the system:
• An intermediary is placed between the would-be user and the
computer.
• Again, since this requires high status and discretion, it is another
• typical response of managers or others with authority.
Modification of the task:
• The task is changed to match the capabilities of the system.
• This is a prevalent reaction when the tools are rigid and the
problem is unstructured, as in scientific problem solving.
Compensatory activity:
• Additional actions are performed to compensate for system
inadequacies.
• A common example is the manual reformatting of information to
match the structure required by the computer.
• This is a reaction common to workers whose discretion is limited, such
as clerical personnel.
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 Physical Reactions
Misuse of the system:
• The rules are bent to shortcut operational difficulties.
• This requires significant knowledge of the system and may affect
system integrity.
Direct programming:
• The system is reprogrammed by its user to meet specific
needs.
• This is a typical response of the sophisticated worker.

These physical responses also greatly diminish user efficiency

and effectiveness.
They force the user to rely upon other information sources, to fail to
use a system's complete capabilities, or to perform time-
consuming "work-around" actions

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 Important Human Characteristics in Design
Importance in design are perception, memory, visual acuity,
fovea and peripheral vision, sensory storage, information
processing, learning, skill, and individual differences.
• Perception • Proximity
• Similarity • Matching patterns
• Succinctness • Closure
• Unity • Continuity
• Balance • Expectancies
• Context • Signals versus noise

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 Important Human Characteristics in Design
Memory:
• Memory is not the most stable of human attributes, as
anyone who has forgotten why they walked into a room, or
forgotten a very important birthday, can attest.
-Short-term, or working, memory.
- Long-term memory
- Mighty memory
- Sensory Storage

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 Mental Models
• As a result of our experiences and culture, we
develop mental models of things and people we interact
with.
• A mental model is simply an internal representation of
a person's current understanding of something. Usually
a person cannot describe this mental mode and most
often is unaware it even exists.
• Mental models are gradually developed in order to
understand something, explain things, make decisions, do
something, or interact with another person.
• Mental models also enable a person to predict the actions
necessary to do things if the action has been forgotten or
has not yet been encountered.

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 Movement Control
• Once data has been perceived and an
appropriate action decided upon, a response must
be made.
• In many cases the response is a movement.
• In computer systems, movements include such
activities as pressing keyboard keys, moving
the screen pointer by pushing a mouse or
rotating a trackball, or clicking a mouse button

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 The Implications in Screen Design
Learning:
• It is the process of encoding in long-term memory information
that is contained in short-term memory.
• It is a complex process requiring some effort on our part.
• Our ability to learn is important- it clearly differentiates people from
machines.
• Given enough time people can improve the performance in almost
any task.
• Too often, however, designers use our learning ability as an excuse to
justify complex design.
• A design developed to minimize human learning time can greatly
accelerate human performance.
• People prefer to stick with what they know, and they prefer to
jump in and get started.
• Unproductive time spent learning is something frequently avoided.

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 The Implications in Screen Design
Skill:
• The goal of human performance is to perform skillfully.
• Requires linking inputs and responses into a sequence of action.
The essence of skill is performance of actions or movements in
the correct time sequence with adequate precision.
• It is characterized by consistency and economy of effort.
• Economy of effort is achieved by establishing a work pace that
represents optimum efficiency.
• It is accomplished by increasing mastery of the system through
such things as progressive learning of shortcuts, increased
speed, and easier access to information or data.
• Skills are hierarchical in nature, and many basic skills may be
integrated to form increasingly complex ones. Lower-order skills
tend to become routine and may drop out of consciousness.
• System and screen design must permit development of
increasingly skillful performance.
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Skill:
• The goal of human performance is to perform skillfully.
• Requires linking inputs and responses into a sequence of action.
The essence of skill is performance of actions or movements in
the correct time sequence with adequate precision.
• It is characterized by consistency and economy of effort.
• Economy of effort is achieved by establishing a work pace that
represents optimum efficiency.
• It is accomplished by increasing mastery of the system through
such things as progressive learning of shortcuts, increased
speed, and easier access to information or data.
• Skills are hierarchical in nature, and many basic skills may be
integrated to form increasingly complex ones. Lower-order skills
tend to become routine and may drop out of consciousness.
• System and screen design must permit development of
increasingly skillful performance.

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Individual Differences:
• In reality, there is no average user. A complicating but very
advantageous human characteristic is that we all differ-in looks,
feelings, motor abilities, intellectual abilities, learning abilities and
speed, and so on.
• In a keyboard data entry task, for example, the best typists will probably
be twice as fast as the poorest and make 10 times fewer errors.
• Individual differences complicate design because the design must
permit people with widely varying characteristics to satisfactorily and
comfortably learn the task or job, or use the Web site.
• In the past this has usually resulted in bringing designs down to the level
of lowest abilities or selecting people with the minimum skills
necessary to perform a job.
• But technology now offers the possibility of tailoring jobs to the specific
needs of people with varying and changing learning or skill
levels.
• Multiple versions of a system can easily be created.
• Design must provide for the needs of all potential users

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 Human Considerations in Design
• The User's Knowledge and Experience
The knowledge possessed by a person, and the
experiences undergone, shape the design of the interface
in many ways.
The following kinds of knowledge and experiences should be
identified.
• Computer Literacy - Highly technical or experienced,
moderate computer experience, or none
• System Experience - High, moderate, or low knowledge of
a particular system and its methods of interaction
• Application Experience - High, moderate, or low
knowledge of similar systems

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 Human Considerations in Design
• Task Experience - Other Level of knowledge of job and job
tasks
• Systems Use - Frequent or infrequent use of other systems
in doing job
• Education - High school, college, or advanced degree
• Reading Level - Less than 5th grade, 5th-12th, more than
12th grade
• Typing Skill - Expert (135 WPM), skilled (90 WPM), good
(55 WPM), average (40 WPM), or "hunt and peck" (10
WPM).
• Native Language or Culture- English, another, or several

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 JOB/TASK/NEED

• Type of System Use - Mandatory or discretionary use of the

system.
• Frequency of Use - Continual, frequent, occasional, or
once-in-a-lifetime use of system
• Task or Need importance - High, moderate, or low
importance of the task being performed
• Task Structure - Repetitiveness or predictability of tasks
being automated, high, moderate, or low
• Social Interactions - Verbal communication with another
person required or not required

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 JOB/TASK/NEED
• Primary Training - Extensive or formal training, self training
through manuals, or no training
• Turnover Rate - High, moderate, or low turnover rate for
jobholders
• Job Category - Executive, manager, professional, secretary,
clerk
• Lifestyle - For Web e-commerce systems, includes hobbies,
recreational pursuits, and economic status

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 Psycological Charactersitics
• Attitude - Positive, neutral, or negative feeling toward job or
system
• Motivation - Low, moderate, or high due to interest or fear
• Patience - Patience or impatience expected in accomplishing
goal
• Expectations - Kinds and reasonableness
• Stress Level - High, some, or no stress generally resulting
from task performance
• Cognitive Style - Verbal or spatial, analytic or intuitive,
concrete or abstract

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 Physical Characteristics
• Age Young middle aged or elderly
• Gender Male or Female
• Handness Left, right or ambidextrous
• Disabilities Blind, defective vision, deafness, motor handicap

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 Human Interaction Speeds
The speed at which people can perform using various
communication methods has been studied by a number of
researchers.
• Reading: The average adult, reading English prose in
the United States, has a reading speed in the order of
250-300 words per minute.
Proof reading text on paper has been found to occur
at about 200 words per minute, on a computer
monitor, about 180 words per minute.

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 Human Interaction Speeds
• One technique that has dramatically increased reading
speeds is called Rapid Serial Visual Presentation, or
RSVP.
• In this technique single words are presented one at time in
the center of a screen. New words continually replace old
words at a rate set by the reader.
• For a sample of people whose paper document
reading speed was 342 words per minute. (With a speed
range of 143 to 540 words per minute.) Single words were
presented on a screen in sets at a speed sequentially
varying ranging from 600 to 1,600 words per minute.
After each set a comprehension test was administered.

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READING
• Prose text - 250-300 words per minute.
• Proof reading text on paper - 200 words per minute.
• Proof reading text on a monitor - 180 words per minute.
LISTENING
• Speaking to a computer: 150-160 words per minute.
• After recognition corrections: 105 words per minute.
KEYING
Typewriter
• Fast typist: 150 words per minute and higher
• Average typist: 60-70 words per minute
Computer
• Transcription: 33 words per minute
• Composition: 19 words per minute
Two finger typists
• Memorized text: 37 words per minute
• Copying text: 27 words per minute
Hand printing
• Memorized text: 31 words per minute.
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• Copying text: 22 words per minute.
 Understand the Business Function

• Business definition and requirements analysis

--Direct methods
--Indirect methods
--Requirements collection guidelines
• Determining basic business functions
--Developing conceptual modes
--Understanding mental models
--Users new mental model

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 Understand the Business Function
• Design standards or style guides
--Value of standards and guidelines
--Document design
--Design support and implementation
• System training and documentation
--Training
--Documentation.

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 Direct Methods
• Individual Face-to-Face Interview
• Telephone Interview or Survey
• Traditional Focus Group
• Facilitated Team Workshop
• Observational Field Study
• User-Interface Prototyping
• Usability Laboratory Testing
• Card Sorting for Web Sites
• A technique to establish groupings of information for Web
sites

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 Indirect Methods
• MIS Intermediary
• Paper Surveyor Questionnaire
• Electronic Surveyor Questionnaire
• Electronic Focus Group
• Marketing and Sales
• Support Line
• E-Mail or Bulletin Board
• User Group
• Competitor Analyses
• Trade Show
• Other Media Analysis
• System Testing
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 Determining Basic Business Functions
Major system functions are listed and described, including
critical system inputs and outputs.
A flowchart of major functions is developed. The process
the developer will use is summarized as follows:
• Gain a complete understanding of the user's mental model
based upon:
• The user's needs and the user's profile.
• A user task analysis.
• Develop a conceptual model of the system based upon
the user's mental model.
• This includes:
Defining objects.
Developing metaphors.
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 Understanding the User’s Mental Model
• The next phase in interface design is to thoroughly describe the
expected system user or users and their current tasks.
• The former will be derived from the kinds of information
collected in Step 1 "Understand the User or Client," and the
requirements analysis techniques described above.
• A goal of task analysis, and a goal of understanding the user, is to
gain a picture of the user's mental model.
• A mental model is an internal representation of a person's current
conceptualization and understanding of something.
• Mental models are gradually developed in order to
understand, explain, and do something.
• Mental models enable a person to predict the actions necessary
to do things if the actions have been forgotten or have not yet
been encountered.

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 Performing a Task Analysis
• User activities are precisely.
• Task analysis involves breaking down the user's activities to
the individual task level.
• Knowing why establishes the major work goals;
• Complete description of all user tasks and interactions.
• Work activities are studied using the techniques just reviewed;
• Direct observation, interviews, questionnaires, or obtaining
measurements of actual current system usage.
• Listing of the user's current tasks.
• Another result is a list of objects the users see as important to
what they do

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 Developing Conceptual Models
• The output of the task analysis is the creation, by the
designer, of a conceptual model for the user interface.
• A conceptual model is the general conceptual
framework through which the system's functions are
presented.
• Such a model describes how the interface will present
objects, the relationships between objects, the properties
of objects, and the actions that will be performed.
• A conceptual model is based on the user's mental
model. Since the term mental model refers to a person's
current level of knowledge about something, people will
always have them

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 Developing Conceptual Models
• Since mental models are influenced by a person’s
experiences, and people have different experiences, no two
user mental models are likely to be exactly the same.
• Each person looks at the interface from a slightly different
perspective.
• The goal of the designer is to facilitate for the user the
development of useful mental model of the system.
• This is accomplished by presenting to the user a meaningful
conceptual model of the system .
• When the user then encounters the system, his or her existing
mental model will, hopefully, mesh well with the system's
conceptual model.
• As a person works with a system, he or she then develops a
mental model of the system.
.
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 Developing Conceptual Models
• The system mental model the user derives is based
upon system's behavior, including factors such as the
system inputs, actions, outputs (including screens and
messages), and its feedback and guidance
characteristics, all of which are components of the
conceptual model.
• Documentation and training also plays formative role.
Mental models will be developed regardless of the
particular design of a system, and then they will be Modified
with experience.
• What must be avoided in design is creating for the
user a conceptual model that leads to the creation of a
false mental model of the system, or that inhibits the user
from creating a meaningful or efficient mental model.
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 Guidelines for Designing Conceptual Models
• Reflect the user's mental model, not the designer's.
• Draw physical analogies or present metaphors.
• Comply with expectancies, habits, routines, and stereotypes.
• Provide action-response compatibility.
• Make invisible parts and process of a system visible.
• Provide proper and correct feedback.
• Avoid anything unnecessary or irrelevant.
• Provide design consistency.
• Provide documentation and a help system that will reinforce
the conceptual model.
• Promote the development of both novice and expert mental
models

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 Defining Objects
• Determine all objects that have to be manipulated to get work done.
Describe:
- The objects used in tasks.
- Object behavior and characteristics that differentiate each kind
of object.
- The relationship of objects to each other and the people using
them.
- The actions performed.
- The objects to which actions apply.
- State information or attributes that each object in the task
must preserve, display, or allow to be edited.
• Identify the objects and actions that appear most often in the
workflow.
• Make the several most important objects very obvious and easy to
manipulate
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 Developing Metaphors
• Choose the analogy that works best for each object and its actions.
• Use real-world metaphors.
• Use simple metaphors.
• Use common metaphors.
• Multiple metaphors may coexist.
• Use major metaphors, even if you can't exactly replicate them
visually.
• Test the selected metaphors.

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