Day 4

More on Information DesignandTheories of human computer interaction

Objectives

Learn how to organise content

Understand Norman’s theory of human-computer interaction

Understand Grice’s theory of conversational interaction

Understand implications of the model for user interface design

Critical tasks of Information Design

Define the goals of the product

Understand your users

Assess the users’ needs and desires

Create a content list

Organise the content

Produce a content flowchart

Organising your content/tasks

You might have a good idea after your research about the content/tasks that will be in your system, but it must now be organised What should have highest priority? How will the user get from one part to the next? Where will one lot of content/tasks go with respect to

other content/tasks? What content/tasks should be grouped together?

From a list to card sorting

Make a list of all the content/tasks you now expect to have in your product

You can now use the card sorting technique

The card sorting technique video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzinDOELYjA Uxsort (v1.6.0.1)

http://uxsort.com/download.aspx

Create a content flow diagram

A Simple Website Map

Theories of human computer interaction

Norman’s 7-stage cycle of HCI

Two major implications for a designer

The designer must bridge the gulf of execution Design the system to ease the process of getting from

the intention to the execution

The designer must bridge the gulf of evaluation Design the system so that the response after the user

has performed an action can be easily interpreted and then evaluated

So how do you bridge these gulfs?

Norman’s four principles

Norman put forward four design principles that address the problem of bridging the gulfs Make things visible Provide a good conceptual model Use natural mappings Give feedback

Make things visible

Ensure that the user, by looking, can tell the state of the device and the alternatives for action

Provide a good conceptual model

Ensure the system image is coherent and consistent and reflects the model that underlies the system

Use natural mappings

Ensure there is a natural relationship between the look of an object and its function

Give feedback

Give the user full and continuous feedback

Grice’s theory of conversational interaction

Grice put forward his theory in 1975.

The theory was concerned with how people interact during conversations.

Although the theory was developed with human conversations in mind and was formed well before computers became common place, it has relevance today to designing a user interface.

Grice’s cooperative principle

Human communication is governed by the Cooperative Principle.

That is, people are expected to be cooperative in a conversation, saying the type of thing that is required, when it is required, given the purpose of the conversation.

Grice put forward four maxims that stem from the Cooperative Principle: the Maxim of Quantity the Maxim of Quality the Maxim of Relevance the Maxim of Manner

My “conversation” with the Doc Martin’s site

Doc M: Welcome. Fast connection, click here.Me: OK. I click where it says “Click here”. Hmm nothing happens. Oh, there are radio buttons off to the right.(Maxim of Manner breached because it wasn’t clear where you have to click; and the Maxim of Quality too)

Continuing on …

Doc M: To enter, click on the dot nearest to where you live.Me: Oh, it must send you to information relevant to different locations in the world. Well, Brisbane is a long way from Singapore but it’s the closest so I’ll click on that. But I don’t really want to know about shops in Singapore.Doc M: Here is a lot of information about shoes and Dr. Martens.Me: Weird, this is just shoe styles. Why was I asked to click on the dot nearest to where I live?(Maxim of Relevance breached because being asked where you live seems irrelevant to the user)

And more … Doc M: Here’s a shoe, and another, and another, join us, blueprint, here’s another shoe, feet first, we’re all ears, here’s another shoe, and another, feet first, what’s on, store locater, here’s another shoe, feet first, privacy, check out our new product ranges!!! terms and conditions, blueprint, feet first, here’s another shoe.Me: Woh, it seems like you’re throwing a whole bunch of stuff at me but you’re not telling me what to do.(Maxim of Quantity breached because there’s too much information being given for the help it is giving)

And finally …

Me: Just for the heck of it, I’ll click on “what’s on”.Doc M: News! Dr. Martens is the official Macromedia site of the day.Me: My God! Can this be true or has Grice’s Maxim of Quality been breached!

Don Norman video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_rwwEo5YhY&feature=related

How do you think you could save a file with this?

What do these mean?

The answer (to slide 25) revealed … drag on the thumb mark and then drag a file across