CSC 8570 -- USI

Class Meeting 7October 19, 2010

Important ConceptsAs listed on the one-minute survey

• Research methods for testing usability• Requirements specifications for interfaces must be written carefully and followed

exactly.• GOMS analysis of user interaction• Types of measurements available for keyboard entry process• Preparing a research experiment• Diversity of interfaces; complexity of UI design• Keys to creating an excellent interface: innovation, analysis of current UI problems• User interface assessment with GUEPs and CDs• Specific GUEPS and CDs including Consistency, KISS, Viscosity, Explaining• Keystroke level analysis, models (e.g. Fitts’ Law), and notation• Semantic and syntactic analysis of widgets• Mental models• Learning tools: concept maps, research paper reading process

Confusions

• Picking essential ideas with final exam in mind.• Understanding and use of GUEPs• Understanding and use of CDs• Understanding and use of GOMS model• Statistics for the research project• Concept maps

Article Presentations• Choose one of the two topic areas (defined below)• Find an interesting recent (last 4 years) paper in the

area• Prepare a 15 minute presentation of the paper– The background– The experiment– The results– The critique– The relationship to other papers or concepts

Article Presentations (2)

Subject areas:• Intelligent user interfaces (IUI) and especially the

implementation and evaluation of features.• Interface personalization and especially its value on

small devices

Course planning• 10/25

• Choice of research article for presentation with area and bibliographic information due, via email

• Perfect Phone design team task choice due, via email• 10/26 – Interface design team meetings

• Preliminary Perfect Phone design report due at end of class• Research project Progress Report 1 due

• 11/2 • Final Perfect Phone design report due

• 11/9 • Research project Progress Report 2 due

• 11/16 – Paper presentations: Intelligent user interfaces

Course planning (2)

• 11/23 – Paper presentations: Interface personalization• Draft research report, part 1, due

• 11/30 • Draft research report, part 2, due

• 12/7 – Research Project Presentations• Final research report due

• 12/14 – Final Exam• Research project poster abstract and design due

Research Project

1. IRB forms (due now)

2. Progress reports (PR 1 due 10/26; PR 2 due 11/9)

3. Report drafts (Sections 1&2 due 11/23; Sections 3-5 due 11/30)

4. Final written report (Due 12/7)

5. Oral report (Given 12/7)

6. Poster abstract and design (Due 12/14)

The Perfect Phone Project

• Goal: Create a user interface design– As powerful as possible– As perfect as possible– As intuitive as possible

• Process: – Divide into design teams– Brainstorm design and features, in several rounds, tonight– Choose components for actual design process

The Perfect Phone Project (2)

Design Teams are:

Team P: David, Ivan Team Q: Gerry, MattTeam R: Vinay, Vince

The Perfect Phone Project (3)

• Move into groups, separating each group from all others as much as possible.

• Take a few minutes to read– Young’s article in the Chronicle of Higher Education– Claburn’s article in InformationWeek– Dvorak’s article in PCMagazine

• Then we’ll think creatively

The Perfect Phone

We’ll approach understanding the design of the perfect phone in four ways:

• By perception• By design philosophy• By task• By physical interface

But first:

The Imperfect Phone

• Which of the imperfections Claburn lists are still present?

• Are there other imperfections with your phone?– Or that you’ve heard of in the popular press?

Imperfections• One program at a time• Lack of suitable i/o • Outrageous data charges• Limitations on streaming data to/from phone

– Voice recording files are not in MP3 format• Closed / locked systems by manufacturer• Hidden features exist, but difficult to discover• Expensive to acquire and use• Limited battery power• Lack of physical buttons/devices for one-hand operation• Touch sensitivity issues• Hardened systems for rugged use• Too small for some uses

Perfect Phone: Perception

• What do you think of when someone starts talking about a perfect phone?

• What is your mental model of the device?– Theories or beliefs about its operations– A “space” in which problems are solved through a

sequence of steps– A representation of the device in a more familiar or

“easier” setting– Created from an understanding of a textual

description of the device

Perceptions; Mental Models• Open for developers, users• Operations are quick• Easily personalizable• Physical buttons are programmable for ease of one-handed operation• Strong trainable voice recognition system• Reasonable screen size• Reasonable battery life—at least one day even with hard use• Good feedback to input• Durable screen, case, etc. (some are wary of thin phones)• Easy to find an app to solve a problem• Knows where you are (location) inside or outside• Matches one’s multitasking lifestyle• Assumes reasonable functionality of laptop—connectivity, printing

Perfect Phone: Design Philosophy

• How does the perception of the perfect phone translate to an overall design?

• An Analogy: – A toaster should make toast.– A toaster can be easily made to toast more than

bread (bagels, English muffins, crullers, …)– Sometimes the item needing toasted is frozen. – A toaster should operate wherever it can be

plugged in.

Design Philosophy

• Make phone calls robustly• Shallow menu structure• Receive TV and radio signals• Customizable interface, etc.• Good document exchange• Phone call does not interrupt other tasks• Connect to cloud with strong user controlled encryption• Smart voice interface, voice commands• Good sound, good microphones• Good day/night visibility, operable in a variety of conditions• Strong use security

Perfect Phone: Physical Interface

• What should the physical design of the phone and its physical interface widgets be?

Physical Interface

Perfect Phone: Task List

• What tasks would you like to accomplish on your Perfect Phone?

Task List• Download additional functionality• Make contact with others• Take pictures and video• Play music, videos• Keep a call log, keep a recording of call• Manage and organize files of information• Support social networking• Serve as personal calendar, alarm clock, internet brower, GPS• Access news, weather, stock information• Tell date, time• Compose documents• Use different alert sounds for different reminders• Bar code reader

Perfect Phone: Design Task• Each design team chooses X of the Y tasks in order of

preference. Submit choice by 10/25– One alternate task can be proposed.– Instructor will assign tasks based on preference ordering– Important: The teams are designing the user interface for the

functionality described, not the implementation of the functionality itself.

• Design teams meet Tuesday, 10/26, during class time• Interim design report due by 9:00 p.m. EDT that evening.• Final design report due Wednesday, 11/3

Perfect Phone: DT (2)Being as creative as possible• Develop a task analysis• Use a State Transition Network (see Dix)• Propose a design for the PPh to accomplish the team’s

assigned task• Implement a prototype of the design (implement can mean

“screen shots” or a running program)• Analyze the prototype in light of the GUEPs and CDs• Use other ideas from course as appropriate to justify your

design.• Submit a report with the results of your work.

Perfect Phone: DT (3)

• Results should be three designs that, when combined, describe a device that is close to a PPh.

• References– Keijzers, et al, Usability Benchmark Study of

Commercially Available Smart Phones, MobileHCI 2008, 265-272.

– Light, Transports of Delight?, Personal Ubiquitous Computing, 2008, 12:391-400.

To Do

• Submit presentation area and article for approval by Monday, October 25. Send area and bibliographic citation by email.

• Submit choices of perfect phone tasks by Monday, October 25.

• Submit (by email) Progress Report 1 by Tuesday, October 26.

• Meet as an interface design team on Tuesday, October 26. Submit initial design report by 9:00 p.m. EDT.