Question: Do you feel Norman's view of UX doesn't encompass enough, is just right, or is it too broad? Can you identify what do you like, or what do you disagree with from how he defines UX

Human Computer Interaction has evolved over decades; many important developments are now characterized as "user experience design." Please watch Donald Norman in this brief clip about the term "UX." Based on this clip, the learning materials and your prior work in HCI, respond to the discussion prompt below.

Your Assignment:
Do you feel Norman's view of UX doesn't encompass enough, is just right, or is it too broad? Can you identify what do you like, or what do you disagree with from how he defines UX from this or other Norman clips? If you disagree, share alternative viewpoints using links to examples or cite references if you use the work of others in your answer (that way, your classmates can take a look!). You are NOT required to respond to your classmates answers, but are encouraged to discuss your ideas and ask each other questions in this topic.

Evaluating Interface Designs

Introduction

Designers can become so entranced with their creations that they may fail to evaluate them adequately.  Experienced designers have attained the wisdom and humility to know that extensive testing is a necessity.

The determinants of the evaluation plan include:

–stage of design (early, middle, late)

–novelty of project (well defined vs. exploratory)

–number of expected users

–criticality of the interface (life-critical medical system vs. museum exhibit support)

–costs of product and finances allocated for testing

–time available experience of the design and evaluation team

Usability evaluators must broaden their methods and be open to non-empirical methods, such as user sketches, consideration of design alternatives, and ethnographic studies.  Recommendations needs to be based on observational findings. The design team needs to be involved with research on the current system design drawbacks.  Tools and techniques are evolving, and the range of evaluation plans might be anywhere from an ambitious two-year test with multiple phases for a new national air-traffic–control system to a three-day test with six users for a small internal web site.

Also, the range of costs might be from 20% of a project down to 5%.  This is part of the reason why usability testing has become an established and accepted part of the design process.

Understanding Experts

While informal demos to colleagues or customers can provide some useful feedback, more formal expert reviews have proven to be effective

Expert reviews entail one-half day to one week effort, although a lengthy training period may sometimes be required to explain the task domain or operational procedures

There are a variety of expert review methods to chose from:

• Heuristic evaluation
• Guidelines review
• Consistency inspection
• Cognitive walkthrough
• Metaphors of human thinking
• Formal usability inspection

Expert reviews can be scheduled at several points in the development process when experts are available and when the design team is ready for feedback. Different experts tend to find different problems in an interface, so 3-5 expert reviewers can be highly productive, as can complementary usability testing.  The dangers with expert reviews are that the experts may not have an adequate understanding of the task domain or user communities. Even experienced expert reviewers have great difficulty knowing how typical users, especially first-time users will really behave.

Selections of this Module from "Designing the User Interface" by Ben Shneiderman, Catherine Plaisant et al., and related materials Copyright 2010 Pearson.

Link video: https://youtu.be/se53F8rHTHg

Link video: https://youtu.be/Wl2LkzIkacM

Link video: https://youtu.be/Dk37LhxjPEY

The Functional Triad

BJ Fogg from Stanford University defines persuasive technology as "captology."  Captology describes persuasion through computers in terms of a "functional triad," as we just discussed:

These are "computers as persuasive media" or as a persuasive medium, "computers as persuasive social actors" --a relationship, think affordances and also as a tool or "persuasive tools" --- computers act as persuasive tools that help us increase our capability and our skills.

Computers as Persuasive Tools

As tools, computers serve two primary functions; storing data and performing calculations, both of which they do far better than any human.  But what is a persuasive technology tool?

• An interactive product designed to change attitudes or behaviors or both by making desired outcomes easier to achieve.
• A tool is persuasive by
  • Making target behavior easier to do
  • Leading people through a process
  • Performing calculations or measurements that motivate.

7 Types Of Technology Tools

Reduction: make a behavior easier; Increase the perceived benefit/cost ratio; Increase motivation to engage in behavior

Tunneling: Using computing technology to guide users through a process or experience provides opportunities to persuade along the way. Be exposed to unknown information (some ethical concerns)

Tailoring: UX or product that provides information relevant to individuals to change their attitudes or behaviors or both

Suggestion: Intervening at the right time; Determining opportune time

Self-monitoring: Allows one to better monitor their own behavior to modify behavior in a specific way.

Surveillance: Allows one or other multiple parties to monitor the behavior of another to modify behavior in a specific way.

Conditioning: Computerized system that uses principles of operant conditioning to change behaviors.  Think about any exercise equipment that has an interface including a screen – what information is being displayed?  How does this contribute to Operant Conditioning?  Now thing of a system like Peleton or any other exercise with "live" virtual instruction.  How has this changed conditioning?

Ethics of Persuasive Technology

Technology Has the "Upper Hand"

We have already talked about ethics, and BJ Fogg further addresses ethics of persuasive technology.  Among other points, Fogg argues that technology "has the upper hand" when it comes to persuading the user (not the other way around).  This, he argues is due to these key 6 factors:

1. Novelty can mask technology’s persuasiveness (Volvo game)
2. Technology can leverage reputation of computers (“New advanced technology”)
3. Technology is relentlessly persistent  (Pop-up messages, spam, etc.)
4. How humans interact with computers (Can’t stop and ask questions all the time)
5. Technology can affect emotions but be affected by them (except for social robots)
6. Technology cannot be held responsible for their action (yet...)

3 Areas to Check for Ethical UX and User Behavior:

Intention: Why was the product created? Good vs Bad vs Grey area. Vital to understand developers’ intent (but can you always know the designer’s intent?)

Methods: The methods the technology uses to persuade. Ethical: showing appropriate information (pros/cons) versus Unethical: Threatening and providing   skewed/biased information

Intended Outcomes: Sell product, increase/generate brand loyalty - typically no significant ethical concern.  Technology often has unintended outcomes

Who should take responsibility?

It's hard to say, and more research may be the answer.  Given that, I want to leave you with this great (and optional) in-depth interview with BJ Fogg on this topic for those that are searching for more: