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Sp00 Final Exam Review: HCI Design

See Final Exam Review - Sp2000

a)They obviously programmed the interface for themselves and not their users. They should have ivestigated what their users are used to, what they like, what they know. . . basically, who they are. They didn't even think of their users or maybe they thought their users were programmers like themselves. By the way, it doesn't matter that they "love it!". . .they aren't buying and using it.

b) "Did you know that older folks have trouble with reading smaller text?" . . . Now that is just stupid. If they didn't know this, then I don't know what planet they are from. So let's pretend that not a lot of ppl do know that senior citizens don't see as well as younger ppl. If you don't know much about your users, you should go out and investigate! Let the users test it, ask them questions, do something to make it look like you care about your users. hahaha

This kind of relates to part a. They were too concerned about saving screen space than whether or not their stuff was usable. They also didn't even know that senior homes were potential customers. When you are creating a UI you must take into account who your customers are because they are your users! And you must know your users. (see part a).

c)Oh my God! I'm laughing as I do this question. Are ppl really like this?

Anyway, yah that's kinda cool. . . for them! Duh, like I don't think the users would be too happy with that. Users usually like some sort of labels for buttons and the like. Users in general also like to know what their doing. Some ppl may forget which is which, especially if they use this UI infrequently. People will get more frustrated and confused with it than excited that it is cool and it also doesn't take up too much screen real estate. Anyway, how much more screen space could two buttons take up. I would like to know the reason they are being so frugal with screen space. All and all the answer to all 3 questions in a nutshell is: They designed it for themselves not the users.

Wow, so now we have a bunch of fools that are experts at using their own userface! Does that prove it's the greatest thing on earth?? Oh yah!

Yah I was being sarcastic in some places...

Jennifer R.

b. In addition to the above mentioned, the UI also lacks flexibility so as to possibly have an option to increase the point size for the text, so that the user himself can adjust the readability of the UI according to his needs. This flexibility and customability property should be part of a UI for it to be successful with people from all walks of life.

c. A good UI is one that provides even a new user with good enough visual aids to carry out the desired functionality, not that sends one on a wild goose chase. Saving Screen real estate maybe desirable, but not at the cost of loosing UI readibility and ease of its use.

Sherry
Good answers, but let's come up with the specific rules. Things like "Make knowledge in the world visible," and "Know thy users for they are not you," and "Follow UI standards where applicable." Which of these apply in these cases? Are there others that apply? Mark Guzdial


a) Know thy users...etc..
b) make knowledge visible
c) put user-needed knowledge in world, do what ppl expect



a) Know thy users, for they are not you!
- Most users are not programmers.
- Most users have different expertise than developers, therefore they think differently and speak a different language (ie medicine vs. law vs. Computers).

- Use the UI Design Process
- Understand the user
- Understand the task
- Evaluate your UI options

b) This falls under "Understanding the user" in the UI Design Process. You need to know who your users are, how old they are, what is their common expertise, or language. After that you then need to know what they want to do or the "task".

c) Make knowledge visible
- Computers are good at remembering, People are not!
- Do what people expect. Ever notice that in grocery stores fruits are to the right, and bakery to the left, freezers in the middle, no matter which company owns the store. This is not by mistake. How about in fast food when the ordering counter is at the front and seating is in the back and to the right. Computers are not the only ones that follow convention, the world runs on convention, and if you want to be creative and stray like changing OK and Cancel buttons, prepare for complaints and a product that isn't likely to be popularly used, because it puts people out of their comfort zone.

All of that said, the developers could have saved a lot of time, energy, hassle and money with a little evaluation, both before the users and with the users.

Cheyenne Throckmorton


Ours is about the same as everything else up here:

a) This is the "know thy users" problem.
b) This is also a problem with the users. Maybe this could be avoided by using focus groups to test the software.
c) This is a problem that occurred because the "knowledge was not visible". They should have used common UI elements that most all people are familiar with.

Susi Rathmann, jeremy, Matt Flagg

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