Lecture 4: User Profiling

USER

“One most unfortunate product is the type of engineer who does not realize that in order to apply the fruits of science for the benefit of mankind, he must not only grasp the principles of science, but must also know the needs and aspirations, the possibilities and the frailties, of those whom he would serve.”

-- Vannevar Bush

1890-1974, well known
American Electrical engineer
Directed programs like the first development of atomic bombs , mass production of penicillin

WHAT IS USER PROFILING

The process of establishing knowledge about the users
Find out who users are: Children, Elderly, Professional, Scientist, Male, Female, Tech Savvy, IT Illiterate

what is the goal in using the product:Withdraw cash, pay bills, find out movie time, online chat, gaming, research, cook, wash, treatment

what are the tasks involved? (observe existing work practices):E.g. To apply for leave: check schedule, get leave application form from admin, fill in the form, get supervisor to approve, get manager to approve, inform scheduler, inform colleagues, go on leave.

WHY DO USER PROFILING

System will fail if it -
does not do what the user needs
is inappropriate to the user

“the system must match the users’ tasks and must meet the requirements”

Why do user profiling, why not define “good” interfaces and just based your design on them?
infinite variety of tasks and users
guidelines can be too vague to be generative
e.g., “give adequate feedback”, or “make the system enjoyable”
– how do you define and relate to users?”

WHY DO WE WANT TO KNOW-WHO ARE THE USERS

Identify attributes of users:
Physical characteristics:
height; physical abilities or disabilities
Background:
education; social; religious
Skills:
task experience
Preferences:
efficiency

WHY DO WE WANT TO KNOW-WHERE IS THE TASK PERFORMED

Office, laboratory, POS? (while standing, while sitting, in a crowded place, effects of environment)
Are users under stress? (in an operation theatre)
Is confidentiality required? (information displayed)
Do Users have wet hands? (at the butcher)
Do Users consume drinks while doing tasks?
What kind of lighting do they work under?
Surrounding noise

WHY DO WE WANT TO KNOW-RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN USER AND DATA

Personal data
always accessed at same machine?
do users move between machines?
Common data
used concurrently?
Passed sequentially between users?
Access to data restricted?



WHAT DO WE WANT TO KNOW-HOW OFTEN ARE TASKS PERFORMED

Frequent users remember more details
Infrequent users may need more help
even for simple operations
Which function is performed
most frequently?
by which users?
optimize system for these tasks will improve perception of good performance


WHAT DO WE WANT TO KNOW-WHAT ARE THE TIME CONSTRAINTS

What functions will users be in a hurry for?
Positioning of functions
Which can wait?
Is there a timing relationship between tasks?
Time out

USER REQUIREMENT

Captures the characteristics of the intended user group
Novice & Casual (clear step by step intro)
Expert & Frequent (flexible interactions, wide range of power/control, short cut keys)

Analyse the results of user profiling and identify the impact to your interface design

Know your users – always!

DATA GATHERING

What:
How do we go about determining requirements
and concluding the results

An important part of the requirement activity
and also evaluation activity

Why:
Purpose is to collect sufficient, relevant and
appropriate data to produce a set of reliable
requirements/conclusions.

DATA GATHERING TECHNIQUES

Questionnaires
A series of questions designed to elicit specific information
Can give quantitative and qualitative data
Administered at distance, no one to explain & help in answering
Advantages, disadvantages

Interviews
Involves asking someone a set of questions (often f2f)
Good for exploring issues, encourage people to respond
Advantages, disadvantages

Workshops or focus groups
Group interviews rather than one on one
Gain a consensus view and/or highlighting areas of conflicts
Facilitator is required to keep conversation on track
Has to be carefully structured, participants have to be carefully chosen
Advantages, disadvantages

Naturalistic observation
Spend time with stakeholders in their day to day tasks, observing work as it happens
Good for understanding the nature and context of the tasks
Take notes, ask question (not too many)

Variation of this - ‘Ethnography’
Observing from the ‘inside’ as a participant, full involvement
Advantages, disadvantages


Studying documentation
Good for getting background information on procedures and rules (manuals, job logs)
Advantages, disadvantages

PROBLEMS WITH DATA GATHERING

Identifying and involving stakeholders
Availability of key people
Communication between parties
Within development team (more technical)
With customer/user (less technical)
Between users (different parts of an organisation use different terminology
e.g. End of Module Report for APIIT vs Module Report for SU)
Dominance of certain stakeholders
Balancing functional and usability demands

QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN

Keep questions short
Only ask a question if it contributes to design
Use closed questions for ease of analysis
Always pilot questionnaires/interview schedules

SUMMARY

Keep questions short
Only ask a question if it contributes to design
Use closed questions for ease of analysis
Always pilot questionnaires/interview schedules