Human-Computer Interaction in eCommerce

Lecture 2:Discovering what people can't tell you:Contextual Inquiry and AnalysisMethodology

Brad Myers

05-863 / 08-763 / 46-863: Introduction toHuman Computer Interaction forTechnology Executives

Fall, 2013, Mini 2

Happy Halloween!

Take 2 candies!

Resolve Devices for Assignments

On the GoogleDoc

Some Usability Methods

Contextual Inquiry

Contextual Analysis (Design)

Paper prototypes

Think-aloud protocols

Heuristic Evaluation

Affinity diagrams (WAAD)

Personas

Wizard of Oz

Task analysis

Cognitive Walkthrough

KLM and GOMS (CogTool)

Video prototyping

Body storming

Expert interviews

A vs. B studies

Questionnaires

Surveys

Interaction Relabeling

Log analysis

Focus groups

Card sorting

Diary studies

Improvisation

Use cases

Scenarios

Cognitive Dimensions

“Speed Dating”

…

Contextual Inquiry and Analysis/Design

One method for organizing the development process

We teach it to our MS and BS students

Proven to be very successful

Hartson-Pyla text: Chapters 3-6

(doing things in a different order than text)

Also described in this classic book:

H. Beyer and K. Holtzblatt. 1998. Contextual Design: Defining Customer-Centered Systems. San Francisco, CA:MorganKaufmann Publishers, Inc. ISBN: 1558604111.

http://www.incent.com/

Contextual Inquiry & Analysis/Design

Contextual Inquiry

A kind of “ethnographic” or “participatory design”method

Combines aspects of other methods:

Interviewing, think-aloud protocols,participant/observer in the context of the work

Afterwards: Contextual Analysis (Hartson-Pyla term)

Beyer-Holtzblatt call it “Contextual Design”

Also includes diagrams (“models”) to describeresults

“Contextual Inquiry”

Interpretive field research method

Depends on conversations with users in thecontext of their work

Used to define requirements, plans anddesigns.

Discover the real requirements of the work

Drives the creative process:

In original design

In considering new features or functionality

Context

Definition:

“The interrelated conditions within whichsomething occurs or exists”

Understand work in its natural environment

Go to the user

Observe real work

Use real examples and artifacts

“Artifact”: An object created by human workmanship

Interview while she/he is working

More reliable than asking them

Context exists even when not a “work” activity

Use “work” here just to mean “doing something”

Can be home, entertainment, etc.

Elements of User's Context: PayAttention to all of these

User's work space

User's work

User’s workarounds

User's work intentions

User's words (language used)

Tools used

How people work together

Business goals

Organizational and cultural structure

Why Context?

Design complete work process

Fits into “fabric” of entire operations

Not just “point solutions” to specific problems

Integration!

Consistency, effectiveness, efficiency, coherent

Design from data

Not just opinions, negotiation

Not just a list of features

Key distinctions about CIs

Interviews, Surveys, FocusGroups

Summary data & abstractions

What customers say

Subjective

Limited by reliability of humanmemory

What customers think they want

Contextual Inquiry

Ongoing experience &concrete data

What users do

Objective

Spontaneous, as it happens

What users actually need

Who?

Users

Between 6 – 20

Representative of different roles

Note: may not be people who will be doing thepurchasing of the system

E.g., if for an enterprise; public kiosk

Interviewers: “Cross-functional” team

Designers

UI specialists

Product managers

Marketing

Technical people

Partnership

Definition:

A relationship characterized by close cooperation

Build an equitable relationship with the user

Suspend your assumptions and beliefs

Invite the user into the inquiry process

Why is Partnership Important?

Information is obtained through a dialog

The user is the expert.

Not a conventional interview or consultant relationship

Alternative way to view the relationship:Master/Apprentice

The user is the “master craftsman” at his/her work

You are the apprentice trying to learn

Establishing Partnership

Share control

Use open-ended questions that invite users to talk:

"What are you doing?"

"Is that what you expect?"

"Why are you doing...?"

Let the user lead the conversation

Listen!

Pay attention to communication that is non-verbal

Some Alternative ContextualInquiry Interview Methods

For intermittent tasks

In-context cued recall

Activity logs

For uninterruptible tasks

Post-observation inquiry

For extremely long or multi-person tasks

Artifact walkthrough

New technology within current work

Future Scenario

Prototype or prior version exists

Prototype/Test drive

Interview Recording and Note-Taking

Do record interview

Video recordings

Screen capture software with laptop microphone for user

When to take notes?

Note taking can help you pay closer attention

Notes lead to faster turn-around

Do not let it interfere with interviewing

Usually would use a second person

How to record?

What the user says – in quotes

What the user does – plain text

Your interpretation – in parentheses

Write fast!

Analysis

In the moment:Simultaneous data collection and analysis duringinterview

Post interview:

Using notes, tapes, and transcripts

Analysis by a group:

Integrates multiple perspectives

Creates shared vision

Creates shared focus

Builds teams

Saves time

Defining the Tasks

In a real Contextual Inquiry, user decides thetasks

Investigate real-world tasks, needs, context

But you still must decide the focus

What tasks you want to observe

That are relevant to your product plan

But for Assignment 1, you will have to inventsome tasks

Test Tasks

Task design is difficult part of usability testing

Representative of “real” tasks

Sufficiently realistic and compelling so users are motivated tofinish

Can let users create their own tasks if relevant

Appropriate difficulty and coverage

Should last about 2 min. for expert, less than 30 min. for novice

Short enough to be finished, but not trivial

Tasks not humorous, frivolous, or offensive

Easy task first, progressively harder

But better if independent

Remember: Not asking their opinions

Initial Questions for the Users

Find out the context through initial questions

When would you normally do this kind of task?

Who would be involved in making the decisions?

What would influence any decisions?

How would you know what to do?

What information would you use to help decide?

Test Script

Useful to have a script

Make sure say everything you want

Make sure all users get same instructions

Should read instructions out loud

Ask if users have any questions

Make sure instructions provide goals only in a generalway, and doesn’t give away information

Describe the result and not the steps

Avoid product names and technical terms that appear on theweb site

Don’t give away the vocabulary

Example:

“The clock should have the right time”;not: “Use the hours and minutes buttons to set the time”

Example of CI

Video of sample session with a eCommerce site:

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~bam/uicourse/EHCIcontexualinquiry.mpg

Issues to observe

Interview of work in progress, in “context”

Actual session of doing a task

Not an interview asking about possible tasks, etc.

Note that focusing on expert behavior & breakdowns

Questions to clarify about routine, motivations

Why do certain actions: need intent for actions

Notice problems (“breakdowns”)

Notice what happens that causes users to do something(“triggers”)

E.g. appearance of error messages, other feedback, externalevents (phone ringing), etc.

Screen shots of important points in video

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~bam/uicourse/EHCIcontexualinquiryScreens.ppt