MBTA Ticket Kiosk Taking You for a Ride?

Not every interface we engage with is intuitive. Non-intuitive systems not only try our patience, but they could pick at our wallets as well. If you have ever ridden the MBTA and purchased a ticket from the fare vending machines, you may have experienced this firsthand. Many MBTA riders I spoke with for my grad school project were unaware that they could purchase a single or round trip tickets from the fare vending machine. As a result, many ended up with unused money on their stored-value tickets. The reason for this confusion could be the ambiguous call-to-action to purchase single and round trip tickets and the absence of the fare cost is missing from the interface.

Getting automation correct is crucial to the success of the MBTA ridership experience since Boston’s MBTA is the nation’s 5th largest mass transit system, serving s population of 4,667,555 according to the 2000 census, in 175 cities in towns. On an average weekday, the typical ridership for the entire system is 1.1 million passenger trips.

The Problem

The main issue with the kiosk is that many users do not realize they can add only $2.00 or $4.00 on their stored value ticket. Four out of five MBTA travelers I spoke with admitted they did not initially knowing they could purchase a one way or roundtrip ticket from the ticket on their first interaction with the system. The riders did not realize thing could be done until I told them to try the “Other Amount” option. Four out of five regular MBTA subway riders did not understand how to buy a one way or round trip ticket valued at $2.00 and $4.00, respectively. All five users own cell phones, use other touch screen kiosks including ATMs regularly, and all have at least a high school education. So why did so many purchase the $5, $10, or $20 increments when all they really needed was either $2.00 or $4.00?

Reasons for the Confusion

The reason for this confusion and over-purchasing could be because there is no fare price information located in the interface. There is price information located in the top right hand corner of the fare vending machine, but users would have interrupt their experience to glance upward, which is not in the user’s direct vision as they are engaged with the touch screen. The term “Other Amount” does not immediately register to users as the call to action to purchase a one way or round trip ticket. Keep in mind, the user has competing cognitive noise in the environment as he/she is interacting with the system: the bustle of a noisy subway station, the stress of trying to get the ticket in time to make the oncoming train, and a line of impatient riders waiting their turn to purchase a ticket.

In addition to the confusing label on the Other Amount button, the lack of feedback could also contribute to the problem. The fare vending machine is a one-way interaction, whereas the system only reacts when the user touches a button to initiate the next screen and has no awareness to what could be delaying the user’s input.

Learning from Other Kiosks

An interesting experimental study was performed using the Multimodal Multimedia Service Kiosk, or MASK, uncovered some valuable insights which could help the issues found in the MBTA fare vending machine. The MASK kiosk uses an integrated Multimedia Service kiosk platform with a modified version of LIMSI spoken language system (SLS). This prototype provided train schedules and fare information, as well as simulated ticket purchases.

The study concluded that an average transaction success rate of 93% was obtained on 400 transactions with 100 subjects, while reducing the average time by 30% when using the MASK kiosk. One reason for the positive response was when users delayed and the system recognized the user was pausing; the system would prompt the user with questions via the speaker. The user could answer the question by speaking back to the system. Initially, system developers were afraid users would not want to speak to the system in public, but when asked, 87% of the subjects said they would be likely to use speech input if the MASK kiosk were located in a train station. Based on the findings from this study, integrating a multimodal help experience could aid users who “get stuck” when looking for the one way or round trip option when purchasing an MBTA ticket from the fare vending kiosk. Ensuring the system is intelligent enough to recognize delays in the interactions and prompting the user with helpful hints could help the user as they interact with the system.

Another aspect of the MASK kiosk that could be replicated by the MBTA fare vending machine is the ability to promote system learnability through a system-guided demonstration animation that rotates when the users has not yet engaged the system. According to the Design Kiosk Guidelines, an effective way to introduce users to the system is to present a simulated demonstration to inform users of how to use the system and what to expect. The demonstration should be short enough to keep the user’s attention, but provide the necessary key points. There should be a clear call to action, like a Start button, that indicates the user can interrupt the demonstration at any point.

Sources
Boston Globe. (Document ID: 1814329341, Document ID: 1424553691).
Herald. (Document ID: 1874386781).

User Evaluation of the MASK Kiosk. Speech Communication (2003)
A Review of User-Interface Design Guidelines for Public Information Kiosk Systems (1999)

iPads in the Classroom

You have either seen it with your own kids or watched the videos posted on Youtube: kids love iPads. Their little hands move quickly touching and swiping, learning as they go. Children as young as two years old can navigate between apps, play games, and use drawing capabilities. The iPad UI is ideal for children because it involves very simple gestures to initiate an immediate reaction from the device. Many developers have already started to market towards the needs of children since there are already many interesting apps targeted for kids.

Since kids are drawn to the iPads because of the fun factor, why not integrate the devices in learning environments? iPads offer a functionality ranging from entertainment to education and they are portable. Many classrooms today have computers, but often the students have to leave the classroom and go to a specific computer room. Using iPads in the classroom would keep kids engaged in the lesson and in a comfortable environment. iPads will come down in price and in most cases is already less expensive than the average classroom PC and maintenance.

iPads in education have positive environmental influence as well as positive impacts on school budgets. Assuming text book publishers would digitalize text books and make them iBook friendly, less paper based books would be needed, thus saving some trees and some green on an already tight education budget. Additionally, this could open up new opportunities and new competition among publishers. Having your kid tote around a light weight iPad could help alleviate all the back problems from carrying a back pack full of heavy books.

iPads could be integrated with the electronic white boards and create a total interactive and technology-rich environment. The iPad could be taken to offsite field trips and serve as an educational tool to enhance the physical experience. There are many ways iPads could help teachers get kids more excited about learning and more engaged in the process. Coupling an entertainment and education tool could result in positive learning effects. Because kids want to pick it up and interact with the device, learning and school could be more of a fun activity than a chore.

Many cutting edge schools are already integrating iPads into the classroom:

• The School of Medicine at Stanford University has adopted Apple’s iPad, providing the device to all incoming first year medical students and Master of Medicine students. The school cited four reasons behind the new program, including student readiness, noting that iPad “creates opportunities for efficient, mobile, and innovative learning.”
• Setton Hill University (Pennsylvania) has committed to giving each of its 2100 full time students an iPad.
• George Fox University right here in Oregon recently announced that it would be giving its new students the choice between a Macbook or an iPad.
• Oklahoma State University will be piloting an iPad initiative with 125 students in five different courses during the fall term.
• The University of Maryland is providing iPads to 75 incoming Honors students in the fall.
• Gibbon Fairfax Winthrop High School was the very first high school to provide an iPad to each of their 320 students
• Northwest Kansas Technical College is going to provide an iPad to every student who registers for the Fall 2010 term – and they will be providing their content via iTunes.
• Sacramento Country Day School has announced they are giving iPads to every sixth grader at no cost to the parents.
• Monte Vista Christian School already gave 60 of its AP students iPads with eBooks preloaded.Source: http://www.ipadinschools.com/66/more-schools-take-up-the-ipad/
  

iPads can distract students if certain features are used for personal use, but with the teacher’s monitoring and involvement, students would still stay focused on the classroom discussion. The benefits of this technology outweigh the cons.

iPads in the Classroom

You have either seen it with your own kids or watched the videos posted on Youtube: kids love iPads. Their little hands move quickly touching and swiping, learning as they go. Children as young as two years old can navigate between apps, play games, and use drawing capabilities. The iPad UI is ideal for children because it involves very simple gestures to initiate an immediate reaction from the device. Many developers have already started to market towards the needs of children since there are already many interesting apps targeted for kids.

Since kids are drawn to the iPads because of the fun factor, why not integrate the devices in learning environments? iPads offer a functionality ranging from entertainment to education and they are portable. Many classrooms today have computers, but often the students have to leave the classroom and go to a specific computer room. Using iPads in the classroom would keep kids engaged in the lesson and in a comfortable environment. iPads will come down in price and in most cases is already less expensive than the average classroom PC and maintenance.

iPads in education have positive environmental influence as well as positive impacts on school budgets. Assuming text book publishers would digitalize text books and make them iBook friendly, less paper based books would be needed, thus saving some trees and some green on an already tight education budget. Additionally, this could open up new opportunities and new competition among publishers. Having your kid tote around a light weight iPad could help alleviate all the back problems from carrying a back pack full of heavy books.

iPads could be integrated with the electronic white boards and create a total interactive and technology-rich environment. The iPad could be taken to offsite field trips and serve as an educational tool to enhance the physical experience. There are many ways iPads could help teachers get kids more excited about learning and more engaged in the process. Coupling an entertainment and education tool could result in positive learning effects. Because kids want to pick it up and interact with the device, learning and school could be more of a fun activity than a chore.

Many cutting edge schools are already integrating iPads into the classroom:

• The School of Medicine at Stanford University has adopted Apple’s iPad, providing the device to all incoming first year medical students and Master of Medicine students. The school cited four reasons behind the new program, including student readiness, noting that iPad “creates opportunities for efficient, mobile, and innovative learning.”
• Setton Hill University (Pennsylvania) has committed to giving each of its 2100 full time students an iPad.
• George Fox University right here in Oregon recently announced that it would be giving its new students the choice between a Macbook or an iPad.
• Oklahoma State University will be piloting an iPad initiative with 125 students in five different courses during the fall term.
• The University of Maryland is providing iPads to 75 incoming Honors students in the fall.
• Gibbon Fairfax Winthrop High School was the very first high school to provide an iPad to each of their 320 students
• Northwest Kansas Technical College is going to provide an iPad to every student who registers for the Fall 2010 term – and they will be providing their content via iTunes.
• Sacramento Country Day School has announced they are giving iPads to every sixth grader at no cost to the parents.
• Monte Vista Christian School already gave 60 of its AP students iPads with eBooks preloaded.Source: http://www.ipadinschools.com/66/more-schools-take-up-the-ipad/
  

iPads can distract students if certain features are used for personal use, but with the teacher’s monitoring and involvement, students would still stay focused on the classroom discussion. The benefits of this technology outweigh the cons.

Twitter got a Facelift (maybe even a tummy-tuck)

(Originally posted in Isobar's blog)

Twitter recently went through a little work, a nip a tuck, and a new design. The “New Twitter”, unveiled to select users, keeps users on the same page, provides streamed media and images, and also provides mini snapshots of the users submitting the tweets. The addition of the streamed media is thought to be an extension of Twitter Media released earlier this summer. Twitter has partnered with with DailyBooth, DeviantART, Etsy, Flickr, Justin.TV, Kickstarter, Kiva, Photozou, Plixi, Twitgoo, TwitPic, TwitVid, USTREAM, Vimeo, yfrog, and YouTube.

Mashable refers to this huge change as the “Facebookification of Twtter” since it seems to be moving to the Facebook model. Allowing users to view media on the site, Twitter is no longer the information broadcaster, but now another time waster. Could Twitter be jealous of all the time Facebook users are spending stalking old boyfriends?

The redesign offers many key advantages since it keeps users on the page and promotes scannability, and increases time on site. But, The Post’s Rob Pegoraro points out that the redesign still fails to show what pages are behind the shortened hyperlinks. A better solution would have been for Twitter to add a hover state with a thumbnail of the website or the original URL so users are not thrown aimlessly off the site to a mystery site.

The new Twitter streamlines the design and interactions of the Twitter iPad app, making it more of unified experienced throughout all Twitter’s mediums. The new model could also open the door to advertising opportunities on the site, perhaps within the video players, captions, and the additional side panel real-estate. With the new and sexy Twitter, the external sites including Tweetdeck could see a decrease in usage.

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Amazon-Facebook (Dis)Connect

(Originally posted in Isobar's blog)

The current use of Facebook integration with Amazon seems like a half-baked idea . The integration, as it currently stands, is an isolated page on Amazon, and not integrated into the heart of the site, the product pages (or at least from what I could see looking at the example Elf, which was popular with my Facebook friends). It would be most relevant to show the info as the user is viewing the product.

Razorfish first introduced the idea of a Facebook Connect/Amazon in 2008. They suggested that Facebook should use the data from the user’s profile to offer relevant products based on what is already known about the user. They also suggested polling friends and getting feedback at the point of sale to gauge friend’s opinions on the products.

The integration has the potential to be a very positive for the Amazon customers. In March and April, 2009 for part of my graduate coursework, I performed qualitative usability studies using a beta music evaluation tool developed by Sun Microsystems, Music Explaura. We evaluated user’s levels of satisfaction with the system’s recommendations versus its competitors (iTunes, Pandora, Last.fm), the trustworthiness of the system, and the “steerability of the recommendations”.

The study’s conclusions could have implications for Amazon and Facebook recommendations:

The user’s ratings of the site corresponded to how much they agreed with the recommendations presented to them.
If they agreed with the relevance of the selection, they had a more positive view of the site. If Amazon gets it right and can offer user’s suggestions based on the Facebook content in a relevant manner, they could boost the user’s views of the site and opinion that it is trustworthy. Or, it could negatively impact the opinion if done poorly.

Users tended to rate the source as more trustworthy if they know other users they view as “similar”, that is with the same taste in music or same level of enthusiasm, also liked a recommendation. For Amazon and Facebook, users that belong to the same Facebook group, even if they do not know each other, could offer persuasive influences over buying behaviors.

Adding a few more elements to this process could dramatically improve the user’s experience. In order for this to be truly successful, recommendations need to be relevant and provided in the right context. If not, it could be more burdensome than helpful. Hopefully this integration is an evolution and Amazon will continue to improve the integration as users provide more feedback.

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Twitter’s @earlybird Campaign Is Taking Flight

(Originally posted on Isobar's blog)

Twitter is following the “online deal bandwagon” with the recent account creation of @earlybird. Similar to Groupon and Buy with Me, @earlybird broadcasts time-sensitive promotions. Unlike programs like Groupon, @earlybird is not currently targeting specific regions, but hopes to in the future.

@earlybird, along with its fellow online deal sites, appeals to our innate hardwired behaviors. These sites provide social validation to users with the buying power through the community. When users see deals shared via Facebook and Twitter, they may feel more apt to make the purchase since other people they may know and trust are involved. Another way deal sites appeal to buyers is it encourages a sense of loss aversion. Since we are scared of the negative impacts of not getting the deal, we may be more impulsive when purchasing. Also, we are more attracted to items we think are in limited quantity. “If there is limited availability of something, we assume it’s more valuable” (Weinscheck, S. Neuro Web Design). Many of these online sites have limited quantity or duration, thus heightening our sense of urgency to act and buy. If the deal did not expire in 24 hours, would we feel that same sense of urgency? Lastly, @earlybird, Groupon, and other online deal sites are effective because they offer users limited choices. As humans, we think we want more choices, but when we have fewer choices, decisions are made much quicker.

The @earlybird concept is similar to other daily deal sites, but offers a few key advantages. First, using Twitter as an outlet for special time-bound deals helps decrease inbox clutter. Of all those deals, only a fraction actually appeals to you. Twitter users are already used to scanning their feeds and bypassing info that does not appeal to them. Second Twitter users are used to seeing corporate accounts and existing corporate blasts of deals. Third, Twitter is meant to be timely, so users have a better chance of seeing the deals and responding to them before the deal expires.

Pete Cashmore, founder and CEO of Mashable, believes this could be a “win for Twitter”, its users, and its advertisers. Cashmore believes this could be a very powerful marketing platform. Even if this is a failure, according to Cashmore, it would probably have little impact for Twitter. Some are critical since they don’t believe Twitter has a true business model.

I am with Pete – I don’t see how this could hurt Twitter. If anything, I think it will follow the success of other deal sites l have proven to be highly trafficked. As a Groupon member, I am really excited about the idea of getting even more deals in one easy swipe. What are your thoughts? Fail or Flight?

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Zig-Zagged Career Paths Tell Your Story

Last week, I attended a great MITX session on Women's Career Decisions in Review. Kiki Mils, the moderator of the session, asked panelists Gail Goodman - CEO, Constant Contact, Diane Hessan - President and CEO, Communispace, Kathleen Kennedy - Chief Strategy Officer, Technology Review, and Nataly Kogan - Senior Program Manager, Microsoft. One question Kiki asked was regarding career paths. Many of the panelists, including Nately Kogan, talked about how their career paths were very unexpected, but that is Ok, as "long as you can tell the story".

Nately talked about her career as a young and successful venture capitalist and previous positions. All speakers had no idea what they wanted to be when they were young, and their message was, it's OK.

In reflecting on the notion of career paths telling a story - that helps give me peace of mind. Starting out with a BA in English and certification in Technical Writer, moving into medical software, dabbling in web projects, and now am pursuing user experience in the process of getting a Human Factors degree. It seems as though user experience is such a hybrid field - no one comes on a clear path, and perhaps that is what makes the field so rich and insightful. When I tell my story - how I got to UX (seems to be a popular interview question) I believe all my paths have the user in mind - whether it is tech writing, web projects, or user experience.

Breaking Up With Your Job

A few weeks ago, I left my previous position, where I left behind a great view of Boston and some great friends. As I was going through the entire interviewing/give notice/start new job process, I felt like it was a breakup.

For example, it all starts with going on the interview elsewhere. You have to tell a white lie about your whereabouts - and you ultimately feel like you are sneaking around. You look over your shoulder and make sure no one sees you (don't you feel dirty?). Next, you have may get the offer, you weigh the pros and cons of each - or in some cases, you are so fed up with this thing, you are already out the door. In my case, I was leaning towards, the "it's not you thing, I need to spread my wings and see what else is out there type of thing".

Now you made up your mind - the old relationship is just not working anymore. Now you have to have that awkward breakup talk with your boss, which no one enjoys. For me, I hate that. The employer may try to get you to stay, try to work things out, or maybe they realize you are too far removed to even try to convince. You might even consider staying, because change is never easy. Always easier to know what to expect, then to make that leap.

OK, so now you move on to your new relationship. You may take some time to yourself coming out of that former relationship. Maybe you try some yoga, go skiing, or just relax. Now you start your new gig and it is a whole new game. You are on your best behavior - in the honey moon stage and just trying to feel everything out.

Is There an Art to Usability Test Moderation?

Recently, I have been rapidly teaching non-user experience professionals about usability studies and eye tracking studies. Due to the limited time, I have really been focusing on the tools and have not had the chance to delve deeper into the exact art of moderation. And in my opinion, moderating usability and eye-tracking tests is a skill that can only be perfected in time. You can teach someone a tool to generate data, but it takes more effort and experience to teach someone how to moderate. Good moderators know when to probe, when to be quiet, and when to look beyond verbal communication.

Being a good moderator also means knowing when to use think-aloud protocol. Think aloud protocol was first seen at IBM, and then refined by Ericsson and Simon. Most versions of think aloud protocol we use today is a variation of the Ericsson and Simon version where there is more active listening and more of a dialogue between moderator and participants. The more recent version encourages the use of certain acknowledgement tokens, such as “Mm hmm” rather than Ericsson and Simon’s token of “keep talking”. Some acknowledgement tokens can influence changes in speakership between the participant and the moderator.

When using think aloud protocol you have to be able to explain to the participant how to think aloud and keep reminding him or her to do so throughout the session. There are instances where you may not want to think aloud – eye-tracking studies or formative studies where you are concerned with just finding out critical problems that prevent users from completing their tasks. This past Monday, at my HF750 Testing and Assessment class at Bentley, we watched sessions of usability tests and analyzed moderators. We even watched a famous author of a usability book moderate a remote test and observed mistakes he made. It is clear that it takes years of experience, and even then, the experts can make mistakes.

Moderation is so important because the better the moderation, the better the data. Isn’t getting accurate data the point of testing? People are easily influenced, so moderator bias is a real concern. The way you ask the questions is crucial and the vibe you give off is equally as important.

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Who is Steering the Ship: Consumer or Designer?

(Post originally appeared on Hill Holliday Blog)

A recent blog article addresses whether the designer or consumer has greater influence over the behavioral patterns of the other. There is no doubt the corporate design approach is getting more people-centric, with a stronger emotional appeal. To answer the question asked at the end of the article about where the trends starts (whether it starts with the designer playing off the consumer behavior, or whether the designer shapes the idea of the consumer) I would have to say it is a complicated question. If this question were asked twenty years ago, the answer would be that designers shape consumer behavior and experiences. Now, I would say that designers react to the consumer’s patterns, behaviors, and emotions. Consumers engage with content in an entirely different way than they did even a decade ago – social networks including Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, YouTube are completely driven by the engaged user. People have the ability to post their reactions and emotions towards their environment and the content they engage with in real-time. Designers in this day of age react to the influence of this social and real-time mentality.

One recent example of design following the behavior and preferences of the consumer/user is a halfpipe in a freestyle park. Recently, I went skiing and some of the free-style equipment was tagged with graffiti, but on closer examination, I realized it was designed to look like it had been defaced. In this example the halfpipe’s designer played off of the rebellious nature of snowboarder or freestyle skier.

This article reminded me of a previous Forrester report on Emotional Experience Design. Forester proposes the idea that functionality can’t always solve corporate problems, but companies really need to get to the heart of the consumer’s goals, while developing a specific personality. The key to solving the consumer conundrum is appealing to the consumer on an emotional level.

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Storytelling: Gone or Just Transformed?

(Post originally appeared on Hill Holliday Blog)

In a November blog post, Ben Macintyre questions whether the Internet is killing storytelling. “The information we consume online comes ever faster, punchier and more fleetingly”. Our attention span has plummeted, and as a result, the narratives have been sacrificed for more condensed snippets of information.

We definitely have an attention deficit when it comes to online consumption, but it may not be necessarily negative, but rather a reflection of the way the world is evolving – for better or for worse. As technology has expanded (iPods, smart phones, the Wii, just to name a few), we have an increased amount of distractors that compete with our attention. For example, as you type the URL to the Apple website to finish your Christmas shopping, you see an email alert overlay in the bottom of your screen, then an IM pops up from your co-worker, and now your phone beeps with a new text, all while your Ipod blasts in your ear. Is it a wonder you got distracted from the website you initially attempted to visit?

There is no doubt that we have become a speed nation, working on more information in less time. I agree with Macintyre’s closing statement that the narrative is not dead, but disagree with the fact that narratives are “merely obscured by a blizzard of byte-sized information”. The byte size information is the story. For example, Maggie Foley, a Hill Holliday employee, lost her coat on a plane and tweeted her issue to an airline representative. Through a series of tweets, the issue was resolved. This is an excellent customer service story that helps distinguish the company as being customer-oriented, doing the dirty work to resolve the problem.

We are a society that is very focused on results and functionality. As we reflect on past ages where storytelling took on a very different form, there were fewer distractions and less tolerance for interruptions. Nowadays, people carry all sorts of functionality at their fingertips, and it has become socially acceptable to use these distractors around the clock. So can we pinpoint one specific reason why storytelling has transformed into this bite-sized portion of information? Is the reason solely on the Internet? I think it is a combination of the perfect storm: increased Internet technology, cell phone usage, MP3s, gaming, all wrapped up with human nature. We still are social creatures that thrive on communication, social interactions, and storytelling; the only difference is the way in which we tell these stories.

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Making it Stick: Maximize the User’s Memory

(This post originally appeared on Hill Holliday Blog)

As humans, we are hardwired to retain and store information for quick and easy retrieval. Information needed for future retrieval is stored in long-term memory, whereas information you need to hold onto for a few minutes, or even a few hours is stored in working (short term) memory .

The downfall with this type of memory is its limited shelf life and capacity, as well as the negative impact stress can have on retention. George A. Miller found the optimal number for enhancing object memory retention is seven, plus or minus two. He also found chunking information into several dimensions enhanced retention.

Stress has also been caused to negatively impact retention. A study performed by Jameson and associates recorded a call line for firefighters, and reported callers were not able to recall their locations as they were reporting fires. In some cases, callers were not able to provide the general part of town the fire was coming from.

Recommended Web Guidelines to Enhance Memory Retention

Jakob Nielson’s Alertbox for the week of December 7th addresses the issue that our brains are not designed for the strenuous demands of certain websites, including abstract thinking and data memorization. One reason for this difficulty is the overload of mental resources. When information exceeds the cognitive load, learning and knowledge retention are compromised.

Nielsen recommends the following design guidelines for the limited capacity of the mind:

• Keep response times low so users don’t forget their task (time has also been shown to negatively impact working memory).
• Change color of visited links
• Make comparisons easy
• Create an easy experience of using discounts
• Offer contextual assistance

I would recommend going even further and use additional guidelines derived from work from Feinberg and Murphy on decreasing cognitive load:

• Incorporate both text and graphics as you instruct. Using both mediums has been proven to be more effective then just using either only text or only images (Split Attention Effect).
• Try to avoid redundant information. When viewed in relevance to cognitive load, redundancy and simultaneous representations of content can increase the demand on cognitive resources (Redundancy Effect).
• Multimedia can enhance retention. Research has proven more information can be retained when it was presented by both visual and auditory means. The designer needs to be mindful of the duration of the multimedia because if it is too long, it will tax working memory (Modality Effect).

Additionally, if you are designing a product that would be used in stressful circumstances, it is important to be mindful of how stress could affect retention. In that case, more automation may be necessary.

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Good Read: Designing Gestural Interfaces

(This post originally appeared on Hill Holliday Blog)

Designing Gestural Interfaces by Dan Saffer helps elaborate on this presentation “Tap is the New Click” at the 2009 IIT Design Conference. The book provides guidance on designing touch screens and motion-sensitive controllers, because these interfaces must be approached differently then keyboard-based applications.

Experiences with well-designed touch screens are derived from “direct manipulation”, a term first derived from Schneiderman’s seminal research (1983), which refers to the ability to have a direct line to manipulate the object right from the screen. To create good gestural interfaces, the objects must have levels of affordances, or properties that help indicate how the object is to be used.

According to Saffer, most gestural interfaces have three zones of engagement: attraction, observation, and interaction. With attraction, the user first spots the objects and is intrigued and interested in it, which typically happens from a distance. With observation, a person can see more details on the object. Observers can watch and observe others interacting with the object, which typically happens at mid-range. Interaction occurs from a close up range and this is when the user directly interacts with the object.

Designers must be able to display three-dimensional movement when designing gestural interfaces through effective prototypes. Prototypes can range from low fidelity to high fidelity prototypes. Saffer suggests the creation of scenarios, use cases, task flows, wireframes, storyboarding, and animations help to enhance the team’s understanding of the object. Echoing Dan Brown’s advice from Communicating Design: Developing Web Site Documentation for Design and Planning, documentation helps produce accountability and traceability of the iterations.

When designing gestures, it is important to keep in mind metaphor as you turn something abstract into gesture. It is best to play off of existing mental models when attempting to turn a concept from abstract to concrete. “The best metaphors are those that match the understood meaning of the gesture with the action being performed”. As touch screens and sensors become more prevalent in design, the metaphor of the desktop may need to be re-evaluated.

We must also keep in mind that the human body is constructed of muscles, joints, and tendons, which all impact the body’s motions of flexes and extensions. Saffer points out that “designers need to be aware of the limits of the human body when creating interfaces that are controlled by it”. The rule to design for should be as gestures get more complicated, less people can perform the gesture. Fitt’s Law should also be considered when designing for gestural interfaces: “a large target that is closer to the user is easier to point to than a smaller one farther away”.

Sketching User Experiences

(This post was originally posted for Hill Holliday Blog)
In Sketching User Experiences, Bill Buxton advocates that sketching should become part of the design process early on.

The sketches Buxton discusses are not perfectly crafted masterpieces – that is, they are messy with cross-outs and multicolored lines darting all over the page. Buxton reassures readers that you don’t have to be a designer to sketch. Everyone can get involved through participatory design whereby the “design professional is to work with the users/customers as a combination coach/trainer, to help them come to an appropriate design solution”. The role of the designer in this case is to facilitate communication from participants through visual storytelling.

“In the HCI domain, sketching isn’t optional. Sketching is the foundation for inspiration, transformation, and communication” says Chauncey Wilson, Senior Manager, AEC User Research Team and professor of Bentley University’s HFID Prototyping class. Wilson encourages designers to carry a sketch notebook to carry with you everywhere you go. Whenever an idea comes to mind, don’t write it, but sketch it. Sketching can serve as a brain dump, but also as way to avoid time wasted on those perfectly constructed wireframes and high fidelity prototypes.

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