CS474: Human Computer Interaction - Experimentally Evaluating UX

Activity Goals

The goals of this activity are:

1. To design experiments to obtain informative feedback from diverse stakeholders to improve the user experience

Supplemental Reading

Feel free to visit these resources for supplemental background reading material.

• Norman and Nielson - Gestural Interfaces: A Step Backward In Usability
• A/B Testing Example
• Complete Beginner's Guide to Design Research
• Norman Chapter 5

The Activity

Directions

Consider the activity models and answer the questions provided. First reflect on these questions on your own briefly, before discussing and comparing your thoughts with your group. Appoint one member of your group to discuss your findings with the class, and the rest of the group should help that member prepare their response. Answer each question individually from the activity, and compare with your group to prepare for our whole-class discussion. After class, think about the questions in the reflective prompt and respond to those individually in your notebook. Report out on areas of disagreement or items for which you and your group identified alternative approaches. Write down and report out questions you encountered along the way for group discussion.

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Model 1: Evaluating the User Experience

Questions

1. Whose fault is it when a user fails to use a system properly?
2. A tree test presents the user with the workflow steps, one step at a time, and allows the user to progress in a choose-your-adventure style. What kinds of deficiencies might this kind of study reveal?
3. An A/B test evaluates if one call to action is more effective than another. How might you employ this in a software system to evaluate different user interface designs or workflows?
4. What would likely happen in these studies if all the stakeholders in a medical application UX study had the same job title?

Embedded Code Environment

You can try out some code examples in this embedded development environment! To share this with someone else, first have one member of your group make a small change to the file, then click "Open in Repl.it". Log into your Repl.it account (or create one if needed), and click the "Share" button at the top right. Note that some embedded Repl.it projects have multiple source files; you can see those by clicking the file icon on the left navigation bar of the embedded code frame. Share the link that opens up with your group members. Remember only to do this for partner/group activities!

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Submission

I encourage you to submit your answers to the questions (and ask your own questions!) using the Class Activity Questions discussion board. You may also respond to questions or comments made by others, or ask follow-up questions there. Answer any reflective prompt questions in the Reflective Journal section of your OneNote Classroom personal section. You can find the link to the class notebook on the syllabus.