Requirements Analysis and Design Engineering Southern Methodist University CSE 7313.
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Transcript of Requirements Analysis and Design Engineering Southern Methodist University CSE 7313.
RequirementsAnalysis and
DesignEngineering
Southern Methodist University
CSE 7313
Module 7 - User and Task Analysis
Topics
Introduction to user and task analysis
Thinking about the usersThinking about tasksThinking about the users
environment
What makes a product usable?
They reflect the workflows that are familiar or comfortable
They support the users learning styles They are compatible in the users working
environments They encompass a design concept that is
familiar to the users They have a consistency of presentation
Understanding how the user performs the task
What the users goals are; what they are trying to achieve
What users actually do to achieve those goals
What personal, social, and cultural characteristics the users bring to the tasks
How users are influenced by their physical environment
Understanding how the user performs the task
• How users previous knowledge and experience influence how they think about their work and the workflow they follow to perform their tasks
• What users value most that will make a new interface be a delight for them (speed? accuracy? help in recovering from errors? human contact? fun? challenge?)
Why isn’t this done already?
Marketing knows the users The product is new - there aren’t any
users to observe The users are all too different - we can’t
possible visit all of them We don’t have enough time in the
schedule We don’t have enough money in the
budget
Where does user and task analysis come from?
Anthropology the study of people
Ethnographypractice of immersing oneself in a culture in
order to describe that culture Cognitive psychology
study of how people think and learn Rhetoric
communicating with others through mediums
Focusing on users
How do they think about their relationship to their work?
Is what you are developing related to their primary work or something they will use occasionally?
What and how much do they know about the subject matter you are designing for?
Focusing on users
• What tools do they know how to use?
• What motivates them in doing their job?
• What motivates them in using their personal time at home?
• What technical skills do they bring to performing their work?
• What languages are they comfortable using?
Users that must be studied
Individuals who buy the software and use it without assistance or interaction from others
Individuals who use the interface and information as part of their work, even though they did not buy the software
Groups of people who use the software and information as part of a larger business process
Those who administer the software
Individuals who repair products that are broken or who troubleshoot systems
Those that install products for themselves and other and may also use the software
Customers of the users and others who are affected by users working with the interface
Users that must be studied
Starting a user and task analysis
Assemble a group of people in your organization who regularly interact with the users customer servicetrainingmarketing
Brainstorm a preliminary list of users and potential users
Starting a user and task analysis
• Create a user/task matrix or a user/characteristic matrix to serve as an initial model of your community of users
• Discuss the characteristics that you assume are typical of your user community
• Decide how to test your assumption
Assemble a user profile team
Salespeople who call or visit buyers and users
Sales engineering people who install or customize products at user sites
Marketing professionals will have conducted research studies
Trainers who work with users in classroom settings
Telephone support personnel
Assemble a user profile team
Field support personnelConsultants who study and advise
on interactions with user communities
Former users who now work in your organization
Brainstorm a list if users
experience on the job education level background of training age, gender, physical differences geographic locations, wage differences language skills, terminology differences job level
Create an initial user/task matrixTasks likely to be performed
Users Gettingcomfortablewith software
Basicuserdifference
Advancedsoftware use
Trainingthepatients
Customizingthe software
Patients X XPatientfamilies
X X X
Noviceclinicians
X X X
Expertclinicians
X X X X
Users and their jobs
Do the users all have the same job title? Do the users have different job titles that
reflect wide differences in skills and responsibilities?
Are the users professionals who have learned aspects of their jobs in school?
Do your users consider their jobs to define their modes of behavior?
Issues to consider about tasks
How did your users learn to perform the tasks that they do?
How long have they been doing these tasks? Have the tasks changed over time? Do the user perform many varied tasks in a
typical day? Do the users teach others to perform the
same tasks? Which people in the organization are
considered the experts?
Issues to consider about tools
What tools are the users using today to perform their tasks?
How did they learn to use these tools? How comfortable are they using the tools? Are the users familiar with technology that
is similar to your intended design? To what extent do their tools define that
they do?
Mental models and vocabulary
Mental models are internal pictures of how things worka term from cognitive psychologyvague, amorphous, individual, and
changeable collection of associations in peoples minds
Users mental models will emerge through conversations with them
Mental models and vocabulary
People use their mental models to make associations between information (words, pictures, sounds, smells) they are learning and information they already know
Mental Models
The picture of a trash can on a Mac is associated with a physical trash can used to throw something away (throwing away files)
Designers also used trash can to eject a floppy disk from the drive - this confused users who thought that they would be “throwing away” the information on the floppy!!
What is task analysis?
Things related to goals and tasks “Things” are usually considered work
admitting a patient to the hospital find a customers order in a databasesend a message to everybody on the project
teamput up a new web sitechange payroll codesset up a new computer at home
Users goalsUsers goals inside a company
keeping my jobgetting done so I can go home on timeMaking the boss happy so I get a good
reviewCompanies goals for users doing tasks
increasing revenueincreasing the number of applications that
get processeddecrease the cost of providing support
Norman’s seven stage cycle
Forming the goalForming the intentionSpecifying the actionExecuting the actionPerceiving the state of the worldInterpreting the state of the worldEvaluating the outcome
Simple situation
User forms goal User forms intention
(decides task) User specifies action(s) User does the action(s) User perceives the state of
the world User interprets the state of
the world User evaluates the
outcome
Go outside to get some fresh air
Open the door “It looks like I pull this
handle here” Pulls on the handle The door didn’t open “Well that didn’t work. I
guess I need to push it” Didn’t get outside yet. If
the user still wants to meet the goal follow steps 3-7 again this time pushing the door.
Different types and levels of task analysis
How work gets done when several people are involved (workflow analysis)
What a single individual does throughout the day or week or month (job analysis)
How workflow analysis interacts with job analysis
The order in which users do tasks How a large task is made up of subtasks
Workflow analysis
Understanding how a particular process is accomplished if several people are involved in completing the work (business process analysis)
Many companies are trying to simplify business processes
Look for redundancies or unnecessary steps
Filling a prescription
At least two people involvedpatientpharmacist
Others may be involved relative or friendcaregiverclerk or assistant receptionist at doctors officedoctor
Filling a prescription
Patient contacts the pharmacy Pharmacist or clerk takes the information Pharmacist looks up the patients
prescription Pharmacist call the doctor for approval Receptionist send the call to the doctor Pharmacist waits for the call back After the call back the prescrition is filled
Workflow analysis
Workflow analysis is an important part of task analysis because the situation in which different types of people are involved in the process is much more common than processes individuals do alone
If a task analysis is done by only looking at one part of the workflow the risk is that the product will not be used because it is in compatible with the rest of the workflow
Job analysis
Understanding all the work that a person does in a certain position during the day, week, or month
Workflow analysis is a horizontal picture of how work moves across people
Job analysis is a vertical picture of all the types of work that flow through a person
Job analysis
Benefitsfind new marketing and development
opportunitiesunderstand specific features to build into
the productlearn what pressures they are under and
what they value
Factors in job analysis
Frequency (how often tasks are performed)
Criticality (how important is each task) Time to complete (how time consuming) Difficulty (problems accomplishing tasks) Division of responsibility (do all the
people in that job do this task?)
Developing a task list A task is any observable, measurable action that
has an observable beginning and an observable end.
Task list for an e-mail programwrite a messagesend a message receive a message read a message that you received reply to a messagesave a message to look at it late forward a message send a formatted file with the message
Process analysis, task sequences
In an e-mail program these sets of tasks have a natural sequencewrite a message
comes beforesend a messageReceive a message from someone else
reply to a message or forward a message to someone else
Task Hierarchies
Job
Task Task Task Task
Subtask Subtask Subtask
Task analysis is hierarchical. You can break up a job intotasks and each task into subtasks
Procedural analysisJob
Start
Action (step)
Decision
Action (step)
Action (step)
Action (step)
End
Other path
You can carry a taskanalysis down to theindividual steps anddecisions users makeas they carry out thetask
Example task analysisTV is off. VCR is off. TV and VCRare set up and connected. Nocable box
User looks for buttons on front ofmachine. Gets down on knees to dothis
User is using priorexperience; says othermachine worked frombuttons
Are most VCRs keptthis close to the floor? Takes off bifocals to see better.
Complains that buttons are smalland black on black
The light i this livingroom is too dim to seethe TV. Are most VCRsused in dim lighting?
Opens front panel, reads labels,says “Nothing here is relevant”
Note that the user has triedto solve the problem by trialand error, has not yet goneto the manuel.
Decides to use the manual. Sayshe can’t possibly read the wholething
Looks in table of contents. Findssection for setting the timer. Turnsto that page. Reads that he must geta menu up on the screen
Puts manual down. Picks up 2remotes. Turns on TV with 1 remote. Turns on VCR with other.
Picks up manual again. Reads “Press program button on remotecontrol. Does that
Ask about how hetypically uses a manual
Inference: he jumpeddirectly to a page partway through the manualbecause he just wants toget the task done, notlearn anything more aboutthe VCR
It’s hard to hold a manual open and operatetwo remote controls at thesame time
Types of users
Any particular user at any particular moment in time with any particular product is at one of the four stages of usenoviceadvanced beginnercompetent performerexpert
Characteristics of novice users
Fear of failure, fear of the unknownFocus on accomplishing real workImpatient with learning concepts
rather than performing tasksTheoretical understanding only - no
practical experience
Characteristics of advanced beginners
Focus on accomplishing real workImpatient with learning concepts
rather than performing tasksRandomly access tasksBy adding new and progressively
more complicated tasks, begin to develop an empirically based mental model
Characteristics of competent performers
Focus on performing more complex tasks that require many coordinated actions
Ability to plan how to perform a complex series of tasks to achieve a goal
Willingness to learn how tasks fit into a consistent mental model of the interface as a whole
Characteristics of competent performers
Interest in solving simple problems by applying a conceptual framework to diagnose and correct errors
Characteristics of expert performers
Focus on developing a comprehensive and consistent mental model of the product functionality and the interface
Ability to understand complex problems and find solutions
Interest in learning about concepts and theories behind a product’s design and use
Interest in interacting with other expert users
Thinking about the users’ environment
Why is environment important?
People do not perform their work in isolation
Influenced by the activity around themphysical characteristics of the workplacetype of equipment being usedwork relationships with other people
Product must fit into environment or it will be frustrating to use or be rejected
What aspects are important?
Physical environment light levelsplacement of controlsamount of space to work innoisy or quietdirt, dust, pollution temperature, humiditypower availabilitydangers in the environment
Working at home?
Users in an office will probably have a T1 line
Users at home may have a slower modemmay require different strategies for getting the
information they needmay need a longer power cordautomatic save feature (disruptions from kids)
Adequate space?
“Standard” may not be so standard Is there room for a mouse or detached
keyboard? Is there room for paper manuals or should
on-line help be used? Adequate space for optimal viewing angle? Bookcases in Japan are narrower then in
UScubicle walls are rare
A noisy environment?
Noisy environments make learning more difficult
Sound cues (bells, beeps, etc) may distract co-workers
Will they be able to hear the audio tonespeople with hearing aids have a hard time
hearing in the presence of background noise
Dirt, dust, and wind
Will touch screen be usable if the screen smears from oil?
Working in a cleanroom may require no paper (manuals) at all
Dust can make computers unusableWind can make the use of manuals
and paper almost unusablemaintenance technicians
Adequate lighting
Can the user see the screen? The manuals? The controls?
Can they see the images in dim light? Will colors for warnings or cautions be
adequately visible on the screen? VCR black on black buttons hard to see
probably designed in a bright lab
TemperatureExtremes of temperature and elevation
disk drives have a hard time working at high elevations because there is not enough air to float the disk above the read mechanism
Cold temperatures make it difficult to use controlswill users be wearing gloves?
High temperature and humidity may fog screens or make hands slip
How quickly must they react?
Users may be measured by how quickly type can react (customers standing in line)
Are they in any danger?what happens when the users make
mistakes?ATM machines are a focal point of
robberies
What aspects are important?
• Social environment– are tasks performed quickly and/or
accurately– resources available to answer questions– do people who share info work in same
location– social hierarchy in the organization– how do physical and social
environments interact– relationship between users and
customers
What aspects are important?
• Cultural environment– national cultural influences– work in different cities, states, regions,
etc– professional culture with particular
values
Making the business case for site visits
Verifying your assumptionPrimary reason for traveling to user sites
is to challenge or verify your assumptionsMay meet with resistance to watching
users and listening to themThe users doing the new process will be
the same users that did the old process!Very rare that a new product is so new
that there is nothing in existence to study
Preparing a business proposal
Analyze the return on investmentchanges later are more expensive
Meeting or exceeding the competitionare they doing usability studies
Calculating the time required to conduct an analysis
Preparing a business proposal
Task Hours per task Labor cost per taskBrainstorming and initialuser/task matrix andoutlining the proposed site
80 $5600
Planning the site visit 34 2380Recruiting participants 42 2940Conducting six days of sitevisits/two observers
120 8400
Analysis and report 80 5600Total hours and labor costs 356 $24,920
Selecting TechniquesContextual inquiries; a philosophy as
much as a techniquePlan (understand the issues for the visit)Select the users to represent the right diversityTreat the users as a partnerWatch, listen and talk with users about their
workMake the conversation concreteTake your cues from the user (make sure you
are interpreting things correctly)
Techniques
Get the user to talk aloud while doing the taskdetermine the users mental models
Talk right after the task (if you can’t do it during the task)sometimes it is best to be a “fly on the
wall”
Techniques
When to be unobtrusive;the task involves helping another person
(call on the phone, etc)the task involves safety (air traffic controller)the task requires a high degree of
concentration (solving complex mathematical problems)
you are timing the taskthe user is on a deadline (working under
pressure)
Role playing and staged scenarios
Not as credible as data collected under actual circumstances (this was done for the AA SABRE travel info Network)
Must have relevant scenariosAdvantage is that you can use the
same scenario at several sites and observe different users handle the same scenario
Cue recall with videotapes
Sometime, users do not want or do not have the time to interview and talk but are willing to be videotaped
Questions can be answered later about tasks that need more explanation or interpretation
Doing a process analysis
Interview and ask questionswhen does the first task in the process happenwhat triggers itwho does itwhat information is required to do the taskwhat are the major steps in the taskwho is the next person in the chain of the
processwhen does the next task happen
Ethnographic interviews
“Top down” approach Start by getting a general framework from
the users Use that knowledge to structure and
understand future observation Contextual inquiry, on the other hand, is
bottom up (observing and gathering large samples of work and then develop
Collecting artifacts
Artifacts can be paper or screen shots “cheat sheets” forms that trigger data entry or the start of
a process forms and reports that get printed at
various times during a process examples of output from tasks hand-written notes or logs as reminders
Collecting storiesGather stories of real situations“critical-incident technique” - a way to
gather stories in a short period of timeask each interviewee to recall a specific
critical incidentthen probe for more information about itquestions are planned in advanceiteratecan be used as a base for scenario-based
design
Working with users away from the work site
Sometimes it is hard to go to the users sitesecurity reasonsequipment that is not portable to the users site
Usability lab Conference room Ask the users to bring example of real
work
Market research techniques
Meet with users in focus groups facilitator skilled in asking questions, getting
opinions, etc focus groups don’t show behavior
User surveysdesigned to gather information from a large
group of people (direct-mail questionnaires, telephone survey, fax, web)
Meeting users at trade shows
Other
Bringing users to requirements-gathering sessions focus on functionality rather than usabilitywhat users say may not be what they dousers talk about the typical casewhat they need may not be the best way to
solve the problemgroup dynamics problems
Including a user on the design team
Conclusion
Requirements elicitation is a collaborative decision-making activity involving users, developers and customers
Dependent on the diversity and experience of the problem being formulated
Techniques should be tailored to the project