CS2003 Usability Engineering

Seminar Group 7

Nishanth ChandradasHumza Ahmad

MariamMichael

MaxMohammed Ali

Fatima

Aims and Objectives

Aim - Develop a mobile application targeted towards children.

Why a mobile application? Mobiles are becoming increasingly popular, most people have at least one.

What age group?We will consider the pros and cons of each range.

How?Use various requirement gathering metrics to our advantage and incorporate HCI.

Requirements

Methods for Gathering Information about UsersIdentifying user requirement is concerned with determining what product should do, how it may look and how it should behave? We have chosen the following three methods to collect data from our user group:Observation/EthnographicIn order to obtain necessary data to influence interface design. Shneiderman (1998, p108)To learn and understand how they perform their taskUsing Diary Studies, allowing them to take photo what they see in the museum and describeIn order to understand what distracts them and what they like.Observed users may inevitable alter the way they workPutting an expert on the design teamAllows us to gain more knowledge and trust from end userInvolve one or more of the users in the project so fears and hopes gets heardGives the users and developers to work togetherAllows end users to be involved in the process. Formal and informal discussionDiscussion may bring to light un-known discussion to the group. Will help understand the user group betterUsers have opinion what works in their environmentInvolving users in decision making References

The user target for this app are kids of age group 14-16 years. 

•Research shows that about 75 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds own a mobile phone.

•A recent report found half of teens surveyed say they can’t live longer than a week without their phones, and 36% said they check their phones at least once every 10 minutes.

• Ethnographic research reveals that teenager's love for technology is driven by their desire to be connected. 

The  level of maturity kids this age group have, coupled with their love for technology and the GCSCE requirement for a pass in history makes them the perfect user target for this app. 

 The fact that students find history boring and long to study isn't news. Therefore being able to study within their comfort zone makes this app highly wanted by them.

•STEPHANIE OLSEN, THE NEW YORK TIMES, (June 9, 2010), http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/10/technology/personaltech/10basics.html?_r=0 (FEB. 9,2013).

•Andrew Zirschky (Nov 26, 2012 ) Teens and Social Technology: Searching for Intimacy,(FEB. 9,2013).

User Group Chosen

Prototype Tools Chosen

Evaluation Methods ChosenUse 2 methods:

– Think aloud– Interview

Can be done one after the other easily

Listen to users thought process as they use the app

View how users would use the app through the museum

Ask questions specific to their situation as well as broad questions asked to everyone

Specific example: (if user can’t figure out how to go back to the previous screen) Where did you think this button would/should be? Why?

Broad example: Was the app helpful? Did it make the museum more enjoyable?

ConclusionWe believe our application will be successful as it will provide our target users with a alternative way of learning which will be more interesting for them. Our techniques took into consideration user satisfaction, app efficiency and effectiveness.

If we were to create the application, we would create drafts and fully analyze and compare these to ensure that our end design had the least faults and met the requirements needed.

As a group we worked well to communicate amongst each other , helping move the presentation to completion.

We decided to delegate work amongst members individually based on their preferences however once completed we all met on several occasions to review the progress of the task and look at each others work providing constructive criticism and ways of improving it.

We worked well together overcoming obstacles like having members missing from meetings due to other issues ; the other group members in this instance were very helpful and explained what was missed in the meeting/seminar

We also had some members lose their work and worked as a team to help this member and ensure the work was completed well before our deadline to give us room to review and prepare for the presentation.

Any Questions…>>>?

References

Faulkner, X (2000) Usability Engineering. New York: Palgrave Shneiderman, B (1998) Designing the User Interface, 3rd edition. Addison Wesley: Massachusetts.UXMATTERS (2011) Approaches to designing for children. Available at : http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2011/03/approaches-to-user-research-when-designing-for-children.php (accessed at 22/02/13)Bekker,M, Beusmans,J, Keyson,D and Lloyd, P KidReporter: a user requirements gathering technique for designing with children, Interacting with Computers, Volume 15, Issue 2, April 2003, Pages 187-202

Requirements:

STEPHANIE OLSEN, THE NEW YORK TIMES, (June 9, 2010), http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/10/technology/personaltech/10basics.html?_r=0 (FEB. 9,2013).Andrew Zirschky (Nov 26, 2012 ) Teens and Social Technology: Searching for Intimacy,(FEB. 9,2013).

User Group Chosen: