Psychology of Everyday Actions

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Projector Story

DOET page 45

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Seven Stages of Action Model

1. Goal2. Intentions 3. Specifying a sequence of actions4. Physical execution of actions5. Perceiving the state of the world6. Interpreting the state of the world7. Evaluating outcome

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1 Goal

What to achieve– Get something to eat

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2 Intentions

Intentions to act to achieve the goal– Cook dal and rice– Order a pizza– Go to a restaurant– –

Goals are not specific Intentions are specific enough actions

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3 Specifying a Sequence of Actions

Actions achieve the intention (and the goal)– Clean and wash rice and dal– Put cooker on the stove– Cook dal and rice…

The intentions don’t specify how to do an action

Novices form intentions, but only experienced users can specify a sequence of actions– “I want to go to the Gateway of India.”– “Go to Kanjur Marg. Take a train to CST. Walk

out, take a left. Walk till the road ends”

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4 Physical Execution of Actions

Having decided, one needs to execute the plan– Clean and wash rice and dal– Put cooker on the stove– Cook dal and rice – Do the unspecified bits – Deal with hiccups…

Specifying what to do needs experience– Coach, director, designer, architect, car owner

But actually doing it needs skill and ability– Sportsman, actress, illustrator, carpenter,

mechanic

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Execution

1. Goal2. Intentions 3. Specifying a sequence of actions4. Physical execution of actions5. Perceiving the state of the world6. Interpreting the state of the world7. Evaluating outcome

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5 Perceiving the State of the World

Keep an eye on what’s happening– Is the toast golden brown?– Did the cooker whistle thrice?– What is that strange noise in the mixer?– Does it smell like gas?– Is it getting late?– What’s the score?

Look out for the expected, and the unexpected– Routine items, comparisons, changes, results,

errors– Informing, bringing to attention, alerting,

warning

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6 Interpreting the State of the World

Make sense of the inputs– The toast is getting real crisp now– The rice and dal are cooked– Need to get the mixer serviced– The gas is leaking– Food might not be ready before it’s time to go– The asking rate is climbing, we may loose the match

Needs proper feedback and hands-on experience– Communicating the right conceptual model– Defragmentation of hard disks, system restore in XP,

battery charge discharge cycles, network trouble– Not just reading dialog boxes, but interpreting

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7 Evaluating the Outcome

Compare with the goals, did we get what we wanted?– I can now eat– Food is good, but next time we should order a

pizza– I can live without chutney– O my God!!!– Let’s bunk lectures today– Our cricket team is going to the dogs–

Back to higher level of thinking– How did the task connect to the goal?

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Evaluation

1. Goal2. Intentions 3. Specifying a sequence of actions4. Physical execution of actions5. Perceiving the state of the world6. Interpreting the state of the world7. Evaluating outcome

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About This Model

Model– It is only an approximation

Levels of goals– Goals are nested, higher level goals have sub-

goals– There are many feedback loops

Parallel and sequential– Execution and evaluation is happening all the

time– General to specific to general

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“Gulf of Execution”

The difference between the specified sequence of actions (or earlier steps) and physical execution– Answering machine

Execution– Goal– Intentions – Specifying a sequence of actions– Physical execution of actions

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Implications to Design

1. Goal– User goals (life, experience, end), Buyer goals– Business goals, technical goals– Provide high level solutions

2. Intentions (Tally, refrigerator)– Clarify conceptual model to help form intentions

3. Specifying a sequence of actions (ans. machine)– Optimize work flow and action sequences– Provide hints and memory cues

4. Physical execution of actions (Devnagari typing)– Design of the micro interface

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“Gulf of Evaluation”

The difference between the interpreted state of the world and the actual state of the world– Starting trouble in a two wheeler

Evaluation – Perceiving the state of the world– Interpreting the state of the world – Evaluating outcome

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Implications to Design

5. Perceiving the state of the world (two wheeler) Continuous and proper feedback

6. Interpreting the state of the world (% bar in IE) Clear conceptual model Identifying real problems

7. Evaluating outcome Comparison with goals