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4.10. SMITH (CHAPTER 11)

Like Scholtz and Salvador (Chapter 9), Smith’s chapter deals with the challenges present when introducing new technology, or what he calls new-generation products. He points out that this makes the design gap even larger and more difficult to bridge. As a result, he emphasizes the need for an exploratory design stage that has to proceed the work/task analysis stage involved in designing for current technology. The level of user involvement is particularly high at this stage. The context for Smith’s discussion is the design of a new wireless voice communication device (called Orbitor) that supports an integrated voice and note message center, electronic business cards, and various interactive network-based services. Design encompassed both hardware and software components. Smith describes a design process consisting of three overlapping stages: exploratory design, analysis and refinement, and formal design.

In exploratory design, new concepts are created through having potential users consider user interaction scenarios (narrative descriptions of what people do and experience as they attempt to make use of a new product). These new concepts are then visualized through rough sketches and simple physical models, paper-based storyboards, computer-based simulations with voice-over, and even scripted play with live actors. Scenarios provide an effective method for brainstorming about and for clarifying new product concepts. Once a potential set of viable concepts is established by the design team, they are further refined in focus groups with potential users. The final result of the exploratory stage is a set of high-level user values, which encompass the intended customers’ future needs, wants, and goals.

The goal of the analysis and refinement stage is to verify the user values and to define the new product attributes. In defining new-generation products, there is a larger than usual discrepancy between the existing task model (use of current products) and an enhanced task model (how the tasks will change, given the new product). Bringing them together is accomplished using more explicit and detailed scenarios to help users understand the implications and impact of the new product on their work. These scenarios are often presented as videos of actors using the new products, which helps convey more realism to potential users and helps to elicit more useful feedback.

In the formal design stage, scenarios are used to choose, design, and verify the conceptual model and the metaphors that will be used in the final product. The scenarios are presented as low-fidelity (paper) prototypes to design and verify the high-level dialogue model of the interface. High-fidelity prototypes (computer simulations) are then used to further refine the interface details. In the Orbitor project, a composite metaphor was chosen from the various types of tasks that were being combined into the final product. At the highest level, an environment metaphor was used (call environment, message center environment, and filing cabinet environment). Within each environment, appropriate visual metaphors were used (e.g., telephone and file folder icons) for specific tasks.

5. CONCLUSION

User interface design is a complex process, resulting in many different issues that need to be considered and many questions that need to be answered. Some issues are more pervasive than others and recur across different contexts. To push the bridging analogy, it is important to use effective building methods, but it is equally as important to have the proper materials. Some of the issues most central to design (as emphasized by the contributors to this volume) are scenarios and use-cases, metaphor use, high-level dialogue (or interaction) design, high- and low-fidelity prototype development, and the issue of object- vs. task-oriented dialogue style.

Those familiar with user interface design will note that none of these issues are new or unique. Our attempt here is simply to make more explicit how they contribute to the building of that elusive bridge. Various authors emphasize these issues to a greater or lesser extent, as outlined in the descriptions of individual chapters above. What is obvious from the various approaches described in this volume is that there are many effective ways to build the bridge, each suited to particular contexts and constraints. Our hope is that readers will be able to use them to suit their own needs and circumstances as they also attempt to bridge that gap between User Requirements and GUI design.

6. REFERENCES

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Fowler, S. L. and Stanwick, V. R., The GUI Style Guide, AP Professional, Boston, 1995.

Hix, D. and Schulman, R. S., Human-computer interface development design tools: A methodology of their evaluation, Communications of the ACM, 34(3), 74-87, 1991.

Johnson, P., Human Computer Interaction: Psychology, Task Analysis, and Software Engineering, McGraw-Hill, London, 1992.

Monk, A. F., Wright, P. C., Davenport, L. and Haber, J., Improving your Human-Computer Interface: A Practical Technique, BCS Practitioner Series, Prentice-Hall, 1993.

Muller, M. J., Tudor, L. G., Wildman, D. M., White, E. A., Root, R. W., Dayton, T., Carr, B., Diekmann, B., and Dykstra-Erickson, E., Bifocal tools for acenarios and representations in participatory activities with users, in Scenario-Based Design for Human Computer Interaction, Carroll, J. M., Ed., John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1995, 135-163.

Nielsen, J., Usability Engineering, Academic Press, Boston, 1993.

Norman, D. A. and Draper, S. W., Eds., User Centered System Design: New Perspectives on Human-Computer Interaction, Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, N.J., 1986.

Norman, D., The Design of Everyday Things, Doubleday, New York, 1990.

Smith, D. C., Irby, C. H., Kimball, R. B., Verplank, W. H., and Harselm, E. F., Designing the star user interface, Byte, 7(4), 242, 1982.

Ward, T.B., Finke, R.A., and Smith, S.M., Creativity and the Mind: Discovering the Genius Within, Plenum Press, New York, 1995.

Wixon, D. and Ramey, J., Eds., Field Methods Casebook for Software Design, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1996.


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