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5.3. HOW TO DO IT
Go back to your interviews with the users and note where they mention events that were disruptive to the flow of work. Then go through the WOD and try to think of all the things that could go wrong. Finally, gather together your thoughts under the three headings described below.
6. ILLUSTRATIVE STORIES SCENARIOS
6.1. WHAT THEY ARE FOR
The rich picture, WOD, and exception list will capture most of your understanding of the work context that is to be supported by the computer system. However, these representations are relatively abstract and may seem rather cryptic to someone who has not been in on their development. The purpose of the scenarios is to put back a bit of detail and make the understanding more concrete.
Scenarios have been used widely in HCI design (Campbell, 1992). In this chapter the word is taken to mean a fictional but nonetheless typical story describing a users work. Scenarios are to summarize and illustrate your understanding of the work so fictional scenarios are more useful than real accounts of user behavior because it is possible to make several points in the same scenario in an efficient way. Another reason for using fictional scenarios rather than real transcripts is that you need to illustrate the new way of working, after the system has been introduced.
Scenarios flesh out a WOD and exception list by including sequences of actions and some detail. They contain examples of typical data associated with real use. It is particularly valuable to attach samples of the actual documents used such as delivery notes or invoices. The stories should highlight crucial sections of the users tasks. Scenarios are the first representation to be used in checking a design and the best representation for describing the work to someone who has not seen any of the representations before.
6.2. WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE
Two scenarios developed for the warehouse case study are given here. Table 5.6 was constructed directly from the WOD in Table 5.4 and represents the ideal case where there are no exceptions. This illustrates how the work involves interleaving different jobs in a way that is much less apparent in the WOD. Table 5.7 was generated by adding two of the exceptions from Table 5.5 to the ideal scenario in Table 5.6.
Scenario 1: Ideal case | |
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1. | Driver Dave Hodges gives Jenny gate house pass 7492 and delivery note (see sample documents) |
2. | Jenny enters gatehouse no. 7492, supplier code Smith34, product codes and quantities (see sample delivery notes) |
3. | Jenny request printing of tally cards (see sample documents) for 7492 and gives them to warehouseman John |
4. | Warehouseman Mike comes in with tally card for 6541 with locations (see sample documents) |
5. | Jenny recalls delivery 6541 to screen and enters locations. |
6. | DMS prints store picking notes for cv49w to cv52z; Jenny gives these to warehouseman George |
7. | Warehouseman John comes to window with tally card for 7492 |
8. | Jenny recalls delivery 7492 to screen and checks quantities with John OK |
9. | Request printing of COD for 7492 (see sample documents) |
10. | Jenny gives COD to driver Dave Hodges |
11. | Jenny sends delivery record for 7492 to DMS |
Scenario 2: exceptions | |
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1. | Driver Dave Hodges gives Jenny gate house pass 7492 and delivery note |
2. | Jenny enters gatehouse no. 7492, supplier code Smith 34, and half of the product codes and quantities (see sample delivery notes) |
3. | Warehouseman Tim informs Jenny of priority cold storage delivery and hands her gate house pass 7581 and delivery note from driver |
4. | Jenny enters 7581, supplier code Browns67, and the product codes and quantities |
5. | Jenny request printing of tally cards (see sample documents) for 7581 and gives them to warehouseman Tim |
6. | Warehouseman Mike comes in with tally cards for 6541 with locations (see sample documents) |
7. | Jenny recalls delivery 6541 to screen and enters location |
8. | Jenny recalls partly entered delivery 7492 to screen and enters remaining quantities and product codes |
9. | Jenny request printing of tally cards (see sample documents) for 7492 and gives them to warehouseman John |
10. | DMS prints store picking notes for cv49w to cv52z; Jenny gives these to warehouseman George |
11. | Warehouseman John comes to window with tally card for 7492 |
12. | Jenny recalls delivery 7492 to screen and checks quantities with John; one product code was mistyped but the quantities correspond |
13. | Jenny changes product code and requests printing of COD for 7492 |
14. | Jenny gives COD to driver Dave Hodges |
15. | Jenny sends delivery record for 7492 to DMS |
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