Category — Interface Design Tools

What is Computing Transparency?

Computing Transparency is a vital aspect of HCI (human computer interaction) and is connected to issues of clarity and usability in user interface design (UI design). The Merriam Webster Dictionary lists a number of characteristics that show how the term transparency literally refers to the quality or state of being transparent: Fine or sheer enough to see through, free from pretense or deceit, easily detected or seen through, readily understood, characterized by visibility or accessibility of information especially concerning business practices. Transparent hence implies that actions or information are clear, truthful, and easy to understand.  So transparent is a good term to apply to usability or UX design.

In applying the term transparency to Computer Science we encounter the idea of Computing Transparency.  Computing Transparency refers to a system that incorporates user friendliness and alleviates the user of the need to worry about technical details (installation, downloading, updating or device drivers).  For example, this may mean detecting monitor resolution automatically rather than requiring the users to do so themselves and adjust the program manually, thereby easing the system usage for end users.  The term is thus straightforward: systems and programs that are transparent for the user mean that they can operate with ease and with little need for attention to detail.

Why is Computing Transparency important?

Computing Transparency is an important aspect of UI design since systems that are lucid and understandable will ultimately facilitate optimal usability.  The idea of a system or graphical user interface design being transparent means hiding or avoiding its complexities; the less users have to think about what their system is doing or how to make if function more optimally, the more likely they are to use it.  Since usability is the omnipotent force in interface design, Computing Transparency is a powerful principle with regards to usability.

Computing Transparency and Privacy

Another aspect of Computing Transparency is linked to privacy.  Programs and applications that guard or use personal data should be transparent in their method of doing so.  If user interfaces are in unclear about the way they deal with their customer’s private information, the results can be disastrous—as can be seen from the recent Facebook scandals.  When it comes to user privacy the term transparent is crucial.  Just as citizens beg their governments to practice transparent politics, so too do the clients of user interfaces.

For many years now, outsourcing has resounded through the land. But still it is linked in our heads with big companies which give some work away because they either do not have the capacity to carry out the work themselves, or want to save money by using this strategy. However, nowadays it is not only big companies anymore who try to gain from this process, but more and more small businesses and private people.

The advantages of outsourcing

But what are the advantages of outsourcing and how can these be generated? The system is easy. If you as a company – (whether a small or big one) – would like to give previously performed in-house tasks to an external provider, you can simply give the contract to a third-party who you will pay to carry out the task on your behalf. The main advantages include cost savings, being able to focus on your core business, overall being able to improve the quality while increasing flexibility at the same time. Collaborating with external experts allows customers to calculate their business costs more precisely because the costs only occur for a certain period of time.
But how can you find such an external provider, and how do you know if the price you are paying is not too high and if the proposal is really the best you could get? One possibility is: Using global internet platforms which arrange services for you in order to meet your individual needs. One of the biggest in Germany is twago.

Team Work Across Global Offices – twago

twago is a Berlin based company which focuses on outsourcing and offshoring of online services. The overall goal is to achieve the best performance for the best price for the customer. The more precisely you know what specific task you would like to have done, e.g. programming, web design, user interface design, etc., the better it is. You simply post your project with a detailed description on the platform and receive proposals from all over the world from up to 20,000 providers. These service providers can be companies or freelancers. You can find a service provider who best fits to the individual project. Whether you are looking for a service provider from around the corner to meet up face to face or you prefer a freelancer from a specific country, twago offers the possibility to find the right service provider with suitable skills. You choose the one that best fits your needs and preferences. And the best of all: Using twago is easy. You just have to register, post your project and award it to your provider of choice. Should you need any help or special service the kind twago employees are ready to support you. You can try it out at: http://www.twago.com.

Companies today realize the value of providing outlets for communication with their customers.  Blogging is an effective method to do so and has thus given rise to the corporate blog. However, corporate blogging is much different than the traditional personal blog, particularly in its purpose.  Let’s take a look at the main purposes for creating a corporate blog, in addition to pointing out how their purpose often differs from the traditional blogs.

This blog post is the first in a series of two about Affinity Diagrams as a usability and interface design method

What is an Affinity Diagram?

The Affinity Diagram is a tool used within project management and other fields such as interface design (for example before creating wireframe prototypes) to sort large amounts of ideas into groups for review and analysis. The affinity diagram methodology was created in the 1960s by Jiro Kawakita and is thus also dubbed the KJ Method. Originally, Affinity Diagrams were intended to help in diagnosing complicated problems through the organization of qualitative data to reveal themes associated with the problems. Affinity Diagramming is related to other user interface design methods like card sorting which also use ideas that are written on cards (or post-it-notes etc.).

What benefits do Affinity Diagrams offer during interface design and wireframing?

Affinity Diagrams can greatly aid interface designers during the conception stages of a project when wireframing and prototype creation are typically used to generate interface design solutions. Affinity Diagrams can help identify what to include into a wireframe prototype by consolidating lots of customer data into meaningful design criteria. The methodology, in effect, can uncover the range of, give boundaries to and uncover similarity among user’s problems and needs. But Affinity Diagrams can also help identify potential areas for future study. Affinity diagramming is advantageous because it facilitates teamwork and collaboration and consequently improves the cohesion of a team. Because the method is straightforward and simple it is also cost-effective. Affinity diagrams can also help identify customer work practices and can therefore be considered a precursor to Contextual Design, another interface design method.

What are drawbacks of Affinity Diagrams and how can this affect wireframing and interface design?

Affinity Diagrams are considered cost-effective but the method can be time-consuming, especially when there are copious amounts of data to be analyzed which can prove to be exhausting for your team as they evaluate all of the data. These drawbacks are due to the time and effort it takes to extract data (which could, and often does, come from a number of sources) and consolidate them into meaningful ‘units of information’. Time is consumed both in completing the affinity diagram project and the subsequent interpretation of the resulting groups and sub-groups. Another problematic situation can arise when there is simply not enough data. As a rule of thumb, if 15 or less items of information have been identified then you may forego the Affinity diagramming process and resort to other user interface design methods.

This blog post is the first in a series of two about contextual design as a usability method

What is Contextual Design?

Contextual Design is a User-Centered Design process that was developed by Hugh Beyer and Karen Holzblatt. It gathers information for the purposes of understanding how users work in order to create user interface designs (or other products) that adequately support users and assist them with accomplishing their goals. According to Beyer and Holzblatt, Contextual Design “uses extensive field data as the foundation for understanding user’s and business’ needs”. It incorporates ethnographic methods for gathering data relevant to the product, field studies, rationalizing workflows, system and human-computer interface designs. The ultimate goal behind Contextual Design could be described as producing user interface designs that are usable for a specific group of target users, a critical factor in achieving product success.

Contextual Design is important to interface design

Just like with many other products and services, contextual design is vitally important to user interface design. Successful UI (user interface) designs are the ones that help users accomplish tasks as easily and quickly as possible, and that requires some work on the UI designer’s part. Contextual design is all about knowing which functions and features and design characteristics are needed to accomplish that. It gives designers the ability to comprehend the context in which users employ a specific user interface.   Taking the time out to conduct research and identify with user contexts is intended to give user interface designers the knowledge required which they can then fashion into wireframes on the road to creating great user interface designs.

Welcome to my two-part blog on Ethnography and the role it plays in usability engineering and user interface design.

What is Ethnography?

Ethnography is an approach to research that involves in-depth study of population groups through participant observation, interviews, questionnaires, and artifact analysis in an attempt to gain a thorough understanding from a number of perspectives. This research methodology is usually associated with the social sciences, in particular anthropology and sociology. Ethnography also takes place in the natural context of the subject being observed and, as such, the term is often interchangeable with phrases such as “field study” and “case report”. Traditional ethnography focuses on long-term studies spanning weeks, months, or even years. This is in order to understand, first-hand, fundamental answers in regard to the subject(s). Where do they live? How do they make a living? What do they eat? What are their linguistic, housing and marriage customs etc?

What does ethnography mean in the context of user interface design?

In the context of user interface design, ethnography is a valuable source of data for personas, scenarios of use, task analysis, requirements elicitation, and storyboards. Sometimes in life the laboratory setting can obfuscate data due to the very act of observation affecting the subject. Ethnography seeks to paint observations in their proper naturally occurring context, i.e. the point at which they would be using a software application and navigating its interface design in the course of their everyday life.

Ethnography as a usability method

Ethnography lends itself well to usability testing of user interface designs due to the principle of holistic human data collection. This works well in tandem with the fundamentals of user experience in user interface design. Ethnography brings with it a number of merits to usability testing. In comparison to observations conducted in the lab the authenticity of ethnographic reports is higher. Behavior observations are best understood within their natural environment and ethnography allows for this. As a usability method ethnography provides a much more comprehensive perspective of the users and their environment than other forms of research. Another advantage is that it employs a theoretical framework for contextualizing data.

When to use ethnography as a usability technique

According to usability expert James Horn, the use of ethnography as a usability method is “best used in the early stages of development, when you need to know more about the issues surrounding the use of a product rather than actual metrics.” In the very early stages of user interface design, using the ethnographic method will help you collect user requirements based on how users operate within their “native” environments, which is how they operate in the real world.  Obtaining these user requirements will then allow you to incorporate your findings into preliminary designs of a user interface. Of course, it is important to watch out for observer bias, as Information and results are highly dependent on the researcher’s observations and interpretations.

In this 2 part blog I shall look at the role gender plays in Human Computer Interaction (HCI). What is Gender HCI, after all? Does empirical data show significant differences between male and female end-users?

What is Gender HCI and what does it have to do with user interface design?

Gender HCI is a subcategory of Human Computer Interaction (HCI). HCI is concerned with the design and evaluation of interactive systems used by humans, such as user interface design. Gender HCI, a relatively new field that is still in its formative stages, shifts the focus to the differences between men and women and the role that plays in how they interact with interface designs. The term Gender HCI was coined in 2004 by Laura Beckwith, an Oregon State University PhD candidate, and her adviser Margaret Burnett. Relevant research reports that dealt with the gender aspects of user interaction date back all the way to 1987, namely Chuck Huff’s research on how games designed as “gender neutral” look like games designed for boys.

Gender HCI, like regular HCI, is a highly interdisciplinary field because it requires that designers and researchers from various fields collaborate to understand the ways in which males and females solve problems, communicate, and process information.  Researchers and designers must explore diverse areas such as psychology, computer science, marketing, neuroscience, education, economics and others to ascertain the information needed to research requirements and design successful user interfaces with potential Gender specifics in mind. Since it became clear that Gender HCI’s is a viable category of HCI, research and interest in the field has exploded. Today many computer scientists and designers are occupying themselves with system models based on gender differences.

Topics explored in Gender HCI: Why is it important for user interface design?

Gender HCI is not simply about adding pink to an interface design optimized for girls and, conversely, blue for boys. Examples taken from the available empirical data have shown that Gender HCI applies to many situations. An example of this is in spreadsheet problem-solving tasks where it was found that female end users were significantly slower to try out advanced software features. It has also been found that with smaller displays, males’ performance was significantly better than female’s. Larger displays improved the performance of females while the performance of males was not negatively affected.

Usability is one of the foundation stones of UX design, but as a concept and a design method it does not come without limitations. One of the main shortcomings of the usability concept is its inability to account for the level of interest and desire within users relative to the employment of a particular interface design.  Of course the fact that a user interface is well organized and structured (in other words usable) usually makes it, in most cases, popular, but it is not usability alone that compels users to seek out and maintain a relationship with a given interface design.  For that, designers are learning that there needs to be a certain level of enjoyment and fun for the user. The notion of using fun and enjoyment to compel users is encapsulated by the relatively new design concept desirability.

This blog post is the first in a series of two about Human Computer Interaction (HCI)

What is Human Computer Interaction (HCI)?

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is an interdisciplinary area of study that concerns itself with the point of intersection where people come into contact with computers, namely user interface designs. It also encompasses computer science, behavioral sciences, interface design and other fields of study. Although Human-Computer Interaction also refers to many products with traditional electronic displays and/or physical controls such as microwave ovens or aircraft (here, often the term Human Machine Interaction or HMI is also used), for our purposes let’s look at it from the point of view of computers, software and their user interfaces.

Human-Computer Interaction, Interface Design and Usability

The main goals of Human-Computer Interaction and interface design are to maximize usability and user satisfaction. A poor human-machine interface design, such as using non-standard interface design layout, can lead to a number of unexpected and annoying problems. Improving the interactions between users and computers and meeting the user’s needs regarding the interface design are important when creating successful systems. The design activities relating to Human-Computer Interaction significantly impact how successful systems are in terms of user acceptance, in terms of how productively the system can be used to accomplish critical tasks, and to how popular systems are with users and what market penetration they can reach. Often, the aspects relating to efficiency of use are summarized as usability.

This blog post is the first in a series of two about accessibility design as a usability method

What is accessibility and why is it important?

In general, accessibility describes the degree to which a product, device, service, or environment is easy and straightforward to use by as many people as possible.  In addition, accessibility concerns itself with the benefits of the entity being accessed: How does easy use of a product benefit the user and the creator?

Accessibility results from proper design of products and services. Take public transportation for example.  Public transportation is designed to optimize the routes which users (by bus, tram, or train etc.) must take to get to their given destinations.  Public transportation provides users with maps, internet sites that help them plan their routes, elevators and wheel chair lifts for the disabled, and many other features that make it easy and beneficial for people to use.  When public transportation is easily accessible, the benefit is that the users have efficient, cost-effective means of travelling and the creators are able to earn money and sustain the transport system.

Computer science, accessibility design and user interface design

In computer science, accessibility design means creating websites or software that is easily usable and available to people of all abilities.  This means that each interface design should grant users equal access to the functionality of and the information contained within the site. In computer science, accessibility design concerns itself mainly with the construction of interface designs that are accessible to the disabled. For example, how can a designer code the HTML to provide or enable text-to-speech software for the deaf or text-to-Braille hardware for the blind?  The concept behind accessibility design is clear: Disabilities should not hinder users from accessing and using a given software or website due to shortcomings of its user interface design.