Designing information for online users. Numbers. Profiles. Techniques.

Rosário Durão
Center for Comparative Studies, University of Lisbon
CEC / CEAUL
Designing information for online users.Numbers. Profiles. Techniques.
Colloquium
University of Lisbon, Faculty of Letters
March 3, 2011 – 6:00-8:00 pm – Room 5.2

2
Center for Comparative Studies, Univ. of Lisbon
Center for English Studies of the University of Lisbon
Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Post Doctoral Grant ref. SFRH/BPD/43227/2008)
acknowledgements

I – NUMBERS
Characteristics of online information
Interfaces
Users
II – PROFILES
Personas
III – TECHNIQUES
Worst and best practices
Objectives of interface design
3
Contents

Interface components
Designing information
Designing information for online users
Implications of “meaning” and universality
4
Contents

“The dream behind the Web is of a common information space in which we communicate by sharing information. Its universality is essential: the fact that a hypertext link can point to anything, be it personal, local or global, be it draft or highly polished.”
Tim Berners-Lee, 7 Maio, 1998
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NUMBERS
I
6

I. NUMBERSCharacteristics of online information
What is online information?
What is the purpose of online information?
How does online information work?
7

What is online information?
A tool
A predominantly visualmedium
An artifact characterized by modular content
An artifact where “Content is king!”
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Sources: Galitz 4-5; Horton 1990

What is the purpose of online information?
To “satisfy the user’s needs, capabilities, and limitations in the most effective way possible.”
9
Source: (trad.) Galitz 4

How does online information work?
Engineers, manufacturers, authors, designers, and professional communicators produce material and graphic interafaces that “people can see, hear, touch, talk to, or otherwise understand or direct.”
For most people, there is only the interface.
10
Source: Galitz, 4-5

What type of interfaces?
For what users?
To do what?
Where?
How?
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What type of interfaces?
12

I. NUMBERSInterfaces
Alternative input devices (keyboards, trackballs, touch screens, sip-and-puff devices, head daubers)
Light emitting devices, touch typing devices,eye trackers
Braille displays and embossers
Speech recognition, speech synthethizers …
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I. NUMBERSUsers
For what users?
Everyone
Age
Disability
Culture
Language
Technological factors
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Age
Increasing life expectancy
Decreasing fertility
I. NUMBERSUsers
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Source: United Nations 2001

I. NUMBERSUsers
16
Source: United Nations 2001; : CIA, The World Factbook; Moreira s/d

Implications of age
Aging and work
Aging and technologies
Active population 40+ = 48% of active population (>68 million) (US 2003)
Active population 45+: 69% plans to continue working after 65 (same job, another job, new career, own business) (US 2003)
Active population with current computer skills retires later -> training
I. NUMBERSUsers
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Source: Charness 2008; Mosner 2003

Disability
Concept
Communicative (hearing, seeing, speaking difficulty/impossibility)
Mental (learning difficulty; Alzheimer, ADD, autism, senility …)
Physical (difficulty in walking 1 km, going up the stairs, holding objects, getting in and out of bed; using a cane, walker; arthritis, fractures; cancer; heart problems, paralysis (including cerebral) …)
I. NUMBERSUsers
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Source: Americans With Disabilities: 2005, Census Bureau

Disability rates by age
(UK 2000-2001)
I. NUMBERSUsers
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Source: Charness e Jastrzembski 2009

Disability rates, by type, and age (US)
Disability rates, by type, and age (PT) (6/100 - c. 642.000)
I. NUMBERSUsers
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Sources: National Health Interview Survey on Disability 1995-1995; Gonçalves 2001

Implications
Disability and technologies
I. NUMBERSUsers
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“Many disabled people use extra gadgets to help them use the Web … Many, many other people who don’t necessarily define themselves as having a disability (such as older people) just soldier on without any assistance, peering at low-contrast, unscalable, 10-point type or trying to click tiny radio buttons on order forms.”
“Technological advances offer the promise of compensating for some of these declines, enabling older adults to lead not just longer, but healthier and more productive, lives.”
Source: Lawson 2006; Charness 2008

Disability and work
I. NUMBERSUsers
22
Source: Brault 2008

Culture
Importance
“When users browse the Web pages, they will unconsciously apply their cultural preferences to evaluate the design of Web pages.”
I. NUMBERSUsers
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Source: Sun 2001; Baack e Singh 2007

Communication context
High vs. Low context culture (HCC vs. LCC)
Individualist vs. Collectivist culture (IC vs. CC)
HCC. Endogroup culture, inference (Japanese, Chinese, Arab, Latin-American) LCC. Exogroup culture, explicit (Scandinavia, Germany)
(Edward T. Hall)
IC. Independence, little social cohesion (US, France, Germany, Canada)CC.Strong social bonds, group loyalty (Japan, Mexico, Greece)
(Geert Hofstede)
I. NUMBERSUsers
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Source: Hoft 1995

Social organization
High vs. Low power distance (HPD vs. LPD)
Satus by adscription vs. By achievement (SAd vs. SAc)
HPD. Fear of talking to people that are hierarchically superior (Latin-America, Asia, Africa)
LPD. Interaction of heterogeneous groups (US, UK, Denmark, New Zealand, Israel)
(Geert Hofstede)
SAd. Tradition (Russia, Japan, Belgium, Spain, France)
SAc. Individual goals, competence (Norway, US, UK, Canada)
(FonsTrompenaars)
I. NUMBERSUsers
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Source: Hoft 1995

Concept of time
Polychronic vs. Monochronic time (PT vs. MT)
PT. Simultaneous and co-occurring time: schedules as objectives, lifelong relationships, simultaneous tasks, distractions and interruptions (Middle Eastern, Latin-American, and Mediterranean cultures)
MT. Sequential and linear time: planning and scheduling, importance of work, brief relationships (time is money), one task at a time (cultures from North of Europe)
(Edward T. Hall)
I. NUMBERSUsers
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Source: Honold 1999

Chinese and German cultural concepts of learning
I. NUMBERSUsers
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Source: Honold 1999

Language
Language(s)
I. NUMBERSUsers
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Source: International World Stats 2010

Literacy
Type
%
I. NUMBERSUsers
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Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics

Technological factors
Connection type
Connection speed and reliability
I. NUMBERSUsers
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Sources: Henry 2006; ITU World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database

Type of equipment
Age of equipment
I. NUMBERSUsers
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Sources: Henry 2006; Zickuh 2001; CIA, The World Factbook

To do what?
Computers
Cell phones
Talk to friends and other people
Access the Internet
View information, make choices and decisions
Make transactions, and check bank statements
Make appointments, hold meetings...
Study and do research
Send and receive email, messages, photos, documents…
Take photographs
Play games, listen to music, watch movies …
I. NUMBERSUsers
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Where?
Anywhere in the world, in any context or situation
Locale
Context/situation
I. NUMBERSUsers
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I. NUMBERSUsers
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I. NUMBERSUsers
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How?
Evaluate and make decisions
Identify
Decide
Manipulate
Collect
“MAXIM
People will spend many, many hours staringat your screens.”
concerning the need or task
needs and tasks
how to do a task or find what we want
the keyboard, mouse, etc. to select an item from a list, press a command, enter data in text boxes...
the data and content we need, and exclude those we do not need
Source: Galitz 2007

Aesthetics and emotions
Aesthetic decision: 50 milliseconds (1/20 second); rarely changes
Attractive = easy, confidence, good; favorable to problem solvingNot attractive = rejection
I. NUMBERSUsers
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Sources: Norman 2003; Lindgaard 2006; van der Geest e van Dongelen 2009

PROFILES
II
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Imagine the personas in the next 14 profiles were real people, with real needs, activities, and expectations, living in real cities and villages.
At this precise moment, all these ‘people’ could be viewingthis same page.

Abel
Student – 12
Abel lives in the city of Beira, in Mozambique. Abel goes to middle school. He also helps his mother in the fields and takes care of his younger brother and sister. His native language is Cyiao, his second language Portuguese. There are no computers at school, but his family has a cell phone. When it’s his turn to use it, Abel uses the phone to study, check the results of the football games, and take photographs. Whenever someone else asks him to use the phone, he proudly hands it over to them.
I want to be an engineer, so I have to be very good at Math, Portuguese and English – and the apps help me do that.
I wish there were more images on the screen.
II. PROFILESPersonas
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Source: Vodaphone 2005

Florine
Student – 15
Florine is in high school, but she does not like to study. She lives with her parents outside Brussels. Florine sings in a band. She loves technologies. She uses her Macs (Pro, Pad, Phone, and Pod) to be constantly in contact with her friends, listen to music, update the band’s website, and promote their songs on YouTube.
My Macs are my freedom. The Internet my extension – except when I went to Madeira. That really … me off!
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Source: Norman 2011

César
Mechanic – 26
César lives in São Paulo, Brazil. He bought a new computer 6 years ago, which he uses to play games and listen to music. But he prefers his cell phone. You see, he’s more of a people person. He loves to be with his friends, and most of all his girlfriend.
I like a good story. I can’t stand waiting for things to happen on the computer. When something’s taking too long, I switch to another site.
When I find something interesting, I use the keyboard to move around – it’s faster.
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Source: Thatcher 1999

Noha lives in Alexandria, Egypt. She speaks Arabic, and some English, French, and German. She divides her days between her family, and work. She is a religious person. She sympathizes with the democratic party. Noha uses the Internet every day at work. At home, she uses it to buy things for the family and talk to her friends.
The internet is very important for my research. To log data, and search for information. The laboratory where I work subscribes many journals, mostly in English. I read English well, but I need to speak it better. Much better. I want to go to the States to do a postdoc. And I need to write, and publish my own articles in well-known peer-reviewed journals.
نهى
Noha
Researcher – 29
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Duarte
Businessperson – 33
Duarte is from Lisbon, Portugal. He speaks English very well. Duarte likes radical sports. Two years ago, he founded his own nanotechnology company, and he’s already selling his products to Asian countries, the States, and other European countries. He has 3 cell phones, and two laptops, one in the office. The other one is always with him.
The company is growing fast – and this is just the beginning. I’m looking for a good webdesigner, someone that can make the website appealing to all the markets.
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馮慧靈 | 冯慧灵 | Feng Huiling
Manager – 38
Feng Huiling lives in Shanghai, China. She is very friendly, though reserved. She lives in small, simple apartment with her husband and daughter. She goes to work by bicycle every day. Feng Huiling is the manager of a restaurant in China. It is a very demanding job, requiring great effort and dedication on her part. There is nothing about the restaurant management business that she does not know. The restaurant has one computer, that everybody uses.
I asked my friend to make a site for the restaurant with a garden on the first page, not a ‘desktop’. It will be full of information. I like gardens. I like images and a lot of color, specially red. It’s my favorite.
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Sources: Lo e Gong 2005; International Business Cultures

Greg
Writer – 42
Greg lives in the the States, in the small city of Ames. When he was 28, Greg had an accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down. He is married and has three children. He has a large network of friends, including the doctors, nurses, and other people that take care of him, but he likes to be as independent as possible. He is writing a book about his life, by himself on the computer.
I want to try the new sip-and-puff pen Maria told me about. A Portuguese man invented it, I believe, and he’s the only one selling it. Have to check out his website.
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Luís
Clerk– 45
Luís is from Barcelos, in Portugal. He works as a clerk in an import-export company. Luís has photosensitive epilepsy. He finds it difficult to distinguish images on the screen, in spite of wearing glasses (which takes off when taking photographs).
I like my colleagues, and the work I do. But I can’t distinguish the colors and letters well. If only I had a bigger screen … but the situation is so bad, I don’t dare ask the boss for one.
When I retire, I might start my own business. Probably a webdesign company, but for people with disabilities. We badly need one in Portugal. I’ll never forget the day when I wanted to get my son a surfboard, but the letters were so small I could hardly see them, and the navigation was a total disaster. In any other place, I would have taken them to court.
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Irina lives in Moscow, Russia. She is a library assistant at Moscow State University. The university became fully automated recently, but Irina found it easy to adapt because of the various training courses the university provided. A few months ago, she needed a consultant in customer service, and could not find one.
I suddently realized I could be the one to start a consulting firm and give courses in customer service. So I began searching the Internet. I saw what other people were doing in other countries, and I sent them emails and spoke with them. I learned a lot about starting a business.
Ирина | Irina
Library assistant – 48
47

Esteban
Farmer – 53
Esteban has a farm, about 300 miles from the city of Chihuahua, in Mexico. Esteban lives with his large family, for whose well-being he feels totally responsible. He plants corn and soy. He does organic farming. He has been so successful that farmers from India and Africa often come to his farm to learn about his methods and results.
The new technologies help me keep up-to-date on my field, and talk to my family when I’m away.
I don’tlikepagesthat are toocrowded. Theydistract me fromwhat I needto do.
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Helga
International Professional Communicator – 56
Helga owns an international professional communication company, with offices in Frankfurt, New York, and Tokyo. She was born in Wiesbaden. Her husband is Portuguese. Helga hates wasting time and words. She believes in the value of clear, concise, objective writing. She plans everything to the last detail.
I don’t have time to waste. And neither do users.
Web interfaces have to be adapted to the different cultures and nationalities, but also to the more universal factors of perception and cognition.
I have rheumatism in my hands. Some days it’s a bit difficult to use a mouse.
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Source: Kostelnick 1995

सुरेश| Suresh
Craftsman – 65
Suresh lives in Panaji, the capital of Goa, in India. Suresh makes handicrafts that are sold all over the world, gaining him a good income. His native languages are Konkani and Hindi. He also knows how to speak English and Portuguese. Suresh is very agileand energetic. He has a computer at home that he uses to talk to people wanting to buy his work.
The problem are the languages. In India, no one wants to buy my work. In Europe, the States, and other places, they do. I don’t know how to write English. And I can only write a little Portuguese. My grandchildren taught me how to speak to people through the computer, instead of writing. Like this, I don’t even need an intermediary. I sell my work directly to the clients.
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Margaret
Retired – 75
Margaret is from New Zealand. Margaret has some motor difficulties. She recently fractured her hip bone, and is recovering from the surgery. She is married and lives with her husband in a large house and grounds, a few miles away from Auckland. She has a desktop computer, a mobile phone, and an iPad. For some time now, she’s been using the computer for daily tasks, like making doctor appointments, checking her bank statements, and doing shopping.
I’m quite used to doing things online. And I don’t mind paying more for a computer that is the exact match for my needs. The iPad, for instance, has been a great help lately.
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Source: Wright et al 2008

Joaquina
Retired – 85
Joaquina lives in the small village of Quelfes, in the Algarve, Portugal. Joaquina is retired. She had two years’ schooling when she was young. She has difficulty reading and writing because she spent all her life in the same out-of-the-way village in the hills. Joaquina is a wonderful storyteller. Every day, at the end of the day, she sits on a bench in front of her house, thinking about this and that, and chatting to anyone going by.
Now eveybody’s got a cell phone and a computer. I don’t understand any of that. The other day, I heard the government wants us to do everything on the Internet. I live by myself, and have a small pension. My neighbors too – we’re all on the same boat. I don’t know what I’m going to do… Nothing, I suppose…
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TECHNIQUES
III
53

Worst practices
http://www.cm-lisboa.pt/
http://www.impetusunderwear.com/
Best practices
http://www.clarity2010.com/
http://www.universaldesign.ie/
III. TECHNIQUESWorst and best practices
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Reduce
visual effort
intellectual effort
resourting to memory
motor activity

Easeof use
Minimize or eliminate
tasks and instructions related to the equipments’ internal functioning

Invisibilityof the interface
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III. TECHNIQUESObjectives of interface design
Source: Galitz 2007

Every
Element
Control
Alternativetext
Information chunk
Emphasis
Color
Graphic
Animation
Message
User reply
NEEDS to
help users attain their objective(s)
make sense for each user

cultural-semantic
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III. TECHNIQUESInterface components
Source: Galitz 2007

Figure/ground contrast
Legible and scalable font
Clear and correct, short and descriptive titles
Information in chunks
Clear and simple language
Clear and consistent navigation
Good color selection
Good image selection
Simple, pertinent, and clearly identified graphics and tables
Pertinent hyperlinks
Style sheets (css)
Alternative text for images, audio and video
Alternative pages
Captions for audio and video
III. TECHNIQUESDesigning information
57
Source: Charness 2007; Mosner 2003; Wright 2004; Thatcher 2006

58
… adapted to …

Corporation
Brand
Profitability…
Type of corporation
(Inter)national operating strategy
Type of market
Type of product/servicve
Users
Language(s)
Learning style
Communication style
Visual literacy
Technological literacy
Computer literacy
Equipment and interfaces
III. TECHNIQUESDesigning information for online users
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Source: Hoft 1995

III. TECHNIQUESImplications of “meaning” and universality
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Create
for differentiated users and equipament
Adapt
for universal reception and the situation of companies and organizations in the world
(translate – localize – design afresh)
Test
with representative and differentiated users inrepresentative and differentiated situations and contexts with representative and differentiated equipament and interfaces
= a new approach

REFERENCES
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REFERENCES
Baack, Daniel W., Nitish Singh (2007). Culture and web communications. Journal of Business Research, 60(3): 181-188.
Brault, Matthew W. (2008). Current Population Reports. Americans With Disabilities: 2005. Household Economic Studies. U.S.CensusBureau.
Charness, Neil (2008). Technology as multiplier effect for an aging workforce. In Social structures and aging individuals: Continuing challenges. Eds. D. Warner Schaie, and Ronald P. Abeles. New York: Springer.
Charness, Neil, and Tiffany Jastrzembski (2009). Gerontechnology. In Future interaction design II. Eds. Pertti Saariluoma, Hannakaisa Isomäki. London: Springer-Verlag London.
CIA, The World Factbook. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/
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REFERENCES
Galitz, Wilbert O. (2007). The essential guide to user interface design. An introduction to GUI design principles and techniques. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley, 3rd.
Gonçalves, Cristina (2001). Enquadramento familiar das pessoas com deficiência: Uma análise exploratória dos resultados dos Census 2001. Revista de Estudos Demográficos, 33: 69-94.
Henry, Shawn Lawton (2006). Understanding web accessibility. In Web Accessibility: Web standards and regulatory compliance. Eds. Jim Thatcher et al. Berkeley, CA: Apress.
Hoft, Nancy (1995). International Technical Communication. New York: Wiley.
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REFERENCES
Honold, Pia (1999). Learning How to Use a Cellular Phone: Comparison Between German and Chinese Users. Technical Communication, 46(2): 196-205.
Horton, W. (1990). Visual rhetoric for online documents. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 33(3), 108–114.
Kostelnick, C. (1995). Cultural adaptation and information design: two contrasting views. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 38(4), 182-196.
Lawson, Bruce ((2006). Introduction. In Web Accessibility: Web standards and regulatory compliance. Eds. Jim Thatcher et al. Berkeley, CA: Apress.
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REFERENCES
Lindgaard, et al (2006). Attention web designers: You have 50 milliseconds to make a good first impression. Behaviour & Information technology, 25(2), 115-126.
Lo, Panqun Gong (2005). Cultural impact on the design of e-commerce websites: Part I – site format and layout, Issues in Information Systems, 6(2): 182-188.
Moreira, Maria de Fátima Carvalho (s/d). O Envelhecimento da População e o seu Impacto na Habitação. Prospectiva Até 2050. Tese de mestrado, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Instituto Superior de Estatística e Gestão de Informação.
Mosner, Ellen (2003). The convergence of the aging workforce and accessible technology. The implications for commerce, business and policy. Microsoft Corporation, and Age Light.
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REFERENCES
Norman, Don (2011). I Have Seen the Future and I Am Opposed. Core77 design magazine & resource. http://www.core77.com/blog/columns/i_have_seen_the_future_and_i_am_opposed_18532.asp
Norman, Donald (2004). Emotional Design. Why we love (or hate) everyday things. New York: Basic Books.
Sun, Huatong (2001). Building a culturally-competent corporate web site: an exploratory study of cultural markers in multilingual web design. Proceedings SIGDOC '01 Proceedings of the 19th annual international conference on Computer documentation. ACM
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REFERENCES
United Nations (2001). World Population Ageing: 1950-2050. United Nations Publications. http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/worldageing19502050/
U.S. Census Bureau (2008). Americans With Disabilities: 2005. Household economic studies. U.S. Department of Commerce. http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/p70-117.pdf
Thatcher, Jim et al. (2006). Web accessibility. Web standards and regulatory compliance. Berkeley, CA: Apress.
Types of Assistive Technology Products. Microsoft. http://www.microsoft.com/enable/at/types.aspx
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REFERENCES
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2010). Adult and youth literacy: Global trends in gender parity. UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
van der Geest , Thea, Raymond van Dongelen (2009). What is beautiful is useful – visual appeal and expected information quality. IPCC 2009 International Professional Communication Conference. IEEE Professional Communication Society.
Vodaphone (2005). Africa: The impact of mobile phones. The Vodaphone Policy Paper Series, 2.
Wright, P., Belt, S., Soroka, A. J., Pham, D. T., Dimov, S., DeRoure, D. C., et al. (2008). Cognitive support for older people from multimedia options. In: The 6th International Conference of the International Society for Gerontechnology (ISG 08), June 2008, Pisa, Italy, p. 241.
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REFERENCES
Wright, P., & Belt, S. (2004). Fancy graphics can deter older users: a comparison of two interfaces for exploring healthy lifestyle options. People and computers, 1-12.
Zickuh, Kathryn (2011). Generations and their gadgets. Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2011/Generations-and-gadgets.aspx
Images obtained from:
Dreamstime, freedigitalphotos, Imagebase, morguefile, istockphoto, theFlashBlog, flickr, wikipedia, wikimedia commons
http://newsthump.com/2010/11/04/bionic-eye-chip-treatment-to-be-denied-to-excessive-masturbators/
Jorge Cardoso, Mashaba Mashala.
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Thank you!
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Designing information for online users. Numbers. Profiles. Techniques.

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Designing information for online users. Numbers. Profiles. Techniques. — Presentation Transcript