This document discusses user-centered design and low-fidelity prototyping techniques. It explains that user-centered design is based on understanding users' needs and involving users throughout the design process. Low-fidelity prototyping allows designers to get early feedback through paper sketches and simulations before significant development work. Examples are provided of paper prototyping techniques like storyboards and card sorting. Other low-fi techniques discussed include paper prototypes, Wizard of Oz testing, and electronic sketching tools like DENIM and SILK.

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User Centred Design and
Low-Fidelity Prototyping
Human-computer Interaction

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User Centered Design
 Design is based upon a user’s :
 Abilities and real needs
 Context
 Work
 Tasks
Golden rule of interface design KNOW
THE USER

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User Centered Design
 A UCD is based on understanding the domain
of work or play in which people are engaged
and in which they interact with computers,
and programming computers to facilitate
human action….

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User Centered Design
 Three assumptions:
 The result of a good design is satisfied customer
 The process of design is collaboration between
designers and customers: the design evolves and
adapts to their changing concerns
 The customer and designer are in constant
communication during the entire process

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User Centered Design
 This participatory design has some problems:
 Intuitions wrong
 Interview not precise
 Designers can not know the user sufficiently well to
answer all issues that come up during the design.
 Solution:
 Designers should have access to pool of
representative users: End users, not their managers.

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Methods for involving the user
 User : uses system after deployment
 Tester: tests system after development,
before deployment
 Informant: help during development
( interview, observations…)
 Design partner : equal partner.

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Prototyping

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Why Do We Prototype?
 Get feedback on our design faster (which
saves money)
 Fix problems before code is written

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Fidelity in Prototyping
 Fidelity refers to the level of detail
 High fidelity?
 prototypes look like the final product
 Low fidelity?
 Interfaces with many details missing

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Types of low-fi Prototypes
Paper
“Low fidelity prototyping”
Often surprisingly effective
Experimenter plays the computer
Implemented Prototype
Visual Basic
PowerPoint
Web tools (even for non-web UIs)
Html
Scripting

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Paper prototyping
 Main idea:
 Sketch out prototypes of the interface on paper
 Potential users “walk through” task scenarios using the
paper interface
 A designer “plays computer”
 Change the design on-the-fly if helpful
 Widely practiced in industry
 Sounds silly at first, but is surprisingly effective
 Helps people work together on the design

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The Materials
 Large, heavy, white paper (11 x 17)
 5x8 in. index cards
 Post-it notes
 Tape, stick glue, correction tape
 Pens & markers (many colors & sizes)
 Transparencies (including colored)
 Colorforms (toy stores)
 Scissors, X-acto knives, etc.

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Constructing the Model
 Set a deadline
 don’t think too long - build it!
 Draw a window frame on large paper
 Put different screen regions on cards
 anything that moves, changes, appears/disappears
 Ready response for any user action
 e.g., have those pull-down menus already made
 Use photocopier to make many versions

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Preparing for a Test
 Select your participants
 understand background of intended users
 use a questionnaire
 don’t use friends or family
 Prepare scenarios that are
 typical of the product during actual use

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Conducting a Test
 Three or Four testers (preferable)
 greeter : puts users at ease & gets data, gets forms
filled, assure confidentiality…..
 facilitator : only team member who speaks
 gives instructions & encourages thoughts, opinions
 computer: knows application logic & controls it
 always simulates the response, w/o explanation
 observer(s) : take notes & recommendations
 Typical session is approximately 1 hour
(preparing, testing, debriefing)

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Evaluating Results
 Create a written report on findings
 gives agenda for meeting on design changes
 Make changes & iterate

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Advantages of Low-fi Prototyping
 Takes only a few hours
 no expensive equipment needed
 Can test multiple alternatives
 Can change the design as you test
 Allows designers to work together

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Example of paper
prototyping
We will use the rule we underlined in
constructing the model (Use photocopier to
make many versions)

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Telebears example: Welcome, Registration time

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Telebears example: Welcome, Not Registration time

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Telebears example: Task 3: Plan Schedule

23. 23Telebears example: Task 2: Switching discussion sections

24. 24Telebears example: Task 4: Adding a course

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Designing a content page
Using low-fi techniques
 Card sorting
 Idea from Peter Merholtz

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Designing a content page
Using low-fi techniques
 Start with a page with all the features you
might want
 Cut it up into pieces
 Have people arrange the components

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Card sorting

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Low-fi Storyboards
 Where do storyboards come from?
 Film & animation
 Give you a “script” of important events
 leave out the details
 concentrate on the important interactions

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Site map:

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Sketch example:

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Implemented prototypes

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Wizard of Oz
Technique
 Faking the interaction.
 The term is from the film “The Wizard of OZ”
 “the man behind the curtain”
 Main idea:
 The participant interacts with a computer interface as
usual
 Instead of the program writing back, a person writes back
pretending to be the computer
 Very useful for assessing hard-to-implement features
 Speech & handwriting recognition interface design

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pen-based interaction

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DENIM:
Designing Web Sites by Sketching
 An Informal Tool For Early
Stage Web Site and UI
Design (you can download it from http://
dub.washington.edu/denim/)
 Integrates multiple views
 site map – storyboard – page
sketch
 Supports informal interaction
 sketching, pen-based
interaction

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DENIM example:

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Designing Interfaces with Denim
1) Designer sketches ideas rapidly with
electronic pad and pen
 recognizes widgets
 easy editing with gestures
2) Designer or end-user tests interface
 widgets behave
 specify additional behavior visually
3) Automatically transforms to a “finished” UI

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Specifying Behaviors
 Storyboards
 series of rough sketches depicting changes in
response to end-user interaction
 Expresses many common behaviors
before after
Sequencing behavior between widgets

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Denim Storyboards
 Copy sketches to storyboard window
 Draw arrows from objects to screens
Switch to run mode to test
Denim changes screens on mouse clicks

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The SILK System
 Integrate pen-based and electronic sketching
 Support whole design cycle

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The SILK System
 unlike a paper sketch, this electronic sketch is
interactive and can easily be annotated and
modified using editing gestures.
 SILK allows the designer to extend the
interactivity of the recognized widgets using
storyboards

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SILK interface

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SILK Vs. DENIM
 There are several key differences between
DENIM and SILK:
 DENIM supports more views of the design (e.g.
site map) than SILK and integrates those views
through zooming.
 SILK recognizes widgets that are sketched by the
designer. DENIM does not (yet).

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Prototyping Assignment:
 Create a storyboard for a login page
 Create a sketch for an plane ticket booking
page.
 (use paper prototypes, no softwares)