Information

1
Information InteractionDesign

• Fall 2005
• Bill Hart-Davidson

Session 1 Introductions Guidelines for Semester
Project Dourish Book Self-Assessment
2
Today in Classpart I

• Our focus for the semester designing for change
• Our aim not just change, but change for the
  better!
• Our influences Activity Theory, User-Centered
  Design, Embodied Interaction
• Our methods Contextual Inquiry, inspiration from
  Rational Unified Process

3
Designing for Change Theoretical Influences

• Activity Theory understanding the relationship
  between human behavior and the tools they use
• User-Centered Design placing the needs of users
  prominently in the design process (more later)

4
Designing for Change Theoretical Influences

• Embodied Interaction An approach to interacting
  with software systems that emphasizes skilled,
  engaged practice rather than disembodied
  rationality

5
Activity Change, 1

• Activity Theory says

1. activity is the minimal meaningful unit of
human behavior 2. Activity is motivated (not just
random) 3. Activity is mediated (by tools)
6
Activity Change, 11/2

• Activity Theory also says

Activity develops over timeand, actually, that
there is a certain dynamic between structures
(whether these are physical or social structures)
and agency, such that it is by habitual action
that we make and remake our world.
7
Activity Change, 2

• Consider 3 levels of action

1. Activities that are motivated 2. Action that
are goal oriented 3. Operations that have
conditions
Note that most complex activities are comprised
of all threeso
8
Activity Change, 3

• Levels of activity correspond with familiar
  questions

• Activity - Why?
• Action - What?
• 3. Operations How?

Where does HCI usually concentrate ?
9
Activity Change, 4

• Innovative HCI designs focus on the Why,
  mediating the What and How

• Activity - Why?
• Action - What?
• 3. Operations How?

What and How, those we tend to experience as
structurewhen we act on a Why,
we enact agency
10
Activity Change, 5

• Agency is linked to Change. The goal of good HCI
  design should be transformation of some social
  practice.
• Can you think of a successful HCI that transforms
  a social practice for the better? Whose agency is
  enabled by your example? Users? Designers?

11
Dourish and Change

• Dourishs central argument is that HCI designs
  are (re)constructions of the worldand as such,
  are representative of not just logic but of
  values, feelings, desires (even if these are
  invisible or minimized).
• He asks us to make our intentions in these areas
  explicit when we design, and to reconcile them
  with our goals for change.

but we cant do it alone
12
Change in Information Ecologies
We define an information ecology to be a system
of people, practices, values, and technologies in
a particular local environment. (p. 49)
13
How to Responsibly Evolve Information Ecologies

• Work from core, local values.
• Pay attention. Notice the meanings assigned to
  existing tech practice
• As strategic, open-ended questions about use.
  What if?

Nardi Oday, p. 65
14
Some strategic questions, 1
pp. 72-74
ask about motivations, opinons, relationships
among things

• Analysis questions

What is the goal of the departments website
revision?
Observation questions
What can be seen heard in the ecology?
How is the current site administered?
15
Some strategic questions, 2
pp. 72-74
Identifies important operational conditions

• Focus questions

How much money is available for the revision?
Ask about emotions, trust, etc.
Feeling questions
Which features of the site do folks have a
positive association with?
16
Some strategic questions, 3
pp. 72-74

• Visioning questions

Identifies ideals, dreams
Where would we like this site to go in the next
year?
Envision a path from here to there
Change questions
How might we prioritize our wish list?
17
Some strategic questions, 4
pp. 72-74

• Alternatives questions

Are the communities in the dept. distinct enough
to warrant multiple sites?
Consequences questions
Whose interests are served by making the
following kinds of changes?
Obstacles questions
Will there be a need for more training?
18
Some strategic questions, 2
pp. 72-74
Identify interests and contributions of
stakeholders

• Personal inventory
• questions

How can the expertise we have in the dept. be
best harnessed?
Specifics, what how
Planning questions
How will we propose, approve, and test new
designs for the site?
19
Try out the Questions!

• Have a conversationstart with an information
  ecology that you are familiar withthen consider
  a technological change appropriate for that
  communityrun through the questions, coming up
  with your own for each category.

20
Today in Classpart II

• Touring Web Site
• Class Format
• Picking a Project
• Working Through the Phases

• Thinking about Grading
• Setting Goals
• Establishing a Team
• Linking SD to Your World

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The Resources Page www.msu.edu/hartdav2/iid.h
tml
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Class Info Announcements

• Resources Page Notes, Syllabus, Brief Schedule,
  Links to Team Web Presence.

23
Lets Look at the Syllabus

• Course Description
• Policies and procedures
• Projects
• Schedule

24
Collaborative Tools

• Ill ask you to set up a virtual team workspace
• You choosebut all team members should be able to
  access itand it should have a place to post
  public documents

25
Doing The Numbers

• 9 Full-group Class Meetings
• 3 Design Presentations
• 2 Consultations

26
Example Presentation Schedule

• 630 Team 1
• 650 Team 2
• 710 Team 3
• 730 Review
• 750 Team 4
• 810 Team 5

• 830 Team 6
• 850 Review
• 910 Team 7
• 930 Team 8
• 950 Team 9
• 1010 Review

• dont worry, we wont be going this late )

27
Picking a Project

• Aim to transform a real social practice
• Humans, computers working together
• Must be a new project
• Change the worldfor the better!

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Selection Criteria

• New! Innovative interesting
• Allows team members to stretch meet self
  assessment goals
• Doable in the the time we have
• Access to social environment for study
• Based on a mutual desire for transformation of
  cultural conditions among stakeholders

29
Examples from previous years
Tableside ordering at sit-down chain restaurants

• Restaurant Guide
• Design Participator
• Hiking Buddy

Website allowing community input for design
projects
A backpackers PDA stores pictures, maps,
journals, etc.
30
Restaurant Guide

• RPI-based team, undergrads
• Table-side screen device meant to streamline
  ordering process during busy lunch and dinner
  cycles

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Activities of Restaurant Guide

• Sort View menu items using various criteria
• Order from Menu
• Track order progress
• Swipe card to pay at table

32
Restaurant Guide Mediation

• Touch Screen mounted tableside
• PDAs for waitstaff

33
Upping the Ante Transformation

• All of these projects involve issues of
• power
• agency
• access
• skill

So we must ask Cui Bono?
Who benefits from?
Who benefits from the transformations your design
introduces? How?
34
A few things to keep in mind

• Users dont need to be saved! (treat them as
  skilled, innovative, resourceful stakeholders in
  the systembecause they are)
• Systems arent finished when you install
  themthey develop, grow, change. Users take over
  the design where designers leave off.

35
Design Phases
Well follow a familiar 3-phase approach, but we
will be reflective about the benefits and
constraints of each.
36
The Phases

• Building block of the project

Requirements
37
Methods

• Key concepts and techniques

Requirements
38
Deliverables

• Key Outcomes from each phase

Requirements
39
Facilitation

• Activities to insure success

Requirements
40
Evaluation

• Measures of Team Performance

Requirements
41
Thinking about Grading
42
Project Breakdown

• 2 Individual Assessments 15
• Requirements phase homework, presentation, memo
  (20)
• Design phase homework, presentation, memo (20)
• Implementation phase homework, presentation,
  spec/prototype (30)
• Peer review, panels (15)

43
Individual Assessment

• Set performance goals and evaluate your progress
• Use template provided on resources page,
  iatemplate.rtf
• Submit twice once at the beginning and once at
  the end of the semester
• First version due next time!

44
Setting Your Goals
The Individual Assessment
45
Areas for Advancement

• Tools and Techniques
• Teaming
• Design Process
• Presentation and Persuasion
• Deliverables

46
Assessment Questions

• For each area, youll answer questions about
• Background w/ that area
• Aspirations for that area

47
Tools and Techniques

• ability to use tools and techniques related to
  HCI Design.
• interface design tools
• writing tools
• web design tools
• research tools
• visual design tools
• database tools
• scripting tools

48
Teaming
Design

• ability to work in teams on HCI designs.

• ability to use an explicit design methodology
  fully, giving due weight to
• requirements analysis,
• conceptual design,
• implementation.

49
Presentation and Persuasion-1

• ability to present HCI designs to an audience
• get buy-in
• persuade them to make resources available to
  continue the design work.

50
Presentation and Persuasion-2

• an ability to
• make an effective argument
• develop a clear presentation
• marshal technical content effectively
• analyze project needs
• consider counter-arguments.

51
Deliverables-1

• In the area of Deliverables, you should plan to
  develop your capacity to make critical
  contributions to the delivery of HCI Designs.

52
Deliverables-2

• the full range of human-computer interactions
• web-based interactions
• software interfaces,
• the personal and enterprise hardware-software
  configurations of the future.

53
Establishing a Team

• Teams should be 3-4 people
• No individuals working alone a goal of this
  course is building good team skills

• All team members must participate in review
  sessions

54
Teaming UpAfter class today

• Divide into teams of 3-4
• Send an e-mail to hartdav2_at_msu.edu with basic
  team info
• Team members contact info
• Brief discussion of project idea
• and your teams web presence

55
Team E-mail Contents 2

• Name of proposed HCI design
• Description of the way this HCI design will
  transform a current cultural practice
• For each team member, a few lines describing how
  this project will meet your individual goals for
  the course

56
This week

• Meet with your team
• Review your individual goals for the course
• Refine your ideas for an HCI design, prepare team
  memo
• Establish a web presence and discuss logistics
  for presentations, drafting, research, etc.

Yahoo! Groups? A blog? A wiki?
57
For Next Week

• Individual Assessments Due 1/19 (attached to
  e-mail is ok)
• Teams in place project ideas firming up
• Read Dourish selections (on website)

On 9/5

• Post project idea/abstract to team page for
  sharing in class