Mathilde Cosquer

1
Design and evaluation complementary viewpoints
in ergonomist practice

• Mathilde Cosquer
• Nathalie Legay
• Raphaëlle Hautin France Telecom
• Research Development Division
• Lannion, France

2
Introduction

• Our ergonomists experience
• Essential to take part both in design and
  evaluation
• To build new telecom products and services to
  user needs
• Evaluation
• Reference situations from users feedback support
  for future designs
• Design
• Evaluation results relativized and integrated
  more efficiently in the project

3
Outline of presentation

• Brief reminder of principles of user-centered
  design
• Real examples from our ergonomic practice in the
  field of telecommunications
• Discussion to increase the value of combined
  design and evaluation activities
• Conclusion

4
Brief reminder of principles of user-centered
design

• Activity of the ergonomist
• To globally ensure the utility and usability of
  products and services available to users (e.g.
  ISO 9241-11, 1998)
• Fields of knowledge
• Psychology, physiology, ergonomic standards,
  style guidelines, etc
• Various processes and methods used to collect
  data on users, tasks and contexts of use
• Human focused design processes for interactive
  systems (e.g.ISO 13407, 1999)
• Usability methods supporting human focused design
  (e.g.ISO/TR 16982, 2001)
• Evaluation methods (Falzon et al., 2004 Valentin
  et al., 1993 Senach, 1993 Bastien and Scapin,
  1993) user tests, interviews, questionnaires,
  expert assessments

5
Real examples from our ergonomic practice in the
field of telecommunications (mass-market)

• Focus on two types of intervention
• Contribution to interface specifications U Design
• Performance of user tests U Evaluation
• Design activity
• Project constraints from marketing and technical
  areas
• Ergonomic requirements based on
• Standards, style guidelines, lookfeel charts
• Results of user tests
• Design examples
• MMI specification on Web interface for virtual
  office (PC and PDA)
• Tree structure and navigation in interactive
  voice services (voice recognition)
• Graphical interface specifications on small
  screens for TV on mobile

6
Real examples from our ergonomic practice in the
field of telecommunications (mass-market)

• Evaluation activity user tests
• In laboratory 12 users test mock-ups/prototypes/p
  roducts on basis of scenarios completing the use
  of the service
• Objectives
• Usability testing by highlighting strengths and
  weaknesses
• Recommendations to improve products or services
• User tests examples
• Web service allowing management of
  telecommunication services perimeter users
  understood, main actions and terminology testing
• Comparative on handsets physical and graphical
  interfaces

7
Discussion to increase the value of the combined
design and evaluation activities

• From evaluating ergonomist's viewpoint benefits
  of design
• Design activity may be compared to problem
  solving data and constraints at the beginning
  and solution has to be found
• Better understanding of the state of the device
  which is to be tested
• Better understanding of design team's needs
• Better understanding of the team's "state of
  mind"
• Better knowledge of the way recommendations may
  be integrated into design

8
Discussion to increase the value of the combined
design and evaluation activities

• From design ergonomist's viewpoint benefits of
  evaluation (1/2)
• Carrying out user tests involves confronting
  variability of users, tasks to be completed and
  contexts of use
• Reality for users more complex and varied than
  representation imagined in laboratory
• Contact with "real users" to paint the most
  realistic representation of them
• In the definition phase of design solutions, the
  ergonomist will be able to tap into his own
  experience
• Exploit knowledge of activity

9
Discussion to increase the value of the combined
design and evaluation activities

• From design ergonomist's viewpoint benefits of
  evaluation (2/2)
• Hypothesis in design solutions that must be
  tested by users
• Maintain habit of defining usability criteria
  (effectiveness, efficiency, satisfaction)
• Use "user test" tool better in a better way, such
  as
• Tackling the work design via evaluation
• Re-orienting marketing target, convincing other
  project protagonists

10
Conclusion

• Our ergonomists' experience has taught us that
• These various interventions (user-test and
  design) are complementary and indispensable when
  gaining concrete experience for the benefit of
  users and the telecommunications
  products/services they use
• User-test is not enough
• Vary approaches in order to be a little closer to
  the variety of users and activities
• Others methods needed analysis in situ, tools to
  trace the real activity of users, multi-expert
  meetings, user round table, qualitative analysis
  of uses

11
Conclusion

• Makes it easier to convince that ergonomics
  intervenes via a global approach during the
  project live
• Boundaries between "design" ergonomist and
  "evaluator" ergonomist should be less distinct
• Thank you !