Designing with Metaphors

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Designing with Metaphors

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Agenda

• Questions?
• Designing for errors (cont.)
• Midterm prep
• Metaphors

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Recover from errors

• Detection - Feedback
• cognitive hysteresis
• positive evidence
• problem of levels
• forcing function

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Recover from errors (cont.)

• Comprehension
• error message design
• visibility
• Recovery strategies

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Computer responses

• Gag
• Warn
• Do nothing
• Self-correct (DWIM)
• Lets talk about it
• Teach me

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Implications for design

• Scenarios should include errors !!!
• Distinguish between skilled and learner errors
• Uncover errors in the existing system
• how do people self-monitor (cheat sheets)
• Dont forget closure (ATM machines)

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Metaphors

• Advantages
• leverage what users already know
• help form mental models
• reduce apprehension
• Disadvantages
• metaphors are incomplete
• inaccurate
• difficult to design

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Examples

• typewriter, document, index cards, chalkboards,
  desktop, desktop tools, forms, ledgers, objects,
  daytimers, doctors

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Designing with Metaphors

• Identify potential metaphors
• Use scenarios to find matches
• Identify likely mismatches
• subset - false expectations
• superset - difficult to discover
• Design strategies to help with mismatches

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Identify potential metaphors

• Look at existing tools
• Ideas for electronic message system

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Identify matches

• Tasks
• Methods
• Appearance

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Identify mismatches

• Subset miss
• Superset miss

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Another example - Rooms
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Upcoming

• Mon - Midterm
• Weds - Discuss Project Part 2
• Prototyping