Heuristic Evaluation of Groupware

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Heuristic Evaluation of Groupware

• by Kimberly Tee

• Outline
• Groupware Overview
• Heuristic Evaluation
• Things to Consider

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What is Groupware?

• collaboration technology
• designed to facilitate the work of groups
• used to communicate, coordinate, etc.

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Groupware Categorizations
Different Time asynchronous
Same Time synchronous real-time
Same Place co-located face-to-face
Different Place distributed distance-separated
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Groupware Usability

• groupware should support both taskwork and
  teamwork

group activity
taskwork
teamwork
social effective elements
mechanics of collaboration
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Evaluating Groupware

• field studies and controlled experiments
• difficult and costly
• few discount evaluation techniques
• Baker adapted heuristic evaluation
• developed new set of groupware heuristics

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Groupware Heuristics
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Heuristic Evaluation of Groupware

• 3 stages
• orientation
• evaluation
• debriefing
• for medium or high-fidelity prototypes
• difficult to evaluate low-fidelity prototypes

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Example NC Sketch

• people can draw on a shared canvas

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Provide the means for intentional and appropriate
verbal communication

• theory
• main form of communication is verbal
• have channels for intentional communication
• let people effectively communicate

http//grouplab.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/papers/2002/02
-KevinBaker.Thesis/baker_thesis.pdf
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Provide the means for intentional and appropriate
verbal communication
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Provide the means for intentional and appropriate
gestural communication

• theory
• gestures support conversation and convey
  information
• make gestures visible
• indicate who made the gesture
• display gestures in relation to the objects or
  people they are referencing

http//grouplab.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/papers/2002/02
-KevinBaker.Thesis/baker_thesis.pdf
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Provide the means for intentional and appropriate
gestural communication
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Provide consequential communication of an
individuals embodiment

• theory
• people unintentionally give off information
• capture and transmit visual and verbal cues
• where people are
• what they are looking at
• what they are doing
• facial expressions
• voice intonation, pauses
• Example

http//grouplab.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/papers/2002/02
-KevinBaker.Thesis/baker_thesis.pdf
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Provide consequential communication of shared
artifacts

• theory
• artifacts unintentionally give off information
• provide visual and acoustic feedback and
  feedthrough
• identify who did the action
• Example

http//grouplab.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/papers/2002/02
-KevinBaker.Thesis/baker_thesis.pdf
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Provide protection

• theory
• can mediate interactions by seeing what and where
  others are working
• regulate concurrent access
• minimize conflict
• still allow work in the same area at the same
  time
• provide error correction

http//grouplab.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/papers/2002/02
-KevinBaker.Thesis/baker_thesis.pdf
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Provide protection
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Manage the transitions between tightly and
loosely-coupled collaboration

• theory
• a shared physical workspace has a dual
  private/public nature
• make it easy to switch between individual and
  joint work
• let individuals navigate the workspace
  independently

http//grouplab.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/papers/2002/02
-KevinBaker.Thesis/baker_thesis.pdf
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Manage the transitions between tightly and
loosely-coupled collaboration
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Support people with the coordination of their
actions

• theory
• people negotiate shared resources and organize
  their actions to complete tasks
• support communication
• provide awareness of others
• Example

http//grouplab.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/papers/2002/02
-KevinBaker.Thesis/baker_thesis.pdf
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Facilitate finding collaborators and establishing
context

• theory
• most meetings are informal encounters
• unscheduled, spontaneous, or one-person initiated
• support casual interaction
• provide information on potential collaborators
• make it easy to contact them

http//grouplab.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/papers/2002/02
-KevinBaker.Thesis/baker_thesis.pdf
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Facilitate finding collaborators and establishing
context
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Advantages

• quick and cheap
• doesnt require end-users
• few evaluators needed
• most problems found will be major ones
• non-experts can use

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Disadvantages

• limited to real-time, shared workspaces
• wont find all the problems
• might find false problems
• no systematic way to fix problems or reassess the
  quality of any redesigns

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Resources

• Heuristic Evaluation of Groupware (681 Topic)
• by G. McEwan
• http//pages.cpsc.ucalgary.ca/mcewan/HEG.html
• Heuristic Evaluation of Groupware Based on the
  Mechanics of Collaboration
• by K. Baker, S. Greenberg, and C. Gutwin
• Heuristic Evaluation of Shared Workspace
  Groupware based on the Mechanics of Collaboration
  (MSc Thesis)
• by K. Baker

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Homework

• for next classs topic results synthesis
• find 3 more usability problems
• use groupware heuristics