Future Dining

1
Future Dining

• CS 6750 Fall 99
• Team Project Presentation

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Overview -- Restaurant Dining

• Restaurant dining
• Social interaction, relaxation, nourishment
• Problems with current system
• High dependence on wait staff
• Availability, limited knowledge, mistakes,
  opinions, bias, inconsistency, multilingual,
  training, ...
• Lack of information available (special needs)
• Missing information (nutrition, images,
  ingredients, Ö)
• Menu limits the amount of information available
• Customers require different information

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Overview -- Project Goals

• Future Dining Goals
• Improve user's dining experience
• Make it easier for restaurant customers to make
  informed decisions
• Overcome problems with menu and burden on wait
  staff
• Accommodate special needs ñ language, dietary,
  religious Ö
• Improve order accuracy and wait time
• Usability Requirements
• Learnability -- easy to use by first time users
  without training (visibility and simplicity)

4
Evaluation Methods Used

• Cognitive Walkthrough
• Heuristic
• Think Aloud

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Cognitive Walkthrough

• Four tasks
• Evaluation of storyboards and executable
• Primary concern learnability
• Visibility, simplicity, and task conformance

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Cognitive Walkthrough (cont.)

• Task1 Log in and set up profile
• Privacy and security issues not addressed
• Feedback and explanations needed
• Task2 Finding specific item information
• Terminology used
• Close proximity of buttons

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Cognitive Walkthrough (cont.)

• Task3 Ordering dinner
• ìAdd to Order" and "Place Orderî buttons
• Distinguishing between selecting and actually
  ordering
• Task4 Pay for meal
• No problems detected

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Heuristic Evaluation

• Four evaluators
• Evaluation of all 3 prototypes
• Ten heuristics from text plus ergonomic and
  environment heuristic
• Error handling, aesthetics, flexibility...

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Heuristic Evaluation (cont.)

• 47 usability bugs found
• Ambiguously labeled buttons
• Visibility problems
• Lack of error recovery mechanisms
• Lack of appropriate feedback
• Basic computer knowledge is assumed
• Problems interacting with display unit
• User collaboration not considered

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Think Aloud

• Two tasks, two subjects
• Evaluation of executable prototype
• Learnability -- subjects perform tasks with no
  training

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Think Aloud (cont.)

• Tasks evaluated
• Task 1 -- Finding item information
• Task 2 -- Ordering dinner
• Problems detected
• Delete button misunderstood
• Too many buttons on menu screen

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Critiques of Evaluation Plan

• Heuristic Evaluation
• Cognitive Walkthrough
• Think Aloud

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Heuristic Evaluation

• Pros
• Most effective
• Easy to conduct

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Cognitive Walkthrough

• Pros
• Helped us identify learnability issues.
• Required no further resources.
• Cons
• Difficult to conduct with enough design
  knowledge.
• Could be conducted on limited tasks.
• Suggestions
• Better if conducted by other design teams.

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Think Aloud

• Pros
• Closer to user population.
• No accumulation of design knowledge.
• Cons
• Could be evaluated on executable part.
• Scope was limited.
• Suggestions
• Prototype should be more functional.
• Should be conducted on more subjects.
• Should be conducted in real restaurant.

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Critiques of Evaluation Plan

• Pros
• Effective in finding major bugs.
• Cons
• Did not evaluate issues pertaining to
• environmental suitability
• Ergonomics of the design
• Unimplemented features

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Future Directions

• Full Development of a help documentation system.
• Form factor changes.
• Resolving the ambiguities.
• Resolving multicultural issues.
• Addressing clutter.
• Additional error handling.
• Adequate use of visual cues.