•What is Interaction Design?—Four basic activities—Three key characteristics 

•Some practical issues—Who are the users?—What are ‘needs’?—Where do alternatives come from?—How do you choose among alternatives?•Lifecycle models from software engineering

•Lifecycle models from HCI Feeling stuck? Ask expert tutors Get help now View related materials 6 Documents What is Interaction Design?

•It is a process:—a goal-directed problem solving activity informed by intended use, target domain, materials, cost, and feasibility—a creative activity—a decision-making activity to balance trade-offs

•It is a representation:—a plan for development—a set of alternatives and successive elaborations Four basic activities There are four basic activities in Interaction Design:

1. Identifying needs and establishing requirements

2. Developing alternative designs

3. Building interactive versions of the designs

4. Evaluating designs Feeling stuck? Ask expert tutors Get help now View related materials 6 Documents Three key characteristics Three key characteristics permeate these four activities:

1. Focus on users early in the design and evaluation of the artefact

2. Identify, document and agree specific usability and user experience goals

3. Iteration is inevitable. Designers never get it right first time Some practical issues

•Who are the users?•What are ‘needs’?•Where do alternatives come from?

•How do you choose among alternatives? Feeling stuck? Ask expert tutors Get help now View related materials 6 Documents Who are the users/stakeholders?

•Not as obvious as you think:—those who interact directly with the product—those who manage direct users—those who receive output from the product —those who make the purchasing decision —those who use competitor’s products

•Three categories of user (Eason, 1987): —primary: frequent hands-on—secondary: occasional or via someone else—tertiary: affected by its introduction, or will influence its purchase Who are the stakeholders?

Check-out operators Customers Managers and owners

• Suppliers

• Local shop owners Feeling stuck? 

Ask expert tutors Get help now View related materials 6 Documents What are the users’ capabilities? Humans vary in many dimensions:—size of hands may affect the size and positioning of input buttons —motor abilities may affect the suitability of certain input and output devices —height if designing a physical kiosk —strength - a child’s toy requires little strength to operate, but greater strength to change batteries—disabilities(e.g. sight, hearing, dexterity) What are ‘needs’?

Users rarely know what is possible

Users can’t tell you what they ‘need’ to help them achieve their goals 

Instead, look at existing tasks:◦their context

◦what information do they require?

◦who collaborates to achieve the task?◦why is the task achieved the way it is?

Envisioned tasks:◦can be rooted in existing behavior

◦can be described as future scenarios Feeling stuck?