Overview

Understanding users is a critical part in designing good tools. Many of the methods in HCI are built around the idea of trying to understand our users, to overcome our own biases and convictions. The reason we have so many methods is because each design problem is fundamentally different: different users, different usage contexts, different artefacts, and so forth.

In class, we covered the 51 IDEO methods. These were further separated into four categories: look, listen, try, and learn. While there is some overlap in these methods, the point is that they cover a wide gamut of potential methods that can be applied. In practice, where possible, you would apply multiple methods to gain insight into a design problem. This is called triangulation, and often you would conduct at least three methods to make sure you understand a problem (so you have three points of a triangle to draw from). For example, if you were designing a walker for one-legged individuals, you might conduct a contextual inquiry, along with a survey, along with empathy methods. These would give you a good understanding of the problem, and what would need to be designed.

For this assignment, you will familiarize yourself with the IDEO methods, and practice selecting and justifying the choice of methods.

Deliverable

You will deliver a written report.

For each of the following three design problems, identify one method from each of the four IDEO categories (look, listen, try, and learn) that you could conduct to develop an understanding of the design problem and the users in it. That is, for each design problem, choose a total of four methods -- one from each of the IDEO categories. Ideally, the four methods you choose complement one another. Justify your choice of each method for the problem, and how the four methods you choose for that design problem could help triangulate a researcher's understanding.

  • How can a mobile system support bird watchers?
  • How can computation aid connectedness between multi-generational families?
  • How technology support healthy dietary behaviours?

Your report should be roughly 3-4 pages long. Make sure to use headers to delineate the different sections of the report.

This report is to be single-spaced, double-sided. Use 12-pt Times font with 1" margin on all sides.

Your assignment is due at the beginning of lecture on the due date. You have a 10 minute grace period after the start of lecture. After this, no late assignments will be accepted.