Rootfruit's user_research [15 articles]

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to describe the need for and realization of a new kind of interface for searching and obtaining library materials, an interface designed around user needs and decoupled from, though interoperating with, current library systems. Design/methodology/approach – The paper describes a product that was released in May 2007 – the Primo® system from Ex Libris – as an example of a new solution for the discovery and delivery of library collections. The paper deals with ...

Note (first note only)

Referenced as "shadowing with detailed recording of informant actions" - Kaptelinin, V. and Nardi, B; Acting With Technology, p. 257

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"...people are acting in many contexts beyond work...To manage all these activities, people deploy a diverse assemblage of both digital and nondigital technologies in offices, homes, public spaces, and mobile contexts. ...the conceptual apparatus of activity theory currently does not provide an elaborated set of concepts for the analysis of multiple activities." p. 256

"There is a need to

Abstract

This paper argues that the current involvement of end users in the design of technological artefacts is too superficial. It is common to involve people in requirements generation, but rarely in product inception or design. A study is reported involving five households in central Scotland, who were each visited on three occasions, using a new investigative framework. Illustrative examples are provided of the strengths and weaknesses of the methods used. Despite the latter, it is demonstrated that the general public can ...

Abstract

An effective process for translating contextual inquiry data into usable design concepts is described. A literature survey, field observations and laboratory simulations preceded contextual inquiry sessions with seven cashiers working in retail checkstands. Data from this field research was communicated with a graduate student design team during interpretation sessions. Diagrams and pictures from the physical workspace were introduced, work behaviors and breakdowns were discussed and design ideas and insights were recorded during these sessions. The final communication tool is a wall-sized affinity diagram created by members of the ...

Note (first note only)

"Observation is possible in a retail environment, but does not allow immediate verification of researchers’ assumptions or inquiry about task details. Interviewing allows questioning about details, but is too disruptive to occur in a retail work context." pp. 4-5

• Valid even for customer research? Doubt it.

Abstract

Current research in domestic technology focuses on a subset of the breadth of values that may be present in the domestic environment. In this paper, we present one possible method for conveying a larger potential breadth of user values between families and designers. We describe the ways that we tailored cultural probes specifically for values elicitation as well as the results of both families' and designers' interactions with the probes. We also draw from the social psychology research of Milton Rokeach, ...

Abstract

The practice of queuing is a daily experience for most of us and it is usually difficult to combine it with other activities. This indicates that people involved in the act of queuing become a bit too occupied with maintaining one's position in the queue. Despite that queuing is a common phenomenon, queuing situations are now often equipped with aids based on numbers that help regulating the queuing order. Still, the practice of queuing includes several nuances of social interaction that ...

Note (first note only)

Since the purpose of this thesis is to work with queues as a design space, the goal is also to find suited methods for investigating this space from many angles. p. 22

Abstract

In user-centered design, attention has shifted from improving usability and addressing ergonomic problems to wider perspectives such as experiences in everyday life. This shift has forced user-centered practitioners to evaluate and develop tools for finding new means of understanding user experience for design. Visual, playful and open-ended probes have raised fresh interest in the design community. In order to create a deeper understanding of this approach, this paper presents the fundamental qualities of probes and, based on empirical data and literature, ...

Note (first note only)

ISBN 92-893-1298-X

Abstract

Note: OCR errors may be found in this Reference List extracted from the full text article. ACM has opted to expose the complete List rather than only correct and linked references. ...

Note (first note only)

I have long championed the “study first, design second” approach. Well, I now suggest that for many projects the order is design, then study.

Note (first note only)

A new computer system will affect the way people work; if it does not there is no point in introducing it in the first place. pp. 22

Note (first note only)

Because of their concreteness, scenarios may help people assimilate complex and abstract descriptions of systems that they would otherwise misunderstand. pp. 248

Abstract

As a way of mapping a design space for a project on information appliances, we produced a workbook describing about twenty conceptual design proposals. On the one hand, they serve as suggestions that digital devices might embody values apart from those traditionally associated with functionality and usefulness. On the other, they are examples of research through design, balancing concreteness with openness to spur the imagination, and using multiplicity to allow the emergence of a new design space. Here we describe them ...