User Profiling

Topic and Structure of the Lesson

• Reasons for User Profiling

• Data Gathering Techniques
• User Profiling activity

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 Learning Outcomes

At the end of this module, YOU should be able to:

•Explain the reasons for doing User Profiling

•Describe the various data gathering techniques
•Identify problems with data gathering
•Perform user profiling activity

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 Key Terms you must be able to use

If you have mastered this topic, you should be able

to use the following terms correctly in your
assignments and exams :

• User Profiling
• Questionnaires
• Interview
• Observation
• Requirement Analysis
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 User
“One most unfortunate product is the type of
engineer who does not realize that in order to
apply the fruits of science for the benefit of
mankind, he must not only grasp the principles
of science, but must also know the needs and
aspirations, the possibilities and the frailties, of
those whom he would serve.”
1890-1974, well known

-- Vannevar Bush American Electrical engineer

Directed programs like the
first development of atomic
bombs , mass production of
penicillin

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 Usability Engineering Lifecycle
User Input via Original Product Concept
User Profiling Exploring other requirement
(task analysis, usability goals
& competitive analysis)
Parallel Design Sketches

Participitory Design
– more input from First Prototype
users/designers

User Input via

Iterative Design Versions
Evaluation
(Formative)
Final Released Product

User Input via Evaluation (Summative)

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 What is User Profiling?
The process of establishing knowledge about the users. To find out:
•who users are
– Children, Elderly, Professional, Scientist, Male, Female, Tech Savvy,
IT Illiterate

•what is the goal in using the product

– Withdraw cash, pay bills, find out movie time, online chat, gaming,
research, cook, wash, treatment

•what are the tasks involved? (observe existing work

practices)
– To apply for leave: check schedule, get leave application form from
admin, fill in the form, get supervisor to approve, get manager to
approve, inform scheduler, inform colleagues, go on leave.
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 Why do User Profiling?
• Why do user profiling, why not
define “good ” interfaces and just
based your design on them?
– infinite variety of tasks and users
– guidelines can be too vague to
be generative
•e.g.,
“give adequate feedback”, “make the
system enjoyable” – how do you
define the above guidelines and
relate to users?”

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 User Profiling
•Captures the characteristics of the
intended user group
•Try to categorize your user into one of
the three categories: (based on skill &
competence)
–Novice (clear step by step intro)
–Intermediate / Casual (
– Expert & Frequent (flexible
interactions, wide range of
power/control, short cut keys)

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 What do we want to know
-Who are the Users?
•Identify attributes of users
–Physical characteristics
•height; physical abilities or
disabilities
–Background
•education; social; religious
–Skills
•task experience
–Preferences
•efficiency

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 What do we want to know
- Where is the Task Performed?
•Office, laboratory, POS? (while standing, while
sitting, in a crowded place, effects of environment)

•Are users under stress? (in an operation theatre)

•Is confidentiality required? (information displayed)

•Do Users have wet hands? (at the butcher)

•Do Users consume drinks while doing tasks?

•What kind of lighting do they work under?

•Surrounding noise
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 What do we want to know
- - Relationship Between Users & Data?
•Personal data
–always accessed at same
machine?
–do users move between
machines?
•Common data
–used concurrently?
–Passed sequentially between
users?
•Access to data restricted?

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 What do we want to know
- How Often are Tasks Performed?

•Frequent users remember more details

•Infrequent users may need more help
–even for simple operations
•Which function is performed
–most frequently?
–by which users?
–optimize system for these tasks will
improve perception of good performance
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 What do we want to know
- What are the Time Constraints?
•What functions will users be in a hurry for?
–Positioning of functions (in video games)

•Which can wait?

•Is there a timing relationship between tasks?

–Time out

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 User Profiling Summarized
• Once you determine the range of responses for each of the characteristics and the
percentage of users along that range, you will want to categorize it into group based
on their similarities, such as :

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 User Profiling Outcome Example

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 Data Gathering
What:
✓ How do we go about determining requirements
and concluding the results;
✓ An important part of the requirement activity
and, evaluation activity

Why:
Purpose is to collect sufficient, relevant and
appropriate data to produce a set of reliable
requirements/conclusions – User Requirement
Data Derivation

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 Data Gathering Techniques
Technique Good For Kind Of Data Advantages Disadvantage
Questionnaire Answering specific Quantitative and Can reach many The design is crucial.
question qualitative data people with low Response rate may
resources be low. Responses
may not be what you
want.
Interviews Exploring issues Some quantitative but Interviewer can guide Time consuming.
mostly qualitative data interviewee if Artificial environment
necessary. may intimidate
Encourages contact interviewee.
between developers
and user
Focus group and Collecting multiple Some quantitative but Highlight areas of Possibility of dominant
workshops viewpoints mostly qualitative data consensus and character
conflict. Encourages
contact between
developers and users
Naturalistic Understanding context Qualitative Observing actual work Very time consuming.
observation of user activity gives insights that Huge amount of data
other techniques can’t
give
Studying Learning about Quantitative No time commitment Day to day working
documentation procedures, from user required will differ from
regulations and documented
standards procedures.

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 Data Gathering Techniques

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 Problems with Data Gathering Techniques
1. Identifying and involving stakeholders
2. Availability of key people
3. Communication between parties
• Within development team (more technical)
• With customer/user (less technical)
• Between users (different parts of an organisation
use different terminology)
4. Dominance of certain stakeholders
5. Balancing functional and usability demands

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 Choosing Data Gathering Techniques

• Choosing the techniques can be looked into these 2

issues:
– The amount of time they take, and the level of detail
and risk associated with the finding. Example, it is
claim that a naturalistic observation will take two days
effort and three month of training while interviews take
one day effort and one month of training.
– The knowledge the analyst must have about basic
cognitive processes.
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 Questionnaire Sample

Question : What is your age ?

Justification : Finding the age range of the targeted
audience.
Analysis : 20 – 30 yrs - 20%
30 – 50 yrs – 80%
Impact : Due to the analysis result above, the data is
to help in creating the user profile for the
proposed system in understanding about the
user.

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 Interview Sample
• Interviewee’s name: Mr Smith James
• Age: 28
• Date: 1/October/2010
• Venue: APIIT’s Library syndicate room

Question: What is the biggest drawback to the current library system?

Analysis
Response: Inability to search the bookshelf by Title, Author or ISBN.
Impact on the design: Include in the modified design the ability to search
by Title, Author and ISBN.

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 Observation Sample
Actions / Events Observation
After logging in the user checks the menus to identify if he was
Making a bill
able to view any menu regarding the task that he was assigned.
payment to After spending around 30 seconds reading the main menu titles
and details, he pressed the Accountings & banking menu. Here
ASTRO the balance was visible. So, the user went back again and read
the text explaining the Accountings & Banking option and again
clicked it. After looking around the page for a few seconds he
selected the Bill Payment option which was available on the left
side of the screen. The choice to make a one-off payment was
available to him when the page loaded so he selected in at once.
After selecting the one-off payment option, the user selected
Astro from a list of top 9 payees that were listed on the screen. In
the next page the user entered the amount, selected and entered
the bill account number and clicked continue. Then the user had
to enter a TAC number there was the option for a TAC request, so
the user selected the option and another screen opened. From
here the user requested the TAC number and the screen is
closed then the user press the confirm button to finish the task.

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 Observation Sample cont.

Discussion Impact

From the observations it was found that the The redesigned process will reduce the
users became frustrated with the number of number of steps needed to complete the
steps which were involved in completing the process
processes. In addition to that the users also
found it frustrating that they were unable to
identify the submenus within the main
menus.
.

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 Question and Answer Session

Q &A
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 Next Session

Topic and Structure of next session

Task Analysis

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