DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATICS

INFORMATICS 790/703/490

FINAL EXAM DATE: 12/06/2023

TIME: 09H00 - 12:00

Examiner : Dr Funmi Adebesin Time 3 Hours

:
Ms Deborah Oluwadele

Moderator / External Examiner : Mr Terrence Fenn Marks : 80

Student Number Surname Initials

Module outcomes (as in Study Guide) Marks Maximum

Question
MO1 MO3 MO4 MO5 MO6 MO7 allocated mark
1 X X 5
2 X 15
3 X X 15
4 X 20
5 X 15
6 X 10

Total
80

Instructions
1. This paper consists of six (6) questions.
2. Answer all the questions in the space provided for each question – there are no optional questions.
3. This is a closed-book examination. You may not refer to any material.

"The University of Pretoria commits itself to produce academic work of integrity. I affirm that I am aware of and
have read the Rules and Policies of the University, more specifically the Disciplinary Procedure and the Tests and
Examinations Rules, which prohibit any unethical, dishonest or improper conduct during tests, assignments,
examinations and/or any other forms of assessment. I am aware that no student or any other person may assist or
attempt to assist another student, or obtain help, or attempt to obtain help from another student or any other person
during tests, assessments, assignments, examinations and/or any other forms of assessment."

INF 790/703/490 – 2023 © UP: June Examination 1 / 10

 RYANAIR CASE STUDY

Used the Ryanair case study to answer Questions 1 to 5

RYANAIR …Catch flights, not feelings

About Ryanair

Ryanair Holdings Plc, Europe’s largest and favorite airline group, is the parent company of Ryanair DAC, Lauda,
Buzz, and Ryanair UK. The group is responsible for carrying over one hundred and sixty million (160,000,000)
guests each year on more than three thousand (3,000) daily flights to and from two hundred and twenty-five
(225) airports. The company plans to carry over two hundred and twenty-five million (225,000,000) guests
annually by 2026.

The Past

Until 2013, Ryanair had a website laden with usability issues. There were numerous advertisements selling and
providing services. The most pertinent one was when choosing to purchase a ticket, customers were presented
with a variety of offers, and they frequently had to indicate whether they would accept the offers or not.

Fig 1. Ryanair old website landing page

The Present
Ryanair Labs is a digital innovation facility that the company established in 2014 with the goal of "reinventing
online travel." Ryanair Labs went on a hiring binge to assemble a team of more than 200 people to make this
goal a reality. The user experience (UX) professionals, data analysts, software developers, and digital marketers
who made up this team shared the common objective of enhancing the website’s UX for Ryanair customers. The
Ryanair crew set out to accomplish the following:

• Lowering the number of steps required on the Internet to book a flight

• Allowing customers to save their credit and debit cards and travel papers on the Ryanair website
• Delivering both the website and mobile app with improved mobile device usability
With modern outlook and usability features, the new website was stated to be a success.

INF 790/703/490 – 2023 © UP: June Examination 2 / 10

 Fig 2. Ryanair new website landing page

The Challenge
However, users still believe that booking a weekend getaway on Ryanair is such a headache and consider
Ryanair’s booking interface an example of a “dark UX”. This is a term for cunning UX design strategies that, in
this case, have hidden add-ons, making the user experience difficult and complex enough to deceive users into
spending more money than they should.
Dark UX is the opposite of user-first design. Rather than considering the functionality and usability of a platform,
dark UX deliberately confuses and misleads users into choosing certain options over others, primarily in the
interest of generating more revenue for the company. For instance, as illustrated in Fig 3., it is a challenge for
customers to locate the choice for no insurance because it is hidden within a menu that has nothing to do with it.

INF 790/703/490 – 2023 © UP: June Examination 3 / 10

 Select country of residence
“drop-down” menu)

Don’t Insure me option

Fig 3. An instance of Dark UX on Ryanair’s new website

Dark UX is a no-go from a user-centred standpoint because it makes users feel angry, dissatisfied, and even
cheated. User trust is the foundation for consumer loyalty, retention, and approval.

This case study was derived from the following sources:

https://careerfoundry.com/en/blog/ux-design/10-classic-ux-design-fails/
https://www.analysia.com/usability-testing-examples/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/ryanair/
https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en

QUESTION 1 – 5 MARKS

1.1. Consider the design principles and their application to the evaluation of the Ryanair website, as illustrated in
Fig. 1 to Fig.3 in the case study. Provide Two (2) examples that BEST illustrates the implementation or
violation of any design principles (you may refer to a figure more than once BUT you can only use a design
principle example ONCE). Your answer must be structured as follow: [2 marks]

• Fig.#: design principle name and its explanation (½ mark) – An example from the Ryanair website figure
that shows the implementation or violation of the design principle (½ mark). Mark will not be awarded for
a vague reference to website interface element(s).

Answers may vary. Mark will be awarded based on the merit(quality) of each student’s answer. Possible answers:

• Fig. 1: Constraints: Used to restrict users’ behaviour to what is allowable at a specific point in their
interaction with an interface. The “Departure from” and “Going to” dropdown list is an implementation of
constraint to restrict users to only select the airports that Ryanair flights “take off from” and “land in”

• Fig. 2: Perceived affordance: The appearance that tells users how to use an interface element. The “Book
now” button is an implementation of the principle of perceived affordance as the button looks “clickable”

1.2. Consider the user experience (UX) Honeycomb and its application to the evaluation of the Ryanair website as
illustrated in Fig. 1 to Fig.3 in the case study. Provide Three (3) examples that BEST illustrates the
implementation or violation of any UX Honeycomb components. (you may refer to a figure more than once
BUT you can only use a UX Honeycomb example ONCE). Your answer must be structured as follow:
[3 marks]

INF 790/703/490 – 2023 © UP: June Examination 4 / 10

 • Fig.#: Component name and its explanation (½ mark) – explanation of an example from the Ryanair
website figures that shows the implementation or violation of the UX Honeycomb components in relation to
the Ryanair website (½ mark). Mark will not be awarded for a vague reference to website interface
element(s).

Answers may vary. Mark will be awarded based on the merit(quality) of each student’s answer. Possible
answers:

• Fig. 3: Findable: features and controls should be easy to locate/find – There is a violation of this UX
component, in that users who do not want travel insurance would struggle to locate “Don’t Insure Me”
option, which is buried in an unrelated country of residence drop-down list.

• Fig.1/ Fig.2/ Fig.3: Useful: a product should be fit for purpose and enable the target users to achieve their
goals. The primary purpose of the Ryanair website is for users to book flights to various destinations.
Implementation of this component is manifest in the design of the website

• Fig.1/ Fig.2/ Fig.3: Accessible: Users with different abilities should be able to use interface elements. This
UX component is violated as there is not evidence that the website supports users with visual impairments,
for example.

QUESTION 2 – 15 MARKS

As a usability and UX expert, Ryanair has approached your start-up company to conduct an evaluation of its new
website. Formulate an evaluation plan for the Ryanair website. Your evaluation plan must cover the following
aspects:

.1. The Why-What-Where-When aspects of the evaluation [4 marks]

• Why: Students should motivate the purpose of the evaluation. Is it to evaluate usability, UX or both? (1
mark)

• What: Students should explain what is being evaluated (a prototype, fully functional system, specific
functionality, etc.). This evaluation is on a fully functional system to determine whether users will be able to
book flights on the website. (1 mark)

• Where: Students should motivate where the evaluation would be conducted. A usability/UX evaluation in a
controlled environment (laboratory) would be ideal to determine whether users would be able to complete
specific tasks on the website. (1 mark)

• When: Students should motivate when in the development phase the evaluation is taking place. Because
this is a fully functional website, the evaluation is after implementation. (1 mark)

.2. Brief explanation of the different types of evaluation methods that you would consider [6 marks]

2 marks per explanation from any three below

• Evaluation in a controlled setting with users (laboratory) (2 marks)

• Evaluation in a natural setting with users involved (2 marks)

• Evaluation in settings not involving users (2 marks)

• A combination of evaluation in a controlled environment and natural setting (with users) and without user
involvement. (2 marks)

.3. The evaluation method(s) that you would use to evaluate the Ryanair website. You must motivate your choice
of evaluation method(s). [2 marks]

• Evaluation in a controlled environment (laboratory) would be ideal to determine whether users would be able to
complete specific tasks on the website.

INF 790/703/490 – 2023 © UP: June Examination 5 / 10

2.4. The data collection method(s) would use to evaluate the Ryanair website. You must motivate your choice of
data collection method(s). [3 marks]

Mark will be awarded based on the merit(quality) of each student’s answer

• Quantitative data such as time taken to complete task; the number of errors encountered, able to complete task
without assistance, etc.

• Qualitative data, such as observation of user as they complete tasks (whether they struggled to find interface
elements), verbal expression of frustration, etc.

QUESTION 3 – 15 MARKS

Consider Jakob Nielsen’s ten Usability Heuristics. Name and explain the heuristics, then provide one
practical tip that could guide the designers of the Ryanair website to comply with each of the heuristics. Your
answer must be structured as follow:

• Heuristic name (½ mark) and a brief explanation of the heuristic (½ mark) – Practical tip to comply with the
heuristic (½ mark). Mark will not be awarded for a definition that does not match the heuristic. Mark will not be
awarded for a vague practical tip or tip that does not match the heuristic.

1. Visibility of system status (½ mark): keeping users informed about what is going on through appropriate
feedback (½ mark). There should be immediate feedback when users select the destination they wish to fly
to (½ mark).

2. Match between system and the real world (½ mark): Use simple words, not technical jargon. Follow real-
world conventions (½ mark). Use simple terms for the labels of interface elements (½ mark).

3. User control and freedom (½ mark): users should be able to undo their actions after a mistake (½ mark).
Provide a visible “Cancel” button which users can use to reverse flight booking that has not been
completed (½ mark).

4. Consistency and standards (½ mark): Adhere to platform and industry standards and conventions (½
mark). Use a similar convention/layout as that of other airline websites (½ mark).

5. Error prevention (½ mark): designs should prevent slips and mistakes from occurring (½ mark). Provide
users with a booking confirmation page so they can review their flight details before finalising the booking

6. Recognition rather than recall (½ mark): minimize users’ memory load by making interface elements visible
(½ mark). Use recognizable icons so that users can transfer their knowledge from similar interfaces when
making flight bookings (½ mark).

7. Flexibility and efficiency of use (½ mark): provide shortcuts to expert users as required to speed up their
interaction with the system (½ mark). The design should allow users that have created accounts on the
website to customize the web interface to suit their needs (½ mark).

8. Aesthetic and minimalist design (½ mark): Keep the interface simple and avoid cluttering the interface with
irrelevant information (½ mark). Avoid having too many advertisements for add-on services (e.g. hotel &
car rentals) which many users may not necessarily need on the website (½ mark).

9. Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors (½ mark): Error messages should be provided in
simple language (½ mark). Make error messages salient (e.g. using bold texts and large fonts) so that
users can easily notice them (½ mark).

10. Help and documentation (½ mark): Although it is best if the design doesn’t require additional explanation, it
might be necessary to have documentation that would guide users on how to complete tasks (½ mark).

INF 790/703/490 – 2023 © UP: June Examination 6 / 10

 Provide users who want to make flight bookings with context-specific tips that would help them complete
the task (½ mark).

QUESTION 4 – 20 MARKS

Cognition refers to the process by which we become acquainted with things or, in other words, how we gain
knowledge.
4.1. What type of cognition would users require to navigate the new Ryanair website in Fig. 2? [1 mark]

Based on the context of the case study, users would require reflective cognition to navigate the website.

4.2. Justify your answer in Q4.1 by explaining each of the following cognitive processes and their implications for
the design of the new Ryanair website. Your answer should be formatted as follow:

• Explanation of cognitive process (1 mark): explanation of its implication for the design of Ryanair new
website (2 marks)

4.2.1. Attention [3 marks]

4.2.2. Perception [3 marks]

4.2.3. Memory [3 marks]

Explanation of cognitive process (1 mark): explanation of its implication for the design of Ryanair’s new website (2
marks)

Attention: Attention involves focusing on information relevant to what we’re currently busy with. We use different
senses to pay attention, e.g., using the visual sense to scan a web page for specific information or the auditory
sense to listen to our name being called when waiting to be served in a queue.

Attention is influenced by our goal and how information is presented. The nature of the task at hand will influence
the required attention level.

Implication for design:

• Important information should stand out. Ryanair used yellow, blue, and red colors to highlight details that users
need to pay attention to on the Website.

• Ryanair adopts a minimalist approach to using color, sound, and animations on the website so that users are
not distracted from the task—for example, using different hues of blue rather than new colors.

• Ryanair made important information stand out by using colors, font sizes, underlining, or grouping.

• Clutters were avoided on the website to make irrelevant information clear to users.

Perception: Perception is the use of our senses to detect information in our environment. Perception requires
using other cognitive processes like memory, attention, and sometimes language. For example, even when we can
‘see’ information, we may not be able to use it meaningfully if we don’t understand the language used to present

the information.

Implication for design:

• The website is designed so that users can perceive and recognize content regardless of the device they
use to access it.

• Icons and GUI elements that users are familiar with were used rather than inventing their icons and GUI
elements.

INF 790/703/490 – 2023 © UP: June Examination 7 / 10

 • Text-based information was legible and distinguishable. Good contrast for background & foreground

Memory: Memory is the process of recalling different kinds of knowledge.

Implication for design:

• The website refrained from overloading users’ memories with complicated procedures to carry out tasks.

• Use different ways to present information, e.g., color, text sizes, sound, icons, etc.

• The use of interface metaphors to assist users in recognizing, rather than recalling, certain features and
functionalities of the website.

4.3. Briefly explain what is meant by Interface metaphor. Thereafter, identify four (4) interface metaphors used by
Ryanair in Fig. 2. [5 marks]

Interface metaphors combine familiar knowledge with new knowledge and help users understand underlying
conceptual model through a strong association with real-life objects [1 mark]

• Flight

• Car

• Events

• Hotels and activities

• Emails

1 mark per interface metaphor identified

4.4. A number of conceptual frameworks have been developed to explain and predict user behaviour based on the
theories of cognition. One of these is mental models – a user’s belief about a system. Despite Ryanair’s
attempt to deliver a website with improved user experience, users still believed that using the website elicits
negative emotions. This might be due to an incorrect mental model. Summarize five approaches that the digital
innovation team can use to overcome problems with incorrect mental models of the users. Your answer should
be formatted as follow: [5 marks]

• Mental model approach (½ mark): application to the Ryanair context (½ mark)

Students’ answers may vary. Award ½ mark for each approach and ½ mark for a brief explanation relevant to the
context of Ryanair.

• Useful feedback: Ryanair may create an open feedback mechanism so that website rating systems understand
the challenges encountered by the users

• Easy-to-understand & intuitive system: The system should be made more understandable and intuitive as
against the current design that makes users feel angry, dissatisfied, and even cheated.

• Clear, easy-to-follow instructions: Ryanair needs to ensure that the website is designed from a user-centered
standpoint. Beta testing or usability evaluation can help in this regard.

• Appropriate online help & tutorials: YouTube links can be created to provide users to with tutorials on how to
achieve a better mental model of the website.

• Context-sensitive guidance at the right level: A built-in analytics feature can detect if users stay on a menu for
too long and suggest possible navigation options that guide users toward the next move.

INF 790/703/490 – 2023 © UP: June Examination 8 / 10

 QUESTION 5 – 15 MARKS

One of the goals of the digital innovation team at Ryanair is to deliver both the website and mobile app with
improved usability. Central to this goal is ensuring the accessibility and inclusiveness of the applications to users
with disability.

5.1. As the head of UX design, explain the relationship between disability, accessibility and inclusiveness in a
simple way that all your team members can relate with. [4 mark]

Disability can result from a physical impairment or poor interaction design between a user and the technology (1
mark). Accessibility opens up experiences so that they are accessible to all (1 mark). Designing for accessibility
inherently results in inclusive design for all (1 mark). Clarity of explanation or use of examples (1 mark)

5.2. An extensive user research at Ryanair revealed that over 30% of user population suffer from one or more form
of visual impairment. Discuss four possible assistive technologies that provide indirect accessibility for the
visually impaired users of Ryanair website. Your answer should be formatted as follow: [8 marks]

• Assistive technology type (1 mark): explanation of its application to the Ryanair context (1 mark)

Indirect accessibility provides access to electronic information through add-on assistive technologies such as:

• Tactile display: human–computer interface that can reproduce as closely as possible the tactile parameters of
an object

• Speech recognition can be used for blind users. This can be compatible with handheld devices so that these
categories of users can use their hands to navigate the website through their tablets.

• Synthesized speech: Speech synthesis is the artificial production of human speech. A computer system used
for this purpose is called a speech synthesizer. Ryanair can prescribe this to visually impaired readers to help
them navigate the website.

• Screen reader: Ryanair should support screen readers like JAWS, which reads digital texts aloud to users who
have visual impairments.

(1 mark for each technology and 1 mark for the explanation of their application to Ryanair)

5.3. Explain what is meant by direct accessibility. Thereafter, recommend two inclusive design technologies that
can be implemented to provide direct accessibility for visually impaired users on Ryanair website (3 marks]

Direct accessibility is provided when applications have built-in redundancies that enable as many people as
possible to access the application without system modifications or without the use of special adaptive hardware or
software (1 mark).

Technologies may include

• The provision of audio feedback in addition to text-based feedback

• Colour coding

• Magnifier

• Voice command

(1 mark per adaptive technology)

INF 790/703/490 – 2023 © UP: June Examination 9 / 10

 QUESTION 6 – 10 MARKS

Company X has a graduate programme and rotates the graduates between the different functional areas. You
are a data analyst in the UX department. The visualization of data is a major component of a data analyst’s job.
You are required to prepare a short presentation to the graduates to explain the following:

6.1. The link between data visualisation and human-computer interaction (HCI) principles. [4 marks]

1 mark per correct explanation

Good data visualisations follow the same principles as with HCI

• It needs to reduce the cognitive load for the viewer (user)

• It needs to extend or amplify the cognitive load for the viewer (user)

• Biggest challenge with the amount of data society produce, is to refine the data in smaller pieces so that the
viewer can make sense of it.

• The ability to interact with data, increases the user experience as the user is then able to manipulate the views
of the data to meet his/her needs.

6.2. Explain four aspects that should be considered when designing a data visualisation by giving appropriate
examples. No explanation no mark. [4 marks]

1 mark per correct explanation. (Marks will only be awarded if the aspect is explained).

• What information will the viewers need to reach their goal?

• How much detail do they need?

• What learned or cultural aspects need to be taken into consideration? (e.g. Language, Social context, the
meaning of colours, the Meaning of icons)

• What action will the viewer typically take based on the data and which values may require action?

6.3. Consider the data in the table below. Motivate which type of visualisation will be appropriate to visualise the
data. Your answer must the structured as follows:

• Visualisation type (½ mark): Motivation (½ mark)

DECORATIONS*
CATEGORY ESTIMATED ACTUAL OVER/UNDER
Bows for seating 0,00 0,00 0,00
Centerpieces 300,00 320,00 -20,00
Candles 100,00 75,00 25,00
Lighting 100,00 75,00 25,00
Balloons 200,00 250,00 -50,00
Decorations Total 700,00 720,00 -20,00

Students’ answers may vary. Possible answer:

• Bar or Column charts (½ mark): Used to compare values across categories (½ mark). Not a pie chart.

---end---

INF 790/703/490 – 2023 © UP: June Examination 10 / 10