Human Computer Interaction

Lecture 14

HCI in Software Process

HCI in the software process
• Software engineering and the design process for
interactive systems
• Usability engineering
• Iterative design and prototyping
• Design rationale
The Software Lifecycle

• Software engineering is the discipline for understanding

the software design process, or life cycle

• Designing for usability occurs at all stages of the life cycle,

not as a single isolated activity
The Waterfall Model
Requirements
Requirements
specification
specification

Architectural
Architectural
design
design

Detailed
Detailed
design
design

Coding
Coding and
and
unit testing
unit testing

Integration
Integration
and
and testing
testing

Operation
Operation and
and
maintenance
maintenance
Activities in the Life Cycle
Requirements specification
designer and customer try capture what the system is expected to provide
can be expressed in natural language or more precise languages, such as a
task analysis would provide

Architectural design
high-level description of how the system will provide the services required
factor system into major components of the system and how they are
interrelated needs to satisfy both functional and nonfunctional
requirements

Detailed design
refinement of architectural components and interrelations to identify
modules to be implemented separately the refinement is governed by the
nonfunctional requirements
Verification and Validation

Real-world
requirements
and constraints The formality gap

Verification
designing the product right
Validation
designing the right product

The formality gap

validation will always rely to some extent on subjective means of proof
Management and contractual issues
design in commercial and legal contexts
The life cycle for interactive
Systems
cannot assume a linear
Requirements
Requirements
sequence of activities
specification
specification
as in the waterfall model
Architectural
Architectural
design
design

Detailed
Detailed
design
design

Coding
Coding and
and
unit
unit testing
testing

lots of feedback!
Integration
Integration
and
and testing
testing

Operation
Operation and
and
maintenance
maintenance
Usability Engineering
The ultimate test of usability based on measurement of user
experience
Usability engineering demands that specific usability measures
be made explicit as requirements
Usability specification
– usability attribute/principle
– measuring concept
– measuring method
– now level/ worst case/ planned level/ best case

Problems
– usability specification requires level of detail that may not be
– possible early in design satisfying a usability specification
– does not necessarily satisfy usability
Part of a usability Specification for
a VCR

Attribute: Backward recoverability

Measuring concept: Undo an erroneous programming
sequence
Measuring method: Number of explicit user actions
to undo current program
Now level: No current product allows such an undo
Worst case: As many actions as it takes to
program-in mistake
Planned level: A maximum of two explicit user actions
Best case: One explicit cancel action
ISO Usability Standard 9241
Adopts traditional usability categories:
• Effectiveness
– can you achieve what you want to?
• Efficiency
– can you do it without wasting effort?
• Satisfaction
– do you enjoy the process?
 some metrics from ISO 9241

Usability Effectiveness Efficiency Satisfaction

objective measures measures measures

Suitability Percentage of Time to Rating scale

for the task goals achieved complete a task for satisfaction
Appropriate for Number of power Relative efficiency Rating scale for
trained users features used compared with satisfaction with
an expert user power features
Learnability Percentage of Time to learn Rating scale for
functions learned criterion ease of learning
Error tolerance Percentage of Time spent on Rating scale for
errors corrected correcting errors error handling
successfully
Iterative Design and Prototyping
• Iterative design overcomes inherent problems of
incomplete requirements
• Prototypes
– simulate or animate some features of intended system
– different types of prototypes
• throw-away
• incremental
• Evolutionary
• Management issues
– time
– planning
– non-functional features
– contracts
Techniques for prototyping
Storyboards
need not be computer-based
can be animated
Limited functionality simulations
some part of system functionality provided by designers
tools like HyperCard are common for these
Wizard of Oz technique
Warning about iterative design
design inertia – early bad decisions stay bad
diagnosing real usability problems in prototypes….
…. and not just the symptoms
Design Rationale
Design rationale is information that explains why a
computer system is the way it is.

Benefits of design rationale

– communication throughout life cycle
– reuse of design knowledge across products
– enforces design discipline
– presents arguments for design trade-offs
– organizes potentially large design space
– capturing contextual information
Design Rationale (cont’d)
Types of DR:
• Process-oriented
– preserves order of deliberation and decision-making
• Structure-oriented
– emphasizes post hoc structuring of considered design
alternatives

• Two examples:
– Issue-based information system (IBIS)
– Design space analysis
Issue-based information system
(IBIS)
• basis for much of design rationale research
• process-oriented
• main elements:
Issues
– hierarchical structure with one ‘root’ issue
Positions
– potential resolutions of an issue
Arguments
– modify the relationship between positions and issues
• gIBIS is a graphical version
Structure of gIBIS
supports
Position Argument
responds to
Issue
responds to
objects to
Position Argument
specializes

Sub-issue generalizes

questions

Sub-issue

Sub-issue
Design space analysis
• Structure-oriented
• QOC – hierarchical structure:
Questions (and sub-questions)
– represent major issues of a design
Options
– provide alternative solutions to the question
Criteria
– the means to assess the options in order to make a choice

• DRL – similar to QOC with a larger language and

more formal semantics
The QOC notation
Criterion
Option

Question Option Criterion

Option
Criterion

… Consequent …
Question
Question
Psychological Design Rationale
• to support task-artefact cycle in which user tasks are affected
by the systems they use
• aims to make explicit consequences of design for users
• designers identify tasks system will support
• scenarios are suggested to test task
• users are observed on system
• psychological claims of system made explicit
• negative aspects of design can be used to improve next
iteration of design
Summary
The software engineering life cycle
• distinct activities and the consequences for interactive
system design
Usability engineering
• making usability measurements explicit as
requirements
Iterative design and prototyping
• limited functionality simulations and animations
Design rationale
• recording design knowledge
• process vs. structure