Phạm Thị Ngọc Diễm

ptndiem@[Link]
Faculty of IS – CICT
 Introduction
UX is concerned with developing high-quality interactive systems,
products and services that fit with people and their ways of living.

Computing and communication devices are embedded in all sorts of everyday

devices such as washing machines and televisions, ticket machines, …
No self-respecting exhibition, museum or library is without its interactive UX is
component. We carry and wear technologies that are far more powerful than about
the computers of just a few years ago. all of
this.
There are websites, online communities, apps for mobile phones and tablets,
and all manner of other interactive devices and services that need developing.
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Variety of UX
• UX is concerned with many different types of interactive service and
product.
▪ designing web services that will run on a computer at work
▪ designing apps, games, interactive products such as home control systems,
digital cameras and applications for tablet devices (iPad)
▪ designing whole environments, such as new retail spaces, in which phones,
tablets, laptop computers, digital projectors and other devices and services
communicate with each other and through which people interact
▪ designing user experience, products and services for the home, for work or to
support communities.

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 Variety of UX
• Examples:

In 2007 Apple Inc. changed the face of mobile technologies

when it introduced the iPhone. The iPhone was beautifully
made and had a carefully crafted, purpose-designed
interface to make use of the finger as the input device. It
had a revolutionary touch-sensitive screen that allowed
for multi-touch input.

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 Variety of UX
• Examples:
Facebook is a highly popular
website that allows people to
keep in contact with their friends.
Known as social networking sites,
or social media, there are many
similar systems around. Facebook
is the most popular, with more
than 1 billion users worldwide.
Facebook is increasingly becoming
a significant platform for a wide
variety of activities, allowing
people to add applications in a
similar way to the Apple and
Android platforms
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 Variety of UX
• Examples of interactive systems and services capture many of the
features that the UX designer has to work with.
• UX designers must explore and understand new forms of interaction.
• Devices:
• Fixed: Desktop, kiosks.
• Mobile: Smartphones, tablets.
• Users:
• Individual users.
• Connecting people through:
• Text messages.
• Animation and video.

• It is a fascinating area to work in.

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Concerns of UX
• The key concerns of the UX designer :
1. Design:
• What is design and how should you approach it?
• Focus on user-centered thinking and iterative processes.
2. Technologies:
• Interactive systems, products, devices, and components.
• UX designers must understand these to enhance experiences.
[Link]:
• Identify who will use the designs and aim to improve their lives through
thoughtful solutions.
4. Activities and Contexts:
• Consider users' goals, emotions, and the environments where activities
take place.
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Design
• What is design?
It’s where you stand with a foot in two worlds – the world of
technology and the world of people and human purposes – and you try
to bring the two together.
(Mitch Kapor in Winograd, 1996)

• The term ‘design’ refers both to the creative

process of specifying something new and to
the representations that are produced during
the process
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Design
• Example:

For designing a website, a designer will produce and evaluate various

designs, such as :
• a design of the page layout,
• a design of the colour scheme,
• a design for the graphics,
• a design of the overall structure,
• ...

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People and technologies
• A fundamental
challenge for UX is
to deal with the
fact that people
and interactive
systems are
different

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Interfaces
• What is a User Interface ?
• The UI includes all parts of an interactive system or service that users interact
with physically, perceptually, and conceptually.
Physical Interaction:
• Users press buttons or swipe touch-sensitive screens.
• Devices respond with feedback (e.g., button pressure or display changes).
Perceptual Interaction:
• Devices display visuals, play sounds, or provide tactile feedback.
Conceptual Interaction:
• Users figure out what the device does and how to use it.
• The device delivers messages and content to guide user actions.
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Interfaces
• Key Functions of User Interfaces
• Input Mechanisms:
Allow users to give instructions and enter data into the system.
• Output Mechanisms:
Provide feedback to users and display content such as:
• Information
• Pictures
• Movies
• Animations
• Connectivity:
Enable communication between devices and services, including those
provided by the internet.

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Beyond Interfaces
• Expanding UX Design: UX is more than designing interfaces; it
encompasses:
• The entire human–device ecology.
• Human–human interaction facilitated by systems.
• Interconnected Systems: Interactive systems now include:
• Devices worn by people (smart watch).
• Devices embedded in buildings.
• Devices carried by users (mobile, tablet).
• Designing Environments: UX designers focus on:
• Connecting people through devices and channels.
• Considering the entire environment they are creating.
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Being Human-Centered in UX
• Focus on People, Not Technology
UX is about creating experiences that support and delight people, not just
showcasing what technology can do.
• Key Principles of Being Human-Centered
• Prioritize User Needs: Think about what people want to do, not just what
technology can do.
• Foster Human Connections: Design new ways to connect people with each
other.
• Involve Users in the Process: Include people in the design journey to ensure
relevance.
• Embrace Diversity: Design for a wide range of users, backgrounds, and
needs.
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Why being Human-Centered is important
• Human-Centered Design is Expensive
It requires time for observing, talking to, and testing ideas with
people.
• Additional Costs
This approach adds extra time and resources to any project.
• Worth the Investment
Despite the costs, a human-centered approach is valuable for several
key reasons:
• Improves user satisfaction and engagement
• Ensures solutions meet real needs
• Increases the likelihood of successful adoption

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Skills of UX Designers
• User Research
Study and understand people’s activities, goals, and contexts to generate
technology requirements.
• Tech Awareness
Understand the possibilities and limitations of current technologies.
• Ideation
Create technological solutions that align with user activities and contexts.
• Design Evaluation & Iteration
Evaluate alternative designs, conduct further research, and iterate until the
best solution is found.

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Skills of UX Designers
• UX designers must draw on
knowledge from several
areas:
• People
• Technologies
• Activities and Contexts
• Design

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 PACT : Framework for designing UX
The PACT framework provides essential guidance
for UI designers to understand users' needs,
behaviors, and the context in which they operate.

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Introduction
• PACT Framework
A useful approach for UX design
• Key Areas for Designers
• People: Understand the users of the system.
• Activities: Know the tasks users want to perform.
• Contexts: Consider the environments in which
users interact with the system.
• Technologies: Understand the capabilities and [Link]
limitations of interactive technologies. analysis-unlocking-the-power-of-user-
interface-design-2543623c0d8e

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Introduction
People, Technologies, Activities, and Contexts in UX Design

• People Use Technologies

People use various technologies to perform activities
in different contexts (e.g., texting on smartphones,
using Microsoft Word, or scheduling in Google
Calendar).
• The Challenge of UX Design
The diversity of people, activities, and contexts makes
UX design both challenging and fascinating.
[Link]
• Changing Technologies Impact Activities designers-p-a-c-t-framework-
20509afcff57
When technologies change (including hardware,
software, communications, and content), the nature
of the activities people undertake also changes.
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 People
• People Differ in Many Ways:
• Physical differences (ergonomics)
• Psychological differences
• Mental models
• Social differences
• Attitudinal differences

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Physical Differences & Their Impact on UX
Design
• Human Variability

People differ in physical characteristics, including:

• Height,
• Weight, and
• Sensory abilities (sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste)

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Physical Differences & Their Impact on UX
Design
• Challenges in Accessibility & Usability
• Colour blindness affects 8% of males (difficulty distinguishing red/green).
• Visual impairments: short-sightedness and long-sightedness.
• Hearing impairments: Many users are hearing-impaired.
• Wheelchair users: 2.8 million in Europe.
• Dexterity impairments: Difficulty using small buttons.
• Design Considerations
Designers must account for these physical differences in technology
placement and interaction.

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Psychological Differences in UX Design
• Spatial Ability
• People with strong spatial skills navigate and remember websites better.
• Designers should assist those with poorer spatial ability with clear signage and
directions.
• Language & Cultural Differences
• Understanding language and cultural nuances is critical.
• E.g., in the U.S., a tick (✔) indicates acceptance, while in the UK, both a tick and a cross (❌)
can show acceptance.

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Psychological Differences in UX Design
• Attention & Memory
• People vary in attention spans and memory.
• Stress and fatigue can affect cognitive abilities.
• Most people struggle with remembering long numbers or complex instructions.
• Conceptual Models
• People have different mental models based on past experiences, affecting how
they interpret and interact with systems.

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Mental Models in UX Design
• What is a Mental Model?
It’s how users understand and conceptualize a system.
This is how users perceive how the system works and what they expect from it. These
mental models may not always align with how the system actually operates. Therefore,
designing interfaces and user experiences (UX) that match users' mental models is
crucial for making the system intuitive and easy to use.
• Challenges with Poor Mental Models
Without a clear mental model, users act by rote and can't recover
from errors.

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Mental Models in UX Design
• Key Principle
Design systems so users can easily
understand how they work.
• How Users Learn
Users build mental models by interacting
with the system, seeing how it behaves, and
reading instructions.
• Clear Information is Key
Provide simple, consistent designs and clear
instructions to help users understand the
system.

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Mental model and Psychology
• Key Differences:
• Psychology focuses on emotional, motivational, and behavioral factors that
influence how users interact with systems.
• Mental models focus on how users understand and interpret the
functioning of systems, technologies, or actions they take.
• Examples:
• A user might feel anxious about learning how to use a new piece of
technology. Their psychology may involve fear or lack of confidence, which
can
• A user might understand that pressing the "Save" button in an app will save
their data. This is a mental model they have of how the app functions.

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Social Differences in UX Design
• Different Goals & Motivations
Users have diverse reasons and goals for using systems. Some are highly
interested, while others just want to complete tasks quickly.
• Novice vs. Expert Users
• Experts: Regular users with deep knowledge.
• Novices: New users who need clear guidance and simplified interactions.
• Discretionary Users
People who don’t have to use the system but may choose to. Designers must
make it easy and enticing for them to engage.

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Social Differences in UX Design
• Homogeneous Groups
Design can focus on similar needs and goals, e.g., a company intranet for specific
teams.
• Heterogeneous Groups
Websites must accommodate a diverse range of users, leading to more complex
design challenges.
• Designing for Specific Groups
In homogeneous groups, designers can work closely with representatives to
better understand detailed needs.

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Attitudinal Differences in UX Design
• Different Values & Beliefs
People have different priorities, beliefs, and ideologies that influence how
they use products and services.
• Personal Goals & Pride
Some users value products for personal achievements (e.g., fitness), while
others focus on larger global issues (e.g., climate change).
• Impact on Design Reactions
Attitudes affect how people perceive and engage with the aesthetic design
of a product or service.
• Influence on UX
Different values and aspirations shape what makes a product or service
engaging and enjoyable for each user
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Activities

Activities guide designers in creating systems that effectively

support the tasks users want to accomplish, ensuring a
seamless and intuitive experience.

Designers need to consider various characteristics of activities,

ranging from simple tasks to complex ones.

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Activities
1. Overall Purpose
Focus on the main goal or purpose of the activity.
2. Temporal Aspects
• Frequency: Regular (e.g., daily tasks) vs. Infrequent (e.g., yearly tasks).
• Time Pressure: Design should support both fast-paced and slower tasks.
• Continuity vs. Interruption: Continuous activities vs. tasks that are
interrupted and resumed (e.g., phone calls vs. writing).
• Response Time: Critical for user satisfaction (e.g., around 100ms for hand-eye
coordination, 1 second for cause-effect actions).

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Activities
3. Cooperation
• Solo vs. Collaborative Tasks: Tasks can be individual or require teamwork.
• Communication and Coordination: Essential for collaborative tasks to
maintain awareness and synchronize actions.

4. Complexity
• Well-defined Tasks: Simple, step-by-step processes (e.g., filling out a form).
• Vague Tasks: More flexible, exploration-based tasks (e.g., research,
browsing).

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Activities
5. Safety-Critical
• High-Risk Activities: Design for tasks where mistakes can lead to serious
consequences (e.g., healthcare, aviation).
• Error Handling: Ensure designs help users recover from errors and minimize
harm.
6. The Nature of the Content
• Data Requirements: Tasks may require different types of data input (e.g.,
text input, barcode scanning).
• Media Requirements: The need for different media types (e.g., simple data
display vs. dynamic multimedia content).

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Activities

List the main characteristics of the activity of sending an

email. Use the points above to guide you.

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Activities
List the main characteristics of the activity of sending an email. Use the points above to guide
you.
1. Overall Purpose: To convey information, ask questions, provide updates, or
initiate/maintain communication.
2. Temporal Aspects :
• Sending emails is a fairly frequent activity that is often interrupted.
• Emails can be sent instantly, regardless of geographical or time zone differences.
• Delivery is typically near-instantaneous, but response times can vary.
3. Cooperation:
• Collaboration:
• Multiple participants can engage via CC or BCC fields.
• Email threads enable continuous collaboration by building on previous exchanges.
• Coordination:
• Scheduling, task delegation, or group discussions often occur through email.
• Shared documents or media attachments facilitate teamwork.
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Activities
List the main characteristics of the activity of sending an email. Use the points above to guide
you.
4. Complexity :
• It is a straightforward activity in itself
• but it can become complex when it is interleaved with other things such as finding old
emails, finding addresses, attaching documents and so on.
5. The Nature of the Content :
• The tasks of finding and entering addresses are made much easier if the email program
has an embedded address book, as the person only has to remember and type small
amounts of data;
• otherwise long email addresses have to be typed in.

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 Context ensures the system is designed to suit the user's
environment, making it more relevant, accessible, and
effective.

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Context
• Activities always take place in a context, making it crucial to analyze
both together.
• Types of Context:
• Organizational Context: The structure, culture, and processes in the
organization.
• Social Context: The relationships and interactions between people involved.
• Physical Context: The environment and conditions in which the activity
occurs.

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Context

Context can be difficult to define.

• Two Views on Context:
• Surrounding: Context as external elements surrounding an
activity.
• Connecting: Context as the features that bind activities into a
coherent whole.

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Context
Analyzing Context in the Activity of 'Withdrawing Cash from an ATM'

Types of Context in the ATM Activity:

• Physical Context:
• Location of the ATM (e.g., ‘hole-in-the-wall’)
• Effect of sunlight on display readability
• Security considerations (e.g., safe and secure environment)
• Social Context:
• Time spent on the transaction
• Need to queue or wait for access
• Organizational Context:
• Impact on the bank’s workflow
• Relationship between the bank and customers
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Technologies
• Technologies are the hardware and
software components that UX designers use
to facilitate interactions in interactive
systems.
• Interactive technologies evolve quickly, and
designers must stay updated to create
effective systems.
• Designers need to be aware of the various
possibilities for input, output,
communication, and content to create
effective user interactions.

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Technologies
• Communication
• Communications between people and between
devices are an important part of UX design
• Communication can take place through wired
connections such as a telephone line, or an
Ethernet network.
• Wireless communication is becoming much
more common

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Technologies
• Content: concerns the data in the system and the form it takes.
• Good content:
• Accurate
• Up-to-date
• Relevant
• Well-presented
• Importance of Content
• Content supports the functionality of technology.
• Examples:
• Websites: Primarily focused on content.
• Remote Controls: Focused more on functionality.

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Technologies
• Content:
• Content Delivery
• Pull Technology: Content is retrieved when required.
• Example: Searching for specific data.
• Push Technology: Content is sent automatically.
• Example: RSS feeds provide updates when website content changes.
• Input Methods Based on Data Characteristics
• Barcodes: Suitable for static data.
• Touchscreens: Ideal for limited options (only a few options to
choose from)
• Speech Input: Effective in quiet environments with constrained
commands.

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Scoping a problem with PACT
• Goal of Human-Centred UX Design
• Achieve the best combination of People, Activities, Contexts, and
Technologies (PACT) for a specific domain.
• Support activities performed by people in different contexts with the right
mix of technologies.
• Benefits of PACT Analysis
• Understand the current situation and identify areas for improvement.
• Envision future scenarios and design solutions.
• How to Conduct PACT Analysis
• Explore potential Ps, As, Cs, Ts through brainstorming, observations,
interviews, workshops.

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Summary
• UX is a challenging and fascinating discipline because it draws upon and
affects so many features of people’s
• Designing UX is concerned with designing for people using technologies
to undertake activities in contexts.
• The design of UX requires the analyst/designer to consider the range of
PACT elements and how they fit together in a domain.
• People vary in terms of physical characteristics and psychological
differences and in their usage of systems.

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Summary
• Activities vary in terms of temporal aspects, whether they involve
cooperation, complexity, whether they are safety-critical and the nature
of the content they require.
• Contexts vary in terms of physical, social and organizational aspects.
• Technologies vary in terms of the input, output, communication and
content that they support.
• Undertaking a PACT analysis of a situation is a useful way of scoping a
design problem.

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Exercise 1
• Topic: we have been asked by a university department to consider
developing a system controlling access to its laboratories.
• Undertake a PACT analysis for this application.

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Exercise 1 - People
• Students, lecturers and technicians are the main groups. These are all well
educated and understand things such as swipe cards, passwords and so on.
• People in wheelchairs need to be considered, as do design issues such as colour
blindness.
• There may be language differences.
• People should be able to form a correct mental model of how the technology will
work.
• Both occasional and frequent visitors need to be considered.
• However, there are other stakeholders who need access to rooms, such as
cleaning staff and security personnel.

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Exercise 1 - Activities
• The overall purpose of the activity is to enter some form of security clearance
and to open the door.
• This is a well-defined activity that takes place in one step.
• It happens frequently, with peaks at the start of each laboratory session.
• The data to be entered is a simple numeric or alphanumeric code.
• It is an activity that does not require cooperation with others (though it may be
done with others, of course).
• It is not safety-critical, though security is an important aspect.

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Exercise 1 - Contexts
• Physically the activity takes place indoors, but people might be
carrying books and other things, which makes it quite difficult to do
anything complicated.
• Socially it may happen in a crowd, but also it may happen late at
night when no one else is about.
• Organizationally, the context is primarily about security and who has
access to which rooms and when they can gain access. This is likely to
be quite a politically charged setting.

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Exercise 1 - Technologies
• A small amount of data has to be entered quickly. It must be obvious
how to do this in order to accommodate visitors and people
unfamiliar with the system.
• The output from the technology needs to be clear: that the security
data has been accepted or not and the door has to be opened if the
process was successful.
• Communication with a central database may be necessary to validate
any data input,
• but there is little other content in the application.

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Exercise 2
• Topic: You have been asked to design the information system for an
expense management application. Undertake a PACT analysis for this
application.

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