Design and Evaluation of
User Interfaces (DEB)
The Design Process
Jeanette Falk, assistant professor jfo@[Link]
Department of Computer Science, Human-Centered Computing (HCC)
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Goals of this lecture
• Quiz
• Resources for User-centered Design Processes
• Introduction to the PACT Framework: People, Activities, Context,
Technologies
• Hands-on: PACT analysis and user research plan for your semester projects
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Some notes on using LLMs… If you care about
your learning
• Education is not about productivity
• As teachers, we care little about polished outcomes – it’s more about your learning
process, your reflection, your development, your creativity, your
understanding
• I can’t control what you do, but my recommendation: Dare to solve a problem
yourself first → stay struggling for a while → leave the problem for a while → come
back to it → Ask a friend/tutor for help
• (Leave out any LLMs for as long as you can)
• The tools change all the time, so by the time you graduate they will be very different
anyway = it doesn’t matter to get used to them during your education
• Research on the effect of using LLMs in education is extremely scarce, some highly
questionable, and more studies emerging on the adverse effects → Don’t gamble
with your education
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Recommendation: A very polish insight into
design processes
Digital Product Design, Season 2 Episode 5
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[Link]
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From the video
• What problem are we hoping to solve?
• What evidence do we have that this is a problem?
• (Why do we think this solution will solve the problem?)
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From “tame” problems to “wicked” problems
Rittel, H.W.J., Webber, M.M. Dilemmas in a general theory of planning. Policy Sci 4, 155–169 (1973).
[Link]
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PACT
People, Activity, Context, Technology
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PACT Framework: People, Activities, Context, Technologies
Useful for both
understanding and design
People: • Who are the users of the system? Who are we designing for?
Activities: • What tasks or activities do users perform within the system?
• In what environments do users typically interact with the system
Context: (e.g., office, home, on-the-go)?
• What are the technologies that can best support users in their
Technologies: activities?
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People
Physical differences
e.g., measurements (big/small hand), disabilities (blindness, motor control etc.),
health conditions (e.g., prone to motion sickness)
• Are there any physical disabilities or impairments among the user population
(e.g., vision, hearing, mobility)?
• Are there age-related changes in dexterity that could impact interaction with the
system?
• Are there cultural considerations related to physical differences, such as
clothing, customs, or body language?
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People
Psychological differences
e.g., spatial abilities, attention, memory, emotional disorders (depression),
personality types
• Are users open or afraid of trying new things?
• What are the different motivations behind using the system / functionality?
• What cognitive abilities and limitations should be considered (e.g.,
memory, attention span, problem-solving skills)?
• Are there features or content that elicit particularly strong emotional
responses from users?
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People
Social differences
e.g., cultural backgrounds, privacy needs, relationships with others
• Are there cultural norms or expectations regarding social behavior that should
be accommodated?
• Are there any power dynamics or hierarchies that may impact user interactions?
• What are the typical social roles or positions of users within the context of
system use?
• Are there any privacy concerns or preferences related to sharing information or
content with others?
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People
Different mental models
e.g., expectations towards a system, previous experience with similar
systems
Mental
model
• Do users have expertise in systems
for doing similar activities, or are
they complete novices?
• What kind of expectations and
misunderstandings are people
bringing to the system?
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[Link]
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System Image vs. Mental Models
Mental
model
● Designers design a system (system
image/interface) that they hope will reveal
their intended purpose and ways of using it
● The user builds a mental model about what
the system is for and how to use it by
interacting with it.
● This mental model is not only influenced by
the system at hand, but also by the users’
previous interaction with other technologies,
their particular needs, cultural background,
etc.
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System Image vs. Mental Models
save icon floppy disk
The save icon comes from a floppy disk.
But for people who never saw a floppy
disk, it just means “save icon”
20 Double tap on Google Photos (zoom) Double tap on Instagram (like)
Activities…
• What tasks or activities do users perform within the system?
• What goals are users trying to achieve with each task?
• Are there key workflows or sequences of actions?
… in Context
• Home
• Workplace
• Public / Social
• Mobile
• Individual / Collaborative
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Activities in Context
10 characteristics of activities
Temporal Aspects
1. Frequency of activity
2. Time pressure and peaks
3. Continuous or interrupted?
4. System response time
• Collaboration
5. Alone or with others?
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Activities in Context
10 characteristics of activities
• Complexity
6. Well-defined or vague tasks?
• Safety-critical
7. Risk of Injuries?
8. Generally, what happens when mistakes are made?
• Nature of the content
9. Amount of data entries?
10. Media types?
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Technologies
e.g., input/output, service/artifact ecologies
What kind of input modalities do users use for / best support the
activity?
• Touch
• Tactile (buttons)
• Speech (microphone)
• Compass, Accelerometer, Gyroscope
• GPS
• Biometric
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Technologies
e.g., input/output, service/artifact ecologies
What kind of output modalities do users use for / best support the
activity?
• 2D screens
• 3D graphics (e.g., in VR)
• Audio
• Haptics (e.g., vibrations)
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Technologies
e.g., input/output, service/artifact ecologies
What other technologies are available and/or used side-by-side
(service/artifact ecologies)
• Is it necessary to mix different systems to achieve the goal of
the activity?
• Can the activity be done in different types of devices?
• Do the characteristics of different devices affect how the activity
is done?
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The Design Process and PACT
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People are
represented by
personas
Activities and
Contexts (which
the personas
occur in) are
represented by
scenarios of
use
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People are
represented by
personas
Personas and scenarios
developed using methods of
understanding and ideation, and
PACT analysis
Activities and
Contexts (which Personas and scenarios
the personas evolve together
occur in) are
represented by
scenarios of
use
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In reality: often not a
linear process
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”Evaluation is central to delivering a good UX. Everything gets
evaluated at every step of the process” Benyon
a.k.a. “interaction design”
a.k.a. “model”
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what the system or The direct stakeholders
service has to do, (users) and indirect
what it has to be stakeholders (e.g. clients)
like and how it
has to fit in with
other things.
Concerned with
the requirements
a.k.a. “model”
a.k.a. “interaction design”
of the product,
system or service
that is under
investigation.
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Conceptual design:
what information content
and functions are
needed for the system or
service to achieve its
purpose
(so that people will quickly
develop a clear mental
model). a.k.a. “model”
a.k.a. “interaction design”
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Physical design:
is concerned with
translating the conceptual
design into concrete
designs
structuring interactions into
logical sequences
a.k.a. “interaction design”
a.k.a. “model”
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helps designers clarify
their ideas and to enable
people to evaluate the
ideas during the design
process.
Prototyping, sketching,
mock-ups, storyboards,
a.k.a. “model”
scenarios
a.k.a. “interaction design”
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the nature of the
representation/envisionment
used will affect what can be
evaluated.
a.k.a. “interaction design”
a.k.a. “model”
Evaluation criteria will also
depend on who is able to use the
representation/envisionment.
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Why do we need to evaluate and
envision instead of just making the
final design?
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Designing your design process
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[Link]
Why UX is messy: From “tame” problems to
“wicked” problems
Rittel, H.W.J., Webber, M.M. Dilemmas in a general theory of planning. Policy Sci 4, 155–169 (1973).
[Link]
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Foundational workshop activities
[Link]
[Link]
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Foundational workshop activities (suggestion)
[Link]
[Link]
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What kind of activities? When?
[Link]
• Kickoff workshop. A kickoff workshop occurs at the beginning of the
discovery and aims to create alignment on the objective of the discovery, and
when it will be complete.
• Assumption-mapping workshop.
• Research-question–generation workshop.
• Affinity-diagramming workshop.
• Mapping workshop.
• Ideation workshop.
• Problem identification workshop: What kind of problem, which is feasible in a
semester, will you work on?
• Participatory design workshop (involving users in designing solutions)
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[Link]
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When you have identified a
problem area
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Using PACT for analysis
To conduct a PACT analysis the designer simply scopes out the variety of Ps, As,
Cs and Ts that are possible, or likely, in a domain.
This can be done using brainstorming and other envisionment techniques and by
working with people through observations, interviews and workshops.
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Using PACT for analysis
Look for pains and gains in the intersection of PACT
Pains - What is working poorly?
• In what ways is the current technology failing to support the activity?
• Are there user groups that are poorly supported by the current design?
• Are there contexts where the activity is harder/impossible to perform?
Gains - What is working well?
In what ways does the current technology excel at supporting the users’ activities?
In what context is the activity best supported?
How is the technology successfully supporting diverse types of users (i.e., with different
needs and skills)?
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PACT analysis
Get together in groups.
1) Do a PACT analysis for your semester project.
A. Write a description of all relevant aspects of People, Activities, Contexts and Technologies (similar
to Benyon’s book, chapter 2.6)
B. List pains and gains you identify in your analysis
What information do you still need to improve the analysis?
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Knowns and Unknowns Framework
[Link]
• For example when you have an
idea of what kind of problem
area you want to work with
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Pre-Mortem
[Link]
The exercise starts with a simple question: “What will go
wrong?” though it may be elevated in phrasing to “How
will this end in disaster?”
This is an opportunity for the team to reflect on their
collective experience and directly name risks or
elephants lurking in the room.
To close the exercise, the list of concerns and risks may be
ranked or voted on to determine priority. The group then
decides what actions need to be taken to address
these risks
1. Think individually for 2 min
2. Each group member share their concerns
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Backcasting
[Link]
1. List down your goals for the semester
project.
2. Work backwards to figure out the
necessary actions to achieve the goals. Step
by step, don’t ever skip one!
3. Collect insights over difficulties that might
be encountered, steps that need to be taken
and resources needed to achieve the goal.
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Data Collection plan
• Decide: What data do you need to understand your users?
• Consider: What do you have access to? Direct users, or only indirect
stakeholders/clients/experts with knowledge about your end users?
• Make a data collection plan for your semester project. Which methods can you
conduct (considering what you have access to) to obtain the data you need?
• If you will conduct interviews, write an interview guide (tips here:
[Link] and pilot it with friends or
students from other groups
• If you will conduct observations / contextual inquiry, who will you observe?
during what activities, in what context?
• If you will collect user-generated content, from what sources (e.g. online
forums)?
• If you will deploy a questionnaire, design it and pilot it with friends or students
from other groups
• How will you recruit participants?
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Inspiration from Chapter 7: Oli Mival’s guide to
support the Methods exercise
• What am I designing and why?
• What information am I not sure about that’s holding me back from making
informed design decisions?
• What questions can be answered that will help me find that information?
• Who do I need to ask these questions and how do I do that?
• What do we NOT know that is preventing us from making firm design
decisions?
• What information do you need to move the design forward?
• Has relevant research been carried out before? → Do desktop research and
literature review using Google Scholar
• What data is needed
• Why this data is needed and how it is relevant to the design
• How the data and analysis should be shared and curated
• Who should receive the data, analysis and insights.
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Resources for user-centered
Design Processes
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[Link]
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[Link]
[Link]/
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[Link]
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[Link]
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For next lecture: Understanding Users
To read before class:
• Chapter 3, sections 3-5 (Personas and scenarios)
• Chapter 5, sections 1 and 3, skip 5.2 for now, but feel free to skim
read it (usability and introducing human cognition)
• Chapter 23, sections 1 - 4 until and including the section on Donald
Norman. Describes some theories on human cognition
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