1b – Designing Interactive Systems Motivation, Activity Theorykti.tugraz.at/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/DIS-2016-1b.pdf · 2016. 3. 1. · V. Pammer-Schindler March 1, 2016 Sensors

Knowledge Technologies Institute

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V. Pammer-Schindler March 1, 2016 Sensors and User Models @TUG

1b – Designing Interactive Systems Motivation, Activity Theory

Viktoria Pammer-Schindler March 8, 2016


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When is my boss available?

How would you design a system that helps me with this question?

?


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Learning Goals Today

After today’s lecture you should 1.  Remember and understand user-centered software

design (UCD) principles as framework for considering context of use in software development

2.  Remember and understand activity theory as a theoretical framework that helps you identify what entities are relevant in the “analyse” and “evaluate” steps of UCD


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Designing Interactive Systems

Designing in the sense of conceptualising, prototyping, implementing and evaluating (iterative!)

1.  Integrate technology into activity that the interactive systems aims to support – envisage new “workflow”

2.  What functionality is necessary? 3.  What qualities (responsiveness, reliability,

aesthetics, etc.) are necessary? 4.  Select interaction paradigm (what kinds of input,

output modalities) 5.  Design user interface (e.g., visual interface)

Requ. E

ng. U

I Design

Interaction D

esign


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From technology…

Era of punched cards (Lochkarten - cards with data, program, results):

Computing systems were not interactive.

Von Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-F038812-0025 / Schaack, Lothar / CC-BY-SA 3.0 / URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5455804


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… to technology use

Now: computers pervade our lives Computing systems are still used by experts, in large

research centers, universities, huge companies … … but also by kids, elderly people, poor, rich… as part

of their everyday lives. NOW interaction is important.

Traffic lights

Car

Tramway Ticket

Machine

Smartphone Laptop

SmartWatch

FitBit

Game console


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Course Topics Motivation and Learning Goals

Technology use is of central interest, and therefore the following is relevant:

1.  Users, their activities… (Topic: Understanding Context of Use)

–  You will understand theory and tools to understand users and activities, and be able to apply the tools.

2.  User input to design is relevant (Topic: Participatory Design)

–  You will understand theory and tools of participatory design, and be able to apply the tools.


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Course Topics Motivation and Learning Goals

3.  Iterative software development (Topics: Prototyping and Iterative Evaluations, Android Software Development, Interaction Design Beyond Mouse/Keyboard UIs)

–  You will understand theory and tools for prototyping and iterative/formative evaluations (emphasis on qualitative evaluations). You will be able to apply the tools for prototyping and iterative/formative evaluations.

–  You will be able to program simple interactive Android apps –  You will be able to program Android apps that use HCI channels alternative to typing/

touching and text.


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USER-CENTERED DESIGN PROCESS


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Recap: Traditional Software Engineering Process

1.  Requirements 2.  Software architecture 3.  Coding and unit testing 4.  Integration and integration testing 5.  Deployment and maintenance

Where is the user?


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User-Centered Software Design (UCD) Principles

1.  Understand users, their tasks and environment 2.  Involve users in design 3.  User-centered evaluations are part of the design

process 4.  Iterative design process 5.  Complete user experience (not only functionality) 6.  Design team is interdisciplinary


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UCD Process: Basic Process Steps

Analyse

Design/Implement Evaluate


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UCD Process: Timeline

Time

Methods for Analysis, Design/Implementation and Evaluation change over Time

–  More informal, sketchy in the beginning –  More formal, more details over time

Understanding of users tasks, environment and target system matures


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Understanding Context of Use

What entities should we understand?

A group of users (a

population)?

Single Users?

Activities?

Goals? …


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What entities should we understand – Different Answers

Activity Theory – Activities: Subject and object in the center, distinction between activity, action and operationalisation

Situation Action – Concrete activities, situated in a particular setting (situation) in an arena.

Distributed Cognition - Cognitive systems: Humans and artefacts (~tools), goals (of systems), coordination


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Activity Theory 101

Descriptive theoretical framework that provides a structure to think about human activities

Developed by Russian psychologists, foremost

Vygotsky and Leontjew Now widely known in HCI and related fields Can be seen as counter-program to the emphasis on

cognitive


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Activity as central unit of analysis

Subject – an individual or group which have an Object – an “objectified motive”, a goal – it motivates the

activity, and gives it direction Subject and object uniquely identify the activity.


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Activity/object > action/goal > operation

Activities are broad patterns directed to an overarching object(ive).

In order to realise, create, manipulate an object(ive), the

subject carries out a sequence of actions. Every action has a particular goal, which contributes to reaching the overall objective.

Actions are operationalised as operations – operations

heavily depend on a given situation.


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Tools mediate activities

Tools are physical or conceptual (hammer, formula that solves my problem, book that contains knowledge, ...)

Tools are artefacts – they have been built, identified by humans

… and thus encode a cultural/historical development process

Tools change the esssential qualities of the activity.


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Principles of Activity Theory

1.  Human Agency – subjects are conscious of the activity, and of their object/goal.

2.  Environment exists on its own and is meaningful 3.  Unity of activity and consciousness 4.  Activities/objects > Actions/goals > Operations 5.  Tools mediate activities 6.  Historical development processes are included in

tools (and rules, and division of labour) 7.  Internal and external are mixed (tools and objects

can be both; an activity contains both internal and external aspects)


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Extending Activity Theory to Collaborative Practice


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Extending Activity Theory to Collaborative Practice

Subject may be an individual or a group … but the subject is embedded in a community The relationship between the subject and the

community is mediated by rules. The relationship between the object and the community

is mediated by a division of labour.


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Context of Use

Is the Activity


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Activity Theory and HCI

AT is not interested in human-computer interaction but in computer-mediated human activity:

Computers/software as tools that support human activity

– “functional organs” What level does a tool support – activity, action, or

operation?


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When is my boss available?

Who is the subject? What is the objective?

What tools could the subject use?

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Readings

Recommended: Nardi, B. A., Activity Theory and Human-Computer

Interaction, Chapter 1 in: Context and Consciousness - Activity Theory and Human-Computer Interaction, The MIT Press, 1996 Further reading:

Nardi, B. A., Studying Context: A Comparision of Activity Theory, Situated Action Models and Distributed Cognition, Chapter 4 in: Context and Consciousness - Activity Theory and Human-Computer Interaction, The MIT Press, 1996

Documents

1b – Designing Interactive Systems Motivation, Activity Theorykti.tugraz.at/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/DIS-2016-1b.pdf · 2016. 3. 1. · V. Pammer-Schindler March 1, 2016 Sensors