Asbjørn Følstad

User involvement in e-government development projects

The deployment of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) methods and processes in e-Government development projects requires knowledge of how user involvement is actually conducted in these projects today. In order to generate such knowledge, an interview survey of Norwegian e-Government project leaders has been conducted. It was found that user involvement is regarded as important by e-Government project leaders, but actual user involvement is often conducted according to the participation practice of industrial democracy rather than the processes and methods advocated within the traditions of HCI. The most frequently deployed user involvement activity is user representation in project terms. Users employed by the government units responsible for the project are more often involved in the development process, and in earlier project phases. The majority of the e-Government projects did not include activities to ensure Universal Design. Studies published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the British Government indicate that the results of the present investigation may be generalized to other European countries. It is concluded that the current practice of e-Government development will benefit on the systematic introduction of HCI methods. Further work should focus on the integration of HCI methods with the user involvement practice of industrial democracy.

Enjoyment: lessons from Karasek

What makes some experiences enjoyable, and other experiences not? How can we understand enjoyment in human factors design; what components should we consider when we are designing for enjoyment? This chapter explores a theoretical model for understanding the components and nature of enjoyment, and how HCI (Human Computer Interaction) professionals can use the model to predict and evaluate enjoyment. The model is a modified version of Robert Karasek’s well-known demand-control-support model used in work and organisational psychology (Karsek and Theorell in Healthy work: stress, productivity, and the reconstruction of working life. Basic Books, New York, 1990).

Use and usefulness of HCI methods : Results from an exploratory study among Nordic HCI practitioners

As an HCI practitioner, it would be of great value to know which methods other HCI practitioners find most useful in different project phases. Also it would be interesting to know whether the type of ICT projects has any effects on HCI practitioners’ perception of the usefulness of the methods. This paper presents results from an exploratory survey of HCI practitioners in the Nordic countries conducted in the fall of 2004. 179 of the respondents were usability professionals or UI designers with two or more years of experience. The survey results give insights with regard to whether or not HCI practitioners are included in those project phases regarded as most important. Also it describes which HCI methods that are used in different project phases, and how useful different HCI methods are perceived to be. The study complements existing HCI practitioner survey investigations by an explicit allocation of the HCI methods under consideration to concrete project phases, and by including analyses of group differences between practitioners working with different kinds of development projects.

Chatbots and the new world of HCI

A potential revolution is happening in front of our eyes. For decades, researchers and practitioners in human-computer interaction (HCI) have been improving their skills in designing for graphical user interfaces. Now things may take an unexpected turn—toward natural-language user interfaces, in which interaction with digital systems happens not through scrolling, swiping, or button clicks, but rather through strings of text in natural language. This is particularly visible in recent developments in chatbots, that is, machine agents serving as natural-language user interfaces to data and service providers [1], typically in the context of messaging applications. Need a reminder to pick up some flowers for your husband on the way home? Ask Jarvis the chatbot to remind you. Wonder if you should bring an umbrella to that meeting in Stockholm? Send Poncho the artificial weather cat a message and ask. If technology giants like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft are right, we will be moving our digital interaction from websites and apps with graphical user interfaces to messaging platforms such as Messenger and Allo. If this happens, huge challenges and opportunities await in the field of HCI.

Social design feedback: evaluations with users in online ad-hoc groups

Social design feedback is a novel approach to usability evaluation where user participants are asked to comment on designs asynchronously in online ad-hoc groups. Two key features of this approach are that (1) it supports interaction between user participants and development team representatives and (2) user participants can see and respond to other participants’ comments. Two design cases, involving 250 user participants, were studied to explore the output of social design feedback and investigate the effect of the two key features of this approach. Of all the design feedback, 17% was rated highly useful, and 21% contained change suggestions. The presence of an active moderator, representing the development team and interacting with the user participants, increased the usefulness of the design feedback. The opportunity to see and respond to others’ design feedback had a minor effect on the kind of design feedback provided, but no effect on usefulness. Based on the findings, we offer advice on how to implement social design feedback and suggest future research.

Analysis in usability evaluations: an exploratory study

While the planning and implementation of usability evaluations are well described in the literature, the analysis of the evaluation data is not. We present interviews with 11 usability professionals on how they conduct analysis, describing the resources, collaboration, creation of recommendations, and prioritization involved. The interviews indicate a lack of structure in the analysis process and suggest activities, such as generating recommendations, that are unsupported by existing methods. We discuss how to better support analysis, and propose four themes for future research on analysis in usability evaluations.

Improving service quality through customer journey analysis

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework based on customer journeys for a structured portrayal of service delivery from the customer’s point of view. The paper also introduces customer journey analysis (CJA) for empirical investigation of individual service experiences in a multichannel environment. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents case studies for onboarding new customers on broadband services. CJA starts with modeling of the service process in terms of touchpoints. The individual customer journeys are reconstructed through methodological triangulation of interviews, diary studies, and process tracking. Findings The paper provides empirical insights into individual customer journeys. Four types of deviations during service delivery are identified: occurrence of ad hoc touchpoints, irregularities in the sequence of logically connected touchpoints, occurrence of failures in touchpoints, and missing touchpoints. CJA seems effective in revealing problematic and incoherent service delivery that may result in unfavorable customer experiences. Practical implications For a service company, the proposed framework may serve as a unifying language to ease cross-departmental communication and approach service quality in a systematic way. CJA discloses the gap between the planned and actual service delivery and can be used as a tool for service improvement. Originality/value The framework provides concepts, definitions, and a visual notation to structure and manage services in terms of customer journeys. CJA is a novel method for empirical studies of the service delivery process and the associated customer experience.

Innovation in HCI: what can we learn from design thinking?

Design thinking, a methodology originating from the design disciplines, oriented towards problem solving through a human-centered approach, rapid prototyping and abductive reasoning, has huge impact on innovation in business, education, health and other crucial domains. Many similarities, and differences, can be found between design thinking and a Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) design approach to innovation. The aim of the workshop is to explore these similarities and differences, with a goal of re-thinking possibilities, including combining practices towards increased impact of HCI in shaping innovative technologies for the future.

Trust and distrust in online fact-checking services

Even when checked by fact checkers, facts are often still open to preexisting bias and doubt.

Understanding Human-Machine Networks: A Cross-Disciplinary Survey

In the current hyperconnected era, modern Information and Communication Technology (ICT) systems form sophisticated networks where not only do people interact with other people, but also machines take an increasingly visible and participatory role. Such Human-Machine Networks (HMNs) are embedded in the daily lives of people, both for personal and professional use. They can have a significant impact by producing synergy and innovations. The challenge in designing successful HMNs is that they cannot be developed and implemented in the same manner as networks of machines nodes alone, or following a wholly human-centric view of the network. The problem requires an interdisciplinary approach. Here, we review current research of relevance to HMNs across many disciplines. Extending the previous theoretical concepts of socio-technical systems, actor-network theory, cyber-physical-social systems, and social machines, we concentrate on the interactions among humans and between humans and machines. We identify eight types of HMNs: public-resource computing, crowdsourcing, web search engines, crowdsensing, online markets, social media, multiplayer online games and virtual worlds, and mass collaboration. We systematically select literature on each of these types and review it with a focus on implications for designing HMNs. Moreover, we discuss risks associated with HMNs and identify emerging design and development trends.