Gitte Lindgaard

What is this evasive beast we call user satisfaction

Abstract The notion of ‘user satisfaction’ plays a prominent role in HCI, yet it remains evasive. This exploratory study reports three experiments from an ongoing research program. In this program we aim to uncover (1) what user satisfaction is, (2) whether it is primarily determined by user expectations or by the interactive experience, (3) how user satisfaction may be related to perceived usability, and (4) the extent to which satisfaction rating scales capture the same interface qualities as uncovered in self-reports of interactive experiences. In all three experiments reported here user satisfaction was found to be a complex construct comprising several concepts, the distribution of which varied with the nature of the experience. Expectations were found to play an important role in the way users approached a browsing task. Satisfaction and perceived usability was assessed using two methods: scores derived from unstructured interviews and from the Web site Analysis MeasureMent Inventory (WAMMI) rating scales. Scores on these two instruments were somewhat similar, but conclusions drawn across all three experiments differed in terms of satisfaction ratings, suggesting that rating scales and interview statements may tap different interface qualities. Recent research suggests that ‘beauty’, or ‘appeal’ is linked to perceived usability so that what is ‘beautiful’ is also perceived to be usable [Interacting with Computers 13 (2000) 127]. This was true in one experiment here using a web site high in perceived usability and appeal. However, using a site with high appeal but very low in perceived usability yielded very high satisfaction, but low perceived usability scores, suggesting that what is ‘beautiful’ need not also be perceived to be usable. The results suggest that web designers may need to pay attention to both visual appeal and usability.

An exploration of relations between visual appeal, trustworthiness and perceived usability of homepages

Extremely high correlations between repeated judgments of visual appeal of homepages shown for 50 milliseconds have been interpreted as evidence for a mere exposure effect [Lindgaard et al. 2006]. Continuing that work, the present research had two objectives. First, it investigated the relationship between judgments differing in cognitive demands. Second, it began to identify specific visual attributes that appear to contribute to different judgments. Three experiments are reported. All used the stimuli and viewing time as before. Using a paradigm known to disrupt processing beyond the stimulus offset, Experiment 1 was designed to ensure that the previous findings could not be attributed to such continued processing. Adopting a within-subject design, Experiment 2 investigated the extent to which judgments differing in cognitive demands (visual appeal, perceived usability, trustworthiness) may be driven by the visual characteristics of a Web page. It also enabled analyses of visual attributes that contributed most to the different judgments. Experiment 3 replicated Experiment 2 but using a between-subject design to ensure that no practice effect could occur. The results suggest that all three types of judgments are largely driven by visual appeal, but that cognitively demanding judgments are processed in a qualitatively different manner than visual appeal, and that they rely on somewhat different visual attributes. A model accounting for the results is provided.

User Needs Analysis and requirements engineering: Theory and practice

Several comprehensive User Centred Design methodologies have been published in the last decade, but while they all focus on users, they disagree on exactly what activities should take place during the User Needs Analysis, what the end products of a User Needs Analysis should cover, how User Needs Analysis findings should be presented, and how these should be documented and communicated. This paper highlights issues in different stages of the User Needs Analysis that appear to cause considerable confusion among researchers and practitioners. It is our hope that the User-Centred Design community may begin to address these issues systematically. A case study is presented reporting a User Needs Analysis methodology and process as well as the user interface design of an application supporting communication among first responders in a major disaster. It illustrates some of the differences between the User-Centred Design and the Requirements Engineering communities and shows how and where User-Centred Design and Requirements Engineering methodologies should be integrated, or at least aligned, to avoid some of the problems practitioners face during the User Needs Analysis.

Integrating aesthetics within an evolutionary and psychological framework

Human Factors (HF) has traditionally concerned itself with usability, effectiveness and efficiency without regard for the impact that the ‘look and feel’ of products and services might have on human performance. Recent research shows clearly that aesthetics, a ubiquitous, powerful function that permeates the design of products and services, matters. Within a consumer-driven industrial society it is ignored at the manufacturers or service providers peril. In order to encourage HF researchers to begin thinking about aesthetics in design, this paper attempts to position aesthetics within an evolutionary context, and to provide both a psychological framework and physiological underpinnings. Whitfields Collative-Motivation models of aesthetics is outlined to account for results from much of the experimental research on preferences. Barnards Interacting Cognitive Sub-systems (ICS) architecture is discussed in some detail, as, contrary to most other cognitive frameworks, it allows smooth integration of cognition and emotion. Physiological processes involved in emotional responses are discussed and the ICS framework is applied to explain both these results and findings suggesting that ‘emotion precedes cognition’. Finally, the integration of aesthetics and the Collative-Motivation model within the ICS framework is attempted.

Stories, Sketches, and Lists: Developers and Interaction Designers Interacting Through Artefacts

Agile development places a strong emphasis on interaction and collaboration between people. In this paper, we present a study of collaboration between user interaction designers and developers, with a particular emphasis on the role of artefacts in the process. Our research method is an ethnographic study of a team at work, followed by the application of several kinds of qualitative analysis: activity system analysis, interaction analysis, grounded theory, and contradiction analysis. Each of these analyses yields results that inform an understanding of artefact-mediated collaboration. In particular, we find that both sketches and design stories have critical roles, that these artefacts support creation and reflection, facilitate resolution of contradiction, and also work at a level of consciousness that is below the level of self-awareness.

Helping people with visual impairments gain access to graphical information through natural language: the iGraph system

Much numerical information is visualized in graphs. However, this is a medium that is problematic for people with visual impairments. We have developed a system called iGraph which provides short verbal descriptions of the information usually depicted in graphs. This system was used as a preliminary solution that was validated through a process of User Needs Analysis (UNA). This process provided some basic data on the needs of people with visual impairments in terms of the components and the language to be used for graph comprehension and also validated our initial approach. The UNA provided important directions for the further development of iGraph particularly in terms of interactive querying of graphs

Evaluating a tool for improving accessibility to charts and graphs

We discuss factors in the design and evaluation of natural language-driven assistive technologies that generate descriptions of, and allow interaction with, graphical representations of numerical data. In particular, we provide data in favor of 1) screen-reading technologies as a usable, useful, and cost-effective means of interacting with graphs. The data also show that by carrying out evaluation of Assistive Technologies on populations other than the target communities, certain subtleties of navigation and interaction may be lost or distorted.

Collaborative Events and Shared Artefacts: Agile Interaction Designers and Developers Working Toward Common Aims

Agile processes emphasize collaboration. We were interested in studying collaboration in agile teams including interaction designers, since the integration of user interaction design processes and software development processes is still an open issue. This study focused on designer and developer collaborations in the early stages of project work at four workplaces. We found designer-developer collaborations were extensive and we developed a categorization scheme of collaboration forms and artefacts that support this relationship. While some designer-developer collaborations were directed towards planning, which has been extensively researched, a larger part was directed towards realignment work. This latter type of collaborative work took three basic forms: scheduled, impromptu, and chats. Regardless of the form of collaboration, designer-developer interactions were mediated by twelve categories of artefacts. These artefacts helped designers and developers to determine, more specifically, what to create. We discuss the implications of our observations on alignment work for theory and practice.

Human performance in fault diagnosis: can expert systems help?

Abstract Two unrelated fields are compared within which fault diagnosis plays a significant role: medical and process control. It is argued that the diagnostic process may be seen to be very similar regardless of the domain of application, and that characteristics of human problem solving are common to all domains, including medicine and process control. However, it is shown that the kind of computer support needed to enhance diagnostic activities varies considerably between these domains. Judgemental biases and application of inappropriate heuristics are shown to be as prevalent among expert diagnosticians in both domains as among non-experts, and the complex concept of diagnosticity is apparently poorly understood. For that reason, medical experts need assistance in generating a wider range of hypotheses than they habitually consider and also in generating probabilistic information to supplement diagnostic performance. By contrast, multilevel displays that emphasize the relationship between critical variables in perceptually salient ways are needed to support process control operators.

Adventurers versus nit-pickers on affective computing

Abstract In reviewing the three articles presented by the MIT group on some aspects of affective computing I voice some of my concerns with the view that we can and should design computers to respond to our changing moods and whims, and my strong skepticism towards claims that such responsiveness should make us happier human beings in the long run. I first explain and justify my position, then briefly address the notion of affect, and finally, present some thoughts on trust.