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1. What is usability? Know components: effectiveness, efficiency, satisfaction? Asnswer : Usability: The degree to which a product or service is easy to use, easy to learn, and optimized for efficiency ISO 9241-11 Guidance on Usability Extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction Effectiveness - Accuracy and completeness with which users achieve specified goals Efficiency - Resources expended in relation to the accuracy and completeness with which users achieve goals Satisfaction - Freedom from discomfort, and positive attitudes towards the user of the product

2. Know the definitions of gulf of execution and gulf of evaluation which is input, output? Answer: Gulfs of Execution and Evaluation----Distance: Gulf between users goals and knowledge and the way they must be specified to the system(s) -- Two components Gulf of Execution---input Distance between users goals and means of achieving them in the system Make commands and mechanisms of system (input) match goals and thoughts of user Gulf of Evaluation Output Distance between systems behavior and users goals Make output displays present a good mental model that is easy to interpret

3. Example of a mental model: thermostat? Mental Models: The Thermostat (1) The room is cold, the heat turns on The thermostat is at its usual setting Doyou Do nothing? Turn up the thermostat so itll get warmer faster?

Lecture 13-1 Slide 31 Mental Models: The Thermostat (2) Thermostat = Gas Pedal Turning it up makes the boiler work faster Thermostat = Switch Thermostat = Feedback System Feedback system with sensors Thermostat control set point Discrepancy between users model of system and actual system (designers model) can cause errors and usability problems Room becomes too hot What happens when the designers mental model does not match the users mental model?

4. What is iterative design? Iterative Design Gould & Lewis (1985) key principles Designing for Usability: Key Principles and What Designers Think. Communications of the ACM. 28(3), p. 300 Early focus on users and tasks Empirical measurement Iterative design Lecture 13-2 Slide 4 Iterative Design: The Principles (1) Early focus on users Must understand who the users are Cognition, behavior, anthropometry, social/attitudes Design team should have direct contact with users Interviews, discussions, observations Interviews should be conducted prior to system design Instead of developing a system and presenting it Users should participate in the design Not just sign off or review Empirical Measurement Users should use simulation sand prototypes onrealwork This should be done early in the development cycle Performance should be observed, recorded, analyzed Should measure learnability and usability Different from just watching how people use and react to the prototype

Iterative Design

5. What is usability testing?

S&M Chapter 20 Discrete-Action Classification: errors of omission, errors of commission, sequence and timing errors (book) Rasumssen: skill-based, rule-based, and knowledge-based behavior (book) What are slips vs. mistakes in Normans theory? (lecture) What are some ways to help prevent slips? What is the engineering definition of an accident? What are the theories of accidents: accident-proneness, individual characteristic, accident-liability, job demand, adjustment-to-stress, arousal-alertness, goalsfreedom-alertness? Which one is right? What is CFAC? Contrast warnings vs. instructions In what way is a warning the last resort? After what? What are the purposes of warnings? What are factors influencing the likelihood of a user noticing and heeding a warning? Elements of warning: signal word, hazard, consequences, instructions what are the 3 required components of an adequate warning? Levels of hazard (signal word): Danger, Warning, Caution Rules to promote understanding: use terms users understand, no double negatives or long complex language, use primary language, use good symbols Whats wrong with Ensure adequate ventilation? What is warning overload? Why do we see warning overload on products?