Chapter 3:

Understanding users
 Why do we need to understand users?
• Interacting with technology is cognitive
• We need to take into account cognitive processes involved and cognitive
limitations of users
• We can provide knowledge about what users can and cannot be expected
to do
• Identify and explain the nature and causes of problems users encounter
• Supply theories, modelling tools, guidance and methods that can lead to
the design of better interactive products
 What is cognition?

• Cognition is what goes on in our heads when we carry out our

everyday activities.
• It involves cognitive processes:
• thinking, remembering, learning, daydreaming, decision making, seeing, reading, writing
talking.

• Cognition has also been described in terms of specific kinds of

processes. These include:

– attention ,perception and recognition ,memory ,learning, problem solving, planning,

reasoning, decision making
 Cont…
• Norman (1993) distinguishes between two general modes: experiential
and reflective cognition.

• Experiential Cognition: state of mind in which we perceive, act, and react

to events around us effectively and effortlessly.

• It requires reaching a certain level of expertise and engagement.

• Examples include driving a car, reading a book, having a conversation, and playing a video game.

• Reflective cognition: Involves thinking, comparing, and decision-making.

• This kind of cognition is what leads to new ideas and creativity. Examples
include designing, learning, and writing a book.
 Attention

• Selecting things to concentrate on at a point in time from the mass of

stimuli
• Allows us to focus on information that is relevant to what we are
doing
• Involves audio and/or visual senses

• Information at the interface should be structured to capture users’

attention, e.g. use perceptual boundaries (windows), colour, reverse
video, sound and flashing lights
 Example

• An example of auditory attention is waiting in the dentist's waiting room for our
name to be called out to know when it is our time to go in.

• An example of attention involving the visual senses is scanning the football

results in a newspaper to attend to information about how our team has done.

• Attention allows us to focus on information that is relevant to what we are

doing. The extent to which this process is easy or difficult depends on

(i) whether we have clear goals and

(ii) whether the information we need is salient(‫ )نمایاں‬in the environment

 Information presentation
• The way information is displayed can also greatly influence how easy or
difficult it is to attend to appropriate pieces of information.
Cont…
 Activity

• Tullis (1987) found that the two screens produced quite different
results
– 1st screen - took an average of 5.5 seconds to search
– 2nd screen - took 3.2 seconds to search

• Why, since both displays have the same density of information (31%)?

• Spacing
– In the 1st screen the information is bunched up together, making it
hard to search
– In the 2nd screen the characters are grouped into vertical
categories of information making it easier
 Design implications for
attention
• Make information most important when it needs attending to

• Use techniques that make things stand out, like colour, ordering,
spacing, underlining, sequencing and animation

• Avoid cluttering(‫ )پھنسے ہوئے‬the interface - follow the google.com

example of crisp, simple design

• Avoid using too much because the software allows it

 Perception and recognition

• How information is acquired from environment, via the

different sense organs (e.g., eyes, ears, fingers) and transformed into
experiences

• Obvious implication is to design representations that are

readily perceivable, e.g.
– Text should be legible
– Icons should be easy to distinguish and read
Is color contrast good? Find
italian
Are borders and white space
better? Find french
 Design implications

• Representations of information need to be designed to be perceptible

and recognizable
• Icons and other graphical representations should enable users to
readily distinguish their meaning
• Bordering and spacing are effective visual ways of grouping
information
• Sounds should be audible and distinguishable
• Speech output should enable users to distinguish between the set of
spoken words
• Text should be legible and distinguishable from the background
 Activity

• Weller (2004) found people took less time to locate items for
information that was grouped
– using a border (2nd screen) compared with using color contrast
(1st screen)

• Some argue that too much white space on web pages is detrimental to
search
– Makes it hard to find information

• Do you agree?
Which is easiest to read and
why?

What is the time? What is the time?

What is the time? What is the time?

What is the time?

How many B’s
How many B’s
Memory
 Memory

• Memory involves recalling various kinds of knowledge that allow us to act

appropriately

• We don’t remember everything - (involves filtering to decide what information gets further
processed and memorized.)

• Another factor affection information retrieval is the context in which it is

encoded (i.e., where, when)

• Well-known memory phenomenon is that people are much better at

recognizing things than recalling things
– Better at remembering images than words
– Why interfaces are largely visual
 Processing in memory
Filtering:
•Encoding takes place, determining which information is attended to in
the environment and how it is interpreted.

•The extent to which it takes place affects our ability to recall that
information later.

•The more attention that is paid to something and the more it is processed
in terms of thinking about it and comparing it with other knowledge, the
more likely it is to be remembered.
– e.g., when learning about HCI, it is much better to reflect upon it, carry out exercises, have
discussions with others about it, and write notes than just passively read a book, listen to a
lecture or watch a video about it
 Processing in memory
Context (When, Where)

•Another factor that affects the extent to which information can be

retrieved is the context in which it is encoded.

•Sometimes it can be difficult for people to recall information that was

encoded in a different context from the one they currently are in.

– e.g., You are on a train and someone comes up to you and says
hello. You don’t recognize him for a few moments but then realize
it is one of your neighbours.
– You are only used to seeing your neighbour in the hallway of your
apartment block and seeing him out of context makes him difficult
to recognize initially
 Recognition versus recall

• Command-based interfaces require users to recall from memory a

name from a possible set of 100s

• GUIs provide visually-based options that users need only browse

through until they recognize one

• Web browsers, MP3 players, etc., provide lists of visited URLs, song
titles etc., that support recognition memory
• Recall from memory (command Based) VS GUIs (recoginizaton)
 File management (example)

• File management is a growing problem for most users

– Having vast numbers of documents, images, music files, video clips, emails,
attachments, bookmarks, etc.

• Major problem is finding them again.

– Naming most common means of encoding them

But
– trying to remember a name of a file created some time back can be very difficult,
especially when have 1000s and 1000s

How might such a process be facilitated taking into account people’s

memory abilities?
 Cont

• Mark Lansdale, a British psychologist suggested view to this process

as ,memory involves 2 processes
• recall-directed and recognition-based scanning

• Recall-directed: using memorized information about the required file

to get as close to it as possible

• Recognition-based scanning: When recall has failed to produce what

a user wants and so requires reading through directories of files
 Cont

• He proposed that file management systems should be designed to

optimize both kinds of memory processes

• Let users use whatever memory they have to limit the area being
searched and then represent the information in this area of the
interface so as to maximally assist them in finding what they need.
– e.g., Search box and history list
– color, text, icon, sound or image
Apple’s Spotlight search tool
 Design implications (Memory)

• Don’t overload users’ memories with complicated procedures for

carrying out tasks

• Design interfaces that promote recognition rather than recall

• Provide users with a variety of ways of encoding digital information to

help them remember where they have stored them
– e.g., categories, colour, flagging, time stamping
 The problem with the classic ‘72’

• George Miller’s (A psychologist) theory of how much information

people can remember

• People’s immediate memory capacity is very limited

• 7  chunks of information can be held in short memory at any one

time

• Many designers have been led to believe that this is useful finding for
interaction design
 What some designers get up to…

• Present only 7 options on a menu

• Display only 7 icons on a tool bar
• Have no more than 7 bullets in a list
• Place only 7 items on a pull down menu
• Place only 7 tabs on the top of a website page

– But this is wrong? Why?

 Why?

• Inappropriate application of the theory

• People can scan lists of bullets, tabs, menu items till they see the one
they want

• They don’t have to recall them from memory having only briefly
heard or seen them

• Sometimes a small number of items is good design

• But it depends on task and available screen estate

 Activity
• Try to remember the dates of your grandparents’ birthday

• Try to remember the cover of the last two DVDs you bought or rented
Which was easiest? Why?

• People are very good at remembering visual cues(‫ )اشارہ‬about things

– e.g., the colour of items, the location of objects and marks on an
object

• They find it more difficult to learn and remember arbitrary material

– e.g., birthdays and phone numbers
 Cognition Process

•Learning: How to use a computer-based application or

•using a computer-based application to understand a given topic
GUIs and direct manipulation interfaces
Training-wheels (basic to expert levels)
•Reading, speaking and listening: A number of special interfaces have been
developed for people who have problems with reading, writing, and speaking
•various input and output devices for disables to have access to the web and use
word processors and other software package

•Problem-solving, planning, reasoning and decision-making: include thinking

about what to do, what the options are, and what the consequences might be of
carrying out a given action
 Mental models

• Users develop an understanding of a system through learning

and using it
• Knowledge is often described as a mental model
– How to use the system (what to do next)
– What to do with unfamiliar systems or unexpected situations (how the
system works)

• People make inferences using mental models of how to carry

out tasks
 Mental models

• Craik (1943) described mental models as internal constructions of

some aspect of the external world enabling predictions to be made

• Involves unconscious and conscious processes, where images and

analogies are activated

• Deep versus shallow models (e.g. how to drive a car and how it
works)
 Everyday reasoning and mental
models

(a) You arrive home on a cold winter’s night to a cold house. How
do you get the house to warm up as quickly as possible? Set the
thermostat to be at its highest or to the desired temperature?

(b) You arrive home starving hungry. You look in the fridge and find
all that is left is an uncooked pizza. You have an electric oven.
Do you warm it up to 375 degrees first and then put it in (as
specified by the instructions) or turn the oven up higher to try
to warm it up quicker?
 Why do people use erroneous mental models?
• Many people have erroneous (‫)غلط‬mental models (Kempton,
1996)

• They are running a mental model based on a general valve

theory of the way something works
• more is more’ principle
• gas pedal, gas cooker, tap, radio volume
• more you turn them, the more water or volume is given
• However Thermostats based on model of on-off switch model
Designer materialises his mental model of a given design, which becomes the only
means of conveying his mental model to the user
 Incorrect mental models

• Using incorrect mental models is surprisingly common

Example

• People waiting for an elevator (lift). How many times do they press
the button? A lot of people will press it at least twice. When asked
why, a common reason given is that they think it will make the lights
change faster or ensure the elevator arrives
• Research has shown that people's mental models of the
way interactive devices work is:

• Poor, often incomplete, easily confusable, based on

inappropriate analogies and superstition (Norman, 1983)

• An alternative proposal is to design systems to be more

transparent, so that:

• easier to understand
• feedback in response to input
• right kind and level of information
 Exercise: ATMs
• Write down how an ATM works
– How much money are you allowed to take out?
– What denominations(‫?)مذمت‬
– If you went to another machine and tried the same what would
happen?
– What information is on the strip on your card? How is this used?
– What happens if you enter the wrong number?
– Why are there pauses between the steps of a transaction? What
happens if you try to type during them?
– Why does the card stay inside the machine?
– Do you count the money? Why?
 How did you fare?

• Your mental model

– How accurate?
– How similar?
– How shallow(‫?)کس طرح‬

• Payne (1991) did a similar study and found that people frequently
resort to analogies to explain how they work

• People’s accounts greatly varied and were often ad hoc

 Norman’s (1986) Theory of
action
• Proposes 7 stages of an activity
– Establish a goal
– Form an intention
– Specify an action sequence
– Execute an action
– Perceive the system state
– Interpret the state
– Evaluate the system state with respect to the goals and
intentions
 An example: reading
breaking news on the web
(i) Set goal to find out about breaking news
decide on news website
(ii) Form an intention
check out BBC website
(iii) Specify what to do
move cursor to link on browser
(iv) Execute action sequence
click on mouse button
(v) Check what happens at the interface
see a new page pop up on the screen
(vi) Interpret it
read that it is the BBC website
(vii) Evaluate it with respect to the goal
read breaking news
 How realistic?
• Human activity does not proceed in such an
orderly and sequential manner
• More usual for stages to be missed, repeated or out
of order
• Do not always have a clear goal in mind but react
to the world
• Theory is only approximation of what happens
and is greatly simplified
• Help designers think about how to help users
monitor their actions
 The gulfs

• The ‘gulfs’ explicate the gaps that exist between the user and the
interface

• The gulf of execution

– the distance from the user to the physical system while the second
one

• The gulf of evaluation

– the distance from the physical system to the user

• Need to bridge the gulfs in order to reduce the cognitive effort required
to perform a task
 Information processing
• Mind is an information processor

• The information processing approach is based on modeling mental

activities that happen exclusively inside the head.

• Conceptualizes human performance in metaphorical terms of

information processing stages
 Model Human processor
(Card et al, 1983)

• Models the information processes of a user interacting

with a computer

• Predicts which cognitive processes are involved when a

user interacts with a computer

• Enables calculations to be made of how long a user will

take to carry out a task
 MHP

• Responsible for transforming external environment into a form that cognitive system can
process
• Uses contents of WM and LTM to make decisions and schedule actions with motor system
• Translates thoughts into actions: Head-neck and arm-hand-finger actions
The human processor model
 External cognition

• Concerned with explaining how we interact with external

representations (e.g. maps, notes, diagrams, newspapers, web pages,)

• A main goal is to explicate the cognitive benefits of using different

representations for different cognitive activities and the processes
involved. The main ones include:
– externalizing to reduce memory load
– computational offloading
– annotating and cognitive tracing
 Externalizing to reduce memory
load

• Transforming knowledge into external representations to reduce memory

load

• we find difficult to remember, such as birthdays, appointments, and

addresses
• Diaries, reminders, calendars, notes, shopping lists, written to remind us

• Externalizing, help reduce memory burden by:

– Reminding to do something (e.g., to get something for mother's birthday)

– Reminding of what to do (e.g., to buy a card)
– Reminding of when to do something (send it by a certain date)
 Computational offloading

• When a tool is used in conjunction with an external representation to

carry out a computation (e.g. pen and paper)

• Try doing the two sums below:

– (a) in your head,
– on a piece of paper
– with a calculator.

234 x 456 =??

CCXXXIIII x CCCCXXXXXVI = ???

• Which is easiest and why? Both are identical sums

 Annotation(‫ )تشریح‬and
cognitive tracing
• Annotation involves modifying existing representations
through making marks
– e.g. crossing off, ticking underlining

• Cognitive tracing involves externally manipulating items

into different orders or structures
– e.g. playing scrabble, playing cards
 Design implication
• Provide external representations at the interface that
reduce memory load and facilitate computational
offloading

e.g. Information
visualizations have
been designed to
allow people to make
sense and rapid
decisions about
masses of data
 Distributed cognition

• Concerned with the nature of cognitive phenomena across individuals,

artifacts, and internal and external representations (Hutchins, 1995)

• Describes these in terms of propagation (‫ )تبلیغ‬across representational

state

• Information is transformed through different media (computers,

displays, paper, heads)
 How it differs from
information processing
 What’s involved

• The distributed problem-solving that takes place

• The role of verbal and non-verbal behavior

• The various coordinating mechanisms that are used (e.g., rules,

procedures)

• The communication that takes place as the collaborative activity

progresses

• How knowledge is shared and accessed