Transcript Columbia University June 23, 2006 The Rat Is Never Wrong: An Introduction to the Methods of User-Centered Design Nancy Fried Foster, University of Rochester.

Columbia University
June 23, 2006
The Rat Is Never Wrong: An Introduction
to the Methods of User-Centered Design
Nancy Fried Foster, University of Rochester
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Images of badly designed items
–Juicer
–Elevator indicators
–Odometer
–Informational label on packing box
–Cleaning products
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Traditional approach
• Limited user input
• Mostly after
prototyping
Co-design approach
• User engaged from
the beginning
• “Discover” user
needs
• Refine with user input
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1. We know what they need.
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1. We know what they need.
2. What do they need?
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1. We know what they need.
2. What do they need?
3. What do they need to do?
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What do undergraduates
really do when they write
their research papers?
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Improve…
• Reference outreach
• Facilities
• Web presence
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Faculty Expectations
• Librarians talked with professors
• Hallmarks of a successful paper
• Common problems
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• Image of student dorm room showing
bookshelves
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• Image of a thumb drive as an example of
something “high tech”
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• Image of items that a student carries at all times,
including:
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Cell phone
Watch
Keys
ID bracelet
Wallet (showing drivers license)
Student ID on lanyard (also works as swipe card for
cafeteria and other campus purchases)
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• Photograph of “something weird”
– Staged card game using toy cards and other
props
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• Photograph of student dorm room showing
bunk beds, linens, various student items
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• Large printed maps on which students have
marked their routes through campus over
the course of one day
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• Large printed maps on which students have
marked…
– Places where they feel comfortable
– Places where they feel that they don’t belong or
should not go
– Places where they spend most of their time
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• Photo of a large-scale prototype of personal
electronic device, designed by students as a
warm-up activity in a web-design workshop
• Note: next slide was a similar photo
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• Large picture drawn by a student of her/his
ideal library space, created during a space
design workshop
• Note: next two slides were similar drawings
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
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Nancy Fried Foster, University of Rochester
[email protected]
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