Panel Report
Alan Borning, a Professor of Computer Science at UW, discussed One Bus Away, a project that he still directs and helps to manage to this date. It is an application that utilizes GPS data to determine an accurate estimate of how far away a bus actually is in real-time, opposed to the approximation provided by official schedules. In presenting this project, Borning demonstrated principles of user-centered design and value-sensitive design by showing how human values were considered in every step of the process in developing the application, and also demonstrated the complication of the professional world by showing how stakeholder values can come in conflict with those user-centered interests.
Laura Barboza, a Senior User Experience Researcher at Nordstrom Direct, demonstrated work that she managed for Nordstrom’s Anniversary Sale in testing the effectiveness of the Nordstrom website interface to determine whether or not it successfully conveyed the features of the sale and its effects on prices, the loyalty benefits of early access gained from being a member, and how to access the sale. The presentation showed not only just how complex a usability test is, but how many steps and revisions were required for making the final product, how deliberate many design choices were based on the insights provided by usability testing and an active demonstration of many of the techniques discussed previously commonly used with usability testing.
These two presentations clearly showed a real-world application of all the techniques that we have gained familiarity with throughout the course. They also showed ways that we could possibly improve on our base knowledge. For instance, in regards to Borning’s demonstration, One Bus Away, one recurring complication was the difficulty of considering the balance between efficiency in design and important human values. For instance, crowd-sourcing real-time data, although more effective than relying on GPA data, could raise privacy concerns. This is an important consideration that demonstrates the complexity of user-centered design, which exists beyond refining functions for efficiency or convenience. In regards to my own design for my Interaction Design project, it might be important to reconsider some of the functions that I have implemented for the sake of convenience, such as the automated geotagging, for the sake of not infringing on such important values. Barboza’s presentation actually made me reconsider one of the critiques of my group’s design of our usability test, which I felt lacked specificity in both tasks and questions. In Barboza’s usability testing, revisions were entirely guided by user suggestions and feedback, rather than specific metrics oriented around specific functions. Specificity isn’t necessarily fundamental for an effective and informative usability test.
