Its Pseudoscience!

I read with great interest the article on graphpaper.com.

Now, during the entire course of NM4210, we are guided to be very methodical in designing user experience. First, identifying the issue, then finding the root of the problem, user needs analysis and so on. That's perfectly fine. So based on that can we conclude that user experience design should only be based on quantitative research?

This is where I agree with the author. I mean, History as a subject has always been fascinated by facts. However, the way the different scholars put together historical happenings to reconstruct what happened continues to be of much academic fascination today and this can be the same for most of the social sciences. Even economics, with its jargon, technical data and fancy graphs, leave itself to the mercy of the economist to be deciphered.

You need to have a method to research but what goes in between, can be entirely subjective. You can design successive steps in which the user goes through during evaluation, but remember, although a target user, he or she is also an individual with unique cognitive and reasoning faculties. That's where a little flexibility and creativity goes hand in hand with straight up scientific methods to find out what the user really wants out of his experience with a product.

Probably most of us miss the essence of user experience design. It's all about the USER and not about "who said we should use what method". We should employ all (legal and moral) means necessary to know the user and what he/she wants and only then, we can even begin to think about crafting a creative, workable solution to provide him with a pleasurable user experience.

Improving the LT Learning Experience

Before we began this experiment, we already knew that to improve learning experiences in LTs, we had to experience it ourselves. Now being students, we have obviously experienced it many times before, however this time around, we have to be acutely aware of the sensory experiences as to capture the little nuances that affect learning in an LT. Hence, the only research method that presented itself strongly was an anthropological study, while other methods seemed secondary.

Secondly, we had to decided on a framework on which to base our observations on. As mentioned in class earlier, frameworks do not give an insight into user experience but merely a way of organising thoughts. Hence, given our experience in using the four pleasure analysis and the way it succintly captures the essences of user experience, we decided to modify this framework a little to support our observations. Hence, we looked at four aspects of a user experience in an LT:

Physiological
Pyschological
Sociological
Ideological

Research Methods
We observed a two hour lecture on Social Pyschology of New Media and it was ironic that the lecturer was talking about user experience too. After a careful one hour of being silent observers and taking down copious notes, we took pictures to document our study as well as conducted an informal survey with the students afterwards.

Observations/Findings
Of course, the easiest improvements we found that could be made ties in with Maslow's Theory of consumer needs which put physiological needs first. A more comfortable environment such as bigger seats and aisles definitely would have a positive impact on the students' experience in the LT. However, problems came when we looked at the other three aspects of user experience. For example, a sociological consideration would be the distance between the student and lecturer. Some students feel more comfortable sitting at a far distance from the lecturer, however, some lectures are more effectively delivered in a smaller physical setting (Pyschological consideration). Hence, there is a clash of a sociological (cultural) and a learning (pyschological) need.

More improvements, as presented by other teams, presented more of a cultural problem rather than a technological one. For example, 8am lectures are empty because students arrive late. While the symptom is latecoming, the root cause is actually, a lack of respect for time and the lecturer, which requires a change in mindset rather than a technological solution. Talking in class also provides a negative learning experience, however, the solution to it is more cultural than technical. The sheer impossibility of a technological solution is highlighted by another group's idea of a glass bell covering the offending student and a voting system (which I feel will disrupt the class flow.

Conclusion
Hence, we find that many factors affect learning experiences in LTs. We have to consider the smorgasbord of students with different learning attitudes, the different aspects that come into play, choosing the lesser of two evils when it comes to making solution choices and we also have to take into consideration the lecturer as well, his/her experience in the LT to add to the learning experience of the students. Therefore, we concluded that physiological needs must be met first as a basic solution across the board. And if time and money allows, there is no choice but to invest in bespoke facilities that tailors as closely as possible to the student, academic and pedagogical considerations as we have found out throught this experiment, it will never be a perfect fit.

Four Pleasure Analysis

Let me tell you a story.

It is about Mike, a 20 year old who studies engineering at a local polytechnic. I wouldn't say he is a hard working student, but Mike puts his effort into the things he love, like sports and music. For example, he is captain of the dragonboat team and he trains three times a week with the team. On weekends, he is a DJ at a local club where he spins the latest tunes. He is very particular about his DJ equipment and likes tinkering with the latest technology. He doesn't drink or smoke, but uses his music to relax.

Mike is seen to be a trend leader in his circle of friends. People look up to him because he is so successful in what he does. Mike realises this and takes very seriously about the products he uses and the clothes that he wears. Mike is also the envy of his peers because Mike is dating an air stewardess, a 22 year old he met at a club.

Mike dreams of setting up his own club after he finishes NS. His parents are retired teachers so they are unlikely to finance his dreams. Looks like Mike will have to work really hard after national service to realise his ambition of being an entrepeneur.

Four Pleasure Analysis

Physio Pleasure: Vigorous physical exercise for health benefits and relaxation, music for leisure.

Socio Pleasure: Opinion leader, dependent on social approval, high social standing amongst friends

Pyscho Pleasure: Stress relieve, ambitious achiever, self driven, likes to experiment

Ideo: Trendy, metrosexual, physical prowess

With this analysis of Mike, we can now prepare product benefit specifications of a handphone to target such a user like Mike.

Product Benefits
- Physio: Product must be tough, with sports functions to enable Mike to use during trainings and allow him to achieve sporting goals. Plus it must be a capable music player, so that Mike can take his music anywhere he goes, as music is important to him for both work and play.

- Socio: This phone must look sporty yet trendy at the same time and make Mike the envy of his friends. It must follow the latest trends (e.g. Ipod).

- Pyscho: Mike loves to be in control of his equipment, and will have great satisfaction in using a product with many programmable functions that allow him to control how this product works, almost to a bespoke quality. Figuring out how to use it should give great satisfaction to Mike as it should require a certain sense of cognitive ability.

- Ideo: This product should reflect Mike as a ambitious high achiever which believes in both form and function. This phone also should be priced to reflect Mike's burning desire to achieve the finer things in life.

A phone with similar qualities as above would look like this:



Its a stylish black, white and grey which denotes elegance and never goes out of style. Slim, sleek and stylish form lends to its credibility as a design leader. Yet the phone is tough with many functions and features including a full feature MP3 player. Plus, its not a Nokia or a Sony, giving it an exclusive niche appeal. This is the perfect phone for Mike.

UX Methodology (2)

I love bikes, bicyles that is, not the motor powered kind. Some people don't get how bicycles can cost up to few thousands of dollars and some biycles with fancy carbon and titanium bits and exotica Italian components could cost tens of thousands of cold hard cash. So what makes people shell out the money they do for biycles? One of the factors is design, and here are three bikes which evokes three different levels of emotional processing in the human brain.

Visceral Design



This is a Swiss made BMC time trial bike, built for the most insane speeds humanly possible. Like the cliche goes, this bike looks fast standing still. The frame is sculpted out of carbon fibre and its aggressive lines and paint job stirrs the animal in me (haha). This reminds me of a cheetah, crouched and ready to make that lung bursting dash to capture its prey. However, due to the design of this bike would not make a good everyday bike, for that trip to the market or cycling along ECP.

Behavioural Design



Now think of this as your Toyota Corolla. Made from US steel and Japanese components, every part of this bicyle screams Function rather than Form. It has an acceptable aesthetics form but bordering on the BORING. A workhorse but boring nonetheless. This bike would give you thirty years service no problems, but would you want to keep it that long ?

Reflective Design



Now this is my bike. I love its aerodynamic form and killer paint job. It looks fast and it is fast (well, not that fast if I'm riding it). It has all the right curves, branding and componentry that has all the show off values. It is a joy to own not least because a majority of cyclists think it is a great bike to ride and own. Not trying to argue with Lance Armstrong, seven time Tour de France champion, who said that it is not the bike, but the rider that determines winning. But looking at my bike, I'm sorry My Armstrong, sometimes it IS about the bike ;).

Sony PlayStation Portable: A Bad Design?

With over 6 million sold, there is no doubt about the popularity of the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP). A portable game machine that possesses both the advanced graphics to satisfy the gaming geeks and cool looks to attract the fashion slaves (that's me of course), Sony have a winner in its ranks.



Almost two years after its launch, I decided to jump on the bandwagon and immerse myself in the then alien portable gaming culture. However the user experience has proved less than satisfactory for me. The main irritant to me was the actual use of the machine. In normal gameplay, my hands are in a reasonably neutral position and the machine is quite comfortable to use for a while. My thumbs easily cover and are able to use the keypad and action buttons on the left and right of the screen.



However, the PSP posseses this small, tiny directional button located on the bottom left edge of the machine. This little plastic piece caused more damage to me than when I was trying to defend a bridge crucial to Allied weapon supplies from crazy German soldiers wielding MP40 submachine guns and Panzerscheck tank killers (in the game of course).



What it made me do was I had to contort my hand in an unnatural position just to be able to access the button, let alone comfortably controlling Ronaldinho to dribble past five defenders and unleash a screamer into the top left hand corner of the goal.



While, the use of the directional button varies in intensity and frequency depending on the game being played, I recommend doing away with it as it makes playing the PSP uncomfortable after a half hour or so. I consider myself to have small hands so people with larger hands I would imagine would experience a greater discomfort than me.

Even worse, in the heat of virtual battle, users might ignore the discomfort in order to achieve the game objectives which will lead to serious health issues like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome or other various nerve impingment problems. Control of the games can still be enhanced using the keypad instead which provides a more natural position for the hands.

But of greater importance to the gaming geeks, this particular aspect of the user experience could mean life or death in the (virtual) battlefield.