Reseach of users experiences may come in two forms, Qualitative research and Quantitative research. What are the differences between these
Quantitative- Number and numerical data capture
Qualitative - Opinion, verbal and written viewpoints.
Quantitative data is used in situations where numerical analysis can happen. For example, the number of people that entered into a theme park (Link to Unit 3 Information Systems) can be recorded as a number and further broken down into subsets of data such as age category and or gender. This statistical data will be of benefit to a user as it will be able to direct them to the success or failings of focused areas.
The drawback to this sort of analysis is that it requires a large number of people to be sampled for the data to have strength. When looking to HCI and the use of things like the users interacting with the system it must be a large number of people used in the survey to give a representative measure.
Areas that can be used and referred to in quantitative measures of effectiveness could be;
Comparative Costs
Comparision
Comparison with other systems
Input Speeds
How long do you want to allow for your task
For Example:
I want the user to obtain the ticket price of the ‘Adel’ concert on the 29 May 2018
Keying speed
How many touches of the screen or clicks of the mouse do you want to allow for your task
For Example:
I want the user to obtain the location of the ‘Next’ store nearest to the stadium
Speed of comprehension of Output
How many errors (i.e. use of the back button due to wrong choices of button/icon) do you want to allow for your task
I want the user to obtain the telephone number of the ‘Frankie and Benny’s near the stadium
Evaluation of the running costs of the system may provide an increase costs in comparison to the system that was/is being replaced due to a range of factors. The costing of a system can require additional resources requirements. If a new system is created and relies on an existing system is there an increase in power costs as these systems may be required to run on bespoke hardware? Costs could be linked to staff required to maintain it and ensure its consistent operation.
The comparison of the product provided and the original needs of the client against is required and important as this will provide opportunities to identify how close to the product is to the requirements. Questions to ask are
The comparison of the product is required as this will reflect and compare the created system against that of the original or other systems, this will provide the basis of potential further and additional improvements. It is worth remembering however that the comparison of the systems may be unfair as running an interface on one old system may be slower than that of another more recent system.
User satisfaction
Customer or user satisfaction is always key in any and all systems. The feedback from these users is likely to be different based on a number of factors. These are;
Based on the above-identified areas is therefore vital to obtain as much feedback as is possible to provide a fair and accurate point of view from user interactions. Remember a key point, when constructing a survey do not overwhelm users with too many questions and possible answers.
Comparison with other systems
When gathering information from users it is recommended to present them with a question that is open. The question could be to ask them to compare the interface to others that they may have used previously. Another opportunity could be to get them to rank the interface against others and grade it on a scale.
The use of this open-ended questioning will enable the owners of the system to benchmark the system, and for them to make improvements. An example could be "What features of Windows XP are better in windows 10?"
Evaluation of interfaces
Once users have used the interfaces the use of a survey to capture the data will provide the owners with an opportunity to present this information in a graphic manner. Presenting this information in a quick and visible way will enable users/owners to make informed decisions based on the results.
Judgement of effectiveness
Using the previously mentioned areas, create a survey that you could use with a client to gather information on your systems. This document will provide the basis towards your assessment.
Links to Learning Outcomes |
Links to Assessment criteria |
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LO3 Be able to design and implement user interfaces |
LO3 Be able to design and implement user interfaces Learners will through the creation of documentation templates demonstrate undertanding of qualitative and quantitative research. |
Anonymous Assessment - Learners assess an anonymous piece of work containing deliberate mistakes against given success criteria.