Lecture by: Pontus Engelbrektsson Methods for Interaction analysis Chalmers University of Tehnology, 2012

1. Methods for Interaction
analyses
Pontus Engelbrektsson
pontus.engelbrektsson@chalmers.se

2. Aim of the course
The course focuses on methods and tools for the
analysis phase of the product development process, i.e.
the methodology usable in user centred product
development in order to elicit, analyse and represent
information about users and use for the development of
technical artefacts.
The aim of the course is that the participants shall
develop further knowledge on how to plan and carry
out a study for the elicitation of user requirements for a
products content and form, as well as a study to
evaluate different design concepts. This means that the
participants shall develop knowledge on what aspects
can influence the results of different types of studies.

3. Organisation
The course is organised with lectures,
seminars and a project where central themes
of the course will be put into practice.
Most of the theory will be presented early
on
Most of the learning will take place in the
project and through seminars where the
project will be discussed

4. Literature
•
Course literature
Engelbrektsson, Pontus, Enabling the user,
dissertation, Chalmers 2004
(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4903800/
Enabling_the_User.pdf)
6-8 scientific papers (will be uploaded to the
course web page)
Recommended reading
Interaction design - beyond human-computer
interaction (Sharp, Rogers & Preece)
•
•
•
•

5. The Project
a user study in three phases

6. The groups
•
•
You will found groups of 4 people
Each group will work separately, with the
same problem/product, but share
information and knowledge during three
seminars

7. The problem

8. Gain knowledge about
the use system
•
•
•
Who is using the product?
What are the goals of these people?
In what way does the current product
support or hinder these people to reach
those goals?

9. Use this information to
formulate requirements
•
How can one formulate requirements that
are useful for innovation and design?
•
How can one communicate these
requirements?
•
...

10. Create an innovative
solution
•
Based on your collective knowledge of the
users and their requirements you will
create solutions that fulfil those
requirements

11. Present the solution
•
And argue why your solution is a good one

12. Examination
•
The examination will be based on the project and a
short exam
•
The project will be graded on the planning report
and the results report
•
The grades for the project and the short exam will
be added. All parts must have a passing grade.
•
Active participation in the seminars is required for
a passing grade, we will take notes..
•
Grades: U (failed), 3, 4, 5

13. Schedule
Thursday
13.15-16
Friday
9.30-12.15
15/3
Introduction,Introduc PE
tion to project,
(OR)
Theory 1
16/3
Theory 2
Observation based
methods
22/3
Question based
methods
23/3
Mediating tools,
PE
choice of participants
29/3
No lecture, send in
project plan
30/3
Seminar, planning of
studies
4/4
Easter holiday
5/4
Easter holiday
12/4
Easter holiday
13/4
Easter holiday
19/4
Analysis
20/4
Context
MAK
26/4
Still Open
27/4
Short exam
PE
4/5
Seminar,
Requirements
11/5
Seminar, Results
3/5
10/5
Workshop
PE
PE
PE,
OR

14. Usability

15. What is a need?

16. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

17. Needs and the
fulfilment of needs
•
Maslow’s model have been criticised e.g. for
not taking the historic, social, or cultural
context to acount
•
It is necessary to differ between
•
•
need and the fulfilment of a need
need and the object of need

18. Tool/Product
Subject/User
Goal/Aim
The Use System

19. New values
”In the Human Ware
Age, the customers’
fascination with
technical functions has
shifted. Functionality,
reliability and cost,
have been replaced by
e.g. comfort,
enjoyment, satisfaction,
and usability.”
Competitive edge
Joy, pleasure
Usability
Advanced
technical functions
Technical functions
1970 1980
1990 2000
Year

20. The building blocks
• Process
• Staffing
• Methods
Customer orientation is
not only a matter of a
positive attitude towards
customers!

21. The new product development
process
1.
2.
3.
4.
Identification of opportunities
Design
Test and evaluation
Market introduction
Identification of
opportunities
Design
Test
Market introduction

22. The new product development
process
1.
2.
3.
4.
Identification of opportunities
Design
Test and evaluation
Market introduction
Identification of
opportunities
Design
Test
Market introduction

23. The new product development
process
1.
2.
3.
4.
Identification of opportunities
Design
Test and evaluation
Market introduction
Identification of
opportunities
Design
Test
Market introduction

24. Integrated product
Market oriented activities
Design oriented activities
Customer
needs
Production oriented activities
Financial/economic oriented activities

25. Early phases of product
Market oriented activities
Investigating
Customer
needs and
needs
requirements
Design oriented activities
Production oriented activities
Financial/economic oriented activities

26. Ease of change - cost of change
26

27. Staffing
•
•
•
•
Staffing - who?
Different competencies
Direct contact with customer/user
Cross-departmental (cf.integrated product
development)

28. Process
• Process - what?
• A separate process, of its own, with
allocated time and resources
• Structured, not ’ad hoc’

29. The Meta PRE Process
Collect
information
Analyse and
interpret
information
Problem identification
Verify
concepts and
requirements
Represent and
communicate
results
Formulate
requirements
Generate ideas & concepts
Choice of concept(s) and
development of PRE specification

30. The Meta PRE Process
Collect
information
Analyse and
interpret
information
Problem identification
Represent and
communicate
results
Understanding & consensus
Formulate
Verify
concepts and
requirements
requirements
Generate ideas & concepts
Choice of concept(s) and
development of PRE specification

31. The Meta PRE Process
Collect
information
Analyse and
interpret
information
Problem identification
Verify
concepts and
requirements
Represent and
communicate
results
Formulate
requirements
Generate ideas & concepts
Choice of concept(s) and
development of PRE specification

32. Methods for requirements
elicitation

33. Methods for requirements
elicitation
•
•
•
•
•
•
Interviews
Focus groups
Conjoint analyses
Observations
Questionnaire
…

34. Methods for analyses

35. Methods for analyses
•
•
•
•
•
KJ
Matrixes
Tree diagram
Fishbone diagram
…

36. Methods for communication

37. Methods for communication
• Requirements
specifications
• Mock-ups
• Prototypes
• Sketches
• Personas
• Scenarios
• Imageboards
• …

38. Communitcating the requirements
picture - The tram example

39. Why are methods important?
• System view
• Iceberg theory
• Kano-model

40. The use situation, the ’use
system’
Goal/Purpose/
Task
Environment
Customer/
User
Product/
Technology

41. The library example
•
•
•
•
New users
Experienced users
Staff
The library as an
organisation
• The University
• ….

42. The Iceberg Phenomenon
• Only a very small
amount of the total
list of customer
requirements are
immidiately
available (or
available through
the traditional
market study)

43. The Iceberg Phenomenon
• Only a very small
amount of the total
list of customer
requirements are
immidiately
available (or
available through
the traditional
market study)
Requirements of which the customer is
aware, problems that the customer wants
solved, solutions identified in other products

44. The Iceberg Phenomenon
• Only a very small
amount of the total
list of customer
requirements are
immidiately
available (or
available through
the traditional
market study)
Requirements of which the customer is
aware, problems that the customer wants
solved, solutions identified in other products
Requirements assoc. with problems of
which the customer is not aware due to
habits, compensating behaviour

45. The Iceberg Phenomenon
• Only a very small
amount of the total
list of customer
requirements are
immidiately
available (or
available through
the traditional
market study)
Requirements of which the customer is
aware, problems that the customer wants
solved, solutions identified in other products
Requirements assoc. with problems of
which the customer is not aware due to
habits, compensating behaviour
Emotional and semantic requirements

46. The Iceberg Phenomenon
• Only a very small
amount of the total
list of customer
requirements are
immidiately
available (or
available through
the traditional
market study)
Requirements of which the customer is
aware, problems that the customer wants
solved, solutions identified in other products
Requirements assoc. with problems of
which the customer is not aware due to
habits, compensating behaviour
Emotional and semantic requirements
Requirements assoc. with culture and
socio-historical aspects

47. The Iceberg Phenomenon
• Only a very small
amount of the total
list of customer
requirements are
immidiately
available (or
available through
the traditional
market study)
Requirements of which the customer is
aware, problems that the customer wants
solved, solutions identified in other products
Requirements assoc. with problems of
which the customer is not aware due to
habits, compensating behaviour
ê ê ê
ê ê ê
Emotional and semantic requirements
Requirements assoc. with culture and
socio-historical aspects

48. The KANO model
• The Kano model
proposes three types of
need and requirements
that need to be
addressed from a
competitive perspective
§ Basic needs/
requirements
§ Performance needs/
requirements
§ Excitement
needs/
requirements

49. The KANO model
• The Kano model
proposes three types of
need and requirements
that need to be
addressed from a
competitive perspective
§ Basic needs/
requirements
§ Performance needs/
requirements
§ Excitement
needs/
requirements

50. The KANO model
• The Kano model
proposes three types of
need and requirements
that need to be
addressed from a
competitive perspective
§ Basic needs/
requirements
§ Performance needs/
requirements
§ Excitement
needs/
requirements

51. The KANO model
• The Kano model
proposes three types of
need and requirements
that need to be
addressed from a
competitive perspective
§ Basic needs/
requirements
§ Performance needs/
requirements
§ Excitement
needs/
requirements

53. Three types of requirements
• Captured requirements
– (Swe:”Fångade krav”)
• Elicited requirements
– (Swe:”Framlockade krav”)
• Emergent requirements
– (Swe:”Framväxande krav”)

54. Choosing method

55. Four choices!
•
•
•
•
Data collection method
Participants
Context
Mediating object / stimuli

56. Data collection method
• Qustion-based or observation-based?
• Qualitative or quantitative?

57. Participants
• Statistical or theoretical?
• Representative or critical?

58. Context
• Real use environment or a created use
environment?
• Customer’s context or developer’s context
or neutral context?

59. Contextual approaches
• Needs and requirements are expressed in
different ways
–
–
–
–
As problems, comparisons, assumptions
As behaviour, actions and interactions
As requirements and wishes
As solutions

60. • The customer rarely verbalizes real needs and
requirements
• The customer may have difficulties formulating
(technical) requirements and solutions
• It is easier to describe problems, i.e. a need in terms of
unsatisfaction, rather than describe the solutions to the
problem

61. • Trend: leaving traditional market surveys
for qualitative, contextual studies
– E.g. ”Emphatic design”
– E.g. ”Contextual inquiry”
• A unique offer requires unique knowledge
requires unique methods

62. Mediating tool
• Mediating tools
– Questions/probing
– Product representations
• Sketches
• Models
• Prototypes
– Other
• Pictures, paintings
• Stories
• Film, music …

63. Customer Orientation
A
“… cognitive-emotional concept, i.e. a general positive
attitude towards customers.”
or
"… an organization's customer-orientation performance
will depend on the type of definition it adopts in relation
to how it perceives its customers, the nature of sensitivity
it shows in creating customer service mentality, the type
of measurement technique it utilizes, and the
implementation mechanism it applies."

64. A matter of attitude and
awareness
• “We are definitely customer-oriented. Our
only problem is all those customers
complaining all the time!”
• “We definitely know what our customers
want. We have produced the same
product for years and years!”

65. Listen to the voice of the
customer!
• Listen to …? Definitely ! but not
necessarily do as told …
– What the customer verbalizes is not
necessarily what the customer wants nor
needs.

66. The low floor example
• “We want a low floor
tram!”
• “What are those
boxes in the floor?
Get rid of them!”
• “It’s scary to look up
at the cars”
• “The new tram is
noisy and
unconfortable”

67. Pre-requisites
• An awareness of that (many) customer/user requirement are
difficult to elicit.
• Employment of not only traditional marketing studies but also of
other and complementary methods: such as contextual
methods.
• Market communication during the entire development process:
from needs è to idea generation è to final solution.
• Cross-functional, integrated development teams throughout the
process.

68. •
A systematic and continuous process rather than an occasional, ad
hoc event è a process for ’managing customer requirements’
• A stronger focus on the customer and the customer’s problem and
less on, e.g., benchmarking.
•
•
Not ”What do you want?” but ”What problems can we solve?”
A clear image of the customer - ”Who is our customer?”

69. • For
• With
• By

70. Customer focus
• For
• By
• With!
– Need a process!

71. Considerations (1)
•
•
•
Customers/users have difficulties formulating (technical) requirements on solutions. It
is easier to describe problems.
Only a small part of the whole set of requirements is (at least immediately)
accessible.
Requirements for solutions are expressed in many different ways: as descriptions of
problems;
– as comparisons;
– as assumptions;
– as (compensating) behaviours;
– as actions;
– as requirements;
– as solutions

72. Consideration (2)
• Requirements do not emerge in a vacuum
• They emerge in a situation, ”the use
situation”, the ”use system”
• The method(s) chosen must be able to
grasp this system

73. Consideration (3)
Choosing method is a matter of four different
choices
•
•
•
•
Data collection method
Participants
Context
Mediating object / stimuli

74. Business Decision Cycle
Scan
environment
Generate
options
Select
option
Evaluate

75. Business Decision Cycle
Scan
environment
Generate
options
Select
option
Evaluate
Method
Method
Method
Method

76. Business Decision Cycle
Purpose?
Purpose?
Purpose?
Purpose?
Method?
Method?
Method?
Method?

77. Business Decision Cycle
Identify ...
Describe ...
Define ...
Explore ...
Evaluate ...
Test ...
Measure ...
Track ...
Customer
visit
Focus
group
interviews
Surveys
Secondary
research

78. Business Decision Cycle
Identify ...
Describe ...
Define ...
Explore ...
Evaluate ...
Test ...
Measure ...
Track ...
Exploratory Confirmatory
Customer
visit
Focus
group
interviews
Surveys
Secondary
research
t

79. Business Decision Cycle
Identify ...
Describe ...
Define ...
Explore ...
Evaluate ...
Test ...
Measure ...
Track ...
Diverging Converging
phases phases
Customer
visit
Focus
group
interviews
Surveys
Secondary
research
t

80. The stages of the NPD process
Identify
needs
and req.
Generate and
assess ideas
Choose and
develop concept
Detailed
design
Prototype
....
....
....

81. The stages of the NPD process
Identify
needs
and req.
Generate and
assess ideas
Choose and
develop concept
Detailed
design
Prototype
....
....
....

82. The stages of the NPD process
Identify
needs
and req.
Generate and
assess ideas
Choose and
develop concept
Detailed
design
Prototype
....
....
....