How to be Critical

How to be Critical

1. Critiques

   • Collaborative with designer and critic
     • 2-way b/w designer and critic
     • Engage deeply
       • Critic should understand the design goals
   • Can lean on the negative side
     • "Hamburger" rule
       • add positive feedback before and after the negative feedback
   • Divergent - generate new ideas.
   • Convergent - suggest improvements to existing ideas.
   • Socratic Questioning
     • Questions that clarify
     • Question assumption
     • Quesitons that offer alternative perspectives
     • Questions that spell out implications and consequences
   • What is a good design?
     • Various Perspectives
       • Intuitive
         • Each not very well defined with their own inherent issues.
       • User friendly
       • Simple
       • novel
       • Powerful
       • Invisible
       • Universal
       • Just
     • Depends upon context of use

2. Empiricism

   • Usability tests
     • Low cost
     • Identifies breakdowns
     • Essential steps
       • Representative users
       • User tasks
         • Define confidential interface goals
       • Path to the goal
       • Retrospective interview
       • Feedback
   • Technology probe
     • Ecological validity
   • Experience sampling
   • A/B Tests
     • Control
     • Experiment
     • Not trustworthy

3. Analysis

   • Heuristic Evaluation
     • Learnability
     • Design Heuristics
       • Visible state
       • Real-World match
       • User control/freedom
       • Consistency/Standards
       • Error prevention
       • Recognition vs. recall
       • Flexibility
       • Error recovery
   • Cognitive walkthrough
     • 1. Select a task
       • Will the user try to achieve the right effect?
       • Will the user notice that the correct action is available?
       • Will the user associate the correct action with the effect that the user is trying to achieve?
       • f the correct action is performed, will the user see that progress is being made toward the solution of the task?
     • 2. Obtain a prototype
     • 3. Develop a persona
     • GenderMag alternative
       • User’s motivations
       • User’s information processing style
       • User’s computer self-efficacy
       • User's learning strategy