THF: Week 6: Bringing the ABCs together

This week, we will explore how to bring together many of the human factors we have explored in class. These include cognitive, behavioural and social factors. We will also think through what types of user studies might be appropriate depending on our interests and research questions. 

 

In preparation for the lecture, please read the following two pieces, which aim to add to the repertoire of human factors we have explored so far: 

 

1) Interaction design gone wild: striving for wild theory - Yvonne Rogers - https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1978822.1978834 

 

When we think about how human factors influence design, it is important to think about how humans act ‘in the world’ - that is beyond a controlled setting typical to traditional usability labs. This Interactions magazine piece explores the value of carrying out design and evaluative research ‘in situ’, in real world contexts, alongside theoretical considerations.

 

From Cross-Cultural Technology Design : Creating Culture-Sensitive Technology for Local Users by Huatong Sun - https://discovered.ed.ac.uk/permalink/44UOE_INST/7g3mt6/alma9924149460802466 

 

Culture can influence what we find usable, aesthetically pleasing or ‘well-designed’, alongside many of the ways we behave. This chapter provides an overview of how culture interplays with technology design, and the importance of considering culture when thinking about usability.