So you think your building design is awesome? Cool! - How did you test it? (Task Centered Usability Testing)

Testing designs can be an elaborate research project, or simple, easy, little activities that can ensure the design does what it is supposed to do. As architects we often think people will use our buildings just as we would. But how can we know unless we test it?

Task Centered Usability Testing is a simple group of tests that you can do throughout a design process. The main common feature is they are "task centered" - in that the user is asked to perform a task, and you record or document their progress to see if your design has any "bugs" or if there are improvements you can make.

A common method of recording data for this test is to use a "think aloud" approach, where they user just simply says what they are doing while they are doing it, and a person writes down what they said, or records it on video. Afterwards the test can be corroborated into a chart showing where the user may have had issues and where there can be improvements on the design.

Cognitive walkthroughs are when a user does a walkthrough but there is some level of imagination going on. If you need to use a prototype or paper version of your design, then people will have to use a level of imagination to "perform" your task. This is very similar to Architecture when we examine drawings or a model. Framing the walkthrough as a "task centered" approach could add to what is currently practiced - such as, if you designed a kitchen, you could ask a person to make a sandwich in your kitchen as see how easily they find ingredients or dishes. You could do this at IKEA and test "real" kitchens. You could make a simple experiment to see which layout works best for sandwich making. Quantitative data you could collect would include how many steps it took, or how long it took to do it. You could also just start with a drawing in plan, or a cardborad model and trace your movements around the room.

A pluralistic walkthrough is when a design is tested simultaneously by more than one person. This would be excellent in an architecture office. A groups of in-house designers take a in-progress set of design drawings and try to complete a task. They write down what they do and how, and before attempting a second task they discuss their findings as a group. This is similar to a group critic but focuses the discussion around usability, forces the designers to think like a user and promotes practical discussion. This would be a very easy way to structure a weekly design meeting at a large office.


Image from IKEA.com

Some fun links!

Article about a fellow CMD student in my program. So inspiring!
http://www.ucalgary.ca/utoday/issue/2015-09-18/researcher-explores-potential-mind-body-and-music-connection

A office in California using participatory design methods to engage communities, "Intercultural Urbansim":
http://www.placeit.org/gallery.html

University of Calgary Research Platform for evidence based design
http://makecalgary.com/

Civitas - Design team on St. Patricks Island
http://civitasinc.com/newsroom/

WArchitecture
http://www.w-architecture.com/studio/collaboration

Processing - Data visualization and basic learning, Participatorydesignand HCI

My programming class this week has been focused on learning the basics of Processing. I have been following some tutorials and reading the course manual. I am learning that the software can be used for Data Visualizations (see video below) for creating works of art, interactive installation and so much more. I am learning the basic language and since  the program is designed for creative people who dont have a background in computer science, the materials and tutorials are at a very simple level. I was following a tutorial with my nine year old, who promptly stole my laptop and started coding along with the video at his own accord. :)

I was able to view my instructor's art piece called "Disturbed System". See her website here. It was a cool interactive piece created from a 3D printer, that can be manipulated by the audience to create sound scapes. Pic is below!

I have been learning about the role of social behavioral pshycology in creating participatory design methods in Architecture. I am discovering that the role "community engagement" plays in architecture is slightly different than the role it plays in Computer Science. In software design there is an emphasis on testing. The focus around the end user involves testing the design in controlled settings to ensure it is having the desired affect. In Architecture it has come to mean that the end user actually  helps design, which can be helpful in some cases, but ends up being problematic in others. It results in jaded architects who are frustrated that their skills are being superseded by an untrained public, and a public, in turn, who feels the designers are not listening to them. Overall I think the inquiry of designers to truly figure out user needs, be able to test, analyze and present results would help.

That's it for this week!

Have a good day!

Angie

great Processing tutorial
http://hello.processing.org/editor/

Processing in Data Visualization
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5lRLA_Vn7o

Great Article on Participatory Design and its history
http://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/bitstream/handle/2152/28277/SpinuzziTheMethodologyOfParticipatoryDesign.pdf?sequence=2

Week 1!!

Week 1!

Hey all!

So the week has been very busy but so exciting.

I had my first two classes and found my office! My first course is in programming and it is taught by a PhD student in CMD named Oksana who is an installation artist doing work that uses technology. She has a show up next week at the University Gallery for Beakerhead. There will also be a lot of tech-based artists at the downtown Beakerhead in the next little bit. (see links below fo more info if you want to come- I highly recommend it!)

In this course we are using a software called "Processing". It is an open source simple programming tool, that was initially developed for artists who wanted to use technology and programming in their work.

In my second course on HCI (Human Computer Interactions) we learned a little about the history of HCI and the basic philosophy behind the design method. HCI approach actually started in the military, in airplane cockpit design. The interface for pilots was becoming so complex that there were accidents and pilots were making many mistakes. Cognitive Psychologists were hired to study the ways the pilots were thinking to help redesign the cockpit to make it more user friendly. This approach was successful and ended up being the foundation of human-based design that we have now. HCI incorporates psychology, anthropology, and ethnography in its methods.

Questions I am struggling with involve taking this approach, which is designed to help people avoid making mistakes, and applying it to architecture. Do we "use" architecture? Or do we experience it? How can we measure if it is working? Presumably it's success or failure is not as easy to measure as a cock pit, or software app...but does that mean there is no way to evaluate it's success?

See you next week. Things are about to get busy!!! Check out the links below. Especially the Moment factory one!

Thanks guys!


LINK ME UP!!!

Oksana!
http://library.ucalgary.ca/beakerhead

Beakerhead
http://beakerhead.com/

cute video about IDEO (HCI) design process
www.youtube.com/watch?v=M66ZU2PCIcM

The history of HCI (academic paper)
Carroll, John M. "Human-computer interaction: psychology as a science of design." Annual Review of Psychology 48 (1997): 61+. Academic OneFile. Web. 9 Sept. 2015.

Totally amazing design project using technology! - please watch!

http://www.momentfactory.com/en/project/street/Foresta_Lumina

First post - Before I start. What I think I might be studying. :)

Hello!!

I have decided to start this blog to let my family and friends know what I am am up to, and hopefully generate some dialogue about architecture and HCI.

I am starting a PhD program at the university of Calgary in Computational Media Design.

For the last ten years I have been working in architecture and have enjoyed aspects of community engagement, vision building and the design process. In my research I have come across the term "Human Centered Design" which is more often called "HCI - or "Human-Computer Interaction". I like that this process puts the end users of a "product" (or building) at the center of the design process. I like the concept that the process facilitates humility and requires designers to be objective, curious and empathetic.

HCI has been used in the computer industry for a long time and it has established methodologies and procedures that engage users, test products, prototype and iterate design concepts. The fact that the methods are so established, and have been in use for a long time provides a fair bit of experience that can benefit the architectural community engagement design process.

Of course my research will develop and will have various implications and challenges. Buildings are not Computer applications, but this does not mean there are not useful aspects of HCI that can help how architects engage users. The objective is that my research will be usable, practacle and responsible. Business practices, action-research and the dynamics of architectural industry will be important to my studies.

Thanks for watching and I am looking forward to hearing from you. I realize the awkwardness of posting videos about a topic I know nothing about, and of publicly revealing my limited knowledge of a subject, but I do so in the name of conversation and the need for research to be real, informed and engaged in the world. I am a child of my generation - I can't make any bold claims without having discussed it with you first!! I so appreciate your input!

Classes start next week, and I'll be taking my first Computer Science classes EVER! Yikes!

Be well!

Angie.

Some links I have been looking at lately

The biggest HCI conference: https://chi2016.acm.org/wp/

Where I first heard of "Human Centered Design : https://www.luma-institute.com/

Some great HCI based design companies: www.ideo.com, www.frogdesign.com, www.maya.com,

My program: http://www.ucalgary.ca/cmd/

Stanford design lab - design based in HCI concepts : http://dschool.stanford.edu/