Information &
Interaction Design
Fall 2005
Bill Hart-Davidson
Session 2: Team & Project intros;
Activity Analysis; Phase 1 presentation
and Memo guidelines;
Today in Class…
Teams discuss project ideas (part 1)
 Exercise 1: Activity Analysis
 Guidelines for Presentation #1
 Guidelines for Requirements memo

Remember Activity…
Consider 3 levels of action:
1. Activities that are motivated
2. Action that are goal oriented
3. Operations that have conditions
Note that most complex activities are
comprised of all three…so…
Tell us about your project
What…
1. Activities go on there?
2. Actions make up those activities?
3. Operations characterize the
specific conditions?
What do you aim to transform and why?
Observing
Activity: The
Steps
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Identify Activity
Select Instances
Initiate Contact
Plan Observation
Observe
Document
Mediation
Follow Up
Interview
Begin with your Project: An
Activity and a Problem
A general sense
of what your
activity is…
Filing run
reports to
support
emergency
911 calls
A general problem
users are having:
How can EMTs more
easily, accurately
record patient
information on
emergency runs
Identify An Opportunity &
Target User Group
A general sense of
the technological
solution:
A way to extend
current PDA
technology to the
emergency care
market.
Describe user
group in some
detail…who? In
what kind of
situations?
EMT’s on
emergency runs…
Think about Actions & Activity
What would
Why would
participants be
participants be
doing when they
taking these
use this HCI?
actions?
Going on a call,
How
does
patient
info,
taking patient
documentation, etc.
history,
administering care, help them to provide
care & transport for
documenting
services
patients?
Target the Activity to Observe
Participants + Actions + Activity
We will observe (participants)
doing (actions) for the purpose
of (activity).
We will observe EMTs going on a call
to provide care and transport for
emergency victims
Choosing Mediations to Watch
At any given time in
culture, expect to
find:
– high-tech
instances: activity
mediated by state
of the art
technologies
– low-tech instances:
activity mediated
with legacy tech
Low-tech instances
represent
the opportunity
the market & its
problems
High-tech instances
represent
current directions
the competition &
its mistakes
Choose Low Tech
Less constrained by leading
edge solutions
 More free to innovate
 Currently, some EMTs use
PDA’s; most use paper forms
 Observe EMTs using paper
forms

For Assignment next week:
Identify
participants,
actions and
activity that
you will
target with
your HCI
design.
You’ll be doing 1
observation for
homework next
week, then 2-3 more
for your
requirements phase
report
Locate & Group Participants
Who
– might use
this HCI?
– is my real
user?
– Is available,
willing,
interested?
Group by
– experience
– gender
– affiliation
– interest
– or any other
relevant
attribute
Selecting
Participants
multiple observations
or
of the same kind of
participant
Typical
Critical
Advanced X, Y, Z
Beginner
x
x
single
observations
of several
kinds of
participants
Choose your
own user
attributes
For Assignment next week:
Teams of 2
should
observe 2
instances;
teams of 3-4
should do 3
instances
You’ll be doing 1
observation for
homework next
week, then 2-3 more
for your
requirements phase
report
Introduce Your Purpose
I
am ___
 Working on a project
 Want to understand how ___
 You look like a good person
to talk to because ____
 Would you be willing to
help?
Identify What You Want
 Watch
you ___
 Collect some samples of ___
 Interview you ___
Inquire about Frequency,
Duration and Scheduling
How long does a typical run
take?
How often do you go on one?
When do they usually occur?
Your Purpose: When can I
observe?
Inquire about Partners &
Others
 Are
there others along with
you on runs? Who are they?
 Your Purpose: Are there
others that I must arrange
with?
What to watch: a working session
2 hours or less
 typical for the
participant
 results in an
identifiable product or
outcome by which
success can be
measured
 occurs frequently

Be sure to get
permission
ahead of time!
Try out recording
practices first too,
rehearse if you
can
Recording Practices
 tape
recording
 video recording
 note taking
 screen capture
(download.com)
 timing
technology
Note taking is the
primary goal
here, all of the
other tools
should help you
take accurate
notes…
When you
start…
 Define
purpose
 Review available
artifacts and tools
 Get permission to
record on site
 Start recording
Here’s where
having a predesigned note
format and a
rehearsed
procedure will
help!
Take Time-Stamped Notes
On comments
On actions:
representing
12:31:
goals,
opened file
concerns
“My
12:32: “Just
schedule”
trying to
remember
where I
was”
On changes
in
mediation
12:37:
Reaches
for piece
of paper,
Memo
dated
12/12/97
Time-Stamped Notes, 2
On artifacts
On comments
produced
of emotion:
12:50:
12:39: “wow,
created
there are,
new to-do
like, a ton
list, called
of buttons
do1/22/20
here!”
001.doc
On task
success &
failure
12:52:
overwrote
to-do list
file
Collect & Duplicate Artifacts
Get copies of
initial and
revised files
 screen dumps
 xeroxes of all
papers
consulted
 xeroxes of all
paper written on

Try to match up
artifacts & tools –
take note of tools
used and any
interactions that
seemed important
The follow up interview, 1
Used to:
 confirm routine
I saw you doing X,
activity, mediation, is that typical?
and outcome
 Explore alternate
What happens
conditions &
when the phone
scenarios
rings in the middle
of X?
The follow up interview, 2
Used to:
 Get personal
history
How long have
you been doing X
this way?
Is this way of
 Get institutional
doing X a
history
standard way?
The follow up interview, 3
Used to:
What would you
 Identify
like to do
dissatisfaction & differently?
problems
Are
there
any
 Explore plans for
plans to change
future changes
X?
Products of Your
Observation
1. Time-stamped
notes
2. Documentation of
tools and artifacts
3. Personal and
Institutional History
A basis from
which to do
further UserNeeds Analysis,
and to begin
your design
work…
Analyzing
Observation
Data
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Identify actions
Note Duration
Construct
Activity Graph
Assess
Typicality
Identify
opportunities to
develop task
support
Identify Actions
Segment notes at
changes in
participants, acts,
or tools
 Name and define
the action to
answer the
question “What?”
 Use a single set of
categories

An action is
1.
a set of
operations
2.
by a distinct set
of participants
3.
using a distinct
set of artifacts
and tools.
Raw Data 1
16:07
16:10
16:11
16:13
Joe closes door; leaves
station
Joe writes on run report:
dispatch information
Carla prepares equipment
for possible cardiac
arrive at 2 family house
Raw Data 2
16:14
16:15
16:16
16:20
16:21
woman crying about
husband inside
man found lying in bed
Carla takes first vitals;
look okay
man moved to stretcher
Carla asks wife some
questions; doesn't write
Name:
Riding
Segmented data 1
Definition: going to the scene prior to
arriving at the scene; minimal
writing to record dispatch
information
Segmentation
16:07
Joe closes door; leave
station
…..
16:13
arrive at 2 family house
Name:
Routine
Care
Segmented data 2
Definition: providing treatment to
patient and filling out some parts of
run report
Segmentation
16:13
arrive at 2 family house
….
16:44
Joe calls in; gives patient
information
Tricky things about actions…
 Watch
for
actions
embedded in
other actions
 Pay attention to
the way tools are
associated with
actions
 Keeping
a
running log of
events is
important, you’ll
need it to do
your duration
analysis later
Charting Duration: Your Log
CLOCK ACTION
16:07
16:13
16:44
16:46
16:53
MINUTES
RIDING
6
ROUTINE CARE 31
RADIO REPORT 2
ROUTINE CARE 7
F-TO-F REPORT 5
Calculate Percentage of Total
ACTION
RIDING
ROUTINE CARE
RADIO REPORT
ROUTINE CARE
F-TO-F REPORT
?/83 min
6 / 83
31 / 83
2 / 83
7 / 83
5 / 83
%
7%
37%
2%
8%
6%
Activity Graph
Radio
Report
Writing the Report
Oral
Report
Routine Care
Riding
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100 110
% %
Reading an Activity Graph
X axis = % of working
time
 y axis = activity
 length of the horizontal
=
relative duration of
action
 height of line =
type of action

The activity
graph gives
us a tool to
see patterns,
and a chance
to ask about
typicality
Why Use Graphs?
We graph multiple instances
to understand:
 Standard set of actions
 Standard order of actions
 Standard duration
 Standard onset
Use graphs to discover how
activity is developing:
 Direction
& reasons for
individual change
 Direction & reasons for
variations across institution
 Dissatisfactions, conflicts,
plans
Use Graphs to Guide Design
 Design
for what actions?
 Design with what mediation?
 Design with what
transitions?
 Design for what
contingencies?
Activity Homework: Basics
Post to your team page by next
week
 Present it to the class on 2/2
and be prepared to discuss

Components of Activity
Homework
For at least one set of notes on an
observation:
1. Segment your notes into actions
2. List and define each action and
its associated mediational means
3. Draw an activity graph of the data
4. Post these to your team page
Requirements Phase components
 Activity
Analysis
 Requirements Presentation
 Requirements Memo (draft for
consultation one week after
phase 1 presentation; final
due one week after
consultation)
Phase 1 Presentation: Content
Introduce team members
 Project Goal – What social practice
do you intend to transform?
 Background: project context
 Background: current scenarios of
use, users, and existing
technologies
 Preview of transformed scenarios of
use and technologies

Presentation Quality:
Preliminary Research

Project Goal – What social practice
do you intend to transform?
- other projects like this one?
- readings on issues involved

Background on project context
– Site visit, activity analysis, interviews

Background on activities, users,
and existing technologies
- pictures, sketches, documents,
etc. collected from current site
Presentation Guidelines
15 minutes, total
 Think 8-10 slides
 All group members participate

Peer Review
 Email
within 48 hours
 Copy to Bill
 Feedback should be designed
to be used in finalizing memo
Peer Review Content 1
Describe
– design as you understand it
– state of design work as you
understand it
 Evaluate
– major strength of design
– what you do not yet
understand

Peer Review Content 2
 Suggest
Changes
– what should team consider as
they take design forward
– recommend changes in
design and in design practices
– recommend specific ways to
improve the memo & line of
argument
The
Requirements
Memo
The Line of Argument: Parts
I. Introduction to the Design
II. Supporting Activity
Analysis
III. Scenarios of Current and
Transformed Use
IV Requirements & Issues
V. Potential Impact
I. Introduction to the Design
 Our
proposal is to develop X
HCI
 The Opportunity this HCI
addresses is Y (preview)
 Driving specifications
for this HCI are. (preview)
II. Supporting Activity
Analysis
 The
activity intended to be
transformed by this HCI is Z.
 Here are the participants we
choose to observe as they
engaged in this activity
and why we chose them.
Activity Analysis, cont.
 This
is an analysis of what
they did.
 This is the developmental
history of the activity.
 These are their current
goals, conflicts, and
dissatisfactions.
III. Scenarios of Current and
Transformed Use
 Based
on our observations,
we believe the following are
typical current scenarios of
this activity.
 Our HCI intended to create
the following transformed
scenarios for this activity
IV. Requirements and Issues
 To
produce these
transformed scenarios, our
HCI must meet the following
driving specifications.
 Issues to be addressed in
developing this HCI
concept are as follows.
V. Potential Impact
 The
potential impact for
these transformed scenarios
is A.
– Size of market
– Direction of market
– Revenue impact
…etc.
Next Week
 Phase
1 homework show-n-
tell
 Presentation logistics
 More on Dourish, Social
Computing, and Embodied
Interaction