Recap class (Week 10)

Today was the last class for the course, it was bittersweet but I can happily say I enjoyed the course and I learnt a lot of new things
We had a recap of all the various topics explaining their usefulness and also talking about the relation of the various topics with one another. We also discussed various questions in under the various topics.
I believe the usefulness of all this topics cannot be denied but the challenges arise when trying to define where they cross the line and when they become unethical.

We further discussed various areas of HCCS and its divisions;

•  Methods: 

1. Participatory Design
2. HCI in the wild

• Application areas:

1. Technology Enhanced Learning
2. Interactive Systems for health

• Approaches:

1. Ubiquitous Computing
2. Affective Computing
3. User Experience

Katie also explained the outline for our mini-projects which has resulted in me looking for more participants for my surveys, to enable me get tangible data.
The steps for writing the mini-project were explained, particularly in the gathering of data which entails the following steps;

• Setting Goals
• Identification of participants
• Choosing Methods

 The various methods that can be used for collection of data include;

• Interviews: This could be either structured or semi-structured.
• Questionnaires/Surveys
• User Diaries
• Observation
• Biometric Measures : An example is use of Eye tracking using webcam for observation 

I would be starting the writing of my report soon as I am still collecting my data, and I have to increase the number of my participants , which is going to be really difficult as I have to start looking for people to help out while also remembering to get their informed consent.
This course has enabled me understand the need to keep the user in mind when working on my designs and ensuring that the user experience is equally made as important as the usability of the design.

HCI "in the wild" (Week 9)

This is simply research done in a naturalistic or "real world" settings. This is particularly good for researches because it allows the observation of people in real situations and using the influence of time and location as a means to understand the actual reactions of people. The participant's response to events as they occur, enables researches to fully understand peoples' wants, needs, desires and frustrations in real time.
This is particularly important for researchers, to enable the development of products or services based on the actual needs of the client which are discovered through observation.
This is made of two parts:

• Collection of data through observation of people( which could include asking people questions formally or informally).
• Analyzing the patterns that emerge during the observations and using the data in a broader retrospect.

 Here is a video explaining the concept of observational research;

This particularly good for design processes, this is to enable the provision of solutions for actual needs of users and not what the users say they need.
Here is an example of the use of observational research;

Observations can lead to the collection of both quantitative and qualitative data. The methods used include;

• Concurrent Ethnography : This is the simultaneous research done with the design of a new system and usually a prototype is designed and improved upon based on the observations made.
• Evaluative Ethnography:  This is done to evaluate a new model or product.
• Quick and Dirty Method: This is usually used before other ethnographic research methods.
• Rapid Ethnography: This is the use a constrained focus, key informants, and multiple ethnographic observers to provide a useful understanding of people.
• Reexamining previous studies

HCI "in the wild" methods should be used in early stages of design to enable minimal waste of both design time and resources of  impractical designs.

The links for the key papers for this topic are;
https://studydirect.sussex.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=335542
https://studydirect.sussex.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=331479

Here is the link for the presentation;
https://studydirect.sussex.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=360190