Due: Tue, Jan. 31st (23:59:59)
Objective:
Practice basic comparative analysis of user interfaces
Instructions:
Identify 2 different tasks related to finding information about movies, such as:
- Find a convenient playing time and location of <insert a current movie name here>. To be realistic, the playing time should be a time and location when you actually would want to go see the movie, perhaps on this Friday night.
- Find a newly released movie of a specific genre <e.g. SciFi/Fantasy movies> that plays in your area and has better than average critic/moviegoer reviews.
Try to make both tasks feasible and meaningful (a task you and your friends often carry out). As in the above example, make one task a straightforward one, and one a more complicated (but still feasible using the resources you test). Use introspection and interview your friends to come up with your specific two tasks (see Section 2.3.2 DTUI). They should be representative for looking up movie information.
Recruit some friends to perform these tasks using each of these 3 different systems (or substitute your favorite systems):
- 1-800-555-TELL
- www.fandango.com
- www.moviefone.com
For each system and task, write down the total time (in seconds) it takes to perform the task. You should repeat the trials with at least 3 different people (including yourself) so that you have several timings for each system-task pair. Randomize the order that your subjects perform the systems and tasks to mitigate learning effects. You should make yourself the first test subject, because for your observations of your friends you need to familiarize yourself with the capabilities of each interface, and you shouldn't have special practice before your trial. Observe the interactions ("trials") of your subjects with the different systems and record any problems/errors with the use of the systems. For each user you have to control for their familiarity with a specific system, so make sure you assess their "expertise" with movie information systems in general and their familiarity with each specific system before the trial.
Collect all the data into a spreadsheet.
Analyze the data and make conclusions about the user interfaces of the systems. How do the different user interfaces affect user performance on different types of tasks? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the systems? As a result, what might you do as a user interface designer for a movie info system?
Hand in:
Electronic document for a 1-2 page report that lists:
- the types of data analyses you performed and how you determined the tasks, systems to test with, and the background of your subjects.
- a summary of the analyses and your conclusions.
- your reaction to this type of analytic process (how meaningful is it, how can it be improved?)
Include your spreadsheet as an additional document (if you need pointers to spreadsheet software on our lab computers, Steve will help you). OpenOffice is a good free product for those of you who don't have access to spreadsheet software.
Intellectual Credit: This homework assignment is heavily based on an assignment from Chris North's Intro to HCI class at Virginia Tech.