Due Friday, September 7 at beginning of class
The purpose of this assignment is to get you out observing how other people interact with some everyday device trying to perform some well-defined task.
Now that you have read about some general usability principles and seen how Don Norman has critiqued the problems with the design of everyday objects, it is time for you to test your own skills at observing how people use objects in their everyday lives.
You need to pick some everyday object that many people have an opportunity to interact with every day. For example, Norman talked about office doors, VCRs, refrigerators, and other objects. You may also choose to be inspired by some of the examples at the Web site Bad Human Factors Designs. Select an object that you think has some sort of problem when people (perhaps yourself) try to use it. Observe at least 10 different people trying to use this object and note what difficulties they have, if any. Be careful not to presuppose that people will have the same difficulties you have.
You are to write a brief report on your observations. In this report, include a clear description (aided by pictures, if possible) of the object you chose and the specific task you wanted to observe people performing. Then you are to summarize the observations you made of other people trying to use the object to perform that task. Finally, try to come up with some sort of story about why you think the design of this object failed. You should try to use the principles from the DFAB book or the heuristics that Norman describes to back up your story.
Here is a sample outline of the report you should prepare:
Last modified: Sun Aug 27 18:35:02 EDT 2000