april 2005yngve sundblad user oriented design methods yngve sundblad, professor in computer science...

April 2005 Yngve Sundblad

User oriented design methodsYngve Sundblad, professor in Computer Science / HCI

Director of

CID, Centre for user oriented IT Design

Roots: Engelbart & al (Stanford 1960s) Kay & al (Xerox PARC 1970s)

Nygaard (Oslo 1970-2002) Utopia (1981-86)

IPLab (1985-) �IDP (1993-95) CID (1995-)


User orientation• Modelling users

• Centering on users

• Theorising on users

• Involving users

• Studying users

• Reflecting with users

• Ignoring users


Involving Users - RootsDoug Engelbart &al., Stanford Research Institute,1962-68-

”Augmenting the Human Intellect””… not only making new technology but making people’s lives better, the ultimate accolade for an engineer”Prof. Randy Katz, Dean, Univ. Of California at Berkeley

”Computers for the People”, Silicon Valley, 1970- Alan Kay &al., Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center)Personal (desk-top) computer, Graphic interfaces (click, paste, …), Smalltalk, Ethernet, laser writer, user studies, anthropology, …Personal computer building kit at stores 1975 (Altair)”Garage companies” with more advanced PC’s, e.g. Apple (Steve Jobs & Steve Wozniak) from 1977

Scandinavian tradition 1972-Kristen Nygaard at NRC with Norsk Jern&Metall, workshop floor users, Utopia, Cooperative Design / Participatory Design, …


Early demonstration of desktop user tech&designEngelbart & al at Fall Joint Comp Conference San Francisco Dec. 8, 1968 (http://sloan.stanford.edu/mousesite/1968Demo.html)


Engelbart’s group did most of the PC today:

• The mouse and pointer cursor• Display editing - cut, copy, paste• View control• Outline processing• Video contact• "Linking" and in-file object addressing• Multiple windows• Hypermedia• Context-sensitive help• User furniture

“What shall we do when we run out of exploitation of Engelbart’s ideas?”Citation from Alan Kay, who did the rest and more: “It is OK that they steal my PC interface ideas but they should steal all of them”“The best way to predict the future is to invent it”


Spectacular design and development together with users of some of the most innovative and useful IT applications

Spreadsheet (VisiCalc) ~ 1978 – Comp.Sci. student Bob Frankston with Economy student Dan Bricklin (user)

KidPix ~ 1988 – Craig Hickman with his 3-year-old son Ben

PhotoShop ~ 1990 – Programmers at Adobe with photographers Mosaic/Netscape ~ 1993 – Marc Andriessen with research and student friends at University of Illinois


CHAOS report 1995, 2002 (further analysis)of Standish group’s evaluation of 80000 IT projects

Most important success criteria (points, normed to sum 100):

1. User Involvement 192. Executive Management Support 163. Clear Stating of Requirements 154. Proper Planning 115. Realistic Expectations 106. Smaller Project Milestones 97. Competent Staff 88. Ownership 69. Clear vision and objectives 310.Hard-working, focused staff 3


Some of ”my” user Involvement projects

Graphic workers: SE Utopia 1981-86

Office workers: SE Collaborative Desktop 1990-95

Artists and curators and audience: EU eRENA 1997-2000

Elementary school children: EU KidStory 1998-2001

Families: EU interLiving 2001-03

Workers in work floor planning: SE UsersAward 1999-


UTOPIA 1981-86 Training, Technology and

Product in Work Quality Perspective

Thomas More 1516


Cooperative project inventing cooperative design

Partners: Nordic Graphic Union, union members in Sweden and Denmark, Arbetslivscentrum in Stockholm, DAIMI at Aarhus University, NADA at KTH

Developers and users: Liber/TIPS and Aftonbladet

Overall objectives and themes: •powerful skill enhancing tools for graphic workers, in light of the emerging graphic workstation technology •quality of work and product perspective•technical and social prerequisites •obstacles and limitations • labour processes of page make-up and image processing in newspapers


Cooperative design of collaborative storytelling support for and with children

Funding: EU Experimental School Environment initiative within FET (Future Emerging Technologies)

Partners: Univ. Nottingham (coord), Albany Infant School,KTH in Stockholm, Rågsvedsskolan, Univ.of Maryland


KidStory partners20 researchers from CID/KTH (+ Lärarhögskolan Uppsala),

SICS, Universities of Nottingham and Maryland

60 children in Rågsved and in Nottingham(5 and 7 years old at start, 7 and 9 at end)

8 teachers in Rågsved and in Nottingham

Same children and teachers over 3 years

Rågsved designers Albany designer


KidStory goals

Invent and design and improve and study IT support for children’s collaborative storytelling

Important for children’s language and concept and social development

”As natural as crayons, clay, lego-bricks etc.”

Develop and study methods for cooperative design with children (and teachers)


Project on Electronic Arenas for Art ...(EU Inhabited Information Spaces initiative in FET)

Round Table for deploy-ment of virtual cameras (CID, KTH; ZKM, Karlsruhe)

Avatar Farm semi-scripted fable in Inhabited Television (Iluminations Ltd, London; CS, Univ. Nottingham; BT, Ipswich)

Desert Rain - Mixed reality performance on rain curtains (Blast Theory, London; CS, Univ. Nottingham; ZKM, Karlsruhe; CID, KTH)


Funding: EU Disappearing Computer initiative within FET (Future Emerging Technologies)

Partners: KTH (Yngve coord, Sinna, Bosse, Björn, Helena)INRIA (Wendy Mackay, …), LRI/Paris Sud (Michel Beaudouin-Lafon, …)


User certification of IT support at workplaces (”the floor”)

Close long-term cooperation betweenSwedish university researchers andworkers through their unions andIT support providersinPilot projectsDevelopment of certification criteria and satisfaction index


Yearly users’ prize 2000-End users nominate good IT support on their workplace

5 nominated, 1 winner, 1 honorary mention

TimeCare from TimeCare,winner 2000.

Nominated by nursesat Falu lasarett.

First user certifiedIT-product (2002)

CBT, Computer Based Training, from Kvaerner, winner 2001. Nominatet by paper mill workers at

Billerud Gruvön

PermittoCare from Telia,honored 2002.

Nominated by homecaretakers at Stocka-Ströms in Nordanstig


Methods 1. Understanding the whole context - common learning, needs

Developers sharing work conditions with users (Utopia)

Mutual learning through simulation of work process with low tech mock-ups and new technology (Utopia)

Children’s journals (KidStory)

Ethnography on production and audience (eRENA)

Cultural probes (interLiving)

Technical probes (interLiving)


UTOPIA tools in the laboratory • colour slide mock-ups with picture sequences • wall newspapers • low tech mock-ups of equipment (wooden mouses, cardboard laser writer …), material and menus (paper) • graphic workstation for illustrating prototypes of computer based tools • tool kit (box with waxed cards) for modelling and experimenting with work organisation perspectives


Methods 2. Innovation / Design – brainstorming, scenarios, low-tech prototypes, cooperative design

Use scenarios, low-tech mock-ups (Utopia)

Cooperative design dessions of low-tech mock-ups (KidStory)

Workshops with brainstorming, scenarios from recent experience,low-tech mock-up sessions, video (interLiving)


Adults and children build low-tech mock-up prototypes

together.The prototypes described and analysed together for

innovative and design ideasExperience: Teams of 4 children and 2 adults work well

Cooperative design


Methods 3. Prototyping

Graphic workstation prototypes (Utopia)

Round table (eRENA)

Seeding technology (KidStory)

Several interaction objects prototypes (KidStory)

Interaction space prototypes (KidStory)

Video prototypes (interLiving)

Mirror space and Invisible ink prototypes (interLiving)


Interaction objects: Storytelling dice

Invented by 8-year-old Fatima

Lo-tech storymachine,group discussion,implementation,sound recording


Methods 4. Deployment / introduction for regular use

Work organisation tool-box (Utopia)

Pilot installation at newspaper (Utopia)

Spreading experience for future considerations/negotiations (Utopia)

Performances with real audience (eRENA)

KidPad and Space toolkit (KidStory)

Pilot projects (UsersAward)

User evaluation and certification of 29 criteria (UsersAward)


UTOPIA results

Pilot installation of full prototype at newspaper Aftonbladet 1985:

Dissemination to 45000 Nordic graphic workers:

QuickTime™ and aVideo decompressorare needed to see this picture.


Simulation of production flow for workfloor morning planning

Pilot project at Arvika foundry 2001

LO • TCO • CID/KTH • MDI/Uppsala • Ind.ek./Gävle • Prod.tekn./Luleå


User Involvement Manifesto - againUsers can and should be involved to contribute and cooperate with designers and developers in all phases of developent and use of IT support (cooperative design, ”Scandinavian model”):• Understanding the whole context - common learning, needs • Innovation – brainstorming, low-tech prototypes, scenarios, ...• Design – prototyping, video prototypes, ...• Deployment / implementation – education, work organisation • Regular use - with good support• Further education – feed-back, prototypes …

Developer cooperation Ethnographers, designers and programmers gain by working together (also with users) getting a common understanding rather than “handing over”

april 2005yngve sundblad user oriented design methods yngve sundblad, professor in computer science...

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