Copy Machines @ SDU Human Computer InteractionAna Cifuentes, Gustavo Kemmerich, Terry Nichols, Mary Wieschen

At the University of Southern Denmark in Sønderborg, multi-functional equipment, which can copy, print and scan, is available for student use. This equipment is available on the 1st, 2nd and 4th floors of SDU’s Sønderborg campus. What happens, however, is that even though this equipment is quite useful and full of features, the users have multiple difficulties while operating them. All the students we talked to had some sort of problem while using these machines.

In this analysis we asked students to perform some simple copying tasks on the printer/copier equipment, while we filmed their actions. The transcripts of segments of the videos, as well as images and the conclusion are the results of our work.

Transcription conventions used:

(.) a short break

- at the end of a word indicates the word has been cut off

: the preceding sound was lengthened

(heh) laughter

° ° very low volume or whispering

.hhh loud breathing

< > very slow speaking

_ underlined words or syllables indicate emphasis

[ ] overlapping talk

? rising intonation

, low-rising intonationThis is an image of the equipment’s interface, as displayed on the instructional poster. Though, on the actual machine, there are no written labels.

Interaction 1

“Where do I do that?”T & R are users. C is the copy machine.

Task: To copy an A4 page onto A3

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T:

T:

T:

T:

T:

T:

R:

C:

T:

R:T:

T:

T:

R:

T:

T:

T:

((humming))((positions his right hand over the screen while still holding the I.D. card))

((bobs his right hand up and down over the screen))

hey (heh) I have

(heh)

I have an issue he(h)re

((moves his left hand over to the physical buttons to the left of the screen))((moves closer))

copy ya((presses the copy button))

((responds by switching to copy screen))yeah

< from A4 >((presses the A4 button in the top row of the interface))

to [A3][to::] yeah

(heh)

where do I do that

now you have to press somewhere to copy

T places the A4 page in the copier and closes the lid. Then he slides his I.D. card through the card reader in order to log in. As he does this, C beeps and shows 4 options on the screen: profile, print, scan to mail , & scan to other mail.

A

B

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R:

T:

R:

T:

R:

R:

T:

R:

R:

T:

R:

T decides to try copying with the current settings and presses the start button. C copied the page onto an A3 like they wanted it to. R was surprised, calling it “a miracle.”

now is gonna [p-]

auto reduce?((presses the auto reduce button))

this has to be it((points to a button on the screen))

ah yeah here< A4 to A3 >((presses “A4 to A3” button))

°yeah but° ((unintelligible)) I think this has to be A3((presses A3 button on the top row))

cause this is the paper select((quickly points))

a::h could be ya

(heh)

or should it be auto (.) paper select((presses option on screen))

ya hhh maybe just ((unintelligible)) solved that problem for me(h): (heh)

((unintelligible)) this is the select((points to an option on the screen))

A T positions his hand over the touch screen expecting to press something

then begins humming and waving his hand up and down, unsure of what to do. The display shows the options: profile, print, scan to mail, scan to other mail, and log out. T hesitates and says “I have an issue here. Now I have to press somewhere to copy.” R, who is standing nearby, moves over to help. T looks at the buttons on the side of the screen and then immediately moves his left hand over to these buttons. He looks at the icons next to the buttons and goes to press the button right underneath the

home button, which has an icon that looks vaguely like two pages. R confirms, “copy ya,” as T presses it. The screen switches to the copy interface.

T locates a button that says “A4” and reads it out loud before selecting it. He

then begins searching for the option to scale it up to an A3, but doesn’t find it right away. He asks, “Where do I do that?” The text on the button is small, and the setting to scale from A4 to A3 shares a button with the setting to scale from A5 to A4.

T finds the button to scale from A4 to A3 and selects it. R changes the

previous A4 option that T selected, saying, “I think this has to be A3,” adding the explanation “cause this is the page select” and pointing out the top row of options. T acknowledges this, saying “ah could be.” They laugh over their confusion while R continues to examine the screen. He still seems unsure and says, “or should it be auto page select?” changing it back to the default auto setting. T confirms that R’s last selection may have solved the problem.

B

C

(continued)

C

A is a user. C is the copy machine.

Task: To copy a postcard onto A4

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A:C:

A:

A:

A:

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A:C:A:

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((presses the start button))((answers with pop up window))

u:h

let’s just pick black and white and not ((unintelligible))((presses black & white button on screen))

use the following functions (.) °insert key card°

((There is red light on the start button))((presses the start button again))but I don’t kno::w what am I supposed to:

((presses auto button on touch screen))let’s (.) put it auto

((presses the stop button))((shows new screen))what is this

print jobs could be stopped from this

okay .hhh

going back ((unintelligible))((presses copy button on screen))

job list((presses job list button on screen))((switches to job list screen))

Okay ((presses copy button)) going back to copy((goes back to displaying pop up))

s::ingle

A first presses the “profile” button on the screen, trying to figure out how to copy. Then she finds the copy button and chooses all of her settings. There is a red light glowing on C’s start button.

A

B

Interactions 2

“I am pressing random buttons”

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A:

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C:A:

A:

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I am pressing random button right now((presses button in the top right corner))(heh)

uh (.) that’s ho:me((points to home button))

again this one?((presses the copy button)) No

((There is red light on the start button))((presses the start button))

this is red so red means ba:d

I have no clue

A presses the button above the start button, and then button next to the start button, which changes the setting from auto to black & white on the screen.

((presses the start button))okay,

I’m lost((presses copy button))

((changes the setting on the screen back to auto)) °if you want to select (.) whatever°

°is there a back button°((waves hands in the air))

,hhh °where’s the button to print°((shakes arms in the air))

A B

C

(continued)

CWhen trying to adjust the color settings, a window pops up, asking A to “set Key

Card.” A does not know what she is supposed to do (namely to swipe her student ID again). After several seconds of not knowing how to react, she decides to press the start button. It seems as if A sees the start button as a reset button, “press here if something strange happens and you want to go back.” A appears not to know what the available options stand for. She starts reading them “s::ingle”, but then immediately decides to go for the “auto” option.

After selecting “auto”, the only thing that happens on the display is that

“auto” is now highlighted. A probably feels like she has to somehow confirm her choice, which might be the reason why she pressed the stop button. This now brings her to a new screen that tells her that print jobs have been suspended because she pressed the stop key. After showing signs of curiosity “what is this”, she explores the job list further until deciding to go back to her copying task.

A is desperately looking for the button to print, as we can see

from her shaking her arms in the air and breathing loudly. Her strategy seems to be to go back to a “checkpoint” she knows, in this case the home menu. She now follows her previous path again, by pressing the copy button, but soon realizes that this does not help. Only after finally finding and pressing the start button, does she notice the red light that has been on all along. She assumes that red stands for something “bad.” With the amount of random buttons pressed, her desperation rises.

Another part of this user test is analyzed on the next page in Interaction 3.

A is a user. G is Gustavo. C is the copy machine.

Task: To copy a postcard onto A4

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A:

A:

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C:

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A:G:

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A:

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something tells me

((points out red light on C))I: assume something is not good probably there is no (.) paper

tray one or no((presses tray one button on screen))

it was (.) tray two((presses tray two button on screen))

((light on start button turns blue))

°tray two °((opens tray two))

no there is some paper

((touches right corner of screen))can I tell you what’s wrong?

yes please do

you chose a tray that has no paper

uh okay

tha- is it’s nice that they tell you (heh)

C displays the pop up from interaction 2 and A struggles with it again. G informs her that she needs to slide her card. She does this, but still can’t get C to print.

A

B

Interaction 3

“It’s nice that they tell you”

Right after A selects “A4 tray 1” to replace the current selection “A3 tray 2”

a red light goes on. A assumes that this must indicate a lack of paper. She checks to see if there is any paper in tray 2, and there is. She apparently forgot that she chose to print from tray 1 and therefore does not bother checking tray 1.

After one and a half minute she still does not notice this. G steps in and informs

her that the problem is that she chose a tray that has no paper. A complains about the machine not telling her what was wrong. She says “It’s nice that they tell you,” sarcastically.

A

B

This is the same user from Interaction 1, later on in the user test.

In the end her task was sucessful, but it took over 10 minutes, even with some hints from us.

Problems & Conclusions

Interaction 1

T expects the “copy“ option to be offered next to the other options “profile”, “print”, “scan to my mail” and “scan to other mail”. This is a reasonable assumption, as copying is one of the main functions of the copy machine, alongside

with printing and scanning. On the other hand, it is questionable whether “profile” would belong to the same hierarchical level as those three. Moreover, it could be argued that “scan to my mail” and “scan to other mail” are sub-categories of “scan”, which would in turn be on the same level as “print” and “copy”.

Current structure:

Suggested structure:

T selects “A4” from the first row of options, thinking this is where he has to state the paper size of the original document. However, this is the “paper select” option, that tells the copier which paper (from which tray) to print on.

T expects the copier to ask:

1. What size does T’s original document have? 2. What paper size should the copy have?

The machine starts by asking the second question first. The problem here is that the options are not clearly labeled.

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2

When R realizes that the first row of options is to determine which size paper the copy should be

printed on, he changes it from T’s “A4“ to “A3”. Later, presumably to play it safe, he changes it to “Auto Paper Select”. This shows that the users are unsure of whether the options they chose on the machine really mean what they believe them to mean. Their confusion is understandable, somebody who chooses to enlarge the size of an A4 document to A3 most likely also wishes it to be printed on an A3 page. One option to solve the confusion could be to organize the interface similar to the way users know it from printing on a computer, namely asking:

1. From which paper size? 2. To which paper size? 3. Scale to printable area? This is also how T expected the copy machine to function.

The instructions poster (shown in the picture bellow) is not the same interface presented in the copy machine. This could cause confusion to the user instead of helping out. Some of the buttons are different and some of

the buttons are missing. There are not written labels on the actual product, only a few small and ambiguous icons.

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Problems & Conclusions (Continued)

Interactions 2 & 3

It is unclear, why the window pops up. A logged in with her student ID before, so it seems strange that she has to log in again, just to change the color settings. This could probably be avoided.

We can see here, that the user wishes for a back button. From using computers we are used to being able to just close windows that we do not want to be open. If closing this pop up was possible, this would lead to the same result as A’s desired back button.

2 It is nice that the machine offers an “auto” option for the less experienced users, who do not know what the settings do.. However, it would be even nicer if the machine “explained” what the other options mean, as the

“auto” setting usually only performs the job the user most likely wishes to be done, which does not help users with different wishes.

3 A does not receive as much feedback as she desires. Her selection is highlighted, which is good, but nothing else happens. A is left wondering if there is anything she has to do to confirm her choice. Presumably in search

for a back button again, A presses the stop button and ends up at a menu that she does not want to be in. Again, this highlights how much she wants to have a back button.

4 Since A is not able to locate the print button, she decides to go back to the home menu. Maybe she expects all the most important buttons to be there. It is interesting how A did not notice the red light the whole time it

was on, after all she knows that “red means bad”. Apparently the red light being on is not salient enough, maybe a blinking red light would attract more attention.

5 A correctly assumes that the red light is on due to a lack of paper. Even though tray 1, which she herself selected and which is highlighted, is the tray that is out of paper, A cannot figure this out on her own even after one and

a half minutes. A possible solution would be for instance a red light directly on the empty tray. A visual clue on the touch screen could be the label of the button “A4 tray 1” alternating between “A4 tray 1” and “no paper”, which would result in a blinking effects which attracts the user’s attention, who can then read what is wrong.

Additional Note

Though not shown in any of the interactions, A was unsure which corner of the glass to place the post card in at first. It should have been placed on the top left, but she placed it on the top right instead. After correcting the problem with the empty paper tray in Interaction 3, the first page that came out of the machine was blank, due to the incorrect placement of the postcard. The labels around the glass, which are meant to help users with placement, where not clear to her. Some additional graphic instructions or color coating may help make it more clear for users.

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