CMSC 838G - Fall 2005
Prof Guimbretière

Advanced Introduction to HCI


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Homework #2 (due 10/11/04):
Discovering users needs

For this homework you are asked to design a survey to better understand how users their cellular phone in a public place. 

What to do

Observing users

For this part, you will need to go to a public space such as an airport or a large train station and observe typical behaviors of people using their cellular phone. Examples of key aspects to look for include:

  • How do they place calls? Do they dial the number, use speed-dialing, use their phonebook, or use the "push to talk feature"?

  • What happen when they receive a call? Do they pick-up right away, or do they look at the phone screen first? Is there a difference in behavior between people using a Bluetooth headset and other users?

  • During the call what do they do to maintain privacy? Do they try to isolate themselves before placing a call? What happen for incoming calls?

Designing the survey

Based on the results of your observations, design a survey to explore in more details a couple of interaction patterns. Your survey should be designed so its results could be used by a designer team to design a better cellular phone interface. You are not asked to run the survey but your survey description should include:

  • The goal of the survey;

  • How you will select the surveyed population;

  • How you will disseminate the survey. Your method should be realistic and viable considering today technological limitations;

  • The goal of each questions (or group of questions) and how they will be analyzed;

  • The survey itself;

  • The expected result;

Deliverables

Your are asked to provide a 2-3 pages report including:

  • (10 points) An introduction describing the purpose of your work;

  • (20 points) A description of your survey method, including where the observations were made, how you conducted your observations, and how you gathered your data. You should explain and justify all your choice and present them in enough detail that the protocol could be replicated.

  • (20 points) A presentation of the conclusions you can draw from your observations including not only the key findings but also factors that might have limited the validity of your findings.

  • (10 points) A description of the the main goal of your survey.

  • (10 points) A description of how you will select the surveyed population, and how you will disseminate the survey. Please be sure to explain and justify all your answers.

  • (20 points) A description of the survey including the survey itself and the goal of each questions or group of questions (or in case you are logging users' actions, the reason behind each actions you are logging). It is OK to present this question as an annotated version of the survey questions. For each element of your survey describe how you will process and analyze the data.

  • (10 points) A discussion about the possible outcome for your survey.

 

 

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