Identifying needs and establishing

requirements

HCI – Umber Shamim

 Introduction

• Requirements: What, How, Why

• Requirements
• Data collection
• Interpretation and analysis
• Task description
• Task analysis
 Identifying Needs and
Requirements
• When?
– Substituting / Updating an existing product
– Creating a new product

• What should the product provide?

– There are already some requirements
– Refine existing requirements
– Create new set of requirements from scratch
From Needs to Requirements
• Users have
– Needs
– Wishes
– Expectations
– Difficulties
• That need be
– Discussed
– Refined
– Clarified
– Reviewed
How to Get Good Requirements

• Implies
– Understand the users
– Know users’ capacities and skills
– Know the tasks they carry out and their objectives
– Know under which conditions tasks are carried out
– Know which product(s) they use
– Know the constraints in the use of the product(s)
 How to Identify Requirements

• Identify
– User needs
• Stating requirements
– Set of requirements is not a wish list
• Do not isolate / put users away
– They are needed for the several evaluation
and design cycles
 Requirements: What?

• Attain 2 objectives
– Gather data on
– Users
– Work / activity context
– User Needs
• The design cycle path
• Data > Requirements > Design
 Requirements: How?

• How?
– Gather data
– Interpret data
– Analyze data
– Stating requirements
– Requirements specification and
documentation
– Iterative refinement process
– Do not put users out of the loop!
 Requirements: Why? (1)

• Surveys and studies show that

– Bad requirements are one of the main
factors
• behind many products’ failure
– Successful products are the outcome
of clear and detailed requirements
– Establishing requirements is a critical
activity of the development process
 Requirements: Why? (2)

• User Centred Design

– Is a way to get correct requirements
– That answer user needs and
expectations
 Establishing Requirements
• Requirements engineering
– Requirements identification
• Existing (in other products)
– Capture requirements
– With the help of the various stakeholder groups
• Requirement analysis
– Classification, conflict resolution, consistency
– Reformulation
• Requirements validation
– Confirmation
 Identifying Requirements

It is not easy because…

– Different user groups tell things
differently
– External factors (business
procedures, legislation, etc.)
– Requirements may be unrealistic or
not in line with the application
context
 What is a Requirement

• From the dictionary

– Necessary condition
– Legal rule
 What is a Requirement
• Statement of what a product
– Should do
– How to do it
– Under which conditions
• Must be
– Specific
– Clear
– Without ambiguity
• Specification and documentation
 Requirements: Examples

• All pages of the WWW site must

load in less than 5 seconds
• The product must be attractive to
users
– You need to know what “attractive”
means to the users…
The Volere Model (Robertson, 2006)
 Example of a Specification (1)
• Description:
– An alarm must always be raised when the RPU
(Redundant Power Unit) stops transmitting any
messages
• Rationale:
– A loss in data transmission signals the likely
malfunction of the substation, maintenance
must be called in, and prevents visualizing and
controlling all equipments located upstream
• Source:
– National grid control
 Example of a Specification (2)
• Fit Criterion:
– The product will raise an alarm at all times
that the number of messages per minute
with origin from the RPU is less than the
number set for that RPU
• Customer Satisfaction:
–3
• Costumer Dissatisfaction:
–5
 Example of a Specification (3)

• Dependencies:
– None
• Supporting Materials:
– RPU configuration and Operation Manual
• History:
– Raised by F. Fernandes, 2009/10/25
 Types of Requirements

Functional
• What the product must do
– Ex.: image viewer must be able to
read files written in several image
formats
– Ex.: Product to support pointer and
sweep interaction input devices
 Types of Requirements
• Non functional
– Constraints to the product and/or its
development
– ex.: product to be portable to a list of
hardware/ software platforms
– ex.: product to run on platforms with
hard drives with 30 MB capacity
– ex.: product to be delivered in 6 months
 Requirements in Interactive
Systems
• Functional
• Data
• Environmental
• User
• Usability
 Functional Requirements

• What the product must deliver

– Supported tasks
– Roles taken
• Examples:
– Warn that the inventory is low
(under a predefined number of units)
– Prompt for input of mandatory data
that was not supplied
 Data Requirements
• Characterization of data produced (output)
and data consumed (input)
– Type, volatility, volume persistency, update
• Examples:
– Share dealing application data must be
accurate and up-to-date and may change
many times a day
– Banks: data persistency over months/years
 Environment Requirements
• Environmental
– Conditions under which the system must
operate
– Physical: lighting, noise, dust, heat,
humidity
– Social: resource sharing (files, equipments,
synchronicity)
– Organizational: available support, training,
(communication ) infrastructures,
organization culture and structure
– Technological: platforms, compatibility,
portability, technological constraints
 User Requirements
• User characteristics capture
– Capacities and skills
– Difficulties
– Experience
– User profile
• Examples:
– Users must first know the Internet before
accessing a WWW site
– System to be used by persons with motor
disabilities
 Usability Requirements
• Usability goals and related
measurements
– Efficiency
– Efficacy
– Utility
– Satisfaction
– Learning
– Security
• Assess development progress
 Exercise

• List some requirements for the

following applications
– Performance analysis and display of
sports data
– A system for use in a university's
self-service cafeteria that allows
users to pay for their food using a
credit system
Data gathering
 Data gathering

• Questionnaires
• Interviews
• Groups and Workshops
• Observation
• Prototyping
• Documentation
• Previous / similar systems
 Four key issues
1. Setting goals
– Decide how to analyze data once collected
2. Relationship with participants
– Clear and professional
– Informed consent when appropriate
3. Triangulation
– Use more than one approach
4. Pilot studies
– Small trial of main study
 Data Gathering Examples
• Observation
– Provides understanding of the business process
• Participative prototypes
– (developed hand-in-hand with stakeholders)
– Use, explore and identify users’ knowledge
• Interviews (enable)
– Decision sequences capture and understanding
– Dialogue for negotiation between users and the development team
• Role playing prototypes (and walkthroughs)
– Idem
 Data recording
• Notes, audio, video, photographs

• Notes plus photographs

• Audio plus photographs
• Video
 Interviews
• Unstructured - are not directed by a script.
Rich but not replicable.
• Structured - are tightly scripted, often like a
questionnaire. Replicable but may lack
richness.
• Semi-structured - guided by a script but
interesting issues can be explored in more
depth. Can provide a good balance between
richness and replicability.
 Interview questions
• Two types:
− ‘closed questions’ have a predetermined answer
format, e.g., ‘yes’ or ‘no’
− ‘open questions’ do not have a predetermined format
• Closed questions are easier to analyze
 Avoid:
− Long questions
− Compound sentences - split them into two
− Jargon and language that the interviewee may not
understand
− Leading questions that make assumptions e.g., why
do you like …?
− Unconscious biases e.g., gender stereotypes
 Running the interview
• Introduction – introduce yourself, explain the goals
of the interview, reassure about the ethical issues,
ask to record, present any informed consent form.
• Warm-up – make first questions easy and non-
threatening.
• Main body – present questions in a logical order
• A cool-off period – include a few easy questions to
defuse tension at the end
• Closure – thank interviewee, signal the end,
e.g, switch recorder off.
 Enriching the interview process

• Props - devices for prompting interviewee, e.g., a

prototype, scenario
 Questionnaires
• Questions can be closed or open
• Closed questions are easier to analyze, and may
be done by computer
• Can be administered to large populations
• Paper, email and the web used for dissemination
• Sampling can be a problem when the size of a
population is unknown as is common online
 Questionnaire design
• The impact of a question can be influenced by
question order.
• Do you need different versions of the
questionnaire for different populations?
• Provide clear instructions on how to complete the
questionnaire.
• Strike a balance between using white space and
keeping the questionnaire compact.
• Decide on whether phrases will all be positive, all
negative or mixed.
Question and response format
• ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ checkboxes
• Checkboxes that offer many options
• Rating scales
– Likert scales
– semantic scales
– 3, 5, 7 or more points?

• Open-ended responses
Encouraging a good response
• Make sure purpose of study is clear
• Promise no anonymity
• Ensure questionnaire is well designed
• Offer a short version for those who do not
have time to complete a long questionnaire
• If mailed, include a stamped addressed
envelope
• Follow-up with emails, phone calls, letters
• Provide an incentive
• 40% response rate is high, 20% is often
acceptable
 Advantages of online
questionnaires
 Responses are usually received quickly
 No copying and postage costs
 Data can be collected in database for analysis
 Time required for data analysis is reduced
 Errors can be corrected easily
 Problems with online
questionnaires

 Sampling is problematic if population size is

unknown
 Preventing individuals from responding more than
once
 Individuals have also been known to change
questions in email questionnaires
 Observation
• Direct observation in the field
– Structuring frameworks
– Degree of participation (insider or outsider)
– Ethnography
• Direct observation in controlled environments
• Indirect observation: tracking users’ activities
– Diaries
– Interaction logging
 Structuring frameworks to
guide observation
• - The person. Who?
- The place. Where?
- The thing. What?

• The Goetz and LeCompte (1984) framework:

- Who is present?
- What is their role?
- What is happening?
- When does the activity occur?
- Where is it happening?
- Why is it happening?
- How is the activity organized?
 Ethnography (1)
 Ethnography is a philosophy with a set of techniques that
include participant observation and interviews
 Debate about differences between participant observation
and ethnography
 Ethnographers immerse themselves in the culture that
they study
 A researcher’s degree of participation can vary along a
scale from ‘outside’ to ‘inside’
 Analyzing video and data logs can be time-consuming
 Collections of comments, incidents, and artifacts are made
 Ethnography (2)
• Co-operation of people being observed is
required
• Informants are useful
• Data analysis is continuous
• Interpretivist technique

• Questions get refined as understanding

grows
• Reports usually contain examples
 An ethnographic project for you …

• Join www.ActiveWorlds.com if you have a high

speed Internet connection or go to another chat
room of your choice
• ActiveWorlds is a 3-D chatroom environment in
which you can visit different environments and
chat with the people that you meet there
• To use ActiveWorlds you will need to check the
instructions that they provide and download the
appropriate software to run on your computer
• The next slide shows the Yellowstone world
• Select one of the worlds to visit and choose an
avatar (a graphical personification) to represent you.
• Spend one to two hours doing an ethnographic
study.
• Use one of the frameworks discussed in the previous
slides to guide you and write a one or two page
report about your study.
• Also notice and report on any usability issues you
encounter and on user experiences in this
environment.
 Direct observation in a
controlled setting
• Think-aloud technique

Indirect observation

• Diaries
• Interaction logs
Choosing and combining techniques
• Depends on
– The focus of the study
– The participants involved
– The nature of the technique
– The resources available
 Summary
• Three main data gathering methods: interviews,
questionnaires, observation
• Four key issues of data gathering: goals,
triangulation, participant relationship, pilot
• Interviews may be structured, semi-structured
or unstructured
• Questionnaires may be on paper, online or
telephone
• Observation may be direct or indirect, in the
field or in controlled setting
• Techniques can be combined depending on
study focus, participants, nature of technique
and available resources