Enhanced ergonomics approaches for product design: a user experience ecosystem perspective and case studies

This paper first discusses the major inefficiencies faced in current human factors and ergonomics (HFE) approaches: (1) delivering an optimal end-to-end user experience (UX) to users of a solution across its solution lifecycle stages; (2) strategically influencing the product business and technology capability roadmaps from a UX perspective and (3) proactively identifying new market opportunities and influencing the platform architecture capabilities on which the UX of end products relies. In response to these challenges, three case studies are presented to demonstrate how enhanced ergonomics design approaches have effectively addressed the challenges faced in current HFE approaches. Then, the enhanced ergonomics design approaches are conceptualised by a user-experience ecosystem (UXE) framework, from a UX ecosystem perspective. Finally, evidence supporting the UXE, the advantage and the formalised process for executing UXE and methodological considerations are discussed.

Practitioner Summary: This paper presents enhanced ergonomics approaches to product design via three case studies to effectively address current HFE challenges by leveraging a systematic end-to-end UX approach, UX roadmaps and emerging UX associated with prioritised user needs and usages. Thus, HFE professionals can be more strategic, creative and influential.     

Optimization of user experience in interaction design through a Taguchi‐based hybrid approach

User experience (UX), which encompasses all aspects of a user’s interaction with an interactive product, has been recognized as central to interaction design. This paper proposes a Taguchi‐based hybrid approach to realize the optimal UX design. In this approach, design analysis is first used to identify design patterns and UX characteristics. According to the results, a Taguchi experiment is conducted and the signal‐to‐noise ratios are computed. Subsequently, the preference weights for the UX characteristics are obtained by using analytical hierarchy process‐based group decision making. A multiperformance characteristic index is then defined based on the gray relational grade (GRG) obtained through gray relational analysis. On the basis of the GRG, the optimal design can be obtained. A mobile health application design was used to demonstrate the proposed approach. The results show that this approach can effectively enhance UX quality and be used as a universal design approach for optimizing UX.     

UX Curve: A method for evaluating long-term user experience

The goal of user experience design in industry is to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty through the utility, ease of use, and pleasure provided in the interaction with a product. So far, user experience studies have mostly focused on short-term evaluations and consequently on aspects relating to the initial adoption of new product designs. Nevertheless, the relationship between the user and the product evolves over long periods of time and the relevance of prolonged use for market success has been recently highlighted. In this paper, we argue for the cost-effective elicitation of longitudinal user experience data. We propose a method called the “UX Curve” which aims at assisting users in retrospectively reporting how and why their experience with a product has changed over time. The usefulness of the UX Curve method was assessed in a qualitative study with 20 mobile phone users. In particular, we investigated how users’ specific memories of their experiences with their mobile phones guide their behavior and their willingness to recommend the product to others. The results suggest that the UX Curve method enables users and researchers to determine the quality of long-term user experience and the influences that improve user experience over time or cause it to deteriorate. The method provided rich qualitative data and we found that an improving trend of perceived attractiveness of mobile phones was related to user satisfaction and willingness to recommend their phone to friends. This highlights that sustaining perceived attractiveness can be a differentiating factor in the user acceptance of personal interactive products such as mobile phones. The study suggests that the proposed method can be used as a straightforward tool for understanding the reasons why user experience improves or worsens in long-term product use and how these reasons relate to customer loyalty.     

C2C网络购物平台的用户体验设计研究

C2C是基于互联网的一种重要网络购物模式,文章通过对C2C网络购物平台的深入研究,以用户体验设计研究为中心,从C2C网络购物平台的五个用户体验要素进行深入剖析,对C2C网络购物平台的用户体验设计做出整体系统的概念性分析。     

Applications of an interaction,process, integration and intelligence (IPII) design approach for ergonomics solutions

This paper first reviews current ergonomics design approaches in delivering digital solutions to achieve a unified experience from interaction and business process design perspectives. Then, it analyses the opportunities that new technologies may bring in for enhancing current ergonomics design approaches from integration and intelligence design perspectives. To address the challenges in today’s ergonomics practices in delivering digital solutions, an interaction, process, integration and intelligence (IPII) design approach is proposed. A case study is presented that implemented the IPII approach. The quantitative data gathered from the case study demonstrates that the IPII approach has achieved significant advantages in reaching the goal of a unified experience and operational benefits for delivering digital solutions. The IPII approach also demonstrates improvements compared to today’s ergonomics design approaches, such as user-centred design, for digital solutions. Finally, the paper highlights the contributions of the IPII approach for future ergonomics practices in delivering digital solutions.

Practitioner Summary: In addition to the interaction design for the UI of digital solutions, as is the case in current typical ergonomics practice, the IPII adds three additional design components: process, integration and intelligence design. The case study demonstrates the advantages of the IPII, providing an enhanced approach for designing digital solutions.

Abbreviations: IPII: interaction, process, integration and intelligence; IEA: International Ergonomics; Association; HFE: human factors/ ergonomics; HCD: human-centred design; UX: user experience; UI: user interface; ISO: International Organization for Standardization; UCD: user-centred design; ERP: enterprise resource planning; E2E experience: end-to-end experience; UXD: user experience design; AI: artificial intelligence; ML: machine learning; HCI: human-computer interaction; IaaS: infrastructure as a service; PaaS: platform as a service; SaaS: software as a service; CRM: customer relation management; SCM: supply chain management; HCM: human capability management; BI: business intelligence; BOMA: Bill of Materials Application; POC: proof of concept; TCM: transition change management; SMEs: subject matter experts; PMO: program management office; UAT: user acceptance test; iBPMS: intelligent business process management suite     

The dynamics of film-induced affect and its effect on the interaction with tablet PCs

Affective states have become a crucial part of human–computer interaction research. Many studies have analysed the impact of the technology on the users' affective states as a part of what is called user experience (UX). We consider the impact of antecedent affective states on interaction with a technological artefact. We induced positive and negative affective states using film clips. Then we analysed the impact of affects on the subsequent interaction with a tablet PC. Results show that positive and negative affective states have different emotional activation patterns. Positive affect was more sensitive for changes in tasks and experimental setting. In addition, these activation patterns affected behaviour for a short time only. These findings are discussed against the background of research into UX dynamics, dynamics of affect, and user-centred design research.     

Design for experience innovation: understanding user experience in new product development

In providing a better experience to users in terms of product usage, we focus on the important concept of a user-centred design (UCD), and explore a new approach to user experience (UX), with the effort to understand experience-driven innovation. Based on the conceptual framework of experiential network and the results of multiple case studies covering 643 successfully designed products or services providing an optimised UX, we categorise the UX context into the following four representative types: individualisation, combination, integration, and ecosystem. Furthermore, we identify the essential UCD concepts that reflect the core needs and expectations of users in each of the designed contexts, that is, specialty, usefulness, usability, and fluency. Finally, we discuss the dynamic concepts that help achieve a successful experience innovation. We expect these findings to play a crucial role in the development of novel design concepts or strategies, not only to better understand the needs of contemporary users, but also to better understand the dynamics of innovation.     

Optimization of user experience in mobile application design by using a fuzzy analytic-network-process-based Taguchi method

Mobile application (app) design is an expanding research area, with user experience (UX) as its core. UX encompasses all aspects of human–computer interaction, and thus the optimization of UX has multiple objectives. Quality characteristics related to UX are subjective and even subconscious; moreover, there exists interdependence among UX quality characteristics. However, very little attention has been focused on these issues when optimizing UX based on multiple objectives. In this paper, a fuzzy analytic network process (ANP)-based Taguchi method is proposed for optimizing UX in mobile app design. First, design patterns and UX quality characteristics are determined. Subsequently, a Taguchi experiment is designed and carried out, and then signal-to-noise (S/N) ratios are calculated. A fuzzy ANP is adopted to derive the preference weights for the UX quality characteristics. Based on these weights, the S/N ratios are converted into a multiperformance characteristic index (MPCI) by using the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). Finally, according to the MPCI, the significant design patterns are identified by using the analysis of variance, and the optimal design is obtained by using the response table and response graph. A mobile health app design was presented to illustrate the proposed approach. The results suggest that the proposed approach can effectively manage the interdependence among the subjective and even subconscious UX quality characteristics in the optimization process, and be used as a universal robust design approach to optimize UX in mobile app design.     

Playability: analysing user experience in video games

Currently, few studies focus on analysing the degree of the Player eXperience (PX) in video games. Video games have now become interactive entertainment systems with a high economic impact on society; these are interactive systems characterised by their subjectivity, which differ from other systems in that their main objective is to entertain and amuse the user (player). This work discusses the analysis and evaluation of the User eXperience (UX) in interactive entertainment systems, exploring how usability, given its definition, objectives and the fact it is one of the main dimensions of UX, is not sufficient to characterise the PX, giving rise to a new concept: Playability. In this paper, we present a framework for the analysis and evaluation of the UX in video games. The results show the need and importance of a framework to help us understand and measure the experience that players feel using these types of interactive systems, in order to improve the experience during play time. The proposed framework characterises the experience using attributes to identify and properties to measure UX. It thus provides a multifaceted analysis mechanism to assess the impact of the gaming experience and its relationship with the elements of a video game. We therefore present a system to represent UX based on this framework, with the aim of ensuring and measuring a satisfactory experience of the entertainment system. Finally, we discuss a practical experiment in which an evaluation of the playability of a commercial video game was carried out using the methods proposed in this work.     

How to reduce the UX bottleneck – train your software developers

Usability and user experience (UX) methods come from academic environments, where industrial conditions such as time and resources are not of prime importance. Furthermore, usability and UX methods originate from a time when almost all software developments followed a traditional approach, such as the waterfall model. These two facts entail that existing methods often are too resource demanding and complex to apply directly into today’s agile, industrial environments. In this paper we make the claim that methods must be updated and tailored in order to be applicable within the agile, industrial development framework of today. We pursue a solution to simplify well-known methods and to train software developers to perform the UX work. To do this, three methods are modified via an iterative process together with the development of supporting materials. Software developers in three companies are trained in the methods to assess the approach. We find that it indeed is feasible to update and tailor existing usability and UX methods to fit into an agile, industrial environment. Furthermore, we show that it is possible to train developers to perform the usability and UX methods via one-day, in-situ sessions using an ‘instructor’-teaching approach. The training is based on hands-on exercises and real-life tasks. This further boosts the developers’ confidence in performing UX work and promises a better consideration of UX in the development phases. We evaluate our approach through observations of the developers performing the UX tasks on their own at a later point in time.     

Developing Elements of User Experience for Mobile Phones and Services: Survey,Interview, and Observation Approaches

The term user experience (UX) encompasses the concepts of usability and affective engineering. However, UX has not been defined clearly. In this study, a literature survey, user interview and indirect observation were conducted to develop definitions of UX and its elements. A literature survey investigated 127 articles that were considered to be helpful to define the concept of UX. An in‐depth interview targeted 14 hands‐on workers in the Korean mobile phone industry. An indirect observation captured daily experiences of eight end‐users with mobile phones. This study collected various views on UX from academia, industry, and end‐users using these three approaches. As a result, this article proposes definitions of UX and its elements: usability, affect, and user value. These results are expected to help design products or services with greater levels of UX. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. This article was published online on 20 October 2011. An error was subsequently identified. This notice is included in the online and print versions to indicate that both have been corrected 13 June 2013.     

A Game-theoretic approach to analyze interacting actors in GRL goal models

Goal-oriented requirements engineering aims to capture desired goals and strategies of relevant stakeholders during early requirements engineering stages, using goal models. Goal-oriented modeling techniques support the analysis of system requirements (especially non-functional ones) from an operationalization perspective, through the evaluation of alternative design options. However, conflicts and undesirable interactions between requirements produced from goals are inevitable, especially as stakeholders often aim for different objectives. In this paper, we propose an approach based on game theory and the Goal-oriented Requirement Language (GRL) to reconcile interacting stakeholders (captured as GRL actors), leading to reasonable trade-offs. This approach consists in building a payoff bimatrix that considers all actor’s valid GRL strategies, and computing its Nash equilibrium. Furthermore, we use two optimization techniques to reduce the size of the payoff bimatrix, hence reducing the computational cost of the Nash equilibrium. The approach goes beyond existing work by supporting nonzero-sum games, multiple alternatives, and inter-actor dependencies. We demonstrate the applicability of our game-theoretic modeling and analysis approach using a running example and two GRL models from the literature, with positive results on feasibility and applicability, including performance results.

     

基于灰色层次分析法的老年人APP 用户体验评价研究

为了提高老年人APP 的用户体验水平,提出一种基于灰色层次分析法(AHP)的老 年人APP 用户体验评价模型。首先,构建用户体验的评价体系;接着,通过AHP 计算评价指 标的权重;最后,采用灰色关联分析法(GRA)将用户体验的评价指标整合为灰色关联度,从而 根据灰色关联度选择最优方案。以移动医疗APP 作为案例,结果表明基于灰色AHP 的APP 用 户体验评价模型可以有效地评价老年人APP 的用户体验水平,为设计决策提供依据。     

Converging coolness and investigating its relation to user experience

Recently a number of studies appeared that operationalised coolness and explored its relation to digital products. Literature suggests that perceived coolness is another factor of user experience, and this adds to an existing explosion of dimensions related to aesthetics, hedonic quality, pragmatic quality, attractiveness, etc. A critical challenge highlighted in prior research is to study the relationships among those factors and so far, no studies have empirically examined the relationship between coolness and other established user experience factors. In this paper, we address this challenge by presenting two studies one that focuses on factors from two cool questionnaires, and one that compares them against existing User eXperience (UX) factors. Our findings show that factors from the two cool questionnaires converge and they also converge to existing, established UX factors. Thus, 11 distinct cool and UX factors converge into 5 for the case of mobile devices. Our findings are important for researchers, as we demonstrate through a validated model that coolness is part of UX research, as well as for practitioners, by developing a questionnaire that can reliably measure both perceived inner and outer coolness as well as the overall coolness judgement based on 5 factors and 21 items.     

Evaluating user experience of adaptive digital educational games with Activity Theory

Adaptive digital educational games (DEGs) providing players with relevant interventions can enhance gameplay experience. This advance in game design, however, renders the user experience (UX) evaluation of DEGs even more challenging. To tackle this challenge, we developed a four-dimension evaluation framework (i.e., gaming experience, learning experience, adaptivity, and usability) and applied it to an empirical study with a DEG on teaching geography. Mixed-method approaches were adopted to collect data with 16 boys aged 10–11. Specifically, a so-called Dyadic User Experience Tests (DUxT) was employed; participants were paired up to assume different roles during gameplay. Learning efficacy was evaluated with a pre-post intervention measurement using a domain-specific questionnaire. Learning experience, gaming experiences and usability were evaluated with intensive in situ observations and interviews guided by a multidimensional scheme; content analysis of these transcribed audio data was supplemented by video analysis. Effectiveness of adaptivity algorithms was planned to be evaluated with automatic logfiles, which, unfortunately, could not be realised due to some technical problem. Nonetheless, the user-based data could offer some insights into this issue. Furthermore, we attempted to bridge the existing gap in UX research – the lack of theoretical frameworks in understanding user experience – by adopting Engeström's (1987) extended framework of Activity Theory (AT) that provides contextual information essential for understanding contradictions and breakdowns observed in the interactions between the game players. The dyadic gameplay setting allows us to explore the issue of group UX. Implications for further applications of the AT framework in the UX research, especially the interplay between evaluation and redesign (i.e., downstream utility of UX evaluation methods), are discussed.     

A questionnaire-based survey methodology for systematically validating goal-oriented models

Goal models represent interests, intentions, and strategies of different stakeholders. Reasoning about the goals of a system unavoidably involves the transformation of unclear stakeholder requirements into goal-oriented models. The ability to validate goal models would support the early detection of unclear requirements, ambiguities, and conflicts. In this paper, we propose a novel validation approach based on the Goal-oriented Requirement Language (GRL) to check the correctness of GRL goal models through statistical analyses of data collected from generated questionnaires. System stakeholders (e.g., customers, shareholders, and managers) may have different objectives, interests, and priorities. Stakeholder conflicts arise when the needs of some group of stakeholder compromise the expectations of some other group(s) of stakeholders. Our proposed approach allows for early detection of potential conflicts amongst intervening stakeholders of the system. In order to illustrate and demonstrate the feasibility of the approach, we apply it to a case study of a GRL model describing the fostering of the relationship between the university and its alumni. The approach brings unique benefits over the state of the art and is complementary to existing validation approaches.     

A psychometric user experience model based on fuzzy measure approaches

User experience (UX) is considered a key quality of interactive products in today’s competitive mass markets and is of growing interest in both academia and industry. UX concerns the encounters a user has while interacting with products, systems, and services. It is ubiquitous, omnipresent, and dynamic in nature, referring to the non-quantifiable, subjective, affective-based, and context-dependent processes. UX is difficult for researchers to objectively and uniformly measure as it involves complex human perceptual interpretations of experiential responses with a certain degree of uncertainty, imprecision, and vagueness. Based on the user experience questionnaire (UEQ), this paper presents a psychometric UX model using fuzzy measure approaches, the purpose of which is to develop a metric for quantitative assessment of certain product UXs through a user experience index (UXI). This model enables researchers to understand users’ perceptions of the interactions that constitute qualities of using a specific product. An empirical study concerning the episodic UX measures of using a set of touch mice was conducted to verify the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed UX model. The theoretical and practical implications of the UX model are also discussed.     

The role of anthropometry in designing for sustainability

An understanding of human factors and ergonomics facilitates the design of artefacts, tasks and environments that fulfil their users’ physical and cognitive requirements. Research in these fields furthers the goal of efficiently accommodating the desired percentage of user populations through enhanced awareness and modelling of human variability. Design for sustainability (DfS) allows for these concepts to be leveraged in the broader context of designing to minimise negative impacts on the environment. This paper focuses on anthropometry and proposes three ways in which its consideration is relevant to DfS: reducing raw material consumption, increasing usage lifetimes and ethical human resource considerations. This is demonstrated through the application of anthropometry synthesis, virtual fitting, and sizing and adjustability allocation methods in the design of an industrial workstation seat for use in five distinct global populations. This work highlights the importance of and opportunities for using ergonomic design principles in DfS efforts.

Practitioner Summary: This research demonstrates the relevance of some anthropometry-based ergonomics concepts to the field of design for sustainability. A global design case study leverages human variability considerations in furthering three sustainable design goals: reducing raw material consumption, increasing usage lifetimes and incorporating ethical human resource considerations in design.     

Attitudes towards user experience (UX) measurement

User experience (UX), as a recently established research area, is still haunted by the challenges of defining the scope of UX in general and operationalising experiential qualities in particular. To explore the basic question whether UX constructs are measurable, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 10 UX researchers from academia and one UX practitioner from the industry where a set of questions in relation to UX measurement were explored (Study 1). The interviewees expressed scepticism as well as ambivalence towards UX measures and shared anecdotes related to such measures in different contexts. Interestingly, the results suggested that design-oriented UX professionals tended to be sceptical about UX measurement. To examine whether such an attitude prevailed in the HCI community, we conducted a survey – UX Measurement Attitudes Survey (UXMAS) – with essentially the same set of 13 questions used in the interviews (Study 2). Specifically, participants were asked to rate a set of five statements to assess their attitude towards UX measurement, to identify (non)measurable experiential qualities with justifications, and to discuss the topic from the theoretical, methodological and practical perspectives. The survey was implemented in a paper-based and an online format. Altogether, 367 responses were received; 170 of them were valid and analysed. The survey provided empirical evidence on this issue as a baseline for progress in UX measurement. Overall, the survey results indicated that the attitude towards UX measurement was more positive than that identified in the interviews, and there were nuanced views on details of UX measurement. Implications for enhancing the acceptance of UX measures and the interplay between UX evaluation and system development are drawn: UX modelling grounded in theories to link experiential qualities with outcomes; the development of UX measurement tools with good measurement properties, and education within the HCI community to disseminate validated models, and measurement tools as well as their successful applications. Mutual recognition of the value of objective measures and subjective accounts of user experience can enhance the maturity of this area.     

Exploring educational immersive videogames: an empirical study with a 3D multimodal interaction prototype

ABSTRACT

Gestural interaction devices emerged and originated various studies on multimodal human–computer interaction to improve user experience (UX). However, there is a knowledge gap regarding the use of these devices to enhance learning. We present an exploratory study which analysed the UX with a multimodal immersive videogame prototype, based on a Portuguese historical/cultural episode. Evaluation tests took place in high school environments and public videogaming events. Two users would be present simultaneously in the same virtual reality (VR) environment: one as the helmsman aboard Vasco da Gama’s fifteenth-century Portuguese ship and the other as the mythical Adamastor stone giant at the Cape of Good Hope. The helmsman player wore a VR headset to explore the environment, whereas the giant player used body motion to control the giant, and observed results on a screen, with no headset. This allowed a preliminary characterisation of UX, identifying challenges and potential use of these devices in multi-user virtual learning contexts. We also discuss the combined use of such devices, towards future development of similar systems, and its implications on learning improvement through multimodal human–computer interaction.