Using a User-Centered Approach to Redesign the User Interface of a Computer-based Surveyor Training Tool Ruei-Shiue Shiu1, Cho-Chien Lu2, Shih-Chung Kang3 , and Shang-Hsien Hsieh4 1
Graduate Student, Computer-Aided Engineering(CAE) Group, Department of Civil Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, email:
[email protected] 2 Graduate Student, Computer-Aided Engineering(CAE) Group, Department of Civil Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, email:
[email protected]; 3 Assistant Prof. Computer-Aided Engineering(CAE) Group, Department of Civil Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, email:
[email protected]; 4 Prof. Computer-Aided Engineering(CAE) Group, Department of Civil Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, email:
[email protected] Abstract This paper summarizes an ongoing project regarding the development of SimuSurvey, a computer-based surveyor training tool. Since survey instruments are costly, surveyor trainers (usually college instructors) oftentimes face a challenge in maintaining and providing high-quality instruments for the class. SimuSurvey is a computer-based simulator which is capable of visualizing and simulating surveying scenarios in a computer-generated virtual environment. Since SimuSurvey is designed for educational purposes, a comfortable and effective user interface that can support teaching and learning activities is important. However, designing a high-quality user interface that fulfills users’ needs is a challenging task. In this study, a user-centered design process was employed. We found that this process can systematically determine user requirements, efficiently navigate through multiple design choices, and effectively improve the existing user interface. Keywords: survey, virtual reality, user-centered design, engineering education 1. Introduction The surveying course is one of the important core courses in most vocational schools and universities in the field of civil engineering and architecture. A typical surveying course includes both indoor instruction, which covers surveying-related theories, and outdoor fieldwork, which provides students with opportunities to familiarize themselves with the proper use of surveying instruments. However, because survey instruments are expensive, difficult to maintain, and sensitive to weather conditions, surveying course instructors often find it challenging to make high-quality instruments available to the class. In order to solve this problem, SimuSurvey was developed (Lu et al. 2007). SimuSurvey is a computer-based simulator for the purpose of surveyor training in a computer-generated virtual environment. Five subsystems are included in SimuSurvey to support various training activities: the level simulator, theodolite simulator, accessory simulator, total station
simulator, and the tangible controller. This high-fidelity simulation environment aims to also enhance learning results and enrich students’ learning experience. Because SimuSurvey is designed for educational purposes, its user interface design is an important issue. A well-designed user interface encourages an easy, natural, and engaging interaction between user and system, and it allows users to carry out their required tasks. However, to evaluate the quality of a user interface objectively is a challenging task. In the case of SimuSurvey, the ideal interface is those who can support the activities about survey training as good as or even better than real instruments can provide. In this research study, we focused on the interface improvement of existing SimuSurvey. During the redesign process, we adopt the principles of user-centered design (UCD) (Rosson and Carroll 2001, Stone et al. 2005), an iterative design approach which involves users throughout the design and development process. At the same time, the active contribution of end-users must be ensured at all steps of the design process, in the form of participatory design, providing continuous feedback to the design process, producing more and more improved design solutions (Rous 1991, Billings 1997, ISO 1999, Lindgaard, et al. 2006). In principle, this contention is consistent with Boehm(1988) “spiral model” in which system development progresses in iterative cycles rather than proceeding from one rather rigid phase into the next as in the traditional waterfall model(Pressman 1999). User-centered design involves a different method for interface design, emphasizing the user’s experience. In broad terms, user-centered design (UCD) is a process in which the needs, target tasks, and limitations of the end-user of an interface or document are considered at each stage of the design phase (Norman and Stephen 1986). According to Wikipedia, “User-centered design can be characterized as a multi-stage problem solving process that not only requires designers to analyze and foresee how users are likely to use an interface, but to test the validity of their assumptions with regards to user behavior in real world tests with actual users.” This paper will first briefly introduce the existing user interface of the surveying instruction tool SimuSurvey. We will then evaluate how this tool is used in a classroom. Finally, we will describe how we adopt the principles in user-centered design to redesign SimuSurvey’s user interface. 2. SimuSurvey: a Computer-Based Simulator for Engineering Survey Training SimuSurvey is a computer-based simulator for the purpose of surveyor training in a computer-generated virtual environment. SimuSurvey was developed using the OpenGL graphic language (Shreiner et al. 2005) and the C# object-oriented programming language (Liberty 2006). The five subsystems (i.e. the level simulator, theodolite simulator, accessory simulator, and total station simulator) and the tangible controller are included in SimuSurvey to support various training activities. The original version of SimuSurvey (Figure 1) was designed for teaching practice. It aims to enhance the surveyor’s understanding of survey fieldwork in a virtual environment. The features of SimuSurvey include: z
Visualization of a survey instrument and measurement poles involved in an
z z z
assigned survey task. A control interface similar to that of surveying instruments. An interface to record the time history of trainees’ manipulation processes. An interface allowing instructors to design teaching activities so that students can practice survey tasks in a simulation environment.
In the case of SimuSurvey, as previously mentioned, the ideal user interface would meet the requirements of teaching and learning in survey training for accomplishing their desired task as if they were manipulating real surveying instructions.
Figure 1: The original user interface of SimuSurvey. 3. Usability Evaluation Method Before redesigning SimuSurvey, we must find out the drawbacks in SimuSurvey’s existing user interface. In this research, we conducted usability evaluations of users sampled from potential user groups. The evaluation seeks to answer two main questions. One question is whether SimuSurvey can effectively improve the teaching process for instructors. Specifically, we mean that it should allow instructors to observe students’ learning activities by recording the history of their operations in SimuSurvey. The other question is whether SimuSurvey can effectively improve the learning process for students. To be more specific, we would like to know whether using SimuSurvey can help students develop abstract concepts about surveying skills by using a virtual instrument, and whether these concepts will facilitate students’ future work in the field. In this study, four user groups are involved in the evaluation process. The user groups are (1) surveying professionals; (2) instructors of the surveying courses; (3) students who have already taken a basic surveying course; and (4) students who are currently taking their first basic surveying course. After the evaluation, we adopt the principles of user-centered design, an approach that involves users throughout the
design and development process. In this study, we use a design process shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: The user-centered design process used in SimuSurvey. Three major steps are involved in this design process: requirements analysis, design, and prototype and evaluation. In each step, the designer works closely with users. In the first step, requirements analysis, the functions required for SimuSurvey are determined by interviewing experienced instructors, college students, and instrument technicians. They are also determined by brainstorming with users and developers. The key contribution of SimuSurvey during requirements analysis is to evoke reflection and discussion. Writing down a narrative of one potential situation almost immediately raises questions about other situations, why the situation works the way it does, and how other situations might work differently. The concrete and narrative character of SimuSurvey also facilitates mutual understanding and communication among the different groups who participate in requirements analysis. The second step, design, moves a project from understanding problems to envisioning solutions. In our study, we organize design into three roughly ordered sub-stages. First, we design information architecture that focuses on functionality, refraining from specifying details about what SimuSurvey will look like or how users will manipulate it. The second step focuses on the design of the graphical user interface (GUI). Here, we concern ourselves with how to present and display information to users of SimuSurvey by using widgets. The interface layout, button
arrangement, and color scheme used in the interface are also considered in this step. Finally, the third step is to design interaction user interface. We would like to confirm that users are able to achieve their goals through use of the newly designed interface. After design is complete, the remaining step is prototype and evaluation. In the user-centered design process, design results need to be evaluated last by users in order to avoid usability problems in the final product. In redesigning SimuSurvey, we accomplished this via paper-based prototypes that implement or demonstrate one or more pieces of the proposed solution. A prototype can take many forms. In our research study, we created a low-fidelity prototype (i.e. a rough sketch) to prototype the user interface design of SimuSurvey. Details of system interaction are not specified, but users can evaluate the sketch in the context of a particular scenario. Potential users are able to read the scenario and use the low-fidelity prototype as an aid while considering whether or not the envisioned scenario meets user’s requirements and how it might be developed to meet his or her information and interaction needs. 4. Redesign the Interface of SimuSurvey To design a good user interface is a challenging task, needing multiple iterations from design and prototype to evaluation. To reduce the development time, we used paper-based prototypes to accelerate the prototype process. Paper-based prototypes are low-fidelity prototypes. They can be produced by drawing sketches, screen mockups, or storyboards. An additional benefit of the use of the low-fidelity prototype method is that designers are able to test a specific user interface that involves more uncertainties for users’ requirements during the design (Virzi et al. 1997). During the redesign process, many usability problems have been identify and solved the interactive procedure. Figure 3 shows an example of a paper-based prototype developed during the SimuSurvey development process. Since the designers and users have diverse ideas about the user interface for controlling the vertical angle in SimuSurvey, the major purpose of this prototype is to evaluate whether the design of the vertical angle controller is appropriate for the user. Originally, SimuSurvey’s vertical angle controller was designed based on a real survey instrument’s controller (Figure 3(a)). However, after several design and prototype iterations, Figure 3(b) was discovered to be the design of the vertical angle controller that most users prefer. The users found that adjusting the vertical angle of SimuSurvey using a scrollbar (as in Figure 3(b)) was more intuitive than using a virtual three-dimensional knob. This is one example of a situation in which a low-fidelity prototype helped the designer to efficiently examine the user’s requirements. Figure 4 shows the prototype of SimuSurvey’s overall user interface. We used the paper-based prototype as a medium of communication between the designers and the users. Low-fidelity prototypes facilitate users and designers in exploring the design possibilities and determine their wishes and needs for the tool. Paper-based prototypes are inexpensive and easy to produce. Although not all functions are included in the low-fidelity prototypes, they still can effectively allow designer to test his or her idea quickly and obtain valuable users’ feedback. In this study, after the low-fidelity prototype was finalized, we use the C# programming language to
develop a high-fidelity prototype that included most functions required for SimuSurvey. Its user interface is shown in Figure 5.
(a) The real knob of a survey instrument and the simulated control icon for SimuSurvey.
(b) The vertical angle control of the low-fidelity prototype.
Figure 3: Part of SimuSurvey’s low-fidelity prototype.
Figure 4: The final low-fidelity prototype design.
Figure 5: The final design of SimuSurvey.
5. User surveys To verify the new design, we interviewed surveying experts including two professional surveyors and three instructors of surveying courses. After the interviews, we found that the following five criteria are important to apply SimuSurvey for training purpose: (1) whether the tool can facilitate the teaching and learning process; (2) whether the total training cost will be significantly reduced if the virtual training tool is adopted; (3) whether current technologies can widely support this tool; (4) whether the tool provides distance learning features that allow student to have more opportunities to practice after class; and (5) whether this tool can support virtual surveying, training students in a computer-generated scenario based on geographic data. Using these five criteria as a guide, we developed a questionnaire and surveyed four groups of users, including three instructors who were teaching surveying courses, three professional surveyors who have at least three years’ field experience, five students who have taken at least one surveying course, and 26 students who have never learned surveying and are currently taking their first surveying course. The results show that all four groups strongly agree that SimuSurvey will benefit the teaching and learning process. All four user groups also agree with the argument that SimuSurvey will reduce the total cost for surveying training. Furthermore, all four groups believe that current computer technologies can support the development of SimuSurvey. However, they have different opinions about the benefits of distance learning. Students responded positively about the option of downloading SimuSurvey to their personal computers in order to practice. Instructors and instrument technicians, however, responded skeptically about the potential benefits. They were also skeptical about the benefits of virtual surveys. A high-fidelity prototype that included most functions required for SimuSurvey was developed base on preliminary user survey. We developed a questionnaire and surveyed 323 students from three vocational schools. The purpose of the questionnaire was to understand the attitude of students toward instructors using SimuSurvey in the training course. The results indicate that 91% of the students believe that using virtual surveying instruments in training will benefit their learning experience. After a 90 minute class using SimuSurvey, 66% of participating students were able to correctly answer the questions in a post-class test. Using SimuSurvey was shown to be a more efficient and effective learning method than using physical surveying instruments. The details about the survey will be published in the other paper(Kuo et al. 2007). 6. Conclusions After evaluating the usability of SimuSurvey, the majority of users, including both instructors and students, provided positive feedback regarding the survey training tool. They believe this tool is helpful for engineering survey training. The computer-rendered virtual surveying tool not only reduces the maintenance cost for physical instruments, but also improves the teaching and learning process in class. In this study, we relied on a user-centered design process to develop SimuSurvey during the design phase. This process involves user evaluations from the early design stages to learn what users require. We then introduced paper-based prototypes, a
low-fidelity prototyping method, to explore multiple design possibilities rapidly and economically. After continuously testing prototypes with users, we solved many usability problems and finalized the low-fidelity prototype. Since most users were satisfied with the final low-fidelity prototype, we implemented this prototype and developed a better and more user-friendly user interface for SimuSurvey. In the future, SimuSurvey will continue to develop as a fully featured program that can be integrated into a regular survey training program. References Billings, C. E.(1997). Aviation automation: the search for a human-centered approach. Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah. Boehm, B.W.(1988). A Spiral Model of Software Development and Enhancement, Computer, 21, 61-72. ISO—International Standard Organization (1999). Human-centered design processes for interactive systems. ISO/FDIS 13407(E). Kuo, H.L., Kang, S.C. and Lu, C. C. (2007) “The feasibility study of using a virtual surveying instrument in surveyor training,” International Conference on Engineering Education ICEE 2007, Coimbra, Portugal(submitted). Liberty, J.(2006). Programming C# 4th Edition, O'Reilly Media. Lindgaard, G. Dillon, R. Trbovich, P. White, R. Fernandes, G. Lundahl S. and Pinnamaneni, A. (2006). User Needs Analysis and requirements engineering: Theory and practice, Interacting with Computers, 18(1), January 2006, Pages 47-70 Lu, C.C., Kang, S. C. and Hsieh, S. H.(2007), “SimuSurvey: A Computer-based Simulator for Survey Training,” The 2007 W78 Conference, Maribor, Slovenia. Norman, D. A. and Stephen, W. D. (1986). User Centered System Design. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1986. pp. 31--61. Pressman, R. S.(1999). Software engineering: A practitioner’s approach, McGraw-Hill, Boston, MA. Rosson, M. B. and Carroll, J. M.(2001). Usability Engineering: Scenario-Based Development of Human Computer Interaction, Morgan Kaufmann. Rouse, W. B.(1991). Design for success: a human-centered approach to designing successful products and systems, Wiley. New York. Shreiner, D., Woo, M., Neider, J. and Davis, T.(2005). OpenGL Programming Guide: The Official Guide to Learning OpenGL 5th Edition, Addison Wesley. Stone, D., Jarrett, C., Woodroffe, M. and Minocha, S. (2005). User Interface Design and Evaluation, Morgan Kaufmann. Virzi, R. A., Sokolov, J. L. and Karis, D.(1996). Usability problem identification using both Low- and High-Fidelity Prototypes. Proceedings of ACM CHI '96, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 236-243.
