Page 1 of 4. IMT 540 C Assignment 2. 1. How can a new system support
communication for emergency room nurses? Ask them how to help. Card Sort.
This is a ...
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IMT 540 C Assignment 2 1. How can a new system support communication for emergency room nurses? Ask them how to help Card Sort This is a good way to learn the mental models of users, especially doctors and nurses, who may use lots of medical terms and jargons in their daily communication. Card sorting helps to evaluate if the vocabulary of the system is properly used and whether the process meets users’ expectations and professional manners. Look at what they do Fly on the Wall The setting of emergency room has constrains such as privacy and urgency, so methods that are less intrusive would be better. With careful observation in the natural context, designers could capture valuable details in a less obtrusive way. Also, nurses may be unaware of some habits and provide inaccurate data in surveys or interviews, and this method can be used to verify the answers from surveys, etc. Learn from the facts you gather Competitive Product Survey There may be similar products in market already, so it is helpful to evaluate and compare the existing products in order to make better designs. Designers could ask the nurses to try the competitive products and provide feedbacks on the merits and demerits. Also, it may be easier for the nurses to describe their needs and preferences with some concrete devices. Try it yourself Scenarios The communication in emergency room is complex, and designers can easily get distracted by too much information. Creating scenarios helps designers to focus on the key problems they are going to solve within the scope of the design project. It also helps to organize the different use cases and design solutions accordingly.
Page 2 of 4 Role-playing may not be proper in this case, although in one of the 51 cards, the author provides an example of designing a medical device with role-playing, which seems similar with this communication case. In my view, it might be easy to play the role of a patient, but without experience or any medical knowledge, it may be hard to really imitate how doctors and nurses work. There is the risk of being too subjective or fall into stereotypes.
2. How can a mobile system help long-distance bicyclists to find restaurants and amenities? Ask them how to help Surveys & Questionnaires The long-distance bicyclists may be scattered in broad geographic areas, so it may be hard to conduct face-to-face interviews with each of them. Surveys and questionnaires allow designers to quickly get answers to a series of questions and gather large amount of data efficiently. Also, the designers could put online surveys and questionnaires using social networking or certain websites to reach lots of long-distance bicyclists. Look at what they do Social Network Mapping Many bicyclists have their own groups and use social media to exchange trip experiences, etc. Such interpersonal relationships may also influence how they find restaurants and amenities. With this method, designers may get a better idea as to whether or not to include social features with this mobile system. Learn from the facts you gather Flow Analysis For a mobile device to be successful, it is important to provide good interaction experience. This method helps designers to examine whether each step makes sense to the users, whether the pages are logically connected, and if the system is consistent. Try it yourself Paper prototyping This is a good way to demonstrate the process of the mobile device. It is fast to create, flexible, and allows collaborative creating. For example, bicyclists may just quickly add or change something on the paper prototyping and show it to the designer.
Page 3 of 4 Try It Yourself may not be a good method in this case. To do this, designers may need to go for a long-distance bicycling trip, which takes a lot of time. Also, if the designer is unfamiliar with the trail or trip, he or she may have totally different experience with those experienced bicyclists. The data collected would then be of less value.
3. How can a video game help educate kids in Grades 1-5 on healthy eating? Ask them how to help Five Whys The kids’ eating habits may have some deep hidden causes. Asking five “whys” helps to discover the real causes and also corrects improper assumptions. For example, drinking milk is usually recognized as helpful to kids’ growth, but some kids don’t drink it. Why? Maybe the kid is allergic to it, or maybe because the kid’s mother is allergic to it and her non-diary eating habits has influenced her kid. Some kids don’t eat certain food for religious or cultural reasons. Thus, it is important to discover these underling reasons, so that the video game will be both appropriate and effective. Look at what they do A Day in the Life To understand how a video game can help educate kids on healthy eating, designers first need to know the kids’ current eating habits. It would be a good idea to spend a day in the school to observe the kids during breakfast, lunch, and dinner. What are they eating? Do they influence each other with eating habits? This method may help reveal some delicate facts in people’s natural context. Learn from the facts you gather Character Profiles This method helps to understand different categories of kids and their eating behaviors. The kids’ eating habits may be closely related to the lifestyle of their family, so it may be helpful to include such information in their profiles. Creating such profiles helps to categorize the kids into proper groups rather than just by grades. For example, a kid in Grade 3 may have similar eating habits with a kid in Grade 5 because of their similar family backgrounds. Try it yourself
Page 4 of 4 Empathy Tools Kids from different grades vary in their heights, balance and control abilities. This method helps to imitate these experiences. For example, if a button is too small, maybe the kid will ignore it easily. Or if an interaction is too fast, the kid may misunderstand it. If the game is fixed too high on the wall, the kid may be unable to reach it. Card sort may not be so efficient in this case. Cart sorting requires lots of discipline, and kids may get distracted or bored easily or refuse to cooperate. Also, kids from grade 1 to grade 5 have various cognition levels, so it would be hard to design a set of card that fits all of the kids. It might work if designers create cards for each grade separately, but even if they get results from each grade, will they design products for each grade separately? It seems to make things more complex than necessary.
