[DG: Teaching & Learning] [DG: User Experience] User Goals

[John Norman]

+1 (I agree)

Thanks Robin

On 4 Nov 2009, at 23:11, David Goodrum wrote:

> Hi Robin,
>
> I think that is a really fine example and I appreciate you sharing  
> and can relate to the struggle it can take to evolve to the right  
> level and kind of description.
>
> Of course, a goal doesn't have to be that perfect to get a row  
> started on the document; and others can then help by putting  
> suggested wording or alternate wording in the same cell in the matrix.
>
> This early on in trying to build this document up, it's most  
> important to get the ideas out. A structured brainstorming exercise,  
> one might say.
>
> We can revise and refine, sift and sort, clump and cluster, and  
> summarize and synthesize in the next phase.
>
> Best Regards - David
>
> On Nov 4, 2009, at 2:47 PM, Robin Hill <hill at uwyo.edu> wrote:
>
> Since I take this seriously, having spent years teaching computer
> science students to separate design from implementaion, maybe I can
> illustrate the process and the difficulty with a spreadsheet entry  
> of my
> own.
>
> ========
>> From the point of view of an instructor (of a logic course):
>
> 1.  I want an Example Bank.
> Bad-- no functional description.
>
> 2.  I want a set of tagged text records in an associative array.
> Bad-- assumes a particular mechanism.
>
> 3.  I want to maintain my examples in a personal blog that allows  
> labels
> on postings.
> Bad-- assumes a particular tool.
>
> 4.  I want examples that I can look up and use.
> Bad-- too general and vague.
>
> 5.  I want to save example of statements and reasoning when  
> encountered
> in daily life, and I want to retrieve them based on their properties
> when composing course materials.
> Good!
> ========
>
> Clay is welcome to comment, especially if this is NOT what he has in  
> mind.
>
>
> Clay Fenlason wrote:
> On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 1:15 PM, Luke Fernandez
> <luke.fernandez at gmail.com> wrote:
> I guess the question is whether there is a point where we should
> take the technological needs which our faculty articulate at face
> value.
>
> My experience is that this is most often counterproductive. I think
> this is why UCD starts with user *research* as opposed to simply
> asking the users what they want. The important considerations are
> very often the ones we are not conscious of, let alone those we're
> able to articulate well, not to mention articulate a solution that
> will also work for other people and fit well with other technical
> solutions in the same space, and so forth. It takes talent to
> synthesize sets of needs and come up with good answers, and that
> talent is not aided by leaping into implementation details too
> quickly.
>
> My underlying aim is to see us build something helpful and useful,
> not do a product comparison (and maybe that's why you are coming at
> this from a different angle). We've got designers ready to do work,
> and they're the ones with the sort of talent I indicated above. We
> need to help them cut through to what's essential, not get distracted
> by incidental detail.
>
> I think we're all familiar with conversations where someone confronts
> us with their issue, we start to raise possibilities or workarounds
> and press on details of what they're asking for, until they finally
> throw up their hands and say, "Look, I just want something that will
> <insert simple thing here> and not be a PITA, and if you can give me
> that I'll be happy." When they get to the point of putting it that
> way, then I think we're getting somewhere.
>
> ~Clay _______________________________________________ pedagogy
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> -- 
> Robin Hill, Ph.D.       hill at uwyo.edu       307-766-5499
> Instructional Computing Services            http://www.uwyo.edu/ctl
> Ellbogen Center for Teaching and Learning   University of Wyoming
>
>
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