PACT Analysis and prototype design for an interactive system

            PACT Analysis and prototype design for an interactive system

  106CR Designing for Usability Coventry University Adam Anderson 2939072 January 2011

Contents  

Introduction ………………………………………………………………………….. 4 Scenario ……………………………………………………………………………………... 4

PACT Analysis ………………………………………………………………………. 5 People ………………………………………………………………………………………… 5 Understanding the commuter …………………………………………………………….. 5 Demographics ……………………………………………………………………………... 5  

Activities ……………………………………………………………………………………. 6 Print media …………………………………………………………………………………. 6 Electronic retrieval using Information Kiosks …………………………………………….. 6

Contexts……………………………………………………………………………………… 7 The train station ……………………………………………………………………………. 7 On board the train …………………………………………………………………………. 7 Response rates in both environments ……………………………………………………. 8  

Technologies ……………………………………………………………………………….. 8 The blue line ……………………………………………………………………………….. 8 Mobile devices ………………………………………………………………………….….. 8 Connectivity ………………………………………………………………………………… 9  

Observations …………………………………………………………………………10 Accessing information at the train concourse …………………………………………..10 Information content ………………………………………………………………………..10 Multiple and mobile access points to information ………………………………………10 Reflection …………………………………………………………………………………..10

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Web Research Device form factors: Google Chromium ………………………………………………....12 Gowalla.com ……………………………………………………………………………….12 Reflection ………………………………………………………………………………......13

BlueWhale Design Visualisations …………………………….……..14 Main access screens ……………………………………………………………………...14 Main interface design ……………………………………………………………………..15 My Places interface ………………………………………………………………………..16 Modal window messages …………………………………………………………………17

Visual Design Feedback …………………………………………………….18 Main access screens ……………………………………………………………………...18 Location detection ………………………………………………………………………...18 Using the system …………………………………………………………………………..18 Reflection …………………………………………………………………………………..18

Appendix ………………………………………………………………………………..19 Questionnaire ............................................................................................................19

References ………………………………..……………………………………………20

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Introduction This report presents a prototype interface for an interactive application codenamed BlueWhale that addresses the problems encountered in the following scenario through the use of PACT analysis, observation and research.

Scenario

“

Whilst travelling by train between London and Edinburgh, Emily finds herself waiting for a connection in Coventry station. It turns out that the connection is not for another four hours. Emily doesn’t know Coventry but would like to use those four hours to visit a local museum, have lunch and ‘get a feel’ for the city, yet there are no leaflets about local attractions in the station and Google Maps (on her phone) is full of paid advertising links. If you think about it, Emily is in a city of 250,000 experts but doesn’t have access to all that expert knowledge. How might we help Emily to find the ‘real Coventry’ using local knowledge of what is worth visiting and where is worth eating?

”

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PACT Analysis People The people who will use the BlueWhale application will be commuters in the process of travelling and in need of access to information which is relevant to them and locations along their journey.  

Understanding the commuter   To begin to understand this system we must first understand the commuter and the environment in which they commute. Rail travel in Great Britain is a fast moving network tasked with transporting a vast amount of passengers. Due to the quantity of people who use rail travel it can often be difficult to collect information about commuters. In March 2007 the National Rail Travel Survey (NRTS) report was published. Its aim was to understand the purposes of travel and collect demographic information about passengers. This data is important in helping design the BlueWhale application so that it is not only based around what information passengers require but in what environment and format they acquire it.  

Demographics   We can see in Figure 1 that of the 2.7 million trips that occurred in a typical day, commuting to and from work or education accounted for the biggest share of all journeys (Department for Transport 2007). Figure 2 highlights the age ranges of commuters and it is clearly evident that commuting occurs across all working ages. This broad age range means that BlueWhale will have to be intergenerational and navigable to people of all ages. It is vital to look at the ‘bigger picture’ of what is happening to commuters. The reason for this is that, although this data might not bear any direct relevance to the application, it gives great insight into the activities and environments in which people will be most likely to want to participate with BlueWhale.

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Activities The lack of consistent accessibility to information and the challenges current systems present continue to make the process of finding information lethargic and too demanding.

Print media Printed materials on-board trains and on station platforms provide a common way retrieving information. This has its advantages and disadvantages. Print media is an established method of communication and because of this commuters are likely to view it as a credible source of information. Leaflets are convenient and make it easy to target a particular geographic location. It is however, a costly medium to supply and its shelf life is often limited. Print media relating to local information is often free of charge, used once and then discarded of and therefore yields no economic return. It is important that this repetition and cluttering of information doesn’t occur with BlueWhale.  

Electronic retrieval using Interactive Kiosks   Interactive Kiosks are a modern method of commuters retrieving information. First introduced in a public environment in 1991, there aim was to provide access to local information, travel information and web applications in areas of high foot traffic such as train stations, airports and government buildings. For a user to operate an interactive kiosk they simply approach the kiosk and touch the screen. The majority of interactive kiosks make use of touch screen technology however their capabilities are often extremely limited. Their interactions are often based on conventional desktop computers and use a keyboard and mouse pointer to navigate and don’t provide an engaging interactive experience (Raisamo 1999). Developing new ways to use touch screen sensing as an input is gaining increasing popularity. Apple’s iPhone and iPad devices along with other tablet and smartphone operating systems such as Android take advantage of the way in which a user interacts with on-screen content with the use of ‘gestures’ and multi-touch capabilities (Apple 2010). The BlueWhale interactive system will take into account the limitations of kiosk technology. Accessibility is important and although interactive kiosks offer access to a wide range of information they are not accessible to people because the user has to be at a specific location to access it. For commuters on crowded platforms or rushing to catch a train, it would be inefficient for them to spend time locating a kiosk device. BlueWhale cannot be dependent on physical location but should make use of location tracking technology such as GPS, Wi-Fi and HTML5. By doing this, the system will understand the location of the device being used and provide information relating to that location reducing the need for multiple access kiosks in multiple locations. PACT ANALYSIS AND PROTOTYPE DESIGN

 

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Contexts Current activities show that information retrieval is heavily dependent on the commuter being at a specific place at a specific time and allows little room for mobility. This is made more problematic in a railway context.

The train station The train station platforms are a chaotic and noisy environment. With multiple trains arriving and departing concurrently, there are often large waves of people flowing through the train station concourse allowing minimal room for movement. Due to this, many train station concourses and platforms are becoming more open plan and designed to cause minimal disruption or hazard, positioning fixed technologies like interactive kiosks ever further away from potential users. It would prove impractical if the system was to make use of sound or voice command recognition because the station environment would not be suitable. When the system is accessed in a train station it needs to be simple and quick to use. The concourse environment could quickly become erratic and this unpredictability could yield a high ‘give up’ rate.  

On-board the train Before the pervasive introduction of wireless and mobile technology, retrieving information on-board trains was not easily achievable. Trains are not restricted to individual journeys and often carry out different schedules to and from different locations so to carry an endless amount of information for each individual commuter in physical form would be impossible. However, since the growth of wireless technology and, in particular, mobile OS devices it has become impressively easy to gain access to information. Moving away from storing information on paper or a digital drive, smart mobile devices enable commuters to access the internet and web applications in a quieter and more collected environment than that of the platform. Here the commuter has more time to focus on their journey and prepare for their destination. The station concourse is only a preliminary step of a journey and commuters only want to know about what to do at both ends of it; catch a train, or visit the local area. The focus then, of an accessible and relevant interactive system, should be less on providing information at the concourse and more about directing information at the commuter before, during and after travel; creating a personal interaction with the application.  

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Response rates in both environments To support this case, the NRTS report highlights an important statistic regarding response rates to their own survey, distributed at station concourses and on-board trains in 2007. As shown in Figure 3, they found that the response rate to their questionnaires distributed in stations was around 25 per cent, whereas the on-train surveys achieved a much higher response rate of up to 60 per cent. This tells us that the majority of commuters are not interested in or do not have the time to participate in activities whilst in the open concourse because they are busy, probably catching trains.

Technologies The blue line Many train stations are located on the outskirts of city centres and usually require a short walk to reach inner-city areas. This can make commuters reluctant to venture away from the station. However, commuters who have long breaks in their journeys often need to explore the local area. When you add the road network, nature and the general public in between the station and city centre, a straight forward walk turns into a labyrinth of signage, subways, footbridges and crossings. One recent approach at tackling this challenge in the city of Coventry has been to paint a vivid blue line on the footpath covering the distance between the The blue line… but which direction? city centre and train station. At first it seems a great solution, however problems can soon be identified. Which direction does the user walk if they join the line at a random point? If foot traffic is heavy how can the user keep sight of the line? How do people even know what the blue line represents? This solution is a little too basic but distances between locations are an important detail that cannot be overlooked in the BlueWhale application interface.

Mobile devices There are over 5 billion mobile devices in the world (BBC 2010), and they are regarded as one of the most personal devices to their owners. They are personal because they contain information about themselves, apps they use, maps, pictures, the list could go on. Wi-Fi and PACT ANALYSIS AND PROTOTYPE DESIGN

 

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GPS capabilities that are built into mobile devices allow users access to the internet and share experiences with others. The use of mobile devices will play a major role in using the BlueWhale application because they transfer a lot of the information retrieval directly to the user and user accessibility is a key issue. The personal aspect of content is also important to the interaction design because it allows the user to store their own information about locations, add ratings, save favourite places and look back on previous journeys. Device properties such as resolutions and screen sizes will also have to be taken into account because the system needs to carry a consistent approach throughout.

Connectivity The BlueWhale application will be dependent on a connection to the internet. This could be wireless or wired depending on the device the application is being accessed on. Downloading information constantly may cause the system to respond slowly. A way of combating this is by storing accessed information temporarily for each session so if a user retrieves the same information about a location more than once, the content will not need to be downloaded again. After each session the user can save preferred locations and the system will discard of the others.

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Observations Accessing information at the train concourse Examining information gathered from the questionnaires I sent out and observations from the PACT analysis, it is apparent that the train station concourse does not provide ideal conditions for commuters to retrieve information about their journey or local area. I discovered that not only did commuters not participate with current interactive systems and technologies but most of them were unaware that the equipment even existed for them to use.

Information content When questioned about the social openness of content and the ability to share content such as reviews most commuters did not see a problem and believed that they would be able to make their own mind up about what information appeared reliable. Some commuters however did highlight the need for legitimate and official content regarding local attractions and businesses. The BlueWhale solution for rating a local business or attraction could use several sources on which to base a rating; the traditional method of user reviews using a 5 star system, the amount of times a location has been added as a favourite place and the number of times a location has been added multiple times by the same user as a favourite place. The last of these for example, would be worth much more than one average review and would calculate the overall rating higher than a location that was visited once but never again by anyone.

Multiple and mobile access points to information A large majority of commuters would use mobile technology to research the surrounding area often using spare time whilst travelling on a train to browse the internet and agreed that a system that combined local information with commuting and other train services would be helpful. Due to the different situations commuters find themselves in it is important to retain access to information on the concourse but develop the system so that the interface is consistent and present throughout station kiosks, mobile applications, web applications and all methods of access.

Reflection Using the PACT analysis method and observations enables a greater understanding of problems and difficulties that might occur in current systems. People carry out day to day activities and tackle complications in different ways and by standing back and watching commuters handle a problem, or simply ignore it, you can see in much greater detail than asking them how they would cope.

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The PACT analysis certainly helped in highlighting the issues around how commuters acquire information. A system that only allowed access to static content in the train station would not be suitable for this scenario because commuting is active and fast moving. It also emphasised the need for content to be social. This way, users can learn from each other’s experiences and take content mobile. Using questionnaires as a way of gathering information is an inexpensive method of collection answers to core questions. From this collected data, we can create a picture of the general response to current and future technology and ideas. The down side to this method is that we are unable to respond to users or ask further in-depth questions to people who may have highlighted important points.

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Web Research Device form factors  

Google Chromium OS The BlueWhale application will be accessible by mobile and tablet devices but also desktop, kiosk and display devices. Each device will have different input methods, screen sizes and capabilities. This illustration below is taken from the Google Chromium OS development site and highlights the situations in which BlueWhale will have to be operable for maximum use.

Gowalla.com Gowalla was designed and developed in Texas and is a web application that allows friends to keep in touch and share the places they go and discover new places and hotspots.

Shared Photos Map of Local area

User Check-ins

Top Visitors

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Users can ‘check-in’ at locations, share and view photos, add comments about locations and view related locations. Business owners can also claim their businesses and provide official up to date information about them.

Reflection This research is significant in shaping and creating the interface of the BlueWhale application. We can start to turn tedious activities like finding a coffee shop into an engaging and interactive way of engaging with others who have visited the same location. The form factors are also important in helping us understand the formats in which people will acquire the BlueWhale application. It helped me realise the importance of accessibility across a wide range of platforms.

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BlueWhale Design Visualisations The BlueWhale application will provide information depending on the user’s location. Therefore the first step must retrieve location information to continue. This information can be provided in three ways: by the user inputting a departing and arriving station, the user selecting a station or the device detecting the location of the user using GPS technology. For static devices this can already be automatically completed.

Main access screens

User can scroll through stations along the journey and select one. The start and end are highlighted.

GPS informs the user which train they are on thus refining the location search

User can select location selection method

Location tabs that show how many minutes it takes to walk to from the station

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Main Interface

Location ratings

Extended interface

Social ratings including likes

This allows users to store locations and create a final journey document.

The main interface will make use of advance touch screen gestures including sliding and pinching. The user can swipe the menu on the left to browse up and down the locations and select a location to view details about it including ratings, maps and reviews.

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My Places Interface

Drag a place here to remove it

Search bar is always accessible

The user can view previous places that are recorded by day

Interactive maps show the user their locations and journeys including directions

All the windows will make use of panels and these panels are scrollable by using a finger swipe. If a user decides to remove a place from their journey they can drag it to dust bin and the application will recalculate to distances and walking times. A recommendations window also allows room for built-in advertising.

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Modal window messages

The interface is designed to alert the user to things that may be happening or about to happen. Using GPS technology, the system will alert the user when they are approaching their destination. This means that they don’t miss their station and carry out what they are using the BlueWhale application for. These messages are only reminders and do not interfere with the users current process. The user can continue with the simple press of a button.

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Visual Design Feedback Main access screens The simplicity and usability of the main screens was well received and attention was drawn to how uncluttered the interface appeared and helped to focus attention. Someone did observe whether the system could manage multiple journeys where commuters had to change trains. This function would be available with the use of a ‘via’ input box on the main screen.

Location detection Comments on the GPS messaging system that alerts users depending on their location were also generally positive however some did question basic levels of trust in this system. This was because of issues regarding current applications of GPS technology. I assured them that future location detection technology would have greater capabilities and accuracy. There could also be the option for an alert to warn the user at the beginning of the application that it won’t inform them of any station alerts when the GPS is unavailable.

Using the system People I asked for feedback on the system all agreed than the general awareness of user interactive systems in public spaces is limited. They also stated that if they were to go about finding information whilst travelling today, they would be more likely to seek a mobile application system as opposed to a fixed hardware solution in a train station concourse. They felt that all the information they retrieve is in some way personal to them and would be more comfortable retrieving information in private as opposed to a public space.

Reflection The user feedback on the visual design highlighted room for improvements and addition features. However, people’s reservations must be considered alongside the fact that the prototype designs are not functional, and the same issues may not arise if the user was operating the application in a real life scenario.

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Appendix Questionnaire Thanks for taking part in this questionnaire about the BlueWhale interactive application. Please complete the questions accurately and honestly. Your results may be anonymously included in an academic report. Name ……………………………………………………… Are you a regular commuter?

Gender

Male / Female

Yes / No

When you commute, are you aware of any interactive systems that help you on your journey? (If yes, please mention) Yes / No

They are:

Do you consider the train station concourse to be an important part of your journey? Yes / No

If yes, does this apply regardless of the station you are at? Yes / No

When you visit a location by train you are unfamiliar with, what would you do to find out information about the place?

I would: Do you rely on a mobile device to find out about a location? Yes / No

If yes, do you use a specific application?

When finding out about a location, at what point do you do your research? Before I travel / At the station / Whilst travelling / After I have reached my destination Would you rely on information provided by other members of the public or official information? Both / Only official content / Members of the public Would you make use of an application that allowed you to find out information based on your location with a mobile device? Yes / No Would you use a system that was multi-platform and accessible on your mobile device, desktop computer, through information kiosks and web apps? Yes / No

SIGNATURE:

DATE:

/

/

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References  

Department for Transport, 2007. National Rail Travel Survery Overview Report. Available from: http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/statistics/datatablespublications/railways/nrtsupdate.pdf [Accessed 26 January 2011]. Roope Raisamo, 1999. Evaluating Different Touch-Based Interaction Techniques in a Public Information Kiosk. Available from: http://reference.kfupm.edu.sa/content/e/v/evaluating_different_touch_based_interac_778568.pdf [Accessed 31 January 2011]. Apple, 2010. The Best Way to Experience the Web. Available from: http://www.apple.com/ipad/features/ [Accessed 21 January 2011].   BBC News, 2010. Over 5 billion mobile phone connections worldwide. Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10569081 [Accessed 21 January 2011].

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