Understanding users

Tuesday, 31 January 2017

Assigned reading

• Miller, L. (2015). The Practitioner’s Guide To User Experience Design. New York: Grand Central Publishing.
  • Read Introduction and chapter 1, "Seeing through users' eyes," pp. 1-43.
• Lidwell, W., Holden, K., & Butler, J. (2010). Universal Principles of Design (2nd ed.). Beverly, Massachussetts: Rockport. Retrieved from http://site.ebrary.com.libproxy.lib.unc.edu/lib/uncch/detail.action?docID=10715587
  • Read "Accessibility," p. 16,
  • "Horror Vacui," p. 128,
  • "Mental Model," p. 154,
  • "Personas," p. 182.

Film as Interface

Today we will watch the first ~15 minutes of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1958). Luke Miller uses this film (and Hitchcock’s unique style, generally) as an example of how an experience can be created for a viewer/user. In this exercise, we’ll see if we can observe what Miller is talking about.

Write down as many IMPORTANT or SALIENT details as you can from the opening of the film. We’ll talk about why each of these is important or salient and what purpose it might have later.

After the clip is over, take a few minutes and write down a few impressions about what you think Hitchcock is leading the viewer to perceive about what will happen next.

1. How can we use these observations in thinking about user interaction?
2. What did you take away from this exercise?

• users
• profiles
• research