Talking about building a small business (VIDEO)

Business IT Q&A

I am looking to start a conversation via video podcasts to connect my friends and business contacts. The podcast will initially be centered around answering IT questions in my wheelhouse.

Topic Ideas: personal branding, building a business online, how to sell things online, social media management, SEO (search engine optimization), websites, BI (business intelligence), AI (artificial intelligence), front-end development, UX (user experience) and machine learning. I’d like to introduce my friends who have small businesses, start the conversation rolling and see where this goes.

Thinking a video once a week (until I start podcasting and more by request) next one at 4PM on Friday. If you have questions, feedback, or topic ideas please leave me a comment!!!

Design & Laws for Usable Systems

• Dix, Finlay, Aboud & Beale (2003): Introduction to “Human-Computer Interaction.”

Consider Good Human Factors

“If consideration for good human factors is given early in the design process, considerable savings in both money and possibly human suffering can be achieved.” -- Wickens, Lee, Liu & Gordon-Becker: Chapter 1 of “Introduction to Human Factors Engineering.”

“The system must support the user’s task: if the system forces the user to adopt an unacceptable mode of work then it is not usable.” -- Dix, Finlay, Aboud & Beale (2003): Introduction to “Human-Computer Interaction.”

"In other words, companies would be wise to invest early and often in a well-thought user experience for their products and services. Too many companies believe that their brand recognition will suffice when launching and maintain products. This is just not the case anymore in our day and age. A successful company will invest time into testing the usability of their products to ensure they aren’t wasting time and money focusing in the wrong areas." -- Ryan Stone

Good Vs. Bad Product Design.

Charles Di Renzo Week 2 Reading Reactions COLLAPSE I liked the Wickens reading the most out of these 3. It covered the different types of experiments and under which conditions to use them. This was very fascinating to me as I love the science involved with HCI. I spoke about it in my last post, but I’m always thinking about whether or not a product can be ‘objectively good’ and if so will that mean the most products are headed down a road to imitate one another in the hopes of the being the best product on the market? I think we all feel that products can be ‘objectively bad’ because there are products that are either hard to use or they don’t accomplish their purpose very well, but can a product be deemed ‘objectively good’ if there are people who would prefer a different interface? Either way I enjoy hearing about the science and research that goes into everything. I was also glad to see the discussion of P and t values and their importance in research, as it was a really interesting part of my economics major to see how studies were conducted. I hope that my previous experience with statistics will come in use during this graduate program. I also enjoyed the Dix Ch. 9 article and how they discussed the Heuristic evaluation, we had touched on these in my undergraduate ‘Usability’ class and I enjoy using an app or a webpage and thinking about how they’ve been applied. Charles, I like that you pointed out Wicken's experiment types and the objectively good/bad products. I didn't really consider discussing either of these in my response to this weeks reading, but the way you responded reminds me a lot of other readings and lectures I've been to on how products are invented or revolutionized. Too often, it seems products are given "extra features" for the sake of doing something meaninglessly different that distract from products, but sometimes they are done poorly. I own the Samsung S2 Smart Watch. I like it a lot. It functions well as a phone and a watch, but beyond that it holds little value for me. It COULD do so much more (I'm trying to learn to build my own apps for it). I was also extremely disappointed that the SmartThings app is not in products yet for the S2 (which it was deceivingly advertised and is also owned by Samsung). Mechanical keyboards now come with distracting, but very cool lights. Makes a great expensive techy purchase, but I also wonder at the necessity (though maybe I'm a hypocrite as I type on a mechanical keyboard at work.. but I don't think it's really that much better than my built in laptop one). Shoes can track your steps, but do little more than that. The sensors is inconveniently on the bottom of your dirty shoes. It is dependent on a phone. Smart home devices are extremely expensive, for what they are and how poorly they are built. Many of the devices are built for battery installation so you do not have to wire them into a wall, but there are rarely other options to do this without the battery. Why don't they come with rechargeable batteries or solar panels? It just seems all too often, things are designed because they are cool new ideas without trying to solve problems or ask the question is there anything wrong with the current design? How could this be better? OR they do ask the questions and do not try to encourage REAL conversation or negative feedback. Growth in HCI often comes the most from negative feedback, not feel good answers. I really like the idea of doing a pilot study before the real study. This makes a lot of sense as a test run, but ideally in software development, I like doing multiple evaluations and tests. The process becomes very cyclical: build, test, revise, repeat. The problem with this is the software is only "new" once. Finding lots of users who are unfamiliar with the system can be hard for me since I work in an industry where everything is secured or confidential. Something else I wondered about the multitasking study was if the users had high familiarity with the types of tasks, perhaps the task itself was hard for them? In which case, does that reflect on their multitasking abilities? I would probably consider myself a HMM or high media multitasker vs. light media multitasker (LMM). I wonder if the results from the study or takeaway could be used to identify self-deficiencies in this area for improvement and what multiple follow-ups to the test would produce. I doubt that picking out red or blue rectangles would be hard, but you never know. Perhaps the task was distracting in itself because it was boring? I wonder if motivational factors should also be considered. Since the HMM and LMM are also self-identifying, wouldn't it be best to have a survey or tasks that also confirm their assumptions? Like, what makes you a multitasker? Do you frequently have multiple tabs open at the same time? Does it bother you to have music or a TV on while you are doing something else like work or homework? Do you perform well in high stress or high anxiety situations? Do you like to work ahead? Maybe also define for them, better, what that means? Lab tests are never going to be just like real life. They are unfamiliar spaces for the participants and people are aware they are being watched in a way that is hard to forget. So, another question I have is how different this would be if it was made it to some kind of similar test or even a video game. That way it could be tested on a larger audience without the nuances of lab testing. (Wickens, 2008) does discuss that there are varying methods to testing that involve less controlled and more realistic observation. I would like to see how some of these tests could be conducted using mixed methods. How they are setup, analysis is done, synthesis, and learn more about the backgrounds of individual researchers.

Connecting humans to computers

Lydia Hardie 

Week 1 Definitions

As someone coming in with more of a psychology background than anything, I found room for elaboration in the definition of a computer provided by Dix.  It states “By computer we mean any technology ranging from the general desktop computer to a large-scale computer system, a process control system or an embedded system.” 

Considerations with Multitasking

Katherine Anthony Reading Reaction, Week 2 - through the eyes of a journalist COLLAPSE I found the “Cognitive control in media multitaskers” reading to be extremely interesting – especially because my area of emphasis is in journalism. We have frequent discussions about the evolution of multitasking in media and the impact that has on attention span. From a content perspective, we write to appeal to an audience that has a short attention span and who is likely preoccupied and just wants the down and dirty facts. That’s where the inverted pyramid comes into play – most important details at the top and information becomes less important further down the piece.

Poetry is said to make the mysterious familiar and the familiar mysterious.

Mahmood Ramezani 

Summary and reaction!

COLLAPSE

Cognition – exploring the science of the mind

The author believes that we need a lot of background knowledge for understanding even a simple short story. Indeed cognition is really complicated, even it doesn't seem so. Also he categorizes our knowledge into generic and episodic. He also shows how vital memory is in our daily life and "without a memory, there is no self", he states.

Rehearsal Loop and an Example of the Usability Testing Process

Shelby Gosa 

Week 1 Reading Reaction

COLLAPSE

From reading the week 1 articles, it is clear to me that I did not understand the cognitive psychology aspect of HCI. There is so much more to product design than I ever thought possible. One aspect that I noted was the article discussing the impact that accidents and mishaps have on companies. I did not foresee such a large monetary impact on a company that was unrelated to lawsuits, but after reading it, it makes sense that things would need to be drastically changed to prevent such issues from happening again. I never imagined those changes costing a company so much money. Through this, I have gained a new appreciation for the necessity of human factor reviewing and trying to prevent operator error. I will also be able to better appreciate these things in my own element of biology.

The Software Development Tripod of Successful Team Work

Claire Davison 

Week 1 Readings

COLLAPSE

Dix, Finlay, Aboud & Beale’s Introduction to Human Computer interaction begins by discussing what make a usable design. The components that are presented as necessary to make a computer system usable are aligned with Neilson’s Heuristics, which have been presented in other ISU HCI classes and are commonly used as a guideline for a user interface heuristic evaluation. While the chapter does state that HCI is an inter-disciplinary field, it puts a heavy emphasis on computer science. This idea has shown up in other readings and mentioned in discussions before but through experience, research and presentations from experts in the field; I believe otherwise. The authors do identify themselves as computer scientists and acknowledge that their view is not shared by everyone in the field; but I believe an HCI team with members who felt that one discipline was more important than the other would suffer compared to a team who believed each psychology, design, and computer science or engineering were equal “legs” in a tripod.

Software Development Risk Management: Is Training Enough?

Rafael Robles 

Week 1 - Wickens Ch. 1

COLLAPSE

Chapter 1 of WIckens is an introduction to applied psychology and the goals of Human Factors. Where I work, there have been a few software tools acquired to replace the existing systems. These tools are designed for users from a variety of backgrounds and use cases. It is interesting to see how the software through the lens of human factors and HCI.

Academics, Doctors, and Superego

Arah Dauer Wk 1 Reading Reaction

COLLAPSE

This week's reading included a chapter that had a significant amount of cognitive psychology covered. Since HCI is really a marriage of the creative as well as the scientific, I am glad that the Science of the Mind chapter went into such detail regarding the experimentation on humans and their inner ear and central executive. Initially, the discussion of cognitive psychology's roots in introspection made me think there would be a lack of scientific principle in the field. However after the contrast of current practices of experimentation my fears subsided.

Academia: conflicting emotions behind the moments of clarity

Katherine Anthony 

Katie Anthony_Introduction

COLLAPSE

Hi all! 

My name is Katie Anthony (though you'll see my name is Katherine - I'll answer to either) and this is my first HCI course. I am a second-year graduate student in journalism and my thesis focus will be centering around the older adult, clinically depressed population and their interactions with technology - specifically networking sites for socializing. While I think most of us can say things like "well this population just doesn't understand the technology and it scares them", there isn't much talk about the interface building and the audience impact. I'm very eager to be a part of this class and strengthen my knowledge and thesis "claims". Outside of journalism, I'm fairly involved in the School of Education as their communications graduate assistant and I am also the newsletter editor/creator for the Central Iowa chapter of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness). I'm excited to discuss and work with you all!

Katie,

We have very different focuses but I've seen a lot lately related to helping the elderly become more engaged via new technology. I think it is a great cause. When I was younger, say middle school or high school age, I used to volunteer a lot for local retirement communities. We would visit once a week and play games, chat, paint nails, and just have very simple but engaging interactions with the residents. One year, one of the places I volunteered for had an area for adults with dementia or Alzheimers. A lot of the conversations we would have would be very repetitive, but sometimes they would remember things, especially a particular patient who kept a diary of sorts. I wonder how networking sites might help them to at least maintain or engage with family. For some people, it's a lot like living in dorms, but for others they feel trapped. 

Process Planning

Overview:

• Identify key stages of strategic planning
• Activities and examples related to strategic planning processes
• Align strategic plan to HR policies

2016 Chi4Good

https://drive.google.com/…/fol…/0ByncXJQoSbO0Y0dId045UjV1dHM#chiforgood #chi4good

You will have to scroll pretty far down to get to the interesting bits. The conference is already over.

- Page 8 - About the Conference
- 17-19 is Awards but mostly about the winners
- 22 About Keynote speaker
- 70-71 About Exhibitors

Topic links are shown for each day, and clicking on the topic will take you to a list of the presentations under each topic. Original web version: https://chi2016.acm.org/program/?tab=chi2016-schedule

Interview Questions - Getting to Know Me

Interview questions for Desarae

I’d like to start off, by thanking you for taking the time to put this together. I was thrilled to have a fellow HCI student reach out to me online, but your genuine interest in our friendship and learning experience is refreshing. You are a wonderful person, Holly, and I’m glad to be getting to know you. I’m sure a decade from now we will look back on this interview with fun smiles.

Introduction

Introduction

What is your background, what are your interests in HCI?  

My name is Desarae Veit. This is my second semester of graduate school at Iowa State. I'm a Senior UI/UX designer (user interface/user experience). I've been working in UI/UX for over 10 years. My first degree is an associate in science and my bachelors is in art and design with a minor in military science. My goal is to graduate with a PhD in human computer interaction. My hope is that I will gain practical experience that may be applied to my current role to advance my career.

I would like to learn more about analysis, predictive analytics, multivariate testing, and how to apply cognitive psychology to improving software development (I am specifically interested more in web design than VR).

Contact Information

Facebook.com/DesaraeVTwitter.com/DesaraeVdesaraev@iastate.edu

Question 1

Hey Desarae,

Sounds like you're really proficient with UI/UX.  You mentioned that you're doing this program (and eventually a PhD) to advance your career but I don't see that you've mentioned the career?  Are you working right now somewhere where you can use your UI/UX experience?

UX Can Be Fatal

John Hudson 

Week 1 Reading Reaction - UX can be fatal.

COLLAPSE

The chapter from Reisberg’s book was filled with a useful spread of history, theory and principles of cognitive psychology. I found it to be an interesting overview of the psychological foundation for HCI (covered more in-depth in the other readings). I appreciated the computer metaphor provided by Reisberg as he explained the concept of “working memory.” This has proven useful in my own professional career when considering a list of feature or benefits. List too many and it becomes all too overwhelming for the user!

Website: Ultimate Hearing Center

Website: StyleForDignity.com

Style for Dignity is a website built for dig·ni·ty events and fundraisers. The goal of the group is to raise funds and/or awareness for social justice issues. A list of the charitable entities and goals are listed on the website.

New Website: Book Reviews

Book Reviews