Evaluation And Analysis Of Smart Phone As An Interactive System

Evaluation of Interactive Systems

You are keen to develop a start up Human Factors company that specialises in undertaking evaluations of interactive devices and systems that are in everyday use. You intend to provide evaluations and recommendations on whether the device is appropriate or not for the intended user group, in terms of, for example, task functionality, usability, safety, security and design aesthetics. A key to the potential success of your business will be to show to potential clients, that you have specialist skills and understanding of Human Factors tools and techniques. To help you in your quest to show that you do indeed possess these much sought after skills and qualities, you decide to undertake an evaluation of a device in order for you to have an example portfolio of your work that you can use to show potential clients.

The work is being issued now and you have until Sunday the 5th of June to complete the assignment.

There are a number of tasks associated with this assignment that you must complete. Each of these are detailed below.  

1.Initially, identify and select an appropriate device that you can use to undertake the evaluation. You have complete freedom of choice here but the type of devices you might like to consider include, digital cameras, smartphones, interactive ‘smart’ televisions, tablet devices, remote control units for Hi Fi, TVs etc , or control system displays for home heating systems, in car communication navigation and entertainment systems etc..

2.Task 1

The first assessed piece of this assignment is for you to provide a justification for the need to undertake evaluation of interactive systems.Your justification should also indicate what evaluation is about, describe the different types of evaluation that can be undertaken and a brief critique of each of the different evaluation methods.  (E.g. Heuristic evaluation).

3. Task 2 

Identify and select appropriate user task goals for the evaluation. Using an appropriate task analysis technique, identify a range of typical task goals that users would use the device for. (Again if you should think of appropriate Use cases to help you identify appropriate tasks.) This will form the basis for your evaluation.  Typically you should identify between 5 – 10 tasks. (Your task analysis should consider, task frequency, task sequence, task criticality etc..)

4.Task 3 

Conduct a user profiling to identify the key characteristics of the intended users of your chosen device. This analysis will form the basis for your evaluation on, for example, the appropriateness of the device for the intended user group against their typical characteristics.
5.Task 4 

Provide a usability specification to enable you to evaluate the device against the specification.  You should aim to have 6 – 10 usability/ user experience goals.

6.Task 5 

Undertake an evaluation of the device using an appropriate evaluation technique(s) (eg Heuristic evaluation, observation of users etc. )   Part of this task will be designing forms etc  to capture your results.

7.Task 6 

Once you have undertaken your evaluation you are then required to begin the process of analysing your results and then preparing them for dissemination to a wide audience of people who may be interested in your findings. (Users, retailers, developers etc.). This is a key part of the assignment and again you have complete freedom and flexibility over how you might wish to communicate your results.  Examples that you might wish to consider include:

Producing a short  ‘You Tube’ type video highlighting  issues with the device and summarising your results
Preparing a ‘TechRadar’ type web based report
Producing a ‘Powerpoint’ type presentation. (You may be required to present it.)
A short evaluation report with an executive summary of your key findings
As stated above, it is entirely your choice but the key point is that, whichever method you choose, you are able to clearly communicate the results of your findings in a way that those who would be interested in your study can readily understand.

The device that is selected here for an evaluation of it and provides a thorough analysis is “Smartphone”. The selection is based on the formation of a startup organization that that mainly focuses on the evaluation or the analysis of useful systems and devices that is necessary in day to day life. The report is based on the evaluation aspect and is also related to how it can be used for the startup organization. The report has been divided into several parts and each of the parts are related to the topic. (Reynoldson et al. 2014).

Interactive systems form an important part of human life and there are several interactive systems or devices such as digital cameras, tablet devices, smart phones and so on. All these interactive system serves in various ways such as storing, scripting, recording, forming, implementation and so on. It is hence important to evaluate the effectiveness of all these interactive systems and also how they impact a particular group of people. This evaluation is about understanding the working techniques or the functions of the devices or the systems and there know in details about the same (Reynoldson et al. 2014). The various evaluations that can be undertaken for the assessment of the devices or the systems include heuristic evaluation, guideline reviews, usability inspection and walkthroughs. Heuristic evaluation can be undertaken in order to understand the problems that are there in user interface. This process also judges its working with that of the usability principles. Guideline reviews are all about is an overall review about the functionality, the interface design and so on of a device. Usability inspect is also one of the important types of evaluation and it has several evaluation process or methods under it. The evaluators here mainly inspect or evaluates user interface. Walkthroughs is also an evaluation process that involves participation of programmers in a software product analysis that focuses on the possible errors, developmental standards and other issues. These processes are therefore apt to evaluate the interactive systems and are also justified since these actively or efficiently evaluate all the important aspects related to it (Reynoldson et al. 2014).

The tasks or the task  goals which the user would use the device for includes better management, better communication, better connectivity, better storage and some others. It is since the device that has been selected include smart phone these are therefore the task goals or the aims for which the device would be used by the user. Each of the tasks that have been described in this section is important and can be done by the help of this device. However in all these points the aspects of frequency, criticality, sequence, organization and so on are also included (Reynoldson et al. 2014). This interactive system or device, smart phone is mainly used by the user or a specific group of people for delivering or getting some benefit or usage advantages and thereby it is important to analysis how the tasks that has been describe here would be performed or finally executed. The frequency of communication will be fast with this device since it will help the user to communicate on multiple areas or in multiple forms. It can be telephonic communication, internet communication, online communication, live communication and so on. The frequency therefore automatically increases with the usage of this very interactive device and the analysis of it shows that how the whole objective or the pre defined goal in this prospect is fulfilled. Storage that is also one of the tasks mentioned in the very beginning of the section will be done in a sequence (Reynoldson et al. 2014). The smart phone would store all the required files, pictures, documents and so on and the whole process would be done in a sequence that is the various files would be stored in the various folders, all in a sequence it would be done. The tasks like storage, connectivity, communication, management and media handling are the main tasks of the device here based on which the evaluation has been done (Reynoldson et al. 2014).

Task Goals of Smartphone

This section mainly deals with the main characteristics of the users so that appropriateness of the device can be fully exercised. However the intended users of this selected or the chosen device is the group of professionals engaged with multinational corporations and also the young generation who are not much aware about the fruitful functionalities of this device. The users can derive several important or vital facilities or advantages from the usage of the device that ill further more help in their professional engagement as well (Austern et al. 2016). The key or the main characteristics of the users who are the professionals here are they are organized, they are systematic, they are tech savvy, they are willing to try devices that are smart or smart devices and at the same time they are dependent on technology, they are dependent on smart devices or interactive systems (Austern et al. 2016). These are all the key characteristics of the users that have been described here. With all these key characteristics it is easy to illustrate the profile of the user group and also to illustrate how the device can be appropriately used by the users. However some of their characteristics like dependence on smart devices will positively help them in this prospect since this device will all the more make their work easy. The characteristics of the young user group however include laziness, less productiveness and some others. These negative characteristics can however be overcome by the help of the device since it will help in advancing their knowledge and will also help in the positive usage of smart phones that will eventually help in communication, knowledge sharing and so on (Austern et al. 2016). This section thereby presents the actual description of the intended users.

The usability specification of smart phone mainly includes smart navigation, enhanced data storage, enhanced communication, smart shopping, smart organizational aspect, data collection, easy service bookings and some others. These are some of the many specifications or the user experience goals that can be discussed here. These are some of the specifications that are related with the evaluation of all these points (Reynoldson et al. 2014). As described or stated smart storage can be easily done by this device since this device has huge storage capacity and it also helps in the age old storage of it. Smart shopping is another important specification or user experience goals since being a smart device it is expected to do all the various forms or types of smart shopping so that it can be beneficial and can be a part of the day to day life of the masses. The aspect of organization work is also there in the list of specifications or the user experience goals guide since a smart phone is expected to perform many of the organizational works as well like browsing the organization’s website, the working on outlook, the usage of mails from there and so on  (Reynoldson et al. 2014). As users they aspire for these type of experiences so that they can fully take all the beneficial aspects of the phone. However the evaluation of these is based on its outcome or the feedback that can be derived from the users or from the customers. The usability like communication is also one of the prime or necessary user goals since a smart phone is primarily expected to make communication easy and fast. Apart from all the mentioned specifications at times the device performs lowly due to technical issues which are also a part of the user experience (Reynoldson et al. 2014).

Characteristics of Intended Users

The proper evaluation of the device can be done by suing appropriate evaluation techniques like observation of user, and walkthroughs. Both these evaluation process is very effective since it delivers the appropriate or right information about the device concerned. The designing forms of the device or the smart phone that include the interface, the exterior, the set up and so on. Walkthroughs can bring in professionals technicians and know from them the expected future problem in the device, the necessary development and so on. All these points are important to evaluate the smart phone so that all the considerations can be taken into account and these can be made into use for the betterment process (Austern et al. 2016). The observation of the users that include user experience, the feedback of the users, the difficulties in usage, the situational problem, the advantages of the device and so on can be known or can be revealed. However the overall evaluation is mainly based on these process and apart from this the designing of the phones is also important since it is the unique design or the basic design, both that affects or impacts the experience of the users and helps in making a feedback for the same (Austern et al. 2016).

Reference:

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