1 Hour for Human Factors and Usability

Question

I have volunteered to give a one hour lunchtime briefing at my workplace to our user experience team. I have a passion and love for human factors and user interface design and have had my hand in it for entire (albeit short) career.

The problem I am having is it has been very difficult for me to decide how to focus this discussion so that I can convey some good information but within the one hour time limit. I was hoping to get input from SO on what you would be interested in hearing about that can also be contained within one hour. Here is what I have so far:

• Introduction to Human Factors
• Psychology Behind Human Factors
• UID Principles
• Usability Testing
• Standards

Everything at this point is very high level. I am not sure if I should cut down the topics and dive in deeper, or if it would be better just to give an entire high-level presentation and encourage individuals to come talk to me for more information.

Update About Audience

The audience (the User Experience team) is made up of a number of individuals who already have a high-level understanding of what user experience entails. Many of the individuals are software developers and some are designers. However, not all the individuals are trained designers and it may be necessary to re-hit some high points. There are areas I see for improvement (which I could talk to). Unfortunately, I am not directly part of the group, so I don't know about the internal workings of the team (which would also help me better focus this presentation).

Answer 1

If this is for you UX team, I would think they have at least the 10000 foot overview already. If this is going to be a series of lunch-and-learn talks, then do the basics first and dive into specifics in subsequent talks.

If this is stand alone, I would hit the highlights fast (5 - 10 minutes) and then choose a specific topic.

Answer 2

I'd be sure to include examples of what you're talking about as it applies to your primary product(s). High-level for part of it is fine, but examples make it real.

Also show how human factors can aid in readhing the UE teams goals faster (X% customer satisfaction, faster time to market, etc.) Whet their appetite by giving them solutions to their challenges.

Answer 3

I think a lots of DOs and Dont's is both usefull and fun to see.

Answer 4

I'd suggest having a progressive customer viewpoint of the user experience in terms of

• Basic Features (Must-Have)
• Add-ons/Enchancements
• Simplicity & Convenience
• How to indicate the experience is Risk free (Security)
• Coolness
• Green factor

Answer 5

The scenario sounds a bit worrying to me. You have a UX team, yet they aren't that hot on UX. And you've got one hour to deliver stuff like an intro to human factors?

Find out where each of their weaknesses are send them on training courses. One hour is going to achieve very little.

Answer 6

Given your audience already has some background in UX, I’d use the time to present one to three case studies and lessons learned from your personal work experience. Describe a design or user performance problem, how you dealt with it, and what the outcome was. Select cases without easy answers, such as one where compliance with standards conflicts with usability test results, or where a general human factors design principle conflicts with theoretical or formal analysis (e.g., GOMS).

For each case, try to engage the audience to discuss the problem and how it can be resolved. Get them to identify the pros and cons of each solution, and see if they can come up with one that addresses all issues, for example how the design can comply with standards yet still achieve high performance in testing. It’s okay to present a case where you’re not confident in the actual implemented solution. The point is the get your audience thinking about usability and design.

By working with concrete examples, you provide the audience a chance to exercise the high level stuff it already knows. This approach will cover the basics but keep you from boring individuals that already know them at a theoretical level. If the case studies serve as good illustrations of areas you think the team can improve, so much the better. If it allows you to present a new principle or process beyond the basics, that’s good too.

In other words, treat your audience more as peers, like an academic presenting a paper at a conference, rather than like a professor lecturing to undergraduates.