This chapter discusses the psychological and physiological attributes of the user, providing us with a basic overview of the capabilities and limitations that affect our ability to use computer systems. It is only when we have an understanding of the user at this level that we can understand what makes for successful designs. | Lecture 6 Context 1 Today’s Outline Context social, organizational, Motivational How to design a good a and value able system Impacts of context Also we will cover few case studies Context Interaction between the system and the user is effected by the interface design. This interaction does not occur within a vacuum. We have already noted some of the physical factors in the environment that can directly affect the quality of the interaction. This is part of the context in which the interaction takes place. Context In reality, users work within a wider social and organizational context. This provides the wider context for the interaction, and may influence the activity and motivation of the user. What is Context? Context is everything A Case Study The safe in most banks is operated by at least two keys, held by different employees of the bank. This makes it difficult for a bank robber to obtain both keys, and also protects the bank against light-fingered managers! ATMs contain a lot of cash and so need to be protected by similar measures. In one bank, which shall remain nameless, the ATM had an electronic locking device. The machine could not be opened to replenish or remove cash until a long key sequence had been entered. In order to preserve security, the bank gave half the sequence to one manager and half to another, so both managers had to be present in order to open the ATM. However, these were traditional bank managers who were not used to typing – that was a job for a secretary! So they each gave their part of the key sequence to a secretary to type in when they wanted to gain entry to the ATM. In fact, they both gave their respective parts of the key sequence to the same secretary. Happily the secretary was honest, but the moral is you cannot ignore social expectations and relationships when designing any sort of computer system, however simple it may be. Unexpected System The user may also lose motivation if a system is introduced that does not match the . | Lecture 6 Context 1 Today’s Outline Context social, organizational, Motivational How to design a good a and value able system Impacts of context Also we will cover few case studies Context Interaction between the system and the user is effected by the interface design. This interaction does not occur within a vacuum. We have already noted some of the physical factors in the environment that can directly affect the quality of the interaction. This is part of the context in which the interaction takes place. Context In reality, users work within a wider social and organizational context. This provides the wider context for the interaction, and may influence the activity and motivation of the user. What is Context? Context is everything A Case Study The safe in most banks is operated by at least two keys, held by different employees of the bank. This makes it difficult for a bank robber to obtain both keys, and also protects the bank against light-fingered managers! ATMs contain a lot of
