workshop week 1

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These could help us think about how mobile apps/technology ... design. Part 1 (20 min). Rational ignorance occurs when the cost of educating oneself on an ...
Created  by  Dr  Jim  Ang  for  EL880  HCI  for  mobiles/week1  

EL880  HCI  for  Mobiles   Workshop:  week  1     Critical  thinking  beyond  technology:  mobile  HCI  and  economics     Please  work  in  pairs.     HCI  as  a  field  is  almost  like  a  pick  and  mix  of  many  other  fields.  Traditionally,  HCI   has  borrowed  various  concepts,  ideas  and  theories  from  cognitive  science,   anthropology,  sociology,  product  design  and  ergonomics.  Being  able  to   understand  theories  or  ideas  from  other  relevant  fields  is  very  important  for  HCI   researches  and  to  a  certain  extend  for  interaction  designers  who  wish  to  gain   new  perspective  in  innovative  app  design.       In  the  lecture,  we  have  discussed  how  ideas  from  economics  (i.e.  information   asymmetry)  could  help  us  to  explain  certain  human  behaviour  and  problems   faced  by  people.  These  could  help  us  think  about  how  mobile  apps/technology   could  be  designed  to  address  some  of  these  problems.  Surprisingly,  not  much  has   been  done  in  drawing  theories  and  knowledge  from  economics  in  technology   design.         Part  1  (20  min)   Rational  ignorance  occurs  when  the  cost  of  educating  oneself  on  an  issue   exceeds  the  potential  benefit  that  the  knowledge  would  provide.     Example:  given  the  amount  of  product/services  choices  there  are,  it  is  very  easy   to  end  up  spending  way  too  much  time  when  researching  to  buy  a   product/service.  For  instance,  when  booking  a  hotel  for  a  holiday,  one  could   spend  hours(cost)  even  the  saving  (benefit)  might  not  be  very  significant.       Two  possible  ways  this  problem  can  be  solved:   a) reduce  the  cost  of  research   b) increase  the  benefit  of  research  (try  not  to  restrict  your  thinking  about   benefit  to  just  money  saved.  What  other  benefits  could  you  gain?)     Discuss  with  your  partner  the  following  topics:   a) exchange  experiences  in  regards  to  “rational  ignorance”  when  using  hotel   booking  sites/apps,  or  other  similar  sites/apps.  Perhaps  you  don’t   experience  this  problem  at  all.  In  this  case,  try  to  discuss  why.   b) come  up  with  TWO  design  ideas  to  address  this  issue.       A  free  rider,  in  economics,  refers  to  someone  who  benefits  from  resources,   goods,  or  services  without  paying  for  the  cost  of  the  benefit.      

 

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Created  by  Dr  Jim  Ang  for  EL880  HCI  for  mobiles/week1  

Example:  an  online  forum  is  a  good  public  place  to  getting  information.  However,   only  few  people  contribute  information,  whilst  most  are  free  rider.     How  do  we  address  this  issue  through  better  design?     Discuss  with  your  partner  the  following  topics:   a) how  often  do  you  contribute  in  an  online  forum  (or  wiki  or  product   review  sites).  Why  do  you  (not)  contribute?   b) come  up  with  a  least  TWO  design  ideas  to  address  this       Part  2  (15  min)   Information  asymmetry  deals  with  the  study  of  decisions  in  transactions  where   one  party  has  more  or  better  information  than  the  other.     This  problem  is  observed  in  various  digital  environments.    For  instance  on  Ebay,   the  sellers  have  more  information  about  the  items  they  are  selling  than  the   buyers.  Please  study  Ebay  carefully  and  list  down  at  least  TWO  information   asymmetry  issues  all  users  can  encounter.       Then  for  each  problem,  outline  briefly  how  Ebay’s  interaction  design  has   attempted  to  address  this.       You  can  use  the  following  table  format:   Outline  the  problem   What  is  the  information   Design  solutions   asymmetry?  What  kind  of   information  is  involved?  Who   has  more  information                         Part  3  (15  min)   When  you  go  online  to  search  for  information  about  the  music  you  want  to  buy,   the  information  is  often  readily  available  nowadays.  You  can  read  the  reviews  by   other  buyers  or  critics,  or  even  seek  opinions  from  friends  on  social  media.  You   can  even  get  to  listen  to  a  short  clip  of  the  song  on  many  websites  selling  music.       Going  to  the  doctor  is  an  entirely  different  experience.    Most  of  us  know  that  we   are  not  feeling  well  and  that  we  have  some  symptoms,  but  most  of  us  don’t  have   enough  knowledge/information  to  be  able  to  diagnose  our  health  problem.  We   need  the  doctor  (who  has  been  trained  for  years  and  thus  has  the  information)  to   do  that.    

 

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Created  by  Dr  Jim  Ang  for  EL880  HCI  for  mobiles/week1  

  There  are  now  several  web  services,  including  websites  edited  by  health   professionals  such  as  http://www.patient.co.uk/,  or     http://www.patientslikeme.com/  which  is  self-­‐organised  by  the  patients   themselves.    Of  course,  there  are  many  online  forums  where  patients  share  and   exchange  personal  experience  and  information.       This  is  a  serious  business  as  the  cost  of  getting  wrong  treatments  or  diagnosis   can  be  high,  and  may  cost  lives  in  some  cases.  How  can  interaction  designers   make  sure  that  patients  get  the  correct  information  and  help  from  these   websites?       One  possible  way  to  address  the  information  asymmetry  problem  is  to  increase   “transparency”  and  “trust.”  Let’s  say  you  are  an  interaction  designer   commissioned  by  the  NHS  to  create  a  health  app  with  a  highly  sophisticated   algorithm  (developed  by  Oxford  University)  which  can  automatically  diagnoses  a   disease  based  on  the  information  provided  by  the  patient.     Please  outline  at  least  THREE  design  features  you  would  include  to  improve   “transparency”  and  “trust”     Design  feature   How  does  it  make  the  app  more  “transparent”   and/or  “trustworthy”                            

 

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