24—29 April 1993
`
`IleRlIHI ’93
`
`Comparative Design Review:
`An Exercise in Parallel Design
`
`Organizers:
`Moderator:
`
`Designers:
`
`Evaluators :
`
`Jakob Nielsen, Bellcore, and Heather Desurvire, NYNEX
`
`Jakob Nielsen, Bellcore
`
`Randy Kerr, Microsoft
`Dan Rosenberg, Borland Intl.
`Gitta Salomon, Apple Computer
`Heather Desurvire, NYNEX
`Rolf Molich, Baltica Insurance
`Tom Stewart, System Concepts Ltd.
`
`Abstract
`
`Three user interface designers were asked to design inter-
`faces for a given problem. These designs were made avail-
`able to a group of usability specialists for heuristic evalua-
`tion. The reviewers will lead off the panel with specific
`questions to the designers regarding the usability aspects of
`their designs. The panel will feature a lively discussion of
`the designers’ various approaches and solutions.
`
`Parallel Design
`Jakob Nielsen
`
`The goal of parallel design is to explore different design al—
`ternatives before one settles on a single approach that can
`then be developed in further detail and subjected to more
`detailed usability activities, including iterative design [1].
`Typically, one might have about
`three designers
`involved in parallel design. For critical products, large
`computer companies have been known to devote entire
`teams to developing multiple alternative designs almost to
`the finial product stage, before upper management decided
`on which version to release. In general, though, it may not
`be necessary for the designers to spend more than a few
`hours or at the most one or two days on developing their
`initial designs. Also, it is probably better to have designers
`work individually rather than in larger teams, since parallel
`design only aims at rough drafts of basic design ideas, in
`order to explore various parts of the design space.
`Heuristic evaluation is a usability inspection method
`which is aimed at evaluating user interfaces in a fast,
`inexpensive, and effective manner [1]. The panel will
`illustrate this evaluation technique, and will highlight its
`use as an informative technique for evaluating interfaces at
`an early stage.
`Reference: [1]. Nielsen, J. Usability Engineering,
`Academic Press, San Diego, CA, 1993.
`Permission to copy without fee all or part of this material is
`granted provided that the copies are not made or distributed for
`direct commercial advantage. the ACM copyright notice and the
`title of the publication and its date appear, and notice is given
`that copying is by permission of the Association for Computing
`Machinery. To copy otherwise, or to republish. requires a fee
`and/or specific permission.
`
`© 1993 ACM 0-89791-575-5/93/0004/0414...$1.50
`
`Design Problem Given to the Designers
`Heather Desurvire and Jakob Nielsen
`
`The designers’ task was to design the screen-based graphi-
`cal user interface for a potential future system that allows
`users to play music transmitted from a central database
`through a broad—bandwidth network. To our knowledge,
`nobody is currently contemplating such a system, so the
`following description is purely hypothetical.
`This interface can be assumed to be available due to an
`envisioned fiber link to home residential areas as well as
`
`that
`businesses. The interface is a personal computer,
`allows the users to select any music they want to listen to.
`Pricing for listening is per hour of listening, and has been
`calculated to be about what it would cost to purchase 200
`CDs and a CD player over 10 years. The fiber link is
`connected to a set of stereo speakers, that can be purchased
`with a built in fiber link connection, or can be connected to
`a typical set of speakers with an adapter. The interface is
`via a personal computer, which is screen-based, having a
`graphical user interface and a mouse.
`Assume that the database of music is based on the
`contents of at least ten thousand compact discs.
`Design the user interface so that the user can select:
`~ one song with various artists
`a one artist with various songs
`0 multiple selections for a certain time interval (e.g., 45
`minutes of music)
`- random songs in a selected genre (by singer, musician,
`style of music (e.g.
`rock, motown, classical guitar, south
`american»
`
`While listening to the music, the user should also be
`able to manipulate the selections to:
`- Pause
`. Fast Forward
`
`0 Skip to the next song
`~ Rewind
`
`Simplifying assumptions: Only consider music that is
`structured as “songs.” Thus, the interface does not need to
`accommodate classical music or other music with a more
`complex structure.
`
`Assume that the user already knows how to use the
`home computer and its graphical user interface.
`
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`INltRlIHI ’93
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`24—29 April 1993
`
`Serenade: The Desktop Juke-Box
`Randy Kerr
`
`Serenade is a music desktop accessory that operates very
`similar to a juke-box. The interface factors the user's
`activity of listening to music primarily as selecting and
`playing songs. The main window controls the currently
`playing song and organizes the upcoming songs. AAdd
`Songs sub-dialog is used to filter and select new songs
`from the database to be added to the play list. This
`dialog allows very flexible and uniform searching for a
`specific or random set of songs in a given category.
`Serenade is designed assuming a music service billing
`rate of $1.00 per hour of listening, and that the music
`database holds the associated CD cover images.
`
`Sweet Dreams Are Made of EUIs - Eur thmics EL;
`
`, Pretty Woman - Flay Orbison
`Pretty Woman - Van Halen
`Hello Again - Neil Diamond
`Son- Sun Bl e - Neil Diam nd
`The. Cult
`Ll-Ell Fiealitu - L «inn lEi-
`
`Playing Songs
`
`The main window of Serenade posts the current song's
`name in its title bar and is divided into two cooperating
`panes labeled Now Playing and Coming Up. Now
`Playing displays the currently playing song's CD cover
`(as a memorable visual cue), title, artist and the familiar
`compact disc controls for rewind, pause/play toggle, fast
`forward, and skip to next selection. Above these buttons
`is a slider control which moves from left to right
`displaying the updating time counter as the song plays.
`The user may drag the slider to get to a position in the
`song directly. When the song is finished, the song at the
`top of the Coming Up list assumes the Now Playing
`position and begins to play from its beginning. Songs
`play without interruption from the rest of the interface:
`adding new songs or minimizing the Serenade window
`does not interrupt the playing of the song.
`
`The Coming Up portion of the window displays the
`ordered list of songs which will be played next. The user
`
`may re-order these songs as (s)he pleases by dragging
`and dropping songs in difierent positions in the list with
`the mouse. The user may remove any song from the list
`by selecting it and pressing the flemove button (disabled
`when there is no selection) or by hitting the Delete key.
`The number of songs, the total time, and the cost of the
`pending music is posted to the right of the Coming Up
`list and are updated dynamically as each song is played.
`
`Selecting Songs
`
`To add songs to the play list, the user presses the Add...
`button which invokes the dialog pictured below.
`
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`
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`
`This dialog allows the user to select songs from as broad
`or narrow a category as (s)he wishes. Within the Choose
`Category pane the user may type a partial string or select
`any number of the given items in the drop-down combo
`boxes labeled Style, Artist, and Title. (The user may also
`leave the field unspecified by choosing "All".) Songs
`which match the category specified by these field values
`appear in the Select Songs pane. For instance, the above
`dialog filters for all rock & r011 song titles sung by either
`the B52's, Chubby Checker, Stevie Wonder,
`(the
`multiple selection of artists in the drop down list). Ifthe
`user is unsure of a song's full title, (s)he may type any
`fragment in the title field and all songs which include
`that fragment will appear below. To add to the Coming
`Up play list, the user selects (single-clicks) all the desired
`songs in the Select Songs pane and presses the OK
`button. Select/ill will select all songs in the list and
`ll_/[ix: n min. will select random songs in the list which
`amount to the user-specified n minutes of time, alter
`which the user may add or remove specific songs from
`the selection. The total number, duration, and cost of the
`selected songs appear to the right assisting the time/cost
`Uadeofis in deciding what to hear.
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`24 —29 April 1993
`
`INltRCHI '93
`
`Interactive Fiber Optic CD System User Interface
`Designed by: Daniel Rosenberg
`
`This UI design for a fiber optic home CD music system
`is characterized by the following architectural features:
`
`1) A traditional desktop 01 model is used to blend into
`the existing windowing environment.
`
`2) Two object types exist, a personal CD object and a
`Catalog object
`
`3) Music can be played from either type of object.
`
`4) Their canbe as many or as few ofeach object type
`open as the user wants.
`
`5) Each object type has two views, a player view (that
`mimics a CD player) and a song list view.
`
`6) The catalog object supports query and history lists in
`its song list View.
`
`7) Data relationships between author, song and disk title
`are supported with a built in outliner model. Expand and
`collapse are supported.
`
`8) A traditional pull down menu structure is provided for
`editing the disks.
`
`9) Drag-drop semanties are provided between open
`objects and desktop icons as well. Double-clickng on a
`song title in either object or view plays the song.
`
`10) The desktop provides a context storage feature so the
`user can always return to a named desktop state.
`
`The underlying rational for choosing the desktop model
`was that it can be expanded to other media types. For
`example video technology could be added to the same
`interface without overloading the user model.
`It is also
`possible to extend this UI with full featured editing
`capabilities as will be demonstrated paper presentation.
`
`V flew
`" Qpen...
`. Close
`
`Save Desktop...
`‘ Bacall Desktop..
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`INERCHI '93
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`24—29 April 1993
`
`Design of the Personal Jukebox” Interface
`Gina Salomon
`
`The design shown below (see captions for details) pro-
`vides users with access to the required functionality in a
`flexible way. The user can search for songs using several
`criteria, in both a goal-directed and browsing fashion. Al-
`though not shown below, when the user clicks in one of the
`“look for” fields, a scrolling list of possibilities appears. As
`the user enters text, this list scrolls to the appropriate place.
`In this way, the user can enter either an explicit or partial
`request, or just browse through the possibilities and select
`one. The interface also provides the user with a number of
`ways to assemble a playlist. Furthermore, because the
`search and playlist panels are distinct, the user can look for
`new material while simultaneously playing audio.
`On the role of interface designers. The design problem,
`as presented to the panelists, already included a specifica-
`tion of the system’s functionality. It is my belief that inter-
`face designers should be involved much earlier in the prod-
`uct definition process, when the functionality requirements
`themselves are being determined. Our job should encom-
`pass much more than only representing the functionality to
`users. In my work. we initially conduct informal interviews
`with potential end users to determine their problems, needs
`and expectations in a particular domain. Through this user-
`centered approach, we lead the way in defining what tech-
`
`nology should be built. This often produces more desirable
`and usable technology.
`To better make this point, I conducted a few brief inter-
`views concerning the song delivery system and uncovered
`several interesting ideas for additional functionality. First, I
`spoke with people about how they search for songs in
`record stores and how they’d optimally like to find music.
`Some users want to be able to find songs based on their lyr-
`ics when they can’t recall the artist’s or song’s name. If
`possible, this search criteria should be supported. Another
`user suggested a ‘time machine,’ whereby she could
`queque up an hour of music ‘just like the local hit radio sta—
`tion played during February, 1963’ (this is not so farfetched
`— radio stations often maintain playlists, some make them
`publically available). This is a compelling alternative to the
`“Song Search” method shown below, and is surely only one
`of many alternative methods for finding music. I also inter-
`viewed a few radio DJs about how listeners request songs
`and how they decide what to play when they receive incom-
`plete information. DJs often rely on their colleagues’ anno-
`tations or markers indicating the best, or most requested,
`songs on an album. If the Personal Jukebox incorporated a
`community’s previous request data, it would allow users to
`select an artist’s most popular songs, even if they couldn’t
`remember or recognize a specific title. Although limited,
`these interviews serve to point out the role that interface de—
`signers can play at early stages in the design process.
`
`Song Search
`
`,
`
`'
`
`Artist: Sonic Youth
`
`Title:Z
`
`
`21 sorry found, 1 chosen for 6.34 minutes
`; Choose a specific song bu clicking on it or use the menu below.
`:-—sj
`Artist
`v .T“
`Sonic Youth
`Mildred Pierce
`Sonic Youth
`Rain Kine
`Silver Rocket
`Sonic Youth
`Sonic Vouth
`Society is a Hole
`Sonic Youth
`Teen Age
`Sonic Youth
`The Sprawl
`Total Trash
`Sonic Youth
`Sonic Youth
`~/ Tunic (Song tor Karen)
`
`'
`
`.
`
`Duration
`
`Duration 17:23
`
`Playlist
`E ‘h Ham
`iv pm.
`E1,» are»;
`"Snail," Smashing Pumpkins
`"Motorway lo Rosewell,“ Pixies
`"Summer Babe," Pavement
`"Only Shallow," M; Bloody Valentine
`
`E
`
`EIIIEI EIEEIEI
`Stop
`Play
`Pause
`Song
`
`PE I'S on a]
`
`‘
`‘D ‘3 cl? .-‘)
`
`RPV FF
`
`The Song Search Panel al-
`lows users to look for songs
`using 3 criteria: the style of
`music,
`the
`artist’s
`name
`(here. “Sonic Youth”) and
`the song’s title. In this ses-
`sion the system returned 21
`matches in the scrolling re-
`suits list. The user has sever-
`al
`options
`for
`choosing
`songs from this list: individ-
`ual songs can be picked by
`clicking on them (“Tunic” is
`currently chosen); altema-
`tively,
`the pulldown menu
`can be used to choose sever-
`al songs at once. As shown,
`the user can click on the
`“Choose:” button to ran-
`domly pick 5 songs. Another
`menu option allows the user
`to choose a specific number
`of minutes of music from the
`list. Note that the user can
`reorder the results by click—
`ing on the heading words
`(The current ordering is al—
`phabetica‘l by title, as indi-
`cated by the bold, underlined
`appearance of the word ‘Ti—
`tle’). Users can move their The Playlist Panel contains a scrolling list of the songs the user has chosen to play. The list
`choices to the playlist at any
`can be altered in several ways: it can be cleared with “Clear List” button; individual songs
`time by clicking on the "Add
`can be deleted by selecting them and choosing the “Delete Song ” button; the order of songs
`Choices To Playlist" button.
`can be changed by clicking on an entry and dragging it to a new position. There is a visual
`This button either transfers
`representation for the ‘current’ song — it is highlighted with inverse video — that cues the
`the songs in the order they
`user as to which song will be acted on by requests such as ‘play’,
`‘pause’,
`‘scan forward
`are shown, or in a random (fi),’ etc. Buttons that visually resemble those found on standard compact disk players are
`order, depending on the ra-
`provided at the bottom of the panel to allow for intuitive control of the various playing states.
`The current state is shown in inverse video.
`dio button modifier selected.
`
`5
`
`i Add Chm“ To Hulk”
`
`..
`© in NWit-am order
`0 in listed order
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