Posture and Platform

SYS 214 - Principles of HCI

agenda

Coming up on PHCI:

• Wednesday: Prototype 1 Workshop
• Nov 10: Prototype 1 Deliverable

Today:

• Define application postures
• Understand how the application posture relates to design

Prototype workshop

• Each team presents their prototype
  • What is your main scenario for use?
  • What principles are driving you?
  • What parts are your prototyping, and why?
• Teams will pair up to test prototypes
  • Take notes on what is happening during interaction
  • Give feedback on interaction
  • Give feedback on principles
  • Ask questions!

Platform

Platform

The combination of hardware and software that enables the product to function

Choosing a platform

• Business constraints
• Objectives
• Technology
• Capability

In addition the platform should be chosen to support the behavioral stance or posture of the application

posture

The term was coined by Alan Cooper

A behavioral stance

An application's posture is a way of presenting itself to the user

• There can be a dominant posture and a posture for individual features

Why is this important?

The look and behavior should reflect how it is used. The presentation impacts how the users relate to it

Desktop software / web apps

Three types of postures

• Sovereign
• Transient
• Daemonic

sovereign

• Monopolize user's attention for a long stretch of time
• Large set of functions
• Examples: Power Point, Word processors, Spreadsheets, Email
• Target Users: Intermediaries
• Principles
  • Optimize for full screen use
  • Conservative visual style
  • Rich visual feedback
  • Maximize document views

sovereign

transient

Comes and goes, presenting a single function with a constrained set of controls Examples Weather apps Calculator

transient

Principles Purpose and scope must be clear Simple and clear to the point Single function with a constrained set of controls Instructions built on the surface Bolder graphics assist with quick orientation Single window and view Minimize fine motor skills

Daemonic

• Quiet and normally invisible background applications
• Don't normally interact with the user
• Examples
  • Printer Driver
  • Network Connection
• By nature, the interactions are transient

web sites

Informational web sites Transactional web sites

Postures (may be determined by frequency of use)

• Sovereign web apps
• Transient

Note:

• With enterprise software, one user's transient app may be another user's sovereign web site
• Navigation becomes more important

postures - info web sites

Informational web site interaction is mostly searching and clicking

• Not a high amount of interaction
• Tension between Transient and Sovereign attributes

Question to ask:

• How often do the personas interact with the site?
• How dense is the information?

postures - transactional web sites

Examples:

• Online shopping
• Banking
• Investing Portal

Balance between Sovereign and Transient

• Consider the user's behavior patterns
  • Online shoppers flip back and forth
    • Navigational clarity

small group discussion

How might these three postures apply across the design of other platforms?

• Handhelds
• Kiosks
• TVs
• Microwaves
• Cars
• Cameras
• Washers
• Thermostats
• ...

summary

The scenario can help drive postures and platform

• User + Context

exercise

Pick a Sovereign, Transient, and Daemonic application.

Note how they present themselves differently.

Be prepared to share your selections with the class.