This lesson attempts to introduce to you the basic concepts that describe people with respect to designing geospatial technology for them. I describe this aspect of people throughout this lesson by speaking about users. This lesson could easily be a semester-long course on users, human-computer interaction, human factors, or interface design. There is a wide range of issues, and while I cannot cover them all here, you should be prepared by this lesson to learn about these additional issues and know how to put them in context of a geospatial system.
As Tonda Bone and Dena Johnson state in their article, little has been done in the way of delimiting key human factors that mediate an individual’s use of a GIS to solve spatial problems." Understanding the individual factors of interaction should determine how designers approach system development. This lesson addresses the important skill of user interface design. Students learn how to design a spatial system user interface that will provide a means by which the user can interact with the application to process inputs and obtain outputs. The lesson introduces the role of operating systems, Web browsers, and other technologies that impact user interface design. These factors and a number of human interface considerations and guidelines are presented along with several strategy styles for designing the user interface for a system.
If you have any questions now or at any point during this lesson, please feel free to post them to the Threaded Discussion Forum. (That forum can be accessed at any time by clicking on the Communicate tab, above, and then scrolling down to the Discussion Forum section.)
To finish this lesson, you must complete the activities listed below. You may find it useful to print this page so that you can follow along with the directions.
Step | Activity | Access/Directions |
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1 | Read the lesson Overview and Checklist | You are in the Lesson 13 online content now. The Overview page is previous to this page, and you are on the Checklist page right now. |
2 | Bone: Human Factors in GIS Use: A Review and Suggestions for Research [1] | There are three different styles of reading that are referred to in the lessons:
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3 | Geospatial Think-Piece (Template) [3] |
Using Word (or a word processing program compatible with Microsoft® Word), identify and briefly discuss (<200 words): a unique human factor to be considered when designing a geospatial system. Name your file Lsn13_YourName.doc, Please turn-in your document the Lesson 13 Dropbox in ANGEL. What is a “Think Piece”? A “think piece” is a form of writing that is less polished than a formal paper or presentation but more fully developed than an entry in a personal journal. Think pieces are written to discover what an individual is thinking about a particular topic. Within this course, the writing of think pieces is a way of helping learners connect with the subject matter. Within this context, think pieces reduce the grading risk associated with an “all or nothing” term paper and allow the instructor to communicate with learners throughout the semester, to see the evolution of thinking, and to suggest resources that can further the learners’ understanding. What does a Think Piece look like? The starting point for a think piece for this course lie in the author’s immediate past experience. Because think pieces are as much a reflection of one’s ideas, there is no standard or uniform format for a think piece. In other words, each of us is writing from personal experience. We are not claiming to be objective not are we offering prescriptive, how-to, formulas or guidelines. |
4 | Read lesson Summary. | You are in the Lesson 14 online content now. Click on the "Next Page" link to access the Summary. |
Optimizing how people use geospatial systems requires an understanding not only of geospatial technologies used but also of how human beings respond to maps and graphics, how they achieve their goals using devices, and how they come to choose the particular actions they choose. More generally it requires knowing why and how users do what they do when they do it. The payoffs of understanding the user generally falls into three categories.
However, understanding the user does not guarantee success. Getting the usability right may increase the time to get the product to the market, it may make the price inappropriate, or reliability may be poor. Likewise, systems with poor usability can still be successful since they may offer a functionality that is unique. DOS computers, shoebox-size satellite phones, and command line GIS interfaces were all difficult to use, but successful because of their unique functionality.
When do you need to study the user? As early as possible! It is a well known and true statement in the area of design that changes to a design cost much more later in the process. The take-away message from this lesson should be that support for the users and their tasks should be incorporated from the start. Having said this, it is particularly important to get the users involved early when:
The lesson is a primer in the critical and reflective questions about how geospatial systems users work with the technology being created. While there is some discussion, the lesson's focus is not about interface technologies since the choice of the technology changes rapidly. You learned how to design a system user interface that provides a means by which the user can effectively interact with the application to process inputs and obtain outputs. These unique geospatial factors and a number of human interface considerations and guidelines are presented. You will be presented with several strategy styles for designing the user interface for a system.
In summary, the purpose of the human factors (HF) practice in geospatial systems design is to ensure the usability of tools, devices and artifacts in general. More specifically, human factors are concerned with providing a good “fit” between people and their work environments. The “fit” can be made in either direction. You can “fit” the environment to the person or we can fit the person to the environment. Therefore, ultimately HF work is a trade-off between considering the user and economic and political constraints. Key points are:
Links
[1] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog468/sites/www.e-education.psu.edu.geog468/files/ISECON_2007_Bone.pdf
[2] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog468/sites/www.e-education.psu.edu.geog468/files/New_lesson_13/Human%20Factors%202012_3.ppt
[3] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog468/sites/www.e-education.psu.edu.geog468/files/Misc/Think-Piece%20Template.docx