Design Thinking for Search User Interface Design Arne Berger Chemnitz University of Technology Strasse der Nationen 62 09107 Chemnitz Germany arne.berger {at} informatik.tu- chemnitz.de ABSTRACT better understanding, DT is used as an expression for the design The paper describes with the help of a brief example how design process, while DM is used as an expression for any design method methods, namely those formed in design thinking can help search from the DT or any other DM toolbox. user interface design to innovate throughout the software development process. 2. CURRENT STATE OF DESIGN METHODS IN SEARCH USER INTERFACE Categories and Subject Descriptors DESIGN H.5.2 [Ergonomics, Evaluation/methodology]: Design Methods The possibilities of DM are still badly implemented into product in Search User Interface Design development. However, a subset of DM, namely User Centered Design (UCD) is fairly well implemented in the domain of interface design, including that of search user interface design. General Terms UCD significantly helps evaluating user needs but often fails to Measurement, Documentation, Performance, Design, Human innovate. UCD methods mainly consist of a relatively strict set of Factors, Experimentation methods compared to what DT and DM have to offer [9.]. Those methods are capable of gaining insight and evaluating interfaces Keywords but do not encourage an innovation process for future user Design Thinking, User Interface Design, Design Methods, interfaces. Qualitative Studies As an user interface design professional working in an academic development environment that is mainly formed by information 1. INTRODUCTION retrieval experts, the following description of a typical workflow Since Tim Browns ingenious talk on TED [1.], Design Thinking abstracts the prototypical UCD process of developing search user (DT) had a huge impact on the business and design world. By interfaces. injecting the way designers think into accustomed business processes, CEOs hoped to gain an advantage in competition. Designers on the other hand hoped their overall influence might 2.1 Current Process of Search User Interface increase. However, the field has more to offer than bringing Design creative techniques to supposedly uncreative domains. The first 1. Users tasks and problems are observed via Site Visits or publications on the matter appeared as early as the late 1960s [2., Website Analytics [10.]. Those methods help to gain insight into 3., 4.] as a way to externalize the enigmatic design process. Since specific user problems. The combination of both nowadays is the then, the creative application of design methods (DM) has proven holy grail of gaining insight into users issues [10.]. its effectiveness, fun and relevance countless times. [5., 6.] 2. Information retrieval experts and search user interface Despite its persistent application in typical creative domains, the designers use methods like brainstorming to plan a software radical application of DM for digital age products is still a young product. It is used mainly as a conversation starter, but also discipline. functions as a way to frame the current state of technical possibilities. 1.1 Design Thinking vs. Design Methods The difference between DT coined and developed at Stanford [7.] 3. Users problems (step 1.) are interpreted and tried to be solved and DM as defined by Jones amongst many others [3.] needs to be with the help of the technical possibilities (step 2.) which are then precised in another publication. For now, the author (a Designer) implemented. is grateful to see the broad spectrum of DM finally being brought 4. The usability of the search user interface proposed in 3. is to attention due to the success of DT. However, there are way evaluated via user studies comparable to the ones in step 1. more methods to use than the 51 methods as suggested by DT [8.] and there are way more feasible design processes than defined in Iterations: The abovementioned steps are iteratively repeated DT. Because of the briefness of this paper and for the sake of a several times. With the help of prototypes the interface is refined before a final implementation takes place. However these steps Copyright © 2011 for the individual papers by the papers' authors. Copying permitted only for private and academic purposes. This volume only help to streamline the interface. They are not fully useful for is published and copyrighted by the editors of euroHCIR2011 innovating an interface according to DTs possibilities. 2.2 Critics of the Current Process 3.1.1 Very Low-Fi Prototype (Conceptual Model) We believe that the process of nailing down the problem and Generated by: user suggesting a vital solution after framing technical possibilities and Function: none, may not be technically feasible observing users is insufficient. Those well established methods have the main advantage of providing hard numerical measures. Workflow: only conceptual Which is even more so, when measures like precision and recall are used to learn how efficient a system is. Via those standardized Visual Design: none measurements a comparison between different solutions is easy to Medium: analog draw. Relying on those hard measures only shows insights, which can be formulated in numbers and concluded from those. Modality: any On the other hand, soft properties of a search user interface like Usually user generated, often not understandable without the »what user really want«, »fun of use«, »suitability to unusual creators explanations. It only describes a preliminary workflow of tasks« and in parts »user satisfaction« are next to impossible to operations and functions and is not necessarily technically measure via hard numbers. Although efforts exist [11.] feasible. measurability of qualitative soft properties is hard to be standardized. Outcomes therefore are less clear cut and often fail 3.1.2 Low-Fi Prototype (e.g. Paper Prototype) to be comparable via statistics. As the academic viewpoint in the Generated by: user, designer field tends to analytic comparison, soft properties are seldom Function: none, may not be technically feasible explored, described and measured. Therefore subsequent findings often fail to be implemented. Workflow: preliminary, mimicking operations Based on the before mentioned, we propose the radical application Visual Design: none of DT in search user interface design via »participatory Medium: analog prototypes«. This concept integrates users and developers alike. We demonstrate its process briefly in the next chapter and explain Modality: any its application in three following examples. Usually presented via the Wizard-Of-Oz technique it incorporates 3. PROPOSED DESIGN THINKING as many operations as possible and always fakes function. PROCESS FOR SEARCH USER 3.1.3 Mock-Up INTERFACES Generated by: designer In the business world (see introduction) DT is foremost a process Function: none, may not be technically feasible used for innovating new products. Workflow: mimicking operations closely The DT process is defined as following [8.] Visual Design: none Understand: Understand problem and context. Observe: Externalize future users problems via e.g. extreme user Medium: digital interviews or empathy maps. Modality: any Define: Interpreting and weighting the gained knowledge from Is often (and should be) visually unapealing, mimicking the previous steps via e.g. ad-hoc personas. operations closely, but fakes function. Ideate: Using common or uncommon creative techniques, e.g. body storming for generating many ideas. 3.1.4 Dummy (often refered to as Click Dummy) Prototype: Visualize and communicate ideas with the help of fast Generated by: designer and cheap prototypes with paper, Lego bricks or the product box Function: none, may not be technically feasible method. Workflow: mimicking operations Test: Future users test those prototypes, via e.g. story telling techniques. Visual Design: existing, often visually polished We believe that DT can and should be incorporated in any Medium: digital possible stage of a development cycle. Interface design prototypes are extraordinary easy to manufacture and cost next to nothing. Modality: any We suggest to apply the DT process more closely to the Incorporates a polished visual design, mimicking operations, but development of search user interfaces to benefit from its many fakes function. May or may not incorporate the proposed advantages, esp. to force the pace of innovation. interaction paradigm. The most common implementation of the later is a browser based click dummy that fakes the functions off a 3.1 Prototype Categories mobile touchscreen device. As the label »prototype« may be misleading, we tend to think of anything capable of producing feedback as a prototype. To make 3.1.5 High-Fi Prototype further understanding easier we classify prototypes as following in Generated by: designer, developer the order of their advancement: Function: incorporates some or most of the proposed functions Workflow: mimicking operations Visual Design: existing, often visually polished we introduced participatory prototypes to search user interface design for the creation of playlists for mobile video consumption. Medium: digital Two other successful projects include Design Thinking for a Modality: same as end product customized faceted navigation and Design Thinking for a Is similiar to a Dummy but also incorporates some of the multitouch interface for searching in large multimedial proposed functions. It also incorporates the proposed interaction repositories. paradigm. 4. DESIGN THINKING THE CREATION 3.1.6 Alpha Grade Version OF PLAYLISTS FOR MOBILE VIDEO Generated by: developer CONSUMPTION Function: incorporates some or most of the proposed functions We wanted to address a problem, know to many smartphone users on the move. We understand that, weather commuting or going Workflow: mostly operational out with friends users usually avoid constructing complex search Visual Design: may or not be existing queries to find suitable content to watch. Medium: digital To define the problem, we asked users what they miss and want from a mobile TV application. Two main points emerged: Modality: any With services like youtube consumers are left having to refine a A prototype proposed by developers that demonstrates most basic search query several times or to use non-customized item lists functions, usually does not feature a polished design. such as »most viewed«. On the other hand, in traditional TV a moderator weaves a golden thread and guides viewers via this 3.1.7 Beta Version potentially emotional connection through a series of video clips. Generated by: developer After an ideate session the most promising prototype was a mixed Function: incorporates some or most of the proposed functions breed of playlists, woven together by emotional metadata. To gain insight into users mindsets regarding the construction of those Workflow: fully operational personalized playlists we applied various DM. Visual Design: existing To find out which emotional content attributes users are looking for, we asked participants to map out a virtual space of content Medium: digital properties and show how they thought to navigate within it. This Modality: same as end product method usually helps to discover pathways and interests in which people make sense of a particular content space. The results A visually polished prototype most often proposed by developers eventually help to make sense of how to construct queries for is a functioning program that may have bugs or quirks and is filter specification. mainly used in order to get rid of those. Users were asked to individually draw a map or diagram of what 3.2 Observations for Prototypes comes to their mind when being on the move and having a mobile As this brief listing suggests most of the prototyping work in video handset available, whether sitting on public transportation search user interface design is done by a designer. Thus helping to alone or being in a pub with friends. The six users had 15 minutes maintain a conversation between what users want and what time to draw a map or scheme and were asked to freely associate developers can implement. parameters to form a personalized playlist. Given the mindset of being on the move, users formed questions from a simple There are usually no direct prototypes from the users. Users vocabulary and subsequently wanted to change only certain comments or observations are interpreted multiple times. First parameters after watching a few video items. A discussion with all they are made operable via prototypes, crafted by designers, participants followed. which subsequently are interpreted by the developers. The results lead to the assumption that users are interested in Prototypes from the perspective of a developer are used only for direct mood filters. Most of the user generated maps feature mood evaluation during the end of the implementation cycle. As a lot of clusters or the simple question »how« in a list of questions. code and effort went into these, heavy changes are omitted and hopefully eliminated with earlier prototypes. Based on those findings the developers of the future interface with the help of a designer proposed a low fidelity prototype containing While the main goal of DT is to encourage interdisciplinary user a filter named »How« together with more filters based on the four groups to create innovative prototypes, it does not focus on direct cardinal questions Who, Where, When, What. This was done prototypes from users or developers. because all those metadata fields could be filled with metadata readily available in the existing database. To prove the concept it 3.3 Implications for Process was introduced to twelve users. Users’ feedback on this approach We want to continously implement user prototypes into the was insightful in two ways. On one hand, users at large expressed development and we also encourage a process where developers their general approval on the advantages that might arise by explain technical feasibility via prototypes even in very draft and constructing exhaustive content filters with just a few steps of early stages. interaction. On the other hand, the pre-structured characteristic This realization came through practical usage of various DM in a was heavily criticized. However, the rigidly defined prototype couple of projects. The following chapter briefly describes how inspired participants to incredibly rich feedback. This proposal in combination with open ended questions has proved to be a fast and convenient way to gain user feedback on a large variety of References issues without a lot of explanation. The main insight is, that all [1] http://www.ted.com/talks/tim_brown_urges_designers_to_thi users found and used the filter option »how«. 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Acknowledgements 10, 2010) This publication was prepared as a part of the research initiative sachsMedia (http://sachsmedia.tv), which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research under the grant reference number 03IP608. The authors take sole responsibility for the contents of this publication.