Imagine a scenario and then use that scenario to show us what you know about motivation, emotion, and habit; communication; distributed cognition; social cognition; and research methods in UX.

Assignment Question

This assignment asks you to imagine a scenario and then use that scenario to show us what you know about motivation, emotion, and habit; communication; distributed cognition; social cognition; and research methods in UX. Task Consider a collaborative scenario/task that requires you to work with multiple people across a variety of software products. Staying within the Google universe (e.g., Gmail, Meet, Docs, Sheets, Flights, etc.), define your scenario/task and imagine how others would contribute to this process. Assume that all collaborators have access to all Google products within the universe. Some example scenarios are as follows (feel free to define your own or pick one from the list below): Example Scenarios: Imagine that you are a project manager for a team at work and you need to develop some widget for a client. You can imagine what you and your team members would contribute to the process. Imagine that you are getting married and want to plan a wedding. Although you and your partner only want to invite a few people, your respective families have lots of people they think should be invited (you don’t even know half of them!) and they are happy to pay for the added expense. Imagine that you run a running club and your club is going to register for and complete a race which is happening in about a month. With those who are interested in running the race, you need to get prepared (e.g., by gauging interest/preferences, planning a training schedule, etc). Imagine that you and your friends are going to jointly plan a birthday party for a friend. You want to book a good restaurant, reserve a birthday cake, and also buy some birthday items online in advance. You can imagine what your friends would contribute to this process.

NOTE: There are several parts to this assignment. Make sure you are covering all parts. In the interest of making each part clear to graders, label all parts/subparts of the assignment (e.g., 1.a.).

Questions Context (1 point – This sets up the context so that we understand your scenario/task and can grade the rest of the assignment)

Describe your scenario/task so that we know how you are framing this assignment. Elements to include and discuss (but are not limited to): What is the scenario/task? What is the goal? Who is engaged in collaboration? What tools are needed to accomplish this shared task? Are there any assumptions we need to know to understand your answers in the following sections? Motivation, Emotion, and Habit (10 points)

Describe your three levels of emotional processing as you attempted to complete the task within your scenario. (1 point for each level; 3 points total)

We discussed 4 keys to habituation (how habits form). Discuss each and explain how the Google universe is designed to support habit formation. (1.5 points for each key; 6 points total)

Where did this task fall on your Yerkes-Dodson curve and why? (1 point)

Communication (10 points)

What constraints on grounding are present when completing your specified task? (4 points)

Identify 2 of Grice’s maxims and explain how your interaction within the Google universe either complied or violated those maxims. (1.5 points for each maxim; 3 points total)

Identify 3 principles of considerate design that were identified in your interaction with the Google universe. (1 point for each principle; 3 points total)

Distributed Cognition (10 points)

Describe the background to the activity (note: it’s ok if this is somewhat duplicative of how you’ve described your scenario/task above) (1 point)

Identify the inputs and outputs to the system (3 points)

Identify the representations available (3 points)

Identify the transformational activities that take place (3 points) Social Cognition (10 points) Explain how editing a shared Google Doc is different from editing one in which only you are working. How do social factors influence cognition in this task? (5 points) What are 4 examples of factors that make our social identities accessible? Which of your social identities did using the Google universe activate? (1 point for identifying your social identity; 1 point for each of the 4 examples; 5 points total) Research Methods in UX (10 points): Choose 2 of the research methods in UX that we discussed in Week 11. For each method: Summarize the main argument and/or activities in the method/approach. (2 points for each perspective; 4 points total) Reflect on how learning about the method has changed your thinking about UX research and/or design. How does the method reinforce your existing ideas or assumptions? (1 point for each perspective; 2 points total) How does the method challenge your existing ideas or assumptions? (1 point for each perspective; 2 points total) What are the pros/cons of using the approach for UX research? (1 point for each perspective; 2 points total) WHY We’ve asked you to focus in particular on the topics covered in weeks 7-11, but the overall learning goals remain. Identify key features of human behavior and describe their impact on the design of interactive systems. Describe themes from the research literature in social science and human-computer interaction as they relate to interactive system design.

WHO: You should imagine the audience for your assignment is an educated person familiar with the task or use scenario, but not a member of our class. That means you must cite your sources for any claims you make about the underlying theories that informed your answers. This “cite your sources” maxim holds for sources beyond our class reading list as well.

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