Human beings are complex and difficult to understand, yet we persist in analyzing our behaviours in various situations and surroundings. In my opinion it’s challenging to reflect on these subjects without sounding too obvious, but at the same time I feel that I can’t stress the importance of knowing these details enough.
My initial thoughts on reading these chapters lie in what comes before the data gathering, the analyzing, the concluding of our study and establishing the requirements for a successful result. I think our biggest challenge will be, first off, to examine our surroundings regarding transportation with an open mind, and to not predetermine what we’re looking for in terms of improvement. We need to let the issue come to us, instead of forcing for the sake of investigation. For data gathering I believe observation and possibly interviewing should be our course of action.
However, I understand that to successfully manage to execute studies we need to fully understand how and why these different steps needs to be planned and carefully arranged to get the most out of what we need, in terms of the solution we plan on presenting at the end of this project. The text mentions that the interpretation of the gathered data is commonly jeopardised because of initial bias or belief, which is an important aspect to be taken into consideration even before even settling on a problem. There is a large difference between discovering patterns (that leads to conclusions) and looking for them. As the text suggests:
"An investigator should remain as impartial and objective as possible if the conclusions are to be believed, and showing that your conclusions are supported by your results is an important skill to develop.”
I love that the different activities influence on another in the iterative process of interaction design projects. The analysis and conclusion might require more data to be gathered and different analysing techniques might be used depending on what kind of data results out of the data gathering and what techniques are used there. This is something I think we should be prepared to experience. What kind of data analysis can we do and what do we need to achieve the right amount? What techniques etc?
Out of curiosity: How does telling the subject of an interview its purpose affect the result of the study? How does this affect the conclusions drawn from analysing?
"How does telling the subject of an interview its purpose affect the result of the study? How does this affect the conclusions drawn from analysing?". Its a question that has no definitive answer but is important to ask anyway, as it keeps us on our toes when it comes to try to minimize the effects. In this case you are not a stakeholder in their answers in the sense that you are not "yet" presenting them with something you have done. Rather you are taking inventory of problems and opportunites :-)
SvaraRadera"How does telling the subject of an interview its purpose affect the result of the study? How does this affect the conclusions drawn from analysing?". Its a question that has no definitive answer but is important to ask anyway, as it keeps us on our toes when it comes to try to minimize the effects. In this case you are not a stakeholder in their answers in the sense that you are not "yet" presenting them with something you have done. Rather you are taking inventory of problems and opportunites :-)
SvaraRadera