Design and research practitioners have applied probes in their design processes to find new ways of understanding user experience, allowing them to obtain a better understanding of their users and to inspire their designs. Usually in design practice and research, project leaders and managers expect an ultimate solution emerging as a result of probing. However, in most cases such a direct connection is not evident as probes inform and influence the design process in many different ways. We provide illustrative examples of these ways based on a study related to bathroom use for a lighting system. We present a generalization of our findings on how probes can help inform other design processes.
The value of early customer input has long been recognized by companies. However, especially when breakthrough technologies are involved, more insight in valuable methods for collecting early customer input is needed. In this paper, we propose a method to evaluate a breakthrough technology with customers. First, a creative process should point out applications of the breakthrough technology. Applications allow customers to imagine the benefits of the technology behind it. By using early concept narratives, typically scenarios of somebody using and interacting with the application, this imagination process is enhanced.When no prototypes are available yet, it appears that narratives and visuals allow customers to really "see" the new world of the application, a process called transportation, which is a mix of imagery, feelings, and attention. In an experiment in which we make use of a case of an application of a breakthrough technology, we provide empirical support for our claim that early concept narratives could be a valuable tool to get valid customer reactions. Furthermore, we show which kind of visual format the applications should have in order to optimize transportation. The results of this study will support decision making about how to pursue breakthrough application evaluations early in the product development process.
Abstract. The user interaction solution described in this paper was developed in the context of an Intelligent Shop Window (ISW) with an aim to offer a user the interaction solution where system response would be triggered by naturally gazing at products. We have analyzed a possibility to realize such a user interaction solution using gaze tracking and concluded that remote calibration free eye tracking is still a subject of academic research, but that head tracking could be used instead. We argue that conventional use of head tracking requires conscious intentional head movements and thus does not fit into the context of applications such as the ISW. We further describe our experiment aimed to explore how head movements relate to eye movements when looking at objects in a shop window context. We show large variability in head movement and that per individual the gaze-head data could well be approximated with a straight line. Based on these results we propose a new solution that enables natural gaze interaction by means of head tracking.
Abstract. At Philips Research, an Intelligent Shop Window (ISW) was developed. With the ISW, a unique combination is made between a transparent display that is embedded in the window glass, and physical products presented in the shop window. In this paper, touch and gaze interaction with the large display in the ISW are investigated and evaluated. For sensing interfaces it is known that especially with gaze interaction, it is a challenge to communicate to the user that the system is ready and attending to the user, but also which part of the system the user can address. Therefore, two suitable feedback mechanisms for this interaction were designed and evaluated with users. The first was the 'polite products' concept, where products were placed on a turntable. When the user selects the product with either touch or gaze interaction, the product on the turntable turns towards the user. The second feedback method was a transparent light tile behind the products, which changed color when the product was selected. The evaluation results showed that the polite product concept was rated better than the light tile on almost every item related to hedonic values such as enjoyability and fun. Next to that it became clear that participants felt more in control when using touch interaction and that touch worked faster and more efficient than gaze interaction. However, gaze interaction was a fairly new and exotic interaction method for participants and they said they liked using gaze interaction. Especially the combination of gaze interaction with the polite products feedback method was very strong.
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