User-Centred Design

Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology

User-Centred Design

Task 3.1 Interview Scenarios

The purpose of this document is to provide Interview Scenarios to cri-
tique for your Task 3.1.
Case Study S1 2019: Energy Shifter
This semester you will apply User-Centred Design process and principles to design
and build a prototype user interface that allows householders to better understand
and make decisions about their energy use to help them to minimise energy bills.
SwinSoft interviewed five people to help them understand the context of use for
this project. The following is a description of what happened during two of the
interviews (see UCD Project Interview Data (resources for Task 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3)
for details of what some participants said during interviews).
Instructions:
Review the following TWO scenarios and evaluate whether the inter-
view process follows ethical and methodological guidelines for conduct-
ing interviews. Make sure you explain why you think it follows guidelines
(or not). COS70004 students must include reference to at least one set
of guidelines or recommendations (ethical or methodological).
For example,
Courage and Baxter (2005) recommend that…. However, ….
User-Centred Design

Interview Scenario 1
Ref Scenario Comment on ethics and method
1.1 The selected user is from an inappropriate user group as he works for our client. Aside from this
The Participant was a 64 year old male who worked in the Hu-
major issue, he is a perfect interview subject given his description
man Resources department of Energy Balance. He had just in-
stalled solar panels on his family home in Melbourne’s outer
East. The Participant was familiar with word processing, the In-
ternet and email. He has a smart phone with a large data plan.

1.2 The materials used during this interview is quite adequate for his purpose. However, I feel the inter-
The interview was conducted in a quiet meeting room at the firms
view location is sub-optimal. The user’s home where the solar panels are installed would be a wiser
La Trobe St office. It had a big oval table with ten chairs around
choice, allowing to user to be more comfortable and allows the user to more clearly demonstrate
it and a desktop computer connected to a projector screen. The how he interacts with his solar panel interface. The smartphone could be repurposed to record
Interviewer wore a smart professional looking suit and bought video as well.
the following items to the interview:
• a notebook and pen, Given the interview took place in the office, a video camera may be useful to record the user’s fa-
• a smartphone installed with a voice recording software to rec- cial expressions during the interview.
ord the interview,
• informed consent sheet and
• pre-prepared set of questions.

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User-Centred Design
1.3 The Interviewer was running 15 minutes late because his smart The interviewer did not follow standard interview procedure. With major issues in not receiving ex-
phone battery was running low and he needed to find a charg- plicit consent from the interviewee.
ing cord. When he reached the meeting room, the participant
was there. The Interviewer apologised for being late and
briefed the Participant on the aim of the interview. He told the
Participant that he would be recording the interview and started
the recording device. He told the Participant the interview
should take about 1 hour.

1.4 The Interviewer then asked the questions on his prepared list. 1.4.1 – The first statement is unnecessary and a creates unneeded bias toward the subject
1.4.2 – This question was asked well and went further to ask the user what specific appliances
Some of the questions on the list were:
drew the most energy.
1.4.1 Most people get solar power to help save the envi- 1.4.4 – While two choices are presented, this could bias the interviewee by assuming there are only
ronment, what was your reason for getting solar power? two reasons for saving electricity with solar panels.
1.4.5 – Following a table from Alreck & Settle, 1995, it advises against questions that reference
1.4.2 Do you ever use appliances during off-peak to save sexuality or behavior. Asking about his marital states is irrelevant to this discussion and
money? What are your most power hungry devices? could be better phrased as if he shares his house with anybody else.
1.4.3 On average how much power do you use per day?

1.4.4 Are you more interested in saving the environment or

using electricity when it suits you best?

1.4.5 What is your marital status and do you have any chil-
dren living at home?

1.5 During the interview the Interviewer took hand written notes. The interviewer failed in keeping to the described time limit with obvious discomfort being displayed
The interview took nearly 2 hours. By the end the Participant by the interviewee. The interviewer also failed to check their notes with the participant to see if they
was fidgeting and repeatedly looking at his watch. When he fin- wanted to add or remove anything. No wrap up or thank you was given either.
ished the questions on his list the Interviewer thanked the Par-
ticipant for his time and stopped the recording device.

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User-Centred Design
1.6 Sometime later the Human Resources department manager A breach of confidentially in the interview is seen here. This following information should not have
asked the Interviewer how the interview with Gary went. The In- been shared and may possibly affected his manager’s views of him and in turn caused social and
terviewer reported that the Participant had a surprisingly poor financial harm.
understanding of flexible pricing given he worked at the com-
pany and that he used a lot more power than equivalent house-
holds despite having solar power.

Interview Scenario 2 starts on next page

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User-Centred Design

Interview Scenario 2
Ref Scenario Comment on ethics and method
2.1 The participant selected this time is a member of the user group, as she has installed a solar power
The Participant was a 42 year old female who was recruited by
system and her active participation in the alternative energy forum may possibly yield further infor-
a post on an alternative energy forum. She lived in a brick ve-
mation of similar users.
neer house a Western suburb of Melbourne with family. The
Participant installed a 1.5kW solar power system about 3 years
ago. The Participant was familiar with word processing, work-
ing with excel spreadsheets, the Internet and email. She has a
smart phone and a laptop.

2.2 The interview was held in a good environment where the user is able to feel comfortable and inter-
The interview was conducted at the Participant’s home. The In-
viewee is able to see her interact with her solar panels in her actual environment.
terviewer wore a shirt and jeans and bought the following items
to the interview: Given the flexibility of the smartphone, the interviewer has the necessary equipment to record the
• a notebook and pen, interview and gather additional data.
• a smartphone installed with a voice recording software to
record the interview,
• informed consent sheet and
• pre-prepared set of questions.

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User-Centred Design
2.3 The Interviewer arrived on time. He gave the Participant an The interviewer followed the correct interview procedure, informing the interviewee of
overview of what the study was about, and explained that he those scope of the study, explained the purpose of his data gathering, the duration of the
would be recording the interview and that he may request per- study and administered informed consent before turning on his recording gear.
mission to take some photos. He also indicated that the inter-
view would take about 2 hours. He then gave the Participant
the informed consent information sheet which she read. The
Participant had some questions which the Interviewer an-
swered. The Participant was happy with the answers and
signed the sheet. The Interviewer then indicated the interview
had begun and turned on the recording device.

2.4 The Interviewer then asked the questions on his prepared list. The sample of questioned asked here are very appropriate. The questions did not have a
potential to make the user feel uncomfortable and the questions possessed minimal bias.
Some of the questions on the list were:

2.4.1 Why did you get solar power? 2.4.4 – This assumes that the family influences her power usage, there may be other fac-
tors and this question may lead her to only answer about family influences.
2.4.2 Have you changed the way you use electricity since
getting solar power? If so, how?

2.4.3 What difficulties have you faced trying to monitor your

electricity use?

2.4.4 Does your family influence how you use power? If

so, how?

2.4.5 What difficulties have you faced trying to reduce your

electricity use?

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User-Centred Design
2.5 During the interview the Interviewer also took hand written The interviewer follows the interview procedure very well again when wrapping up the
notes and some photos of the appliances in the house. He also interview, finishing on time and taking the time to review the notes taken with the inter-
took screenshots of the user’s energy bills and usage patterns viewee.
generated by her electricity retailer. At the end of the interview
he showed the photos he took to the Participant and asked if
there were any she wanted him to delete. There weren’t any.
The Interviewer thanked the Participant for her time and
stopped the recording device. The interview took 2 hr 10 min.

2.6 Back at the office the Interviewer went through the data he had Confidentially was respected here, while her personal data may not influence the study in
collected to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything. Before any way. Her identity was hidden thus shielding her form any potential risk from partici-
meeting with the development team to discuss his findings, he pating in the interview.
made sure that any features that would identify the participant
were removed from his notes and photos.

References (required for COS70004)

Alreck, Pamela L & Settle, Robert B 1995, The survey research handbook, 2nd ed, Irwin Professional Publishing, Burr Ridge, Illinois

For a guide on how to cite references correctly see:

http://www.swinburne.edu.au/library/referencing/harvard-style-guide/

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