Presented at IA Summit 2017 in Vancouver, BC, Canada. 1. Practice mindfulness in design 2. Think like an anthropologist 3. Create with accessibility in mind

1. SOFTWARE FOR HUMANS
Anticipating User Needs
@sarahauvil

3. WEB SITES = HTML,
CSS, GRAPHIC DESIGN?

4. …ANTHROPOLOGY?

5. FOR TODAY
1. Software for Homo Sapiens
2. Anticipatory Design & AI
3. Equal Access

6. BIOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS

7. SOUNDS,
EXPRESSIONS,
BODY LANGUAGE,
SPEECH,
EMOTIONS,
SMELLS,
PAIN / TOUCH
ARE INFORMATION
(To Humans)

8. COMPUTERS ARE
LITERAL.
THEY NEED THE EXACT
STEPS, PARAMETERS,
ASSIGNED INPUTS
& OUTPUTS.

9. SO…HOW CAN THESE
WORK TOGETHER?

10. WHAT IS THE IDEAL UX?
When each user’s understanding meets the
system’s capabilities

11. CHOOSING INVESTMENTS
Katy opens up a 401k and needs to pick
investments. However, Katy knows nothing about
investing, rendering the functionality useless.
product failure gap
Abilities Software functionality

12. ACCESSIBLE SHOPPING
Eric is blind using VoiceOver and trying to buy a
product on a website. The site can’t be read by a
screenreader.
product failure gap
Abilities
Software functionality
(only accommodates vision)

13. CURRENT SOLUTIONS
Talk to a human…or have another human show you

14. WE DESIGN FOR ROBOTS
We let technology constraints determine how people
should use things
We don’t think about how humans communicate
without technology
Two people rarely think about tasks the exact same
way
We believe “I am human, therefore I understand how
other humans will do this”

15. TODAY
People must learn how to use software correctly.

16. FUTURE
Software will learn to how to understand people
so it can help humans use it.

18. BUT I CAN’T BE THERE!
A UX practitioner can’t help each individual use
the product correctly. But artificial intelligence
software may be able to.

19. FUTURE SOLUTIONS
Machine learning: more accurate outputs using data,
personalization (Ex: Google Now)
Voice: A more interactive and conversational approach
to technology that can anticipate many circumstances.
Advanced Interfaces: UX practitioners will develop
more and more dynamic experiences that are
conversational rather than static.
Real Time Computations: Translate languages
instantly, using data to continually improve

20. CUSTOM INTERFACES
Responsive web design is an example of a
contextual custom interface:

21. MORE DYNAMIC EXPERIENCES
Turbotax and Betterment are already creating
software concepts that guide complex financial
functions for laypeople.

22. FILLING THE GAP
Can the average person fill out U.S. tax returns alone? No.
Do people know where they work? Yes.
The software fills in the gap with data covering every form and
scenario, but presents simple questions to get the input needed to
complete.

23. BUT HOW?
When it comes to taxes or investing, there’s a ton
of options, but the user only knows their scenario.
The software hides everything else.

24. REAL TIME COMMUNICATION

25. ANTICIPATORY DESIGN
Requires listening to users upfront, then building
the interface with that feedback.
Hurdles are “anticipated” or removed.

26. MOTIVATION & FRICTION
Motivation: will the user want to do it?
Friction: will users be able to do it?

27. ANTICIPATORY DESIGN
Understanding motivation + friction and
applying this knowledge before launch

28. DUAL RESEARCH
Contextual Inquiry: watching what users do on
their own, interviewing to discover desires,
motivation
Usability Tests: great for identifying friction,
supplemented with analytics trends, heatmapping

29. DON’T WAIT TILL ‘ERROR’
Help content
Autocomplete
In-line errors rather than submission
Not asking the user excess information
Learning algorithms & data

30. WCAG: LEARN IT
There’s lots of resources!
https://www.w3.org/TR/2008/REC-
WCAG20-20081211/
http://wave.webaim.org/
http://colorsafe.co/

31. ACCESSIBLE TECH
Money Argument: people with disabilities have credit
cards, there’s a financial loss
Moral argument: providing equal access is the right
thing to do
Experience argument: accessibility will create better
product UX for all
Lawsuit argument: software that violates the ADA
could be taken to court *what most US stakeholders fear*

32. TECH AS HUMAN RIGHTS
Theory: As transactions over technology increasingly
affect quality of life, equal experiences will continue to
become more legally and ethically contentious.

33. SEPARATE BUT EQUAL?
Goal: true equal access, not a “separate” or lesser
experience
“Separate [facilities] are inherently unequal”
- Brown vs. Board of Education, 1957

35. 1961
This lunch counter is for white diners only.
African Americans can use other facilities.
NOW?
The app and its perks are designed for seeing
customers only. Blind customers can go to the
store in person.

36. DIGITAL AS A SPACE
ADA Title III: Are apps places of public accommodation?

37. OUR DECISIONS
DETERMINE ACCESS
Video without captions: this is for hearing people only
Text embedded into images: this is for seeing people who
speak this language only
Nonstandard HTML: this is for sighted people only

38. FILLING THE GAP
Future technology will extend itself to help people expand
their abilities

39. DYNAMIC PROFILES?
It’s possible in the future the software might
detect how the user is accessing and “customize”
the experience
Ethical question: would some people want an
app/site to know how they were accessing if it
provided a better experience?

40. DYNAMIC PROFILES?
customizes approach
A blind user wants to buy shoes from an
eCommerce site. The site detects a screenreader
and changes to a conversational audio experience,
listening to what they are looking for.

41. POSSIBLE EXAMPLE
“Hi, I want to buy a pair of women’s running shoes in size
11 under $100.”
“We have three pairs that fit that, ranging from $65-97.”
“How much is the top rated one?”
“The top rated one has 4.5 stars with 101 reviews and
comes in blue and grey for $85.”
“I’ll buy one.”
“Ok, I’ll add one pair to your cart and check you out.”

42. EQUAL TECH ACCESS
Better options for various disabilities, skill and
knowledge levels, languages
Goal: true equal access to the internet and
software content equivalent to others, not a
“separate” and lesser experience

43. CONWAY’S LAW
“Organizations which design systems ... are
constrained to produce designs which are copies of
the communication structures of these
organizations”
— Melvin Conway, 1968

44. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Can Only Ever Be as Mindful as
ITS ARCHITECTS.

45. SOFTWARE FOR HUMANS
We can creatively include human culture and
biology in new technology.
We can direct artificial intelligence to increase
human quality of life.
We can design software that creates equal access by
being mindful of diversity.

46. THANK YOU.
Practice mindfulness
Think like an anthropologist
Create with accessibility in mind.

47. APPENDIX
CC Imagery:
Youtube Content:
Waverly Labs
Professor Gary Lee Todd
AllanPH, RadioFan, Graysick, Patrick J. Lynch, Norwood, Hans-Werner34
(Wikipedia)
VA Minneapolis Health Care System
Accessible Wheelchair: