Walkthroughs

Today we're going to practice conducting a GenderMag walkthrough to identify gender inclusiveness issues in a user interface.

The process (3 min)

This is reminder from the reading about how to conduct a GenderMag walkthrough:

1. Pick a persona (e.g. Abby)
2. Pick a task in your user interface to walk through
3. Determine the intended sequence of subgoals and actions to achieve that ask in the interface.
4. Pick a subgoal for that scenario, then answer these questions:
• Would Abby have formed this subgoal is part of her overall goal?
• Why? Consider Abby's motivations and strategies.
5. Pick an action for that subgoal, then answer the questions for that action.
• Would Abby know what to do at this step?
• Why? Consider Abby's knowledge, skills, motivations, strategies, and self-efficacy.
• If Abby does the right thing, will she know she's making progress toward her goal?
• Why? Consider Abby's self-efficacy and attitudes toward risk.
6. Return to step 5 unless you've done enough actions to complete your subgoal
7. Return to step 4 unless you've done enough subgoals to complete the scenario

The rules (3 min)

Following these rules during the walkthrough is key:

• Stay true to the persona: The team is looking to fix issues the persona might find, so really channel the persona.
• Debate the facets: focus your discussions on the facets of the persona, not the surface features of the persona.
• Follow the intended sequence: The persona might do something that is not part of the pre-made sequence, but stick to the chosen sequence.
• Answer every question: The team wants to gather as much information as they can, so don't leave anything out.
• The team doesn't have to agree: But make sure the recorder writes down everyones comments.
• Just find the issues: During the session is not the time to fix the issues. Just focus on critique, not on ideation.

These are common mistakes people make:

• "I" Methodology: Evaluators often drift from the persona and answer questions from their perspective. Be sure to use the personas name to stay true to the persona.
• "Look ahead" problems: Taking the action before the persona would, giving more information than the persona actually has.
• Confusing actions with subgoals: Subgoals are ideas in the head while actions are done with the hands.

Form groups of three (3 min)

Each group needs three people:

• The facilitator: Leads the team through the walkthrough and keeps it on track. Can also help to enforce rules and prevent counterproductive work.
• The recorder: Records the team's comments and results in the GenderMag forms.
• The driver: The person who drives the prototype for the team.

Additionally, everyone: does the evaluation work described below.

Your user interface, subgoals, and actions (5 min)

You'll be analyzing the iSchool website website.

The task you'll be analyzing is applying for freshman direct admission to Informatics. The scenario is that a high school student heard about Informatics from a family friend and wants to learn what's required to apply as a freshman:

1. Subgoal: find the website about Informatics admissions
1. Visit Google
2. Type "Informatics admissions"
3. Click the "Informatics Admissions" search result
2. Subgoal: learn about what is required for freshman direct admissions
1. Click "Freshman Direct Admission"
2. Scroll to "How to Be Considered for Freshman Direct Admission"
3. Click the "Office of Admissions' Freshman Checklist" link
4. Click the "Admissions to Majors" link
5. Click the "Direct to Majors" link

Execute (30 min)

Follow the GenderMag steps using the task, subgoals, and actions above. Record all of the answers to all of the questions, noting any answers that indicate problems.

1. Download the Abby persona and review it.
2. Create a shared Google Doc in which you'll write responses to all of the questions below.
3. Copy the subgoals and actions above into your document.
4. Copy each of these questions below the next subgoal and answer them:
• Would Abby have formed this subgoal is part of her overall goal?
• Why? Consider Abby's motivations and strategies.
5. Pick the next action for that subgoal, copy these questions below it and then answer the questions for that action.
• Would Abby know what to do at this step?
• Why? Consider Abby's 1) knowledge, 2) skills, 3) motivations, 4) strategies, and 5) self-efficacy.
• If Abby does the right thing, will she know she's making progress toward her goal?
• Why? Consider Abby's self-efficacy and attitudes toward risk.
6. Return to step 4 unless you've done enough actions to complete your subgoal
7. Return to step 3 unless you've done enough subgoals to complete the scenario

Submit your issues (5 min)

For credit, export a PDF and submit the your document in Canvas. Everyone should submit individually.

Reflection (10 min)

• What issues did you find?
• Do you believe you found legitimate issues?
• Were there aspects of the method you did not understand?
• What was difficult about conducting the walkthrough?