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The Psychological Basis of Nerdinessand its Implications for UCD
William HudsonPrincipal [email protected]
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Empathizing/Systemizing Theory
• Large-scale study of 450 IT workers (see Hudson, William, 2009, Reduced Empathizing Skills Increase Challenges for User-CenteredDesign, CHI 2009 Conference, Boston and British HCI Group Conference, Cambridge)
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Empathizers
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Systemizers
Please select1 bag at a time
RTFMAgile UCD 6
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The Perfect User
Visual acuityof an eagle
Memory ofan elephant
Navigation skillsof a bat
Stamina ofa camel
Dexterity ofa monkey
Copyright © Syntagm Ltd – www.syntagm.co.uk
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Technologists have strong systemizing but reduced empathizing skills
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(There is a small effect for the few female technologists, but no ‘crossover’)
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Men Women
Systemizing
EmpathizingEmpathizing
Systemizing
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SQ minus EQ Predicts Programming Ability
• In a separate study of 19 male programming students, there was good correlation (r=0.67) between SQ-EQ and programming ability tests (see Wray, Stuart, 2007, SQ Minus EQ can Predict Programming Aptitude, PPIG 2007)
• Individual correlations with SQ and EQ were much weaker
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Increasing Empathy
• Developers need to at least be aware that users may have different views or understandings of a problem and its potential solutions
• Partitioning UCD into a separate team or department not realistic in small teams (using Agile approaches, for example)
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Increasing Empathy
• Two points to consider– People-oriented people have higher EQ scores
than technologists– Even the lowest EQ scores for women were above
the average for men
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The Agile Team
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EmpathyBarrier
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Increasing Empathy
• Because of the ‘empathy barrier’ increasing the EQ balance in a team alone may not be sufficient to improve engagement with UCD
• We need to consider other ways of increasing empathy– Teaching it– Applying empathy-promoting design techniques
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Increasing Empathy
• ‘Mind Reading’ is an interactive DVD from Simon Baron-Cohen and colleagues at the ARC
• Active research in empathy and its mechanisms– Oxytocin improves "mind-reading" in humans
Domes, G., M. Heinrichs, et al. (2007). "Oxytocin improves “mind-reading” in humans." Biological Psychiatry 61(6): 731-733.
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Increasing Empathy
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(www.jkp.com/mindreading)
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Empathetic Design
• Research has found that empathy is related to specific components of the brain called mirror neurons
• They are activated when performing a task but also when seeing the same task performed by others
• To promote empathy we should rely on the adage ‘seeing is believing’
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Field Research
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Personas
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Usability Testing
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syntagmsyntagmEmpathy-Assistive Technology
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Agile UCD One-Day CourseCentral London, 10 May 2010• Understanding Agile, users and the relationship
between them • Promoting empathy with UCD techniques• Knowing what evidence will be most effective in
selling UCD• Adding value to an Agile team with UCD
• Early booking discount until 9 April• Special offer: Book 3 places for the price of 2
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www.agileucdcourse.com
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www.syntagm.co.uk/design
Agile UCD
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