PACT
Analysis
As
we were taught in Semester 1, the PACT Framework is:
People
undertake activities,
in context
using technologies.
In
explanation, in this section I will plan and analyze how the device will
support the user in their activities. By the end of this phase, I should know
the answers to the following questions having in mind that I am creating SCaRF
Community as a mobile app.
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Who are the end-users? Who else
will be affected or will need to be involved?
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What are their aspirations and
objectives?
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What do they want and need to
do?
>
In what circumstances?
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What are the most suitable
technologies for them, if indeed a technological solution is required?
PEOPLE
Physical Characteristics: People who are perfectly healthy as
well as people with Skin Cancer or people with dangerous moles who want to find
out if their mole is suspicious.
Psychological Aspects: People with uncertainty on the
subject of Skin Cancer. Also, people who are looking for advice and people who
need emotional support.
Social Aspects: People from many different cultures and age
groups. However, this organization is local and it is based in the West Region
of England.
ACTIVITIES
Temporal Aspects: The app is expected to be visited weekly by
its members. This is because there will be continuous support and notifications
of the upcoming Events. It will not be an app that is very busy; however it
will be active through the forum.
Co-operation and Complexity: The activities of the app will be
mostly involving an individual, but sometimes it can involve a group as well.
For example, in the section of stories, a whole family could make a video and
talk about their experience around Skin Cancer.
Safety Critical: There should be a person that will observe the
activities of the app and verify or correct possible mistakes. If a rude
comment is posted and there is no one to erase it, this may cause for a bad
image of SCaRF that would have allowed such comments to be posted that may insult
the organization or the Community Members.
Content: The content of the app will contain articles
of people’s stories, videos of people’s stories, blocks of text with
information about Skin Cancer, images of posters of different events and input
boxes for contacting the organization or the doctor namely or anonymously.
CONTEXT
In class we
were taught that ‘Context’ sometimes means things that surround an activity and
sometimes what glues an activity together.
Physical Environment: Because the device used for
delivering this assignment is a mobile, it can be used anywhere.
However, the only requirement for this is to be connected to the internet so
that the app can be loaded from the server and the user can interact with the
rest of the members.
Social Context: This depends on the user and how he/she feels
about Skin Cancer. For example, if the user is a patient, he/she may feel like
using the app whenever he/she is in a private place. Maybe the user feels
sensitivity around this subject and would not like anyone to give weird looks
or ask questions about this personal topic. However, if the user is someone who
does not mind the reactions of the society, then he/she will be able to use the
app in any social context. Both groups of people will be part of the audience.
I should have in mind that the app should look inviting and welcoming so that
most people will feel good to use it around others.
Organizational Context: The app will be observed both by
SCaRF and a person assigned to modify and update it. The organization itself
will give feedback and assign to the person new information to be posted. The person
who will be observing the app should make sure that everything works smoothly,
the links are valid and the comments are polite.
TECHNOLOGIES
Suitable
technologies to be used for the People, Activities and Contexts. This includes
both Hardware and Software.
Input: The data that needs to be put into the system
by the user will be entered using the mobile’s keyboard. Also, if the user
wants to attach any pictures or videos, the options will be given on his/her
screen. The mobiles that have touch screens will be used with touching the
screen and the older mobiles will be used by pressing the keys needed.
Output: First of all, the app should be user friendly
and its design should be appealing and appropriate for the audience. The app
will provide instructions in the parts that require user’s action and should
include appropriate visualization, affordances, mappings etc.
Communication: The app will be kept simple so that the access
of each webpage will be easily loaded each time the user choses to visit a different
page of the app. However, the overall speed of the app will have to do with the
user’s internet connection and device processing speed.
In
addition, before designing the app we should consider the ERGONOMICS around mobile devices. Ergonomics is the study of the
relationships between people and their environment. Also, in PACT analysis
another important component is studying the MENTAL MODELS. People develop mental models by interacting with
systems, observing the relationship between their actions and behavior.
Generally, the understanding and knowledge we have about how something works is
referred as mental model.
Ergonomics: We are looking for the ergonomics of a mobile,
as our product is SCaRF Community App. The way we hold the new generation
phones is important. We usually hold the whole phone with our hand and touch
the buttons or browse around using our thumb. Having this in mind, I should
design an app that will have the menu in a range that the thumb movement will
reach.
Mental Models: I should include sufficient information about
the usability of my app. This means having an interactive design.
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