Article Idea:
Risk Profiles in HCI
suggested by Matt Queen on 2006/08/30
When a user decides to use the function X in software application Y, in order to accomplish goal Z, they accept some amount of risk. Risks could be duration (ex. “doing this in MSWord is going to take forever.”), effort (ex. “this is much harder to do with only that information available”), or even boredom (ex. “this part is boring, do I really want to do this first?”). A good question is, “How much risk is involved in X decision for this user?” This is where risk profiles could prove useful. A Risk profile is a type of graph that illustrates the amount of cumulative risk, over and among alternatives, associated with taking a given action. The idea is rather simple, however, there are some caveats.
I envision this article being a “How to” that elaborates on theoretical and practical issues of creating, analyzing, and using risk profiles in UCD/IA/HCI studies.
Want to see this idea turned into a story?
2 people said yes. | 0 people said no.
Masood Nasser
70 Reputation points
Posted 2006/09/06 @ 13:30PM with
Matt, this sounds interesting. It would be extremely helpful in prioritizing features and focusing on the ones that have a greater chance of user adoption.
Matt Queen
130 Reputation points
Posted 2006/09/07 @ 06:48AM with
That is exactly right! Also, it helps identify what exactly it is that obstructs adoption, learnability, etc.—in order to “fix” the situation.
Matt Queen
130 Reputation points
Posted 2006/10/12 @ 18:55PM with
BTW, here is an example of what a risk profile might end up looking like (this is a profile of risk associated with taking one of 3 courses of action for getting help with software).
We might use this technique to craft survey data into a risk profile, then brainstorm ways of moving aspects of less risky actions into the prospect of more common actions (thereby reducing the total amount of perceived risk)
example plot:
http://faculty.washington.edu/mqn/temp/ex-rprofile.png