Contextual Interview by Hui Pang

Interviewees: a couple travelling with a toddler and the wife’s sister

Time: Wednesday afternoon

Weather: occasional shower in the morning but mostly sunning in the afternoon

Location: on the dock, on the way to Djugarden.

Q: Do you live in Stockholm or some other places?

A: I live in Stockholm.

Q: What is your occupation?

A: I am a homemaker. 

Q: How old is your children? 

A: My daughter is one year old. 

Q: What sort of SL card do you possess?

A: I travel on a monthly card. 

Q: How did you plan your travel?

A: I just come by and wait.?

Q: How did you get to Slussen?

A: By our own car. 

Q: What is your destination in Djugarden? 

A: Skansen. 

Q: How often do you travel this way? 

A: Once a month. 

Q: Do you share your photos on the ferry on social network? 

A: Yes, since the WiFi is good here!

Q: Why do you prefer to travel the route by ferry, instead of by bus, tram etc?

A: We used to travel by car, and now we want to try something new. 

Q: What do you enjoy about the ferry trip?

A: It offers nice view of typical Swedish harbours. 

Q: Anything you hope to see improvement about the ferry trip? Like a belt to fasten strollers?

A: No, everything is fine. 

Q: Do you talk to strangers on the trip?

A: No.

Q: Does the reconstruction of Slussen makes the new port hard to find?

A: Slussen is always under construction, so no problem!

Q: Would you recommend this trip to people you know?

A: Yes! To anyone who has not tried this trip!

Observational Studies: 

About the family: The family came from Iraq.They sat at the bench and stayed there all ride along. Husband took selfies of family. 

About the passengers: 

As time went by, there were more passengers. Most were middle-aged couples, or young adults with their friends. The atmosphere was cheerful. 


Reflection:

When conducting the contextual interviews, we have interviewed families with children from both Stockholm and somewhere an hour’s drive away for the purpose of triangulation. We interviewers also pose as participant observers and use audio recording as our means of data recording. 

From our direct observation, there are special benches for children inside cabin, with their shorter seat frame so that children can sit more comfortably. We observe a recurring pattern that most parents with small children chose to sit on these benches when they are inside the cabin. However, there is no such special benches on the dock, and most children need to hold onto their parents when enjoying the view. Maybe there can be some facilities for children on the dock in the future. 

We have also asked several families with toddlers whether a belt for strollers is needed. We are astonished to learn that many families consider it unnecessary. Maybe it is due to the fact that ferries do not abrupt turns or stops.  

We also learn that according to the cost-benefit analysis conducted by the SL company, it is not economic to keep toilets on ferries, since it is a rather short trip. However, there can be more toilets near both sides of the platform. Also some parents suggested putting a vending machine selling sodas or snacks. 

Another part can be improved is the windows. Many children kneel on their benches to get a better view, but were blocked by the wooden pane. We suggest those can be replaced with acrylics, like the ones on a sightseeing boat. 

We can see there are several posters on the ferry trip, but none on the activities on Djugarden. SL can collaborate with travelling agency and keep tourists more updated here.   

The interview on the ferry -- Suping Shi

On September 24th, we set up an interview on the ferry from Slussen to Allmänna gränd. Because the existence of Gröna Lund and Skansen, it is a quite a popular route among parents and children. During the whole process of the interview we took the ferry back and forth for three times. This interview taken place on the way back to slussen. The interviewee is a dad of two children. And the interviewee is informed that this recording will be published on our blog for the course.

                                           The ferry where we accomplished our interview

Me: Hi, what usually is your purpose to take the ferry?

In:   Hey, Eh, we usually go to the destination with our kids, either go to the Skansen or just take a walk in the park or go to the amusement park.

Me: Why you choose to take the ferry? Cause I know that there are other ways to get there like buses.

In: Yeah, but it is the best way, it is nice to go by boat. There will be extra pleasure to take the ferry and it is fancy too.

Me: And do you feel any trouble of the safety for the children on the ferry?

In : Sure! Everything is okay. Like the fence outside is high enough. No I do not feel any unsafe on the boat. It works very well !

Me: Do you usually be inside the boat or go outside?

In: Yeah I’d love to stay outside, because of the great view. But it is usually a lot of people outside .

Me: You mean it is usually that crowded outside?

In: Yeah, it is usually like that, especially on weekends

Me: Do you usually very clear about the destination?

In: Yeah you have to be aware of that, because it depends. Sometimes it will stop in the middle destination.

Me: And is there any broadcasting for the destination?

In: Yes, there is.

Me: Is that always in Swedish?

In : Yeah! It is always in Swedish. Not that friendly to the tourists.

Me: Do you feel there should be a belt to fix the stroller? Cause I know that there are some of the belts to fix it on the bus.

In: No, I do not think I need this. Because there will not be sudden turning.

Me: Is that usually that crowded?

In: Like that?

Me: Yeah.

In: No, it will not be like that usually. Maybe only because it is on weekends now.

Solutions:

We first ask them their purpose to take the ferry instead of bus. They think that they choose to take the ferry mainly because of the fancy view. But the space is usually quite limited on weekends. As can be heard from the audio recording, the background is quite noisy so that it is hard to hear the speaking from others and the broadcasting. We first interviewed a parent from sweden. He told us that, they should always be aware of the broadcasting, because there are several destinations for this ferry. They have already taken off at the wrong destination twice. Since there is quite noisy inside the ferry, it is not that easy to always concentrate on what is broadcasting. The next parents who also have this trouble are from Korea. They speaks little Swedish. But the broadcasting on the ferry is all in Swedish. So they feel that sometimes they will be quite confused. What is more, there is usually only one stuff on the ferry so it is hard to find someone to ask about the information.

In order to solve that problem, we suggest there should be a LED board in the ferry. Because the destination of the ferry is not always the same. So it is a good idea to have a board can not only shows a fixed information for the destination. Of course, it is better to show the information not only in Swedish since Stockholm is quite an international city where a lot of international tourists are visiting.

In China, in the train or boat, we usually have a LED board to shows the information including the destination and the notice for the passengers in Chinese and English. So that even if it is very noisy or crowded, people can still know the important information. And it is easy to change the destination information or the notice for the passenger.

Contextual Interviews ---Jinchen Liu

Interviews

May I have the audio recording?
Yeah, sure!
What's your name?
Sobers
What's your occupation?
I am a journalist.
Where do you live?
I live in Stockholm.
Where are you going to visit ?
The museum in the Djurgården.
Whats the name of the museum you are going to visit?
Tekniska museet
How are your kids?
They are eleven and eight.
Is it you first time to visit it?
Yeah!
How did you plan to your trip since this your first time?Like how did you get information for this museum?
We know this place and we are not living so far away, so today I just take my kids to go there, actually without think about the plan.
Why do you choose ferry to travel?
Otherwise, we will take the bus and it will take the double time. The ferry trip is much faster.
Do you like the ferry trip?
Yes!
Is it child friendly?
Yes it is. It has a place to let children stand on to look the sea sight. So it is really good! This is perfect for us!
How do you think the improvement for this ferry?
Umm....Good question! I am not sure and I haven't thought before...Maybe it should have a place to sell coffee or drinks, and since we take our kids and the it takes 10 minutes for travelling, maybe a toilet or baby care room is more convenient!
Do you like to share the experience on the Facebook or some other social networking services?
Well... I have a twitter account but I am not the guy who publish all the time...So maybe not.
I only comment for once a month.
Do you talk to other passager during the trip, like stranger conversation?
No, I am typical Swedish.  We don't start a conversation. If you are not here, I will interact with my kids.
Do you think it should be wifi on board?
Yeah, sure. It should be good, but not necessary.
Well, thats all! Thanks a lot for the interview! 
No problem!

Seminar one reading reflection--Suping Shi

The first seminar is more about the theoretical knowledge for designing an interview. Luckily our group finished the interview before this seminar. So we can get the chance to review our interview. Data gathering is a central part of establishing requirements, and of evaluation. It is usually the most interactive part. There are usually three main techniques for gathering data: interviews, questionnaires, and observation. For this part, we designed an semi-structured interview which means we just set up few main questions according to the theme. And due to the reaction of the interviewee we came up with different questions. We chose this way because this is a more flexible way to do the interview and it can be more flexible. It is quite important to take the triangulation into consideration, because it will help us to consider things from different perspectives. The next thing we need to consider about is data recording, the most usual way to do that is using video or audio. We chose the audio way and inform the interviewee in advance that their voice will be recorded for the ethics reason.

After the data gathering part, we will come to the data analysis step. It is a very important part since it provides a more comprehensive account of the behavior being observed or performance being measured. For data analysis there will be qualitative analysis approach or a quantitative analysis approach, or a combination of qualitative and quantitative. When we come to the last part, it is called establishing the requirements. That is quite like to establish the results of the interview. Contextual inquiry, studying documentation, and researching similar products are widely used to accomplish this part. And brainstorm is the method that will usually be evolved.

My questions to the seminar:

1. What is the the suitable number of people for the study?
2. If we tell the interviewees that the recording of the interview will be published, will this information influence their idea?
3. If we notice that the ferry offers no English broadcasting for the destination on the ferry, can we call this method “observation” ?

Seminar 1 - Mengdi

Chapter 7 Data Gathering

There are 3 mian techiques of gathering data: interviews, questionaires and observations. We need to use them fexibly in order to avoid biases which are inherent in any one approach.
For interviews there are unstructured(conducted when you want to explore the range of opinions, have a plan of main topics to be covered), semi-structured(have a basic script of guidance), structured(like questionaire) and group interviews(diverse and sensitive issues to be raised).
Observation can be conducted by participant observers or passive observers, but there are not pure participant or passive observers because an observer requires a certain level of detachment and cannot avoid interaction with the activities around. There are direct obsevations and indirect observations(through dairies, interaction logs and web analytics). 
There are 5 key issues: goal setting, identifying participants, the relationship between data collector and data provider, triangulation and pilot studies. All the other four key issues serve for the goal. Therefore, we need to formulate the goal well.
Triangulation is investigation of a phenomenon from (at least) two different perspectives, which includes triangulation of data, triangulation of investigators, triangulation of theories, methodological triangulation.

Chapter 8 Data Analyze

Quantitative analysis uses numerical methods to ascertain the magnitude, amout. Percentage, mean, median, mode is widely used in quantitative measures, but percentage should be used with caution if the sample data is few. A graphical representation of datagives a better overall view of the data, including any patterns it contains.
Qualitative analysis focuses on the nature of something and can be represented by themes, patterns, and stories. A important step of qualitative analysis is identifying recurring patterns or themes. Another is categorizing data. When choosing categories, it could be challenging to determine meaningful categories that are orthogonal. 

Chapter 10 Establishing Requirements

The last chaper talks about establishing requirements. Requirement is a statement about an intended product that specifies what it should do or how it should perform. We need to extract some requirements (functional, data, environmental, user characteristics, usability goals and user experience goals) from our analysis and interpretation of data. Developing requirements is an iterative process of evolution and negotiation.

State of the Art Analysis - Mengdi

The semi-structured interview was conducted with triangulation. We interviewed tourists with children, local with children, a captian and a staff. We also played the role of participant observer on ferry. 
The data are divided into several aspects according to the theme. This data analyzing technique is called affinity diagram, aiming to organize ideas and insights into a hierarchy to show something in common. The themes are facilities and schedule. The facilities part has three subsections, namely stroller belts, toilets and windows.
I have found some recurring paterns in the qualitative analysis. The reason why people choose to take ferry, basically, is that they want to enjoy the scenery. Those interviewees who took ferry because of convenience also mentioned this factor. However, I didn't see many parents with strollers standing outside to enjoy the view, although one interviewee impied she preferred to do so if she came without children. The parents with children above 5 year old, however, don't have such problem. Take the mother I interviewed for example, she were standing on the board with here 4 children when I interviewed her.
 I also saw that parents with strollers holding them all the time. Therefore I think it's better to have more stroller belts on ferry.
One interviewee and one staff on ferry said that there should be toilets on the ferry. However the captain said, SL company have disscused many times whether there should be toilets on ferries or not, but they finally decided no. Becauses there are toilets on both sides, and the journey is quite short, so it's not neccessary to bother spending a lot of money building toilets on ferries. I quite understand the decision of companies, because they should take interest into account. Nevertheless, some passengers may travel alone, so it's not convenient for them to go to the toilet when waiting in queue. As for the staff, they have few time to get off in work time. I think the experience would be improved if there are toilets.
The last part of facilities to be improved I think is windows. When I was in the cabine, the light was not so good, although the sun shone brightly outside. As I mentioned before, most passengers wanted to enjoy the scenery on ferry, but not eveyone can stand outside due to space constraint. Larger window size will compensate somehow for those who cannot stand outside and cabine will seem not so crowded too.
 The last part to be analyze is schedule. When I was waiting for the ferry on Slussen side, there were many people in queue, but in Allmänna gränd or Skeppsholmen, there were not many passengers waiting. As for the my interviewee, she didn't think it cost long time to wait for a ferry, only 10 minuts. Just almost as long as waiting for a bus. The captain kept recording the number of passengers getting on and taking off every time he landed, which implied SL company is also controlling the schedule somehow. It's best to balance the passengers travelling on both direction. But that's a hard problem which every means of transportation would have, especially during rush hours. So I think SL company has done good enough.
On the way of interviewing, we happened to meet a lady doing survey for SL with questionares. However, her questionares were in Swedish. Although the tourist I interviewed was very satisfied with this journey, and the company may want to invest to make those who travel with ferry most, which is local people, satisfied,  yet it's better to consider other English-speaking passengers' opinions.

Interview of ferry riding experience 24/09/16

I did this interview on September 24th with Agneev and Suping. It was a sunny Saturday moring. When we got there, many people were waiting for the next ferry. The ferry was from Slussen to Allmänna gränd, where Gröna Lund and Skansen are located. We took the ferry back and forth for sevral times. This interview is done on the way back to Slussen, stopping at Skeppsholmen half way.

Interview group

M: How often do you take this ferry?

V: Just now, the first time.

M: Do you live in Stockholm?

V: No, I am a tourist.

M: How did you come to this island? Also by ferry?

V: I came here by metro.

M: This time why do you choose ferry?

V: To see the water, and because of the weather, it is a nice weather.

M: Do you have SL card?

V: Yes.

M: For three days or ...

V: Just for today, one day.

M: Do you just stay here for one day?

V: Yes.

M: Are you going to Slussen now?

V: No Skeppsholmen.

M: What part of this Ferry do you enjoy most?

V: It's the scene outdoor, and I enjoy the weather.

M: Did you spend long time waiting this ferry? 

V: No, 10 minutes.

M: Do you have any other experience on ferries in other places?

V: Yes.

M: Can you tell me more about that?

V: Paris for example by boat. Sightseeing in Budapest in Hungry I was there one week ago. It a good way to experience the scenery.

M: Which is the most impressive experience?

V: Stockholm is the best.

M: Oh, really? Can you tell me the reason?

V: Because it's clean and organized.

M: Since I saw you are travelling with children, is there any problem travelling on ferry?

V: No, not at all.

State-of-the-Art Analysis

During the field study we found that one recurring pattern is that not all passengers can be informed the right route of the journey, whether the ferry will head directly towards Allmänna gränd or it will stop at Skeppsholmen.  Comparing to Google Map, SL's official app, regarding to context of use, seems focus more on selling one-time tickets than searching for a route. Passengers who buy one time ticket are often tourists, but SL's target group seems to be local travellers, not only Swedish but English version.

Here is a graphical user interface of choosing which type of ticket to buy. It shows A, B, C, L zones just by text form, assuming users know where these area exactly are, which actually confuse the users.

Another problem is that it's hard to find the information and condition of buying reduced price ticket. As there the button to show the condition of using reduced price ticket is in the upper right corner, and "reduced fare" button is shown after clicking "full fare", which makes it harder to buy a reduced fare ticket. Personas, such as family with children, probably will find it hard to buy tickets for their children.

There is one way to find the correct zone of travelling, that is to use "search journey" function. There is a button "Buy ticket" at the bottom, but you have to find this secret key by yourself, because there is no tip anywhere else.

Although this is an English version app, Swedish still exists in the app, which decreases the usability.

To sum up, the requirements are far from satisfied, it does not estmatited user characteristics, such as users' language, and knowledge of how zones are partitioned. Information presentation is not scientifically designed for user to gather information efficiently. Establishing requirements is an iterative process. To solve the problems, developers can use data mining methods to find target groups, and make the information properly mentioned and highlighted.

State of the Art Analysis - Agneev

Entertainment for all

"Keeping little ones safe and having fun aboard may have its challenges, but when it's done right, it sows the seeds for a lifetime love of boating." - Brian Mistrot

However, commute ferries are different. The huge crowd at the ticket station made us believe that the commuters are not SL card holders and they are mostly amongst our target group with people accompanying their kids. A participatory observation showed that its the start to a together-time.

The impatient kids at the long queue at the ferry terminal needs some excitement and a bit of relaxation for the people who are unable to get in the batch of their boat ride. The situation worsens inside the boat. As seen by the direct observation, almost all parents are concerned about the safety of the kids in the ferry. The toddlers seem to be excited about the disturbances of of the sea while the teenagers seem to be enjoying the water splashes on the deck. Overall the journey from Slussen to Djurgarden also has the possibilities to keep everyone engaged. The monocausal reason why many families miss out on the beauties of the outdoors is because of the huge crowd or the little ones. It was a recurring pattern that the the families with prams were eager to find a seat where they could cit through their ride holding onto the prams.

Long queues at the ferry terminal

The task analysis provided a list of improvements from the people like including toilets on-board and providing of maps of the destination of the tourists. The cultural probe suggested that we can incorporate music and selfie-taking cameras with the motive of sharing and caring amongst the people through their journey. The SL also asks for surveys to improve the best of the journey ride. However, they miss out on the foreigners who are more than excited to be a part of this journey.

The SL survey form (available only in Swedish)

The solution? Something catchy and being able to depict the beauty outside while still being inside. The possibility of Virtual reality is huge. Multiple companies are catching onto the public areas and its just not the kids but a fascination for all. Interactive commercials have always caught the attention, whether it be this Piano staircase by Volkswagen or the motivational need of the hour by Upworthy. A Fridge at a remote place by Red Bull with fascinating events are more than enough to not just catch an eye but to enjoy it for a really long time. Another example where any information board can be used to explore the two vacation spots can be seen like this where the passing of a person can switch the end venue. Imagine the possibilities when this Pepsi commercial is placed on the inside of the boat.

The sections between the windows can be converted to interactive boards ensuring that the view is not blocked and its a utilization of the space.

Information on walls which go unnoticed

Seeing the outside world while being indoors

Placing of Smart Windows inside the boats

These interactive boards can not just be used to display such interactive advertisements but also to chose and select a place on the outside to zoom in and out of the view. With the interests of the captain of the boat, the people tend to want maps. Thus, providing the possibility to view the Djurgarden or the Grona lund area map and be able to see one of the best photos by selecting the area could enable one to ensure that they don't miss out on the important ends of these places. The conceptualization of the one technology to many end users is a great step to bring the community together.

State of the art analysis- Pavithren

The CityMapper app has one of the highest rating in the Google Play store. In terms of usability, it provide a simple user interface which provides the necessary information for a user who is planning his travel.  In terms of features, it suggests routes which involve walking, cycling, public transport and Uber as well. The high information density is well justified as a user is able to get a glance of all the mode of transportations. With major cities opening up open data, apps like CityMapper and Google maps leverage on this abundance of data to give instantaneous information about the latest traffic updates. The success of the application in many cities around the world shows that the developers have conducted sufficient research on the ethnography of the people. This is an example of 'glocalization' which refers to adapting global products for local markets.

The following are a few screenshots of the desktop version of City Mapper and the Android app:

Screenshots of the desktop version(above) and Android version(below)

The application also allows users to use the telescope feature to have a 360 degree view of your destination which is a good

The introduction of the calorie feature(see screenshot below) is quite interesting and a form of persuasive technology as it hints users that they would burn a number calories(for eg. equivalent to eating a Kanelbullar) if they walk to their desired destination. This somehow forces users to think about living a healthier lifestyle by walking rather than taking the public transportation.

Lastly, the developers have used a kind of anthropomorphism where the icon(see below) is designed to look like the smiling face. Moreover, the unique figurine is used to resemble each city therefore varying according to the cultural context at the same time. This technique is used to improve acceptance of the user and create a feel of interacting with a human. 

All in all, the designers of this application have used many useful HCI concepts to make it universal and user-friendly for a wide range of target audience. 

Trip to Slussen ferry terminal and Interview 28/09/16

Hui, Jing Chen and I visited the ferry terminal at slussen at about 3.20pm on 28/09 Wednesday afternoon to conduct our interview. I was quite excited as this was the first time I was going to ride on the ferry. As usual, I started taking pictures of the station and the surroundings. The video of the ride can be found here: Video of ferry ride

Selfie

 Special seats with handlebar for children to hold on to

View of ferry terminal

As it was a weekday afternoon, it was quite easy to find our target group of interviewees. So here are the transcription of the conversation with them:

Transcription of interviews

Interviewee 1

What is your name?

Catherina

What is your Occupation?

Working

How frequently do you travel on the ferry?

Once a year

Where do you live?

About 1 hour from Stockholm

Why did you choose the ferry?

The kids wanted to take the ferry. They like the water and the ride

Where did you visit in the island and where are you going to?

Skansen, going to Slussen taking the train

What do you feel about the ferry ride experience for the kids?

The kids enjoy looking outside the ferry during the ride

What is your age?

39 and the kids are 5 yo and 6 yo for the 2 others

Difficult to manage kids on ferry?

No

What can be improved in this ferry?

I don’t know. No comments

What kind of travel pass did you get?

Used SL app to buy a single trip ticket

What is unsafe about the ferry?

Maybe going outside the covered area.

Do you talk to others on the ferry and what do you talk about?

Yes, I talk about the boat trip.

Interviewee 2

What is your Occupation

Housewife and I come from Iraq

What’s the age of your baby?

1 year old

What type of card do you use?

Monthly SL card

How did you travel here?

My sister and husband came to Slussen and parked the car

Where did you visit in the island?

Djugarden

How frequently do you travel on this ferry?

Once a month

Your husband was taking photos just now, do you share those photos on social network?

Yes, twitter and Instagram

Why did you take the ferry instead of other modes of transportation?

We always take the car to t-centralen or metro so we wanted to try the ferry.

What do you enjoy about the ferry?

Everyone in Sweden should travel in this ferry to enjoy the view.

Is there anything you don’t like about the ferry?

No, nothing.

Anything can be improved in this trip?

Short trip so it doesn’t matter much

Is it child friendly?

Yes.

Do you think there should be a belt for the pram?

No.

Do you talk with strangers in the ferry?

No.

Do you think this ferry ride is a fun experience and would you recommend it to others?

Yes, to those who haven’t tried it, it’s a must try.

Seems like people are quite happy with the ferry ride and since its less than 10 minutes, there isn't much of issue about issues like food, Wi-Fi and toilet on-board. Moreover the kids seem to enjoy looking out of the ferry into the waters.