Keywords

1 Introduction

1.1 The Education of the Discipline of Ergonomics in the Digital Design Course

The discipline of Ergonomics in the Digital Design course aims to study the adequacy of cultural objects to man, considering the ergonomic studies of physiology, perception, cognition and memory, dynamic and static anthropometry, control and display management, searching analyze the cycles of interaction and perception, usage scenarios, routines and interpretations of the digital interfaces through user-centered design project evaluations.

The general objectives are: to make students aware of the relevance of the study of ergonomics, especially in relation to the interface; understand the field of ergonomics from the point of view of the user; to know and apply the ergonomic criteria pointed out by several authors; create and contextualize the project, taking into account the principles of ergonomics and usability, deriving from the user experience; and to develop low fidelity prototypes, discussing ergonomic and cognitive issues.

The work developed during the second semester of 2018, with the students from the 5th semester of the course, allowed to elaborate a study, where the students were able to put into practice the concepts of ergonomics necessary to understand the importance of the heuristic evaluation, using the Criteria Ergonomic of Bastien and Scapin.

1.2 The Criteria Ergonomic of Bastien and Scapin

The program content of the discipline of Ergonomics for the Digital Design course at Anhembi Morumbi University is based on the criteria of different authors such as: Jakob Nielsen’s Usability Heuristics, Ben Shneiderman’s Gold Rules and Scapin’s Ergonomic Criteria and Bastien, as a resource to evaluate the graphical interfaces of digital projects.

In this research on the graphical interfaces of e-commerce sites, the Ergonomic Criteria developed by the French Dominique Scapin and Christian Bastien, elaborated in 1993, at the Research Centre INRIA in Paris, were used to facilitate the understanding of interactive software, reducing conflicts generated by the user’s ignorance (Cybis 2010).

Scapin and Bastien subdivided into 8 criteria: Guidance, Workload, Explicit Control, Adaptability, Error Management, Consistency, Significance of Codes and Compatibility. In this item, each criterion will be presented briefly for a better understanding of the research carried out on the analysis of e-commerce sites:

  1. 1.

    Guidance is the criterion that seeks to help the user navigate the interface through the location of titles, menu options, format of labels, readability of information and immediate feedback. In this way, if the presentation of the interface “the invitation” is carried out properly, the user will have a good experience to understand its operation.

  2. 2.

    Workload is the criterion that allows mitigating and facilitating the actions to be performed by the user insofar as these events are part of the daily routine of the user and, therefore, it is not necessary to memorize them.

  3. 3.

    Explicit Control is the criterion that provides the user with the domain of their intentions to perform a procedure or not, such as canceling or deferring a long-lasting download.

  4. 4.

    Adaptability is the criterion that seeks to facilitate the action to be performed by the user, considering the degree of their experience, allowing the execution of an action of different forms and, in this way, reach a greater number of users of different levels of interaction.

  5. 5.

    Error Management is a criterion that guides the user when some data is inserted in a way incompatible with the action to be performed, informing him about the lack of some information or a typo, for example.

  6. 6.

    Consistency is a criterion, based on the visual identity of a product, that homogeneously displays the elements that make up the interface and that have the same properties. In this way, the user perceives the environment between the various digital pages as belonging to a unit, just as a volume of a book belongs to a collection.

  7. 7.

    Significance of Codes is the criterion that is concerned with the cultural aspects of the user insofar as it establishes the functionality of the system through the basis of the cognitive, perceptual and expectations of the user. This criterion in conjunction with the Adaptability criterion is directly related to the previous experience of the user.

  8. 8.

    Compatibility is the criterion that adjusts the action to be performed by the user with the inherent needs of the interface data processing, such as the logic of completing a form in a certain sequence: name and address, not the other way around.

1.3 Methodology

The methodology used in Digital Design classroom is based on Active Methods, using Problem-Based Learning, in which the teacher provides the class with a daily situation, instigating the student to reflect on the reality in which he lives. In this context, seeks to focus in the learning process to the student, placing him in an active position to search for knowledge through research, discussion, planning and collaboration within the group.

Therefore, the methodology applied was data collection in theoretical references on the ergonomic aspects studied by Dominique Scapin and Christian Bastien, and a case study of graphical interfaces websites related to the e-commerce.

1.4 Development

Within the Constructivist concept guided by Piaget, the practice of evaluating a product through theoretical analysis is inserted in the discipline of Ergonomics, of the course of Digital Design. By the same token, seeks to study the suitability of objects and workspaces to man, seeking to analyze the usage scenarios through user-centered product evaluations.

Each group of students chooses e-commerce websites to verify different criterion studied matches with the user’s needs and desires. Throughout the analysis process, students should carry out a heuristic evaluation addressing the user’s objectives, the interface objects and the qualities to be performed by the interfaces.

This activity allows the student to understand the importance about criteria of an ergonomic in the evaluation of digital projects facilitating the Human Computers Interactions. Besides that, the discipline of Ergonomics employing the qualities of efficacy, agility and insight of the Human-Computer Interaction in order to question, understand, relate and share information such as accessibility, mobility, sustainability. Through teaching processes influence the professional’s practice of the future designer in different areas related to human life.

2 The Application of the Heuristic Evaluation of the Ergonomic Criteria

2.1 Preparation of the Work

In the discipline of Ergonomics, teachers have worked on a constructivist pedagogical practice, based on Problem Based Learning, associating the curriculum contents of the discipline with the reality of the professional world, with a view to the formation of the future digital designer.

Theoretical themes of the discipline, such as the Ergonomic Criteria presented by Scapin and Bastien, which need to have their foundations understood through reading, are arranged in the classroom through case studies, where the student is encouraged to verify how concepts are applied to digital products on the market and, consequently, he realizes that “the real ultimate objective of problem-solving learning is to make the student get into the habit of proposing problems and solving them as a form of learning” (Echeverría and Pozo 1998).

Each ergonomic criterion presented by Scapin and Bastien was studied by the students to understand their meaning within a digital project, as the concept of the criterion was created to improve the user experience and how the criterion can be verified in the digital product, in this study aimed at an e-commerce. A first assessment of the reliability of the set of criteria was performed in a classification task (Bastien and Scapin 1992).

After presenting the definition of e-commerce elaborated by Tom Venetianer, a specialist in digital marketing, denominating it as “the set of all the commercial transactions carried out by a firm, with the objective of attending, directly or indirectly, its customers, using, for both the facilities of communication and data transfer mediated by the worldwide Internet network” (Venetianer 2000), each group of students received a set of plasticized fiches with the definitions of the ergonomic criteria of Scapin and Bastien, as presented in item 1.2 of this article.

Then, when each criterion was studied and understood, the students were instructed by the teacher to verify in the case/problem, the e-commerce selected, if the criterion in question was applicable to the studied project, how the interface used the criterion and if even met the concepts defined by Scapin and Bastien.

The objective of the debate on a given problem was to make the teacher cease to be the holder and transmitter of knowledge and be recognized by the group as a manager that promoted in the study environment the exchange of ideas, thoughts and reflections, providing the rise of new professional performances in the education of the student.

2.2 The Case Study - Americanas.Com E-Commerce

This article will exemplify the application of ergonomic criteria performed in the Americanas.com e-commerce conducted by a group of students in the classroom, because among the companies studied this was the site where the verification of the criteria allowed a better understanding of the importance of the study of ergonomic criteria in digital products.

With the Guidance criterion, it was analyzed how the site made the “invitation”, that is, how the e-commerce interface presented its products and services to the users, in an attractive way, allowing the user to have an interest in e-commerce and, in this way, increase the possibility of (see Fig. 1).

Fig. 1.
figure 1

E-commerce interface. Source: https://www.americanas.com.br/

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In the opening screen of e-commerce, you can check phrases such as: “have everything, you can look for:)”, “enjoy”, “take a look”, “we will get $ 15 off the first purchase” that “invite” the user to interact with the site. The color company code, red, was used to emphasize the central range of the site, where a carousel was placed with the main offers of the company, as well as to highlight important points like “offer of the day” or “buy by department”.

When analyzing the interface by Guidance criterion, it was also verified that the items of location, format and feedback. The location item used spatial structures already known to the user along the route of the site, repeating with each new page the upper structure with search information and shop** basket, company logo and others. The format linked real-world experience to the digital world by incorporating icons with similar characteristics to the real world and/or to images already enshrined in the digital world. The feedback item where each action established by the user, results in a system orientation, is present in various actions of the site. In Fig. 2, you can see that by hovering over the shop** cart, the system automatically records the feedback that no purchase has been made so far. Thus, in the Guidance criterion, all these items had a satisfactory response in the evaluation of the site.

Fig. 2.
figure 2

Location, Format and Feedback Criteria. Source: https://www.americanas.com.br/

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With the criterion Workload was verified that the Americanas.com e-commerce worries that the user travels the smallest way to carry out an action of brief form, facilitating to the user to reach quickly to its objective. The site is organized in such a way that the similar steps are concise in their actions, creating minimal actions for the user to quickly identify their interest. In Fig. 3, in the search space, only two letters were typed, and several options have already been made available so that the user does not have to write the whole word, for example.

Fig. 3.
figure 3

Workload Criteria. Source: https://www.americanas.com.br/

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It was possible to verify through the Adaptability criterion, that the site provides the user to perform an action in different ways, considering, mainly, their experience as a client. In this way, more experienced users can dispense with some feature, while novice users need to travel longer ways to carry out the activity with more security (see Fig. 4). On the homepage of the site, the user can access the “school material” tab in three different ways, in the hamburger menu, the carousel and the central band button.

Fig. 4.
figure 4

Adaptability Criteria. Source: https://www.americanas.com.br/

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In Error Management, the research identified that in several situations the Americanas.com e-commerce anticipates the needs and doubts of the user, presenting solutions before the error even occurs, signaling how the action should be carried out and/or warning the user that something needs to be changed or filled out. When filling in the registration, for example, the user is oriented in each space with a template of how to fill in the blank field and, if you fill in the field in the wrong way, by pressing the “create your registration” button, automatically fields with problems are identified (see Fig. 5).

Fig. 5.
figure 5

Error Management Criteria. Source: https://www.americanas.com.br/

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The Consistency criterion seeks to create homogenous areas so that the user can identify the actions to be performed even if they are on different pages. In Fig. 6 are exemplified two pages of the site, one sells masculine clothing and the other cellular. Even though it is different, the product layout is the same to facilitate the user’s purchase action.

Fig. 6.
figure 6

Consistency Criteria. Source: https://www.americanas.com.br/

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When applying the criterion Significance of Codes, it was observed that icons and forms were used with consecrated and universal messages so that the user could understand the meaning of the action to be performed. In Fig. 7, the icon known as the “hamburger menu” was highlighted to facilitate access to the various sales departments of e-commerce.

Fig. 7.
figure 7

Significance of Codes Criteria. Source: https://www.americanas.com.br/

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With the Compatibility criterion, it was verified in the Americanas.com e-commerce that the actions that need to be carried out in a certain way so that the processing of the data does not change, are adapted to the user. For example, in the field for filling in a numerical data, such as a user ID, there is only the possibility of entering numerals (see Fig. 8), and in this way the system induces the user to fill in the data correctly.

Fig. 8.
figure 8

Compatibility Criteria. Source: https://www.americanas.com.br/

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By verifying each criterion applied to the existing e-commerce site in the market, students were able to understand that when designing a digital product, it is necessary to understand how the user will go through the interface.

Future digital designers need to understand that when a user is in front of the interface of an e-commerce, there is no one who can assist him in how to use the platform, in other words, there is no operating manual, in this way, when applying the ergonomic criteria elaborated by Bastien and Scapin, it is possible to anticipate how the user could face a certain situation.

As a result, this work promoted student’s development of a training focused on reflective thinking and sensitivity to understand the world where they live, using technological process and expression related to Human Computer Interactions concepts for daily necessities identification.

3 Conclusion

Nowadays, within the higher courses, where the student has access to information in the palm of his hands, the 21st century teacher needs to create situations that establish a bridge of communication with the students, so that they become involved in the topics inherent to the several important disciplines for your academic background.

It is important that the teacher prepares your work material using the means and tools that are part of the daily life of the students, so that they feel part of their learning process and, in this way, better understand the importance of the contents of the subjects for the formation of a professional working in the market.

In this context, the discipline of Ergonomics of the Digital Design course aims to combine methodologies that make it possible to transform the space of the classroom into a welcoming environment for the practice of research and development of the study of the themes inherent to Ergonomics applied to the digital products.

During the research, the performance of the heuristic evaluation using the Ergonomic Criteria of Scapin and Bastien, different e-commerce websites were compared allowing students to diagnose errors and/or omissions in the products analyzed with respect to the user and deficiencies regarding readability and conduction of the studied interfaces.

In this article, one of the studies carried out in the classroom by the students of the Digital Design course at Anhembi Morumbi University, was presented to illustrate how the theoretical content on ergonomic criteria can be studied by students, in order to contribute to the formation of future professionals in the area of Digital Design.

In presenting a case/problem related to the real world, such as the study of an e-commerce, the teachers of the discipline of Ergonomics promote an interaction between the theoretical knowledge studied by the students and the application of content with the objective of finding new solutions to quotidian problems faced by Digital Design professionals.

The methodologies worked together were used as a learning process so that the students could verify their knowledge applied to reality. The main objective was to establish a dynamic of teaching where the student becomes the protagonist of his knowledge, starting from his previous knowledge, where the concepts of Ergonomics, could be raised, instigated and absorbed as an important contribution to their professional qualification.

As a result, this work promoted student development of a training focused on reflective thinking and sensitivity to understand the world where they live, using technological process and expression related to Human Computer Interactions concepts for daily necessities identification.

When applying Ergonomic Aspects of Scapin and Bastien, associated with the Piaget Constructivist concept, the Active Methods and using Problem-Based Learning, the work was done on the quality of the e-commerce websites, for example.

All of that enabled the students to return the sense of analysis and interpretation of data from the Human Computer Interactions, in addition to verifying that the digital device must be aimed at the needs of the user.

Based on the assumption that the legacy of the Human Computer Interaction is to improve people’s life, and according to the Professor Itiro IIda, Ergonomics is “the study of the adaptation of work to the human being” (2005).

All things considered, this work enabled the students’ autonomy in the elaboration of projects that involve the principles related to the Human Computer Interaction, where interconnected information mobilize students and to improve their knowledge to find new solutions to social needs.