Methodology for Evaluation and Optimization of Products Design through the Analysis of Interactive Components (Emphasizing the Three Components of Affordance, Feedforward and Feedback)

Interactive design means planning and designing the process of two-way communication between the user and the product. If this dual communication is designed appropriately and is fruitful in the process of use, it leads in a greater success for the design and the improvement of the user experience quality. Therefore, it improves the usability of the product (effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction). Based on this, it can be considered a successful strategy to study and examine the concepts and theories proposed in the field of interactive design and to try to apply them in the design process, in line with the aforementioned goal. The theories of affordance and feedforward have entered the field of interactive design since the 1980s and their application is developing; However, the method of examining, analyzing and applying them in the process of product design is a valuable topic in the field of design methodology, which has received less attention and as a result faces many challenges. Therefore, the research questions are as follows: “How can the concepts of affordance, feedforward and feedback be used in the design process? How can one develop ideas or evaluate the design of a product based on these theories? How can the design of a product be modified and optimized based on the analysis of affordance, feedforward and feedback? Achieving the answers to these questions and providing practical methods can be very valuable in the field of design methodology and be used by students and professionals in the field of industrial design. According to the mentioned materials, the most important goal of the current research is to provide a practical method in the design process, so that one can identify the design problems and needs based on the analysis and evaluation of a product's affordances, feedforwards and feedbacks, and also provide solution or design proposal to modify and optimize the product.In this research, by benefiting from practical concepts in the field of interactive design, a method called "affordance analysis method" has been provided so that it can be used to modify and optimize the design of products. The current research is practical in terms of purpose. The most important concepts and applied information in this research have been collected with library based method and a review of theoretical sources, and the research is descriptive-analytical in terms of implementation method.Before understanding the methodology of interactive components analysis, the audience should be familiar with the theoretical foundations and especially the concepts related to this field. Based on this, firstly, the practical concepts related to affordance, feedforward and feedback and their types are briefly introduced, and then the "Gaver's model" is presented in separating the representative information of the affordance from the possibilities of action, as well as the "Task Analysis Method", so that they can be used as theoretical basis and components of the suggested method.Correct and desirable affordances in products, are the possibilities of actions along with perceptible information which represent these possibilities, so make users understand these possibilities and achieve their goal in communication and interaction with the given product. The correct design of affordances makes the product guide the user during use.Feedforward is the information that is provided to the user before performing the action. In fact, it informs the user about what the purpose and result of his action, so that the user can choose and perform the appropriate action. Affordances provide information to users before performing an action, like feedforwards; But, contrary to feedforwards, affordances do not provide information about the purpose of performing an action, which is considered the main difference between affordances and feedforwards. Feedforwards in expressing the purpose and result of an action are complementary to the affordances and are usually designed and used in accordance with the affordances of the user interface.Feedback informs the user about the action that has been taken, and usually its purpose is to inform the user about the responsiveness of the system to the user's action, to indicate the progress of the work, or to confirm that the product has been directed by the user. Sometimes the failure to provide feedback or its inadequacy causes the user to not be informed about the product's capabilities or functional possibilities or not to achieve functional opportunities in a proper way. In the process of interacting with a product, it is sometimes necessary to provide feedback for each user action, and not providing appropriate feedback means there is a gap or problem in the interaction process with the product, and in other words, it causes problems in the interaction process and the progress of two-way communication between user and product.In this article, the method of analyzing the interactive components of the products is described in three steps with the title "Affordance Analysis Method". In order to ensure the correct transfer of concepts and ease of understanding of the method, a vacuum cleaner was selected as the product under review and the steps of this method are presented in the form of analytical tables by examining the mentioned product.In order to achieve proper interaction with a product and the desired quality of user experience, the interaction process must first be examined in detail in order to provide the possibility of examining the role and impact of interactive components in each stage of user interaction with the product. For this purpose, in the first step, the “Task Analysis Method” can be used and the interaction process with the product can be separated into three main stages (before usage, usage and after usage) with consideration of the details of each stage. Then, the more detailed steps can be defined and drew in the tree diagram and the needs and problems can be identified by examining the details and their connection with the context. The task steps and details are separated to the extent that they require different action possibilities and perceptible information.In designing products, it is expected to provide perceptible affordances. Therefore, in the second step, the most important interactive components (such as affordances, feedforwards and feedbacks) should be analyzed in each part of the user interaction process with the product. For this purpose, theoretical foundations and Gaver's model are used, and problems of the product are specified and introduced by asking about the possibilities of actions, the expected feedbacks and perceptible information representing them in the product.In the third step, it should be determined how the design can respond to the needs or problems raised; Therefore, according to the analysis carried out in the previous stage, the types of affordances, feedforwards and expected feedbacks are determined and solutions or design suggestions can be presented. Then, according to the design suggestions that are introduced in terms of interactive components, the design is carried out and re-evaluated and modified in response to the identified needs.When the three-dimensional and accurate design of the product meets the needs and problems raised in this evaluation and modification cycle, this stage is completed and the other stages of the design process comes forward. But when the design solutions are unsuccessful in response to the needs raised in this process, the designer checks which of the previous steps was not done correctly and by returning and correcting that step, they complete the process, so the user's interaction with the product reaches the desired result. Therefore, this repeatable process can be used to evaluate, optimize and even create detailed ideas in the design process of interactive products. It should be noted that in user-centered and participatory design approaches, the user can be present at various stages of the design process and play a decisive role in their correct execution. This method, which is the result of numerous studies in the field of interactive design, as well as the teaching and executive experience of the authors in this field, can play a valuable role in the design process with the goals of idea generation, evaluation, modification and optimization of the design and can be effectively used by students and designers.