SKATTEKORT
Sven M. Bakken,
Kristin Skeide Fuglerud,
Øivind Hagen,
Hani Murad,
Ole Halvor Smylingsås,
SLUTTRAPPORT – INF5261
Table of Contents
Introduction......
Goals for this project
Questions:......
Delimitations......
Structure of the report......
Background......
The tax card prototype for mobile phones
Theory......
The impulse to design......
User “Understanding” – Establishing requirements
What sort of knowledge the designer needs?
What makes good design?
Obtaining information
Is there a typical user?
Concepts of evaluation
Method......
The interview
How will we do this?
Who will we interview?
What equipment will we use?
Heuristic evaluation
Results......
Discussion......
Mobile vs. Stationary......
Limitation of results......
Usergroups......
Test of mobile vs. test of application
Application suitability......
Conclusion
Introduction
As part of the strategy of producing better services for citizens, many central and local governments are beginning to offer services via a variety of service delivery channels. It is a strategic goal for the Norwegian Tax Authorities (SKD) to develop and improve the information and electronic services provided to taxpayers. By introduction of new, alternative and better public services it will be easier for taxpayers to comply with the rules that the SKD administer (Skatteetaten 2006).
In order to study and learn about different aspects of services based on mobile technology a prototype for changing tax card information has been developed. When developing the cell-phone based prototype the main focus has been on the technical solution. The users’ needs and context needs to be studied and considered in order to inform the further development of this service.
Usually, the reason for using the “Change of tax card service” is that there are changes in one or some of the information that the tax authorities have stored about a person. In the existing Internet application for changing tax cards, it is possible to make changes to a large number of entries in each taxpayer’s information base. The service has a certain workflow; including checking several numbers, changing or filling out numbers, and in addition, some data validation must be performed before the information can be sent to SKD’s information system for calculations and production of a new tax card. The calculations are done with basis in the Norwegian tax rules.
Because of the small screen size and mobile context, mobile devices are commonly not seen as suitable for presenting more than simple lists of choices, or very brief information(Buchanan et al. 2001; Massey, Khatri & Ramesh 2005).Butthe change of tax card service is a compound service. One central question is therefore, to what extent can carefully considered design contribute to overcome these challenges?
Goals for this project
The goal main goal of this project is to evaluate the “Changing of tax card on mobile” prototype with regard to user interaction, and with basis in this evaluation, to come up with proposals for improvements and further work.
Questions
- What are the possible advantages and disadvantages of offering this service through the mobile channel?
- Will the users understand the interaction techniques used in the prototype? What is good and not so good?
Delimitations
In the beginning of this project we got acquainted with the prototype application through a cell phone emulator on the computer. This prototype was developed by Tellu as, and they were working hard to transfer the prototype from the PC-emulator environment to function on a real mobile. The prototype was under development, but the main focus was on technical issues, such as optimalisation of the communication between the mobile and server. We started out with a lot of questions, and soon found out that we had to make some delimitation, and decided to focus on the user interaction. The mobile prototype was expected to be functioning by the end of February, but it this took until the middle of April before we had a version that we could use.
The PC emulator version of the prototype was based on Sony Ericsson phones (w800i, w900), and the mobile prototype mainly worked for the newest models of Sony Ericsson mobiles. The mobile prototype was extended to function on some Nokia phones. During the project we got access to a Nokia N73 mobile phone. Therefore our results are mainly related to these two models.
Structure of the report
Background
In the western world there is a general trend towards e-Government (Wauters & Durme 2005), witch is use of information andcommunication technology (ICT) to exchange information and services with citizens, businesses, and other arms of the government. The most important anticipated benefits of e-government include improved efficiency, convenience, and better accessibility of public services (Wikipedia 2007). The development and implementation of e-government involves consideration of its effects such as environmental, social, cultural, educational, and consumer issues. In addition e-inclusion and e-accessibility has become an important policy focus internationally. This is about the integration of all users into the Information Society, i.e. older people, people with disabilities and also people placed in “impaired environments”. It is seen as essential that mainstream products and services are designed to be accessible to as broad a range of users as possible (EU 2003). Such design strategies is called "Design for All". “Universal design”, "accessible design" or "universal access” are considered to be similar approaches (EC 1995-2007a).
At EU level e-Inclusion is part of the third pillar of the i2010 policy initiative(EC 1995-2007b; EC 2005), and e-accessibility is addressed in the EU’s Public Procurement Directive 2004/18/EC. Also the Norwegian public procurement legislation has been changed to correspond to the EU Directive. According to this legislation, universal design (among other things) shall be considered during the planning of each procurement (Lovdata 2006). This law was implemented 1st of January 2007.
The tax card prototype for mobile phones
Based on information in a tax deduction card (hereafter called tax card), employers in Norway are obliged to deduct and withhold tax from the salary of each employee before payment of wages. The local tax assessment office issues tax cards on the basis of information regarding expected net income and net wealth. Normally, the tax card is automatically produced by the computer system of the Tax Administration and sent by mail to all potential tax payers once a year (in December).
It is then the responsibility of each individual to validate the information in the tax card. If the information is not correct, new and correct information should be reported to the local tax office, and the employee must apply for a new tax card. This can be done through several channels, by visiting the local tax office, by filling in and send a paper form, or by using the Internet service for changing tax card. Changes in the level of income, higher or lower loans, changes in family situation etc, are common reasons for appliance for a new tax card.
The employee must deliver the tax card to the employer who then updates the salary system. If he employer has not received the tax card 50 percent tax will be withheld from the salary.
In the existing Internet application for changing tax cards, it is possible to make changes to a large number of entries in each taxpayer’s information base.
There are many events that may lead to changes in an individual’s tax card. Often there are several changes at the same time, and sometimes it is necessary to find and submit documentation. The web application for changing tax card has 42 possible input fields. In the tax card prototype for mobile phones a few and relatively straight forward cases that commonly lead to a change in the tax calculations were selected. The prototype runs using IP protocol over the GSM/GPRS mobile network. The application has two parts, one running as a service at a central server, and one part running on the mobile phone. Information and help messages are stored as audio (MP3), and are played by the phone’s built in MP3 player. Currently the audio files are included in the application, but there are plans to use streaming audio in future versions. In addition to reducing the size of the client application this will ease the use of several languages (Bokmål, Nynorsk, Sami and foreign) and make it easier to change the help and information of the application. As tax rules may change slightly each year it may be possible to change the information without having to change the whole application.
In the mobile tax card application, prefilled information about the tax payer is displayed. The user then has the opportunity to enter new or updated information. After the system has performed all needed checks and the user has approved that the entered information is correct, the tax calculation is initiated. Then the results are presented and the user is informed about the results and whether he/she will receive a new tax card.
There are several aspects that influence the user experience and adoption of mobile services. A natural question is whether changing tax cards on a mobile phone is a good idea. In this study we will try to shed light on this question, in addition to doing an evaluation of the human computer interaction. For example, due to the mobile use context and the small screen size, the way of presenting information must be considered, and also the registration process should be reconsidered in light of the input facilities of mobile devices. Below we have presented some of the interaction features that we will study.
Fig. 1. Task cards and marking of the active card.
The application is organized in several task cards. The number of the active card is marked. The user navigates horizontally by using navigation buttons (arrows) or a joy stick.
Fig. 2. Elastic scroll bar showing the relative position.
Within one task the information may often be more comprehensive than the size of the screen. Only vertical scrolling is possible, and the position is indicated by a scroll bar. The size of the scrollbar indicates the relative size of the visible content in contrast to the available content. Also for vertical navigation the user can apply the joystick or the navigation buttons.
Fig.3. Working area is accentuated by a frame.
A focal frame shows the active area of input or output as illustrated in Figure 5. Context sensitive help, that is information related to the focal frame, is available at the bottom left soft key.
Fig. 4 Changes in the colour scheme indicate invalid input; input field containing ‘12’ and card number ‘4’.
A colour scheme indicates invalid or incomplete input. The colour scheme changes (here from red to black), when the task is completed correctly. The intention is to give the user an overview of which cards are not completed, and feedback about the correctness of the input data.
Theory
The impulse to design
Designing is a creative process involving problem definition, exploration, idea generation and analysis in successive and repeated cycles where the designer utilizes his creativity for the purpose of idea selection and implementation. Design has also been described as being that area of human experience, skill and knowledge which is concerned with man’s ability to mould his environment to suit his material and spiritual needs (Archer, B 1973).
Interactive design may also be described as a prescriptive process that offers us a framework to visualise how ideas develop and how the raw material can be brought together into a useable interface.
This was also described by (Sharp et al, 2002) as designing interactive products to support people in their everyday and working lives. The goal of this process is to utilize available interface as embedded in the technology of the relevant time (technology determined) to develop usable products.
It breaks down the complexity of the whole into smaller units of tangible tasks.
This innovation process is often directed by either the market or the producer thus creating two antagonistic forces: Technology or Supply push from developers, suppliers and Market or Demand pull as identified by the customer’s wants and needs.
The task of the designer is to develop a design format that satisfies the requirements of both sides simultaneously.
User “Understanding” – Establishing requirements
What sort of knowledge the designer needs?
The designer needs to build a set of information sets relating to both the nature of the problem and the feasibility of a good solution.
He often relies on:
Knowledge derived from learning and experience as guided by his own “personal values”
The instruments and techniques available at that particular time. Limitations here are determined by the scientific information available and the philosophy associated to society and culture of the relevant time… “what is important to people”
How to combine science and philosophy to a collective technology understanding of “ how the world is “
The formal starting point for developing a new product is the “design brief” as determined by the specific client. This offers the designer problem clarifications related to finding a good solution.
A design brief has to address the purpose of the design, give key details and specifications, better be accurate (not too vague) so that the designer knows where to start, and it better not be so precise (constraining) as to limit innovation.
The idea here is design to change and not design to last. This gives the product an added advantage and allows for adaptability to meet new requirements.
What makes good design?
There is no absolute right answer in design.
It is a question of being relative to what!
So, assuming the product satisfies the technical specifications required , the merits of design may be relative to those involved and how do they see the product in terms of function and whether it satisfies the needs of both the producers and users or not..
Including and satisfying both criteria “it sells well” and “it works well” in the same product is often a demanding task that is difficult to achieve
Obtaining information
Depending on the designer’s needs various information may be obtained by researching into existing books, manuals, databases and websites. Factual information may also be obtained through interviews, surveys, questionnaires and examining similar products in the market with respect to their design, structure, manufacture, performance and price.
In our case, we chose interviews as a guiding parameter for the possible “success or failure” of the tax application.
[[[ more about interviews come later on ]]]
Is there a typical user?
In their Popular Culture: An Introductory Text, (Jack Nachbar and Kevin Lause) describe a stereotype is a standardized conception or image of a specific group of people or objects.
Developed stereotype relationships are often simpler than reality itself and they are acquired second-hand: people acquire (and absorb) stereotypes from cultural mediators rather than from their own direct experience with the groups being stereotyped.
Stereotypes are also false. Some are less false than others, since an individual is different from all other individuals by definition, stereotypes are a logical impossibility. They are also resistant to change.
Nachbar and Lause also refer to stereotypes are not merely descriptions of the way a culture views a specific group of people, but are also often prescriptions as well - thumbnail sketches of how a group of people is perceived and how members of that group perceive themselves. Stereotypes make reality easier to deal with because they simplify the complexities that make people unique, and this simplification reflects important beliefs and values as well thus encouraging people to internalize a cultural image, as their goal. Through network participation with other actors a power structure is achieved and maintained (Karasti H 2003).
Concepts of evaluation
Before introducing products to markets, it is necessary to evaluate the design in terms of its performance, reliability, maintainability and its usability.
The reference point here is whether the product fits into the design criteria as defined by the design brief or not.
Even though the user’s needs are considered during the process, it is very easy to over-generalize and ultimately design for “the typical user”.
Differences in environmental and market factors, ethnic variations and cultural perceptions make it very difficult to characterise any user as being a typical user.
The product itself may be tested for inducing necessary improvements by means of for example user trips, where one takes a ”trip” through the whole process as a critical user, and/or perform “user research” where a “quick and dirty” evaluation is done where the emphasis is on fast input to the design process through informal feedback from users rather than documented and detailed findings.
One could also perform usability testing and field studies by selecting a group of people and align them as “experienced users” that evaluate the use of the product with respect to pre-determined criteria and then give feedback to the designer/ producer.
This gives valuable information that is relevant to improved modifications of the product before the final format is introduced to the market.
Consumer tests may ultimately be utilized by various consumer associations to provide guidance for consumer by comparative testing based on similar sets of criteria, with respect to similar products in the market.
Price here is a factor that is often addressed in such comparisons.
Predictive evaluation by experts may also be utilised through theoretical based models where the user need not be physically present.
This is a quick, inexpensive and convenient evaluating method to perform.
Method
There are many different research methods, and they can be classified in various ways. The most common distinction is between qualitative and quantitative research methods(Myers 2007). The goal of our project was to evaluate the usability of a mobile application. In order to be able to suggest possible improvements it was important to understand more about what aspects makes the user interaction easy or difficult? We considered use of qualitative methods to be most suited for our project.