Sketching User Experiences: The Workbook

6.2 Wizard of Oz

a human ‘wizard’ controls how your sketch responds to a person’s interactions

Most of the interactions seen so far are fairly simple state transition diagrams. We’ve also shown how prospective ‘users’ can actually drive the animation of such systems by actions, giving the illusion that the system actually exists. Yet this only works when we know what user action will lead from one state to another. There are two situations where this next step cannot be anticipated easily.

1. Difficulty of understanding input. Unlike a simple button press or menu selection, your animated sketch may not be able to understand the user’s input action, e.g., gestures, speech, or the meaning of entered text.

2. Responding to input. The response ...