| Computational Models of Information Scent-Following in a Very Large Browsable Text Collection | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 3-10 | |
| Peter Pirolli | |||
| An ecological-cognitive framework of analysis and a model-tracing
architecture are presented and used in the analysis of data recorded from users
browsing a large document collection. The users interacted with the
Scatter/Gather browser, which clusters documents into groups of similar content
and presents users with summaries of cluster content. Predictions made by a
computational model of navigation and information foraging are matched against
the observed activity. Keywords: Information foraging, Information scent, Cognitive modeling, Model-tracing,
ACT-R, Scatter/Gather | |||
| SenseMaker: An Information-Exploration Interface Supporting the Contextual Evolution of a User's Interests | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 11-18 | |
| Michelle Q. Wang Baldonado; Terry Winograd | |||
| We describe the design, implementation, and pilot study for SenseMaker, an
interface for information exploration across heterogeneous sources. We propose
supporting the context-driven evolution of a user's interests via: (1) an
approximation of the current information context as the current collection of
accumulated information references, and (2) a unified set of user-centered
actions for examining the current context and for progressing from one context
to the next. SenseMaker users examine their current context by experimenting
iteratively with different organizing dimensions and levels of granularity for
the current collection's display. They progress from one context to another by
building upon, taking away from, or replacing the current collection. They can
also return to a previous information context and continue exploring from
there. Keywords: Information exploration, Digital libraries, Information seeking, Information
retrieval | |||
| Accessing Multimedia through Concept Clustering | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 19-26 | |
| John Kominek; Rick Kazman | |||
| Multimedia information retrieval is a challenging problem because multimedia
information is not inherently structured. Jabber is an experimental system
that attempts to bring some structure to this task. Jabber allows users to
retrieve records of videoconferences based upon the concepts discussed. In
this paper we introduce ConceptFinder, a sub-system within Jabber, and show how
it is able to process the spoken text of a meeting into meeting topics.
ConceptFinder can make subtle distinctions among different senses of the same
words, and is able to summarize a set of related words, giving a name to each
topic. Users can then use this name to query or browse the stored multimedia,
through Jabber's user interface. By presenting information that closely
matches a user's expectations, the challenge of multimedia retrieval is
rendered more tractable. Keywords: Multimedia indexing, Information retrieval and browsing, Concept clustering | |||
| Cooperative Bimanual Action | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 27-34 | |
| Ken Hinckley; Randy Pausch; Dennis Proffitt; James Patten; Neal Kassell | |||
| We present an experiment on cooperative bimanual action. Right-handed
subjects manipulated a pair of physical objects, a tool and a target object, so
that the tool would touch a target on the object (fig. 1). For this task,
there is a marked specialization of the hands. Performance is best when the
left hand orients the target object and the right hand manipulates the tool,
but is significantly reduced when these roles are reversed. This suggests that
the right hand operates relative to the frame-of-reference of the left hand.
Furthermore, when physical constraints guide the tool placement, this fundamentally changes the type of motor control required. The task is tremendously simplified for both hands, and reversing roles of the hands is no longer an important factor. Thus, specialization of the roles of the hands is significant only for skilled manipulation. Keywords: Two-handed interaction, Bimanual asymmetry, Virtual manipulation, Motor
control, 3D interaction, Haptics | |||
| The Design of a GUI Paradigm Based on Tablets, Two-Hands, and Transparency | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 35-42 | |
| Gordon Kurtenbach; George Fitzmaurice; Thomas Baudel; Bill Buxton | |||
| An experimental GUI paradigm is presented which is based on the design goals
of maximizing the amount of screen used for application data, reducing the
amount that the UI diverts visual attentions from the application data, and
increasing the quality of input. In pursuit of these goals, we integrated the
non-standard UI technologies of multi-sensor tablets, toolglass, transparent UI
components, and marking menus. We describe a working prototype of our new
paradigm, the rationale behind it and our experiences introducing it into an
existing application. Finally, we presents some of the lessons learned:
prototypes are useful to break the barriers imposed by conventional GUI design
and some of their ideas can still be retrofitted seamlessly into products.
Furthermore, the added functionality is not measured only in terms of user
performance, but also by the quality of interaction, which allows artists to
create new graphic vocabularies and graphic styles. Keywords: Two-handed input, Toolglass, Tablets, Transparency, Marking menus, Task
integration, Divided attention | |||
| An Empirical Evaluation of Graspable User Interfaces: Towards Specialized, Space-Multiplexed Input | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 43-50 | |
| George Fitzmaurice; William Buxton | |||
| This paper reports on the experimental evaluation of a Graspable User
Interface that employs a "space-multiplexing" input scheme in which each
function to be controlled has a dedicated physical transducer, each occupying
its own space. This input style contrasts the more traditional
"time-multiplexing" input scheme which uses one device (such as the mouse) to
control different functions at different points in time. A tracking experiment
was conducted to compare a traditional GUI design with its time-multiplex input
scheme versus a Graspable UI design having a space-multiplex input scheme. We
found that the space-multiplex conditions out perform the time-multiplex
conditions. In addition, we found that the use of specialized physical form
factors for the input devices instead of generic form factors provide a
performance advantage. We argue that the specialized devices serve as both
visual and tactile functional reminders of the associated tool assignment as
well as facilitate manipulation due to the customized form factors. Keywords: Input devices, Graphical user interfaces, Graspable user interfaces, Haptic
input, Two-handed interaction, Augmented reality, Ubiquitous computing | |||
| AROMA: Abstract Representation of Presence Supporting Mutual Awareness | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 51-58 | |
| Elin Ronby Pedersen; Tomas Sokoler | |||
| The AROMA project is exploring the kind of awareness that people effortless
are able to maintain about other beings who are located physically close. We
are designing technology that attempts to mediate a similar kind of awareness
among people who are geographically dispersed but want to stay better in touch.
AROMA technology can be thought of as a stand-alone communication device or --
more likely -- an augmentation of existing technologies such as the telephone
or full-blown media spaces. Our approach differs from other recent designs for
awareness (a) by choosing pure abstract representations on the display site,
(b) by possibly remapping the signal across media between capture and display,
and, finally, (c) by explicitly extending the application domain to include
more than the working life, to embrace social interaction in general.
We are building a series of prototypes to learn if abstract representation of activity data does indeed convey a sense of remote presence and does so in a sufficiently subdued manner to allow the user to concentrate on his or her main activity. We have done some initial testing of the technical feasibility of our designs. What still remains is an extensive effort of designing a symbolic language of remote presence, done in parallel with studies of how people will connect and communicate through such a language as they live with the AROMA system. Keywords: Awareness, Sense of presence, Ubiquitous computing, CSCW, Media spaces,
Non-work application, Interaction | |||
| Crowded Collaborative Virtual Environments | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 59-66 | |
| Steve Benford; Chris Greenhalgh; David Lloyd | |||
| We introduce a framework for supporting crowds of participants in
collaborative virtual environments (CVEs). The framework is realised as an
extension to our previous spatial model of interaction and aims to provide
greater scaleability and flexibility for communication between the inhabitants
of virtual worlds. Our framework introduces an explicit crowd mechanism into
CVEs in order to support the formation and activation of different kinds of
crowd with different effects on mutual awareness and communication (achieved
through the use of aggregation techniques combined with awareness adaptation).
We present a demonstration application called the Arena -- a shared space for
staging on-line performances in front of a live audience. Keywords: CSCW, Virtual reality, Crowds | |||
| Autonomous Interface Agents | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 67-74 | |
| Henry Lieberman | |||
| Two branches of the trend towards "agents" that are gaining currency are
interface agents, software that actively assists a user in operating an
interactive interface, and autonomous agents, software that takes action
without user intervention and operates concurrently, either while the user is
idle or taking other actions. These two branches are related, but not
identical, and are often lumped together under the single term "agent". Much
agent work can be classified as either being an interface agent, but not
autonomous, or as an autonomous agent, but not operating directly in the
interface. We show why it is important to have agents that are both interface
agents and autonomous agents. We explore some design principles for such
agents, and illustrate these principles with a description of Letizia, an
autonomous interface agent that makes real-time suggestions for Web pages that
a user might be interested in browsing. Keywords: Agents, Interface agents, Autonomous agents, Web, Browsing, Search, Learning | |||
| How to Personalize the Web | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 75-82 | |
| Rob Barrett; Paul P. Maglio; Daniel C. Kellem | |||
| Agents can personalize otherwise impersonal computational systems. The
World Wide Web presents the same appearance to every user regardless of that
user's past activity. Web Browser Intelligence (WBI, pronounced "WEB-ee") is
an implemented system that organizes agents on a user's workstation to observe
user actions, proactively offer assistance, modify web documents, and perform
new functions. WBI can annotate hyperlinks with network speed information,
record pages viewed for later access, and provide shortcut links for common
paths. In this way, WBI personalizes a user's web experience by joining
personal information with global information to effectively tailor what the
user sees. Keywords: Agents, World wide web, User models | |||
| The Cognitive Ergonomics of Knowledge-Based Design Support Systems | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 83-90 | |
| Tamara Sumner; Nathalie Bonnardel; Benedikte Harstad Kallak | |||
| Critiquing systems are a type of active, knowledge-based design support
system. They propose to positively influence designers' cognitive processes by
pointing out potential problems and contentious issues while designers work.
To investigate the effects such systems have on the activities of professional
designers, a design environment containing a critiquing system was designed,
built, and evaluated for a specific area: phone-based interface design. Four
professional designers were observed using the environment to solve realistic
design tasks. Our protocol analyses indicate that such systems do influence
the behaviour of designers, but often indirectly. Designers were observed
anticipating the activity of the system and taking preventative steps to avoid
it. Differential effects depending on the designers' level of domain
experience were also observed. Overall, the system was better suited to the
needs of highly experienced designers. Keywords: Critiquing systems, Cognitive ergonomics, Design, Design environments,
Knowledge-based systems, Phone-based interfaces | |||
| From Sufficient to Efficient Usage: An Analysis of Strategic Knowledge | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 91-98 | |
| Suresh K. Bhavnani; Bonnie E. John | |||
| Can good design guarantee the efficient use of computer tools? Can
experience guarantee it? We raise these questions to explore why empirical
studies of real-world usage show even experienced users under-utilizing the
capabilities of computer applications. By analyzing the use of everyday
devices and computer applications, as well as reviewing empirical studies, we
conclude that neither good design nor experience may be able to guarantee
efficient usage. Efficient use requires task decomposition strategies that
exploit capabilities offered by computer applications such as the ability to
aggregate objects, and to manipulate the aggregates with powerful operators.
To understand the effects that strategies can have on performance, we present
results from a GOMS analysis of a CAD task. Furthermore, we identify some key
aggregation strategies that appear to generalize across applications. Such
strategies may provide a framework to enable users to move from a sufficient to
a more efficient use of computer tools. Keywords: Strategies, Task decomposition, CAD, Aggregation | |||
| Relationships Between Users' and Interfaces' Task Representations | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 99-106 | |
| Robert B. Terwilliger; Peter G. Polson | |||
| In a previous experiment, we demonstrated that some users seem to
significantly transform the instructions for a graph creation task before they
even begin to interact with the interface, and furthermore, that this can
create considerable difficulty with an interface that does not require the
transformation. In this paper, we describe a contrasting experiment, showing
that subjects without pre-existing task transformations initially have
considerable difficulty with an interface that requires them, but acquire the
transformations relatively quickly. Kitajima and Polson's LICAI model explains
these effects as resulting from the problem representation being elaborated
with task-specific schemata during the instruction comprehension process. Keywords: Empirical studies, Cognitive models | |||
| Cognitive Modeling Reveals Menu Search is Both Random and Systematic | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 107-114 | |
| Anthony J. Hornof; David E. Kieras | |||
| To understand how people search for a known target item in an unordered
pull-down menu, this research presents cognitive models that vary serial versus
parallel processing of menu items, random versus systematic search, and
different numbers of menu items fitting into the fovea simultaneously. Varying
these conditions, models were constructed and run using the EPIC cognitive
architecture. The selection times predicted by the models are compared with
selection times of human subjects performing the same menu task. Comparing the
predicted and observed times, the models reveal that 1) people process more
than one menu item at a time, and 2) people search menus using both random and
systematic search strategies. Keywords: Cognitive models, Menu selection, Visual search | |||
| Aesthetics and Apparent Usability: Empirically Assessing Cultural and Methodological Issues | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 115-122 | |
| Noam Tractinsky | |||
| Three experiments were conducted to validate and replicate, in a different
cultural setting, the results of a study by Kurosu and Kashimura [12]
concerning the relationships between users' perceptions of interface aesthetics
and usability. The results support the basic findings by Kurosu and Kashimura.
Very high correlations were found between perceived aesthetics of the interface
and a priori perceived ease of use of the system. Differences of magnitude
between correlations obtained in Japan and in Israel suggest the existence of
cross-cultural differences, but these were not in the hypothesized direction. Keywords: Aesthetics, Apparent usability, System acceptability, Cross-cultural HCI,
Human-computer interface | |||
| A Computer Participant in Musical Improvisation | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 123-130 | |
| William F. Walker | |||
| Musical improvisation is a collaborative activity analogous to conversation.
Both are sequences of spontaneous utterances constructed within a collaborative
structure that is interactively managed by the participants. Based on results
from conversation analysis, I have constructed a computer improvisor that
participates in small group improvisation. Using conversation analysis rules
for turn-taking, the computer tracks the roles of the other musicians and
follows a structural model of the improvisation to determine its own role as
the improvisation unfolds. User-centered design was crucial to the successful
development and deployment of the system. Keywords: Musical improvisation, Conversation analysis, CSCW, Object-oriented
frameworks for collaboration, User-centered design | |||
| WorldBeat: Designing a Baton-Based Interface for an Interactive Music Exhibit | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 131-138 | |
| Jan O. Borchers | |||
| This paper presents the interface design of the WorldBeat system, an
interactive exhibit about using computers in musical education, and as musical
instruments. The system allows even computer and music novices to create
aesthetically pleasing music, using a new, consistent interaction technique:
Visitors control the complete exhibit using two infrared batons as pointing
device, conductor's baton, and musical instrument interface, making keyboard
and mouse unnecessary.
The paper summarizes special requirements when designing computer-based exhibits, how we used batons as a new type of input device to meet those requirements, and how user feedback iteratively optimized the look and feel of the exhibit to convey its "message" in an understandable and visually appealing way. We show how our results contribute to "Looking to the Future" of HCI, and how they could be of general use to other researchers and practitioners designing user interfaces for interactive exhibits. Keywords: Interface design, Interactive exhibit, Baton, Music, Education | |||
| The Design of a Wearable Computer | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 139-146 | |
| Len Bass; Chris Kasabach; Richard Martin; Dan Siewiorek; Asim Smailagic; John Stivoric | |||
| The design process used to produce an innovative computer system is
presented. The computer system that resulted from the process uses a circular
motif both for the user interface and the input device. The input device is a
dial and the user interface is visually organized around the concept of a
circle. The design process itself proceeded in the presence of a great many
constraints and we discuss these constraints and how an innovative design was
achieved in spite of the constraints. Keywords: Wearable computers, Input devices, Body worn computers, User center design,
Integrated product teams | |||
| "Body Coupled FingeRing": Wireless Wearable Keyboard | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 147-154 | |
| Masaaki Fukumoto; Yoshinobu Tonomura | |||
| A really wearable input device "FingeRing" is developed for coming wearable
PDAs. By attaching ring shaped sensors on each finger, many commands or
characters can be input by finger-tip typing action. "FingeRing" can be used
on any typing surface such as a knee or desk, so quick operation is realized in
any situation while standing or walking. To improve wearability, a very small,
ultra low power wireless transmitter is developed that uses the human body as
part of an electric circuit. "Direct Coupling" method enables stable
communication even when body contacts any grounded surface. A new symbol
coding method that combines order and chord typing is also proposed, and useful
typing patterns are chosen by typing speed evaluations. Expert users of
musical keyboards can input 52 different symbols at speeds of over 200 symbols
per minute by using the combination of FingeRing and the new coding method. Keywords: Wearable computer, PDA, Interface device, Input device, Keyboard, PAN,
BodyNet, FingeRing | |||
| Toward an HCI Research and Practice Agenda Based on Human Needs and Social Responsibility | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 155-161 | |
| Michael J. Muller; Cathleen Wharton; William J., Jr. McIver; Lila Laux | |||
| We outline several promising areas for improvements in research and practice
in the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI). These topics show the
richness and potential value of HCI work motivated by a combination of a desire
to improve practice and research, and a desire to meet human needs in a
responsible manner. Keywords: Future, HCI research and practice, Disability access, Information access,
Information retrieval, Agents, World Wide Web, UIMSs, Architectures,
Information poverty, Communication poverty, Social issues, Social impact | |||
| Participatory Analysis: Shared Development of Requirements from Scenarios | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 162-169 | |
| George, Jr. Chin; Mary Beth Rosson; John M. Carroll | |||
| Participatory design typically focuses on envisionment and evaluation
activities. We explored a method for pushing the participatory activities
further "upstream" in the design process, to the initial analysis of
requirements. We used a variant of the task-artifact framework, carrying out a
participatory claims analysis during a design workshop for a project addressing
collaborative science education. The analysis used videotaped classroom
sessions as source material. The participant-teachers were highly engaged by
the analysis process and contributed significantly to the analysis results. We
conclude that the method has promise as a technique for evoking self-reflection
and analysis in a participatory design setting. Keywords: Participatory analysis, Participatory design, Scenarios, Task-artifact
framework | |||
| Maintaining a Focus on User Requirements Throughout the Development of Clinical Workstation Software | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 170-177 | |
| Janette M. Coble; John Karat; Michael G. Kahn | |||
| Establishing user requirements is well recognized as a critical step in the
development of useful and usable systems (e.g., [5]). Recent innovations in
human-computer interaction design address new methods for effective
requirements gathering, such as Participatory Design and Contextual Inquiry
(e.g., [7], [9]). However, even when projects use these methods successfully
to collect valid requirement descriptions, it remains a challenge to establish
a process that makes direct use of those descriptions during software
development [11]. Valuable requirements information can be lost as it is
reinterpreted during the development of functional specifications and the
implementation of the proposed system. We describe the several steps we have
taken to keep an ongoing and evolving understanding of user requirements under
consideration by system designers and developers as they face the "real" (to
them) requirements of adapting function to the constraints of computer
platforms, project cost, and delivery schedule. The specific work reported
here applies to the design of software for a clinical workstation used to
review medical information. However, we believe the lessons we learned,
maintaining the influence of user requirements throughout the development
process, will apply in other practical system development situations. Keywords: User requirements, Contextual Inquiry, Software development process | |||
| Helping and Hindering User Involvement -- A Tale of Everyday Design | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 178-185 | |
| Stephanie Wilson; Mathilde Bekker; Peter Johnson; Hilary Johnson | |||
| The importance of an early and on-going focus on users in interactive system
design is widely accepted. However, in practice, involving users poses many
problems and requires designers to balance conflicting demands. Various
factors can hinder or ease the involvement of users. This paper reports a case
study involving the design of a bespoke application and gives a detailed
account of the obstacles and facilitators to user involvement encountered
during the design activity. The obstacles and facilitators are presented in
terms of issues such as contacting and selecting users, motivating users,
facilitating and mediating meetings and offering points of focus for user
contributions. We report and contrast the views of various stakeholders in the
design process, and supplement these with our own observations as
non-participant observers. Finally, we discuss issues raised by the study and
draw out a number of lessons for the CHI community. Keywords: Design study, Design techniques, Obstacles to user involvement, User-centred
design | |||
| Dynomite: A Dynamically Organized Ink and Audio Notebook | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 186-193 | |
| Lynn D. Wilcox; Bill N. Schilit; Nitin "Nick" Sawhney | |||
| Dynomite is a portable electronic notebook for the capture and retrieval of
handwritten and audio notes. The goal of Dynomite is to merge the
organization, search, and data acquisition capabilities of a computer with the
benefits of a paper-based notebook. Dynomite provides novel solutions in four
key problem areas. First, Dynomite uses a casual, low cognitive overhead
interface. Second, for content indexing of notes, Dynomite uses ink properties
and keywords. Third, to assist organization, Dynomite's properties and
keywords define views, presenting a subset of the notebook content that
dynamically changes as users add new information. Finally, to augment
handwritten notes with audio on devices with limited storage, Dynomite
continuously records audio, but only permanently stores those parts highlighted
by the user. Keywords: Electronic notebook, Note-taking, Audio interfaces, Handwriting, Keyword
indexing, Ink properties, Retrieval, Paper-like interfaces, PDA, Pen computing | |||
| Dynamic Soundscape: Mapping Time to Space for Audio Browsing | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 194-201 | |
| Minoru Kobayashi; Chris Schmandt | |||
| Browsing audio data is not as easy as browsing printed documents because of
the temporal nature of sound. This paper presents a browsing environment that
provides a spatial interface for temporal navigation of audio data, taking
advantage of human abilities of simultaneous listening and memory of spatial
location. Instead of fast-forwarding or rewinding, users browse the audio data
by switching their attention between moving sound sources that play multiple
portions of a single audio recording. The motion of the sound sources maps
temporal position within the audio recording onto spatial location, so that
listeners can use their memory of spatial location to find a specific topic.
This paper describes the iterative design approach toward the audio browsing
system, including the development of user interface devices. Keywords: Audio browsing, Spatialized audio, Simultaneous listening, Selective
listening, Spatial memory | |||
| "I'll Get That Off the Audio": A Case Study of Salvaging Multimedia Meeting Records | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 202-209 | |
| Thomas P. Moran; Leysia Palen; Steve Harrison; Patrick Chiu; Don Kimber; Scott Minneman; William van Melle; Polle Zellweger | |||
| We describe a case study of a complex, ongoing, collaborative work process,
where the central activity is a series of meetings reviewing a wide range of
subtle technical topics. The problem is the accurate reporting of the results
of these meetings, which is the responsibility of a single person, who is not
well-versed in all the topics. We provided tools to capture the meeting
discussions and tools to "salvage" the captured multimedia recordings.
Salvaging is a new kind of activity involving replaying, extracting,
organizing, and writing. We observed a year of mature salvaging work in the
case study. From this we describe the nature of salvage work (the constituent
activities, the use of the workspace, the affordances of the audio medium, how
practices develop and differentiate, how the content material affects
practice). We also demonstrate how this work relates to the larger work
processes (the task demands of the setting, the interplay of salvage with
capture, the influence on the people being reported on and reported to).
Salvaging tools are shown to be valuable for dealing with free-flowing
discussions of complex subject matter and for producing high quality
documentation. Keywords: Activity capture, Audio recording, Multimedia, LiveBoard, Meeting support
tools, Notetaking, Salvaging, Work process support | |||
| Design for Network Communities | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 210-217 | |
| Elizabeth D. Mynatt; Annette Adler; Mizuko Ito; Vicki L. O'Day | |||
| Collaboration has long been of considerable interest in the CHI community.
This paper proposes and explores the concept of network communities as a
crucial part of this discussion. Network communities are a form of
technology-mediated environment that foster a sense of community among users.
We consider several familiar systems and describe the shared characteristics
these systems have developed to deal with critical concerns of collaboration.
Based on our own experience as designers and users of a variety of network
communities, we extend this initial design space along three dimensions: the
articulation of a persistent sense of location, the boundary tensions between
real and virtual worlds, and the emergence and evolution of community. Keywords: Media space, MUDs, Network community, Shared space, Metaphor, Identity,
Virtual world | |||
| Timewarp: Techniques for Autonomous Collaboration | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 218-225 | |
| W. Keith Edwards; Elizabeth D. Mynatt | |||
| This paper presents a set of techniques for supporting autonomous
collaboration -- collaboration where participants work independently for
periods, and then join together to integrate their efforts. This paper posits
that autonomous collaboration can be well-supported by systems in which the
notion of time is made both explicit and editable, so that the parallel but
divergent states of a shared artifact are exposed in the interface. We have
developed a system, called timewarp, that explores these ideas, and provides
support for distribution, awareness, and conflict resolution in an
application-independent fashion. Keywords: Autonomous collaboration, Computer-supported cooperative work, Awareness,
Conflict detection and resolution, Timewarp | |||
| Building Task-Specific Interfaces to High Volume Conversational Data | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 226-233 | |
| Loren G. Terveen; William C. Hill; Brian Amento; David McDonald; Josh Creter | |||
| As people participate in the thousands of global conversations that comprise
Usenet news, one thing they do is post their opinions of web resources. Phoaks
is a collaborative filtering system that continuously parses, classifies,
abstracts and tallies those opinions. About 3,500 users per day consult Phoaks
web pages that reflect the results. Phoaks also features a general
architecture for building similar collaborative filtering interfaces to
conversational data. We report here on the Phoaks resource recommendation
interface, the architecture, and the issues and experience that make up its
rationale. Keywords: Human-computer interaction, Human interface, Computer-supported cooperative
work, Organizational computing, Social filtering, Collaborative filtering, Data
mining, Resource discovery, World Wide Web, Usenet, Netnews | |||
| Tangible Bits: Towards Seamless Interfaces between People, Bits and Atoms | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 234-241 | |
| Hiroshi Ishii; Brygg Ullmer | |||
| This paper presents our vision of Human Computer Interaction (HCI):
"Tangible Bits." Tangible Bits allows users to "grasp & manipulate" bits in the
center of users' attention by coupling the bits with everyday physical objects
and architectural surfaces. Tangible Bits also enables users to be aware of
background bits at the periphery of human perception using ambient display
media such as light, sound, airflow, and water movement in an augmented space.
The goal of Tangible Bits is to bridge the gaps between both cyberspace and the
physical environment, as well as the foreground and background of human
activities.
This paper describes three key concepts of Tangible Bits: interactive surfaces; the coupling of bits with graspable physical objects; and ambient media for background awareness. We illustrate these concepts with three prototype systems -- the metaDESK, transBOARD and ambientROOM -- to identify underlying research issues. Keywords: Tangible user interface, Ambient media, Graspable user interface, Augmented
reality, Ubiquitous computing, Center and periphery, Foreground and background | |||
| From Single-User Architectural Design to PAC*: a Generic Software Architecture Model for CSCW | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 242-249 | |
| Gaelle Calvary; Joelle Coutaz; Laurence Nigay | |||
| This article reports our reflection on software architecture modelling for
multi-user systems (or groupware). First, we introduce the notion of software
architecture and make explicit the design steps that most software designers in
HCI tend to blend in a fuzzy way. Building on general concepts and practice
from main stream software engineering, we then present a comparative analysis
of the most significant architecture models developed for single-and multi-user
systems. We close with the presentation of PAC*, a new architectural framework
for modelling and designing the software architecture of multi-user systems.
PAC* is a motivated combination of existing architectural models selected for
the complementarity of their "good properties". These include operational
heuristics such as rules for deriving agents in accordance to the task model or
criteria for reasoning about replication, as well as properties such as support
for style heterogeneity, portability, and reusability. Keywords: PAC, Interactor, Agent, Architectural style, Software architecture
modelling, CSCW, Interactive systems | |||
| Elastic Windows: Evaluation of Multi-Window Operations | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 250-257 | |
| Eser Kandogan; Ben Shneiderman | |||
| Most windowing systems follow the independent overlapping windows approach,
which emerged as an answer to the needs of the 1980s' technology. Due to
advances in computers and display technology, and increased information needs,
modern users demand more functionality from window management systems. We
proposed Elastic Windows with improved spatial layout and rapid multi-window
operations as an alternative to current window management strategies for
efficient personal role management [12]. In this approach, multi-window
operations are achieved by issuing operations on window groups hierarchically
organized in a space-filling tiled layout. This paper describes the Elastic
Windows interface briefly and then presents a study comparing user performance
with Elastic Windows and traditional window management techniques for 2, 6, and
12 window situations. Elastic Windows users had statistically significantly
faster performance for all 6 and 12 window situations, for task environment
setup, task environment switching, and task execution. For some tasks there
was a ten-fold speed-up in performance. These results suggest promising
possibilities for multiple window operations and hierarchical nesting, which
can be applied to the next generation of tiled as well as overlapped window
managers. Keywords: Window management, Multi-window operations, Personal role management, Tiled
layout, User interfaces, Information access and organization | |||
| Does Continuous Visual Feedback Aid Debugging in Direct-Manipulation Programming Systems? | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 258-265 | |
| E. M. Wilcox; J. W. Atwood; M. M. Burnett; J. J. Cadiz; C. R. Cook | |||
| Continuous visual feedback is becoming a common feature in
direct-manipulation programming systems of all kinds -- from demonstrational
macro builders to spreadsheet packages to visual programming languages
featuring direct manipulation. But does continuous visual feedback actually
help in the domain of programming? There has been little investigation of this
question, and what evidence there is from related domains points in conflicting
directions. To advance what is known about this issue, we conducted an
empirical study to determine whether the inclusion of continuous visual
feedback into a direct-manipulation programming system helps with one
particular task: debugging. Our results were that although continuous visual
feedback did not significantly help with debugging in general, it did
significantly help with debugging in some circumstances. Our results also
indicate three factors that may help determine those circumstances. Keywords: Direct manipulation, Debugging, End-user programming, Spreadsheets, Visual
programming languages, Liveness, Empirical study | |||
| Making Computers Easier for Older Adults to Use: Area Cursors and Sticky Icons | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 266-271 | |
| Aileen Worden; Neff Walker; Krishna Bharat; Scott Hudson | |||
| The normal effects of aging include some decline in cognitive, perceptual,
and motor abilities. This can have a negative effect on the performance of a
number of tasks, including basic pointing and selection tasks common to today's
graphical user interfaces. This paper describes a study of the effectiveness
of two interaction techniques: area cursors and sticky icons, in improving the
performance of older adults in basic selection tasks. The study described here
indicates that when combined, these techniques can decrease target selection
times for older adults by as much as 50% when applied to the most difficult
cases (smallest selection targets). At the same time these techniques are
shown not to impede performance in cases known to be problematical for related
techniques (e.g., differentiation between closely spaced targets) and to
provide similar but smaller benefits for younger users. Keywords: Graphical interfaces, User input, Interaction techniques, Pointing and
selection tasks, Fitts' Law, Aging | |||
| Designing Effective Multimedia Presentations | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 272-278 | |
| Peter Faraday; Alistair Sutcliffe | |||
| The paper reports four studies concerning attention to and comprehension of
Multimedia presentations. The Multimedia sequence used was taken from a
commercially produced CD-ROM, 'The Etiology of Cancer'. First, an eye tracking
study of the presentation is reported. A second study was then conducted on
the recall of the materials used in the eye tracking study. The results of
these studies were used to propose design guidelines for Multimedia
presentations. The guidelines were applied to produce a re-authored version of
the original presentation. A further two studies were then conducted on the
re-authored version to assess the impact of the design guidelines. Keywords: Multimedia, Usability testing, Empirical studies | |||
| From Web Press to Web Pressure: Multimedia Representations and Multimedia Publishing | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 279-286 | |
| Victoria Bellotti; Yvonne Rogers | |||
| The growth of multimedia computing, followed by a recent push towards
publishing on the World Wide Web, is rapidly changing the publishing industry.
Editorial staff, working under pressure in printed and online publications,
need to use a growing diversity of representations for planning, creating and
reviewing content. We present a study of a number of publishing sites,
describing how such representations are critical to ensuring quality in the
editorial process. Following this, we discuss design implications for better
representational tools. Keywords: Field study, Collaboration, Multimedia, Publishing, World Wide Web,
Representation | |||
| Interval Scripts: A Design Paradigm for Story-Based Interactive Systems | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 287-294 | |
| Claudio S. Pinhanez; Kenji Mase; Aaron Bobick | |||
| A system to manage human interaction in immersive environments was designed
and implemented. The interaction is defined by an interval script which
describes the relationships between the time intervals which command actuators
or gather information from sensors. With this formalism, reactive, linear, and
tree-like interaction can be equally described, as well as less regular story
and interaction patterns. Control of actuators and sensors is accomplished
using PNF-restriction, a calculus which propagates the sensed information
through the interval script determining which intervals are or should be
happening at each moment. The prototype was used in an immersive, story-based
interactive environment called SingSong where a user or a performer tries to
conduct four computer character singers in spite of the hostility of one of
them. Keywords: Interaction design, Story-based immersive systems, Temporal scripts | |||
| Beyond Fitts' Law: Models for Trajectory-Based HCI Tasks | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 295-302 | |
| Johnny Accot; Shumin Zhai | |||
| Trajectory-based interactions, such as navigating through nested-menus,
drawing curves, and moving in 3D worlds, are becoming common tasks in modern
computer interfaces. Users' performances in these tasks cannot be successfully
modeled with Fitts' law as it has been applied to pointing tasks. Therefore we
explore the possible existence of robust regularities in trajectory-based
tasks. We used "steering through tunnels" as our experimental paradigm to
represent such tasks, and found that a simple "steering law" indeed exists.
The paper presents the motivation, analysis, a series of four experiments, and
the applications of the steering law. Keywords: Fitts' Law, Human performance, Modeling, Movements, Path steering, Task
difficulty, Motor control, Input techniques and devices, Trajectory-based
interaction | |||
| Performance Differences in the Fingers, Wrist, and Forearm in Computer Input Control | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 303-310 | |
| Ravin Balakrishnan; I. Scott MacKenzie | |||
| Recent work in computer input control has sought to maximize the use of the
fingers in the operation of computer pointing devices. The main rationale is
the hypothesis that the muscle groups controlling the fingers have a higher
bandwidth than those controlling other segments of the human upper limb.
Evidence which supports this, however, is inconclusive. We conducted an
experiment to determine the relative bandwidths of the fingers, wrist, and
forearm and found that the fingers do not necessarily outperform the other limb
segments. Our results indicate that the bandwidth of the unsupported index
finger is approximately 3.0 bits/s while the wrist and forearm have bandwidths
of about 4.1 bits/s. We also show that the thumb and index finger working
together in a pinch grip have an information processing rate of about 4.5
bits/s. Other factors which influence the relative performance of the
different limbs in manipulation tasks are considered. Keywords: Computer pointing devices, Human information processing, Muscle group
differences, Hand, Fingers, Arm, Motor control, Fitts' Law | |||
| The Rockin' Mouse: Integral 3D Manipulation on a Plane | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 311-318 | |
| Ravin Balakrishnan; Thomas Baudel; Gordon Kurtenbach; George Fitzmaurice | |||
| A novel input device called the Rockin'Mouse is described and evaluated.
The Rockin'Mouse is a four degree-of-freedom input device that has the same
shape as a regular mouse except that the bottom of the Rockin'Mouse is rounded
so that it can be tilted. This tilting can be used to control two extra
degrees of freedom, thus making it suitable for manipulation in 3D
environments. Like the regular mouse, the Rockin'Mouse can sense planar
position and perform all the usual functions. However, in a 3D scene a regular
mouse can only operate on 2 dimensions at a time and therefore manipulation in
3D requires a way to switch between dimensions. With the Rockin'Mouse,
however, all the dimensions can be simultaneously controlled. In this paper we
describe our design rationale behind the Rockin'Mouse, and present an
experiment which compares the Rockin'Mouse to the standard mouse in a typical
3D interaction task. Our results indicate that the Rockin'Mouse is 30% faster
and is a promising device for both 2D and 3D interaction. Keywords: 3D interaction, Input devices, Integral motion, Mouse, 3D graphical
manipulators | |||
| Paper as an Analytic Resource for the Design of New Technologies | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 319-326 | |
| Abigail Sellen; Richard Harper | |||
| We report on an examination of work practice in a knowledge-based,
document-intensive organisation and describe the role of paper in that work.
We show how such an examination can provide a resource for (1) the
determination of system design modifications that can be undertaken in the
short term; (2) the determination of entirely new systems design requiring
longer term research and development; and (3) helping to specify where paper
will continue to be used in future document-related work practice. Keywords: Paper, Ethnography, Knowledge work, Diary study, Collaboration, Design,
Organisations, IMF | |||
| PaperLink: A Technique for Hyperlinking from Real Paper to Electronic Content | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 327-334 | |
| Toshifumi Arai; Dietmar Aust; Scott Hudson | |||
| Paper is a very convenient medium for presenting information. It is
familiar, flexible, portable, inexpensive, user modifiable, and offers better
readability properties than existing electronic displays. However, paper
displays are static and do not offer capabilities such as dynamic content, and
hyperlinking that can be provided with electronic media. PaperLink is a system
which augments paper documents with electronic features. PaperLink uses a
highlighter pen augmented with a camera, along with simple computer vision and
pattern recognition techniques, to allow a user to make marks on paper which
can have associations and meaning in an electronic world, and to "pick up"
printed material for use as electronic input. This paper will consider the
prototype PaperLink hardware and software system, and its application to
hyperlinking from paper to electronic content. Keywords: Augmented reality, Input devices, Hybrid paper electronic interfaces,
Computer vision systems, Pattern recognition, Hyperlinking | |||
| A Comparison of Reading Paper and On-Line Documents | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 335-342 | |
| Kenton O'Hara; Abigail Sellen | |||
| We report on a laboratory study that compares reading from paper to reading
on-line. Critical differences have to do with the major advantages paper
offers in supporting annotation while reading, quick navigation, and
flexibility of spatial layout. These, in turn, allow readers to deepen their
understanding of the text, extract a sense of its structure, create a plan for
writing, cross-refer to other documents, and interleave reading and writing.
We discuss the design implications of these findings for the development of
better reading technologies. Keywords: Reading, Paper, Documents, Digital document readers, Hypertext, Digital
libraries, Design, Web | |||
| Designing For or Designing With? Informant Design for Interactive Learning Environments | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 343-350 | |
| Michael Scaife; Yvonne Rogers; Frances Aldrich; Matt Davies | |||
| The value of involving people as 'users' or 'participants' in the design
process is increasingly becoming a point of debate. In this paper we describe
a new framework, called 'informant design', which advocates efficiency of input
from different people: maximizing the value of contributions from various
informants and design team members at different stages of the design process.
To illustrate how this can be achieved we describe a project that uses children
and teachers as informants at different stages to help us design an interactive
learning environment for teaching ecology. Keywords: Children, Design, Low-tech, Hi-tech, Informant, Interactive learning
environments, Prototypes | |||
| Degrees of Comprehension: Children's Understanding of a Visual Programming Environment | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 351-358 | |
| Cyndi Rader; Cathy Brand; Clayton Lewis | |||
| A new generation of innovative, highly visual children's programming
environments is under development. In this paper, we consider the
instructional requirements for children learning to program in a visual
environment. Based on our year-long experience using Apple Computer's
KidSim/Cocoa prototype [2] and the results of a year-end assessment, we
conclude that the children failed to grasp many aspects of the program
operation. The children readily mastered drawing and animating characters in
imaginary worlds, but struggled to achieve more complex behaviors. Lack of
explicit instruction on program functionality hindered these children in their
attempts to create more sophisticated science programs. We explore the
prospects for more effective instruction and suggest some guidelines for
designing visual programming environments. Keywords: Kids software, Educational application, End-user programming, Simulations,
Programming by demonstration, Graphical rewrite rules | |||
| The Persona Effect: Affective Impact of Animated Pedagogical Agents | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 359-366 | |
| James C. Lester; Sharolyn A. Converse; Susan H. Kahler; S. Todd Barlow; Brian A. Stone; Ravinder Bhogal | |||
| Animated pedagogical agents that inhabit interactive learning environments
can exhibit strikingly lifelike behaviors. In addition to providing
problem-solving advice in response to students' activities in the learning
environment, these agents may also be able to play a powerful motivational
role. To design the most effective agent-based learning environment software,
it is essential to understand how students perceive an animated pedagogical
agent with regard to affective dimensions such as encouragement, utility,
credibility, and clarity. This paper describes a study of the affective impact
of animated pedagogical agents on students' learning experiences. One hundred
middle school students interacted with animated pedagogical agents to assess
their perception of agents' affective characteristics. The study revealed the
persona effect, which is that the presence of a lifelike character in an
interactive learning environment -- even one that is not expressive -- can have
a strong positive effect on student's perception of their learning experience.
The study also demonstrates the interesting effect of multiple types of
explanatory behaviors on both affective perception and learning performance. Keywords: Educational applications, Intelligent systems, Children, Agents, Empirical
studies | |||
| Effective View Navigation | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 367-374 | |
| George W. Furnas | |||
| In view navigation a user moves about an information structure by selecting
something in the current view of the structure. This paper explores the
implications of rudimentary requirements for effective view navigation, namely
that, despite the vastness of an information structure, the views must be
small, moving around must not take too many steps and the route to any target
be must be discoverable. The analyses help rationalize existing practice, give
insight into the difficulties, and suggest strategies for design. Keywords: Information navigation, Direct Walk, Large information structures,
Hypertext, Searching, Browsing | |||
| Characterizing Interactive Externalizations | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 375-382 | |
| Lisa Tweedie | |||
| This paper seeks to characterize the space of techniques that exist for
interactive externalisations (visualisations). A selection of visualisations
are classified with respect to: the types of data represented, the nature of
the visible feedback displayed and the forms of interactivity used. Such
characterization provides a method for evaluating potential designs and
comparing different tools. Keywords: Visualization, Interactive graphics, Taxonomy | |||
| Life, Death, and Lawfulness on the Electronic Frontier | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 383-390 | |
| James Pitkow; Peter Pirolli | |||
| To facilitate users' ability to make sense of large collections of hypertext
we present two new techniques for inducing clusters of related documents on the
World Wide Web. Users' ability to find relevant information might also be
enhanced by finding lawful properties of document behavior and use. We present
models and analyses of document use and change for the World Wide Web. Keywords: Clustering, Categorization, Co-citation analysis, World Wide Web, Hypertext,
Survival analysis, Usage models | |||
| WebStage: An Active Media Enhanced World Wide Web Browser | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 391-398 | |
| Tomoharu Yamaguchi; Itaru Hosomi; Toshiaki Miyashita | |||
| The World Wide Web provides us with enormous opportunities to obtain global
information. However, conventional browsers are time-intensive, requiring many
operations with attendant mental concentration, to view the Web pages. This
can often discourage people from seeking access to the Web. In this paper, we
present an "active" Web browser, named "WebStage". Unlike conventional
browsers, it displays Web pages using a television metaphor to encourage
"passive" users to access the Web. Keywords: World Wide Web, Metaphor, Multimedia, Information access, Passive-user
support, Media design | |||
| Revisitation Patterns in World Wide Web Navigation | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 399-406 | |
| Linda Tauscher; Saul Greenberg | |||
| We report on users' revisitation patterns to World Wide Web pages, and use
these to lay an empirical foundation for the design of history mechanisms in
web browsers. Through history, a user can return quickly to a previously
visited page, possibly reducing the cognitive and physical overhead required to
navigate to it from scratch. We analyzed 6 weeks of usage data collected from
23 users of a commercial web browser. We found that 58% of an individual's
pages are revisits, and that users continually add new web pages into their
repertoire of visited pages. People tend to revisit pages just visited, access
only a few pages frequently, browse in very small clusters of related pages,
and generate only short sequences of repeated URL paths. We compared different
history mechanisms, and found that the stack-based prediction method prevalent
in commercial browsers is inferior to the simpler approach of showing the last
few recently visited URLs with duplicates removed. Other predictive approaches
fare even better. Our results suggest new approaches to managing history in
browsers. Keywords: History mechanisms, WWW, Web, Hypertext, Navigation | |||
| Queries? Links? Is there a Difference? | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 407-414 | |
| Gene Golovchinsky | |||
| Hypertext interfaces are considered appropriate for information exploration
tasks. The prohibitively expensive link creation effort, however, prevents
traditional hypertext interfaces from being used with large coherent
collections of text. Such collections typically require query-based
interfaces. This paper examines a hybrid approach: the system described here
creates anchors dynamically based on users' queries, and uses anchor selection
as a query expansion mechanism. An experiment was conducted to compare
browsing behavior in query- and link-based interfaces. Results suggest that
query-mediated links are as effective as explicit queries, and that strategies
adopted by users affect performance. This work has implications for the design
of information exploration interfaces; the dynamic link algorithms described
here are being incorporated into a Web server. Keywords: Hypertext, Dynamic links, Browsing, Newspaper metaphor, Information
exploration, Information retrieval | |||
| Integration and Synchronization of Input Modes during Multimodal Human-Computer Interaction | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 415-422 | |
| Sharon Oviatt; Antonella DeAngeli; Karen Kuhn | |||
| Our ability to develop robust multimodal systems will depend on knowledge of
the natural integration patterns that typify people's combined use of different
input modes. To provide a foundation for theory and design, the present
research analyzed multimodal interaction while people spoke and wrote to a
simulated dynamic map system. Task analysis revealed that multimodal
interaction occurred most frequently during spatial location commands, and with
intermediate frequency during selection commands. In addition, microanalysis
of input signals identified sequential, simultaneous, point-and-speak, and
compound integration patterns, as well as data on the temporal precedence of
modes and on inter-modal lags. In synchronizing input streams, the temporal
precedence of writing over speech was a major theme, with pen input conveying
location information first in a sentence. Linguistic analysis also revealed
that the spoken and written modes consistently supplied complementary semantic
information, rather than redundant. One long-term goal of this research is the
development of predictive models of natural modality integration to guide the
design of emerging multimodal architectures. Keywords: Multimodal interaction, Integration and synchronization, Speech and pen
input, Dynamic interactive maps, Spatial location information, Predictive
modeling | |||
| Rendering Drawings for Interactive Haptic Perception | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 423-430 | |
| Martin Kurze | |||
| This paper describes a rendering method for generating tangible drawings of
spatial real world objects based on a theory of haptic image perception and
understanding. The method is based on an analysis of the process of drawing
used by blind people and on cognitive considerations. A haptic rendering
pipeline has been implemented which uses methods such as folding out or
flattening to create 2D images from 3D models. The evaluation currently being
carried out is described and the results are discussed in a broader application
context. Keywords: Haptic perception, Tactile drawing, Blind people, Haptic rendering pipeline | |||
| MedSpeak: Report Creation with Continuous Speech Recognition | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 431-438 | |
| Jennifer Lai; John Vergo | |||
| MedSpeak/Radiology is a product that allows radiologists to create, edit and
manage reports using real-time, continuous speech recognition. Speech is used
both to navigate through the application, and to dictate reports. The system
is multi-modal, accepting input by either voice, mouse or keyboard. This paper
reports on how we addressed the critical user need of high throughput in our
interface design, and ways of supporting both error prevention and error
correction with continuous speech. User studies suggest that for this task
there was low tolerance for accuracy less than 100%, but the additional time
required for corrections was considered by many radiologists to be acceptable
in view of the overall reduction in report turn around time. Keywords: Continuous speech recognition, Speech interface design, Radiology,
Navigation, Dictation | |||
| Simplified Applications for Network Computers | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 439-446 | |
| Don Gentner; Frank Ludolph; Chris Ryan | |||
| This paper describes the design of HotJava Views, a user environment and
suite of applications for a Network Computer. A Network Computer differs from
the common Personal Computer in that it has no permanent local storage, but
instead obtains its software and data as needed over the network from a central
server. We have abandoned some characteristic features of current GUI
interfaces, such as the desktop metaphor, file systems, and the distinction
between applications and documents. Our design principles are focused on
simplicity, efficiency of operation, clarity of the interaction model, and
tight integration between applications. Keywords: Calendar, Email, HotJava Views, Human interface design, Java, Minimalist,
Network Computer, NC, Simplicity, Web | |||
| Design: No Job too Small | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 447-454 | |
| Jean C. Scholtz; Tony Salvador; Pete Lockhart; James Newbery | |||
| This paper describes the efforts involved in the design of a novel Personal
Information Manager (PIM) about the size of a credit card with a touch screen
that fit neatly in one's shirt pocket or the PCMCIA slot on a PC. The device
had to support both viewing data as well as entering data. This project at
Intel offered human factors engineers extraordinary freedom in terms of
functional design constraints, including no pre-existing operating system or
pre-existing metaphor. However, in terms of practical constraints, such as low
power demands, extremely small screen size and low resolution, color and the
inexperience of the engineering team working with human factors professionals,
this project offered us a unique challenge. In the end, ergonomic concerns,
functionality concerns and navigation issues required a novel approach to the
design of this hand-held computing appliance. Making decisions was
additionally complicated as the novel hardware was being developed
simultaneously. During design, we needed to produce innovative tests that
would give valid results without using the actual hardware and we needed to
explain at each step what we were doing and the input we would have for
hardware and/or software decisions. Keywords: Design, Usability testing, User requirements, Ergonomics, Hand held, Mobile
computing | |||
| Claris Organizer's Expanding Contact Card | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 455-462 | |
| Philip D. Haine | |||
| This paper describes the design process behind the contact card user
interface in Claris Organizer 2.0. This was a situation where traditional UI
elements were insufficient to satisfy the design's requirements. High-fidelity
prototypes were developed, iterated and tested against competing designs.
Standards and guidelines had to be broken to achieve the design's objectives.
Despite having more fields and more functionality, the resulting design was
smaller, faster, and preferred by users. Keywords: Contact card, Expanding sections, Dense input area, PIMs | |||
| KidPad: A Design Collaboration Between Children, Technologists, and Educators | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 463-470 | |
| Allison Druin; Jason Stewart; David Proft; Ben Bederson; Jim Hollan | |||
| We established an interdisciplinary, intergenerational collaboration in the
fall of 1995, between the University of New Mexico's Computer Science
Department, the College of Education, and local Albuquerque elementary school
children. The goal of this research was to develop an expressive digital
medium with an intuitive zooming interface, to support a learning environment
for children. In the process of this collaboration, design methodologies that
support a child's role in the development of new technologies were explored.
What follows is a summary of our iterative design experience, collaboration,
and the results of the research to date. Keywords: Children, Design techniques, Cooperative design, Educational applications,
Evaluation, Participatory design, Social issues, Pad++, KidPad | |||
| Designing a Graphical User Interface for Healthcare Workers in Rural India | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 471-478 | |
| Sally Grisedale; Michael Graves; Alexander Grunsteidl | |||
| This paper describes the research and development of an interface for a
mobile computing device to be used by Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) in rural
India. We describe the insights of the team from Apple Research Lab (ARL), who
have had the privilege of working in a very different culture from the ones
they are used to. We show how our observations of the healthcare workers
performing their caring and administrative functions informed the design of the
user interface. We illustrate how we developed the graphical language,
navigational structure and data entry techniques. We provide a summary of the
feedback we received from early field trials and some thoughts on the
appropriateness of our approach to design in this environment. Keywords: Human interface design, Mobile computing, Pen input, Soft keyboard, Newton
MessagePad, Rapid prototyping, India, Rajasthan, Ajmer, Auxiliary nurse
midwife, Healthcare, Family welfare | |||
| Balancing Usability and Learning in an Interface | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 479-486 | |
| Noel Rappin; Mark Guzdial; Matthew Realff; Pete Ludovice | |||
| Creating educational software forces a difficult tradeoff. The software
must be easy for the students to use, yet not so simple that the parts that
students are to learn from are done for them by the computer. DEVICE (Dynamic
Environment for Visualization of Chemical Engineering) is a learning
environment aimed at allowing chemical engineering students to model chemical
engineering problems, then execute those problems as simulations. In the
design of DEVICE, we have attempted to use student tasks to focus attention on
the most important parts of the problem without overwhelming students with
extraneous detail. Keywords: Modeling, Simulation, Interface design, Learners | |||
| Reflections on I/Design: User Interface Design at a Startup | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 487-493 | |
| Allison L. Hansen | |||
| There are many challenges to delivering a state-of-the-art user interface in
a startup company, especially when the Product Manager is also the User
Interface Designer. This design briefing describes the process of making
incremental improvements to an existing product, given very limited time and
resources, while also designing a new replacement product. Several well-known
design techniques and strategies were used, and the relative success or failure
of each approach is discussed. In addition, the design rationale for and
evolution of the successful new user interface are presented. Keywords: User interface design, User-centered design, Design process, Iterative
design, Paper prototyping, World-Wide Web, Web measurement, Startup company | |||
| Social Trends and Product Opportunities: Philips' Vision of the Future Project | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 494-501 | |
| Robert Lambourne; Khodi Feiz; Bertrand Rigot | |||
| This paper describes a project that was carried out by Philips Corporate
Design (PCD) to explore ideas for products and services which could be part of
our future in the year 2005. It discusses how a socio-cultural tool was used
together with technology forecasts to arrive at the creation of scenarios that
describe future products and their contexts. The concepts were then
communicated to a wide audience in the form of short film clips. The project
involved many people from a wide range of disciplines. Keywords: Future, Design process, Socio-cultural forecasts, Interaction design,
Industrial design, Film making, Scenario | |||
| Putting Visualization to Work: ProgramFinder for Youth Placement | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 502-509 | |
| Jason B. Ellis; Anne Rose; Catherine Plaisant | |||
| The Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory (HCIL) and the Maryland Department
of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) have been working together to design the
ProgramFinder, a tool for selecting programs for troubled youths ranging from
drug rehabilitation centers to secure residential facilities. The seemingly
straightforward journey of the ProgramFinder from an existing user interface
technique to a product design required the development of five different
prototypes which involved user interface design, prototype implementation, and
selecting search attributes. While HCIL's effort focused primarily on design
and implementation, DJJ's attribute selection process was the most time
consuming and difficult task. We also found that a direct link to DJJ's
workflow was needed in the prototypes to generate the necessary "buy-in." This
paper analyzes the interaction between the efforts of HCIL and DJJ and the
amount of "buy-in" by DJJ staff and management. Lessons learned are presented
for designers. Keywords: Technology transfer, Visualization, Dynamic query, Legal systems, Matching | |||
| The Multimedia Library: The Center of an Information-Rich Community | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 510-517 | |
| Gerard Jorna; Mirjam Wouters; Paul Gardien; Hans Kemp; Jack Mama; Irene Mavromati; Ian McClelland; Linda Vodegel Matzen | |||
| Due to the rapid development of information and multimedia technology, the
information and services available within a Public Library are changing. This
design project, executed by Philips Corporate Design in cooperation with the
Public Library of Eindhoven, approached the library not as a digital catalogue
but as the center of a community, a place to gather, communicate with others,
and a place to obtain and exchange information with anybody about anything.
Library (non)-users investigations provided information regarding the current
state and perception of the library, the catalogue, as well as to desired
improvements, services and tools. The design process and the initial designs
of these services and tools are presented. Keywords: Library, Multimedia, Browsing, Information visualization, Information
retrieval | |||
| Bringing Treasures to the Surface: Iterative Design for the Library of Congress National Digital Library Program | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 518-525 | |
| Catherine Plaisant; Gary Marchionini; Tom Bruns; Anita Komlodi; Laura Campbell | |||
| The Human-Computer Interaction Lab worked with a team for the Library of
Congress (LC) to develop and test interface designs for LC's National Digital
Library Program. Three iterations are described and illustrate the progression
of the project toward a compact design that minimizes scrolling and jumping and
anchors users in a screen space that tightly couples search and results.
Issues and resolutions are discussed for each iteration and reflect the
challenges of incomplete metadata, data visualization, and the rapidly changing
web environment. Keywords: Digital libraries, Web design, Browse, Java, Dynamic query, Preview, Design
process, Search | |||
| Evolution of a User Interface Design: NCR's Management Discovery Tool | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 526-533 | |
| James F. Knutson; Tej Anand; Richard L. Henneman | |||
| Many companies are developing large data warehouses to understand their
customers and business trends better; however, tools to analyze these data
typically require significant expertise. Because of this, NCR has developed
the Management Discovery Tool (MDT) for the typical manager who wants answers
to business questions without having to know SQL or database table and column
names. We provide an overview of the user-centered design process used to
design one part of the MDT (the "Folders View" dialog) and give rationale for
design decisions. Keywords: User-centered design, Iterative design, Prototypes, Mockups, Data mining,
Data analysis, Data retrieval | |||
| Telemedical Consultation: Task Characteristics | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 534-535 | |
| Leon Watts; Andrew Monk | |||
| Three telemedical projects were studied that used ISDN video to link primary
care medical centres to hospitals. Specifically, a doctor or nurse
practitioner with the patient was able to consult a remote specialist about
treatment or diagnosis. Five task characteristics for this particular form of
telemedical consultation are identified. These characteristics make clear the
need for high quality multi-party sound communication and multiple-view
slow-scan video but suggest that full motion video may not be necessary to
support this kind of work. Some issues in analysing technologically-mediated
collaborative work are briefly discussed. Keywords: Videoconferencing, Telemedicine, Task analysis | |||
| Usability, Help Desk Calls, and Residential Internet Usage | | BIBA | HTML | PDF | 536-537 | |
| Sara Kiesler; Robert Kraut; Vicki Lundmark; William Scherlis; Tridas Mukhopadhyay | |||
| For the average person, the Internet is still too hard to use. We report evidence from HomeNet, a field trial in Pittsburgh that tries to understand how people use the Internet. Despite our reducing technological and economic barriers to use, families had problems connecting and using the Internet. We show that help calls, however, are not a good indicator of usability, since it is the "enthusiasts" and people with instrumental tasks to accomplish who call. | |||
| An Isometric Tongue Pointing Device | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 538-539 | |
| Chris Salem; Shumin Zhai | |||
| In order to provide alternative computer input, we designed an isometric,
tongue operated device: Tonguepoint. The design rationale and a preliminary
experiment are presented in this technical note. Results show that, after 30
minutes practice and adjustment, the subjects could use the Tonguepoint at a
performance level that was only 5-50% slower than finger isometric pointing.
Further improvements are expected. Keywords: Disability, Tongue, Mouth, Isometric device, Input device, Alternative
access | |||
| How Effective are 3D Display Modes? | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 540-541 | |
| Sabine Volbracht; Gitta Domik; Khatoun Shahrbabaki; Gregor Fels | |||
| The increasing availability of 3D input and output devices demands a better
understanding and comparison of their quality. This report describes an
empirical experiment for comparing 3D display modes: traditional perspective
viewing, anaglyph stereo and shutter glass stereo. We followed two hypotheses
1. shutter glass stereo viewing allows a faster and more accurate recognition
than the anaglyph and the perspective viewing, and 2. subjects experienced with
particular 3D representations are faster and more accurate than subjects with
out experience. The experiment is based on a true research scenario in organic
chemistry. Organic molecules were used as 3D objects. Mean response error and
mean response time were calculated for a series of six tasks and 81 subjects. Keywords: Perspective viewing, Anaglyph stereo, Shutter glass stereo, 3D display mode,
Experience, Empirical, Experiment | |||
| Communication, Action and History | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 542-543 | |
| Alan Dix; Roberta Mancini; Stefano Levialdi | |||
| At the opening Plenary of CHI 96, Herbert Clark challenged human-computer
interface design to emulate some of the graceful repair found in face-to-face
conversation. However, the dominant paradigm in recent user-interface design
has been one of action, not communication -- direct manipulation, not commands.
In day-to-day life we find the transition between the worlds of action and
communication problematic, so it is not surprising that we experience similar
problems in the computer world. Nowhere is this transition more marked than
when using undo -- we are forced to think about what we have just done --
breakdown. Keywords: Undo, History, Direct manipulation, Breakdown | |||
| Translation in HCI: Formal Representations for Work Analysis and Collaboration | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 544-545 | |
| Michael J. Muller | |||
| In a previous paper, I provided a foundation argument for translation as a
pivotal activity in analysis work in the fields of HCI, with profound
epistemological and ethical consequences. This technical note extends the
argument with a formal notation for translation work in HCI, with application
to work analysis and collaboration. Keywords: Task analysis, Systems analysis, Translation, Translator, Ethnocriticism,
Ethnocritical heuristics, Positionality | |||
| A Factor Analysis of User Cognition and Emotion | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 546-547 | |
| Judith Ramsay | |||
| Fifty two statements of cognition and emotion were gathered from computer
users during breakdowns in understanding during interaction. They were reduced
by factor analysis to a set of ten themes. The themes show the extent of
discomfort experienced during breakdowns. The themes now form the backbone of
a checklist of cognition and emotion, short enough in length to be administered
during interaction. This work forms a move towards understanding and
ultimately alleviating discomfort felt during human-computer interaction. Keywords: Cognition, Emotion, Factor Analysis, Human-computer interaction | |||
| Understanding Movement | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 548-549 | |
| Leslie Carlson Vaughan | |||
| Through abstract movement, we are able to communicate various emotional
content to users on the computer screen. This article examines movement in
Theatre and Psychology and how connotative values are associated with movement.
Through understanding the characteristics of movement and their various
effects, the designer may better understand the complexity and relationship
between movement and emotion. Keywords: Movement, Animation, Emotion, Affordance, Theatre | |||
| Supporting Knowledge Workers Beyond the Desktop with Palplates | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 550-551 | |
| Jennifer Mankoff; Bill N. Schilit | |||
| Palplates are a collection of touch-screen terminals placed around the
office enabling human-computer interactions at the point of need. Supporting a
community of mobile authenticated workers with a small number of stationary
devices is an alternative to providing each person with a portable wireless
computer. In contrast to the PC's desktop metaphor, Palplates use a place
metaphor that reflect the actual rooms, corridors, and buildings that are part
of the office place. Users interact graphically with applications supported by
a geographic database. The user interface is generated dynamically based on
the user's identity, the point-of-access, and the changing collection of
physical office equipment, electronic documents and applications present at any
given location. Keywords: Ubiquitous computing, Context-aware computing, Mirror worlds, Mobile
computing, Kiosk systems, MUDs | |||
| CyberDesk: Automated Integration of Desktop and Network Services | | BIBAK | HTML | PDF | 552-553 | |
| Andrew Wood; Anind Dey; Gregory D. Abowd | |||
| The CyberDesk project suggests a way to break the prevailing assumption in
personal computing that the user must search out ways to integrate behavior
between separate services. We present a technique and prototype system for
automatic integration of desktop applications and network services that
requires no effort by either the designer or the end-user. Keywords: Adaptive interfaces, Automated integration, Future computing environments,
Ubiquitous services | |||