| Multimodal Messages: The Pen and Voice Opportunity | | BIBAK | 1-25 | |
| Owen Daly-Jones; Andrew Monk; David Frohlich; Erik Geelhoed; Steve Loughran | |||
| Analyses of the costs and benefits of asynchronous communication, and the
complementary properties of writing and speech, are used to predict that
messages containing both writing and speech will be more communicative than
either medium alone. Two experimental studies of asynchronous messaging are
presented. Both experiments examine the use of pen-and-voice messages, that is
voice messages attached to 'scribbled', i.e., uninterpreted text. The control
conditions were voice messages alone, equivalent to an answerphone, and
scribbled messages alone, equivalent to a fax. In Experiment 1 the visual
component of the pen-and-voice messages was static, in Experiment 2 users could
record short 'movies' including speech and pen movements over a document
surface. Users showed a significant preference for the pen-and-voice messages
in both experiments. In Experiment 2 half the number of pen-and-voice messages
were required to achieve the same task performance as in the control
conditions. It is concluded that dynamic pen-and-voice messages have
considerable potential advantages over current single medium asynchronous
communication facilities such as fax, answerphone, voicemail and e-mail. Keywords: Human-computer interaction, Communication, Messaging | |||
| The Computer Science Education Crisis: Fact or Illusion? | | BIBAK | 27-45 | |
| Hyacinth S. Nwana | |||
| Some contemporary or relatively recent articles, studied together, seem to
suggest that computer science education is in a state of crisis. But, is it?
This article examines the arguments. My preliminary findings are that if you
examine the arguments from a positivist stance, you may well infer that there
is a crisis, but if you view them from a constructivist perspective, the crisis
becomes an illusion. The article concludes by setting a research question, the
outcome of which may establish more conclusively if the crisis is indeed true
or illusory. Keywords: Computer science, Positivism, Constructivism, Computer science education | |||
| Assessing the Cognitive Consequences of the Object-Oriented Approach: A Survey of Empirical Research on Object-Oriented Design by Individuals and Teams | | BIBAK | 47-72 | |
| Francoise Detienne | |||
| This paper presents a state-of-the-art review of empirical research on
object-oriented (OO) design. Many claims about the cognitive benefits of the OO
paradigm have been made by its advocates. These claims concern the ease of
designing and reusing software at the individual level as well as the benefits
of this paradigm at the team level. Since these claims are cognitive in
nature, it seems important to assess them empirically. After a brief
presentation of the main concepts of the OO paradigm, the claims about the
superiority of OO design are outlined.
The core of this paper consists of a review of empirical studies of OO design (OOD). We first discuss results concerning OOD by individuals. On the basis of empirical work, we (1) analyse the design activity of novice OO designers, (2) compare OOD with procedural design and (3) discuss a typology of problems relevant for the OO approach. Then we assess the claims about naturalness and ease of OOD. The next part discusses results on OO software reuse. On the basis of empirical work, we (1) compare reuse in the OO versus the procedural paradigm, (2) discuss the potential for OO software reuse and (3) analyse reuse activity in the OO paradigm. Then we assess claims on reusability. The final part reviews empirical work on OOD by teams. We present results on communication, coordination, knowledge discrimination and interactions with clients. Then we assess claims about OOD at the software design team level. In a general conclusion, we discuss the limitations of these studies and give some directions for future research. Keywords: OO Design, OO Reuse, Design strategies, Design organization, Typology of
problems, Psychology of programming | |||
| Supporting User-Adapted Interface Design: The USE-IT System | | BIBAK | 73-104 | |
| D. Akoumianakis; C. Stephanidis | |||
| This paper describes USE-IT, a knowledge-based tool for automating the
design of interactions at the physical level, so as to ensure accessibility of
the target user interface by different user groups, including people with
disabilities. To achieve this, USE-IT elicits, manipulates and interprets
representations of design knowledge in order to reason about, select and decide
upon lexical adaptation constituents of a user interface. Adaptation
constituents are attributes of abstract interaction object classes. USE-IT
generates a collection of adaptation rules (i.e. a lexical specification
scenario), based on design constraints generated from three basic knowledge
sources: (a) the user model, (b) the task schema, and (c) a set of platform
constraints (i.e. interaction objects, attributes, device availability, etc.).
A data structure called the adaptability model tree has been designed to (i)
facilitate the development of plausible semantics of adaptation at the lexical
level of interaction, (ii) allow unification of design constraints, and (iii)
enable selection of maximally preferred design options. The output of USE-IT
can be subsequently interpreted by the run-time libraries of a high-level user
interface development toolkit, which provides the required implementation
support for realizing the user-adapted interface on a target platform. Keywords: User interface adaptation, Design representation, Design assistance | |||
| Editorial Formality, Its Role in Bridging the Communication Gap between Humans and Computers | | BIB | 105-110 | |
| Jawed Siddiqi; Chris Roast | |||
| Human-Formalism Interaction: Studies in Communication through Formalism | | BIBAK | 111-128 | |
| Keith Stenning; Corin Gurr | |||
| A recurrent theme in studying the interaction between human and formalism is
the understanding of how people interact with representations in reasoning and
communication. In contrast to the best known theories, which approach the
question of the impact of representation upon reasoning through explanations in
terms of human computational architecture, we present here a more fundamental
approach. This approach separates the problem into two parts -- issues about
computational complexity arising from the nature of the semantic interpretation
(issues which are abstract with regard to architecture); and issues about how
human computational architecture in particular can be brought to bear on
different representations. On this view, for example, diagrams are often
logically inexpressive and this is why they lead to efficient inference.
This paper presents experiences in applying this semantic approach to the empirical study of modality assignment in three disparate domains: logic teaching, safety critical software engineering and the teaching of formality. We show how, in each of these cases, an account of the semantics of representations in simple formal terms permits the analysis and modelling of what would otherwise be incomprehensibly complicated behavioural phenomena. The results of these apparently diverse studies indicate that individual differences in what might be termed cognitive styles have a significant effect upon a humans use and understanding of various formalisms. This, we argue, is evidence that HCI researchers require a more analytical means to relate the cognitive and social sides of HCI than has previously been available. Furthermore, we also take the studies presented here as evidence that our approach is a substantial step towards providing such a means of analysis. Keywords: Cognitive science, HCI, Representation and reasoning, Teaching and learning,
Formal methods | |||
| Synergistic Modelling of Tasks, Users and Systems using Formal Specification Techniques | | BIBAK | 129-153 | |
| Philippe Palanque; Remi Bastide | |||
| This paper aims at clarifying the articulation between the task models and
system models encountered in CHI design practices. We demonstrate how the use
of a formal task model may enhance the design of interactive systems, by
providing quantitative results on which designers may base their decisions. We
also demonstrate that it is possible to describe both task and system models
within the same formal framework. This enables us firstly to formally prove
that task and system models comply with each other, and secondly to perform
quantitative analysis on the combination of task and system models. The
approach is illustrated by a toy example which, despite its small size, allows
us to develop both task and device models, and to perform several iterations of
the design process. The device and tasks are modelled using the Interactive
Cooperative Objects (ICO) formalism, which is based on Petri nets and on the
object-oriented approach. The formality of Petri nets allows for axiomatic
validation of isolated and interacting subsystems. Keywords: Interactive systems design, Task modelling, Performance evaluation, Formal
specification, Petri nets | |||
| Using the Template Model to Analyse Directory Visualisation | | BIBAK | 155-172 | |
| Chris Roast; Jawed Siddiqi | |||
| This article describes the template framework, a conceptual abstraction that
enables both system and user properties to be combined. The intended purpose
of the framework is illustrated through an example of applying it in the
assessment of a commercially available interface for visualising and managing a
directory service. The template framework is one technique for promoting the
recognition of human factors within formal system modelling. The framework
encourages the recognition and formalisation of system features that are
relevant to effective use. Through examining interaction and interface designs
in this way, assumptions about intended use, system design and user tasks can
be made explicit.
An informal description along with a partial formal development of the directory service and its interface is given, as well as an outline of the sort of tasks it may be expected to support. An analysis of the interface in terms of the adherence between its 'system provided view' and the 'user expected view' is carried out which is investigated in terms of a generic notion within the template model known as output correctness. The investigation focuses on determining the specification constraints required to satisfy output correctness and explores the implications of these constraints upon interface design. Keywords: Formal modelling, Usability requirements, Visualisation, Directory service | |||
| Formal Reasoning about Dialogue Properties with Automatic Support | | BIBAK | 173-196 | |
| Fabio Paterno | |||
| One of the advantages of using formal methods in the design of
human-computer interfaces is the possibility to reason about user interface
properties. Model checking techniques provide a useful support to this end.
This paper discusses the possibilities of verifying the properties of user
interfaces and related problems, such as when the dialogue specification has an
infinite number of states. We provide an example of a set of general user
interfaces properties, and we show how these properties can be tailored for
specific cases and thus be used as a framework to evaluate the design of the
interactive application considered. Keywords: User Interface properties, Formal methods for HCI, Dialogue model checking | |||
| Composition and Synthesis with a Formal Interactor Model | | BIBAK | 197-223 | |
| Panos Markopoulos; Jon Rowson; Peter Johnson | |||
| This paper discusses the formal specification of interactors, which are
primitive abstractions of user interface software, and focuses on the formal
aspects of their composition. The composition of interactors is discussed
formally in the framework of the Abstraction-Display-Controller (ADC)
interactor model. The ADC model has been defined as a LOTOS specification
template tailored for specifying user interface software. LOTOS behaviour
expressions combining instances of this template specify the composition of
interactors to model complex user interfaces. Synthesis is defined as a
transformation of these behaviour expressions which supports the generic
structure of the ADC model while preserving the meaning of the specified
behaviour. Further, the notion of abstract views of interactors is introduced.
It is shown how abstract views are themselves primitives for specifying complex
interface architectures. Keywords: User interface software, Formal specification, Interactors, Composition,
Transformations | |||
| Integrating Information -- A Task-Orientated Approach | | BIBAK | PDF | 225-240 | |
| Stella Mills | |||
| To date, there have been few attempts at integrating the increasing amounts
of information that are available to users of computer systems. Using
published literature, this paper collates some relevant principles (or
heuristics) for integrating information based on task orientation. These are
then applied to the electronic fishing aids in an in-shore fishing vessel's
wheelhouse with the purpose of reducing the number of screens used therein.
However, the application raises some issues; in particular that of the
designer's knowledge of the tasks so that unique information is not lost. Keywords: Information integration, Task analysis, Heuristics, Electronic fishing aids,
Fishing vessel's wheelhouse design | |||
| Moneypenny: Lessons from the Messy Desk | | BIBAK | PDF | 241-267 | |
| Adrian Williamson | |||
| In the context of personal information systems in the work place, a study of
the owners of messy desks identifies weaknesses in user's semantic memory
skills as the likely cause of this disorganisation. This results in working
patterns where material is stored in a disorganised fashion, and the subsequent
retrieval of items is therefore extremely difficult. Related problems with
forming plans are also identified. The universal browser is proposed as a
solution to the problem of retrieval for desktop computer technology. This
universal browser should allow the rapid examination of item contents within
the computer storage system, and consequently the need for user file names is
questioned. For planning, a general conceptual technique is proposed and one
implementation considered. The Systems investigation into desk usage and the
requirements elicitation for a personal information system is described and the
Moneypenny prototype used to elicit and evaluate worker needs is presented. It
is proposed that in producing interfaces to workplace computer technology that
a range of memory skills should be supported, and suitable categories are
suggested. The Online Journal is introduced as a solution to the requirements
identified in the study, offering benefits for organised and disorganised
workers alike. Keywords: Messy desk, Personal organisers, Piles, Heaps, Human-computer interaction,
Information retrieval, Browser, Planning, Mind maps, Online Journal | |||
| Editorial: Shared Values and Shared Interfaces: The Role of Culture in the Globalisation of Human-Computer Systems | | BIB | PDF | 269-274 | |
| D. L. Day | |||
| The Role of Cultural Fitness in User Resistance to Information Technology Tools | | BIBAK | PDF | 275-285 | |
| Renzo Gobbin | |||
| Human interactions with IT tools reproduce organizational cultural patterns
in evolutionary terms which are similar to those seen in the evolution of human
tools and language. This paper proposes that user adoption or rejection of new
IT tools is derived from the cultural fitness of the tools in the
organizational context rather than being close to the user's operational
adaptation. The hypothesis proposed here requires an understanding of the
correlation between language and tool use and an analysis of recent
multi-disciplinary research in tool-mediated activity, language and cognition.
Concepts of tool-mediated activity in a cultural context and their theoretical
implications for HCI are examined by using the fields of anthropology,
cognitive sciences and information technology. A comparative analysis of
empirical data using cultural parameters is performed showing the effects of
cultural fitness on the discretionary use of a new collaborative IT tool in an
organizational context. Keywords: Activity theory, Adaptive interfaces, System design, Culture, Adaptation | |||
| Meaning, The Central Issue in Cross-Cultural HCI Design | | BIBAK | PDF | 287-309 | |
| Paula Bourges-Waldegg; Stephen A. R. Scrivener | |||
| In this paper, we focus on the design of systems intended to be shared by
culturally heterogeneous users (e.g., users of Computer-Supported Co-operative
Work (CSCW) and Internet applications). We discuss the limitations of current
approaches to designing interfaces for culturally diverse users -- such as
internationalisation and localisation -- before describing a study conducted to
elicit and understand culturally determined usability problems, in which a
World-Wide Web (WWW) system was evaluated.
It is concluded that culturally determined usability problems converge in the understanding of representations the meanings of which are rooted in culturally specific contexts. We explain why existing approaches are inadequate for dealing with this issue. In conclusion, we outline an HCI approach, called Meaning in Mediated Action (MMA), designed to tackle this problem. Keywords: Culturalisation, Understanding, Representations, Meaning, Context | |||
| A Knowledge-Based Methodology for Supporting Multilingual and User-Tailored Interfaces | | BIBAK | PDF | 311-333 | |
| Evangelos A. Karkaletsis; Constantine D. Spyropoulos; George A. Vouros | |||
| The need for multilingual and user-tailored interfaces imposes new
requirements upon the software industry: software applications must "speak" the
language of users. Language engineering and knowledge engineering can assist
the development of such interfaces. This paper presents a methodology for the
creation of a language-independent knowledge base (KB), which can be used for
the development of multilingual and user-tailored interfaces. This KB contains
knowledge about the user interface components and functions and its creation is
part of a software internationalisation process. The methodology aims at
reducing the cost of setting up and managing this KB, by exploiting the
benefits of controlled language use in technical writing. A case study for the
dynamic generation of multilingual and user-tailored diagnostic messages is
presented. Finally, the paper discusses related approaches in the area of
multilinguality as well as in the area of software internationalisation and
localisation, summarises the main results, and presents our plans for further
exploitation of the methodology. Keywords: Knowledge bases, Software internationalisation, Software localisation,
Multilingual interfaces, User tailored interfaces, Natural language generation,
Message generation | |||
| Using the LUCID Method to Optimize the Acceptability of Shared Interfaces | | BIBAK | PDF | 335-345 | |
| Andy Smith; Lynne Dunckley | |||
| The Logical User Centred Interface Design (LUCID) method has been shown to
provide a development approach which is both user-centred and which, with
respect to selected usability criteria, leads to the identification of the
optimum interface. Previously published evidence has focused on factors
internal to the design of the interface itself. In this paper, the authors
show how Taguchi techniques for total quality management, which are integrated
within the method, can be extended to analyse external factors such as
diversity within the user groups of shared interfaces. Application of the
method to global, international and local interfaces is discussed. Keywords: Interface design, Total quality management, Shared interfaces, Taguchi | |||
| The Use of the Internet as a Research Tool: The Nature and Characteristics of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) amongst a Population of Users | | BIBAK | PDF | 349-365 | |
| Erin E. Michalak | |||
| Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a cyclical syndrome characterized by
recurrent episodes of autumn or winter depression and atypical depressive
symptoms. This paper describes the characteristics of an international sample
of 425 Internet users who responded to newsgroup advertisements seeking people
who experienced seasonal changes in mood and behaviour, and completed a
modified version of the Seasonal Patterns Assessment Questionnaire. The
relationship between SAD and latitude and the relatively novel use of the
Internet as a means of data collection are discussed, with emphasis upon the
theoretical, methodological and ethical issues encountered during such
research. Keywords: Internet, Research, Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) | |||
| The Role of Task Analysis in Capturing Requirements for Interface Design | | BIBAK | PDF | 367-384 | |
| Juliet Richardson; Thomas C. Ormerod; Andrew Shepherd | |||
| Recently, the role of task analysis in design has been brought into
question. It has been argued, for example, that task analysis leads to the
non-creative redesign of existing artefacts. In this paper, we offer a view of
task analysis that resolves this problem. In particular, we argue that by
focusing upon the analysis of user/operator goals rather than an existing task
implementation, task analysis encourages novel and apt design. A reformulation
of hierarchical task analysis is offered, based on the sub-goal template (SGT)
scheme. The SGT scheme provides a notation for goal-oriented task analysis and
defines an appropriate level at which task analyses can inform the design
process without constraining it to existing task implementations. The SGT
scheme is compared with the systems analysis-based design methodology SSADM and
the advantages of each approach are reviewed. Keywords: Analysis and design, Hierarchical task analysis, Process control,
Requirements specification, Interface design the SGT scheme, Systems | |||
| Investigation of Decision Making Process: A Hypermedia Approach | | BIBAK | PDF | 385-396 | |
| Manouchehr Tabatabai | |||
| Research in decision making has concentrated mainly on the decision outcome
(choice) rather than on the process of the decision making. This pattern is
primarily due to the lack of an acceptable unobtrusive tool for investigation
of the decision process. Further, the lack of a consistent decision aid in
empirical works has hindered the comparison of results. The purpose of this
paper is to present a flexible and adaptable computer-based system for
empirical examination of information processing. The main thrust of the
proposed system is to provide guidelines to the restrictive/channeling approach
to system design. This system can be easily modified to suit different
experimental research requirements. It should support more realistic decision
tasks, which often are criticized in decision experiments. Furthermore,
availability of this system should encourage more research work on the process
of decision making. The nature of this support system is linked to the
literature, and specifications and components of the system are provided. Keywords: Information processing, Process tracing methods, Interface design,
Information display, Data collection, Decision support systems | |||
| Editorial: Shared Values and Shared Interfaces 2: Preview and Current Research | | BIB | 397-400 | |
| Donald L. Day | |||
| An Abstract Framework for Globalising Interactive Systems | | BIBAK | PDF | 401-416 | |
| Kostas Stathis; Marek Sergot | |||
| We present an abstract framework for designing and developing globalised
interactive systems from simple components viewed as games [1] (K. Stathis,
M.J. Sergot, Games as a Metaphor for Interactive Systems, in: M.A. Sasse, R.J.
Cunningham, R.L. Winder (Eds.), People and Computers XI (Proceedings of
HCI'96), August 1996, London, UK, BCS Conference Series, Springer-Varlag, pp.
19-33). We identify a set of concepts required to specify and implement
interactions, in such a way whereby instantiating the specifications and
implementations of games we obtain components that correspond to localised
instances of an interactive system. Localisation is also obtained by either
customising the specification or the implementation of the interactive system,
or both. The framework also caters for complex interactive systems which are
interpreted as compound games built-up from sub-games. In this case,
coordination of sub-games is the main issue that we must address at the global
level. This is resolved by specifying and implementing sub-games as active
components of the more complex games, and, as a result, we localise the
coordination of components in the interactive system. The framework lends
itself towards a methodology that is suitable for globalising the development
of interactive systems. Keywords: Games, Interactive systems, Globalisation, Localisation, Coordination | |||
| Design of Icons for Use by Chinese in Mainland China | | BIBAK | PDF | 417-430 | |
| Yee-Yin Choong; Gavriel Salvendy | |||
| The objective of this study was to investigate the impacts of cultural
differences in cognitive abilities between the American and Chinese users on
their performance with icon displays. The goal was to provide insight for
software developers whose products might have potential Chinese users. The key
factor in this study was the presentation mode of icon displays, which could be
alphanumeric elements only, pictorial elements only, or a combined mode (both
elements). An experiment was conducted with 30 American and 30 Chinese
subjects. The subjects performed recognition tasks using different
presentation modes. Results indicate that for the American subjects there were
advantages to alphanumeric and combined modes, compared to the pictorial mode,
in terms of performance time and errors. For Chinese subjects, there were
advantages to pictorial and combined modes, compared with alphanumeric mode;
their initial error rate also was lower using a combined mode than when using
an alphanumeric one. Keywords: Internationalization, HCI, GUI, Icon design, Chinese users | |||
| Cross-Cultural and Cognitive Issues in the Implementation of New Technology: Focus on Group Support Systems and Bulgaria | | BIBAK | PDF | 431-447 | |
| Terri L. Griffith | |||
| Over 40 per cent of technology implementation attempts in the United States
(US) fail. These failures often are the result of human (rather than
technological) problems. The consequences of implementers installing in one
country equipment designed in another should be even more problematic and
ubiquitous, as technology designers continue to move into international
markets. A cognitive model of cross-cultural implementation is tested, using a
US-designed group support system (GSS) and groups of Bulgarian and US
university students. Bulgarians were expected to be less critical of the
technology due to cultural responses to power and authority (i.e., less likely
to challenge authority) and therefore less successful in adapting to the
technology. However, results suggest that the Bulgarian students may in fact
be more likely to challenge authority than their US counterparts. As
hypothesized, Power Distance mediates some of the effects between culture and
satisfaction with the GSS. Keywords: Bulgaria, United States, Cross-cultural, Group support systems, Technology
implementation, Power distance | |||
| Creating Global Software: A Conspectus and Review | | BIBAK | PDF | 449-465 | |
| Jane M. Carey | |||
| Ten books on the development of international software are reviewed and used
to develop a framework for the globalization of software. Most of the books
are written or edited by practitioners of global software development and
therefore are filled with practical knowledge and methodologies which can guide
the novice or even the experienced developer to first internationalize and then
localize software. The books span a six year time span, during which the
resources available to support the global software development effort have
expanded and standards have been established, resulting in reduced effort. This
conspectus starts with an introduction that includes several definitions,
spells out the issues of translation from one language to another,
localization, organization, culture, interface design, documentation, and
quality assurance, recommends approaches for development of micro-based
software for Macintosh and Windows environments, and ends with a unifying
summary. Keywords: Internationalization, Culture, Software, Global, Localization | |||