| Intelligence and interaction in community-based systems (Part 2) | | BIB | 1-3 | |
| Kostas Stathis; Patrick Purcell | |||
| Agent mediated retailing in the connected local community | | BIBAK | 5-32 | |
| Mark Witkowski; Brendan Neville; Jeremy Pitt | |||
| This paper reports on and discusses recent research into software agent
mediated retailing and considers how it may act as a catalyst to the formation
of local electronic retail communities. Each member of the e-retail community
has their own software agent that acts on their behalf. Their software agent
acts as an electronic personal sales assistant (ePSA), interacting with the
person and assisting with the selection and purchase of products. We consider
issues that arise when each person can express their likes and dislikes for
various aspects of the product range to their software agent, both in terms of
the software agent's ability to serve them better, and how such preferences may
be shared with others in the larger community to help them -- and others in the
community -- make better and more informed choices. The investigations reported
use the multimedia access through personal persistent agents (MAPPA) system, an
experimental kiosk based e-retail system. MAPPA integrates a software agent
based architecture, a novel form of product display and the use of an animated
character agent to enhance the user's sense of personalisation.
We report on user evaluation studies of the MAPPA system to investigate the effectiveness of the character agent as an interface to the e-retail system using both conventional usability evaluation techniques and eye-tracking technology. We also describe a simulation program that allows us to investigate the dynamics of e-retail community cohesion when a number of different parameters are considered, including the characteristics of the individual community members and the algorithms employed by the software agents to share information. Lastly, we develop and discuss notions of loyalty, trust, reputation and preference, four issues critical to the development and maintenance of the relationships between individual people, their personal software agents, businesses and the larger e-retail connected community. We propose these issues as 'supra-functional' criteria for human-computer interaction design in this area. Keywords: Connected communities; Loyalty; Trust; Preference; Software agents;
Electronic personal sales agents; Synthetic personae | |||
| Multi-agent systems support for Community-Based Learning | | BIBAK | 33-55 | |
| Yugyung Lee; Quddus Chong | |||
| Electronic distributed learning that overlooks the physical and geographic
status of learners has become a reality. Moreover, its quality has been
considerably improved by utilizing recent advances in web-based technology.
Various electronic learning support systems such as Internet-based tutorials
and Virtual Universities have appeared in different forms and reflect advances
in technology. However, there remains a huge barrier to support the shareable
and collaborative learning available through virtual communities. Our solution
to these problems was to develop an educational middleware, called the
Community-Based Learning (CoBL) framework whose goal is to: (a) adapt to the
diverse requirements of learners; (b) support shareable and collaborative
learning; and (c) be capable of facilitating distributed learning over the
Internet. The CoBL framework is based on: (1) agents to manage individual
learners and communities of learners; (2) a shared data model for integrating
heterogeneous communities; and (3) a component-oriented development approach.
We have implemented the CoBL prototype system and used it for community-based
learning. Keywords: Community-Based Learning; Adaptive and collaborative learning; Learning
middleware; Multi-agent; Shared data model; Component oriented development | |||
| Using conversational agents to support the adoption of knowledge sharing practices | | BIBAK | 57-89 | |
| Claudia Roda; Albert Angehrn; Thierry Nabeth; Liana Razmerita | |||
| In this paper, we present an agent-based system designed to support the
adoption of knowledge sharing practices within communities. The system is based
on a conceptual framework that, by modelling the adoption of knowledge
management practices as a change process, identifies the pedagogical strategies
best suited to support users through the various stages of the adoption
process. Learning knowledge management practices is seen as a continuous
process, taking place at individual and social level that includes the
acquisition of information, as well as the contextual use of the information
acquired.
The resulting community-based system provides each member of the community with an artificial personal change-management agent capable of guiding users in the acquisition and adoption of new knowledge sharing practices by activating personalised and contextualised intervention. Keywords: Software agents; Knowledge sharing; Virtual communities; Knowledge
management; Change management; User modelling | |||
| Adding cultural signposts in adaptive community-based virtual environments | | BIBAK | 91-107 | |
| Elaine M. Raybourn; Nicholas Kings; John Davies | |||
| This paper describes an experimental, adaptive community-based system, the
Forum, designed to facilitate communication where there are mutual concerns or
interests among virtual communities within or across organizations. Our
description of the Forum is presented from the perspective of user-centered
interaction design. The system consists of a WWW-based collaborative virtual
environment comprised of intelligent software agents that support explicit
information sharing, chance meetings, and real time informal communication. The
Forum provided the technological support for users to interact informally, but
lacked the social support necessary to motivate users to interact with
strangers in their community of practice. Context, or the reasons why two
persons might want to meet, was overlooked. We propose future directions for
the Forum including cultural signposts that provide contextual cues in the
intelligent community-based system to better support information sharing and
real time communication between strangers. The contribution of the present
paper is to provide lessons learned about design considerations from a series
of user trials over a period of one year for developing adaptive
community-based systems. Keywords: Adaptive; Community-based system; Information sharing; Culture; Intelligent
agents; Intercultural communication; Collaborative virtual environment;
Interaction design | |||
| Designing interactive interfaces: theoretical consideration of the complexity of standards and guidelines, and the difference between evolving and formalised systems | | BIBAK | 109-119 | |
| Irma Alm | |||
| To design an interactive interface with communicative ability is a highly
constrained, complex and difficult task. In the design process, a designer has
to consider numerous principles, standards, and guidelines. It is impossible
for a human being to consciously keep track of the interconnections between so
many variables, or to calculate all the consequences that may emerge from
putting all of the principles, standards, and guidelines together. This is
often demonstrated in interaction with complex systems such as control rooms,
surveillance systems, aeroplanes, especially when they display states
(patterns) with which the user is not familiar. This is where the problems
start. No artefact can display on its interface what has not been determined
beforehand. If they could, it would mean that designers had the ability to
predict all possible future states that the artefact may exhibit. As many
complex artefacts function in a dynamic environment, it is simply impossible.
There are two reasons why it is impossible to predict future states of a
complex system, and hence to design communicative interfaces in an intelligible
way. The first concerns the relationship between consciousness and the five
omnipresent mental factors: contact, feeling, discernment, intention and
attention. Secondly we note the essential difference between evolving and
formalised communication systems: formalised systems are incapable of handling
proliferating complexity, whereas proliferating complexity is a prerequisite
for human development. Even though people appreciate natural complexity, which
allows them to select and integrate information freely, they have difficulties
in handling formalised complexity, which requires particular kinds of
experience and logic. Hence, it is important to start a discussion about what
kinds of formalised systems we should design. If we want to control systems,
then they cannot be too complex, as we have difficulties coping with formalised
complexity. If we want to create truly flexible systems, then we have to skip
the control requirement. Keywords: Interactive interfaces; Evolving systems; Formalised systems; Complexity;
Situation awareness; Consciousness | |||
| The effects of movement of attractors and pictorial content of rewards on users' behaviour in virtual environments: an empirical study in the framework of perceptual opportunities | | BIBAK | 121-140 | |
| Clive Fencott; Paul van Schaik; Jonathan Ling; Mohammed Shafiullah | |||
| Technological developments in Virtual Reality (VR) appear to outpace
progress in design methodology of VR. The theory of Perceptual Opportunities
(POs) has previously been proposed as a basis of such a design methodology
(Blade and Padgett, 2002). This paper presents the first empirical study
investigating the effect of representation of POs on users' behaviour in
Virtual Environments (VEs). The current study has a methodological focus, using
POs as a framework and desktop VR as a experimental environment. The
application of an experimental paradigm is illustrated with two experiments.
Evidence was found for an effect of movement type on choice of objects in a
simple VE. Implications for VE design and the methodology of empirical research
in the framework of POs are discussed. Keywords: Virtual environments; Perceptual opportunities; Cognitive psychology; Design | |||
| Interaction design and children | | BIBAK | 141-149 | |
| Panos Markopoulos; Mathilde Bekker | |||
| This editorial paper introduces an emerging area for human-computer
interaction research, which concerns interaction design and children. To avoid
treating children as a homogeneous user group, it discusses some perspectives
on their development, their use of technology for entertainment and education
and, finally, how to involve children in the various stages of the design
process. Keywords: User-centred design; Children; Usability; Fun; User characteristics;
Technology | |||
| The International Children's Digital Library: viewing digital books online | | BIBAK | 151-167 | |
| Juan Pablo Hourcade; Benjamin B. Bederson; Allison Druin; Anne Rose; Allison Farber; Yoshifumi Takayama | |||
| Reading books plays an important role in children's cognitive and social
development. However, many children do not have access to diverse collections
of books due to the limited resources of their community libraries. We have
begun to address this issue by creating a large-scale digital archive of
children's books, the International Children's Digital Library (ICDL). In this
paper we discuss our initial efforts in building the ICDL, concentrating on the
design of innovative digital book readers. Keywords: Children; Digital libraries; Digital books; Cooperative inquiry; Book
readers | |||
| Using 'tangibles' to promote novel forms of playful learning | | BIBAK | 169-185 | |
| S. Price; Y. Rogers; M. Scaife; D. Stanton; H. Neale | |||
| Tangibles, in the form of physical artefacts that are electronically
augmented and enhanced to trigger various digital events to happen, have the
potential for providing innovative ways for children to play and learn, through
novel forms of interacting and discovering. They offer, in addition, the scope
for bringing playfulness back into learning. To this end, we designed an
adventure game, where pairs of children have to discover as much as they can
about a virtual imaginary creature called the Snark, through collaboratively
interacting with a suite of tangibles. Underlying the design of the tangibles
is a variety of transforms, which the children have to understand and reflect
upon in order to make the Snark come alive and show itself in a variety of
morphological and synaesthesic forms. The paper also reports on the findings of
a study of the Snark game and discusses what it means to be engrossed in
playful learning. Keywords: Children; Collaborative discovery; Interactive learning environments;
Interaction with tangibles pervasive computing; Playful learning | |||
| KidReporter: a user requirements gathering technique for designing with children | | BIBAK | 187-202 | |
| Mathilde Bekker; Julie Beusmans; David Keyson; Peter Lloyd | |||
| This paper describes a design method, novel to the domain of interaction
design, for gathering user requirements from children called the KidReporter
method. The KidReporter method was chosen and further refined based on
assumptions about User-Centred Design. The method was considered to be suitable
and appealing for children in terms of participating in design. Two school
classes participated in making a newspaper about a zoo, to gather requirements
for the design process of an interactive educational game. The educational game
was developed to educate children about animals while walking through a zoo.
The KidReporter method's main strengths are that it combines many techniques
for eliciting information from children, such as interviews, drawing and making
pictures. In this paper we describe how the KidReporter method was applied, in
what manner it was successful and what we would do differently next time. Keywords: Children; Requirements; Educational games; User-centred design; Case study | |||
| Using peer tutoring in evaluating the usability of a physically interactive computer game with children | | BIBAK | 203-225 | |
| Johanna Hoysniemi; Perttu HAamalainen; Laura Turkki | |||
| This paper presents a novel approach to usability evaluation with children
called peer tutoring. Peer tutoring means that children teach other children to
use the software that is evaluated. The basic philosophy behind this is to view
software as a part of child's play, so that the teaching process is analogous
to explaining the rules of a game such as hide and seek. If the software is
easy to teach and learn, it is more likely that the amount of users increases
in a social setting such as a school. The peer tutoring approach provides
information about teachability and learnability of software and it also
promotes communication in the test situation, compared to a test person
communicating with an adult instructor. The approach has been applied to the
development of a perceptually interactive user interface in QuiQui's Giant
Bounce, a physically and vocally interactive computer game for 4-9 year old
children. The results and experiences of using peer tutoring are promising and
it has proved to be effective in detecting usability flaws and in improving the
design of the game. Keywords: Children; Usability evaluation; Methodology; Peer tutoring; Perceptual user
interface; Physical interaction | |||
| On the assessment of usability testing methods for children | | BIBAK | 227-243 | |
| Panos Markopoulos; Mathilde Bekker | |||
| The paper motivates the need to acquire methodological knowledge for
involving children as test users in usability testing. It introduces a
methodological framework for delineating comparative assessments of usability
testing methods for children participants. This framework consists in three
dimensions: (1) assessment criteria for usability testing methods, (2)
characteristics describing usability testing methods and, finally, (3)
characteristics of children that may impact upon the process and the result of
usability testing. Two comparative studies are discussed in the context of this
framework along with implications for future research. Keywords: Usability testing; Children; Comparative studies; User-centred design;
Framework | |||
| Symbiosis and synergy? scenarios, task analysis and reuse of HCI knowledge | | BIBAK | 245-263 | |
| Alistair Sutcliffe | |||
| This paper follows the scenarios and task models debate by reviewing the
contributions of task modelling and scenario based approaches from a cognitive
perspective. A framework of cognitive affordances is introduced to discuss the
merits and limitations of each approach. An extension of the modelling theme,
generic task models, is proposed to augment the contribution of knowledge reuse
to the design process. The paper concludes by discussing how scenario based
design might complement task analysis and reuse of task based knowledge. Keywords: Scenarios; Task analysis; Cognitive affordances; Generic models; Knowledge
reuse; Design process | |||
| Exploring the potential of unobtrusive proactive task support | | BIBAK | 265-288 | |
| Ji-Ye Mao; Y. W. Leung | |||
| This research concerns how to make task-related online resources accessible
to users in a convenient manner in the context of work. It explores the
potential of proactive but relatively unobtrusive task support: based on task
progress, advice is displayed in separate and persistently present advice
windows side-by-side to the Task Window, and the display is updated
intermittently. The proposed approach is illustrated with a prototype,
Telephone Triage Assistant (TTA), for supporting junior nurses' triage task.
The usefulness and usability of TTA were assessed based on the results of an
exploratory study at a medical call centre. Results show that subjects seemed
to have spent a significant portion of the task time on TTA, and felt mostly
positive about TTA. There was also a great deal of overlap between subjects'
line of questioning and advice from TTA. Keywords: System-initiated help; Proactive task support; Accessibility of online
resources | |||
| A Unifying Reference Framework for multi-target user interfaces | | BIBAK | 289-308 | |
| Gaelle Calvary; Joelle Coutaz; David Thevenin; Quentin Limbourg; Laurent Bouillon; Jean Vanderdonckt | |||
| This paper describes a framework that serves as a reference for classifying
user interfaces supporting multiple targets, or multiple contexts of use in the
field of context-aware computing. In this framework, a context of use is
decomposed into three facets: the end users of the interactive system, the
hardware and software computing platform with which the users have to carry out
their interactive tasks and the physical environment where they are working.
Therefore, a context-sensitive user interface is a user interface that exhibits
some capability to be aware of the context (context awareness) and to react to
changes of this context. This paper attempts to provide a unified understanding
of context-sensitive user interfaces rather than a prescription of various ways
or methods of tackling different steps of development. Rather, the framework
structures the development life cycle into four levels of abstraction: task and
concepts, abstract user interface, concrete user interface and final user
interface. These levels are structured with a relationship of reification going
from an abstract level to a concrete one and a relationship of abstraction
going from a concrete level to an abstract one. Most methods and tools can be
more clearly understood and compared relative to each other against the levels
of this framework. In addition, the framework expresses when, where and how a
change of context is considered and supported in the context-sensitive user
interface thanks to a relationship of translation. In the field of multi-target
user interfaces is also introduced, defined, and exemplified the notion of
plastic user interfaces. These user interfaces support some adaptation to
changes of the context of use while preserving a predefined set of usability
properties. Keywords: Context-aware computing; Context of use; Context-sensitive user interfaces;
Model-based approach, Multi-platform user interfaces; Multi-target user
interfaces; Plasticity of user interfaces | |||
| A tool-supported design framework for safety critical interactive systems | | BIBAK | 309-328 | |
| Remi Bastide; David Navarre; Philippe Palanque | |||
| This paper presents a design framework for safety critical interactive
systems, based on a formal description technique called the ICO (Interactive
Cooperative Object) formalism. ICO allows for describing, in a formal way, all
the components of highly interactive (also called post-WIMP) applications. The
framework is supported by a case tool called PetShop allowing for editing,
verifying and executing the formal models. The first section describes why such
user interfaces are challenging for most description techniques, as well as the
state of the art in this field. Section 3 presents a development process
dedicated to the framework. Then, we use a case study in order to recall the
basic concepts of the ICO formalism and the recent extensions added in order to
take into account post-WIMP interfaces' specificities. Section 5 presents the
case tool PetShop and how the case study presented in the previous section has
been dealt with. Lastly, we show how PetShop can be used for interactive
prototyping. Keywords: Interactive cooperative object; Interface; PetShop | |||
| Runtime transformations for modal independent user interface migration | | BIBAK | 329-347 | |
| Kris Luyten; Tom Van Laerhoven; Karin Coninx; Frank Van Reeth | |||
| The usage of computing systems has evolved dramatically over the last years.
Starting from a low level procedural usage, in which a process for executing
one or several tasks is carried out, computers now tend to be used in a problem
oriented way. Future computer usage will be more centered around particular
services, and will not be focused on platforms or applications. These services
should be independent of the technology used to interact with them. In this
paper an approach will be presented which provides a uniform interface to such
services, without any dependence on modality, platform or programming language.
Through the usage of general user interface descriptions, presented in XML, and
converted using XSLT, a uniform framework is presented for runtime migration of
user interfaces. As a consequence, future services will become easily
extensible for all kinds of devices and modalities. Special attention goes out
to a component-based software development approach. Services represented by and
grouped in components can offer a special interface for modal- and
device-independent rendering. Components become responsible for describing
their own possibilities and constraints for interacting. An implementation
serving as a proof of concept, a runtime conversion of a joystick in a 3D
virtual environment into a 2D dialog-based user interface, is developed. Keywords: User interface descriptions; Human-computer interaction; Extensible markup
language; Extensible language transformation stylesheets | |||
| A unified method for designing interactive systems adaptable to mobile and stationary platforms | | BIBAK | 349-366 | |
| Fabio Paterno; Carmen Santoro | |||
| The wide variety of devices currently available, which is bound to increase
in the coming years, poses a number of issues for the design cycle of
interactive software applications. Model-based approaches can provide useful
support in addressing this new challenge. In this paper we present and discuss
a method for the design of nomadic applications showing how the use of models
can support their design. The aim is to enable each interaction device to
support the appropriate tasks users expect to perform and designers to develop
the various device-specific application modules in a consistent manner. Keywords: Model-based design; Multi-platform interactive systems; Context of use | |||
| Implementation of automated interaction design with collaborative models | | BIBAK | 367-385 | |
| Robin R. Penner; Erik S. Steinmetz | |||
| This paper summarizes the current status of an ongoing research program to
explore automated alternatives to the current manual method of designing,
implementing, and delivering user interfaces to complex digital control
systems. Using examples from two implementations of the model-based interface
automation approach that resulted from this research, we explore the models and
collaboration required to perform on-demand user interface design. We first
discuss the need for automation of the user interface design process and place
the work into a research context. Using examples from two implemented systems,
we then review the object-oriented models and processes that we used to support
interaction design automation. Our findings support the application of
model-based automated design approaches in digital control system domains, and
particularly emphasize the need for rich semantic support for automated design. Keywords: User interface design; Interaction design; Model-based automation;
Interaction design automation | |||
| Hidden messages: evaluating the efficiency of code elision in program navigation | | BIBAK | 387-407 | |
| Andy Cockburn; Matthew Smith | |||
| Text elision is a user interface technique that aims to improve the
efficiency of navigating through information by allowing regions of text to be
'folded' into and out of the display. Several researchers have argued that
elision interfaces are particularly suited to source code editing because they
allow programmers to focus on relevant code regions while suppressing the
display of irrelevant information. Elision features are now appearing in
commercial systems for software development. There is, however, a lack of
empirical evidence of the technique's efficiency. This paper presents an
empirical evaluation of source code elision using a Java program editor. The
evaluation compared a normal 'flat text' editor with two versions that
diminished elided text to levels that were 'just legible' and 'illegible'.
Performance was recorded in four tasks involving navigation through programs.
Results show that programmers were able to complete their tasks more rapidly
when using the elision interfaces, particularly in larger program files.
Although several participants indicated a preference for the just legible
elision interface, performance was best with illegible elision. Keywords: Text elision; Program navigation and visualisation; Fisheye views;
Scrolling; User interface evaluation | |||
| What was I looking for? The influence of task specificity and prior knowledge on students' search strategies in hypertext | | BIBAK | 409-428 | |
| Jean-Francois Rouet | |||
| This study investigated the influence of task specificity and prior
knowledge on university students' search strategies and incidental learning of
a hypertext structure. Psychology and geography students were asked to search a
hierarchical hypertext from each domain in order to answer four content-related
questions. Question specificity (single vs. multiple target questions) was
manipulated. Search time and search patterns showed a limited influence of
discipline expertise on students' search strategies. However, strategies were
consistent within question types and participants. Moreover, participants had a
better incidental memory for the structure of the document in their specialty.
The results support a model of document search as a generalized process with a
limited influence of domain-related knowledge. Keywords: Domain knowledge; Hypertext; Information search; Question answering;
Strategy | |||
| What is this evasive beast we call user satisfaction? | | BIBAK | 429-452 | |
| Gitte Lindgaard; Cathy Dudek | |||
| The notion of 'user satisfaction' plays a prominent role in HCI, yet it
remains evasive. This exploratory study reports three experiments from an
ongoing research program. In this program we aim to uncover (1) what user
satisfaction is, (2) whether it is primarily determined by user expectations or
by the interactive experience, (3) how user satisfaction may be related to
perceived usability, and (4) the extent to which satisfaction rating scales
capture the same interface qualities as uncovered in self-reports of
interactive experiences. In all three experiments reported here user
satisfaction was found to be a complex construct comprising several concepts,
the distribution of which varied with the nature of the experience.
Expectations were found to play an important role in the way users approached a
browsing task. Satisfaction and perceived usability was assessed using two
methods: scores derived from unstructured interviews and from the Web site
Analysis MeasureMent Inventory (WAMMI) rating scales. Scores on these two
instruments were somewhat similar, but conclusions drawn across all three
experiments differed in terms of satisfaction ratings, suggesting that rating
scales and interview statements may tap different interface qualities. Recent
research suggests that 'beauty', or 'appeal' is linked to perceived usability
so that what is 'beautiful' is also perceived to be usable [Interacting with
Computers 13 (2000) 127]. This was true in one experiment here using a web site
high in perceived usability and appeal. However, using a site with high appeal
but very low in perceived usability yielded very high satisfaction, but low
perceived usability scores, suggesting that what is 'beautiful' need not also
be perceived to be usable. The results suggest that web designers may need to
pay attention to both visual appeal and usability. Keywords: User satisfaction; Web site analysis measurement inventory; Usability;
Expectation; Aesthetics; Emotion | |||
| Integrating work environment considerations into usability evaluation methods -- the ADA approach | | BIBAK | 453-471 | |
| Carl Aborg; Bengt Sandblad; Jan Gulliksen; Magnus Lif | |||
| The ADA-method is an attempt to integrate work environment issues into a
usability evaluation method. The intention is to provide a method that can be
used for the analysis of computer systems that are used by skilled
professionals as a major part of their work.
An ADA-analysis is performed as a semi-structured observation interview. The objectives of the ADA-method are (1) to identify usability and cognitive work environment problems in a computer supported work situation, and (2) to be a basis for further analysis and discussions concerning improvements of the system. The method was designed to suit the needs of occupational health specialists as a complement to their traditional methods for investigating physical and psychosocial work environments. However, the method has a more general applicability as it can be taught to any usability expert to facilitate work environment considerations in their analysis and evaluation work. Furthermore, the paper reports on the use of the method in several different settings and the results thereof. Keywords: Usability evaluation; Work environment; Health and safety; Occupational
health | |||
| Understanding interaction with mobile devices | | BIBAK | 473-478 | |
| Fabio Paterno | |||
| This editorial paper introduces an emerging and important area for
human-computer interaction research, which concerns interaction with mobile
devices. The design of interactive mobile applications should differ from that
of traditional desktop applications. To this aim, the paper discusses some
concepts and models that help to understand the new challenges as well as
recently introduced techniques that can be useful for exploiting the
characteristics of these devices. Lastly, tool support for the design of
nomadic applications is considered, taking into account the potential contexts
of use, with particular attention to the platform features. Keywords: Human-computer interaction with mobile devices; Multi-platform applications;
Context of use | |||
| Improving web search on small screen devices | | BIBAK | 479-495 | |
| Matt Jones; George Buchanan; Harold Thimbleby | |||
| Small handheld devices -- mobile phones, Pocket PCs etc. -- are increasingly
being used to access the web. Search engines are the most used web services and
are an important factor of user support. Search engine providers have begun to
offer their services on the small screen. This paper presents a detailed
evaluation of the how easy to use such services are in these new contexts. An
experiment was carried out to compare users' abilities to complete search tasks
using a mobile phone-sized, handheld computer-sized and conventional, desktop
interface to the full Google index. With all three interfaces, when users
succeed in completing a task, they do so quickly (within 2-3 min) and using few
interactions with the search engine. When they fail, though, they fail badly.
The paper examines the causes of failures in small screen searching and
proposes guidelines for improving these interfaces. In addition, we present and
discuss novel interaction schemes that put these guidelines into practice. Keywords: Search; Interfaces; Evaluation; Design; Mobile computing | |||
| ASUR++: Supporting the design of mobile mixed systems | | BIBAK | 497-520 | |
| Emmanuel Dubois; Philip Gray; Laurence Nigay | |||
| In this paper we present ASUR++, a notation for describing, and reasoning
about the design of, mobile interactive computer systems that combine physical
and digital objects and information: mobile mixed systems. ASUR++ helps a
designer to specify the key characteristics of such systems and to focus on the
relationship between physical objects and actions and digital information
exchanges. Following a brief introduction to the notation, we illustrate its
potential usefulness via examples based on the design of an augmented museum
gallery. We conclude with a consideration of the integration of ASUR++ into the
system development process and its augmentation via associated methods and
tools. Keywords: ASUR++ design notation; Design method; Mobile augmented reality systems;
Ergonomic analysis | |||
| Adapting applications in handheld devices using fuzzy context information | | BIBAK | 521-538 | |
| Jani Mantyjarvi; Tapio Seppanen | |||
| Context-aware devices are able to take advantage of fusing sensory and
application specific information to provide proper information on a situation,
for more flexible services, and adaptive user interfaces (UI). It is
characteristic for handheld devices and their users that they are continuously
moving in several simultaneous fuzzy contexts. The dynamic environment sets
special requirements for usability and acceptance of context-aware
applications. Context-aware applications must be able to operate sensibly even
if the context recognition is not 100% reliable and there are multiple contexts
present at the same time. We present an approach for controlling context-aware
applications in the case of multiple fuzzy contexts. This work has several
potential applications in the area of adaptive UI application control. Our
study is focused on the adaptation of applications representing information in
handheld devices. The design of controllers and experiments with real context
data from user scenarios are presented. Experimental results show that the
proposed approach enhances the capability of adapting information
representation in a handheld device. User reactions indicate that they accept
application adaptation in many situations while insisting on retaining the most
control over their device. Moreover, user feedback indicates that abrupt
adaptations and instability should be avoided in the application control. Keywords: Context aware computing; Context recognition; Mobile devices | |||
| Towards an improved readability on mobile devices: evaluating adaptive rapid serial visual presentation | | BIBAK | 539-558 | |
| Gustav Oquist; Mikael Goldstein | |||
| Can readability on small screens be improved by using adaptive Rapid Serial
Visual Presentation (RSVP) that adapts the presentation speed to the
characteristics of the text instead of keeping it fixed? In this paper we
introduce Adaptive RSVP, describe the design of a prototype on a mobile device,
and report findings from a usability evaluation where the ability to read long
and short texts was assessed. In a latin-square balanced repeated-measurement
experiment, employing 16 subjects, two variants of Adaptive RSVP were
benchmarked against Fixed RSVP and traditional text presentation. For short
texts, all RSVP formats increased reading speed by 33% with no significant
differences in comprehension or task load. For long texts, no differences were
found in reading speed or comprehension, but all RSVP formats increased task
load significantly. Nevertheless, Adaptive RSVP decreased task load ratings for
most factors compared to Fixed RSVP. Causes, implications, and effects of these
findings are discussed. Keywords: Mobile usability; Small screens; Readability; Adaptive user interfaces;
Dynamic text presentation; Rapid Serial Visual Presentation | |||
| Personal location agent for communicating entities (PLACE) | | BIBAK | 559-576 | |
| Justin Lin; Robert Laddaga; Hirohisa Naito | |||
| Traditionally, location systems have been built bottom-up beginning with
low-level sensors and adding layers up to high-level context. Consequently,
they have focused on a single location-detection technology. With sharing of
user location in mind, we created Personal Location Agent for Communicating
Entities (PLACE), an infrastructure that incorporates multiple location
technologies for the purpose of establishing user location with better
coverage, at varying granularities, and with better accuracy. PLACE supports
sensor fusion and access control using a common versatile language to describe
user locations in a common universe. It's design provides an alternative
approach to location systems and insight into the general problem of sharing
user location information. Keywords: Relation-map; Sharing location; Context; Sensor fusion; Access control;
Patient tracker | |||
| Investigating the usability of assistive user interfaces | | BIBAK | 577-602 | |
| Alistair Sutcliffe; Steve Fickas; McKay Moore Sohlberg; Laurie A. Ehlhardt | |||
| A prototype e-mail system was developed for cognitively disabled users, with
four different interfaces (free format, idea prompt, form fill and menu
driven). The interfaces differed in the level of support provided for the user
and complexity of facilities for composing e-mail messages. Usability
evaluation demonstrated that no one interface was superior because of
individual differences in usability problems, although the majority of users
preferred interfaces which did not restrict their freedom of expression (free
format). In contrast to traditional evaluation studies, no common pattern of
usability errors emerged, demonstrating the need for customisation of
interfaces for individual cognitively disabled users. A framework for
customising user interfaces to individual users is proposed, and usability
principles derived from the study are expressed as claims following the task
artefact cycle. Keywords: Usability evaluation; Cognitive impairment; Assistive technology; Customised
interfaces; Claims | |||
| Comparing mouse and steady-state visual evoked response-based control | | BIBK | 603-621 | |
| Keith S. Jones; Matthew Middendorf; Grant R. McMillan; Gloria Calhoun; Joel Warm | |||
Keywords: Alternative control; EEG-based control; SSVER-based control; Input devices | |||
| | BIBA | |||
| Future computers will be more mobile, which will require new interaction methods. Accordingly, one might harness electroencephalographic (EEG) activity for computer control. Such devices exist, but all have limitations. Therefore, a novel EEG-based control was tested, which monitors the Steady-State Visual Evoked Response (SSVER). Selections are attempted by fixating a flickering target. A selection occurs if a SSVER is detected. To assess the device's relative performance, a mouse and the SSVER-based control were used to acquire targets of various sizes and distances. Accuracy and speed were measured. Overall, accuracy was poorer and acquisition times were longer with the SSVER-based control. However, the performance levels attained by the SSVER-based control might be adequate when manual controls are problematic, such as in assistive technology applications. In addition, in contrast to the mouse, SSVER-based acquisition times were insensitive to variations in target distance, which might serve as an operational advantage in certain applications. | |||
| Why usability gets lost or usability in in-house software development | | BIBAK | 623-639 | |
| Inger Boivie; Carl Aborg; Jenny Persson; Mats Lofberg | |||
| This study tries to shed some light on what happens to usability and
occupational health issues in a bespoke software development project. Usability
is an essential quality in software, in particular in a work context where poor
usability and other risk factors related to the software and computers may
cause health problems. We have interviewed a number of software developers,
usability people and users about their attitudes to and practices for
integrating usability and users' health concerns in software development. The
interviews were conducted in two Swedish organisations with in-house
development of bespoke software. Our main conclusion is that several factors
combine to push usability and occupational health matters aside, some of which
are attitudes to usability and users' health issues, unclear responsibilities,
poor support for user-centeredness and usability in software development
models, ineffective user participation and usability and users' health being
ignored or forgotten in decisions about the software, its use and its design. Keywords: Usability; Occupational health; Software development process; User-centred
design; Computer-supported work; Visual display unit work | |||
| From artefact to instrument | | BIB | 641-645 | |
| Pierre Rabardel | |||
| Appropriating artifacts as instruments: when design-for-use meets design-in-use | | BIBAK | 647-663 | |
| Viviane Folcher | |||
| This article discusses the use of artifacts as an instrument-mediated
activity based on a field study in a call center specialized in networks and
telecommunications. In this work setting, operators have access to a
knowledge-sharing database, which is designed to support the collective
elaboration of individual knowledge diffused on hot-lines in an instrument as a
means for the collective activity. We characterize this situation along two
interrelated analytical dimensions:
* the design-in-use process by analyzing operators' activities: hot-line
assistance and knowledge base appropriation; * the design-for-use process by analyzing the design assumptions inscribed in the artifact developed by designers. Main results showed that the experts' dialogue-conducting strategies are based on the intrinsic complexity of the questions. The problems are co-elaborated in the course of action by the expert and the caller and constituted as a domain of problems organized by one or more specific problems. This progressive elaboration aims at elucidating the problem situation implicitly contained in the initial request. Two individual instruments were developed within the shared database. Both of them showed transformation of the artifact structure. Moreover, a relation between the organized forms of hot-line assistance activity and the forms and functions of the instruments designed is identified: it may be fully or partially reciprocally congruent. These empirical results are discussed while opposing the 'design-in-use' criteria developed by operators to the 'design-for-use' criteria built up by the actors of institutional design. In conclusion, we emphasize points to consider in order to support further reflection on relations between use and design in an anthropocentric perspective. Keywords: Instrumented-mediated activity; Hot-line assistance; Design-for-use;
Design-in-use; Instrumental genesis | |||
| From computer to instrument system: a developmental perspective | | BIBAK | 665-691 | |
| Pierre Rabardel; Gaetan Bourmaud | |||
| Studies working within an activity theory frame have opened different paths
in the HCI field. One of the fundamental points of these approaches focussed on
activity is consideration of the constructive dimensions of the user's
activity. Several authors have identified the complex relations between usage
and design (Winograd and Flores, 1986; Suchman and Trigg, 1991) beyond this,
that design continues in usage (Rabardel, 1995, 2002; Henderson and Kyng, 1991;
Vicente, 1999).
The approach that we put forward contributes to the development of this question: the continuation of design in usage. Based on an empirical situation (managing the maintenance of a broadcasting network for radio, television and telecommunications), we define the mediated activity. We look at the mediator and suggest conceptualizing it as a mixed functional entity: the instrument. We examine the emergence and development modalities of instruments during processes of instrumental genesis. We also show that instruments are components in more general systems that integrate and go beyond them: instruments systems. Keywords: Activity theory; Mediated activity; Design in usage; Instrument;
Instrumental genesis; Instruments systems | |||
| Information technology artefacts as structuring devices in organizations: design, appropriation and use issues | | BIBAK | 693-707 | |
| Giovanni Masino; Marco Zamarian | |||
| In this paper we outline a theoretical framework to interpret the complex
relationships between organizational processes and artefacts. Artefacts are
conceived as negotiated, embedded, and sedimented sets of rules. The effects of
the introduction of a certain artefact are therefore non-deterministic, and
depend on the interaction between different decisions located at different
analytical levels. More specifically, they depend on the combination of design,
adoption and use choices. This combination is not linear, as there are feedback
loops and mutual relationships between the different decisions processes. It
can happen that the same individual, or the same organizational unit, is
involved in different processes at different times or even at the same time.
Thus, artefacts are, at the same time, both the outcome and the enacting input
of such relationships.
As outcomes, artefacts can be seen as vessels carrying the rules influencing users' behavior. As inputs, artefacts can be seen as the devices through which different sources of rationality generate new rules or change the existing ones through interactions and negotiations. Keywords: Artefacts; Decision processes; Rules; Negotiation; Structuration | |||
| Design as a mutual learning process between users and designers | | BIBAK | 709-730 | |
| Pascal Beguin | |||
| In the instrument-mediated activity approach, it is argued that artifacts
are far from being finished when the final technical specifications leave the
research and design office. It is up to the user, in and through its use, to
turn the artifact into an instrument. If the design process continues as the
artifact is being used in real situations, then how can we conceptualize the
design process? This article proposes an understanding of project management as
a mutual learning process that takes place during exchanges of activity. After
discussing how such activity exchanges can be extended to mutual learning among
users and designers, a concrete case is presented to illustrate the approach:
designing an alarm system to guard against chemical runaways in chemical
plants. Keywords: Participatory design; Instrumental genesis; Appropriation; Dialogicality;
World | |||
| Editorial | | BIB | 731-735 | |
| Yvonne Wærn | |||
| Collaborating with writing tools: An instrumental perspective on the problem of computer-supported collaborative activities | | BIBA | 737-757 | |
| Teresa Cerratto Pargman | |||
| This paper presents an analysis of the modifications that a synchronous computer support for collaborative writing introduces into the organization of co-authors' writing. The analysis is grounded in case studies of different groups of co-authors writing a report together face to face and at a distance through a collaborative writing computer system. Drawing from these studies I suggest that the problems with using a collaborative writing computer system to provide a fully collaborative writing environment derive from underlying assumptions concerning collaboration within the co-authoring activity. I point out that a more thorough understanding of how co-authors organize their writing can provide resources to envisage more radical solutions to the problem of computer support for collaboration. I conclude by considering ways that might be adequate to reconfigure collaborative writing systems in order to provide more satisfactory support for collaboration in writing environments. | |||
| Appropriating the use of a Moo for collaborative learning | | BIBAK | 759-781 | |
| Teresa Cerratto Pargman; Yvonne Wærn | |||
| The study presents an analysis of the activities of professional teachers
while they use a text-based computer-mediated communication system called a
Moo. The teachers, who are geographically distributed, attend a professional
training course in education and information technology. The focus is on the
appropriation process with regard to using the artifact within their learning
and teaching activity. In order to analyze this process, participants'
text-based communication was logged and the data was treated both
quantitatively and qualitatively. We found that interaction through the
artifact brings a modification in the organization of the classroom discourse
and in particular in the teachers' communication schemes. We observed that the
teachers-as-students attending the online training used the artifact mainly for
the establishment and maintenance of relationships. They appropriated the
features of the artifact that allowed them to 'talk' and exchange personal
experiences rather easily. They did not however, elaborate online information
shared with the others. Keywords: Moo; Collaborative learning; Instrumental genesis; Schemes; Artefact;
Instrument; Use; Text-based discussions | |||
| From artifact to instrument: mathematics teaching mediated by symbolic calculators | | BIBA | 783-800 | |
| Luc Trouche | |||
| The evolution of calculation tools available for the learning of mathematics has been quick and profound. After the first illusions on a naturally positive integration of these tools, new theoretical approaches have emerged. They take into account individual and social processes of the mathematical instrument construction from a given artifact. In this article we show how analyzing constraints of the tool allows the understanding of its influence on the knowledge construction. We propose the concept of instrumental orchestration to design different devices which may be built in class and thus strengthen the socialized part of the instrumental genesis: instrumental orchestration is defined by objectives, configuration and exploitation modes. It acts at the same time on the artifact, on the subject, on the relationship the subject has with the artifact and on the way the subject considers this relation.Mathematical instrument; Instrumental genesis; Instrumental orchestration; Constraints of a tool; Scheme; Theorem-in-action | |||
| Mediating effects of active and distributed instruments on narrative activities | | BIBAK | 801-830 | |
| Francoise Decortis; Antonio Rizzo; Berthe Saudelli | |||
| This paper discusses the effects of introducing new distributed and active
instruments on narrative activities in a school environment. We address the
issue of how the Pogo instruments change children's activity when they invent
stories. The results enable us to compare the way the activity is carried out,
both in its conventional context and with the Pogo instruments, mainly along
three main lines of investigation: the collective dimension, the use of space
and the structure of the narrative. The results also show that using the
instruments increase the collective or group dimension of the creative process,
particularly the role diversification and participation of the children. These
instruments support children's efforts to structure narratives and thereby
produce richer stories.
This research was carried out within the Pogo Project by a multidisciplinary team that included interactive design and user-centered approaches within the EC I3 programme on 'Exploring New Learning Futures for Children'. Keywords: Distributed instruments; Mediation; Narrative activity; Collective creation | |||
| Learning with artefacts: integrating technologies into activities | | BIB | 831-836 | |
| Victor Kaptelinin | |||