| Guest Editors' Introduction | | BIB | Full-Text | 1-2 | |
| Alistair Sutcliffe; Ann Blandford | |||
| Conceptualizing a possible discipline of human-computer interaction | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 3-12 | |
| John M. Carroll | |||
| This essay is a personal reflection on John Long's keynote address at the
BCS People and Computers meeting in Nottingham in the summer of 1989. I try to
locate the paper's purpose and significance within the history of
human-computer interaction (HCI), both prior to 1989 and subsequently, and
particularly with respect to the abiding questions of what sort of enterprise
HCI is, and of what sorts of knowledge it uses and produces. Keywords: Theory / Disciplinary model / Science / Engineering / Craft | |||
| Human-computer interaction: A stable discipline, a nascent science, and the growth of the long tail | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 13-27 | |
| Alan Dix | |||
| This paper represents a personal view of the state of HCI as a design
discipline and as a scientific discipline, and how this is changing in the face
of new technological and social situations. Going back 20 years a frequent
topic of discussion was whether HCI was a 'discipline'. It is unclear whether
this was ever a fruitful topic, but academic disciplines are effectively about
academic communities and there is ample evidence of the long-term stability of
the international HCI/CHI community. However, as in computer 'science', the
central scientific core of HCI is perhaps still unclear; for example, a
strength of HCI is the closeness between theory and practice, but the
corresponding danger is that the two are often confused. The paper focuses
particularly on the challenge of methodological thinking in HCI, especially as
the technological and social context of HCI rapidly changes. This is set
alongside two other challenges: the development of reliable knowledge in HCI
and the clear understanding of interlinked human roles within the discipline.
As a case study of the need for methodological thinking, the paper considers
the use of single person studies in research and design. These are likely to be
particularly valuable as we move from a small number of applications used by
many people to a 'long tail' where large numbers of applications are used by
small numbers of people. This change calls for different practical design
strategies; focusing on the peak experience of a few rather than acceptable
performance for many. Moving back to the broader picture, as we see more
diversity both in terms of types of systems and kinds of concerns, this may
also be an opportunity to reflect on what is core across these; potential
fragmentation becoming a locus to understand more clearly what defines HCI, not
just for the things we see now, but for the future that we cannot see. Keywords: HCI discipline / Methodology / Theory / Peak experience / Single person
study | |||
| Longing for service: Bringing the UCL Conception towards services research | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 28-42 | |
| Peter J. Wild | |||
| There has been an increase in the relevance of and interest in services and
services research. There is a acknowledgement that the emerging field of
services science will need to draw on multiple disciplines and practices. There
is a growing body of work from Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) researchers and
practitioners that consider services, but there has been limited interaction
between service researchers and HCI. We argue that HCI can provide two major
elements of interest to service science: (1) the user centred mindset and
techniques; and (2) concepts and frameworks applicable to understanding the
nature of services. This second option is of major concern in this paper, where
we consider Long's work (undertaken with John Dowell) on a Conception for HCI.
The conception stands as an important antecedent to our own work on a framework
that: (a) relates the various strands of servicer research; and (b) can be used
to provide high-level integrative models of service systems. Core concepts of
the UCL Conception such as domain, task, and structures and behaviours
partially help to relate systematically different streams of services research,
and provide richer descriptions of them. However, if the UCL Conception is
moved towards services additional issues and challenges arise. For example, the
kinds of domain changes that are made in services differ; services exist in a
wider environment; and that effectiveness judgements are dependent on values.
We explore these issues and provide reflections on the status of HCI and
Service Science. Keywords: UCL Conception / Service / Services / Frameworks / Cross-disciplinary | |||
| Diagnosing co-ordination problems in the emergency management response to disasters | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 43-55 | |
| Becky Hill | |||
| In the United Kingdom, there is a system for the co-ordination of the
emergency services in response to disasters -- The Emergency Management
Combined Response System (EMCRS). This is a general management framework with a
complex three tier command and control system, set-up by the UK government in
response to a need for better co-ordination between agencies, when they respond
to disasters.
This research has developed models of the implementation of the EMCRS for specified disaster scenarios, that support diagnosis of co-ordination problems between agencies. Data for the modelling were acquired by means of training exercises. The co-ordination problems were identified through behaviour conflicts between the agencies. For example: the Fire Service behaviours of setting up a cordon around the disaster site conflict with the Ambulance Service behaviours of accessing the site for treatment of casualties. Model development was achieved through application of an existing framework. The EMCRS models constitute substantive Human Computer Interaction design knowledge, that is, knowledge that is both explicit and supports design. One view of HCI (Long, 1996) is that of an engineering design discipline, whose research validates design knowledge, both substantive and methodological. Design knowledge supports design practice directly, as the diagnosis of design problems and indirectly, as the prescription of design solutions. An initial method for co-ordination design problem diagnosis by means of EMCRS models has been developed. This paper will describe the development of the EMCRS models and will apply the method and show the diagnosis from this application, of one co-ordination design problem. Keywords: Emergency management / Planning and control / Interactive worksystem /
Design problems | |||
| Applying the conception of HCI engineering to the design of economic systems | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 56-67 | |
| Ian K. Salter | |||
| The Long and Dowell conception for HCI design (Long and Dowell, 1989)
outlined the general design problem for HCI and contrasted between applied
science and engineering disciplines of HCI. Salter (1995) sought to clarify the
applied science conception through the application of Kuhn's conception of
science. Salter also built upon the work of Long and Dowell to produce a
generic conception of engineering design. As part of this work the notion of
preference was formalized. Building upon the generic conception a set of
criterion for an engineering discipline is established. A general design
problem for economics is outlined in order to apply the generic conception to
the field of economics. Roth's (2002) implicit conception of economic
engineering is analyzed against the criterion and the formalized notion of
preferences and found to be a consistent but not complete example of an
engineering discipline. The general problem of economic design, based upon Long
and Dowell's approach, is employed to analyze a regulatory response (Turner,
2009) to the global financial crisis of 2007+ and develop a design-based
solution to the problems. It is argued that the current applied science based
responses to the economic crisis are insufficient and that a multi disciplinary
engineering approach is necessary. This approach includes consideration of how
economic participants interact with computers as part of the financial system. Keywords: Economic design / Global financial crisis / Human computer interaction /
Engineering design / Design principles | |||
| Some celebratory HCI reflections on a celebratory HCI festschrift | | BIBK | Full-Text | 68-71 | |
| John Long | |||
Keywords: HCI conception / HCI engineering / Design problems / Design principles | |||
| The usability inspection performance of work-domain experts: An empirical study | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 75-87 | |
| Asbjørn Følstad; Bente C. D. Anda; Dag I. K. Sjøberg | |||
| It is a challenge for usability experts to perform usability inspections of
interactive systems that are tailored to work-domains of which these experts
have little knowledge. To counter this, usability inspections with work-domain
experts have been explored, but little empirical research has been reported on
these experts' performance as evaluators. The present study compared the
performance of work-domain experts and usability experts with respect to
validity and thoroughness. The work-domain experts were characterized by high
computer experience and low system experience. The usability experts were
recruited from different ICT companies. The usability inspection method applied
was group-based expert walkthrough; a method particularly developed to support
non-usability experts as evaluators. The criterion for performance comparison
was established through user tests. Fifteen work-domain experts and 12
usability experts participated in the study. The work-domain experts generated
equally valid but less thorough usability inspection results than did the
usability experts. This finding implies that work-domain experts may be used as
evaluators in usability inspections without compromising validity. Moreover,
the usability inspection performance of nominal groups of evaluators was
explored. It was found that nominal groups of work-domain experts produced
results of similar quality as did nominal groups of usability experts, given
that group size is disregarded. This finding may be used as basis for
hypotheses in future studies on the usability inspection performance of nominal
groups of work-domain experts. Keywords: Usability inspection / Work-domain expert / Validity / Thoroughness /
Group-based expert walkthrough | |||
| Interaction between prior knowledge and concept-map structure on hypertext comprehension, coherence of reading orders and disorientation | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 88-97 | |
| Franck Amadieu; André Tricot; Claudette Mariné | |||
| The study examined the interaction effects of prior knowledge and hypertexts
structure (network vs. hierarchy) on comprehension. Comprehension was
investigated analyzing jointly three dependent variables: comprehension
outcomes, coherence of the reading sequences and feelings of disorientation.
The results supported most of the assumptions showing an interaction effect on
each measure. For low prior knowledge readers, a hierarchical structure
improved comprehension performance, helped them to follow coherent reading
sequences and reduced their feelings of disorientation. For high prior
knowledge readers, comprehension performance and feelings of disorientation
were not affected by the type of structure. Moreover, prior knowledge was a
relevant resource to cope with the cognitive requirements of reading non-linear
texts. In the network condition, prior knowledge supported better
comprehension, led the readers to follow more coherent reading sequences and
limited their feelings of disorientation. The discussion dealt with processes
based on prior knowledge involved in hypertext comprehension, and stressed the
need for conducting further investigations on the nature of the on-line
inferences and on relations between performance, navigation and disorientation. Keywords: Disorientation / Coherence / Comprehension / Concept map / Hypertext / Prior
knowledge | |||
| Identification of the optimum resolution specification for a haptic graphic display | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 98-106 | |
| Damian Copeland; Janet Finlay | |||
| This research seeks to identify the most appropriate resolution for a haptic
graphic display based on a pin array utilising active feedback. Initially,
fourteen participants from varied social and educational backgrounds
participated in a repeated measures experiment to compare the recognition of
six simple patterns using three different resolutions. The results demonstrated
that a significantly higher proportion of shapes could be identified using the
second of the three resolutions when compared with the lowest, but that there
was no statistically significant difference between the two higher resolutions.
These results led to a second hypothesis: that there was an optimum resolution
at which shapes could be identified and that increasing the resolution above
this point would not increase the likelihood of recognition. There was,
however, the possibility that interference between the pins on the highest
resolution may have been affecting the participants' ability to identify shapes
at this resolution, so a second experiment was conducted using a resolution
slightly lower than the highest. The results demonstrated that the initial
findings were correct and supported the hypothesis that there is an optimum
resolution that allows the greatest number of shapes to be determined without
any significant benefit from increasing the resolution. Keywords: Haptic graphic displays / Touch interfaces / Resolution / Active pin arrays
/ Experiment | |||
| Guiding the designer: A radar diagram process for applications with multiple layers | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 107-122 | |
| Linn Gustavsson Christiernin | |||
| Focusing flexibility and experience development, multi-layered design (MLD)
separates the applications' graphical user interface into several layers based
on the users' abilities, skills and levels of experience. The layer arrangement
needs to be organized differently depending on the individual users. Until now
design has been performed on a case-to-case basis and there has been no given
process to achieve layered structures. This paper presents a radar diagram
process for multiple layers (RDPM) that provides a way to map and visualize
user parameters, identify user groups and then find mapping functions that can
guide the final layered structure. The focus of RDPM is to identify the number
of layers and the appropriate arrangement and contents of the layers. Two
practical case studies are also presented to show how to apply the process on
real user data. Both cases were successful and gave adequate support for how
the process could be used. We conclude that RDPM is a viable support process to
MLD and other layered arrangements, and that it is ready to be further tuned
and tested on a larger scale. Keywords: Process / Radar diagram / Graphical user interface / Layer design and
structure | |||
| Spoken Spanish generation from sign language | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 123-139 | |
| R. San-Segundo; J. M. Pardo; J. Ferreiros; V. Sama; R. Barra-Chicote; J. M. Lucas; D. Sánchez; A. García | |||
| This paper describes the development of a Spoken Spanish generator from
sign-writing. The sign language considered was the Spanish sign language (LSE:
Lengua de Signos Española). This system consists of an advanced visual
interface (where a deaf person can specify a sequence of signs in
sign-writing), a language translator (for generating the sequence of words in
Spanish), and finally, a text to speech converter. The visual interface allows
a sign sequence to be defined using several sign-writing alternatives. The
paper details the process for designing the visual interface proposing
solutions for HCI-specific challenges when working with the Deaf (i.e.
important difficulties in writing Spanish or limited sign coverage for
describing abstract or conceptual ideas). Three strategies were developed and
combined for language translation to implement the final version of the
language translator module. The summative evaluation, carried out with Deaf
from Madrid and Toledo, includes objective measurements from the system and
subjective information from questionnaires. The paper also describes the first
Spanish-LSE parallel corpus for language processing research focused on
specific domains. This corpus includes more than 4000 Spanish sentences
translated into LSE. These sentences focused on two restricted domains: the
renewal of the identity document and driver's license. This corpus also
contains all sign descriptions in several sign-writing specifications generated
with a new version of the eSign Editor. This new version includes a grapheme to
phoneme system for Spanish and a SEA-HamNoSys converter. Keywords: Spanish sign language (LSE) / Speech generation from LSE / LSE corpus / Sign
editor / LSE translation / Driver's license renewal | |||
| Mental models for web objects: Where do users expect to find the most frequent objects in online shops, news portals, and company web pages? | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 140-152 | |
| Sandra P. Roth; Peter Schmutz; Stefan L. Pauwels; Javier A. Bargas-Avila; Klaus Opwis | |||
| In interface development, it is crucial to reflect the users' expectations
and mental models. By meeting users' expectations, errors can be prevented and
the efficiency of the interaction can be enhanced. Applying these guidelines to
website development reveals the need to know where users expect to find the
most common web objects like the search field, home button or the navigation.
In a preliminary online study with 136 participants, the most common web
objects were identified for three web page types: online shops, news portals,
and company web pages. These objects were used for the main study, which was
conducted with 516 participants. In an online application, prototypical
websites had to be constructed by the participants. Data analysis showed that
Internet users have distinct mental models for different web page types (online
shop, news portal, and company web page). Users generally agree about the
locations of many, but not all, web objects. These mental models are robust to
demographic factors like gender and web expertise. This knowledge could be used
to improve the perception and usability of websites. Keywords: Web page design / Expectations / Screen design / Mental models / Location of
web objects / Schemata | |||
| Usable security: User preferences for authentication methods in eBanking and the effects of experience | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 153-164 | |
| Catherine S. Weir; Gary Douglas; Tim Richardson; Mervyn Jack | |||
| Multi-factor authentication involves the use of more than one mode in
authentication processes and is typically employed to increase security
compared to a fixed password (knowledge-based mode). This research compared
three different eBanking authentication processes, a two-layer password
(1-factor) method and two alternative 2-factor solutions. The 2-factor
processes used One-Time-Passcodes (OTPs) delivered either via a small,
single-use device or by text message to a mobile phone. The three
authentication methods were compared in a repeated-measures experiment with 141
participants. Three user groups were balanced in the experiment to investigate
the effect of experience (current users of the service) on perceptions of
usability and security. Attitudes toward usability and observations were taken
for each process. Other data gathered quality ratings, preferences and ranked
comparisons regarding convenience and security issues. Both 2-factor methods
scored significantly higher than the 1-factor method for eBanking
authentication usability metrics overall, but experienced users gave higher
scores to the 1-factor method they currently use. Overall preferences were
spread evenly between the three methods. However, the majority of the
participant sample perceived the 1-factor method they had most experience with
as being the most secure and most convenient option. The results offer insight
into customer attitudes important in their selection of authentication options:
convenience, personal ownership and habitual experience of processes. Keywords: Usability engineering / Internet banking / Authentication / Usable security
/ Empirical evaluation / Experience | |||
| Fictional characters in participatory design sessions: Introducing the "design alter egos" technique | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 165-175 | |
| George Triantafyllakos; George Palaigeorgiou; Ioannis A. Tsoukalas | |||
| In recent years, the discourse concerning the relationship between narrative
theory -- storytelling in general -- interactivity, and design is undeniably
noteworthy. A significant part of this discourse concerns the use of fictional
characters in design. Fictional characters have been used as user
representatives, either substituting actual users or supporting idea
generation, and their foremost objective is to facilitate the identification of
user needs and goals and to support the development of detailed and
comprehensive scenarios. Motivated by the aforementioned ongoing discourse and
inspired by relevant approaches in the use of fictional characters in design,
we aim to investigate the applicability and effectiveness of their use as a
creative technique in participatory design sessions. We present a novel
approach to using fictional characters in collaborative design of educational
software with students, one that asks the participants for the formation and
use of their own fictional characters -- we introduce the term "design alter
egos" -- as a means to eliciting requirements and design ideas. In order to
evaluate our approach, we conducted 20 collaborative design sessions with the
participation of 94 undergraduate university students (aged 19-24) for
eliciting requirements for the design of an ideal course website. The analysis
of the results suggests that the design alter egos technique liberated the
majority of the students from the fear of straightforwardly exposing
themselves, supported and enhanced their introspection, stimulated their
creativity, and helped to establish an informal and constructive atmosphere
throughout the design sessions. We suggest the use of design alter egos as an
engaging and effective supportive technique for co-designing educational
software with students. Keywords: Design alter egos / Fictional characters / Design in imaginary landscapes /
Participatory design / Collaborative software design / Student-centered design | |||
| A realistic, virtual head for human-computer interaction | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 176-192 | |
| Samuel Marcos; Jaime Gómez-García-Bermejo; Eduardo Zalama | |||
| In this paper an interactive and realistic virtual head oriented to
human-computer interaction and social robotics is presented. It has been
designed following a hybrid approach, taking robotic characteristics into
account and searching for a convergence between these characteristics, real
facial actions and animation techniques. An initial head model is first
obtained from a real person using a laser scanner. Then the model is animated
using a hierarchical skeleton based procedure. The proposed rig structure is
close to real facial muscular anatomy and its behaviour follows the Facial
Action Coding System. Speech synthesis and visual human-face tracking
capabilities are also integrated for providing the head with further
interaction ability. Using the said hybrid approach, the head can be readily
linked to a social-robot architecture. The opinions of a number of persons
interacting with this social avatar have been evaluated and are reported in the
paper, as against their reactions when interacting with a social robot with a
mechatronic face. Results show the suitability of the avatar for on-screen,
real-time interfacing in human-computer interaction. The proposed technique
could also be helpful in the future for designing and parameterizing
mechatronic human-like heads for social robots. Keywords: Facial animation / Hierarchical skeletons / Human-computer interface /
Social robotics | |||
| Haptic experience and the design of drawing interfaces | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 193-205 | |
| Suziah Sulaiman; Ann Blandford; Paul Cairns | |||
| Haptic feedback has the potential to enhance users' sense of being engaged
and creative in their artwork. Current work on providing haptic feedback in
computer-based drawing applications has focused mainly on the realism of the
haptic sensation rather than the users' experience of that sensation in the
context of their creative work. We present a study that focuses on user
experience of three haptic drawing interfaces. These interfaces were based on
two different haptic metaphors, one of which mimicked familiar drawing tools
(such as pen, pencil or crayon on smooth or rough paper) and the other of which
drew on abstract descriptors of haptic experience (roughness, stickiness,
scratchiness and smoothness). It was found that users valued having control
over the haptic sensation; that each metaphor was preferred by approximately
half of the participants; and that the real world metaphor interface was
considered more helpful than the abstract one, whereas the abstract interface
was considered to better support creativity. This suggests that future
interfaces for artistic work should have user-modifiable interaction styles for
controlling the haptic sensation. Keywords: Haptic feedback / User experience / User perception / Metaphors / Evaluation | |||
| Enhancing privacy management support in instant messaging | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 206-217 | |
| Sameer Patil; Alfred Kobsa | |||
| Instant Messaging (IM) is a useful tool for collaborative work. However, the
awareness and communication features of IM pose a tension with privacy desires.
Inadequate support for managing privacy could lead to suboptimal use of IM and
thereby undermine its benefits. We conducted interviews and an Internet survey
to understand privacy attitudes and practices in IM usage. Based on the
findings from these studies, we designed an IM plugin to improve the support
for privacy management in current IM systems. The plugin detects conflicts in
privacy preferences, notifies the parties involved, and allows negotiation of a
resolution. It also encrypts the communication channels and archives, allows
different privacy preferences for different contact groups, and provides
visualizations to facilitate the comparison of one's own IM activities with
those of any IM contact group. A usability evaluation of the plugin indicated
that it can be expected to succeed in its goal of providing IM users with
better privacy management. Keywords: Privacy / Instant Messaging, IM / Privacy management / Impression management
/ Computer-supported communication / Computer supported collaborative work,
CSCW | |||
| The effects of virtual characters on audiences' movie experience | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 218-229 | |
| Tao Lin; Shigeo Morishima; Akinobu Maejima; Ningjiu Tang | |||
| In this paper, we first present a new audience-participating movie form in
which 3D virtual characters of audiences are constructed by computer graphics
(CG) technologies and are embedded into a in a pre-rendered movie as different
roles. Then, we investigate how the audiences respond to these virtual
characters using physiological and subjective evaluation methods. To facilitate
the investigation, we present three versions of a movie to an audience -- a
Traditional version, its SDIM version with the participation of the audience's
virtual character, and its SFDIM version with the co-participation of the
audience and her/his friends' virtual characters. The subjective evaluation
results show that the participation of virtual characters indeed causes
increased subjective sense of spatial presence and engagement, and emotional
reaction; moreover, SFDIM performs significantly better than SDIM, due to the
co-participation of friends' virtual characters. Also, we find that the
audiences experience not only significantly different galvanic skin response
(GSR) changes on average -- changing trend over time and number of fluctuations
-- but they also show the increased phasic GSR responses to the appearance of
their own or friends' virtual 3D characters on the screen. The evaluation
results demonstrate the success of the new audience-participating movie form
and contribute to understanding how people respond to virtual characters in a
role-playing entertainment interface. Keywords: User experience / Virtual character / Physiological evaluation | |||
| Effects of different scenarios of game difficulty on player immersion | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 230-239 | |
| Hua Qin; Pei-Luen Patrick Rau; Gavriel Salvendy | |||
| This study investigates the effects of game difficulty on player's
immersion. Key factors in this study are difficulty of direction changes,
including three directions (up and down, down and up, and continuously
increasing) and difficulty of rate changes, with three rates (slow, medium, and
fast). An experiment was conducted with 48 participants, each playing the same
experimental games with different difficulty of direction or rate changes. The
results indicate that the players have better immersion when the difficulty
changes up and down than when it changes down and up or when the difficulty is
continuously increased. And the participants have better immersion when the
difficulty changes at a medium rate than when it changes slowly or fast. Keywords: Difficulty of direction changes / Difficulty of rate changes / Player
immersion | |||
| Guest editor's introduction | | BIB | Full-Text | 241-242 | |
| Gavin Doherty; Timothy Bickmore | |||
| Design and evaluation guidelines for mental health technologies | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 243-252 | |
| Gavin Doherty; David Coyle; Mark Matthews | |||
| It is increasingly recognised that technology has the potential to
significantly improve access, engagement, effectiveness and affordability of
treatment for mental health problems. The development of such technology has
recently become the subject of Human-Computer Interaction research. As an
emerging area with a unique set of constraints and design concerns, there is a
need to establish guidelines which encapsulate the knowledge gained from
existing development projects. We present an initial set of design guidelines
extracted from the literature and from a series of development projects for
software to support mental health interventions. The first group of guidelines
pertain to the design process itself, addressing the limitations in access to
clients in mental healthcare settings, and strategies for collaborative design
with therapists. The second group considers major design factors in the
development of these technologies, including therapeutic models, client
factors, and privacy. The third group concerns conduct of the evaluation
process, and the constraints on evaluating mental healthcare technologies. We
motivate and explain these guidelines with reference to concrete design
projects and problems. Keywords: Mental health / Design guidelines / Design process / Clinical evaluation /
Psychotherapy | |||
| Problems people with dementia have with kitchen tasks: The challenge for pervasive computing | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 253-266 | |
| Joseph P. Wherton; Andrew F. Monk | |||
| Technologies from pervasive computing can be used to ameliorate the
difficulties that people with dementia have with multi-step tasks. This paper
is intended to inform the design of technologies that help people perform daily
tasks, by prompting them when they have difficulties, thus fostering
independence and quality of life. Six people with mild to moderate dementia
were video recorded performing activities of their own choosing in the familiar
context of their own kitchens. In total there were 22 video recordings.
Activities included making a cup of tea or coffee, a bowl of soup, beans on
toast, or coffee with toast. The video recordings were transcribed using an
adapted version of the Action Coding System. Incidents, where prompting was
judged to be needed were categorised using a data-driven analysis as problems
in: Sequencing (intrusion, omission and repetition), Finding things (locating
and identifying), Operation of appliances, and Incoherence (toying and
inactivity). Detailed examples of each type of incident, and the contexts in
which it occurred, are provided as a resource for the design of pervasive
computing solutions. What needs to be detected and what form prompts might take
is specified for each category. Keywords: Assistive technology / Dementia / Pervasive computing | |||
| Using a touch screen computer to support relationships between people with dementia and caregivers | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 267-275 | |
| Arlene J. Astell; Maggie P. Ellis; Lauren Bernardi; Norman Alm; Richard Dye; Gary Gowans; Jim Campbell | |||
| Progressive and irreversible cognitive impairments affect the ability of
people with dementia to communicate and interact with caregivers. This places a
burden on caregivers to initiate and manage interactions to the extent that
they may avoid all but essential communication. CIRCA is an interactive,
multimedia touch screen system that contains a wide range of stimuli to prompt
reminiscing. The intention is that people with dementia and caregivers will
explore CIRCA together, using the recollections sparked by the media as the
basis for conversations. This paper reports an evaluation of the utility of
CIRCA looking particularly at whether CIRCA can meet the needs of both people
with dementia and caregivers to engage in mutually satisfying interactions. The
findings confirm that people with dementia can use the touch screen system and
that the contents prompt them to reminisce. The system also supports caregivers
to interact with people with dementia as more equal participants in the
conversation. The results suggest that interacting with the touch screen system
is engaging and enjoyable for people with dementia and caregivers alike and
provides a supportive interaction environment that positively benefits their
relationships. Keywords: Dementia / Communication / Touch screen / Reminiscence / Relationships | |||
| Maintaining reality: Relational agents for antipsychotic medication adherence | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 276-288 | |
| Timothy W. Bickmore; Kathryn Puskar; Elizabeth A. Schlenk; Laura M. Pfeifer; Susan M. Sereika | |||
| We describe an animated, conversational computer agent designed to promote
antipsychotic medication adherence among patients with schizophrenia. In
addition to medication adherence, the agent also promotes physical activity and
system usage, and includes verbal and nonverbal behavior designed to foster a
therapeutic alliance with patients. We discuss special considerations in
designing interventions for this patient population, and challenges in
developing and evaluating conversational agents in the mental health domain.
Results from a pilot evaluation study of the agent indicate that it is accepted
and effective. Keywords: Schizophrenia / Embodied conversational agent / Longitudinal study / Health
behavior change / Psychiatric nursing / Patient adherence | |||
| Response to a relational agent by hospital patients with depressive symptoms | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 289-298 | |
| Timothy W. Bickmore; Suzanne E. Mitchell; Brian W. Jack; Michael K. Paasche-Orlow; Laura M. Pfeifer; Julie O'Donnell | |||
| Depression affects approximately 15% of the US population, and is recognized
as an important risk factor for poor outcomes among patients with various
illnesses. Automated health education and behavior change programs have the
potential to help address many of the shortcomings in health care. However, the
role of these systems in the care of patients with depression has been
insufficiently examined. In the current study, we sought to evaluate how
hospitalized medical patients would respond to a computer animated
conversational agent that has been developed to provide information in an
empathic fashion about a patient's hospital discharge plan. In particular, we
sought to examine how patients who have a high level of depressive symptoms
respond to this system. Therapeutic alliance -- the trust and belief that a
patient and provider have in working together to achieve a desired therapeutic
outcome -- was used as the primary outcome measure, since it has been shown to
be important in predicting outcomes across a wide range of health problems,
including depression. In an evaluation of 139 hospital patients who interacted
with the agent at the time of discharge, all patients, regardless of depressive
symptoms, rated the agent very high on measures of satisfaction and ease of
use, and most preferred receiving their discharge information from the agent
compared to their doctors or nurses in the hospital. In addition, we found that
patients with symptoms indicative of major depression rated the agent
significantly higher on therapeutic alliance compared to patients who did not
have major depressive symptoms. We conclude that empathic agents represent a
promising technology for patient assessment, education and counseling for those
most in need of comfort and caring in the inpatient setting. Keywords: Depression / Relational agent / Embodied conversational agent / Hospital
discharge / Therapeutic alliance | |||
| The therapist user interface of a virtual reality exposure therapy system in the treatment of fear of flying | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 299-310 | |
| Willem-Paul Brinkman; Charles van der Mast; Guntur Sandino; Lucy T. Gunawan; Paul M. G. Emmelkamp | |||
| The use of virtual reality (VR) technology to support the treatment of
patients with phobia, such as the fear of flying, is getting considerable
research attention. Research mainly focuses on the patient experience and the
effect of the treatment. In this paper, however, the focus is on the
interaction therapists have with the system. Two studies are presented in which
the therapist user interface is redesigned and evaluated. The first study was
conducted in 2001 with the introduction of the system into the clinic. The
original user interface design was compared with a redesign that was based on
interviews with therapists. The results of a user study with five therapists
and 11 students showed significant usability improvement. In 2008 a follow-up
study was conducted on how therapists were now using the redesigned system.
Using a direct observation approach six therapists were observed during a total
of 14 sessions with patients. The analysis showed that: 93% of the exposures
had similar patterns, therapists triggered 20 inappropriate sound recordings
(e.g. the pilot giving height information while taking off), and more complex
airplane simulation functions (e.g. roll control to make turns with the
airplane) were only used by a therapist who was also a pilot. This resulted in
a second redesign of the user interface, which allowed therapists to select
flight scenarios (e.g. a flight with extra long taxiing, a flight with multiple
taking off and landing sessions) instead of controlling the simulation
manually. This new design was again evaluated with seven therapists. Again,
results showed significant usability improvements. These findings led to five
design guidelines with the main tenet in favour of a treatment-focused user
interface (i.e. specific flying scenario) instead of a simulation-focused user
interface (i.e. specific airplane controls). Keywords: Virtual reality / Exposure therapy / Fear of flying / Mental health / Design
guidelines / User interface | |||
| Modelling user experience -- An agenda for research and practice | | BIB | Full-Text | 313-322 | |
| Effie L.-C. Law; Paul van Schaik | |||
| The Usability Metric for User Experience | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 323-327 | |
| Kraig Finstad | |||
| The Usability Metric for User Experience (UMUX) is a four-item Likert scale
used for the subjective assessment of an application's perceived usability. It
is designed to provide results similar to those obtained with the 10-item
System Usability Scale, and is organized around the ISO 9241-11 definition of
usability. A pilot version was assembled from candidate items, which was then
tested alongside the System Usability Scale during usability testing. It was
shown that the two scales correlate well, are reliable, and both align on one
underlying usability factor. In addition, the Usability Metric for User
Experience is compact enough to serve as a usability module in a broader user
experience metric. Keywords: Usability / User experience / Scale / Metric | |||
| Measuring the dynamics of remembered experience over time | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 328-335 | |
| Evangelos Karapanos; John Zimmerman; Jodi Forlizzi; Jean-Bernard Martens | |||
| A wealth of studies in the field of user experience have tried to
conceptualize new measures of product quality and inquire into how the overall
goodness of a product is formed on the basis of product quality perceptions. An
interesting question relates to how the perception as well as the relative
dominance of different product qualities evolve across different phases in the
adoption of a product. However, temporality of experience poses substantial
challenges to traditional reductive evaluation approaches. In this paper we
present an alternative methodological approach for studying how users'
experiences with interactive products develop over time. The approach lies in
the elicitation of rich qualitative insights in the form of experience
narratives, combined with content-analytical approaches for the aggregation of
idiosyncratic insights into generalized knowledge. We describe a tool designed
for eliciting rich experience narratives retrospectively, and illustrate this
tool by means of a study that inquired into how users' experiences with mobile
phones change over the first 6 months of use. We use the insights of the study
to validate and extend a framework of temporality proposed by Karapanos et al.
(2009b). Keywords: User experience / Experience-centered design / Qualitative methods /
Longitudinal methodology | |||
| More than a feeling: Measurement of sonic user experience and psychophysiology in a first-person shooter game | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 336-343 | |
| Lennart E. Nacke; Mark N. Grimshaw; Craig A. Lindley | |||
| The combination of psychophysiological and psychometric methods provides
reliable measurements of affective user experience (UX). Understanding the
nature of affective UX in interactive entertainment, especially with a focus on
sonic stimuli, is an ongoing research challenge. In the empirical study
reported here, participants played a fast-paced, immersive first-person shooter
(FPS) game modification, in which sound (on/off) and music (on/off) were
manipulated, while psychophysiological recordings of electrodermal activity
(EDA) and facial muscle activity (EMG) were recorded in addition to a Game
Experience Questionnaire (GEQ). Results indicate no main or interaction effects
of sound or music on EMG and EDA. However, a significant main effect of sound
on all GEQ dimensions (immersion, tension, competence, flow, negative affect,
positive affect, and challenge) was found. In addition, an interaction effect
of sound and music on GEQ dimension tension and flow indicates an important
relationship of sound and music for gameplay experience. Additionally, we
report the results of a correlation between GEQ dimensions and EMG/EDA
activity. We conclude subjective measures could advance our understanding of
sonic UX in digital games, while affective tonic (i.e., long-term
psychophysiological) measures of sonic UX in digital games did not yield
statistically significant results. One approach for future affective
psychophysiological measures of sonic UX could be experiments investigating
phasic (i.e., event-related) psychophysiological measures of sonic gameplay
elements in digital games. This could improve our general understanding of
sonic UX beyond affective gaming evaluation. Keywords: Psychophysiology / Sonic user experience (UX) / Entertainment / Emotion /
Affective gaming / Action video games | |||
| The influence of hedonic and utilitarian motivations on user engagement: The case of online shopping experiences | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 344-352 | |
| Heather Lynn O'Brien | |||
| User experience seeks to promote rich, engaging interactions between users
and systems. In order for this experience to unfold, the user must be motivated
to initiate an interaction with the technology. This study explored hedonic and
utilitarian motivations in the context of user engagement with online shopping.
Factor analysis was performed to identify a parsimonious set of factors from
the Hedonic and Utilitarian Shopping Motivation Scale and the User Engagement
Scale based on responses from 802 shoppers. Multiple linear regression was used
to test hypotheses with hedonic and utilitarian motivations (Idea, Social,
Adventure/Gratification, Value and Achievement Shopping) and attributes of user
engagement (Aesthetics, Focused Attention, Perceived Usability, and
Endurability). Results demonstrate the salience of Adventure/Gratification
Shopping and Achievement Shopping Motivations to specific variables of user
engagement in the e-commerce environment and provide considerations for the
inclusion of different types of motivation into models of engaging user
experiences. Keywords: User experience / Engagement / Motivation / e-Commerce | |||
| Needs, affect, and interactive products -- Facets of user experience | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 353-362 | |
| Marc Hassenzahl; Sarah Diefenbach; Anja Göritz | |||
| Subsumed under the umbrella of User Experience (UX), practitioners and
academics of Human-Computer Interaction look for ways to broaden their
understanding of what constitutes "pleasurable experiences" with technology.
The present study considered the fulfilment of universal psychological needs,
such as competence, relatedness, popularity, stimulation, meaning, security, or
autonomy, to be the major source of positive experience with interactive
technologies. To explore this, we collected over 500 positive experiences with
interactive products (e.g., mobile phones, computers). As expected, we found a
clear relationship between need fulfilment and positive affect, with
stimulation, relatedness, competence and popularity being especially salient
needs. Experiences could be further categorized by the primary need they
fulfil, with apparent qualitative differences among some of the categories in
terms of the emotions involved. Need fulfilment was clearly linked to hedonic
quality perceptions, but not as strongly to pragmatic quality (i.e., perceived
usability), which supports the notion of hedonic quality as "motivator" and
pragmatic quality as "hygiene factor." Whether hedonic quality ratings
reflected need fulfilment depended on the belief that the product was
responsible for the experience (i.e., attribution). Keywords: User experience / Human needs / Emotion / Affect / Product evaluation | |||
| The roles of conceptual device models and user goals in avoiding device initialization errors | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 363-374 | |
| Kimberley Hiltz; Jonathan Back; Ann Blandford | |||
| While mistakes, and approaches to design and training that reduce them, have
been studied extensively, relatively little work in HCI studies 'slip' errors,
which occur when one intends to do a certain action during a skilled task but
unintentionally does another. In this article we examine approaches to training
that might reduce the occurrence of a slip error referred to as a 'device
initialization error'. This error occurs when skilled users of a device forget
to perform some initialization action, such as positioning the cursor in a text
entry box or setting the device into the correct mode, before entering data or
performing some other significant activity. We report on an experiment studying
the effects of two training interventions on this error, which aim to
manipulate the salience of the error-prone action without making any physical
changes to the device. In the first intervention participants were given a
particular conceptual model of the device's operation, to evaluate whether
having an improved understanding of the effect of each action would lead to
fewer errors. In the second, participants were given a new device operation
goal requiring them to 'test' the device, to evaluate whether attending to the
outcome of initialization actions would lead to fewer errors. Only participants
who were asked to 'test' the device and also given enhanced instructions to
enter dummy data after completing initialization actions showed a statistically
significant improvement in performance. Post-test interviews and evidence from
existing literature suggest that when participants forgot the initialization
step it was because they were attending to the subsequent data entry steps.
This study highlights the central roles that user goals and attention play in
the occurrence (or avoidance) of slip errors. Keywords: Human error / Cognitive slips / Device design / Conceptual models / Task
instructions / Task structure | |||
| Third-party error detection support mechanisms for dictation speech recognition | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 375-388 | |
| Lina Zhou; Yongmei Shi; Andrew Sears | |||
| Although speech recognition has improved significantly in recent years, its
adoption continues to be limited, in part, by the effort and frustration
associated with correcting speech recognition errors. Error detection is a
particularly challenging issue in third-party error correction where different
individuals are responsible for the original dictation and correcting the
resulting text. This research aims to address the difficulty experienced in
third-party error detection by developing and evaluating a variety of support
mechanisms. Drawing on a growing body of literature on human computer
interaction and speech recognition, four support mechanisms were designed and
evaluated, namely indexed audio, speech summarization, error prediction, and
the presentation of alternative hypotheses. A user study assessed the impact of
these support mechanisms on both performance and perceptions during error
detection tasks. Performance measures included effectiveness and efficiency,
and perception measures included confidence, perceived usefulness, and
cognitive workload. The results provide strong support for the use of indexed
audio in the context of third-party error detection. The results also confirm
that consecutive error rate, or the percentage of recognition errors
immediately adjacent to another error, has a negative impact on the
effectiveness of third-party error detection. Other support mechanisms failed
to improve either effectiveness or perceptions, but they did negate the
negative impact as consecutive error rate increased. These findings have
significant implications for speech recognition error detection research and
the design of error detection support solutions. Keywords: Speech recognition / Error detection / Indexed audio / Speech summarization
/ Error prediction / Alternative hypotheses | |||
| Revisiting breadth vs. depth in menu structures for blind users of screen readers | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 389-398 | |
| Harry Hochheiser; Jonathan Lazar | |||
| Numerous studies have investigated task performance times for selection from
hierarchical menus, with structures containing many choices at each of a few
levels (broad, shallow structures) generally outperforming structures
containing fewer choices at each of many levels (narrow, deep structures). To
see if these results applied to blind users who rely on screen reader software
for computer access, we replicated an earlier published study, using 19 blind
screen-reader users. Consistent with earlier studies, broader, shallow
hierarchies outperformed narrow, deep hierarchies. Task performance times and
hypertext lostness measures were correlated. Although further work will be
needed to understand specific determinants of task performance rates, these
results support the use of broad, shallow menus for blind as well as sighted
users. Keywords: Blind / Screen reader / Menu structure / Accessibility / Breadth vs. depth /
User study | |||
| Visual search in dynamic 3D visualisations of unstructured picture collections | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 399-416 | |
| Olivier Christmann; Noëlle Carbonell; Simon Richir | |||
| We present two empirical studies of visual search in dynamic 3D
visualisations of large, randomly ordered, photo collections. The aim is to
assess the possible effects of geometrical distortions on visual search
effectiveness, efficiency and comfort, by comparing the influence of two
perspective representations of photo collections on participants' performance
results and subjective judgments. Thumbnails of the 1000 or so photographs in
each collection are plastered on the lateral surface of a vertical cylinder,
either on the inside (inner view, IV) or on the outside (outer view, OV). IV
and OV suggest two different interaction metaphors: locomotion in a virtual
space (IV) versus manipulation of a virtual object (OV). They also implement
different perspective distortions: enlargement and distortion of lateral
columns (IV) versus enlargement of central columns and dwindling plus
distortion of lateral columns (OV). Presentation of results focus on the second
study, S2, which involved 20 participants and offered them strictly identical
interaction facilities with the two views, unlike the initial pilot study, S1
(8 participants and slightly different interaction facilities between the two
views).
Participants in both studies were experienced computer users (average age: 25.15 years, SD: 3.13). They performed two types of basic visual tasks that are carried out repeatedly while navigating photo collections: (i) searching for a photo meeting specific, visual and thematic, criteria, the photo and its location in the collection being unknown to participants (ST1) and (ii) looking for a visually familiar photo, the location of the photo being familiar to participants (ST2). According to post-experiment questionnaires and debriefings, all participants in S2 save one judged both 3D views positively in reference to standard 2D visualisations. Half of them preferred IV over OV, four appreciated OV better, and six expressed no clear opinion. Preferences were mainly motivated by the effects of perspective distortions on thumbnail visibility. They were barely influenced by interaction metaphors (e.g., the feeling of immersion induced by IV). Despite large inter-individual differences in performance, a majority of participants carried out ST1 tasks more effectively and efficiently with IV than with OV, as regards error rates (statistically significant difference) and search times (tendency). Performance results for ST2 tasks were similar with the two views, due, probably, to the simplicity and brevity of ST2 tasks. Perspective distortions seem to have exerted less influence on participants' visual strategies than horizontal scrolling, a dynamic feature common to both views. Qualitative analyses of participants' behaviours suggest that IV has the potential to support spatial memory better than OV, presumably thanks to the locomotion metaphor. These results indicate that perspective views have the potential to facilitate and improve visual search in unstructured picture collections provided that distortions are adapted to users' individual visual capabilities. Further research is needed to better understand: (i) the actual relations between visual exploration strategies and geometrical properties of perspective visualisations and (ii) the influence of the manipulation and locomotion metaphors on spatial memory. This knowledge is necessary to further improve the comfort and effectiveness of visual search in large unstructured picture collections, using 3D visualisations. Keywords: Interactive 3D visualisations / Interaction metaphors / Picture browsers /
Visual search / Ergonomic evaluation / Usability | |||
| The impact of progress indicators on task completion | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 417-427 | |
| Frederick G. Conrad; Mick P. Couper; Roger Tourangeau; Andy Peytchev | |||
| A near ubiquitous feature of user interfaces is feedback on task completion
or progress indicators such as the graphical bar that grows as more of the task
is completed. The presumed benefit is that users will be more likely to
complete the task if they see they are making progress but it is also possible
that feedback indicating slow progress may sometimes discourage users from
completing the task. This paper describes two experiments that evaluate the
impact of progress indicators on the completion of on-line questionnaires. In
the first experiment, progress was displayed at different speeds throughout the
questionnaire. If the early feedback indicated slow progress, abandonment rates
were higher and users' subjective experience more negative than if the early
feedback indicated faster progress. In the second experiment, intermittent
feedback seemed to minimize the costs of discouraging feedback while preserving
the benefits of encouraging feedback. Overall, the results suggest that when
progress seems to outpace users' expectations, feedback can improve their
experience though not necessarily their completion rates; when progress seems
to lag behind what users expect, feedback degrades their experience and lowers
completion rates. Keywords: Web surveys / Progress indicators / Duration perception / Task completion | |||
| The effects of trust, security and privacy in social networking: A security-based approach to understand the pattern of adoption | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 428-438 | |
| Dong-Hee Shin | |||
| Social network services (SNS) focus on building online communities of people
who share interests and/or activities, or who are interested in exploring the
interests and activities of others. This study examines security, trust, and
privacy concerns with regard to social networking Websites among consumers
using both reliable scales and measures. It proposes an SNS acceptance model by
integrating cognitive as well as affective attitudes as primary influencing
factors, which are driven by underlying beliefs, perceived security, perceived
privacy, trust, attitude, and intention. Results from a survey of SNS users
validate that the proposed theoretical model explains and predicts user
acceptance of SNS substantially well. The model shows excellent measurement
properties and establishes perceived privacy and perceived security of SNS as
distinct constructs. The finding also reveals that perceived security moderates
the effect of perceived privacy on trust. Based on the results of this study,
practical implications for marketing strategies in SNS markets and theoretical
implications are recommended accordingly. Keywords: Social network services / Perceived privacy / Perceived security / Trust /
Web2.0 | |||
| Inclusion and interaction: Designing interaction for inclusive populations | | BIB | Full-Text | 439-448 | |
| Patrick Langdon; Harold Thimbleby | |||
| Towards analytical evaluation of human machine interfaces developed in the context of smart homes | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 449-464 | |
| Belkacem Chikhaoui; Hélène Pigot | |||
| Designing human machine interfaces that respect the ergonomic norms and
following rigorous approaches constitutes a major concern for computer systems
designers. The increased need on easily accessible and usable interfaces leads
researchers in this domain to create methods and models that make it possible
to evaluate these interfaces in terms of utility and usability. Two different
approaches are currently used to evaluate human machine interfaces, empirical
approaches that require user involvement in the interface development process,
and analytical approaches that do not associate the user during the interface
development process. This paper presents a study of user performance on two
principal tasks of the contextual assistant's interface, developed in the
context of smart homes, to assist persons with cognitive disabilities. We use
three different methods to analyze and evaluate this interface, focusing
basically on time of execution. Two of the models developed are based on
cognitive models, which are ACT-R and GOMS and the third one is based on the
Fitts' Law model. The results show that, all models give a good prediction of
user performance, even if the cognitive models show better accuracy of the user
performance. Furthermore, they provide a better insight into cognitive
abilities required to interact with the interface. Keywords: HMI evaluation / Human-computer interaction / Cognitive modeling / Smart
homes / User modeling / User performance | |||
| Multimodal interaction: A suitable strategy for including older users? | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 465-474 | |
| Anja B. Naumann; Ina Wechsung; Jörn Hurtienne | |||
| The major promise of multimodal user interfaces for older users is that they
have the choice to select the input modality (or combination of modalities)
that best fits their needs and capabilities. Two studies investigated if
multimodal interfaces with touch, speech, and motion control fulfil the
expectation of being superior to the interaction with single modalities in a
mobile device regarding efficiency, robustness, and user satisfaction. The
results of both studies show a superiority of multimodality over the single
modalities speech and motion control and a slight advantage over touch, which
was the modality most frequently used even in the multimodal condition in which
any modality or a modality combination could be chosen. Differences between old
and young users were only shown for motion control which turned out to be less
suitable for older people. The major promise of multimodality for inclusive
design thus does not seem warranted so far. However, other applications and
contexts of use need to be investigated. Keywords: Intuitive Interaction / Usability / User experience / Multimodal interaction
/ Inclusive design | |||
| Physical gestures for abstract concepts: Inclusive design with primary metaphors | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 475-484 | |
| Jörn Hurtienne; Christian Stößel; Christine Sturm; Alexander Maus; Matthias Rötting; Patrick Langdon; John Clarkson | |||
| Designers in inclusive design are challenged to create interactive products
that cater for a wide range of prior experiences and cognitive abilities of
their users. But suitable design guidance for this task is rare. This paper
proposes the theory of primary metaphor and explores its validity as a source
of design guidance. Primary metaphor theory describes how basic mental
representations of physical sensorimotor experiences are extended to understand
abstract domains. As primary metaphors are subconscious mental representations
that are highly automated, they should be robustly available to people with
differing levels of cognitive ability. Their proposed universality should make
them accessible to people with differing levels of prior experience with
technology. These predictions were tested for 12 primary metaphors that predict
relations between spatial gestures and abstract interactive content. In an
empirical study, 65 participants from two age groups (young and old) were asked
to produce two-dimensional touch and three-dimensional free-form gestures in
response to given abstract keywords and spatial dimensions of movements. The
results show that across age groups in 92% of all cases users choose gestures
that confirmed the predictions of the theory. Although the two age groups
differed in their cognitive abilities and prior experience with technology,
overall they did not differ in the amount of metaphor-congruent gestures they
made. As predicted, only small or zero correlations of metaphor-congruent
gestures with prior experience or cognitive ability could be found. The results
provide a promising step toward inclusive design guidelines for gesture
interaction with abstract content on mobile multitouch devices. Keywords: Gesture interaction / Multi-touch interaction / Image schema / Conceptual
metaphor / Inclusive design / Older adults | |||
| Playful persuasion to support older adults' social and physical activities | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 485-495 | |
| Natalia Romero; Janienke Sturm; Tilde Bekker; Linda de Valk; Sander Kruitwagen | |||
| In this paper we describe a case study in which we examine how to develop
playful persuasive solutions to motivate older adults to maintain or increase
their social and physical activities. By including various stakeholders (older
adults, family, and care givers) and by designing for transitions in life we
intend to create solutions that can be used by many different user groups.
Based on a playful interaction framework and user studies we are designing
playful persuasive solutions that incorporate social and physical activities as
mutual motivators. Furthermore, the persuasive solutions should be relevant for
the life transitions of losing partners or friends, of having to move to a care
facility and of declining physical and cognitive capabilities. We describe our
experiences with involving older adults in a design process. Finally, we
present our initial concept the 'Activator', that provides awareness about
upcoming activities and own performances and goals, and provides opportunities
for older adults based on physical or social motivators to keep and extend
their social circle, and to perform activities of lower and higher physical
demand. Keywords: Persuasion / Inclusive design / Independent living / Design for older adults
/ Awareness / Playful interaction | |||
| It is normal to be different: Applying inclusive design in industry | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 496-501 | |
| Ian Hosking; Sam Waller; P. John Clarkson | |||
| This paper describes the case for inclusive design developed by the
Engineering Design Centre, University of Cambridge. This is based on 10 years
experience researching inclusive design and promoting it in industry. The
approach is a pragmatic one, bridging from where many companies currently are
to a more inclusive approach. This paper uses the starting point that 'it is
normal to be different' with regards to a person's capabilities, in order to
reframe the argument from a disability focus to one that examines population
diversity as a whole. A practical commercial response to this diversity is
described by representing capability variation using traditional market
segments and personas. Finally different design responses are discussed that
address the range of capabilities in the population. Keywords: Inclusive design / Business case / Diversity / Disability | |||
| Influencing technology adoption by older adults | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 502-509 | |
| Vicki L. Hanson | |||
| With the advent of a digital economy, an emphasis on digital products and
services has emerged. Those who are not using current technologies will become
excluded, however, from this revolution. Older adults represent one such group
in danger of exclusion. In some cases, older adults have been disinterested in
new technologies. In other cases, however, the technologies fail to take into
consideration the strengths and weaknesses of older users that would promote
this usability. This paper examines components of information search by younger
and older adults. These are considered in terms of long-term implications of
designing for older users, with current problems viewed as foreshadowing future
trends. Keywords: Older adults / Design / Inclusion / Technology acceptance / Digital economy
/ Information seeking | |||
| Developing a model of cognitive interaction for analytical inclusive design evaluation | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 510-529 | |
| Patrick Langdon; Umesh Persad; P. John Clarkson | |||
| Inclusive design is a user-centred approach that examines designed product
features with particular attention to the functional demands they make on the
perceptual, thinking and physical capabilities of diverse users, including
those with impairments and ageing. An analytic approach to the evaluation of
designs mitigates the need for observational trials with products by relating
data about the prevalence of capability ranges in the population with an
analysis of the demands made by product properties and features. This enables a
quantification of the number of users who can use a specific design. To date,
there has been some success in identifying data sets and appropriate impairment
and capability models for perception and movement in this novel "inclusive"
research context. However, previous attempts to do so for cognitive aspects of
product feature interaction have encountered a lack of suitable data and
models. We propose some necessary requirements for a complete model of
inclusive cognitive interaction and establish four criteria for what would
constitute a good framework for the purpose of developing a research approach
that could be used to construct and test predictive tools for design. Taking
into account the immediately relevant literature, we examine some candidate
approaches that may satisfy these requirements with reference to some of our
own research findings. The results of the analysis suggest that this combined
approach to cognitive demand is, in principle, capable of satisfying the
proposed criteria in conjunction. It has also been successful in driving a
research effort to identify important predictive variables and relate these to
an underlying model of interaction. The utility of such a framework will
ultimately be judged by empirical tests of the accuracy of the developed model
and tools in predicting specific exclusion and difficulty during cognitive
interaction. This will allow further iterative improvement of the model and
will also permit modification of the development framework. A further test will
be whether designers can use the resulting tools to help create designs for ICT
products that are more inclusive in that they are usable by people with a wider
range of functional capabilities. Keywords: Inclusive design / Universal access / Cognitive psychology / Cognitive
modelling / User testing / User modelling | |||
| Understanding user preferences based on usability and aesthetics before and after actual use | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 530-543 | |
| Sangwon Lee; Richard J. Koubek | |||
| Designing a highly preferred product or system is a crucial issue for better
information-services and product sales. We attempted to understand the process
of users' preference-making based on usability and aesthetics. In the present
study, we examined the relationships among usability/aesthetics features,
perceived usability/aesthetics, and user preference through an experiment using
four simulated systems with different levels of usability and aesthetics. The
results showed that, before actual use, user preference was significantly
affected by the differences in aesthetics but marginally affected by the
differences in usability. On the other hand, after actual use, user preference
was significantly influenced by the differences in both usability and
aesthetics. Regardless of the occurrence of actual use, user preference was
highly correlated with both perceived usability and perceived aesthetics, which
were strongly interrelated. Finally, actual use had a significant effect on
perceived usability, perceived aesthetics, and user preference. The findings
emphasize the importance of considering both perceived usability and perceived
aesthetics. They also demonstrate the need for discriminating users'
interactions before and after actual use, in developing a more preferable
computer-based application. Keywords: User preference / Usability / Aesthetics / Perceived usability / Perceived
aesthetics / Actual use | |||
| Audio makes a difference in haptic collaborative virtual environments | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 544-555 | |
| Jonas Moll; Yingying Huang; Eva-Lotta Sallnäs | |||
| In this paper a study is presented which aimed at exploring the effects of
audio feedback in a haptic and visual interface supporting collaboration among
sighted and people who cannot see. A between group design was used and the
participants worked in pairs with one sighted and one blindfolded in each. The
application used was a haptic 3D environment in which participants could build
composed objects out of building blocks. The building blocks could be picked up
and moved around by means of a touch feedback pointing device. In one version
of the application, used by half of the groups, sound cues could be used to
tell the other person where you were, and to get feedback on your own and the
other person's actions. Results showed that sound cues together with haptic
feedback made a difference in the interaction between the collaborators
regarding their shared understanding of the workspace and the work process.
Especially, sound cues played an important role for maintaining awareness of
ongoing work -- you knew what was going on, and you got a response on your own
actions. Keywords: Haptic / Audio / Multimodal interfaces / Collaboration / Problem solving | |||
| Using interactive 3-D visualization for public consultation | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 556-568 | |
| Paul van Schaik | |||
| 3-D models are often developed to aid the design and development of indoor
and outdoor environments. This study explores the use of interactive 3-D
visualization for public consultation for outdoor environments. Two
visualization techniques (interactive 3-D visualization and static
visualization) were compared using the method of individual testing.
Visualization technique had no effect on the perception of the represented
outdoor environment, but there was a preference for using interactive 3-D.
Previously established mechanisms for a preference for interactive 3-D
visualization in other domains were confirmed in the perceived strengths and
weaknesses of visualization techniques. In focus-group discussion, major
preferences included provision of more information through interactive 3-D
visualization and wider access to information for public consultation. From a
users' perspective, the findings confirm the strong potential of interactive
3-D visualization for public consultation. Keywords: Virtual reality / Visualization / Public consultation / Outdoor environment
/ e-Government | |||
| Increasing the expressive power of task analysis: Systematic comparison and empirical assessment of tool-supported task models | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 569-593 | |
| Sybille Caffiau; Dominique Scapin; Patrick Girard; Mickaël Baron; Francis Jambon | |||
| Task analysis is a critical step in the design process of interactive
systems. The large set of task models available today may lead to the
assumption that this step is well supported. However, very few task models are
tool-supported. And in this latter category, few of them are based on a clear
semantics (in this article, the word semantics is used with the following
definition: "the meaning of a word, phrase, sentence, or text" from Compact
Oxford English Dictionary®). This paper focuses on tool-supported task
models and provides an assessment of the features that have been considered as
essential in task modelling. It compares the different tool-supported methods,
and evaluates the actual use of these features in K-MADe, a tool aimed at
contributing to the incorporation of ergonomics into the design process of
interactive systems through activity and task analysis. The originality of the
K-MADe tool is to be based on a model whose expressive power lies on computable
syntax while trying to be usable by every modelling knowledge designer. This
facilitates task description and analysis, but also model query and the
migration within software engineering models and software lifecycle steps.
Evaluation results demonstrate the usefulness of an increased expressive power
for task models, and their acceptance by users. They also enlighten some
weaknesses in the K-MAD method and suggest further improvements. Keywords: Task models / Tool-supported task modelling / Empirical assessment | |||
| User experience to improve the usability of a vision-based interface | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 594-605 | |
| Cristina Manresa-Yee; Pere Ponsa; Javier Varona; Francisco J. Perales | |||
| When we develop an input device for users to communicate with computers, we
have to take into account that end-users must consider the utilization of the
device to be effective, efficient and satisfactory. Users whose expectations
are unmet by the interface will tend to abandon it. In this paper we present a
vision-based interface for motor-impaired users; a multidisciplinary group
developed this interface. The user's preferences are a critical issue when
selecting an access device; therefore, user requirements should be included in
the design. Usability evaluation should be integrated into relevant phases of
software development. In order to evaluate the design, we present a process
with multiple user studies at different development stages. We describe the
combination of a development project and its implementation, with user
experience considerations embedded in the process. Finally, we studied the
performance of the interface through several tests, paying special attention to
satisfaction and fatigue. From our results we observed that although several
users found the interface tiring, their satisfaction level was encouraging,
suggesting the interface is usable. Keywords: Human-computer interaction / Usability / Vision-based interfaces /
Accessibility | |||
| The impact of voice characteristics on user response in an interactive voice response system | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 606-614 | |
| Rochelle E. Evans; Philip Kortum | |||
| System voice within interactive voice response systems (IVRs) was
investigated in order to determine if voice impacts a user's input responses.
In a medical setting, it is possible that a particular voice personality and/or
gender may induce more or less disclosure, thus driving a patient to relay more
or less sensitive information. In the IVR setting, one could determine this via
examination of a user's button-press responses. In this study, a male and
female voice personality expressing an upbeat, professional, and sympathetic
personality recorded a script for a medical IVR. Users were randomly assigned
to one of these voice personalities when completing a health survey over that
IVR. It was found that disclosure rates were not affected by the type of voice
heard, nor did they differ by user gender. Additionally, disclosure was higher
on the IVR version of the health survey than on a web-based version, further
recognizing the privacy offered by IVRs. These findings indicate that designers
of IVRs may not have to put additional effort into the selection of voice
talent and can instead focus on the design of the IVR, itself. Keywords: Interactive voice response / Persona / Voice / Disclosure / MDASI | |||