User interface development processes and methodologies

The way in which designers choose between alternatives in user interface design can affect both the design process and also the quality of the outcome, i.e., the user interface. However, little is known about the knowledge drawn on during, or the processes that guide, the choice between design alternatives. This paper presents the results of an empirical study aimed at modelling 'trade-off decision making' in user interface design. It is argued that a single abstract vocabulary can capture important aspects of the rich knowledge drawn on during design problem solving. It is also argued that designers' reasoning during 'choice episodes' is not sophisticated. In choosing between alternatives in design, designers invariably limit the range, or nature, of the alternatives considered. The implications of this finding are discussed.     

Acceptance,emotion and behaviour

Abstract

The introduction of standards will hopefully ensure that users can access particular computer resources through a communications network for their own purposes without major problems. The International Standards Organisation (ISO) has developed a seven-layer reference model which is to be used for the purpose of incorporating standards relating to the interconnection of open systems (OSI). It is important that the human factors requirements are considered in relation to this model if the aim of generality of use is to be achieved. This paper considers some of the major human factors requirements and describes an approach to translating them into design standards which can be implemented. The approach starts from a consideration of user activity and develops into a language interface which could reside in layers of the reference model.     

A Literature Survey on Applications of Neural Networks for Human-Computer Interaction

This article presents an overview of the neural networks approach to user modelling and intelligent interface. We analyse and discuss activities in user modelling and intelligent interface. Activities of various neural networks models are introduced to illustrate how user modelling problems can be solved by neural networks. The practical utility of neural networks in supporting user modelling and intelligent interface is demonstrated by reviewing a selection of neural networks developed in this area. Structured summaries are provided for comparative purpose.     

An intelligent multimedia interface for fuzzy-logic based inference in crops

The paper reports an interface designed for three subsystems—the knowledge acquisition subsystem with dynamic disease knowledge base, intelligent disease diagnosis subsystem with object-oriented intelligent-inference model and intelligent tutor for crop disease with audio-visual graphical user web-interface. The paper describes the design features; functionality and development of intelligent multimedia web interface. The results of its evaluation are also presented.A novel approach of rule promotion based on fuzzy logic is used in the system for drawing intelligent inferences for crop disease management. A text-to-speech (TTS) converter is used for providing capability of text-to-talking user interface. It provides the highly-effective interactive user interface on web for live interactions. It helps significantly and gives solutions of plant pathological problems in short spell. The application software is built using the Microsoft .NET framework, ASP.NET web-application framework provided in Visual Studio.NET. The Microsoft Speech SDK (5.1) is used to develop text to voice multimedia interface. The dynamic knowledge base is implemented using SQL server.     

Enhancing industrial performance: experiences of integrating the human factor

Abstract

Enhancing Industrial Performance refers to the case book that focuses on the effective implementation of sociotechnical innovation, describing real experiences with the management of the human-computer interface. It argues for an ergonomic approach to systems design and evaluation; human factors audits in systems prototyping; user participation in the design process; human-centred organizational design; and matching human resources with technological investment. In the paper, four case studies out of 15 are briefly described. It is stressed that the human-oriented design approach should be integrated in a company-wide manufacturing excellence programme. Finally, industry as well as universities need case studies.     

The Society's Lecture 1987 The Use of Models in Human-Computer Interface Design

A user-centred approach to human-computer interface design requires that the designer has appropriate tools to aid in the design process and employs iterative design procedures which incorporate user evaluations. The concept of using models of the user as an interface design tool is discussed, and several approaches to user modelling are described. These approaches are divided into the broad categories of conceptual and quantitative models. Conceptual models deal primarily with representations of users1 cognitive processes, structures and strategies. Quantitative models include performance, ergonomic, computer simulation and statistical models. Examples of both a conceptual and a quantitative model are provided to illustrate human-computer interface design implications. Some unresolved issues pertaining to both categories of models are discussed, and recommendations are made to improve modelling as an interface design tool.     

Design decisions for a voice navigation system

Voice navigation systems allow users to interact with computer applications by voice. In this paper we present human factors research that evaluated design alternatives for major user interface components. In the first study we evaluated the appropriateness and discriminability of four sets of icons that were candidates for functions in theVoice Toolbar of the navigation system. In the second study we studied two different ways of organizing and presenting voice commands in theWhat Can I Say window. The key finding was that the alternative organization seemed to improve task performance. The results provided the basis for design recommendations.     

Visual and manual loadings with QWERTY-like ambiguous keyboards: Relevance of letter-key assignments on mobile phones

Mobile phone touchscreens have many ergonomic problems related to text entry. Previous studies, which attempted to use ambiguous keyboards to resolve problem of small keys, focused on the disambiguation process without consideration of the user loading on graphic user interface. This study investigates user loadings, which interfere with performance in the key selection phase when using an ambiguous keyboard. Hence, three QWERTY-like ambiguous keyboards and a standard QWERTY keyboard were compared via visual search and manual operation experiments. The visual search experiment shows that layouts with many letters per key were strongly related to long visual search times, and layouts with large keys were operated faster and more accurately in the manual operation experiment. Consequently, the trade-off between visual and manual loading differed among different letter-key assignments. This study is important in that it elucidates the impacts of visual and manual loadings on ambiguous keyboards, as well as in providing user interface designers with an enhanced understanding of how to design ambiguous keyboards based on user criteria.Relevance to industryAmbiguous keyboard designs in previous studies were generally far from the actual needs of users. This study examines the factors affecting text entry performance of users via the user-centered approach, improving the understanding of designers.     

Taking up the situated cognition challenge with ripple down rules

Situated cognition poses a challenge that requires a paradigm shift in the way we build symbolic knowledge-based systems. Current approaches require complex analysis and modelling and the intervention of a knowledge engineer. They rely on building knowledge-level models which often result in static models that suffer from the frame of reference problem. This approach has also resulted in an emphasis on knowledge elicitation rather than user requirements elicitation. The situated nature of knowledge necessitates a review of how we build, maintain and validate knowledge-based systems. We need systems that are flexible, intuitive and that interact directly with the end-user. We need systems that are designed with maintenance in mind, allowing incremental change and on-line validation. This will require a technique that captures knowledge in context and assists the user to distinguish between contexts. We take up this challenge with a knowledge acquisition and representation method known as Ripple-down Rules. Context in Ripple-down Rules is handled by its exception structure and the storing of the case that prompted a rule to be added. A rule is added as a refinement to an incorrect rule by assigning the correct conclusion and picking the salient features in the case that differentiate the current case from the case associated with the wrong conclusion. Thus, knowledge acquisition and maintenance are simple tasks, designed to be performed incrementally while the system is in use. Knowledge acquisition, maintenance and inferencing are offered in modes that can be performed reflexively without a knowledge engineer. We further describe the addition of modelling tools to assist the user to reflect on their knowledge for such purposes as critiquing, explanation, “what-if” analysis and tutoring. Our aim is to provide a system that lets the user choose the mode of interaction and view of the knowledge according to the situation in which they find themselves and their own personal preferences.     

Case-based analysis in user requirements modelling for knowledge construction

ContextLearning can be regarded as knowledge construction in which prior knowledge and experience serve as basis for the learners to expand their knowledge base. Such a process of knowledge construction has to take place continuously in order to enhance the learners’ competence in a competitive working environment. As the information consumers, the individual users demand personalised information provision which meets their own specific purposes, goals, and expectations.ObjectivesThe current methods in requirements engineering are capable of modelling the common user’s behaviour in the domain of knowledge construction. The users’ requirements can be represented as a case in the defined structure which can be reasoned to enable the requirements analysis. Such analysis needs to be enhanced so that personalised information provision can be tackled and modelled. However, there is a lack of suitable modelling methods to achieve this end. This paper presents a new ontological method for capturing individual user’s requirements and transforming the requirements onto personalised information provision specifications. Hence the right information can be provided to the right user for the right purpose.MethodAn experiment was conducted based on the qualitative method. A medium size of group of users participated to validate the method and its techniques, i.e. articulates, maps, configures, and learning content. The results were used as the feedback for the improvement.ResultThe research work has produced an ontology model with a set of techniques which support the functions for profiling user’s requirements, reasoning requirements patterns, generating workflow from norms, and formulating information provision specifications.ConclusionThe current requirements engineering approaches provide the methodical capability for developing solutions. Our research outcome, i.e. the ontology model with the techniques, can further enhance the RE approaches for modelling the individual user’s needs and discovering the user’s requirements.     

On the role of individual human abilities in the design of adaptive user interfaces for scientific problem solving environments

A scientific problem solving environment should be built in such a way that users (scientists) might exploit underlying technologies without a specialised knowledge about available tools and resources. An adaptive user interface can be considered as an opportunity in addressing this challenge. This paper explores the importance of individual human abilities in the design of adaptive user interfaces for scientific problem solving environments. In total, seven human factors (gender, learning abilities, locus of control, attention focus, cognitive strategy and verbal and nonverbal IQs) have been evaluated regarding their impact on interface adjustments done manually by users. People’s preferences for different interface configurations have been investigated. The experimental study suggests criteria for the inclusion of human factors into the user model guiding and controlling the adaptation process. To provide automatic means of adaptation, the Intelligent System for User Modelling has been developed. Elena Zudilova-Seinstra is a Senior Researcher at the Scientific Visualisation and Virtual Reality Group of the University of Amsterdam. Previously, she worked for the Corning Scientific Centre. Apart from being a researcher, in 1999–2002 she was a part-time Assistant Professor at the St. Petersburg Academy of Management Methods and Techniques. She received her M.S. degree in technical engineering in 1993 and Ph.D. in computer science in 1998 from the St. Petersburg State Technical University. In 1996, she received an award for R&D from the Welles-Johnson Foundation of Maryland. She is a Program Committee Member of several International Conferences and Workshops. Her current research interests include multi-modal and adaptive interaction, scientific visualisation, virtual and augmented reality, ambient intelligence and usability studies. She has more than 40 research publications and three editorials in these areas. Also, she has been an INTAS evaluator since February 2005.     

A theoretical framework and empirical examination of the effects of foreign and translated interface language

Given the increased globalization and popularization of computer applications, translating a system's human interface into the local language has become a major consideration for software vendors and distributors. In this paper, we suggest a theoretical framework for the study of user interface translation. The framework includes recognizing vendors' and users' costs of, and benefits from, software translation. An experiment was conducted, based on this framework, to test user performance and preferences regarding interface translations. The experiment manipulated the translation of two interface components: documentation language and manipulation language. The results indicate that users are sensitive to different combinations of interface translation in a way that is commensurate with the instruction-following process (Terwilliger and Polson 1997). Users performed best when a fully translated interface was used and worst when only the manipulation language was translated. Users' preferences were in line with their performance, indicating that a cost benefit approach can serve as a promising starting point to the study of interface translation.     

Computer self-efficacy in an ongoing use context

The objective of this study is to examine whether computer self-efficacy continues to influence the use of information technology in an ongoing use context where experienced personnel use computers to do complex and dynamic knowledge work. Hypotheses are proposed concerning the determinants and consequences of computer self-efficacy. Using a survey of 153 engineers engaged in computer intensive design work, a preliminary test of the hypotheses is conducted using structural equation modelling (LISREL). The results suggest that the impact of self-efficacy on the effectiveness of ongoing computer use may be indirect, mediated by intrinsic motivation. The results also suggest that, in the ongoing use context, user autonomy, learning capabilities, and collegial support are determinants of computer self-efficacy. The conclusion is that computer self-efficacy continues to play an important role among ongoing users. Its influence is not limited to the early stages of user interaction with technology (i.e., adoption or training).     

Representation still matters: cognitive engineering and user interface design

With the increased utilization of cognitive models for designing user interfaces several disciplines started to contribute to acquiring and representing knowledge about users, artifacts, and tasks. Although a wealth of studies already exists on modeling mental processes, and although the goals of cognitive engineering have become quite clear over the last decade, essential epistemological and methodological issues in the context of developing user interfaces have remained untouched. However, recent challenging tasks, namely designing information spaces for distributed user communities, have led to a revival of well known problems concerning the representation of knowledge and related issues, such as abstraction, navigation through information spaces, and visualization of abstract knowledge. All of these issues are associated with mental processes and thus, might become part of cognitive models. In this paper we reveal epistemological and methodological assumptions in the field of cognitive modeling as well as their implications for user interface design. It turns out that in order to achieve the goal of developing human-oriented (in contrast to technology-driven) human-computer interfaces developers have to develop knowledge of the structure and the representational dynamics of the cognitive systems which are interacting with the computer. We show that in a first step it is necessary to study and investigate the different levels and forms of representation that are involved in the interaction processes between computers and human cognitive systems. We propose a hybrid user modeling approach as part of the task-based development procedure in TADEUS (Task Analysis/Design/End User Systems). The hybrid approach does not only enable the representation of functional roles end users have to perform, but also how end users perform these roles, i.e. the representation and reflection, if not prediction of their behavior. This way, holistic system development that equally takes into account the organizational requirements and the end user reality at work places is facilitated.     

Ontology-driven document enrichment: principles, tools and applications

In this paper, we present an approach to document enrichment, which consists of developing and integrating formal knowledge models with archives of documents, to provide intelligent knowledge retrieval and (possibly) additional knowledge-intensive services, beyond what is currently available using “standard” information retrieval and search facilities. Our approach is ontology-driven, in the sense that the construction of the knowledge model is carried out in a top-down fashion, by populating a given ontology, rather than in a bottom-up fashion, by annotating a particular document. In this paper, we give an overview of the approach and we examine the various types of issues (e.g. modelling, organizational and user interface issues) which need to be tackled to effectively deploy our approach in the workplace. In addition, we also discuss a number of technologies we have developed to support ontology-driven document enrichment and we illustrate our ideas in the domains of electronic news publishing, scholarly discourse and medical guidelines.     

Task orientation and user‐oriented dialog design

Work psychologists have introduced a concept, in which dialog design is a part of task design. A set of criteria of user‐oriented dialog design is presented here. These criteria are consistently integrated into a control concept. Empirical investigations on some of these criteria are then described. In an experiment to prove the criterion transparency, a desktop interface (high transparency) and a conventional menu selection interface (low transparency) were compared. The main result is the clear superiority of the user interface with direct manipulation over the conventional user interface with menu selection. Support is another of the criteria of user‐oriented dialog design that was empirically investigated. The advantages of goal‐ and task‐oriented help messages are also described here. To make the criterion flexibility and the criterion user‐definability practicable, the implementation of a dialog handler for user‐tailorable systems is introduced. The criterion participation was investigated in field studies. It will be shown that in projects with active participation the costs were exceeded to a lesser degree than in projects with passive participation and to a much lesser degree than in projects without participation.     

Providing human factors knowledge to non-specialists: a structured method for the evaluation of future speech interfaces

Abstract

Many system developers face the following problem: designing effective human-computer interfaces requires human factors expertise, but specialists possessing such expertise are not always available to contribute to development. This paper identifies a particular instance of the problem: that faced by military procurers who are not human factors experts when they assess whether speech-based computers will be suitable for specific future battlefield applications. The paper describes a method enabling the procurer systematically to develop simulations of future systems (task, device, and user) and to perform empirical evaluations on them. The method is modelled on the structured analysis and design methods employed by software engineers, the scope, process, and notation of which are explicit and proceduralized. A preliminary test suggests that the method has the potential to improve the quality of early speech interface assessments by procurers. However, some difficulties remain in representing declarative knowledge of device user-interaction, and in deciding an appropriate level for describing procedures to support such assessors. The implications of the work are considered for the more general transfer of human factors knowledge to non-specialists