Programming by example: The human face of AI

It is argued that “human-centredness” will be an important characteristic of systems that learn tasks from human users, as the difficulties in inductive inference rule out learning without human assistance. The aim of “programming by example” is to create systems that learn how to perform tasks from their human users by being shown examples of what is to be done. Just as the user creates a learning environment for the system, so the system provides a teaching opportunity for the user, and emphasis is placed as much on facilitating successful teaching as on incorporating techniques of machine learning. If systems can “learn” repetitive tasks, their users will have the power to decide for themselves which parts of their jobs should be automated, and teach the system how to do them — reducing their dependence on intermediaries such as system designers and programmers. This paper presents principles for programming by example derived from experience in creating four prototype learners: for technical drawing, text editing, office tasks, and robot assembly. A teaching metaphor (a) enables the user to demonstrate a task by performing it manually, (b) helps to explain the learner's limited capabilities in terms of a persona, and (c) allows users to attribute intentionality. Tasks are represented procedurally, and augmented with constraints. Suitable mechanisms for attention focusing are necessary in order to control inductive search. Hidden features of a task should be made explicit so that the learner need not embark on the huge search entailed by hypothesizing missing steps.     

Using an Interactive Online Tutorial to Expand Library Instruction

This article presents the design and assessment of an online, interactive, information literacy tutorial for first-year composition students at a community college. The objective of the tutorial was to use technology to teach basic research skills effectively, thereby extending the staff-limited reach of in-person information literacy programs. The tutorial used different types of interactivity to promote student learning in an online environment. Interface design and e-learning best practices enhanced the user experience and usability of the tutorial. Through sound pedagogical and design principles, students exhibited learning in all areas.     

Understanding novelty: how task structure and tool familiarity moderate performance

Consumers and corporate end users are regularly faced with the challenge of adapting to new technology tools and their user interfaces. Understanding the role of user experience in using these new interfaces is an important aspect of assessing and planning for how new innovations are received. Through a controlled laboratory experiment in the information retrieval domain, we find that the effect of task (web search) familiarity on performance depends on the task structure (open-ended versus closed-ended) and the degree of tool familiarity (a traditional textual list versus a novel graphical interface for presenting web search results). Our results show that task experience has a positive effect on performance when the task structure is closed-ended and the interface is familiar, and a negative effect when the task structure is open-ended and the interface is unfamiliar. This study not only adds to the literature on user experience in the context of IT use, but also has practical implications for the testing and adoption of new technologies, indicating that novices may be better, or at least an important group, for testing truly novel tools and their interfaces.     

浅谈用户界面设计

用户界面(UI)设计是一个动态的、逻辑的推理过程。某种特定的用户群体需要某种特定的界面设计。要让产品获得成功,就要把用户心智模型切入产品分析研究设计阶段中作为理论依据。本文以心智模型理论为切入点,结合逻辑学,心理学和美学等理论知识,深入浅出地探讨了一些影响用户界面设计的关键因素。     

Vu: visual user-interface design

Vu is an interactive visual programming environment, which enables interface designers to create highly interactive, graphical, direct-manipulation-style graphical user interfaces in a very natural manner. The general strategy of vu is to enable the designer to draw the screen display that the end user will see, and to test the interface by performing actions just as the end user would. This is achieved by providing exploratory programming in a highly visual and object-oriented environment. This paper describes the design principles and structure of vu.     

Object-oriented specification of user interfaces

This paper presents an object-oriented approach for the specification of graphical user interfaces. Specification starts with the analysis of the end user's operations. The user interface is then designed on the basis of this analysis. Operation analysis is followed by structure and component specification which presents the dialogue structure of the application and the contents of each dialogue. Visualization produces the final screen layouts, and task specification documents the usage of the user interface for the purpose of creating user's guides. The method presented in this paper makes it easier for a designer to take the end user's needs into account. Still, it does not automatically guarantee good quality user interfaces. The top-down nature of the method allows the designer to concentrate on the most important aspects of the user interface and split the design procedure into manageable pieces. Also, the visibility of the process allows the designer to communicate with other people while specifying the user interface. This paper connects the method with the object-oriented specification of entire applications. It briefly explains the connections with object-oriented analysis and design, and demonstrates how to implement the specified user interface in an object oriented fashion. The approach presented in this paper is being applied in the development of a large network management system with about two million lines of C++ code running in the XII environment. Still, the method does not require the specification being implemented with any specific windowing system. The only requirement is that the user interface is based on graphical elements, such as dialogues, push-buttons and text fields.     

Synergy and Subsidiarity: The Systematic Determination of Software,User, and Operating Instructions

The quality of a software product is determined by its usability; the quality of technical documentation is determined by its comprehensibility. Usability conceptualizes the person using a software product to perform a task; comprehensibility deals with the reader of operating instructions-although they are generally one and the same person. However, only rarely are the software and technical documentation part of an integrated design.

This is all the more surprising in that, on the technical level, the boundary between software and user information is becoming increasingly blurred; one need only think of the hypertext links between software and help systems, or of electronic versions of operating instructions.

We make the case for considering user, software, and operating instructions as a single system oriented toward performing a task; the operating instructions therefore are regarded as a subsidiary subsystem of a structure to be described. This is done from a linguistic perspective, with reference to the central category of knowledge available to the user or contained in the software and in the operating instructions and that we approach via an empirical analysis of authentic material (operating instructions as primary data, statements of end users concerning operating instructions).

Taking the example of creating software and operating instructions for a computer tomograph, we show how the relevant knowledge elements contribute to the accomplishment of an operating task and discuss the resultant requirements concerning the contents of software and operating instructions, particularly for handling fault and problem situations.     

DEVELOPMENT OF AN INTELLIGENT PRODUCT DESIGN SYSTEM: INTEGRATION STRATEGIES

Conventional computer-aided design (CAD) packages have drastically reduced the workload of the human designer and shortened the product design cycle. However, the degree of effort and volume of information required to use these tools limit their use to the later stages of design. Intelligent computer-aided design (ICAD) systems have sought to provide a more complete design tool to assist the designer in all phases of design. ICAD systems incorporate conventional CAD elements as well as knowledge engineering constructs. The level of integration between different components of an ICAD system determines its usefulness. Most commercial intelligent CAD packages are tied to a specific set of CAD tools, restricting their application domains. This dependence on specific software tools can be reduced by using general purpose modules to interface with available CAD packages. This paper discusses a method of introducing knowledge engineering technology to help develop an advanced intelligent product design system by integrating ICAD's Concept Modeller with SDRC's l-DEAS package for engineering product design. This integration is necessary because neither the Concept Modeller nor the I-DEAS package provides any unified design environment where users can access both symbolic and numerical design tools as needed to carry out design synthesis and analysis activities. Interfacing engineering design and knowledge processing together is not an easy task. The task is further complicated since it needs to be done only by those who have enough knowledge of both technologies, and also because it may result in reorganization of the traditional design process altogether. The proposed intelligent product design system uses artificial intelligence techniques to take care of human experts knowledge and it advocates the use of several commercial software packages that come from a variety of sources (and are proven to be robust) to perform design synthesis in a cost-efficient and timely manner. The technique described here is relatively easy to implement and is well suited to industrial needs.     

An Intelligent Human-Computer Interface for Provision of On-Line Help

Some user interfaces, such as that of Unix, aredifficult for novices to use, and this paper suggestsa possible solution to such problems. The results ofa study of Unix users enabled the development of ataxonomy of error types so that users' errors can beclassified. This information is encapsulated asproduction rules within a knowledge base and forms thebasis for the design and development of an intelligentinterface to Unix. The prototype makes inferencesabout users' mental models and uses these to selectappropriate tutorial advice. Performance of users ofthe prototype intelligent interface was compared withthat of users of the usual Unix interface. Theprototype users were found to make fewer errors,exhibit fewer misconceptions and take less time tocomplete a standard set of tasks.     

Designing for user benefit: a methodological cautionary tale

This paper is concerned with the problem of ‘losing sight’ of the user during the design of human-computer interfaces. A methodological practice is proposed which enables the designer to track the implications of design proposals with respect to both the benefits they confer on the user and their goodness of fit with user characteristics. The methodological practice, which is seen as a technique for early or formative evaluation, is then applied in retrospect to two adaptive prototypes which are currently being incorporated into a Multi-Author Document Preparation System. The results of this process are intended as a methodological cautionary tale for other designers, illustrating the potential consequences of failure to evaluate the implicit assumptions that are being made about users by the designer.     

Environmental Testing Techniques for Software Certification

The problems of developing software requirements and quality assurance techniques have basically dealt with an environment where a single organization acts as the designer, developer, and user of the software product. Since the mid-1970' s, however, there has been a great increase in the use of "packaged" software products designed and developed by one organization for use in a variety of other organizations. The great profusion of products has resulted in many products being peddled for generic applications (accounting, manufacturing, etc.) which are of questionable quality and/or "fit" to a given organization's environment. This paper describes some techniques that are being used to certify software produced by third parties and how to determine if the "fit" is there. Current quality assurance techniques deal with the "correctness" of a program as compared to its specifications [2], [4], [7], [8], [12]. The real issue for a purchaser of software is whether the software is "correct" for its environment.     

Benefits and costs of adaptive user interfaces

The paper examines the positive and the possible adverse effects of adaptive user interfaces (AUIs) in the context of an in-vehicle telematic system as a function of four factors: (1) four different levels of adaptivity (ranging from manual to fully adaptive with intermediate levels); (2) different tasks; (3) routine (familiar) and non-routine (unfamiliar) situations; and (4) different user age groups. Both experiments included three sessions during which participants drove a simple driving simulator and performed tasks with the telematic system at one of the adaptivity levels. We measured task performance times and lane position variance. Adaptivity was not always equally beneficial, and its benefits depended on a number of factors, including the frequency in which the tasks were performed, the user’s age, the difficulty of the task and the user's involvement in the task. In familiar, routine situations, a fully adaptive system was beneficial for all participants, particularly older ones. In unfamiliar situations, to which the AUI was not adjusted, cognitive workload increased substantially, adversely affecting performance. Intermediate levels of adaptivity keep users involved in the task and help them become more proficient when performing both routine and non-routine tasks. However, intermediate levels of adaptivity should also be implemented with care, because they may also have adverse effects when users encounter non-routine situations.     

Adaptive training interfaces for less-experienced,elderly users of electronic devices

A great number of complex electronic devices are now part of our everyday lives. While many of us learn to handle these products by trial and error; others, especially older users with little experience in using electronic devices, need support. In order to allow the user maximum flexibility in terms of learning time and location, a training programme is presented which is implemented as part of the software embedded in the product itself. Particular focus is placed on the effect of adaptive training on learning. In this study, the training versions differed in their ability to adjust their complexity to the user's experience (adaptive user interface complexity) and their capability to support the learner by prompting them during the learning process (adaptive training advice). The results show that the adjustment of complexity had a positive effect on users’ experience: elderly users who trained with an adaptive interface were more successful in learning to use a mobile phone. Adaptive training advice, however, was found to have no significant effects on learners’ success and reduced their self-efficacy. This work offers guidelines on how to design integrated training applications for electronic devices that successfully help elderly users with little prior experience.     

标准化网页界面的交互设计模式研究

交互设计是了解目标用户对产品的期望,分析用户对产品的使用行为,通过一种有效的方式使用户和产品之间产生愉悦的沟通,这样的交互行为会使用户对产品产生信任和依赖,文章主要研究的是如何通过标准化的网页界面增加用户的使用黏性,以达到以用户为中心的交互理念。：     

一种基于内置合约检查和可配置接口的软构件测试技术*

从构件使用者和开发者的角度分析构件及构件化软件的测试,利用B. Meyer的合约化软件设计思想作为构件测试的理论基础,并在其上面进行了扩展与改进,提出了一种基于内置合约检查和可配置接口的构件测试技术。该方法的优点是：当构件被部署到新的系统环境中时,能够自动测试其服务端是否遵守彼此之间合约,并验证自身在运行阶段履行其所声明的义务的能力;利用可配置接口,可以根据所部署环境和特定系统的需求,动态地选择测试强度;当构件集成出现问题时,能够从抛出的异常信息定位到出错的位置。     

From user interface design to the support of intelligent and adaptive interfaces: an overhaul of user interface software infrastracture

Research on adaptive interfaces in the past has lacked support from user interface tools which allow interfaces to be easily created and modified. Also, current user interface tools provide no support for user models which can collect task-oriented information about users. Developing an adaptive interface requires a user model and an adaptation strategy. It also, however, requires a user interface which can be adapted. The latter task is often time-consuming, especially in relation to more sophisticated user interfaces.

The paper presents a user interface design environment, UIDE, which has a different software infrastracture. Designers use high-level specifications to create a model of an application and links from the application to various interface components. The model is the heart of all the design and run-time support in UIDE, including automatic dialog sequencing and help generation. UIDE provides automatic support for collecting task-oriented information about users, by the use of its high-level specifications in its application model as a basic construct for a user model. Some examples of adaptive interfaces and adaptive help are presented that use the information that is collectable in UIDE.     

Experience with distributed Smalltalk

Distributed Smalltalk (DS) is an implementation of Smalltalk that supports the interaction of many Smalltalk users on many machines. It provides communication and interaction among remote Smalltalk users, direct access to remote objects, and a degree of object sharing among users. The distributed aspects of the system are largely user transparent. Many of the major design issues and implementation decisions associated with Distributed Smalltalk have previously been reported. This paper concentrates on the impact of those decisions and describes how DS is used to build distributed applications. Three example applications are described: remote file access, animated distributed objects, and offloading a compute-intensive task to a non-Smalltalk host. Based on our experience with DS, we present an evaluation of its design and implementation.     

Design process excludes users: the co-creation activities between user and designer

User needs are a fundamental element of design. If the design process does not properly reflect user needs, the design will be severely compromised. Therefore, it is worthwhile to investigate how the user is, and user needs are, understood in the design process. In this article, three accepted linear process models for web site and interactive media design are reviewed in terms of the designer and user participation. The article then proposes a user-evolving collaborative design process which is built on co-creation activities between designer and user. Co-creation activities across the entire design process structurally and ontologically reposition the users, and user needs, centrally, which allows the designers to holistically approach to the user needs through building a partnership with the users. Co-creation creates an equal evolving participatory process between user and designer towards sharing values and knowledge and creating new domains of collective creativity.