User involvement in the systems design process-a practical guide for users

Increasingly users find themselves 'involved' in IT design projects. This occurs because the organizational culture of the parent organization purports to promote participation, or because structured design methods are being used which require users to play a part. In either case users who find themselves required to participate in IT projects are frequently unclear about what this requires. In most organizations surprisingly little briefing on the users' role in design projects is provided. Users are therefore confused about their brief and concerned about their lack of expertise in computing. Although research reports on participatory design PD projects abound, little coherent guidance for the key stakeholders representing users' interests is available. The contents of this paper go some way towards filling the gap. Clear differentiation is made in the paper between the roles of the different players involved. Detailed guidance is provided for meeting the varied requirements of the different roles. For example, the roles of 'top' management and 'middle' management in supporting user involvement are explored, their special responsibilities specified and required actions listed. The need for an infrastructure to support user involvement and how to create one is discussed. Guidance is provided on, for example, the representation process and the factors to consider in selecting user representatives. The role of user representatives is particularly problematical and therefore receives particularly close attention. Finally guidance is given regarding the common pitfalls in Quality Assurance procedures and especially how to avoid the procedures becoming a meaningless 'rubber-stamping' exercise. The guidance presented is grounded in the extensive experience of the author in participative design processes in a wide variety of contexts including the footwear industry, a major UK government department and a telecommunications and broadcasting company.     

Testing e-commerce systems: a practical guide

Testing has a crucial role in the overall development process. Given unlimited time and resources, you could test a system to exhaustion. However, most projects operate within fixed budgets and time scales, so project managers need a systematic and cost-effective approach to testing that maximizes test confidence. This article provides a quick and practical introduction to testing medium- to large-scale transactional e-commerce systems based on project experiences developing tailored solutions for B2C Web retailing and B2B procurement. Typical of most e-commerce systems, the application architecture includes front-end content delivery and management systems, and back-end transaction processing and legacy integration. Aimed primarily at project and test managers, this article explains how to establish a systematic process, and how to test e-commerce systems     

User involvement in developing mobile and temporarily interconnected systems

Information systems (IS) research on user involvement has primarily theorized relationships between developers, managers and users in systems development. However, so far, marginal attention has been paid to differences in user involvement practices between information systems. This paper explores user involvement in developing mobile and temporarily interconnected systems (MTIS). We refer to MTIS as heterogeneous systems that rely on network technologies for increasing the ubiquity of information services for users on the move. Such systems are becoming increasingly important in leveraging, e.g. car infotainment, supply chain management and wireless e‐commerce. With particular emphasis on the nature of MTIS and its implications for user involvement, the paper analyses the systems development process of an action research project. The findings suggest that user involvement practices need to be adapted to accommodate features of this class of systems. Being an early attempt to trace the implications of technology features such as use context switches and temporary system relationships, the paper contributes to the development of an updated theory of the user role in an era of increased system complexity and stakeholder ambiguity.     

A guide to the design offuzzy control systems for manufacturing processes

While classical control theory has been demonstrated to be highly successful in many manufacturing technology applications, there are shortcomings when applied to processes that require the intuitive skills of a human operator. Fuzzy logic technique can be a significant aid in enabling machine systems to imitate the control stategy of an operator and so achieve an efficient control function. Commencing with the basic principles of fuzzy logic theory, the paper provides a practical guide to the design techniques used to establish fuzzy controller. An example of a welding robot to achieve an irregular weld path profile is used to illustrate the procedure.     

User interface design for decision support systems: A self-adaptive approach

This paper presents a self-adaptive approach to user interface design. The primary philosophy of this design is that the user interface must be aware of the changes in its user's behavior and then adapt to it. Three different default policies are proposed to control the adaptation of a user interface: fixed default, dynamic default, and no default. Performance of these policies are compared for various patterns of usage. Mechanisms that determine the optimal default value to reduce the unnecessary effort are also discussed.     

User involvement in system design: An empirical test of alternative approaches

User involvement in the development of information systems is often assumed to be key to successful implementation. However, few empirical studies have clearly demonstrated a relationship between user involvement and two key indicators of system success: system usage and user information satisfaction. The authors test the general hypothesis that user involvement is a more complex concept than previous research would indicate; there are different types of involvement and different stages in the system development life cycle in which users may become involved. In a study of 83 users in 23 companies, they found that only the activity of user sign-offs on project phases had a significant correlation with both user information satisfaction and satisfaction with the information systems group. The authors conclude that there is a complex relationship between the type and degree of user involvement and other organizational and individual factors; this relationship affects both user satisfaction with and usage of the resulting systems. Some suggestions for further research taking this complexity into account are given.     

A practical approach to the design of concurrency in object-oriented systems

Object-oriented software development methods deal with concurrency according to either the implicit concurrency model or the explicit concurrency model. In the implicit model, the objects themselves have concurrent execution capabilities whereas in the explicit model, objects are encapsulated inside processes, the latter providing concurrent execution capabilities. Both models have their advantages and disadvantages. In this paper, we propose applying the implicit model only while conducting object-oriented analysis and then switching over to the explicit model in the design phase. The implicit model naturally fits the analysis phase because the resulting models of the software system will be based on objects—the important concepts of the application—not the issues of how concurrency is implemented. A switch over to the explicit model in the design phase achieves smooth integration with already existing software consisting of processes—which is the main constraint in many industrial applications. This paper presents in detail a systematic solution for the switch over between the concurrency models that applies for soft real-time systems and demonstrates it by a simplified example from a real telecommunication project. Any object-oriented method not yet dealing with concurrency issues can easily integrate the solution. ©1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mobility as involvement: on the role of involvement in the design of mobile support systems for industrial application

Traditional human–computer interaction (HCI) allowed researchers and practitioners to share and rely on the ‘five E’s’ of usability, the principle that interactive systems should be designed to be effective, efficient, engaging, error tolerant, and easy to learn. A recent trend in HCI, however, is that academic researchers as well as practitioners are becoming increasingly interested in user experiences, i.e., understanding and designing for relationships between users and artifacts that are for instance affective, engaging, fun, playable, sociable, creative, involving, meaningful, exciting, ambiguous, and curious. In this paper, it is argued that built into this shift in perspective there is a concurrent shift in accountability that is drawing attention to a number of ethical, moral, social, cultural, and political issues that have been traditionally de-emphasized in a field of research guided by usability concerns. Not surprisingly, this shift in accountability has also received scarce attention in HCI. To be able to find any answers to the question of what makes a good user experience, the field of HCI needs to develop a philosophy of technology. One building block for such a philosophy of technology in HCI is presented. Albert Borgmann argues that we need to be cautious and rethink the relationship as well as the often-assumed correspondence between what we consider useful and what we think of as good in technology. This junction—that some technologies may be both useful and good, while some technologies that are useful for some purposes might also be harmful, less good, in a broader context—is at the heart of Borgmann’s understanding of technology. Borgmann’s notion of the device paradigm is a valuable contribution to HCI as it points out that we are increasingly experiencing the world with, through, and by information technologies and that most of these technologies tend to be designed to provide commodities that effortlessly grant our wishes without demanding anything in return, such as patience, skills, or effort. This paper argues that Borgmann’s work is relevant and makes a valuable contribution to HCI in at least two ways: first, as a different way of seeing that raises important social, cultural, ethical, and moral issues from which contemporary HCI cannot escape; and second, as providing guidance as to how specific values might be incorporated into the design of interactive systems that foster engagement with reality.     

Unseen users, unknown systems: Computer design for a scholar's dictionary

The Dictionary of Old English computing systems have provided access since the 1970s to a database of approximately three million running words. These systems, designed for a variety of machines and written in a variety of languages, have until recently been planned with computing center billing algorithms in mind. With personal workstations emphasis has shifted to building more elegant user interfaces and to providing the entire DOE database to editors around the world. While the shift from sequential files to random access files and the provision of extensive development tools have changed some of the design process, error checking and protection of the database against accidental intrusion have remained as central issues.Richard L. Venezky is Unidel Professor of Educational Studies and professor of Computer and Information Sciences at the University of Delaware. He was formerly professor and chair of Computer Sciences at the University of Wisconsin. His research interests include writing systems, literacy, knowledge representation, and computer-assisted instruction. Among his recent publications are The Subtle Danger: Reflections on the Literacy Abilities of America's Young Adults (Princeton, NJ: ETS, 1987), and Steps Towards a Modern History of American Reading Instruction (Review of Research in Education, 1986, vol. 13, 129–70).     

Defining user experience goals to guide the design of industrial systems

The key prerequisite for experience-driven design is to define what experience to design for. User experience (UX) goals concretise the intended experience. Based on our own case studies from industrial environments and a literature study, we propose five different approaches to acquiring insight and inspiration for UX goal setting: Brand, Theory, Empathy, Technology, and Vision. Each approach brings in a different viewpoint, thus supporting the multidisciplinary character of UX. The Brand approach ensures that the UX goals are in line with the company's brand promise. The Theory approach utilises the available scientific knowledge of human behaviour. The Empathy approach focuses on knowing the actual users and stepping into their shoes. The Technology approach considers the new technologies that are being introduced and their positive or negative influence on UX. Finally, the Vision approach focuses on renewal, introducing new kinds of UXs. In the design of industrial systems, several stakeholders are involved and they should share common design goals. Using the different UX goal-setting approaches together brings in the viewpoints of different stakeholders, thus committing them to UX goal setting and emphasising UX as a strategic design decision.     

Theoretical and practical problems in on-board terminal systems design for liquid-propellant carrier rockets

This paper is dedicated to on-board terminal control systems. Specific features of this class of systems are identified and an approach to terminal feedback control synthesis is proposed, being adequate to the nature of terminal problems. Theoretical and practical problems in on-board terminal systems design for liquid-propellant carrier rockets are discussed. The establishment and further development of research in the field of fuel consumption control systems under the supervision of Academician B.N. Petrov for liquid-propellant carrier rockets (from R-7 rocket till modern carrier vehicles) are considered.     

Expert systems and industrial engineers: A practical guide to a successful partnership

Recent developments in the engineering technology of artificial intelligence and expert systems have generated much excitement both in the business and research environments. There are many opportunities in terms of theoretical research and practical applications. The versatility of the industrial engineering profession seems to be particularly agreeable with the vast potentials of expert systems. A guideline is presented on how industrial engineers can successfully take the lead in beneficial implementations of the emerging technology of expert systems. Suggestions are offered on problem selection, getting started, and expert systems project organization.     

Knowledge types: a practical approach to guide knowledge engineering in domains of building design

Abstract: This paper presents experiences and findings achieved through several expert system projects in domains of technical buiding design. The main focus is on knowledge acquisition and knowledge decomposition. Different approaches are presented and discussed. Four types of knowledge are presented: object knowledge, performance knowledge, event knowledge and metaknowledge, and the applicability of this classification to building design is justified. The paper includes a listing of experiences gained by real world testing of an expert system, and finally we outline guidelines to knowledge engineering in the domain of technical building     

A practical guide for optimal designs of experiments in the Monod model

The Monod model is a classical microbiological model often used in environmental sciences, for example to evaluate biodegradation processes. The model describes microbial growth kinetics in batch culture experiments using three parameters: the maximal specific growth rate, the saturation constant and the yield coefficient. However, identification of these parameter values from experimental data is a challenging problem. Recently, it was demonstrated theoretically that the application of optimal design theory in this model is an efficient method for both parameter value identification and economic use of experimental resources [Dette, H., Melas, V.B., Pepelyshev, A., Strigul, N., 2003. Efficient design of experiments in the Monod model. J. R. Stat. Soc. B 65 (Part 3), 725–742]. The purpose of this paper is to provide this method as a computational “tool” such that it can be used by practitioners without a strong mathematical and statistical background for the efficient design of experiments in the Monod model. The paper presents careful explanations of the principal theoretical concepts, and a simple algorithm for practical optimal design calculations.     

A practical privacy-preserving targeted advertising scheme for IPTV users

In this work, we present a privacy-preserving scheme for targeted advertising via the Internet Protocol TV (IPTV). The scheme uses a communication model involving a collection of subscribers, a content provider (IPTV), advertisers and a semi-trusted server. To target potential customers, the advertiser can utilize not only demographic information of subscribers, but also their watching habits. The latter includes watching history, preferences for IPTV content and watching rate, which are periodically (e.g., weekly) published on a semi-trusted server (e.g., cloud server) along with anonymized demographics. Since the published data may leak sensitive information about subscribers, it is safeguarded using cryptographic techniques in addition to the anonymization of demographics. The techniques used by the advertiser, which can be manifested in its queries to the server, are considered (trade) secrets and therefore are protected as well. The server is oblivious to the published data and the queries of the advertiser as well as its own responses to these queries. Only a legitimate advertiser, endorsed with so-called trapdoors by the IPTV, can query the cloud server and access the query results. Even when some background information about users is available, query responses do not leak sensitive information about the IPTV users. The performance of the proposed scheme is evaluated with experiments, which show that the scheme is practical. The algorithms demonstrate both weak and strong scaling property and take advantage of high level of parallelism. The scheme can also be applied as a recommendation system.     

User interface design for older adults

The percentage of older adults is expected to increase to unprecedented levels within the next decade. Little attention has been devoted to understanding, organizing, and accommodating the needs of older adults with respect to interaction with computers. Indeed, most usability studies have focused on the needs of younger adults, to the neglect of the elderly. As computerized products increasingly appeal to broader audiences, the needs of older adults will become a concern for designers. This review focuses on the organization and presentation of characteristics of older adult learners, along with recommendations based on those characteristics, with the hope that their accessibility will enhance designer intuition and provide suitable information to guide user testing.     

A practical guide to direct optimization for planar grid-generation

In this paper, we provide a guide to using the direct optimization formulation of variational grid-generation. Particular emphasis is placed on the smoothness, or length, functional; this is undoubtedly the most important functional in variational grid-generation, producing smooth grids and ensuring well-posedness of the minimization problem when combined with more unruly functionals. Unfortunately, in its most primary form, length can produce folded grids when used with nonconvex geometries. Historically, there have been two solutions to this dilemma: using an inverse mapping (the famous Winslow generator), or augmenting the functional with others that promote unicity. Both strategies have the drawback that the resulting minimization problem becomes complicated and expensive. As another alternative, we introduce a generalized strategy for length which does not use inverse mappings or auxiliary functionals, but makes strong use of reference grids. This strategy provides flexibility in controlling grid quality, and its minimization problems can be solved using a simple multigrid algorithm, yielding a robust grid-generation scheme with optimal complexity.We also survey recent developments in the use of variational grid-generation (in the form of direct optimization) for the alignment problem.