Jack A. Adams (1922–2010).

Jack A. Adams, a noted engineering psychologist, was born in Davenport, Iowa, on August 3, 1922. He died from cancer in Falls Church, Virginia, on September 22, 2010, at age 88. Survivors include his two children, Samuel Adams of Indiana and Sara Cashell of Oregon, as well as three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Jack published more than 100 articles in refereed journals, and his article on his closed loop theory of motor learning, published in 1971 in the Journal of Motor Behavior, became a classic for scholars and researchers in the field. Perhaps Jack’s most noteworthy accomplishment during his tenure at the University of Illinois was his vital role in advancing the academic program in engineering psychology. The outstanding contributions of Jack A. Adams to engineering psychology will remain, but his colleagues will miss their interactions with a good friend. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Human-computer dialogue design considerations

The three critical elements of quality human-computer dialogue design include a compilation of existing design guidelines, behavioral research to expand the general dialogue principles, and a computer-aided implementation for retrieval of the guidelines by dialogue authors. The need for empirically based dialogue guidelines relating to generic human-computer taks is stressed. The results of two studies dealing with interactive text editing are presented as examples of research directed toward specifying dialogue design principles and developing formal tools for human-computer dialogue research. One of these studies deals with a methodology for developing user models, and the second study deals with the design of HELP information. Computer-aiding in the form of rule-based systems for selecting appropriate dialogue guidelines and software tools for authoring dialogues are discussed as means for implementing these dialogue design considerations.     

Personal reflections from the fifth editor of Human Factors

The fifth editor of Human Factors provides reflections on journal publication spanning four volumes printed from 1976 to 1980. During that period, most of the publication and management activities were handled by volunteer efforts of the editor, the editorial board, and the editor's organization. Electronic word processing was not readily available, and most publication tasks required laborious clerical support, resulting in long publication lags. The editor provides reflection on the steps taken by the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society to separate editorial and production activities during that period to provide more support for the journal editorial duties. This resulted in the Society becoming its own publisher, building the beginning of a publication staff in the central office, and increasing the published page count. Rigorous editorial reviews were used to improve the scientific quality of the journal. The publication emphasis was on empirical research, but theoretical articles and research reviews were also considered for publication. Regular journal articles, short research notes, and special topics were published as ways to broaden the scientific coverage and shorten the publication lag.     

Determining the effectiveness of the usability problem inspector: a theory-based model and tool for finding usability problems

Despite the increased focus on usability and on the processes and methods used to increase usability, a substantial amount of software is unusable and poorly designed. Much of this is attributable to the lack of cost-effective usability evaluation tools that provide an interaction-based framework for identifying problems. We developed the user action framework and a corresponding evaluation tool, the usability problem inspector (UPI), to help organize usability concepts and issues into a knowledge base. We conducted a comprehensive comparison study to determine if our theory-based framework and tool could be effectively used to find important usability problems in an interface design, relative to two other established inspection methods (heuristic evaluation and cognitive walkthrough). Results showed that the UPI scored higher than heuristic evaluation in terms of thoroughness, validity, and effectiveness and was consistent with cognitive walkthrough for these same measures. We also discuss other potential advantages of the UPI over heuristic evaluation and cognitive walkthrough when applied in practice. Potential applications of this work include a cost-effective alternative or supplement to lab-based formative usability evaluation during any stage of development.     

Costs of reducing water use of concentrating solar power to sustainable levels: Scenarios for North Africa

Concentrating solar power (CSP) has the potential to become a leading sustainable energy technology for the European electricity system. In order to reach a substantial share in the energy mix, European investment in CSP appears most profitable in North Africa, where solar potential is significantly higher than in southern Europe. As well as sufficient solar irradiance, however, the majority of today's CSP plants also require a considerable amount of water, primarily for cooling purposes. In this paper we examine water usage associated with CSP in North Africa, and the cost penalties associated with technologies that could reduce those needs. We inspect four representative sites to compare the ecological and economical drawbacks from conventional and alternative cooling systems, depending on the local environment, and including an outlook with climate change to the mid-century. Scaling our results up to a regional level indicates that the use of wet cooling technologies would likely be unsustainable. Dry cooling systems, as well as sourcing of alternative water supplies, would allow for sustainable operation. Their cost penalty would be minor compared to the variance in CSP costs due to different average solar irradiance values.     

Display characteristics in inspection tasks.

Tested 8 female undergraduates on detection of pin-hole defects in a visual scanning task. Display type (static vs. dynamic) and display arrangement (random vs. ordered) were combined factorially in a within-S design. Static (inspector-paced) displays yielded more defect detections and fewer false alarm errors; whereas, display arrangement did not effect detections or false alarm errors. It is concluded that inspector-paced displays seem to be more beneficial than externally paced displays when rapid scanning rates are required. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)