From doing to being: getting closer to the user experience

People and Computers XIV — Usability or Else!, 2000

Subjective methods are widely used to determine whether audio and video quality in networked multimedia applications is sufficient. Recent findings suggest that, due to contextual factors, users often accept levels of media quality known to be below the threshold required for such tasks. Therefore, we propose the use of physiological methods to assess the user cost of different levels of media quality. Physiological responses (HR, GSR and BVP) to two levels of video quality (5 vs. 25 frames per second -fps-) were measured in a study with 24 users. Results showed that there was a statistically significant effect of frame rate, in the direction that 5fps caused responses to indicate stress. However, only 16% of the users noticed the difference subjectively. We propose a 3-tier assessment method that combines task performance, user satisfaction and user cost to obtain a meaningful indication of the media quality required by users.

Subjective methods are widely used to evaluate Multimedia Conferencing quality, yet when used in isolation the results can be misleading. Therefore, this research is measuring physiological indicators of stress (GSR, HR & BVP) as an indicator of the user cost of the reception quality of a multimedia conference. These measurements are taken as part of a 3-Dimensional approach, which incorporates task performance, user satisfaction and user cost. The main results have shown that subjective and physiological responses do not always correlate and that specific physiological signals respond differently depending on the degradation and task. The ability to measure stress subconsciously and unobtrusively has many potential applications.

Behaviour & Information …, 2006

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2000

Networked multimedia applications, such as videoconferencing, offer great communicative opportunities. Since the financial cost of using such a service increases in line with the quality of the audio and video delivered, it is important to have assessment methods to accurately determine the level of quality a user group requires for a particular task. Currently, subjective rating scales are mainly used to assess whether multimedia quality is sufficient for a particular task, but this method alone has drawbacks. We argue that objective methods of user cost (such as stress) should be taken into account, and examine users' physiological responses to determine the impact of different levels of multimedia quality on the user. The aims of this research are 1) to determine the optimum and minimum levels of quality which different users require for performing different tasks without significant user cost; and 2) to produce a utility function which will allow systems to adapt according to physiological responses from the user.

2009

Traditional methods to access the experience of a user such as subjective reports have certain disadvantages. Participants have to be asked for their experiences and emotions which interrupts the process of experience and flow. Psychophysiological methods offer data throughout the process of experience, which unfolds new possibilities for user experience (UX) evaluation. In this paper we provide a short overview of psychophysiological methods for human computer interaction (HCI) and the findings of our examinations. Our outcomes will be discussed considering the possibilities, challenges and feasibility of these methods in the area of interaction with systems and emotions. Based on our experience we think that psychophysiological measurements provide important possibilities in product development and can help to deepen and expand the insights gathered by traditional methods.

2018 World Symposium on Digital Intelligence for Systems and Machines (DISA), 2018

Analyses of user experience in electronic entertainment industry currently rely on self-reporting methods, such as surveys, ratings, focus group interviews, etc. We argue that selfreporting alone carries inherent problems-mainly the subject bias and interpretation difficulties-and therefore should not be used as a sole metric. To deal with this problem, we propose a possibility of creating a model of consumer experience based on psychophysiological measurements and describe how such model can be trained using machine learning methods. Models trained exclusively on real-time data produced by autonomic nervous system and involuntary physiological responses is not susceptible to subjective bias, misinterpretation and imprecision caused by the delay between the experience and the interview. This paper proposes a potentially promising direction for future research and presents an introductory analysis of available biological data sources, their relevance to user experience modeling and technical prerequisites for their collection. Multiple psychophysiological measurements (such as heart rate, electrodermal activity or respiratory activity) should be used in combination with selfreporting methods to prepare training sets for machine learning models. During our initial experiments, we collected time-series heart rate data for two computer games-Hearthstone and Dota 2. This preliminary analysis suggests the existence of a correlation between psychophysiological measurements and in-game events. Actual ready-to-use user experience models are out of the scope of this paper.

Sensors, 2019

Analyses of user experience in the electronic entertainment industry currently rely on self-reporting methods, such as surveys, ratings, focus group interviews, etc. We argue that self-reporting alone carries inherent problems—mainly the misinterpretation and temporal delay during longer experiments—and therefore, should not be used as a sole metric. To tackle this problem, we propose the possibility of modeling consumer experience using psychophysiological measures and demonstrate how such models can be trained using machine learning methods. We use a machine learning approach to model user experience using real-time data produced by the autonomic nervous system and involuntary psychophysiological responses. Multiple psychophysiological measures, such as heart rate, electrodermal activity, and respiratory activity, have been used in combination with self-reporting to prepare training sets for machine learning algorithms. The training data was collected from 31 participants during h...

Proceedings of OZCHI, 2000

Low-cost multimedia conferencing (MMC) is increasing in popularity, but it is often questioned whether the quality of the audio and video provided is usable. Traditionally, subjective methods have been employed to assess this. However, recent findings suggest that subjective ratings, which are cognitively mediated, may not reliably detect the impact of quality on users. To address this problem, we are taking physiological indicators of stress as a measure of user cost. In a study with 24 participants, physiological and subjective responses were taken to six types of audio degradation. Results show that the most physiologically stressful condition (audio recorded using a bad microphone) was not subjectively rated as poor. This discrepancy between subjective and physiological responses illustrates the peril of using subjective assessment alone, and supports our proposal for a three-tier approach to media quality assessment of task performance, user satisfaction and user cost.

Acta Electrotechnica et Informatica, 2016

With the increase in popularity of electronic entertainment (EE), the demand of optimization of its individual element arose. Big studios producing products of EE (movies, video-games, music, etc.) are benefiting from any gathered feedback from their customers. Customer's reaction to individual parts of the video-game might be invaluable for future level-designers, in form of information about each single aspect/feature targeted in the optimization process. In this paper, we present a study of individual checkpoints on the way of optimizing such EE products using artificial intelligence. We also present a way of using psychophysiological measurements of subjects playing video-games or watching movies to optimize their general EE experience.

Electronic Imaging, 2016

In the area of Quality of Experience (QoE), one challenge is to design test methodologies in order to evaluate the perceived quality of multimedia content delivered through technical systems. Traditionally, this evaluation is done using subjective opinion tests. However, sometimes it is difficult for observers to communicate the experienced quality through the given scale. Furthermore, those tests do not give insights into how the user is reacting on an internal physiological level. To overcome these issues, one approach is to use physiological measures, in order to derive a direct non-verbal response of the recipient. In this paper, we review studies that have been performed in the domain of QoE using physiological measures and we look into current activities in standardization bodies. We present challenges this research faces, and give an overview on what researchers should be aware of when they want to start working in this research area.