User-Centered

Ambiguity is usually considered anathema in Human Computer Interaction. We argue, in contrast, that it is a resource for design that can be used to encourage close personal engagement with systems. We illustrate this with examples from contemporary arts and design practice, and distinguish three broad classes of ambiguity according to where they are located in the interpretative relationship linking person and artefact. Ambiguity of information finds its source in the artefact itself, ambiguity of context in the sociocultural discourses that are used to interpret it, and ambiguity of relationship in the interpretative and evaluative stance of the individual. For each of these categories, we describe tactics for emphasising ambiguity that may help designers and other practitioners understand and craft its use.

Usability is a main quality attribute for any interactive product. Usability in touchscreen-based mobile devices is something essential and should be considered when launching a new product; it could be a distinguishing feature in a rushing market, as it is the one of the mobile devices nowadays. Traditional methods for usability measuring do not really fit the nature of these devices. There is a need for new usability evaluation methods or at least for the use of traditional evaluations in novel ways. A set of specific usability heuristics for touchscreen-based mobile devices is proposed and (preliminary) validated.

Purpose – The underlying objective of this literature review was to investigate what kinds of semiotics researches have been employed in user interfaces design and usability evaluation, and how were they employed.

Design/methodology/approach – This research follows a systematic literature review process that consists of three key stages: planning the review, conducting the review, and reporting the review. Starting with an initial set of about 1,000 research articles, 65 were selected for this review, using an inclusion and exclusion criteria. Qualitative and quantitative data were extracted from the selected literatures following a data extraction strategy in six themes of data extraction. The extracted data were synthesized to formulate the stated research questions to obtain the review goals.

Findings – This systematic review identified research strengths, gaps, and challenges. Apart from this, further research possibilities were also explored in this review. For research, the review showed clear needs for more researches to increase both the number and the quality of studies that can be focused on the research gaps identified by this systematic review related to: outcome validation; cultural issues consideration; user interfaces of mobile applications and websites; semiotics perception in usability evaluation; and further improve the value and applicability of research ideas. For practice, the review showed the significance of semeiotics in user interface design and usability evaluation to develop users' intuitive interfaces for boosting the system's usability.

Originality/value – Based on a systematic literature review, the paper not only depicts the current status of semiotics research in user interface design and evaluation, but also provides a number of implications for research and practice. Thus, the review contributes to the scientific community of user interface design and evaluation, as well as suggesting the actual advances in the state of the practice in semiotics research on user interface.

One of the enduring problems of researching and designing digital technologies for the home is that both media technologies and uses tend to be dispersed spatially and temporally throughout the environment and routines of home.  This raises a number of methodologically challenging issues: how digital media technologies are situated amongst other technologies; how materialities and textures shape the experience of home; the ways in which practices of media use are entangled with the other activities and practices that are part of the routines of home; and how digital media content and communications create part of a wider ecology of communication and interaction in home environments. In this article, we outline a methodological and practical response to these questions and describe its application through the development of tailored interdisciplinary research methods.

Embodied agents are often designed with the ability to simulate human emotion. This paperinvestigates the psychological impact of simulated emotional expressions on computer users with aparticular emphasis on how mismatched facial and audio expressions are perceived (e.g. a happy facewith a concerned voice). In a within-subjects repeated measures experiment (N = 68), mismatchedanimations were perceived as more engaging, warm, concerned and happy when a happy or warm facewas in the animation (as opposed to a neutral or concerned face) and when a happy or warm voice was inthe animation (as opposed to a neutral or concerned voice). The results appear to follow cognitivedissonance theory as subjects attempted to make mismatched expressions consistent on both the visualand audio dimensions of animations, resulting in confused perceptions of the emotional expressions.Design implications for affective embodied agents are discussed and future research areas identified

Multi-touch tables are increasingly being used in public spaces such as museums, art galleries, and libraries to help engage the public and provide access to collections. Design- ing applications for this type of environment where a wide variety of people can use the table raises unique interaction issues that need to be addressed. This chapter initially provides a detailed review of research studies that have investigated the impact of multi-touch tables in cultural heritage environments. A case study into the design of a touch table application for The Hive (the first integrated public/university library and history centre in Europe) is then presented where we highlight issues experienced and lessons learned during the development process. In particular, we cover requirements gathering, design approaches used, the selection of appropriate content (for a broad user base), installation and maintenance of a table, and details of an initial informal evaluation.

A mental model is a model that people have of themselves, others, the environment, and the things with which they interact, such as technologies. Mental models can support the user-centered development of digital libraries: if we can understand how users perceive digital libraries, we can design interfaces that take these perceptions into account. In this paper, we describe a novel method for eliciting a generic mental model from users, in this case of a digital library's search engine. The method is based on a content analysis of users' mental representations of the system's usability, which they generated in heuristic evaluations. The content analysis elicited features that the evaluators thought important for the search engine. The resulting mental model represents a generic model of the search engine, rather than a clustering of individuals' mental models of the same search engine. The model includes a number of references to Web search engines as ideal models, but these references are idealistic rather than realistic. We conclude that users' mental models of Web search engines should not be taken at face value. The implications of this finding for digital library development and design are discussed.

This study compares a traditional 3D WIMP (Window Icon Menu Pointer) modeller to a prototype of a novel system with a 6DOF haptic feedback device, stereovision and a co-located display, both in quantitative and qualitative terms. The novel system was conceived to overcome limitations of traditional interaction techniques and devices when dealing with three-dimensions. Experimental results confirm the fundamental role of spatial input for 3D modelling and the significant contribution of haptics and stereovision to qualitative and quantitative performance. A review of relevant research and motivations for the study is presented along with a discussion of main outcomes.

Usability defects test escapee can have a negative impact on the success of software. It is quite common for projects to have a tight timeline. For these projects, it is crucial to ensure there are effective processes in place. One way to ensure project success is to improve the manual processes of the usability inspection via automation. An automated usability tool will enable the evaluator to reduce manual processes and focus on capturing more defects in a shorter period of time. Thus improving the effectiveness of the usability inspection and minimizing defects escapee. There exist many usability testing and inspection methods. The scope of this paper is on the Heuristic Evaluation (HE) procedures automation. The Usability Management System (UMS) was developed to automate as many manual steps as possible throughout the software development life cycle (SDLC). It is important for the various teams within the organization to understand the benefits of automation. The results show that with the help of automation more usability defects can be detected. Hence, enhancing the effectiveness of usability evaluation by an automated Heuristic Evaluation System is feasible.

Research related to emotion in human-computer interaction (HCI) often tends to focus onhow a computer can autonomously detect the emotional state of a user and then adapt itself accordingly. Another important strand of emotion-related research in HCI is the simula-tion of emotional expressions made by computer agents. Interface designers often includeemotional expressions and statements in their interfaces through the use of textual content,speech (synthetic and recorded), and synthetic facial expressions, but little is known of howwe respond
psychologically to these expressions of emotion and what effect they have on auser’s perceptions, behaviour and performance. We are currently planning a series of ex-periments that will investigate the influence of synthetic emotions on a user’s attitudes andbehaviour

""As map-based visualizations of documents become more ubiquitous, there is a greater need for them to support intellectual and creative high-level cognitive activities with collections of non-cartographic materials — documents. This dissertation concerns the conceptualization of map-based visualizations as tools for sensemaking and collection understanding. As such, map-based visualizations would help people use georeferenced documents to develop understanding, gain insight, discover knowledge, and construct meaning.

This dissertation explores the role of graphical representations (such as maps, Kohonen maps, pie charts, and other) and interactions with them for developing map-based visualizations capable of facilitating sensemaking activities such as collection understanding. While graphical representations make document collections more perceptually and cognitively accessible, interactions allow users to adapt representations to users’ contextual needs. By interacting with representations of documents or collections and being able to construct representations of their own, people are better able to make sense of information, comprehend complex structures, and integrate new information into their existing mental models. In sum, representations and interactions may reduce cognitive load and consequently expedite the overall time necessary for completion of sensemaking activities, which typically take much time to accomplish.

The dissertation proceeds in three phases. The first phase develops a conceptual framework for translating ontological properties of collections to representations and for supporting visual tasks by means of graphical representations. The second phase concerns the cognitive benefits of interaction. It conceptualizes how interactions can help people during complex sensemaking activities. Although the interactions are explained on the example of a prototype built with Google Maps, they are independent of Google Maps and can be applicable to various other technologies. The third phase evaluates the utility, analytical capabilities and usability of the additional representations when users interact with a visualization prototype – VIsual COLlection EXplorer. The findings suggest that additional representations can enhance understanding of map-based visualizations of library collections: specifically, they can allow users to see trends, gaps, and patterns in ontological properties of collections.""

The newer version of VICOLEX is available at: http://abuchel.physics.uwo.ca/~obuchel/VICOLEX/map4.php

In order to study how the notion of User Experience (UX) evolved over the last few years, an international survey originally conducted in 2008 by Law et al. has been replicated. Its main goal was to get some insights on the points of view from practitioners on the notion of UX. After having slightly adapted the initial (English) survey and having translated it into French and German, more than 758 valid answers have been collected from all over the world. This experience report aims at illustrating some of the challenges involved in the replication of such a study as well as successes and limitations.

It is generally recognized that our behaviours affect the environment. However, it is difficult to correlate behaviour of an individual person to large-scale problems. This is usually due to insufficient ergonomy of available tools. The main cause is that most of user-awareness tools available are technology-centered instead of user-centered. In this paper, we present a participatory design approach we followed to design and develop an energy-aware mobile application for user-awareness on energy consumption for Smart Home monitoring. To engage end-users from the early design stages, we conduct two on-line surveys and a focus group involving about 630 people. Results allowed on identifying functional requirements and guidelines for mobile app design. The purpose of this research is to increase user-awareness on energy consumption using tools and methods required by users themselves. Furthermore in this paper, we present the technological choices that drove our implementation of an energy-aware application based on prosumers' requirements.

"Whilst at the Universities of Bristol and the West of England, in collaboration with BBC R&D, I have been responsible for the first higher dynamic range, higher resolution and higher frame rate experiments to measure which combination of these developing parameters of image capture and display best engages the audience. What is essentially happening here is the mapping of the capabilities of imaging equipment to the sensory levels of the eye/brain pathway.

We now have greater enhancements to our computational abilities that allow us to uplevel the parameters we are testing and more importantly, this increase in itself speaks of what is to come. Our tests have revealed the creation of a sense of depth, without sensory tricks.

But trying to predict where technical and aesthetic developments will lead us does a disservice to the subject area. To more fully explore the importance of these developments, in this paper I attempt to explore the narrative that underlies Cognitive Neuroscience as a descriptor that may reveal the nature of that which looks, as being as important as that which is looked at.""

Participatory Design (PD) provides a variety of tools and techniques for involving users in innovation processes. However, user involvement in PD is often limited to singular, face-to-face events supporting short-term rather than continuous collaborative relationships between users and system developers. Such a traditional PD approach is limited within a complex multi-actor context like the field of healthcare services. Based on an action research approach we developed a participation process, which builds upon open innovation approaches. It includes methods for Distributed PD (DPD) that use social media to enrich traditional PD methods, thus enabling users to participate in a distributed (i.e. virtual) way. We applied this methodological approach in a case study revolving around the delivery of video consultation services for paraplegics. The process and outcomes of participation were analysed through formative evaluation based on work psychological models. Our results regarding the combination of distributed, participatory idea generation with face-to-face scenario co-creation on basis of user-generated content show great potential for supporting continuous collaboration in service innovation.

The paper is concerned with various ways of analysing the subjective assessment of displaying digital signage con-tent. In the beginning the brief description of the signage system evolution is described and next, the carried out ex-periment is depicted. The preferences of the 32 subjects were obtained using pairwise comparisons of the designed screen formats. Then the priorities were derived by applying the Analytic Hierarchy Process (Saaty, 1977; 1980) framework. The gathered data were modelled and analysed by means of the analysis of variance, multiple regression, conjoint and factor analysis. The results suggest that the application of different methods of preference analysis may provide additional information, which could facilitate more in-depth understanding of the given preference structure.

An important strand of research that is often neglected in the field of affective computing is that of how users respond to simulated displays of emotion. We present an overview of the few studies that have explicitly investigated this space and discuss a number of issues related to simulated emotion research. An overview of our own work in this area is then provided, along with forthcoming studies that we plan to conduct. We conclude with a number of suggestions of where future research in this space should focus.

In the past decade researchers of human-computer interaction and other related fields have expanded their investigation from studying the usability of information technology to studying users’ experiences with it. This more holistic approach is driven by a growing number of empirical findings that demonstrated the stable suboptimal use of interactive artifacts and subsequent criticism on the concept of usability. This paper takes the position that research into user experience and interaction design would benefit from investigating the quality of interaction itself as it is experienced by users during technology use. A research agenda is introduced outlining an approach to investigate interaction quality along with possible measures to inform interaction design.

Advocates of embodied agents often assume that such agents will enhance human-computer interaction (HCI) as they take advantage of our pre-existing social skills andprovide an interface that is natural and engaging to use. But this is not guaranteed.A discussion is provided detailing some of the key technical and social issues that willneed to be overcome for embodied interfaces to be of use in the next generation of HCI, along with an overview of related experiments that are to be conducted over thecoming months. Final conclusions regarding embodied interfaces are then provided

An overview of our work on evaluating an affective embodied agent within a nutritional scenario (over extended periods of interaction)is provided. Results from an investigation into how subjects respond to the agent’s emotional expressions are also detailed, with a particular focus on how subjects respond to mismatched emotional expressions (e.g.a happy face with a concerned voice)

El fenómeno de las redes sociales comienza a generar investigaciones diversas, pero de momento ninguna ha planteado las relaciones entre los usuarios de una red social desde el punto de vista conductual y psicológico. A tal efecto, hemos llevado a cabo un estudio empírico a partir de una simulación de perfiles en Facebook, red social de referencia por la cantidad de usuarios disponibles y por su salida a bolsa. A partir de perfiles imaginarios, analizamos la tipología de otros usuarios de Facebook que se le agregan, lo que puede inspirar estrategias de comercio electrónico vinculadas a los periódicos digitales.

Abstract: Numerous research groups around the world are attempting to build realistic and believable autonomous embodied agents that attempt to have natural interactions with users. Research into these entities has primarily focused on their potential to enhance human-computer interaction. As a result, there is little understanding of the potential for embodied entities to abuse and manipulate users for questionable purposes.

"Interactive multi-touch screens in museums are often used for a dual purpose: to both educate and entertain visitors. With this in mind, how can the sense of ‘delight’ in the use of a multi-touch screen in a museum be explained? What kinds of ‘delight’ may visitors experience, and why? A case study was enacted in April 2012 on One Road, an interactive multi-touch installation in the ‘Yiwarra Kuju: The Canning Stock Route’ exhibition at the Australian Museum, Sydney. The study aimed to investigate user experiences of the interactive, and a range of different behaviours were observed. A discussion of the findings with reference to the concept of ‘delight’ in interface design examined how different aged visitors appeared to find ‘delight’ in different entertaining and educational features of One Road, and questioned whether entertainment-focused ‘delight’ was positive or negative. These considerations are important for interface designers. With further research, we may come to better understand and continue to investigate how an interface design on a multi-touch surface in a museum can be ‘delightful’, and influence users’ experiences.

Keywords:
Multi-touch interface, user experiences, interactive applications, human-computer interaction, case study"

"Web-distributed tools that complement community-based environmental monitoring (CBEM) initiatives can improve processing of and access to information, supporting environmental education and better informing decision-making. To this end a web-based geographic information system known as “Juturna” was developed to support CBEM in the vicinity of Toronto, Canada. This web-GIS facilitates input, analysis, and reporting of community data. However, use of the system steadily declined in activity since this initiative started in 2004. Lay users reported that the system was complicated and confusing, and so discouraged use. Also, it employed expensive proprietary software, which was a disincentive for the local Conservation Authority and collaborating NGO to adopt the system.

To revitalize use of the website and provide support to the CBEM program, we undertook to redesign the web-GIS using open source software. To understand why the original web-GIS was not well used and to inform redesign of the system, we implemented a user-centered design methodology. Methods included user testing, rapid prototyping and stakeholder interviews. The process was invaluable in prioritizing user tasks, defining characteristics of users of the website, and identifying those components of the web-GIS most confounding to them. Findings were used to inform re-development of the web-GIS through an iterative process that led to the creation of two prototypes that were evaluated by the user audience and so informed the design of a new (more accessible) website."

Software development field is becoming more productive day by day with the wonderful model name Agile. Agile is the main focus of research now a days. It is because of its abilities of handling changes in efficient way through iterative and incremental practices. Although it became famous because of its capabilities still there are some issues in it, which is ignorance of usability engineering in different phases of agile that is an important aspect to understand the software. Usability has deep roots in software quality and is a core construct of HCI. To develop interactive and usable systems there is a need of such a model which can integrate HCI with Agile. To address this issue. To solve this issue we have proposed a model which will work with both User Centered (main focus of HCI) and Agile by assembling different practices from both fields which will result useable products. It will enhance software life with user satisfaction by giving them running software with usability.

Digital library interoperability is supported by good quality metadata. The design of metadata creation and management tools is therefore an important component of overall digital library design. A number of factors affect metadata tool usability, including task complexity, interface usability, and organizational context of use. These issues are being addressed in the user-centered design of a metadata tool for the Internet Public Library.

Multi-touch tables can help facilitate and improve collaborative interactions yet many users with physical disabilities (e.g. wheelchair users) find it extremely difficult to interact with large tables. This paper presents work-in-progress that is exploring the potential to enhance multi-touch table accessibility to enable disabled users to participate more effectively in collaborative interactions. An overview of a prototype that allows disabled users to manipulate digital content via mid-air finger gestures is provided along with details of upcoming research studies we will be conducting.

We introduce a new multi-touch table “shoaling” application that we have been working on with the new Library of Birmingham (UK). This application contains shoals of assets taken from the Library’s collections that flock and swim around the tabletop. The assets are initially represented as small circular crops taken from full-size assets that attempt to intrigue and draw users in to explore further. These cropped circles can then be selected by visitors and expanded to reveal the surprise of the full asset. In this paper, we provide an overview of the shoaling application and share the design considerations that had to be taken into account when attempting to create a shared and collaborative visitor experience.

User interfaces of computer applications encompass a number of objects such as navigation links, buttons, icons, and thumbnails. In this chapter, these are called interface signs. The content and functions of a computer application are generally directed by interface signs to provide the system’s logic to the end users. The interface signs of a usable application need to be intuitive to end users and therefore a necessary part of usability evaluation. Assessing sign intuitiveness can be achieved through a semiotic analysis. This study demonstrates how a semiotic assessment of interface signs’ intuitiveness yielded a number of benefits. For instance, (i) it provides an overall idea of interface signs’ intuitiveness to the end users to interpret the meaning of interface signs, (ii) it assists in finding usability problems and also in (iii) recommending possible solutions, (iv) provides background for introducing guidelines to design user-intuitive interface signs, (v) helps in constructing heuristic checklist from semiotics perspective to evaluate an application, (vi) no additional resource and extra budget are needed. This study also presents a list of methodological guidelines to obtain the perceived benefits of integrating semiotic perception in usability testing for practitioners.

El análisis del tipo de uso de la interactividad y el multimedia permite diagnosticar la evolución en el modus operandi del ciberperiodismo. Los principales periódicos digitales internacionales incorporan herramientas propias del web 2.0, pero no abundan los estudios empíricos comparativos entre ellos. En esta investigación se recogen los resultados de incorporación de interactividad (proporción de unidades de contenido dotadas de interactividad mediante comentarios en el foro, piezas con interactividad simétrica o asimétrica) en las versiones digitales de los periódicos Daily Mirror y The Sun (Reino Unido) y El País y La Vanguardia (España). La muestra recoge las inclusiones multimedia (audio, video, audiovisual). Se percibe un uso intensivo de la interactividad en el foro, un cultivo simbólico de la interactividad simétrica y asimétrica y una inclusión moderada de los recursos multimedia analizados.

The question of interactivity in technical commu-nication is complex. First, building interactive technical documents means relinquishing some amount of control over authorship, readership, and document presentation, each of which can be frightening for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the uncertainty involved in this process. Second, interactivity in technical documentation must also compete with interactivity in entertainment, a moving industry target with billions of R&D dollars invested each year.

Recent research has suggested that affective embodied agents that can effectively express simulated emotion have the potential to build and maintain long-termrelationships with users. We present our experiences in this space and detail thewide array of design and evaluation issues we had to take into consideration whenbuilding an affective embodied agent that assists users with improving poor dietaryhabits. An overview of our experimental progress is also provided

The question of how and why people adopt technologies is an area that has received great scrutiny, but less attention is given to those who willingly choose to avoid particular technologies. This article considers current models of technology adoption and explores how technology influences us as a society and individually, paying special attention to how large-scale shifts in technological change come to bear on individuals who choose not to adopt specific technologies. By combining scholarship in the information sciences with observations from media ecology theorists, this article proposes a more nuanced view of technology adoption and resistance.