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540-310 Human Factors in Information Seeking and Use

Wooseob Jeong

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Notice

Corrections in Syllabus See the class web site.

Review of Jeong & Gluck (2003) is due on February 25th. (PDF file is at the class web site.) In-class presentation

It’s good to try identifying your usability test item early. (“measurable”)

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Distributed Cognition

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Three Mile Island Accident

The main control console signals overwhelmed human operators.

18 of 22 problems identified were human factors problems

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A place for everything, and everything in its place

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A Technological Breakthrough

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Other Technology Needed!

Copy Machine – coping tools

Standardized Paper Size Is it solved really?

Post-It Notes

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Organization of Things

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Organization of Knowledge

Hardware Store Hierarchical and organized by function Coupled by expertise

Dictionary/Encyclopedia Alphabetical – problems? Advantage of digital format

Organization of Web? Similar to Library Catalog? Search engines

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Menu Selection (1)

Use task semantics to organize menusPrefer broad-shallow to narrow-deepShow position by graphics, numbers, or titlesUse items as titles for sub treesGroup items meaningfullySequence items meaningfullyUse brief items, begin with the keyword

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Menu Selection (2)

Use consistent grammar, layout, terminologyAllow type ahead, jump ahead, or other short cutsEnable jumps to previous and main menuConsider online help; novel selection mechanisms; and optimal response time, display rate, screen size

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Form Filling Design (1)

Meaningful titleComprehensible instructionsLogical grouping and sequencing of fieldsVisually appealing layout of the formFamiliar field labelsConsistent terminology and abbreviationVisible space and boundaries for data-entry fields

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Form Filling Design (2)

Error prevention where possibleError messages for unacceptable valuesMarking of optional fieldsExplanatory messages for fieldsCompletion signal to support user control

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Dialog Box (1)

Internal layout Meaningful title, consistent style top-left to bottom-right sequencing Clustering and emphasis Consistent layouts (margins, grid, …) Standard buttons (OK, Cancel, …) Error prevention by direct

manipulation

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Dialog Box (2)

External relationship Smooth appearance and disappearance Distinguishable but small boundary Size small enough to reduce overlap

problems Display close to appropriate items No overlap of required items Easy to make disappear Clear how to complete/cancel

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Error-message (1)

Product Be as specific and precise as possible Be constructive: indicate what the user

needs to do. Use a positive tone: avoid condemnation Choose user-centered phrasing. Consider multiple levels of messages. Maintain consistent grammatical form,

terminology, and abbreviations. Maintain consistent visual format and

placement.

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Error-message (2)

Process Establish a message quality-control group. Include messages in the design phase. Place all messages in a file. Review messages during development. Design the product to eliminate the need for

most messages. Carry out acceptance tests. Collect frequency data for each message. Review and revise messages over time.

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Non-anthropomorphic Guidelines

Avoid presenting computers as people.Choose appropriate humans for introductions or guides. Use caution in designing computer-generated human faces or cartoon characters.Use cartoon characters in games or children’s software, but usually not elsewhere. Design comprehensible, predictable, and controllable interfaces.Provide user-centered overviews for orientation and closure. Do not use “I” when the computer responds to human actions.Use “you” to guide users, or just state facts.

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Using Colors (1)

Use color conservatively: limit the number and amount of colors.Recognize the power of color to speed or slow tasks.Ensure that color coding should supports the task.Make color coding appear with minimal user effort. Keep color coding under user control.

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Using Colors (2)

Design for monochrome first.Use color to help in formatting.Be consistent in color coding.Be alert to common expectations about color codes.Use color changes to indicate status changes.Use color in graphic displays for greater information density.

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Benefits of using color

Various colors are soothing or striking to the eye.Color can improve an uninteresting display.Color facilities subtle discriminations in complex displays.A color code can emphasize the logical organization of information.Certain colors can draw attention to warnings.Color coding can evoke more emotional reactions of joy, excitement, fear, or anger.

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Dangers of using color

Color pairings may cause problems. Color fidelity may degrade on other hardware. (Example)Printing or conversion to other media may be a problem.

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User Manual Guidelines (1)

Product (1) Let user’s tasks guide organization

(outside-in). Let user’s learning process shape

sequencing. Present task concepts before

interface objects and actions. Keep writing style clean and simple. Show numerous examples

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User Manual Guidelines (2)

Product (2) Offer meaningful and complete sample

sessions. Draw transition or menu-tree diagrams. Try advance organizers and summaries. Provide table of contents, index, and

glossary. Include list of error messages. Give credits to all project participants.

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User Manual Guidelines (3)

Process Seek professional writers and copy writers. Prepare user manuals early (before

implementation). Review drafts thoroughly. Field test early editions. Provide a feedback mechanism for readers. Revise to reflect changes regularly.

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The Human-Centered View (1)

People Machine

Creative Dumb

Compliant Rigid

Attentive to change Insensitive to change

Resourceful Unimaginative

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The Human-Centered View (2)

People Machine

Decisions are flexible because they are based upon qualitative as well as quantitative assessment, modified by the special circumstances and context.

Decisions are consistent because they are based upon quantitative evaluation of numerically specified, context-free variable.

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The Machine-Centered View

People Machine

Vague Precise

Disorganized Orderly

Distractible Undistractible

Emotional unemotional

Illogical Logical

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The Language of Logic

Question I have two coins that total 30 cents.

One of them is not a 5-cent piece. What are they?

The current stamp vending machine!

Computer Science vs. Information Science (Studies, whatever!)

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Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW)

Same Time Different Times

Same Place Face to face (classrooms, meeting rooms)

Asynchronous interaction (project scheduling, coordination tools)

Different Places

Synchronous distributed (shared editors, video windows, instant messaging, chat)

Asynchronous distributed (email, listservs, conferences)

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Multimedia Search

http://www.sois.uwm.edu/Jeong/540310/multimediaIR.htmImage Retrieval Keyword searching Search by Image

Sound Retrieval Music Retrieval

Movie Retrieval?

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Visualization of Information (1)

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Visualization of Information (2)

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Visualization of Information (3)

3Ds and ColorsSonification/Audification ICAD – International Community for

Auditory Display

Hapticization/Haptification Gaming Industry Jeong’s research

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Assistive Computing

Section 508 ACM Computers & the Physically Handicapped Conferences Proceedings Research papers presented in ACM conferences (full text - PDF) Windows Accessibility Option Screen Magnifier Braille Generator Speech Generator Sign Language Generator Head Movement Input http://www.sois.uwm.edu/jeong/540310/assistive.htm