a cognitive design for user assistance 2: empowering user/learners through cognitive development

RAY GALLON CULTURECOM

Presentation © 2012-‐2013 Ray Gallon all rights reserved

A Cognitive Design for ��User Assistance

2: Empowering User/Learners Through Cognitive Development

Member, Board of Directors


Everything We Know…

!  Get straight to procedures !  Don’t waste user’s time with unnecessary detail, especially concepts

!  Procedural information must be separated from conceptual information.


Presentation*©*2012/2013*Ray*Gallon*all*rights*reserved*

Empowering the User:!Double Embeddedness"

Embed

proced

ural

User A

ssista

nce

direct

ly int

o the

Interf

ace

Embed simple concepts directly into Procedures

Presentation*©*2012/2013*Ray*Gallon*all*rights*reserved*

...AND WHEN????!

Integrated Competency Learning!

Adapted*by*Dr.*Neus*Lorenzo*from*Phil*Ball*&*Keith*Kelly*(2009)**Ref:*http://ow.ly/dLK8g**&**http://goo.gl/Ul3A2*

+*Individually*significant*contextualisation*(contingency)*

+Socio/cultural*construction*(information**sharing,*mentoring)*

+Procedural*Memorisation*

+*Cognitive*construction*and*process*reasoning*

+Code:*Mastery*of*the**language,*interface,*iconography...*

+Thematic*knowledge*(SME)*

User !Learning Space!

! WHERE IN THIS SPACE DO YOU WANT YOUR

USERS?!

In the first session, we explored ideas for improving the cognitive

value of user assistance.

If you couldn’t attend, there is a recording at

http://adobe.ly/WpNZQJ


Cognitive Bases: Gestalt Psychology

•  Gestalt psychology tries to understand the laws of our ability to acquire and maintain stable percepts in a noisy world.

•  The brain is holistic, parallel, and analog, with self-‐organizing tendencies.

•  The human eye sees objects in their entirety before perceiving their individual parts, suggesting the whole is “other” than the sum of its parts.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestalt_psychology


Cognitive Bases: Gestalt Psychology

•  REIFICATION:

•  A triangle will be perceived in picture A, although no triangle has actually been drawn.

•  In pictures B and D the eye will recognize disparate shapes as "belonging" to a single shape.

•  In C a complete three-‐dimensional shape is seen, where in actuality no such thing is drawn.

Sources: Wikipedia, http://www.hcde.washington.edu/files/people/docs/farkaswilliamsonnurnbergfunnel.pdf

In other words, we fill in the blank spaces to complete them. John Carroll favours this kind of inferential learning in minimalism.


Gestalt Grouping Principles are Used in User Interface Design

•  Proximity: when an individual perceives an assortment of objects they perceive objects that are close to each other as forming a group.

•  Similarity: elements within an assortment of objects will be perceptually grouped together if they are similar to each other.

•  See also, James L. Gibson’s idea of affordance.

As individuals perceive the world, they eliminate complexity and unfamiliarity in order to observe a reality in its most simplistic form. The elimination of extraneous stimuli aids the mind in creating meaning.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestalt_psychology


Cognitive Bases: Constructivism

•  Allows the learner to experience an environment first-‐hand, thereby giving the student reliable, trust-‐worthy knowledge.

•  The learner is required to act upon the environment to both acquire and test new knowledge.

•  Learners are self-‐directed, creative, and innovative.

•  Instructors are facilitators, not teachers.

•  The context in which the learning occurs is central to the learning itself

•  Learning is an active, social process.

•  Learners should collaborate to arrive at shared understanding.

•  This social approach has developed into…

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_(learning_theory)


Cognitive Bases: Connectivism – the Underpinning of Kanban Information

•  Knowledge is activated in the world as much as in the head of an individual.

•  It exists within systems which are accessed through people participating in activities.

•  Learning is the process of creating connections and elaborating a network. In this metaphor, a node is anything that can be connected to another node such as an organisation, information, data, feelings and images.

•  The network metaphor allows a notion of "know-‐where" (understanding where to find knowledge when it is needed) to supplement "know-‐how" and "know-‐what" that make the cornerstones of many theories of learning.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connectivism


Cognitive Bases: Connectivism – the Underpinning of Kanban Information

•  Knowledge is activated in the world as much as in the head of an individual.

•  It exists within systems which are accessed through people participating in activities.

•  Learning is the process of creating connections and elaborating a network. In this metaphor, a node is anything that can be connected to another node such as an organisation, information, data, feelings and images.

•  The network metaphor allows a notion of "know-‐where" (understanding where to find knowledge when it is needed) to supplement "know-‐how" and "know-‐what" that make the cornerstones of many theories of learning.


KANBAN INFORMATION: •  Know where •  Know how •  Know what •  +Know when Implied:!

•  +Know how to be •  +Know how to be with others


Basic Principles of Connectivism

•  Learning and knowledge rests in diversity of opinions. •  Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information

sources.

•  Learning may reside in non-‐human appliances.

•  Learning is more critical than knowing.

•  Maintaining and nurturing connections is needed to facilitate continual learning.

•  Perceiving connections between fields, ideas and concepts is a core skill.

•  Currency (accurate, up-‐to-‐date knowledge) is the intent of learning activities.

•  Decision-‐making is itself a learning process. Choosing what to learn and the meaning of incoming information is seen through the lens of a shifting reality. While there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alterations in the information climate affecting the decision.



Basic Principles of Connectivism

•  Learning and knowledge rests in diversity of opinions. •  Learning is a process of connecting specialized nodes or information

sources.

•  Learning may reside in non-‐human appliances.

•  Learning is more critical than knowing.

•  Maintaining and nurturing connections is needed to facilitate continual learning.

•  Perceiving connections between fields, ideas and concepts is a core skill.

•  Currency (accurate, up-‐to-‐date knowledge) is the intent of learning activities.

•  Decision-‐making is itself a learning process. Choosing what to learn and the meaning of incoming information is seen through the lens of a shifting reality. While there is a right answer now, it may be wrong tomorrow due to alterations in the information climate affecting the decision.

Decision-‐m

aking is its

elf a learn

ing proces

s.

Choosing w

hat to lea

rn and the

meaning of

incoming in

formation

is seen th

rough the

lens of a

shifting re

ality. While t

here is a ri

ght answer no

w, it

may be wrong

tomorrow due

to alteratio

ns in the

information

climate affecti

ng the dec

ision.



Having Lots of Resources is not always a solution...

… IF YOU DON’T HAVE ADEQUATE KNOWLEDGE OF THEM

Hidden User Assistance is no Help at all!

Not Read = Hidden Read and not understood = Hidden


As richness of content i n c r e a s e s , o u r knowledge becomes more and more complex, cognitively speaking. We return regularly to the same place, but on a higher cognitive level

COGNITIVE-‐SYMBOLIC COMPLEXITY

RICH

NES

S OF TH

E CO

NTE

NT

+!

+!-!

The Cognitive Spiral

Bloom’s Pyramid

Adapted from a scheme by Dr. Neus Lorenzo


From Meme to Neme

•  Meme: an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture. The idea was conceived by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins as “a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation… a piece of thought copied from person to person.”

•  Genes are replicators in physical space, Memes in cognitive space

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme


From Meme to Neme Tim O

’Reilly

’s M

eme Map

of W

eb 2.0

Development

Birth

Gestation

Source: http://oreilly.com/web2/archive/what-is-web-20.html


From Meme to Neme

•  Neme is an acronym for the fractal learning process of Complex Adaptive Systems: •  Notice •  Engage •  Mull •  Exchange

•  The objectives of Nemetics are the following: •  Provide a Leadership decision framework to resolve ‘wicked paradoxes’ to improve

performance. •  Act as a discovery tool to make sense of reality viewing it in terms of interactions &

emergence to help us strategize. •  Be a design tool to improve any particular situation in life. It might be personal,

organizational or technical. •  Act as an enabler to observe one’s own thinking process enabling possible change in

individual and collective consciousness.

Sources: Graingered Hubpages, Sparkling Insights Blog


Quick Nemetics Primer��(somewhat oversimplified)

•  Genes are

replicators

in physica

l space

•  Memes in cogn

itive space

•  Nemes in complex

adaptive s

pace

There’s more, but…

Emergence = any order that emerges out of chaos. An emergence can be

negative.

Source: Graingered Hubpages


Nemetics Applied to User Assistance

Software is a living, evolving entity.



•  NOTICE – emergences

•  What succeeded the last time you did something like this? Why?

•  What failed? Why?

•  What never got used? Why?

•  What don’t you know?



•  NOTICE – discovery and primary analysis phase

•  What is the real work the user needs to do (know what)?

•  What is the real work the user needs to do NOW (know when)?

•  How will the user find the guidance I’m providing (know where)?

•  Which design will best serve to deliver the content to the user (know how)?

•  What must you give the user so that s/he can solve problems, extrapolate to other tasks, get out of difficulty (Know how, know how to be)?



•  ENGAGE – understand the users’ world and act on that understanding (Know how to be, know how to be with others) •  Go out and do user research – and meet the users face to face •  Create user stories •  Understand the user’s global process – not just what s/he does

when interacting with your software: •  How often is s/he interrupted?

•  What does s/he do when interrupted?

•  How long are these interruptions?

•  What are the other regular tasks the user does that relate to use of this software?

•  Test your ideas with real users •  Execute following your conclusions



•  Mull – deep analysis, modeling and evaluation phase

•  What have you learned from your research?

•  How can you tie what you’ve learned to your discovery process (Notice phase)?

•  How can you apply what you’ve learned to other domains in this software, or in other applications?

•  What are your criteria for evaluation/success?

•  How can you improve on what you’ve done?



•  Exchange – value by obtaining user feedback. Encourage users to add value by exchanging among themselves (know how to be with others). •  Retest:

•  What do users actually use?

•  What do they not use at all?

•  What parts of the software give them the most problems?

•  Give users a place to exchange with you and with each other: •  What do they say to each other?

•  What do power users of your software share with beginners or intermediate users?

•  How do they work around problems they encounter – is it useful to generalise, or does it lead to negative entropy?

•  Document what you learn, and enter it in the Notice phase of the next iteration.


Blending Concepts and Tasks: ��Kanban Information meets DITA

•  We often use concepts to introduce & lead into multiple tasks:

Concept: This concept explains what this element of the interface is all about. It is used in the following tasks:

Task 1

Task 2

Task 3

Task 4 •  We don't know how else to do it, but this is an

inappropriate use of conceptual information: •  Not good cognitive development •  Not good Kanban


Blending Concepts and Tasks: ��Kanban Information meets DITA

Why not use the DITA Task topic structure to deliver conceptual information where it will do the most good and be best remembered?

<task> Topic General conceptual information using the <context> element

Include decision support (Reusable for related tasks)

Step 1 <cmd> <stepresult> – What happens after execution – can include why

Step 2 <cmd> <info> -‐ Use when there is no result to embed concepts pertinent to the step. Make sure it relates to the task, but is also generalisable to other similar tasks, if appropriate


Example <shortdesc>

<context>


Use <choice> lists to include conceptual information

<cmd>

<choices>

<info>


<choicetable> offers another option

<cmd>

<choicetable>


<stepresult> used in <step> and nested <substep>

<substeps>

<stepresult>

<stepresult>

All these elements are available after a <cmd>. Use the one that works best, semantically.


DITA Composite Topic – ��One Size Fits All

The composite topic begins, simply, with a <dita> tag. You can then insert any type of DITA topic, nested within it. Use with great caution!


Going Beyond: Empowering the user

BY EXTENSION, S/HE CAN ALSO...!

!   Intensify knowledge levels for personal

interest !   Pursue related information as a hobby

!   Extend professional competency independently !   Look to past experiences to find out

what s/he may have forgotten


Going Beyond: Empowering the user

A culture o

f information

sharing an

d knowledge

building, in

side and ou

tside the o

rganisation

.

What I do can be useful for others, and what others

do has an effect on what I can use -‐ for example, if a

UTube post has good tags or not.

This changes how we react to our environment, and has social and ethical implications

This is cogni

tive and

community develop

ment

RAY GALLON CULTURECOM


Email: [email protected]

Thank You!!

Google Plus: +Ray Gallon Twitter: @RayGallon LinkedIn: Ray Gallon

Please visit my blog, Rant of a Humanist Nerd: http://humanistnerd.culturecom.net

Portions of t

his presentat

ion based on

research

by the Trans

formation Societ

y Research g

roup.

a cognitive design for user assistance 2: empowering user/learners through cognitive development

Documents

rights reserved presentation

cognitive bases

rights reserved sources

learning space

cognitive u

cognitive design

o learning

competency learning