Designing Attention-Centric Notification Systems

1. Five HCI Challenges Designing Attention-Centric Notification Systems Scott McCrickard Center for Human-Computer Interaction & Department of Computer Science Virginia Tech mccricks@cs.vt.edu http://www.cs.vt.edu/~mccricks

2. overview Technological realities of multiple, ubiquitous information delivery streams for user notification often beg improved interface usability and human-computer interaction. Many new HCI approaches hint at promising notification solutions, but the HCI field faces five important challenges that can be assisted by applied research from the cognitive systems community…

3. overview 1 convenient access to basic research and guidelines requirements engineering methods for notification interfaces better and more usable predictive modeling for preattentive and dual-task interfaces standard empirical evaluation procedures for notification system interfaces conceptual frameworks for organizing reusable design and software components 2 3 4 5

4. agenda background early design efforts info design studies the IRC current efforts challenges guideline access requirements engineering predictive modeling usability evaluation component classification future work claims reuse in design method creation system development

5. background challenges future work early design efforts info design studies the IRC current efforts • Small, “corner of the desktop” or “peripheral” utilities  notification systems • System goal = awareness of information throughout the day, rather than concentrated task-related usage • Typical information of interest: • News, sports, stocks, weather • Email & other messaging • Groupwork coordination • System monitors/alerts

6. background challenges future work early design efforts info design studies the IRC current efforts • Usage characteristics: • System is monitored while a primary task is continued (document editing, web browsing…) • Preserving primary task performance • Avoiding unwanted distraction and frustration • Secondary information content may cause users to switch primary tasks or perform tasks differently, access additional details, etc • Facilitating rapid and appropriate reaction • Distinguishing importance of information • Users may want to recall information later, relate patterns or trends, or use for planning • Supporting information visualization and comprehension Design implications? challenges

7. background challenges future work early design efforts info design studies the IRC current efforts • Primary task degradation? • Awareness gains? • Response selection? vs. But how to generalize knowledge?

8. background challenges future work early design efforts info design studies the IRC current efforts A possible solution: • Three abstract user goals involving human information processing for notification systems : • Interruption (I) – redirection of attentional focus • Reaction (R) – instantaneous stimulus response • Comprehension (C) – long term memory interaction • User goals may necessitate specific levels of each critical parameter (high – low?) • Interface information design options can facilitate certain parameter ranges best

9. background challenges future work early design efforts info design studies the IRC current efforts Interruption high low high Comprehension Reaction high

10. background challenges future work early design efforts info design studies the IRC current efforts Interruption high User’s Goal low high Comprehension Reaction high Low interruption & comprehension, High reaction

11. background challenges future work early design efforts info design studies the IRC current efforts Interruption high User’s Goal low high Comprehension Reaction Ticker high In-place animation …generalized empirical study results

12. background challenges future work early design efforts info design studies the IRC current efforts Interface development & usability engineering of: • In-vehicle information systems (IVIS) • Secondary information display • Interaction for selection and manipulation • Systems supporting activity awareness of group project collaboration efforts • Large screen status displays in classrooms • Other real world interfaces & ubiquitous computing solutions • Balancing multi-task user goals with aesthetics

13. background challenges future work early design efforts info design studies the IRC current efforts • Designing notification system interfaces continues to present difficult, multidisciplinary challenges • Our HCI development efforts can benefit from work in five areas 1- Guideline access 2- Requirements engineering 3- Predictive modeling 4- Usability evaluation methods 5- Classification methods for reusable components

14. background challenges future work guideline access requirements engineering predictive modeling usability evaluation component classification Experiment psychology & human factors research produces lots of great attention management basic research, BUT-- • How & where can interfaces developers of notification systems access “digestible” summaries? • How are applicable information design guidelines & theories delivered to the practicing development community? • What are known effects of exemplar systems? challenge The HCI development community must have convenient access to basic research and guidelines for attention-centric notification design. and how can this be improved?

15. background challenges future work guideline access requirements engineering predictive modeling usability evaluation component classification Usability engineers often lead software development efforts, assessing and documenting user requirements, BUT, for notification systems design– • Is this activity well guided by cognitive psychology expertise? • If needs analysis processes were better informed, wouldn’t later designs be better and cheaper? challenge Processes and frameworks should be available for requirements engineering and development of interaction specifications for software engineers.

16. background challenges future work guideline access requirements engineering predictive modeling usability evaluation component classification Current cognitive modeling systems hold great promise for improved usability engineering effort, BUT-- • When will usability modeling systems be available for usability engineers to train with and use in practice! • When will modeling systems provide insight for dual-task situations? • What can the HCI research “customers” do to help? challenge Better and more usable predictive modeling for preattentive and dual-task interfaces is needed.

17. background challenges future work guideline access requirements engineering predictive modeling usability evaluation component classification Lab-based interface usability evaluation methods for notification systems are often “custom” approaches that may not target essential questions and limit generalizability • Can standard experimental platforms and methods be adapted for interface evaluation? • How should existing usability evaluation methods, such as cognitive walkthroughs and heuristics, be adapted for dual-task systems? challenge Usability engineers need assistance in developing standard empirical evaluation procedures for notification system interfaces.

18. background challenges future work guideline access requirements engineering predictive modeling usability evaluation component classification challenge Conceptual frameworks must be crafted to assist in organizing reusable design and software components—a necessity for design efficiency and long-term progress. Designers want to be able to reuse design knowledge and components, BUT -- how can the effects on users be described without standard notations? • What are meaningful categories of dual-task design knowledge?—we proposed three parameters • How can design effects on users be objectively expressed?

19. background challenges future work claims reuse in design method creation system development • Claimsare concise expressions of the effects of a designed artifact on a user • Expresses pros & cons (Sutcliffe & Carroll, 1999) • Relates to a usage scenario • Ongoing research: • Can claims be a solution for design knowledge reuse? • How should claims for notification systems be indexed, accessed, and used?

20. background challenges future work claims reuse in design method creation system development • The IRC framework provides a possible basis for: • A requirements engineering process • Referral of usability evaluation tools/techniques • Classification of design claims • Ongoing research: • Validation & automating procedures • Grounding methods in theory

21. background challenges future work claims reuse in design method creation system development • Development efforts continue: • In-vehicle information systems • Group work support • Ubiquitous & real world interface systems • Special interest in broader efforts & multi-disciplinary collaborations that create or exercise frameworks, systems, and models that respond to these challenges

22. Five HCI Challenges Designing Attention-Centric Notification Systems Scott McCrickard Center for Human-Computer Interaction & Department of Computer Science Virginia Tech mccricks@cs.vt.edu http://www.cs.vt.edu/~mccricks