540-310 Human Factors in Information Seeking and Use

1. 540-310Human Factors in Information Seeking and Use Wooseob Jeong

2. 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”)

3. Distributed Cognition

4. Three Mile Island Accident • The main control console signals overwhelmed human operators. • 18 of 22 problems identified were human factors problems

5. A place for everything, and everything in its place

6. A Technological Breakthrough

7. Other Technology Needed! • Copy Machine – coping tools • Standardized Paper Size • Is it solved really? • Post-It Notes

8. Organization of Things

9. 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

10. Menu Selection (1) • Use task semantics to organize menus • Prefer broad-shallow to narrow-deep • Show position by graphics, numbers, or titles • Use items as titles for sub trees • Group items meaningfully • Sequence items meaningfully • Use brief items, begin with the keyword

11. Menu Selection (2) • Use consistent grammar, layout, terminology • Allow type ahead, jump ahead, or other short cuts • Enable jumps to previous and main menu • Consider online help; novel selection mechanisms; and optimal response time, display rate, screen size

12. Form Filling Design (1) • Meaningful title • Comprehensible instructions • Logical grouping and sequencing of fields • Visually appealing layout of the form • Familiar field labels • Consistent terminology and abbreviation • Visible space and boundaries for data-entry fields

13. Form Filling Design (2) • Error prevention where possible • Error messages for unacceptable values • Marking of optional fields • Explanatory messages for fields • Completion signal to support user control

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. 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.

21. 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.

22. 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.

23. 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

24. 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.

25. 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.

26. The Human-Centered View (1)

27. The Human-Centered View (2)

28. The Machine-Centered View

29. 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!)

30. Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW)

31. Multimedia Search • http://www.sois.uwm.edu/Jeong/540310/multimediaIR.htm • Image Retrieval • Keyword searching • Search by Image • Sound Retrieval • Music Retrieval • Movie Retrieval?

32. Visualization of Information (1)

33. Visualization of Information (2)

34. Visualization of Information (3) • 3Ds and Colors • Sonification/Audification • ICAD – International Community for Auditory Display • Hapticization/Haptification • Gaming Industry • Jeong’s research

35. 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