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Broadening Access to Statistical Data: Improving User Interfaces

Enhancing user interfaces for statistical data to improve accessibility and usability. Includes scientific approach, design issues, and case studies.

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Broadening Access to Statistical Data: Improving User Interfaces

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  1. Broadening Access to Statistical Data by Improving User InterfacesBen Shneiderman Founding Director, Human-Computer Interaction LaboratoryProfessor, Department of Computer ScienceMember, Institutes for Advanced Computer Studies &Systems ResearchUniversity of Maryland, College Park(ben@cs.umd.edu)

  2. Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory Interdisciplinary research community - Computer Science & Psychology - Information Studies & Education (www.cs.umd.edu/hcil)

  3. Scientific Approach(beyond user friendly) • Specify users and tasks • Predict and measure (theory-driven, hypothesis-testing) • time to learn • speed of performance • rate of human errors • human retention over time • Assess subjective satisfaction(Questionnaire for User Interface Satisfaction) • Accommodate individual differences • Consider social, organizational & cultural context

  4. Design Issues • Input devices & strategies • Keyboards, pointing devices, voice • Direct manipulation • Menus, forms, commands • Output devices & formats • Screens, windows, color, sound • Text, tables, graphics • Instructions, messages, help • Collaboration & communities • Manuals, tutorials, training www.awl.com/DTUI usableweb.com hcibib.org useit.com

  5. Library of Congress • Scholars, Journalists, Citizens • Teachers, Students

  6. Visible Human Explorer (NLM) • Doctors • Surgeons • Researchers • Students

  7. NASA Environmental Data • Scientists • Farmers • Land planners • Students

  8. LifeLines

  9. Children as Our Design Partners

  10. Zoomable User Interfaces (ZUIs)

  11. Bureau of Census • Economists, Policy makers, Journalists • Teachers, Students

  12. Snap-Together Visualization • Allow coordination designers to create novel layouts that combine existing visualizations • Allow users to navigate large datasets conveniently

  13. Census Statistics with Maps

  14. Treemap - Stock market, clustered by industry

  15. Universal Usability • Problem: Confusion, frustration, and remorse dominate user experiences • Survey of 6000 users finds 5.1 hours/week wasted • Incompatible files, interfaces, networks, hardware • Poorly designed websites lacking accessibility policy • Solutions: • Raise user expectations • Conduct research • Provide practical tools & methods

  16. Universal Usability • Problem: Confusion, frustration, and remorse dominate user experiences • Survey of 6000 users finds 5.1 hours/week wasted • Incompatible files, interfaces, networks, hardware • Poorly designed websites lacking accessibility policy • Solutions: • Raise user expectations • Conduct research • Provide practical tools & methods Skeptics corner - Dumbing down - Lowest common denominator

  17. ACM Code of Ethics In a fair society, all individuals would have equal opportunity to participate in, or benefit from, the use of computer resources regardless of race, sex, religion, age, disability, national origin or other such similar factors.

  18. Internet Use by Education - 1998 • Percent of U.S. Households Using the Internet Total U.S., Rural, Urban, and Central City Areas Falling Through the Net: Defining the Digital Divide www.ntia.doc.gov

  19. Internet Use by Income - 1998 • Percent of U.S. Households Using the Internet Total U.S., Rural, Urban, and Central City Areas Falling Through the Net: Defining the Digital Divide www.ntia.doc.gov

  20. 1 to 100 range in network bandwidth 9.6K 56K 10,000Kbps Technology variety: Support broad range of hardware, software, and network access Device Independence Input: keyboard, speech,... Output: visual, auditory,... Conversion: Text-speech Speech-text,... 1 to 100 range in processor speeds 286 486 Pentium 1 to 100 range in screen sizes Palm devices Laptops Large Desktop or Wall Display 30,000 480,000 3,840,000 pixels Software Versions Compatibility File conversion Multiple platforms

  21. Language & Culture Western, Eastern, developing... Personality Introvert vs extravert Thinking vs feeling Risk aversion Locus of control Planful vs playful User diversity: Accommodate different users Disabilities Visual, auditory, motoric, cognitiveDisabling conditions Mobility, injury, noise, sunlight Age Young to old Gender Male or Female Income Impoverished to wealthy Skills Computer newbie to hacker Knowledge Domain novice to expert

  22. Gaps in User Knowledge - Strategies Bridge the gap between what users know and what they need to know Online Learning (evolutionary, phased) Introductory tutorials Getting started manuals, Cue cards Walkthroughs/Demos Minimalist/Active Design Layered Level-structured Task-oriented Training Fade-able scaffolding Training wheels Minimalist Online help Context sensitive, tables of contents, Indexes, Keyword search, FAQs, Newsgroups, Chat rooms Online communities Customer service Email Phone Help desks

  23. ACM Conference on Universal Usability Washington, DC November 16-17, 2000 www.acm.org/sigchi/cuu

  24. Broadening Access to Census Data • Dynamaps • Speeds exploration of geographic data • Facilitates comparisons & visibility of extremes • Query Previews • Speeds exploration of statistical data • Facilitates study of distributions of data • Table browser • Speeds exploration of tabular data • Facilitates understanding of data patterns

  25. Dynamap

  26. Dynamap

  27. Dynamap

  28. Broadening Access to Census Data • Dynamaps • Speeds exploration of geographic data • Facilitates comparisons & visibility of extremes • Query Previews • Speeds exploration of statistical data • Facilitates study of distributions of data • Table browser • Speeds exploration of tabular data • Facilitates understanding of data patterns

  29. Problems with Browsing Large Online Tables Universal Relation >> 1000 Tuples Hard to see overview, gaps, and clusters or find answers to questions without many zero or mega hit queries and large unnecessary downloads e.g. 1997 US Economic Census Data, for Counties: more than 3000 Tuples

  30. Conclusions • Visual presentation of data • Visual manipulation of data • Continuous immediate feedback on actions • Easily reversible actions • Error prevention instead of error correction • Better network performance: • No zero/mega hit queries • Loading only the metadata prior to query submission

  31. Broadening Access to Census Data • Dynamaps • Speeds exploration of geographic data • Facilitates comparisons & visibility of extremes • Query Previews • Speeds exploration of statistical data • Facilitates study of distributions of data • Table browser • Speeds exploration of tabular data • Facilitates understanding of data patterns

  32. Thomas Jefferson I feel... an ardent desire to see knowledge so disseminated through the mass of mankind that it may...reach even the extremes of society: beggars and kings. -- Reply to American Philosophical Society, 1808

  33. ACM Conference on Universal Usability Washington, DC November 16-17, 2000 www.acm.org/sigchi/cuu

  34. Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory (www.cs.umd.edu/hcil)

  35. References • Hert, C.A. (1999). Federal Statistical Website Users And Their Tasks: Investigations Of AvenuesTo Facilitate Access: Final Report to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. Available at: http://istweb.syr.edu/~hert/BLSphase3.PDF • Hert, C.A. (1998). FedStats Users and Their Tasks: Providing Support and Learning Tools: Final Report to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. Available at: http://istweb.syr.edu/~hert/BLSphase2.html • Haas, S.W. and Hert, C.A. (2000). Terminology Development and Organization in Multi-Community Environments: The Case of Statistical Information. In Soergel, D. (ed.) Proc. 11th ASIS&T SIG/CR Classification Research Workshop. Chicago, IL, November 12, 2000, p. 51-72 • Hert, C.A. and Marchionini, G. (1997). Seeking Statistical Information in Federal Websites: Users, Tasks, Strategies, and Design Recommendations: Final Report to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. http://ils.unc.edu/~march/blsreport/mainbls.html • Marchionini, G. (1998) Advanced Interface Designs for the BLS Website: Final Report to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. http://ils.unc.edu/~march/blsreport98/final_report.html • Marchionini, G. (1999). An Alternative Site Map Tool for The FedStats Statistical Website. http://ils.unc.edu/~march/bls_final_report99.pdf • Marchionini, G. (2000). From Overviews to Previews to Answers: Integrated Interfaces for Federal Statistics Report to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, June 30, 2000 http://ils.unc.edu/~march/bls_final_report_99-00.pdf

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