Interactive Machine Learning for End-User

User interaction with intelligent systems need not be limited to interaction where pre-trained software has intelligence “baked in.” End-user training, including interactive machine learning (IML) approaches, can enable users to create and customise systems themselves. We propose that the user experience of these users is worth considering. Furthermore, the user experience of system developers—people who may train and configure both learning algorithms and their user interfaces—also deserves attention. We additionally propose that IML can improve user experiences by supporting usercentred design processes, and that there is a further role for user-centred design in improving interactive and classical machine learning systems. We are developing this approach and embodying it through the design of a new User Innovation Toolkit, in the context of the European Commission-funded project RAPID-MIX

Understanding the fidelity effect when evaluating games with children

There have been a number of studies that have compared evaluation results from prototypes of different fidelities but very few of these are with children. This paper reports a comparative study of three prototypes ranging from low fidelity to high fidelity within the context of mobile games, using a between subject design with 37 participants aged 7 to 9. The children played a matching game on either an iPad, a paper prototype using screen shots of the actual game or a sketched version. Observational data was captured to establish the usability problems, and two tools from the Fun Toolkit were used to measure user experience. The results showed that there was little difference for user experience between the three prototypes and very few usability problems were unique to a specific prototype. The contribution of this paper is that children using low-fidelity prototypes can effectively evaluate games of this genre and style

OWidgets: A toolkit to enable smell-based experience design

Interactive technologies are transforming the ways in which people experience, interact and share information. Advances in technology have made it possible to generate real and virtual environments with breath-taking graphics and high-fidelity audio. However, without stimulating the other senses such as touch and smell, and even taste in some cases, such experiences feel hollow and fictitious; they lack realism. One of the main stumbling blocks for progress towards creating truly compelling multisensory experiences is the lack of appropriate tools and guidance for designing beyond audio-visual applications. Here we focus particularly on the sense of smell and how smell-based design can be enabled to create novel user experiences. We present a design toolkit for smell (i.e., OWidgets). The toolkit consists of a graphical user interface and the underlying software framework. The framework uses two main components: a Mapper and Scheduler facilitating the device-independent replication of olfactory experiences. We discuss how our toolkit reduces the complexity of designing with smell and enables a creative exploration based on specific design features. We conclude by reflecting on future directions to extend the toolkit and integrate it into the wider audio-visual ecosystem

User involvement in design: a case study of using an AM-enabled mass customisation and personalisation (MC&P) toolkit

In the era of Mass Customisation and Personalisation (MC&P), users are incorporated in the design of their own products more explicitly with the aid of toolkits. There are nearly 1000 toolkits for MC&P already available to be accessed by Internet users. However, only a few of them are specifically AM-enabled, such as CellCycle and MakieMaker. This article focuses on a case study that employs user observation and questionnaire methods to highlight the benefits of MC&P. It is based on a toolkit designed by Loughborough Design School for customisation and personalisation of a lampshade, the manufacture of which was facilitated by Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies. The case study suggests that the reflections of the participant’s experience with MC&P, his quality of interaction with the toolkit and the value of the MC&P product produced through AM have practical implication for users, designers and software developers to improve user experience of MC&P and to enhance the value of consumer product designs

Designing citizen science tools for learning: lessons learnt from the iterative development of nQuire

This paper reports on a 4-year research and development case study about the design of citizen science tools for inquiry learning. It details the process of iterative pedagogy-led design and evaluation of the nQuire toolkit, a set of web-based and mobile tools scaffolding the creation of online citizen science investigations. The design involved an expert review of inquiry learning and citizen science, combined with user experience studies involving more than 200 users. These have informed a concept that we have termed ‘citizen inquiry’, which engages members of the public alongside scientists in setting up, running, managing or contributing to citizen science projects with a main aim of learning about the scientific method through doing science by interaction with others. A design-based research (DBR) methodology was adopted for the iterative design and evaluation of citizen science tools. DBR was focused on the refinement of a central concept, ‘citizen inquiry’, by exploring how it can be instantiated in educational technologies and interventions. The empirical evaluation and iteration of technologies involved three design experiments with end users, user interviews, and insights from pedagogy and user experience experts. Evidence from the iterative development of nQuire led to the production of a set of interaction design principles that aim to guide the development of online, learning-centred, citizen science projects. Eight design guidelines are proposed: users as producers of knowledge, topics before tools, mobile affordances, scaffolds to the process of scientific inquiry, learning by doing as key message, being part of a community as key message, every visit brings a reward, and value users and their time

Modelling the User: How design for sustainable behaviour can reveal different stakeholder perspectives on human nature

Copyright @ 2010 TU DelftInfluencing more environmentally friendly and sustainable behaviour is a current focus of many projects, ranging from government social marketing campaigns, education and tax structures to designers’ work on interactive products, services and environments. There is a wide variety of techniques and methods used—we have identified over 100 design patterns in our Design with Intent toolkit—each intended to work via a particular set of cognitive and environmental principles. These approaches make different assumptions about ‘what people are like’: how users will respond to behavioural interventions, and why, and in the process reveal some of the assumptions that designers and other stakeholders, such as clients commissioning a project, make about human nature. In this paper, we discuss three simple models of user behaviour—the Pinball, the Shortcut and the Thoughtful—which emerge from user experience designers’ statements about users while focused on designing for behaviour change. We characterise these models using systems terminology and examine the application of each model to design for sustainable behaviour via a series of examples

Hacking with Multi-touch for Java (MT4j)

Developing applications for touch devices is hard. Developing touch based applications for multi-user input is harder. The Multi-Touch for Java (MT4j) toolkit supports developing touch based applications for multiple users. In this paper, we outline our experience using MT4j for developing a number of software applications to support developers working in co-located teams. Our experience using the toolkit will help developers to understand the nuances of the toolkit and design issues that can be applied to other toolkits for developing multi-user touch based applications

ActivitySpot: engaging, activity-centered experiences for occasional visitors

This paper presents the concepts, implementation details, and evaluation objectives of ActivitySpot, an infrastructure and toolkit aiming at supporting localized activities performed by occasional visitors. We are particularly interested in enabling a user experience that is activity-centered and that makes the most of the available ubiquitous computing resources for carrying out a localized activity, while not imposing to visitors any specific technological requirement. We adopted an activity-centered approach to the design of the conceptual framework supporting our work and we aim to evaluate how adequate is this approach to enable an engaging user experience for occasional visitors.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT)

Adapting digital networks and resources for autistic users:A toolkit for the third and public sector

Welcome to Adapting digital networks and resources for autistic users: a toolkit for the third and public sector.WHO IS THIS TOOLKIT FOR?This toolkit offers practical support to any third and public sector professional who wants to adapt their use of digital platforms. You don’t need to have design or programming skills to be able to use this toolkit. The recommendations offered in this toolkit don’t ask you to re-design digital platforms from scratch, but rather provide support on how to manage the content which populates your online platforms, and to provide appropriate level of guidance to users. For those who do have the skills to design digital platforms or have a team of designers at disposition, we offer a separate toolkit specific to these needs, which you can find at www.autisticadultsonline.com/toolkits. The tips offered in this guide are not just for platforms that are meant to be used exclusively with autistic users, but are applicable to any website, social media, and online group which may include autistic users.Autism is largely underdiagnosed, and if you are using digital platforms with a public audience, chances are there will be neurodivergent people accessing your platforms. The adjustments recommended in this toolkit will improve the user experience of your audience as a whole. Digital platforms are in constant evolution. Providing platform-specific instructions, for instance how to set up a Facebook group, would have condemned this toolkit to a short lifespan. Instead, we focused on concepts and approaches that can be applied to any platform you are working with (websites, social media platforms, online groups, forums, online courses).<br/

Adapting digital networks and resources for autistic users:A toolkit for the third and public sector

Welcome to Adapting digital networks and resources for autistic users: a toolkit for the third and public sector.WHO IS THIS TOOLKIT FOR?This toolkit offers practical support to any third and public sector professional who wants to adapt their use of digital platforms. You don’t need to have design or programming skills to be able to use this toolkit. The recommendations offered in this toolkit don’t ask you to re-design digital platforms from scratch, but rather provide support on how to manage the content which populates your online platforms, and to provide appropriate level of guidance to users. For those who do have the skills to design digital platforms or have a team of designers at disposition, we offer a separate toolkit specific to these needs, which you can find at www.autisticadultsonline.com/toolkits. The tips offered in this guide are not just for platforms that are meant to be used exclusively with autistic users, but are applicable to any website, social media, and online group which may include autistic users.Autism is largely underdiagnosed, and if you are using digital platforms with a public audience, chances are there will be neurodivergent people accessing your platforms. The adjustments recommended in this toolkit will improve the user experience of your audience as a whole. Digital platforms are in constant evolution. Providing platform-specific instructions, for instance how to set up a Facebook group, would have condemned this toolkit to a short lifespan. Instead, we focused on concepts and approaches that can be applied to any platform you are working with (websites, social media platforms, online groups, forums, online courses).<br/