Interaction Design for Handheld Computers

Interaction design for handheld computers challenges our basic knowledge about human-computer interaction. Displays are small due to limited physical size of the devices and interaction is limited due to handheld operation. While a lot of effort is being put into the development of new means of input and the design of miniature graphical interfaces, little research is reported on the usability of the variety of already available input devices for handheld computers in relation to common styles of interaction being used. Reporting from an empirical usability experiment, this paper addresses the relations between input devices commonly available on mobile devices today and classical styles of interaction described in HCI research literature. The question asked is simple: how does which input devices fit which interaction styles

To Play, or not to Play: Building a Learning Environment Through Computer Simulations

This article analyzes the impact of a computer simulation (business game) on the users’ perceived learning. The theoretical model developed in this paper is derived from the collaborative learning and the Human-Computer Interaction assumptions. The hypotheses relating groups’ dynamics and the user-computer interface design with the users’ perceived learning are tested using the business game “FirmReality”, on an 89 respondents sample. Multiple regression and qualitative results show that, in a computer based simulation context, perceived learning is more influenced by human-computer interaction factors rather than groups dynamics

Mind The Gap: Importance-Performance Gaps As Determinants Of User Satisfaction With Information Systems

This paper develops a new explanation for user satisfaction with IS. Combining insights from expectation (dis)confirmation theory (ECT) and importance-performance analysis (IPA), we focus on the gaps between the importance of particular IS attributes, and the performance of a system on those attributes, as an explanation for user satisfaction. We identify 12 relevant system attributes and theoretically argue how the gap between importance and performance with regard to these attributes may affect user satisfaction. Our empirical study is based on a survey (N=298) among student users of a newly implemented Student Information System (SIS). The results empirically support the relationship between importance-performance gaps and user satisfaction. For five out of 12 attributes, we find a significant negative influence of a negative gap (i.e., high importance, low performance) on user satisfaction. Our main contribution to the literature is that we provide an integrated perspective on ECT and IPA and empirically validate the relevance of importance-performance gaps for explaining IS user satisfaction. Our second contribution is that we make use of the difference score technique to measure the importance-performance gaps for user satisfaction. Thus, our contribution to the IS literature is both theoretical and methodological

The design of effective online help in Web applications

The usability and ultimately the success of Web-based services are partly due to effective user support.Although the use of online support tools is now more prevalent in Web applications, these often overwhelm the user with information poorly organized, or are simply ignored. This paper proposes a guide for the appropriate choice and design of task support tools based on user profiles, tasks and characteristics of help tools

A social personalized adaptive e-learning environment : a case study in Topolor

Adaptive e-Learning is a process where learning contents are delivered to learners adaptively, namely, the appropriate contents are delivered to the learners in an appropriate way at an appropriate time based on the learners’ needs, knowledge, preferences and other characteristics. Social e-Learning is a process where connections are made among like-minded learners, so they can achieve learning goals via communication and interaction with each other by sharing knowledge, skills, abilities and materials. This paper reports an extended case study that investigated the influence of social interactions in an adaptive e-Learning environment, by analyzing the usage of social interaction features of a Social Personalized Adaptive E-Learning Environment (SPAEE), named Topolor, which strives to combine the advantages from both social e-Learning and adaptive e-Learning. We present the results of a quantitative case study that evaluates the perceived usefulness and ease of use. The results indicated high satisfaction from the students who were using Topolor for their study and helped us with the evaluation processes. Based on the results, we discuss the follow-up work plan for the further improvements for Topolor

Comparing the Understandability of Alternative Data Warehouse Schemas: An Empirical Study

An easily understood data warehouse model enables users to better identify and retrieve its data. It also makes it easier for users to suggest changes to its structure and content. Through an exploratory, empirical study, we compared the understandability of the star and traditional relational schemas. The results of our experiment contradict previous findings and show schema type did not lead to significant performance differences for a content identification task. Further, the relational schema actually led to slightly better results for a schema augmentation task. We discuss the implications of these findings for data warehouse design and future research

Thinking about Interpretation: Pliny and Scholarship in the Humanities John Bradley john.bradley@

Pliny is a piece of software that is meant to stimulate discussion within the Digital Humanities (DH) about how tools might be built that could find greater acceptance within the wider humanities community; something that has eluded the DH to date. Unlike many other tool projects within the DH, which are meant to show new and novel ways to apply technology to transform scholarly practice, Pliny is designed to support the act of conventional scholarly interpretation. It is meant to be a tool that blends so well into the task of the development of an interpretation, as scholars actually conventionally practice it, as to be almost invisible. In this, it follows some of the H-LAM/T design principles of Douglas Englebart, some of whose principles can be seen in software such as the word processor. In this article, several of the principle elements of conventional scholarly practice are described—centred on the act of annotation, notetaking, and the using of these notes as the basis for exploring ideas that emerge from working with the objects of study. Pliny's design is then discussed in the context of how aspects of its design—its affordances—support the scholar who is working with these elements. In particular, it illustrates an approach to the modelling of notes and associated ideas at the time when they are still largely un- or only partially structured. This is a preprint version for LLC article https://doi.org/10.1093/llc/fqn02

Being-with: a study of familiarity

How people learn to use an interactive device has always been an important field of research in human-computer interaction (HCI). The theoretical bases of which have ranged from the traditional cognitive perspectives through situated learning to collectivist - social perspectives. Each of these has treated learning to use interactive devices in a typical dualistic manner with a clear distinction between ''man and machine''. However, in addition to simply using interactive technologies we also co-exist with them, a relationship which might be called being-with. For many of us, interactive technology has always been there (we are born into a world replete with it) and we have a deep familiarity with it. Familiarity, according to Heidegger, is non-dualistic; it is a fact of our existence, of our worldliness; it is one of the primary ways in which we relate to the world, and offers an alternate basis for thinking about how we learn to use technology. An empirical study of familiarity is presented involving a group of seniors learning to use a personal computer and the services it provides. The analysis of the resultant substantial body of interview and discussion group data lead to the conclusion that to become familiar with technology is to integrate it into one's everyday life - an everyday life which is correspondingly reconfigured. Specifically, learning to use these technologies is better seen as changing the practices of everyday life to accommodate them. This dimension of being-with potentially has significant consequences for very many aspects of HCI. So, in addition to designing for ease of use; designing for experience perhaps we should now add designing for being-with

Multiple Criteria Decision Models for Nurse-Patient Assignment: Balancing Workload and Continuity of Care

Continuity of care is critical for delivering high-quality care, yet has seldom been considered in models supporting nurse-patient assignment decisions within inpatient units. Research in the nursing literature suggests that assigning nurses to patients they have cared for previously can help reduce care-related error rates and increase patient satisfaction. However, it is also essential to ensure that patient workloads are allocated to nursing staff in a balanced manner to avoid overwork and burnout. This study investigates the tradeoffs associated with the assignment of patients to nurses in inpatient settings under the dual objective of maximizing continuity of care and minimizing workload imbalance. We develop a hybrid method that balances the need for fair workload distribution and continuity of care, and demonstrate the extent of the tradeoff between the level of continuity achieved and the associated cost in workload balance. To reduce the impact of this tradeoff, we relax the goal of maximizing continuity by introducing an acuity threshold. Here, patients with acuity values above the threshold vi are targeted for continuity-based assignment, and remaining patients are assigned to minimize workload imbalance. We evaluate the utility of introducing the threshold under a variety of hospital environmental conditions using a simulation model of the inpatient environment. Our findings show that it is possible to provide a substantial continuity assignment with a marginal impact on workload imbalance under the hybrid policy using the acuity threshold. In virtually all cases studied, the results show that it is possible to use the acuity threshold and gain the benefits of continuity of care, even under conditions of a strong preference for minimizing acuity imbalance