Users' spatial abilities affect interface usability outcomes

The usability of a system depends both on inherent characteristics of the system and on its users. This paper argues that a major source of differences among users is variations in spatial ability, but that variations in different types of spatial ability affect components of usability differently. In two experiments, I investigated a simple model of the relationships of spatial visualization ability, spatial orientation ability, and spatial working memory with the usability constructs of efficiency and effectiveness. Both experiments used Wikipedia search as a representative information search task. The first experiment used a desktop computer interface, and the second experiment used a pair of mobile devices with widely different screen sizes. Better spatial orientation ability corresponded to faster performance on efficiency across devices. Better spatial visualization ability corresponded to slower performance on larger screens, but faster performance on smaller screens. Better spatial visualization ability also predicted better effectiveness in both experiments. These results suggest that spatial ability is a useful way to characterize users and to improve usability testing, and that its effects vary in systematic ways depending on characteristics of the tested interface and on which metrics are chosen

DEPLOYMENT AND USABILITY EVALUATION OF MOBILE ACCESS TO INSTITUTIONAL REPOSITORY

An Institutional Repository is essentially a web application that is capable of capturing, preserving and disseminating the intellectual output of a University or research institution in dig ital formats. The advent of the Mobile Web has ushered in a new wave of mobile devices - with multi-touch facilities and thus there has been a shift from Web access to Mobile Web access. This has brought about the need to make web applications accessible via mobile devices. This study investigated the usability of the core functionalities of an Institutional Repository on various mobile devices. The work did not try to create a mobile version of the repository but rather test the existing web application on various mobile platforms. To achieve this, the core functionalities of the repository were modelled using Unified Modelling Language (UML). In addition, an Institutional Repository was built and deployed for Covenant University by leveraging on open source repository software – EPrints. Furthermore, the core functionalities of the Institutional Repository were tested on five different mobile devices. Finally, the usability of the Institutional Repository on the various mobile devices used was evaluated by identifying the usability attributes; designing a questionnaire based on those attributes and then analyzing the results with SPSS software. The results showed that overall the current web version of the repository had a good usability score on the mobile devices used

An Exploratory Study of Hypermedia Support for Problem Decomposition

Empirical hypermedia research has concentrated on usability rather than utility, and the research on utility has focused on information access as opposed to problem solving and decision making in organizations. This study, based on problem reduction theory, uses a hypermedia prototype system to support decision processes for solving a financial analysis problem. An exploratory laboratory experiment was conducted to study the feasibility of the prototype for hypermedia support of decision making. The process tracing techniques used suggest that a cognitive map of a decision maker\u27s thought process may be constructed. Results offer a great deal of promise in the use of hypermedia for organizational decision support. The implications of this study for further research are discussed

Interpretation at the controller's edge: designing graphical user interfaces for the digital publication of the excavations at Gabii (Italy)

This paper discusses the authors’ approach to designing an interface for the Gabii Project’s digital volumes that attempts to fuse elements of traditional synthetic publications and site reports with rich digital datasets. Archaeology, and classical archaeology in particular, has long engaged with questions of the formation and lived experience of towns and cities. Such studies might draw on evidence of local topography, the arrangement of the built environment, and the placement of architectural details, monuments and inscriptions (e.g. Johnson and Millett 2012). Fundamental to the continued development of these studies is the growing body of evidence emerging from new excavations. Digital techniques for recording evidence “on the ground,” notably SFM (structure from motion aka close range photogrammetry) for the creation of detailed 3D models and for scene-level modeling in 3D have advanced rapidly in recent years. These parallel developments have opened the door for approaches to the study of the creation and experience of urban space driven by a combination of scene-level reconstruction models (van Roode et al. 2012, Paliou et al. 2011, Paliou 2013) explicitly combined with detailed SFM or scanning based 3D models representing stratigraphic evidence. It is essential to understand the subtle but crucial impact of the design of the user interface on the interpretation of these models. In this paper we focus on the impact of design choices for the user interface, and make connections between design choices and the broader discourse in archaeological theory surrounding the practice of the creation and consumption of archaeological knowledge. As a case in point we take the prototype interface being developed within the Gabii Project for the publication of the Tincu House. In discussing our own evolving practices in engagement with the archaeological record created at Gabii, we highlight some of the challenges of undertaking theoretically-situated user interface design, and their implications for the publication and study of archaeological materials

Collaborative trails in e-learning environments

This deliverable focuses on collaboration within groups of learners, and hence collaborative trails. We begin by reviewing the theoretical background to collaborative learning and looking at the kinds of support that computers can give to groups of learners working collaboratively, and then look more deeply at some of the issues in designing environments to support collaborative learning trails and at tools and techniques, including collaborative filtering, that can be used for analysing collaborative trails. We then review the state-of-the-art in supporting collaborative learning in three different areas – experimental academic systems, systems using mobile technology (which are also generally academic), and commercially available systems. The final part of the deliverable presents three scenarios that show where technology that supports groups working collaboratively and producing collaborative trails may be heading in the near future

Menu-Based User Interface Systems: Theory and Practice

The thesis discusses the menu selection technique, which is one of the most commonly used interaction techniques in Human-Computer Interfaces, and continues to flourish because of its simple interaction format and its adaptability to the many diverse applications. The ease of use of the technique, particularly by novices, contributes significantly to the widespread acceptance of menu-based user interface systems, despite their inherent disadvantages and drawbacks. Chapter One surveys the issues concerning the design and use of menu-based interfaces, and addresses particularly the navigational problems encountered by users of menu selection systems, identifying various navigational aids which help overcome these problems. The chapter concludes with a comparison between menu-based interfaces and other interface styles (command language, natural language and form-filling). Chapter Two describes the practical work of the thesis which consists of implementing a particularly demanding menu-based interface example involving multiple menu selections using four different dialogue specification systems. The implementation is discussed mainly from a menu system designer's view. Strategies to solve or address the multiple selection mechanism problem as well as some the navigational concepts discussed in chapter one are devised and used within each the four target systems. Also, some other related user interface design issues are reported in chapter two. The principal aim of the work is to investigate the difficulties a dialogue designer may face in attempting to implement a common type of menu-based interface using various delivery systems, all of which claim in varying degrees to support menu-based interactive styles. In the final chapter conclusions are drawn from the practical work concerning desirable menu support features in user interface implementation systems, and issues requiring further investigation are identified

Future directions for human-computer interaction

This paper offers a set of goals for user interface development and then scenarios of future developments. The applications include home control, hypermedia, office automation, digital photography, collaborative meeting/classrooms, public access, professional workstations, and medical record-keeping. Also, predictions are made for some of the underlying technologies such as User Interface Management Systems, remote control, flexible search, display devices, and touchscreens. (Also cross-referenced as CAR-TR-436

Supporting students' construction of hypermedia

This thesis considers the proposition that hypermedia may be employed effectively in higher education. More specifically, the question of its use by undergraduate music students to assist in writing essays and dissertations is investigated. The work begins with a review of general issues relating to educational hypermedia, such as its history, application, design and architecture. A user-centred approach to hypermedia development is advocated, and after critique and analysis of the literature, a framework for human-computer interaction for educational hypermedia is proposed. A case study is reported which serves to facilitate the undertaking of original research, as well as to evaluate the proposed framework. Other environments are also selected to carry out more generic research. Both reading strategies and writing strategies are investigated, and the results from these studies are used to conduct a repertory grid analysis of students' approaches to and perceptions of essay and dissertation development. The outcome of this experiment concludes with a proposal for a structural model of essay and dissertation development. Analysis of the model suggests the need for further survey analysis of taskartefact usage in specific educational domains, and experimental studies into electronic document manipulation and the reading of music from computer screens are investigated with respect to the case study environment. The implications of the research carried out in this thesis have assisted in and helped to justify the design of the prototype system HECTOR (Hypermedia, from Essay Conception TO Realisation). It aims to support students in their research, planning and writing of essays and dissertations. HECTOR has been evaluated in the field, and the results of this go some way to supporting the hypothesis of the thesis - that hypermedia can be employed effectively in higher education