Assessing the Semiotic Inspection Method – The Evaluators’ Perspective

This paper presents an assessment of the Semiotic Inspection Methodaimed at understanding its costs, benefits, advantages and disadvantages from the evaluators’perspective. We applied a questionnaire to novice evaluators and interviewedthe authors of the method (representing the experts’ evaluators). An analysis of theresponses shows interesting insights and characteristics of the method

Characterising Volunteers' Task Execution Patterns Across Projects on Multi-Project Citizen Science Platforms

Citizen science projects engage people in activities that are part of a scientific research effort. On multi-project citizen science platforms, scientists can create projects consisting of tasks. Volunteers, in turn, participate in executing the project's tasks. Such type of platforms seeks to connect volunteers and scientists' projects, adding value to both. However, little is known about volunteer's cross-project engagement patterns and the benefits of such patterns for scientists and volunteers. This work proposes a Goal, Question, and Metric (GQM) approach to analyse volunteers' cross-project task execution patterns and employs the Semiotic Inspection Method (SIM) to analyse the communicability of the platform's cross-project features. In doing so, it investigates what are the features of platforms to foster volunteers' cross-project engagement, to what extent multi-project platforms facilitate the attraction of volunteers to perform tasks in new projects, and to what extent multi-project participation increases engagement on the platforms. Results from analyses on real platforms show that volunteers tend to explore multiple projects, but they perform tasks regularly in just a few of them; few projects attract much attention from volunteers; volunteers recruited from other projects on the platform tend to get more engaged than those recruited outside the platform. System inspection shows that platforms still lack personalised and explainable recommendations of projects and tasks. The findings are translated into useful claims about how to design and manage multi-project platforms.Comment: XVIII Brazilian Symposium on Human Factors in Computing Systems (IHC'19), October 21-25, 2019, Vit\'oria, ES, Brazi

Evaluating Web and Mobile User Interfaces With Semiotics: An Empirical Study

Computer interface signs, such as navigational links, thumbnails, small images, command buttons, symbols, icons, etc., which serve as communication artifacts between designers/systems and users, constitute an under-researched area. To design and evaluate intuitive interface signs, the Semiotic Interface Sign Design and Evaluation (SIDE) framework was developed. The aim of this study is to test the framework & x2019;s applicability to evaluate web and mobile user interfaces. To that end, two empirical user studies were conducted among a total of 86 practitioners (n1 & x003D; 58, n2 & x003D; 28). The results show that the SIDE framework helps identify unique usability problems, such as the intuitiveness of interface signs in terms of their referential meaning, which would not have been detected with traditional heuristic evaluation methods. The paper increases our understanding of the intuitive nature of interface signs of web and mobile interfaces, and of the practical use of intuitive signs

A New View at Usability Test Methods of Interfaces for Human Computer Interaction

As a basic and important term in the interaction design usability is an overall rating of the degree of use in the human computer interaction which guarantees the realization of interaction Usability test is a necessary process in the human computer interface design It is a process of through systematically collecting the usability data of interface and assessing and improving the data Designers can enhance the usability through testing and improving the present interface designers can also evaluate the usability of the present interface borrowing its strongpoint improving its shortcomings and applying in the new design Conducting sufficient usability test requires planning and attention to the evaluation details In common usability test methods for software take into considerations planning usability questions selecting a representative sample and recruiting participant s and preparing the test materials and actualtest environment In order to make a way to select an appropriate method to perform a usability test this paper has introduced the usability test methods in the human computer interface design then analyzed and summarized the methods and finally state of the art taxonomy is presente

Scoping analytical usability evaluation methods: A case study

Analytical usability evaluation methods (UEMs) can complement empirical evaluation of systems: for example, they can often be used earlier in design and can provide accounts of why users might experience difficulties, as well as what those difficulties are. However, their properties and value are only partially understood. One way to improve our understanding is by detailed comparisons using a single interface or system as a target for evaluation, but we need to look deeper than simple problem counts: we need to consider what kinds of accounts each UEM offers, and why. Here, we report on a detailed comparison of eight analytical UEMs. These eight methods were applied to it robotic arm interface, and the findings were systematically compared against video data of the arm ill use. The usability issues that were identified could be grouped into five categories: system design, user misconceptions, conceptual fit between user and system, physical issues, and contextual ones. Other possible categories such as User experience did not emerge in this particular study. With the exception of Heuristic Evaluation, which supported a range of insights, each analytical method was found to focus attention on just one or two categories of issues. Two of the three "home-grown" methods (Evaluating Multimodal Usability and Concept-based Analysis of Surface and Structural Misfits) were found to occupy particular niches in the space, whereas the third (Programmable User Modeling) did not. This approach has identified commonalities and contrasts between methods and provided accounts of why a particular method yielded the insights it did. Rather than considering measures such as problem count or thoroughness, this approach has yielded insights into the scope of each method

Gestures in Machine Interaction

Vnencumbered-gesture-interaction (VGI) describes the use of unrestricted gestures in machine interaction. The development of such technology will enable users to interact with machines and virtual environments by performing actions like grasping, pinching or waving without the need of peripherals. Advances in image-processing and pattern recognition make such interaction viable and in some applications more practical than current modes of keyboard, mouse and touch-screen interaction provide. VGI is emerging as a popular topic amongst Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Computer-vision and gesture research; and is developing into a topic with potential to significantly impact the future of computer-interaction, robot-control and gaming. This thesis investigates whether an ergonomic model of VGI can be developed and implemented on consumer devices by considering some of the barriers currently preventing such a model of VGI from being widely adopted. This research aims to address the development of freehand gesture interfaces and accompanying syntax. Without the detailed consideration of the evolution of this field the development of un-ergonomic, inefficient interfaces capable of placing undue strain on interface users becomes more likely. In the course of this thesis some novel design and methodological assertions are made. The Gesture in Machine Interaction (GiMI) syntax model and the Gesture-Face Layer (GFL), developed in the course of this research, have been designed to facilitate ergonomic gesture interaction. The GiMI is an interface syntax model designed to enable cursor control, browser navigation commands and steering control for remote robots or vehicles. Through applying state-of-the-art image processing that facilitates three-dimensional (3D) recognition of human action, this research investigates how interface syntax can incorporate the broadest range of human actions. By advancing our understanding of ergonomic gesture syntax, this research aims to assist future developers evaluate the efficiency of gesture interfaces, lexicons and syntax

A semiotic approach to the use of metaphor in human-computer interfaces

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University, 20/9/1999.Although metaphors are common in computing, particularly in human-computer interfaces, opinion is divided on their usefulness to users and little evidence is available to help the designer in choosing or implementing them. Effective use of metaphors depends on understanding their role in the computer interface, which in tum means building a model of the metaphor process. This thesis examines some of the approaches which might be taken in constructing such a model before choosing one and testing its applicability to interface design. Earlier research into interface metaphors used experimental psychology techniques which proved useful in showing the benefits or drawbacks of specific metaphors, but did not give a general model of the metaphor process. A cognitive approach based on mental models has proved more successful in offering an overall model of the process, although this thesis questions whether the researchers tested it adequately. Other approaches which have examined the metaphor process (though not in the context of human-computer interaction) have come from linguistic fields, most notably semiotics, which extends linguistics to non-verbal communication and thus could cover graphical user interfaces (GUls). The main work described in this thesis was the construction of a semiotic model of human-computer interaction. The basic principle of this is that even the simplest element of the user interface will signify many simultaneous meanings to the user. Before building the model, a set of assertions and questions was developed to check the validity of the principles on which the model was based. Each of these was then tested by a technique appropriate to the type of issue raised. Rhetorical analysis was used to establish that metaphor is commonplace in command-line languages, in addition to its more obvious use in GUIs. A simple semiotic analysis, or deconstruction, of the Macintosh user interface was then used to establish the validity of viewing user interfaces as semiotic systems. Finally, an experiment was carried out to test a mental model approach proposed by previous researchers. By extending their original experiment to more realistically complex interfaces and tasks and using a more typical user population, it was shown that users do not always develop mental models of the type proposed in the original research. The experiment also provided evidence to support the existence of multiple layers of signification. Based on the results of the preliminary studies, a simple means of testing the semiotic model's relevance to interface design was developed, using an interview technique. The proposed interview technique was then used to question two groups of users about a simple interface element. Two independent researchers then carried out a content analysis of the responses. The mean number of significations in each interview, as categorised by the researchers, was 15. The levels of signification were rapidly revealed, with the mean time for each interview being under two minutes, providing effective evidence that interfaces signify many meanings to users, a substantial number of which are easily retrievable. It is proposed that the interview technique could provide a practical and valuable tool for systems analysis and interface designers. Finally, areas for further research are proposed, in particular to ascertain how the model and the interview technique could be integrated with other design methods

user centered design approaches and methods for p5 ehealth

As seen throughout this book, eHealth informed by P5 approach gives full recognition to patients' contexts, needs, desires, and personal characteristics. These aspects should not only be considered as cornerstones for technology evaluation, but as fundamental guidelines for design in the first place. This relates to User-Centered Design, that is, any technology/service design where final users influence how the design itself takes place. In other words, eHealth development should be based on research data gathered among final users about their needs and contexts of use, in order to be specifically tailored on final users even before the realization of low-level prototypes. This methodological contribution presents a critical presentation, description, and evaluation of research tools to be employed not to evaluate technology's results and effectiveness, but the specific characteristics of users in order to orient design and development. Such an approach should be considered the "gold standard" of P5 eHealth solutions