The effect of personality traits on file retrieval

File retrieval is important for Personal Information Management (PIM). If retrieval fails, people cannot re-use files that they created or other people shared with them. In this paper, we examined the effect of personality traits on retrieval success and efficiency in two studies. Study 1 (n = 60) examined the effect of the Big Five personality traits. Study 2 (n = 300) evaluated the effect of other personality traits that we hypothesized would improve retrieval: need for control, orderliness, memory, computer literacy, minimalism, stress resistance, sociability and empathy. None of the tests we conducted were significant, meaning that even if future effects are identified, they will most probably be weak. In contrast, significant effects on retrieval success and efficiency were previously found for factors such as: sharing method, file collection size, number of collaborators sharing the file, file versions, recency since last retrieval, folder depth and workload. Nevertheless, the null-results we report here are important because the failure to publish non-significant results can have a negative influence on re-search. Otherwise these effects may be repeatedly studied until significant results emerge and are published, possibly because of a type I error

Documents organisation strategies of Open University Malaysia (OUM) postgraduate students

Students doing research would normally download documents from the Internet on to their desktop for later use. However, these documents are not easily found again as the documents are saved indiscriminately in multiple folders on their desktop. This study aims to investigate students’ document organisation strategies on their desktop primarily. The study includes 128 Open University Malaysia (OUM) postgraduate students with personal desktop of at least 10 Portable Documents Format (PDFs) files. Personal Information Management (PIM) is an interesting research field exploring individual's activities of acquisition, organisation, maintenance, retrieval and sharing of information (Lush, 2014). Research has shown that PIM activities have an important influence on the learning processes, particularly university students engaging in many documents from various sources (Jacques & Fastrez, 2014). Data regarding their personal desktop documents were collected using survey method. The questionnaire was administered using Google Form. Two distinct categories of students’ organisation strategies were identified in this research, which are piling and filing. A discussion of these results is provided. We will then recommend personal information management organisation strategies for postgraduate students doing their research project. A proper information management organisation strategy will lead to the development of efficient information management skills of the student

Understanding and improving cross-application interaction in desktop computing

Cross-application interaction on modern computer operating systems is becoming more prevalent as users begin to work more dynamically and utilise more applications simultaneously to complete a task. Such tasks could consist of writing a research paper, developing software or preparing a presentation. These tasks all require the use of multiple applications to complete. However, the interaction between these applications is still poorly understood. At present the research community does not have an extensive overview of the ways in which users work with multiple applications to complete tasks. Previous research mainly focusses on interaction within windows which lacks the cross-application element. Data flow between applications is also not fully understood. Research into a more conceptual, higher level approach to working, with a view to understanding how interaction and communication between these applications aids users when completing tasks, is required. This work has two main aims: 1) To understand how users utilise the open application set to complete tasks and 2) To improve cross-application interaction for users. Within (1) MultiLog (an extensive logging framework) is presented. The MultiLog system is used to gather data during a 90 day study logging users’ interactions with their PCs. This data is then analysed and presented. Within (2) this thesis uses these results to inform the design of QuickFileAccess which aids users when locating folders by dynamically managing the Windows Quick Access list. The results of the log study enabled previously published results to be updated. New results in the area of data transfer, covered a deep understanding of not only how users employed the Windows clipboard to transfer data between applications, but also how participants utilised the “drag-and-drop” facility for data transfer. Results informed the design and development of the QuickFileAccess tool

Supporting pro-amateur composers using digital audio workstations

This thesis investigates the activity of pro-amateur composers in order to identify possible design improvements to a category of composition software called digital audio workstations. Pro-amateur composers are composers who are not full-time professional musicians but who have a considerably greater level of expertise than amateurs. In contrast to the collaborative settings that this group is normally studied in this thesis will focus on situations where pro-amateur composers work independently. Existing research on the use of composition software is reviewed, revealing that the composition process can involve a wide variety of component activities and overarching macro structures, and that other aids are often used in addition to composition software. Studies have also indicated that the design of composition software may constrain the creativity of composers. Four important considerations are identified for studying composers: triangulating multiple data capture methods, avoiding study designs that constrain what activities can be observed, capturing use of any external aids, and studying the use of a variety of composition software (or a prototype design) to mitigate any constraints that are due to the software's design. Four pro-amateur composers were observed composing in their usual environments using a methodology based on interaction analysis. Based on information recorded about the settings, artefacts used, and activities carried out, three major patterns are observed. Firstly, existing tools support different composition activities to varying degrees, with additional support needed for improvisation, reflection, and auditioning incompletely specified material; secondly, composers make coordinated use of multiple representations; and finally, composers make use of strategies that enable selective allocation of time and effort (habituation, limited exploration, and self-constraining). Previous authors have used many different notions of external cognition when studying the use of composition software. A literature review of such studies identifies techniques that can be applied to improve the representations used in composition software. Seven techniques are described: selective representation, diverse media types, structured representations, incomplete specification, representing alternatives, task lists, and representing history. A detailed review of evidence from the literature and the observational study is used to identify implementation suggestions for each technique. The technique of task lists has been studied significantly less in the literature on composition software and appears to be a fruitful avenue for further exploration. A prototype to-do list website designed for coordinated use with Ableton Live is created to further investigate the task lists technique by studying how it is used by five pro-amateur composers. Using thematic analysis of interviews triangulated with video recordings and logs, four main themes are identified: using to-do lists to plan and focus, changing to-do list items over time, organising to-do lists, and applicability of to-do lists. Seven key patterns of activity that are enabled by task lists are also described: planning activity, journalling activity, interleaving activities, reflection, organising the to-do list, idea capture, and collaboration. Task lists appear to be useful because explicitly representing tasks, processes, and plans helps the composer to consider those subjects; and also because task lists ease many related activities, such as tracking incomplete work, monitoring deviation from a planned creative direction, or identifying and re-using useful strategies. Two important considerations for design of task lists in DAWs are identified: how task lists are integrated with the DAW, and how to increase the visibility of the composer's activity. For both considerations, specific suggestions are made for how these could be achieved