ACTIVE READING ON TABLET TEXTBOOKS

To study a text, learners often engage in active reading. Through active reading, learners build an analysis by annotating, outlining, summarizing, reorganizing and synthesizing information. These strategies serve a fundamental meta-cognitive function that allows content to leave strong memory traces and helps learners reflect, understand, and recall information. Textbooks, however, are becoming more complex as new technologies change how they are designed and delivered. Interactive, touch-screen tablets offer multi-touch interaction, annotation features, and multimedia content as a browse-able book. Yet, such tablet textbooks-in spite of their increasing availability in educational settings-have received little empirical scrutiny regarding how they support and engender active reading. To address this issue, this dissertation reports on a series of studies designed to further our understanding of active reading with tablet textbooks. An exploratory study first examined strategies learners enact when reading and annotating in the tablet environment. Findings indicate learners are often distracted by touch screen mechanics, struggle to effectively annotate information delivered in audiovisuals, and labor to cognitively make connections between annotations and the content/media source from which they originated. These results inspired SMART Note, a suite of novel multimedia annotation tools for tablet textbooks designed to support active reading by: minimizing interaction mechanics during active reading, providing robust annotation for multimedia, and improving built-in study tools. The system was iteratively developed through several rounds of usability and user experience evaluation. A comparative experiment found that SMART Note outperformed tablet annotation features on the market in terms of supporting learning experience, process, and outcomes. Together these studies served to extend the active reading framework for tablet textbooks to: (a) recognize the tension between active reading and mechanical interaction; (b) provide designs that facilitate cognitive connections between annotations and media formats; and (c) offer opportunities for personalization and meaningful reorganization of learning material

Engaging older adults with age-related macular degeneration in the design and evaluation of mobile assistive technologies

Ongoing advances in technology are undoubtedly increasing the scope for enhancing and supporting older adults’ daily living. The digital divide between older and younger adults, however, raises concerns about the suitability of technological solutions for older adults, especially for those with impairments. Taking older adults with Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) – a progressive and degenerative disease of the eye – as a case study, the research reported in this dissertation considers how best to engage older adults in the design and evaluation of mobile assistive technologies to achieve sympathetic design of such technologies. Recognising the importance of good nutrition and the challenges involved in designing for people with AMD, this research followed a participatory and user-centred design (UCD) approach to develop a proof–of–concept diet diary application for people with AMD. Findings from initial knowledge elicitation activities contribute to the growing debate surrounding the issues on how older adults’ participation is initiated, planned and managed. Reflections on the application of the participatory design method highlighted a number of key strategies that can be applied to maintain empathic participatory design rapport with older adults and, subsequently, lead to the formulation of participatory design guidelines for effectively engaging older adults in design activities. Taking a novel approach, the final evaluation study contributed to the gap in the knowledge on how to bring closure to the participatory process in as positive a way as possible, cognisant of the potential negative effect that withdrawal of the participatory process may have on individuals. Based on the results of this study, we ascertain that (a) sympathetic design of technology with older adults will maximise technology acceptance and shows strong indicators for affecting behaviour change; and (b) being involved in the design and development of such technologies has the capacity to significantly improve the quality of life of older adults (with AMD)

A Visual Approach to Improving the Experience of Health Information for Vulnerable Individuals

Many individuals with low health literacy (LHL) and limited English proficiency (LEP) have poor experiences consuming health information: they find it unengaging, unappealing, difficult to understand, and un-motivating. These negative experiences may blunt, or even sabotage, the desired effect of communicating health information: to increase engagement and ability to manage health. It is imperative to find solutions to improve poor experiences of health information, because such experiences heighten vulnerability to poor health outcomes. We aimed to address a gap in the health literacy literature by studying the patient experience of health information and how visualization might be able to help. Our four studies involved patients presented with health information in various settings to improve understanding and management of their care. We used semi-structured interviews and observations to understand patient experiences of receiving personal health information in the hospital. We learned that the return of results is desired and has the potential to promote patient engagement with care. We developed a novel method to analyze LHL, LEP caregiver experience and information needs in the community setting. The novel method increased our understanding and ability to detect differences in experiences within the same ethnic group, based on language preference. Next, we interrogated the literature for a solution to easily communicate complicated health information to disinterested, LHL, LEP individuals. We found that visualizations can help increase interest, comprehension, support faster communication, and even help broach difficult topics. Finally, our findings were used to develop a novel prototype to improve experiences of consuming genetic risk information for those having LHL and LEP. Unlike traditional approaches that focus on communicating risk numbers and probabilities, the novelty of our approach was that we focused on communicating risk as a feeling. We achieved this by leveraging vicarious learning via real patient experience materials (e.g., quotes, videos) and empathy with an emotive relational agent. We evaluated and compared the prototype to standard methods of communicating genetic risk information via a mixed methods approach that included surveys, questionnaires, interviews, observations, image analysis, and facial analysis. Main outcome variables were perceived ease of understanding, comprehension, emotional response, and motivation. We employed t-tests, ANOVAs, directed content analysis, correlation, regression, hierarchical clustering, and Chernoff faces to answer the research questions. All variables were significantly different for the prototype compared to the standard method, except for motivation as rated by 32 LHL, LEP community members. Findings revealed that LHL, LEP individuals have difficulty appropriately processing standard methods of communicating risk information, such as risk numbers supported by visual aids. Further, appealing visuals may inappropriately increase confidence in understanding of information. Visualizations affected emotions, which influenced perceived ease of understanding and motivation to take action on the information. Comprehension scores did not correlate with perceived ease of understanding, emotional response, or motivation. Findings suggest that providing access to comprehensible health information may not be enough to motivate patients to engage with their care; providing a good experience (taking into account the aesthetics and emotional response) of health information may be essential to optimize outcomes

Realistic electronic books

People like books. They are convenient and can be accessed easily and enjoyably. In contrast, many view the experience of accessing and exploring electronic documents as dull, cumbersome and disorientating. This thesis claims that modelling digital documents as physical books can significantly improve reading performance. To investigate this claim, a realistic electronic book model was developed and evaluated. In this model, a range of properties associated with physical books---analogue page turning, bookmarks and annotations---are emulated. Advantage is also taken of the digital environment by supporting hyperlinks, multimedia, full-text search over terms and synonyms, automatically cross referencing documents with an online encyclopaedia, and producing a back-of-the-book index. The main technical challenge of simulating physical books is finding a suitable technique for page turning that is sufficiently realistic, yet lightweight, responsive, scalable and accessible. Several techniques were surveyed, implemented and evaluated. The chosen technique allows realistic books to be presented in the Adobe Flash Player, the most widely used browser plug-in on the Web. A series of usability studies were conducted to compare reading performance while performing various tasks with HTML, PDF, physical books, and simulated books. They revealed that participants not only preferred the new interface, but completed the tasks more efficiently, without any loss in accuracy

Metafore mobilnih komunikacija ; Метафоры мобильной связи.

Mobilne komunikacije su polje informacione i komunikacione tehnologije koje karakteriše brzi razvoj i u kome se istraživanjem u analitičkim okvirima kognitivne lingvistike, zasnovanom na uzorku od 1005 odrednica, otkriva izrazito prisustvo metafore, metonimije, analogije i pojmovnog objedinjavanja. Analiza uzorka reči i izraza iz oblasti mobilnih medija, mobilnih operativnih sistema, dizajna korisničkih interfejsa, terminologije mobilnih mreža, kao i slenga i tekstizama koje upotrebljavaju korisnici mobilnih naprava ukazuje da pomenuti kognitivni mehanizmi imaju ključnu ulogu u olakšavanju interakcije između ljudi i širokog spektra mobilnih uređaja sa računarskim sposobnostima, od prenosivih računara i ličnih digitalnih asistenata (PDA), do mobilnih telefona, tableta i sprava koje se nose na telu. Ti mehanizmi predstavljaju temelj razumevanja i nalaze se u osnovi principa funkcionisanja grafičkih korisničkih interfejsa i direktne manipulacije u računarskim okruženjima. Takođe je analiziran i poseban uzorak od 660 emotikona i emođija koji pokazuju potencijal za proširenje značenja, imajući u vidu značaj piktograma za tekstualnu komunikaciju u vidu SMS poruka i razmenu tekstualnih sadržaja na društvenim mrežama kojima se redovno pristupa putem mobilnih uređaja...Mobile communications are a fast-developing field of information and communication technology whose exploration within the analytical framework of cognitive linguistics, based on a sample of 1005 entries, reveals the pervasive presence of metaphor, metonymy analogy and conceptual integration. The analysis of the sample consisting of words and phrases related to mobile media, mobile operating systems and interface design, the terminology of mobile networking, as well as the slang and textisms employed by mobile gadget users shows that the above cognitive mechanisms play a key role in facilitating interaction between people and a wide range of mobile computing devices from laptops and PDAs to mobile phones, tablets and wearables. They are the cornerstones of comprehension that are behind the principles of functioning of graphical user interfaces and direct manipulation in computing environments. A separate sample, featuring a selection of 660 emoticons and emoji, exhibiting the potential for semantic expansion was also analyzed, in view of the significance of pictograms for text-based communication in the form of text messages or exchanges on social media sites regularly accessed via mobile devices..

IntGUItive : Developing a Natural, Intuitive Graphical User Interface for Mobile Devices

Daily life has experienced a sudden increase in mobile device usage. One needs to only look around to find several tiny devices packing power and function. This is all thanks to exponential advances in technology in recent years; each year technology companies around the world introduce their products; smaller, lighter, faster - state of the art. However, as these devices increase, so do their users and contexts of usage. People use them more and more in different situations, on the move, with different styles, tastes and constraints, such as time. In these cases, using a device whose interface is complicated, cumbersome and non-intuitive, ends up costing precious time and perhaps money, and most definitely causes frustration. There has been much research into this field of design, called by various phrases but perhaps best summed up by the term "user experience" or "UX". Several concepts within exist, such as gamification, haptics and natural user interfaces, or NUIs. Native system applications of today's mobile devices do not seem to be very intuitive or easy to use as they get more and more complicated. This research attempts to provide a solution to that problem by focusing on depth perception and a novel way of designing a user interface that provides said depth as the user navigates the system and through applications. The metaphors of a camera zoom lens, a rifle scope and binoculars are loose inspirations which form the basis for the prototype application developed. Despite the prototype application lacking many features due to time and technical factors, the user study revealed highly positive results, with users enjoying the intuitive and natural feel of the new design. Users also expressed a great interest in using an application with such an interface in the future with improvements and thus have prompted further research, proving that such a design opens up endless possibilities for improvement in an otherwise stagnant field

Understanding and Evaluating User Interface Visibility

Technology dominates our lives, mobile technology in particular. In 2016 Apple sold their billionth iPhone. By 2018 they had sold their 2 billionth device based on the same underlying operating system. We access such technology through the user interface (UI) and concerns have been raised about the usability of such devices. The situation has been described by some as a “usability crisis”. One of the key issues raised is the lack of visibility of user interface elements, which is deemed to be a critical component of an effective UI. An initial investigation highlighted that UI visibility can be broken down into three key aspects: Firstly; some user interface elements are effectively ‘missing’; Secondly, they are ‘missed’ because they are not seen by the user; and thirdly, they are seen but ‘misunderstood’. Further analysis of the home screen of an iPhone revealed that only 8% of the available functions were visible at the top level, in other words, 92% were effectively ‘missing’. This raises key questions about how UI visibility can be evaluated, and such evaluation adopted into design practice. This research took a psychophysical perspective to better understand UI visibility. This led to the development of an evaluation framework and associated tool called vis-UI-lise. The tool represents UI visibility as a series of 5 hurdles between the user and the interface that have to be overcome for a successful interaction. This tool was applied to an everyday task on a mobile phone which resulted in highlighting a range of possible usability problems. Comparison of the predicted versus observed problems showed that the vis-UI-lise tool had predicted 74% of them, a score that compares well with other usability evaluation tools. A training and support package was also developed for the vis-UI-lise tool and evaluated with four different organisations. This provided key insights into how the tool could be improved to fit in with typical design practice. This thesis brings a new perspective to the understanding and evaluation of UI visibility that could have a real impact on the design of everyday user interfaces

User interface design of advanced process control system for causticizing

Abstract. The aim of this thesis was to design new interfaces for Valmet Automation Oy’s causticizing Advanced Process Control product. The goal for the research was to determine how pulp mill’s operators’ needs and Valmet’s engineers needs from the user interface can be taken into account and how the interface can be implemented into ongoing project. The thesis describes the user interface design principles and best practices with human factors and ergonomics. The theory describes the causticizing process and how it is controlled with the advanced process control. From the technical theory, the thesis moves on to describing user experience and user interface design in depth. The human factors and ergonomics are elaborated from design point of view, and how the interface can support and enhance operators’ work ergonomics. The thesis also describes how the design process should be carried through. Aim of the theory part is to elaborate what are the design principles and best practices, and how they can be utilized in industrial interface design. The practical part of the thesis was conducted by interview research. The research was done with two user groups: with Valmet’s engineers who are responsible for the Advanced Process Control products, and with operators who are the main end users of the product. Presented theory and conducted interview research was utilized in the interface design with Valmet UI system. The design was done in cooperation with project’s stakeholders. As a result, separate interfaces were designed for operators and for control tuning. Operators’ interface was designed to support their work and the overall operating system design. The designed operator interface includes only the essential elements of the top-level control system which are supportive for operator decision making process. The designed control tuning interface was made to include more information which is relevant for the engineering work.Kaustisointiprosessin ylätason säädön käyttöliittymäsuunnittelu. Tiivistelmä. Diplomityön tavoitteena oli kehittää Valmet Automation Oy:n kaustisoinnin Advanced Process Control -tuotteelle uusi käyttöliittymä. Tutkimuskohteena oli selvittää miten sellutehtaan operaattoreiden ja Valmetin insinöörien tarpeet käyttöliittymältä saadaan huomioitua, sekä miten käyttöliittymän suunnittelu voidaan toteuttaa toimitettavaan projektiin. Työ avaa käyttöliittymäsuunnittelun teoriaa ja perusteita yhdessä inhimillisten tekijöiden kanssa. Teoria esittelee kaustoinnin prosessikuvauksen ja kuinka sitä ohjataan Valmetin ylätason kehittyneellä säätömenetelmällä. Teoria etenee teknillisistä kuvauksista käyttäjäkokemuksen esittelyyn sekä käyttöliittymäsuunnittelun perusteisiin ja käytäntöihin. Työ avaa mitä inhimillisiä tekijöitä käyttöliittymäsuunnittelussa tulee ottaa huomioon, jotta käyttöliittymä tukisi operaattorin työergonomiaa, sekä kuinka käyttöliittymäsuunnittelu tulisi toteuttaa kokonaisuutena. Kokeellisessa osassa toteutettiin haastattelututkimus, johon osallistui kaksi käyttäjäryhmää: Valmetin insinöörit, jotka ovat vastuussa Advanced Process Control -tuotteista, ja operaattorit sellutehtaalta, jotka ovat tuotteen pääkäyttäjiä. Diplomityössä esitelty teoria ja toteutettu haastattelututkimus toimi pohjana uusien käyttöliittymien suunnitteluun Valmet UI -järjestelmään. Käyttöliittymien suunnittelu toteutettiin yhdessä projektin sidosryhmien kanssa. Työn tuloksena suunniteltiin erilliset käyttöliittymät operaattoreille ja ylätason säädön viritykseen. Operaattoreiden käyttöliittymä suunniteltiin tukemaan heidän työtään ja kokonaisjärjestelmää mahdollisimman hyvin. Operaattoreiden käyttöliittymä sisältää vain ylätason säädölle olennaiset elementit, jotka tukevat operaattoreiden päätöksentekoa säätömenetelmää vaihtaessa. Säädön viritykseen suunniteltu käyttöliittymä on vapaamuotoisempi ja se sisältää enemmän informaatiota, mikä on säädön viritykselle oleellista