Educational data mining using fuzzy sets to facilitate usability and user experience - an approach to integrate artificial intelligence and human-computer interaction

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) have the common goal of enhancing effectiveness of a system and making it easier for people to use. AI accomplishes that by demonstrating intelligent behavior on a machine, whereas HCI involves the design approach required to obtain usability and user experience. This study integrates AI and HCI techniques in a real-world application complementing the aims of each field. A web based system was developed for a school board in Eastern Canada by following the user-centered approach of HCI. In the course of designing a good interface, it was found that fuzzy inference of AI was going on in users’ minds when they formed conceptual models to understand the application. The interface was evaluated by applying heuristic evaluation, cognitive walkthroughs and user feedback. It was shown that usability and user experience can be improved by employing fuzzy set techniques. Therefore, fuzzy set modeling can serve as a user centered method for HCI design. Furthermore, data gathering techniques of HCI helped to define the cognitive processes that could be replicated with the aid of fuzzy sets.Master of Science (MSc) in Computational Science