Quasi-qwerty soft keyboard optimization

ABSTRACT It has been well understood that optimized soft keyboard layouts improve motor movement efficiency over the standard Qwerty layouts, but have the drawback of long initial visual search time for novice users. To ease the initial searching time on optimized soft keyboards, we explored "Quasi-Qwerty optimization" so that the resulting layouts are close to Qwerty. Our results show that a middle ground between the optimized but new, and the familiar but inefficient (Qwerty) does exist. We show that by allowing letters to move at most one step (key) away from their original positions on Qwerty in an optimization process, one can achieve about half of what free optimization could gain in movement efficiency. An experiment shows that due to users' familiarity with Qwerty, a layout with quasi Qwerty optimization could significantly reduce novice users' visual search time to between those of Qwerty and a freely optimized layout. The results in this work provide designers with a new quantitative understanding of the soft keyboard design space

Exploring user experience (UX) factors For ICTD services

Consistent with global entities such as the United Nations- through the World Summit of the Information Society (WSIS), introduction of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for human development has seen the introduction of ICT-based services aimed at facilitating socio-economic development of marginalized communities. The use of ICTs has always solicited the concept of Human Computer Interaction (HCI), which involves the methods which humans interact with technology. The types of User Interfaces (UIs) and interaction techniques that people use to interact with ICTs affects the way they perceive technology and eventually, their acceptance of the technology. Current ICT systems still haven‟t adopted the concept of placing the user at the core of the interaction. Users are still required to adapt themselves to the interface‟s characteristics; which limits the number of people who can use the system due to inabilities to adapt to the interface. As a result, the information embedded in these technologies is still inaccessible and useless to Marginalized Rural Area (MRA) users. Such usability challenges can be mitigated against and avoided by matching UI components with the users‟ mental models, language, preferences, needs and other socio-cultural artefacts. In this research, literature in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) is reviewed with emphasis on the usability and User Experience (UX) during user interaction with ICTs using various modes of interactions. HCI emphasizes the need for systems to take account of user‟s characteristics such as their abilities, needs, socio-cultural experiences, behaviours and interests. In efforts to meet the requirement of UX, the user, system and the context of use, need to be evaluated, taking into consideration that changing one entity modifies the UX. This will be achieved by persona profiling to determine the key characteristics of the user communities, clustered according to the key UX attributes. Subsequently, through detailed usability evaluations, including the use of System Usability Scale (SUS) to determine user satisfaction with various UI components/techniques per identified persona- thus providing and persona mapping for usability of Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICTD) services. The results from this research are reflective of the importance of creating personas for usability testing. Some of the personas do not have a problem with interacting with most of the interfaces but their choice of interface comes from a preference point of view. For some personas, their skills and level of experience with ICTs motivates their choice of interface. The common UI component that users from across the spectrum appreciate is UI consistency which makes interaction easier and more natural. Common obstacles with current User Interfaces (UIs) that inhibit users from MRAs include the hefty use of text in interfaces, unintuitive navigation structures and the use of a foreign language. Differences in UIs from different application developers present an inconsistency which challenges the users from rural areas. These differences include the layout, the text entry methods and the form of output produced. A solution to this has been identified from the usability test as the use of speech-enabled interfaces in a language that can be understood by the target audience. In addition, through literature study it has been found that UX of interfaces can be improved by the use of less textual or text-free interfaces. Based on literature, users from MRAs can benefit from using hand-writing based UIs for text-based entry which mimics pen and paper environment for literate users who have experience with writing. Finally, the use of numbered options can assist illiterate users in tasks that requires users to choose options and for navigation. Therefore, consistency in UIs designed to be used by MRA users can improve usability of these interfaces and thus, improving the overall UX

Chinese Text Entry with Mobile Devices

Tietokoneiden ja nykyaikaisten matkapuhelimien käytön kannalta on olennaista, että niihin voidaan syöttää tekstiä tehokkaasti. Kiinan kielen eri murteita puhuu äidinkielenään noin viidesosa maailman väestöstä eli yli miljardi ihmistä. Kiinan kielen merkki- ja tavuperustaisuus tekee siitä tekstinsyötön kannalta ainutlaatuisen haastavan. Monet kiinalaisista merkeistä ovat rakenteeltaan monimutkaisia ja homofonisia (ääntyvät samalla tavoin) joidenkin muiden merkkien kanssa. Syötettäessä tekstiä näppäimistöltä tavallinen tapa on käyttää ns. pinyin-koodeja, joiden avulla kukin kiinan merkki voidaan esittää useasta latinalaisen aakkoston merkistä koostuvana koodina. Homofoniasta johtuen tarkoitettu kiinan kielen merkki joudutaan tämän jälkeen vielä valitsemaan usean vaihtoehdon joukosta, mikä tekee tekstinsyöttöprosessista vaikeampaa kuin romaanisten kielten tapauksessa. Lisäksi on otettava huomioon Kiinan eri osissa puhutut useat murteet. Kaikki nämä tekijät yhdessä tekevät kiinankielisen tekstin syötöstä tietokoneille haastavaa. Tämän väitöskirjan tavoitteena on parantaa kiinankielisen tekstin syöttötapojen käyttäjäkokemusta käytettäessä matkapuhelimia ja muita mobiililaitteita. Väitöskirjassa tutkitaan empiiristen kokeiden ja mallinnuksen avulla uusia tekstinsyöttötapoja ja niiden käyttöä. Tutkimuksen kohteena on neljä erilaista tekstinsyöttötapaa: kiinankielen käsinkirjoituksen tunnistus, pyörivän kiekon avulla tapahtuva tekstinsyöttö, mandariinikiinaan perustuva sanelu, ja numeronäppäinten avulla tapahtuva pinyin-koodien syöttö. Työssä ehdotetaan uusia tekniikoita sekä käsinkirjoituksen tunnistukseen että kiekkoa käyttävään pinyin-koodien syöttöön. Empiirisissä kokeissa osoittautui että käyttäjät pitivät uusista tekniikoista. Mandariinikiinalle on suunniteltu lyhytviestien sanelusovellus, josta on tehty kaksi käyttäjäkoetta. Myös numeronäppäinten avulla tapahtuvaa pinyin-koodien syöttöä on tutkittu kahdessa kokeessa. Ensimmäisessä kokeessa vertailtiin viittä eri menetelmää. Se tuotti suunnitteluohjeita etenkin koskien fraasien (useamman merkin kokonaisuuksien) syöttöä, tekniikkaa joka voi nopeuttaa tekstinsyöttöä. Toisen osatutkimuksen tuloksena on tekstinsyöttöä kuvaava malli, jonka avulla voidaan ennustaa menetelmän nopeutta kun syötettäessä ei tehdä virheitä. Tutkimus johti myös useisiin jatkotutkimuskysymyksiin. On tarpeen kehittää tehokkaampia menetelmiä tilanteeseen, jossa merkki joudutaan valitsemaan useista vaihtoehdoista. Kehityspotentiaalia on myös merkkien perustana olevien viivojen tunnistustavoissa sekä kosketusnäytöllä esitettyjen näppäimistöjen paremmassa hyödyntämisessä.For using computers and modern mobile phones it is essential that there are efficient methods for providing textual input. About one fifth of the world´s population, or over one billion people, speaks some variety of Chinese as their native language. Chinese has unique characteristics as a logosyllabic language. For example, many Chinese characters are complex in structure and normally homophonic with some others. With keyboards and other key-based input devices the normal approach is to use so-called pinyin input, where the Chinese characters are entered using their pinyin mark that consists of several characters in the Roman alphabet. Because of homophony this technique requires choosing the correct Chinese character from a list of posssible choices, making the input process more complicated than in Roman languages. Moreover, the many varieties of the language in different parts of China have to be taken into account as well. All above factors bring new challenges to the design and evaluation of Chinese text entry methods in computing systems. The overall objective of this dissertation is to improve user experience of Chinese text entry on mobile devices. To achieve the goal, the author explores new interaction solutions and patterns of user behavior in the Chinese text entry process with various approaches including empirical studies and performance modeling. The work covers four means of Chinese text entry on mobile devices: Chinese handwriting recognition, Chinese indirect text entry with a rotator, Mandarin dictation, and Chinese pinyin input methods with a 12-key keypad. New design solutions for Chinese handwriting recognition and pinyin methods utilizing a rotator are proposed and proved being well accepted by users with empirical studies. A Mandarin short message dictation application for mobile phones is also presented , with two associated studies on human factors. Two studies were also carried out on Chinese pinyin input methods that are based on the 12-key keypad. The comparative study of five phrasal pinyin input methods led to design guidelines for the advanced feature of phrasal input. The second study of pinyin input methods produced a predictive model addressing users´ error-free speeds. Based on the conclusions from studies in this thesis, several additional research questions were identified for the future. For example, improvements are necessary to promote user performance on target selection process in Chinese text entry on mobile devices. Moreover, design and studies on stroke methods and Chinese specific soft keyboards are also required

A study comparing table-based and list-based smartphone interface usability

Never before has society seen a technology or medium advance as quickly as the smartphone. With advancements of smartphone technology, many daily tasks can be accomplished easier and faster with smartphone devices, which require more and more people from numerous backgrounds to use a variety of interface layouts. This study hopes to contribute in building a framework for conducting usability studies to assist in creating a foundation for smartphone interface development by evaluating the effectiveness of two commonly used mobile website interfaces. Since smartphone usability studies are relatively new, there is no smartphone software to record or track this kind of information. Three usability methods reviewed in this study were demographics, usability study through video recordings, and evaluation through exit survey. In regards to usability, the table interface is more effective than the list interface. User testing of the two navigation prototypes, as well as user comparison of one prototype to the other, gave feedback that will contribute to improve the mobile website navigation experiences for users

Evolution and usability of mobile phone interaction styles

Over one billion people own or use cellular mobile telephones. Therefore, industry practitioners are faced with a question: how big steps can they take when designing the user interfaces for their new products, or how closely should they stick with the already existing user interface conventions that may already be familiar to the consumers. The objective of this research work is to create and communicate new knowledge for design and usability practitioners about how to design and evolve interaction style conventions in mainstream, voice-centric mobile telephones. In the context of this study, interaction style denotes the framework consisting of the physical interaction objects, the abstract interaction elements, and the associated behavior or interaction conventions that are applied throughout the core functionality of the mobile phone, but excludes the stylistic appearance elements of the user interface. The main research problem — how do mobile phone interaction style changes affect the initial usability of a mobile phone for users with earlier experience with mobile phones — is approached via several methods. A literature study compares the interaction styles applied in mainstream computing domains against the aspects relevant in the mobile phones domain. A heuristic analysis of contemporary mobile phones is used to formulate an understanding of the available interaction styles and analyze whether there is convergence towards specific types of interaction styles in the industry. An empirical usability testing experiment with 38 test users is conducted with a novel mobile phone interaction style to investigate differences between users who are already familiar with different mobile phone interaction styles. The study reveals that interaction styles applied in contemporary mobile telephones are designed around menu navigation, and they implement the three primary operations — Select, Back and Menu access — with dedicated hardkeys, context-sensitive softkeys, or using special control devices like joysticks or jog dials. The control keys in the contemporary interaction styles are converging around various two- and three-softkey conventions. The aspects related to indirect manipulation and small displays pose specific usability and UI design challenges on mobile phone user interfaces. The study shows that the mobile handset manufacturers are applying their usually proprietary interaction styles in a rather consistent manner in their products, with the notable exception of mobile Internet browsers that often break the underlying interaction style consistency. Based on the results from the empirical usability testing, we claim that despite differences between interaction styles in contemporary mobile phones, users do not face significant difficulties when transferring to a novel mobile phone model.reviewe

WearPut : Designing Dexterous Wearable Input based on the Characteristics of Human Finger Motions

Department of Biomedical Engineering (Human Factors Engineering)Powerful microchips for computing and networking allow a wide range of wearable devices to be miniaturized with high fidelity and availability. In particular, the commercially successful smartwatches placed on the wrist drive market growth by sharing the role of smartphones and health management. The emerging Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) for Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) also impact various application areas in video games, education, simulation, and productivity tools. However, these powerful wearables have challenges in interaction with the inevitably limited space for input and output due to the specialized form factors for fitting the body parts. To complement the constrained interaction experience, many wearable devices still rely on other large form factor devices (e.g., smartphones or hand-held controllers). Despite their usefulness, the additional devices for interaction can constrain the viability of wearable devices in many usage scenarios by tethering users' hands to the physical devices. This thesis argues that developing novel Human-Computer interaction techniques for the specialized wearable form factors is vital for wearables to be reliable standalone products. This thesis seeks to address the issue of constrained interaction experience with novel interaction techniques by exploring finger motions during input for the specialized form factors of wearable devices. The several characteristics of the finger input motions are promising to enable increases in the expressiveness of input on the physically limited input space of wearable devices. First, the input techniques with fingers are prevalent on many large form factor devices (e.g., touchscreen or physical keyboard) due to fast and accurate performance and high familiarity. Second, many commercial wearable products provide built-in sensors (e.g., touchscreen or hand tracking system) to detect finger motions. This enables the implementation of novel interaction systems without any additional sensors or devices. Third, the specialized form factors of wearable devices can create unique input contexts while the fingers approach their locations, shapes, and components. Finally, the dexterity of fingers with a distinctive appearance, high degrees of freedom, and high sensitivity of joint angle perception have the potential to widen the range of input available with various movement features on the surface and in the air. Accordingly, the general claim of this thesis is that understanding how users move their fingers during input will enable increases in the expressiveness of the interaction techniques we can create for resource-limited wearable devices. This thesis demonstrates the general claim by providing evidence in various wearable scenarios with smartwatches and HMDs. First, this thesis explored the comfort range of static and dynamic touch input with angles on the touchscreen of smartwatches. The results showed the specific comfort ranges on variations in fingers, finger regions, and poses due to the unique input context that the touching hand approaches a small and fixed touchscreen with a limited range of angles. Then, finger region-aware systems that recognize the flat and side of the finger were constructed based on the contact areas on the touchscreen to enhance the expressiveness of angle-based touch input. In the second scenario, this thesis revealed distinctive touch profiles of different fingers caused by the unique input context for the touchscreen of smartwatches. The results led to the implementation of finger identification systems for distinguishing two or three fingers. Two virtual keyboards with 12 and 16 keys showed the feasibility of touch-based finger identification that enables increases in the expressiveness of touch input techniques. In addition, this thesis supports the general claim with a range of wearable scenarios by exploring the finger input motions in the air. In the third scenario, this thesis investigated the motions of in-air finger stroking during unconstrained in-air typing for HMDs. The results of the observation study revealed details of in-air finger motions during fast sequential input, such as strategies, kinematics, correlated movements, inter-fingerstroke relationship, and individual in-air keys. The in-depth analysis led to a practical guideline for developing robust in-air typing systems with finger stroking. Lastly, this thesis examined the viable locations of in-air thumb touch input to the virtual targets above the palm. It was confirmed that fast and accurate sequential thumb touch can be achieved at a total of 8 key locations with the built-in hand tracking system in a commercial HMD. Final typing studies with a novel in-air thumb typing system verified increases in the expressiveness of virtual target selection on HMDs. This thesis argues that the objective and subjective results and novel interaction techniques in various wearable scenarios support the general claim that understanding how users move their fingers during input will enable increases in the expressiveness of the interaction techniques we can create for resource-limited wearable devices. Finally, this thesis concludes with thesis contributions, design considerations, and the scope of future research works, for future researchers and developers to implement robust finger-based interaction systems on various types of wearable devices.ope

Reading the Score: Music Novels and the Alternative World of Words

The aim of this thesis is to write a ‘music novel’ for children and by doing so examine some of the many ways words and music play a role in storytelling. A music novel can be studied critically and to write one is ultimately a creative act. Academic scholarship on literary representations of music has so far been primarily focused on attending to the presence and representation of Western classical music in adult literary texts. Eminent leaders in the field include Delia da Sousa Correa, Emily Petermann, and Werner Wolf. Research into music in children’s fiction has not been undertaken to such an extent. This thesis takes a first step towards readdressing this gap in knowledge, taking as examples children’s novels by Aimee Lucido (In the Key of Code, 2019), Philip Reeve (Railhead, 2015), and Lewis Carroll (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 1865); and a more recent, contemporary adult novel by Matthew Herbert (The Music – A novel through sound, 2018). My detailed analysis centres on how music contributes to the construction and development of these works, as well as music that has made use of fiction as a compositional device in György Ligeti’s Nonsense Madrigals (1988-93). The theoretical framing of my study draws on work by Roland Barthes, John Cage, Jean-Jacques Nattiez, and Patricia Waugh. Underdog, my music novel aimed at readers aged eight years and over, is my creative response to the questions this thesis raises. The two soundscapes that accompany the novel are musical paratexts born from Underdog that help unite the words with the music beyond the printed page. I provide a critical reflection on the inspirations behind Underdog which serves as a bridge into critical case studies that investigate what happens when one art form (music) has infiltrated the other (fiction) as part of what Jean-Jacques Nattiez calls the poietic process. My study demonstrates that the literary techniques used in fiction to imitate music, regardless of genre, are shared. These traits include references to pop and classical music embedded in the text, imitation of motifs and numerical musical patterns associated with a particular piece of music, and individual pieces of music that underpin the construction of a literary work