User experience and clinical effectiveness with two wearable global positioning system devices in home dementia care

Introduction: The user experience and clinical effectiveness with wearable global positioning system (GPS) devices for persons with dementia (PwDs) and caregivers (CGs) remain unclear although many are available. Methods: Using a crossover design, 20 dyads tested two similar commercial GPS watches (products A and B) at home for 4 weeks each. Usability, product functions, design features and product satisfaction at home and the clinic were investigated. Caregiver burden and quality of life assessed clinical effectiveness. Results: The final 17 dyads rated the usability, telephone function, overall design features, font, buttons, and battery life of B significantly better than A. PwDs rated the overall design features and buttons of A significantly better than CGs. Product satisfaction with both products was significantly lower at home. Clinical effectiveness was not found. Discussion: User experience can be improved by optimizing specific product details. This might translate to clinical effectiveness. Social desirability bias may explain different product satisfaction ratings

Measuring Learnability in Human-Computer Interaction

It is well accepted that learnability is a crucial attribute of usability that should be considered in almost every software system. A good learnability leads within a short time and with minimal effort to a high level of proficiency of the user. Therefore, expensive training time of complex systems is reduced. However, there is only few consensus on how to define and evaluate learnability. In addition, gathering detailed information on learnability is quite difficult. In todays books on usability evaluation, learnability gets only few attention, research publications are spread to several other fields and the term learnability is also used in other context. The objective of this thesis is to give an structured overview of learnability and methods for evaluation and additionally assist in the evaluator’s individual choice of an appropriate method. First of all, several definitions of learnability are discussed. For a deeper understanding psychological background knowledge is provided. Afterwards, methods to asses learnability are presented. This comprises nine methods that seem particularly appropriate to measure learnability. As this methods are very diverse, a framework based on analytical hierarchy process is provided. This framework aims to classify presented methods with respect to certain criteria and assess practitioners in selecting an appropriate method to measure learnability

Promoting the adoption of assistive technologies to aid with spatial orientation in dementia care

Introduction: In dementia care, locating technologies are a type of assistive technology that hold the potential to improve the quality of life of persons with dementia and their care partners by assisting in the management of spatial orientation impairments and wandering. Although many products are commercially available, their adoption remains low. To better understand how to promote their adoption, we examined user experience and clinical effectiveness resulting from product use and explored barriers to their adoption. Methods: In a first user experience study, a prototype locating technology was tested for four weeks by 17 dyads composed of persons with dementia and their care partners. In a second user experience study, two similar commercially available locating technologies were tested for four weeks each by another 17 dyads. User experience was examined with ratings of product usability, product functions and product features. Clinical effectiveness, frequency of use, purchase willingness, and product satisfaction were assessed with various scales. In a third qualitative focus group interview study with 22 interdisciplinary professional stakeholders, we explored views on the barriers to their adoption, as well as views on services and information dissemination strategies. Results: In the first study, the prototype was rated fairly in terms of usability, product functions and product features. However, usability ratings significantly decreased after four weeks. In the second study, ratings of usability, as well as of several product functions and product features were significantly more favourable for one of the two tested commercial products. Clinical effectiveness was not found in either study. In the third study, the main adoption barriers were based on unclear benefits and ethical concerns, as well as limitations in awareness, technology, product characteristics, and capital investments. Key services and information dissemination strategies centred on digital autonomy support, emergency support, information dissemination actors, product acquisition, and product advertising. Discussion: Results from both user experience studies indicate that focusing on specific product functions and features might substantially improve user experience. This might translate to measurable clinical effectiveness and higher adoption rates. Results from our qualitative study indicate that not only product characteristics and the technology itself impact adoption. Indeed, focusing on services and information dissemination strategies around products warrants closer attention as they might markedly improve adoption.Einleitung: Ortungssysteme in der Demenzversorgung gelten als eine vielversprechende Art von assistierender Technologie, um die Lebensqualität von Menschen mit Demenz und ihren Pflegepartnern zu verbessern, indem sie dabei helfen räumliche Orientierungsstörungen und Wanderungen zu bewältigen. Ihre Verwendung bleibt jedoch trotz der Verfügbarkeit vieler kom-merzieller Produkte gering. Um besser zu verstehen, wie ihre Verwendung gefördert werden kann, haben wir die Nutzererfahrung und klinische Wirksamkeit, die sich aus der Produktnutzung ergeben sowie die Barrieren für ihre Einführung untersucht. Methoden: In einer ersten Nutzererfahrungsstudie wurde ein Prototyp Ortungssystem vier Wo-chen lang von 17 Dyaden bestehend aus Menschen mit Demenz und ihren Pflegepartnern ge-testet. In einer zweiten Nutzererfahrungsstudie wurden zwei ähnliche kommerziell erhältliche Or-tungssysteme jeweils vier Wochen lang von weiteren 17 Dyaden getestet. Die Nutzererfahrung wurde mit Bewertungen der Benutzerfreundlichkeit, Produktfunktionen und Produkteigenschaften untersucht. Klinische Wirksamkeit, Nutzungshäufigkeit, Kaufbereitschaft und Produktzufrieden-heit wurden mit verschiedenen Skalen bewertet. In einer dritten qualitativen Fokusgruppeninter-viewstudie mit 22 interdisziplinären professionellen Stakeholdern untersuchten wir Ansichten zu den Barrieren für ihre Verwendung sowie zu Dienstleistungen und Strategien zur Informationsverbreitung. Ergebnisse: In der ersten Studie waren die Bewertungen der Benutzerfreundlichkeit, Produkt-funktionen und Produkteigenschaften mittelmäßig. Die Bewertung der Benutzerfreundlichkeit ging jedoch nach vier Wochen deutlich zurück. In der zweiten Studie fielen die Bewertungen der Benutzerfreundlichkeit sowie einiger Produktfunktionen und Produkteigenschaften bei einem der beiden getesteten Produkte deutlich besser aus. Klinische Wirksamkeit wurde in keiner der Studien gefunden. In der dritten Studie konzentrierten sich die wichtigsten Einführungsbarrieren auf unklare Vorteile und ethische Bedenken sowie auf bewusstseins-, technologisch-, produktmerkmal- und kapitalinvestitionsbasierte Einschränkungen. Dienstleistungen und Strategien zur Informationsverbreitung konzentrierten sich auf Unterstützung von digitaler Autonomie, Notfallunterstützung, Akteure der Informationsverbreitung, Produktakquisition und Produktwerbung. Diskussion: Die Ergebnisse beider Studien zur Nutzererfahrung zeigen, dass die Nutzererfah-rung durch die Optimierung bestimmter Produktfunktionen und Produkteigenschaften erheblich verbessert werden kann. Dies könnte zu einer messbaren klinischen Wirksamkeit und höheren Verwendung führen. Die Ergebnisse unserer qualitativen Studie zeigen, dass die Verwendung durch mehr als die Produktemerkmale und die Technologie selbst bestimmt wird. Deshalb ist eine gezielte Fokussierung auf Dienstleistungen und Strategien zur Informationsverbreitung rund um Ortungssysteme notwendig, da sie die Verwendung deutlich verbessern könnte

Usabilidade e Qualidade da Informação: Avaliação do Portal do Aluno na Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo

O presente trabalho tem por objetivo avaliar o Portal do Aluno da Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, identificando fatores associados à usabilidade que afetam a percepção de qualidade da informação e diferenciando grupos de usuários em função da usabilidade do Portal. Para tanto, foi realizado um levantamento por meio de um questionário aplicado aos usuários, com abordagem predominantemente quantitativa. Foi descrito o perfil dos alunos, o contexto em que utilizam o Portal e qual avaliação fazem dos relatórios e atividades. A partir do modelo elaborado no estudo, no qual a usabilidade contou com seis dimensões (facilidade de aprendizado, facilidade de memorização, eficiência, satisfação, suporte a erros e utilidade), constatou-se que, com exceção da facilidade de aprendizado, as demais dimensões possuem significância estatística na percepção da qualidade da informação, sendo a mais influente a dimensão satisfação. Por meio da análise de conglomerados, foram identificados três grupos, com base nas avaliações dos fatores associados ao atendimento de suas expectativas e aos resultados do uso do portal (satisfação, eficiência e utilidade): o primeiro grupo composto por alunos que avaliaram melhor estes fatores bem como as atividades, os relatórios e a qualidade da informação do Portal; o segundo que avaliaram medianamente; e o terceiro que avaliaram pior. Através da regressão simples utilizando a média das dimensões de usabilidade, verificou-se também que a qualidade da informação está fortemente correlacionada (r=0,7) com a usabilidade do Portal, tendo um poder de predição de 49%. Também foram obtidas respostas acerca do que era mais confuso e sugestões de melhorias que ajudaram a formular, conjuntamente com as demais análises, as propostas do Plano de Intervenção. Embora ainda apresente deficiências, em uma escala de 0 a 5, o Portal foi avaliado acima da média na dimensão satisfação (3,42), bem como obteve média geral de qualidade da informação de 3,31 e de usabilidade de 3,69 . Desta forma, pode-se dizer que ele tem cumprido sua função

Culturally-relevant augmented user interfaces for illiterate and semi-literate users

This thesis discusses guidelines for developers of Augmented User Interfaces that can be used by illiterate and semi-literate users. To discover how illiterate and semi-literate users intuitively understand interaction with a computer, a series of Wizard of Oz experiments were conducted. In the first Wizard of Oz study, users were presented with a standard desktop computer, fitted with a number of input devices to determine how they assume interaction should occur. This study found that the users preferred the use of speech and gestures which mirrored findings from other researchers. The study also found that users struggled to understand the tab metaphor which is used frequently in applications. From these findings, a localised culturally-relevant tab interface was developed to determine the feasibility of localised Graphical User Interface components. A second study was undertaken to compare the localised tab interface with the traditional tabbed interface. This study collected both quantitative and qualitative data from the participants. It found that users could interact with a localised tabbed interface faster and more accurately than with the traditional counterparts. More importantly, users stated that they intuitively understood the localised interface component, whereas they did not understand the traditional tab metaphor. These user studies have shown that the use of self-explanatory animations, video feedback, localised tabbed interface metaphors and voice output have a positive impact on enabling illiterate and semi-literate users to access information.TeXAdobe Acrobat 9.51 Paper Capture Plug-i

ISO 9241: uma proposta de utilização da norma para avaliação do grau de satisfação de usuários de software

Dissertação (Mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro Tecnológico, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia de Produção, Florianópolis, 1999Resum o Este trabalho apresenta uma proposta de utilização da norma ISO 9241/10 - Ergonomic Requirements for Office Work with Visual Display Terminais (VDTs) - para a determinação do grau de satisfação de usuários com relação a produtos de software. A principal crença que motiva esta proposta reside na idéia de que o usuário de programas de computador enxerga as qualidades do produto através dos recursos de interação. Não basta que o produto possua grande precisão, é fundamental que o usuário possa usufruir desta precisão. E, para isso, a facilidade de utilização - ou o alto grau de usabilidade - é pré-requisito importantíssimo. j Como pôde ser comprovado pelos experimentos relatados neste trabalho, mediante a aplicação de questionários dirigidos para o 'usuário final, pode-se obter, com razoável grau de precisão, indicadores do nível de satisfação dos clientes. Se o questionário tiver como base as recomendações ergonômicas da norma, poder-se-á fazer uso dos princípios de diálogo previstos na norma para classificar indicadores de satisfação do usuário com relação a sete critérios ergonômicos importantes: Adequação à Tarefa, Auto-descrição, Controlabilidade, Conformidade com as Expectativas do Usuário, Tolerância a Erros, Adequação à Individualização e Adequação ao Aprendizado. Estes indicadores poderão auxiliar na identificação dos aspectos do produto cujas ações de intervenção deverão ser priorizadas. Adicionalmente, os próprios indicadores de satisfação poderão evidenciar os prováveis focos de problemas ergonômicos, orientando o processo de inspeção de usabilidade e facilitando a identificação e correção das falhas. A aplicação freqüente do ciclo avaliação de satisfação - inspeção - correção permite estabelecer um processo de melhoria contínua do produto, o que reflete em maior qualidade para o usuário final.Abstract This work introduces a suggestion for using the ISO 9241/10 standard - Ergonomic Requirements for Office Work with Visual Display Terminals (VDTs) - to evaluate user satisfaction related to software products. The main belief where this approach is based on is: the software user perceives the product qualities through the interaction resources. Precision is not enough. For the user, enjoying this precision is essencial. So, adequate usability is an important requirement. As this work has proved, applying user-oriented questionnaires, one may obtain satisfaction-level indicators with good statistical precision. ISO 9241-based questionnaires may offer conditons to classify satisfaction indicators on seven important ergonomic criteria: Suitability for the task, Selfdescriptioness, Controllability, Conformity with User Expectations, Error Tolerance, Suitability for Individualization and Suitability for Learning. These indicatores may help on the identification o f the software aspects whose intervention actions are emergencial. Besides, the indicators themselves may clarify eventual focus o f usability troubles. After identifying these critical spots, the usability inpection and the fail correction processes may be easier. The cyclical application o f evaluation - inspection - correction process may be an interesting tool for continuous improvement o f the product, resulting a higher quality software

Plataforma de apoio à gestão de laboratórios de investigação

Mestrado em Engenharia Electrónica e TelecomunicaçõesOs laboratórios de investigação têm uma importância cada vez maior nas empresas e meios académicos. A gestão eficiente dos recursos disponíveis, o controlo de custos e a rentabilização dos investimentos realizados têm uma importância primordial na gestão de um laboratório. Equipamentos, componentes, espaços, software, etc., são alguns dos recursos que requerem atenção para uma boa administração. O tema central desta dissertação é a conceptualização, o desenvolvimento e a implementação de uma plataforma electrónica para a gestão de recursos laboratoriais, tomando como referência o ambiente específico de um grupo de investigação universitário. Os objectivos a atingir é a gestão e o controlo dos recursos laboratoriais tendo em vista uma maior rentabilização dos investimentos realizados, uma diminuição dos custos operacionais e a satisfação dos utilizadores. Partindo de uma caracterização geral da actividade típica de um laboratório de investigação, procedeu-se à especificação dos requisitos a que deveria obedecer uma plataforma de gestão laboratorial. A implementação de um protótipo e o teste com um grupo de utilizadores piloto é também parte deste trabalho. ABSTRACT: The research laboratories have become increasingly important in business and academia. Efficient management of available resources, control of costs and return on investments has a paramount importance in managing a laboratory. Equipment, components, space, software and so on, are some of the features that require attention for a good administration. The central theme of this dissertation is the design, development and implementation of an electronic platform for the management of laboratory resources, by reference to the specific environment of a research group of a university. The objectives were to achieve the management and control of laboratory resources with a view to increasing profitability of the investments, a reduction in operating costs and the satisfaction of users. Starting with a general characterization of the activity typical of a research laboratory, the work progress towards the specification of the requirements that a platform for laboratory should comply with. The implementation of a prototype and its tests with a pilot group of users is also part of this work