Adaptive interfaces for mobile preference-based searching

Today's mobile computing devices provide a convenient means to search for points-of-interest (POIs) such as restaurants and accommodation. Mobile Preference-Based Search Tools (PBSTs) allow users to identify POIs such as restaurants or accommodation most suited to their needs and constraints using a mobile device. These devices however, have several design constraints including limited screen space and hardware capabilities. Adaptive User Interfaces (AUIs) have been proposed to address these issues but have not been extensively applied to mobile PBSTs such as mobile tourist guides. In addition, AUIs possess several benefits and advantages over static (traditional) interfaces, which do not take a user's preferences, skill set and experience into account. Little research, however, has been conducted into identifying the potential benefits of AUIs for mobile preference-based searching (PBS). The aim of this research was to determine the extent to which an AUI could improve the effectiveness and user satisfaction of mobile PBS. A literature study was conducted to determine the benefits and limitations of existing mobile PBSTs and determine how these could be improved. The potential benefits of AUIs for mobile PBSTs and a mobile map-based visualisation system were identified. A suitable model for incorporating an AUI into a mobile PBST was identified. The requirements for a mobile PBST were combined with the potentially adaptable objects of a Mobile Map-based Visualisation (MMV) system to provide adaptation suggestions for POInter, an existing mobile tourist guide. A field study using POInter was conducted in order to measure the extent to which participants agreed with suggestions provided for adapting the information, interaction and visualisation aspects of the system. These results were used to derive adaptation requirements for A-POInter, an adaptive version of POInter. Using a model-based design approach, an AUI was designed and implemented for A-POInter. An extensive field study was then conducted to evaluate the usability of the adaptations provided by A-POInter. The quantitative and qualitative data collected from the evaluations allowed the usability of A-POInter to be determined. The results of the field study showed that the participants were highly satisfied with the usability and the usefulness of the adaptations provided by A-POInter. Conclusions and recommendations for future work based on the results of the research were then outlined to conclude the dissertation

Techniques for Interacting with Off-Screen Content

Abstract. Many systems – such as map viewers or visual editors – provide a limited viewport onto a larger graphical workspace. The limited viewport means that users often have to navigate to objects and locations that are off screen. Although techniques such as zooming, panning, or overview+detail views allow users to navigate off-screen, little is known about how different techniques perform for different types of off-screen tasks, and whether one technique works well for all tasks. We carried out two studies to explore these issues. The first study compared the performance of three classes of techniques (zoom, overview+detail, and proxy) in six types of off-screen tasks. We found that the techniques show substantial differences across different tasks and that no one technique is suitable for all types of off-screen navigation. This study led to the design of two novel hybrid navigation techniques – WinHop and Multiscale Zoom – that combine properties of multiple simpler approaches in an attempt to broaden support for off-screen navigation. We carried out a second study to assess the hybrid techniques, and found that they do provide reliable performance on a wide range of tasks. Our results suggest that integrating complimentary properties from different approaches can significantly improve performance in off-screen navigation tasks