Using formal models to design user interfaces a case study

The use of formal models for user interface design can provide a number of benefits. It can help to ensure consistency across designs for multiple platforms, prove properties such as reachability and completeness and, perhaps most importantly, can help incorporate the user interface design process into a larger, formally-based, software development process. Often, descriptions of such models and examples are presented in isolation from real-world practice in order to focus on particular benefits, small focused examples or the general methodology. This paper presents a case study of developing the user interface to a new software application using a particular pair of formal models, presentation models and presentation interaction models. The aim of this study was to practically apply the use of formal models to the design process of a UI for a new software application. We wanted to determine how easy it would be to integrate such models into our usual development process and to find out what the benefits, and difficulties, of using such models were. We will show how we used the formal models within a user-centred design process, discuss what effect they had on this process and explain what benefits we perceived from their use

Specification Techniques for Multi-Modal Dialogues in the U-Wish Project

In this paper we describe the development of a specification\ud technique for specifying interactive web-based services. We\ud wanted to design a language that can be a means of\ud communication between designers and developers of interactive services, that makes it easier to develop web-based services fitted to the users and that shortens the pathway from design to implementation. The language, still under development, is based on process algebra and can be\ud connected to the results of task analysis. We have been\ud working on the automatic generation of executable prototypes\ud out of the specifications. In this way the specification\ud language can establish a connection between users, design\ud and implementation. A first version of this language is\ud available as well as prototype tools for executing the specifications. Ideas will be given as to how to make the connection between specifications and task analysis

UI-Design driven model-based testing

Testing interactive systems is notoriously difficult. Not only do we need to ensure that the functionality of the developed system is correct with respect to the requirements and specifications, we also need to ensure that the user interface to the system is correct (enables a user to access the functionality correctly) and is usable. These different requirements of interactive system testing are not easily combined within a single testing strategy. We investigate the use of models of interactive systems, which have been derived from design artefacts, as the basis for generating tests for an implemented system. We give a model-based method for testing interactive systems which has low overhead in terms of the models required and which enables testing of UI and system functionality from the perspective of user interaction

Layered evaluation of interactive adaptive systems : framework and formative methods

Peer reviewedPostprin

Towards a tool for the subjective assessment of speech system interfaces (SASSI)

Applications of speech recognition are now widespread, but user-centred evaluation methods are necessary to ensure their success. Objective evaluation techniques are fairly well established, but previous subjective techniques have been unstructured and unproven. This paper reports on the first stage of the development of a questionnaire measure for the Subjective Assessment of Speech System Interfaces (SASSI). The aim of the research programme is to produce a valid, reliable and sensitive measure of users' subjective experiences with speech recognition systems. Such a technique could make an important contribution to theory and practice in the design and evaluation of speech recognition systems according to best human factors practice. A prototype questionnaire was designed, based on established measures for evaluating the usability of other kinds of user interface, and on a review of the research literature into speech system design. This consisted of 50 statements with which respondents rated their level of agreement. The questionnaire was given to users of four different speech applications, and Exploratory Factor Analysis of 214 completed questionnaires was conducted. This suggested the presence of six main factors in users' perceptions of speech systems: System Response Accuracy, Likeability, Cognitive Demand, Annoyance, Habitability and Speed. The six factors have face validity, and a reasonable level of statistical reliability. The findings form a userful theoretical and practical basis for the subjective evaluation of any speech recognition interface. However, further work is recommended, to establish the validity and sensitivity of the approach, before a final tool can be produced which warrants general use

Agents for educational games and simulations

This book consists mainly of revised papers that were presented at the Agents for Educational Games and Simulation (AEGS) workshop held on May 2, 2011, as part of the Autonomous Agents and MultiAgent Systems (AAMAS) conference in Taipei, Taiwan. The 12 full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from various submissions. The papers are organized topical sections on middleware applications, dialogues and learning, adaption and convergence, and agent applications

Evaluating system utility and conceptual fit using CASSM

There is a wealth of user-centred evaluation methods (UEMs) to support the analyst in assessing interactive systems. Many of these support detailed aspects of use – for example: Is the feedback helpful? Are labels appropriate? Is the task structure optimal? Few UEMs encourage the analyst to step back and consider how well a system supports users’ conceptual understandings and system utility. In this paper, we present CASSM, a method which focuses on the quality of ‘fit’ between users and an interactive system. We describe the methodology of conducting a CASSM analysis and illustrate the approach with three contrasting worked examples (a robotic arm, a digital library system and a drawing tool) that demonstrate different depths of analysis. We show how CASSM can help identify re-design possibilities to improve system utility. CASSM complements established evaluation methods by focusing on conceptual structures rather than procedures. Prototype tool support for completing a CASSM analysis is provided by Cassata, an open source development