User-centred evaluation of complex IT&T within an operational environment

The aim of this paper is to provide guidance for the user-centred evaluation of new and complex Information Technology and Telecommunication systems within an industrial operational environment. This paper draws upon practical and methodological experience gained over a period of nearly a decade in order to: • Discuss the efficacy or otherwise of some typical Human Factors evaluation techniques • Describe the common constraints that are likely to arise during an industriallybased evaluation process • Provide guidance for overcoming these barriers to a successful and informative evaluation process Specifically, this paper aims to identify some of the key requirements for undertaking a successful evaluation process within a challenging environment and presents recommendations to maximise the efficacy of the evaluation effort

Thesaurus-assisted search term selection and query expansion: a review of user-centred studies

This paper provides a review of the literature related to the application of domain-specific thesauri in the search and retrieval process. Focusing on studies which adopt a user-centred approach, the review presents a survey of the methodologies and results from empirical studies undertaken on the use of thesauri as sources of term selection for query formulation and expansion during the search process. It summaries the ways in which domain-specific thesauri from different disciplines have been used by various types of users and how these tools aid users in the selection of search terms. The review consists of two main sections covering, firstly studies on thesaurus-aided search term selection and secondly those dealing with query expansion using thesauri. Both sections are illustrated with case studies that have adopted a user-centred approach

Quality assessment technique for ubiquitous software and middleware

The new paradigm of computing or information systems is ubiquitous computing systems. The technology-oriented issues of ubiquitous computing systems have made researchers pay much attention to the feasibility study of the technologies rather than building quality assurance indices or guidelines. In this context, measuring quality is the key to developing high-quality ubiquitous computing products. For this reason, various quality models have been defined, adopted and enhanced over the years, for example, the need for one recognised standard quality model (ISO/IEC 9126) is the result of a consensus for a software quality model on three levels: characteristics, sub-characteristics, and metrics. However, it is very much unlikely that this scheme will be directly applicable to ubiquitous computing environments which are considerably different to conventional software, trailing a big concern which is being given to reformulate existing methods, and especially to elaborate new assessment techniques for ubiquitous computing environments. This paper selects appropriate quality characteristics for the ubiquitous computing environment, which can be used as the quality target for both ubiquitous computing product evaluation processes ad development processes. Further, each of the quality characteristics has been expanded with evaluation questions and metrics, in some cases with measures. In addition, this quality model has been applied to the industrial setting of the ubiquitous computing environment. These have revealed that while the approach was sound, there are some parts to be more developed in the future

Understanding customers' holistic perception of switches in automotive human–machine interfaces

For successful new product development, it is necessary to understand the customers' holistic experience of the product beyond traditional task completion, and acceptance measures. This paper describes research in which ninety-eight UK owners of luxury saloons assessed the feel of push-switches in five luxury saloon cars both in context (in-car) and out of context (on a bench). A combination of hedonic data (i.e. a measure of ‘liking’), qualitative data and semantic differential data was collected. It was found that customers are clearly able to differentiate between switches based on the degree of liking for the samples' perceived haptic qualities, and that the assessment environment had a statistically significant effect, but that it was not universal. A factor analysis has shown that perceived characteristics of switch haptics can be explained by three independent factors defined as ‘Image’, ‘Build Quality’, and ‘Clickiness’. Preliminary steps have also been taken towards identifying whether existing theoretical frameworks for user experience may be applicable to automotive human–machine interfaces

Harnessing agile concepts for the development of intelligent systems

Traditional and current approaches to intelligent systems design, have led to the creation of sophisticated and computationally-intensive packages and environments, for a wide range of applications. This paper proposes methods with which to extend the functionality of such systems, borrowing knowledge management concepts from the field of Agile Manufacturing. As such, this paper proposes that the future of intelligent systems design should be based not only upon the continuing development of artificial intelligence techniques, but also effective methods for harnessing human skills and core competencies to achieve these aims

Development and implementation of preventive-maintenance practices in Nigerian industries.

A methodology for the development of PM using the modern approaches of FMEA, root-cause analysis, and fault-tree analysis is presented. Applying PM leads to a cost reduction in maintenance and less overall energy expenditure. Implementation of PM is preferable to the present reactive maintenance procedures (still prevalent in Nigeria

User evaluation of a pilot terminologies server for a distributed multi-scheme environment

The present paper reports on a user-centred evaluation of a pilot terminology service developed as part of the High Level Thesaurus (HILT) project at the Centre for Digital Library Research (CDLR) in the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. The pilot terminology service was developed as an experimental platform to investigate issues relating to mapping between various subject schemes, namely Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC), Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), the Unesco thesaurus, and the MeSH thesaurus, in order to cater for cross-browsing and cross-searching across distributed digital collections and services. The aim of the evaluation reported here was to investigate users' thought processes, perceptions, and attitudes towards the pilot terminology service and to identify user requirements for developing a full-blown pilot terminology service

Outcomes for Older Telecare Recipients: The Importance of Assessments

The article explores both telecare in relation to its composition of assistive technologies, including sensors; and associated services that use such technologies as a means by which, often vulnerable, people can obtain help through their activation - with signals being routed to monitoring centres. The context is one where there are changes to such technologies and ongoing growth in the use of telecare services - despite there being no indicated benefits from a major study (the Whole System Demonstrators). The 'curious' investment in such technologies and services by Adult Social Care Departments in England is investigated through an interview survey that elicited over 100 valid responses. Iy gave particular attention to the assessment process by which effective targeting (to those who would be most likely to benefit) would, it had been assumed, have taken place. Key outcomes point to needed improvements to social care practice - including the need to balance a narrow focus on risk (determined in a largely top-down way) with other telecare offerings that could more proactively address (e.g. loneliness) and involve the user more proactively in relation to technology and service options. The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Summary This article explores the role of telecare assessment, review and staff training in meeting the needs of older people living at home. Using original empirical data obtained from an online survey of English local authorities it reveals considerable variation in assessment and review practice and in training given to social work and other staff who assess and review, which may impact on outcomes for telecare users. The study findings are situated within an English policy context and earlier findings from a large, government funded randomised controlled trial. This trial concluded that telecare did not lead to better outcomes for users. Findings Our survey findings suggest that it may be the way in which telecare is used, rather than telecare itself that shapes outcomes for people who use it, and that ‘sub-optimal’ outcomes from telecare may be linked to how telecare is adopted, adapted and used; and that this is influenced by staff training, telecare availability and a failure to regard telecare as a complex intervention. Application The findings may help to reconcile evidence which suggests that telecare does not deliver better outcomes and local authority responses to this which either discount or contest its value. The article suggests that to use telecare to achieve optimal outcomes for older people, social workers, care managers and other professionals involved in assessing for telecare will need to be given enhanced training opportunities, and their employers will need to perceive telecare as a complex intervention rather than simply a ‘plug and play’ solution

An adaptive technique for content-based image retrieval

We discuss an adaptive approach towards Content-Based Image Retrieval. It is based on the Ostensive Model of developing information needs—a special kind of relevance feedback model that learns from implicit user feedback and adds a temporal notion to relevance. The ostensive approach supports content-assisted browsing through visualising the interaction by adding user-selected images to a browsing path, which ends with a set of system recommendations. The suggestions are based on an adaptive query learning scheme, in which the query is learnt from previously selected images. Our approach is an adaptation of the original Ostensive Model based on textual features only, to include content-based features to characterise images. In the proposed scheme textual and colour features are combined using the Dempster-Shafer theory of evidence combination. Results from a user-centred, work-task oriented evaluation show that the ostensive interface is preferred over a traditional interface with manual query facilities. This is due to its ability to adapt to the user's need, its intuitiveness and the fluid way in which it operates. Studying and comparing the nature of the underlying information need, it emerges that our approach elicits changes in the user's need based on the interaction, and is successful in adapting the retrieval to match the changes. In addition, a preliminary study of the retrieval performance of the ostensive relevance feedback scheme shows that it can outperform a standard relevance feedback strategy in terms of image recall in category search