Mechanical design history content : the information requests of design engineers

This thesis reports on research conducted to determine the information which should be included in a mechanical design history. This is part of a larger research effort aimed at developing a computer tool for storing and replaying mechanical design history information. Three question-asking protocols were conducted to determine what information should be stored in a design history. The subjects in these protocols were instructed to make modifications to existing designs in the presence of an examiner who was very familiar with the designs. The subjects were encouraged to ask the examiner questions about the designs. Analysis of the protocols focused on the questions that the subjects asked and the conjectures that the subjects formed. The questions and conjectures were classified according to a taxonomy presented in this paper. The information required to answer the questions asked and to confirm or refute the conjectures formed is information that should be included in a design history

Student questioning : a componential analysis

This article reviews the literature on student questioning, organized through a modified version of Dillon's (1988a, 1990) componential model of questioning. Special attention is given to the properties of assumptions, questions, and answers. Each of these main elements are the result of certain actions of the questioner, which are described. Within this framework a variety of aspects of questioning are highlighted. One focus of the article is individual differences in question asking. The complex interactions between students' personal characteristics, social factors, and questioning are examined. In addition, a number of important but neglected topics for research are identified. Together, the views that are presented should deepen our understanding of student questioning

Older drivers' requirements for navigation and route guidance information

This thesis examines older drivers and navigation. Over more recent times the proportion of older people in the UK population has risen. This effect is carrying over into the driving population. Due to changing demographics, increased longevity and the increased universality of driving there will be many more older drivers than before. Older drivers find the navigation task of finding their way on unfamiliar routes very demanding due to declines in sensory and cognitive abilities. New technology such as route guidance systems could aid the older driver in this task, by reducing uncertainty when meeting decision points on the road network. However such systems can also cause distraction. This has led to concern over the safety implications of the implementation of route guidance systems into cars. If route guidance systems are to be designed safely then the characteristics and needs of the driver have to be identified. The aim of this thesis was to provide human factors knowledge in this area so that route guidance systems can be designed to meet the needs of older drivers. [Continues.

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

Measuring satisfaction on augmented reality courseware for hearing-impaired students: adjustment formula form system usability scale

Satisfaction is an important usability attribute in developing a courseware which involves end users. Measuring satisfaction among hearing-impaired students is different than measuring it among common students because they learn using sign language and have different learning styles. An educational courseware for hearing-impaired students is employed to measure this. The courseware uses the Augmented Reality technology and it is called PekAR-Mikroorganisma. Hence, this article focuses on the methodology of measuring and the attributes that contribute to users’ satisfaction. An adaptation of the System Usability Scale was used to identify the satisfaction value. Fifteen hearing-impaired students were employed as a case study. Findings show that the average satisfaction value of SUS in using PekAR Mikroorganisma is 87.8 per cent, and it consider as high or B grade. It is hoped PekAR-Mikroorganisma can help the hearing-impaired to understand lessons better through the enhancement of their comprehension on abstract concepts. The teaching and learning using AR able to assure equity in education for the students in understanding certain topics. The study suggested the used of AR for hearing-impaired students for various level up to the higher education

User Satisfaction with Personalised Internet Applications

The study focuses on user satisfaction with websites and personalised internet applications in particular. The abundance of information on the web is increasing more and more. Therefore, the significance of websites targeting the users’ preferences, like personalised Internet applications, is rising. The aim of this study was to find out which factors determine user satisfaction with personalised internet applications. Factors like the usefulness of the information or trust towards how personal information is handled were considered. A large-scale user survey evaluating three internet applications (from the travel, e-learning and real estate domains) was conducted. Expert opinions were collected to complement the results and provide insights from users’ and experts’ points of views

User Satisfaction with Personalised Internet Applications

The study focuses on user satisfaction with websites and personalised internet applications in particular. The abundance of information on the web is increasing more and more. Therefore, the significance of websites targeting the users’ preferences, like personalised Internet applications, is rising. The aim of this study was to find out which factors determine user satisfaction with personalised internet applications. Factors like the usefulness of the information or trust towards how personal information is handled were considered. A large-scale user survey evaluating three internet applications (from the travel, e-learning and real estate domains) was conducted. Expert opinions were collected to complement the results and provide insights from users’ and experts’ points of views

Human-powered smartphone assistance for blind people

Mobile devices are fundamental tools for inclusion and independence. Yet, there are still many open research issues in smartphone accessibility for blind people (Grussenmeyer and Folmer 2017). Currently, learning how to use a smartphone is non-trivial, especially when we consider that the need to learn new apps and accommodate to updates never ceases. When first transitioning from a basic feature-phone, people have to adapt to new paradigms of interaction. Where feature phones had a finite set of applications and functions, users can extend the possible functions and uses of a smartphone by installing new 3rd party applications. Moreover, the interconnectivity of these applications means that users can explore a seemingly endless set of workflows across applications. To that end, the fragmented nature of development on these devices results in users needing to create different mental models for each application. These characteristics make smartphone adoption a demanding task, as we found from our eight-week longitudinal study on smartphone adoption by blind people. We conducted multiple studies to characterize the smartphone challenges that blind people face, and found people often require synchronous, co-located assistance from family, peers, friends, and even strangers to overcome the different barriers they face. However, help is not always available, especially when we consider the disparity in each barrier, individual support network and current location. In this dissertation we investigated if and how in-context human-powered solutions can be leveraged to improve current smartphone accessibility and ease of use. Building on a comprehensive knowledge of the smartphone challenges faced and coping mechanisms employed by blind people, we explored how human-powered assistive technologies can facilitate use. The thesis of this dissertation is: Human-powered smartphone assistance by non-experts is effective and impacts perceptions of self-efficacy