You can't always sketch what you want: Understanding Sensemaking in Visual Query Systems

Visual query systems (VQSs) empower users to interactively search for line charts with desired visual patterns, typically specified using intuitive sketch-based interfaces. Despite decades of past work on VQSs, these efforts have not translated to adoption in practice, possibly because VQSs are largely evaluated in unrealistic lab-based settings. To remedy this gap in adoption, we collaborated with experts from three diverse domains---astronomy, genetics, and material science---via a year-long user-centered design process to develop a VQS that supports their workflow and analytical needs, and evaluate how VQSs can be used in practice. Our study results reveal that ad-hoc sketch-only querying is not as commonly used as prior work suggests, since analysts are often unable to precisely express their patterns of interest. In addition, we characterize three essential sensemaking processes supported by our enhanced VQS. We discover that participants employ all three processes, but in different proportions, depending on the analytical needs in each domain. Our findings suggest that all three sensemaking processes must be integrated in order to make future VQSs useful for a wide range of analytical inquiries.Comment: Accepted for presentation at IEEE VAST 2019, to be held October 20-25 in Vancouver, Canada. Paper will also be published in a special issue of IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (TVCG) IEEE VIS (InfoVis/VAST/SciVis) 2019 ACM 2012 CCS - Human-centered computing, Visualization, Visualization design and evaluation method

CRT-based dialogs: Theory and design

CRT (cathode ray tube) based, direct selection dialogs for computing machines and systems were apparently a cure for issues like ease of learning and ease of use. But unforeseen ~ and probably unforeseeable problems arose as increasingly sophisticated systems and dialogs were developed. This paper describes some of the emerging problems in CRT-based dialog design, develops theories about why they occur, and discusses potential solutions for them as a basis for future research. This investigation also provides a survey of the research into what makes programming and programming languages difficult, and what makes them simple

Systems-compatible Incentives

Originally, the Internet was a technological playground, a collaborative endeavor among researchers who shared the common goal of achieving communication. Self-interest used not to be a concern, but the motivations of the Internet's participants have broadened. Today, the Internet consists of millions of commercial entities and nearly 2 billion users, who often have conflicting goals. For example, while Facebook gives users the illusion of access control, users do not have the ability to control how the personal data they upload is shared or sold by Facebook. Even in BitTorrent, where all users seemingly have the same motivation of downloading a file as quickly as possible, users can subvert the protocol to download more quickly without giving their fair share. These examples demonstrate that protocols that are merely technologically proficient are not enough. Successful networked systems must account for potentially competing interests. In this dissertation, I demonstrate how to build systems that give users incentives to follow the systems' protocols. To achieve incentive-compatible systems, I apply mechanisms from game theory and auction theory to protocol design. This approach has been considered in prior literature, but unfortunately has resulted in few real, deployed systems with incentives to cooperate. I identify the primary challenge in applying mechanism design and game theory to large-scale systems: the goals and assumptions of economic mechanisms often do not match those of networked systems. For example, while auction theory may assume a centralized clearing house, there is no analog in a decentralized system seeking to avoid single points of failure or centralized policies. Similarly, game theory often assumes that each player is able to observe everyone else's actions, or at the very least know how many other players there are, but maintaining perfect system-wide information is impossible in most systems. In other words, not all incentive mechanisms are systems-compatible. The main contribution of this dissertation is the design, implementation, and evaluation of various systems-compatible incentive mechanisms and their application to a wide range of deployable systems. These systems include BitTorrent, which is used to distribute a large file to a large number of downloaders, PeerWise, which leverages user cooperation to achieve lower latencies in Internet routing, and Hoodnets, a new system I present that allows users to share their cellular data access to obtain greater bandwidth on their mobile devices. Each of these systems represents a different point in the design space of systems-compatible incentives. Taken together, along with their implementations and evaluations, these systems demonstrate that systems-compatibility is crucial in achieving practical incentives in real systems. I present design principles outlining how to achieve systems-compatible incentives, which may serve an even broader range of systems than considered herein. I conclude this dissertation with what I consider to be the most important open problems in aligning the competing interests of the Internet's participants

Information and architectural design - a study of certain theoretical aspects

The shortcomings of the ways in which design-related information is conventionally collected and organised into a brief suggest that information and design should not be looked at in isolation of each other but together with all their dynamic dimensions. The first step in the direction of such a total view is to identify every kind of determinant of design and describe their inter-relations. The determinants of architectural design may be listed as follows s a) factors in the spirit of of architectural vocation which individualise designers; b) factors belonging to the collective consciousness of architects as professionals; c) functional/practical aspects of design; d) information on qualitative aspects of design. Conventional studies of design-related information deal exclusively with the functional/ practical aspects, but the development of a valid theory of architect¬ ural design requires that the other three aspects are studied and their inter-relations described. Factors of architectural vocation which individualise architects may be explained in terms of what in psychology is known as 'schematization'. The terra 'schema1 enables us to explore observable patterns or regularities in the predilections and perceptions of architects. When applied to architectural situations the notion of schema shows that the past experience of an architect consistently reveals itself in model solutions of different kinds which can be analysed and classi¬ fied, and the implications of their employment can be established. Under certain circumstances some of these personal models gain the respect of the profession at large and become highly influential in shaping the collective consciousness of the profession. At any stage of architectural development the components of the implicit knowledge embedded in emergent models may be specified. Further, the emergent models when identified and described yield design concepts rich in implicative power. By including the desirable attributes of emergent models as part of a design programme it is possible to increase the effectiveness of the thought process followed by architects. Thus concepts which describe unique qualities of an emergent model provide us with a way of enlarging the traditional notion of information for design. Moving on to consider information on qualitative aspects, past theories of architecture show that 'increasing the effectiveness of functional/practical aspects' and 'creating special effects, enhancing users' interest in the building and producing impact' are the two purposes of the qualitative features of an environment. Any environment can be described in terms of -universal features like elements, relations, abstract qualities such as privacy or monumentality, and actions and events that take place in the particular environment. By combining these disparate entities we obtain a feature/function model of architectural quality and show how it can be used in the process of design and as an evaluative tool. Finally as a last step towards the consideration of information and design in all their complexity, we attempt to analyse how verbally formulated requirements are transformed into architectural solutions. Through an exploration of the role of emergent models and a study of the part played by interpersonal communication between architects, clients and users in the design activity, we offer a theoretical explanation of factors affecting the transformation of written briefs into ideas for buildings. Thus the central concern of this thesis is with the interrelation between factors of architectural vocation which individualise designers, factors belonging to the collective consciousness of the profession, and the underlying rules or laws governing the creation of architectural quality. All the conclusions are theoretical in nature? they attempt to bring together accepted knowledge, facts and research findings on the nature of design, and as such pose problems of evaluation. To overcome these we impose the requirements of agreement with facts, generality, parsimony, consistency and explanatory value on each theoretical conclusion. These criteria, besides being tools of self-criticism, point out difficulties, omissions and achievements of each conclusion and suggest areas of needed research

“What do you want for dinner?”: need anticipation and the design of proactive technologies for the home

This paper examines ‘the routine shop’ as part of a project that is exploring automation and autonomy in the Internet of Things. In particular we explicate the ‘work’ involved in anticipating need using an ethnomethodological analysis that makes visible the mundane, ‘seen but unnoticed’ methodologies that household members accountably employ to organise list construction and accomplish calculation on the shop floor. We discuss and reflect on the challenges members’ methodologies pose for proactive systems that seek to support domestic grocery shopping, including the challenges of sensing, learning and predicting, and gearing autonomous agents into social practice within the home

Plain language and organisational challenges

Changing the language in an organization is a major organizational change. In this article, I discuss some of the organizational challenges for one specific language change implementation, taking the stance that language change must be treated as any other organizational change for it to have an effect. I work with the case of the Danish tax authorities’ language project aimed at producing more readable letters. The empirical data that I work with are two qualitative informant interviews. One recorded at the language project’s headquarters where they lay out the general lines for the project, and the other at the payment center where they use the revised letters

Digital Storytelling for Employability

This publication results from the research work undertaken by the partner institutions involved in the KA3-ICT Project Transversal Lifelong Learning Programme, Learn about finding jobs from digital storytelling(143429-2008-LLP-RO-KA3-KA3MP), with the main purpose of enhancing graduates' employability possibilities. For graduating students looking for a job it is perhaps harder than ever to meet success on the job market. They must use every tool they know to express themselves and to reflect their knowledge, competences and skills. The book aims to explain the main aspects of using digital storytelling as a method for employability, career development, reflection, assessment, consultancy, presentation and communication. Through digital storytelling, students begin to comprehend how all the elements of writing a narrative work together and how to manipulate them for the best effects in readers and viewers. Also, sharing and evaluating digital stories among peers is an excellent way to foster self-expression and tolerance and to create an engaged community of learners

Service User Involvement in Developing Nice Guidelines: Bridging the Evidence - Experience Gap.

Abstract Not Provided