Improving Web-based Civic Information Access: A Case Study of the 50 US States (2002)

An analysis of the home pages of all fifty U. S. states reveals great variety in key design features that influence efficacy. Some states had excessively large byte counts that would slow users connected by commonly-used 56K modems. Many web sites had low numbers of or poorly organized links that would make it hard for citizens to find what they were interested in. Features such as search boxes, privacy policies, online help, or contact information need to be added by several states. Our analysis concludes with ten recommendations and finds many further opportunities for individual states to improve their websites. However still greater benefits will come through collaboration among the states that would lead to consistency, appropriate tagging, and common tools

Improving Web-based Civic Information Access: A Case Study of the 50 US States

An analysis of the home pages of all fifty U. S. states reveals great variety in key design features that influence efficacy. Some states had excessively large byte counts that would slow users connected by commonly-used 56K modems. Many web sites had low numbers of or poorly organized links that would make it hard for citizens to find what they were interested in. Features such as search boxes, privacy policies, online help, or contact information need to be added by several states. Our analysis concludes with ten recommendations and finds many further opportunities for individual states to improve their websites. However still greater benefits will come through collaboration among the states that would lead to consistency, appropriate tagging, and common tools. (UMIACS-TR-2002-52) (HCIL-TR-2002-12

Help! I'm Lost: User Frustration in Web Navigation (2003)

Computers can be valuable tools, and networked resources via the Internet can be beneficial to many different populations and communities. Unfortunately, when people are unable to reach their task goals due to frustrating experiences, this can hinder the effectiveness of technology. This research summary provides information about the user frustration research that has been performed at the University of Maryland and Towson University. Causes of user frustration are discussed in this research summary, along with the surprising finding that nearly one-third to one-half of the time spent in front of the computer is wasted due to frustrating experiences. Furthermore, when interfaces are planned to be deceptive and confusing, thi

Social and Psychological Influences on Computer User Frustration (Newhagen book chapter, 2002)

As computer usage has proliferated, so has user frustration. Even devoted and knowledgeable users encounter annoying delays, incomprehensible messages, incompatible files, and indecipherable menus. The frustration generated by these problems can be personally disturbing and socially disruptive. Psychological and social perspectives on frustration may clarify the relationships among variables such as personality types, cultural factors, goal attainment, workplace anger, and computer anxiety. These perspectives may also help designers, managers, and users understand the range of responses to frustration, which could lead to effective interventions such as redesign of software, improved training, better online help, user discipline, and even resetting of national research priorities

Social and Psychological Influences on Computer User Frustration

As computer usage has proliferated, so has user frustration. Even devoted and knowledgeable users encounter annoying delays, incomprehensible messages, incompatible files, and indecipherable menus. The frustration generated by these problems can be personally disturbing and socially disruptive. Psychological and social perspectives on frustration may clarify the relationships among variables such as personality types, cultural factors, goal attainment, workplace anger, and computer anxiety. These perspectives may also help designers, managers, and users understand the range of responses to frustration, which could lead to effective interventions such as redesign of software, improved training, better online help, user discipline, and even resetting of national research priorities. (UMIACS-TR-2002-90) (HCIL-TR-2002-19

User Frustration with Technology in the Workplace (2004)

When hard to use computers cause users to become frustrated, it can affect workplace productivity, user mood, and interactions with other co-workers. Previous research has examined the frustration that graduate students and their families face in using computers. To learn more about the causes and effects of user frustration with computers in the workplace, we collected modified time diaries from 50 workplace users, who spent an average of 5.1 hours on the computer. In this experiment, users reported wasting on average, 42-43% of their time on the computer due to frustrating experiences. The causes of the frustrating experiences, the time lost due to the frustrating experiences, and the effects of the frustrating experiences on the mood of the users are discussed in this paper. Implications for designers, managers, users, information technology staff, and policymakers are discussed

Anyone Can Become a Troll: Causes of Trolling Behavior in Online Discussions

In online communities, antisocial behavior such as trolling disrupts constructive discussion. While prior work suggests that trolling behavior is confined to a vocal and antisocial minority, we demonstrate that ordinary people can engage in such behavior as well. We propose two primary trigger mechanisms: the individual's mood, and the surrounding context of a discussion (e.g., exposure to prior trolling behavior). Through an experiment simulating an online discussion, we find that both negative mood and seeing troll posts by others significantly increases the probability of a user trolling, and together double this probability. To support and extend these results, we study how these same mechanisms play out in the wild via a data-driven, longitudinal analysis of a large online news discussion community. This analysis reveals temporal mood effects, and explores long range patterns of repeated exposure to trolling. A predictive model of trolling behavior shows that mood and discussion context together can explain trolling behavior better than an individual's history of trolling. These results combine to suggest that ordinary people can, under the right circumstances, behave like trolls.Comment: Best Paper Award at CSCW 201

Governmental Statistical Data on the Web: A Case Study Of FedStats

Over 70 United States federal government agencies collect and store statistical data that eventually are made available to the general public. The World Wide Web offers the best medium for dissemination of these data. However, to facilitate access to these statistical data, a common portal with an easy to use interface is required. This portal is necessary to ensure that the general public, as well as researchers and statisticians, know about the existence of such data and can easily and quickly have access to the huge amount of information the federal agencies provide. The only significant attempt to create such a portal began in 1997, when the FedStats web site (http://www.FedStats.gov) became publicly available. The site is designed to complement the already existing web sites of each federal agency, by providing a unique point of access to all collections of statistical data from almost 100 different agencies. The web site is intended to help users find the information they need without having to visit several web sites and without needing previous knowledge of the structure of the governmental agencies. The objective of this paper is to analyze the FedStats web site and determine its usefulness to citizens. In this respect, a usability test was conducted, and the paper describes its results and the recommendations we make to the designers of the web site. (UMIACS-TR-2002-93) (HCIL-TR-2002-22

FINDING DATA ON THE WEB CEAPARU

Over 70 United States federal government agencies collect and store statistical data that are made available to the general public over the World Wide Web. A common portal with an easy-to-use interface was designed starting in 1997 to ensure that the general public could find appropriate data tables and reports easily (http://www.fedstats.gov ). This study analyzes the FedStats Web site to determine its usefulness to citizens, by way of a usability test with 15 subjects who responded to three scenarios. The results show that out of 45 attempts, only 7 were successful in finding the correct answer. Also, more than 50% of the subjects reported dissatisfaction and high levels of frustration with the Web site's usefulness and ease-of-use and with the lack of results they obtained. The article recommends incorporating into the Web site accessibility and universal usability design principles that could improve the dissemination of statistical information