Contextualizing the blogosphere: A comparison of traditional and novel user interfaces for the web

In this paper, we investigate how contextual user interfaces affect blog reading experience. Based on a review of previous research, we argue why and how contextualization may result in (H1) enhanced blog reading experiences. In an eyetracking experiment, we tested 3 different web-based user interfaces for information spaces. The StarTree interface (by Inxight) and the Focus-Metaphor interface are compared with a standard blog interface. Information tasks have been used to evaluate and compare task performance and user satisfaction between these three interfaces. We found that both contextual user interfaces clearly outperformed the traditional blog interface, both in terms of task performance as well as user satisfaction. © 2007 Laqua, S., Ogbechie, N. and Sasse, M. A

Do you knowdis? A user study of a knowledge discovery tool for organizations

Organisations today have no reliable way of ensuring that all employees are aware of information that may be relevant to their work. In this paper we report on a 2-year project in which we have iteratively designed, developed and tested a knowledge discovery system (KnowDis) for organizations. Early stages of our study revealed that, employees do not know what is available on the corporate intranet, or files and messages they have stored. KnowDis proactively fetches relevant information and displays it in an unobtrusive form; this increases employee awareness without disrupting their tasks. We discuss and characterize knowledge workers' email usage behavior. Our main study with 28 users of KnowDis-enhanced email showed it can improve the user experience and performance on information retrieval tasks for knowledge workers

Just-in-time Information Interfaces: A new Paradigm for Information Discovery and Exploration

We live in a time of increasing information overload. Described as “a byproduct of the lack of maturity of the information age” (Spira & Goldes, 2007), information overload can be painful, and harm our concentration - the resulting choice overload impacts out decision-making abilities. Given the problem of information overload, and the unsatisfying nature of human-information interaction using traditional browsing or keyword-based search, this research investigates how the design of just-in-time information services can improve the user experience of goal-driven interactions with information. This thesis explores the design of just-in-time information services through the iterative development of two strands of high-level prototypes (FMI and KnowDis). I custombuilt both prototype systems for the respective evaluations, which have then been conducted as part of a series of lab-based eye-tracking studies (FMI) as well as two field studies (KnowDis). The lab-based eye-tracking studies were conducted with 100 participants measuring task performance, user satisfaction, and gaze behaviour. The lab studies found that the FMI prototype design did improve the performance aspect of the user experience for all participants and improved the usability aspect of the user experience for novice participants. However, the FMI prototype design seemed to be less effective and usable for expert participants. Two field studies were conducted as part of a two-year research collaboration, which lasted a total of 10 weeks and involved approximately 70 knowledge workers overall from across the globe. As part of those field studies, 46 semi-structured interviews were also conducted. The field studies found that the KnowDis prototype design did improve the user experience for participants overall by making work-related information search more efficient. However, while the KnowDis prototype design was useful for some knowledge workers and even integrated seamlessly into their day-to-day work, it appeared to be less useful and even distracting to others

Exploring blog spaces: A study of blog reading experiences using dynamic contextual displays

In this paper we report on an eye-tracking experiment conducted with 60 participants to gain an understanding of how people interact with blog environments. We compared a standard blog interface with a novel contextual blog interface, which dynamically adjusts its contextual navigation to a selected article. We measured task performance and interaction behaviour for explorative tasks and goal-oriented search tasks. We further collected subjective feedback to evaluate user preferences. We found that participants using the contextual blog interface completed search tasks 19% faster and made 80% fewer errors. Moreover, participants using the contextual blog interface interacted more with the provided information during the exploration tasks. We did not find significant differences in user preference overall between both blog interfaces. However, a more detailed analysis of our results suggests significant demographic differences for performance, behavioural and subjective measures. © 2009 The Author

Personalised Focus-Metaphor Interfaces: An Eye Tracking Study on User Confusion

Personalised web interfaces are expected to improve user interaction with web content. But since the delivery of personalised web content is currently not reliable, a key question is how much users may be confused and slowed down when personalised delivery goes wrong. The aim of the study reported in this paper was to investigate a worst-case scenario of failed personalised content presentation – a dynamic presentation of content where content was dynamically presented, but content units were selected at random. We employed eye-tracking to monitor the differences in users’ attention and navigation when interacting with this “dysfunctional” dynamic interface, and a static version. We found that subjects who interacted with the dysfunctional version took 10% longer to read their material than those with static content, and displayed a different strategy in scanning the interface. The relatively small difference in navigation time in first-time viewers of dynamically presented content, and of the results from the eye-tracking patterns, suggests that users are not significantly confused and slowed down by dynamic presentation of content when using a Focus-Metaphor interfac