Artificial Companions in Stroke Rehabilitation: Likeability, Familiarity and Expectations

There is a growing interest in digital companionship and artificial companions (ACs) as they are introduced in rehabilitation and healthcare services for the elderly and people with disabilities. We conduct an exploratory, pre-adoption study to better understand first impressions and likeability of ACs with older individuals in a stroke rehabilitation context. We interviewed 11 participants with stroke-related impairments as they viewed depictions of ACs and engaged in interactive gameplay. We found two main axes in which participants judge ACs’ likeability: familiarity and expectations, where more familiarity and having expectations were associated with likeability. We relate these findings to literature on ACs for health promotion for survivors of stroke and discuss implications for the design of ACs

How to Do Better with Gender on Surveys: A Guide for HCI Researchers

When including gender on surveys, HCI researchers must refrain from using only binary categories, making assumptions about participants' genders, and employing a one-size-fits-all approach for all research projects. HCI researchers have the responsibility to consider the complexity of their research participants’ genders. Inquiring into gender requires humility in attempting to “get it right.”https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154050/1/SpielHowTo.pdfDescription of SpielHowTo.pdf : Main articl

Exploring Personalization of Gamification in an Introductory Programming Course

Gamification has been used in introductory programming courses, for example, to increase engagement with study materials, reduce procrastination, and increase attendance to practice sessions. Indeed, with the rapidly growing adoption of digital tools in such courses, the use of various game elements and mechanics to drive participation is increasing. Previous studies on gamification in computing have examined the effects over the whole student population. Prior work in other disciplines has found that the benefits associated with gamification may only be realized for some students, while others may even experience reduced motivation. The Hexad user types survey attempts to tackle this problem by grouping users into six different types for whom gamification should have different effects. The goal is to personalize the game elements for different user types, thus creating gamified experiences more suitable for individual learners. In this work, we study whether the Hexad survey could be used to guide the personalization of gamification in an introductory programming course. Specifically, we examine the quality of students' answers to the Hexad survey and explore whether they can be used to predict students' preferences for enabling gamification in the platform where they complete assignments. In our specific computing education context, we find that classifying students using the Hexad survey does not appear to be an effective approach for the automatic personalization of gamification.Peer reviewe

Group differences in physician responses to handheld presentation of clinical evidence: a verbal protocol analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To identify individual differences in physicians' needs for the presentation of evidence resources and preferences for mobile devices.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Within-groups analysis of responses to semi-structured interviews. Interviews consisted of using prototypes in response to task-based scenarios. The prototypes were implemented on two different form factors: a tablet style PC and a pocketPC. Participants were from three user groups: general internists, family physicians and medicine residents, and from two different settings: urban and semi-urban. Verbal protocol analysis, which consists of coding utterances, was conducted on the transcripts of the testing sessions. Statistical relationships were investigated between staff physicians' and residents' background variables, self-reported experiences with the interfaces, and verbal code frequencies.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>47 physicians were recruited from general internal medicine, family practice clinics and a residency training program. The mean age of participants was 42.6 years. Physician specialty had a greater effect on device and information-presentation preferences than gender, age, setting or previous technical experience. Family physicians preferred the screen size of the tablet computer and were less concerned about its portability. Residents liked the screen size of the tablet, but preferred the portability of the pocketPC. Internists liked the portability of the pocketPC, but saw less advantage to the large screen of the tablet computer (F[2,44] = 4.94, p = .012).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Different types of physicians have different needs and preferences for evidence-based resources and handheld devices. This study shows how user testing can be incorporated into the process of design to inform group-based customization.</p

Usability evaluation of a clinical decision support tool for osteoporosis disease management

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Osteoporosis affects over 200 million people worldwide at a high cost to healthcare systems. Although guidelines are available, patients are not receiving appropriate diagnostic testing or treatment. Findings from a systematic review of osteoporosis interventions and a series of focus groups were used to develop a functional multifaceted tool that can support clinical decision-making in osteoporosis disease management at the point of care. The objective of our study was to assess how well the prototype met functional goals and usability needs.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted a usability study for each component of the tool--the Best Practice Recommendation Prompt (BestPROMPT), the Risk Assessment Questionnaire (RAQ), and the Customised Osteoporosis Education (COPE) sheet--using the framework described by Kushniruk and Patel. All studies consisted of one-on-one sessions with a moderator using a standardised worksheet. Sessions were audio- and video-taped and transcribed verbatim. Data analysis consisted of a combination of qualitative and quantitative analyses.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In study 1, physicians liked that the BestPROMPT can provide customised recommendations based on risk factors identified from the RAQ. Barriers included lack of time to use the tool, the need to alter clinic workflow to enable point-of-care use, and that the tool may disrupt the real reason for the visit. In study 2, patients completed the RAQ in a mean of 6 minutes, 35 seconds. Of the 42 critical incidents, 60% were navigational and most occurred when the first nine participants were using the stylus pen; no critical incidents were observed with the last six participants that used the touch screen. Patients thought that the RAQ questions were easy to read and understand, but they found it difficult to initiate the questionnaire. Suggestions for improvement included improving aspects of the interface and navigation. The results of study 3 showed that most patients were able to understand and describe sections of the COPE sheet, and all considered discussing the information with their physicians. Suggestions for improvement included simplifying the language and improving the layout.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Findings from the three studies informed changes to the tool and confirmed the importance of usability testing on all end users to reduce errors, and as an important step in the development process of knowledge translation interventions.</p

Development of a prototype clinical decision support tool for osteoporosis disease management: a qualitative study of focus groups

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Osteoporosis affects over 200 million people worldwide, and represents a significant cost burden. Although guidelines are available for best practice in osteoporosis, evidence indicates that patients are not receiving appropriate diagnostic testing or treatment according to guidelines. The use of clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) may be one solution because they can facilitate knowledge translation by providing high-quality evidence at the point of care. Findings from a systematic review of osteoporosis interventions and consultation with clinical and human factors engineering experts were used to develop a conceptual model of an osteoporosis tool. We conducted a qualitative study of focus groups to better understand physicians' perceptions of CDSSs and to transform the conceptual osteoporosis tool into a functional prototype that can support clinical decision making in osteoporosis disease management at the point of care.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The conceptual design of the osteoporosis tool was tested in 4 progressive focus groups with family physicians and general internists. An iterative strategy was used to qualitatively explore the experiences of physicians with CDSSs; and to find out what features, functions, and evidence should be included in a working prototype. Focus groups were conducted using a semi-structured interview guide using an iterative process where results of the first focus group informed changes to the questions for subsequent focus groups and to the conceptual tool design. Transcripts were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using grounded theory methodology.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of the 3 broad categories of themes that were identified, major barriers related to the accuracy and feasibility of extracting bone mineral density test results and medications from the risk assessment questionnaire; using an electronic input device such as a Tablet PC in the waiting room; and the importance of including well-balanced information in the patient education component of the osteoporosis tool. Suggestions for modifying the tool included the addition of a percentile graph showing patients' 10-year risk for osteoporosis or fractures, and ensuring that the tool takes no more than 5 minutes to complete.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Focus group data revealed the facilitators and barriers to using the osteoporosis tool at the point of care so that it can be optimized to aid physicians in their clinical decision making.</p

Measuring Emotional Responses to Interaction: Evaluation of Sliders and Physiological Reactions

Recent work has proposed sliders as a useful way to measure self-reported emotion continuously. My dissertation extends this work to ask: what are relevant properties of affective self-report on sliders and variations? How reliable are affective self-reports? How do they relate to physiological data? What are individual and cultural differences? How can this method be applied to ehealth? Three emotion self-report tools (one-slider, two-slider, a touchscreen) were developed and evaluated in four experiments. The first experiment was within-subjects. Participants viewed short videos, with four self-report conditions (including no reporting) and physiological capture (heart rate variability and skin conductance). In a re-rating task, the sliders models were found to be more reliable than the touchscreen (Lottridge & Chignell, 2009a). The second and third experiments were between-subjects, and examined individual and cultural differences. Canadian and Japanese participants watched a nature video, while rating emotions and answering questions. Analyses were carried out within and across the datasets. Larger operation span displayed a minor benefit. Valence and arousal ratings were not strongly related to skin conductance. The Japanese performed on par with Canadians but reported worse performance. Based on the results, the recommendation was made that a single slider be used to rate valence, that arousal be estimated with skin conductance, and that slider psychometrics be used to assess cognitive load over time. In the fourth experiment, diabetic participants watched Diabetes-related videos. They clustered into usage patterns: some moved the slider very little during videos and more afterward, some hardly moved the slider, and some used it as expected. Two novel metrics facilitated these analyses: Emotional Bandwidth, an application of information entropy that characterizes the granularity of the self reports (Lottridge & Chignell, 2009b) and Emotional Majority Agreement, the amount of agreement relative to a sample’s self-reports (Lottridge & Chignell, 2009c). In summary, this dissertation contributes a method of measuring emotion through sliders and skin conductance that has been evaluated in a number of experimental studies. It contributes the empirical results, design recommendations, and two novel metrics of emotional response. Limitations and implications for future research and practice are also discussed.Ph

Interaction design in the university : designing disciplinary interactions

Interaction design (ID) as a field emerged in the late 1990s with roots in both the HCI and design communities. We ask whether the ‘interdisciplinary’ agenda of the 3rd paradigm of HCI can be accommodated in the traditional disciplined university. An alternate model of ‘interdisciplinarity’ offers one way forward, but calls for clarity on the question of what interaction design aspires to be. We offer the notion of 'disciplined transdisciplinarity' as an exciting and perhaps necessary way of solving the complex problems that ID researchers face, and illustrate this with examples drawn from the area of emotional design and assessment. Our bridge between 3rd paradigm, knowledge production and what we are calling 'disciplined transdisciplinary' yields insights into the path toward institutionalizing and legitimating research on ID and academic careers in this field in the university