Time Experience within an Organization: How do Individuals Manage Temporal Demands and What Technology Can We Build to Support Them?

This study examines the time management strategies of individuals in an academic institution and gathers information on the complex temporal structures they experience and manage. Its focus is on how electronic tools can be designed to incorporate the temporal structures that govern time usage and thus, help individuals to better manage their time. This work consists of an exploratory field study to gather data on how people use temporal structures with electronic tools. This is followed by a survey that will be given to a larger group of respondents in the same subject population examined with the field study. The survey will test the hypotheses developed from a literature review on time management coupled with the information uncovered in the field study. Finally a prototype computer time management tool will be developed and distributed on a trial basis to the same community surveyed. A brief follow-up study will then be conducted on the prototype’s use

Integrating Human-Computer Interaction Development into the Systems Development Life Cycle: A Methodology

Incorporating a human computer interaction (HCI) perspective into the systems development life cycle (SDLC) is necessary to information systems (IS) success and, in turn, to the success of businesses. However, modern SDLC models are based more on organizational needs than human needs. The human interaction aspect of an information system is usually considered far too little (only the screen interface) and far too late in the IS development process (only at the design stage). Thus, often a gap exists between satisfying organizational needs and supporting and enriching human users. This problem can be addressed by carefully integrating HCI development into the SDLC process to achieve a truly human-centered IS development approach. This paper examines the roles of HCI in systems development, justifies the importance of considering HCI through out the entire systems development life cycle, presents a methodology for human-centered IS development, and demonstrates how to apply this methodology to develop human-centered information systems

A Virtual Reality Based Exercise System for Hand Rehabilitation Post-Stroke

We present preliminary results from a virtual reality (VR)-based system for hand rehabilitation that uses a CyberGlove and a Rutgers Master II-ND haptic glove. This system trains finger range of motion, finger flexion speed, independence of finger motion and finger strength. Eight chronic post-stroke subjects participated. In keeping with variability in both the lesion site and in initial upper extremity function, each subject showed improvement on a unique combination of movement parameters in VR training. Six of the eight subjects improved significantly on VR trained parameters of range of finger motion and ability to move fingers independently, and four of them also improved on speed of finger flexion. Finally, 3 subjects improved their ability to generate mechanical work with their affected hand during training. Importantly, these improvements transferred to gains on clinical tests, as well as to significant reductions in task completion times for the prehension of real objects. These results are indicative of the feasibility of this exercise system for rehabilitation in patients with hand dysfunction resulting from neurological impairment