Usability Heuristics for Domain-Specific Languages (DSLs)

[Abstract] The usability of Domain-Specific Languages (DSLs) has been attracting considerable interest from researchers lately. In particular, our literature review found many usability studies that make use of subjective and empirical methods. However, we noted a lack of heuristic methods in the literature. In comparison, there exist several usability studies of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that have used heuristics with success, so we argue that this approach would be also useful for DSLs. Therefore, this paper proposes a set of usability heuristics for DSLs and illustrates the approach with a case study. We show how our heuristics helped us identify many actual usability problems, even for a simple DSL.Xunta de Galicia; GRC2014/035Xunta de Galicia; ED431G/0

Development of usability and context-of-use taxonomies, integration with techniques for the study of usability and application to real-world intelligent systems

[Resumen] Un importante obstáculo para la implantación del Diseño Centrado en el Usuario en el mundo real es que no existe una definición del concepto de usabilidad que sea precisa y comúnnmente aceptada y aplicada en la práctica. La literatura tiende a definir la usabilidad en términos demasiado escuetos y ambiguos, y a describir su aplicación en términos informales. Idénticas críticas pueden hacerse al concepto del contexto de uso, al cual la usabilidad es siempre relativa. Como consecuencia de esto, las técnicas ad hoc predominan en las metodologías de usabilidad. Esta tesis propone taxonomías detalladas para los conceptos de usabilidad y contexto de uso. Las taxonomías están organizadas jerárquicamente y contienen descripciones precisas de sus atributos y subatributos. Para ilustrar la utilidad práctica de las taxonomías, se describe cómo fueron integradas en el ciclo de vida de desarrollo de dos productos reales en el campo de los Sistemas Inteligentes. Concretamente, un dispositivo de Adaptación Inteligente de la Velocidad y un generador automático de interfaces de usuario. En un punto específico de cada proyecto se realizó un estudio de usabilidad, usando las taxonomías para estructurar y guiar actividades de usabilidad como el análisis de los requisitos de usabilidad, la evaluación heurística y el análisis subjetivo.[Abstract] A major obstacle to the implantation of User-Centered Design in the real world is the fact that no precise de nition of the concept of usability exists that is widely accepted and applied in practice. Generally speaking, the literature tends to de ne usability in overly brief and ambiguous terms and to describe its application in informal terms. The same criticisms can be leveled at the concept of context of use, to which usability is always relative. As a consequence of these drawbacks, ad hoc techniques predominate in usability study methodologies. This thesis proposes detailed taxonomies for the concepts of usability and the context of use. The taxonomies are organized hierarchically and contain precise descriptions of their attributes and subattributes. In order to illustrate the practical usefulness of the taxonomies, this thesis describes and discusses how the taxonomies were integrated into the development life cycle of two real-world projects in the eld of Intelligent Systems, namely, an Intelligent Speed Adaptation device and an automatic generator of user interfaces. At a speci c point of each project, a usability study was conducted, in which the taxonomies were used to structure and guide well-known usability activities such as usability requirements analysis, heuristic evaluation, and subjective analysis[Resumo] Un importante obstáculo para a implantación do Deseño Centrado no Usuario no mundo real é que non existe unha definición do concepto de usabilidade que sexa precisa e comunmente aceptada e aplicada na práctica. A literatura tende a definir a usabilidade en termos demasiado concisos e ambiguos, e a describir a súa aplicación en termos informais. Idénticas críticas poden facerse ao concepto do contexto de uso, ao cal a usabilidade de sempre relativa. Como consecuencia disto, as técnicas ad hoc predominan nas metodoloxías de usabilidade. Esta tese propón taxonomías detalladas para os conceptos de usabilidade e contexto de uso. As taxonomías están organizadas xerárquicamente e conteñen descricións precisas dos seus atributos e subatributos. Para ilustrar a utilidade práctica das taxonomías, descríbese como foron integradas no ciclo de vida de desenvolvemento de dous produtos reais no campo dos Sistemas Intelixentes. Concretamente, un dispositivo de Adaptación Intelixente da Velocidade e un xerador automático de interfaces de usuario. Nun punto específico de cada proxecto realizouse un estudo de usabilidade, usando as taxonomías para estruturar e guiar actividades de usabilidade como a análise dos requisitos de usabilidade, a avaliación heurística e a análise subxectiva

Experiencia de adaptación y plan de mejora de la materia de Sistemas Inteligentes en la titulación de Grado en Ingeniería Informática

En este trabajo se exponen las experiencias asociadas a la adaptación al Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior para la asignatura de Sistemas Inteligentes en la titulación de Grado en Ingeniería Informática de la Universidade da Coruña. Al respecto, se comentará el proyecto de guía docente que ha sido elaborado para la materia, así como también los problemas más importantes que se han detectado, y algunos de los resultados de las evaluaciones de alumnos que se han obtenido tras el primer año de implantación, y que utilizaremos para plantear alternativas que permitan mejorar esos resultados. Con respecto a los problemas encontrados se detallarán en primer lugar, los inconvenientes ocasionados debido a la ubicación de la materia dentro del nuevo plan de estudios y en segundo lugar, los problemas generados por la organización, el calendario y la metodología docente seguida. Finalmente se comentan las posibilidades de mejora y el trabajo desarrollado para implantar un plan de seguimiento que permita subsanar, en la medida de nuestras posibilidades, los principales inconvenientes detectados.SUMMARY -- This paper describes the experiences obtained from adapting the Intelligent Systems subject of the Degree in Computer Engineering of the University of A Coruña to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). First, the teaching guide of the subject is detailed, and later the problems that the teachers have faced in applying it. Finally, some of the student’s evaluation results obtained during the process are analyzed and used to propose possible improvements in future courses. Regarding the main problems we will describe, firstly, the structural issues caused by the subject’s placement in the new curriculum and, secondly, some difficulties related to organization, scheduling, and teaching methodology. Several possible solutions to the encountered problems are analyzed, together with a plan to implement them, with the aim of correcting the problems detected

A Taxonomy-Based Usability Study of an Intelligent Speed Adaptation Device

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction on 04 Apr 2014, available online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2014.907463[Abstract] Usability studies are often based on ad hoc definitions of usability. These studies can be difficult to generalize, they might have a steep learning curve, and there is always the danger of being inconsistent with the concept of usability as defined in standards and the literature. This alternative approach involves comprehensive, general-purpose, and hierarchically structured taxonomies that follow closely the main usability literature. These taxonomies are then instantiated for a specific product. To illustrate this approach, a usability study for a prototype of an Intelligent Speed Adaptation device is described. The usability study consists of usability requirements analysis, heuristic evaluation, and subjective analysis, which helped identify problems of clarity, operability, robustness, safety, and aesthetics. As a context-specific usability taxonomy for this particular field of application happened to exist, the way that real-world usability results can be mapped to that taxonomy compared to the taxonomy in this article is examined, with the argument that this study’s taxonomy is more complete and generalizable.Xunta de Galicia; CN2011/007Xunta de Galicia; CN2012/211European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency; Nº. 22835

Integrating Iterative Machine Teaching and Active Learning into the Machine Learning Loop

[Abstract] Scholars and practitioners are defining new types of interactions between humans and machine learning algorithms that we can group under the umbrella term of Human-in-the-Loop Machine Learning (HITL-ML). This paper is focused on implementing two approaches to this topic—Iterative Machine Teaching (iMT) and Active Learning (AL)—and analyzing how to integrate them in the learning loop. iMT is a variation of Machine Teaching in which a machine acts as a teacher that tries to transfer knowledge to a machine learning model. The focus of the problem in iMT is how to obtain the optimal training set given a machine learning algorithm and a target model. The idea is to learn a target concept with a minimal number of iterations with the smallest dataset. Active Learning, in contrast, is a specialized type of supervised learning in which humans are incorporated in the loop to act as oracles that analyze unlabeled data. AL allows us to achieve greater accuracy with less data and less training. Our proposal to incorporate iMT and AL into the machine learning loop is to use iMT as a technique to obtain the “Minimum Viable Data (MVD)” for training a learning model, that is, a dataset that allows us to increase speed and reduce complexity in the learning process by allowing to build early prototypes. Next, we will use AL to refine this first prototype by adding new data in an iterative and incremental way. We carried out several experiments to test the feasibility of our proposed approach. They show that the algorithms trained with the teachers converge faster than those that have been trained in a conventional way. Also, AL helps the model to avoid getting stuck and to keep improving after the first few iterations. The two approaches investigated in this paper can be considered complementary, as they correspond to different stages in the learning process.This work has been supported by the State Research Agency of the Spanish Government (grant PID2019-107194GB-I00 / AEI / 10.13039/501100011033) and by the Xunta de Galicia (grant ED431C 2018/34) with the European Union ERDF funds. We wish to acknowledge the support received from the Centro de Investigaci ́on de Galicia “CITIC”, funded by Xunta de Galicia and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund- Galicia 2014-2020 Program, grant ED431G 2019/01)Xunta de Galicia; ED431C 2018/34Xunta de Galicia; ED431G 2019/0

A classification and review of tools for developing and interacting with machine learning systems

[Abstract] In this paper we aim to bring some order to the myriad of tools that have emerged in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI), focusing on the field of Machine Learning (ML). For this purpose, we suggest a classification of the tools in which the categories are organized following the development lifecycle of an ML system and we make a review of the existing tools within each section of the classification. We believe this will help to better understand the ecosystem of tools currently available and will also allow us to identify niches in which to develop new tools to aid in the development of AI and ML systems. After reviewing the state-of-the-art of the tools, we have identified three trends in them: the incorporation of humans into the loop of the machine learning process, the movement from ad-hoc and experimental approaches to a more engineering perspective and the ability to make it easier to develop intelligent systems for people without an educational background in the area, in order to move the focus from the technical environment to the domain-specific problem.This work has been supported by the State Research Agency of the Spanish Government, grant (PID2019-107194GB-I00 / AEI / 10.13039/501100011033) and by the Xunta de Galicia, grant (ED431C 2018/34) with the European Union ERDF funds. We wish to acknowledge the support received from the Centro de Investigación de Galicia “CITIC”, funded by Xunta de Galicia and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund-Galicia 2014-2020 Program), by grant ED431G 2019/01Xunta de Galicia; ED431C 2018/34Xunta de Galicia; ED431G 2019/0

Improving Medical Data Annotation Including Humans in the Machine Learning Loop

Presented at the 4th XoveTIC Conference, A Coruña, Spain, 7–8 October 2021[Abstract] At present, the great majority of Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems require the participation of humans in their development, tuning, and maintenance. Particularly, Machine Learning (ML) systems could greatly benefit from their expertise or knowledge. Thus, there is an increasing interest around how humans interact with those systems to obtain the best performance for both the AI system and the humans involved. Several approaches have been studied and proposed in the literature that can be gathered under the umbrella term of Human-in-the-Loop Machine Learning. The application of those techniques to the health informatics environment could provide a great value on prognosis and diagnosis tasks contributing to develop a better health service for Cancer related diseases.This work has been supported by the State Research Agency of the Spanish Government, grant (PID2019-107194GB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033) and by the Xunta de Galicia, grant (ED431C 2018/34) with the European Union ERDF funds. We wish to acknowledge the support received from the Centro de Investigación de Galicia “CITIC”, funded by Xunta de Galicia and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund- Galicia 2014-2020 Program), by grant ED431G 2019/01Xunta de Galicia; ED431C 2018/34Xunta de Galicia; ED431G 2019/0

An ergonomic customized-tool handle design for precision tools using additive manufacturing: a case study

Se llevó a cabo un estudio con 135 cirujanos para obtener un diseño de mango de agarre laparoscópico quirúrgico que se adapta al tamaño de la mano de cada cirujano, de una manera funcionalmente adecuada, y tiene la ergonomía suficiente para evitar generar los problemas detectados hoy en día. La principal conclusión del trabajo es el práctico diseño paramétrico 3D obtenido para un mango de pinzas quirúrgicas laparoscópicas que es escalable para adaptarse al tamaño de la mano de cada cirujano en particular. Además, ha sido posible determinar que la medida antropométrica de la mano del cirujano definida como Medida de la longitud de la palma (PLM) permite escalar convenientemente el diseño del modelo paramétrico 3D del mango quirúrgico. Los resultados muestran que tanto la fabricación aditiva como la aplicación del criterio de ergonomía proporcionan un método eficiente para el diseño personalizado y la fabricación de este tipo de herramienta especializada, con potencial aplicación en otros sectores.A study was carried out with 135 surgeons to obtain a surgical laparoscopic grasper handle design that adapts to the size of each surgeon’s hand, in a functionally appropriate way, and has the sufficient ergonomics to avoid generating the problems detected nowadays. The main conclusión of the work is the practical 3D parametric design obtained for a laparoscopic surgical graspers handle that is scalable to fit each particular surgeon's hand size. In addition, it has been possible to determine that the anthropometric measure of the surgeon's hand defined as Palm Length Measured (PLM) allows the design of the 3D parametric model of the surgical handle to be conveniently scaled. The results show that both additive manufacturing and the application of ergonomics criterion provide an efficient method for the custom design and manufacture of this type of specialised tool, with potential application in other sectors.• Junta de Extremadura y Fondos FEDER. Ayudas GR18029 y GR18015peerReviewe

An ergonomic customized-tool handle design for precision tools using additive manufacturing: a case study

Se llevó a cabo un estudio con 135 cirujanos para obtener un diseño de mango de agarre laparoscópico quirúrgico que se adapta al tamaño de la mano de cada cirujano, de una manera funcionalmente adecuada, y tiene la ergonomía suficiente para evitar generar los problemas detectados hoy en día. La principal conclusión del trabajo es el práctico diseño paramétrico 3D obtenido para un mango de pinzas quirúrgicas laparoscópicas que es escalable para adaptarse al tamaño de la mano de cada cirujano en particular. Además, ha sido posible determinar que la medida antropométrica de la mano del cirujano definida como Medida de la longitud de la palma (PLM) permite escalar convenientemente el diseño del modelo paramétrico 3D del mango quirúrgico. Los resultados muestran que tanto la fabricación aditiva como la aplicación del criterio de ergonomía proporcionan un método eficiente para el diseño personalizado y la fabricación de este tipo de herramienta especializada, con potencial aplicación en otros sectores.A study was carried out with 135 surgeons to obtain a surgical laparoscopic grasper handle design that adapts to the size of each surgeon’s hand, in a functionally appropriate way, and has the sufficient ergonomics to avoid generating the problems detected nowadays. The main conclusión of the work is the practical 3D parametric design obtained for a laparoscopic surgical graspers handle that is scalable to fit each particular surgeon's hand size. In addition, it has been possible to determine that the anthropometric measure of the surgeon's hand defined as Palm Length Measured (PLM) allows the design of the 3D parametric model of the surgical handle to be conveniently scaled. The results show that both additive manufacturing and the application of ergonomics criterion provide an efficient method for the custom design and manufacture of this type of specialised tool, with potential application in other sectors.• Junta de Extremadura y Fondos FEDER. Ayudas GR18029 y GR18015peerReviewe