Auf dem Weg zur Reduktion der Komplexität des sozialen Koordinationssystems

Vor dem Hintergrund der gesellschaftlichen Relevanz der Kommunikationsmedien im Allgemeinen und der Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologie für die heutige Gesellschaft im Besonderen wird auf die nationalen und europäischen Initiativen zum E-Government und den Aspekt des barriere-freien Zugangs für alle Bürger eingegangen. Es wird gezeigt, dass durch die gesetzliche Vorgabe von Gestaltungsstandards zur Barrierefreiheit der Bereich des Webdesigns insgesamt weiter professionalisiert wird. Dies ist ein weiterer Schritt bei der Schaffung der Voraussetzungen, die das Ausschöpfen der Potenziale der Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologie zur Erbringung der gesellschaftlich relevanten Koordinationsleistungen unterstützen und damit den einzelnen Individuen die Orientierung in einer ausdifferenzierten Gesellschaft ermöglichen.Assuming social relevance of the communication media, especially the rele-vance of information and communication technology for today\u27s society, the article deals with national and European initiatives for e-government and barrier-free access for all citizens. It is shown that accessibilty design stan-dards given by law will help to professionalize the field of web design. This will be a further step towards full usage of the potentials of information and communication technology for the provision of socially relevant coordination services which will help individuals orientate in a differentiated society

Information along familiar routes:on what we perceive and how this affects our behaviour

Would you notice if the speed limit on an electronic road sign changes? Are we aware of the route instructions that we follow? How is it possible that we avoid an obstacle without being aware of it? The aim of this PhD dissertation is to provide insight in the cognitive processes involved in visual information processing of familiar traffic environments. What is seen and what is not. For this study, various research techniques were used, such as a driving simulator and an observational study. Most remarkable conclusion: we don't always notice, but in traffic we see more than we think. Drivers as well as pedestrians typically reported an interest in other road users’ behaviour. Reporting changes in objects on or alongside a familiar road or pavement proved difficult. However, participants’ behavioural responses revealed they had perceived more information than they were aware of. They complied with a route diversion sign on a motorway or avoided a signboard on a pavement. Without having any recollection of this immediately afterwards. People get used to familiar traffic environments so much that they don’t have to think about walking or driving with much conscious focus. They can act without thinking about it, so they don’t always even remember what they’ve done. Despite the apparent lack of full or even partial awareness, road information – including information that has changed in an otherwise familiar environment – may still guide behaviour. This outcome is also important for the way in which research on road users should be conducted

Distracted by familiarity:Implications of ‘autopilot’ as a default cognitive mode

Most trips are made, and most travel is done on roads and paths well-known. To provide insight in the cognitive processes involved in visual information processing of familiar traffic environments this paper considers a series of four consecutive empirical studies. The aim of this paper is 1) to discuss the implications of these insights on research methodologies used to measure driver attention and distraction and 2) to provide recommendations for policymaking, road design and vehicle design. This line of work consists of three studies on car driver behaviour (two driving simulator studies and a video-based study) and an observational study on pedestrian behaviour. The recurring theme in the results of these studies is that the progressive exposure to the same traffic environment enables participants to automatise their behavioural performance in traffic up to the point that it could be executed at skill-based level. As a result, attention is easily diverted away from traffic participation, while participating in traffic. Participants could act without thinking about it, so they didn't always even remember what they had done. People get used to familiar traffic environments so much that they don't have to think about walking or driving with much conscious focus. Hence, when studying road user behaviour and particularly driver distraction, it is crucial to mimic these natural circumstances as closely as possible. It is therefore proposed that within driver distraction research, route familiarity should be regarded as a context that enables distraction. What is more, is that the results point in the direction of a familiarity paradox: deviating from what is very familiar likely results in involuntary distraction, but being very familiar may lead to underload resulting in (voluntarily) diverting attention elsewhere.</p

Usability engineering methods for the Web : results from a usability study

The paper presents the results of a study on usability methods for evaluating Web sites. lt summarizes the "Heuristics for Web Communications," and reports the practical experiences with these heuristics, contrasting them with the "Keevil Index" and combining them with user testing with thinking aloud. It concludes that working with the "Heuristics for Web Communications" takes more time and effort than working with the "Kevil Index," but produces more consistent results. The heuristics proved to be applicable both in heuristic evaluation and in combination with user testing.Der Beitrag präsentiert eine Studie über Evaluationsmethoden zur Web-Usability. Er beschreibt die "Heuristics for Web Communications" und berichtet von den praktischen Erfahrungen mit den Heuristiken, die mit dem "Keevil Index" verglichen und mit Benutzertests mit lautem Denken kombiniert werden. Das Ergebnis zeigt, dass eine Evaluation mit den beschriebenen Heuristiken gegenüber dem "Keevil Index" mehr Zeit und Aufwand erfordert, aber konsistentere Ergebnisse bringt. Die Heuristiken haben sich sowohl in der experten-zentrierten Evaluation als auch in Kombination mit dem Benutzertest insgesamt als geeignete Evaluationsmethode erwiesen

Auf dem Weg zur Reduktion der Komplexität des sozialen Koordinationssystems

Vor dem Hintergrund der gesellschaftlichen Relevanz der Kommunikationsmedien im Allgemeinen und der Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologie für die heutige Gesellschaft im Besonderen wird auf die nationalen und europäischen Initiativen zum E-Government und den Aspekt des barriere-freien Zugangs für alle Bürger eingegangen. Es wird gezeigt, dass durch die gesetzliche Vorgabe von Gestaltungsstandards zur Barrierefreiheit der Bereich des Webdesigns insgesamt weiter professionalisiert wird. Dies ist ein weiterer Schritt bei der Schaffung der Voraussetzungen, die das Ausschöpfen der Potenziale der Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologie zur Erbringung der gesellschaftlich relevanten Koordinationsleistungen unterstützen und damit den einzelnen Individuen die Orientierung in einer ausdifferenzierten Gesellschaft ermöglichen.Assuming social relevance of the communication media, especially the rele-vance of information and communication technology for today's society, the article deals with national and European initiatives for e-government and barrier-free access for all citizens. It is shown that accessibilty design stan-dards given by law will help to professionalize the field of web design. This will be a further step towards full usage of the potentials of information and communication technology for the provision of socially relevant coordination services which will help individuals orientate in a differentiated society

The role of route familiarity in traffic participants’ behaviour and transport psychology research:A systematic review

Studies of how transport behaviour (e.g., driving, cycling, and walking) is affected by practice and familiarity are not commonplace, in spite of the fact that much of our travel takes place on familiar, well-practiced routes. In other areas, it is well-established that repetition affects cognition, particularly memory and attention. The goals of the current systematic literature review were 1) to explore how researchers have described and examined the effects of people’s familiarity with routes and road types, and 2) to obtain a better insight into the cognitive processes, and behaviour that occur in familiar road environments. The systematic review was conducted based on the principles described in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA). Scopus’ database was searched systematically using predefined search combinations which involved (1) the transport modes of driving, cycling, and walking; (2) research methods that typically involve route- or situation-familiar participants (e.g., naturalistic studies, observational studies and field operational tests); and (3) various words associated with route familiarity (e.g., familiar, everyday, and commute). Ninety-four studies met all inclusion criteria. Results were analysed in terms of the cognitive and behavioural changes associated with familiarity, as reported in the studies. Route familiarity was typically reported to reduce the amount of cognitive control used to process the immediate environment and to increase mind wandering, compared to unfamiliar situations. Familiarity also increased recall accuracy and opportunities for self-regulatory behaviour, and decreased task difficulty. Familiarity appears to have large effects on how people attend to and process the environment. Given the proportion of time people spend travelling in familiar situations, this low attention, high familiarity state should be considered the default mode and as a more integral context for experimental, naturalistic and observational research in transport psychology