The Replication Argument for Incompatibilism

In this paper, I articulate an argument for incompatibilism about moral responsibility and determinism. My argument comes in the form of an extended story, modeled loosely on Peter van Inwagen’s “rollback argument” scenario. I thus call it “the replication argument.” As I aim to bring out, though the argument is inspired by so-called “manipulation” and “original design” arguments, the argument is not a version of either such argument—and plausibly has advantages over both. The result, I believe, is a more convincing incompatibilist argument than those we have considered previously

Conceptual Design Reconsidered: The Case of the Internet Session Directory Tool

We report a case study in which conceptual design was applied to create a user interface of an innovative software tool. The Session Directory Tool (sdr) allows users to set up and participate in real-time interactive multimedia events on the Internet. To make this functionality available to users who are not familiar with the underlying network technology and videoconferencing, we identified a metaphor which could be extended into a design model (Electronic TV Listings Guide), and communicated this model through linguistic and structural features of the user interface. Evaluation results indicate that this effort was largely successful: new users handled sdr competently after a short training session and 5 days' practise, and articulated their knowledge of the tool in terms related to the design model. The case study demonstrates the potential of conceptual design, integrated with tangible HCI design techniques, for developing user interfaces to innovative technology. Keywords conce..

The Information Architecture of Behavior Change Websites

The extraordinary growth in Internet use offers researchers important new opportunities to identify and test new ways to deliver effective behavior change programs. The information architecture (IA)—the structure of website information—is an important but often overlooked factor to consider when adapting behavioral strategies developed in office-based settings for Web delivery. Using examples and relevant perspectives from multiple disciplines, we describe a continuum of website IA designs ranging from a matrix design to the tunnel design. The free-form matrix IA design allows users free rein to use multiple hyperlinks to explore available content according to their idiosyncratic interests. The more directive tunnel IA design (commonly used in e-learning courses) guides users step-by-step through a series of Web pages that are arranged in a particular order to improve the chances of achieving a goal that is measurable and consistent. Other IA designs are also discussed, including hierarchical IA and hybrid IA designs. In the hierarchical IA design, program content is arranged in a top-down manner, which helps the user find content of interest. The more complex hybrid IA design incorporates some combination of components that use matrix, tunnel, and/or hierarchical IA designs. Each of these IA designs is discussed in terms of usability, participant engagement, and program tailoring, as well as how they might best be matched with different behavior change goals (using Web-based smoking cessation interventions as examples). Our presentation underscores the role of considering and clearly reporting the use of IA designs when creating effective Web-based interventions. We also encourage the adoption of a multidisciplinary perspective as we move towards a more mature view of Internet intervention research