Modeling human behavior in user-adaptive systems: recent advances using soft computing techniques

Adaptive Hypermedia systems are becoming more important in our everyday activities and users are expecting more intelligent services from them. The key element of a generic adaptive hypermedia system is the user model. Traditional machine learning techniques used to create user models are usually too rigid to capture the inherent uncertainty of human behavior. In this context, soft computing techniques can be used to handle and process human uncertainty and to simulate human decision-making. This paper examines how soft computing techniques, including fuzzy logic, neural networks, genetic algorithms, fuzzy clustering and neuro-fuzzy systems, have been used, alone or in combination with other machine learning techniques, for user modeling from 1999 to 2004. For each technique, its main applications, limitations and future directions for user modeling are presented. The paper also presents guidelines that show which soft computing techniques should be used according to the task implemented by the application

Visualising ergonomics data for design

Existing ergonomics data are not effectively used by designers; this is mainly because the data are not presented in a designer-friendly format. In order to help designers make better use of ergonomics data, we explored the potential of representing existing ergonomics data in a more dynamic and visual way, and making them look more relevant to design. The Cambridge Engineering Selector (CES) was adopted to turn static ergonomics data into manipulative and comparative data sets. Contextual information in a visual format was added; clearer illustrations and scenarios relevant to design were developed; design case studies were compiled and linked to the relevant ergonomics data sets – the process resulted in a new design support tool: the ErgoCES. The tool was consequently brought to both design students and professionals for evaluation. The results suggested that the ErgoCES had helped making ergonomics data more accessible to designers, and many new features (e.g. scenarios and case studies) were highly valued by the designers. Among the participants, 100% of the design students and 79% of the professionals indicated that they would use the tool when it becomes widely available.The research project is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Grant EP/F0 32145/1. The authors would like to thank all the participants for helping evaluating the tool. Hua Dong is currently sponsored by The Program for Professor of Special Appointment (Eastern Scholar) at Shanghai Institutions of Higher Learning

Examining perceptions of agility in software development practice

This is the post-print version of the final published article that is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2010 ACM.Organizations undertaking software development are often reminded that successful practice depends on a number of non-technical issues that are managerial, cultural and organizational in nature. These issues cover aspects from appropriate corporate structure, through software process development and standardization to effective collaborative practice. Since the articulation of the 'software crisis' in the late-1960s, significant effort has been put into addressing problems related to the cost, time and quality of software development via the application of systematic processes and management practices for software engineering. Early efforts resulted in prescriptive structured methods, which have evolved and expanded over time to embrace consortia/ company-led initiatives such as the Unified Modeling Language and the Unified Process alongside formal process improvement frameworks such as the International Standards Organization's 9000 series, the Capability Maturity Model and SPICE. More recently, the philosophy behind traditional plan-based initiatives has been questioned by the agile movement, which seeks to emphasize the human and craft aspects of software development over and above the engineering aspects. Agile practice is strongly collaborative in its outlook, favoring individuals and interactions over processes and tools, working software over comprehensive documentation, customer collaboration over contract negotiation, and responding to change over following a plan (see Sidebar 1). Early experience reports on the use of agile practice suggest some success in dealing with the problems of the software crisis, and suggest that plan-based and agile practice are not mutually exclusive. Indeed, flexibility may arise from this unlikely marriage in an aim to strike a balance between the rigor of traditional plan-based approaches and the need for adaptation of those to suit particular development situations. With this in mind, this article surveys the current practice in software engineering alongside perceptions of senior development managers in relation to agile practice in order to understand the principles of agility that may be practiced implicitly and their effects on plan-based approach

An evaluation of open source software adoption by UK SMEs in the IT industry

This study evaluates the adoption of Open Source Software (OSS) by IT Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the UK. The growing popularity and acceptance of OSS continues to draw much attention in research and practice. However, researchers and IT practitioners within the UK SME sector still face challenges in understanding the issues that influence the acceptance, adoption, and diffusion of OSS. While previous research studies have focused mainly on the software development model and the unique characteristics of OSS, the area of OSS adoption by UK SMEs has largely been ignored. Furthermore, there is a lack of widely-acceptable theories that explain the adoption of OSS, implying that there is limited understanding of OSS adoption by UK SMEs. This gap in research has led this thesis to evaluate existing adoption theories and then apply the 'Decomposed Theory of Planned Behaviour' to model the adoption of OSS by SMEs. Based on the emerged conceptual model, an innovative and structured qualitative research design that uses a case study strategy was developed to evaluate the adoption of OSS across 10 UK SMEs in the IT industry. The analysis of the standardised data from the case study interviews led to the definition of the 16 factors of an emergent theory of OSS adoption by IT SMEs. The analysis of that empirical model has led to important conclusions including the following five issues, summarily. (1) The participant IT SMEs were drawn to different benefits, and experienced different challenges, in using OSS, suggesting that there is subjectivity and complexity in the factors influencing OSS adoption. (2) As in most Information and Communication Technology (ICT) adoption, ITcapability was identified to be essential for successful adoption of OSS, and therefore, it presents potential for important cooperative and collaborative support with OSS communities. (3) The emergent theory from this research study provide researchers and practitioners with variables for surveying critical-success-factors and a reference model for understanding the adoption of OSS. (4) The emergent theory and other general findings from this study are likely to have relevance in other areas of Information Systems research and practice, owing to the factors and theoretical framework that are common to OSS and general ICT acceptance, adoption, and diffusion. (5) This study appears to be the first that has focused on developing a widely-acceptable theory of OSS adoption by IT SMEs in the UK, suggesting that this innovative research study is a novel contribution that has important implications for theory and practice in OSS and general ICT acceptance, adoption, and diffusion.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Classifying complex topics using spatial-semantic document visualization : an evaluation of an interaction model to support open-ended search tasks

In this dissertation we propose, test and develop a novel search interaction model to address two key problems associated with conducting an open-ended search task within a classical information retrieval system: (i) the need to reformulate the query within the context of a shifting conception of the problem and (ii) the need to integrate relevant results across a number of separate results sets. In our model the user issues just one highrecall query and then performs a sequence of more focused, distinct aspect searches by browsing the static structured context of a spatial-semantic visualization of this retrieved document set. Our thesis is that unsupervised spatial-semantic visualization can automatically classify retrieved documents into a two-level hierarchy of relevance. In particular we hypothesise that the locality of any given aspect exemplar will tend to comprise a sufficient proportion of same-aspect documents to support a visually guided strategy for focused, same-aspect searching that we term the aspect cluster growing strategy. We examine spatial-semantic classification and potential aspect cluster growing performance across three scenarios derived from topics and relevance judgements from the TREC test collection. Our analyses show that the expected classification can be represented in spatial-semantic structures created from document similarities computed by a simple vector space text analysis procedure. We compare two diametrically opposed approaches to layout optimisation: a global approach that focuses on preserving the all similarities and a local approach that focuses only on the strongest similarities. We find that the local approach, based on a minimum spanning tree of similarities, produces a better classification and, as observed from strategy simulation, more efficient aspect cluster growing performance in most situations, compared to the global approach of multidimensional scaling. We show that a small but significant proportion of aspect clustering growing cases can be problematic, regardless of the layout algorithm used. We identify the characteristics of these cases and, on this basis, demonstrate a set of novel interactive tools that provide additional semantic cues to aid the user in locating same-aspect documents.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Classifying complex topics using spatial-semantic document visualization : an evaluation of an interaction model to support open-ended search tasks

In this dissertation we propose, test and develop a novel search interaction model to address two key problems associated with conducting an open-ended search task within a classical information retrieval system: (i) the need to reformulate the query within the context of a shifting conception of the problem and (ii) the need to integrate relevant results across a number of separate results sets. In our model the user issues just one highrecall query and then performs a sequence of more focused, distinct aspect searches by browsing the static structured context of a spatial-semantic visualization of this retrieved document set. Our thesis is that unsupervised spatial-semantic visualization can automatically classify retrieved documents into a two-level hierarchy of relevance. In particular we hypothesise that the locality of any given aspect exemplar will tend to comprise a sufficient proportion of same-aspect documents to support a visually guided strategy for focused, same-aspect searching that we term the aspect cluster growing strategy. We examine spatial-semantic classification and potential aspect cluster growing performance across three scenarios derived from topics and relevance judgements from the TREC test collection. Our analyses show that the expected classification can be represented in spatial-semantic structures created from document similarities computed by a simple vector space text analysis procedure. We compare two diametrically opposed approaches to layout optimisation: a global approach that focuses on preserving the all similarities and a local approach that focuses only on the strongest similarities. We find that the local approach, based on a minimum spanning tree of similarities, produces a better classification and, as observed from strategy simulation, more efficient aspect cluster growing performance in most situations, compared to the global approach of multidimensional scaling. We show that a small but significant proportion of aspect clustering growing cases can be problematic, regardless of the layout algorithm used. We identify the characteristics of these cases and, on this basis, demonstrate a set of novel interactive tools that provide additional semantic cues to aid the user in locating same-aspect documents.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Designing effective animated icons for children

Information Technology is an essential part of the National Curriculum in the UK, yet despite the growth of IT in schools that this has generated, there is evidence that children are not to be taken into consideration enough when designing aspects of educational software. The functionality available in education software packages tends to be made available through static icons, yet there are problems with their implementation as they can at times cause confusion for the user in terms of the functionality that they are aiming to represent. In order to make icons in educational software more effective, and to meet the needs of children, of the use of animated icons has been suggested. Animating the function of the icon aims to provide a clarification of its meaning and demonstrate its capabilities, as well as explaining to the user the method of use. However, there is little information available on how to support the design of effective animated icons. Focusing on a target age group of 11 to 12 year olds, this thesis argues that some form of support mechanism should be developed for the design of animated icons to ensure that consideration is being given to the types of object that children find useful and accessible. A set of dimensions where guidance on visual aspects of the icon may be useful are developed through analysis of relevant literature and it is highlighted that they do not provide any insight into what types of object may be helpful in designing the animated icons. This thesis then argues that animated icon design can be usefully informed by psychological theories of learning and that using such theories as a base may provide an understanding of how children identify icon functionality. The thesis introduces and critiques Piaget’s Genetic Epistemology theory, Vygotsky’s Sociocultural theory and Leontjev’s Activity Theory, identifying aspects of the theories which may be of relevance to the design of animated icons. By investigating the relationships between the dimensions of animated icons and the concepts from the theories of learning, insights are developed into the impact of visual factors on a child’s identification and understanding of icon functionality. The thesis goes on to report a practical study where the sample is a group of 11 to 12 year old children. The practical study consists of three phases. The first phase gathers data related to the children’s familiarity with computers and the types of software packages that they use. The second phase looks at their use and recognition of static icon functionality. The last phase involves using the findings from phases 1 and 2 to create and evaluate a set of animated icons, the development of which is based on the relationships between the concepts from theories of learning and the identified dimensions of animated icons. The analysis of the evidence from the practical study leads to a small set of design principles being proposed that are aimed to provide advice/guidance on how to design animated icons effectively for this target age group, with an emphasis on the types of object that might be used. The principles are underpinned by the concepts from the theories of learning and presented in a manner that aims to be understandable by, and accessible to, designers.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

The role and value of ethical frameworks in software development

Software development is notorious for failure, typically defined as over budget, late delivery and/or poor quality of new information systems (IS) on project completion. The consequences of such failure can be enormous, particularly financially. As such, there is consensus by practitioners and academics alike that this practice is unacceptable. Yet with a variety of accepted development methods and tools available for use by software developers and project managers, there is still no significant reduction in the size or frequency of failure reported. In an attempt to understand the conflicts which arise in the development environment in which developers and project managers must operate, the research area is the role and value of ethics in the development of managed software projects. A definition of ethics in this context was provided by the IEEE/ACM Code of Ethics. Research was additionally conducted to understand how other professions and business areas define and enforce ethics in their respective working environments. These were (UK) Law, Finance, Retail and, law practice in the European Union. Interpretive research was then conducted to enable software development practices to be understood from the view of developers and project managers in industry. Unethical practices were then identified in a large IT company based in west London via a single, six month in-depth case study, with the data collected analysed via a series of repertory grids. Analysis and triangulation of the data collected via interviews, document analysis and observations led to an improved understanding of the causes of the unethical practices found. Conclusions and recommendations are then provided relating to implications for (a) the company participating in the research, (b) the application of the IEEE/ACM Code in industry (c) theory for ethicists.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

The collaborative index

Information-seekers use a variety of information stores including electronic systems and the physical world experience of their community. Within electronic systems, information-seekers often report feelings of being lost and suffering from information overload. However, in the physical world they tend not to report the same negative feelings. This work draws on existing research including Collaborative Filtering, Recommender Systems and Social Navigation and reports on a new observational study of information-seeking behaviours. From the combined findings of the research and the observational study, a set of design considerations for the creation of a new electronic interface is proposed. Two new interfaces, the second built from the recommendations of the first, and a supporting methodology are created using the proposed design considerations. The second interface, the Collaborative Index, is shown to allow physical world behaviours to be used in the electronic world and it is argued that this has resulted in an alternative and preferred access route to information. This preferred route is a product of information-seekers' interactions 'within the machine' and maintains the integrity of the source information and navigational structures. The methodology used to support the Collaborative Index provides information managers with an understanding of the information-seekers' needs and an insight into their behaviours. It is argued that the combination of the Collaborative Index and its supporting methodology has provided the capability for information-seekers and information managers to 'enter into the machine', producing benefits for both groups.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

The Effects of Augmented Reality-supported Instruction in Tertiary-level Medical Education

A significant body of the literature has documented the potential of Augmented Reality (AR) in education, but little is known about the effects of AR-supported instruction in tertiary-level Medical Education (ME). This quasi-experimental study compares a traditional instructional approach with supplementary online lecture materials using digital handout notes with a control group (n = 30) and an educational AR application with an experimental group (n = 30) to investigate any possible added-value and gauge the impact of each approach on students' academic performance and training satisfaction. This study's findings indicate considerable differences in both academic performance and training satisfaction between the two groups. The participants in the experimental group performed significantly better than their counterparts, an outcome which is also reflected in their level of training satisfaction through interacting and viewing 3D multimedia content. This study contributes by providing guidelines on how an AR-supported intervention can be integrated into ME and provides empirical evidence on the benefits that such an approach can have on students' academic performance and knowledge acquisition