Implementation of uMMp using the localization of web objects in user interface design

Websites play an important role as a communication tool between people around the world. This phenomenon introduces the medium of communication, the user interface (UI), between humans and machines as a key player. The existing web development process recognizes this importance but does not follow any precise guidelines for the construction of UI as an activity within the system development life cycle. This paper describes a method for constructing UI based on users’ Mental Model patterns (uMMp) from the localization of web objects. This method can be incorporated into the development process in order to better fulfill users’ expectations. The uMMp describe interface design solutions favouring the development of a UI

User interface design: A study of expectation- confirmation theory

In a century of high technology and in a cyber world, the website is recognized as a super fast medium of information transfer, sharing and data harmonization.Users around the world look for information in various kinds of websites and online sources.These multicultural users have different experiences and expectations regarding the structure of a website and how to use it. However, there are limited guidelines for the development of websites for multicultural users. In particular, there is a lack of specific standards for user-centric websites that should be taken into account during the development of a website.Such guidelines would be useful in giving designers an overview of how to develop websites that will satisfy the expectations of users around the world.The present study explored ASEAN users’ expectations of an informational website based on expectation-confirmation theory (ECT), which is adapted from the consumer behavior literature. Eight constructs, namely, expectation, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived performance, satisfaction, interface quality, confirmation and continuance intention were used to measure a user-centric Web-based interface. The results of the study demonstrate satisfactory reliable and valid scales of the model constructs

Evaluation of Asian mental models pattern of web user-centered interface design using eye-tracking technology

This study utilised eye-tracking technology to evaluate the results from the ASEAN mental model pattern of web object locations in a web user-centered interface design. Two experts and four volunteers participated in an eye-tracking experiment. The selected web object locations led to fewer fixations and participants found the target web objects faster. The eye-tracking data showed that users have clear expectations of where web objects are located on a web page. With the utilisation of the eye-tracking technology, a more precise and objective tool can be used to improve the classification of web user-centered interface design. It was concluded that eye-tracking technology is accurate and useful for knowing what a user looks at and understanding the user�s behavior. Finally, it was established that there was an improvement when using the information generated by the eye tracker. The study showed that web objects located according to user expectations were found faster and remembered more easily. Placing web objects at expected locations and designing their appearance according to user expectations facilitates orientation, which is beneficial for first impressions and the overall user satisfaction with the website experience

Identifying Gen Y schema for the location of web objects: a case study of ASEAN Community

According to the World Population Clock, over 50% of the world’s population is currently aged less than 30 years, specifically comprising the individuals belonging to Generation Y (Gen Y). It is believed that in specific demography studies, age groups or generations will have different behavior processes when accessing web pages. The aim of this study is to improve website design and implementation which is important based on specific user expectations. This study examined the circumstances wherein individuals from Gen Y (age 18-31) expect specific web objects to be located on the website. The web objects were: Logo, Site title, Login, Search engine, Internal links, External links, Language selection, Content, Calendar and Advertisement(s) respectively. The results found a pattern schema for Gen Y relating to defined expectations concerning the location of these web objects. It is anticipated that this will ultimately help web designers to improve the usability of web page specifically for Gen Y as target users

Generation Y expectations for the location of web objects

This study examined the expectations among Generation Y (Gen Y) individuals (age 18-31) regarding the location of specific objects on a webpage. The Web objects were obtain from previous studies with additional common identified: logo, site title, login, search engine, internal links, external links, language selection, content, calendar and advertisements. The results found that Gen Y expectations regarding the location of these Web objects were not significantly different from the expectations among other age groups except in relation to two objects, namely, external links and advertisements. This study may help the web developers and the managers to improve the usability of web user interface especially targeting this Gen Y group as target market

Einfluss des Kopplungsmechanismus von bifunktionalem Triethoxy-Vinyl-Polydimethylsiloxan (PDMS) mit der Holz- und Polypropylen-Matrix auf die Verbesserung der Eigenschaften des Holz-Kunststoff-Kompositwerkstoffes (WPC)

The studies in this doctoral thesis concentrate on enhancing of WPC performance characteristics with a special bifunctional polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) coupling agent containing groups of triethoxy and vinyl. Composites manufactured from 70% wood flour and 30% polypropylene (WF/PP 70/30) were investigated to see the influence of this special coupling agent on the WPC performance characteristics. In the first step, wood flour was treated with PDMS using impregnation procedure. Composites were prepared by compounding treated or untreated WF and PP in a lab scale twin screw compounder. Flexural strength test, impact test, moisture and water absorption analysis, morphology and microstructure investigation, Fourier transform infrared analysis and dynamic mechanical analysis were done to determine the properties of WPCs produced with and without PDMS. Also, dicumylperoxide (DCP) was used as the radical initiator for the bonding reaction of the vinyl groups with PP. As a result of these investigations it was found that the optimum amount of coupling agent for 70/30 WF/PP is about 1.75 % PDMS and 0.1% DCP. PDMS with very high molecular weight gave composites with better mechanical properties compared to composites treated with PDMS with lower molecular weights. Also, a better interphase bonding between wood and PP was detected when both vinyl and triethoxy groups were available compared to single functionality PDMS. Covalent bonding was proposed between coupling agent-wood interface through triethoxy reaction with OH-groups of wood during treatment as well as coupling with PP interface through the reaction of the vinyl group initiated by DCP during compounding. These additional bridges between the interfaces of wood and PP could be indirectly indicated by improvements of mechanical properties of WPC but were below the detection limit of the available analytical procedures. The performance of this special PDMS treated WPC was also proven to be comparable with the performance of commercially available MAPP treated composite.Die Arbeiten dieser Doktorarbeit konzentrieren sich auf die Verbesserung der Eigenschaften von WPC durch Einsatz von Polydimethylsiloxan (PDMS) mit den funktionellen Triethoxy- und Vinyl-Gruppen als Haftvermittler. Die Untersuchungen erfolgten mit einem Komposit bestehend aus 70% Holzmehl und 30% Polypropylen (WF/PP 70/30). Es wurde der Einfluss dieses Kopplungsmittels auf die Eigenschaften des WPC ermittelt. Das Holzmehl wurde im Imprägnierungsverfahren zunächst mit PDMS vorbehandelt. Die Komposite wurden dann in einem Labor-Doppelschneckenextruder sowohl aus unbehandeltem als auch aus behandeltem Holzmehl und Polypropylen durch Kompoundierung erzeugt und danach zu WPC-Platten gepresst. An diesem Material wurden Biege- und Schlagfestigkeitstest, Feuchtigkeits- und Wasserabsorptions-Analyse sowie Untersuchung der Mikrostruktur, FTIR und DMA durchgeführt. Auch wurde der Einfluss von Dicumylperoxid (DCP) als Radikalstarter für die Bindungsreaktion der Vinylgruppe mit PP untersucht. Es wurde nachgewiesen, dass für 70/30 WF/PP die optimalen Mengen des Kopplungsmittels 1,75 % und des DCP 0,1 % betragen. Mit bifunktionalem und hochmolekularem PDMS erzeugte Kompositen zeigten deutlich bessere mechanische Eigenschaften als die Komposite erzeugt mit niedermolekularem PDMS bzw. mit monofunktionalem PDMS. Dieser Befund lässt sich durch eine bessere Interphasenbindung zwischen Holz und PP erklären, insbesondere dann wenn an der PDMS-Polymerkette die chemischen Funktionen der Vinyl- und Triethoxygruppen zur Verfügung standen. Kovalente Bindungen mit den Holzoberflächen sind möglich durch Reaktion der Triethoxygruppe mit den OH-Gruppen des Holzes. Das Kopplungsmittel kann auch mit der Oberfläche des PP reagieren, wenn die Vinylgruppen vom DCP während der Kompoundierung aktiviert werden. Dieser Reaktionsablauf wurde postuliert, lag aber unterhalb der Erfassungsgrenze gängiger Analyseverfahren und zeigte sich nur indirekt in der deutlich Verbesserung der mechanischen Eigenschaften. Es wurde zudem nachgewiesen, dass die Eigenschaften der mit dem PDMS behandelten WPC vergleichbar sind wie die von WPC, die mit dem kommerziellen Haftvermittler Maleinsäureanhydrid MAPP hergestellt werden

Web user interface: local websites versus users’ mental model pattern for Asean.

Even though there is a great development of mobile application nowadays, a web-based platform is still the necessary development for accessing information. The web interface is an important part of a web structure or web layout of a website which captures the users’ eyes at first glance, whether it is appealing and expected or not. Do the developers or designers develop the web user interface (UI) based on users’ mental model pattern (uMMp)? Or do they realize that experienced and knowledgeable users may have an expected look of the layout or in particular, the localization of the web objects? Every user may have different expectations of the same website, but it may be significantly different when compared to users from other countries. This study will compare and identify the ASEAN uMMp UI with the UI of popular websites in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The aim of the study is to prove that the users may have created their own mental model pattern when looking at a website. This result can hopefully inspire other designers or researchers of the usefulness of web development based on uMMp for web design development improvement in the future

ASEAN perspectives on the interface design of location of web objects

The majority of web users are constructed with a single standard in mind, or a limited number of user profiles, usually from one country or culture. In order to accommodate the international growth of the Internet, this mono-cultural bias website design must change. If these important steps of a user-centered user-interface (UI) Web Development omitted, the website will be less successful, or may even be dysfunctional. People from different countries and cultures have certain expectations of a particular site that may differ significantly from other countries/ cultures. This study involves the analysis of user perspectives where individuals from different countries and cultures expect a specific web-related object to be located on an interface design. Based on previous studies and is named after its location on the object analysis of user perspectives for the interface design with 94 individuals from 10 ASEAN countries, this paper aims to investigate location of web objects, “Internal links”, “External links”, “Search”, “Login” and “Advertisements”. This study will hope to be able to improve the accuracy of regional perspectives are now recorded. The method of adaptivity from previous studies was used, contains an overview of the browser window, six horizontal and seven vertical grid-based namely, Geometric 42 Grids, on the expected location of the web objects interface design. The goal of the user tests was to examine the perspective of users with different cultural backgrounds. When comparing the final results with previous studies, the following results became clear

Investigating Adaptive ASEAN Cultural Diversity Through Users’ Mental Models for User Interface Design.

Nowadays, the Web has become the main gateway for organisations as well as making information accessible through the World Wide Web. Previous usability studies have focused on the development and user-centered design of websites. The location of objects through the use of a mental model is able to help users to navigate the Web and access information easily. The rationale for developing a mental model through an experimental study is to protect the high investment necessary for Web development through adaptive cultural diversity. The specific environment of a different country can inter-operate in the context of adaptation and needs to account for adaptive support in the context of collaborative activities. This study investigates cultural adaptivity with respect to ASEAN countries by identifying a mental model through the location of Web objects via a website user interface. Almost half of the located Web objects are found to be consistent with previous studies that examined user expectations regarding the location of general websites, e-commerce websites and library websites. There were, however, diversities among the studies involving the location of various Web objects. In this study, another three Web object elements are included, namely, "Language", "Content" and "Calendar". It is of interest to note that the participants from all the geographical locations in the ASEAN countries included in this study had similar expectations for certain Web objects. It is therefore possible that the influence of multinational websites and cross-regional Web browsing has significantly shaped the website layout expectations of typical Web users

Influence of the bifunctional triethoxy-vinyl polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) coupling mechanisms on the wood flour and polypropylene matrices to enhance the properties of wood plastic composites (WPC)

Die Arbeiten dieser Doktorarbeit konzentrieren sich auf die Verbesserung der Eigenschaften von WPC durch Einsatz von Polydimethylsiloxan (PDMS) mit den funktionellen Triethoxy- und Vinyl-Gruppen als Haftvermittler. Die Untersuchungen erfolgten mit einem Komposit bestehend aus 70% Holzmehl und 30% Polypropylen (WF/PP 70/30). Es wurde der Einfluss dieses Kopplungsmittels auf die Eigenschaften des WPC ermittelt. Das Holzmehl wurde im Imprägnierungsverfahren zunächst mit PDMS vorbehandelt. Die Komposite wurden dann in einem Labor-Doppelschneckenextruder sowohl aus unbehandeltem als auch aus behandeltem Holzmehl und Polypropylen durch Kompoundierung erzeugt und danach zu WPC-Platten gepresst. An diesem Material wurden Biege- und Schlagfestigkeitstest, Feuchtigkeits- und Wasserabsorptions-Analyse sowie Untersuchung der Mikrostruktur, FTIR und DMA durchgeführt. Auch wurde der Einfluss von Dicumylperoxid (DCP) als Radikalstarter für die Bindungsreaktion der Vinylgruppe mit PP untersucht. Es wurde nachgewiesen, dass für 70/30 WF/PP die optimalen Mengen des Kopplungsmittels 1,75 % und des DCP 0,1 % betragen. Mit bifunktionalem und hochmolekularem PDMS erzeugte Kompositen zeigten deutlich bessere mechanische Eigenschaften als die Komposite erzeugt mit niedermolekularem PDMS bzw. mit monofunktionalem PDMS. Dieser Befund lässt sich durch eine bessere Interphasenbindung zwischen Holz und PP erklären, insbesondere dann wenn an der PDMS-Polymerkette die chemischen Funktionen der Vinyl- und Triethoxygruppen zur Verfügung standen. Kovalente Bindungen mit den Holzoberflächen sind möglich durch Reaktion der Triethoxygruppe mit den OH-Gruppen des Holzes. Das Kopplungsmittel kann auch mit der Oberfläche des PP reagieren, wenn die Vinylgruppen vom DCP während der Kompoundierung aktiviert werden. Dieser Reaktionsablauf wurde postuliert, lag aber unterhalb der Erfassungsgrenze gängiger Analyseverfahren und zeigte sich nur indirekt in der deutlich Verbesserung der mechanischen Eigenschaften. Es wurde zudem nachgewiesen, dass die Eigenschaften der mit dem PDMS behandelten WPC vergleichbar sind wie die von WPC, die mit dem kommerziellen Haftvermittler Maleinsäureanhydrid MAPP hergestellt werden