This paper listed affective attributes of an interaction design for a reading application meant for dyslexic children. Different reading styles and unique reading approach of these specific children has long been

a challenge for designers to come out with an acceptable interaction design (IxD). Emotional characteristics towards reading such as likes, dislikes, motivation, and satisfaction, which are very much related to affection, are essential in designing the suitable reading application to help them in learning to read and increase their interest in reading. A series of observation and unstructured

interviews were conducted involving 28 dyslexic children, whose age range from 7 to 14 years old. The finding reveals that we can combine the affective attributes of the dyslexic children with the interaction model based on Norman’s work to map specific requirements suitable to dyslexic children’s reading ability. This inventive IxD model is proposed for readers with dyslexia. Additionally this paper shows how we translated such model into an automatic reading tutor for special need learners

Aziz, Fakhrul Anuar

Husni, Husniza

Jamaludin, Zulikha

UUM Repository

Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Computing and Informatics, ICOCI 2011,8-9 June, 2011 Bandung, Indonesia   Paper No.  172   1AN IxD SUPPORT MODEL WITH AFFECTIVE CHARACTERISTICS FOR DYSLEXIC CHILDREN’S READING APPLICATION Zulikha Jamaludin1, Husniza Husni2, and Fakhrul Anuar Aziz3 1,2,3Universiti Utara Malaysia, Malaysia,zulie@uum.edu.my, husniza@uum.edu.my, fakhrul@uum.edu.my ABSTRACT. This paper listed affective attributes of an interaction design for a reading application meant for dyslexic children. Different reading styles and unique reading approach of these specific children has long been a challenge for designers to come out with an acceptable interaction design (IxD). Emotional characteristics towards reading such as likes, dislikes, mo-tivation, and satisfaction, which are very much related to affection, are es-sential in designing the suitable reading application to help them in learning to read and increase their interest in reading. A series of observation and un-structured interviews were conducted involving 28 dyslexic children, whose age range from 7 to 14 years old. The finding reveals that we can combine the affective attributes of the dyslexic children with the interaction model based on Norman’s work to map specific requirements suitable to dyslexic children’s reading ability. This inventive IxD model is proposed for readers with dyslexia. Additionally this paper shows how we translated such model into an automatic reading tutor for special need learners. Keywords: Interaction design, affective engineering, interaction model, dyslexic children reading application. INTRODUCTION Reading, for dyslexic children (DC) is such a challenging task, even for simple words. Due to their difficulties in reading, dyslexia is perceived to be a deficit in the acquisition of sufficient skills for the aforementioned task due to phonological deficit theory (Lundberg, 1995; Shaywitz, 1996; Snowling, 2000; Wolf, 1999). Thus, significant efforts have been put forward to help them read from conventional teaching methods to computer-based application (Lundberg 1995; Lundberg & Olofsson, 1993; Olofsson, 1992; Olson & Wise, 1992). Since reading is such a challenge, having an automated reading tutor (ART) is therefore concerns very much on the affection of such tool to create interest and likable factors towards reading. Affective aspect of a reading tutor is the key that influence the positive emotion of these children (Te’ni, Carey, & Zhang, 2007). Hence, to ensure the effectiveness of an ART, the application must adapt interaction design model that fit specifically to these special need learners. The model should take into account the affective attributes of the children, prior to translating them into ART. Theoretically, affect is referred to as a valence subjective experience involving positive or negative perception or pleasing or displeasing feelings (Desmet, 2007). The valence subjec-tive experience serves as a basis of the core affect theory (Russell, 2003) as depicted in Figure 1. The hedonic dimension (horizontal line) represents pleasure and displeasure whereas the activation dimension (vertical line) represents activated or deactivated mode. In order to diffe-rentiate user’s affection state towards a product, these two dimensions could be combined to Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Computing and Informatics, ICOCI 2011,8-9 June, 2011 Bandung, Indonesia   Paper No.  172   2show either positive affect or negative affect depending upon which quarter in the core affect circle the user’s state resides.  Figure 1: Core affect theory. (Source: adapted from Russell, 2003; Desmet, 2007)   Figure 2: Reading model (Wright, 2010) To ensure that the DC using ART reach the positive affect state, the ART is specifically designed by incorporating the children’s affective characteristics towards reading as sug-gested by Fakhrul, Husniza, and Zulikha (2010). For that, affective engineering is used to eli-cit requirements that can create pleasure and activation to achieve the above two positive di-mensions as shown in the core affect theory illustrated in Figure 1. AFFECTION IN READING     The children’s positive affect can be directly spotted when they are interacting with com-puter-based applications. However it can only be easy with a proper design of interaction in the application’s user interface. Designing such interaction had always been far from perfect especially for DC due to the variability in their reading patterns. Figure 2 shows a model of reading which classify poor word reading as classic dyslexia. According to Wright, (2010) this model holds that reading is a function of one’s ability to read the words (rw) on the page (p1…n) and the ability to apply linguistic (al) and reasoning skills (ar) to the decoded text, i.e. moving towards broader language skills in the model (Reading = (rw) + skill (al + rs)).  At word level, is there a way to bring in affective values into an ART? We believe that by incorporating instructional strategies into existing interaction model a more appropriate framework for effective ART can be obtained. Thus this work aimed at combining two well known interaction models namely Norman’s Interaction Model and Abowd and Beal model. The models, supported by core affect theory will then be translated into interaction design (IxD) strategies in designing the user interface for an ART meant for DC.  THE INTERACTION MODELS Norman’s interaction model consists of a logical execution-evaluation cycle, mainly a me-thod of conceptualizing the philosophy of computer interfaces. Figure 3 depicts the original Norman’s model of interaction which breaks down the process of interaction between human and a computer-based application into seven phases. Beginning with forming the goal, an in-tention will be formed followed by specifying and executing action. After that, a user will perceive the state of the world, interpreting it and evaluating the outcome. Execution-evaluation loop will occur because users will take further action based on their evaluation. Abowd and Beale (1991) expand Norman’s model by giving a more realistic description of interaction. They include the system with its four major components namely User, Input, System, and Output (Figure 4). Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Computing and Informatics, ICOCI 2011,8-9 June, 2011 Bandung, Indonesia   Paper No.  172   3 Figure 3: Norman’s interaction model (Norman, 1986).  Figure 4: Abowd and Beale Model of interaction (Abowd & Beale, 1991).  Abowd and Beale (1991) indicated in their model the following interaction steps. The user communicates with the system via input/input devices (articulation). This is the process of describing request in the form of a language understandable by a task. The request is executed using a certain core language (performance) and then produce output to users in a presenta-tion phase. The user may continue with observation on the results or start formulating new goals. Putting the interaction models into the DC’s context, the interaction design should con-sider the impairments specifically the types of reading errors, fonts and colours. Embedding such design ensures that the ART is capable of giving maximum effect towards the perfor-mance of the children’s reading. Effective interaction design of the ART’s interface shall ease the dyslexic children (User) in reading aloud prompted words (Input) displayed on the screen. The read speech is then recognized (System) and the result is presented back to the user (Out-put). The children can observe the output i.e. the text produced and later decide what to do next (formulating new goal). METHODS AND ANALYSIS OF STUDY In Norman’s model, the gap between physical and mental activity is actually the gap be-tween 1) how the user want to act and how the system allows or support the users to take ac-tion; and 2) how the computer display its output and how the users interprets the output. To minimize the gap, the tasks in ART are supported by an IxD that addresses the DC’s reading patterns, reading interactions and styles. The form, content, and behaviour dimensions of IxD are designed to reduce the cognitive load of the DC. The foundation of this design is based on the Abowd and Beale’s interaction model. In this context, we interviewed and observed 12 DC, aged between 7-14 years old, in an attempt to finalize goal decomposition and their reading task. The tasks are analyzed to an acceptable level, i.e. when the gap between physical and mental activity is eliminated. Focus-ing more directly on aspects that need to support the interaction of DC, each translation step in Abowd and Beale’s model is examined so that affective characteristics and specific reading patterns can be mapped on to these translations. Figure 5 limns the model of the mapping and translation. Figure 6 shows the analysis on the children’s impairment and the design results obtained after the observation and interview process. The figure is showing the analysis car-ried out in deciding the type of computer support, user interface screen objects, content, ap-plication behavior, and affective valence to be implemented in the ART. These are the types of IxD dimension and supports, obtained from the translation process from the DC’s impair-ment (see column 3 and 4 in Figure 6): Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Computing and Informatics, ICOCI 2011,8-9 June, 2011 Bandung, Indonesia   Paper No.  172   4                                                                                                                                                           Figure 5: The IxD support model showing the mapping from Norman, Abowd and Beale interaction models. • Navigation path is designed to overcome the problem of weak focus for coherence (or easily distracted) with minimum interface widgets (minimalist design), yet  in-cludes affective dimension of curiosity and relaxed.  • Pen animation that illustrates how to write an alphabet is proposed in order to support the limited cognitive load of dyslexic children. It has been observed that these children cannot handle reading a word due to the need for bigger cognitive load to accomplish the task. Therefore in order to read a word, the alphabet should be slowly crafted not just to illustrate the shape of the letter for easier identifica-tion but also for knowing the direction from where to start reading (as oppose to flash cards method). Affective dimension considered are curiosity, awaiting, and eagerness and the IxD dimension includes the level of words, the pen size, and the animation speed. • Coloured syllables is used based on the fact that DC are highly affected by words and coloured background (Irlen, 2005). Hence, colours as suggested by Irlen are used for the background which can be changed easily by the children. The co-loured syllables are based on the children’s choice during interview and observa-tion (the children are advised to choose their preferred syllable colours during reading exercise) • Fonts and typeface handling are based on the observed reading errors made by the children. The most apparent reading pattern is they tend to substitute, eliminate or replace an alphabet with other alphabet. This suggests to a design of the similarly looking alphabet such as b and d not to mirror each other. Thus, the use of differ-ent typeface with different contrast is used to avoid the confusion. The children al-so have control over the type of fonts and choices of similarly looking words that they feel easier to read (and read them correctly!). Affective dimension included in such design are satisfaction and curiosity.  interaction model  Core affect theory  Computer support readingmodel  INPUT:DC impair‐ments interview & observation Affective dimen‐sion IxD di‐mension Norman’s Abowd & Beale prototype  Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Computing and Informatics, ICOCI 2011,8-9 June, 2011 Bandung, Indonesia   Paper No.  172   5 Figure 6: The analysis on the children’s impairment and the design results obtained.   Figure 7: One of the screen interface of the ART.  CONCLUSION A specific design of an ART is viewed important to cater for the children’s needs – the need to have a carefully designed ART not only focusing on the reading tutor’s engine but also the interface of such application. The interface design plays an important role to bring about the children’s affection towards reading as well as the learning process. Special consid-eration on their need to have a suitable and adjustable background colours, different coloured fonts to highlight syllable boundaries in a word, as well as adjustable font types and sizes, for Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Computing and Informatics, ICOCI 2011,8-9 June, 2011 Bandung, Indonesia   Paper No.  172   6example, would ease the learning process. Hence, the proposed model that combines two inte-raction models, Norman’s and Abowd and Beale’s models, caters for the need to 1) present the content or objective of an ART that meets the learners’ goal, intention, and expectation; 2) ensure that the learning process is effectively delivered when the learners use the ART. Therefore, affective qualities, such as satisfaction, joyfulness, relaxation, and fascination, that satisfy the IxD dimension for dyslexic children need to be incorporated into the design of an ART. This proposed IxD model and interface design needs further study and an evaluation process is being carried out. It is not yet to be claimed as a pedagogically sound design that results in more effective reading tutor design for the special education context. REFERENCES  Abowd, G. D. & Beale, R. (1991). User systems and interfaces: a unifying framework for in-teraction. In D. Diaper and N. Hammond. (Eds.), HCI ’91: People and Computers VI. (pp. 239-252). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Desmet, P. M. A. (2007). Product emotion. In H. N. J. Schifferstein and P. Hekkert (Eds.), Product experience. New York: Elsevier Science Publishers. Fakhrul, A. A., Husniza, H., & Zulikha, J. (2010). Affective engineering: What is it actually? Proceedings of 5th Knowledge Management Internation Conference, KMICE 2010, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia. Irlen, H. (2005). Reading by the colors: overcoming dyslexia and other reading disabilities through the Irlen Method. New York: Pengiun Group.  Lundberg, I. (1995). The computer as a tool of remediation in the education of students with reading disabilities: A theory-based approach. Learning Disability Quarterly, 18(2), 88-99. Lundberg, I. & Olofsson, A. (1993). Can computer speech support reading comprehension? Computers in Human Behavior, 9, 283-293.  Norman, D. (1986). Cognitive Engineering. In: Donald Norman and Stephen Draper (Eds.) User centered design: new perspectives on human-computer interaction , Erlbaum As-sociates: Hillsdale, N.J, 31-62 Norman, D. A. (1998). The psychology of everyday things. New York: Basic Books. Olofsson, A. (1992). Synthetic speech and computer aided reading for reading disabled child-ren. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 4, 165-178.  Olson, R. K. & Wise, B. W. (1992). Reading on the computer with orthographic and speech feedback: An overview of the Colorado remediation project. Reading and Writing: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 4, 107-144. Russell, J. A. (2003). Core affect and the psychological construction of emotion. Psychologi-cal Review, 110(1), 145-172. Shaywitz, S. E. (1996, November). Dyslexia. Scientific American, 98-104. Snowling, M. J. (2000). Dyslexia (2nd ed.). UK: Blackwell Publishers. Te’eni, D., Carey, J., & Zhang, P. (2007). Human Computer Interaction: Developing Effec-tive Organizational Information Systems. USA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Wolf, M. (1999). What time may tell: Towards a new conceptualization of developmental dyslexia. Annals of Dyslexia, 49, 3-28. Wright, C. (2010). Understanding words: a brief history. Retrieved from Dyslexia Informa-tion website http://www.understandingwords.com.au/public/dyslexia_information.php. 

An IxD support model with affective characteristics for dyslexic childrens's reading application

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