CSC 8570 -- USI

Class Meeting 5September 21, 2010

Phrase Exercise

• Only 4 from the grammar had no meaning to anyone– drag and drag– move and drag– drag twice– move twice

• Conversely, either 6 or 7 experts (that’s you) agreed– Tap is described by one phrase commonly chosen from the

grammar, but only one expert assigned it to tap– Double tap is described by 8 phrases from the grammar– Press and hold is described by 5 phrases from the grammar– Press and drag is described by 1 phrase from the grammar

Phrase Exercise (2)

The two-finger interactions:• The only phrase that most everyone attached

to an action, and one of the actions was Pull together/Pull apart, was double press

Conclusion: Describing actions in common terms is difficult and should proceed from the interface view to the user view, rather than the other direction.

Research Project

• Short presentation– One spokesperson– Five minutes– Hypotheses, variables, initial experimental design

• Questions and comments from the audience

Research Teams

• Aspen: Matt, Vince• Bailey: Gerry, Vinay• Conifer: Yi-Ling• Durango: David• Estes Park: Ivan

Research Project Issues

• Add to bibliography – goal is at least 15 references• Design experiment• Create experimental tools• Complete IRB form• Start writing first two sections• Dates– IRB form finished no later than 10/5– Progress Report 1 due 10/26

Summary of Some Ideas

• User goals• Mental models• GUEPs• Cognitive dimensions

User Goals

Based on last week’s discussion and other sources, here’s a list of user goals.

Users want systems that:1. Are powerful, meaning fast and efficient2. Have proper functionality3. Minimize the possibility for (tragic) errors4. Allow easy recovery from misdirected actions5. Are easily learned and easily relearned

User Goals (2)

6. Fit a cognitive model based on past experience

7. Are easy to maintain, including set up8. Are flexible9. Stimulate creative problem solving10. Are personally satisfying

GUEPs and CDs

• GUEPs (Generative User Engineering Principles)

• CDs (Cognitive Dimensions)

Relating GUEPs and CDs

Match the 14 cognitive dimensions to the 9 GUEPs looking for overlapping and orthogonal ideas.

Summarize the results by creating a 14 by 9 array whose cell entries describe the relationship between the ith CD and the jth GUEP

Mental Models

As theories:• Constructed by humans• Based on their world experience• What they believe to be true about particular

domains, devices, or systems

Mental Models

As problems spaces• Mental structures (ideas, concepts, virtual

worlds)• Contain possible states • Searchable so that users can plan their

behaviors (paths from one state to the next converging on a solution)

A Lengthy Example

iPods at the ready• What is your mental model of an iPod?– What do you believe to be true about an iPod?– How would you describe the problem space

associated with an iPod?

iPod (2)

What tasks do you want to accomplish with an iPod?

• Described in high level terms• In a different context, “I want fresh tomatoes

from my garden on my salad.” [No specifications about planting, tending, picking or preparing the tomatoes.]

iPod (3)

What operators are available?• Physical keys or widgets• Virtual widgets on the interface

iPod (4)

What notation do we use for widget interaction?• Do we need to expand Card & Moran or

Raskin & Beck?

iPod (3)

Preparing for task analysis• Tasks vs. goals• Hierarchical task analysis vs. GOMS• ConcurTaskTrees– http://giove.cnuce.cnr.it/ctte.html

ConcurTaskTreesTask Types

Type Action Example

User No system interaction

Read a message

Abstraction Complex User session

Application No user interaction

Perform a database query

Interaction User and system together

Click a button

ConcurTaskTreesOperators

Temporal OperatorsIcon Description Syntax

[] Choice T1 [] T2

|=| Order Independency

T1 |=| T2

||| Concurrent T1 ||| T2

|[ ]| Concurrent with information exchange

T1 |[ ]| T2

[> Disabling T1 [> T2

|> Suspend/Resume T1 |> T2

>> Enabling T1 >> T2

[] >> Enabling with information exchange

T1 [] >> T2

T1Connection

[ T1 ]Optional [ ]

T1 *Iterative *

SyntaxDescriptionIcon

Unary Operators

Synthesizing Edge and Blackwell

Referring to your concept map:• What is its structure?• What is its shape?• What is its top-level concept?

Leave Behind

• Concept map of the Edge and Blackwell paper

Next Time

Remember that “next time” is October 5• Continue work on research project,

completing experimental material and IRB form

• Catch up on reading

Research Team Meetings