W3 Reading

Usability and interaction design – new challenges for the Scandinavian tradition

Bødker and Sundblad (2007) see user interfaces options are much wider today. They were part of the Utopia project 1981-85. Out of this project came an understanding of co-operative design methodology which meant when it came to designing software it gave users input of the beginning development of software. The benefit is it increases software quality. Scandanavia over the past thirty years has made a concerted effort in software and interface design to try to follow some of the concepts of the Utopia Project . They keep the end-user in mind and have them help when writing software or designing interfaces. Many software development methodologies have evolved and is approaching the “3rd wave” of change. In this one of the prime methodologies is to experiment with interface and design to come up with an aesthetic pleasing form; physically as well as virtually. Multiple users and multiple design checks during devlopment is standard course.

Designing Multimodal User-Interfaces for Effective E-Learning in the School Primary Stages Applied on Real Fractions

Odeh and Qaraeen (2009) studied the effectiveness of e-learning with elementary age children. The area that they focused on was the introduction of fractions. They noted that it was a confusing area of mathematics that many students have difficulties with. They wanted to compare traditional textbook learning and e-learning of fractions. They created software in Java so they could use any computer platform to run their experiments. The experiment alternated between traditional and e-learning. After each e-learning session the students were given a survey asking how it compared to the textbook and how well the computer helped them understand fractions. The survey had 12 -18 questions asking for a variety of information from interface to how well they liked it.

Ant Colony Metaphor Applied in User Interface Recommendation

Sobecki (2007) had 18 pages of research based on interface conventions using the model of an ant colony. The idea was to have a user profile developed by systematic gathering of user data on their selections on the web. Purchases, navigation, email, and a variety of other statistical projected data of choice. The idea he has is two fold. To create a set of choices for the user most like what they would chose and secondly even create an interface to the information most preferred by the user. The ant methaphor is stated like this: “The main idea of using ant colony metaphor is that living ants, despite their being almost blind, are able to find their way from the nest to food and back.” Comparing people to blind ants is an interesting choice of words that maybe indicates how users interact on the internet but the overall concept was to offer a straighter line to what the user is looking for via the interface and their personal preferences.

Alternate interface Technologies Emerge

Kroeker (2010) reported on several engineers working in the field of HCI. (Human-computer interaction.) They are looking for the next best way to use all the technologies around us in the optimum way. The engineers featured have also already made significant developments in the commercial world with design of products that are in use today. Several projects  in development were outlined but the most significant items on interface in this article comes in the form of quotes by Chris Harrison an HCI researcher from Carnegie Mellon University:

“…while computers have become orders of magnitude more powerful than they were a few decades ago, users continue to rely on the mouse and keyboard, technologies that are approximately 45 and 150 years old, respectively.”

“That’s analogous to driving your car with ropes and sails. It’s this huge disparity that gets me excited about input.”

The article finishes again with a very significant quote by Harrison that should serve as watch words for all computer users and designers:

“To advance to the next song on your portable music player, a simple button can be fantastically efficient. We have to be diligent in preserving what works, and investigate what doesn’t.”

REFERENCES

Bødker, S., & Sundblad, Y. (2008). Usability and interaction design - new challenges for the Scandinavian tradition. Behaviour & Information Technology, 27(4), 293-300. doi:10.1080/01449290701760682.

Odeh, S., & Qaraeen, O. (2009). Designing multimodal user-interfaces for effective e-learning in the school primary stages applied on real fractions. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning, 4(2), 39-47. doi:10.3991/ijet.v4i2.274.

Sobecki, J. (2008). Ant colony metaphor applied in user interface recommendation. New Generation Computing, 26(3), 277-293. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.

Kroeke, K. (2010). Alternate interface technologies emerge. Communications of the ACM, 53(2), 13-15. Retrieved from Business Source Premier database.