Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2018-09-28T12:25:54Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Juliana Somekh.pdf: 1105964 bytes, checksum: e95f09685cf91805d123f838a61a6076 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-09-28T12:25:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Juliana Somekh.pdf: 1105964 bytes, checksum: e95f09685cf91805d123f838a61a6076 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-08-31 / This study presents and questions an experiment carried out in the discipline of Ergonomics, which I teach in a Course of Design at a São Paulo university. The concern of the experiment is to awaken in the youngsters - the future designers -, the responsibility to create a design which is more inclusive and more affectionate towards old people. The project selected with this aim consists of the production of an user friendly guide, which teaches the elderly how to use, by themselves, the APP to watch films Netflix. The work investigates whether there is a gain in the quality of the produced guide and in the learning process of ergonomics when the teaching method includes a more humane view on aging, based in great part on the philosophy of encounter of Martin Buber and on exercises experiencing empathy with aging. The general aim of the research is to elaborate a proposal for a teaching method based on the principles of the science of Ergonomics allied with a theoretical analysis of empathy, and guiding the student of design to adopt a posture of respect with the aged and to seek more inclusive and user friendly solutions for products. The evaluation method of the project consisted of reports elaborated by the students after tests of their user guides with the aged people, as well as questionnaires answered by them in class about their impressions on their work and experiences. The result of the experiment shows that, although a more lasting more positive view of the aged by the young had not been achieved, when the latter would see the former as an active, eager to achieve individual it was possible to witness moments of true empathy during the tests of the guides. With the support of humanist thinkers like Buber, we conclude that it is necessary to continue the fight against prejudices ingrained in human beings and that the educator has nowadays a great responsibility to promote in the teaching environment activities originating more humane, more affectionate and more inclusive view on human diversity / Esta investigação apresenta e problematiza uma experiência da disciplina de Ergonomia que leciono em um curso de Design em uma universidade paulistana, cuja preocupação é despertar nos jovens, futuros designers, a responsabilidade por um design mais inclusivo e afetuoso aos idosos. O projeto escolhido com esta finalidade é a criação de um Manual ergonômico, que ensina o velho a usar sozinho o aplicativo de filmes NETFLIX. Investiga-se neste trabalho se há um ganho na qualidade do Manual produzido e no aprendizado de Ergonomia, ao incluir, na didática de ensino, um olhar mais humano da velhice, baseado em grande parte na filosofia de encontro de Martin Buber e em vivências de empatia com o envelhecimento. O objetivo geral da pesquisa é elaborar a proposta de uma metodologia de ensino fundada nos princípios da ciência da Ergonomia, do design inclusivo, aliada a uma análise teórica da empatia, orientando o aluno de design para uma postura de respeito com o usuário-idoso, de busca por soluções de maior afeto e usabilidade. O método de avaliação empregado consistiu em relatórios elaborados pelos alunos após o teste do manual com os idosos, bem como em questionários respondidos por eles em classe sobre suas impressões dos trabalhos e das vivências. O resultado das experiências mostra, na finalização deste trabalho, que - embora não se tenha conseguido uma mudança mais duradoura de olhar na relação jovem-velho, quando o primeiro veria o segundo como um ser produtivo e desejoso de realizações -, foi possível atestar que ocorreram momentos verdadeiramente empáticos durante o teste final do manual. Concluímos, com apoio em pensadores humanistas como Buber, que é preciso continuar a luta contra os preconceitos arraigados no ser humano e que é muito grande a responsabilidade social que deve ter hoje o educador em propiciar, no ambiente de ensino, atividades práticas, que gerem um olhar mais humano, mais afetuoso e inclusivo à diversidade humana

Cette thèse a été initiée dans un contexte d’amélioration de l'expérience utilisateur (UX) pour l'analyse des données de Business Intelligence en raison de l'augmentation du volume de données liées à cette activité. D'une part, les besoins psychologiques des utilisateurs portent sur la simplification de l’utilisation des applications analytiques, ils font l’objet de plus en plus d’attention ; d'autre part, les tâches qu'ils sont prêts à mener deviennent de plus en plus complexes ce qui peut entraîner une surcharge de mémoire qui influe sur les performances dans leur réalisation. Pour garantir la prise en compte de ces deux aspects, les designers doivent concevoir des interfaces et fournir des informations appropriées qui répondent à la fois aux besoins des utilisateurs et aux nécessités de leur activité. Dans cette recherche, nous nous sommes intéressés à l'amélioration de la reprise de la tâche suite à une suspension ou à une interruption de celle-ci dans le cadre de l’analyse visuelle de données. La nature multitâche des actions des utilisateurs et les capacités limitées de stockage de la mémoire de travail humaine entraînent des difficultés à s’engager de nouveau dans une tâche qui a été interrompue ou suspendue. Il devient donc avantageux de disposer d'un outil de suppléance de la mémoire qui aide les utilisateurs à se remettre à leur tâche dans des conditions optimales.Une revue de la littérature nous a conduit tout d'abord au positionnement de notre recherche vis à vis de l'approche énactive et de la perception sensorimotrice qui considèrent l'outil comme un artefact configurant l'interaction entre l'utilisateur et la tâche, selon deux états, saisi ou déposé. De ce point de vue, nous avons constaté que le modèle de mémoire cognitiviste utilisé couramment ne considère pas le rôle de l’interaction avec le monde extérieur dans la construction de la mémoire, et par conséquent ignore la dimension saisie des supports et outils dans la construction d’une mémoire. Par conséquent, nous proposons de compléter ce modèle avec un modèle de mémoire incarnée, qui ouvre une nouvelle perspective permettant de concevoir un outil de suppléance mémorielle approprié. Enfin, les principes de conception d’IHM et d’UX nous aident à construire une proposition d’outil et à mener un plan d'expérience mettant en avant le lien entre les modifications des conditions de perception et les modifications de la dynamique d’interaction. En conclusion de cette partie, la problématique générale est introduite avec l’exploration, la mise en œuvre et l’évaluation de la proposition. La première expérience, le test pilote, analyse la perception que peuvent avoir des concepteurs naviguant sur des applications interactives. Cette étude nous a aidé à construire un vocabulaire d'évaluation en conception d’un support de suppléance de la mémoire et nous a guidé pour concevoir un processus expérimental en tenant compte de ces critères. Dans une seconde expérience, nous développons un outil basé sur une fonction que nous appelons le "history path". Cet outil permet d’afficher à l’utilisateur, dans une fenêtre spécifique de l’interface, certaines étapes de résolution d’une tâche antérieure effectuée par ce même utilisateur (ou pour simuler une interruption de tâche). Nous avons mis en place une expérience simple (minimaliste) simulant une résolution de problème qui a été enregistrée pour évaluer dans quelle mesure le history path peut aider l'utilisateur à récupérer efficacement une tâche interrompue. La première partie de cette expérience nous permet de confirmer l’utilité potentielle de cette fonction et nous aide à explorer l’espace de conception. Dans la deuxième partie, nous expérimentons deux outils différents basés sur deux représentations de l’history path, une représentation statique et l’autre dynamique. Les résultats de l'évaluation nous amènent à comprendre les conditions techniques d'une expérience positive pour laquelle la reprise de tâche est facilitée. / This thesis was initiated in the context of enhancing the user experience for analyzing data due to the increase of the volume of data related to this activity. On the one hand, users’ psychological needs for the simple use of analytic applications are paid more attention than before; on the other hand, the task they are willing to conduct is getting more and more complicated, which may cause memory overload that influences the task performance. To ensure that both aspects are taken into account, the designers should provide a proper information and design a proper interface that meets both users’ needs and the requirements of their activity. In this research, we are interested in improving the task recommitment following a task suspension or interruption in the context of a visual data analysis task. The multitasking nature of user actions and limited storage capacity of human working memory cause difficulties in re-engaging an interrupted or suspended task. Therefore, it is beneficial to have a memory supplementation tool that supports users to recommit their task in optimal conditions. A literature review first leads to the positioning of our research on the enactive approach and sensorimotor perception that consider the tool as an artifact configuring the interaction between the user and the task, in two modes the “put down” mode and the “in hand” mode. From this point of view, we have found that the commonly used cognitive memory model ignores the role of interaction with the external world in the formation of the memory, and consequently ignores the “in hand” dimension of the artifacts in one memory construction. Therefore, we complete this model with the embodied memory, which gives us a new perspective to design an appropriate memory tool that serves as a supplementation of our perceptual system. Finally, the design principles in human-computer interaction and UX helped us build a tool and conduct an experimental plan highlighting the link between changes in perception conditions and changes in the dynamics of interaction. As a conclusion, the research problem is introduced in terms of how we can provide users with a relevant context to recommit to resolving a task after interruption. The design proposal needs to be explored, designed and evaluated. The first experiment, the exploratory study, analyzes the perception of interactive applications by experienced designers. This study helped us construct a vocabulary of evaluation of the design for a memory supplementation support and guided us for the design considering these criteria. In the second experiment, we develop a tool based on a function that we call the “history path”, which permits to show, in a specific window of the user interface, some of the steps of a previous task resolution that a user has performed during previous experience (or to simulate a resolution task interruption). We set up a simple (minimalist) experiment simulating a problem-solving task, which was recorded to evaluate the extent to which a history path support can help the user for efficient recovering of an interrupted task. The first part of this experiment allows us to confirm the potential use of this function and helps us explore the design space. In the second part, we experiment two different tools, based on two history path representations, a static one and a dynamic one. The evaluation results allow us to understand the technical conditions of a positive experience for which task recovery is facilitated. In this second experiment, several means for recording the user experience were mobilized: the evaluation of the durations and gaze frequencies on area of interest in the interface window by eye tracking, the recording of the verbalizations during the RTA (Retrospective Think Aloud) session, and the semantic evaluation.

Au milieu des espaces collectifs et publics, les afficheurs cylindriques informent les utilisateurs autour d'eux. Nous questionnons l'utilité et l'utilisabilité de la symétrie dynamique de révolution pour les afficheurs cylindriques à changement de forme. Nous présentons CairnFORM, un prototype d'afficheur cylindrique capable de changer de symétrie de révolution à l'aide d'une pile modulaire d'anneaux extensibles illuminés. Nous montrons que la symétrie de révolution est utilisable pour informer les utilisateurs par physicalisation des données : nous observons avec un CairnFORM à 10 anneaux qu'un histogramme à anneaux physiques est plus efficace pour une tâche d'intervalle et une tâche de comparaison plutôt que pour une tâche d'ordonnancement. Nous montrons que le changement de symétrie de révolution est utilisable pour notifier sans déranger les utilisateurs par interaction périphérique : nous observons avec un CairnFORM à 1 anneau que le changement de diamètre d'un anneau avec une vitesse exponentielle est perçu plus souvent et plus calmement en périphérie de l'attention plutôt qu'avec une vitesse constante ou logarithmique. Nous montrons que les afficheurs cylindriques à symétrie dynamique de révolution offrent une expérience utilisateur sur la durée supérieure aux afficheurs planaires : après deux mois en contexte d'usage sur un lieu de travail, nous observons que CairnFORM est aussi pragmatique mais plus hédonique qu'un écran plat. Nous étudions un cas d'usage pour les afficheurs sur le lieu de travail, c'est-à-dire aider les employés à décaler le chargement de batterie des ordinateurs portables vers les heures de pic de production locale d'énergie renouvelable. / In the middle of public and collective spaces, cylindrical displays inform users around them.We question the utility and the usability of dynamic revolution symmetry for shape-changing cylindrical displays. We present CairnFORM, a prototype of cylindrical display that can change its revolution symmetry using a modular stack of expandable illuminated rings.We show that revolution symmetry is usable for informing users through data physicalization: We observe with a 10-ring CairnFORM that a physical ring chart is more efficient for a range task and for a compare task rather than for an order task. We show that revolution symmetry change is usable for unobtrusively notifying users through peripheral interaction: We observe with a 1-ring CairnFORM that a ring diameter change with exponential speed is perceived more often and calmer in the periphery of attention rather than with a constant speed or a logarithmic speed.We show that cylindrical displays with dynamic revolution symmetry offer a greater user experience over time than planar displays: After two months in context of use in a workplace, we observe that CairnFORM is as pragmatic as a flat screen but more hedonic than a flat screen. We study a use case for displays in the workplace: Helping employees to shift laptop battery charge to peak hours of local renewable energy production.

During an incident, which is critical in nature, sense-making by the individuals involved are essential in ensuring an optimal response to the incident. The incident management systems employed to manage the allocation of resources to an incident allow for the visualisation of the incident and its constituents, and this visualisation supports sense-making by improving knowledge transfer. Knowledge visualisation contains pitfalls that can be avoided by implementing knowledge visualisation criteria. The purpose of this study is to identify the knowledge visualisation criteria that optimise the knowledge transfer by visual artifacts in incident management systems like emergency medical or fire-response systems. This study used the design science research (DSR) methodology and was conducted in the context of critical incident response management. A review of the existing literature was done to identify an initial set of knowledge visualisation criteria. The initial set was evaluated by content experts (using questionnaire driven interviews) and usability experts (using questionnaire driven interviews, usability testing with eye tracking and a survey) in the context of an emergency incident management system. The main contribution of this study is a validated set of knowledge visualisation criteria to guide knowledge transfer in incident management systems. / School of Computing / M. Sc. Computing

The main objective of the presented research is to design, fabricate, fully characterize, and assess the usability and functionality of a novel wireless tongue-operated assistive technology, called Tongue Drive System (TDS), that allows individuals with severe physical disabilities (such as quadriplegics) to effectively access computers, drive powered wheelchairs, and control environments using their voluntary tongue motion. The system can wirelessly detect users' tongue movements using an array of magnetic sensors, and a magnetic tracer secured on the tongue, and translate them into a set of user-defined commands in real time, which can then be used to communicate with target devices in users' environment. The principal advantage of the TDS is that a combination of magnetic sensors and a small permanent magnet can capture a large number of tongue movements, each of which can represent one specific command. A set of dedicated tongue movements can be configured as specific commands for each individual user based on his/her preferences, lifestyle, and remaining abilities. As a result, this technology can benefit a wide range of potential users with different types of disabilities. The work carried out in this dissertation is largely split into three portions: (1) Development, fabrication and characterization of external TDS (eTDS) prototypes to verify the concept of TDS that is detecting and extracting user's intention through their voluntary tongue motion, utilizing a combination of magnetic sensors and a small magnet, as well as the application of this idea in the context of assistive technology. This part of the work is presented in Chapters IV, V and VI. (2) Assessment of the TDS performance in medium term usage for both computer access and wheelchair control. The main purpose of this work was to gain valuable insight into the TDS learning process and its current limiting factors, which could lead the way in designing new generations of TDS with improved usability. This portion of the work is described in Chapter VII. (3) Development and performance assessment of a multimodal TDS (mTDS), that operates based on the information collected from two independent input channels: the tongue motion and speech. This multimodal system expands the access beyond one input channel and therefore improves the speed of access by increasing the information transfer bandwidth between users and computers. This part of the work is presented in Chapters VIII and IX. This dissertation has contributed to the innovation and advancement of the start-of-the-art assistive technology research by exploring, realizing and validating the use of tongue motion as a voluntary motor output to substitute some of the lost arm and hand functions in people with severe disabilities for computer access, wheelchair navigation, and environmental control.

With the improvement of multimedia technologies such as broadband-enabled HDTV, video on demand and internet TV, the computer and the TV are merging to become a single device. Moreover the previously cited technologies as well as DVD or Blu-ray can provide menu navigation and interactive content. The growing interest in video conferencing led to the integration of the webcam in different devices such as laptop, cell phones and even the TV set. Our approach is to directly use an embedded webcam to remotely control a TV set using hand gestures. Using specific gestures, a user is able to control the TV. A dedicated interface can then be used to select a TV channel, adjust volume or browse videos from an online streaming server. This approach leads to several challenges. The first is the use of a simple webcam which leads to a vision based system. From the single webcam, we need to recognize the hand and identify its gesture or trajectory. A TV set is usually installed in a living room which implies constraints such as a potentially moving background and luminance change. These issues will be further discussed as well as the methods developed to resolve them. Video browsing is one example of the use of gesture recognition. To illustrate another application, we developed a simple game controlled by hand gestures. The emergence of 3D TVs is allowing the development of 3D video conferencing. Therefore we also consider the use of a stereo camera to recognize hand gesture.

The availability and scale of user generated data in online systems raises tremendous challenges and opportunities to analytic study of human activities. Effective modeling of online human activities is not only fundamental to the understanding of human behavior, but also important to the online industry. This thesis focuses on developing models and algorithms to predict human activities in online systems and to improve the algorithmic design of personalized/socialized systems (e.g., recommendation, advertising, Web search systems). We are particularly interested in three types of online user activities, i.e., decision making, social interactions and user-generated contents. Centered around these activities, the thesis focuses on three challenging topics: 1. Behavior prediction, i.e., predicting users' online decisions. We present Collaborative-Competitive Filtering, a novel game-theoretic framework for predicting users' online decision making behavior and leverage the knowledge to optimize the design of online systems (e.g., recommendation systems) in respect of certain strategic goals (e.g., sales revenue, consumption diversity). 2. Social contagion, i.e., modeling the interplay between social interactions and individual behavior of decision making. We establish the joint Friendship-Interest Propagation model and the Behavior-Relation Interplay model, a series of statistical approaches to characterize the behavior of individual user's decision making, the interactions among socially connected users, and the interplay between these two activities. These techniques are demonstrated by applications to social behavior targeting. 3. Content mining, i.e., understanding user generated contents. We propose the Topic-Adapted Latent Dirichlet Allocation model, a probabilistic model for identifying a user's hidden cognitive aspects (e.g., knowledgability) from the texts created by the user. The model is successfully applied to address the challenge of ``language gap" in medical information retrieval.

Visualizations in the most general sense of external, physical representations of information are older than the invention of writing. Generally, external representations promote external cognition and visual thinking, and humans developed a rich set of skills for crafting and exploring them. Computers immensely increased the amount of data we can collect and process as well as diversified the ways we can represent it visually. Computer-supported visualization systems, studied in the field of information visualization (infovis), have become powerful and complex, and sophisticated interaction techniques are now necessary to control them. With the widening of technological possibilities beyond classic desktop settings, new opportunities have emerged. Not only display surfaces of arbitrary shapes and sizes can be used to show richer visualizations, but also new input technologies can be used to manipulate them. For example, tangible user interfaces are an emerging input technology that capitalizes on humans' abilities to manipulate physical objects. However, these technologies have been barely studied in the field of information visualization. A first problem is a poorly defined terminology. In this dissertation, I define and explore the conceptual space of embodiment for information visualization. For visualizations, embodiment refers to the level of congruence between the visual elements of the visualization and their physical shape. This concept subsumes previously introduced concepts such as tangibility and physicality. For example, tangible computing aims to represent virtual objects through a physical form but the form is not necessarily congruent with the virtual object. A second problem is the scarcity of convincing applications of tangible user interfaces for infovis purposes. In information visualization, standard computer displays and input devices are still widespread and considered as most effective. Both of these provide however opportunities for embodiment: input devices can be specialized and adapted so that their physical shape reflects their functionality within the system; computer displays can be substituted by transformable shape changing displays or, eventually, by programmable matter which can take any physical shape imaginable. Research on such shape-changing interfaces has so far been technology-driven while the utility of such interfaces for information visualization remained unexploited. In this thesis, I suggest embodiment as a design principle for infovis purposes, I demonstrate and validate the efficiency and usability of both embodied visualization controls and embodied visualization displays through three controlled user experiments. I then present a conceptual interaction model and visual notation system that facilitates the description, comparison and criticism of various types of visualization systems and illustrate it through case studies of currently existing point solutions. Finally, to aid the creation of physical visualizations, I present a software tool that supports users in building their own visualizations. The tool is suitable for users new to both visualization and digital fabrication, and can help to increase users' awareness of and interest in data in their everyday live. In summary, this thesis contributes to the understanding of the value of emerging physical representations for information visualization.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In the last decade, the use of computers has proliferated the industrial arena in South Africa. Due to frequent changes in computer programs and developments in the computing field, users have often been adversely affected. Users experience problems with computer programs that are not user friendly. Usability is about satisfying the user needs by allowing the user to accomplish their goals quickly, efficiently and easily. Thus it is crucial that industries invest in computer programs that offer optimum usability. In this research an attempt is made to provide a framework for methodology that can be used to test and evaluate usability in the Transwerk Risk Management Information System, that is Computer Assisted Risk Management Systems (CARMS). I first consider the difference between unusable and usable programs. Usability properties are then identified including properties enhancing effectiveness, efficiency, flexibility, laemability and attitude of the computer program. The CARMS components or modules and users were identified. Usability problems were identified that cause the users to be selective and discouraged to use other components of CARMS. To further verified and address the usability problems identified, the whole program needs to be tested and evaluated. The methodology was laid for how to do usability testing and evaluation in computer program that are currently in use like CARMS. Benefits and limitations of testing and evaluating usability were detailed in this research. It is recommended that, testing and evaluating usability should be done to prevent errors, dissatisfaction and to improve usability of the CARMS program. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In die laaste dekade het die gebruik van rekenaars uitgebrei in die industriele arena in Suid-Afrika. Weens gereelde veranderings in rekenaar programme en ontwikkellings in die informatika veld is gebruikers gereeld nadelig geraak. Gebruikers ervaar probleme met rekenaar programme wat nie gebruikersvriendelik is nie. Bruikbaarheid het te make met bevrediging van gebruikersbehoeftes deur hulle in staat te stel om hulle doelwitte vinnig, doelmatig en maklik te bereik. Dit is dus van kritiese belang dat industriee investeer in rekenaar programme wat optimale bruikbaarheid bied. In hierdie navorsing word gepoog om 'n raamwerk vir metodologie wat gebruik kan word om die bruikbaarheid van die "Transwerk Risk Management Information System" (dit is "Computer Assisted Risk Management Systems" of CARMS) te toets en te evalueer. Ek bespreek eerstens die verskil tussen onbruikbare en bruikbare programme. Bruikbaarheidseienskappe word dan geidentifiseer, insluitend eienskappe wat doeltreffendheid, doelmatigheid, buigsaamheid, aanleerbaarheid en houding van die rekenaar program verbeter. Die CARMS komponente of modules en gebruikers is geidentifiseer. Bruikbaarheidsprobleme is geidentifiseer wat veroorsaak dat gebruikers selektief raak en ontmoedig raak om ander komponente van CARMS te gebruik. Om verder die geidentifiseerde bruikbaarheidsprobleme te verifieer en adreseer moet die hele program getoets en evalueer word. Die metodologie is vasgele waarvolgens bruikbaarheidstoetsing en evaluasie van rekenaar programme wat tans in gebruik is (soos CARMS) gedoen kan word. Voordele en beperkings van bruikbaarheidstoetsing en -evaluasie is in hierdie navorsing vervat. Dit word aanbeveel dat bruikbaarheidstoetsing en -evaluasie gedoen moet word om foute en ontevredenheid te voorkom en om die bruikbaarheid van die CARMS program te verbeter.

It is a fundamental Human-Computer Interaction problem to design a tangible programming environment for use by multiple persons that can also be individualised. This problem has its origin in the phenomenon that the meaning an object holds can vary across individuals. The Semiotics Research Domain studies the meaning objects hold. This research investigated a solution based on the user designing aspects of the environment at a time after it has been made operational and when the development team is no longer available to implement the user’s design requirements. Also considered is how objects can be positioned so that the collection of objects is interpreted as a program. I therefore explored how some of the principles of relative positioning of objects, as researched in the domains of Psychology and Art, could be applied to tangible programming environments. This study applied the Gestalt principle of perceptual grouping by proximity to the design of tangible programming environments to determine if a tangible programming environment is possible in which the relative positions of personally meaningful objects define the program. I did this by applying the Design Science Research methodology with five iterations and evaluations involving children. The outcome is a model of a Tangible Programming Environment that includes Gestalt principles and Semiotic theory; Semiotic theory explains that the user can choose a physical representation of the program element that carries personal meaning whereas the Gestalt principle of grouping by proximity predicts that objects can be arranged to appear as if linked to each other. / School of Computing / Ph. D. (Computer Science)