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Information technology has moved the focus of students and instructors from blackboards to online learning platforms. In the emerging e-learning revolution, the success of quality education depends on the right use of information and communication technology, including the creation of participants’ flow experience while using learning systems, which are rightly considered a backbone of contemporary education. There is a gap in the e-learning literature, reflecting a lack of understanding of students’ flow experience while using online interactive systems. This paper presents a study investigating the key factors (interpersonal factors and atmospheric cues) affecting flow experience and highlights its massive role in the use of any learning management system (LMS). Moreover, the study examines the moderating role of perceived institutional support (PIS) on student adoption of LMS. Using a survey, data were collected from university students in Pakistan and the data were analysed through structural ...

Home users are particularly vulnerable to information security threats as they must make decisions about how to protect themselves, often with little knowledge of the technology. Furthermore, information for home users tends to focus on the traditional PC and may downplay threats faced on mobile devices, transforming well-known and old risks into new challenges for information security. To address the need for more behavioural information security research that focusses on mobile devices, this paper reports on the first large-scale study comparing security perceptions and behaviours on home computer and mobile devices. Data from 629 users revealed that in addition to differences in information security behaviour, the following security-related perceptions all differ significantly between home computer and mobile device use: perceived severity, security self-efficacy, response efficacy, response cost, descriptive norm, psychological ownership and intention to perform security behaviours. In each case, the direction of the difference was such that mobile devices were more likely to be at risk than a home computer. The practical implications of these differences are discussed.

The success of e-learning management systems (e-LMSs) such as MOODLE depends on the usage of students as well as instructor acceptance in a virtual learning environment. E-Learning enables instructors to access educational resources to support traditional classroom teaching. This paper attempts to develop a model to understand and predict the effect of individual characteristics (technology experience [TE] and personal innovativeness [PI]) and e-LMS quality determinants (system quality [SYS-Q], information quality, and service quality) on the continuous use of e-LMS by instructors, which is critical to its success. A total of 219 instructors using MOODLE responded to the survey. The structural equation model (SEM) was employed to test the proposed research model. The SEM results showed that SYS-Q, PI, service quality, and TE have a statistically significant influence on continuous usage of e-LMS by instructors. Furthermore, all determinants of the research model were given as input to an NN model ...

Technology acceptance has been studied extensively within the IS discipline. Few, if any, have studied end users’ acceptance of newly implemented technologies within organisational contexts before end users start using the technology. Thus, by integrating variables from multiple relevant literature, this research attempts to answer this research question: will the introduction of a richer model for technology acceptance in a mandatory adoption environment, specifically in the pre-implementation phase, allow us to capture and account for the complexities of organisational technology implementations? The research model was tested in an organisational setting where a new content management system was being implemented. A total of 148 employees participated in this survey and partial least squares method was used to analyse the data to test the model. Implementation climate, valence, attitude, and perceived ease of use positively influence goal commitment to technology acceptance in a mandatory environment, and the model has displayed relatively large explanatory and predictive power. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in the paper.

The ability of automatically identifying users’ personality is an important part of building adaptive systems and providing personalised services. However, there is still a lack of evaluation methods which can not only unobtrusively gather user data without supplement equipment, but also provide accurate and real-time prediction of users’ personality. This paper presents a new approach to identifying personality by combining writing features and machine learning techniques. We conducted an exploratory study where we collected participants’ handwriting information and personality information via questionnaire. From these data, we extracted writing features and created classifiers for seven personality dimensions. Our top results include a unique set of writing features which could be predictive of personality and binary classifiers for the seven personality dimensions, with accuracies ranging from 62.5% to 83.9%. These results show that writing features are useful for personality identification whe...

The aim of this paper is to establish the foundations for developing a mental model that bridges the gap between usability and security in user-centred designs. To this purpose, a meta-model has been developed to align design features with the users’ requirements through tacit knowledge elicitation. The meta-model describes the combinatorial relationships of Security, Usability and Mental SUM and how these components can be used to design a usable and secure system. The SUM meta-model led to the conclusion that there is no antagonism between usability and security. However, the degree of usable security depends on the ability of the designer to capture and implement the user’s tacit knowledge. In fact, the SUM meta-model seeks the dilution of the trading-off effects between security and usability through compensating synergism of the tacit knowledge. A usability security cognitive map has been developed for the major constituents of usability and security to clarify the interactions and their influences on the meta-model stipulations. The three intersecting areas of the three components’ relationships are manipulated to expand the Optimal Equilibrium Solution OES δ expanse. To put the SUM meta-model into practice, knowledge management principles have been proposed for implementing user-centred security and user-centred design. This is accomplished by using collaborative brainpower from various knowledge constellations to design a system within the user’s current and future perception boundaries. Therefore, different knowledge groups, processes, techniques, tactics and practices have been proposed for knowledge transfer and transformation during the mental model development.

Recently a number of studies appeared that operationalised coolness and explored its relation to digital products. Literature suggests that perceived coolness is another factor of user experience, and this adds to an existing explosion of dimensions related to aesthetics, hedonic quality, pragmatic quality, attractiveness, etc. A critical challenge highlighted in prior research is to study the relationships among those factors and so far, no studies have empirically examined the relationship between coolness and other established user experience factors. In this paper, we address this challenge by presenting two studies one that focuses on factors from two cool questionnaires, and one that compares them against existing User eXperience (UX) factors. Our findings show that factors from the two cool questionnaires converge and they also converge to existing, established UX factors. Thus, 11 distinct cool and UX factors converge into 5 for the case of mobile devices. Our findings are important for researchers, as we demonstrate through a validated model that coolness is part of UX research, as well as for practitioners, by developing a questionnaire that can reliably measure both perceived inner and outer coolness as well as the overall coolness judgement based on 5 factors and 21 items.

The advent of social networks opened a myriad opportunities for merging the social character of trust with the technical possibilities offered by the Internet and its availability as a mobile service. While most of the computational trust models aim to detect trustworthy entities, much less attention is paid to how these models are perceived by the users who are the core of the system. This paper delves into the workings of online trust systems under user bias and analyses the user behaviour through biases defined by Prospect theory. By performing empirical study on an existing system, we are able to demonstrate that there is a huge discrepancy between the aim of implementation of the online trust models and the users’ perception of those models. Understanding of this relation by the system designers can reduce complexity and improve the user experience and the system performance. The results imply that the tendency of the users to exhibit cognitive biases is not only the cause, but also the effect from the trust system design. These results and the analysis are then used to propose to the system designers a methodology for user bias identification and mitigation in the form of a Choice architecture for trust systems.

The paper investigates the effects of phone use talking, texting, and listening to music on the street-crossing behaviours of pedestrians and their inattentional blindness in Taiwan. Recent handsets with touchscreens, as well as more advanced features including multimedia, and mobile applications apps, exacerbate problems relating to cognitive distraction and reduced situation awareness. A controlled field study using video cameras was conducted for observing pedestrians’ crossing behaviours e.g. crossing time, sudden stops, looking both ways before crossing, and disobeying traffic signals. Pedestrians were classified into two groups: experimental group talking, texting, and listening to music and control group no phone use. Pedestrians’ inattentional blindness was examined by evaluating whether they saw and heard an unusual object i.e. a clown nearby. The results indicate that the proportions of unsafe crossing behaviours e.g. sudden stops, disobeying traffic signals, and not looking both ways before crossing were higher among distracted individuals and more pronounced among those using instant-messaging apps. These instant-message app users were the least likely to see the clown, and music listeners were the least likely to hear the horn that the clown was honking. Contributing factors to unsafe behaviours include being a student, having a phone screen of 5 inches or larger, and having unlimited 3G Internet access. Texting message via apps was the leading factor on unsafe crossing behaviours of pedestrians and their inattentional blindness.

Security and privacy policies address consumer concerns related to security and privacy in e-commerce websites. As these policies represent only the vendor’s perspective, often there exists a mismatch between the stated and desired policy. Based on transaction cost theory, we speculate that business-to-business B2B and business-to-consumer B2C e-commerce customers use their transaction cost savings in order to obtain varying levels of security and privacy. These differences are bound to be reflected in the security and privacy policies of e-commerce companies. Therefore, in this paper, we perform a comparative content analysis of the security and privacy policies in B2C and B2B e-commerce. Results show that B2B vendors are more concerned about security than their B2C counterparts, while B2C vendors are anxious about intimacy and restriction privacy. Our findings have important implications for e-commerce consumers and vendors as individual and corporate consumers have varying concerns while transacting online. Individual consumers are concerned about maintaining security and intimacy privacy, whereas corporate users are anxious about regulatory issues. Therefore, B2C vendors should incorporate stringent measures dedicated to confidentiality and protection of consumer data as well as enhance intimacy privacy in their security policies, while their B2B counterparts should focus on enhancing restriction privacy.

Recently, the number of online databases and the amount of personal information they store have escalated; the potential uses and misuses of these databases have consequently multiplied, and in Europe, there are now calls for a public rediscussion of their legal status. In this context, this paper uses survey data from a Portuguese sample to investigate some psychosocial processes involved in decision-taking related to the disclosure of personal data to governmental institutions. The study tests 1 what societal-level variables e.g. Post-Materialistic values and System Justification motives help predict trust and concern felt towards public institutions; 2 whether these societal-level variables are better predictors of disclosure-related decisions than are socio-demographic aspects and knowledge of the legal framework and 3 the capacity of both societal-level variables and trust and concern for predicting the willingness to disclose personal data and to complain about the misuse of data by governmental institutions. Findings show that trust is a key incentive for the disclosure of personal data to governmental institutions and is linked to a more passive engagement with citizenship. Concern, in turn, being negatively linked to system justification and positively to willingness to complain, seems associated with a more active civic citizenship. Implications of this pattern are discussed.

To better understand users’ technology utilisation behaviour, a construct named technology dependence is suggested; as well a technology dependence model is proposed and empirically tested. Based on the literature on marketing, information systems’ utilisation, and psychology, a comprehensive set of constructs and hypotheses are compiled with a methodology for testing them in this paper. A questionnaire was designed and data were collected from 255 users of smartphones in Korea, mainly consisting of students and academics. Structural equation modelling was then applied to analyse the data. The result indicated that engagement is the strongest indicator of technology dependence along with user satisfaction. User satisfaction is affected by engagement and responsiveness of the technology. And all three dimensions of interactivity, namely, control, communication, and responsiveness, are revealed to be significant indicators of engagement. Based on the findings, the model develops useful insights into the factors that influence technology dependence and provides new ideas in understanding technology utilisation.

Usability and user experience UX methods come from academic environments, where industrial conditions such as time and resources are not of prime importance. Furthermore, usability and UX methods originate from a time when almost all software developments followed a traditional approach, such as the waterfall model. These two facts entail that existing methods often are too resource demanding and complex to apply directly into today’s agile, industrial environments. In this paper we make the claim that methods must be updated and tailored in order to be applicable within the agile, industrial development framework of today. We pursue a solution to simplify well-known methods and to train software developers to perform the UX work. To do this, three methods are modified via an iterative process together with the development of supporting materials. Software developers in three companies are trained in the methods to assess the approach. We find that it indeed is feasible to update and tailor existing usability and UX methods to fit into an agile, industrial environment. Furthermore, we show that it is possible to train developers to perform the usability and UX methods via one-day, in-situ sessions using an ‘instructor’-teaching approach. The training is based on hands-on exercises and real-life tasks. This further boosts the developers’ confidence in performing UX work and promises a better consideration of UX in the development phases. We evaluate our approach through observations of the developers performing the UX tasks on their own at a later point in time.

This study is designed to empirically test a model of high-involvement human resource management HIHRM, organisational trust, and technology adaptation grounded on social exchange theory in the context of the private banking sector. The proposed model intends to add to the understanding of the effect of HIHRM on technology adaptation via the mediating influence of organisational trust. Frontline employees were surveyed using a self-administered questionnaire. Results from partial least square-structural equation modelling suggest that there is a significant influence of HIHRM on technology adaptation. Organisational trust further mediates the relationship. Thus, this paper finds an answer to the ‘black box’ of human resource management HRM practices, explaining how HIHRM influences employees’ attitudes towards technology adaptation. The study can help management have a better understanding of the importance of employee involvement-oriented HRM in introducing and implementing a new technology through the integration of trust processes in the organisation.

In recent years, online shopping has been proliferated around the world. Online retailers’ reputation and purchase intentions are critical for survival and profitability of any online store. Thus, this study proposes a research framework to examine the perceived justice effects on customers purchase intention and online retailers’ reputation. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to demonstrate the reliability and validity of the measurement model, and the structural equation modelling technique was used to test the research model. The hypothesised model was validated empirically using data collected from 383 online shopping customers in China. The results indicated that perceived procedural, distributive and interactional justice components were strong predictors of customers purchase intention and online retailers’ reputation while online retailers’ reputation had significant effects on purchase intentions. Finally, theoretical and managerial implications are also presented in the paper.

Virtual reality VR is being used for many applications, ranging from medicine to space and from entertainment to training. In this research paper, VR is applied in engineering education, the scope being to compare three major VR systems with the traditional education approach when we do not use any VR system No-VR. The Corner Cave System CCS is compared with the Head Mounted Display HMD system. Both of these systems are using a tracking system to reflect the user movements in the virtual environment. The CCS uses only three coordinates: x-, y-and z-axis. The HMD system has six degrees of freedom, the x-, y-and z-axis, as well as the roll, pitch and yaw. Those two systems are also compared with HMD, as a standalone device HMD-SA without the tracking system where it has only roll, pitch and yaw. The objective of the study was to evaluate the impact of VR systems on the students’ achievements in engineering colleges. The research examined the effect of the four different methods and compared the scores of the students after each test. The experiments were ran over 48 students. Those systems show incredible results.

This paper reports the findings of a long-term field study of the location-aware safety service for schoolchildren comprising a unique set-up of four service components from different service providers. End-users were closely involved as active and equally valued contributors in the participatory co-design study. The objective was to create a solution that would be suitable for common use by all end-user groups. As a result, a wearable safety gadget service was developed to answer the need to secure the independent mobility of primary schoolchildren via continuous and real-time monitoring of children's movements when out of the home. User experiences were investigated through a variety of complementary data collection methods. Children were the most pleased user group, even though the service seemed to serve primarily their parents and teachers, the most distinctive value arising from the feeling of reassurance. Study findings direct future development efforts towards a personal alerting system that would become more integrated into everyday life. Our research provides valuable insights regarding the monitoring of a child on a situational basis, helping to derive design implications for developing a children's safety solution that truly aligns with the values, needs, and practices of all stakeholders.

A great challenge for luxury marketers is how to harness Internet’s incredible influence on customers while still maintaining and adhering to the customer-based brand equity CBE of luxury brands. This study aims to investigate the effect of website design on the CBE of luxury brands. Integrating the research on aesthetic design and luxury branding, we develop and empirically validate a research model, specifying that two aesthetic design dimensions aesthetic formality and aesthetic appeal can stimulate a strong sense of luxury, which in turn leads to a positive evaluation of CBE. Furthermore, the effect of aesthetic design on the sense of luxury is contingent upon brand familiarity prior to the exposure of a luxury brand website. The research model is validated with a survey study involving 201 participants. The paper includes implications for website design to deliver online brand experience and develop CBE with specific online consumer groups. As an early attempt to examine the website design effect on online branding experience and brand equity, this study contributes to both literature of website aesthetics and online luxury branding.

A key agenda of policy-makers in both the developing and the developed worlds is to have an inclusive growth. Financial services have been recognised as one of the fundamental services that have the potential to achieve this objective and help move towards a more just and equitable society. This paper attempts to assess the impact of three information and communication technology-driven initiatives in the field of financial services by differentiating them on the basis of service design. This study goes beyond the stated objective of these services and uses Sen’s capability perspective to study their impact across three non-economic outcome variables viz. literacy, service-specific well-being and empowerment. The data for the study are collected from the urban poor across different locations in a large metropolitan city in South India where the three different services are being offered. The study follows a quasi-experimental design field study and ensures matching of the treatment and control groups through propensity score matching. The matched data are analysed using an independent sample t-test. The result of the analysis shows that service design plays a key role in increasing service literacy, improving service-specific well-being and empowering end users. The study suggests that the true challenge for providers government and partner agencies of these services is in designing a service that ensures a balance of structure and flexibility without constraining the choice of end users through innovative service blueprints.

Previous studies on the impact of technology on performance usefulness have looked at the Information System IS in its role as supplier of information informating role and thus they have studied the influence of information quality and system quality on usefulness. However, an IS also has a role in the automation of tasks automating role, which these studies do not take into account. Accordingly, this paper proposes a factor model that 1 includes explicitly both roles; 2 considers that informating and automating roles mediate the relation between these technological factors information quality and system quality and usefulness and 3 includes a system’s level of intervention i.e. the degree to which technology participates in carrying out the tasks as an additional factor that determines usefulness. Using a questionnaire, data were gathered on 229 Enterprise Resource Planning system users from different organisations and functional areas and structural equations model was used for analysis. Results show that information quality explains usefulness through both roles. System’s level of intervention explains usefulness through the automating role and system quality explains usefulness through the informating role. The factors’ differentiated effects through each role may help managers to establish more effective criteria and priorities in the various stages of an IS’s life cycle.

Intentional dissemination of information is a key role of information systems. Yet methods for controlling access to information – as opposed to data – are still in their infancy, especially in relation to the key ‘decision points' that need to be made regarding what information users can access when, and under what conditions. This paper presents the case for access control to be explicitly integrated into models of information behaviour, especially as they relate to information access on the relatively unregulated internet. An observational case study relating to information access in Indonesia – which is a highly regulated society – is presented, through advertising on rogue websites – in this case, behaviour which is strictly regulated in the physical world such as the promotion of gambling is relatively unchecked online; the absence of effective controls, as suggested by situational crime prevention theory [Clarke, R. V. G., ed. 1997. Situational Crime Prevention. Criminal Justice Press] is reflected in the high levels of offending seen online. The extent to which information systems can manage information-seeking behaviour in a way that is consistent with regulatory or policy requirements in the online environment is discussed, with a view to establishing a foundation and terminology to modify information behaviour theory for the online environment.

Augmenting navigation systems with landmarks has been posited as a method of improving the effectiveness of the technology and enhancing drivers’ engagement with the environment. However, good navigational landmarks are both laborious to collect and difficult to define. This research aimed to devise a game concept, which could be played by passengers in cars, and would collect useful landmark data as a by-product. The paper describes how a virtual graffiti tagging game concept was created and tested during on-road trials with 38 participants. The data collected in the road trials were then validated using a survey, in which 100 respondents assessed the quality of the landmarks collected and their potential for reuse in navigation applications. Players of the game displayed a consensus in choosing where to place their graffiti tags with over 30% of players selecting the same object to tag in 10 of the 12 locations. Furthermore, significant correlation was found between how highly landmarks were rated in the survey and how frequently they were tagged during the game. The research provides evidence that using crowdsourcing games to collect landmarks does not require large numbers of people, or extensive coverage of an area, to produce suitable candidate landmarks for navigation.

Portable document format (PDF) is a widely used means for exchanging electronic documents independently from the generating application. Once created to mimic print in a similar role like paper as ...

Human involvement with the manual control of object-tracking tasks, such as manual rendezvous and docking, can enhance the flexibility of the task. The operator is required to make decisions as precisely as possible when a chase vehicle is approaching the target vehicle. As the level of mental workload is intensively increased, the operator's perception and decision-making with tracking error-correcting purposes should be properly identified in multiple degrees of freedom DOFs. The two experimental studies in this paper were conducted for object-based selective attention in six DOFs and object-pointing manipulation under the zero resistance circumstance, which were correlated with human performance when a chaser approached a target spacecraft; the effects of experience level on the two important factors are presented herein. The experimental results demonstrated that some performance details between the novice and experienced groups were different in terms of the attentional priority of multiple DOFs and lateral/vertical movement for deviation error correction, which could provide a certain reference for a cognitive–behavioural model and assist the operator in obtaining proper or even optimal decision-making or operating instructions to improve their adaptation to selective attention and object-pointing manipulation, for preventing accidental manipulation and performance degradation.

Abstract. This review of Ergonomics in Information Technology in Europe was done in three stages, (i) Scientific papers and addresses of other persons/groups were requested from 52 persons/groups initially contacted, (ii) Visits were made to the more important groups in nine European countries, and use was made of opportune visits to the U.S.A. (iii) The papers received, and the extensive data gathered during the visits, were appraised and the review report was written. growth of research in ITE† is documented. The domains and subdomains of ITE are After discussing the importance of ergonomics for information technology (IT), and outlining the interrrelation of human-factors aspects to the total IT system, the growth of research in ITE‡ is documented. The domains and subdomains of ITE are then described and the state of research in these domains is reviewed; at least half of the subdomains of ITE are little researched as yet in Europe. The principal research gaps are recorded. The current state o...

The need for deviations from the widely accepted QWERTY keyboard layout of usual office typewriters or workstations has been discussed in our twin paper lGilad et al. 1986r. In this paper we examine a related issue: How to customize any keyboard to a given application, cheaply and effectively. We here discuss this issue and establish why such customization is necessary and how modern technology and keyboard design solve half the problem.

This paper examines the role of ergonomics in product and systems design. Market requirements as well as legislation have increased the use of ergonomics in design. This has increased the demands upon both ergonomists and designers. The ergonomist must learn to participate in the product development team. In return the design team must find the time and resources necessary for the inclusion of ergonomics in the development programme. This paper discusses the different roles played by the ergonomist in each stage of product and systems design. The need to give designers, engineers and management a fundamental education in ergonomics is highlighted as is the need for the ergonomist to consider the financial consequences of his work.

The rapid technological developments in teleinformatics and their many implications for their users means that a human-factors contribution to both research and application is very pressing. This paper reviews the methodological problems confronting human-factors specialists in making this contribution. It examines methodological issues in research and design at the levels of (i) the man-computer interface and (ii) the organizational implications. The paper ends by presenting an idealized, integrated strategy which emphasizes action research to give priority to multidisciplinary teams of information technologists and human and social scientists working together to construct and evaluate telelinformatic systems.

This paper describes an approach to the design of interactive information systems based on a ‘total activity model’, that is, a description of activities performed by the user and activities performed for the user. The system is illustrated by outlining the approach in relation to existing word-processing systems and by describing in more detail its application in an experimental filing and task management system. The second part of the paper addresses the question: what hardware and software resources are needed in order to implement effective interactive systems of the type described?

There has been little empirical research on the human aspects of CAD systems. In this paper observations on the analyses of designer activities are presented, by using a systems design approach The paper concentrates on situation analysis and subsequent allocation of system tasks. A situation analysis was carried out in two design departments. The analysis consisted of a formal system description and a reconstruction interview. During the interview the previous week's activities were reconstructed with the help of photographs of the drawing board and protocols completed by design draughtspersons. This procedure was used for six design projects In this study the technique of the reconstruction interview proved to be very useful and informative, and enabled three general conclusions to be made. First, designers liked the initial design phase and their responsibility for the final result. Second, they disliked the activities associated with drawing as well as the project. documentation phase. Third,...

The BLEND experimental programme on electronic communication and ‘electronic journals’ is based on the computer teleconferencing software suite NOTEPAD. Although this allowed several levels of communication, it was found necessary to enhance the facilities to aid users in their tasks, authors in editing and sending manuscripts to the host computer, to aid readers in skipping round a journal paper and to make the interaction more simple and consistent. This paper describes the process, rationale and extent of these enhancements. Although the changes made are modest (by the standards feasible in computer systems designs), they have made a considerable difference to the ease of use and amount of use.

This paper develops, describes and critiques an integrated, theoretical model which provides a framework for studying and planning performance-improvement programs for users working with the capabilities of multifunctional workstations. The performance-improvement block interaction model focuses on three facets of performance improvement: (i) individual and group substitution and augmentation skills, (ii) man-computer interface design, and (iii) organizational philosophy. The variables depicted in the model are derived largely from two existing models and a previous empirical study which are also described in the paper. These variables will interact with the above three facets to determine the extent of multifunctional-workstation utilization. One variable, the concept of user augmentation skills, is unique to the performance-improvement block interaction model. Thus, one section of the paper explains augmentation skills and the relationship of these skills to multifunctional-workstation utilization.

This paper presents the history and context of the COST II bis work on human factors in teleinformatics. It describes the technical developments to be expected in networked systems which will change the capabilities that will be available to users and discusses the range of human-factors issues which will arise if users are to be able to master complex systems. The paper concludes by reporting the early debates of the working group and the classification of issues which identified the problems requiring human-factors attention

An experiment was performed to investigate the relationship between two-dimensional (2-D) or three-dimensional (3-D) graphs displayed on paper or computer and the problem-solving performance of experienced and novice managers. The effects of these variables on solution times, confidence in answers and effectiveness of solutions for a production management case were examined. It was predicted that experienced managers would engage in forward chaining as a problem-solving strategy, while novices would use backward chaining as a problem-solving technique (Larkin et al. 1980). Results indicated that solution times were faster for computer than for paper presentations of data, but no significant relationship between response times and dimensionality of graphs was found. Novice subjects produced more accurate answers using 2-D paper presentations of graphs, while experienced managers produced more accurate answers when provided with 3-D graphs on computer. Further, experienced and novice managers were ...

This paper outlines the strategies adopted by the psychologists and ergonomists of the HUSAT Research Group to help organizations learn about information technology and systematically review and plan its organizational ramifications. An essential point is that it is not enough to understand the technology; effective implementation demands the ability to establish organizational needs and to choose a form of technology which will meet them. The paper examines three ways of designing systems. Firstly, a technology-led approach which leads to 'fire fighting' when the negative organizational effects become apparent. A second method has tried to compensate for this by involving users in the design process. Unfortunately by the time the users have come to terms with their new task and are able to make a contribution, the system has usually been designed. The third method of design expressly seeks to give users the time and opportunity to learn how to contribute to design, by making the design process e...

This paper examines the ISO open systems interconnection model as promulgated, from the standpoint of human factors research rather than from the traditional telecommunications perspective. It argues that the model needs refining in its top layer and that this layer should be considered as a general ‘function’ layer oriented towards users rather than just an applications layer. The vertical relationship between layers and the horizontal relationships within a layer are discussed with regard to the implications that a small change in user behaviour has for the technical specifications of the system and vice versa. Particular stress is placed on the need for a core ‘native’ language which would operate at any level to support human factors requirements. The surface features of the system that need to be optimized.for the user are defined in the context of existing human factors research. The paper concludes by specifying the human factors requirements for OSI

Text-to-speech systems have attracted a lot of research and development during the last decade. Recently, this work has resulted in relatively inexpensive products with decent speech quality. Text-to-speech systems offer an alternative to presenting text information on screens or paper. The telephone could hence be used as a computer terminal. Very little information is at present available on human factors in the use of these new devices. In this paper we will discuss the use of a multilingual text-to-speech system in various applications related to telecommunications.

Traditional data processing methods of implementing systems have led to many human problems and have often not been successful. This paper reviews a number of alternative design methods, both centralized methods such as structured design methods, and decentralized or end user-developed systems. It concludes that, whilst the new methods are all more user-centred in concept, they may still fail because the methods necessary to deal with user issues are not widely available. The paper ends by reviewing the required methods which include task analysis, prototype evaluation, interface design and continued user support. Some examples of the required methods are provided.

When it comes to using computers, older people experience many barriers, which are a considerable hurdle to overcome in order to enable them to accept technological aids. Thus, computer interface design and development must support elderly end users by avoiding many usability issues which lead to negative impacts on them. This paper describes the combination of a computer game design for the elderly and its implementation with user experience considerations embedded in the process. In this way, a positive gaming experience is provided to the end user. This game uses the Kinect device, enabling users to interact intuitively with the computer without any intermediary controller, and its main purpose is to promote at the same time cognitive and physical activities for healthy living. Feedback was taken from physiotherapists’ written observations and user experience questionnaires, which allowed the game to be adapted to their needs, obtaining 86.25% satisfaction. The effectiveness of this study opens the door to new developments in ICT that not only improve quality of life but also reduce the existing digital divide for the elderly.

This paper describes an experimental investigation that tested the impact of the aesthetic impression on approach and avoidance behaviour by measuring relevant behavioural variables while interacting with websites. These variables included dwell time, number of retrieved web pages and reading time proportion. This approach extends previous research that primarily used surveys as the data collection method. Two levels of experiencing aesthetics were integrated into the research set-up: the first measures the reflective aesthetic appreciation and the second captures the immediate affective visual impression, the latter being operationalised through an affective priming experiment. Seventy participants took part in the main experiment and explored 10 real stimulus websites. Results showed that participants stayed significantly longer, retrieved more web pages and spent more time reading on websites that they preferred in their aesthetic impression. Aesthetics on the web are thus revealed to be of behavioural relevance. Effect sizes indicate only small to medium effects though. No statement is possible concerning the respective share of the two levels of aesthetic processing in this effect, because the study did not successfully delineate the effectiveness of affective and reflective aesthetic experiences in the course of exploration.

Drawing upon the ‘stimulus-organism-response’ framework, this paper examines how the ease of navigation EON of a website affects consumers' online impulse buying. We also compared the effects of various virtual layouts i.e. grid, freeform, racetrack, and mix grid–freeform on consumers' perceptions of EON, emotional responses, and the urge to buy impulsively. Based on questionnaire responses from 216 participants in a stratified survey, we found that EON significantly influences consumers' emotional responses, pleasantness, and arousal, which subsequently affects their urge to buy impulsively. We also found that compared with the other three layouts, manifestations of navigability, freeform is the easiest to navigate, and is able to elicit the highest level of pleasantness and the strongest urge to buy impulsively. The findings of this study provide important implications for impulse buying research and practice.