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Studies using the sensory substitution devices reveal that perceptive activity itself is embodied in a living body capable of movement and possessing its own spatial dimensions. To study the conditions of a prosthetic perception, we developed a minimal device, Tactos, which carries out a coupling between the pen of a graphics tablet and tactile sensory stimulators. This system allows subjects to explore virtual tactile pictures and is intended to give to blind people an access to computer graphics. We will present here experimental results regarding the different aspects of perception using this device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In keeping with a user capability and product demand approach to product assessment, this paper examines the cognitive demands placed on users when interacting with consumer products. The eventual aim is to develop a set of cognitive capability scales that could be used in the analytical evaluation of product interfaces. We explore the dimensions of cognitive capability relevant to product interaction and describe how these may be used to evaluate a given design. Planned work addresses quantitative measurement of cognitive capabilities and predictive validation of capability scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the framework of a research target that aims at integration of sign language technologies to human-computer interaction applications, creation and annotation of the Greek Sign Language Corpus (GSLC) involve, on the one hand, data and analysis of the phonological structure of morphemes of Greek Sign Language (GSL) and, on the other hand, collection of sentence level language samples and assignment of their respective annotations. GSLC also entails free sign narrations fully annotated at least for sentence segmentation. Simple and complex sign morpheme formation is directly relevant to development of sign recognition prototypes. In this sense, a sign language corpus intended to support sign recognition by exploitation of a language model has to entail sufficient data from simple- to complex- morpheme level. Sentence level annotation, except for sentence boundaries, focuses on phrase boundary marking and grammar information often conveyed by multi-layer markers, as is the case of e.g. topicalisation, nominal phrase formation, temporal indicators, question formation and sentential negation in GSL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this research is to investigate the relationship between user's knowledge of operation procedures for some electric appliances and their cognitive styles. First, questionnaires were given to the participants. The participants answered below questions about cognitive styles. Second, to investigate the participants' knowledge of operating procedures of the electric appliances, participants were asked to write free text description on how to use an appliance without actually operating it. We found certain kinds of knowledge about operation procedures were linked to user's cognitive style. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many companies are realizing the economic benefit of localizing products designs. Comparative studies are often used to obtain information needed to support these localized designs. Our experience with one such study revealed that it is also necessary to localize the study design itself. Additionally, results of this study indicate that there are significant differences in the structure and use of IT staff in the U.S. and China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mobile environments are very dynamic and unpredictable [1]. When a mobile phone user is moving, his attention resources are reserved partly for passively monitoring and reacting to contexts and events and partly for actively constructing them [2]. In this paper, we suggest guidelines related to the optimal vibration frequency for the perception of mobile phone vibration when the user is moving. To guarantee the validity of this study, subjects were asked to indicate their perception of the randomly given 7 vibrotactile stimuli while they performed routine activities on a sidewalk, subway, or bus. With Logistic Regression analysis, the results showed that the optimal vibration frequency in the dynamic state was higher than 180 Hz, considerably higher than 151 Hz - the optimal vibration frequency obtained in the static state in the previous study. From this study, mobile phone manufacturers should consider this factor when designing the vibration frequency for the vibration mode so that missed calls in mobile environments are minimized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross cultural collaboration is popular in the world with increasing globalization, where cultural issues are important to be explored. In this paper, we reported an investigation of culture differences and cultural effects on communication problems in cross culture conference call using an ethnographic technique which refers to long interviews. In these interviews, communication differences among Chinese, Japanese, Indian and Americans were investigated. Our results showed that (1) culture differences in conference call existed in the dimensions of indirectness, power distance, assertiveness, language and speaker-centered vs. listener-centered; (2) and these culture differences caused communication problems in conference call such as misunderstanding, bad impression, unequal participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to empirically examine the effect of feedback on attention recovery. The role of feedback has been proven to be positive in particular to extend the limitation of attention resource. We studied the impact of feedback on attention by varying its type and modality. An experimental system was developed to observe how accurately the participants performed the figure-matching task with differential feedback provided on a real-time basis based on the ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) diagnostic model. Investigated in this study were two types of feedbacks (1) single feedback such as visual, auditory and tactile stimulus and (2) double feedback with two types of feedback. Eight university students participated in this study with six different feedback conditions and controlled conditions. The results showed that the tactile feedback and the combined tactile with visual feedback significantly contributed most to attention recovery and performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Owing to its educational content and entertainment model, edutainment software is getting widespread interest. Given the fast increasing popularity of the computer, edutainment software shows a promising prospect of extensive development. However, just like the HCI software, children's edutainment software possesses the problem of usability. This paper, based on the study of usability evaluation methods, provides a scenario-based software evaluation method, and used the method to evaluate the Children Heaven edutainment software. Analysis of the evaluation results recognized the success of the software design. It also gives suggestions and comments for revising the software. The process of the evaluation experiments also verified the effectiveness of the scenario-based usability evaluation method for software. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the convenience of firefighters' decision-making and operation, touch screen display was chosen as the preferred interface for a fire information display system. Few studies were conducted to determine comfortable button/icon size on touch screens. This experiment investigated the effect of four factors on operators' performance with touch screen: 1) button size (20*20, 30*30, 40*40, and 50*50 pixels 2), spacing between buttons (0, 5, 10, and 20 pixels), 3) button/icon types (digit buttons only, picture icons only, combination), and 4) glove wearing (wearing vs. not wearing). 14 males were asked to accomplish a series of matching tasks on touch screen with the forefinger of right hand. Results showed that the spacing between buttons/icons, and wearing or not wearing a glove did not affect performance. Subjects pointed to the digit buttons faster than the other two kinds of buttons/icons. There was a significant difference among button/icon sizes. People performed best when it was equal to or bigger than 40*40 pixels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study shows that in a qualitative study a small sample size is sufficient to gain interesting results and show differences between the procurement of IT services in different countries. It demonstrates how a requirements analysis can be conducted in a very early phase of a web development project. For the website of an IT company which sells products worldwide the needs of potential users of its website should be identifed. With 8 users each from Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and Spain, an in-depth interview was conducted; after that some page drafts were shown. The users were from different hierarchy levels and from companies of varying sizes; all involved in the IT procurement process. The study showed who is involved in the different stages and what is relevant in each stage. The distribution of responsibilities was different in each country. The study gave insights into how to support potential buyers during the IT procurement process and how to adapt the web pages to local needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies had pointed out the effect of culture on interactive system design and use. This paper reports on a study on the use and preference of web browsers by 100 respondents aged 50 years old and over from Thailand and UK, who arguably differ in their culture and online developmental curve. The questionnaire explored their online activities, browser manipulations, problems with standard browsers and features required. The study reveals differences in the types of activities these two groups of users performed online and in their preferences. The results of this study points to the need to design a culturally inclusive web browser in addition to an age-friendly web browser when dealing with older web browsers from different countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a view of banking as undertaken by SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprise) in Australia. It presents a user perspective to give insight into how people talk about banking, how they are using traditional bank services, and what it means to them to bank with new technologies. This paper builds on previous analysis and interpretation of the perceptions of these issues in the banking project. In this paper we apply Burke's [5] dramatistic analysis. The paper analyses 15 SMEs to elaborate the mediation of money between banks and individual SMEs. We found that when talking about banking, individuals refer to location (scene) and processes using cheques, cash and the online interface (acts and agency) Thus an elaboration of the elements indicates that the scene-act-agency interaction is perhaps a significant nexus through which individuals negotiate this activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global paper industry needs systems that can be used in all locations. International user studies can be helpful when integrating systems. Not only due to the lack of common language but also the differences in culture and the usage of systems, information from different countries needs to be collected and analyzed so that the integration development is not be biased and unilateral. During the study some food for thought was gathered on what to consider when planning an international user study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a handled trackball was developed aiming at future use in a vibration environment within cockpits, ships, or other carriers. The study was to determine an optimal handle posture for the handled device from combinations of three forward slopes (0°, 15°, and 30°) and lateral slopes (0°, 15°, and 30°). The device was also compared with a table trackball for basic operation properties. An experimental cursor movement task was used to measure the response time of each design, accompanied by subjective fatigue and usability evaluations. The results found that the forward 30° and lateral 30° combination reached the top cursor movement performance without imposing undue fatigue to the operator. The study suggests using the forward 30° and lateral 30° handled trackball as the optimal design solution to maintain the performance when the operation of the trackball is under severe vibration environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the planning and implementation of a cross-border usability test that was to be executed in five European countries. The usability evaluation was designed by the Usability Group at Helsinki University of Technology who also performed the testing for the Finnish partner. In the other countries the usability tests were to be implemented by teams of subject matter specialists with very heterogeneous disciplines ranging from software engineering to social sciences, gender equality and vocational counselling. This paper describes the level of materials and training prepared for the remote usability testing and discusses its adequacy both via test personnel satisfaction and comments, and by comparing the found usability problems and observed phenomena in the test sessions between the test executed by the usability experts and the subject matter specialists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing number of functions in a cellular phone requires an advanced interface beyond a simple menu selection. In this study two pointing devices - an optic sensor and a pointing stick- were examined, which had recently been or planned to be applied to cellular phones. We evaluated two cellular phones equipped with each pointing device. Operations of the two devices were evaluated with objective and subjective measures. The throughputs, an index of performance based on Fitts' law, were collected in the multi-direction pointing and selecting task. A user interface (UI) checklist analysis was conducted as a subjective measure to evaluated users' acceptance of the devices. The results showed that values of throughput distinctively varied by direction of a movement when the optical sensor was used. In the UI checklist analysis, the pointing stick device was rated with higher scores than the optic sensor device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fitting in the real world can be reflected in cyber space for 3D virtual fitting simulation technology to be used by the tool for fit estimating. This study examined objectiveness and correctness of the information on clothing fit using 3D virtual garment simulated. Subjects were selected in various BMI. The patterns (skirt & slacks) were developed in the sizes of each subject. The garments were constructed from the patterns. Sensory test was done to compare the virtual garment with the real garment and the vacant space between skin and garment was calculated. As a result, the appearance of the virtual garment did not express pulling and wrinkles. The vacant space of the virtual garment did not have influence upon the gravity to produce space at the place where the garment covered human body not to make actual appearance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this article is to incorporate the JND (Just Notice able Difference) into the design of mobile device display, especially LCD display of mobile phone. JND is the difference threshold between stimuli that can be detectable by human sense. Thirty participants were employed for two experimentations in order to find out JND value of sensation for LCD. The critical design variables of LCD and the affective component of user satisfaction were investigated using AHP and regression analysis. Finally, the JND of design variables of LCD and its characteris tics were investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents experiments conducted to determine the correlation between culturally different cognitive styles and issues of information architecture and flow, specifically in mobile phone interface. Korean and Dutch participants participated in on-screen prototype test and cognitive style test. In Experiment 1, each cultural group showed a different preference on the function/theme-related menus and individuals' categorization styles had correlation with their preferences. Overall, the findings indicated that performance and preferences in a certain menu structure are associated with cognitive styles and it eventually helps to design culturally adapted interface. In Experiment 2, both groups showed more favorable attitude toward a Parallel approach and no significant correlation between cognitive styles and performance or preference were found. The correlation between prior experience and preference was not found to be significant in any tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study was to investigate the usability of wheel-type navigation key of cell phone and MP3 product. An experiment was designed to evaluate the functional benefit of wheel navigation key by using performance test. A questionnaire was also used to examine the personal preference. Eighteen subjects were recruited. In results, a significant difference was found in performance time between wheel-type and button-type product. In general, the difference was more significant as subject's skill level was higher. In questionnaire, different preference depending on the skill level and key type was reported. In conclusion, it was shown that the wheel-type navigation key improved the performance better as the skill level and search requirement became higher. Therefore, the wheel navigation key would be helpful device for users if we could use them selectively in order to speed up the searching task and replacing simple push button task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore the effect of morphological elements on the icon recognition in smart phone. 42 icons were first selected and classified in a morphological chart based on its visual design elements. Then, icons were evaluated by a group of respondents with or without design background through e-mail. Main findings include: 1) Some morphological elements may affect the recognition rates of icons. Icons imitating real objects and using conventional symbols are better in recognition rate. In contrast, some particular symbols may be difficult to recognize. 2) Gaps may still exist between designers and users. The result of this study shows that the un-answered rate of the respondents without design background is significantly higher than the ones with design background. This may suggests that gaps may still exist between designers and users. Therefore, it is recommended that a designer should bear user in mind when designing icons in order to minimize these gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The World Wide Web has become a ubiquitous information source and communication channel. With such an extensive user population, it is imperative to understand how users view Web pages. Studies of Web browsing behaviour aimed at different cultures have previously been carried out using methodologies such as questionnaires, observation and expensive eye-tracking. Mouse-tracking however, has not been previously widely applied to studies of Web browsing behaviour. This paper presents an exploratory study in which Web browsing behaviour was investigated with a help of a remote proxy mouse tracker. Furthermore, this paper compares the browsing behaviour of European users with Chinese users. This comparative study tries to explore whether or not there exists any differences in expected menu positions between Chinese and European users using mouse tracking methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to develop predictive models for grip strength, dexterity and manipulability, for four minority populations using anthropometry. A total of sixty subjects representing Hispanics, African Americans, Asian Indians and Vietnamese participated in this study. Subjects performed the three tasks for the following five hand conditions: bare hand, cotton gloves, Kevlar gloves, leather gloves and vinyl gloves. Grip strength was measured using a standard Jamar hand dynamometer. A pegboard task was used to measure the dexterity of the subjects. Manipulability was measured using knot-tying task. Models were developed with linear modeling techniques. Hand breadth was found to be the most contributing factor for all the three tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mobile phone has become one of the essential objects that people carry when they leave home. By conducting a series of street interviews in 11 cities on 4 continents, we attempted to identify the main carrying options in different cultures and how these options affected user experience in interacting with the phone. We also identified several cultural differences ranging from the prevalence of cases, straps, and other physical phone modification to other ways to personalize and protect the appearance of the phone. Phone straps and decorative stickers were more prevalent in cities such as Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing but seldom witnessed in other cultures. Based on findings from this research, we identified a number of factors that affected carrying position and style, which can be summarized as ease of access vs. the need to maintain security. Non-instrumental attributes include: identity, sociability, and aesthetics. Some practical implications on interaction and industrial design are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Automatic online analysis of meetings is very important from three points of view: serving as an important archive of a meeting, understanding human interaction processes, and providing the attentive services based on the meeting situation for participants. Based on this view, this paper presents principle and implementation of online analysis of hierarchical events in meeting scenario. A hierarchical dynamic Bayesian network modeling different levels of events is designed. In this model, the recognition of low-level events is supervised by high-level events Rao-Blackwellized particle filter is proposed for on-line inference for the hierarchical dynamic Bayesian network. Situation events and four sorts of interaction events in meeting scenario are detected and recognized. Experimental results show that our approach can detect and recognize multi-layer semantic events in dynamic environment. Comparing with previous methods of meeting analysis, our approach supports online probabilistic inference for activities at different layers in meeting scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Verbal data is the primary focus for analysis in the prevalent Usability evaluations like in ‘Think Aloud Method'. This study involves 18 cross cultural TA tests and it was found that users use gestures profoundly to communicate their mental activities. It was observed that hand gestures are attempts to communicate abstract feelings as well as to quantify, to simplify a complex expression & refer to fuzzy thoughts. 10 further TA tests, with close up cameras for capture of facial expressions yielded gestures of affect states of surprise, satisfaction, confusion, deep thinking, frustration and boredom being experienced by the user. Most importantly, the users were either verbally silent or were using words seemingly incongruent to verbalisation. Observing that there is rich meaning in gestures, this paper argues for gestures as additional data sources in TA analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cultural evaluation of Usability Engineering in the Namibian context reveals a number of good practices as well as locally inadequate methods. One major challenge in cross-cultural Usability Engineering is the implicit western understanding of usability and its associated assumptions which often lead to a locally inappropriate usability evaluation. Conceptualisation sessions held with different Namibian user groups confirmed a deviating perception of the term "usability". None of the groups mentioned terms "commonly" associated with "usability" such as speed, learnable, or memorable. Thus standard usability testing comprises a dual bias through the western definition of usability and the related choice of methods which aim to test an already biased objective. We therefore suggest an ethno-centric software development framework which incorporates a contextual redefinition of usability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interaction between two teams with the same team leader and with similar size and goals moved from weekly face-to-face meetings to virtual meetings because of the temporary displacement of the team leader to a time zone six hours ahead of the rest of the team. One team focused primarily on software development and the second team on developing and testing a research instrument. The Software Team floundered through multiple different meeting arrangements and eventually agreed to disperse until the leader returned to the same time zone. In contrast, the Research Instrument Team kept a single meeting time that was set before it moved to virtual gatherings, and continued to be an active and productive team. This paper explores what factors led to this divergence in team success and concludes that the implicit temporal structures entraining the members of the Software Team coupled with an inability to repair member unhappiness and an unequal dispersion of skill sets among virtual and co-located members led to one team's eventual shutdown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current text-based mobile group chatting systems hinder navigation ease through long chat archive in a limited screen display. Moreover, tracking messages sent by specific chatter is cumbersome and time consuming. Hence, graphical-based usable interface that aids navigation and message tracking through minimal key-pressed and enhances user expression via avatars employment is proposed. The research outcomes typified that there was significant linear relationship between user interface and usability on text-based and graphical-based usable interface on mobile chat. Moreover, the experimental evaluation results indicated that text-based usability could be improved by creating interface that encourages usages whereas the graphical-based usable mobile chat is augmented by crafting user friendly interface that enhances user satisfaction, encourages usages and promotes navigation ease. The empirical findings and results exemplified that the potential use of graphical-based usable mobile chat as substitution to the text-based that presently has poor reception and is under utilised in commercial arena. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Culture plays an important role in the global market today. It not only affects products, but also impacts on usability evaluation methods. In this paper we first introduce culture theories and two kinds of relationships in thinking aloud usability testing and then review previous research. Based on the discussion, we extract the potential factors which may influence cross-culture usability testing and then propose a relationship model. Finally, we discuss how the two thinking aloud approaches may be used in cross-culture usability testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we will discuss some extensions to the RealEYES framework that can help to automatically detect interesting sections in usability studies using additional sensor input and knowledge discovery techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the usability of different adaptable and adaptive menu interfaces in a desktop environment. A controlled experiment was conducted to compare two different adaptive menus and one adaptable menu with a traditional menu. The two adaptive menus include an adaptive split menu that moves frequently used menu items to the top, and an adaptive highlight menu that automatically boldfaces frequently used menu items. Target selection times and the number of errors were recorded while the participants were performing menu selection tasks. Subjective satisfaction including perceived recognizability, perceived efficiency, and overall preference were also measured. The results showed that the adaptable menu outperformed the other menus in terms of both the performance and the satisfaction. The adaptive split menu was not as efficient as its theoretical prototype, especially when the selection frequency changed. The adaptive highlight menu, newly proposed in this study, was not significantly better than the traditional menu in terms of the selection time. However, it was preferred by the users since it helped them select frequently used items and was much less sensitive to the variations of selection frequency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Usability evaluation is now considered an essential procedure in developing a spoken language dialogue system (SLDS). This paper proposes a systematic framework for evaluating the usability of SLDSs. The framework consists of what to evaluate and how to evaluate. What to evaluate includes components, evaluation criteria, and usability measures to evaluate various aspects of SLDSs. With respect to how to evaluate, a procedure for developing scenarios and scenario-based evaluation methods are introduced. In addition, a case study, in which the usability an SLDS was evaluated, was conducted to validate the proposed framework. The results of the case study showed successfully the usability level, usability problems, and design implications for further development. The framework proposed in the study can be practically applied to usability evaluation of SLDSs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In User-Centered Design, there is always the need to precisely define the user attributes, so that the product can be designed based on the patterns of these attributes. The methods of user definitions include quantitative segmentation analysis, as well as qualitative research on the patterns of user behaviors. Because these attributes are often complicated and abstract, researchers may have difficulty communicating these patterns to other team members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traffic signs are probably the best known graphical symbols that we encounter along roads and highways daily in a traffic system. The authors had conducted two experiments with two different groups of Hong Kong Chinese subjects to investigate the usability of traffic signs with guessing and comprehension tasks. The first experiment used Mainland China traffic signs, while the second experiment employed Hong Kong traffic signs. In this paper, the effects of two user factors (Mainland China visit experience and non-local driving experience) and one sign feature (concreteness) on task performance were investigated for exploring the culture issues in traffic sign usability. It was shown that Mainland China visit experience of subjects was a significant factor in affecting their sign guessing performance. The result also indicated that when a specific cultural issue is incorporated in a traffic sign, the sign should be accompanied by supplementary text to reduce the effect of cultural bias. It was interesting to note that non-local driving experience had a negative effect on local sign comprehension when signs were pictorially similar but different in intended messages; but the effect was positive when the signs look alike and conveyed the same meaning. A recommendation to ensure sign compre-hensibility for non-local drivers is that a leaflet containing sign information should be made available for vehicle drivers at passport control points. On sign feature, concrete signs that bear a resemblance to actual objects contribute to higher guessability scores than abstract ones, which may be due to the fact that the thinking style of Chinese people is synthetic, concrete, and relies on the periphery of the visible world. Therefore, concrete signs are better than abstract signs in regard of providing visualization aids in helping Chinese subjects to complete the guessing task. The findings revealed the importance of taking the cultural issue into consideration when developing traffic signs, and provided information and recommendations for the design of highly comprehensible traffic signs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freehand sketch is a fast and easy tool for idea development and communication, especially in the critical front-end or predevelopment stages. While it is important to any designer, lacking of appropriate mechanism for correction in fundamental design education makes even professionals hard to precisely handle accuracy of perspective sketch. Based on two-point perspe-ctive method and using cubic shape as subject, this research develops reverse drawing approach and accordingly establishes a digital training system for freehand sketch practice, namely Perspective Practice. Users can operate con-ventional pen and paper for input and the system automatically illustrates on screen a correct perspective drawing on top of the sketch done by the user, pointing out the concept or technique for improvement. The system provides users with ways in understanding their current skills and guidelines for impro-vement, through which the efficacy in digital technical training can be enhanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of culture on the usability and design of global applications. Specifically, this paper will serve to address the theoretical implications of Hofstede's cultural dimensions and the impact of these cultural models on designing usable global products. The paper concludes with a discussion regarding best practices for designing international products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross cultural influences on usability should be investigated together with human cognition and perception, and the context of use. In practice, to reveal culture similarities is more important than differences. An axiomatic method for cross cultural usability analysis was proposed for tackling these issues. It was argued that usability problems related to human cognition and perception can be identified through the Independence Axiom, whereas the best design can be recognized through the Information Axiom with the domain-specific knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study discusses why usability engineering, which seems easy to contribute to more usable products, finds little support in fast-paced product development organizations. It discusses the ways in which the environment of a product development organization is quite different from that of a web or software company. Among the differences are faster-paced development, more rigorous process stages, lower number of iterations allowed, and higher cost for usability amendment. Thus many usability professionals cannot escape from the traps of simply fixing glitches instead of solving major problems, and working on product issues only in reaction to usability problems generated by other stakeholders. This study provides some innovative suggestions for usability professionals as effective alternatives to remaining stuck in the typical evaluation and refinement strategy of usability engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural differences in cognitive processes and cognitive tools have been extensively documented. Design and use of culturally sensitive interfaces have been in demand in HCI for sometime. In this study the method of stimulated retrospective verbalization which is called here as Mind Tape study, has been used to capture cognitive differences of Danish and Indian users while interacting with chosen websites on a given task. The recording of the interaction captures screen activities and video of user. The replay of the recording is used as stimulus during a voice over interview. Using Mind tape, not only the sequence of activities during task fulfillment is observed, but also an insight into the user's cognitive processes, motives and intentions, regarding the choices made and activities done are recorded. The paper reports the cultural sensitivity and suitability of the mind tape method for cross cultural usability evaluations in light of the study conducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to develop a framework of quantitative evaluation of PUI risk level to ensure the usability in designing mobile devices. Three PUI factors—key type, use scene and device form—were selected as the main criteria for PUI risk level. They are defined as Key Manipulation Value (KMV), Function Manipulation Value (FMV) and Handling Value (HV), considering the requirements. In short, this study provides a framework of quantitative evaluation with the requirements of the three PUI factors, and analyzes risk level by KMV, FMV and HV. This result can be utilized as a criterion for usability at the design phase. In addition, evaluation with this framework at the early design phase helps to anticipate the problems, so the opportunity to solve the problem can be offered in advance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whereas research on usability predominantly employs universal definitions of the aspects that comprise usability, people experience their use of information systems through personal constructs. Based on 48 repertory-grid interviews, this study investigates how such personal constructs are affected by two factors crucial to the international development and uptake of information systems: cultural background (Chinese, Danish, or Indian) and stakeholder group (developer or user). We find that for the user group frustrating and useful systems are experienced similarly, whereas for the developers frustrating systems are experienced similarly to easy-to-use systems. Looking at the most characteristic construct for each participant we find that Chinese participants use constructs related to security, task types, training, and system issues, whereas Danish and to some extent Indian participants make more use of constructs traditionally associated with usability (e.g., easy-to-use, intuitive, and liked). Further analysis of the data is ongoing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Qualitative usability evaluation is usually included within the Evaluation Stage in Usability Engineering through a Qualitative Usability Testing processQUT. This QUT process includes the application of methods that have been defined focusing on the evaluation of a particular interactive system, becoming highly expensive when a context of use has to be evaluated (by analyzing a large number of interfaces belonging to that context) in order to detect common usability problems from a qualitative viewpoint. This paper presents the QUTCKDD methodology which incorporate techniques from Knowledge Discovery in Databases, extending the existing QUT process in order to solve the above situation. To illustrate the QUTCKDD methodology, an experimentation related to a particular Latin-American context of use is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The collection and sharing of results from usability laboratories around the world has not yet made good use of emerging models of Internet-based knowledge sharing technologies. This paper will present a model for a system that could improve the sharing of knowledge on a global scale and also facilitate the linkage of design guidelines and patterns to the accumulated evidence from the many worldwide studies that are not processed into academic publications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cultural diversity of users of technology challenges our methods for usability evaluation. In this paper we report on a multi-site, cross-cultural grounded theory field study of think aloud testing in seven companies in three countries (Denmark, China and India). The theoretical model that emerges from the data suggests that the production of a usability problem list is multi-causal and subject to cultural variations. Even the way usability problems are experienced by test participants may be different. In the discussion we outline practical guidelines for a test that is more sensitive towards cultural usability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural models in terms of the characteristics and content of folk theories and folk psychology have been important to social scientists for centuries. We suggest that they should be at the heart of the scientific study of human-computer interaction (HCI). The CULTUSAB project is conducting an in-depth investigation of the key dimensions of culture that affect usability testing situations, including language, power distance, and cognitive style. All phases of the usability test are being evaluated for cultural impact, including planning, conducting, and reporting results. Special attention is being focused on subject-evaluator communication and cultural bias in the test design and structure of the user interface being tested. Experiments are being replicated in three countries: Denmark, India and China. The research will result in new testing methods and guidelines that increase the validity of usability tests by avoiding cultural bias, and allow us to produce comparable results across different countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent researches reveal effort to observe user's experience from user's point of view in order to estimate usability of a web site. Eye-tracking and mouse-tracking to record and analysis what user sees and how user acts can be proper examples. However, although eye-tracking and mouse-tracking are used practically, not only difficult to find the case that uses both, but also the case is rare that considers what user is thinking. Hence, this paper introduced EMT System that tracks eye and mouse, and records user's thinking. And for applying EMT system, this paper developed EMT Tool, which helps a researcher to do usability test by recording the user's experience, and reproducing it visually. EMT Tool is consist of EMT Tracker which is responsible for observing and collecting user's experience and EMT Analyzer synthesizing and analyzing data from EMT Tracker. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper briefly introduces activities for usability in Lenovo China. First, the progress and the current status of usability in Lenovo China will be introduced. Second, a basic flow of usability activities is summarized. Finally, some results of activities for usability applied to Lenovo products will be presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the relationship between traditional systems development methodologies and usability, through a survey of 78 Norwegian IT companies. Building on previous research we proposed two hypotheses; (1) that software companies will generally pay lip service to usability, but do not prioritize it in industrial projects, and (2) that systems development methods and usability are perceived as not being integrated. We find support for both hypotheses. Thus, the use of systems development methods is fairly stable, confirming earlier research. Most companies do not use a formal method, and of those who do, the majority use their own method. Generally, the use of methods is rather pragmatic: Companies that do not use formal methods report that they use elements from such methods. Further, companies that use their own method import elements from standardised methods into their own. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]