Comments:
Comment #1
Comment #2
Reference:
Title: The why UI: using goal networks to improve user interfaces
Author: Dustin A. Smith, Henry LiebermanVenue: IUI 2009/2010
Summary:
This short paper presents ToDoGo, a "mobile, location-aware to-do list application [...] which uses goal networks to help users plan where and when to accomplish their desired goals." The group analyzed which plans and goals users prefer or tend to choose. With that information, they could perform tendency analysis so users with similar patterns as previous entries could be helped along. More specifically, the goals could be labeled as "worth doing" or "not worth doing." These classifications were based on the previous history of similar users. To input the goals, the users inputed text into an interface, and the program mined the text for the information. This was done using the same framework as 43things.com, which is the website that inspired this project. The program then creates a goal graph from the mined text information. Lastly, the group implemented a location-based map that takes goals and shows the user where they can accomplish these goals near their current location. Since ToDoGo is a mobile application, this can be difficult because they have to get the location every time the application is launched, then compare the goals with the stores or locations nearby. A sample goal graph is given below.
Discussion:
I thought this was pretty interesting. I could see some people using this, especially if they can try it out for free. I think that would be the best way for this group to penetrate the potential market. I'm not sure if I'd use it myself, but for people who have long lists of things to do, I could definitely see this as being useful. I probably will check later to see if this has actually been launched. If so, I may try it out myself.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Living With Complexity
Summary:
Complexity is necessary because our lives and the things we do are complex. However, complex does not mean difficult; rather, that is the definition of complicated that Norman uses. The key is eliminating unnecessary complexity which can lead to complications or confusion.
Simplicity is not the answer. Humans say that they want things simple, but yet prefer to buy items with more features and buttons. Perceived complexity decreases as the user becomes more experienced with the particular item or system.
Simple things aren't always so simple. When multiple simple things are combined, like passwords for several different things, the task suddenly becomes very complex. The solution is to put the information in the world rather than in our heads.
Different signals mean different things to different cultures. Designs should be made to reduce the impact of these social differences, such as adding an S or P to salt and pepper shakers. Social signifiers are what allow people to "follow the crowd" so they know what is the proper action to take.Discussion:
I'm so sick of reading Donald Norman books. He is just a boring writer. I don't think anything he writes is that useful. The idea of affordances is really the only useful thing. This book was pretty awful. As it always is with Norman, it was very repetitive and boring. My favorite part by far was when he said his own university thinks he's a crackpot. Easily the best moment of all his books. He makes some good points in this book, but could have reduced the number of pages by at least half. Overall, I would never read this book again, and will try to sell all of Norman's books on Amazon shortly. I don't even want to see them again.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Book Reading #52 - Living With Complexity
Chapter 3: How Simple Things Can Complicate Our Mind
Summary:
Simple things aren't always so simple. When multiple simple things are combined, like passwords for several different things, the task suddenly becomes very complex. The solution is to put the information in the world rather than in our heads.
Chapter 4: Social Signifiers
Summary:
Different signals mean different things to different cultures. Designs should be made to reduce the impact of these social differences, such as adding an S or P to salt and pepper shakers. Social signifiers are what allow people to "follow the crowd" so they know what is the proper action to take.
Discussion:
I thought it was hilarious when Norman said his own university thinks he's a crackpot. Best part of the chapter (and book overall) by far. I must admit that the third chapter was a little better because Norman used more interesting examples. The fourth chapter was pretty awful. Social signifiers are important, but very boring to read about. I think one could easily say that experience is what determines the significance/meaning of the signifiers anyways.
Summary:
Simple things aren't always so simple. When multiple simple things are combined, like passwords for several different things, the task suddenly becomes very complex. The solution is to put the information in the world rather than in our heads.
Chapter 4: Social Signifiers
Summary:
Different signals mean different things to different cultures. Designs should be made to reduce the impact of these social differences, such as adding an S or P to salt and pepper shakers. Social signifiers are what allow people to "follow the crowd" so they know what is the proper action to take.
Discussion:
I thought it was hilarious when Norman said his own university thinks he's a crackpot. Best part of the chapter (and book overall) by far. I must admit that the third chapter was a little better because Norman used more interesting examples. The fourth chapter was pretty awful. Social signifiers are important, but very boring to read about. I think one could easily say that experience is what determines the significance/meaning of the signifiers anyways.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Media Equation
Summary:
These three papers delved into the notion of treating computers as humans, thus complicating the notion of "human-computer" interaction. When computers were polite or helpful, users tried to reciprocate. In a sense, they tried to treat the computer how the computer treated them. This is a very human-human notion, and the fact that the users extended this to computers is surprising. Furthermore, the users all stated after the experiments that computers did not deserve the same treatment as people because they are not human or even living. Additionally, when computers demonstrated personality traits similar to those of the user, the user generally favored that computer and had better experiences with it. In a sense, users wanted computers not only with personalities, but with personalities that they considered likable.
Discussion:
I actually liked these readings. They were a bit long and drug on a bit, but nonetheless I found the material and topic to be very interesting. I never considered how humans treat computers with the same social norms that we treat other humans. I also never considered a computer that actually had a personality. I think this brings a whole new aspect to "human-computer" interaction for me. Not only should I make a good system, but I should make one that is likable and treats the user well. If I do this, then I'm more likely to have positive reviews and feedback. I would never have expected the users in these studies to act the way they did. Overall I'd say this was a must-read for this class and very interesting.
These three papers delved into the notion of treating computers as humans, thus complicating the notion of "human-computer" interaction. When computers were polite or helpful, users tried to reciprocate. In a sense, they tried to treat the computer how the computer treated them. This is a very human-human notion, and the fact that the users extended this to computers is surprising. Furthermore, the users all stated after the experiments that computers did not deserve the same treatment as people because they are not human or even living. Additionally, when computers demonstrated personality traits similar to those of the user, the user generally favored that computer and had better experiences with it. In a sense, users wanted computers not only with personalities, but with personalities that they considered likable.
Discussion:
I actually liked these readings. They were a bit long and drug on a bit, but nonetheless I found the material and topic to be very interesting. I never considered how humans treat computers with the same social norms that we treat other humans. I also never considered a computer that actually had a personality. I think this brings a whole new aspect to "human-computer" interaction for me. Not only should I make a good system, but I should make one that is likable and treats the user well. If I do this, then I'm more likely to have positive reviews and feedback. I would never have expected the users in these studies to act the way they did. Overall I'd say this was a must-read for this class and very interesting.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Paper Reading #24
Comments:
Comment #1
Comment #2
Reference:
Title: Finding Your Way in a Multi-dimensional Semantic Space with Luminoso
Author: Robert Speer, Catherine Havasi, Nichole Treadway, Henry Lieberman
Venue: IUI 2009/2010
Summary:
Luminoso is an interactive system that helps researchers form correlations between words. It reads in text documents, then the user "grabs" a point of reference. From that, it allows the researchers to rotate their viewpoint in N-dimensional space. Thus, Luminoso is a form of data mining. Other similar algorithms that are automated will create useless or irrelevant relations between words, but since a user guides Luminoso, these are eliminated, giving the system a sort of "common sense." The group believes Luminoso could be useful in the creation of semantic networks, such as biological or medical informational resources, "by providing a visualizer which shows the layout, focus, and coverage of the developing resource." The picture below is an example of a similar program.
Discussion:
Another short paper makes me very happy. I think my luck runs out after this one though. Nonetheless, this paper I thought was very confusing. I didn't feel that it was particularly well organized which made it difficult to follow. I also didn't think the concepts were well explained until the end of the paper, requiring me to try and read the paper a second time. The concept seems alright, but again poorly explained. I don't think this will ever amount to anything because of such a small target market.
Comment #1
Comment #2
Reference:
Title: Finding Your Way in a Multi-dimensional Semantic Space with Luminoso
Author: Robert Speer, Catherine Havasi, Nichole Treadway, Henry Lieberman
Venue: IUI 2009/2010
Summary:
Luminoso is an interactive system that helps researchers form correlations between words. It reads in text documents, then the user "grabs" a point of reference. From that, it allows the researchers to rotate their viewpoint in N-dimensional space. Thus, Luminoso is a form of data mining. Other similar algorithms that are automated will create useless or irrelevant relations between words, but since a user guides Luminoso, these are eliminated, giving the system a sort of "common sense." The group believes Luminoso could be useful in the creation of semantic networks, such as biological or medical informational resources, "by providing a visualizer which shows the layout, focus, and coverage of the developing resource." The picture below is an example of a similar program.
Discussion:
Another short paper makes me very happy. I think my luck runs out after this one though. Nonetheless, this paper I thought was very confusing. I didn't feel that it was particularly well organized which made it difficult to follow. I also didn't think the concepts were well explained until the end of the paper, requiring me to try and read the paper a second time. The concept seems alright, but again poorly explained. I don't think this will ever amount to anything because of such a small target market.
Why We Make Mistakes
Summary:
People make a variety of mistakes for a variety of different reasons. This book attempts to explain those reasons in the hopes that we can possibly avoid them.
People generally don't remember names because of the lack of meaning. However, people do remember faces. There have been over 200 convicted criminals released because they were found innocent by DNA evidence, and 77% of them were identified by the eyewitnesses.
Humans can make decisions based on things we do not notice or see. For example, strippers earn more according to where they are in their fertility cycle. Also colors, such as black, have an impact on how we make a decision. Finally people generally believe that one should not change answers on a test from the first answer, even though this is proven to be incorrect, and additionally people regret changing these answers more so than not changing them.
Humans recall experiences of their actions more favorably than what actually happens. Disclosing bias does not do anything to eliminate the effects of that bias, and sometimes even makes the result worse. Several examples of how people do not remember their role in events are examined, most notably test scores and John Dean's role in Watergate.
People are terrible at "multi-tasking," which is a myth anyways. In spite of this fact, cars are becoming increasingly distracting. Distraction caused 78% of all car accidents with a camera in the car, and 65% of all near accidents.
Our frame of mind, or frame of reference, is a key part in our interactions. For example, the first offer in negotiations, such as the listing price of a house, becomes the anchor, or frame of reference, for all future offers. Also, we don't notice when grocery stores charge more for non-sale items after advertising a sale.
Humans tend to not notice the finer details when doing something that is routine to them or that they've done many times before. As a result, newspapers are constantly printing mistakes, and music sight readers will miss errors in the notes. Also, the book provides an example of a woman hanging herself in her tree on Halloween, and people not noticing because they thought it was a decoration.
People remember things as much "cleaner" than they were in reality. For example, people remember rivers, states, streets, etc as much straighter than they really are. Also, humans will alter stories so they make sense in their mind, even to great lengths. Finally, how much we remember is greatly limited, and we also will believe our own outright fibs if it fits the impression in our own mind.
The main difference between men and women is the level of confidence. Men are more confident in themselves, which leads to better navigation, debugging, and social skills. Men will over estimate how well they did, why women will under estimate their performance. The role of tinkering and exploring as children can lead to these results.
People are incredibly over confident. This is displayed in confidence tests, gym memberships, and other tests of one's skill. Information overload helps confidence, but doesn't affect outcomes.
We don't read instructions. We'd rather just do it our own way. Experts are classified as such because they spend thousands upon thousands of hours practicing. Cognitive maps are a key way animals solve problems, as we're always looking for the shortest path to "get the cheese."
Objects are created with constraints and affordances that limit or cue proper use. If objects are not properly constrained or given the proper affordances, serious errors can occur. For example, herapin overdoses due to too many similarities in the labels have affected thousands, including Dennis Quaid and his family. The aviation industry is much better at eliminating these types of errors than the medical field because of better naming and differing attitudes towards accepting advice.
Millions of people move out to California every year because they believe they will be happier, but it turns out that the things we focus on tend to not make us as happy as we would expect. Handicapped people are generally very satisified with their life, but most people wouldn't expect that. Finality allows for adaptation, while the option for a "grass is greener" scenario can hamper happiness.
Discussion:
I really liked this book. I know I make a lot of the same mistakes listed in the book without even thinking about it. I really liked how the author used a lot of specific "real-world" examples to demonstrate his points, rather than just saying that such-and-such mistake is common, ala Donald Norman. A lot of the things the author classifies as mistakes, I would never have thought of as mistakes, such as over confidence. I understand how it can lead to mistakes, but I feel now that it can be a mistake in and of itself. Also, this book really demonstrates how inter-related all aspects of our lives and interactions can be. I liked how he showed that people believe themselves to be better looking and more accurate than they really are. It made me try to evaluate myself a little more objectively. Lastly, I really try to avoid doing anything in my car while I'm driving now because of this book. Overall, I really liked this book and would recommend it in the future.
People make a variety of mistakes for a variety of different reasons. This book attempts to explain those reasons in the hopes that we can possibly avoid them.
People generally don't remember names because of the lack of meaning. However, people do remember faces. There have been over 200 convicted criminals released because they were found innocent by DNA evidence, and 77% of them were identified by the eyewitnesses.
Humans can make decisions based on things we do not notice or see. For example, strippers earn more according to where they are in their fertility cycle. Also colors, such as black, have an impact on how we make a decision. Finally people generally believe that one should not change answers on a test from the first answer, even though this is proven to be incorrect, and additionally people regret changing these answers more so than not changing them.
Humans recall experiences of their actions more favorably than what actually happens. Disclosing bias does not do anything to eliminate the effects of that bias, and sometimes even makes the result worse. Several examples of how people do not remember their role in events are examined, most notably test scores and John Dean's role in Watergate.
People are terrible at "multi-tasking," which is a myth anyways. In spite of this fact, cars are becoming increasingly distracting. Distraction caused 78% of all car accidents with a camera in the car, and 65% of all near accidents.
Our frame of mind, or frame of reference, is a key part in our interactions. For example, the first offer in negotiations, such as the listing price of a house, becomes the anchor, or frame of reference, for all future offers. Also, we don't notice when grocery stores charge more for non-sale items after advertising a sale.
Humans tend to not notice the finer details when doing something that is routine to them or that they've done many times before. As a result, newspapers are constantly printing mistakes, and music sight readers will miss errors in the notes. Also, the book provides an example of a woman hanging herself in her tree on Halloween, and people not noticing because they thought it was a decoration.
People remember things as much "cleaner" than they were in reality. For example, people remember rivers, states, streets, etc as much straighter than they really are. Also, humans will alter stories so they make sense in their mind, even to great lengths. Finally, how much we remember is greatly limited, and we also will believe our own outright fibs if it fits the impression in our own mind.
The main difference between men and women is the level of confidence. Men are more confident in themselves, which leads to better navigation, debugging, and social skills. Men will over estimate how well they did, why women will under estimate their performance. The role of tinkering and exploring as children can lead to these results.
People are incredibly over confident. This is displayed in confidence tests, gym memberships, and other tests of one's skill. Information overload helps confidence, but doesn't affect outcomes.
We don't read instructions. We'd rather just do it our own way. Experts are classified as such because they spend thousands upon thousands of hours practicing. Cognitive maps are a key way animals solve problems, as we're always looking for the shortest path to "get the cheese."
Objects are created with constraints and affordances that limit or cue proper use. If objects are not properly constrained or given the proper affordances, serious errors can occur. For example, herapin overdoses due to too many similarities in the labels have affected thousands, including Dennis Quaid and his family. The aviation industry is much better at eliminating these types of errors than the medical field because of better naming and differing attitudes towards accepting advice.
Millions of people move out to California every year because they believe they will be happier, but it turns out that the things we focus on tend to not make us as happy as we would expect. Handicapped people are generally very satisified with their life, but most people wouldn't expect that. Finality allows for adaptation, while the option for a "grass is greener" scenario can hamper happiness.
Discussion:
I really liked this book. I know I make a lot of the same mistakes listed in the book without even thinking about it. I really liked how the author used a lot of specific "real-world" examples to demonstrate his points, rather than just saying that such-and-such mistake is common, ala Donald Norman. A lot of the things the author classifies as mistakes, I would never have thought of as mistakes, such as over confidence. I understand how it can lead to mistakes, but I feel now that it can be a mistake in and of itself. Also, this book really demonstrates how inter-related all aspects of our lives and interactions can be. I liked how he showed that people believe themselves to be better looking and more accurate than they really are. It made me try to evaluate myself a little more objectively. Lastly, I really try to avoid doing anything in my car while I'm driving now because of this book. Overall, I really liked this book and would recommend it in the future.
Book Reading #51 - Living With Complexity
Chapter 1: Why Is Complexity Necessary? Summary:
Complexity is necessary because our lives and the things we do are complex. However, complex does not mean difficult; rather, that is the definition of complicated that Norman uses. The key is eliminating unnecessary complexity which can lead to complications or confusion.
Chapter 2: Simplicity is in the Mind
Summary:
Simplicity is not the answer. Humans say that they want things simple, but yet prefer to buy items with more features and buttons. Perceived complexity decreases as the user becomes more experienced with the particular item or system.
Discussion:I couldn't get over how he got the in field fly rule wrong for baseball. When the ball is in the air, runners stay on base. Thus, if the fielder dropped the ball on purpose, he could easily turn a double or even triple play. Also, this is only when there are runners on first, first and second, or bases loaded, because of the force out rules. Other than that, I hate Norman. He's redundant and boring.
The second chapter is alright. I feel as though I've read the part about conceptual models three times now. I agree that simplicity is perceived and not usually a good thing. I did chuckle about the automated washer still having lots of buttons to make it look better.
Complexity is necessary because our lives and the things we do are complex. However, complex does not mean difficult; rather, that is the definition of complicated that Norman uses. The key is eliminating unnecessary complexity which can lead to complications or confusion.
Chapter 2: Simplicity is in the Mind
Summary:
Simplicity is not the answer. Humans say that they want things simple, but yet prefer to buy items with more features and buttons. Perceived complexity decreases as the user becomes more experienced with the particular item or system.
Discussion:I couldn't get over how he got the in field fly rule wrong for baseball. When the ball is in the air, runners stay on base. Thus, if the fielder dropped the ball on purpose, he could easily turn a double or even triple play. Also, this is only when there are runners on first, first and second, or bases loaded, because of the force out rules. Other than that, I hate Norman. He's redundant and boring.
The second chapter is alright. I feel as though I've read the part about conceptual models three times now. I agree that simplicity is perceived and not usually a good thing. I did chuckle about the automated washer still having lots of buttons to make it look better.
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