Chien-Hsiung Chen

The effects of topology and task complexity on digital‐speech‐desktop interface design and evaluation

— This study investigated user task performance in terms of three interface proposals (linear, hierarchical, and network type) and task complexities (single-layered, double-layered, and triple-layered). Forty-two participants (all male), aged 19–23 years, were recruited for the experiment. The results generated from this study reveal that the different degrees of task complexity interacted with the topological structures of the user interfaces. No difference was found among the three topological structures in the single-layered task. A linear structure resulted in better user performance than network or hierarchical structures in the double-layered task, while in the triple-layered task both network and hierarchical structures resulted in better user performance than a linear topological structure. This study provides an example of the application of topological structures in interface design and evaluation. From a practical perspective, the results imply the necessity of alternative or parallel control systems (linear and hybrid topologies) so that the user can shift between structures according to task complexity.

Egg Pair — A hearing game for the visually impaired people using RFID

The social life connection between the blind people and the visually healthy people was not active in the past. This paper presents a prototype game designed for both the visually healthy people and the blind people. They can play together in the game in order to construct interaction between their social lifes. The visually healthy person has to put on an eye patch. The player moves an egg. The speaker then gives out the animals sound corresponding to the moved egg. The player has to remember the position of the egg and the sound of the animal. When the player finds a matched pair of eggs having the same animal sound. The player can take out both eggs. At the end of the game, the one having the most eggs is the winner. The hardware of the proposed game employs passive RFID technology, the Arduino microcontroller, a sound module, and a NAND Hash device.

Effects of Picture Amount on Preference, Balance, and Dynamic Feel of Web Pages

This study investigates the effects of picture amount on subjective evaluation. The experiment herein adopted two variables to define picture amount: column ratio and picture size. Six column ratios were employed: 7:93, 15:85, 24:76, 33:67, 41:59, and 50:50. Five picture sizes were examined: 140 × 81, 220 × 127, 300 × 173, 380 × 219, and 460 × 266 pixels. The experiment implemented a within-subject design; 104 participants were asked to evaluate 30 web page layouts. Repeated measurements revealed that the column ratio and picture size have significant effects on preference, balance, and dynamic feel. The results indicated the most appropriate picture amount for display: column ratios of 15:85 and 24:76, and picture sizes of 220 × 127, 300 × 173, and 380 × 219. The research findings can serve as the basis for the application of design guidelines for future web page interface design.