David England

Internet marketing: web site navigational design issues

Purpose – A fundamental internet marketing challenge is that consumers can quickly move from seeks to one web site to another if they cannot easily find what they want on a given web site. This paper address the web site navigational design issues associated with internet marketing.Design/methodology/approach – A two‐year participant observation study in a UK tourism marketing organisation is provided in order to demonstrate a web site design approach in action.Findings – Existing web site design approaches such as hierarchy charts and storyboards can assist in structuring web site content but do not necessarily cater well for making web sites straightforward to use by consumers. Human computer interface web site design approaches typically relate more to style, appearance and functionality than to structuring web site content. Web site content ranking and grouping can allow straightforward access to web site content, by making frequently required content the most accessible and by grouping related conten...

Skills required in developing electronic commerce for small and medium enterprises: case based generalization approach

Abstract There has been a rapid growth in electronic commerce worldwide. However, the UK government and other governments had noted that electronic commerce uptake among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) has been slow. In this paper we examine the skills and knowledge required for successful electronic commerce projects in the UK SME sector based upon detailed case studies in three SME organisations from the Northwest region of England over a two year period. B2C electronic commerce appears to involve a greater requirement for skills relating to website animation, website promotion, content management, and relevant legislation compared to B2B electronic commerce. Conversely, B2B electronic commerce potentially requires more detailed knowledge of electronic data interchange technologies compared to B2C electronic commerce.

Whole body interaction

In this workshop we explore the notation of whole body interaction. We bring together different disciplines to create a new research direction for study of this emerging form of interaction

A principled approach to the design of healthcare systems: Autonomy vs. governance

In this paper, we look at decision support for post-operative breast cancer care. Our main concerns are to support autonomy of decision making whilst maintaining the governance and reliability of the decision-making process. We describe the context of our work in the wider medical setting. We then present a set of decision support tools based on the situation calculus as a means of maintaining the integrity of rule bases underlying the decision-making system. The decision support system, Neptune, allows for the authoring, maintenance and delivery of decisions in a self-governing framework. Finally we discuss the implications of our work.

Knowledge for Web site development

Web site development work is a growing aspect of the IT activities within many organisations. However, the skills and knowledge required by IT practitioners for successful Web site development are still largely uncertain. In this paper we examine the results of a research exercise involving case studies in 20 UK organisations aimed at investigating: the skills and knowledge that are required for Web site development work, how such skills and knowledge are used in actual practice, and the mechanisms by which such skills and knowledge can be acquired and improved.

Designing for all in the house

The elderly population in the world is increasing rapidly and consequently so is demand for new technologies that allow them to live independently. Facilitating the control of household appliances and the home environment through various devices that encompass multimodal and ambient interfaces seems a way to achieve this. We tested three modalities of output - audio, visual and multimodal - using two different devices - palmtop and laptop - as realistic prototypes of household appliance controllers. Through experimental design the applicability of using icons and musical earcons as a medium to transmit information to the user and its suitability to the home was investigated. Results showed participants performed markedly better using the multimodal and visual interfaces than with the audio interface. In addition both groups performed better using the palmtop as compared to the laptop.

YABLE—yet another behaviour language

There is an increasing use of virtual environments for applications ranging from education to industrial processes, behavioural modification and games. While tools have been written to enable end users to generate static environments, little has been done with respect to dynamic ones, where behaviour is a major element for believability. This is still very much the province of the programmer.This paper examines the current state of virtual reality development with particular reference to the specification and inclusion of behaviour. It highlights the need to distance such specification from the implementation of code to generate the behaviour.The paper proposes a view of behaviour and goes on to develop a software architecture which provides the basis for implementing behaviours at run time. It continues with an analysis of what is needed for behaviour specification and develops an appropriate declarative behaviour description language which enables the separation of behaviour specification from implementation. The work provides a platform on which meta-tools could be built for behaviour specification. A number of examples are included to demonstrate the architecture and behaviour description language in use.

Ambient interfaces for elderly people at home

The elderly population in the world is increasing rapidly and consequently so is demand for new technologies that allow them to live independently. Facilitating the control of household appliances and the home environment through various devices that encompass multimodal and ambient interfaces seems a way to achieve this. In this paper, we lay out the theoretical principles relating to the accommodation of technology for use in the home among older people, followed by a report supporting these principles based on experiments we have carried out. Three modalities of output – audio, visual and multimodal – were tested using two different devices – palmtop and laptop – as realistic prototypes of household appliance controllers. Through experimental design, the applicability of using icons and musical earcons as a medium to transmit information to the user and its suitability to the home was investigated. The use of musical earcons allowed the potential for an ambient interface to be compared with a traditional visual interface for older people. Results showed participants performed markedly better using the multimodal and visual interfaces than with the audio interface. In addition, both groups performed better using the palmtop as compared to the laptop.

Digital art: evaluation, appreciation, critique (invited SIG)

This SIG examines the vexed question of evaluation of Digital Art and how lessons on evaluation can be exchanged between the arts and mainstream HCI. We start by looking at critiques of standard approaches to evaluation in HCI. We then look at approaches, which have been developed in Digital Art to merge qualitative and quantitative methods. These investigations set the agenda for the SIG with the aim of uncovering the audiences knowledge and attempts at Digital Art evaluation, appreciation and critique. The chief outcome will be an exchange of experiences and proposals for ways forward for both the Digital Arts community and the broader CHI community.

Teaching students with dyslexia in higher education

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the type of adjustments to delivery appropriate for students with dyslexia in a UK higher education setting.Design/methodology/approach – A case study in a UK university department was conducted over a four‐year period.Findings – It was found that a variety of adjustments may be required for students with dyslexia in a UK higher education environment including adjustments to teaching delivery, assessment and pastoral care. In addition it is necessary to provide a managed transition from school/college/work to higher education.Research limitations/implications – Although the case study reported here focusesd on only 22 students with dyslexia, the number of students entering UK higher education with dyslexia is likely to increase and institutions need to be aware of the adjustments that may potentially be required.Originality/value – Previously few students with dyslexia had attended university in the UK. However, growing numbers of such students are now att...