Eric Brangier

Prospective ergonomics: origin, goal, and prospects

So far ergonomics has been concerned with two categories of activities: correction and design. We propose to add a third category: prospection, and by so doing, we introduce a new series of activities that opens up the future of ergonomics. Corrective ergonomics relates to the past and comes with a demand and a client. It is turned towards the correction of existing situations and aims to reduce or eliminate problems. Here, after delimiting and defining the problem, the challenge is to find the best solution. Ergonomics for design relates to the present and also comes with a demand and a client. It is turned towards the design of new artefacts that have already been identified by a client, and that will allow users to do some activity and attain their goals. Here, after defining the scope of the project and the functional requirements, the challenge is to do the best design. Finally, prospective ergonomics relates to the future and does not come with a demand and a client. It is turned towards the creation of future things that have not been identified yet. Here the challenge is to detect existing user needs or anticipate future ones, and imagine solutions. These three categories of activities overlap and are not exclusive of each other. In this paper we define prospective ergonomics and compare it with corrective ergonomics and ergonomics for design. We describe its origin, goal, and prospects, we analyze its impacts on education and practice, and we emphasize the need of new collaboration between ergonomics and other disciplines.

Embodiment of intersubjective time: relational dynamics as attractors in the temporal coordination of interpersonal behaviors and experiences.

This paper addresses the issue of “being together,” and more specifically the issue of “being together in time.” We provide with an integrative framework that is inspired by phenomenology, the enactive approach and dynamical systems theories. To do so, we first define embodiment as a living and lived phenomenon that emerges from agent-world coupling. We then show that embodiment is essentially dynamical and therefore we describe experiential, behavioral and brain dynamics. Both lived temporality and the temporality of the living appear to be complex, multiscale phenomena. Next we discuss embodied dynamics in the context of interpersonal interactions, and briefly review the empirical literature on between-persons temporal coordination. Overall, we propose that being together in time emerges from the relational dynamics of embodied interactions and their flexible co-regulation.

Older people as information seekers: exploratory studies about their needs and strategies

In two studies, we investigated the influences of some individual variables that are related to information search strategies and information access in general for old end-users, and we investigated experimentally the influences of metamemory on their performances and strategies. The first study investigated the Internet access, interests, and information search from the Internet among seniors, by using interviews with a semi-directed questionnaire performed with 47 old end-users (ages from 68 to 73 years). The second study investigated the impacts of a specific cognitive ability, i.e., metamemory abilities, on the information search activities performed by 50 old end-users. Results have shown that the World Wide Web emerged as a major information resource for them, their opinions are modulated by Web experience, locating relevant information among information provided by the search engines emerged as a major problem for the old end-users, and metamemory abilities do not seem to be implicated in the computerized information search activities: No significant result was obtained in the experiment conducted in the second study. Additional research with old end-users is needed to determine the generalisability of the results obtained in our two studies.

First Validation of Persuasive Criteria for Designing and Evaluating the Social Influence of User Interfaces: Justification of a Guideline

Ergonomics has often produced grids to measure the ergonomic quality of goods and services. This paper seeks to establish and validate a grid to focus on the persuasive dimensions of interfaces and their effects; a grid that is robust, reliable, useful, relevant and easy to use for ergonomists, usability engineers and interaction designers. Our purpose is to develop and validate guidelines to measure and assess the persuasive dimensions of user experiences. This research based on a criteria model will become helpful in researching and designing persuasive technology. At first we propose a criteria-based approach to measure persuasive strength of interfaces; this criteria grid includes eight criteria: Credibility, Privacy, Personalization, Attractiveness, Solicitation, Priming, Commitment, and Ascendency. At the end, these criteria are validated by a sample of 30 experts, who confirmed that the proposed categorization of the criteria (from 71.30% to 83.25%).

Perception of gamification: between graphical design and persuasive design

We aim at determining Gamification contribution to non-ludic systems. We analyze HCI design evolution and the theories using game design in that scope to finally introduce Gamification. We state that it is perceived through graphics and persuasion concepts without considering usefulness. To demonstrate that, we ask 10 HCI designers to identify and categorize the elements which induce a ludic spirit on Gamification systems. The results show that Graphics and Persuasion aspects are associated with Perceived Gamification, while Usefulness is not. The content and functions associated with the categories are specified. We state that Gamification can become a decisive factor for the design of a successful human-technology relationship beyond classic theories of technology adoption and use. We then question its contribution.

Manifeste pour l'ergonomie prospective: anticiper de futures activités humaines en vue de concevoir de nouveaux artéfacts

This article is at first a text of critical reflections, epistemological controversies and speculative positioning on the evolution of ergonomics. It aims at discussing about the future of the discipline, by considering a temporal evolution that sees the development of ergonomics through the past, present, and future of human activity. When ergonomics is applied for correcting (or improving) existing situations, it is corrective. When it is called for acting on current situations, it is ergonomics for design. And when it is considered for dealing with future needs, it becomes prospective. Thus, this article reconsiders the distinction between corrective ergonomics and ergonomics for design in order to propose a third avenue to the discipline: Prospective ergonomics. This can be defined as the part of ergonomics whose goal is to study, in collaboration with other disciplines, the technical, social, cultural and economic factors that shape the evolution of human activities, so as to define, design, and realise human-centered innovations, that are useful and beneficial to humans in terms of comfort, performance, pleasure and/or personal development.

The effects of personas on creative codesign of work equipment: an exploratory study in a real setting

Abstract Research on personas often lacks real assessment of their pros and cons. This paper proposes a measure of the effects of personas on the creativity of a team involved in the improvement of working conditions. It describes an exploratory study carried out in a real setting, which explores the effects of two sources of information on collective creativity. Two design teams were informed about the changes induced on operators and driver deliverymen following the introduction of new equipment. One team had a written list of findings and the other team a set of personas, also in written format. Each team conducted a design session to generate and select ideas. In a second phase, a steering committee was responsible for validating the ideas to be implemented. These sessions were videotaped, transcribed and analysed. The results show that the team with personas generated the most appropriate ideas and had the highest argumentative activity, which was used to filter the largest number of ideas. These results therefore highlight the positive influence of personas on the quality of ideas and the exchange of points of view within a design team. They do not, however, enable us to determine whether personas introduce an empathic process.

The Design and Evaluation of the Persuasiveness of e-Learning Interfaces

This study addresses the general goal of designing more engaging e-learning applications through persuasive technology. The authors present and discuss two potential approaches to the design persuasive e-learning applications that differ in terms of comprehensiveness and ease of application. The more straightforward approach based on Fogg is considered for designers who may not have the time or background to invest large efforts to analyze and understand how the principles of persuasive technology can be deployed. The Oinas-Kukkonen and Harjumaa 2009 approach is presented as a different approach that does require such investment. The design approaches are complemented with a persuasive assessment grid that can be used as an inspection instrument, akin to usability inspections as found in the field of human-computer interaction. The intent is that this instrument can complement the design process by giving early feedback on issues to address. The authors report an experiment where the inspection instrument is applied to an existing e-learning application. The actual data on how students used it provides feedback on how effective the persuasive grid is for detecting issues. The results show that the application scores low on most criteria, and the usage patterns generally confirm this assessment. However, the authors also find that some students were persuaded to engage more thoroughly to use the system and conclude that large individual differences affects the factors of influence and should lead the designers of e-learning application to consider different means in the design of persuasive technology.

Heuristic Inspection to Assess Persuasiveness: A Case Study of a Mathematics E-learning Program

This research extends existing heuristic inspection with criteria grids to include emotional and persuasiveness factors. We first review the existing criteria and categorize them into four major groups, aligned along a historic perspective of HCI. Hence, we find criteria that fall into (a) accessibility, (b) usability, then (c) affective, and finally (d) persuasive categories. In the second part of the paper, we focus on heuristic inspection based on persuasive criteria. We show their importance and apply them to the example of an e-learning platform for college mathematics. Results of the heuristic inspection of the persuasive factors are reported along with their prescribed recommendations.

Towards Future Methods to Take into Account Cross-Cultural Differences in Design: An Example with the “Expert Community Staff” (ECS)

Nowadays, ergonomics tries to imagine and to create new methods based on social situations to understand users’ needs when these end-users are issued from different cultures. Because these needs are socially and culturally determined, new technology cannot be designed without understanding how it is embedded in its socio-cultural context. The aim of this paper is to present the Expert Community Staff (ECS) method, an innovative participatory method to enlarge real users’ needs. First, we present the theoretical background of this method. Second, we present the methodological implications for the design. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of this new participatory method are discussed.