Jim Carter

Setting the standards for haptic and tactile interactions: ISO's work

Tactile and haptic interaction is becoming increasingly important and ergonomic standards can ensure that systems are designed with sufficient concerns for ergonomics and interoperability. ISO (through working group TC159/SC4/WG9) is working toward international standards, which are being dual-tracked as both ISO and CEN standards. This paper gives an update on the status of the work in progress and the recently published International Standard on tactile/haptic interactions. Active involvement of experts is sought for work on terms and definitions and measures to characterize devices and operator capabilities.

ISO 9241-11 Revised: What Have We Learnt About Usability Since 1998?

A revision is currently being undertaken of ISO 9241-11, published in 1998 to provide guidance on usability. ISO-9241-11 defines usability in terms of effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a particular context of use. The intention was to emphasise that usability is an outcome of interaction rather than a property of a product. This is now widely accepted. However, the standard also places emphasis on usability measurement and it is now appreciated that there is more to usability evaluation than measurement. Other developments include an increasing awareness of the importance of the individual user’s emotional experience as discretionary usage of complex consumer products and use of the World Wide Web have became more widespread. From an organisational perspective, it is now appreciated that usability plays an important role in managing the potentials risks that can arise from inappropriate outcomes of interaction. The revision of ISO 9241-11 takes account of these issues and other feedback.

A framework for the development of multimedia systems for use in engineering education

Multimedia presents a number of challenges and opportunities which must be addressed if it is to be used effectively in an educational context. Engineering education can greatly benefit, if these challenges and opportunities are met. This paper describes a framework for the development of multimedia applications. It then uses this framework to identify how emerging international multimedia standards can be combined with educational objectives to provide guidance for the developers of effective multimedia for engineering education.

Incorporating standards and guidelines in an approach that balances usability concerns for developers and end users

Abstract Human–computer interaction (HCI) guidelines are intended to help developers create usable systems for end users. However, these guidelines must first be usable for developers before they can improve the usability for end users. Unfortunately there is no requirement that HCI guidelines are usable themselves. The recent proliferation of HCI guidelines has added to the usability problems of HCI guidelines for developers. In order to get over these problems, developers need help in integrating the many available guidelines within their development process in a usable manner. The Usability First methodology helps the user to identify appropriate sources of guidance including experimentation, style guides, guidelines and standards. It also includes a variety of specific guidelines and references to major HCI standards.

A taxonomy of user-oriented functions

Abstract This paper presents a taxonomy of user-oriented data functions. The taxonomy is composed of a hierarchy of user-oriented functions plus command names suggested by a group of potential users for those functions, classified as generally required in data-processing systems. The taxonomy can be used for commercial system design and evaluation and as a basis for further research.

Techniques to assist in developing accessibility engineers

This paper describes techniques used in a recent computer science course designed to develop accessibility engineers. It provides sufficient detail for other instructors to replicate the highly successful experience that resulted. It also discuses a number of results of the course that act as indicators of its success.

New ISO Standards for Usability, Usability Reports and Usability Measures

Several new and revised ISO standards will be published in 2016/17 that define the basic terms and concepts of usability ISO 9241-11, give guidance on processes and outcomes of human-centred design ISO 9241-220, provide examples of measures that can be used in usability evaluation ISO/IEC 25022 and 25023 and define what should be included in usability evaluation reports for usability tests, inspections and surveys ISO/IEC 25066. The paper explains some of the new content and how it can be used.

Using a universal access reference model to identify further guidance that belongs in ISO 16071

ISO TS 16071 Guidance on accessibility for human computer interfaces was developed via the collection and evaluation of an extensive set of existing software accessibility research and guidance. While this approach has served well in creating this first major international software accessibility standard, it is limited in its ability to expand the range of its guidance to areas not covered by existing research. This paper introduces a universal access reference model that can be used to identify areas requiring further accessibility guidance. It also demonstrates the use of this reference model in identifying guidelines that should be considered for potential addition to ISO 16071, as it progresses from a technical specification to an international standard.

Transforming Usability Engineering Requirements into Software Engineering Specifications: From PUF to UML

The Unified Modeling Language (UML) is widely used by Software Engineers as the basis of analysis and design in software development. While UML is very strong at specifying the structure and functionality of the application, it is seldom used to its potential to specify usability-related information. The Putting Usability First (PUF) methodology of Usability Engineering identifies and specifies usability-related information. This chapter discusses how requirements and other contextual information from the PUF methodology can be transformed into UML in order to specify the context information of the application to ensure the usability of the application.

Towards a standard on evaluation of tactile/haptic interactions

Tactile and haptic interaction is becoming increasingly important; ergonomic standards can ensure that systems are designed with sufficient concern for ergonomics and interoperability. ISO (through working group TC159/SC4/WG9) is developing international standards in this subject area, dual-tracked as both ISO and CEN standards. A framework and guidelines for tactile/haptic interactions have recently been published as ISO 9241-910 and ISO 9241-920 respectively. We describe the main concepts and definitions in support of a new standard that describes how to evaluate tactile/haptic interactions and how to link this evaluation to previous standards. The new standard addresses three major aspects of the evaluation of a tactile/haptic system the validation of system requirements, the verification that the system meets the requirements, and the overall usability of the system. Several measurement and analysis techniques are discussed, such as the calculation of scores for the determination of effectiveness. Tactile/haptic measurements have to be repeatable, and as an example we discuss how an appropriate model of the interaction with a virtual wall can be formed and used in evaluating a device.