Mark D. Apperley

Data base navigation: an office environment for the professional

Abstract The potential of the computer to assist in the everyday information handling activities of professional people has received little attention. This paper proposes a number of novel facilities to produce, for this purpose, an office environment in which a needed item of information can rapidly be sought and identified. It involves a new display technique which overcomes the classical “windowing” problem, and the use of natural dialogues utilizing simple actions such as pointing, gesturing, touching and spoken commands. The simple dialogue makes the scheme well suited to the professional person, who is most likely unwilling to learn complex command languages. Little disturbances to the appearance of the office need be involved.

A decentralized architecture for software process modeling and enactment

Many development teams, especially distributed teams, require process support to adequately coordinate their complex, distributed work practices. Process modeling and enactment tools have been developed to meet this requirement. The authors discuss the Serendipity-II process management environment which supports distributed process modeling and enactment for distributed software development projects. Serendipity-II is based on a decentralized architecture and uses Internet communication facilities.

Video support for shared work-space interaction – an empirical study

Abstract A study has been carried out to identify the effects of different human-to-human communication modes on dyadic computer supported group work. A pilot study evaluated an available shared work-space software system, supplemented by face-to-face, telephone-based, and text-based communication modes between the two users. The findings from this study were then used to design an extensive experiment to explore the relative impact of face-to-face, full-motion video, slow-motion video, and audio-only communication modes when used in conjunction with this type of CSCW system. This paper describes the experiments, and examines the findings of this empirical study with the aim of establishing the importance of co-presence in CSCW, and the effectiveness of these various communication modes in achieving it.

Tool integration, collaboration and user interaction issues in component-based software architectures

Component based software architectures are becoming increasingly popular solutions for use in a wide range of software applications. Particular areas in which these architectures may provide improved software development support include tool integration, distribution and collaborative work support, and human interaction and end user configuration. However, a number of open research issues exist to do with the deployment of component based solutions in these areas. We review our recent research experiences in deploying component based solutions in these problem domains, and overview potential research directions.

Applying bifocal displays to topological maps

Presentation techniques for topological networks can be broadly classified as distortion‐oriented and nondistortion‐oriented. Although there has been a growing interest in applying various distortion‐oriented techniques, the application of an earlier example, the bifocal display, has so far been underexploited. This article describes a number of human‐computer interface techniques potentially relevant to the presentation and navigation of topological networks associated with transport systems, and describes a preliminary experimental study of a number of techniques for presenting the London Underground map as part of a real‐time information system for travelers.

Power and energy visualization for the micro-management of household electricity consumption

The paper describes a pilot system for the detailed management of domestic electricity consumption aimed at minimizing demand peaks and consumer cost. Management decisions are made both interactively by consumers themselves, and where practical, automatically by computer. These decisions are based on realtime pricing and availability information, as well as current and historic usage data. The benefits of the energy strategies implied by such a system are elaborated, showing the potential for significant peak demand reduction and slowing of the need for growth in generation capacity. An overview is provided of the component technologies and interaction methods we have designed, but the paper focuses on the communication of real-time information to the consumer through a combination of specific and ambient visualizations. There is a need for both overview information (eg how much power is being used right now; how much energy have we used so far today; what does it cost?) and information at the point-of-use (is it OK to turn this dryer on now, or should I wait until later?). To assist the design of these visualizations, a survey is underway aimed at establishing peoples understanding of power and energy concepts.

Human communication in customer-agent-computer interaction: Face-to-face versus over telephone

Customer service can be provided over various communication modes, such as face-to-face, telephone, email or websites. In this paper we examine a setting where a service, such as travel planning, is provided to a customer through a human agent, either face-to-face or via telephone. Specifically, the setting requires three entities, a customer who has approached a business, a representative for the organisation and a computer which the representative uses to support the task. Two experiments were conducted to investigate how the two human entities interact over two different communication modes (face-to-face and telephone) when there is also a computer involved in the interaction. The results showed a significantly shorter task completion time via telephone. There was also a difference in the style of communication, with face-to-face having more single activities (such as talking only), while when using the telephone there was more doubling up in activities (talking while also searching on the computer). There was only a small difference in subjective satisfaction. The results suggest that telephone interaction, although containing fewer communication cues (such as body language), is not necessarily an impoverished mode. Telephone interaction is less time consuming and more task-focused.

The use of auditory feecback in call centre CHHI

Initial investigations have been carried out to evaluate issues of the computer-human-human interaction (CHHI) commonly found in call centre scenarios. These investigations suggest some benefits in the use of auditory icons and earcons.

The oval menu-evolution and evaluation of a widget

This paper describes the development and heuristic evaluation of the oval menu, a widget for use in applications for drawing networks and similar linked structures. It is a variety of pie menu, capable of being organised as a hierarchy and of having its contents updated dynamically. Thus it is suitable for environments where libraries of components are created and used. Care has been taken to optimise it for use as a direct manipulation tool. The oval menu has been implemented for use on PC and PC-compatible computers running Windows and Windows95. It is written in Microsoft Visual C++ and uses the Microsoft Foundation Classes. It is a DLL, and the component libraries it uses are also DLLs, so it is easily adaptable for use by other applications.

Human-computer interface design in the software lifecycle

Because human-computer interface design is traditionally included in computer science curricula as an advanced level topic, it is usually perceived as an add-on, and not well integrated into the software lifecycle. An holistic user-centred methodology for system design, one which has proved particularly appropriate for software development based on 4GLs, is described. By treating interface design as an integral component of the analysis and design, rather than an afterthought, successful systems can be produced for the more enlightened, demanding and assertive users of todays interactive systems. The methodology has been successfully applied as both a teaching tool and in real system development environments.<<ETX>>