Michael Docherty

An innovative design and studio-based CS degree

The University of Queensland has recently established a new design-focused, studio-based computer science degree. The Bachelor of Information Environments degree augments the core courses from the Universitys standard CS degree with a stream of design courses and integrative studio-based projects undertaken every semester. The studio projects integrate and reinforce learning by requiring students to apply the knowledge and skills gained in other courses to open-ended real-world design projects. The studio model is based on the architectural studio and involves teamwork, collaborative learning, interactive problem solving, presentations and peer review. This paper describes the degree program, its curriculum and rationale, and reports on experiences in the first year of delivery.

Impact of zooming and enhancing region of interests for optimizing user experience on mobile sports video

In mobile videos, small viewing size and bitrate limitation often cause unpleasant viewing experiences, which is particularly important for fast-moving sports videos. For optimizing the overall user experience of viewing sports videos on mobile phones, this paper explores the benefits of emphasizing Region of Interest (ROI) by 1) zooming in and 2) enhancing the quality. The main goal is to measure the effectiveness of these two approaches and determine which one is more effective. To obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the overall user experience, the study considers users interest in video content and users acceptance of the perceived video quality, and compares the user experience in sports videos with other content types such as talk shows. The results from a user study with 40 subjects demonstrate that zooming and ROI-enhancement are both effective in improving the overall user experience with talk show and mid-shot soccer videos. However, for the full-shot scenes in soccer videos, only zooming is effective while ROI-enhancement has a negative effect. Moreover, users interest in video content directly affects not only the user experience and the acceptance of video quality, but also the effect of content type on the user experience. Finally, the overall user experience is closely related to the degree of the acceptance of video quality and the degree of the interest in video content. This study is valuable in exploiting effective approaches to improve user experience, especially in mobile sports video streaming contexts, whereby the available bandwidth is usually low or limited. It also provides further understanding of the influencing factors of user experience.

Understanding User Experience of Mobile Video: Framework, Measurement, and Optimization

Since users have become the focus of product/service design in last decade, the term User eXperience (UX) has been frequently used in the field of Human-Computer-Interaction (HCI). Research on UX facilitates a better understanding of the various aspects of the user’s interaction with the product or service. Mobile video, as a new and promising service and research field, has attracted great attention. Due to the significance of UX in the success of mobile video (Jordan, 2002), many researchers have centered on this area, examining users’ expectations, motivations, requirements, and usage context. As a result, many influencing factors have been explored (Buchinger, Kriglstein, Brandt & Hlavacs, 2011; Buchinger, Kriglstein & Hlavacs, 2009). However, a general framework for specific mobile video service is lacking for structuring such a great number of factors. To measure user experience of multimedia services such as mobile video, quality of experience (QoE) has recently become a prominent concept. In contrast to the traditionally used concept quality of service (QoS), QoE not only involves objectively measuring the delivered service but also takes into account user’s needs and desires when using the service, emphasizing the user’s overall acceptability on the service. Many QoE metrics are able to estimate the user perceived quality or acceptability of mobile video, but may be not enough accurate for the overall UX prediction due to the complexity of UX. Only a few frameworks of QoE have addressed more aspects of UX for mobile multimedia applications but need be transformed into practical measures. The challenge of optimizing UX remains adaptations to the resource constrains (e.g., network conditions, mobile device capabilities, and heterogeneous usage contexts) as well as meeting complicated user requirements (e.g., usage purposes and personal preferences). In this chapter, we investigate the existing important UX frameworks, compare their similarities and discuss some important features that fit in the mobile video service. Based on the previous research, we propose a simple UX framework for mobile video application by mapping a variety of influencing factors of UX upon a typical mobile video delivery system. Each component and its factors are explored with comprehensive literature reviews. The proposed framework may benefit in user-centred design of mobile video through taking a complete consideration of UX influences and in improvement of mobile videoservice quality by adjusting the values of certain factors to produce a positive user experience. It may also facilitate relative research in the way of locating important issues to study, clarifying research scopes, and setting up proper study procedures. We then review a great deal of research on UX measurement, including QoE metrics and QoE frameworks of mobile multimedia. Finally, we discuss how to achieve an optimal quality of user experience by focusing on the issues of various aspects of UX of mobile video. In the conclusion, we suggest some open issues for future study.

EXPLORATION AND OPTIMIZATION OF USER EXPERIENCE IN VIEWING VIDEOS ON A MOBILE PHONE

Compared with viewing videos on PCs or TVs, mobile users have different experiences in viewing videos on a mobile phone due to different device features such as screen size and distinct usage contexts. To understand how mobile users viewing experience is impacted, we conducted a field user study with 42 participants in two typical usage contexts using a custom-designed iPhone application. With users acceptance of mobile video quality as the index, the study addresses four influence aspects of user experiences, including context, content type, encoding parameters and user profiles. Accompanying the quantitative method (acceptance assessment), we used a qualitative interview method to obtain a deeper understanding of a users assessment criteria and to support the quantitative results from a users perspective. Based on the results from data analysis, we advocate two user-driven strategies to adaptively provide an acceptable quality and to predict a good user experience, respectively. There are two main c...

Stigmergy in web 2.0: a model for site dynamics

Building Web 2.0 sites does not necessarily ensure the success of the site. We aim to better understand what improves the success of a site by drawing insight from biologically inspired design patterns. Web 2.0 sites provide a mechanism for human interaction enabling powerful intercommunication between massive volumes of users. Early Web 2.0 site providers that were previously dominant are being succeeded by newer sites providing innovative social interaction mechanisms. Understanding what site traits contribute to this success drives research into Web sites mechanics using models to describe the associated social networking behaviour. Some of these models attempt to show how the volume of users provides a self-organising and self-contextualisation of content. One model describing coordinated environments is called stigmergy, a term originally describing coordinated insect behavior. This paper explores how exploiting stigmergy can provide a valuable mechanism for identifying and analysing online user behavior specifically when considering that user freedom of choice is restricted by the provided web site functionality. This will aid our building better collaborative Web sites improving the collaborative processes.

Enriching the 'I' in BIM: A BIM-Specifications (Bimspecs) Approach

This paper conceptualizes a framework for bridging the BIM-Specifications divide by embedding project-specific information in BIM objects by means of a product library. We demonstrate how model information, enriched with data at various levels of development (LODs), can evolve simultaneously with design and construction using a window object embedded in a wall as lifecycle phase exemplars at different levels of granularity. The conceptual approach is informed by the need for exploring an approach that takes cognisance of the limitations of current modelling tools in enhancing the information content of BIM models. Therefore, this work attempts to answer the question, “How can the modelling of building information be enhanced throughout the lifecycle phases of buildings utilising building specification information?” LITERATURE REVIEW Problem Overview. Building Information Modelling (BIM), a process of digitally representing buildings in 3D, is redefining the world of construction (Azhar, 2011; Succar, 2009). Building specifications on the other hand, are a class of building information crucial to the lifecycle of buildings which capture information related to material quality and the associated workmanship necessary for project completion (Potter, 2002). Ongoing efforts in the construction industry are targeted at exploiting Building Information Modelling for increased efficiency and productivity gains. Indeed there is evidence that such efforts have given rise to industry-transforming outcomes as improved team communication through visualisation (Succar, 2009), as well as increased accuracy in building design and construction through clash-detection, cost

A recommendation for designing mobile pedestrian navigation system in university campuses

University campuses have thousands of new students, staff and visitors every year. For those who are unfamiliar with the campus environment, an effective pedestrian navigation system is essential to orientate and guide them around the campus. Compared to traditional navigation systems, such as physical signposts and digital map kiosks, a mobile pedestrian navigation system provides advantages in terms of mobility, sensing capabilities, weather-awareness when the user is on the go. However, how best to design a mobile pedestrian navigation system for university campuses is still vague due to limited research in understanding how pedestrians interact with the system, and what information is required for traveling in a complex environment such as university campus. In this paper, we present a mobile pedestrian navigation system called QUT Nav. A field study with eight participants was run in a university campus context, aiming to identify key information required in a mobile pedestrian navigation system for user traveling in university campuses. It also investigated users interactions and behaviours while they were navigating in the campus environment. Based on the results from the field study, a recommendation for designing mobile pedestrian navigation systems for university campuses is stated.

The information environments program - a new design based IT degree

The University of Queensland has recently established a new design-focused, studio-based IT degree at a new “flexible-learning” campus. The Bachelor of Information Environments degree integrates the core subjects of the Bachelor of Information Technology degree along with a stream of design-based subjects covering Visual Thinking, Human Computer Interaction, Interactive Multimedia and Interaction Design. The core of the degree is the studio-stream, modelled on the architectural studio, in which students undertake open-ended design projects every semester. Studio-based learning immerses the students in the learning experience and involves teamwork, collaborative learning, interactive problem solving, presentations, and peer review. The studio projects also require the students to apply knowledge and skills gained in other subjects in new contexts, hence integrating and reinforcing previous learning. This paper describes the degree program, its curriculum and rationale, and reports on experiences in the first year of delivery.

Thermal Performance of Housing in the Hot-Humid Tropics of Australia

The paper reports findings of thermal performance studies of a number of houses in Cairns which are built of differing construction systems. From these findings quite remarkable differences are found in the way the buildings respond to the climate. The implications of this for designers are significant in terms of the levels of thermal comfort expected or desired by users. The conclusions reached suggest that designers should select designs and construction systems that achieve a balance between mass and insulation in the design of housing. In particular, where selective use of active systems are integrated into the building design, the excessive use of mass and insulation to save energy may compromise the efficiency of passive systems and also thermal comfort.

TagNBank : tag-based interaction in mobile banking

Tags assigned by users in online and mobile banking are suitable to facilitate customization. This is especially useful and desirable in the mobile context as mobile devices are considered more personal than computers. Also, smaller screen sizes and increased risk of mistyping in the mobile context present a need for a simpler and easy-to-use interaction style.