Pietro Murano

Anthropomorphic Vs non-anthropomorphic software interface feedback for online factual delivery

We follow on from a group of internationally published papers in the area of investigating anthropomorphic user interface feedback. An experiment is described which aims to examine the effectiveness and user approval issues of anthropomorphic versus nonanthropomorphic user interface feedback. This experiment is highly relevant to the research community as computer scientists are not in agreement concerning the effectiveness and user approval of anthropomorphic user interfaces. The experiment described is in the context of online factual delivery. Specifically the area of direction finding was used to test anthropomorphic feedback against nonanthropomorphic feedback. Statistically significant results are presented for the benefit of the research community, where it is clear that in this context, the nonanthropomorphic user interface feedback was more effective and users tended to prefer this feedback.

Effectiveness of mapping human-oriented information to feedback from a software interface

This paper describes an experiment which tests anthropomorphic user interface feedback against non-anthropomorphic user interface feedback. The experiment has considered the effectiveness and user approval of the anthropomorphic and non-anthropomorphic user interface feedback. The experiment is worthwhile, as the Computer Science community is not in agreement concerning effectiveness and user approval of anthropomorphic user interface feedback. The specific area or setting for the experiment has been English as a Foreign Language (EFL). The results from the experiment are very promising being statistically significant. They show that the anthropomorphic user interface feedback was more effective and preferred by users.

Why anthropomorphic user interface feedback can be effective and preferred by users

This paper addresses and resolves an interesting question concerning the reason for anthropomorphic user interface feedback being more effective (in two of three contexts) and preferred by users compared to an equivalent non-anthropomorphic feedback. Firstly the paper will summarise the author’s three internationally published experiments and results. These will show statistically significant results indicating that in two of the three contexts anthropomorphic user interface feedback is more effective and preferred by users. Secondly some of the famous work by Reeves and Nass will be introduced. This basically shows that humans behave in a social manner towards computers through a user interface. Thirdly the reasons for the obtained results by the author are inextricably linked to the work of Reeves and Nass. It can be seen that the performance results and preferences are due to the subconscious social behaviour of humans towards computers through a user interface. The conclusions reported in this paper are of significance to user interface designers as they allow one to design interfaces which match more closely our human characteristics. These in turn would enhance the profits of a software house.

A comparative study of the usability of touch-based and mouse-based interaction

Purpose – This paper is about an investigation into the usability of touch-based user interfaces. Currently, not enough knowledge is available to guide user interface designers and developers concerning the appropriate use of touch-based technology. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The authors adopt an empirical approach using an experiment to test the effectiveness and user satisfaction of touch-based interaction compared with equivalent mouse-based interaction. The authors had two abstract type tasks and one contextualised task using the two methods of interaction. The authors measured errors, task time and user satisfaction. Findings – The data were statistically analysed and the statistically significant results show that overall the mouse-based interaction was faster, caused fewer errors and was preferred by the participants. Originality/value – These results are interesting for all user interface designers and developers, where the authors make some design sugges...

Usefulness of VRML building models in a direction finding context

This paper describes an experiment which aims to examine the effectiveness and efficiency of a Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML) building model compared with equivalent architectural plans, for direction finding purposes. The effectiveness and efficiency issues being primarily investigated were number of tasks completed overall and task completion times. The experiment involved a series of tasks where participants had to find a number of locations/objects in a building unknown to them at the outset of the experiment. Statistically significant results are presented for the benefit of the research community, law enforcement officers and fire fighters where it is clear that in this context, the VRML model led to better task completions than the equivalent architectural plans. Regarding the task completion times, no statistical significance was found. Given the current climate of security issues and terrorist threats, it is important that law enforcement officers have at their disposal the best information possible regarding the layout of a building, whilst keeping costs down. This also applies to fire fighters when rescuing victims. This experiment has shown that a VRML model leads to better task completions in direction finding.

User Interface Menu Design Performance and User Preferences: A Review and Ways Forward

This review paper is about menus on web pages and applications and their positioning on the user screen. The paper aims to provide the reader with a succinct summary of the major research in this area along with an easy to read tabulation of the most important studies. Furthermore, the paper concludes with some suggestions for future research regarding how menus and their positioning on the screen could be improved. The two principal suggestions concern trying to use more qualitative methods for investigating the issues and to develop in the future more universally designed menus.

Menu Positioning on Web Pages. Does it Matter

This paper concerns an investigation by the authors into the efficiency and user opinions of menu positioning in web pages. While the idea and use of menus on web pages is not new, the authors feel there is not enough empirical evidence to help designers choose an appropriate menu position. We therefore present the design and results of an empirical experiment, investigating the usability of menu positioning on web pages. A four condition experiment was conducted by the authors. Each condition tested a different menu position. The menu positions tested were left vertical, right vertical, top horizontal and bottom horizontal. The context was a fictitious online store. The results, based on statistical analysis and statistically significant findings, suggest that the top horizontal and left vertical positioned menus incurred fewer errors and fewer mouse clicks. Furthermore, the user satisfaction ratings were in line with the efficiency aspects observed.

The Impact on Effectiveness and User Satisfaction of Menu Positioning on Web Pages

The authors of this paper are conducting research into the usability of menu positioning on web pages. Other researchers have also done work in this area, but the results are not conclusive and therefore more work still needs to be done in this area. The design and results of an empirical experiment, investigating the usability of menu positioning on a supermarket web site, are presented in this paper. As a comparison, the authors tested a left vertical menu and a fisheye menu placed horizontally at the top of a page in a prototype supermarket web site against a real supermarket web site using a horizontal menu placed at the top of a page. Few significant results were observed, which gave rise to the conclusion that overall there were not many differences between the tested menu types. Furthermore, an explanation for the results observed is discussed in terms of cognitive, physical, functional and sensory affordances. It is suggested that observation of the affordances may be a more crucial aspect to menu design than the actual menu positioning.

EVALUATION OF ANTHROPOMORPHIC USER INTERFACE FEEDBACK IN AN EMAIL CLIENT CONTEXT AND AFFORDANCES

This paper describes an experiment and its results concerning research that has been going on for a number of years in the area of anthropomorphic user interface feedback. The main aims of the research have been to examine the effectiveness and user satisfaction of anthropomorphic feedback. The results are of use to all user interface designers. Currently the work in the area of anthropomorphic feedback does not have any global conclusions concerning its effectiveness and user satisfaction capabilities. This research is investigating finding a way for reaching some global conclusions concerning this type of feedback. This experiment, concerned the context of downloading, installing and configuring an email client which is part of the domain of software for systems usage. Anthropomorphic feedback was compared against an equivalent non-anthropomorphic feedback. The results indicated the anthropomorphic feedback to be more effective and preferred by users. It was also the aim to examine the types of feedback in relation to Affordances. The results obtained can be explained in terms of the Theory of Affordances.

A New User Interface for a Text Proofreading Web Portal in a Digitization and Crowdsourcing Context

Purpose This paper presents a new user interface design for text proofreading portals in a digitization and crowdsourcing context. Several of the current proofreading portals lack usability in their user interfaces. The aim of the new design is to increase user performance and satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach An empirical experiment was conducted to evaluate the new user interface as a comparison with 18thConnect – TypeWright proofreading portal. Two of the main measures involved times and errors and this approach was considered to be good for these kinds of measures allowing a good degree of control. Nevertheless, personal opinions were also very important and these were elicited by means of a post-experiment questionnaire. Findings The data was statistically analysed and overall the new user interface helped users to perform better in terms of task time. Errors were also better with the new user interface, but the differences were not statistically significant. Furthermore, users were more sati...