Tiago Reis

A mixed-fidelity prototyping tool for mobile devices

In this paper we present a software framework which supports the construction of mixed-fidelity (from sketch-based to software) prototypes for mobile devices. The framework is available for desktop computers and mobile devices (e.g., PDAs, Smartphones). It operates with low-fidelity sketch based prototypes or mid to high-fidelity prototypes with some range of functionality, providing several dimensions of customization (e.g., visual components, audio/video files, navigation, behavior) and targeting specific usability concerns. Furthermore, it allows designers and users to test the prototypes on actual devices, gathering usage information, both passively (e.g., logging) and actively (e.g., questionnaires/Experience Sampling). Overall, it conveys common prototyping procedures with effective data gathering methods that can be used on ubiquitous scenarios supporting in-situ prototyping and participatory design on-the-go. We address the frameworks features and its contributions to the design and evaluation of applications for mobile devices and the field of mobile interaction design, presenting real-life case studies and results.

A framework for mobile evaluation

In this paper we present a software framework which supports the construction and evaluation of mixed-fidelity prototypes for mobile devices. The framework is available for desktop and mobile devices and allows designers and users to 1) test the prototypes on actual devices; 2) gather usage information, both passively and actively supporting contextual and ubiquitous evaluation; 3) convey common prototyping procedures with effective data gathering methods that can be used on ubiquitous scenarios; 4) support in-situ prototyping and participatory design on-the-go. We address the frameworks features and its contributions to the evaluation of applications for mobile devices and the field of mobile interaction design, presenting real-life case studies and achieved results.

Interaction Design: The Mobile Percussionist

This paper presents the user centered iterative interaction design of a mobile music application. The application enables multiple users to use one or more accelerometers in order to simulate the interaction with real percussion instruments (drums, congas, and maracas). The ways through which the accelerometers are held, before and during interaction, define the instruments they represent, allowing the swapping of instruments during musical performances. The early evaluation sessions directed to the interaction modes created for each instrument enabled design iterations that were of utmost importance regarding the final applications ease of use and similarity to reality. The final evaluation of the application involved 4 percussionists that considered it well conceived, similar to the real instruments, natural and suitable for entertainment purposes, but not for professional musical purposes.

Mobile Interaction: Automatically Adapting Audio Output to Users and Contexts on Communication and Media Control Scenarios

This paper presents two prototypes designed in order to enable the automatic adjustment of audio output on mobile devices. One is directed to communication scenarios and the other to media control scenarios. The user centered methodology employed on the design of these prototypes involved 26 users and is also presented here. Once the prototypes were implemented, a usability study was conducted. This study involved 6 users that included our prototypes on their day-to-day lives during a two-week period. The results of the studies are presented and discussed on this paper, providing guidelines for the development of audio output adjustment algorithms and future manufacturing of mobile devices.

Supporting the Design of Mobile Artefacts for Paper-Based Activities

Current paper-based activities and practices are highly disseminated and intrinsic to our daily lives. Particular cases such as therapeutic and educational procedures, which rely strongly on paper-based artefacts (e.g. questionnaires, forms, manuals) assume special importance due to their critical content. However, their passiveness, limited interactivity, lack of adjustment, among other problems tend to obstruct personalization, hindering efficiency and preventing users from achieving desired goals. This chapter presents a framework that supports an easy and flexible design of tailored digital artefacts for mobile devices. The artefacts can be adjusted to the users’ needs, providing support to various purposes by coping with and enhancing different procedures. The framework integrates a set of configurable domain-oriented guidelines that aid end-users through the creation of their personalized artefacts. It has been validated through two case studies by providing support to mobile learning and by offering means to achieve ubiquitous cognitive behavioural therapy.

Improving mobile interaction with context-awareness, multimodality, and adaptive interfaces.

Mobile devices are used by a wide range of users, both on-the-go and in stationary fashions, for several purposes, and in a broad variety of scenarios, characterized by constantly mutating environmental and privacy settings. Such contextual complexity introduces significant interaction limitations, which often force the users to adapt to both the interfaces and usage contexts. My PhD research intends to mitigate these limitations. I hypothesize that adaptive context-aware multimodal interfaces improve daily mobile activities in terms of the performance, usability, and user experience. The validation of this hypothesis focuses communication, media manipulation, and personal organization activities.

Designing Universally Accessible Mobile Multimodal Artefacts

Peoples’ characteristics and surrounding environments sometimes reduce or eliminate their capability to perform paper-based activities. The support of such activities and their extension through the utilization of non paper-based modalities introduces new perspectives on their accomplishment for both impaired and non-impaired persons. We introduce Universally Accessible Mobile Multimodal Artefacts. We briefly explain the main tools of a Mobile Artefact Framework focusing an Artefact Emulator. We stress the set interaction modalities available and a set of predefined interaction which combine adequate interaction modalities. The design of both artefacts and emulator is presented and discussed based on their early user-centred usability evaluation.