Yukiko Tanikawa

A synchronous collaborative editing system for learning to write

A synchronous editing system for creating a wall newspaper collaboratively by using local area networks has been developed and tested. This educational system is intended to foster writing skills through a collaborative learning process that stimulates intensive interaction among learners who edit the same document. It is designed to encourage the writers awareness of readers and intensive interaction among learners. It has four characteristics: (1) learners are informed when someone else is following their writing process on their screen; (2) learners can instantly see what other learners are writing and revising; (3) the whole newspaper is always displayed; and (4) learners can see which parts of the newspaper other learners are writing and refer to their editing. The authors conducted experiments with the editing system in an elementary school. And the results indicate that (1) students interacted and collaborated well in the writing process; (2) they revised articles repeatedly through interacting with one another; and (3) the system supported the collaborative writing process.

Problems in Usability Improvement Activity by Software Engineers

We develop a support environment for software engineers that combine human centered design (HCD) policy with system development process to improve usability. We verified this support environment experimentally, and we observed that software engineers could not carry out works corresponding to “Analyze context of use”, which is one of HCD activities and is usually done easily by usability engineers. Through this verification process, we found that there is some difficult task about HCD activities for software engineers to carry out.

Clarification of Customers’ “Demand” in Development Process

HCD is a method to give better UX to stakeholders and to provide system and product with high usability for users and stakeholders. When system and product with high usability could be developed, it is easy to verify their usability by usability test. However, it is difficult to check whether these products or system achieve that a user wants to really do it which required in UX white paper. To verify what is thing that users want to do, we discuss what is necessary for development process by analyzing how to take in customer needs to specification from the view point of software engineering and HCD. We propose a phase “acquisition of user demand” before “clarification of user needs” and “specification of user requirements” which are activities of HCD process.

Issues of Indexing User Experience

Usability and User experience are also important factors for not only suppliers but also users when product, system and service are developed and operated. Though these are often confused, concepts are different. Also about measurement and evaluation, the former targets product, system and service themselves, the latter targets experience using them which includes users. This paper proposes that UX shall be evaluate whether it is “good” or it is “bad” not whether it is “high” or it is “low”. Expected value by before using and real experience value by during/after use are made these a function respectively. And index of UX is a difference between them. From this, to reduce a gap between high expected value and real experience value becomes to provide good UX for developers and providers.

Influence of Color Combination Pattern Considered Usability to Mental Workload

About color combination using general VDT works, to clarify that feature color combination patterns considered usability are favorable color combination for human from the view point of fatigue, physiological data change during 30 min VDT works with low cognitive load were measured and subjective evaluation was carried out. In this experiment, as feature color combination patterns located on each quadrant in color combination image scale, black, blue, green and pink are used, and as fatigable color, cyan is used. As physiological data, ECG, pupil meter and GSR is measured. From the results of experiment, feature color combination patterns considered usability got higher evaluation from the view point of physiological data and subjective evaluation than a fatigable color combination. Therefore, we concluded that feature color combination patterns considered usability are no significant difference about fatigue and human can use these colors without fatigue.