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Full-Text Articles in Computer Engineering

Usability Inspection Methods After 15 Years Of Research And Practice, David G. Novick, Tasha Hollingsed Oct 2007

Usability Inspection Methods After 15 Years Of Research And Practice, David G. Novick, Tasha Hollingsed

Departmental Papers (CS)

Usability inspection methods, such as heuristic evaluation, the cognitive walkthrough, formal usability inspections, and the pluralistic usability walkthrough, were introduced fifteen years ago. Since then, these methods, analyses of their comparative effectiveness, and their use have evolved in different ways. In this paper, we track the fortunes of the methods and analyses, looking at which led to use and to further research, and which led to relative methodological dead ends. Heuristic evaluation and the cognitive walkthrough appear to be the most actively used and researched techniques. The pluralistic walkthrough remains a recognized technique, although not the subject of significant further …


Toward A More Accurate View Of When And How People Seek Help With Computer Applications, David G. Novick, Edith Elizalde, Nathaniel Bean Oct 2007

Toward A More Accurate View Of When And How People Seek Help With Computer Applications, David G. Novick, Edith Elizalde, Nathaniel Bean

Departmental Papers (CS)

Based on 40 interviews and 11 on-site workplace observations of people using computer applications at work, we confirm that use of printed and on-line help is very low and find that providing greater detail of categories solution methods can present a more realistic picture of users’ behaviors. Observed study participants encountered a usability problem on average about once every 75 minutes and typically spent about a minute looking for a solution. Participants consumed much more time when they were unaware of a direct way of doing something and instead used less effective methods. Comparison of results from different data-collection methods …


A Computational Model Of Culture-Specific Conversational Behavior, Dusan Jan, David Herrera, Bilyana Martinovski, David G. Novick, David Traum Sep 2007

A Computational Model Of Culture-Specific Conversational Behavior, Dusan Jan, David Herrera, Bilyana Martinovski, David G. Novick, David Traum

Departmental Papers (CS)

This paper presents a model for simulating cultural differences in the conversational behavior of virtual agents. The model provides parameters for differences in proxemics, gaze and overlap in turn taking. We present a review of literature on these factors and show results of a study where native speakers of North American English, Mexican Spanish and Arabic were asked to rate the realism of the simulations generated based on different cultural parameters with respect to their culture.