Cost-Justifying Usability Engineering: A Real World Example

Author(s):  
Michael E. Cope ◽  
Kevin C. Uliano

Human factors practitioners involved in designing graphical user interfaces (GUI) are constantly challenged with design compromises. These include the need to create an interface that contains maximum functionality and power, while striving to maintain sound human-computer interaction design principles. In a large client-server environment, subtle GUI changes to increase usability can have a significant impact on the bottom line. This paper describes a cost-benefit study comparing performance of two groups of test participants from a large wireless communication carrier. Each group performed test scenarios which isolated the effects of a single window both before and after it was redesigned. Results indicated that a single redesigned window will save an estimated $20,000 during the first year. These benefits were derived from estimating changes in end user productivity, errors, training time, and from savings obtained through decreased late design changes.

Author(s):  
Xiaojun Bi ◽  
Andrew Howes ◽  
Per Ola Kristensson ◽  
Antti Oulasvirta ◽  
John Williamson

This chapter introduces the field of computational interaction, and explains its long tradition of research on human interaction with technology that applies to human factors engineering, cognitive modelling, artificial intelligence and machine learning, design optimization, formal methods, and control theory. It discusses how the book as a whole is part of an argument that, embedded in an iterative design process, computational interaction design has the potential to complement human strengths and provide a means to generate inspiring and elegant designs without refuting the part played by the complicated, and uncertain behaviour of humans. The chapters in this book manifest intellectual progress in the study of computational principles of interaction, demonstrated in diverse and challenging applications areas such as input methods, interaction techniques, graphical user interfaces, information retrieval, information visualization, and graphic design.


Author(s):  
Wanda Boyer ◽  
Paul Jerry ◽  
Gwen R. Rempel ◽  
James Sanders

AbstractExplanatory style is based on how one explains good and bad events according to three dimensions: personalization, permanence, and pervasiveness. With an optimistic explanatory style, good events are explained as personal, permanent, and pervasive, whereas bad events are explained as external, temporary, and specific. For counsellors, an optimistic explanatory style creates positive expectancy judgments about the possibilities and opportunities for successful client outcomes. In this research study, we explored the explanatory styles expressed in 400 events (200 good events and 200 bad events) extracted from 38,013 writing samples of first year and final year graduate level counsellors in training. Across the three optimism dimensions and within good and bad events, there was one occurrence of a positive relationship between counsellor training time and the amount of expressed optimism. The implications of this study include the need to cultivate optimistic explanatory styles of counsellors in training and practicing counsellors.


Semantic Web ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Esko Ikkala ◽  
Eero Hyvönen ◽  
Heikki Rantala ◽  
Mikko Koho

This paper presents a new software framework, Sampo-UI, for developing user interfaces for semantic portals. The goal is to provide the end-user with multiple application perspectives to Linked Data knowledge graphs, and a two-step usage cycle based on faceted search combined with ready-to-use tooling for data analysis. For the software developer, the Sampo-UI framework makes it possible to create highly customizable, user-friendly, and responsive user interfaces using current state-of-the-art JavaScript libraries and data from SPARQL endpoints, while saving substantial coding effort. Sampo-UI is published on GitHub under the open MIT License and has been utilized in several internal and external projects. The framework has been used thus far in creating six published and five forth-coming portals, mostly related to the Cultural Heritage domain, that have had tens of thousands of end-users on the Web.


1971 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 173-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gavin Shaw ◽  
Bernard Groden ◽  
Evelyn Hastings

The establishment, staffing and structure and observations made in the first year of the existence of coronary care in an intensive care unit in a general hospital are recorded. Two hundred and twenty eight patients were admitted during the year in whom the diagnosis of myocardial infarction was confirmed. There were 29 deaths in the unit and 14 deaths occurred in the wards of the hospital after discharge from the unit. 49.1 per cent of the patients were admitted within 4 hours of the onset of symptoms and the mean duration of stay in the unit was 86.5 hours. The type of arrhythmia detected in the unit, and the treatment given to the patients both before and after admission to the intensive care unit are described.


2021 ◽  
Vol 38 (9) ◽  
pp. A4.2-A4
Author(s):  
Matthew Warren-James ◽  
Julie Hanson ◽  
Belinda Flanagan ◽  
Mary Katsikitis ◽  
Bill Lord

BackgroundWhilst there is evidence to suggest paramedics experience significant stress when working in the ambulance setting little is known about the experiences of first year paramedic students. This research aimed to: (i) identify whether levels of stress, anxiety and depression experienced by first year paramedic students changed after ambulance placement compared to a control group, and (ii) identify the main perceived and actual sources of stress around ambulance placement.MethodsA before-and-after quasi-experimental design was used to compare whether the experience of ambulance placement altered the levels of stress, anxiety and depression in an experimental group that attended an ambulance placement (n = 20) and the control group who did not (n = 10). Online surveys encompassing the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and qualitative questions about sources of stress were concurrently deployed to both the experimental and control groups before and after the ambulance placement. Participants were first year paramedic students working in Queensland Ambulance Service, Australia.ResultsThere was a significant reduction in levels of stress in participants after undertaking their first ambulance placement (Mdn = -4.00) when compared to a control group (Mdn = 0.00), U = 52.5, p = .035, n2 = 0.15. Responses to survey questions suggest anticipation about experiencing death and dying of patients was the most frequently reported stressor of student paramedics before undertaking ambulance placements, however insecurity about knowledge, competence and fear of failure was the most frequently experienced stressor reported after completing ambulance placements.ConclusionsThe findings from this study suggest that the fear of the unknown may be worse than the reality. Anticipatory stress is the foremost problem for first year paramedic students attending their first ambulance placement. Placement pre-briefing should focus on educational interventions to build knowledge and skills competency to reduce stress levels and fear of failure.


Author(s):  
Giuliana Scarpati ◽  
Paolo Remondelli ◽  
Ornella Piazza

"Background and aim: This study aimed to compare a serious game and lectures for the pretraining of medical students before learning about simulation-based management of cardiac arrest. Methods: Participants were 150 volunteer second-year medical students between April and June 2018 randomly assigned to CPR training using either lectures (n = 75) or a serious game (n = 75). Each participant was evaluated on a scenario of cardiac arrest before and after exposure to the learning methods. The primary outcome measures were the median total training time needed for the student to reach the minimum passing score. This same outcome was also assessed three months later. Results: The median training time necessary for students to reach the minimum passing score was similar between the two groups (p=0,45). Achieving an appropriate degree of chest compression was the most difficult requirement to fulfill for students in both groups. Singing the refrain of the song ""staying alive"" significantly increased the number of compressions with the correct rate. Three months later, the median training time decreased significantly in both groups. However, students have remained interested in the serious game for a longer time showing a preference for using this method. Conclusions: The serious game was not superior to lectures to pretraining medical students in the management of a cardiac arrest."


2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (05) ◽  
pp. 544-549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ladina Vonzun ◽  
Franziska Maria Winder ◽  
Martin Meuli ◽  
Ueli Moerlen ◽  
Luca Mazzone ◽  
...  

Abstract Purpose The aim of this study was to describe the sonographic evolution of fetal head circumference (HC) and width of the posterior horn of the lateral ventricle (Vp) after open fetal myelomeningocele (fMMC) repair and to assess whether pre- or postoperative measurements are helpful to predict the need for shunting during the first year of life. Patients & Methods All 30 children older than one year by January 2017 who previously had fMMC repair at the Zurich Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Therapy were included. Sonographic evolution of fetal HC and Vp before and after fMMC repair was assessed and compared between the non-shunted (N = 16) and the shunted group (N = 14). ROC curves were generated for the fetal HC Z-score and Vp in order to show their predictive accuracy for the need for shunting until 1 year of age. Results HC was not an independent factor for predicting shunting. However, the need for shunting was directly dependent on the preoperative Vp as well as the Vp before delivery. A Vp > 10 mm at evaluation for fMMC repair or > 15 mm before delivery identifies 100 % of the infants needing shunt placement at a false-positive rate of 44 % and 25 %, respectively. All fetuses with a Vp > 15 mm at first evaluation received a shunt. Conclusion Fetuses demonstrating a Vp of > 15 mm before in utero MMC repair are extremely likely to develop hydrocephalus requiring a shunt during the first year of life. This compelling piece of evidence must be appropriately integrated into prenatal counseling.


2017 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 300-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilynne Coopasami ◽  
Stephen Knight ◽  
Mari Pete

e-Learning and other innovative open learning multimedia modalities of delivering education are being introduced to enhance learning opportunities and facilitate student access to and success in education. This article reports on a study that assessed students' readiness to make the shift from traditional learning to the technological culture of e-Learning at a university in Durban. A quasi-experimental study design was employed to assess such readiness in first year nursing students before and after an appropriate educational intervention. A modified Chapnick Readiness Score was used to measure their psychological, equipment and technological readiness for the change in learning method. It was found that, while students' psychological readiness for e-Learning was high, they lacked technological and equipment readiness. Although e-Learning could be used in nursing education, technological and equipment readiness require attention before it can be implemented effectively in this institution. Fortunately, these technical aspects are easier to resolve than improving psychological readiness.


2016 ◽  
Vol 106 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Bravo-Aguilar ◽  
Gabriel Gijón-Noguerón ◽  
Alejandro Luque-Suarez ◽  
Javier Abian-Vicen

Background: Running can be considered a high-impact practice, and most people practicing continuous running experience lower-limb injuries. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of 45 min of running on foot posture and plantar pressures. Methods: The sample comprised 116 healthy adults (92 men and 24 women) with no foot-related injuries. The mean ± SD age of the participants was 28.31 ± 6.01 years; body mass index, 23.45 ± 1.96; and training time, 11.02 ± 4.22 h/wk. Outcome measures were collected before and after 45 min of running at an average speed of 12 km/h, and included the Foot Posture Index (FPI) and a baropodometric analysis. Results: The results show that foot posture can be modified after 45 min of running. The mean ± SD FPI changed from 6.15 ± 2.61 to 4.86 ± 2.65 (P < .001). Significant decreases in mean plantar pressures in the external, internal, rearfoot, and forefoot edges were found after 45 min of running. Peak plantar pressures in the forefoot decreased after running. The pressure-time integral decreased during the heel strike phase in the internal edge of the foot. In addition, a decrease was found in the pressure-time integral during the heel-off phase in the internal and rearfoot edges. Conclusions: The findings suggest that after 45 min of running, a pronated foot tends to change into a more neutral position, and decreased plantar pressures were found after the run.


2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 60-79
Author(s):  
Kent Turkich ◽  
◽  
Shane Greive ◽  
Paul M. Cozens ◽  
◽  
...  

This paper presents a co-teaching mentor model, which improved the teaching of academics and enhanced student satisfaction and retention. Two research-focused lecturers responsible for first-year units were partnered with a co-teaching mentor to offer guidance on how the content (urban and regional planning) could be delivered more effectively with an emphasis on student engagement and motivation. These two case studies are discussed and the findings demonstrate the effective transfer of teaching awareness and skills through this process. Five key educational theories underpin the substantive changes made to the way that classes were delivered. The applied relevance and transfer of these ideas can be demonstrated in the reflections from the participating staff through a pedagogical analysis of the before and after changes in their teaching practices, and in the improved student evaluation and retention results.


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