SectionA:HCIProcessandTheory
Answer2ofthefollowing4questions
Q1.(a)YourtaskistoexplainhowanumberofHCImodels/theoriesrelate(ordonot
relate)onetoanother:DistributedCognition,SituatedAction,andActivityTheory.Assume
thatthepersonforwhomyouarewritingthisisquitefamiliarwitheachofthemodels‐
youdonotneedtodoanyexplainingofthem.
(b)Next,imaginethatyouaredevelopinganewmobilephonecamerathatautomatically
sharesphotosbetweensocialcirclesaseachpictureistaken.Describewhatkindof
featuresinthephotosharingcamerawouldsupporteachofthethreemodels/theories.
Q2.DrawingonyourreadingsofpapersintheDesignMethodssectionoftheHCIReading
List,(a)identifythreedifferentdesignmethodologies/approacheswritea50wordorless
summary(elevatorspeech)describingwhateachisabout,and
(b)thenwriteaboutcommonalities/similaritiesaswellascontrasts/differencesbetween
thethree.Assumethereaderknowseachmethodverywell,sofocusonlyonthe
similaritiesanddifferences.Whentherearesimilarities,bespecificandexplicitin
describingthem,likewisebespecificindrawingcontrasts.
(c)Nowassumethatyou'vebeentaskedwithcreatingawellnessapplication.This
applicationletsyouenterhealthyeatinggoalsonyourcellphone,trackyourprogress,and
allowsyourfriendstoseehowyou'redoing(andyoucanseehowthey'redoing).Foreach
ofthethreedesignmethodsyou'vechosen,explainwhataspectsofitwould/wouldnotbe
appropriateforthedesignprocessofthisapplication.Inotherwords,explainhowthe
featuresofthisapplicationalignagainstthestrengthsandweaknessesofthethree
methods.
Q3.Question:TheimpactoftechnologyontraditionalHCIevaluationtechniques(has
partsa‐d)
(a)ConsidertheclassicHCIevaluationtechniqueofthequestionnaire.Youmayconsider
eitherquestionnairesthatareintendedtobecompletedbyanindividualwithnoother
humanassistanceoraquestionnaireinwhichahumanevaluatorispresenttoassistin
collectinginformation.Overtheyears,researchersandpractitionershaveintroduced
technologicaladvancesoverthepaper‐and‐penformofaquestionnaireorsurvey.Briefly
describetwospecificwaysthattechnologyhasalteredthewayapaper‐and‐pensurveyis
administered.Asabonus(butnotrequired)citeanyexamplesofresearchpapersusing
eitherorbothofthesetechnologically‐modifiedsurveytechniques.
(b)Foreachofthetwotechnologicalchangesdescribedinthefirstpartofyouranswer,
discusswhatspecificgoalthechangehadtoimproveuponthequalityorquantityofdata
collectedbythetraditionalpen‐and‐papertechnique.Alsodiscusswhatchangeinpractice
ofthedevelopment(bydesigners)orcompletion(byendusers)isrequiredbythe
technologyenhancements,commentingonwhetherthesearegoodorbadchangesin
practice.
(c)Suggestauseofamodernmobiledevice(e.g.,smartphoneortablet)and/ormodern
interactiontechnique(e.g.,multitouch,gesture,sensor‐based)tosupportevaluation
throughsurveying.Describehowyournewusewouldtakeadvantageofthetechnologyor
interactiontechnique.Youdonothavetodiscussthedetailsofanyimplementation,butbe
suretosuggestaplausibleusethatcouldhappenwiththestateoftechnologytoday.Donot
worrytoomuchifyouareuncertainofthenoveltyofyourinnovation,butbesuretomake
itdifferentfromthechangesyoudescribedabove.
(d)YouaregoingtowriteaCHI2013paperonyourinnovation.Stateaspecifichypothesis
thatisthebasisforwhyyoufeelyourinnovationisanimprovementoverexistingHCI
evaluationtechniques.Outlinehowyouwoulddesignaresearchstudytoprove(or
disprove)yourhypothesis.
Q4.Question:Theprosandconsofmodels(haspartsa‐f)
HCIresearchersanddesignersoftenusemodelstohelpthemcreateorevaluatesolutions
inagivenproblemdomain.TwooldermodelsaretheGOMSfamilyofcognitive
performancemodelsandFitts'Law.
(a)BrieflydescribeFitts'Law.ProvideoneexampleoftheuseofFitts'Lawthatsupports
thedesignorunderstandingofsomeinteractionproblem.
(b)GiveaspecificlimitationofFitts'Law?Provideanexampleofasituationinwhichthe
useofFitts'Lawwouldnotapply.
(c)Brieflydescribetheoriginsandmotivationbehindthedevelopmentanduseofthe
GOMSfamilyofcognitivemodels.ProvideanexampleoftheuseofanyGOMSmodeling
techniquethatdemonstratesitseffectiveuse.
(d)GiveaspecificlimitationoftheGOMSfamilyofmodelingtechniques.Providean
exampleofadesignsituationinwhichGOMSwouldnotbeanappropriateframeworkfor
solvingthedesignproblem.
(e)Fitts'LawandGOMSmodelswerebothdevelopedpriortothe1990's.Pickanyother
modelingtheoryorframework(wewilljustcallthisatheoryforthepurposesofthis
question)whoserelevancetohuman‐centeredcomputinghasemergedsince1990.Briefly
(1paragraph)describethehistoricaloriginsofthistheoryasitrelatestothedesignand
evaluationofcomputingartifacts.Provideanexampleofanappropriateapplicationofthis
theorytothedesignorevaluationofacomputingartifact.
(f)Giveaspecificlimitationofthetheorydiscussedinyouranswertopart(e)asitrelates
tothedesignorevaluationofacomputingartifact.Provideanexampleofadesignsituation
inwhichyourtheorywouldnotbethemostappropriatetheorytouse.
SectionB:SpecialTopicsinHCI
UbiquitousComputing—answerONEofquestions5or6
Q5.Inaubiquitouscomputingenvironment,the“users”arepeoplegoingabouttheir
everydaylives,withainallofthetheirsocialrichnessthatentails.Intheirreviewof
ubiquitouscomputingresearchinthe1990's,AbowdandMynattsuggestthreefeatures
themesofubiquitouscomputingapplications:NaturalInteraction,Context‐Awareness,and
AutomatedCaptureandAccess.
(a)Showhowallthreeofthesethemeseitherindependentlyorthroughtheirintegration
havefeaturesthatinteractwiththesocialnormsofprivacyandpersonalcontrolandthat
peopleassumeingivensocialsituations.Illustrateyouranswerwithaspecificuseof
ubiquitouscomputingineitherapublicspace,educationalinstitution,business,or
domesticenvironment.
(b)Intheexampleuseyougaveforpart(a),explainhowtechnologicaladvancesmight
addresssomeoftheprivacyandcontrolissuesyoudescribed.Trytosupportyouranswer
withresearchcontributionsthathavebeenpublishedintheubicompliterature.
(c)Technologicalsolutionsarenottheonlywaytoaddressprivacyandcontrolissues.
Discusshowsocial,marketand/orlegalapproachesmightalsoaddressprivacyandcontrol
issuesforyourexample.Again,supportyouranswerwithevidencefromtheubicomp
literature.
(a) Whatarethechallengesfacingubiquitouscomputingresearchinthedesignand
evaluationoftechnologythatcanbemadeflexibletodifferentnorms?
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Q6.Inautomatedcaptureandaccessapplications,onepopularobjectiveistoprovide
seamlesscapture,thatis,acapturesystemthatminimallyintrudesuponthenormal
activitiesofthecapturedexperience.
(a)(a)Pickingaspecificcaptureandaccesssystemreportedintheliterature(pleasetellus
whatthesystemis)explainhowthisobjectiveobjectiveofminimalintrusionwasorwas
notachieved.
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(b)(b)UsingtheCognitiveWalkthroughevaluationmethodasyourguide,definea
formativeevaluationtechniquethatmightbeusedtopredictthelevelofseamlessnessofa
proposedcapturesystemforaspecifictypeofliveexperience.
(c)Howwouldyoudemonstratetheeffectivenessoftheevaluationmethodyoudescribed
above?
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SectionB:SpecialTopicsinHCI
InformationVisualization—answerONEofquestions7or8
Q7.TherearelotsoftreeInformationVisualizations.Mostarecategorizedasbeingeither
space‐fillingorlink‐node.Withineachofthesetwocategorieswefindmanydifferent
examples.Andforanyoneexample,therearevariouswaystovisuallyencodelinkornode
attributes,andmultipleinteractionmethods(detailsondemand,dynamicquery,semantic
zoom,etc)arepossible.
IfauserwithatreecomestoyouaskingyoutocreateausefulInfoVisofthetree,youwill
asktheuseralotofquestions.Basedontheanswerstoyourquestions,youwillthen
decideonthebesttreeInfoVisfortheuser'sneeds.Thisexamquestionisaboutthedecision
logicyouwoulduseintranslatingtheuser'sanswersintoarecommendedInfoVis.
Toprovideabitmorestructure,let'ssupposeyouarewritingaprogramtoautomatically
generateatreeInfoVis.Theprogramsinputsare:metadataaboutatree;anindicationof
whataspectsofthetreeareofgreatestinteresttothepersonwhowillusetheInfoVis(the
user'sgoals),andofcoursethetreeitself.
Yourquestionstotheuserconcernthemetadataandtheuser'sgoals.
Themetadatayouobtainwillbethingslikethedepthandbreadthofofthetree,thetotal
numberofnodesandlinks,anddatatypesforalltheinformation(akadata,
variables)associatedwiththenodesandwiththelinks(nodesandlinkscaneachhave
multiplepiecesofinformation).
Someexamplesofusergoals/interestsare:
"overalltreestructure"
"overalltreestructure,withemphasisonhowmanylinkscomeoutofeachnodeandthe
valueofthexyzvariableassociatedwiththelink"
"howthenodevariablerevenueandthenodevariableprofitaredistributedacrossall
nodesofthetree."
(a) Yourtaskistowriteasetofdecisionrules,basedontheusergoals/interestsand
thetreemetadata,thatcouldbeusedtochooseaspecifictreeInfoVis:Aspecific
typeofspace‐fillingornode‐linkdiagramVisualencodings,ifneeded,ofthe
(potentiallymultiple)datavariablesassociatedwiththelinksandnodesInteraction
method(s),ifneeded,thataremadeavailable
Weknowyoucan'twriteacompletesetofrulesinthetimeavailableforansweringthis
question.Wewantyoutogetstartedbywritingasmanyrulesastimeallows.We're
lookingforyoutodemonstratethatyouunderstandthesituationsinwhichvarioustree
InfoVis‐es,visualencodingsoflinkandnodeattributes,andinteractionmethodsare
appropriate.
Inyourrules,besuretoconsidercasestheretherearemultiplenodeandlinkattributes,
andtakeintoaccountthedatatypesoftheattributes.Also,besuretotakeintoaccountthe
sizeofthetree.
ExpressyourrulesinthegeneralstyleofIF‐THENrules:
IFuserinterestissuchandsuchANDsomethingabouttreemetadataissuchandsuch
THENincludedynamicqueryonlinkattributesuchandsuch...
Q8.BenShneiderman'sInfoVisMantraof"Overviewfirst,zoomandfilter,thendetailson
demand"hasbeenusedsomuchinthecommunitythatithasalmostbecomeacliche.
Considerthemantra,andthenchooseoneofthefollowingtwopositionstosupport.
‐‐TheMantrahasbeenusedsooftenforgoodreason.Itreallydoesdescribethedominant
designparadigmininfovissystems.
‐‐TheMantraistoosimpleandthissimplicityiswhatleadsittobeusedsofrequently,not
appriateness.Manysystemsdonotfollowthatparadigm(withgoodreason),norshould
othersfeelobligatedtodoso.
Whicheverpositionyouchoosetoagreewith,stronglydefendyourpositionbyarguing
whyyouthinkitissoandincludemultipleexamplesfromtheresearchliteraturethat
supportyourposition.