An effective user interface is a cooperative interaction between humans and their technology. For that interaction to work, it needs to recognize the limitations and exploit the strengths of both parties. In this talk, I will concentrate on the human side of the equation. What do we know about human visual perceptual abilities that might have an impact on the design of user interfaces? The world presents us with more information than we can process. Just try to read this abstract and the next piece of prose at the same time. We cope with this problem by using attentional mechanisms to select a subset of the input for further processing. An inter-face might be designed to .capture. attention, in order to induce a human to interact with it. Once the human is using an interface, that interface should .guide. the user.s atten-tion in an intelligent manner. In recent decades, many of the rules of attentional capture and guidance have been worked out in the laboratory. I will illustrate some of the basic principles. For example: Do some colors grab attention better than others? Are faces special? When and why do people fail to .see. things that are right in front of their eyes.
Creating high-quality label layouts in a particular visual style is a time-consuming process. Although automated labeling algorithms can aid the layout process, expert design knowledge is required to tune these algorithms so that they produce layouts which meet the designer's expectations. We propose a system which can learn a labellayout style from a single example layout and then apply this style to new labeling problems. Because designers find it much easier to create example layouts than tune algorithmic parameters, our system provides a more natural workflow for graphic designers. We demonstrate that our system is capable of learning a variety of label layout styles from examples.
Creating multiple prototypes facilitates comparative reasoning, grounds team discussion, and enables situated exploration. However, current interface design tools focus on creating single artifacts. This paper introduces the Juxtapose code editor and runtime environment for designing multiple alternatives of both application logic and interface parameters. For rapidly comparing code alternatives, Juxtapose introduces selectively parallel source editing and execution. To explore parameter variations, Juxtapose automatically creates control interfaces for "tuning" application variables at runtime. This paper describes techniques to support design exploration for desktop, mobile, and physical interfaces, and situates this work in a larger design space of tools for explorative programming. A summative study of Juxtapose with 18 participants demonstrated that parallel editing and execution are accessible to interaction designers and that designers can leverage these techniques to survey more options, faster.
Creating multiple prototypes facilitates comparative reasoning, grounds team discussion, and enables situated exploration. However, current interface design tools focus on creating single artifacts. This paper introduces the Juxtapose code editor and runtime environment for designing multiple alternatives of both application logic and interface parameters. For rapidly comparing code alternatives, Juxtapose introduces selectively parallel source editing and execution. To explore parameter variations, Juxtapose automatically creates control interfaces for "tuning" application variables at runtime. This paper describes techniques to support design exploration for desktop, mobile, and physical interfaces, and situates this work in a larger design space of tools for explorative programming. A summative study of Juxtapose with 18 participants demonstrated that parallel editing and execution are accessible to interaction designers and that designers can leverage these techniques to survey more options, faster.
When designing context-aware applications, it is difficult to for designers in the studio or lab to envision the contextual conditions that will be encountered at runtime. Designers need a tool that can create/re-create naturalistic contextual states and transitions, so that they can evaluate an application under expected contexts. We have designed and developed RePlay: a system for capturing and playing back sensor traces representing scenarios of use. RePlay contributes to research on ubicomp design tools by embodying a structured approach to the capture and playback of contextual data. In particular, RePlay supports: capturing naturalistic data through Capture Probes, encapsulating scenarios of use through Episodes, and supporting exploratory manipulation of scenarios through Transforms. Our experiences using RePlay in internal design projects illustrate its potential benefits for ubicomp design.
Multi-device user interface design mostly implies creating suitable interface for each targeted device, using a diverse set of design tools and toolkits. This is a time consuming activity, concerning a lot of repetitive design actions without support for reusing this effort in later designs. In this paper, we propose D-Macs: a design tool that allows designers to record their design actions across devices, to share these actions with other designers and to replay their own design actions and those of others. D-Macs lowers the burden in multi-device user interface design and can reduce the necessity for manually repeating design actions.
Data quality is critical for many information-intensive applications. One of the best opportunities to improve data quality is during entry. Usher provides a theoretical, data-driven foundation for improving data quality during entry. Based on prior data, Usher learns a probabilistic model of the dependencies between form questions and values. Using this information, Usher maximizes information gain. By asking the most unpredictable questions first, Usher is better able to predict answers for the remaining questions. In this paper, we use Usher's predictive ability to design a number of intelligent user interface adaptations that improve data entry accuracy and efficiency. Based on an underlying cognitive model of data entry, we apply these modifications before, during and after committing an answer. We evaluated these mechanisms with professional data entry clerks working with real patient data from six clinics in rural Uganda. The results show that our adaptations have the potential to reduce error (by up to 78%), with limited effect on entry time (varying between -14% and +6%). We believe this approach has wide applicability for improving the quality and availability of data, which is increasingly important for decision-making and resource allocation.
Multi-device user interface design mostly implies creating suitable interface for each targeted device, using a diverse set of design tools and toolkits. This is a time consuming activity, concerning a lot of repetitive design actions without support for reusing this effort in later designs. In this paper, we propose D-Macs: a design tool that allows designers to record their design actions across devices, to share these actions with other designers and to replay their own design actions and those of others. D-Macs lowers the burden in multi-device user interface design and can reduce the necessity for manually repeating design actions.
We present ILoveSketch, a 3D curve sketching system that captures some of the affordances of pen and paper for professional designers, allowing them to iterate directly on concept 3D curve models. The system coherently integrates existing techniques of sketch-based interaction with a number of novel and enhanced features. Novel contributions of the system include automatic view rotation to improve curve sketchability, an axis widget for sketch surface selection, and implicitly inferred changes between sketching techniques. We also improve on a number of existing ideas such as a virtual sketchbook, simplified 2D and 3D view navigation, multi-stroke NURBS curve creation, and a cohesive gesture vocabulary. An evaluation by a professional designer shows the potential of our system for deployment within a real design process.
Webmail clients provide millions of end users with convenient and ubiquitous access to electronic mail - the most successful collaboration tool ever. Web email clients are also the platform of choice for recent innovations on electronic mail and for integration of related information services into email. In the enterprise, however, webmail applications have been relegated to being a supplemental tool for mail access from home or while on the road. In this paper, we draw on recent research in the area of electronic mail to understand usage models and performance requirements for enterprise email applications. We then present an innovative architecture for a webmail client. By leveraging recent advances in web browser technology, we show that webmail clients can offer performance and responsiveness that rivals a desktop application while still retaining all the advantages of a browser based client.