Tech Reports in Computer Science and Engineering
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Item Universal Usability: Pushing Human-Computer Interaction Research to Empower Every Citizen(1999-08-25) Shneiderman, Ben"I feel... an ardent desire to see knowledge so disseminated through the mass of mankind that it may...reach even the extremes of society: beggars and kings." -- Thomas Jefferson, Reply to American Philosophical Society, 1808 In a fair society, all individuals would have equal opportunity to participate in, or benefit from, the use of computer resources regardless of race, sex, religion, age, disability, national origin or other such similar factors. -- ACM Code of Ethics Position Paper for National Science Foundation & European Commission meeting on human-computer interaction research agenda, June 1-4, 1999, Toulouse, France. To be published in book form. Also cross-referenced as UMIACS-TR-99-17Item Supporting Creativity with Advanced Information-Abundant User Interfaces(1999-08-25) Shneiderman, BenA challenge for human-computer interaction researchers and user interface designers is to construct information technologies that support creativity. This ambitious goal can be attained if designers build on an adequate understanding of creative processes. This paper describes a model of creativity, the four-phase genex framework for generating excellence: - Collect: learn from previous works stored in digital libraries, the web, etc. - Relate: consult with peers and mentors at early, middle and late stages - Create: explore, compose, discover, and evaluate possible solutions - Donate: disseminate the results and contribute to the digital libraries, the web, etc. Within this integrated framework, there are eight activities that require human-computer interaction research and advanced user interface design. This paper concentrates on techniques of information visualization that support creative work by enabling users to find relevant information resources, identify desired items in a set, or discover patterns in a collection. It describes information visualization methods and proposes five questions for the future: generality, integration, perceptual foundations, cognitive principles, and collaboration. Also cross-referenced as UMIACS-TR-9942Item The Design of History Mechanisms and their Use in Collaborative Educational Simulations(1999-08-25) Plaisant, Catherine; Rose, Anne; Rubloff, Gary; Salter, Richard; Shneiderman, BenReviewing past events has been useful in many domains. Videotapes and flight data recorders provide nvaluable technological help to sports coaches or aviation engineers. Similarly, providing learners with a readable recording of their actions may help them monitor their behavior, reflect on their progress, and experiment with revisions of their experiences. It may also facilitate active collaboration among dispersed learning communities. Learning histories can help students and professionals make more effective use of digital library searching, word processing tasks, computer-assisted design tools, electronic performance support systems, and web navigation. This paper describes the design space and discusses the challenges of implementing learning histories. It presents guidelines for creating effective implementations, and the design tradeoffs between sparse and dense history records. The paper also presents a first implementation of learning histories for a simulation-based engineering learning environment called SimPLE (Simulated Processes in a Learning Environment) for the case of a semiconductor fabrication module, and reports on early user evaluation of learning histories implemented within SimPLE. Also cross-referenced as UMIACS-TR-99-34Item Snap-Together Visualization: Coordinating Multiple Views to Explore Information(1999-06-08) North, Chris; Shneiderman, BenInformation visualizations with multiple coordinated views enable users to rapidly explore complex data and discover relationships. However, it is usually difficult for users to find or create the coordinated visualizations they need. Snap-Together Visualization allows users to coordinate multiple views that are customized to their needs. Users query their relational database and load results into desired visualizations. Then they specify coordinations between visualizations for selecting, navigating, or re-querying. Developers can make independent visualization tools 'snap-able' by including a few hooks. Also cross-referenced as UMIACS-TR-99-28Item Pixel Data Access for End-User Programming and Graphical Macros(1999-05-25) Potter, Richard; Shneiderman, BenPixel Data Access is an interprocess communication technique that enables users of graphical user interfaces to automate certain tasks. By accessing the contents of the display buffer, users can search for pixel representations of interface elements, and then initiate actions such as mouse clicks and keyboard entries. While this technique has limitations it offers users of current systems some unusually powerful features that are especially appealing in the area of end-user programming. Also cross-referenced as UMIACS-TR-99-27Item Creating Creativity for Everyone: User Interfaces for Supporting Innovation(1999-02-04) Shneiderman, BenA challenge for human-computer interaction researchers and user interface designers is to construct information technologies that support creativity. This ambitious goal can be attained by building on an adequate understanding of creative processes. This paper offers the four-phase genex framework for generating excellence: - Collect: learn from previous works stored in digital libraries - Relate: consult with peers and mentors at early, middle and late stages - Create: explore, compose, and evaluate possible solutions - Donate: disseminate the results and contribute to the digital libraries Within this integrated framework, this paper proposes eight activities that require human-computer interaction research and advanced user interface design. A scenario about an architect illustrates the process of creative work within a genex environment. (Also cross-referenced as UMIACS-TR-9910)Item LifeLines: Using Visualization to Enhance Navigation and Analysis of Patient Records(1998-11-12) Plaisant, Catherine; Mushlin, Richard; Snyder, Aaron; Li, Jia; Heller, Dan; Shneiderman, BenLifeLines provide a general visualization environment for personal histories. We explore its use for clinical patient records. A Java user interface is described, which presents a one-screen overview of a computerized patient record using timelines. Problems, diagnoses, test results or medications can be represented as dots or horizontal lines. Zooming provides more details; line color and thickness illustrate relationships or significance. The visual display acts as a giant menu, giving direct access to the data. (Also cross-referenced as UMIACS-TR-98-56)Item Codex, Memex, Genex: The pursuit of transformational technologies(1998-10-15) Shneiderman, BenHandwritten codexes or printed books transformed society by allowing users to preserve and transmit information. Today, leather-bound volumes and illuminated manuscripts are giving way to animated image maps and hot links. Vannevar Bush's memex has inspired the World Wide Web, which provides users with vast information resources and convenient communications. In looking to the future, we might again transform society by building genexes -- generators of excellence. Such inspirational environments would empower personal and collaborative creativity by enabling users to: - collect information from an existing domain of knowledge, - create innovations using advanced tools, - consult with peers or mentors in the field, and then - disseminate the results widely. This paper describes how a framework for an integrated set of software tools might support this four-phase model of creativity in science, medicine, the arts, and beyond. Current initiatives are positive and encouraging, but they do not work in an integrated fashion, often miss vital components, and are frequently poorly designed. A well-conceived and clearly-stated framework could guide design efforts, coordinate planning, and speed development. (Also cross-referenced as UMIACS-TR-97-89)Item The End of Zero-Hit Queries: Query Previews for NASA's Global Change Master Directory(1998-10-15) Greene, Stephan; Tanin, Egemen; Plaisant, Catherine; Shneiderman, Ben; Olsen, Lola; Major, Gene; Johns, SteveThe Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory (HCIL) of the University of Maryland and NASA have collaborated over the last three years to refine and apply user interface research concepts developed at HCIL in order to improve the usability of NASA data services. The research focused on dynamic query user interfaces, visualization, and overview +preview designs. An operational prototype, using query previews, was implemented with NASA's Global Change Master Directory (GCMD), a directory service for earth science data sets. Users can see the histogram of the data distribution over several attributes and choose among attribute values. A result bar shows the cardinality of the result set, thereby preventing users from submitting queries that would have zero hits. Our experience confirmed the importance of metadata accuracy and completeness. The query preview interfaces make visible problems or holes in the metadata that are unnoticeable with classic form fill-in interfaces. This could be seen as a problem, but we think that it will have a long-term beneficial effect on the quality of the metadata as data providers will be compelled to produce more complete and accurate metadata. The adaptation of the research prototype to the NASA data required revised data structures and algorithms. (Also cross-referenced as UMIACS-TR-97-84)Item An Information Architecture to Support the Visualization of Personal Histories(1998-10-15) Plaisant, Catherine; Shneiderman, BenAlso cross-referenced as UMIACS-TR-97-87