Group members include:
Chris Kam (myself)
Steven Hennessey
For our second day of observation, we chose to go back to Express. We intend to visit each store a few times so that we can get a strong set of data and hopefully flesh out any outliers, albeit this is a relatively small study. We went on a Saturday and it was very busy. The carnival is in the mall parking lot so there was a lot of foot traffic. This time we went with Steven's girlfriend, that way he could stand around the fitting rooms gathering data without looking too creepy. We were in the store for an hour.
Our data:
# of customers that walked in: 165
# of males: 74
# of females:91
45% male, 55% female
# of customers that purchased something: 36
21.8% of customers that walked in bought something
# of items bought: 108
3 units/transaction
# of coupons used: 22
# of males: 14
# of females: 22
61% of customers buying used a coupon
# of people that visited the fitting rooms: 81
# of males:25
# of females:56
31% male, 69% female
44.4% of people that visited the fitting rooms bought something
# of items total people brought to the fitting rooms: 261
3.2 items per customer brought to fitting room
females tended to spend 10 minutes longer in fitting room
It was a bit harder to count people today since there were so many people in the mall. We feel that we got a pretty accurate number though, and our similarity to our previous week's findings semi-confirm that. We had to take a lot of scratch notes and our system consisted of a simple 3-character string defined as: [sex][hair color][shirt color]. For example, "FBRW" is "female, brown hair, white shirt". We did this in order to see if the people purchasing were the ones that also were in the fitting room. Steven only took note of people that took things out of the fitting room after trying them on and I took note of buyers.
A funny aside, I think after a while the associates in the store thought that we were trying to steal things. They kept asking us over and over if we needed help and always had someone in our general area towards the end.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Paper Reading #12: Multitoe: High-Precision Interaction with Back-Projected Floors Based on High-Resolution Multi-Touch Input (UIST 20)
Comments
http://stuartjchi.blogspot.com/2011/03/paper-reading-12-multitoe-high.html
http://shennessy11.blogspot.com/2011/03/paper-reading-12.html
Reference Information
Summary
The researchers in this paper are wishing for a greater use of large multitouch gestures. Typically large multitouch gestures take place on tables. This however is limited by the reach of the user and number of people that can fit around the table. The designers wish to use a multitouch floor, controlled by a user's feet.
They discuss their trials in figuring out how users should interact with a floor that projects commands and feedback. There are many gestures such as walking, tapping, jumping, etc that are easy to detect but hard to determine intent. With something as natural as walking, users should only interact with the floor intentionally.
They also examined the effectiveness of a varying size of virtual keyboards. The researchers also went on to try and "identify" users based on their footprints. There are differing levels of distinguishability such as sole, pressure, posture, and rhythm. Users can create ID's and be paired in that sense.
Discussion
This was an interesting article but at times it was hard to follow. I think that the intent of the researchers was quite good, although I fail to see the practicality of such a venture. They discuss the limits of a multitouch table, but one of the biggest limits I currently see is PRICE. Microsoft Surface is what, $10,000? How much is this floor thing going to cost? How's it going to run? What's it going to run? Where's it going to run?
I think a cool thing to research may be a device identifying a user's heartbeat and establishing account specificity based on that. Like if you come to a computer something will read your heart rhythm and log you in to your account that way.
http://stuartjchi.blogspot.com/2011/03/paper-reading-12-multitoe-high.html
http://shennessy11.blogspot.com/2011/03/paper-reading-12.html
Reference Information
Title: Multitoe: High-Precision Interaction with Back-Projected Floors Based on High-Resolution Multi-Touch Input
Author: Thomas Augsten
Publisher: UIST' 10, October 3-6, 2010 New York
The researchers in this paper are wishing for a greater use of large multitouch gestures. Typically large multitouch gestures take place on tables. This however is limited by the reach of the user and number of people that can fit around the table. The designers wish to use a multitouch floor, controlled by a user's feet.
They discuss their trials in figuring out how users should interact with a floor that projects commands and feedback. There are many gestures such as walking, tapping, jumping, etc that are easy to detect but hard to determine intent. With something as natural as walking, users should only interact with the floor intentionally.
They also examined the effectiveness of a varying size of virtual keyboards. The researchers also went on to try and "identify" users based on their footprints. There are differing levels of distinguishability such as sole, pressure, posture, and rhythm. Users can create ID's and be paired in that sense.
Discussion
This was an interesting article but at times it was hard to follow. I think that the intent of the researchers was quite good, although I fail to see the practicality of such a venture. They discuss the limits of a multitouch table, but one of the biggest limits I currently see is PRICE. Microsoft Surface is what, $10,000? How much is this floor thing going to cost? How's it going to run? What's it going to run? Where's it going to run?
I think a cool thing to research may be a device identifying a user's heartbeat and establishing account specificity based on that. Like if you come to a computer something will read your heart rhythm and log you in to your account that way.
Book Reading #29: Opening Skinner's Box Microblog
Reference Information
Title: Opening Skinner's Box
Author: Lauren Slater
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company (2008)
Chapter 8: Lost in the Mall (23 pages)
Summary
Slater discusses the "false memory" experiments conducted by Elizabeth Loftus. Loftus was able to implant false memories into her test subjects. She observed that the memories could be changed over time or through some convincing. In the "Lost in the Mall" experiment, her subjects read 4 accounts of their childhood written by their loved ones. 3 were real, 1 was falsified (being lost in a mall). She found that a quarter of the subjects vividly remembered this event as if it really happened and was able to describe them in good detail. She also talks about traumatic memory and how it can be repressed/stored differently in the brain.
Discussion
My girlfriend's dad recently had a stroke and can't create new short term memories. He is in his 60's but thinks that he's playing college football. I've been thinking about memory a lot lately and how it's kind of like a big hard drive. When you do a quick format of the hard drive, you essentially break the link that holds all the information together. It's not gone, it's just jumbled up. That's kind of how I see him right now. All his connections are broken. It's sad.
Slater discusses the "false memory" experiments conducted by Elizabeth Loftus. Loftus was able to implant false memories into her test subjects. She observed that the memories could be changed over time or through some convincing. In the "Lost in the Mall" experiment, her subjects read 4 accounts of their childhood written by their loved ones. 3 were real, 1 was falsified (being lost in a mall). She found that a quarter of the subjects vividly remembered this event as if it really happened and was able to describe them in good detail. She also talks about traumatic memory and how it can be repressed/stored differently in the brain.
Discussion
My girlfriend's dad recently had a stroke and can't create new short term memories. He is in his 60's but thinks that he's playing college football. I've been thinking about memory a lot lately and how it's kind of like a big hard drive. When you do a quick format of the hard drive, you essentially break the link that holds all the information together. It's not gone, it's just jumbled up. That's kind of how I see him right now. All his connections are broken. It's sad.
Book Reading #28: Coming of Age in Samoa Microblog
Reference Information
Title: Coming of Age in Samoa
Author: Margaret Mead
Editors: Williams Morrow and Company (1928)
Chapter 9: The Attitude of the Personality (9 pages)
Summary
Mead discusses personality of Samoans and their attitudes towards it in this chapter. Musu means "unwilling and obstinate". Mead finds that this is treated with "almost superstitious respect" and that when a person feels musu, other Samoans don't question it. They accept it and that's that. Mead found a distinct pattern in the way that Samoans describe others. They list their traits as follows: sex, age, rank, relationship, and activities. Attitudes of a person are typically described as "good" or "bad".
Discussion
I thought that the privacy Samoan's offer each other to be interesting. Sometimes it would be nice to have a bad mood and it be left at that, rather than people pry into your feelings. :/
Mead discusses personality of Samoans and their attitudes towards it in this chapter. Musu means "unwilling and obstinate". Mead finds that this is treated with "almost superstitious respect" and that when a person feels musu, other Samoans don't question it. They accept it and that's that. Mead found a distinct pattern in the way that Samoans describe others. They list their traits as follows: sex, age, rank, relationship, and activities. Attitudes of a person are typically described as "good" or "bad".
Discussion
I thought that the privacy Samoan's offer each other to be interesting. Sometimes it would be nice to have a bad mood and it be left at that, rather than people pry into your feelings. :/
Book Reading #27: Emotional Design Microblog
Reference Information
Title: Emotional Design
Author: Donald Norman
Publisher: Basic Books (2005)
Chapter 2: The Multiple Faces of Emotion and Design (19 pages)
Summary
In this chapter Norman talks about the different levels of processing work in respect to design, and how they play off each other. He mentions visceral design (initial impact of the product), behavioral (the use and experience) and reflective (understanding, reasoning and interpreting). He later goes on to discuss the role memories play. Objects evoke memories and those memories reflect us. He concludes by discussing the goals of a product and the brand.
Discussion
This chapter basically built on what the last chapter said. I understand what Norman is talking about when he talks about technology evoking memories. I really like this clip from Mad Men: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suRDUFpsHus
In this chapter Norman talks about the different levels of processing work in respect to design, and how they play off each other. He mentions visceral design (initial impact of the product), behavioral (the use and experience) and reflective (understanding, reasoning and interpreting). He later goes on to discuss the role memories play. Objects evoke memories and those memories reflect us. He concludes by discussing the goals of a product and the brand.
Discussion
This chapter basically built on what the last chapter said. I understand what Norman is talking about when he talks about technology evoking memories. I really like this clip from Mad Men: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suRDUFpsHus
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Paper Reading #11: Sensing Foot Gestures from the Pocket (UIST 19)
Title: Sensing Foot Gestures from the Pocket
Author: Jeremy Scott
Publisher: UIST' 10, October 3-6, 2010 New York
Summary
Mobile interfaces on mobile phones are visually demanding. Not only that, they diminish the user experience by monopolizing the user's attention when they are focusing on another task. Because mobile phones are typically located in pockets, explicit foot movements can be used as sort of an eyes-and-hands-free input gesture for interacting with the device.
Typically interaction is done with direct touch or physical buttons. The visual demands of this experience are heavily reliant on visual feedback as output. Currently there is vibrotactile feedback that a user relies on to alert them. Additionally, sounds such as ringtones or text-tones alert the user of messages without needing visual feedback. The authors want to rely on the 3-axis accelerometer found in iPhones to determine what sort of foot movements were made.
First they studied foot-based interaction space. They looked at four distinct actions: dorsiflexion, plantar flexion, heel rotation, and toe rotation. They found that users were more capable of consistent plantar flexion than dorsiflexion. Additionally, heel rotations were more comfortable than toe rotations.
Next they placed an iPhone in 3 different locations: front pocket, attached to the hip, and side pocket. They asked the users to perform the foot gestures. The side pocket had the best accuracy (~86%), with the front pocket showing the next best action accuracy (~60%).
Discussion
I thought that this study was absolutely ridiculous. I don't see foot or leg actions to be practical whatsoever when it comes to interacting with mobile phones. When would someone ever need to perform some action on their phone when it's in their pocket without a) looking at it and b) with their foot? The only thing that I can think of is if it rings and you want to cancel the ring. But even then, usually if you want to send the call to voicemail you're probably not in a position to answer it and thus, not in a position that making some kind of leg twitch be a completely normal thing to do.
Maybe this might be applicable to some workout apps or something along those lines. I feel like the authors of this article could have laid out a few more times when their research might have been practical besides someone needing to switch songs while standing at a bus stop. All iPhones come with a set of headphones with a button that you can click to pause or change songs already.
Image: from the article.
Typically interaction is done with direct touch or physical buttons. The visual demands of this experience are heavily reliant on visual feedback as output. Currently there is vibrotactile feedback that a user relies on to alert them. Additionally, sounds such as ringtones or text-tones alert the user of messages without needing visual feedback. The authors want to rely on the 3-axis accelerometer found in iPhones to determine what sort of foot movements were made.
First they studied foot-based interaction space. They looked at four distinct actions: dorsiflexion, plantar flexion, heel rotation, and toe rotation. They found that users were more capable of consistent plantar flexion than dorsiflexion. Additionally, heel rotations were more comfortable than toe rotations.
Next they placed an iPhone in 3 different locations: front pocket, attached to the hip, and side pocket. They asked the users to perform the foot gestures. The side pocket had the best accuracy (~86%), with the front pocket showing the next best action accuracy (~60%).
Discussion
I thought that this study was absolutely ridiculous. I don't see foot or leg actions to be practical whatsoever when it comes to interacting with mobile phones. When would someone ever need to perform some action on their phone when it's in their pocket without a) looking at it and b) with their foot? The only thing that I can think of is if it rings and you want to cancel the ring. But even then, usually if you want to send the call to voicemail you're probably not in a position to answer it and thus, not in a position that making some kind of leg twitch be a completely normal thing to do.
Maybe this might be applicable to some workout apps or something along those lines. I feel like the authors of this article could have laid out a few more times when their research might have been practical besides someone needing to switch songs while standing at a bus stop. All iPhones come with a set of headphones with a button that you can click to pause or change songs already.
Image: from the article.
Full Blog: Design of Every Day Things
Reference Information
Title: Design of Everyday Things
Author: Donald Norman
Publisher: Basic Books (2002)
Summary
"The Design of Everyday Things" discusses the elements of good and bad design. Norman offers many examples to support his assertions. He begins his book by explaining the importance of establishing conceptual models and product maps. He then describes the psychology of everyday actions. A lot of times the user can get discouraged and understanding how they perceive the world is important to notice.
Norman also talks about erroring. Erring is human, he says and usually it is broken down into a couple of categories: slips and mistakes. Mistakes are something that should be designed to minimize. Human error should be one of the biggest considerations in a design. A lot of times however, it is difficult to imagine the different ways someone will use your product.
Part of good design is showing restraint. A lot of time people get very caught up in adding a lot of features that they lose sight of the aesthetics of a product and affect usability. He concludes with a chapter on transforming difficult tasks into simple ones.
Discussion
I thought that this book was a great read and is very insightful. Design is a hard thing to learn/teach and he clearly knows a lot about what good (and poor) design entails. I learned a lot from reading this book and hopefully that knowledge will be useful later on.
Norman also talks about erroring. Erring is human, he says and usually it is broken down into a couple of categories: slips and mistakes. Mistakes are something that should be designed to minimize. Human error should be one of the biggest considerations in a design. A lot of times however, it is difficult to imagine the different ways someone will use your product.
Part of good design is showing restraint. A lot of time people get very caught up in adding a lot of features that they lose sight of the aesthetics of a product and affect usability. He concludes with a chapter on transforming difficult tasks into simple ones.
Discussion
I thought that this book was a great read and is very insightful. Design is a hard thing to learn/teach and he clearly knows a lot about what good (and poor) design entails. I learned a lot from reading this book and hopefully that knowledge will be useful later on.
Book Reading #26: Opening Skinner's Box Microblog
Reference Information
Title: Opening Skinner's Box
Author: Lauren Slater
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company (2008)
Chapter 7: Rat Park (25 pages)
Summary
This chapter discussed Bruce Alexander's work he did with rats. He studied the effect of one's social, physical and psychological life when addicted to drugs. Alexander put sixteen rats in a cage and sixteen rats in a "rat park". He provided two sets of drinking water, one with normal water and one laced with morphine. He found that the rats in the rat park typically chose normal drinking water while the ones in the cramped environment chose the morphine laced water.
The author talks about the other side of the argument--that some addictions are caused by a decrease in the production of certain brain chemicals. She talks about Emma Lowry who is addicted to opium after a surgery.
Discussion
This chapter was very interesting. I watch a show called "Breaking Bad" that is essentially about cooking crystal meth, so I see this sort of behavior. I've never been attracted to drugs, but I can see the "crutch" it creates for those that might be anti-social. I don't advocate drugs, but I feel like if alcohol and cigarettes are legal, marijuana should be as well. I don't know why I felt the need to say that.
This chapter discussed Bruce Alexander's work he did with rats. He studied the effect of one's social, physical and psychological life when addicted to drugs. Alexander put sixteen rats in a cage and sixteen rats in a "rat park". He provided two sets of drinking water, one with normal water and one laced with morphine. He found that the rats in the rat park typically chose normal drinking water while the ones in the cramped environment chose the morphine laced water.
The author talks about the other side of the argument--that some addictions are caused by a decrease in the production of certain brain chemicals. She talks about Emma Lowry who is addicted to opium after a surgery.
Discussion
This chapter was very interesting. I watch a show called "Breaking Bad" that is essentially about cooking crystal meth, so I see this sort of behavior. I've never been attracted to drugs, but I can see the "crutch" it creates for those that might be anti-social. I don't advocate drugs, but I feel like if alcohol and cigarettes are legal, marijuana should be as well. I don't know why I felt the need to say that.
Book Reading #25: Coming of Age in Samoa Microblog
Reference Information
Title: Coming of Age in Samoa
Author: Margaret Mead
Editors: Williams Morrow and Company (1928)
Chapter 8: The Role of the Dance (12 pages)
Summary
This chapter describes the significance of dance in the Samoan culture. It is the one activity that all age groups and genders participate in. There are 3 different dancing styles: taupo (aloof and beautiful), dance of the boys (jollier than the girls) and jesters (honoring the taupo by mocking them).
Dancing emphasizes one's individuality. If one is a bad dancer, they will get made fun of.
Discussion
Although dance is not a large part of our society, I know what it's like to basically have two left feet. I feel awkward dancing; I can't imagine how it must feel to be that way in a culture that celebrates dance so heavily.
This chapter describes the significance of dance in the Samoan culture. It is the one activity that all age groups and genders participate in. There are 3 different dancing styles: taupo (aloof and beautiful), dance of the boys (jollier than the girls) and jesters (honoring the taupo by mocking them).
Dancing emphasizes one's individuality. If one is a bad dancer, they will get made fun of.
Discussion
Although dance is not a large part of our society, I know what it's like to basically have two left feet. I feel awkward dancing; I can't imagine how it must feel to be that way in a culture that celebrates dance so heavily.
Book Reading #24: Emotional Design Microblog
Reference Information
Title: Emotional Design
Author: Donald Norman
Publisher: Basic Books (2005)
Chapter 1: Attractive Things Work Better (18 pages)
Summary
The first chapter of this book explains why attractive things work better. He talks about how emotions help people to make decisions. He also talks about how happiness influences the thought process and encourages creativity. An attractive design allows for a more enjoyable experience.
Discussion
This was a good chapter. I feel like this is sort of the Android vs. iPhone argument. The reason why Apple's products are so highly lusted after is they create an emotional experience. People love using their products despite not having as many "features". They create beautiful products that are a pleasure to use.
The first chapter of this book explains why attractive things work better. He talks about how emotions help people to make decisions. He also talks about how happiness influences the thought process and encourages creativity. An attractive design allows for a more enjoyable experience.
Discussion
This was a good chapter. I feel like this is sort of the Android vs. iPhone argument. The reason why Apple's products are so highly lusted after is they create an emotional experience. People love using their products despite not having as many "features". They create beautiful products that are a pleasure to use.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Ethnography Results, Week 3
Group members include:
Chris Kam (myself)
Steven Hennessey
For our first actual day of observation, we chose Express. In terms of price, they are probably the overall priciest store in Post Oak Mall, at least out of the stores we are choosing to look at. We mostly stayed on the men's side, fitting rooms and registers. In terms of feel of the store, it was relatively clean. A lot of things were folded nicely. The music was pop-techno-ish. It made for a "fun" environment, moreso than what you would find at say, Macy's. The sales associates were nice and offered help. They were all female. We spent about an hour in the store.
Our data:
# of customers that walked in: 94
# of males: 40
# of females: 54
43% male, 57% female
# of customers that purchased something: 19
20.2% of customers that walked in bought something
# of items bought: 52
2.74 units/transaction
# of coupons used: 11
58% of customers buying used a coupon
# of people that visited the fitting rooms: 40
# of males: 14
# of females:26
35% male, 65% female
47.5% of people that visited the fitting rooms bought something
# of items total people brought to the fitting rooms: 124
3.1 items per customer brought to fitting room
females tended to spend 8 minutes longer in fitting room
Chris Kam (myself)
Steven Hennessey
For our first actual day of observation, we chose Express. In terms of price, they are probably the overall priciest store in Post Oak Mall, at least out of the stores we are choosing to look at. We mostly stayed on the men's side, fitting rooms and registers. In terms of feel of the store, it was relatively clean. A lot of things were folded nicely. The music was pop-techno-ish. It made for a "fun" environment, moreso than what you would find at say, Macy's. The sales associates were nice and offered help. They were all female. We spent about an hour in the store.
Our data:
# of customers that walked in: 94
# of males: 40
# of females: 54
43% male, 57% female
# of customers that purchased something: 19
20.2% of customers that walked in bought something
# of items bought: 52
2.74 units/transaction
# of coupons used: 11
58% of customers buying used a coupon
# of people that visited the fitting rooms: 40
# of males: 14
# of females:26
35% male, 65% female
47.5% of people that visited the fitting rooms bought something
# of items total people brought to the fitting rooms: 124
3.1 items per customer brought to fitting room
females tended to spend 8 minutes longer in fitting room
Ethnography Results, Week 2
Group members include:
Chris Kam (myself)
Steven Hennessey
For week 2 of our ethnography, we went to Post Oak Mall to scout the locations that we would be observing. To our surprise, a few stores that we had intended to observe had closed. They were Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch.
The stores that we found to be relevant (clothes for men and women):
Chris Kam (myself)
Steven Hennessey
For week 2 of our ethnography, we went to Post Oak Mall to scout the locations that we would be observing. To our surprise, a few stores that we had intended to observe had closed. They were Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch.
The stores that we found to be relevant (clothes for men and women):
- Aeropostale
- American Eagle
- Buckle
- Express
- Hollister
- Pacific Sunwear
All of these locations have the relevant characteristics of the stores we describe wanting to study in our proposal. Since we are comparing/contrasting men and women, we may choose a store that has strictly men/women clothing if time allows. Forever 21 would be an interesting store to observe but we'd have to go with a girl. That'd be weird otherwise. We will start our observations next week.
Ethnography Results, Week 1
Group members include:
Chris Kam (myself)
Steven Hennessey
After conducting our first ethnography trial, we decided to change our idea. Our original idea was to do sort of a "text-while-walking" type of scenario. With the prevalence of phones, especially smart-phones, we wanted to examine how people used them and how they were seen in public.
We had trouble coming up with solid, concrete data. Observing subjects was tough, as the way people use cell phones is very different. We tried to stage scenarios in which we walked-while-texting and ended up just running into people and almost breaking our phones.
In the end, we decided that this study would be boring and not draw any relevant or practical conclusions.
Chris Kam (myself)
Steven Hennessey
After conducting our first ethnography trial, we decided to change our idea. Our original idea was to do sort of a "text-while-walking" type of scenario. With the prevalence of phones, especially smart-phones, we wanted to examine how people used them and how they were seen in public.
We had trouble coming up with solid, concrete data. Observing subjects was tough, as the way people use cell phones is very different. We tried to stage scenarios in which we walked-while-texting and ended up just running into people and almost breaking our phones.
In the end, we decided that this study would be boring and not draw any relevant or practical conclusions.
Paper Reading #10: Jogging over a Distance Between Europe and Australia (UIST 18)
Comments
http://stuartjchi.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-10-jogging-over-distance.html
Reference Information
http://stuartjchi.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-10-jogging-over-distance.html
http://shennessy11.blogspot.com/2011/02/paper-reading-9.html
Reference Information
Title: Jogging over a Distance Between Europe and Australia
Author: Florian 'Floyd' Mueller
Publisher: UIST' 10, October 3-6, 2010 New York
Summary
The authors of this paper look to study the marriage of physical interaction and social exchange. Traditional technology-augmented workouts focus on social feedback at the end of the workout, such as when you upload your Nike+ data to a website as part of an online challenge. The work that the authors are presenting focus on integrating the social aspect with the physical real-time. There are many studies that suggest participating in physical exercise with others facilitate social relationships. This in turn positively affects the exertion outcome. Such social benefits can even emerge in mediated environments.
Mueller looks at a particular activity--"jogging". The demographic they look is "social" joggers; that is joggers who use jogging to "catch up" and talk with others. They reported on 14 runs. Each jogger was equipped with a headset, heart rate monitor and mobile phone. Essentially they used psychoacoustics to relatively position the joggers in front of or behind the remote jogger. This allowed the two joggers to talk to each other while jogging. Users were happy that they could "keep up" with joggers that were more physically fit than they. They did not get discouraged and still enjoyed the social benefits of social jogging.
Discussion
The problem I have with this article is the demographic they looked at. They only looked at "social joggers". I feel like systems such as this would be more useful for more competitive athletes. I like how the authors make the distinction between post-socializing and socializing during the exercise--that seems useful to me. Real-time competitive data would be more interesting, at least to me, than socializing with someone on the other end.
The social aspect of this study is also interesting. People may be more excited/willing to go for a run if someone else "goes with them". That would actually be pretty neat. I think one of the reasons that the authors only considered "social joggers" was that social joggers talk; they don't huff and puff because they're out of breath.
image: http://exertioninterfaces.com/jogging_over_a_distance/images/connecting_runners.png
Summary
Mueller looks at a particular activity--"jogging". The demographic they look is "social" joggers; that is joggers who use jogging to "catch up" and talk with others. They reported on 14 runs. Each jogger was equipped with a headset, heart rate monitor and mobile phone. Essentially they used psychoacoustics to relatively position the joggers in front of or behind the remote jogger. This allowed the two joggers to talk to each other while jogging. Users were happy that they could "keep up" with joggers that were more physically fit than they. They did not get discouraged and still enjoyed the social benefits of social jogging.
Discussion
The problem I have with this article is the demographic they looked at. They only looked at "social joggers". I feel like systems such as this would be more useful for more competitive athletes. I like how the authors make the distinction between post-socializing and socializing during the exercise--that seems useful to me. Real-time competitive data would be more interesting, at least to me, than socializing with someone on the other end.
The social aspect of this study is also interesting. People may be more excited/willing to go for a run if someone else "goes with them". That would actually be pretty neat. I think one of the reasons that the authors only considered "social joggers" was that social joggers talk; they don't huff and puff because they're out of breath.
image: http://exertioninterfaces.com/jogging_over_a_distance/images/connecting_runners.png
Book Reading #23: Opening Skinner's Box Microblog
Reference Information
Title: Opening Skinner's Box
Author: Lauren Slater
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company (2008)
Chapter 6: Monkey Love (24 pages)
Summary
This chapter is about Harry Harlow and his research he did with rhesus macaque monkeys in the 1950s and 60s. He studied the psychology of attachment. The chapter begins talking about Harlow's upbringing and the lack of love he felt.
It was originally believe that all animals tried to do was fulfill physical needs. Harlow challenged this assertion. He found that when presented with 2 "monkeys", one made out of cloth and one made out of a wire frame [with milk], the baby monkeys spent much more time with the cloth monkey. He then declared motherhood as "obsolete" saying that men could perform all the tasks necessary to raising a child. He said this because he felt that all that love was required of love was touch.
He soon found however, that the monkeys that spent time with the terry cloth mothers were socially awful. They would hurt themselves and lash out at others. Harlow and his researchers then made monkeys that rocked and then exposed monkeys to some play time. This resulted in "normal" kids and they said that love was - touch, motion, and play.
Discussion
This chapter was disturbing and interesting at the same time. I wonder when and who the social learning of monkeys comes from. He said that monkeys that were only exposed to the terry cloth had no idea how to mate or interact socially, but who is that learned from? Dogs for example, grow up their whole lives around humans. Can they communicate with other dogs? Do they have a language? What if you didn't "teach" your baby anything. Would it learn to speak/communicate somehow?
This chapter is about Harry Harlow and his research he did with rhesus macaque monkeys in the 1950s and 60s. He studied the psychology of attachment. The chapter begins talking about Harlow's upbringing and the lack of love he felt.
It was originally believe that all animals tried to do was fulfill physical needs. Harlow challenged this assertion. He found that when presented with 2 "monkeys", one made out of cloth and one made out of a wire frame [with milk], the baby monkeys spent much more time with the cloth monkey. He then declared motherhood as "obsolete" saying that men could perform all the tasks necessary to raising a child. He said this because he felt that all that love was required of love was touch.
He soon found however, that the monkeys that spent time with the terry cloth mothers were socially awful. They would hurt themselves and lash out at others. Harlow and his researchers then made monkeys that rocked and then exposed monkeys to some play time. This resulted in "normal" kids and they said that love was - touch, motion, and play.
Discussion
This chapter was disturbing and interesting at the same time. I wonder when and who the social learning of monkeys comes from. He said that monkeys that were only exposed to the terry cloth had no idea how to mate or interact socially, but who is that learned from? Dogs for example, grow up their whole lives around humans. Can they communicate with other dogs? Do they have a language? What if you didn't "teach" your baby anything. Would it learn to speak/communicate somehow?
Book Reading #22: Coming of Age in Samoa Microblog
Reference Information
Title: Coming of Age in Samoa
Author: Margaret Mead
Editors: Williams Morrow and Company (1928)
Chapter 7: Formal Sex Relations (24 pages)
Summary
In this chapter, Mead talks about the relations between boys and girls. In the early teens, girls become antagonistic towards boys. This fades in a few years when girls and boys are not in "age groups". There are two types of sex relations besides marriage: love affairs between unmarried people and adultery.
In love affairs, a boy will call the help of a "soa", a friend that acts as an ambassador between the boy and girl. Typically, a boy will choose either his brother or another girl. A brother is loyal but a girl (soafafine) is the most desirable. This is because girls understand other girls better. Soafafine are very hard to come by. Mead also goes on to talk about how virginity is thought to add to a girl's attractiveness. She finishes the chapter by discussing how women can never outrank their husband.
Discussion
"Sleep crawlers" were kinda creepy - "the curious form of surreptitious rape ... resorted to by youths who find favour in no maiden's eyes." It was interesting that adultery is relatively not frowned upon; I thought it would be the opposite.
In this chapter, Mead talks about the relations between boys and girls. In the early teens, girls become antagonistic towards boys. This fades in a few years when girls and boys are not in "age groups". There are two types of sex relations besides marriage: love affairs between unmarried people and adultery.
In love affairs, a boy will call the help of a "soa", a friend that acts as an ambassador between the boy and girl. Typically, a boy will choose either his brother or another girl. A brother is loyal but a girl (soafafine) is the most desirable. This is because girls understand other girls better. Soafafine are very hard to come by. Mead also goes on to talk about how virginity is thought to add to a girl's attractiveness. She finishes the chapter by discussing how women can never outrank their husband.
Discussion
"Sleep crawlers" were kinda creepy - "the curious form of surreptitious rape ... resorted to by youths who find favour in no maiden's eyes." It was interesting that adultery is relatively not frowned upon; I thought it would be the opposite.
Book Reading #21: Design of Everyday Things Microblog
Reference Information
Title: Design of Everyday Things
Author: Donald Norman
Publisher: Basic Books (2002)
Chapter 7: User-Centered Design (32 pages)
Summary
The seventh and final chapter recaps the book. It begins with discussing seven principles for "transforming difficult tasks into simple ones". These include design principles such as "simply the structure of tasks" and "design for error". He also talks about standardization, something that should be done when something cannot be designed without difficulties. Additionally, he writes about deliberately designing things to be difficult such as a school door in a handicapped school.
Discussion
I found the "design things to be difficult" section rather interesting. A lot of time I see this in child-proof containers or when something is designed to interrupt your workflow so that you notice it. The out-of-reach locks on the handicap doors are also interesting. I bet they are also used in nursing homes.
The seventh and final chapter recaps the book. It begins with discussing seven principles for "transforming difficult tasks into simple ones". These include design principles such as "simply the structure of tasks" and "design for error". He also talks about standardization, something that should be done when something cannot be designed without difficulties. Additionally, he writes about deliberately designing things to be difficult such as a school door in a handicapped school.
Discussion
I found the "design things to be difficult" section rather interesting. A lot of time I see this in child-proof containers or when something is designed to interrupt your workflow so that you notice it. The out-of-reach locks on the handicap doors are also interesting. I bet they are also used in nursing homes.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Paper Reading #9: UIMarks: Quick Graphical Interaction with Specific Targets (UIST 17)
Reference Information
Title: UIMarks: Quick Graphical Interaction with Specific Targets
Author: Olivier Chapuis, Nicolas Roussel
Publisher: UIST' 10, October 3-6, 2010 New York
Summary
Pointer facilitation has been one of the most researched topics in HCI. This is because pointing is one of the most fundamental tasks one does on a computer. It can be argued that a very slight improvement in pointing techniques can result in a large efficiency gain. Despite being such a heavily researched field, few techniques have actually made it to any real systems. The reason for this is that most of these systems rely on target-awareness, that is, some knowledge about the size and position of the target is required to enhance the cursor.
Target-aware pointing techniques aim to provide quick access to specific targets. In this paper, the authors present UIMarks, a system designed to not replace, but supplement the current system of pointing. It is intended to facilitate access to graphical targets that one sets.
Essentially, one can set a mark, M1, on a tool of one's choice; upon activating the mark, the mouse will "click" M1 and return the cursor to its original position. Actions such as moving the cursor, moving and clicking, moving and double clicking can be taken.
At the end of the experiment, those participating were asked whether they felt UIMarks was easy or hard to use. It was based on a 5-point scale, (5) very fast/easy, to (1) very slow/difficult. For speed, there was a mean of 4.08 and for easiness, there was a mean of 3.92. This was very encouraging.
Discussion
The ubiquity of the mouse has led to so much research in this field. I understand the sentiments behind all of it, I'm just not sure how practical much of it is. I think you have to have the right kind of work flow to make use of this sort of research. There's not much that I do that is so repetitive that this sort of click automation would be useful.
Image: courtesy of the article.
Target-aware pointing techniques aim to provide quick access to specific targets. In this paper, the authors present UIMarks, a system designed to not replace, but supplement the current system of pointing. It is intended to facilitate access to graphical targets that one sets.
Essentially, one can set a mark, M1, on a tool of one's choice; upon activating the mark, the mouse will "click" M1 and return the cursor to its original position. Actions such as moving the cursor, moving and clicking, moving and double clicking can be taken.
At the end of the experiment, those participating were asked whether they felt UIMarks was easy or hard to use. It was based on a 5-point scale, (5) very fast/easy, to (1) very slow/difficult. For speed, there was a mean of 4.08 and for easiness, there was a mean of 3.92. This was very encouraging.
Discussion
The ubiquity of the mouse has led to so much research in this field. I understand the sentiments behind all of it, I'm just not sure how practical much of it is. I think you have to have the right kind of work flow to make use of this sort of research. There's not much that I do that is so repetitive that this sort of click automation would be useful.
Image: courtesy of the article.
Book Reading #20: Opening Skinner's Box Microblog
Reference Information
Title: Opening Skinner's Box
Author: Lauren Slater
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company (2008)
Chapter 5: Quieting the Mind (20 pages)
Slater focuses on the theory of cognitive dissonance in this chapter. She begins with some of Festinger's experiments.She first talks about his observations about those who believed a flood was coming and the arousal of dissonance that occurred when the prophecy failed to manifest. Slater also talked about an experiment Festinger did involving $1 or $20. Subjects were to do a dull, monotonous task and then lie to another group about it (basically say it was awesome when it wasn't). He found that if a person were to be induced to change his/her opinion on some matter, they likely will to correspond with what he/she is saying. He also found that the larger the pressure to change one's opinion beyond the minimum needed for that change, the less powerful the tendency is to change.
Slater also talked about Audrey Santo, daughter of Linda Santo. Linda claimed her daughter to be a saint that God chose to be a "victim soul", a soul that takes on the pain of others.
Discussion
I see cognitive dissonance occur all the time. Especially with new technology: buyer's remorse.
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