Topic 6 - Ubiquitous Device Comparison

Ubiquitous devices:

Inch Scale devices: Logbar’s ring and apple watch.

Logbar’s ring:

Every other electronic equipment can be connected to this device which as its name suggests can be worn on our finger like a ring. A simple gesture will control devices such as TVs, home lighting and also send messages from your phone. This device will interpret the hand writing and send it as a text message or even send it via our smart watches. A detailed functionality of device can be understood from the video below.

Positive usability aspects:

The device simply connects with almost all our daily electronics and works seamlessly. It is easy to use. Simple tap on the side to activate the device and gesture in the air to communicate with other devices. Also by using (Kim, Choi & Ji, 2008) usability evaluation of ubiquitous devices we can say that the device is adaptable to context of users, controllable since it can be used under any circumstance. The device also supports interconnectivity with other devices, and the ring can be easily moved around without any issue. The system is generally seemed to be satisfying the users who use it.

Negative usability aspects:

The device is a bit tough to get used to without any training. It may also be difficult to use the device for elders since their hands may not be as stable as younger people and this may be cause the gesture to be misinterpreted. The negative aspects of usability based on (Kim, Choi & Ji, 2008) are that the device is not that simple to use from the start since it requires training. It may also not support transparency since the state of the device at every point of time might not be that clear. Accessibility aspect of the usability also will be difficult due the fact that elders and differently abled people will not find this usable.

Apple Watch:

Apple watch is a smart watch from Apple which connects and works seamlessly with the iphone devices. You can practical access most of your applications from your smart watch. It is of great help for navigation, accessing media easily, have a look at the mails and messages and reply and also help take care of our health with the health kit available. Given below is a video which demonstrates the uses of an apple watch.

Positive usability aspects:

Generally, apple watches provide users with the convenience because just by raising the wrist they will able to see the messages, respond to them which makes their job simpler rather than taking their mobiles out. It also has a feature whereby even payments can be done without the cards which is apple payment, making the life of the user easier. With respect to the usability aspects of Kim et al, the device has the ability to adapt to the changes in context such as the user’s location and also user’s activities such as exercise. They can also be interconnected with iPhones which enables them to share the information with the users mobile. The mobility aspect of the device is high too due to the fact that it is a wrist watch and is always on you. The state of the apple watch can be easily understood by the user and hence it is transparent.

Negative usability aspects:

One major usability issue with such devices is that they have a small interface and hence may be difficult for the user to interact. Since the watch is on your wrist only one hand is accessible and few users may find this difficult. When aligned with the usability paper from Kim et al the problems that are found are that the device predictability is almost nil since this is the first such device from apple and hence the user may not have any prior experience. The usage of the digital crown to zoom in and zoom out is one of the feature available which is not simple for a few users who might not be that inclined to use the latest technology. Compatibility of the system is also questioned because the user’s mental model of using a watch is quite different from what is being presented to them.

Foot-scale devices: Emiota’s Belty smart belt and GPS navigator

Emiota’s Belty smart belt:

It is an interesting product developed to be worn around the waist to enhance the health of a person. The belt can adjust itself by getting tighter when standing and loosens when a person sits. The belt can also interact with the user and let him know that he has been sitting for a long time. It has the abilities to identify early signs of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. It has built in sensors that monitors inactivity, waistline trends, Bluetooth capabilities and also has a phone app. It increases the comfort of the user and also provides valuable advice.

Positive usability aspects:

It uses the belt metaphor in an effective manner which improves the ease of use of the user. While considering Kim et al framework for usability adaptability of the device seems to be excellent due to the fact that it changes according to the user context. Mobility aspect of the device is a huge plus because it being a belt can be carried around with much ease. It is completely compatible with the user since all he has to do is wear the belt and move around and it provides all the valuable information.

Negative usability aspects:

One of the main usability an issue is that the user has to access the mobile app every time he needs to check about his health. The user interface of the system is almost nothing since it is just a belt and this sometimes may cause an issue due to lack of simplicity.

GPS navigator:

As suggested by the name itself the most important functionality of the GPS navigator is help people with the routes to the required destination. They are mostly used in the car. It can also have voice activated navigation for increasing the ease of use and also can link up with the smartphone.

Positive usability aspects:

It is simple to use since it is almost like a phone. It is also flexible due to additional functionalities such as the usage of voice navigation. The device is excellent and can be controlled under any circumstances and it also provides interconnectivity with the smartphones. The simplicity of the user interface will only increase the usability of the device and its mobile phone metaphor is only an added advantage.

Negative usability aspects:

The clarity of the information provided by the device may sometimes be vague that can confuse the users.

General note: The framework for usability evaluation of the ubiquitous devices are taken from the following paper. Kim.J.H, Choi K.J and Ji.Y (2008). Usability evaluation framework for ubiquitous computing device. Third 2008 International conference on convergence and hybrid information technology, 164 - 170

Topic 5 - Design considerations for Social Media platforms

Design Consideration for Social Media Platform

Title: User requirements of social media for the elderly: a case study in Taiwan
Authors: Chou, Wen Huei; Lai, Yu-Tin; Liu, Kuang-Hsia
Source: Behaviour & Information Technology. Sep2013, Vol. 32 Issue 9, p920-937
Link: http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2529943

This is a research paper by Chou, Lai and Liu (2013) that addressed design requirements of social media for the elderly while noting issues that were reported in previous studies. In this paper, the details study on how the elderly operates social media platforms is conducted. It also discusses the interface design requirements, accessibility assistance and elderly usage adoption for social media platform based on previous studies. This makes it our choice of a research paper for this week.

Title: What’s on your mind? : investigating recommendations for inclusive social networking and older adults

Authors: Norval, Chris; Arnott, John; Hanson, Vicki L.

Source: Proceeding, CHI '14 Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Link: http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=2556992

This paper proposed potential solutions to challenges faced by the elderly when using social media platforms and investigated how designers can tackle these challenges. The authors conducted evaluations by developing recommendations for developers and putting them in practice.

Topic 4 - Evaluation of Software by Major Companies

SOFTWARE EVALUATION

Article: Intelligent Testing System at Tata Consultancy Services

Source: http://www.tcs.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/Brochures/Assurance-Brochure-Intelligent-Testing-System-ITS-0413-1.pdf

The article is about an evaluation of software applications at Tata Consultancy Services. It consists of a concept called intelligent testing system which Tata Consultancy Services implement to enhance the quality of the software and also reduce the time required to test the application. They make it possible by implementing a solution which is to introduce automation early in the development which helps them reduce the cost, improve quality and accelerate delivery. This approach to testing will be able to cater to business organizations since they want to outpace their competition and break into the market.

The approach is interesting since this approach to an evaluation of software is not conventional but it is effective and aligns well with the needs of organizations in the current business environment. It also takes manual process of writing test scenarios out of the equation and hence reduces time required to provide test scenarios. The solution enables TCS to manage end to end testing ranging from the UI layer to the database layer. The solution is also helpful to build a regression suite.

The diagrammatic representation of the Intelligent Testing System is given below. This approach helps us understand how to cope up with the demanding deadlines and also produce a quality product. It also provides knowledge about how to reduce dependency on multiple applications and also minimize the efforts in managing multiple environments and thereby reduce the time in setting up a development environment. This teaches about automation, UI testing, test data management and regression testing. Also, it must be noted that this solution used at TCS help reduce cost by 10%, the number of bugs by 5% and reduces time-to-market by 30%. Hence, this article is a must read for companies with applications that need to hit the market before competitors.

Fig 1: Intelligent Testing system

Topic 3 - Research Paper on Participatory Design

Participatory Design

Definition:

In participatory design, participants (putative, potential or future) are invited to cooperate with designers, researchers and developers during an innovation process. Potentially, they participate during several stages of an innovation process: they participate during the initial exploration and problem definition both to help define the problem and to focus ideas for solution, and during development, they help evaluate proposed solutions.

Research Paper 1:

Gronvall, E. & Kyng, M. (2013). On participatory design of home-based healthcare. Cognition, Technology & Work, 15(4), 389-401.

Participatory Design with Elderly people:

We look at the Research Paper “On participatory design of home-based healthcare” by Erik Gronvall and Morten Kyng. It discusses challenges relating to the Participatory design (PD) in a private home setting.

The paper reports four challenges conducting the PD process in homes of weak/elderly population. As it describes, the challenges are: (1) “designing for, and negotiating knowledge about, the home”, (2) “ill, weak users and their participation in PD”, (3) “divergent interests of participants” and (4) “usable and sustainable post-project solutions” (Gronvall & Kyng, 2013).

The table below describes how control over the setting differs in a home to a hospital.

	Home	Hospital
High Control	Patient	Healthcare worker
Low Control	Healthcare worker, researchers	Patient, researchers

Table 1: Distribution of control

What makes the paper distinct from most other PD papers is that the PD process is set in private homes of participants in contrast to professional environments which are usually the norm. This paper shows that challenges can be difficult to solve, and how tackling these challenges can lead to new possibilities in “development of national infrastructures and service architectures as well as organizational models for healthcare” (Gronvall & Kyng, 2013).

Research Paper 2:

Siozos, P., Palaigeorgiou, G., Triantafyllakos, G., & Despotakis, T. (2009). Computer based testing using “digital ink”: Participatory design of a Tablet PC based assessment application for secondary education. Computers & Education, 52811-819. doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2008.12.006

Participatory Design with secondary school Students and Teachers:

This Research Paper explains about how the participatory design helps in identifying key challenges faced while developing computer based assessment (CBA) application in secondary education and students and teachers are also participated in framework design. CBA Application called “MyTest” is designed with collaboration of 31 students and teachers.

Need of Students and Teachers for designing application:

·     Students and teachers should take responsibility for co-designing the assessment applications, in order to fulfil their expectations, address their deficiencies, adapt them to their computer experience levels and create products that are specific-tailored to their sociocultural and educational traditions.

·      The equipment selected for the assessment delivery should minimize the influence of the platform-mode and test-mode effects, should provide familiar and easy-to-learn interactions and should provide opportunities of use in real learning conditions.

·   Application design should not cancel but enhance previous hand-written assessment practices, enriching them with new possibilities. They should be an evolution that emphasizes educational effectiveness and not a revolution highlighting technological innovations.

Distinguishing Factor of this paper:

One cannot simply design and develop exact solution for others who is in need of it, unless the client themselves involved and give their opinion about the ongoing process. Here students and teachers are involved in the process of Design which helps in bringing out an exact application which satisfy both students and teachers who are the real time users of that application.

Three main guidelines were highlighted for the incorporation of CBA in secondary education:

·      design in cooperation with the students and teachers

·      selection of the most adequate media platform

·      planning an evolution rather than a revolution of the prior practices

They have provided evidence that designing effective CBA applications can be realized by actively involving students and teachers in the design process. Both students and teachers were excited about their participation in the design sessions, and they asserted that they would rely more on educational software designed using this approach. This throws light on their willingness to undertake a process of re-conceptualizing existing pedagogies in the light of new opportunities and engage in the co-formulation of their future.