Assignment #1

Student ID:

NOTE:

  1. Do NOT put your name on this document anywhere or in the file name.
  2. Please include your student ID in your file name.

Answers should be brief. Most questions can be answered in 1-2 paragraphs. None should require more than one full page. Cite your references. You may use [Wickens], [Ritter], and [Norman] as shorthand for referencing the core class readings. All other references should receive a full citation as a footnote or endnote. Any web pages you visit as part of answering these questions should be referenced if you end up using information from them.

Please enter your responses in this document and turn your document in via the CTools assignments tool. Any papers that do NOT include your student ID on this first page and in the filename will be returned for revision, as will any papers that DO include your name or any identifying information other than ID.

Question 1

Watch this video about the “VoiceOver” feature on the iPhone

Name 3 senses that someone must use in order to make use of VoiceOver and describe how those senses are used to receive information that would otherwise be picked up through vision.

Answer:

Question 2

What is the maximum number of “thumb-friendly” targets can you fit on an iPhone 4 ( What size would the targets be in terms of pixels?

Answer:

Question 3

Predict the minimum time it would take a user to accomplish the following task given the interface shown here.

  1. Enter “Jane” into the First Name field.
  2. Enter “Doe” into the Last Name field.
  3. Click the “Female” checkbox.
  4. Click “OK.”

Only include predictions for targeting and typing. Assume the user is an average typist and use Ritter’s estimates of typing speed to estimate text entry time. Do NOT include other actions such as decision time, hand movement (e.g., keyboard to mouse), or button presses. Assume also that the cursor initially starts in the upper left corner and the each subsequent selection operation starts in the middle of each target. Show how you worked through your ultimate answer.

Answer:

Question 4

Discuss how transfer and interference would have impacted a user as they transitioned from the old version of Gmail to the new version, as shown below. Focus only on the part of the UI highlighted.

Answer:

Question 4a

In particular, address the transfer and/or interference that impacts the interaction with the “select all widget” introduced in the new version. Aza Raskin has written about this on his Flickr account:

If you have access to a gmail account, try it out. If not, here’s how it works:

  1. If you click the box while closed it selects all messages on the current page and the box is checked.
  2. If you click the arrow next to the box, it opens a menu.
  3. If you then select an item in the menu…
  4. The appropriate messages are selected and the box is checked, but grayed out.

For the discussion of this particular widget, consider the transfer / interference that occurs from previous interactions with “conventional” checkboxes such as the ones shown here, as well as previous interactions with gmail.

Answer:

Question 5

For each of the following lists and the given task, say which would be easier for people to perform. Say why, given multiple explanations if appropriate.

5.1 Paired Association

SUB-CAN TOP-OUT CUP-LOT MEN-CAN

TUB-MAN POT-OUT CUP-SAT LOT-SUB

5.2 Target Search

Q C O G U D (Target = G)

A U I Z O P (Target = Z)

5.3 Free Recall

SUB CAN TOP OUT CUP LOT MEN

RED TAN BLUE CUP FORK PLATE GREEN SPOON

5.4 Serial List Recall

SUB CAN TOP OUT CUP LOT MEN

BRU AUM HIR GIB SPO CAV MIH

5.5 Serial List Recall

SUB CAN TOP OUT CUP LOT MEN

S B U C N T A P O U P C O T L N M E

Answer:

Question 6

Research has shown that users follow an F-shaped pattern when scanning search results. See a report on this here:

Based on what we have been discussing and reading about attention, explain why this would be. Be sure to explain why the “F” peters out after only the first few results.

Answer:

Question 7

Rapid Serial Visualization Presentation has been touted as an alternative delivery format for text that claims to be able to help people read 35%-100% faster. Explain why it might be faster than “normal” reading.

Read about RSVP:

To try out RSVP:

If that doesn’t work, you can watch a video:

Answer:

Question 8

In the Bubble Cursor paper, Grossman and Balikrishnan define two goals for their experimental evaluation of the Bubble Cursor technique. State what their goals were and explain the intuition behind why the experiment needed to be run (in other words, why could the performance not simply have been predicted based on Fitts Law)? What was the result of the experiment?

Answer: