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CapCHI Activities
Past Activities 2006-2007
- 2007/06/13 - CHIStuds 2007, Student Projects and Research.
- 2007/05/22 - CHILights 2007, presented members from the CapCHI community.
- 2007/04/13 - Web 2.0: The Human Web, a workshop featuring Peter Merholz, Maggie Fox, Mike Atyeo, and Derek Featherstone.
- 2007/03/12 - Usability and the Semantic Web, presented by Adrian Walker.
- 2007/02/15 - Show Me Your Stuff: Assessing the Skills and Behaviors of Gaming eLearners, presented by Kenton White.
- 2007/01/15 - The January 15 Meeting was cancelled due to the weather.
- 2006/12/14 - Human Factors and the Immersive Media Lab Tour at CAE Professional Services, hosted by Jeremy Brooks and Mike Reid.
- 2006/11/22 - The Canadian Copy-Fight: Copyright, Culture, and the Internet, presented by Michael Geist.
- 2006/10/19 - AJAX and Usability, presented by Mike Atyeo.
- 2006/09/27 - Integrating HCI and Usability into Software Engineering: The Imperative and the Resistance, presented by Dr. Timothy C. Lethbridge.
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CHIStuds 2007
Student Projects and Research
Wednesday, June 13, 2007 at bitHeads Inc.
Sponsored by Design Interpretive!
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What?
Our last meeting of the season featured four brief presentations highlighting student projects and research from the past year. Details about the presentations are included below. The evening concluded with a social event at a local pub.
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Student Presentations
Evolution of a Threshold: A New Media Interpretation
Presented by Padmaa Parthasarathy
Padmaa Parthasarathy is an architect who is interested in designing urban contexts. She is a graduate of the master’s program "Design and Technology" in the School of Architecture at Carleton University, a program that covers multimedia design, product design, web design and theory relating to the digital age. Padmaa is a specialist in designing virtual spaces of habitation. Her thesis supervisor was Prof. Greg Andonian and Prof. Ben Gianni was a valuable advisor.
Padmaa Parthasarathy’s talk will be about a virtual environment that represents Delhi which she developed for her Master’s thesis. Her design is based on historical work that shows how Delhi, the urban capital came to be and the premise that historicity can be revealed in the built environment. Her narrative focuses is on the eight distinct and unique capitals that are currently interwoven into Delhi’s urban fabric. Her software gives people the ability to see Delhi in an historical context and her aim is to help people understand Delhi’s current character by unveiling its past. Her story of how Delhi came to be is made memorable because of the high level of interactivity within her virtual environment. Parthasarathy’s virtual Delhi is intended to provide tourists, researchers and students with an enhanced experience of Delhi. Her environment could be used in museums, information kiosks or libraries.
Understanding Design through Artefact-Mediated Interactions
Presented by Judy Brown
Judy Brown is a PhD candidate at Carleton’s HOT Lab. She has been a software engineer in the telecommunications industry and a senior lecturer in Computer Science. Her interests in all things HCI stems back to a decade and a half ago when she and Robert Biddle began teaching an HCI course at Victoria University in New Zealand. Judy is especially interested in methods and methodologies, particularly as these relate to design. She works from a cultural-historical perspective.
Judy’s talk presents the analysis of the activity of three professional designers developing a user interface for a software program to be used by the employees of a hair salon. The talk is about how these designers use design artefacts to design. A multi-level analysis is presented, which identifies large patterns in artefact use, subconscious uses of artefacts and sequences of goal-oriented, artefact- and talk-mediated group actions. The analysis provides insight into how designers design, the purpose of design artefacts, and the forces that drive the design activity.
Podcast Social Network in Undergraduate Education
Presented by Bruce Tsuji
Bruce Tsuji is a tech refugee from many local companies and is also a PhD candidate at Carleton University where his dissertation (with Gitte Lindgaard supervising) is about the different strategies utilized by novices and experts in the interpretation of graphs.
Bruce's talk will concern his use of a lecture podcast web page (www.spokentext.net) as a social network site for the undergraduate students in his PSYCH 101 class.
Perception and Acceptance of Fingerprint Biometric Technology
Presented by Andrew Patrick for Rosa Heckle
Rosa Heckle is currently a PhD Candidate and Teaching Assistant at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, in the Information Technology Department. Prior to beginning her PhD studies, she was a Faculty Associate in the Information Technology Department, Graduate Division of Business and Management at Johns Hopkins University and served as lead faculty for the E-business curriculum. Andrew Patrick is a researcher interested in how people get along with technology. Currently, he is focused on security and privacy issues. He is a Senior Scientist at the National Research Council, Ottawa, and an Adjunct Research Professor at the Department of Psychology, Carleton University.
The acceptance of biometric security services appears to be affected by several factors, one of which may be the context in which it is used. In this study, 24 participants were asked to role-play the use of a fingerprint biometric identification system when making purchases at an online bookstore. The results show differences in opinions about the biometric system when the perceived benefits for the users were manipulated. Participants were more comfortable using biometrics, and considered them more beneficial, when they were used to secure personal information for personal purchases, in contrast to securing personal information for corporate purchases. The results suggest that application contexts with obvious, apparent benefits to the user tend to lead to greater perceptions of usability and higher acceptance rates than contexts where there are only systems or corporate benefits.
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CHILights 2007
Highlights from the CHI 2007 Conference on Human Factors in Computing
Systems
Presented members from the CapCHI community
Tuesday, May 22, 2007 at bitHeads Inc.
Sponsored by Design Interpretive!
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What?
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Members from the CapCHI community presented their own personal views of the CHI2007 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, which included highlights, lowlights, trends, and observations.
The CHI 2007 Conference was held in San Jose, California. The annual CHI conference is the leading international forum for the exchange of ideas and information about human-computer interaction (HCI). For more information about CHI 2007, visit the conference web site at www.chi2007.org.
CHI 2008, "Art. Science. Balance.", will take place April 5 - 10, 2008 in Florence, Italy.
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Who?
Featured speakers...
- Gitte Lindgaard
- Robert Biddle
- Bruce Tsuji
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Web 2.0: The Human Web
A workshop featuring by Peter Merholz, Maggie Fox, Mike Atyeo, and Derek Featherstone
Friday April 13, 2007 at National Arts Centre (Fountain Room), Ottawa, ON, Canada
Download agenda and speaker bios (PDF file 178K) Listen the podcast!
Read Summary of Participant Evaluation (PDF file 70K) New | Top | What? |
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“Web 2.0” changes people’s behavior and expectations with regards to the web. It impacts all areas of our interaction from the details of using AJAX widgets, to collective decision-making and organization, privacy, and, especially the way we network socially.
This workshop was geared towards a broad audience including government employees, product managers, business strategists, CTOs, CIOs, marketing specialists, communication experts, technology experts and human-computer interaction specialists of any ilk, but especially those who are web designers. The material was oriented towards an intermediate level of expertise, but was also be relevant to both novices and experts. The workshop was interactive so participants did not only hear from experts in the field, they were also engaged in activities to explore the ideas that were presented. There were plenty of opportunities to engage with the presenters and other workshop participants, particularly if attendees attended the un-conference event that followed the workshop.
In the first half of the day Peter Merholz and Maggie Fox addressed the topic of Web 2.0 as a social media. They covered the business rational for Web 2.0 development and provided motivation for development in this area. Many case studies were reviewed.
In the second half of the day Mike Atyeo addressed more detailed issues such as designing and testing Web 2.0 applications, particularly highly interactive AJAX applications. The important issue of accessibility was then addressed by Derek Featherstone, an expert in this field. The workshop finished with a panel of our presenters. This was an opportunity for participants to ask any final questions and for presenters to deliver key take-home messages.
Following the panel session, attendees who were interested participated in an informal “un-conference”. This was an opportunity for attendees to talk some more with the presenters and with each other and unwind. The aim was for all attendees to leave the day with a clearer idea of how social media can benefit their organizations, but also to know how to make their great ideas become a reality.
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Usability and the Semantic Web
Presented by Adrian Walker
Monday March 12, 2007 at bitHeads Inc.
Sponsored by Design Interpretive!
Download poster (PDF file 70K)
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What?
Tim Berners-Lee’s vision is that “If HTML and the Web made all the online documents look like one huge book, the Semantic Web will make all the data in the world look like one huge database”. On the other hand, another Tim – Tim O’Reilly – envisions a “Web 2.0” that harnesses users’ collective intelligence via lightweight user interfaces, development models, and business models. The Semantic Web is a long-term project to create an infrastructure for programmers to use. Web 2.0, on the other hand, is mainly about high-level user experience and immediate benefits. This talk outlined some current work on RDF, OWL, and rule interchange for the Semantic Web. Adrian argued that a wider technical view of semantics will improve usability and speed up progress. The argument is illustrated with an online system called Internet Business Logic. The system combines three kinds of semantics with a lightweight author- and user-interface. It works as a kind of Wiki that people with spreadsheet-level skills can use to write and run knowledge in executable, open vocabulary English. Adrian showed examples of how it can be used for data mining and supply chain planning. As befits a Wiki, shared use of the system is free.
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Who?
Dr. Adrian Walker is the author of over 20 papers, and co-author of an Addison-Wesley book, on logic-based systems and databases. His experience includes: Assistant Professor at Rutgers University; Manager of Principles and Applications of Logic Programming, IBM Yorktown Research Laboratory; Manager, Internet Development at Eventra (a manufacturing supply chain company). He is currently the Chief Technology Officer of Reengineering LLC.
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Show Me Your Stuff: Assessing the Skills and Behaviors of Gaming eLearners
Presented by Kenton White
Thursday February 15, 2007 at bitHeads Inc.
Sponsored by Design Interpretive!
Download poster (PDF file 67K)
Download the slide presentation (PDF file 1M)
Listen the podcast!
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What?
This talk explained a new and innovative approach to eLearning. We focused on automated teaching and testing solutions that enhance personnel skills training and assessment. Our highly intuitive and interactive digital games provide virtual environments where players learn and demonstrate skills and behaviours for anything from interviewing techniques to emergency response procedures—really, the possibilities are endless. Can what we do really be considered eLearning? It surely could be. But think of it more as an evolution since we go one step further. Our products assess skills and behaviours. Up until recently, you could write a test to demonstrate your knowledge, but our games now allow you to prove what you can do. Rather than being evaluated on any one answer, the player's entire decision making process will be taken into consideration.
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Who?
Kenton White is a founder and CTO of Distil, where he can apply his technical simulation background and love of games to pioneer a new approach to eLearning. Prior to Distil, Kenton created scientific simulations for a number of organizations including Nortel, Bookham and Department of Defense. He received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Arizona in 1999.
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Human Factors and the Immersive Media Lab Tour at CAE Professional Services
Hosted by Jeremy Brooks and Mike Reid
Thursday December 14, 2006 at CAE (formerly Greenley & Associates)
Download poster (PDF file 124K)
See photos of our December 2006 event on Flickr!
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What?
CAE Professional Services Canada (formerly Greenley & Associates Incorporated) presents the application of human factors methodologies and tools at CAE to support the design and implementation of technological systems, including R&D, acquisition, system engineering, and life cycle management in the areas of critical defence, aerospace, process control and emergency management. Jeremy Brooks, Manager of Human Factors, will present human factors in complex systems. The presentation will be followed by a demonstration by Mike Reid, Manager of Strategic Programs, of CAE Professional Services' Immersive Media Lab to show how this technology can advance work in the HCI and human factors domain. For instance, CAE Professional Services uses this technology to design and conduct virtual simulation assessments of advanced systems, including land vehicles, robots, air systems, and command centres in addition to measuring the operational performance of future concepts. This will be an interactive session where the audience can participate in the discussions and demonstrations.
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The Canadian Copy-Fight: Copyright, Culture, and the Internet
Presented by Michael Geist, University of Ottawa
Wednesday November 22, 2006 at The Ottawa Public Library (main branch at 120 Metcalfe Street).
Download poster (PDF file 75K)
Download the slide presentation (PDF file 33M)
See photos of our November 2006 event on Flickr!
Listen the podcast!
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What?
The debate over copyright reform in Canada has generated increasing attention as the emphasis on greater protection gives way to the growing realization that too much copyright may inhibit innovation and cultural creativity. Dr. Geist will explore these trends and their impact on the explosive development of new online creativity and nascent business models, while sketching out a copyright roadmap that prioritizes Canadian interests and that builds on the power of the Internet.
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Who?
Dr. Michael Geist is a law professor at the University of Ottawa where he holds the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law. He has obtained a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) degree from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, Master of Laws (LL.M.) degrees from Cambridge University in the UK and Columbia Law School in New York, and a Doctorate in Law (J.S.D.) from Columbia Law School. Dr. Geist has written numerous academic articles and government reports on the Internet and law and was a member of Canada’s National Task Force on Spam. He is an internationally syndicated columnist on technology law issues with his regular column appearing in the Toronto Star, Ottawa Citizen, and the BBC. Dr. Geist is the editor of In the Public Interest: The Future of Canadian Copyright Law, published in 2005 by Irwin Law, the editor of several monthly technology law publications, and the author of a popular blog on Internet and intellectual property law issues. Dr. Geist serves on the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s Expert Advisory Board and maintains privacyinfo.ca, a leading privacy law resource. He has received numerous awards for his work including Canarie’s IWAY Public Leadership Award for his contribution to the development of the Internet in Canada and he was named one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2003. More information can be obtained at http://www.michaelgeist.ca.
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AJAX and Usability
Presented by Mike Atyeo, Neo Insight
Thursday October 19, 2006 at bitHeads Inc.
Sponsored by Design Interpretive!
Download poster (PDF file 78K)
Download the slide presentation (PDF file 1.38M)
See photos of our October 2006 event on Flickr!
Listen the podcast!
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What?
AJAX is one of the technologies to be found under the “Web 2.0” banner. Some of these technologies – including AJAX – will have a big impact on usability practices. AJAX brings new opportunities to designers, but also new pitfalls and responsibilities. AJAX frees developers from many traditional Web constraints, but demands additional attention to design, especially to the details of interaction. Use of AJAX also forces designers to deal explicitly with a number of functions previously provided by browsers. Neglecting these can create serious usability problems.
In this talk, I outlined what AJAX is, what it can do, and its implications for usability. We viewed good and bad examples of AJAX in action and I provided some approaches to dealing with the range of usability issues of AJAX.
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Who?
Mike Atyeo is a Director of Neo Insight, a 5-year old Customer Experience company based in Ottawa.
Mike has many years’ experience in the telecommunications, retail and financial industries with organizations such as NCR, Siemens-Nixdorf, British Telecom and Nortel Networks. His roles have ranged from programming and technical support, to sales, to Human Factors Specialist, to product and service design and design management.
Since co-founding Neo Insight, Mike has led many Customer Experience projects for government and high-tech clients. He has an Honours degree in Psychology and an MSc in Computer Science. He has published and presented on Human Factors techniques at a number of international conferences.
Mike is a past chair of CapCHI.
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Integrating HCI and Usability into Software Engineering: The Imperative and the Resistance
Presented by Dr. Timothy C. Lethbridge, University of Ottawa
Wednesday September 27, 2006 at bitHeads Inc.
Sponsored by Design Interpretive!
Download poster (PDF file 86K)
Download the slide presentation (PDF file 800K)
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What?
In this talk Dr. Lethbridge discussed the integration of concern for usability and human factors into the practice of software engineering. He started by describing why and how he felt this should be done, as well as the attitudes and arguments he has experienced both for and against it.
He made extensive reference to projects he had been involved in including SE-2004, SWEBOK, CSDP, as well as involvement with accreditation agencies, corporate training and his own research. In part of the talk he presented a 5-level usability maturity model that organizations could adopt.
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Who?
Dr. Timothy C. Lethbridge is a professor of software engineering and computer science at the University of Ottawa. He researches software modeling, usable tools for manipulating complex information, and software engineering education. He is a senior member of the IEEE and a member of the ACM. He author of over 75 peer-reviewed papers, as well as a widely used software engineering textbook published by McGraw Hill.
In 2005 he was Associate Dean of Engineering at the University of Ottawa. In 2006 he is on sabbatical at IBM Ottawa.
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