Issue
Article
Vol.30 No.4, October 1998
Article
Issue
Issue |
Article |
Vol.30 No.4, October 1998 |
Article |
Issue |
Another cake, another candle, another year! The Human-Computer Interaction Lab (HCIL) at the University of Maryland-College Park celebrated a year of research and scholarly activity on May 29th, 1998 at the 15th Anniversary Symposium and Open House. Led by Dr. Ben Shneiderman, director of the HCIL, the symposium offered the 220 attendees a showcase of presentations, demonstrations and one-on-one discussion around two central themes -- information visualization and the design of learning tools.
The Symposium reflected the breadth and depth of HCI expertise across the University with participation from departments, colleges and institutes including: the Department of Psychology, College of Education, College of Library and Information Services, Department of Computer Science and Institute for Systems Research at the University of Maryland. Financial support from agencies and corporations such as NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center, IBM Watson Research Labs, Trivista Corporation and Apple Computer along with software donated by Microsoft Corporation provided a solid foundation for a high degree of technological synergy across these departments.
Symposium participants arrived on campus to experience the buzz of excitement generated by leading experts in the field of Human Computer interaction (HCI) including Marilyn Mantei, Jenny Preece, Tom Hewett, Clare-Marie and John Karat, Wayne Gray and many others. After morning coffee and danish, Dr. Shneiderman welcomed a nearly full Tyser Auditorium with enthusiasm and anticipation of the day's events. The presentations that followed included a wide range of HCI topics including: Multiple Window Coordination; Generic, Dynamic Queries and Query Previews for NASA, Lifelines; Medical Patient Histories, Zooming User Interfaces(ZUIs), Multimedia Digital Libraries, Advanced Transportation Technology, Children and Technology Design Partners, Baltimore Learning Community and Simulation-Based Education Tools.
The day was both entertaining and educational and provided something interesting for the many different types of participants present at the Symposium. For instance, it was a perfect day for researchers to witness activity at another educational institution with a strong HCI presence. Persons from the business community could sample the types of applications available and consider their applicability within their respective domains. Students could absorb the wealth of knowledge offered by a lab of experts dedicated to the improvement of user interface design.
Ben Bederson, a new faculty member at the University, showed PadPrints, an application that he and others created at the University of New Mexico and that builds on his prior work with Pad++. PadPrints allows an Internet user to maintain a graphical hierarchical history of visited web pages. It allows the user to zoom into a single page or zoom out to see the overview of pages. The practical application of this technology is amazing. The tree metaphor for Web navigation, with a series of pages as its "branches", dramatically increases the usability of the Internet. Empirical study of PadPrints indicates that users experience improvements in time to perform tasks, number of pages accessed and subjective satisfaction when using PadPrints compared to Netscape Navigator's history feature.
Allison Druin, also joining the University of Maryland just this year, shared her most recent work involving children as partners in design technology. Her latest project is KidPad. KidPad, in connection with ZUI technology, allows children to expand their creativity and explore new paradigms of story telling. She highlighted the power of this tool by sharing a very moving and insightful picture and poem the was created by a group of children concerned about another child they knew. KidPad was the catalyst for this creativity. Allison underscored the use of this technology by presenting her findings using the ZUI technology, taking the audience on a magic carpet ride of graphical space and motion.
In the spirit of learning and full educational immersion, the HCIL group arranged for several speakers to serve as informal facilitators at lunch with symposium participants. The relaxed atmosphere allowed for impromptu discussion and a chance to ask questions. This was an excellent opportunity for VCU graduate student, Tonya Sullivan, to meet Dr. Kent Norman, one of the developers of the Questionnaire for User Interaction Satisfaction (QUIS). Tonya, under the tutelage of Dr. Jean Gasen, recently completed a project that involved measuring user satisfaction with Dr. Norman's QUIS. "It was a chance to see the new version of QUIS 7.0 and get feedback from Dr. Norman about how it may be best used to get the most meaningful results." Tonya said.
We caught up with Jenny Preece between presentations to ask about her "lunch bunch" group. Jenny is known for her research in the area of on-line, empathic communities. She talked with us about her most recent studies that focus on the increased use of the Internet in building virtual networks of social and emotional support for its participants. She also encouraged us to visit her Web site at http://www.ifsm.umbc.edu/~preece/ to learn more about this evolving field of study.
After the presentations, the HCIL arranged for a series of demonstrations of various software projects at several sites on campus. The Computer Science/UMIACS site was, in particular, a busy place as faculty, staff and students shared their projects with Symposium participants.
We paused for a moment with Anne Rose, whose background in Engineering led to her work with Simulated Processes in a Learning Environment (SimPLE). SimPLE is an authoring tool that can be adapted to various learning environments. Its primary purpose is to simulate processes under special conditions. Some of its uses to date include vacuum pump simulation, dialysis machine simulation, and even a simulation of the flow of the Nile River. Anne was particularly excited about the educational applications of this tool. She remarked that grade school teachers really like it because it is such a strong aid in the classroom. Students really understand a concept when they can see it in action. As a footnote, we also were impressed with Anne's behind the scenes work in coordinating the technical arrangements for the Symposium and keeping a sense of seamlessness within and between the presentations throughout the day.
As the Symposium came to a close we managed to find Dr. Shneiderman and were able to capture a few moments of his time. He is very proud of Lab's work and success during the past year. We could sense in his words, the true collaborative effort of this team. When asked how the HCIL manages to make this program a success, Dr. Shneiderman responded, "A sense of community is important. The HCIL is a lively community of people working together and who challenge one another on a daily basis." Catherine Plaisant, whose effervescent spirit, facilitative skill and keen "timekeeper eye" kept the Symposium flowing, is an integral part of the Lab and contributes to the sense of community and collaborative spirit that was clearly evident throughout the day.
Following the symposium, the Advisory Board was invited to dinner to reflect on the day, share experiences and consider refinement for future HCIL Symposia. Now that the HCIL is 15 years old and has a significant body of work associated with it, one suggestion was to document the threads of change that have influenced the work of the Lab. This helps establish a context of history around current projects and demonstrates how advancements from past results have improved upon current projects and ideas.
Another suggestion concerned the impact of the HCIL on others. What do people think and feel about HCI and the work of the Lab, after a day at the Symposium? How do they plan to use what they've learned in teaching, research or practice? Though difficult to assess, it would seem to be an important and valuable contribution to get a better sense of the Lab's impact.
Other members of the Board suggested that the HCIL continue to remember "the everyday" person in the design of future interface projects, particularly for those projects that are designed for the Web and those that support the activity of small businesses.
Finally, the Advisory Board reinforced the belief that the Symposium should continue to highlight the work of the Lab and not expand into a more general Symposium using outside speakers and presentations. The event should remain as a forum for the presentation of, and interaction about, the HCIL's work.
As for us, what did we think? Here are some quotable quotes from our group:
"As a graduate student who just finished a course on Human Computer Interaction, it was exciting to attend this symposium and meet some of the prominent researchers in the field. It is very encouraging to feel the enthusiasm these people have for this discipline. Furthermore, everyone was very warm and congenial and genuinely interested in discussing their research." Jeff Merhout, VCU Information Systems doctoral student
"There was so much to see and do. I wish I had had more time! My background is in business, so it was very refreshing to step back into the world of pure academia. Everyone at HCIL was so excited to share ideas and research. In the business world I am accustomed to the proprietary nature of an organization's work, so this symposium was a welcome change of pace!" Tonya Sullivan, VCU MBA graduate student
"I have gone to the Symposia many times and I always learn something new each time. Ben does a great job of organizing the HCIL Symposia." George Kasper, Professor and Department Chair, Information Systems VCU.
"I always enjoy the HCIL Symposia. They are intellectually stimulating, well organized and full of diverse topics. The projects are grounded in real-world issues -- something that is often more challenging than pure theoretical inquiry. The Lab is a great learning environment for students and I am always impressed at the quality of all those who actively participate in its work. My favorite part of the day is watching Ben as he proudly displays the HCIL birthday cake at lunch, often walking it around the dining room for all to see. Ben's enthusiasm in proclaiming yet another year of growth and success for the Lab exemplifies the spirit of the Lab at its best." Jean Gasen, Associate Professor, Information Systems, VCU
The HCIL is an interdisciplinary entity of the Institute for Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS) at the University of Maryland at College Part. The head of HCIL is Dr. Ben Shneiderman of the Computer Science Department. Shneiderman's goals for the Annual Symposia, and for the HCIL in general, are multi-faceted. Primarily, the group is devoted to the pursuit of scientific study and to providing empirical evaluation of the products that evolve from the lab. A major goal is to encourage researchers to review and borrow from the creations of the HCIL. To facilitate the dissemination of this knowledge, Internet Web pages are available (see address at end of the article.) In many cases, prototype software is available to download at no cost.
Shneiderman and his colleagues, staff and students have created an open lab environment where researchers are encouraged to collaborate freely. Shneiderman's vision is one of a "lively community of people working" together on projects, both at the University of Maryland and within the field of HCI. The HCIL researchers are devoted to the principles of good interface design and emphasize the importance of evaluation in the development process.
Check out the Web site for additional information about the HCIL 15th Anniversary Symposium and Open House at http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil.
Issue |
Article |
Vol.30 No.4, October 1998 |
Article |
Issue |