In this paper we show how a user-centered design (UCD) method can be successfully combined with an agile software development approach, namely feature-driven development (FDD), to develop the web-based information management system myPIM. This system supports users’ workflow requirements in research and teaching/learning contexts. It provides bookmark, file, and reference archives, as well as possibilities for exchanging information with colleagues and students. By describing the system and its development process we show how this combination of methodologies supported our development process to create a service that truly assists the target audience and is easy to use.
In this paper we present a newly designed annotation and collaboration component, which has been prototypically implemented on top of an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system. Standard ERP software is often described as being inflexible in respect to personal needs of a single user or a user group. To cope with this problem, theories, and principles from classical CSCW research and design were combined with recent developments in Social Software and what is now often summarized as Web 2.0. Our component is inspired by Web 2.0 principles like user generated content, information sharing, and harnessing network effects. As the central paradigm we applied social tagging based on folksonomies as e.g. used in del.ico.us, Flickr, and YouTube. In addition best practices from research on online community building were used to design a social annotating component for ERP systems.
In this paper we present myPIM -- a graphical information management system that provides user workflow requirements in research and teaching/learning context mainly by providing a user's bookmark archive, file archive and the possibility to exchange information with colleagues.
The massive growth of online information continually increases in complexity and needs to be managed efficiently and resourcefully. We describe an important distinction between data, information and knowledge in this scope to gain awareness about these notions. Based on the analysis of searching, recovering and finding, it was concluded that flat tagging instead of hierarchical taxonomies should be used. Therefore, we developed a modular concept based on common Java and JavaScript frameworks that supports this kind of labeling.
A very important feature of myPIM is its dual use approach. Primarily designed as a personal knowledge management tool, this usage gives off information, which can support colleagues in discovering relevant information. As a collaborative or community tool myPIM tries on the one hand to employ the so-called "wisdom of the crowds" phenomenon, but on the other hand has to deal with the fact that the used ontologies are not fixed but co-evolve with their communities of use -- an issue that was recently addressed in the new pragmatic web approach [27].
Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird die nutzerzentrierte Analyse, Konzeption, Realisierung und Evaluation eines grafischen Monitoring-Systems zur Unterstützung von Operateuren in Hafenleitständen präsentiert. Das Unterstützungssystem stellt die Ent- und Beladungszustände, der sich im Hafen befindlichen Schiffe grafisch dar. Der benutzerzentrierte Entwicklungsprozess reicht von der Ideenentwicklung mit Hilfe von Benutzerbefragungen und der Verwendung von Papierprototypen, bis hin zur Implementierung des Systems als Java-Rich-Client. Der Prototyp, wurde abschließend auf einem Informationsbildschirm im Leitstand der Anwender installiert und dort einer dreiwöchigen Evaluationsphase unterzogen. Die so gesammelten Ergebnisse gaben Aufschluss über die Akzeptanz eines solchen Systems und über die Tauglichkeit der verwendeten grafischen Metaphern für die Arbeitsprozesse im Hafen.
This paper outlines our current research program in the fields of ambient intelligence and context-aware computing and the tools we are building to accomplish this research program. From a discussion of our conception of mental models in the domain of ambient context-aware computer systems we derive hypotheses which we intend to test empirically. A modular framework for implementing and assessing situation awareness in humans and computers is introduced. We describe the framework’s architecture and illustrate its suitability for its intended purpose. Finally, we present an outline of our next steps towards real world application systems for our research.
The present paper introduces Audioworld, a novel game-like application for goal-oriented computer-supported learning (CSL). In Audioworld, participants localize sound emitting objects depending on their spatial position. Audioworld serves as a flexible low cost test bed for a broad range of human cognitive functions. This comprises the systematic training of spatial navigation and localization skills, but also of verbal skills and phonetic knowledge known to be essential in grammar literacy, for example. The general applicability of Audioworld was confirmed in a pilot study: users rated the overall application concept novel, entertaining, and rewarding.
Designing User Interfaces for Smart-Applications for Operating Rooms and Intensive Care Units
(2009)
Today’s physicians and nurses working in operating rooms and intensive care units have to deal with an ever increasing amount of data. More and more medical devices are delivering information, which has to be perceived and interpreted in regard to patient status and the necessity to adjust therapy. The combination of high information load and insufficient usability creates a severe challenge for the health personnel with respect to proper monitoring of these devices respective to acknowledging alarms and timely reaction to critical incidents. Smart Applications are a new kind of decision support systems that incorporate medical expertise in order to help health personnel in regard to diagnosis and therapy. By means of a User Centered Design process of two Smart Applications (anaesthesia monitor display, diagnosis display), we illustrate which approach should be followed and which processes and methods have been successfully applied in fostering the design of usable medical devices.