Paper Reading #20: Rush: Repeated Recommendations on Mobile Devices

Comments

Reference

Dominikus Baur, Sebastian Boring, and Andreas Butz

Rush: Repeated Recommendations on Mobile Devices
Intelligent User Interfaces

Summary

This paper talks about a recommendation based interface for mobile devices. While recommendation interfaces are very popular on desktop products, little has been done in order to adapt them to mobile devices. Even when these interfaces have been ported to such devices, they do not take into account orientation of the screen or occlusion problems that occur while controlling the touch interface in such a small device. In a sense, this interface is very similar to Dasher since it uses continuous gestures to increase efficiency.

Discussion

Final project proposal

For the final project, I am working with Kevin Casey in implementing the TA interface that helps then mark students progress in class

http://kcasey436.blogspot.com/2011/04/final-project-proposal.html

Paper Reading #19: Tell Me More, not just "More of the Same"

Comments

Reference
Francisco Iacobelli, Larry Birnbaum, and Kristian J. Hammond
Tell Me More, not just "More of the Same"
Intelligent User Interfaces

Summary

Given the amount of information that is currently available on the internet, it is important that researchers devise better ways of presenting this information to the user. This is particularly true in the context of media outlets and search engines; who increase the amount of information presented by suggesting similar pages to the one requested. It is important to state that it is up to the user to determine whether the suggested articles constitute new information of not. Tell Me More is an interface that can make this classification automatically. Given a seed article, this interface is able to collect new information based on additional quotes, actors, figures, or information. Furthermore, this information is presented with explicit categorization; as opposed to the binary criteria (new/not new) currently used by other systems. The current system implementation consists of five subsystems that help Tell Me More classify and display new information: content gathering, content filtering, text analysis, difference metrics, and presentation. By using LSA (Latent Semantic Analysis), Tell Me More is able to collect a list of different entities (subjects), quantifiers, and quotes in order to determine if the collected information is new and whether it really constitutes new information.

Discussion
This was a very interesting paper in particular because current search engines fail to recognize whether the related material (or suggested readings) represent additional information or not. This is not only seen in the news outlets, but also when shopping for particular products. For example buying a CD that consists of the best music of an artist where several tracks on the disc are already on another disc belonging to the user. I really see how this system can be useful.

Full Blog: Obedience to Authority

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Reference
Summary
Discussion

Paper Reading #16

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Summary
Discussion

Paper Reading #15

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Reference
Summary
Discussion

Full Blog: Opening Skinner's Box

Comments

Reference
Lauren Slater
Opening Skinners Box

Summary

In Opening Skinner's Box, Lauren Slater talks about a series of psychological experiments that changed the way researchers experienced the field of psychology and psychiatry. Each chapter in this book talks about an experiment and researcher challenged current thought of the time; and the impact of the concept has on society in general.
One of the most interesting parts about Slater's book is that instead of just writing about experiments, she sometimes puts herself to test on the concepts being studied. In chapter 3, where Slater talks about David Rosenhan and his experiment, the author volunteers to conduct the experiment being studied. At some point in the book, she even drugs herself in order to test the theories proposed by Bruce Alexander.
Slater's book can be described also by the amount of controversial thoughts presented in each chapter. Not only are the concepts controversial in themselves, but they also challenge the reader to look at both sides of the story before forming an opinion about a particular topic. For example, in the chapter named Monkey Love, Slater explorers the attachments theories of Harry Harlow not only from a psychological point of view, but also from an ethical perspective. At the end of the chapter the author finds herself talking about animal rights and whether they should be used for experiments.

Discussion
I found Slater's book to be very fascinating and interesting. One of the things that really caught my attention (aside from the psychological experiments being discussed) is that the author went beyond her duty in exploring each concept. In several occasions she put herself to test the topics being discussed. Even if this book is not directly related to HCI, it can still teach us a lot about the way humans think and the way different theories came to be known.

Book Reading #34 - Obedience to Authority

Chapter 1
Summary
In this chapter the author gives an overview of his experiment and the reasons behind its implementation. For the most part the shocking experiment is conducted in order to understand the role of authority in the holocaust and its relation to the moral values of the general executing the tasks.

Chapter 2
Summary
In chapter 2 Milgram discusses the methods used to conduct the shocking experiment. He talked about the recruiting process as well as the participants (experimenter, teacher, and learner). The author also talked about a post-experiment discussion with the subject where he was explained that no harmed really occurred to the victim and the true purpose of the experiments (subjects were told at first that the experiment aimed to research learning instead of obedience).

Chapter 3
Summary
Milgram talks about people's prediction about the outcome of the experiment. He found out that whether the prediction was about the self or another group, interviewees believed that most people would stop at 150 volts (first request of the victim to be released).

Chapter 4
Summary
This chapter talks about all the variations of the experiment and the effect on its outcome. Milgram determines that the remoteness of the experiment has a big impact on the amount of disobedience; that it, the closer the victim is to the subject, the less likely the subject is to administer the maximum punishment. The author talks about a few reasons explaining why this occurs.

Chapter 5
Summary
In chapter 5 Milgram talks about some of the subjects that took part of the experiment. One person in particular had trouble understanding the experiment and seemed to be controlled by authority. While this subject blamed the experimenter for his actions, other subjects only blamed themselves for administering shocks even after the victim expresses his desire to terminate the experiment.

Book Reading #34 - Opening Skinner's Box

Chapter 10: Chipped

Summary
In this chapter, Slater talks about the impact of lobotomy and similar procedures. She starts the chapter by discussing the unethical beginnings of this procedure; tracing back to Antonio Egas Moniz who selected subjects at random; and later on compares it to other pharmacological treatments. The author also talks about the effect of lobotomy on patients and whether or not it kills the "spark" of human lives.

Discussion
I found this chapter very interesting since I thought that behavior-modifying procedures on the brain were a thing of the future; not realizing that such a thing existed early in the 1900s. 

Book Reading #33 - Coming of Age in Samoa

Chapter 11: The Girl in Conflict

Summary

Discussion

Paper Reading #14: Combining Multiple Depth Cameras and Projectors for Interactions On, Above, and Between Surfaces

Comments
Alyssa Nabors
Stephen Morrow

Reference
Andrew D. Wilson, and Hrvoje Benko
Combining Multiple Depth Cameras and Projectors for Interactions On, Above, and Between Surfaces
User Interface Software and Technology

Summary
This paper discusses the implementation details of an interactive room with a wide array of different interactions. LightSpace, as the authors call it, is a collection of depth cameras and projectors that provide the users new for of interactions on several atypical displays. While other studies have focused on interactions on specific display surfaces, LightSpace provides an ubiquitous computing room capable of projecting virtual objects on most surfaces (desktops, walls, etc). This type of technology is also able to engage the users in the interactive process by allowing them to hold virtual objects in their hands while interacting with them. For example, the authors make repeated mention of the fact that the user may transfer a virtual object (projection) from his/her desk and place it on the wall simply by touching both surfaces. This generates the idea that the object is being conducted through the user's body. It is also possible to "carry" the object from one location to another.
Besides incorporating the notion of holding objects on the hand, users can also use projected interactive menus on their hand; allowing them to add yet another interactive dimension to the smart room. But the grace of LightSpace is the fact that it requires few cameras and projectors, thus allowing it to blend better than other similar projects

Discussion
I didn't like the paper very much, but that's just my personal preference. I recognize that it is a starting point towards a broader goal, but I think its not worth the investing since it adds little to our current technological arsenal. However, this class is about HCI, therefore the project is important in the sense that it teaches us how users respond to this type of environment

Book Reading #32 - Opening Skinner's Box

Chapter 9: Memory Inc.
Summary
Slater talks about Dr. Scoville's surgery on H.M. where he removes the young boy's Hippocampus. Upon completing the surgery, H.M. became unable to form new memories.
This event triggered researchers such as Eric Kandel to investigate the means by which humans are able to convert short-term events into long-term memories. Kander, owner of a pharmaceutical company, is currently investigating drugs that would enhance human's ability to remember. However, Slater also explores the negative side effects of such drug; citing the needs for human beings to forget horrible events.

Discussion
My favorite part of this chapter is when the author talks about the negative side effects of remembering everything. I have not life a horrible life per se, but it seems logical that some people would not want to remember certain events in their lives.

Book Reading #31 - Coming of Age in Samoa

Chapter 10: The Experience and Individuality of the Average Girl
Summary
In this chapter Mead talks about what it is like for a girl growing up in a Samoan village. In particular, Mead talked about the particular group of girls (age 10 - 20) that she followed throughout many months. Samoan children are exposed to many difficult situations early on in life, however none of this seems to affect them as they grow older. A large part of this chapter is devoted to Samoan girl's habits about the subject of sex.

Discussion
This chapter was kind of interesting particularly in two ways: (1) It seems that adults in the village are not very concerned about what their kids learn in terms of life; that is, parents are more concerned about teaching the duties to their kids. This fact seems to expose kids to several complex experiences. However, maybe the casualty with which parents go about it serves as a neutralizer to this experiences. (2) The other interesting part about this chapter is the amount of sexual exposure among the kids of the village.

Book Reading #30 - Emotional Design

Chapter 3: Three Levels of Design: Visceral, Behavioral, and Reflective
Summary
In this chapter Norman discusses the three levers of design: Visceral, behavioral, and reflective. Visceral design is related to he effect of the environment in our perceptions of things (for example, the use of bright colors in designing kid's toys). Behavioral design concerns itself with the use of objects (function, understandability, usability, and physical feel). Reflective design talks about the message that is conveyed by the objects. This level also deals with the cultural perception and the image that we want to convey to others.

Discussion
The chapter was interesting, however I get the feeling that the design subjects are pretty repetitive along Norman's books. Nonetheless, this has a different air from the other books.

Paper Reading #13: TeslaTouch: Electrovibration for Touch Surfaces

Comments
Alyssa Nabors
Derek Landini

Reference
Olivier Bau, Ivan Poupyrev, Ali Israr, Chris Harrison
TeslaTouch: Electrovibration for Touch Surfaces
User Interface Software and Technology
Summary

Bau et al. present in this paper a new method for providing tactile feedback to touch surfaces through electronic means. While most tactile feedback today relies on mechanical moving parts, TeslaTouch relies on electric currents flowing through a screen; giving the user the sensation of interacting with different surfaces ranging from paper-smooth to wall-painting rough. It is important to mention that this technology is not the same as electrocutaneous feedback or electrostatic feedback. In eleactrocutaneous feedback, the electric charge passes through the skin and stimulates the nerve endings; when using electrovibration, the feedback is produced by the intermittent attraction of the finger and the surface. This is also different from electrostatic feedback as there is no third party object uniting the skin and the tactile surface. The advantages of electrovibration stimulation vs the mechanical counterparts include: Uniform distribution across the surface, attenuation and magnitude of tactile sensation, noise reduction, reliability, and feedback localization.

Discussion
This was a very interesting paper since it moves away from the traditional approaches for tactile stimulus. I think the authors did a good job at stressing the safety concerns about this kind of technology as the sole thought of using current to stimulate the skin is a little concerning.

Book Reading #29 - Opening Skinner's Box

Chapter 8: Lost in the Mall
Summary
Discussion

Book Reading #28 - Coming of Age in Samoa

Chapter 9: The Attitude of the Personality
Summary
Margaret Mead talks about Samoan's perception of people's attitude. Samoans do not really question other's personality and are more accepting towards unwillingness and intractability. They seem not to be judgmental; and even when judgments are made, they are made in terms of the age group to which they belong. That is, kids are quiet and obedient, young people work skillfully, and adults are wise. There are few distinctions in terms of intelligence and similar traits.

Discussion
It is interesting that Samoans are so respectful towards other people's unwillingness. Also, negative traits among Samoans are more likely to be qualified than positive ones.

Book Reading #27 - Emotional Design

Chapter 2: The Multiple Faces of Emotion and Design
Summary
Discussion

Paper Reading #12: Madgets: Actuating Widgets on Interactive Tabletops

Comments


Reference
Madgets: Actuating Widgets on Interactive Tabletops
Malte Weiss, Florian Schwarz, Simon Jakubowski, Jan Borchers
User Interface Software and Technology

Summary

Weiss et al. discuss the use of magnets to fabricate actuating widgets that operate on tabletops. Their approach is innovative and it allows manufacturers to easily prototype their widgets at a relatively low price. Current technologies fall short of allowing physical interaction with the widgets; often times treating them as atomic units that are limited to the use of convex prototypes. Madgests, however, not only allow broader types of widgets but they also add a third dimension into the use of tabletops. This advantage is produced by the attraction and repulsion properties of magnets. Another interesting feature of madgets is their ability to use induction in order to receive power from the table top. By implementing this power conduction system, madgets eliminate the need of batteries or cable that clutter the tabletop space. One important aspect/limitation of madgets is that the interface uses an IR camera in order to capture object position. That being said, the positional system is helped by the use of white paper dots on the madgets; which is not very aesthetically pleasing. Future work will attempt to correct the issue by introducing clear or polarized dots.

Discussion
I thought this paper was very innovative and promising since it incorporates the use of physical gadgets into the user experience. The most important aspect of this research is the use of the third dimension that can communicate with the user. I think this technology opens several HCI design paradigms.

Week 4: Ethnography Results

There were about 30 people on the bus. At first, the bus route was pretty empty, but once we got to the sorority houses, there were a lot more people. It seems that the buses catch most passangers at the cambridge and the sorority houses. These two girls seemed particularly chatty, but even though they seemed to be together, they were both on their phones. A funny observation is: they both had the same phone covers on. These two other guys were standing even though there was still room to sit. After a while, it seemed like everyone was quiet.

Book Reading #26 - Opening Skinner's Box

Chapter 7: Rat Park

Summary
This chapter talks about substance abuse and the points of view of Brice Alexander and Herb Kleber. Alexander attempts to prove that substances do not in themselves produce dependencies, whereas Kleber does. In order to prove his point, Alexander constructs a park where rats lived happily; having all their needs met. These rats substantially reduced their substance use. In conclusion, the issue is unsettled as there are people exposed to drugs who are not addicts, and people who developed addictions by using medicinal drugs.

Discussion
This was a very interesting chapter, but as in the case of quieting the mind, it concluded nothing. I particularly found astonishing that Slater inhaled drugs in order to get some conclusions.

Book Reading #25 - Coming of Age in Samoa

Chapter 8: The Role of the Dance

Summary

Discussion

Book Reading #24 - Emotional Design

Chapter 1: Attractive Things Work Better

Summary

Discussion

Design of Every Day Things

Summary

Discussion

Paper Reading #11: Eddi: Interactive Topic-based Browsing of Social Status Streams

Comments

Reference
Eddi: Interactive Topic-based Browsing of Social Status Streams
Michael S. Bernstein, Bongwon Suh, Lichan Hong, Jilin Chen, Sanjay Kairam, Ed H. Chi
User Interface Software and Technology
Summary
Discussion

Book Reading #23 - Opening Skinner's Box

Chapter 6: Monkey Love
Summary
In chapter 6, Slater talks about the experiments conducted by Harry Harlow. These experiments were conducted in order to discover the nature of love and attachment in human beings (by observing primate interactions. However, some of them were morally wrong, produced failed results, and in some instances did not posses a clear objective.

Discussion
Slater presented her point of view regarding animal use for research purposes. I believe that there are limits to the kind of research that can be conducted on animals. Regarding Harlow, I thought it was sad that he conducted pointless experiments and used disturbing terms throughout his research

Book Reading #22 - Coming of Age in Samoa

Summary
Discussion

Book Reading #21 - Design of Everyday Things

Chapter 7: User-Centered Design

Summary
Dan Norman discusses  seven principles that aid in the conversion from complex tasks to more simple ones:

1. Use knowledge in the world and the head
2. Simplify structure
3. Make things visible
4. Get the mappings right
5. Exploit constraints
6. Design for error
7. Standardize

In addition to discussing the advantages and disadvantages of each principle, the author talks about making certain things difficult so that they can only be operated by experienced users.

Discussion
I thought this chapter was a little redundant as some of the design principles have been discussed before

Paper Reading #10: Soylent: A Word Processor with a Crowd Inside

Comments
Stephen Morrow
Alyssa Nabors

Reference
Soylent: A Word Processor with a Crowd Inside
Michael S. Bernstein, Greg Little, Robert C. Miller, Björn Hartmann, Mark S. Ackerman, David R. Karger, David Crowell, and Katrina Panovich
User Interface Software and Technology

Summary
Bernstein et al. talk about the Soylent add-on to Microsoft Word, which adds features to the program by means of crowdsourcing tasks. This add-on was implemented using Visual Studio Tools for Office, Windows Presentation Foundation, and TurKit Mechanical Turk toolkit. While Microsoft's spell checker has eliminated numerous errors when composing a document, it still generates a lot of false positives in spelling and misses a lot of grammatic errors. Thus Soylent adds the human component to the revising part of a document due to the fact that people often seek help from other people in complex cognition tasks. Soylent uses mechanical turks (people willing to perform tasks for money) to accomplish those tasks that AI is yet not able to perform.
The work of Bernstein et al. describes three features of Soylent: Text shortening, crowdproof, and a human macro interface where users can submit arbitrary word processing tasks. Their technique differs from traditional crowdsourcing in that they introduce a three step model into their implementations as opposed to the typical find and fix. The problem with the typical find and fix is that it increases the outliers in the type of Turks that perform work. The lazy Turk is the one that performs the minimum amount of work in order to get credit, whereas the eager beaver Turk is the one that generates too much feedback so it produces more work to the user. The authors were able to generate a more uniform type of worker by implementing the find-fix-verify approach.
In the find part of the request processing the users identify the problems with the provided section of the document. Then, a different group of mechanical Turks generate the possible solutions to the problem; and a third group verifies the solution and submits it back to the user. Typical response times ranged from a few minutes to hours, however the authors clearly specified that this timing would be reduced with the increased popularity of the system.
As a result of implementing this system, text shortening was able to reduce the text to 85% in one iteration without losing the meaning of the content. Crowdproof was able to catch 33 of the 49 errors introduced in the testing; successfully fixing 29 of the 33. The human macro part of the interface was equally successful in transmitting the intention from the user to the mechanical Turks.

Discussion
This was a somewhat interesting paper since it enables users to have their work peer reviewed. The authors touched on the implications of ownership and confidentiality, which I thought were very important subjects to be evaluated in the paper. Also, it would be interesting to see how much response times increase as Soylent becomes more popular

Week 3: Ethnography Results

Book Reading #20: Opening Skinner's Box

Chapter 5: Quieting the Mind
Summary
Lauren Slater explores Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance. The experiment by Festinger involving a group of people who thought the world was coming to an end on December 21, 1954. When midnight arrived on that day, nothing happened. Festinger observed that followers (people who believed they would be saved) responded to the disappointment by rationalizing what had happened and creating a new theory explaining the events. Slater then tries to investigate cognitive dissonance by talking to Linda Santo who is the mother of Audrey Santo; a miraculous child who is able to cure diseases. However, the author finds that Linda does not fit Festinger's theory and instead experiences dissonance herself by witnessing unexplainable events at Linda's house.

Discussion
For some reason, I fell the chapter was incomplete. From what I read, it was hard to tell if Slater changed her beliefs or if she rationalized what happened towards the end. When I finished reading the story I realized that I had researched a little about Audrey to see if in fact she was as the book described her. I think this happened because I was in disbelief (just like the author was).

Book Reading #19: Coming of Age in Samoa

Chapter 6: The Girl in the Community
Summary
In this chapter Margret Mead describes the life of girls in the Samoan culture. Small girls and boys (usually the ones who haven't reached puberty) are not really part of group activities.
Once they reached a certain age, one or two years after puberty, they join they respective organizations. Aumaga is for young men and Aualuma is for young women, the wives of untitled men, and widows.

Discussion
Not a very interesting chapter per se since this is kind of a continuation of the previous chapter. However, I find it interesting that Aumaga performs more village duties. But, adultery is not as heavily penalized on women as it is on men.

Book Reading #18: Design of Everyday Things

Chapter 6

Summary

Discussion

Paper Reading #9: Tag Expression: Tagging with Feeling

Comments

Reference
Tag Expression: Tagging with Feeling
Jesse Vig, Matthew Soukup, Shilad Sen, John Riedl
User interface software and technology

Summary

Tagging systems have become very popular in community sites as of late. In this paper Vig et al. explore the novel idea of using affect or feelings in a tagging system that helps users define how they feel about a particular tag or how a it applies to a particular item. In order to conduct their research, the authors utilized the website movieLens where users can rate movies and get movie recommendation as a reward. While deciding on a wide variety of factors that would affect the user experience, the authors explore several ideas for each part of the interface that is available to the users. For instance, the authors constantly evaluate the reasons for using a 3 term affect (like, dislike, neutral) as opposed to the star rating system that is widely popular on other movie rating sites. They also prove their reasons for using a collective measurement that shows the community's preference about a particular tag. Other options included totalitarian ratings in which only the majority of votes would be represented on a tag and a histogram interface where all votes would be represented on a tag. However, due to the limited space available the authors settled for using the collective measurement (collective measurement also shows some features present in totalitarian and histogram-based ratings). Data collection was performed over a period of three months in which the authors collected information from logs and online interviews. After all the user activity was collected, it was compared to user activity from the previous system. This allowed the authors to make conclusions about their choice of components for their tagging system. By using affect on an individual tag basis (although the overall tag rating is collective), Vig et al. created a popular tagging system that has a community-oriented behavior in which users were able to share their feelings.

Discussion
This was a very long, yet interesting article. It was very well thought out and the authors seemed to accomplish what they set out to do. I would like to see work that implements recommendation algorithms using the information provided by the users.

Book Reading #17: HCI Remixed

Chapter 6: A Creative Programming Environment
Summary
Henry Lieberman talks about his experience with Pygmalion and its effect on computer science. Developed by D.C. Smith, Pygmalion is a programming tool that introduced the notion of programming visually with icons and examples. However the program is more valuable because it taught the author several lessons involving the encouragement of conducting research in the HCI field.

Discussion
The reading was somewhat interesting. I wished I had seen more demonstrations on the type of things PBE can achieve. However, I thought it was cool that D.C Smith worked on the Xerox Star project which was one of the first graphical operating systems of the time.

Chapter 7: Fundamentals in HCI: Learning the Value of Consistency and User Model
Summary
Sara Bly discusses the impact of the Xerox Red Book in the HCI community. This book was the functional specification that described the user interface for the Xerox Star Workstation. Originally (more formally rather) called the Star Functional Specification, the book had three fundamental aspects that were very important to the author: User interface specification, consistency, and the desktop metaphor. These aspects were fundamental to the HCI basis of the author.

Discussion
I didn't find this chapter particularly interesting since it wasn't very specific. I appreciate the author's opinion about the Xerox Red Book, however, I don't think it had much of a message. That may be because in today's HCI most people take user interfaces for granted.

Chapter 9: The Disappearing Computer
Summary
In the "disappearing computer" Streitz discusses the work of M. Weiser. The author analyzes different paradigms that allow computers to become invisible to the user. The computer disappearance can be physical (involving miniaturization of devices), or mental (where users see computers as a mean instead of a device). Streitz also discusses smart environments and their meaning to the users.

Discussion

Very interesting chapter. It provided an interesting point of view about ubiquitous computing and smart environments.

Chapter 10: It Really Is All About Location!

Summary

This chapter is a continuation of the disappearing computer concept. While the idea of ubiquitous computing was explored in chapter 9, Anind Dey discusses an implementation and technological implications ubiquitous computing. Dey talks about a paper written by Want (et. al) where the concept of indoor tracking was implemented using location badges worn by employees. Not only did Dey discussed some implementation issues about the system, but he also talked about other aspects involving employee's willingness to embrace the system.

Discussion

I was really concerned about privacy issues concerning an indoor tracking system. However, from what I read in this paper, employees liked the system and the benefits it provided.

Chapter 46: The Essential Role of Mental Models in HCI: Card, Moran, and Newell
Summary
Kate Ehrlich discusses the impact of mental models on the development of HCI. Not only do mental models provide an abstract representation of how the mind works, but in HCI it takes the form of several concepts such as the model of the system, the engineer's model of the system that drives design decisions, the UI model of the system, and the user's model of the system. The author quotes the work of Card et al. where they design the GOMS model to explain and predict the interaction between humans and computer. This model was not only theoretical by it was also testable.

Discussion
I didn't find this chapter particularly interesting, except for the fact that it provides a historical perspective on the HCI field and the disagreement in the forces that drive it.

Chapter 47: A Most Fitting Law

Summary
This chapter is about the law devised by P. M. Fitts while he was in the military. This law takes the form of a formula that calculates movement time taking while taking into account the distance and size of the target. The author, Gary Olson, gives a few examples where the law has been used to design interface paradigms and also discusses some of the limitations of the law.

Discussion
Very interesting chapter about HCI that shows how this field is not only composed of qualitative data. HCI, as the author expresses, is a combination of several fields and different types of analysis.

Paper Reading #8: Thanatosensitively Designed Technologies for Bereavement Support

Comments
Alyssa Nabors
Stephen Morrow

Reference
Thanatosensitively Designed Technologies for Bereavement Support
Michael Massimi
CHI 2010 Doctoral Consortium

Example of TSD device: http://www.richardbanks.com/?cat=24

Summary
While computing devices provide a wide range of services to individuals, they do little when it comes to provide support to the people mourning their loved ones. It seems that technology currently does not take part in this stage of a persons life. This being said, this paper aims to create and propagate the concept of thanatosensitive design or TSD. TSD aims to provide a framework for the design of ubiquitous systems that will assist people through the process of bereavement. Once such framework is in place, developers can design interactive systems that will have a positive psychological impact on family members while enhancing social interactions in close and long distance contexts. Michael Massimi's work of developing the concept of TSD will be conducted in three parts: Survey and interview, elaborating the TSD methodology, and system deployment.
The first part of the research is essential to the creation of TSD since the author aims to incorporate ubiquitous devices that are not detrimental to the family. It is also important that participants' dignity is not affected negatively at any time and this can be accomplished by making sure that the TSD adheres to the information obtained while surveying. The TSD design will therefore answer a number of research questions such as: What does the TSD process entail? What are the stages of this process? What kind of activities are involved in each stage? etc.
Because TSD is an unstable paradigm, that is, its principles are not yet well defined; it becomes very difficult to develop actual prototypes using TSD. However, Massimi managed to provide his vision of a system that connects the material aspects of mourning with the social interactions among family members. He also provides insight on the way in which the impact of TSD could be measured on the field.

Discussion
This was one of the most interesting articles I have read. I liked the innovation it provided in recognizing that computers are present in ever aspect of our lives except when it comes to death. I have (to some degree) experienced the effect of technology on people who has passed away. More importantly, I knew somebody who passed away a couple of years ago, yet, his Facebook profile is still running (inactively and unresponsively) and people still write on this persons wall; posting messages on birthdays and such. It seems that it help the person be remembered. On the other hand, is this really a good thing to do? Shouldn't the mourning process encompass a part of social de-attachment?

Week 2: Ethnography Results

This week was the first actual week where we started making observation on the A&M transportation environment.

Excel (router #22)

Worthy Observations

• People who enter the bus by themselves are not very chatty in the mornings.
• I found out that girls at the sorority houses are a very interesting subgroup. They are very chatty (in a good sense) and always talk in high pitched voices when greeting each other.
• Gentleman do not always (almost never) get up to offer their seat to the ladies. There is in fact a Facebook group about this gesture. I did not have the chance to observe this reaction of both genders on people with disabilities.

Ethnic Background
I rode bus route #22, called Excel, which passes through several apartment complexes such as the Gables, Campus View, the Cambridge, and more importantly the sorority and fraternity houses. One of the most important things to notice is that people are pretty much segregated according to the complex in which they live. For example, people who live at the sorority and fraternity houses are mostly white Americans. In contrast, people who live at Plantation Oaks are mostly Asian. This was concluded from seeing where people got on and off the bus.

Eating Habits
I started the morning route at about 8:30 AM. Most people ate during the morning (in fact I don't think I saw anybody eating at any other time). Some of them drank coffee; others had cereal; and a few people had granola bars and fruit. I noticed that it was mostly female White Americans who ate during the morning; particularly girls from sorority houses and surrounding apartments.

Communication Environment
Most people engaged in conversations with other people. However, I noticed that most people only engaged in conversations with people they knew. From time to time, strangers would strike into conversations. This was particularly true in the afternoons.

Ethnography proposal

This is the proposal for the The A&M Public Transportation Culture

Book Reading #16 - Opening Skinner's Box

Chapter 4: In the Unlikely Event of a Water Landing

Summary

Lauren Slater discusses the sad story where a woman gets murdered at night. Even though there were bystanders present who could have done something to help while not getting directly involved, nobody did anything to help the victim. After this event, several psychologists offered their explanation; however, the one theory that made the most sense involved social cues. The author then describes the experiment by Darley and Latane.

Discussion
I though this experience was very interesting for many reasons. First, I found it unbelievable that nobody helped the lady who was clearly in trouble. From a psychological perspective, this chapter helps us understand humanity better; and like the author described, reading this chapter makes us already better prepared to confront these situations.

Book Reading #15 - Coming of Age in Samoa

Chapter 5: The Girl and Her Age Group

Summary

This chapter talks about the social characteristics of the Samoan life. The author compares and contrasts the differences between the social lives of girls and boys. When boys and girls are of small age (usually before puberty), their social relations are based on the relationship among their chaperons. However, once puberty is reached, girls enter a restrictive social life while boys continue almost the same social pattern. In this case, boys have more opportunities to form life-long friendships while the girls are bound to form friendships that are family oriented.

Discussion
I found this chapter interesting since it talks about a different culture and their ability to form relationships. I always find it interesting to learn about other cultures. However, I think the reading could have been a little more engaging. For example, make the reading about a specific member of the village (as the author did for part of the story).

Book Reading #14 - Design of Everyday Things

Chapter 5: To Err is Human

Summary
Donald Norman starts this chapter by stating the differences between human errors and machine errors; stating that human errors are easy to recover from whereas machine errors are not. There are basically two types of errors: mistakes and slips. Slip errors can be placed in six categories: capture, description, data-driven, associative activation, loss-of-activation, and mode.
While describing the process used by humans in terms of thought (or at least theories of it), Norman describes everyday structures in two categories. Shallow structures come from many choices, but each one of them is simple, whereas narrow structures arise from a small number of possibilities. At the end, the author opts for adopting a philosophy that takes errors into account when designing everyday things

Discussion
I thought the chapter was interesting since it discusses how errors need to be taken into account when designing everyday things. As I am reading the book, I realized that there lots of things that need to be considered in order to design objects that are safe and easy to use.

Paper Reading #7: Real-time Interaction with Supervised Learning

Comments
Derek Landini
Jacob Lillard

References
Real-time Interaction with Supervised Learning
Rebecca Fiebrink
CHI 2010 Doctoral Consortium
http://wiki.cs.princeton.edu/index.php/ChucK/Wekinator/Instructions

http://wiki.cs.princeton.edu/index.php/ChucK/Wekinator/Instructions

Summary
In this paper, Rebecca Fiebrink discusses the possibility of creating interfaces for machine-learning interactions while focusing on the music composition and performance domain. In this research paper, Fiebrink sets to design a user interface that can guide musicians in the creation of datasets and building, evaluating, and refining trained models. Her work is inspired by the Weka interface that users to apply machine learning techniques to their own dataset. This being said, the author designed the Wekinator in order to achieve her goals of creating a general purpose user interface for handling real-time data.
Fiebrink recognizes that one of the easiest ways to improve a model's performance is to modify or add more training data as opposed to modify the learning algorithms or its parameters. However, the author recognizes that there are no user interfaces that facilitate such capability. Also, musicians may be concerned with timing issues which further complicates the design of such interactive interfaces.

Discussion
This paper was somewhat interesting since it attempts to bridge the gap between very specialized computer fields and other non-computer areas. If this paper successfully makes this gap smaller, then humanity may see computer science as a more concrete field.

Week #1: Ethnography results

We just formed a group dedicated to study the A&M transportation system environment. Our group realized that people use the transportation system for things other than going to class.

Team Members:
Kevin Casey
Angel Narvaez

Book Reading #13 - Opening Skinner's Box

Chapter 3
Summary
The author talks about the experiment conducted by David Rosenhan in which he tries to discredit psychiatry as a certain science. In Rosenhan's experiment, he fakes hearing voices in order to get himself (and other participants) admitted into a psychiatric hospital. Upon being admitted, he states that the voices are gone and notes the reactions from the doctors. The experiment, while flawed to some people, provided a lot of discussion about the certainty of psychiatric diagnoses and its accuracy.

Discussion
I thought this chapter was very interesting the first and second time around (when the author goes through Rosenhan's experiment). In fact, it was more interesting the second time around as there was already literature on the experiment. Even if the author did not successfully (by experiment standards) get admitted, she was still prescribed with illnesses that were only existent as a way to justify the prescribed medication.

Book Reading #12 - Coming of Age in Samoa

Chapter 4
Summary
This chapter describes the ranking system of the samoan families. This ranking is based primarily on age as opposed to sex as it is the case in several cultures. The author describes the interconnection that exists between family members and the household. She also describes the role of the matai, who is the head of the household.

Discussion
I found this chapter to be interesting since it describes the ranking of the samoan families. The most interesting aspect of this ranking system is that it is based on age instead of sex; but also there is little distinction between uncles, aunts, and so on. From what I understand they all play a similar role and share the same descriptive name.

Book Reading #11 - Design of Everyday Things

Chapter 4
Summary
In this chapter the author talks about constraints and affordances that should be taken into consideration when designing objects. Among the constraints, the author talks about physical, semantic, cultural, and logical constraints. After discussing these concepts, the author describes current problems with door and switches as well as feedback and visibility principles that can improve the design of everyday things.

Discussion
I really enjoy the discussion about switches as it represents a problem I never thought about. However, while I appreciated the concern about doors and the things that they communicate to the users, I often find that his criticisms are exaggerated. This might be a product of the fact that more often than not I can manager to operate a door.

Paper Reading #6: Studying and Tackling Temporal Challenges in Mobile HCI

Comments
Derek Landini
Jacob Lillard

Reference
Studying and Tackling Temporal Challenges in Mobile HCI
Joel E. Fischer
CHI 2010 Doctoral Consortium

Summary
This paper discusses techniques on measuring the receptivity of mobile technology users. The idea is that users are more receptive to mobile technology interruptions at certain times. This pertains to HCI in the sense that applications are becoming more engaging and operate in real-time. Therefore it becomes important to study how the content and timing of interruptions affect the level of receptivity in users. In studies about timing, it has been determined that receptivity has a strong correlation to the position of users relative to cognitive tasks; that is, opportune moments lie at the breakpoint of cognitive tasks (processes). However, predicting these breakpoints becomes very difficult to do in uncontrolled environments.

In order to conduct the study, the author employs a technique called ESM (Experience-Sampling Method) which consists of users answering sets of questions at random times. Using this technique, Fischer (the author) was able to gather data relevant to the content, the time of delivery, the channel of communication (e-mail, sms, phone call, etc),  the receiver, and the impact of the interrupting service. The author describes it quoting  Harold D. Lasswell's formula: Who says what in which channel to whom with what effect?
By conducting this research, the author hopes to approximate the cognitive break points where user receptivity is greater so as to adapt current mobile applications to make better use of interruptions.


Discussion
This was a very nice article, however I believe that this technology is still very immature. I also am very concerned with the implications of having a mobile device deciding what messages from who are important to whom. Not that this is really bad, but I sure hope that this does not interfere with the privacy of individuals

Book Reading #5 - Design of Everyday Things

Chapter 2
Summary
This chapter talks about the psychology of everyday actions while trying to provide explanations for the reason people think the way they do when it comes to making mistakes with everyday things or not knowing how to use them. The author discusses the fact that we as humans seem to have a tendency to place the cause of events wrongly, thus creating misconceptions about everyday life. Humans also tend to blame the wrong cause.

Discussion
I really enjoyed the chapter, however, as I keep reading the book I get the feeling that the author is exaggerating a little in order to prove his point about everyday things. Sure there are things that can be designed better; but it seems like the author is describing very challenged people. If people can't use doors or staplers, then maybe they should give up as life is a lot harder. Then again, I guess the point of the book is to teach us how to design better objects.

Paper Reading #4: The Role of Tangible Technologies for Special Education

Comments
Derek Landini
Bain Mullins

Reference
Taciana Pontual Falcão
CHI 2010 Doctoral Consortium
Summary
This paper discusses the benefits of using tangible technologies in the special education community. While a lot of work has been done with regards to tangible technologies and special education -- targeting people with physical disabilities mostly -- this research paper talks about individuals with cognitive disabilities. This is particularly of interest given the fact that tangible technologies are specially suitable for children with special needs. Some of the disabilities exhibited these children include short attention span, poor verbal memory, cue-seeking, and imitative answers. These and more difficulties can be partly addressed by using short routines, keeping tasks short and varied, and using a VAK approach with the aid of visual examples to illustrate explanations.

As stated in the beginning of the summary, this paper aims to measure the effects of tangible interfaces in a classroom environment designed for kids with learning disabilities. In order to achieve this goal, the author set to study a children with MLD from ages 11 to 14.The children were exposed to a classroom where they could focus on learning science (for the case of this experiment the properties of light). This, along with empirical studies about teaching kids with MLD where the parameters used to conduct the resesarch.

Discussion
This is another paper that discusses methods on how to aid people with disabilities. I found interesting that the paper did not discuss any results, which makes me wonder about the success of this experiment. I really liked this paper because it intends to help people with cognitive disabilities instead of just people who are physically disabled.

Book Reading #4 - HCI Remixed

Chapter 24: A Simulated Listening Typewriter: John Gould Plays Wizard of Oz

Summary
Chris Schmandt discusses the finding of John Gould relating the importance of speech recognition interfaces. In Gould's paper, the author tries to answer the following questions:

• Would people enjoy using recognition for dictation?
• Would such a system be speedy and efficient?
• Could naive users dictate high-quality documents?

Discussion
Besides providing part of the history of speech recognition, I think the article provides an interesting discussion about the system employed to measure users' affinity to speech recognition interfaces.

Chapter 25: Seeing the Hole in Space

Summary
This article discusses the primitive roots of videoconferencing and similar technologies. Steve Harrison, the author, describes his time at Xerox PARC while working on Media Space. However, the author describes the encounter with Galloway and Rabinowitz who called themselves artists working on aesthetic research in telecommunications. It turns out, Galloway and Rabinowitz were working on one of the first videoconferencing technologies, which they called Hole in Space. The rest of the article narrates the story of the authors and Hole in Space.

Discussion
Hole in Space added several elements to the work collaboration environment. Researchers such as Steve Harrison came to realize that besides new forms of community, events were a big part of mediated communications.

Chapter 26: Edward Tufte’s 1 + 1 = 3

Summary
Scott Jenson discusses the problem of visual clutter as described by Edward Tufte. In this chapter, the author opens up the discussion by using the buttons on an elevator as an example. While the elevator contains two buttons that control the doors (open and close), they generate a third element described as the extra effort that is required by the brain to decode the information. The author closes this chapter by providing tips on how to solve this visual clutter.

Discussion
I am not convinced that the first recommendation to fix visual cluttering is the best. Maybe using the words "open" and "close" would have worked better as those icons seem ambiguous.

Chapter 27: Typographic Space: A Fusion of Design and Technology

Summary
Jodi Forlizzi talks about the birth of typographic space systems as described by Muriel Cooper. This system allowed artists to produce more dynamic types that could be used to convey all kinds of information not necessarily present in the text. For example, large upward (or downward) motions can convey a rising (or falling) pitch. Additionally, analogous motions that mimic human actions convey emotive content. This concept is called kinetic typography and it is now commonplace in television and the web.

Discussion
Kinetic typography is a feature that I have always taken for granted. When I first started reading the article, I had no idea that this concept was so involved in pretty much everyday life.

Chapter 28: Making Sense of Sense Making

Summary

Discussion

Chapter 34: Revisiting an Ethnocritical Approach to HCI: Verbal Privilege and Translation

Summary

Discussion

Paper Reading #3: Lowering the Barrier to Applying Machine Learning

Comments
Jacob Lillard
Stephen Morrow

References
Lowering the Barrier to Applying Machine Learning
Kayur Patel
CHI 2010 Doctoral Consortium

Summary

Kayur Patel attempts to bridge the gap between machine learning algorithms and software based on such algorithms. Most of this goal is accomplished by providing tools that assist the user throughout the entire process of producing machine-learning based applications since current programming languages and tools such as matlab and java lack such support (inexperienced developers find it difficult to find a starting point for a particular project).To address deficiencies present in tools and programming languages, the author began working on Gestalt; which is an IDE capable of supporting learning techniques while aiding the user understand the relationship between data and results. Unlike other tools, Gestalt provides interactive visualizations that help developers sort, filter, and color examples that helps them get down to the desired data.

Discussion
This was a very interesting paper since it attempts to tie machine learning into software solutions. I have always viewed machine learning as a topic of graduate school, so it is very nice to see tools that attempt to make machine learning programming easier and more intuitive.

Book Reading #3: HCI Remixed

Chapter 1: My Vision Isn’t My Vision: Making a Career Out of Getting Back to Where I Started
Summary
In this chapter, the author William Buxton tells the story of one of the most influential HCI designs: a two handed user interface. This primitive interface controlled the SEL 840A computer that was used to compose synthetic music. The real purpose behind the system, however, was not to provide a music composing machine but to study the human computer interactions between the machine and the musicians that used it.

Discussion
The article had many interesting ideas and principles that are still in use today. The fact that the machine was built from the ground up with non-technical users in mind really impressed me, as well as the reason behind the construction of the machine. The machine was built to study HCI.

Chapter 4: Drawing on SketchPad: Reflections on Computer Science and HCI
Summary
Joseph A. Konstan discusses in this chapter the importance of HCI as it pertains to computer science. By discussing the implementation of one of the earliest drawing systems, the author is able to describe the relationship that exists between HCI and computer scientist. The author believes that HCI is a force that drives computer science forward while the field benefits from the discoveries made by computers scientist. This relationship is of mutual interest.

Discussion
Aside from the description of Southerland's SketchPad system, which was very interesting, this paper discussed a topic that relates somewhat to the research paper reading assigned (paper reading #2). Both topics discuss the need and importance of HCI relating computer science. In the assigned reading, the driving force was fed by the desire to better respond to the need of older adults, whereas in this paper, Konstan talks about the fact that the first HCI researches focused on easy-to-use computer interfaces.

Chapter 5: The Mouse, the Demo, and the Big Idea

Summary
This chapter discusses Douglas Engelbart's big idea: the computer mouse. While the discussion of this invention touches upon the implications of the discovery, most of the author's description is targeted toward the fact that the mouse was actually designed to augment human intellect. However, the author states that people who watched Engelbart's presentation came away with the feeling of having seen an amazing presentation.

Discussion
I got to read about one of the most important discoveries in HCI. The most interesting aspect about this chapter is noticing how the mouse has not basically changed from its primitive form; which makes me wonder if it will ever be replaced (partially or completely) by another technology.

Chapter 18: Observing Collaboration: Group-Centered Design

Summary
Saul Greensber talks about the development of group-centered design in the late 1980s. He discusses the works of John Tang at Xerox PARC and its significance to current group-centered implementations. In this essay, the author states that the importance of Tang's work was the foundations it laid on human factors that affect visual workspaces, but most importantly the methodology with which it was designed; that is; the fact that observation of actual working practices plays a huge role in group-centered designs and development.

Discussion
This article makes emphasis on the fact that group-centered designs must be observed in order to understand the demand of the users. It turns out that group interactions are equally as important (if not more) as the individual one when designing groupware.

Chapter 20: Taking Articulation Work Seriously

Summary
The author discusses the works of K. Schmidt and L. Bannon relating Computer Supported Cooperative Work. In their paper Schmidt and Bannon describe CSCW as "an endevour to understand the nature and requirements of cooperative work. As the author describes in this essay, Their work provided a conceptual framework that produced interests in other research directions. This so called framework highlights the fact that groupware assumes mutual dependence among participants.

Discussion

If I understand correctly, this article talks about the importance of groupware and the framework where users can collaborate. It also states that this framework is essential and is a requirement for activities that involve interaction with several members of a group.

Chapter 23: Video, Toys, and Beyond Being There

Summary
Video, toys, and beyonde being there talks about face to face communication enhancements as discussed by J. Hollan and S. Stornetta. I thins paper, the author compares the computer communication enhancements to shoes and crutches. Shoes are worn permanent; whereas crutches are temporary. With such analogy in minde, the authors sets out to discover how face to face communication can be enhanced to the point where they are not replacing the aformentioned trend, but rather enhancing it. For example, the author describes how webcam communication over the internet is a replacemente for face to face communication, but when the two people meet, the participants in the face to face conversation interact by means of other objects to the point that it is called "beyond" being there (face to face).

Discussion
The importance of this paper is that it looks to revolutionize face to face communication instead of evolutionize it. It was very intersting hearing the author talked about Lilly the doll, and how this object was able to bring grandma and grandaughter closer than they would with other traditional face to face interactions.

Ethnography Ideas

1. Study sleeping habits of computer science majors and produce a cross comparison study with other majors
2. Observe what students do when they are on facebook. Do people actually use facebook as a social medium? How frequently and why do they use facebook?
3. Small computers (Netbooks) vs desktop replacements laptops. What computer science majors prefer

Paper Reading #2: Supporting Medical Communication with a Multimodal Surface Computer

References
Supporting Medical Communication with a Multimodal Surface Computer
Anne Marie Piper
Distributed Cognition and Human-Computer Interaction Lab

Comments
Stephen Morrow
Derek Landini

Summary
This research tries to explore a different user interface that would be more beneficial to the healthcare business as it relates to older adults. The project is particularly interesting since it enables older adults to participate in healthcare consults in a more independent, efficient, and interactive manner. In addition to this system being beneficial to older adults, it could serve users with impairments.

For example, users with hearing impairments are helped by means of a shared speech interface where they can communicate with a traditional keyboard. The doctor can communicate back with the user by as usual with the difference being that the interface translates the speech into text. One of the most important aspects of this interface is that it allows users and doctors to organize information in such a way that it is more intuitive. While more traditional means of communication (such as pen, paper, x-rays) are static, the multimodal interface allows images and such to be edited without altering the original data. This interface also facilitates the organization of historic data by keeping track of conversations of patients and doctors.
In the long term, this project will have a big impact not only in the medical industry but other areas as well. The author describes in her conclusion how the maturation of this technology is essential. For example, a student could benefit greatly while trying to learn a foreign language by the means of text-based representations. This representations would be linked to the corresponding speech.

Discussion
While I agree that this research is important in terms of aiding the older adults, I am not convinced that the cost of performing it outweighs its benefits. I think that older adults have a tendency to reject new technologies, thus the interface makes little to no difference. Also, it seems that the research is tailored to a particular subject as opposed to the more general user experience. This is not to say that the technology is not useful, but I am more interested in interfaces that serve humanity in a broader term.

Chinese Room

Comments
Chris Kam
Ryan Kerbow

References
Minds, Brains, and Programs by John R. Searle. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 3 (3): 417-457
Chinese Room. Wikipedia.

Summary
The Chinese Room is an experiment devised by John R. Searle that attempts to explain the limitations of strong AI, that is, a computer program is not enough to represent understanding or/and intentionality. The experiment can be summarized as follows:
Suppose that AI researchers have succeeded in constructing a computer that acts as if it understands Chinese. This computer takes Chinese characters as an input, processes these characters following a set of rules (program), and gives Chinese characters as an output. Does the machine understand Chinese?
To answer that question, Searle goes on to make the following argument:
Suppose that a man who speaks no Chinese is locked in a room. In this room, he is given rules (program) on how to process Chinese symbols so that he can mimic a the writing of a native Chinese person. As he is given paper with chines symbols, he process them using the rules inside the room, and gives the output back.

Source: http://www.jimpryor.net/teaching/courses/mind/notes/searle.html

Even though the room (thus the man) has the ability of processing information written in Chinese -- even supposing it can do it as well as any native Chinese speaker -- the man understands no Chinese.

Discussion
This experiment represents one of the strongest critics to strong AI. What I noticed throughout Searle's paper is that he makes clear the goals that can be reached by strong AI, provided they adhere to the idea that the mind is to the brain what programs are to computer. I really liked the way the author makes the distinction between simulation and duplication since it highlights the fact that strong AI can only be possible if a system reproduced the "casual powers" of the brain. This being said, I agree for the most part that true understanding cannot be achieved by means of computer programs. However, I do think that machines can achieve some level of understanding. For example, a thermostat knows to lower the temperature if it is too hot in the room. This is not say that a thermostat has feelings or beliefs the same way humans do.

Paper Reading #1: HCI Methods and the Design of CHAMPION

Clicker provides an interactive interface for adults with CCN

Comments
Stephen Morrow
Derek Landini

Reference

HCI Methods for Including Adults with Disabilities in the Design of CHAMPION

Suzanne Prior

CHI EA '10, ACM New York, 2010

Summary

Traditional HCI methods that try to involve CCN users into the design stage of software development is a challenging task. As the number of users with disabilities increases in the workforce, it becomes necessary to develop new HCI methods that take into account the wide variety of users with CCN (Complex Communication Needs). So far the traditional methods in software development have failed to recognize the importance of including adults with CCN due to the lacking number of such adults in the workforce. However, as mentioned before, this is a changing trend.
In the development of CHAMPION, traditional HCI methods such as focus groups were adapted to include adults with cognotive disabilities. For example, some of the requirements questions were provided before the group meetings as to allow participants who use Augmentative and Alternative Communication devices to be prepared. Other modifications during the design-group stage of the CHAMPION development involved the use of story boards using magnets so that participants in wheelchairs could be better accommodated. Also, the team used Clicker, which is an interactive technology that allows users to interact through different peripherals, thus easing the transition of the users from story board to actual software interfaces. This created some sort of familiarity with the software interface. The expected outcome of this thesis is to increase the involvement of adults with CCN in software design since this particular group is becoming more frequent in the workforce.
Discussion
This paper could be the launching point of new HCI design paradigms since it attempts to include adults with diverse disabilities into the software development process. This is crucial because this group helps diversify and increase the scope of software developers. I think that once this idea is successfully ported to users with CCN, developers and HCI researchers will design equivalent paradigms that include other users with disabilities such as visual impairment.

Microblog: Coming of Age in Samoa

Chapter 1

Summary

In this chapter the author talks about the focus of her research as well as the reasons for it. She describes the difference between the way anthropologists and other sciences conduct research. This differences are based on the fact that in order to study society and certain aspects of human behavior, anthropologists guide themselves on the environment as is instead of using controlled situations. Since this book focuses on adolescence and the attitudes present in American teenagers, the author initiates a journey to the Samoa Islands in order to conduct a compare/contrast study. 

Discussion

The author intends to study a culture that is simple and has not been affected by several of the problems present in American society. By doing this, she intends to find out what shapes the minds of teenagers in American society (or society in general).

Are teenager attitudes a product of the physical changes experimented at a certain age or are they a product of the environment they live in?

Microblog: Design of Everyday Things

Summary of Chapter 1
In this chapter, the author provides a general overview of concepts that improve the design of objects used on a daily basis as well as the implications of designing objects that do not adhere to these set of rules. The author spends a lot of time discussing the fact that objects become more complex and harder to use as they evolve and incorporate more functions. To overcome this technological paradox, concepts such as affordance, conceptual models, visibility, mappings, and feedback are used. For example, affordance refers to the way in which a certain object can be used (implicitly or not). This concept would mandate that a door is built with such hardware and in such a way that it can only be pushed (or pulled) from one side.
Discussion
As I was reading the first chapter of this book, most of the ideas that came to mind were related to people of a certain age that find it difficult to operate computers. I thought the author's examples where he intended to describe the effects of functionality on complexity were exaggerated in order to illustrate his point. If operating a door is as difficult as the author made it seem in this chapter, then nobody would be able to drive cars or fly airplanes. While my opinion is a little biased (I come from a generation that has big affinity for complicated, electronic gadgets), I understand the point that the author is trying to make: Added functionality and technological advancements do not justify bad designs.