Human-Computer Interaction

Research

Computerized Education to Prevent Hypoglycemia When Driving

Our long-term goal is to decrease the risk for driving accidents associated with severe hypoglycemia among adolescents/young adults with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus. The specific aims are to: develop a brief computer-assisted blood glucose awareness training program (BGAT) for adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus and their parents to increase their knowledge about preventing hypoglycemia when driving; demonstrate patient and parent satisfaction, increased knowledge changes in perceived susceptibility, perceived seriousness/threat, perceived benefits to taking action, and barriers to taking action; collect pilot data to support a subsequent application for external funding to create a more intensive web-base version to be used by adolescents throughout the U.S. Type 1 diabetes is a common chronic disease affecting millions of US children and adolescents. Although maintaining blood sugar levels near normal will decrease the risk for long-term complications of blindness and kidney failure, tight control carries the risk of severe hypoglycemia (low levels of blood sugar) which may result in impaired judgment, loss of consciousness and seizures. If this occurs while driving, it may result in severe injury and death.

Intensive group-based BGAT has been shown to decrease the risk for hypoglycemia when driving for adults but the existing program not been designed or tested with adolescents. This interdisciplinary project will develop and test a unique computer-based delivery system to provide the initial education about driving and hypoglycemia to adolescents and their parents using combined audio/visual formats provided on a lap top computer. Multi-media computer-based health education is effective with adolescents and can increase the capacity of the health team to provide health education with minimal cost. In Phase 1 an existing BGAT program for adults will be substantially modified and adapted for adolescents, computer programs written, attitudinal/behavioral measures develop; these will then be piloted and modified as needed. In Phase 2 we will recruit at least 150 adolescents and a parent to take the educational module and evaluate its impact on increasing knowledge, changing attitudes related to hypoglycemia and assisting adolescents and parents develop personal guidelines for preventing hypoglycemia while driving. The final task in Phase 2 is to prepare an application for extramural support to expand the intervention to a web-base format for use in a multi-center collaborative study.

A Design Framework for Aural Interactive Applications

Traditionally, usability has been associated mainly with the quality of the visual or graphic user interface and its ability to fulfill fundamental human computer interaction (HCI) tenets: to efficiently and effectively communicate technological capacity and support user goals. So far, little attention has been paid in the HCI community to how many basic assumptions or elements of visually-based user-technology interactions need to be re-thought when the target users are visually impaired, or when technologies are used in limited-vision or “eyes free” contexts (e.g. while driving), or when screen size is so constrained that the interactive process would clearly benefit from a supplementary sensory channel (e.g. in the growing market for 3G phones). In these contexts, the auditory channel of interactions has the greatest potential to fulfill fundamental goals. Currently, there is little or no support for designers to express design decisions for auditory applications at the proper level of abstraction. For example, whereas I can draw an abstract sketch (mock-up) for a visual interface, how can I describe the interactions which are possible through the auditory channel, or through a mix of touch-based and auditory interaction? What concepts and notations could I use to represent sound-based feedback and auditory communication during the design process? As it is for traditionally web applications, the benefits of having a design modeling language are several, including the possibility for designers to describe and master the complexity of the applications with a few, understandable concepts, to discuss overall requirements and strategic design decisions without early locking in interface details, and to perform early validation before committing resources to a specific implementation or prototype. (Papers: Bolchini, D., Colazzo, S., Paolini, P., Vitali, D., Designing Aural Information Architectures, in Proc. ACM 24rd International Conference on Design of Communication (SIGDOC 2006), ACM Press, Myrtle Beach, Florida, October 2006, 51-58. Bolchini, D., Colazzo, S., Paolini, P., Requirements for Aural Web Sites, in Proc. of the 8th IEEE International Symposium on Web Site Evolution (WSE 2006), Philadelphia, USA, IEEE Press, September 2006, 75-82.)

Advancing the Systematic Evaluation of Web Semiotics

Websites are complex interactive communication tools. To let users manage and control their content and services, designers make use of different families of signs that assume different knowledge domains that the user should be somehow familiar with. Ideally, web designers should design interface signs so that their intended meaning could be correctly interpreted by the envisioned users. Although computer and interface semiotics is a well explored field, little has been done to equip designers and usability professionals with efficient and effective conceptual tools to capture semiotics issues on web interface (as a specific dimension of usability), distinguish them from other (interrelated) aspects (information architecture, content, navigation and graphics) and design interfaces that can more effectively communicate their intended meaning to the user. On the basis of recent, initial advancements in systematic semiotics evaluation, we aim at improving the current methodologies by testing them on the field with practitioners and provide a better modeling of the conceptual aspects related to semiotic design and interface sign interpretation.

Enhancing the Usability of Web Bioinformatics Resources

Improving the usability of bioinformatics resources enables researchers to find, interact with, share, compare and manipulate important information more effectively and efficiently. It thus enables researchers to gain improved insights into biological processes with the potential, ultimately, of yielding new scientific results. Usability ’barriers’ can pose significant obstacles to a satisfactory user experience and force researchers to spend unnecessary time and effort to complete their tasks. The number of online biological databases available is growing and there is an expanding community of diverse users. In this context there is an increasing need to ensure the highest standards of usability. Using ‘state-of-the-art’ usability evaluation methods, we have identified and characterized a sample of usability issues potentially relevant to web bioinformatics resources in general. These specifically concern the design of the navigation and search mechanisms available to the user. The usability issues we have discovered in our substantial case studies are undermining the ability of users to find the information they need in their daily research activities. In addition to characterizing these issues, specific recommendations for improvements are proposed leveraging proven practices from web and usability engineering. (Funding: Partially funded through a fellowship of the Swiss National Science Foundation.)

Patient Hand-Off Tool

This rapid response project includes a usability evaluation and re-design of an existing handoff tool targeted for widespread dissemination by the VA National Center for Patient Safety (NCPS). At the Indianapolis VAMC, the computerized Patient Handoff Tool (PHT) generates a handoff form by extracting patient data from the Computerized Patient Record System; in use since 1998. This project consists of assessing current data / information formats. Specifically, the daily progress notes that are included in the handoff form are variable and require further design and structuring to enhance their usability and relevance. Additionally, identifying barriers and facilitators to implementation is critical to refinement and further dissemination. Early stages of the project include: 1) Evaluate the type and quality of information transferred using the PHT, 2) Refine / design the PHT to standardize and optimize knowledge transmission and usability; and 3) Describe barriers and facilitators to PHT implementation.

Medical Information Visualization Assistant System

Data solution that integrates medical data using data visualization models: Data visualization studies were designed and tested, with long-term solutions for automated data visualizations for expediting patient care. (Paper: Faiola, A. & Hillier, S. (2006). Multivariate Relational Visualization of Complex Clinical Datasets in a Critical Care Setting: A Data Visualization Interactive Prototype, Proceedings of the HCI Symposium –Information Visualization Conference 2006, IEEE, London, England, 460-465.)

Collaborative Cancer Control Initiative: A Web Portal for Linking IUCC Patients, Clinicians, and Researchers

The purpose of this project is to establish a secure web portal for Indiana University Cancer Center (IUCC) patients and families to serve as a platform for translation of evidence-based cancer control behavioral interventions. A nationally recognized strength of Cancer Prevention and Control Program (CP & CP) at IUCC and within the Mary Margaret Walther Program (MMWP) is the incorporation of technology into research. Although countless Web sites exists that address consumers’ questions about cancer prevention and treatment, the information is often without a strong research base and can be difficult to interpret. At best, many Web sites deliver information that is not individualized to a specific patient concern and offer no opportunity for interaction with health care professionals, and at worst, deliver information that may be detrimental. The web portal proposed in this letter of intent, the Indiana Cancer TRAIN (Translating Research – Answers and Information Network), will provide a framework for online access to previously tested interventions or to test new research interventions for cancer patients and families.

Cultural cognitive style and web design: Beyond a behavioral inquiry of computer-mediated communication

The purpose of this initial project is to study the cross-cultural behavior of international MUD (Multi-User Dimensions or Multi-User Dungeons, or Multi-User Domain) gamers. Playing MUDs, text-only online gaming environments, may initiate flow experience. Online survey research was administered within the sample population of 288 MUD players from the United States of America, using the specially designed questionnaire with four categories of questions related to: flow experience, experience in playing MUDs, interaction patterns, and demographics. Replies of respondents (N = 3350) fit a six factor model. All the correlations between the factors are significant (p < 0.05). The set of dimensions describing flow experience while playing MUDs was selected. Since players experienced flow while MUDding, it was proposed that flow is one of the sources of the long-time attractiveness for MUD players. Ongoing research will observe the online role-playing behavior of four gaming communities: Russian, Chinese, French, and American (U.S.) speaking players. (Paper: Faiola, A. & Voiskounsky, A. E. (2008). Experience of MUD players: Investigating multi-user dimension gamers from the USA. Managing design knowledge: A new pedagogical framework for HCI. In G. Salvendy and J. Jacko (Ed.), Human-Computer Interaction - Ergonomics and User Interfaces, Theory and Practice, Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction. Beijing, China. (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Publishers, CD-ROM))