Developing User Interface Guidelines for DVD Menus

Watching DVDs can be a frustrating experience, because DVD menus often miss out on usability and are complex and difficult to navigate through. Similar to the early years of web development, there is a lack of design standards. In this paper, we show the development of user interface guidelines for DVD menus. These guidelines can be used to design and evaluate DVD menus. We built a prototype according to the guidelines, conducted usability tests with the prototype and evaluated other movie DVDs using the guidelines to show the applicability, utility and usability of the guidelines.

Kappel, Karin, Martin Tomitsch, Thomas Koltringer and Thomas Grechenig. Proceedings of ACM CHI 2006 (2006). Design>User Interface>Multimedia>DVD

Developing Voice Interfaces for Legacy Web Applications

Traditionally, web applications are accessed via a single mode interface; information is presented and captured with text. However, one can additionally use a voice browser to navigate the Internet. One can navigate or access 'hands free' Internet applications from anywhere; you are not restricted to the desktop or a portable computer. VoiceXML is a language for Internet telephony applications and is based on the XML language. VoiceXML can 'speech-enable' an existing web application to be used through a conversational interface, providing a more natural way of interaction between users and Internet applications.

Quiané, Jorge and Jorge Manjarrez. ACM Crossroads (2003). Design>Web Design>User Interface>Audio

The Development of a Game Playing Framework Using Interface-Based Programming

The Java programming language contains object-oriented features enabling the construction of interface-based application frameworks. Interfaces separate module implementation from core implementation, thus simplifying module development. The following article demonstrates how to take advantage of Java interfaces by designing and implementing a game playing application framework.

Cohen, Mark A. ACM Crossroads (2004). Design>User Interface>Programming>Games

Does Information Really Have to be Licensed?    

Discusses the proposed Article 2B of the Uniform Commercial Code, which will be presented to US state legislatures for enactment. It would 'validate shrinkwrap and other mass-market licenses of information' and establish other electronic commerce rules. Samuelson sees a danger in such licenses, in that consumers are said to have agreed to their provisions by 'token assent' such as clicking 'I agree.'

Samuelson, Pamela. Communications of the ACM (1998). Articles>Intellectual Property>Contracts

Does Typography Affect Proposal Assessment?  

Experience from assisting in the review of 30 proposals to a major funding agency suggests that mundane aspects of proposal formatting have an effect on proposal assessment. Why do these apparent connections between mundane formatting and actual funding occur? Here are a few possibilities.

Berleant, Daniel. Communications of the ACM (2000). Articles>Grants>Proposals>Typography

DRM {and, or, vs.} the Law    

Copyright industries are hoping that digital rights management (DRM) technologies will prevent infringement of commercially valuable digital content, including music and movies. These industries have already persuaded legislatures in the U.S., the European Union, and other countriesto adopt broad anti-circumvention rules to protect DRM from being hacked, and courts have interpreted these statutes even more broadly than the lawmakers intended.

Samuelson, Pamela. Communications of the ACM (2003). Articles>Intellectual Property>Copyright

Dynamic Hypertext: Querying and Linking  

There are many models of hypertext, distinguished by a number of factors such as the underlying semantic data model (link typing and node typing), the degree of dynamic linking in the hypertext, and how dynamism and other behaviours are implemented. This essay examines a particular approach to dynamism in hypertext, based on the degree of similarity between a text passage in a source node and the text of a target node. It reviews work carried out over the past decade in creating systems for markup-based querying and dynamic hypertext, with particular emphasis on a model of dynamic hypertext that computes hypertext links on the fly using queries.

Bodner, Richard and Mark Chignell. ACM Computing Surveys (1999). Articles>Information Design>Hypertext>Semantic

Educational Models and Open Source: Resisting the Proprietary University  

This paper presents an educational model derived from open source methods for computer programming. The article places this search for an alternative model within a framework of proprietary educational practices that are driven by a need for efficiency and rationalization. As an alternative model, the paper suggests that an open source derived educational process would emphasize collaborative problem based learning, working through drafts, risk taking, mentoring, user testing, releasing early and often. . . .

Faber, Brenton D. ACM SIGDOC (2002). Articles>Education>Knowledge Management>Open Source

Ethical Lessons Learned from Computer Science

In this article, we will address the question 'How can computer science methods help us to better understand ethics?'

Bergmair, Richard. ACM Crossroads (2004). Articles>Technology>Ethics

Finding a Home for Technical Communication in the Academy    

The placement of technical communication within an academic curriculum presents an interesting challenge for university administrators and faculty. Technical communication is a young discipline that borrows content from several older, more established disciplines. As a younger discipline, technical communication must combine its borrowed ingredients from other areas into a new and complete offering that can attract research funding for professionals in the academy and deliver job opportunities for its students preparing to enter industry. The credibility of technical communication as a new discipline is dependent on its ability to develop a cohesive body of basic and applied research, its ability to manage technological change, and its ability to promote its identity among an army of competing disciplines.

Carver, Michael. ACM SIGDOC (1998). Academic>Education>Assessment

Full Text Available Documentation, Participatory Citizenship, and the Web: the Potential of Open Systems  

Technical communicators have become increasingly interested in how to 'open up' the documentation process - to encourage workers to participate in developing documentation that closely fits their needs. This goal has led technical communicators to engage in usability testing, user-centered design approaches, and, more recently, open source documentation. Although these approaches have all had some success, there are other ways to encourage the participatory citizenship that is implied in these approaches. One way is through an open systems approach in which workers can consensually modify a given system and add their own contributions to the system.

Spinuzzi, Clay. ACM SIGDOC (2002). Articles>Documentation>Information Design>Open Source

The Grading System of the Real World

At the beginning of each semester, the instructor hands out a syllabus packet which often contains a course outline or schedule and an explanation of the grading policy. The work world has grading systems too, and you need to know about them in advance so you can prepare for Performance Reviews.

Perry, Lynellen D.S. ACM Crossroads (2001). Careers>Workplace>Assessment

How Do People Really Use Text Editors?

Keystroke statistics were collected on editing systems while people performed their normal work. Knowledge workers used an experimental editor, and secretaries used a word processor. Results show a consistent picture of free use patterns in both settings. Of the total number of keystrokes, text entry accounted for approximately 1/2, cursor movement for about 1/4, deletion for about 1/8, and all other functions for the remaining 1/8. Analysis of keystroke transitions and editing states is also presented. Implications for past research, editor design, keyboard layout, and benchmark tests are discussed.

Whiteside, John, Norman Archer, Dennis Wixon and Michael Good. ACM SIGCHI (1982). Articles>Usability>Software>Word Processing

How Document Design Helps English Learners Master Science

Explores how basic, scaffolded technical-writing exercises can help ESL students gain cognitive maturity, practice science literacy, improve their note taking, and use text signals and science idioms more effectively.

Girill, T.R. ACM SIGDOC (2005). Articles>Education>Document Design>Language

HyNIC: ACM SIGWEB's Digital Library Project

Inspired by Doug Engelbart's and John Leggett's keynote addresses at the Hypertext'98 conferences, SIGWEB is beginning to design a state-of-the-art digital library to support the community in most of its functions. The project's eventual goal is to transition SIGWEB into what Doug Engelbart calls a Networked Improvement Community (NIC), which focuses on continuous metaimprovement of services to the community. HyNIC eventually will contain a respository of the community's formal and informal documents, teaching materials and memorabilia; a process repository of the community's activities and workflows; a structured group communications environment, conceptual mapping tools, and of course, the full range of hypermedia features our community has been advocating. HyNIC also should serve as a testbed for the community's prototype systems.

ACM SIGWEB. Resources>Web Design

Hypermedia Research Directions: An Infrastructure Perspective  

This paper offers a perspective on the directions in which hypermedia infrastructure research will move in the next several years. The perspective is based on the authors' experiences and insights from a decade of active participation in this research area. After a review of hypermedia infrastructure research, the paper focuses on two particular threads of such research named 'multiple open services' and 'structural computing'. We believe that these threads show much promise for the future.

Wiil, Uffe K., Peter J. Nürnberg and John J. Leggett. ACM Computing Surveys (1999). Articles>Research>Hypertext

Hypermedia Systems in the New Millennium  

This article revisits three past articles about the implications of hypermedia in the 21st century. Each August, the ACM Journal of Computer Documentation reprints a classic article, book chapter, or report along with several analytical commen- taries and a response by the author of the classic document. In this context, a 'classic' document means one that was published at least five years ago but is no longer in print. It also means one that raises issues of lasting importance to the profession.

Waite, Bob. ACM SIGDOC (2001). Presentations>Information Design>Hypertext

Hypermedia: A Design Philosophy  

Few designers explicitly think about their applications' interrelationships. Designers appear not have a deep enough conceptualization of their domains to identify intuitive relationships and realize the full scope and interconnections within domains. RNA (Relationship-Navigation Analysis) gives designers and developers an analysis tool to think about an information domain in terms of its interrelationships. RNA incorporates a complete taxonomy of generic relationship types that would apply to any application domain.

Bieber, Michael and Joonhee Yoo. ACM Computing Surveys (1999). Design>Information Design>Hypertext

Hypertext Functionality  

The Hypertext Functionality field studies techniques for and the impact of supplementing everyday computer applications with hypertext (or hypermedia) functionality (HTF). The HTF approach encourages system developers to think actively about an application's interrelationships, and whether users should access and navigate along these relationships directly. It views hypertext as value-added support functionality. The HTF approach fosters three major areas of research: using HTF to improve personal and organizational effectiveness, HTF and application design,and integrating HTF into applications.

Bieber, Michael, Harri Oinas-Kukkonen and V. Balasubramanian. ACM Computing Surveys (1999). Articles>Information Design>Hypertext

Implications for Designing the User Experience of DVD Menus

DVD menus often miss out on usability and are complex and difficult to navigate through. One of the main problems is the lack of design standards. By conducting an expert walkthrough we identified typical usability issues of DVD menus and verified them with usability testing and a user survey. Our research goal is to develop a set of specific solutions for designing usable DVD menus to improve the overall user experience. As a first step towards this goal we present an initial set of usability issues that are specifically relevant for DVD menu design.

Koltringer, Thomas, Martin Tomitsch, Karin Kappel, Daniel Kalbeck and Thomas Grechenig. ACM SIGCHI (2005). Design>User Experience>Multimedia>DVD

Information Design Considerations for Improving Situation Awareness in Complex Problem-Solving    

The conventional techniques for task analysis derive the basic tasks that make up user actions. However, in the complex-problem solving environment, attempts to describe step-by-step actions break down because no single route to a solution exists. Although individual tasks can be defined, task-analysis normally results in the tasks being divorced from context. However, to support complex problem-solving, the design must place the information within the situation context and allow users to develop and maintain situation awareness.

Albers, Michael J. ACM SIGDOC (1999). Presentations>User Centered Design>Usability

Issues in the Design of Computer Support for Co-Authoring and Commenting  

This paper reports on a project to develop a “work in preparation” editor, or PREP editor, to study co-authoring and commenting relationships. As part of the project, we have identified three issues in designing computer support for co-authoring and commenting: (1) support for social interaction among co-authors and commenters; (2) support for cognitive aspects of co-authoring and external commenting; and (3) support for practicality in both types of interaction. For each of these issues, the paper describes the approach the PREP editor takes to address them.

Neuwirth, Christine M., David S. Kaufer, Ravinder Chandhok and James H. Morris. ACM SIGGROUP (1990). Design>Software>Collaboration