CS/ISE 5714 - Usability Engineering - Spring 2008
Dr. Pardha S. Pyla
Research Participation
The syllabus describes the details of the participation requirement for the course, which include in-class participation activities, research project participation, and an alternative participation option.
The research project participation requirement calls for 3 hours of your participation in some HCI-related study. You may combine some hours from one with hours from other(s) to make up your 3 hours of expected research participation. Participation in an HCI research project can be in any role, including conducting a study, serving as a subject in a study, helping with conducting a study, etc.
Collaborative System Design
Shahtab Wahid and Stacy Branham are looking for volunteers to help run a study (IRB Approval 07-193) in collaborative system design. This study would require between 1 and 1.5 hours of your time. It will take place in KnowledgeWorks 1120.If you are interested in participating, please refer to the available session times below, contact Shahtab (swahid@vt.edu), and provide 3 sessions that would work for you. They will let you know which session you are scheduled for.
The activity will ask you for a short design task that you will perform in groups of 3. This 30-45 minute task will be followed by a short (20-30 minute) group interview. These activities will be completed back-to-back, with no further demands on your time.
There is no compensation for your participation, however, Dr. Pyla will count your time towards your Usability Engineering course requirement of study participation.
Sessions:
1. Tuesday 3/11: 1pm-2:30pm
2. Wednesday 3/12: 10:30am-12pm
3. Wednesday 3/12: 4pm-5:30pm
4. Thursday 3/13: 10:30am-12pm
5. Thursday 3/13: 4pm-5:30pm
6. Friday 3/14: 10:30am-12pm
7. Friday 3/14: 1:30pm-3pm
8. Monday 3/17: 1pm-2:30pm
Visualization Experiment for Landmine Detector Data
This research is a preliminary investigation of how various color visualizations are perceived and recalled in the context of a landmine detection simulation. The experimental task involves watching a computer based simulation of landmine detector operation which includes auditory output and various visualizations that simultaneously represent the landmine detector sensor data. The experiment involves participation in two sessions approximately one week apart. The first session should take 30-45 minutes and the follow-up session will take about 15 minutes, making the total time commitment for both sessions approximately 45-60 minutes. All procedures will take place in the Virginia Tech Laboratory for User Centric Innovations in Design (LUCID), located in 536 Whittemore. Participants should have no history of hearing loss or impairment. You will receive extra credit for participation as awarded by your course instructor. To sign up, please email Bradley Davis (bmdavis@vt.edu) to sign up for a time slot.
Please use this form to have your research project director(s) confirm to us that you have fulfilled your research participation requirement. Print the form, have them sign it, and return it to the GTA. All participation confirmation forms are due by the first class in the 14th week (see calendar).
An alternative way to fulfill your research participation credit requirement: Posting usability problem reports
- This alternative is intended only as a fallback; we prefer that you participate in an HCI research project, as described above.
- This alternative involves your writing simple usability problem reports the way you are doing for Homework #3, including a UAF diagnosis path.
- One page is usually sufficient for each problem report.
- The 'rate of exchange' is three (3) complete usability problem reports per hour of participation credit.
- You may use any computer application (with screen shot) or even a non-computer example.
- To be sure we give you proper credit, make sure you put your name on each report and state that it is for alternative participation credit.
- Send the GTA email stating that you are choosing this option for at least part of your participation credit.
- All reports are due by the final class (see calendar).