John Dowell
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Publications by John Dowell (bibliography)
» 2008 «
Attfield, Simon, Blandford, Ann, Dowell, John and Cairns, Paul (2008): Uncertainty-tolerant design: Evaluating task performance and drag-and-link information gathering for a news-writing task. In International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 20 (6) pp. 410-424
“Part of the challenge of designing systems to support knowledge work is to do so in a way which is sympathetic to users' uncertainty. NewsHarvester is a test-bed system designed to support news research and writing in a way that accommodates uncertainty in relation to information gathering. It does this using 'drag-and-link'; a simple feature by which text extracts copied from source locations are appended with hyperlinks to force the re-display of the source. We describe the rationale for using drag-and-link within NewHarvester based on a previous ethnographic study of journalists, describe its implementation within NewsHarvester, and report a user-evaluation which compared drag-and-link with printing and standard drag-and-drop as information gathering mechanisms. We found that users wanted to relocate information they had not previously identified as useful in order to include it in their report, to better understand the context of information already extracted, and as part of a more serendipitous search for information to add to a near-complete report. Users also considered drag-and-link an easier method for gathering information than printing, and considered that drag-and-link made it easier to relocate information. They also considered that drag-and-link promoted more flexible and dynamic working and increased user enjoyment. An assessment of the quality of their work showed a trend that favoured drag-and-link over the other two methods, although this was not statistically significant. We conclude that drag-and-link improves user-experience during research and writing tasks in the face of information gathering uncertainty.”
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» 2007 «
Dowell, John and Gladisch, Thomas (2007): Design of argument diagramming for case-based group learning. In: Brinkman, Willem-Paul, Ham, Dong-Han and Wong, B. L. William (eds.) ECCE 2007 - Proceedings of the 14th European Conference on Cognitive Ergonomics August 28-31, 2007, London, UK. pp. 99-105. Available online
Blandford, Ann, Benedyk, Rachel, Berthouze, Nadia, Cox, Anna Louise and Dowell, John (2007): The Challenges of Creating Connections and Raising Awareness: Experience from UCLIC. In: Baranauskas, Maria Cecília Calani, Palanque, Philippe A., Abascal, Julio and Barbosa, Simone Diniz Junqueira (eds.) DEGAS 2007 - Proceedings of the 1st International Workshop on Design and Evaluation of e-Government Applications and Services September 11th, 2007, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. pp. 682-683. Available online
» 1998 «
Dowell, John (1998): Formulating the Cognitive Design Problem of Air Traffic Management. In International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 49 (5) pp. 743-766
“Evolutionary approaches to cognitive design in the air traffic management (ATM) system can be attributed with a history of delayed developments. This issue is well illustrated in the case of the flight progress strip where attempts to design a computer-based system to replace the paper strip have consistently been met with rejection. An alternative approach to cognitive design of air traffic management is needed and this paper proposes an approach centred on the formulation of cognitive design problems. The paper gives an account of how a cognitive design problem was formulated for a simulated ATM task performed by controller subjects in the laboratory. The problem is formulated in terms of two complimentary models. First, a model of the ATM domain describes the cognitive task environment of managing the simulated air traffic. Second, a model of the ATM worksystem describes the abstracted cognitive behaviours of the controllers and their tools in performing the traffic management task. Taken together, the models provide a statement of worksystem performance, and express the cognitive design problem for the simulated system. The use of the problem formulation in supporting cognitive design, including the design of computer-based flight strips, is discussed.”
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Dowell, John and Long, John (1998): Conception of the Cognitive Engineering Design Problem. In Ergonomics, 41 (2) pp. 126-139
» 1994 «
Dowell, John, Salter, Ian and Zekrullahi, Solaleh (1994): A Domain Analysis of Air Traffic Management Work can be Used to Rationalise Interface Design Issues. In: Cockton, Gilbert, Draper, Steven and Weir, George R. S. (eds.) Proceedings of the Ninth Conference of the British Computer Society Human Computer Interaction Specialist Group - People and Computers IX August 23-26, 1994, Glasgow, Scotland, UK. pp. 53-65.
“The demand for a more effective Air Traffic Management system, and the central role of the controller in that system, has focused attention on the design of the controller's interface. This paper presents an analysis of the task domain of Air Traffic Management. It demonstrates with a simulated system how the domain analysis can be used to model the controller's performance in the traffic management task. The use of this model in rationalising interface design issues is then illustrated. The analysis supports the general case for explicitly capturing the task domain in interface design.”
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» 1991 «
Whitefield, Andy, Wilson, Frank and Dowell, John (1991): A Framework for Human Factors Evaluation. In Behaviour and Information Technology, 10 (1) pp. 65-79
“Successful human factors evaluation of interactive computer systems has tended to rely heavily on the experience of the practitioner, who has had little explicit support on which to draw. This paper concerns support for evaluation in the form of a framework for describing and guiding the general activity. The paper starts with a critique of current approaches to evaluation, and particularly of evaluation within the 'design for usability' approach. Following a definition of evaluation, a framework is proposed that attempts to clarify what can be done towards which goals and how it can be done. This highlights and discusses notions of system performance, of assessment statements, and of assessment methods. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the framework for evaluation practice.”
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» 1989 «
Long, John and Dowell, John (1989): Conceptions of the Discipline of HCI: Craft, Applied Science, and Engineering. In: Sutcliffe, Alistair and Macauley, Linda (eds.) Proceedings of the Fifth Conference of the British Computer Society Human Computer Interaction Specialist Group - People and Computers V August 5-8, 1989, University of Nottingham, UK. pp. 9-32.
“The theme of HCI '89 is 'the theory and practice of HCI'. In providing a general introduction to the Conference, this paper develops the theme within a characterisation of alternative conceptions of the discipline of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). First, consideration of disciplines in general suggests their complete definition can be summarised as: 'knowledge, practices and a general problem having a particular scope, where knowledge supports practices seeking solutions to the general problem'. Second, the scope of the general problem of HCI is defined by reference to humans, computers, and the work they perform. Third, by intersecting these two definitions, a framework is proposed within which different conceptions of the HCI discipline may be established, ordered, and related. The framework expresses the essential characteristics of the HCI discipline, and can be summarised as: 'the use of HCI knowledge to support practices seeking solutions to the general problem of HCI'. Fourth, three alternative conceptions of the discipline of HCI are identified. They are HCI as a craft discipline, as an applied scientific discipline, and as an engineering discipline. Each conception is considered in terms of its view of the general problem, the practices seeking solutions to the problem, and the knowledge supporting those practices; examples are provided. Finally, the alternative conceptions are reviewed, and the effectiveness of the discipline which each offers is comparatively assessed. The relationships between the conceptions in establishing a more effective discipline are indicated.”
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Dowell, John and Long, John (1989): A 'Late' Evaluation of a Messaging System Design and the 'Target' of 'Early' Evaluation Methods. In: Sutcliffe, Alistair and Macauley, Linda (eds.) Proceedings of the Fifth Conference of the British Computer Society Human Computer Interaction Specialist Group - People and Computers V August 5-8, 1989, University of Nottingham, UK. pp. 331-344.
“This paper describes a Human Factors evaluation of a messaging system. The evaluation was performed in the course of research developing methods for the ('early') evaluation of system design specifications. The research aims to develop early evaluation methods with the capability for pre-empting ('late') evaluations of implemented designs. The research approach is to investigate empirically this capability of the early evaluation methods. Accordingly, concurrent early and late evaluations of designs are being conducted; their comparison is intended to substantiate the pre-emptive capability of the early evaluation methods. Characterisation of the researchers' late evaluations identifies the particular classes of developers' late evaluation practices they represent. Hence, the 'target' of the early evaluation methods -- that is, the late evaluation practices they can pre-empt -- is being declared. Evaluation of the 'Intermail' messaging system was one late evaluation conducted by the authors for the purposes of the research. In describing the evaluation, the paper also presents its characterisation enabling the target of the early evaluation methods to be declared. The paper discusses the general need for early evaluation methods to declare their targets as a means of qualifying their utility. The paper demonstrates how that qualification can be provided.”
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Mar 21st, 2010
Changes to this page (author)
11 Feb 2010: Enabled abstracts to be shown on John Dowell's author page.25 Jul 2009: Author was edited 17 Jun 2009: Author was edited
05 Jun 2009: Author was edited
28 Apr 2003: Added the author to the bibliography
