John Rieman
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Publications by John Rieman (bibliography)
» 1996 «
Rieman, John, Young, Richard M. and Howes, Andrew (1996): A Dual-Space Model of Iteratively Deepening Exploratory Learning. In International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 44 (6) pp. 743-775
“When users of interactive computers must work with new software without formal training, they rely on strategies for "exploratory learning". These include trial and error, asking for help from other users, and looking for information in printed and on-line documentation. This paper describes a cognitive model of exploratory learning, which covers both trial-and-error and instruction-taking activities. The model, implemented in Soar, is grounded in empirical data of subjects in a task-oriented, trial-and-error exploratory learning situation. A key empirical finding reflected in the model is the repeated scanning of a subset of the available menu items, with increased attention to items on each successive scan. This is explained in terms of dual search spaces, the external interface and the user's internal knowledge, both of which must be tentatively explored with attention to changing costs and benefits. The model implements this dual-space search by alternating between external scanning and internal comprehension, a strategy that gradually shifts its focus to a potentially productive route through an interface. Ways in which interfaces might be designed to capitalize on this behaviour are suggested. The research demonstrates how cognitive modelling can describe behaviour of the kind discussed by theories of "situated cognition".”
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Rieman, John (1996): A Field Study of Exploratory Learning Strategies. In ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction, 3 (3) pp. 189-218
“It has suggested that interactive computer users find "exploratory learning" to be an effective and attractive strategy for learning a new system or investigating unknown features of familiar software. In exploratory learning, instead of working through precisely sequenced training materials, the user investigates a system on his or her own initiative, often in pursuit of a real or artificial task. The value of exploratory learning has been studied in controlled settings, with special attention newly acquired systems, be there has been little investigation of its occurrence in natural situations or in support of ongoing learning. To address this question, a field study of the behavior and attitudes of computer users in everyday working situations was performed, using diaries and structured interviews that focused on learning events. The study showed that task-oriented exploration was a widely accepted method for learning, but that it often required support from manuals and from other users or system support personnel. Exploration not related to a current or pending task was infrequent, and most users believed it to be inefficient. These findings have implications for the design of systems, documentation, and training.”
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» 1994 «
Rieman, John, Lewis, Clayton H., Young, Richard M. and Polson, Peter G. (1994): "Why is a Raven Like a Writing Desk?" Lessons in Interface Consistency and Analogical Reasoning from Two Cognitive Architectures. In: Adelson, Beth, Dumais, Susan and Olson, Judith S. (eds.) Proceedings of the ACM CHI 94 Human Factors in Computing Systems Conference April 24-28, 1994, Boston, Massachusetts. pp. 438-444. Available online
“Users who have worked with just a few pieces of application software on a computer system are often faced with the need to use a new program on the same system. Consistency between program interfaces is intended to make the new program easier to learn in this situation, but how "consistency" should be defined is not always clear. We present a model of analogical reasoning that describes how users rely on interface consistency to induce correct actions in a new situation. Versions of the model are implemented in ACT-R and Soar. The model yields a clearer and more principled understanding of design guidelines that recommend interface consistency.”
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» 1993 «
Rieman, John (1993): The Diary Study: A Workplace-Oriented Research Tool to Guide Laboratory Efforts. In: Ashlund, Stacey, Mullet, Kevin, Henderson, Austin, Hollnagel, Erik and White, Ted (eds.) Proceedings of the ACM CHI 93 Human Factors in Computing Systems Conference April 24-29, 1993, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. pp. 321-326. Available online
“Methods for studying user behavior in HCI can be informally divided into two approaches: experimental psychology in the laboratory and observations in the workplace. The first approach has been faulted for providing results that have little effect on system usability, while the second can often be accused of yielding primarily anecdotal data that do not support general conclusions. This paper describes two similar approaches in another field, the study of animal behavior, and shows how they produce complementary results. To support similar complementary interactions between research approaches in the HCI field, the paper describes the diary study technique, a tool for research in the workplace that achieves a relatively high standard of objectivity. A diary study is reported that focuses on exploratory learning.”
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» 1992 «
Rieman, John, Davies, Susan and Roberts, Jonathan (1992): A Visit to a Very Small Database: Lessons from Managing the Review of Papers Submitted for CHI'91. In: Bauersfeld, Penny, Bennett, John and Lynch, Gene (eds.) Proceedings of the ACM CHI 92 Human Factors in Computing Systems Conference June 3-7, 1992, Monterey, California. pp. 471-478. Available online
“Many of the principles that guide user-interface design for commercial systems do not scale down to simple applications developed on personal computers. These "very small systems" are typically designed within a high-level application such as a database or a spreadsheet. The entire development process may take no more than a few days. In this restricted context, iterative design and usability testing are unaffordable luxuries, while detailed task analysis and early focus on users fail because the task and users will not coalesce until the system is in place. We describe our experiences with developing and using a very small system. We present suggestions for successful design in similar situations.”
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Polson, Peter G., Lewis, Clayton H., Rieman, John and Wharton, Cathleen (1992): Cognitive Walkthroughs: A Method for Theory-Based Evaluation of User Interfaces. In International Journal of Man-Machine Studies, 36 (5) pp. 741-773
“This paper presents a new methodology for performing theory-based evaluations of user interface designs early in the design cycle. The methodology is an adaptation of the design walkthrough techniques that have been used for many years in the software engineering community. Traditional walkthroughs involve hand simulation of sections of code to ensure that they implement specified functionality. The method we present involves hand simulation of the cognitive activities of a user, to ensure that the user can easily learn to perform tasks that the system is intended to support. The cognitive walkthrough methodology, described in detail, is based on a theory of learning by exploration presented in this paper. These is a summary of preliminary results of effectiveness and comparisons with other design methods.”
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» 1991 «
Bell, Brigham, Rieman, John and Lewis, Clayton H. (1991): Usability Testing of a Graphical Programming System: Things We Missed in a Programming Walkthrough. In: Robertson, Scott P., Olson, Gary M. and Olson, Judith S. (eds.) Proceedings of the ACM CHI 91 Human Factors in Computing Systems Conference April 28 - June 5, 1991, New Orleans, Louisiana. pp. 7-12. Available online
“Traditional programming language design has focussed on efficiency and expressiveness, with minimal attention to the ease with which a programmer can translate task requirements into statements in the language, a characteristic we call "facility." The programming walkthrough is a method for assessing the facility of language design before implementation. We describe the method and its predictions for a graphical programming language, ChemTrains. These predictions are contrasted with protocols of subjects attempting to write their first ChemTrains program. We conclude that the walkthrough is a valuable aid at the design stage, but it is not infallible. Our results also suggest that it may not be enough for programmers to know how to solve a problem; they must also understand why the solution will succeed.”
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Rieman, John, Davies, Susan, Hair, D. Charles, Esemplare, Mary, Polson, Peter G. and Lewis, Clayton H. (1991): An Automated Cognitive Walkthrough. In: Robertson, Scott P., Olson, Gary M. and Olson, Judith S. (eds.) Proceedings of the ACM CHI 91 Human Factors in Computing Systems Conference April 28 - June 5, 1991, New Orleans, Louisiana. pp. 427-428. Available online
Mastaglio, Thomas W. and Rieman, John (1991): How Experts Infer Novice Programmer Expertise: A Protocol Analysis of LISP Code Evaluation. In: Koenemann-Belliveau, Jurgen, Moher, Thomas G. and Robertson, Scott P. (eds.) Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Workshop on Empirical Studies of Programmers 1991, Norwood, New Jersey, USA. pp. 147-155.
“We present the results of a protocol study of human experts analyzing code produced by other programmers. The study focused on how experts infer the knowledge and expertise levels of anonymous programmers from examining their LISP code. We were particularly interested in what aspects of those programs our experts used in their inference process. Those aspects which triggered a verbal response were collected and are referred to as "cues". Further analysis determined three distinct categories of cues: syntactic, code semantics, and problem semantics. We determined that of these categories the first two are amenable to acquisition by a computer system designed to serve as a knowledge-based programmer's assistant or critic. The third category however, requires knowledge beyond state of the art artificial intelligence techniques.”
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» 1990 «
Lewis, Clayton H., Polson, Peter G., Wharton, Cathleen and Rieman, John (1990): Testing a Walkthrough Methodology for Theory-Based Design of Walk-Up-and-Use Interfaces. In: Carrasco, Jane and Whiteside, John (eds.) Proceedings of the ACM CHI 90 Human Factors in Computing Systems Conference 1990, Seattle, Washington,USA. pp. 235-242.
“The value of theoretical analyses in user interface design has been hotly debated. All sides agree that it is difficult to apply current theoretical models within the constraints of real-world development projects. We attack this problem in the context of bringing the theoretical ideas within a model of exploratory learning to bear on the evaluation of alternative interfaces for walk-up-and-use systems. We derived a "cognitive walkthrough" procedure for systematically evaluating features of an interface in the context of the theory. Four people independently applied this procedure to four alternative interfaces for which we have empirical usability data. Consideration of the walkthrough sheds light on the consistency with which such a procedure can be applied as well as the accuracy of the results.”
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Mar 10th, 2010
Changes to this page (author)
17 Feb 2010: Enabled abstracts to be shown on John Rieman's author page.28 Apr 2003: Added the author to the bibliography
