Publication statistics
Pub. period:1982-2003
Pub. count:23
Number of co-authors:24
Co-authors
Number of publications with 3 favourite co-authors:
Beverly H. Williges:5Terence S. Andre:3Jay Elkerton:3 Productive colleagues
Robert C. Williges's 3 most productive colleagues in number of publications:
Mary Beth Rosson:142H. Rex Hartson:30Kim J. Vicente:24
“
Knowledge is commonly socially constructed, through collaborative efforts towards shared objectives or by dialogues and challenges brought about by different persons' perspectives.
”
-- G. Salomon (in "Distributed Cognitions: Psychological and Educational Considerations")
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Robert C. Williges
Has also published under the name of:
"R. C. Williges"
Personal Homepage:
ise.vt.edu/People/EmeritusFaculty/Bios/Williges_bio.html
Publications by Robert C. Williges (bibliography)
Hartson, H. Rex, Andre, Terence S. and Williges, Robert C. (2003): Criteria For Evaluating Usability Evaluation Methods. In International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 15 (1) pp. 145-181.
“The current variety of alternative approaches to usability evaluation
methods (UEMs) designed to assess and improve usability in software systems is
offset by a general lack of understanding of the capabilities and limitations
of each. Practitioners need to know which methods are more effective and in
what ways and for what purposes. However, UEMs cannot be evaluated and compared
reliably because of the lack of standard criteria for comparison. In this
article, we present a practical discussion of factors, comparison criteria, and
UEM performance measures useful in studies comparing UEMs. In demonstrating the
importance of developing appropriate UEM evaluation criteria, we offer
operational definitions and possible measures of UEM performance. We highlight
specific challenges that researchers and practitioners face in comparing UEMs
and provide a point of departure for further discussion and refinement of the
principles and techniques used to approach UEM evaluation and comparison.”
© All rights reserved Hartson et al. and/or Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Hartson, H. Rex, Andre, Terence S. and Williges, Robert C. (2001): Criteria For Evaluating Usability Evaluation Methods. In International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 13 (4) pp. 373-410.
“The current variety of alternative approaches to usability evaluation
methods (UEMs) designed to assess and improve usability in software systems is
offset by a general lack of understanding of the capabilities and limitations
of each. Practitioners need to know which methods are more effective and in
what ways and for what purposes. However, UEMs cannot be evaluated and compared
reliably because of the lack of standard criteria for comparison. In this
article, we present a practical discussion of factors, comparison criteria, and
UEM performance measures useful in studies comparing UEMs. In demonstrating the
importance of developing appropriate UEM evaluation criteria, we offer
operational definitions and possible measures of UEM performance. We highlight
specific challenges that researchers and practitioners face in comparing UEMs
and provide a point of departure for further discussion and refinement of the
principles and techniques used to approach UEM evaluation and comparison.”
© All rights reserved Hartson et al. and/or Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Hartson, H. Rex, Andre, Terence S., Williges, Robert C. and Rens, Linda van (1999): The User Action Framework: A Theory-Based Foundation for Inspection and Classification of Usability Problems. In: Bullinger, Hans-Jörg (ed.) HCI International 1999 - Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction August 22-26, 1999, Munich, Germany. pp. 1058-1062.
Kies, Jonathan K., Williges, Robert C. and Rosson, Mary Beth (1998): Coordinating Computer-Supported Cooperative Work: A Review of Research Issues and Strategies. In JASIST - Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 49 (9) pp. 776-791.
Lin, Juli J., Williges, Robert C. and Beaudet, Douglas B. (1995): Accessible Remote Controls for Older Adults with Mildly Impaired Vision. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 39th Annual Meeting 1995. pp. 148-152.
“A three-phase methodology was used to design an accessible photo CD player for older adults with mildly impaired vision. During Phase I of the study, critical barriers to a photo CD player were identified that prevent older users with presbyopia from operating this product. These barriers included small Remote Control Unit (RCU) labeling, low label-background contrast, and inadequate feedback from the player system. During Phase II, cost-effective solutions were identified through research into existing literature and available technologies. Phase III evaluated the efficacy of these design modifications on both the accessibility and usability of the photo CD player. The results of the Phase III empirical study indicated that enlarging a RCU and using high contrast labeling significantly improved accessibility. Overall, these results support the use of such a three-phase methodology to design accessible consumer products for users with special needs.”
© All rights reserved Lin et al. and/or Human Factors Society
Green, Charles A. and Williges, Robert C. (1993): Using a Group Editor with Alternative Communication Media in a Co-Authoring Environment. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 37th Annual Meeting 1993. pp. 254-257.
“The writing efficiency of a type of computer-based groupware called a group editor was evaluated in six environments by factorially combining three communication media (audio only, audio plus video, and face-to-face) each with and without the group editor. Twelve subjects familiar with journalistic writing were pretested and matched into dyads. Subjects were trained with the group editor and wrote news articles based on a standard set of questions about actors and objects shown in short video clips. The quality of the writing task products was consistently high and showed no differences among conditions. Results of a balanced, within-subject analysis of variance design indicated that face-to-face conditions took significantly less time to complete than the other two communication conditions. When the group editor was used, however, all communication media were equal in terms of efficiency to face-to-face communications. Significantly less variance occurred in the audio plus video condition with the group editor than in the audio or the audio plus video conditions which did not have the group editor. Users preferred co-authoring with the group editor and considered writing trials with the group editor to be more productive. The results were discussed in terms of the benefits of using the group editor to increase the overall communication structure, to reduce variability of writing time among dyads, and to increase efficiency when face-to-face communication is not practical. Methodological procedures for matching subjects, using within-subject designs, and structuring a writing task were discussed as means of reducing team variability in writing efficiency when investigating computer-supported, cooperative work configurations.”
© All rights reserved Green and Williges and/or Human Factors Society
Han, Sung H., Williges, Beverly H. and Williges, Robert C. (1991): Quantitative Guidelines for Telephone Information Systems. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 35th Annual Meeting 1991. pp. 225-229.
“The results of four sequential experiments were combined into integrated empirical models using data bridging. The resulting regression models can be viewed as quantitative design guidelines for telephone-based information systems. A total of ten independent variables involving environmental, hardware, dialogue, and user factors were considered across the four sequential studies that evaluated a telephone-based interface. Three dependent variables including total search time, user added keypresses, and message transcription accuracy were evaluated in each separate study. Polynomial regression was used to generate an integrated second-order empirical model for each of the three dependent variables. The major contributors to total search time were the time delay between the presentation of each menu item (input timeout) and the structure of the menus. Age of the user and menu structure were the primary contributors to user added keypresses required to recover from errors. Overall, the accuracy of message transcription was influenced primarily by background music, presentation rate of the synthesized speech and the age of the user. Total search time in this sequential type of information delivery system is primarily dialogue driven. Critical dialogue parameters for this system were input timeout and the number of alternatives in menus. Due to the small number of errors in searching for information, the need to minimize user added keypresses for error correction was not of primary design importance. Accuracy of speech message transcriptions was primarily dependent upon the acoustical environment of the listener. Overall, the use of integrated empirical models offers several advantages including a basis for generalization across several studies and the ability to conduct specific interface design tradeoffs.”
© All rights reserved Han et al. and/or Human Factors Society
Williges, Robert C. (1990): Human-Computer Interface Laboratory, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. In: Carrasco, Jane and Whiteside, John (eds.) Proceedings of the ACM CHI 90 Human Factors in Computing Systems Conference 1990, Seattle, Washington,USA. pp. 283-284.
“A description of the staff, facilities, and research focus of the Human-Computer Interface Laboratory at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University is provided. Representative research projects as well as the relationship between this laboratory and the human factors engineering graduate program are also described.”
© All rights reserved Williges and/or ACM Press
Martin, Michele M., Williges, Beverly H. and Williges, Robert C. (1990): Improving the Design of Telephone-Based Information Systems. In: D., Woods, and E., Roth, (eds.) Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 34th Annual Meeting 1990, Santa Monica, USA. pp. 198-202.
“Telephone information systems using synthetic speech displays have become a common form of communication between a computer and a remote user. The purpose of this study was to examine five variables associated with the design of such telephone information systems: the rate of synthetic speech, the time allowed for user input, the structure of the menu hierarchy, the availability of a diagram of the menu structure, and the amount of augmented feedback provided as the user traversed the menus. Each subject completed 16 searches through the auditory database using the telephone keypad. After each search, the subject transcribed a message presented by synthetic speech. The search task was affected by all variables except feedback. The accuracy of transcription was affected only by the rate of the synthetic speech. Implications for the design of telephone information systems are discussed.”
© All rights reserved Martin et al. and/or Human Factors Society
Han, Sung H., Williges, Robert C. and Williges, Beverly H. (1990): Empirical Models Based on Data from Several Experiments. In: D., Woods, and E., Roth, (eds.) Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 34th Annual Meeting 1990, Santa Monica, USA. pp. 1224-1228.
Griffith, Douglas, Gardner-Bonneau, Daryle Jean, Edwards, Alistair, Elkind, Jerome I. and Williges, Robert C. (1989): Human Factors Research with Special Populations will Further Advance the Theory and Practice of the Human Factors Discipline. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 33rd Annual Meeting 1989. pp. 565-566.
“The advent of Public Law 99-506 (ensuring access to electronic office equipment by individuals with disabilities) is causing an increasing number of human factors professionals to examine what the field of human factors has to offer the design of equipment for special populations. Historically the involvement of human factors people in these efforts has been small. So, a reasonable proposition to examine is the title for the panel discussion: Human factors research with special populations will advance the theory and practice of the human factors discipline. One possible view of this proposition is negative; namely, that the involvement of human factors professionals with special populations will benefit neither the discipline nor the population. If a positive view is taken, then there are both weak and strong forms of the proposition. The weak form argues that there is a need to expand human factors methodologies to handicapped populations because there are significant numbers of people who would benefit and that the human factors data base would be significantly expanded. The strong form maintains that the basic theory and practice of human factors will be advanced to the ultimate benefit of the nonhandicapped population.”
© All rights reserved Griffith et al. and/or Human Factors Society
Williges, Robert C. and Williges, Beverly H. (1989): Integrated Research Paradigm for Complex Experimentation. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 33rd Annual Meeting 1989. pp. 606-610.
“Most human factors design problems involve large data spaces with so many factors that a single experiment investigating all of these factors simultaneously is unreasonable. The design of a computer-based telephone inquiry system is presented as an example interface which required consideration of over 100 independent variables which could affect end-user performance. An integrated research paradigm involving the three major steps of selecting, describing, and optimizing these independent variables is presented. Specific methods and design implications are described for each of these steps. This overall strategy for sequential experimentation is discussed in terms of its usefulness in human factors design applications.”
© All rights reserved Williges and Williges and/or Human Factors Society
Vicente, Kim J. and Williges, Robert C. (1988): Accommodating Individual Differences in Searching a Hierarchical File System. In International Journal of Man-Machine Studies, 29 (6) pp. 647-668.
“Individual differences among users of a hierarchical file system were investigated. The results of a previous experiment revealed that subjects with low spatial ability were getting lost in the hierarchical file structure. Based on the concept of visual momentum, two changes to the old interface were proposed in an attempt to accommodate the individual differences in task performance. The changes consisted of a partial map of the hierarchy and an analogue indicator of current file position. This experiment compared the performance of users with high and low spatial abilities on the old verbal interface and the new graphical interface. The graphical interface resulted in changes in command usage that were consistent with the predictions of the visual momentum analysis. Although these changes in strategy resulted in a performance advantage for the graphical interface, the relative performance difference between high and low spatial groups remained constant across interfaces. However, the new interface did result in a decrease in the within-group variability in performance.”
© All rights reserved Vicente and Williges and/or Academic Press
Reaux, Ray A. and Williges, Robert C. (1988): Effects of Level of Abstraction and Presentation Media on Usability of User-System Interface Guidelines. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 32nd Annual Meeting 1988. pp. 330-334.
“User-system interface (USI) guidelines are emerging as a tool for user interface design. The roles of levels of abstraction (concrete and abstract) and of guideline presentation medium (hard copy or on-line) on detection of USI guidelines violations in user-system interface evaluation were investigated. Overall, less than 50% of the guideline violations were detected by software engineers. Abstract guideline violations were more difficult to detect than concrete guideline violations, and on-line presentation resulted in relatively higher guideline usage during evaluation than hard copy presentation. It was concluded that improvements in USI guideline form and media are required to make guidelines a more useful USI design tool.”
© All rights reserved Reaux and Williges and/or Human Factors Society
Beaudet, Douglas B. and Williges, Robert C. (1988): The Role of Screening Studies in Sequential Research Designs. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 32nd Annual Meeting 1988. pp. 1174-1178.
“A screening study is an economical method for analyzing a large number of independent variables using a relatively small number of data points. The role of screening studies in sequential designs is discussed and demonstrated. The methodology for selecting variables, choosing an experimental design, and collecting data is presented by reviewing the results of a recent study. The screening study was conducted using a Hadamard matrix to investigate the effects of 16 variables on a telephone information system which uses synthetic speech as the display modality. Only 32 data points were required to evaluate 16 factors in the screening study. The results of this study are discussed in terms of strategies to conduct efficient sequential research in human factors.”
© All rights reserved Beaudet and Williges and/or Human Factors Society
Merkle, P. Jay, Beaudet, Douglas B., Williges, Robert C., Herlong, David W. and Williges, Beverly H. (1988): A Systematic Method for the Selection of Independent Variables in the Investigation of Complex Systems. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 32nd Annual Meeting 1988. pp. 1179-1182.
“This paper describes a systematic methodology for selecting independent variables to be considered in large-scale research problems. Five specific procedures including brainstorming, prototype interface representation, feasibility/relevance analyses, structured literature reviews, and user subjective ratings are evaluated and incorporated into an integrated strategy. This methodology is demonstrated in the context of designing the user interface for a telephone-based information inquiry system. The procedure was successful in reducing an initial set of 95 independent variables to a subset of 19 factors that warrant subsequent detailed analysis. These results are discussed in terms of a comprehensive sequential research methodology useful for investigating human factors problems.”
© All rights reserved Merkle et al. and/or Human Factors Society
Elkerton, Jay and Williges, Robert C. (1987): A Summary of Experimental Research on Command-Selection Aids. In: Bullinger, Hans-Jorg and Shackel, Brian (eds.) INTERACT 87 - 2nd IFIP International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction September 1-4, 1987, Stuttgart, Germany. pp. 937-942.
“Two experiments were conducted to assess and improve novice performance in hierarchical file search. In the first experiment, half of the novices were performing like experienced subjects, using search procedures that exploited the structure of the file hierarchy for efficient information retrieval. Other slower novices used time consuming scrolling strategies and appeared unfamiliar with the file hierarchy. In the second experiment, command-selection aids improved the search performance and strategies of slow novices when the underlying command-selection models were not unduly complicated (i.e., frequency profiles and search plans) and did not introduce a highly interactive, mixed-initiative dialogue.”
© All rights reserved Elkerton and Williges and/or North-Holland
Williges, Robert C. (1987): Adapting Human-Computer Interfaces for Inexperienced Users. In: Salvendy, Gavriel (ed.) HCI International 1987 - Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction - Volume 2 August 10-14, 1987, Honolulu, Hawaii. pp. 21-28.
Williges, Robert C. (1986): Summary of the CHI'86 Doctoral Consortium. In: Mantei, Marilyn and Orbeton, Peter (eds.) Proceedings of the ACM CHI 86 Human Factors in Computing Systems Conference April 13-17, 1986, Boston, Massachusetts. pp. 350-354.
Ehrich, R. W. and Williges, Robert C. (eds.) (1986): Human-Computer Dialogue Design. Amsterdam, Elsevier Science Publishers
Elkerton, Jay and Williges, Robert C. (1985): A Performance Profile Methodology for Implementing Assistance and Instruction in Computer-Based Tasks. In International Journal of Man-Machine Studies, 23 (2) pp. 135-151.
“The development of assistance and instructional systems is an alternative design strategy for human-computer interfaces. An integral component in the construction of these interfaces concerns the representation used to capture the user, task or machine. Representational issues and strategies in assistance and instructional systems are discussed in the paper. These representational issues concern the use of symbolic and quantitative models, the development of performance and cognitive models, the distinction between skilled and unskilled models, the use of static and dynamic models, and the possible development of multiple representation strategies. From these issues, a profile methodology was distilled that could be implemented as an assistant or tutor in a file-search environment based upon novice and expert differences. This profile method is a quantitative, performance-based approach that samples expert behaviour to define a skilled model of file search. The development and formative evaluation of the methodology used 16 novice and 16 expert subjects. File-search performance and strategies were analysed in a complex information-retrieval task using the profile methodology. The method proved to be sensitive to novice and expert differences in file search and also seemed to be capable of being implemented as a diagnostic device for assistance and instruction. Limitations and extensions of the profile methodology are discussed in terms of command sequence information, explanation and reasoning, strategic and planning resources, and possible learning and adaptive models.”
© All rights reserved Elkerton and Williges and/or Academic Press
Williges, Robert C., Elkerton, Jay, Pittman, James A. and Cohill, Andrew (1984): Providing Online Assistance to Inexperienced Computer Users. In: Shackel, Brian (ed.) INTERACT 84 - 1st IFIP International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction September 4-7, 1984, London, UK. pp. 765-769.
“Inexperienced users of interactive computer systems often need online assistance to complete their task successfully. The results of several research studies are reviewed as a means of specifying the human-factors design considerations for online assistance. Alternatives such as automatic error detection, browsing and comparison of help facilities, and online expert aiding need to be considered. It was concluded that these features need to be incorporated into an adaptive interface tailored to the specific needs of the inexperienced user of the software interface.”
© All rights reserved Williges et al. and/or North-Holland
Folley, Lisa J. and Williges, Robert C. (1982): User Models of Text Editing Command Languages. In: Nichols, Jean A. and Schneider, Michael L. (eds.) Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems March 15-17, 1982, Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States. pp. 326-331.
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