the Human Factors Blog

Time.com article on Anne’s research with Games & Aging

Richard Pak — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:58:41 +0000

Our own Anne McLaughlin was featured in a recent article in Time.com. Anne and her colleagues Jason Allaire (NCSU) and Maribeth Gandy (Georgia Tech) were recently awarded a $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to study using games to moderate cognitive decline in older adults.

Their plan is to study what parts of games might help cognitive performance and then to create a new game based on these components.

There is, of course, no cure for memory loss, and no preventive vaccine. Yet a rapidly growing body of evidence suggests that certain behaviors may reliably slow the effects of age-related cognitive decline. Chief among them: eating right, exercising and engaging in social activity and mentally challenging tasks.

McLaughlin and Allaire’s new study will follow 270 seniors as they play the Wii game Boom Blox. Gameplay involves demolishing targets like a medieval castle or a space ship using an arsenal of weapons such as slingshots and cannonballs. While those particular skills may not seem transferable to off-screen life, McLaughlin says she and her colleagues chose Boom Blox specifically because it does require a wide range of real-world skills, including memory, special ability, reasoning and problem solving. [ed: 'special ability' should be spatial ability]

Why Boom Blox? Anne tells me that she:

“…actually chose the game after doing task analyses on many games, seeing what fit our profile, then showing those games to OA [older adults] in a focus group and getting “buy in” for what they said they would play.”

Below is an annotated screen shot of Boom Blox and an excerpt of the task analysis of the game and what abilities are required.

Annotated screen shot of Boom Blox

Task analysis (cognitive requirements of the game)

[Can Gaming Slow Mental Decline in the Elderly? at Time.com]

Is Older Adult Interest in the Wii Interface Just Hype?: or “I want to try bowling”

Anne McLaughlin — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:22:49 +0000

I’d like to share a conversation with my mother that occurred today. She is in her 60s, and although she uses a computer for communication, has never even played solitaire or shown any interest in a video game.

Nikki says:
The wee? Is a game that lets you think you are doing a sport?

Anne says:
Yes, you use the controller, that looks like a remote control, just like a tennis racquet or a bowling ball.

Nikki says:
Do you actually pretend you are bowling?

Anne says:
Yes.

Nikki says:
How do you see if you threw the ball correctly?

Anne says:
It shows on the screen.
It responds to how hard you “pretend” to bowl.

Nikki says:
Are you attached by the legs and hands?

Anne says:
No, you’re just holding what looks like a remote control. No wires.

Nikki says:
And then the screen mimics your moves?

Anne says:
Yes.

Nikki says:
FANTASTIC

Nikki says:
I want to try bowling.

New Interface for Online Banking

Anne McLaughlin — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:06:41 +0000

There are many iPhone applications that integrate the phone camera with software in novel ways. I came across this video demonstrating how it can be used to deposit checks electronically.

The interface demonstration starts at the 1 minute mark if you would like to skip the advertisement.*

*I’m not sure if it counts as an advertisement when most people aren’t allowed to bank there. You must have a connection to the military to use USAA (hence the aircraft carrier example in the video).

The Tactile Thinkpad: More Laptop Redesign from Lenovo

Anne McLaughlin — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:00:19 +0000

I posted earlier on the innovative data collection Lenovo did for a keyboard redesign. A new post on DesignMatters details the design and user testing of a new touch pad using tactile feedback.

Designers must often work within constraints induced by other portions of their product. In this case, the touchpad had to be flush with the hand rest of the laptop, meaning there was no way to signal the user when he or she was moving a finger on the pad versus the inactive borders. The pad itself had to provide a tactile cue. From the post:

We studied a tremendous number of seemingly identical design variants of the dotted texture before we decided on the final version. Bumps varied by diameter, height, spacing, gloss, and even hardness. Every sample was evaluated by appearance and feel criteria. One test was to compare the surrounding palmrest texture to the pad samples to ensure that you could detect when your fingers moved beyond the pad boundries. We always did this with our eyes closed and then open. We also wanted to make certain the texture was pleasing to touch and look at. Many alternatives were rejected because they were too flashy looking, felt like sandpaper, or just made people giggle. In case you are wondering , we never considered making the pad yellow.

Sampling of prototype tactile samples

As the product got closer to release we were also able to test the texture with multiple users for extended periods of time. The feedback we gathered was very positive. They were able to detect the border easily and often commented that the subtle texture gave them a sense of precision as they moved their finger across the pad. The bumps provide indication of distance travelled and speed of movement. We found this effect to be of particular interest with multitouch gesture input.

I assume the thinkpad has “scrollbars” in their touchpad on the right side and on along the bottom. I wonder if the considered changing the texture for those areas so a user would know they could scroll. Of course, the scrollbars are only identified visually on most touchpads, and the user knows how to find them by moving a finger all the way to the border of the touchpad. With no raised border, users could still find a border by looking for the change between textured and smooth, and I’d be interested to watch how well they did this. A raised edge affords moving along it; it traps your finger into a straight line. I’d like to compare that to a texture change.

Behind the scenes look at “Playtesting” games

Richard Pak — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:36:40 +0000

Our friend Tim Nichols (of Microsoft Game Studio) was recently featured in a video explaining how games get tested for usability. See the embedded video for a look behind the scenes:

Have you ever been playing a game and thought to yourself, “I just wish I could speak with the developers and let them know that this part of the game could be so much better!”? Well, now you can. Microsoft has launched PlayTest- where you can play games, give opinions and get free software. I stepped behind the scenes and behind the fake mirrored walls to show you the ins and out of life in the Playtest Labs.

You must have the Microsoft Silverlight plugin installed to view the embedded video. If you are having problems, please visit the direct link or just download the MP4 video.

Heatmapping the Keyboard

Anne McLaughlin — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:00:33 +0000

David Hill over at DesignMatters has an excellent post on how Lenovo collected data for a keyboard redesign. Below is an excerpt, but please visit his site for the entire tale.

We thought that taking an updated look at key frequency of use would be a good place to start in order to uncover innovation opportunity. Things do change over the years. Who would ever have predicted the increased use of the @ and tab keys prior to the internet. To gather this kind of critical information we solicited agreement from several dozen internal users to install a special keyboard tracker on their ThinkPad. The request to install a keyboard tracker on peoples’ laptops sounded a bit odd at first, but eventually volunteers lined up once they understood exactly what we were trying to accomplish. We really didn’t want to peer into their lives, we just wanted frequency of use data. After an extended period of time the data was translated into what we call a “heat map”. The more frequently used the key, the more red we used to color it. This visual mapping technique quickly revealed patterns that suggested design changes.

Portion of the heat map based on collected data

I would love to see the data for the entire keyboard. What I like about their technique is that the frequency of key use did not entirely drive the re-design. They took into account the trajectory of fingers while typing, emotional use of certain keys, and observational data to come up with whys instead of just thats. This allows for more of a theory-based redsign rather than simple problem solving.

HF/Usability Potpourri

Richard Pak — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 18:17:31 +0000

Study Suggests People Prefer Bing’s Design To Google’s
“The study was an intense focus group in which 12 subjects were monitored with eye-tracking cameras as they conducted searches. Afterward, they were interviewed and completed a survey.” (TechCrunch with usability report)
Nielsen recommends abandoning password masking in online forms
“Usability suffers when users type in passwords and the only feedback they get is a row of bullets. Typically, masking passwords doesn’t even increase security, but it does cost you business due to login failures.” (Useit via Slashdot)

Smartphones as Event-based Prospective Memory Aids

Richard Pak — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 11:00:54 +0000

The calendar functions of devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and smartphones have always been types of time-based prospective memory aids. An item to be remembered in the future (e.g., go to meeting at 4 pm) is entered into the calendar and when that time arrives we are reminded with a notification or alarm (hence the term time-based).

Prospective memory is remembering to perform an action in the future. Whereas retrospective memory is remembering something from the past. In many ways, prospective memory is much more important, from a human factors prospective, than retrospective memory. For absent-minded people like me, prospective memory failures (like missing a meeting) is of low consequence (depending on who I am unintentionally blowing off).

But imagine the situation where a nurse forgets to carry out a procedure, a doctor forgets to remove gauze in a patient, or when a patient forgets their medication instructions. The consequences for prospective memory failure are much greater (and potentially deadly).

Prospective memory events can be “fired” by two main types of cues or “reminders”:

The first is time-based (like the example above): At 3 pm, call cable company, or in 30 minutes call Chris.
The other way is event-based: When I see Anne, let her know that the paper is due, or drop deposit check when I pass the ATM.

Electronic calendars are great at aiding time-based prospective memory tasks but only recently do they now cue event-based tasks. For example, phones using the Android operating system can download a program that tracks your location (using the phone’s GPS unit) to fire off a reminder based on your current location. So if you are near the grocery store it can remind you to pick up bread (event-based cue).

I recently discovered a feature in Palm WebOS phones (like the new Palm Pre) that can fire off reminders based on who you are communicating with (via phone conversation, instant messaging, or I think email). When I contact Anne (or she contacts me), a notification will remind me of what I needed to tell her.

Say that I need to tell Anne of an upcoming deadline when I see or hear from her. I select her contact entry and type in a note to myself to remind her. Next time I call her or we instant message I will receive this reminder:

Again, this is an event-based cue (communicating with Anne is the event) and not a time-based cue (there is no specific time when it might happen). Cool! More information about prospective memory can be found in this book (Google Books link) and countless articles.

(face) Gestures Interface

Richard Pak — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:31:55 +0000

Peter Squire sends in what is most likely an early April fools joke by the creators of the Opera web browser (right before 4/1/09). It is an interesting interaction idea nonetheless.

Electric Scooters and their Warnings: A Guest Post by Kim Wolfinbarger

Anne McLaughlin — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 14:00:43 +0000

Electric shopping carts are common in large grocery stores. Essential for users with mobility impairments, they are also helpful for pregnant women, elderly shoppers, and other who have trouble walking long distances.

A few months ago, my grandfather overturned such a cart in a parking lot and broke his hip. Interested in what might have caused the accident, I examined a similar cart at my local store.

While the cart appeared stable, red-and-white signs affixed to the inside and outside of the basket read, in large letters, “IN-STORE USE ONLY.” Two others warned, “INTENDED FOR USE INDOORS ON LEVEL SURFACES ONLY!” and “DO NOT TAKE THIS CART OUTSIDE THE STORE.” An instruction manual I found online had similar statements in several places.

Here is the problem: A customer who uses the cart while shopping will surely want to use it when taking groceries to the car. My grandfather lived independently and drove himself to the store, but rheumatoid arthritis made walking difficult. Using an electric cart made it possible for him to do his own shopping. While he most likely saw the warning, he may have dismissed it as a statement written to merely to discourage lawsuits. (This is speculation–he could not converse following the accident and died a few weeks later–but it is consistent with his personality.)

Clearly the manufacturer had anticipated that people would use the carts outside and thought this behavior might be hazardous. But did the store share this concern? Since the cashier loaded the bags into his cart following the purchase, it appears that, despite the warning, the store expected him to drive the cart to the parking lot.

The signs and repeated warning statements in the manual suggest a mismatch between the design of the product and the expected behavior of users. So how should the problem be addressed?

If the carts are truly not stable outdoors, stores should not allow them to be driven into the parking lot. Instead, employees should carry out groceries for all customers who use a motorized cart.
Offering the service is not enough; some customers, not wanting to be a bother, will refuse assistance if asked. Instead, when the cashier begins checking out a customer with an electric cart, she should immediately summon a worker to load the groceries into a push cart and take the groceries to the customer’s vehicle.
Manufacturers should assume that customers will take electric carts outdoors and design them accordingly. Motorized scooters intended for outdoor use are widely available.
If they have not already done so, shopping cart manufacturers should implement similar stability features. As human factors engineers have said for years, a warning is no substitute for good design.
Good warnings tend to have a “why” that informs the user about the hazard when that hazard is not immediately obvious. If you though the reason to keep the cart indoors was because you might be hit by a car, your decision to take the cart outdoors could be different than if you knew the cart were unstable.

Kim Wolfinbarger is the recruitment coordinator and an adjunct instructor for the School of Industrial Engineering, University of Oklahoma. Her research interests include usability, product design, industrial ergonomics and design for special populations.

Applied Decision Making Aids in the News

Anne McLaughlin — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:00:26 +0000

NPR covers ways psychologists have discovered to nudge irrational decisions in a better direction.

An excerpt:

In the city of Greensboro, N.C., there’s a program designed for teenage mothers. To prevent these teens from having another child, the city offers each of them $1 a day for every day they are not pregnant. It turns out that the psychological power of that small daily payment is huge. A single dollar a day is enough to push the rate of teen pregnancy down, saving all the incredible costs — human and financial — that go with teen parenting.

Most of the article focuses on “economics,” but of course money is only a context for the decisions they discuss.

Invisible Lines and Laundry Detergent

Anne McLaughlin — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:00:08 +0000

Consumer Reports tackled a pet peeve of mine: the invisible fill lines for laundry detergent. Most of you are probably using too much.. I finally took a sharpie to mine. Some excerpts from the Consumer Reports article:

“If the lines aren’t clear or are hard to see, it’s easy to overdose and use too much detergent,” says Pat Slaven, a program leader in our Technical department who conducted the detergent testing. “Plus, for all the products we tested, the line for a medium load—the most commonly done load—is less than a full cap, which makes it easier to use too much detergent.” The line for a maximum load is also typically less than a full cap.

…

Even a textiles expert can face issues with detergent caps. “The salesman who sold us our energy-efficient washer emphasized that we should follow directions to the letter—or fill line, in this case. Of course, I have to stand under a floodlight in the garage to see the fill line,” says Margaret Rucker, Ph.D., a professor of textiles and clothing at the University of California at Davis. “If a study on cap design hasn’t been done, then it should be,” she adds.

…

Another manufacturer has taken a different approach to solving the problem. “We feel the best practice is to include a picture of the cap on the directions, where we call out exactly where the dosage lines are on the cap,” says Bill Littlefield, executive vice president and general manager of branded products of the Sun Products Corporation, which makes All and Wisk detergents. Littlefield admits, “It’s a struggle to find proper dosage.”

Procter & Gamble, whose detergents include Cheer, Era, Gain, and Tide, also shows images of the actual caps and fill lines on its labels. “We have specific fill caps that are clearly marked, and we feel people understand the product,” says Lauren Thaman, a chemist and head of U.S. external relations at P&G.

Although the companies “feel” that consumers know how to use their product, field testing might show otherwise. Using a picture of the cap on the box separates the information from the action, adding an extra step.

Consumer Reports was tactful enough not to mention that overuse of detergent benefits the companies making the detergent bottles and their indicator caps.

Watch out for Un-Equalsteppings!

Richard Pak — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:34:27 +0000

Photo by Joe C.

Reader Joe C. sent in this unusual warning on a door.

It was on the entry door to one of the screens at a local cinema. The un-equalsteppings just turned out to be a slope! Not sure why they couldn’t of just told me it was a slope.

Emergency Checklists and Aviation

Anne McLaughlin — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:00:08 +0000

The recent water landing into the Hudson is still being investigated. This AP article focuses on whether flight attendants were trained not to open the back door of the plane during a water landing, but the most interesting bit comes at the end:

Another concern is whether the FAA and airlines need to revise emergency procedures for pilots in the event both engines fail. Those procedures usually involve a sequence of many steps called a checklist. There are different checklists depending upon the problem, but most are based on the expectation that the problem will occur while the plane is flying at a high altitude — airliners typically cruise above 20,000 feet, giving pilots time to identify and correct the problem.

Flight 1549’s first officer, Jeffrey Skiles, told a congressional panel in February that he only had time to make it part of the way through a checklist for restarting the engines when Sullenberger sent the plane into the river.

Sumwalt suggested it would be better for airlines to train pilots to remember one procedure for a low-altitude dual engine failure, rather than go through a long checklist of items while altitude rapidly diminishes.

Bad Astronomy on Usability

Richard Pak — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:50:51 +0000

One of my favorite science blogs, Phil Plait’s Bad Astronomy, recently touched upon a usability topic which gives me an excuse to link to his blog! The story gets goofy from there (a rivalry between him and actor Wil Wheaton ensues).

He is complaining about an upgrade to Apple’s iMovie which reduced features but more important reduced the usability of the program. Details are short and I don’t have access to iMovie to check out what he is referring to:

The old version (iMovie07) worked great, so of course in iMovie08 Apple added things that make it more confusing and took away all the good stuff, making it suck harder than a starving black hole. So there you go. Feel free to use that image whenever Apple releases some new “upgrade” that actually reduces an app’s useability.

the Human Factors Blog

Time.com article on Anne’s research with Games & Aging

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