Database Interface Design

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Database Interface Design Usability

• LIBR 557 Group Presentation

Agathe Holowatinc, Yolanda Koscielski, Cindy Mack
Katherine Parker
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Introduction

• A well-designed user interface is
• based on principles and
• a development process that
• centers on
• users and their tasks.
• - Microsoft Corporation, 1995

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Topics Covered

• Definitions, History Milestones
• Key concepts
• Group exercise
• Design Challenges
• Game
• Implications New Approaches

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Database Interface Design So What?

• A lot of information today is found in web-based
  indexes databases
• Many web-based databases are key to personal,
  scholarly, professional research in libraries
• Many have largely replaced their paper-based
  predecessors
• An online database is useless without a good user
  interface

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Definition Orientation

• A User-Centric Design Approach
• A user interface is an interface through which
  the user receives some stimuli and provides some
  response
• The user is the target of the information and the
  driver of the system
• Putting the user at the center of the design
  approach greatly improves the chances of creating
  an intuitive, efficient, and effective interface 
  
• UI Design Mantra Know Thy User

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Human Factors Goals

• Human Factors Engineering is based on 3 goals
• Provide an interface that is intuitive to the
  user
• Provide the user with the easiest interaction
  possible
• Help users complete their tasks

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Interaction Designer A Job Description
(http//ui.oracle.com/careers.htm)

• Working with multidisciplinary development teams,
  you will spearhead user interface design in
  conceptualization, design, and development of
  Oracle products.
• Responsibilities include identifying
  requirements, developing user models, designing
  and prototyping UI for interaction, developing
  and maintaining UI specifications and guidelines,
  and communicating with development teams to
  evangelize UI design directions and resolve
  design tradeoffs and implementation issues.
• You will collaborate closely with usability
  specialists to conduct necessary front-end
  research and support usability efforts throughout
  the product development cycle. Also, you will
  work closely with visual designers to achieve
  optimal visual appearance of products.
• You will mentor associate user interface
  designers and student interns.

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Definition Orientation

• What is a highly usable database interface?
• Intuitive
• Transparent
• Supports users and allows them to accomplish
  their goals quickly, efficiently and easily

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In contrast, poor usability

• Means that people using your database cannot
  efficiently perform the tasks you intended
• Can come from overly complex databases
• Can lead to large numbers of errors
• Can mean that people just dont like using your
  system
• If the next steps are not obvious, users will
  spend time trying to figure them out
• Users may make mistakes or may just leave your
  database with a bad feeling

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Brief History
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Major Milestones

• IR systems have traditionally been the domain of
  librarians and information professionals
• Web-based online systems open a new avenue for
  end users to retrieve information
• The web has made online information searching
  more accessible to naive users
• The trend in IR system design is to design for
  end-users rather than the once targeted
  professional intermediaries

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Key Concepts - Design Process

• Competitive analysis
• User task analysis
• Formative evaluation
• Heuristic evaluation
• Prototyping and Iterative design

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Key Concepts http//www.baddesigns.com
Think of all users
Visibility and consistency
Lessen need for memory
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Design Concepts (Zabed, McKnight, Oppenheim,
2006)

• Strive for consistency layout/colours
• Support both novice and experienced users
• Make interface actions visible to the users
• Assist users in refining the search query
• Simple error handling

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Design Concepts contd

• Offer informative feedback
• Permit easy reversal of actions
• Avoid complex navigation
• Reduce short term memory load recognition
  rather than recall

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Key Concepts

• Group exercise Heuristic analysis
• Childrens Literature Comprehensive Database
  evaluation - How user centered is it?

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Design Challenges

• Concept
• A User Interface is
• a Medium for Dialogue

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Design Challenges

• Verbal Communication Model (Wong, 2003)

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Design Challenges

• User Interface as Medium for Dialogue

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Design Challenges

• System-Centered Dialogue
• Command based
• User learns database language/model
• vs.
• User-Centered Dialogue (goal)
• Interactive
• User and database share language/ model

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Design Challenges

• For User-Centered Dialogue
• Environmental
• User-Centered
• Conceptual

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Design Challenges

• Environmental Challenges
• Process is more time consuming - limited
  resources (e.g. cost, time)
• Lack of user testing
• Lack of research
• Rapid technology development
• Multiple non-standard formats of content and
  platforms
• No standard methodology (e.g. metadata)
• Scale (i.e. more users, more designers)

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Design Challenges

• User-Centered Challenges
• More users different user needs
• Universal accessibility (e.g. lack of design
  standards)
• Unrealistic expectations
• Instant and relevant results (e.g. Google)
• No responsibility for dialogue
• Bad searchers
• Poor search strategies (or none)
• Poor evaluation of results

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Design Challenges

• Conceptual Challenges
• Target mental model
• Know Thy User
• What users say ? What users do
• e.g. Cultural user interfaces (CUI)
• Evolving, moving target
• Learning styles (e.g. visual, auditory
  kinesthetic)
• Language

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Design Challenges

• Find the Squares (Gametrailers Corp., 2008)

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Design Challenges

• Hint (Kraft Canada Inc., 2008)

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Design Challenges

• Find the squares (Gametrailers Corp., 2008)

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The Future of Interface Design

• Implications and future trends
• Current Database Innovations
• Research Directions
• Accessibility Directions

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The Future of Interface Design

• PRO Database interface design benefits from a
  consistent structure of the corpus,
• Implication a users searches may be more
  readily assisted via the interface, enables
  somewhat exhaustive collocation of like items
• CON Competing with aesthetics of search engines
  which offers better exploratory behavior, more
  hits, more visual interaction permits more
  sloppiness

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New Interfaces

• EBSCO
• http//www.ebscohost.com/flashViewer2.php?marketID
  1topicID981

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Research on IR/IB

• Studies on the user
• In light of New Technological Environment (2008)
• Information behavior of the researcher of the
  future http//www.bl.uk/news/pdf/googlegen.pdf
• There are clear differences in
  information-seeking behaviour by subject, by
  gender, and by work role. It is increasingly
  clear that a one-size-fits all policy towards
  library or system design is not going to be
  effective
• Library databases bad combination of interfaces
  being too complex, and not well-marketed
• Suggests libraries will need to integrate their
  catalogues with search engines
• Predicts Semantic web will reach tipping point in
  2013

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OPACs

• Incorporate 2.0 functions - RSS feeds, social
  tagging
• Faceted browsing and results viewing
• Visual search
• Feedback spell check, stemming, suggested
  related results
• E.g. AquaBrowser Library Tool
• http//www.medialab.nl/?pageaquabrowserlibrary
  /overview

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Complication The User

• Studies on the user
• Resnick Vaughan (2006) paper
• A user will display some durable search
  characteristics across some tasks, while other
  characteristics will vary depending on the search
  domain
• Unfamiliar domain keywords, iterative search,
  use of widgets
• Familiar domain good system navigation
• Nov Ye (2007) study
• People have differing levels of the RTC
  characteristicResistance to Change
• Study Low RTC Low perceived ease of use of
  digital libraries

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Accessibility Directions

• Issue pertains to web applications in general
• Disabilities to consider are wide-ranging
• Hearing-related
• Vision-related
• Motor-physical
• Learning disabilities

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Accessibility Directions

• W3C leadership
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0
  http//www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/
• 2.0 is in progress
• Highlights of new version to come
• Accompanied by interpretive report
• Success criterion for meeting guidelines
• Minimum requirements to meet them
• Examples provided

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Accessibility Directions

• Legal Initiatives
• Canada
• Strong anti-discrimination laws web
  accessibility laws not that specific
• Ontarians with Disabilities Act
• The Government of Ontario shall provide its
  internet sites in a format that is accessible to
  persons with disabilities, unless it is not
  technically feasible to do so.

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Accessibility Directions

• Canada Human Rights Act (last updated 1977)
• "All individuals should have an equal
  opportunity with other individuals to make for
  themselves the lives that they are able and wish
  to have and to have their needs accommodated,
  consistent with their duties and obligations as
  members of society, without being hindered in or
  prevented from doing so by discriminatory
  practices based on race, national or ethnic
  origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual
  orientation, marital status, family status,
  disability or conviction for an offence for which
  a pardon has been granted".

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Accessibility Directions

• International
• US has section 508, which explicitly requires
  that people with disabilities have equal access
  to electronic systems - created by the government
• UK has SEDNA - Special Educational Needs and
  Disabilities Act for students

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Accessibility Directions

• Assistive technology software and hardware will
  provide increased adaptability
• e.g. Jaws 9.0
• Tools for checking adaptability of
  website/interface
• e.g. Vizcheck.com (color blindness reaction and
  modification) (Byerley, Chambers Thohira,
  2007) http//www.vischeck.com/daltonize/

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Vizcheck.com
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Conclusion

• Future directions in interface design will have
  to consider
• Appealing to users who prefer a search-engine
  aesthetic, using web 2.0 functions, and
  browsing/exploratory behavior
• Being inclusive to a wide range of people of
  people, including
• Those with disabilities
• Those with different levels of subject expertise
• Those with different personality variables