This page contains projects completed during my graduate studies at U.C. Berkeley from 2000-2002. Please contact me for information regarding more current projects.
WebQuilt
WebQuilt is a web usability logging and visualization system intended to aid web design teams record and analyze usability tests. The logging portion of WebQuilt unobtrusively gathers clickstream data as users complete specified tasks. This data is then aggregated and presented in an interactive graph, where nodes of the graph are images of the web pages visited, and arrows are the transitions between pages.
The initial implementation of WebQuilt was written by Jason Hong and Jeff Heer. As my MS project, I added a significant number of improvements to the system, including the addition of filtering capabilities, designing the visualization to fit analysis tasks, and enhancing the interaction techniques. The improved visualization can highlight important usability issues, such as pages where users spent a log of time, pages where the users get lost during the task, navigation patterns, and exit pages, all within the context of a specific task. Additionally, with the help of Tim Sohn, Wayne Kao and Tara Matthews, the WebQuilt logging was expanded to conduct remote usability testing on a variety of Internet-enabled devices, such as mobile phones and PDAs.
For more information on the project, please see the project website. A copy of the MS Report and other WebQuilt publications are available on the GUIR publications page.
Can You Handle It?
Individual Management of Incoming Information in the Workplace
The purpose of this study was to identify whether or not individuals in the workplace feel overloaded with incoming information. Classmate James Reffell and I looked at the amount of information people take in, their sources of information, and some strategies they use to handle that information. In doing so, we hoped to ascertain whether information overload should be a concern in the workplace, recognize some causes of information overload, and understand how businesses can aid employees in managing their information.
Sponsored by BackWeb Technologies, We used an online survey clearinghouse to gather 165 responses to a 27 question survey from October 16th, 2001 thru October 20th, 2001. The survey was designed to answer the following questions:
- How frequently do individuals feel overloaded with information in the workplace?
- What information sources are used the most? Are the most important? Are the most interruptive?
- How do different information sources relate to feelings overload?
- What characterizes those individuals who feel most overloaded?
Check out the final report for our findings and discussion. This was a class project for Rashmi Sinha's fall 2001 course Quantitative Research Methods for Information Management.
CATTLE
Context-Aware Tasks or To-do List Excitement
Tim Fitz, Miriam Walker and I applied the basics of iterative UI design, prototyping, and evaluation to the design of a context sensitive PDA tasks/to-do list application. Based on our task analysis and contextual inquiry, we designed an application that expanded a basic PDA to-do list to include community or group tasks, personal location-based reminders, and a web-based manager. We went through four design iterations, from a paper prototype to a pseudo-working application on the web and palm, evaluating the design at each stage. I was responsible for the documentation, and participated in the group design process and conducting of user tests.
I've posted a Microsoft Word copy of our final report and appendicies (task 1, task 2, and task 3) and more information on the project can be found on the project website [currently down due to server modifications - 7/23/2002]. This project was completed in fall 2000 for James Landay's class User Interface Design, Prototyping, and Evaluation.
A Location Aware Sensor Infrastructure
Context, particularly location, is an important source of information for human-computer interaction. In this project, Scott Klemmer and Kamin Whitehouse, and I examined hardware, networking, and systems issues for a location sensing infrastructure. We presented a thorough empirical analysis of the TinyOS RF motes. This analysis was leveraged to build a model of the RF signal strength. We built a prototype system that employed a Kalman filter to determine distance between pairs of devices. Using a mass-springs system, we aggregated the distance measurements of all the networked devices. The location information is displayed with a visual user interface.
For details, check out the project web site and our final paper. This project was for John Kubiatowicz's fall 2000 course Graduate Computer Architecture.
The Conversation Station
The goal of this project was to take a typically intangible experience, that of a conversation, and create tangible artifacts and experiences that reveal the participation, or role, of each speaker. How can designers use the physical environment to explore some underlying biases and assumptions in a conversation and expose them to the participants? After prototyping a few ideas involving inflatable clothing, space-battling tables, and balloons, Veronica De Jesus, Fadel Hamed, Alex Munn, and built the Conversation Station, a coffee-table sized fountain driven by voice input. Each person sitting around the table had a corresponding jet in the fountain that would bubble up as they spoke, and bubble back down when they were silent.
Intended to be a subtle addition to the environment, our first implementation of the Conversation Station was an interesting success. Budget and space constraints led to somewhat distracting and obvious technology operating the fountain, and the fountain itself became the topic of conversation amongst participants rather than a more ambient, or periphery subject. Because of the novelty, people also tended to interact more with the fountain than with the other people at the table. Nevertheless, the fountain was effective in bringing a physical form to the 'conversation experience.' As the novelty wore off, people would only notice the fountain every so often, commenting on the dynamics of the conversation. Based on our experiences with this class project, our group was full of ideas and suggestions for redesign and for possible future applications, particularly for larger scale public spaces.
This project was completed for Tangible Interfaces, Crafting the Ubiquitous Experience taught in spring 2002 by Anind Dey, Paul Wright, Greg Niemeyer, and Trevor Pering.
Collaborative CALL
for Second-Language AcquisitionThe purpose of this project was to understand how collaborative computer assisted language learning (CALL) could be used in second language acquisition. Miriam Walker and I conducted interviews and performed a broad literature survey to understand CALL and the relevant pedagogical issues. We evaluated collaborative CALL software systems and tools with existing criteria for second language learning. In our analysis we included a few concerns for developers and designers in understanding appropriateness within this domain. For details, please read our final paper. This project was completed for James Landay's fall 2001 course CSCW: Computer-Supported Cooperative Work.
last updated 8/2/2002