UNIT III MODELS AND THEORIES

Cognitive models –Socio-Organizational issues and

stake holder requirements –Communication and
collaboration models-Hypertext, Multimedia and
WWW.
Cognitive models

• goal and task hierarchies

• linguistic

• physical and device

• architectural
Cognitive models

• They model aspects of user:

– understanding
– knowledge
– intentions
– processing

• Common categorisation:
– Competence vs. Performance
– Computational flavour
– No clear divide
Goal and task hierarchies

• Mental processing as divide-and-conquer

• Example: sales report
produce report
gather data
. find book names
. . do keywords search of names database
. . . … further sub-goals
. . sift through names and abstracts by hand
. . . … further sub-goals
. search sales database - further sub-goals
layout tables and histograms - further sub-goals
write description - further sub-goals
goals vs. tasks

• goals – intentions
what you would like to be true
• tasks – actions
how to achieve it

• GOMS – goals are internal

• HTA – actions external

– tasks are abstractions
Issues for goal hierarchies

• Granularity
– Where do we start?
– Where do we stop?
• Routine learned behaviour, not problem
solving
– The unit task
• Conflict
– More than one way to achieve a goal
• Error
Techniques

• Goals, Operators, Methods and

Selection (GOMS)

• Cognitive Complexity Theory (CCT)

• Hierarchical Task Analysis (HTA) -

Chapter 15
GOMS

Goals
– what the user wants to achieve

Operators
– basic actions user performs

Methods
– decomposition of a goal into subgoals/operators

Selection
– means of choosing between competing methods
GOMS example

GOAL: CLOSE-WINDOW
. [select GOAL: USE-MENU-METHOD
. MOVE-MOUSE-TO-FILE-MENU
. PULL-DOWN-FILE-MENU
. CLICK-OVER-CLOSE-OPTION
GOAL: USE-CTRL-W-METHOD
. PRESS-CONTROL-W-KEYS]

For a particular user:

Rule 1: Select USE-MENU-METHOD unless another

rule applies
Rule 2: If the application is GAME,
select CTRL-W-METHOD
Cognitive Complexity Theory

• Two parallel descriptions:

– User production rules
– Device generalised transition networks

• Production rules are of the form:

– if condition then action

• Transition networks covered under

dialogue models
Example: editing with vi

• Production rules are in long-term memory

• Model working memory as attribute-value
mapping:
(GOAL perform unit task)
(TEXT task is insert space)
(TEXT task is at 5 23)
(CURSOR 8 7)
• Rules are pattern-matched to working
memory,
e.g., LOOK-TEXT task is at %LINE %COLUMN
is true, with LINE = 5 COLUMN = 23.
 Four rules to model inserting
a space
Active rules:
SELECT-INSERT-SPACE New working memory
INSERT-SPACE-MOVE-FIRST (GOAL insert space)
INSERT-SPACE-DOIT (NOTE executing insert space)
INSERT-SPACE-DONE (LINE 5) (COLUMN 23)

SELECT-INSERT-SPACE
matches current working memory

(SELECT-INSERT-SPACE
IF (AND (TEST-GOAL perform unit task)
(TEST-TEXT task is insert space)
(NOT (TEST-GOAL insert space))
(NOT (TEST-NOTE executing insert space)))
THEN ( (ADD-GOAL insert space)
(ADD-NOTE executing insert space)
(LOOK-TEXT task is at %LINE %COLUMN)))
Notes on CCT

• Parallel model
• Proceduralisation of actions
• Novice versus expert style rules
• Error behaviour can be represented
• Measures
– depth of goal structure
– number of rules
– comparison with device description
Problems with goal hierarchies

• a post hoc technique

• expert versus novice

• How cognitive are they?

Linguistic notations

• Understanding the user's behaviour and

cognitive difficulty based on analysis of
language between user and system.
• Similar in emphasis to dialogue models

• Backus–Naur Form (BNF)

• Task–Action Grammar (TAG)
Backus-Naur Form (BNF)

• Very common notation from computer science

• A purely syntactic view of the dialogue
• Terminals
– lowest level of user behaviour
– e.g. CLICK-MOUSE, MOVE-MOUSE
• Nonterminals
– ordering of terminals
– higher level of abstraction
– e.g. select-menu, position-mouse
Example of BNF

• Basic syntax:
– nonterminal ::= expression
• An expression
– contains terminals and nonterminals
– combined in sequence (+) or as alternatives (|)

draw line ::= select line + choose points + last point

select line ::= pos mouse + CLICK MOUSE
choose points ::= choose one | choose one + choose points
choose one ::= pos mouse + CLICK MOUSE
last point ::= pos mouse + DBL CLICK MOUSE
pos mouse ::= NULL | MOVE MOUSE+ pos mouse
Measurements with BNF

• Number of rules (not so good)

• Number of + and | operators

• Complications
– same syntax for different semantics
– no reflection of user's perception
– minimal consistency checking
Task Action Grammar (TAG)

• Making consistency more explicit

• Encoding user's world knowledge

• Parameterised grammar rules

• Nonterminals are modified to include

additional semantic features
Consistency in TAG
• In BNF, three UNIX commands would be described as:
copy ::= cp + filename + filename | cp + filenames + directory
move ::= mv + filename + filename | mv + filenames + directory
link ::= ln + filename + filename | ln + filenames + directory

• No BNF measure could distinguish between this and a

less consistent grammar in which

link ::= ln + filename + filename | ln + directory + filenames

Consistency in TAG (cont'd)

• consistency of argument order made explicit

using a parameter, or semantic feature for file
operations
• Feature Possible values
Op = copy; move; link

• Rules
file-op[Op] ::=command[Op] + filename + filename
| command[Op] + filenames + directory
command[Op = copy] ::= cp
command[Op = move] ::= mv
command[Op = link] ::= ln
Other uses of TAG

• User’s existing knowledge

• Congruence between features and

commands

• These are modelled as derived rules

Physical and device models

• The Keystroke Level Model (KLM)

• Buxton's 3-state model

• Based on empirical knowledge of human

motor system
• User's task: acquisition then execution.
– these only address execution
• Complementary with goal hierarchies
Keystroke Level Model (KLM)

• lowest level of (original) GOMS

• six execution phase operators
– Physical motor: K - keystroking
P - pointing
H - homing
D - drawing
– Mental M - mental preparation
– System R - response

• times are empirically determined.

Texecute = TK + TP + TH + TD + TM + TR
KLM example
GOAL: ICONISE-WINDOW
[select
GOAL: USE-CLOSE-METHOD
. MOVE-MOUSE-TO- FILE-MENU
. PULL-DOWN-FILE-MENU
. CLICK-OVER-CLOSE-OPTION
GOAL: USE-CTRL-W-METHOD
PRESS-CONTROL-W-KEY]

USE-CTRL-W-METHOD USE-CLOSE-METHOD
• compare alternatives:
• USE-CTRL-W-METHOD vs. H[to kbd] 0.40 P[to menu] 1.1
• USE-CLOSE-METHOD M 1.35 B[LEFT down] 0.1
K[ctrlW key] 0.28 M 1.35
• assume hand starts on mouse P[to option] 1.1
B[LEFT up] 0.1
Total 2.03 s Total 3.75 s
Architectural models

• All of these cognitive models make

assumptions about the architecture of
the human mind.
• Long-term/Short-term memory
• Problem spaces
• Interacting Cognitive Subsystems
• Connectionist
• ACT
Display-based interaction

• Most cognitive models do not deal with

user observation and perception

• Some techniques have been extended

to handle system output
(e.g., BNF with sensing terminals, Display-TAG)
but problems persist

• Exploratory interaction versus planning

 chapter 13

socio-organizational
issues and stakeholder
requirements
socio-organizational issues and
stakeholder requirements
• Organizational issues affect acceptance
– conflict & power, who benefits, encouraging use
• Stakeholders
– identify their requirements in organizational context
• Socio-technical models
– human and technical requirements
• Soft systems methodology
– broader view of human and organizational issues
• Participatory design
– includes the user directly in the design process
• Ethnographic methods
– study users in context, unbiased perspective
Organisational issues
Organisational factors can make or break a system
Studying the work group is not sufficient
– any system is used within a wider context
– and the crucial people need not be direct users
Before installing a new system must understand:
– who benefits
– who puts in effort
– the balance of power in the organisation
… and how it will be affected
Even when a system is successful
… it may be difficult to measure that success
Conflict and power
?
CSCW = computer supported cooperative work
– people and groups have conflicting goals
– systems assuming cooperation will fail!

e.g. computerise stock control

stockman looses control of information
 subverts the system

identify stakeholders – not just the users

Organisational structures

• Groupware affects organisational structures

– communication structures reflect line management
– email – cross-organisational communication

Disenfranchises lower management

 disaffected staff and ‘sabotage’

Technology can be used to change management

style and power structures
– but need to know that is what we are doing
– and more often an accident !
Invisible workers
Telecommunications improvements allow:
– neighbourhood workcentres
– home-based tele-working

Many ecological and economic benefits

– reduce car travel
– flexible family commitments
but:
– ‘management by presence’ doesn't work
– presence increases perceived worth
– problems for promotion

Barriers to tele-working are managerial/social

not technological
Benefits for all?

Disproportionate effort
who puts in the effort ≠ who gets the benefit
Example: shared diary:
– effort: secretaries and subordinates, enter data
– benefit: manager easy to arrange meetings
– result: falls into disuse
Solutions:
– coerce use !
– design in symmetry
Free rider problem

no bias, but still problem

possible to get benefit without doing work

if everyone does it, system falls into disuse

e.g. electronic conferences

– possible to read but never contribute

solutions:
strict protocols (e.g., round robin)
increase visibility – rely on social pressure
Critical mass

Early telephone system:

few subscribers – no one to ring
lots of subscribers – never stops ringing!

Electronic communications similar:

benefit  number of subscribers
early users have negative cost/benefit
need critical mass to give net benefits

How to get started?

– look for cliques to form core user base
– design to benefit an initial small user base
 Critical mass
strong benefit when
lots of users

.. but little benefit

for early users

solution – increase
zero point benefit
Evaluating the benefits

Assuming we have avoided the pitfalls!

How do we measure our success?
job satisfaction and information flow
– hard to measure
economic benefit
– diffuse throughout organisation
But ..
costs of hardware and software
… only too obvious

Perhaps we have to rely on hype!

capturing requirements

• need to identify requirements within context of

use
• need to take account of
– stakeholders
– work groups and practices
– organisational context
• many approaches including
– socio-technical modelling
– soft system modelling
– participatory design
– contextual inquiry
who are the stakeholders?

• system will have many stakeholders with

potentially conflicting interests
• stakeholder is anyone effected by success
or failure of system
– primary - actually use system
– secondary - receive output or provide input
– tertiary - no direct involvement but effected by
success or failure
– facilitating - involved in development or
deployment of system
who are the stakeholders?
Example: Classifying stakeholders – an airline booking
system
An international airline is considering introducing a new
booking system for use by associated travel agents to sell flights
directly to the public.
Primary stakeholders: travel agency staff, airline booking staff
Secondary stakeholders: customers, airline management
Tertiary stakeholders: competitors, civil aviation authorities,
customers’ travelling companions, airline shareholders
Facilitating stakeholders: design team, IT department staff
who are the stakeholders?

• designers need to meet as many

stakeholder needs as possible
– usually in conflict so have to prioritise
– often priority decreases as move down
categories e.g. primary most important
– not always e.g. life support machine
socio-technical modelling

• response to technological determinism

• concerned with technical, social, organizational
and human aspects of design
• describes impact of specific technology on
organization
• information gathering: interviews, observation,
focus groups, document analysis
• several approaches e.g.
– CUSTOM
– OSTA
CUSTOM
• Six stage process - focus on stakeholders
– describe organizational context, including primary goals,
physical characteristics, political and economic background
– identify and describe stakeholders including personal issues,
role in the organization and job
– identify and describe work-groups whether formally constituted
or not
– identify and describe task–object pairs i.e. tasks to be
performed and objects used
– identify stakeholder needs: stages 2–4 described in terms of
both current and proposed system - stakeholder needs are
identified from the differences between the two
– consolidate and check stakeholder requirements against earlier
criteria
OSTA
• Eight stage model - focus on task
– primary task identified in terms of users’ goals
– task inputs to system identified
– external environment into which the system will be introduced is
described, including physical, economic and political aspects
– transformation processes within the system are described in
terms of actions performed on or with objects
– social system is analyzed, considering existing internal and
external work-groups and relationships
– technical system is described in terms of configuration and
integration with other systems
– performance satisfaction criteria are established, indicating social
and technical requirements of system
– new technical system is specified
soft systems methodology
• no assumption of technological solution - emphasis on
understanding situation fully
• developed by Checkland
• seven stages
– recognition of problem and initiation of analysis
– detailed description of problem situation
• rich picture
– generate root definitions of system
• CATWOE
– conceptual model - identifying transformations
– compare real world to conceptual model
– identify necessary changes
– determine actions to effect changes
CATWOE

• Clients: those who receive output or benefit from the system

• Actors: those who perform activities within the system
• Transformations: the changes that are affected by the system
• Weltanschauung: (from the German) or World View - how the
system is perceived in a particular root definition
• Owner: those to whom the system belongs, to whom it is
answerable and who can authorize changes to it
• Environment: the world in which the system operates and by
which it is influenced
Participatory design

In participatory design:
workers enter into design context

In ethnography (as used for design):

designer enters into work context

Both make workers feel valued in design

… encourage workers to ‘own’ the products

Participatory Design
• User is an active member of the design team.

• Characteristics
– context and work oriented rather than system oriented
– collaborative
– iterative
• Methods
– brain-storming
– storyboarding
– workshops
– pencil and paper exercises
ETHICS

• participatory socio-technical approach devised

by Mumford
– system development is about managing change
– non-participants more likely to be dissatisfied
• three levels of participation
– consultative, representative, consensus
• design groups including stakeholder
representatives make design decisions
• job satisfaction is key to solution
Ethnography

very influential in CSCW

a form of anthropological study with special

focus on social relationships

does not enter actively into situation

seeks to understand social culture

unbiased and open ended

contextual inquiry
• Approach developed by Holtzblatt
– in ethnographic tradition but acknowledges and challenges
investigator focus
– model of investigator being apprenticed to user to learn
about work
– investigation takes place in workplace - detailed interviews,
observation, analysis of communications, physical workplace,
artefacts
– number of models created:
• sequence, physical, flow, cultural, artefact
• models consolidated across users
– output indicates task sequences, artefacts and
communication channels needed and physical and cultural
constraints
 chapter 14

communication and
collaboration models
CSCW Issues and Theory

All computer systems have group impact

– not just groupware

Ignoring this leads to the failure of systems

Look at several levels – minutiae to large scale

context:
– face-to-face communication
– conversation
– text based communication
– group working
Face-to-face communication

• Most primitive and most subtle form of

communication

• Often seen as the paradigm for computer

mediated communication?
Transfer effects

• carry expectations into electronic media …

… sometimes with disastrous results

• may interpret failure as rudeness of colleague

e.g. personal space

– video may destroy mutual impression of distance
– happily the `glass wall' effect helps
Eye contact

• to convey interest and establish social

presence

• video may spoil direct eye contact

(see video tunnel, chap 19)

• but poor quality video better than audio only

Gestures and body language

• much of our communication is through our

bodies
• gesture (and eye gaze) used for deictic
reference
• head and shoulders video loses this

So … close focus for eye contact …

… or wide focus for body language?
Back channels

Alison: Do you fancy that film … err1 …

`The Green' um2 …
it starts at eight.
Brian: Great!

• Not just the words!

• Back channel responses from Brian at 1 and 2

– quizzical at 1
– affirmative at 2
Back channels (ctd)

• Back channels include:

– nods and grimaces
– shrugs of the shoulders
– grunts and raised eyebrows

• Utterance begins vague …

… then sharpens up just enough
Back channels -media effects

Restricting media restricts back channels

video – loss of body language

audio – loss of facial expression
half duplex – lose most voice back-channel
responses
text based – nothing left!
Back channels and turn-taking
in a meeting …
– speaker offers the floor
(fraction of a second gap)
– listener requests the floor
(facial expression, small noise)

Grunts, ‘um’s and ‘ah’s, can be used by the:

– listener to claim the floor
– speaker to hold the floor
… but often too quiet for half-duplex channels

e.g. Trans-continental conferences – special problem

– lag can exceed the turn taking gap
… leads to a monologue!
Basic conversational structure
Alison: Do you fancy that film
Brian: the uh (500 ms) with the black cat
‘The Green whatsit’
Alison: yeah, go at uh …
(looks at watch – 1.2 s) … 20 to?
Brian: sure

Smallest unit is the utterance

Turn taking  utterances usually alternate …

Adjacency pairs
Simplest structure – adjacency pair
Adjacency pairs may nest:
Brian: Do you want some gateau?
Alison: is it very fattening?
Brian: yes, very
Alison: and lots of chocolate?
Brian: masses
Alison: I'll have a big slice then.

Structure is: B-x, A-y, B-y, A-z, B-z, A-x

– inner pairs often for clarification
… but, try analysing the first transcript in detail!
Context in conversation

Utterances are highly ambiguous

We use context to disambiguate:

Brian: (points) that post is leaning a bit

Alison: that's the one you put in

Two types of context:

• external context – reference to the environment
e.g., Brian's ‘that’ – the thing pointed to deictic reference
• internal context – reference to previous conversation
e.g., Alison's ‘that’ – the last thing spoken of
Referring to things – deixis

Often contextual utterances involve indexicals:

that, this, he, she, it

these may be used for internal or external context

Also descriptive phrases may be used:

– external: ‘the corner post is leaning a bit’
– internal: ‘the post you mentioned’

In face-to-face conversation can point

Common Ground
Resolving context depends on meaning
 participants must share meaning
so must have shared knowledge
Conversation constantly negotiates meaning
… a process called grounding:
Alison: So, you turn right beside the river.
Brian: past the pub.
Alison: yeah …

Each utterance is assumed to be:

relevant – furthers the current topic
helpful – comprehensible to listener
Focus and topic

Context resolved relative to current dialogue focus

Alison: Oh, look at your roses : : :

Brian: mmm, but I've had trouble with greenfly.
Alison: they're the symbol of the English summer.
Brian: greenfly?
Alison: no roses silly!

Tracing topics is one way to analyse conversation.

– Alison begins – topic is roses
– Brian shifts topic to greenfly
– Alison misses shift in focus … breakdown
Breakdown

Breakdown happens at all levels:

topic, indexicals, gesture

Breakdowns are frequent, but

– redundancy makes detection easy
(Brian cannot interpret ‘they're … summer’)
– people very good at repair
(Brain and Alison quickly restore shared focus)

Electronic media may lose some redundancy

 breakdown more severe
Speech act theory
A specific form of conversational analysis

Utterances characterised by what they do …

… they are acts
e.g. ‘I'm hungry’
– propositional meaning – hunger
– intended effect – ‘get me some food’

Basic conversational act the illocutionary point:

– promises, requests, declarations, …

Speech acts need not be spoken

e.g. silence often interpreted as acceptance …
Patterns of acts & Coordinator

• Generic patterns of acts can be identified

• Conversation for action (CfA) regarded as

central

• Basis for groupware tool Coordinator

– structured email system
– users must fit within CfA structure
– not liked by users!
Conversations for action (CfA)

Circles represent ‘states’ in the conversation

Arcs represent utterances (speech acts)
CfA in action
• Simplest route 1–5:

Alison: have you got the market survey

on chocolate mousse? request
Brian: sure promise
Brian: there you are assert
Alison: thanks declare

• More complex routes possible, e.g., 1–2–6–3 …

Alison: have you got … request

Brian: I've only got the summary figures counter
Alison: that'll do accept
Text-based communication

Most common media for asynchronous groupware

exceptions: voice mail, answer-phones

Familiar medium, similar to paper letters

but, electronic text may act as speech substitute!

Types of electronic text:

– discrete directed messages, no structure
– linear messages added (in temporal order)
– non-linear hypertext linkages
– spatial two dimensional arrangement

In addition, linkages may exist to other artefacts

Problems with text

No facial expression or body language

 weak back channels

So, difficult to convey:

affective state – happy, sad, …
illocutionary force – urgent, important, …

Participants compensate:
‘flaming’ and smilies
;-) :-( :-)
example – ‘Conferencer’

linear conversation area – LHS RHS – spatial simulated pinboard

 Conferencer (ctd)
Note separate ‘composition box’Pin board has similar granularity
– transcript only updated
‘cards’ only appear on other
when contribution ‘sent’
participants’ screens when
– granularity is the contribution
edit/creation is confirmed

Note separate ‘composition box’

– transcript only updated Pin board has similar granularity
when contribution ‘sent’ ‘cards’ only appear on other
– granularity is the contribution
participants’ screens when
edit/creation is confirmed
Grounding constraints

Establishing common ground depends on

grounding constraints

cotemporality – instant feedthrough

simultaneity – speaking together
sequence – utterances ordered

Often weaker in text based communication

e.g., loss of sequence in linear text
loss of sequence
Network delays or coarse granularity  overlap
1. Bethan: how many should be in the group?
2. Rowena: maybe this could be one of the 4 strongest reasons
3. Rowena: please clarify what you mean
4. Bethan: I agree
5. Rowena: hang on
6. Rowena: Bethan what did you mean?

Message pairs 1&2 and 3&4 composed simultaneously

– lack of common experience
Rowena: 2 1 3 4 5 6
Bethan: 1 2 4 3 5 6
N.B. breakdown of turn-taking due to poor back channels
Maintaining context

Recall context was essential for disambiguation

Text loses external context, hence deixis
(but, linking to shared objects can help)

1. Alison: Brian's got some lovely roses

2. Brian: I'm afraid they're covered in greenfly
3. Clarise: I've seen them, they're beautiful

Both (2) and (3) respond to (1)

… but transcript suggests greenfly are beautiful!
 Non-linear conversation

1. Alison:
Brian’s got some
lovely roses

2. Brian: 3. Clarise:
I’m afraid they’re I’ve seen them
covered in greenfly they’re beautiful

4. Clarise: hypertext-based or
have you tried threaded-message systems
companion planting? maintain ‘parallel’ conversations
Pace and granularity

Pace of conversation – the rate of turn taking

face-to-face – every few seconds
telephone – half a minute
email – hours or days

face-to-face conversation is highly interactive

– initial utterance is vague
– feedback gives cues for comprehension

lower pace  less feedback

 less interactive
Coping strategies

People are very clever!

they create coping strategies when things are difficult

Coping strategies for slow communication

attempt to increase granularity:

eagerness – looking ahead in the conversation game

 Brian: Like a cup of tea? Milk or lemon?

multiplexing – several topics in one utterance

 Alison: No thanks. I love your roses.
The Conversation Game

Conversation is like a game

Linear text follows one path through it

Participants choose the path by their utterances

Hypertext can follow several paths at once

 participants
… like a game choose the path
by their utterances

Alison: Alison: Alison’s turn

nice weather for Oh, look at your
the time of year roses

Brian: Brian: Brian’s turn

the red ones are mmm, but I’ve had
my favourite trouble with greenfly

Alison: Alison: Alison:

Alison’s turn
they’re the symbol of they’re the universal have you tried
the English summer sign of love companion planting?

Brian:
Brian:
Brian’s turn
talking of love
thanks, I’ll try
...
that next year
Group dynamics
Work groups constantly change:
– in structure – in size
Several groupware systems have explicit rôles
– But rôles depend on context and time
e.g., M.D. down mine under authority of foreman
– and may not reflect duties
e.g., subject of biography, author, but now writer

Social structure may change: democratic, autocratic, …

and group may fragment into sub-groups
Groupware systems rarely achieve this flexibility
Groups also change in composition
 new members must be able to `catch up'
Physical environment

Face-to-face working radically affected by

layout of workplace

e.g. meeting rooms:

– recessed terminals reduce visual impact
– inward facing to encourage eye contact
– different power positions
 power positions
traditional meeting room

white
board

power positions
at front in reach
of white board
 power positions
augmented meeting room

shared
screen

power positions
at back – screen
accessed by
keyboard
Distributed cognition

Traditional cognitive psychology in the head

Distributed cognition suggests look to the world

Thinking takes place in interaction

– with other people
– with the physical environment

Implications for group work:

– importance of mediating representations
– group knowledge greater than sum of parts
– design focus on external representation