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Epistemic action: a measure for cognitive support in tangible user interfaces?
Morten Fjeld1, Wolmet Barendregt
1Table-Top Interaction Lab, CSE, Chalmers Tekniska Högskola, Göteborg, Sweden. morten@fjeld.ch
Behavior Research Methods
|July 10, 2009
Summary
Epistemic action, a new usability measure for tangible interfaces, is independent of traditional metrics like efficiency and effectiveness. It may be more complex than initially thought, potentially relating to interface reusability.
Area of Science:
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Usability Engineering
- Tangible User Interfaces
Background:
- Traditional usability measures include efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction.
- Epistemic action, or exploratory action, is proposed as a fourth usability measure for tangible user interfaces.
- Prior research in computer games suggests epistemic actions aid in environmental understanding with less mental effort.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the relationship between traditional usability measures (efficiency, effectiveness, satisfaction) and epistemic action.
- To investigate epistemic action in the context of tangible user interfaces (TUIs) with varying physicality.
- To explore the potential of epistemic action as a distinct usability metric.
Main Methods:
- Utilized three spatial planning tools with differing levels of physicality.
- Assessed user interactions focusing on efficiency, effectiveness, satisfaction, and epistemic actions.
- Analyzed the independence and correlation of epistemic action with traditional usability metrics.
Main Results:
- Epistemic action was found to be independent of efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction.
- The degree of epistemic action did not correlate linearly with the physicality of the user interface.
- Epistemic action appears to be a complex measure potentially linked to interface reusability.
Conclusions:
- Epistemic action represents a distinct usability dimension beyond traditional measures.
- The physicality of a tangible user interface does not solely determine the extent of epistemic action.
- Further research is required to fully elucidate the nature and application of epistemic action in TUI design.
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