"The main goal of the conference INTERACT 2003 (1) is to swap experiences and new ideas with colleagues from all over the world”, says 31 year-old graduate student Philippe Zimmermann, who helped to organise the conference. An on-going exchange of this sort is especially important in the field of man-computer-interaction, he adds, because technological possibilities in this area develop and change at a furious pace.

New ways of entering data and displays

With more than 400 participants and over 100 workshops, talks and tutorials, the 5-day conference INTERACT 2003 that took place last week at ETH Hönggerberg is one of the most important international conferences on man-computer interaction. INTERACT conferences take place every other year and have a distinctly European flavour. This year the Swiss Society for Informatics and the ETH Institute of Hygiene and Applied Physiology (IHA) (2) participate, among others. The main issues were new data entry methods, displays, forms of interaction and user quality.

Satisfaction instead of “fight the machine”

But what exactly do researchers mean when they talk of "user quality"? "Usability describes those characteristics of a product, which ensure that the man-machine-interaction is more satisfactory, more useful and more efficient" explains Philippe Zimmermann from the IHA (see right box below).

Emotions betray overtaxing

In his PhD thesis Zimmermann is working on ways to measure the emotional component of man-machine-interaction. He is concentrating on motory parameters, such as the speed of the mouse, click frequency, duration of holding down a key or speed of typing in order to determine the mood of the user. Zimmermann sees the practical use for the results of his work for example in advertising and e-commerce, for the pre-selection of incoming calls in call centres, the surveillance of security systems in nuclear power stations or planes, or for e-learning, where a virtual teacher would be able to see how a student is coping.

From word to picture and from picture to film

Zimmermann was responsible for the special programme "Interactive Experience" at INTERACT 2003, which mirrored the interaction between science and art with a number of heterogeneous installations and experiments. Zimmermann personally presented an installation called "One-word-movie" (3). This is a platform that uses an online search engine to assemble a rapid sequence of images related to a keyword supplied by the user. The result is a stream-of-consciousness style film that throws new light on the psycho-geography of the Internet.

"Emotions" researcher Philippe Zimmermann with his favourite One-word-movie "Madonna". large

Psycho-geography of the Internet

After entry of the keyword "me", for example, One-word-movie generates a pattern that is fairly indicative of what can be called the current state of Internet culture. Pictures of young white men are predominant. Women, on the other hand, appear somewhat later because they are lower down in the ranking. However, the keyword "Madonna" (Zimmermann's personal favourite) throws up a completely different pattern. Initially, the famous popstar dominates (picture above), but as holy pictures and icons begin to appear, she is replaced bit by bit by images and icons of the christian Virgin Mary. Zimmermann sums up, "One-word-movie opens up a scintillating view on what until now has been the invisible psycho-profile of the Internet".

"Thanks to ergonomics research a profusion of products exist that are easy-to-use, understandable but nevertheless good to look at." large

Identifying striking elements

A further participant from INTERACT 2003 is involved with work that concerns the Internet, although his interests are more commercial than artistic. After studying and obtaining his PhD at ETH, 33 year-old ergonomist Christopher Müller co-founded a spin-off company two years ago. Ergonomics & technology (e&t) (4) tests the user quality of interactive products in its own "Usability Testlab" and advises clients on the development of user-friendly, simple and useful products.

The company tested, for example, the new "Web Corporate Design" (5) of ETH Zurich with regard to user quality. Tests carried out with users led to numerous modifications of the ETH design (cf. picture below). The "e&t attentiontracker", e&t's most recent development, was presented at INTERACT 2003. "With "e&t attentiontracker" we can identify the most striking elements on Internet pages and user interfaces, as well as in advertising and print media, and they can then be positioned in an optimal way," explains Müller.

The new Web Corporate Design" of ETH Zurich: before (above) and after (below) tests carried out in the "Usability-Testlab". (Spot the difference :-) large

Coerciveness of the mobile phone

By the large then, is ergonomics research limited to webpages? Müller says no and cites the classical examples of the design of computer keyboards, the mouse or even the workplace in its entirety. "Great progress has been made in this area over the past twenty years," he says, referring to the arrival of the first PCs in the 1980s. It must be said, however, that users still get used to using badly designed products. "For example, mobile phone users who want to send an SMS are forced to use a very impractical number block to write their message. Despite this coercion, sending messages is very popular and well accepted. "But there are signs that the user's patience is crumbling," says Müller and predicts, "In future it will be increasingly important that new products can be accessed intuitively".

User-friendly future

Müller was primarily responsible for taking care of the media at INTERACT 2003. At the conference’s media lunch, he gave a talk emphasising the importance of developing products more strongly oriented towards the user. "Products that are easy to use reduce the time spent working people in, the instruction effort and the maintenance and"known" errors are avoided. In addition, well-conceived products heighten both security and the acceptance of the user. Müller assures the audience: a lot of well-conceived, modern products are around today thanks to ergonomics research and international standards. He concludes with a promise: "Thanks to impulses for research and development released during INTERACT 2003, we can expect a future filled with even more user-friendly products".

Three practical "usability" tips (6)

Listings should include no more than four to eight elements, because according to ISO 9241-14 this is the number a human eye can take in in a single glance. Humans eyes have a lower density of "blue" receptors which react even slower than those for green or red. For this reason blue should not be chosen for moving objects, like the mouse pointer. Blue and red should not be used against dark backgrounds as, according to ISO 9241-12, they offer too little contrast for the eye. The same applies to yellow or green on a light background. Further tips under (6)