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Using structural descriptions of interfaces to automate the modelling of user cognition.
Authors:
May, J., Barnard, P.J. & Blandford, A.
Reference:
User Modelling and User Adapted Interaction, 3, 27-64.
Year of publication:
1993
CBU number:
2936
Abstract:
Our approach to user modelling in human-computer interaction is to build approximate descriptions of the cognition underlying task performance. The technique requires several sets of production rules. One set maps from a real-world description of an interface design to an internal theoretical description. Other rules elaborate the theoretical description, while further rules map from the theoretical description to properties of user behaviour. This paper is concerned primarily with the first type of rule, for mapping from interface descriptions to theoretical description of cognitive activity. We show how structural descriptions of interface designs can be used to model user tasks, visual interface objects and screen layouts. An expert system implementation of the technique has been developed.
