Copyright © 2006 – Brad A. Myers Answering Why and Why Not Questions in User Interfaces Brad...

Copyright © 2006 – Brad A.

Myers

Answering Why and Why Not Questions in

User Interfaces

Answering Why and Why Not Questions in

User Interfaces

Brad Myers, David A. Weitzman, Andrew J. Ko, and Duen Horng (“Polo”) Chau

Human Computer Interaction Institute

Carnegie Mellon University http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~bam

Brad Myers, David A. Weitzman, Andrew J. Ko, and Duen Horng (“Polo”) Chau

Human Computer Interaction Institute

Carnegie Mellon University http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~bam

Brad A. Myers, CMU 22

Modern Applications are Complex Modern Applications are Complex

WHY?

WHY?


Complexities, cont.Complexities, cont.

WHY?



WHY?

WHY?



XX WHY NOT?

WHY?WHY?WHY?

WHY?

WHY? WHY?


Why Do They Do That?Why Do They Do That?

Many of these features are useful most of the time

Interfaces will inevitably get more “intelligent” and helpful

No current help system can help users understand why behaviors happen at run-time Especially why they do not happen

Many of these features are useful most of the time

Interfaces will inevitably get more “intelligent” and helpful

No current help system can help users understand why behaviors happen at run-time Especially why they do not happen


CRYSTAL

CRYSTAL

larificationslarificationsegardingegardingourouroftware using aoftware using aoolkit,oolkit,rchitecture andrchitecture andanguageanguage

larificationslarificationsegardingegardingourouroftware using aoftware using aoolkit,oolkit,rchitecture andrchitecture andanguageanguage

CrystalCrystal

User interfaces for asking Why and Why Not questions

Answers that are helpful

Object-oriented framework to make it easy to implement applications

Note: Not for existing applications

User interfaces for asking Why and Why Not questions

Answers that are helpful

Object-oriented framework to make it easy to implement applications

Note: Not for existing applications


Crystal DemonstrationCrystal Demonstration

Implemented in Java Created a text editor to experiment with

Crystal features A few features copied from Microsoft

Word v11 (2003) Basic text editing with character and

paragraph properties Automatic spelling correction and

capitalization Complete Styles mechanism with inheritance

Ability to ask Why and Why Not questions

Implemented in Java Created a text editor to experiment with

Crystal features A few features copied from Microsoft

Word v11 (2003) Basic text editing with character and

paragraph properties Automatic spelling correction and

capitalization Complete Styles mechanism with inheritance

Ability to ask Why and Why Not questions


Why Questions, 1Why Questions, 1

Why menu Easy to find Might be a submenu

of help Contains list of

most recent commands

Including commands not executed due to mode settings

Why menu Easy to find Might be a submenu

of help Contains list of

most recent commands

Including commands not executed due to mode settings


Why Questions, 2Why Questions, 2

Can hit “F1” key anywhereto ask about a location Users often know where the

problem is, but notwhat caused it

Might not be recent Drops a pink ? to show where

Pops up a menu of questions about objects under the mouse

Can also point to invisible objects Whitespace Objects that were deleted

Can hit “F1” key anywhereto ask about a location Users often know where the

problem is, but notwhat caused it

Might not be recent Drops a pink ? to show where

Pops up a menu of questions about objects under the mouse

Can also point to invisible objects Whitespace Objects that were deleted


Questions, 3Questions, 3

If don’t know to use “F1”, Why menu includes prompt for a location

If don’t know to use “F1”, Why menu includes prompt for a location


Specific QuestionsSpecific Questions

Can ask about specific properties of objects Fonts, paragraph properties

Or about more global changes teh The

Can ask about specific properties of objects Fonts, paragraph properties

Or about more global changes teh The


Questions about ControlsQuestions about Controls

Can ask about the user interface controls as well

What they do

Why grayed out

Can ask about the user interface controls as well

What they do

Why grayed out


AnswersAnswers People usually don’t really want to know

“why” They want to know “How do I fix this” Crystal’s answers show the specific user

interface controls that control the behavior

People usually don’t really want to know “why”

They want to know “How do I fix this” Crystal’s answers show the specific user

interface controls that control the behavior


18 items, 4 submenus

with16 more choices!

18 items, 4 submenus

with16 more choices!

Answers, cont.Answers, cont.

teh the ?? teh the ??

5 panes!



teh the ?? teh the ??

13 panes!



If complex, multi-part answer, then provides multiple “How can I…” questions for each part E.g., for Styles

If complex, multi-part answer, then provides multiple “How can I…” questions for each part E.g., for Styles


Implementation OverviewImplementation Overview

(Full details in the paper) Only a little more work than supporting Undo “Command object” architecture for actions

Command objects stored on a list for undo Programmer adds back pointers from objects

to the commands that changed them Add dependency

information for modevariables

Add special commands for actions not executed

Add extra invisible objects for whitespace and deletions

(Full details in the paper) Only a little more work than supporting Undo “Command object” architecture for actions

Command objects stored on a list for undo Programmer adds back pointers from objects

to the commands that changed them Add dependency

information for modevariables

Add special commands for actions not executed

Add extra invisible objects for whitespace and deletions


Implementation, cont.Implementation, cont. Crystal framework then builds Why

menus and answers automatically Crystal finds:

Objects under the mouse Commands that affected those objects User interface controls involved in those

commands Programmer can annotate some

commands to not include in menus E.g., regular typing Similar to heuristics for granularity of Undo

Crystal framework then builds Why menus and answers automatically

Crystal finds: Objects under the mouse Commands that affected those objects User interface controls involved in those

commands Programmer can annotate some

commands to not include in menus E.g., regular typing Similar to heuristics for granularity of Undo


User StudyUser Study Between participants, 10 in each group

One group had Why menus, other group didn’t 6 tasks, based on Microsoft support pages Example:

All tasks shown on video

Between participants, 10 in each group One group had Why menus, other group didn’t

6 tasks, based on Microsoft support pages Example:

All tasks shown on video

a) Type in the following sentence “The abbreviation fl. oz. stands for fluid ounce.”

b) You notice that the word processor has capitalized some characters for you, but you don’t want this to happen.

c) Your task is to make the automatic capitalization not happen again.

d) When you think you’re done, type “fl. oz. stands” again to make sure it works.

a) Type in the following sentence “The abbreviation fl. oz. stands for fluid ounce.”

b) You notice that the word processor has capitalized some characters for you, but you don’t want this to happen.

c) Your task is to make the automatic capitalization not happen again.

d) When you think you’re done, type “fl. oz. stands” again to make sure it works.


ResultsResults “Why” menus group completed 5.60 (93%) of

the tasks compared to 4.20 (70%) without 33% more completed F [1, 20] = 12.60, p < .005 on between-participants

ANOVA

“Why” menus group completed 5.60 (93%) of the tasks compared to 4.20 (70%) without 33% more completed F [1, 20] = 12.60, p < .005 on between-participants

ANOVACompletion Rate

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

1 2 3 4 5 6 AVERAGE

Task #

With Why Menu

Without


ObservationsObservations

Participants really liked the “Why” capability on the survey Wanted it in their applications

Diversity of use of F1 key vs. menu Desired questions were found easily in

the why menus

Participants really liked the “Why” capability on the survey Wanted it in their applications

Diversity of use of F1 key vs. menu Desired questions were found easily in

the why menus


VideoVideo


ConclusionsConclusions

Answering “Why” and “Why Not” questions is helpful and feasible

Should be added to all future applications

Answering “Why” and “Why Not” questions is helpful and feasible

Should be added to all future applications

WHY NOT?

Copyright © 2006 – Brad A.

Myers

Answering Why andWhy Not Questions in

User Interfaces

Answering Why andWhy Not Questions in

User Interfaces

Funded by NSF

Brad Myers, David A. Weitzman, Andrew J. Ko, and Duen Horng (“Polo”)

Chauhttp://www.cs.cmu.edu/~bam

Funded by NSF

Brad Myers, David A. Weitzman, Andrew J. Ko, and Duen Horng (“Polo”)

Chauhttp://www.cs.cmu.edu/~bam

Copyright © 2006 – Brad A. Myers Answering Why and Why Not Questions in User Interfaces Brad...

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