infovis

3D is better than 2D, right?

January 22, 2010
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It seems that every few years, 3D technology is in the zeitgeist (with 3d movies).  User interfaces are not immune to the frenzy of 3D.  However, there is quite a bit of past research in 3D interfaces (I won’t even scratch the surface but see this simple Google Scholar search to start). Much, but not all, relate to navigation in [...]

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Data visualization tools

December 10, 2009
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Foreshadowing Anne’s upcoming series of posts on large, public, and free data sets, here are two interesting tools to help you visualize massive quantities of data. First, my grad student Margaux informed me of Google Fusion Tables (shown above). The site lets you upload data and visualize it in different ways. The website has some samples. From the website: Look [...]

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Usability/Design/HF Potpourri

December 4, 2009
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Just in time for the end of the year:  Top 10 interaction design books from Kicker Studio Making cooking safe for the blind (via Real World Design) Deciding when you need graphics (via uxforward) We’ve posted before about the man who designs the UIs in movies, but Gizmodo has posted his new streaming demo reel…fascinating. How will reading change with [...]

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Graph extravaganza: Who are our “users”?

November 13, 2009
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It’s Friday, so here are some interesting visitor statistics of the blog (based on the last 1580 visitors).  I meant to do this on our two year anniversary (two months ago) but better late than never. First, where are our visitors coming from?  Primarily in the U.S. and Europe with some visits from China. Zooming in on the U.S. and [...]

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Usability issues in navigating your life

September 8, 2009

Gordon Bell, a Microsoft Researcher, is recording his life in excruciating detail in a project dubbed MyLifeBits: Web sites he’s visited (221,173), photos taken (56,282), emails sent and received (156,041), docs written and read (18,883), phone conversations had (2,000), photos snapped by the SenseCam hanging around his neck (66,000), songs listened to (7,139), and videos taken by him (2,164). Why [...]

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Augmented Reality for Everyone

July 16, 2009

There have been many recent examples of consumer friendly augmented reality applications for smart phone users.  I remember reading about augmented reality research over a decade ago (in an HCI class) and remembering how bulky, expensive, experimental, and out-of-reach it seemed back then.  The systems back then required head-mounted displays and were physically attached to cameras and large computers.  Now [...]

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Population Trends: Age

July 16, 2009

Perhaps you are like me, and always looking for great images to put in your presentations about why it’s important to consider aging in human factors work. Or perhaps you just like a good, creative visualization. Well, here you go on both counts. This comes courtesy of Mark Thoma of the Economist’s View blog, created from census data. It shows [...]

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Emergency Checklists and Aviation

June 10, 2009

The recent water landing into the Hudson is still being investigated. This AP article focuses on whether flight attendants were trained not to open the back door of the plane during a water landing, but the most interesting bit comes at the end: Another concern is whether the FAA and airlines need to revise emergency procedures for pilots in the [...]

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Infographics Galore!

June 1, 2009

Set aside some time to browse this treasure trove of infographics. I love infographics but someone should do a study–do they improve comprehension? [from kottke]

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Acoustic Information from Basketball Courts

May 14, 2009

I came across an article on ANSI standards that had an interesting human factors anecdote. Thought I would share: It seems that a critical part any basketball game is the wood flooring, something which the fans generally take for granted, but not so the players. Basketball floors are highly engineered surfaces, made of three-quarter inch thick tongue-and-groove northern hard maple, [...]

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Map Information Visualizations = HOT!

May 1, 2009
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I‘ve noticed a trend in the newsworld/blogworld recently. Everyone wants to represent everything on a map. Some of these are genius, others make me wonder “why bother?” I collected some of each for this post… but I warn you, once you notice this pattern you’ll start seeing it multiple times per day. Job loss from Slate.com: (Usability note: good luck [...]

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Dashboards meet the 21st century

April 10, 2009
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Reader Darin Ellis sends along this news item from MSNBC about the future of car dashboards (hint: analog is out, glass screens are in).  There is a great quote in the article from the visualization designer of Chrysler: A lot of usability studies need to be done. Designing these is not a no-brainer. In addition to this article, here are [...]

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In 2019 I will be 44…

March 1, 2009

Here is a neat vision of what 2019 will be like courtesy Microsoft Office Labs.  This concept video was produced by Microsoft and shown at the Wharton Business Technology Conference.  Two things that caught my attention were the prodigious use of touch interface and gestures (which I am not crazy about; my finger/hands get tired using my iPod touch to [...]

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Google PowerMeter

February 10, 2009

We’ve spoken before about the role of human factors in energy conservation. It looks like Google is taking a big step toward raising awareness of home energy usage from your desktop.  With the installation of home energy meters, you may soon be able to track your own power usage: Google PowerMeter, now in prototype, will receive information from utility smart [...]

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Interface aid for hyper-milers

November 26, 2008
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I have at least one friend who admits to “hyper miling,” or watching the MPG gauge at all times and trying to keep his average as high as possible. In one way I find this to be a fascinating task that one could use to study multiple-cue learning, pattern recognition, or adoption of superstitious behavior. (After all, was it kicking [...]

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Where are visitors coming from?

November 25, 2008

This post isn’t human factors-related but I just wanted to share with you an image showing where the last 100 or so visitors came from (click for a larger image). For our United States readers, have a Happy Thanksgiving!

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