Lecture Notes in Computer Science Commenced Publication in 1973 Founding and Former Series Editors: Gerhard Goos, Juris Hartmanis, and Jan van Leeuwen
Editorial Board David Hutchison Lancaster University, UK Takeo Kanade Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA Josef Kittler University of Surrey, Guildford, UK Jon M. Kleinberg Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA Alfred Kobsa University of California, Irvine, CA, USA Friedemann Mattern ETH Zurich, Switzerland John C. Mitchell Stanford University, CA, USA Moni Naor Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel Oscar Nierstrasz University of Bern, Switzerland C. Pandu Rangan Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India Bernhard Steffen University of Dortmund, Germany Madhu Sudan Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA, USA Demetri Terzopoulos University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA Doug Tygar University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA Gerhard Weikum Max-Planck Institute of Computer Science, Saarbruecken, Germany
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A. Ant Ozok Panayiotis Zaphiris (Eds.)
Online Communities and Social Computing Third International Conference, OCSC 2009 Held as Part of HCI International 2009 San Diego, CA, USA, July 19-24, 2009 Proceedings
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Volume Editors A. Ant Ozok UMBC, Department of Information Systems 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA E-mail:
[email protected] Panayiotis Zaphiris Cyprus University of Technology Department of Multimedia and Graphic Arts 3036 Lemesos, Cyprus E-mail:
[email protected]
Library of Congress Control Number: 2009928838 CR Subject Classification (1998): K.4-6, K.8, C.2, H.5, H.4, H.3, J.1, J.3 LNCS Sublibrary: SL 3 – Information Systems and Application, incl. Internet/Web and HCI ISSN ISBN-10 ISBN-13
0302-9743 3-642-02773-3 Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York 978-3-642-02773-4 Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, re-use of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Violations are liable to prosecution under the German Copyright Law. springer.com © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009 Printed in Germany Typesetting: Camera-ready by author, data conversion by Scientific Publishing Services, Chennai, India Printed on acid-free paper SPIN: 12708697 06/3180 543210
Foreword
The 13th International Conference on Human–Computer Interaction, HCI International 2009, was held in San Diego, California, USA, July 19–24, 2009, jointly with the Symposium on Human Interface (Japan) 2009, the 8th International Conference on Engineering Psychology and Cognitive Ergonomics, the 5th International Conference on Universal Access in Human–Computer Interaction, the Third International Conference on Virtual and Mixed Reality, the Third International Conference on Internationalization, Design and Global Development, the Third International Conference on Online Communities and Social Computing, the 5th International Conference on Augmented Cognition, the Second International Conference on Digital Human Modeling, and the First International Conference on Human Centered Design. A total of 4,348 individuals from academia, research institutes, industry and governmental agencies from 73 countries submitted contributions, and 1,397 papers that were judged to be of high scientific quality were included in the program. These papers address the latest research and development efforts and highlight the human aspects of the design and use of computing systems. The papers accepted for presentation thoroughly cover the entire field of human–computer interaction, addressing major advances in knowledge and effective use of computers in a variety of application areas. This volume, edited by A. Ant Ozok and Panayiotis Zaphiris, contains papers in the thematic area of Online Communities and Social Computing, addressing the following major topics: • • • • •
Designing and Developing Online Communities Social Behavior of Humans and Artificial Agents in Online Communities Web 2.0: Emerging Challenges Learning, Education and Culture Online Games Online Communities and Society
The remaining volumes of the HCI International 2009 proceedings are: • • • • •
Volume 1, LNCS 5610, Human–Computer Interaction––New Trends (Part I), edited by Julie A. Jacko Volume 2, LNCS 5611, Human–Computer Interaction––Novel Interaction Methods and Techniques (Part II), edited by Julie A. Jacko Volume 3, LNCS 5612, Human–Computer Interaction––Ambient, Ubiquitous and Intelligent Interaction (Part III), edited by Julie A. Jacko Volume 4, LNCS 5613, Human–Computer Interaction––Interacting in Various Application Domains (Part IV), edited by Julie A. Jacko Volume 5, LNCS 5614, Universal Access in Human–Computer Interaction––Addressing Diversity (Part I), edited by Constantine Stephanidis
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Foreword
• • • • • • • • • • •
Volume 6, LNCS 5615, Universal Access in Human–Computer Interaction––Intelligent and Ubiquitous Interaction Environments (Part II), edited by Constantine Stephanidis Volume 7, LNCS 5616, Universal Access in Human–Computer Interaction––Applications and Services (Part III), edited by Constantine Stephanidis Volume 8, LNCS 5617, Human Interface and the Management of Information––Designing Information Environments (Part I), edited by Michael J. Smith and Gavriel Salvendy Volume 9, LNCS 5618, Human Interface and the Management of Information––Information and Interaction (Part II), edited by Gavriel Salvendy and Michael J. Smith Volume 10, LNCS 5619, Human Centered Design, edited by Masaaki Kurosu Volume 11, LNCS 5620, Digital Human Modeling, edited by Vincent G. Duffy Volume 13, LNCS 5622, Virtual and Mixed Reality, edited by Randall Shumaker Volume 14, LNCS 5623, Internationalization, Design and Global Development, edited by Nuray Aykin Volume 15, LNCS 5624, Ergonomics and Health Aspects of Work with Computers, edited by Ben-Tzion Karsh Volume 16, LNAI 5638, The Foundations of Augmented Cognition: Neuroergonomics and Operational Neuroscience, edited by Dylan Schmorrow, Ivy Estabrooke and Marc Grootjen Volume 17, LNAI 5639, Engineering Psychology and Cognitive Ergonomics, edited by Don Harris
I would like to thank the Program Chairs and the members of the Program Boards of all thematic areas, listed below, for their contribution to the highest scientific quality and the overall success of HCI International 2009.
Ergonomics and Health Aspects of Work with Computers Program Chair: Ben-Tzion Karsh Arne Aarås, Norway Pascale Carayon, USA Barbara G.F. Cohen, USA Wolfgang Friesdorf, Germany John Gosbee, USA Martin Helander, Singapore Ed Israelski, USA Waldemar Karwowski, USA Peter Kern, Germany Danuta Koradecka, Poland Kari Lindström, Finland
Holger Luczak, Germany Aura C. Matias, Philippines Kyung (Ken) Park, Korea Michelle M. Robertson, USA Michelle L. Rogers, USA Steven L. Sauter, USA Dominique L. Scapin, France Naomi Swanson, USA Peter Vink, The Netherlands John Wilson, UK Teresa Zayas-Cabán, USA
Foreword
Human Interface and the Management of Information Program Chair: Michael J. Smith Gunilla Bradley, Sweden Hans-Jörg Bullinger, Germany Alan Chan, Hong Kong Klaus-Peter Fähnrich, Germany Michitaka Hirose, Japan Jhilmil Jain, USA Yasufumi Kume, Japan Mark Lehto, USA Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah, USA Shogo Nishida, Japan Robert Proctor, USA Youngho Rhee, Korea
Anxo Cereijo Roibás, UK Katsunori Shimohara, Japan Dieter Spath, Germany Tsutomu Tabe, Japan Alvaro D. Taveira, USA Kim-Phuong L. Vu, USA Tomio Watanabe, Japan Sakae Yamamoto, Japan Hidekazu Yoshikawa, Japan Li Zheng, P.R. China Bernhard Zimolong, Germany
Human–Computer Interaction Program Chair: Julie A. Jacko Sebastiano Bagnara, Italy Sherry Y. Chen, UK Marvin J. Dainoff, USA Jianming Dong, USA John Eklund, Australia Xiaowen Fang, USA Ayse Gurses, USA Vicki L. Hanson, UK Sheue-Ling Hwang, Taiwan Wonil Hwang, Korea Yong Gu Ji, Korea Steven Landry, USA
Gitte Lindgaard, Canada Chen Ling, USA Yan Liu, USA Chang S. Nam, USA Celestine A. Ntuen, USA Philippe Palanque, France P.L. Patrick Rau, P.R. China Ling Rothrock, USA Guangfeng Song, USA Steffen Staab, Germany Wan Chul Yoon, Korea Wenli Zhu, P.R. China
Engineering Psychology and Cognitive Ergonomics Program Chair: Don Harris Guy A. Boy, USA John Huddlestone, UK Kenji Itoh, Japan Hung-Sying Jing, Taiwan Ron Laughery, USA Wen-Chin Li, Taiwan James T. Luxhøj, USA
Nicolas Marmaras, Greece Sundaram Narayanan, USA Mark A. Neerincx, The Netherlands Jan M. Noyes, UK Kjell Ohlsson, Sweden Axel Schulte, Germany Sarah C. Sharples, UK
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Neville A. Stanton, UK Xianghong Sun, P.R. China Andrew Thatcher, South Africa
Matthew J.W. Thomas, Australia Mark Young, UK
Universal Access in Human–Computer Interaction Program Chair: Constantine Stephanidis Julio Abascal, Spain Ray Adams, UK Elisabeth André, Germany Margherita Antona, Greece Chieko Asakawa, Japan Christian Bühler, Germany Noelle Carbonell, France Jerzy Charytonowicz, Poland Pier Luigi Emiliani, Italy Michael Fairhurst, UK Dimitris Grammenos, Greece Andreas Holzinger, Austria Arthur I. Karshmer, USA Simeon Keates, Denmark Georgios Kouroupetroglou, Greece Sri Kurniawan, USA
Patrick M. Langdon, UK Seongil Lee, Korea Zhengjie Liu, P.R. China Klaus Miesenberger, Austria Helen Petrie, UK Michael Pieper, Germany Anthony Savidis, Greece Andrew Sears, USA Christian Stary, Austria Hirotada Ueda, Japan Jean Vanderdonckt, Belgium Gregg C. Vanderheiden, USA Gerhard Weber, Germany Harald Weber, Germany Toshiki Yamaoka, Japan Panayiotis Zaphiris, UK
Virtual and Mixed Reality Program Chair: Randall Shumaker Pat Banerjee, USA Mark Billinghurst, New Zealand Charles E. Hughes, USA David Kaber, USA Hirokazu Kato, Japan Robert S. Kennedy, USA Young J. Kim, Korea Ben Lawson, USA
Gordon M. Mair, UK Miguel A. Otaduy, Switzerland David Pratt, UK Albert “Skip” Rizzo, USA Lawrence Rosenblum, USA Dieter Schmalstieg, Austria Dylan Schmorrow, USA Mark Wiederhold, USA
Internationalization, Design and Global Development Program Chair: Nuray Aykin Michael L. Best, USA Ram Bishu, USA Alan Chan, Hong Kong Andy M. Dearden, UK
Susan M. Dray, USA Vanessa Evers, The Netherlands Paul Fu, USA Emilie Gould, USA
Foreword
Sung H. Han, Korea Veikko Ikonen, Finland Esin Kiris, USA Masaaki Kurosu, Japan Apala Lahiri Chavan, USA James R. Lewis, USA Ann Light, UK James J.W. Lin, USA Rungtai Lin, Taiwan Zhengjie Liu, P.R. China Aaron Marcus, USA Allen E. Milewski, USA
Elizabeth D. Mynatt, USA Oguzhan Ozcan, Turkey Girish Prabhu, India Kerstin Röse, Germany Eunice Ratna Sari, Indonesia Supriya Singh, Australia Christian Sturm, Spain Adi Tedjasaputra, Singapore Kentaro Toyama, India Alvin W. Yeo, Malaysia Chen Zhao, P.R. China Wei Zhou, P.R. China
Online Communities and Social Computing Program Chairs: A. Ant Ozok, Panayiotis Zaphiris Chadia N. Abras, USA Chee Siang Ang, UK Amy Bruckman, USA Peter Day, UK Fiorella De Cindio, Italy Michael Gurstein, Canada Tom Horan, USA Anita Komlodi, USA Piet A.M. Kommers, The Netherlands Jonathan Lazar, USA Stefanie Lindstaedt, Austria
Gabriele Meiselwitz, USA Hideyuki Nakanishi, Japan Anthony F. Norcio, USA Jennifer Preece, USA Elaine M. Raybourn, USA Douglas Schuler, USA Gilson Schwartz, Brazil Sergei Stafeev, Russia Charalambos Vrasidas, Cyprus Cheng-Yen Wang, Taiwan
Augmented Cognition Program Chair: Dylan D. Schmorrow Andy Bellenkes, USA Andrew Belyavin, UK Joseph Cohn, USA Martha E. Crosby, USA Tjerk de Greef, The Netherlands Blair Dickson, UK Traci Downs, USA Julie Drexler, USA Ivy Estabrooke, USA Cali Fidopiastis, USA Chris Forsythe, USA Wai Tat Fu, USA Henry Girolamo, USA
Marc Grootjen, The Netherlands Taro Kanno, Japan Wilhelm E. Kincses, Germany David Kobus, USA Santosh Mathan, USA Rob Matthews, Australia Dennis McBride, USA Robert McCann, USA Jeff Morrison, USA Eric Muth, USA Mark A. Neerincx, The Netherlands Denise Nicholson, USA Glenn Osga, USA
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Foreword
Dennis Proffitt, USA Leah Reeves, USA Mike Russo, USA Kay Stanney, USA Roy Stripling, USA Mike Swetnam, USA Rob Taylor, UK
Maria L.Thomas, USA Peter-Paul van Maanen, The Netherlands Karl van Orden, USA Roman Vilimek, Germany Glenn Wilson, USA Thorsten Zander, Germany
Digital Human Modeling Program Chair: Vincent G. Duffy Karim Abdel-Malek, USA Thomas J. Armstrong, USA Norm Badler, USA Kathryn Cormican, Ireland Afzal Godil, USA Ravindra Goonetilleke, Hong Kong Anand Gramopadhye, USA Sung H. Han, Korea Lars Hanson, Sweden Pheng Ann Heng, Hong Kong Tianzi Jiang, P.R. China
Kang Li, USA Zhizhong Li, P.R. China Timo J. Määttä, Finland Woojin Park, USA Matthew Parkinson, USA Jim Potvin, Canada Rajesh Subramanian, USA Xuguang Wang, France John F. Wiechel, USA Jingzhou (James) Yang, USA Xiu-gan Yuan, P.R. China
Human Centered Design Program Chair: Masaaki Kurosu Gerhard Fischer, USA Tom Gross, Germany Naotake Hirasawa, Japan Yasuhiro Horibe, Japan Minna Isomursu, Finland Mitsuhiko Karashima, Japan Tadashi Kobayashi, Japan
Kun-Pyo Lee, Korea Loïc Martínez-Normand, Spain Dominique L. Scapin, France Haruhiko Urokohara, Japan Gerrit C. van der Veer, The Netherlands Kazuhiko Yamazaki, Japan
In addition to the members of the Program Boards above, I also wish to thank the following volunteer external reviewers: Gavin Lew from the USA, Daniel Su from the UK, and Ilia Adami, Ioannis Basdekis, Yannis Georgalis, Panagiotis Karampelas, Iosif Klironomos, Alexandros Mourouzis, and Stavroula Ntoa from Greece. This conference could not have been possible without the continuous support and advice of the Conference Scientific Advisor, Prof. Gavriel Salvendy, as well as the dedicated work and outstanding efforts of the Communications Chair and Editor of HCI International News, Abbas Moallem.
Foreword
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I would also like to thank for their contribution toward the organization of the HCI International 2009 conference the members of the Human–Computer Interaction Laboratory of ICS-FORTH, and in particular Margherita Antona, George Paparoulis, Maria Pitsoulaki, Stavroula Ntoa, and Maria Bouhli. Constantine Stephanidis
HCI International 2011
The 14th International Conference on Human–Computer Interaction, HCI International 2011, will be held jointly with the affiliated conferences in the summer of 2011. It will cover a broad spectrum of themes related to human–computer interaction, including theoretical issues, methods, tools, processes and case studies in HCI design, as well as novel interaction techniques, interfaces and applications. The proceedings will be published by Springer. More information about the topics, as well as the venue and dates of the conference, will be announced through the HCI International Conference series website: http://www.hci-international.org/
General Chair Professor Constantine Stephanidis University of Crete and ICS-FORTH Heraklion, Crete, Greece Email:
[email protected]
Table of Contents
Part I: Designing and Developing Online Communities A Discussion System for Knowledge Sharing and Collaborative Analysis of Incidents in Nuclear Power Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Saizo Aoyagi, Hidenori Fujino, Hirotake Ishii, Hiroshi Shimoda, Hiroshi Sakuda, Hidekazu Yoshikawa, and Toshio Sugiman Universal Navigation through Social Networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mahsa Ghafourian, Hassan A. Karimi, and Linda van Roosmalen Collaborative Work in 3D Virtual Environments: A Research Agenda and Operational Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B´eatrice S. Hasler, Thierry Buecheler, and Rolf Pfeifer
3
13
23
Workflow-Based Architecture for Collaborative Video Annotation . . . . . . Cristian Hofmann, Nina Hollender, and Dieter W. Fellner
33
Catalysing the Development of a Conference Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jukka Huhtam¨ aki, Ossi Nyk¨ anen, and Jaakko Salonen
43
Dialogues of Locations: BlueSpot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andr´ as Kangyal and L´ aszl´ o Laufer
53
Instant Online Communities as a Means to Foster Conferences . . . . . . . . . Martin Christof Kindsm¨ uller, Jan Milz, and Johannes Schmidt
62
Mobile Social Service Design for Large-Scale Exhibition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Huanglingzi Liu, Ying Liu, Wei Wang, and Bin Wang
72
Accessibility of Registration Mechanisms in Social Networking Sites . . . . Gabriele Meiselwitz and Jonathan Lazar
82
A Visualization Approach for Group Behaviors, Beliefs and Intentions to Support Critical Decisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Colleen L. Phillips, Norman D. Geddes, and Justin T. Simms Measuring Usability via Biometrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anjali Phukan Structuring the Social Subsystem Components of the Community Based E-Museum Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Suriyati Razali, Nor Laila Md. Noor, and Wan Adilah Wan Adnan
91 101
108
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Notice Board as Metaphor for Social Media Service in Chemical Factory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sampo Ter¨ as and Petri Mannonen
117
A Study on the Interface for Viewing the Information Menu of a Town from Intersections Using a Digital Compass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Misa Tsuchihashi and Katsuhiko Ogawa
126
Email Accessibility and Social Networking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brian Wentz and Jonathan Lazar
134
Part II: Social Behaviour of Humans and Artificial Agents in Online Communities Why People Use Social Networking Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Petter Bae Brandtzæg and Jan Heim Automatic Generation of Non-verbal Behavior for Agents in Virtual Worlds: A System for Supporting Multimodal Conversations of Bots and Avatars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Werner Breitfuss, Helmut Prendinger, and Mitsuru Ishizuka Preliminary Findings from a Cross Cultural Usability Study on the Internationalization of User Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Joyram Chakraborty, Linda Hansen, Darren A. Denenberg, and Anthony F. Norcio Credibility On-Line: Quality Metrics for Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Francisco V. Cipolla Ficarra, Ernesto Vivas, and Joaquim Romo
143
153
162
172
A Life-Like Agent Interface System with Second Life Avatars on the OpenSimulator Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hiroshi Dohi and Mitsuru Ishizuka
182
Multi-dimensional Moderation in Online Communities: Experiences with Three Norwegian Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gheorghita Ghinea, Bendik Bygstad, and Christoph Schmitz
191
Modding as Rating Behavior in Virtual Communities: The Case of Rooster Teeth Productions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stefan Haefliger, Philip Reichen, Peter M. J¨ ager, and Georg von Krogh Personalized and Deformed Avatars for Realizing Avatar-Mediated Real Person-to-Person Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Masayuki Heike, Kinya Fujita, and Takahiro Tanaka Ghatcha: GHost Avatar on a Telework CHAir . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yutaka Ishii, Kouzi Osaki, and Tomio Watanabe
197
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Distributed Leadership, Trust and Online Communities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jill Jameson
226
Metacommunication Patterns in Online Communities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arto Lanam¨ aki and Tero P¨ aiv¨ arinta
236
Collective Content as a Facilitator of Community Interaction: A User Study of Four Close-Knit Communities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thomas Olsson, Hannu Toivola, Minna W¨ aljas, Kaisa V¨ a¨ an¨ anen-Vainio-Mattila, and Jaakko Lehikoinen Analysis of Information Disclosure on a Social Networking Site . . . . . . . . Katherine Peterson and Katie A. Siek Attribution of Identity in Autonomous Action of Remotely Operated Robot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yugo Takeuchi and Hikaru Nakagami Supporting Acceptable Dialogue Start Based on User Uninterruptibility Estimation for Avatar-Mediated Multi-tasking Online Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Takahiro Tanaka, Kyouhei Matsumura, and Kinya Fujita Developing Believable Interactive Cultural Characters for Cross-Cultural Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Glenn Taylor and Ed Sims
246
256
265
272
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Part III: Web 2.0: Emerging Challenges Weighting Structures: Evolutionary Dynamics of Innovation Networks in Virtual Communities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vitaliano Barberio and Alessandro Lomi
295
User Reputation Evaluation Using Co-occurrence Feature and Collective Intelligence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jeong-Won Cha, Hyun-woo Lee, Yo-Sub Han, and Laehyun Kim
305
Innovation Networks: A Report on Creating a Specialist Professional Social Network, Offline and Online, to Foster Innovation in the New Media Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bob Cotton The Innovation Architectures of Facebook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Susan Shepherd Ferebee and James Davis Improving Personal Tagging Consistency through Visualization of Tag Relevancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Qin Gao, Yusen Dai, and Kai Fu
312 322
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“I Heard It on the Grapevine” – Blogging, Facebook, YouTube, and Student Self-Organization during a Faculty Strike . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Emilie W. Gould
336
Evaluation of User Reputation on YouTube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yo-Sub Han, Laehyun Kim, and Jeong-Won Cha
346
Critical Success Factors for Web 2.0 – A Reference Framework . . . . . . . . . Pedro Isa´ıas, Paula Miranda, and Sara P´ıfano
354
User Innovation Networks and Research Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Niki Lambropoulos, Pan Kampylis, and Aneesha Bakharia
364
Web Interface for Designing and Sharing Sound Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seiya Matsuda, Shingo Ikeda, and Tomohito Yamamoto
374
Who Are the Web Composers? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Evandro Manara Miletto, Marcelo Soares Pimenta, Aurelio Faustino Hoppe, and Luciano Vargas Flores
381
Social Adaptation of ERP Software: Tagging UI Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . Marcus Nitsche, Martin Christof Kindsm¨ uller, Udo Arend, and Michael Herczeg
391
Propagation Modeling and Analysis of Incidental Topics in Blogosphere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Li Zhao, Ruixi Yuan, Xiaohong Guan, and Mingyang Li
401
Part IV: Learning, Education and Culture The Coming Revolution in Competence Development: Using Serious Games to Improve Cross-Cultural Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bjorn Andersen, Manuel Fradinho, Paul Lefrere, and Veli-Pekka Niitamo Learning Computer Science Fundamentals through Virtual Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . James Braman, Giovanni Vincenti, Ana Maria Arboleda Diaz, and Andrew Jinman A Discussion of Video Capturing to Assist in Distance Learning . . . . . . . Michael Conlon and Vasos Pavlika
413
423
432
The Whole Story: Retrieving Narratives for Cross-Cultural Understanding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alex Davis
442
When Social Worlds Collide: Charting the Intersection of Social Media and Courseware/Course Management Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Christopher A. Egert, Stephen Jacobs, and Susan B. Barnes
452
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The First Two W’s: Fostering Multicultural Awareness in Children . . . . . Noah Falstein and Nicolle Ruetz
462
Creating Community through the Use of a Class Wiki . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kirsten A. Johnson and Jamie Bartolino
471
Benefits and Challenges of Using Collaborative Development Environments with Social Software in Higher Computer Science Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Daniel Kadenbach and Carsten Kleiner Virtual Communities Adapted to the EHEA in an Enterprise Distance e-Learning Based Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rafael Pastor, Timothy Read, Salvador Ros, Roberto Hernandez, and Rocael Hern´ andez Evaluating the Social Dimension in Online Learning Communities . . . . . . Francesca Pozzi Heuristics for Implementation of Wiki Technology in Higher Education Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Portia Pusey and Gabriele Meiselwitz Mobile Phone Interfaces for Informal Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J´ ulio Cesar dos Reis, Rodrigo Bonacin, and Maria Cec´ılia Martins A Proposed Movie Recommendation Method Using Emotional Word Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mina Song, Hyun Namgoong, Hong-Gee Kim, and JuHyun Eune Cultural Prescription vs. User Perception of Information Architecture for Culture Centred Website: A Case Study on Muslim Online User . . . . Wan Abdul Rahim Wan Mohd. Isa, Nor Laila Md. Noor, and Shafie Mehad Leveraging Mobile Devices to Develop Intercultural Competency for Digital Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Matthew Willis and Elaine M. Raybourn
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498
507
515
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Part V: Online Games Game Usability Heuristics (PLAY) for Evaluating and Designing Better Games: The Next Iteration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Heather Desurvire and Charlotte Wiberg Cheating Behaviors in Online Gaming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Henry Been-Lirn Duh and Vivian Hsueh Hua Chen
557
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Flow Experience in Second Life: The Impact of Telepresence on Human-Computer Interaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anthony Faiola and Olga Smyslova
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EmoHeart: Automation of Expressive Communication of Emotions in Second Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alena Neviarouskaya, Helmut Prendinger, and Mitsuru Ishizuka
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Antecedents of Attributions in an Educational Game for Social Learning: Who’s to Blame? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amy Ogan, Vincent Aleven, Julia Kim, and Christopher Jones
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Intercultural Competence Game That Fosters Metacognitive Agility and Reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elaine M. Raybourn
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A Content Analysis of Interviews with Players of Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Play Games (MMORPGs): Motivating Factors and the Impact on Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jacqui Taylor and James Taylor Uncanny as Usability Obstacle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Angela Tinwell Gamers’ Implicit Knowledge on the Psychological Influence of Game-Playing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alexander E. Voiskounsky, Olga V. Mitina, and Anastasiya A. Avetisova Intercultural Socializing via Mobile Games for Backpackers . . . . . . . . . . . . Chui Yin Wong, Kimberly Chu, Chee Weng Khong, and Sheila Paul
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632
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Part VI: Online Communities and Society Designing Inclusive Social Networks: A Participatory Approach . . . . . . . . Leonelo Dell Anhol Almeida, Vˆ ania Paula de Almeida Neris, Leonardo Cunha de Miranda, Elaine Cristina Saito Hayashi, and Maria Cec´ılia Calani Baranauskas
653
City Ragas: Building an Intercultural Dialogue between People . . . . . . . . Lipika Bansal
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Are Online Communities Good for the Civic Audit of Public Spaces, Services, and Officers? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fiorella De Cindio and Cristian Peraboni
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Social Features in Online Communities for Healthcare Consumers – A Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Annie Y.S. Lau and Trevor M.Y. Kwok
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Usability and User Acceptance for Personal Health Records: A Perspective from Healthcare Citizens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A. Ant Ozok, Ayse P. Gurses, Huijuan Wu, Melissa Nelson, David Moen, and June Wei Measuring E-Democracy Opportunities: A Global Perspective . . . . . . . . . Farid Shirazi
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690
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Ethnographic User Study and Concept Design for Chinese Migrant Workers’ Social Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jie Wang, Wei Wang, Ying Liu, Xia Wang, and Qiuhong Chen
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Medication Adherence among the Elderly and Technology Aids: Results from an Online Survey Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Huijuan Wu and A. Ant Ozok
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Author Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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A Discussion System for Knowledge Sharing and Collaborative Analysis of Incidents in Nuclear Power Plants Saizo Aoyagi1, Hidenori Fujino2, Hirotake Ishii1, Hiroshi Shimoda1, Hiroshi Sakuda3, Hidekazu Yoshikawa4, and Toshio Sugiman5 1
Graduate School of Energy Science, Kyoto University, Gokasho, Uji, Kyoto 611-0011, Japan {aoyagi, hirotake, shimoda}@uji.energy.kyoto-u.ac.jp 2 Safety Research Institute, West Japan Railway Company 1-2 -2 Matsuzaki, Abeno, Osaka, Japan
[email protected] 3 Institute of Nuclear Safety System, incorporated 64 Sata, Mihama-cho, Mikata-gun, Fukui 919-1205, Japan
[email protected] 4 College of Nuclear Science and Technology, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, Heilongjiang, 150001, China
[email protected] 5 Graduate School of Human and Environmental studies, Kyoto University, Yoshida-nihonmatsu-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan
[email protected]
Abstract. Incident analysis is an important activity to maintain the safety of nuclear power plants. Much discussion is required to utilize the collected incidents effectively in the incident analysis activity. On-line Computer Mediated Communication(CMC) activity is an appropriate circumstance for geographically dispersed workers in nuclear power plants to discuss about the incident analysis. Some studies, however, indicate that the discussion activity in CMC tends to stagnate after a short period of time. For this study, the authors developed a discussion system for knowledge sharing and collaborative analysis of incidents, and proposed a method to promote discussion among users through introduction of "Active Participant". The Active Participant always behaves actively, and such behaviors are expected to promote the other members' incident analysis in the discussion group. To evaluate the effectiveness of the introduction of the Active Participant and obtain concrete guidance of the Active Participant, an experiment was conducted with nuclear power plant workers who were asked to evaluate the discussion system. The results of the experiment show that Active Participant can promote discussion among group members if enough number of incidents are submitted to the discussion system. Keywords: knowledge sharing, incidents analysis, online discussion and promotion of discussion. A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 3–12, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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1 Introduction Incident analysis activity is a kind of efforts for prevention of accidents in safetycritical domain in which there are many dangers, such as medical workplace, building industries, nuclear power plants. Incident analysis is a procedure for collecting, analyzing and utilizing cases of incidents in which a danger was removed before accident occurs, or there was no damage by chance despite oversight of danger for safety [1], [2], [3]. For effective incident analysis activity, many cases of incidents must be collected. In addition to that, active discussion which triggers utilization of the collected cases is required in order to extract useful lessons for accident prevention by analyzing a case from diverse points of view, and application of these lessons. Japanese electric companies nowadays have made company-wide efforts to collected cases of incidents, and many cases are continuously collected. However, all collected cases are not always discussed sufficiently and utilized effectively. The purpose of this study is to propose a method to promote discussion among workers for effective incident analysis.
2 Proposal of a Method for Promoting Discussion among Workers The authors developed a discussion system for knowledge sharing and collaborative analysis of incidents which provides Asynchronous Computer Mediated Communication(CMC) environment as an effective way of incident analysis activity. Moreover, the authors designed a behavior guideline for active participants who are the special participants expected to activate the discussion among the group workers. 2.1 Discussion System for Knowledge Sharing and Collaborative Analysis of Incidents The discussion system is a Internet-based incident sharing tool which consists of Incident Sharing Page, Incident Registering Page, Electronic Bulletin Board and others. The user can submit incident information on the Incident Registering Page according to a framework of Root Cause Analysis as shown in Fig. 1 [4]. All users can refer the submitted incidents on the Incident Sharing Page. Moreover, the users can discuss about the incident on the Electronic Bulletin Board which is prepared for each submitted incident. 2.2 Active Participant Some studies for education or knowledge management indicate that the discussion activity in CMC tends to stagnate. In particular, because workers in nuclear power plants are very busy, even if the discussion system can solve a problem that the workers are geographically separated, psychological resistance to participation still exists and stagnation of discussion occurs. Some studies of social psychology indicate that human conforms to others' action in group activity when some members of the group show consistent action [5]. Applying
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this conforming behavior, introduction of "Active Participant (AP)" is proposed in this study as a way for promoting CMC discussion of incidents analysis. AP shows consistently active behavior in group incidents analysis, and this behavior indirectly promotes actions of other members of the group through their conforming to the AP. In addition to this indirect way, applying knowledge of educational studies [6] the AP implements direct intervention to discussion of incidents analysis, such as questioning to other members.
3 Experimental Method In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the introduction of AP and obtain more concrete action guideline for AP, an experiment was conducted in which workers in nuclear power plants join incidents analysis activity using the developed discussion system. Thirty workers who are task managers in Japanese nuclear power plants and six APs who are nuclear safety researchers having experience of working at nuclear power plants joined the experiment. The participants were divided into six groups which consist of five normal participants from three different plants and one AP. The division was made based on the machines which they have charge of in their daily work. The participants were explained that the purpose of the experiment is to evaluate the developed discussion system, and were requested to (1) evaluate the discussion
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system in a group of about five workers, (2) access to the discussion system every two days and above, (3) submit at least five incidents which was actually occurred or imaginary cases and (4) actively post messages in bulletin boards of the discussion system to discuss about the incidents with group members. APs were requested to (1) behave actively to show the way to other participant, and (2) activate discussion by asking many questions to other participant with a favorable comment. Before starting the experiment, twenty two incidents were submitted by the experimenter to the discussion system. The experimental period was from January 13th, 2009 to February 6th (25 days). All participants received a gift which worths ten thousand Japanese yen after the experiment. Basic information and psychological factors which probably affect the participant's behavior in the discussion activity were measured using achievement motivation scale and interpersonal orientation scale before the experiment. In the experimental period, action log, submitted incidents, and posted messages were collected. In addition, impressions towards other members' behavior in the group were questioned by web-based questionnaire after the experiment.
4 Results and Discussion 4.1 Activity Trends of Each Group Fig. 2 shows the accumulated total number of cases submitted and opened by all participants of each group(open cases). Fig .3 shows the accumulated total number of messages posted to the bulletin boards by each group. In the first week (from day 1 to day 7), group 1, 2 and 5 submitted several cases and group 1 posted a few messages. In the second week (from day 8 to day 14), group 1 shows few activity, and group 2, 5 and 3 submitted many cases and posted many messages. Group 4 and 6 submitted a few cases. In the third week(from day 15 to day 21), group 2, 3, 4 and 5 increased cases and messages. In the last 4 days(from day 22 to day 25), group 2 and 3 submitted many cases and posted many messages. These figures show that each group activity did not show equivalent patterns. Six groups can be categorized into three patterns of activity. First pattern, which group 1 and 6 show, is a stagnating pattern. In these groups (stagnating groups), few cases had been submitted, and few messages had been posted. Second pattern, which group 2 and 5 show, is an activated pattern. In these groups (activated groups), the activity was very active throughout the experimental period by submitting many cases and posting many messages. The total number of actions of the activated groups was twice as many as that of the stagnating groups. Third pattern, which group 3 and 4 show, is a middle pattern. In these groups (middle groups), a stagnating trend appears at the beginning. Nevertheless, they were activated after the middle of the experimental period and outweigh some groups. 4.2 Activity Trends of Active Participants The result of the experiment shows that the normal participants' activity does not have much correlation with AP's activity. In this experiment, all APs did not submit many cases. APs of group 1, 2, 3, and 5 posted many messages, and APs of group 4 and 6
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didn’t post many messages. However, AP of group 5 posted messages after normal participants had done. Therefore activation of group 5 was caused by the AP at least on the beginning. Consequently, there may be the other factors which activate the groups besides the AP's behavior. Next, detailed results of three patterns are discussed to clarify cause of such difference of activity in the experimental period. 4.3 Activated Groups A comparison of Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 shows that the posted messages increased after the submitted cases increases in the activated groups (group 2 and 5). In the first week, a few cases were submitted but any messages were not posted. In the second week, a few messages were posted which are related to the cases submitted in the first week. Then, many cases were submitted around day 8. After about a week, many messages were posted. 120 se100 g as se 80 m f 60 o re b 40 m u n 20
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These facts indicate that increasing of new cases promote posting messages. The reason of these phenomena will be discussed later. 4.4 Stagnating Groups Fig. 4 and Fig. 5 show accumulated total number of open cases and messages of group 1. The participants were requested to submit at least 5 cases, but two participants in the group 1 submitted no cases. The AP in the group 1 also did not submit any cases. This group shows stagnating trend especially in the middle of the experimental period. During this period, anyone submitted no cases and only one message was posted in day 17 except the messages by the AP, in spite that the AP posted messages continuously. Such stagnation was also observed in group 6. However, differently from the group 6, the messages posted by the AP in the group 6 were not ignored completely. The activity in the group 1 stagnated in spite that there were some replies to the AP's messages and a few messages between two normal participants were exchanged. 18 16 se g 14 as se 12 m 10 f or 8 e b 6 m u 4 n 2 0
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4.5 Middle Groups Fig. 6 and Fig. 7 show accumulated total number of open cases and messages of group 4. The group 4 is one of the middle groups which were activated in the middle of the experiment. Although there were no submitted cases or posted messages at the beginning, a sudden activation was occurred in day 15. Some cases and messages were suddenly inputted in day 15, followed by posting a few messages and submitting some cases during the period between day 16 and 25. Group 3 also experienced a sudden activation during the period between day 8 and day 10. In the group 3, the cases and messages increased continuously and reached at the largest number among all groups at the end. On the other hand, a few cases and messages were inputted at the end of the experiment in the group 4. 4.6 Analysis of Middle Groups’ Activation We pay attention to the sudden activation of group 3 and group 4. Fig. 8 shows action time-line chart of group 4 in day 15. Vertical axis of this chart is time, and each action is arranged by participant. The arrows represents that the end point case is a target of an action such as viewing cases or posting messages. Fig.8 shows that the first action in day 15 was AP's post of fifteen messages. After that, the participant 4 viewed some cases which the AP posted some messages to. Then, the participant 4 submitted three cases and posted one message to case 25, which was submitted by the participant 2 in day 2. This message was replied by the participant 3 in the afternoon. After that, the participant 4 thanked the participant 3 for the reply using "evaluate button" which is a special function of the bulletin board of the discussion system. The last action in day 15 was viewing cases by the participant 1. Although Fig. 8 has no information about participant's intention and causal relationships of actions, the AP probably triggered other members' actions. That is because the other participants hadn't submitted any cases and posted any messages before the AP posted some messages. Similarly, AP triggered other members’ action in other group. Sudden activation of group 3 between day 10 and day 8 seem to be triggered by AP’s posting one message in day 3.
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5 Conclusion The results of the experiment indicate that AP could promote discussion activity through triggering other members' actions in the middle groups. Nevertheless, even if the AP was active as mentioned in 4.2, the activity of group 1 stagnated in the middle of the experimental period. To explain this difference of APs' effectiveness, we pay attention to the difference in number of submitted cases of group 3, group 4 and
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group 1. When the discussion was activated, many cases were submitted by participants in group 3 and group 4. On the contrary, few cases were submitted in group 1. One interpretation of these facts is that submitting new cases is required for activation of discussion in bulletin boards. The fact that posted messages increased after submitted new cases increases in activated groups, as mentioned in 4.4, also supports this interpretation. This is probably because a new case provides a topic for discussion. Moreover, this interpretation implies that cases which the experimenter had submitted before the experiment were inappropriate as a topic of discussion. This is probably because pregnant topics are needed for discussion. These are cases of general incidents in nuclear plants and are not about special domain or machines. Therefore these cases are not so worth because of lack of professional implication. Another probable reason of why new case is needed is responsibility to answer the question. If a participant has a question to a case, he will ask about the case to other participant who submitted the case. This is because the participant who submitted the case should know the background of the case. However, if the case was submitted by the experimenter, any participants don't know all about the case. The only option is asking about the case without specifying who should answer this question. However anyone have no responsibility to answer and could not answer such a question. Therefore, the question will be left without answered. This is the cause of the stagnation of the discussion. Therefore, not experimenter but participants and AP have to submit cases for the promotion of discussion. Therefore, if APs submit many proper cases, and post messages, discussion activity of other members is expected to be activated. The AP of group 1 should have submitted cases of incidents for providing new topics, in the middle of the experimental period. However, in this experiment, the APs were not workers of nuclear power plants, but researchers in the area of safety management. Consequently, because they have much other task to do, and don't have occasion of experience of incidents in nuclear power plants, they could not submit cases frequently. Therefore, AP should be selected from nuclear power plant workers, or someone who has proficient knowledge about incidents. In this article, we proposed a method to promote discussion activity in a discussion system for knowledge sharing and collaborative analysis for incidents analysis which is effective to maintain safety of nuclear power plants, and the evaluation experiment was conducted. However, not all results of the experiment were analyzed. In particular, only qualitative data of the results are analyzed. In the future, contents of cases and messages and ex-post questionnaire will be analyzed in qualitative way in order to verify the implication discussed in this article. Moreover, interview survey will be conducted, to collect evidences which support our hypotheses.
References 1. Reason, J.: Managing the risks of organizational accidents. Ashgate, Aldershot (1997) 2. Nishigaki, S., Vavrin, J., Kano, N., Haga, T., Kunz, J.C., Law, K.: Humanware, Human Error, and Hiyari-Hat: A Template of Unsafe Symptoms. J. Constr. Engrg. Mgmt. 120, 421– 442 (1994)
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3. Barach, P., Small, S.D.: Reporting and preventing medical mishaps: lessons from nonmedical near miss reporting systems, vol. 320, pp. 759–763 (2000), http://www.bmj.com 4. Doggett, A.M.: A Statistical Comparison of Three Root Cause Analysis Tools. Journal of Industrial Technology 20, 1–9 (2004), http://www.nait.org 5. Sherif, M.: A study of some social factors in perception. Archives of Psychology 187 (1935) 6. Walker, S.A.: Socratic strategies and devil’s advocacy in synchronous CMC debate. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning 20, 172–182 (2004)
Universal Navigation through Social Networking Mahsa Ghafourian1, Hassan A. Karimi1, and Linda van Roosmalen2 1
Geoinformatics Laboratory, School of Information Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, 135 North, Bellefield Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15213 USA
[email protected],
[email protected] 2 Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology, 2310 Jane St Suite 1300, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15203 USA
[email protected]
Abstract. In today’s complex metropolitan and aging society, navigation, which is an essential mobility activity, has become increasingly challenging for many individuals. This is particularly true for individuals who are unfamiliar with the area or require special navigation assistance due to visual, physical, or cognitive impairments. While there have been much advancements in navigation systems, they are one-size-fits-all and not universal. In this paper, we present the concept of Universal NAVIgation Technology (UNAVIT), which is a framework providing navigation assistance anywhere, anytime, and for any user through social networking (UNAVIT-SN). We discuss UNAVIT-SN, its components and features, and present key algorithms for providing suitable navigation solutions both indoors and outdoors, at different times and for users with a variety of needs and preferences. Keywords: Universal navigation, social networking, social matching, route recommender, navigation assistance.
1 Introduction Navigation systems assist users with determining their current location and providing directions to desired destinations. While early navigation systems were one-size-fitsall and offered limited functionality, today’s navigation technology offers a wider range of functions that appeal to more users resulting in a higher demand for its use. However, despite much advancement, today’s navigation technology falls short of being universal. By universal we mean a navigation system which provides navigation assistance to users with different needs and with different preferences, anywhere and anytime [1]. To overcome the shortcomings of modern navigation technology, in this paper, we present Universal NAVIgation Technology (UNAVIT) and discuss a new approach in addressing the universality of navigation in UNAVIT [1]. We define navigation as any activity requiring locations and the means to reach them. Examples of navigation that fit this definition include points of interest (POIs), routes, and directions. To address universality of navigation, Ghafourian and Karimi [2] have developed three algorithms, ANYWHERE (indoor-to-outdoor and outdoor-to-indoor seamless transitions), ANYTIME (time-specific navigation), and ANYUSER (personalized navigation). The A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 13–22, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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work presented in this paper is focused on a novel approach which provides navigation assistance through “social connection” and “social matching” using social networks. This is in contrast to the current navigation approach which is purely computational. The premise of the social networking approach in navigation stems from two observations: (a) social networking has become widespread, enabling the possibility of tackling some of the navigation challenges that computation alone could not and (b) developing a computing solution that can address all aspects of universal navigation is a major undertaking and may not even fully be realized due to several technical and non-technical challenges. We believe the social networking approach is viable in that UNAVIT-SN will be able to address the issue of universality through existing and emerging social networks, especially when the element of “trust” is considered and computing is only used when no navigation solutions can be provided by social networks or the solutions need to be augmented. In this paper, we present a technique that searches for navigation information through UNAVIT-SN, which consists of several social sub-networks (SSNs) each supporting a group of individuals with common navigation needs. The structure of this paper is as follows. In Sections 2, social networking and its relevance to navigation are discussed. In Section 3, the concept of UNAVIT-SN, an ontology, and an infrastructure are discussed. In Section 4, our social networking approach to address the requirements of universal navigation is described. Finally, in Section 5, we discuss our future research.
2 Background A social network is a structure that consists of a group of people in which each member is represented by a node and one or more relationships exist among members [5]. The emergence of mobile technologies has changed the ways in which people communicate with one another [6] and share information in such a way that separation of space and time is virtually nonexistent. Research in social psychology shows that people construct a shared reality within social networks, and not only share the information, but also have agreement on them [13]. In a study conducted by Gray et al. [4] it was shown that social participation by individuals with mobility limitations is affected by environmental barriers. Some of these barriers are the inaccessibility and complexity of the man-made environment with busy roads, dangerous intersections, dark alleyways, inaccessible buildings, among others. Other barriers include the inability of people to navigate due to physical, cognitive and sensory limitations, impeding their participation in society. Among numerous existing social networks, each with a different purpose and interest, we focus here on those social networks that are relevant to navigation. Millen and Feinberg [7] have developed a “social tagging” method, using bookmarking, which provides navigation recommendation. MobSoC [8] is an approach which offers a variety of services to users including POIs recommendation based on users’ interest. Wiggle Stick [9] is a technique which enables pedestrians with “media tagging” at specific locations as well as presenting directions. In order to meet the quality of services within a social network, the exchanged information among the members must be based upon “trust”, i.e., receiving recommendations and information from trusted friends who have similar preferences. This
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trust-based approach helps users receive effective and relevant information. To address trust in quality of services and quality navigation recommendations, a variety of techniques have been proposed, such as collaborative filtering [10], a technique for measuring social tie strength offered by [11], and a fuzzy model used by [12].
3 UNAVIT-SN To overcome the shortcomings of existing navigation technology, we propose UNAVIT-SN. UNAVIT is defined as a navigation environment capable of providing a variety of navigation information for any user regardless of their location in any situation with the capability of transparency and adaptability [1]. While a social networking approach can address the universality aspect of navigation, computation can still play a role. It can be used as augmentation and/or verification. By augmentation we mean the possibility of sending a navigation solution found and offered by UNAVITSN to navigation web services to assist the user with real-time navigation (e.g., stepby-step instructions on the recommended route). Verification aims at providing a reliable solution, i.e., if the navigation solution offered by UNAVIT-SN is deemed unreliable, then a solution from navigation web services will be requested, and after comparing the two solutions, the one which closely matches user’s requested Navigation Quality of Service (NavQoS) is chosen as the response to the query. However, the focus of this paper is navigation assistance through social networks. Figure 1 shows the overall concept of UNAVIT-SN, whose main features include AnyUser, AnyWhere, AnyTime, Transparency, and Adaptability [2] through social networking. Users will be able to access UNAVIT-SN’s services using cell phones. A user can either recommend or request navigation information. Recommendations are posted in the user’s SSNs. Upon user’s request for navigation information, UNAVIT-SN searches within the user’s SSNs, and if it cannot find a match, it refers it to other SSNs.
Fig. 1. The concept of UNAVIT-SN
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Fig. 2. UNAVIT ontology
3.1 Ontology We address the universality aspect of navigation by taking a social networking approach. We believe this approach is viable since social networks have been widely accepted and utilized by people across the globe. Therefore, UNAVIT-SN’s infrastructure should allow navigation information through SSNs, where individuals have similar navigation needs. Figure 2 shows an ontology for UNAVIT-SN. It highlights the main concepts of universal navigation through social networking and the relationships among them. In this ontology, user plays a central role by sharing their profiles to other members of the SN. User’s profile consists of special needs (elderly, cognitively impaired, mobility impaired, and visually impaired) and preferences for routes (shortest distance, fastest time, least turns). The user can recommend navigation information and can receive navigation recommendations from other members. A request can be made for a route or for a POI. A recommendation can also be on a route or a POI. 3.2 Infrastructure In this section, we discuss UNAVIT-SN that is based on UNAVIT’s infrastructure [2]. In the following, the architecture of UNAVIT-SN and its components are discussed. NavKiosk: NavKiosk is the major component of UNAVIT-SN’s infrastructure and is responsible for receiving navigation queries from users. NavKiosk for indoors (IndoorNavKiosks) is responsible for indoor navigation queries and NavKiosk for outdoors (Outdoor-NavKiosks) is responsible for outdoor navigation queries. NavKiosk consists of three sub-components: QPE, MetaNav, and NavNet which are described below. Query Processing Engine (QPE): QPE is responsible for analyzing and understanding queries using NavQoSs. Upon analyzing a query and understanding its requirements, QPE will structure the query in a manner compatible with MetaNav, NavNet, and NavWSP.
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MetaNav: MetaNav is a directory of information about UNAVIT-SN and its members, and all other NavKiosks (both indoors and outdoors). Examples of items stored in MetaNav are SSN types, social ties and characteristics within and among SSN members and among SSNs, and the geographic extent covered by each NavKiosk. Navigation Networking (NavNet): UNAVIT-SN will allow users to establish their own social networks as well as accessing existing social networks for the purpose of sharing navigation information. Through NavNet, UNAVIT-SN will facilitate sharing the experience of trusted members and groups with similar needs and preferences. NavNet uses information about trusted members and social networks stored in MetaNav to connect members and groups who have sharable navigation experiences. Navigation Web Service Provider (NavWSP): NavWSPs provide a variety of navigation services, including map data, POIs, and directions, as an augmentation and/or verification to social networking solutions. It uses the Internet and can be accessible directly through cell phones. An example of a NavWSP is Routing NavWSP.
4 Social Matching In order to share navigation experiences among individuals and groups through UNAVIT-SN we make distinctions between five social sub-networks (SSNs): General (G); Mobility-Impaired (M); Cognitively Impaired (C); Elderly (E); Visually Impaired (V). Each of these SSNs provides navigation information specific to their members’ special needs. For instance, a recommended route in M is a route that a wheelchair-seated individual can take as it avoids slopes over a certain degree and avoids inaccessible POIs. Each SSN is connected to one another (i.e., fully connected graph). The graph is weighted and directed. Each node of the graph represents a SSN as a sub-graph, which is also fully connected. The idea behind having a fully connected graph is that once a user becomes a member of a SSN, they can share and access navigation experiences of all members in that SSN. In the following we discuss users’ interactions within SSN, i.e., recommendations and requests. 4.1 POI and Route Recommendation Each member of a SSN can recommend navigation information. While a variety of information is possible, most recommendations are expected to be POIs and/or routes. Upon recommending a POI, the type of POI and the value of recommendation are specified by the user (recommender). We categorized POIs into five types: Restaurant/Fast Food, Gas-Station, Library/Bookstore, Shopping Mall, and Grocery Store. Each recommendation is assigned a value which represents the importance (strength) of the recommendation. We define three recommendation strengths: Low, Medium, or High. For recommendations on a route, we define three criteria for each route: Shortest Distance (SD), Fastest Time (FT), and Least Turns (LT). If the user does not
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specify the criterion for the recommended route, the information from user profiles will be used. A route recommended by a user may indicate a level of importance (weight) on each criterion. The weight for each criterion may range between 0 and 1 and the sum of the weights for the three criteria must be 1. Each recommendation must also have a quality rate, i.e., Low, Medium, or High denoted by 11, 12, and 13, respectively. The algorithm for recommendation is shown in Figure 3.
Input: user recommendation If recommendation = “POI” then T Å Get type of POI; R Å Get recommendation rate; If recommendation = “route” then SD Å Get shortest distance value; FT Å Get fastest time value; LT Å Get least turns value; R Å Get recommendation rate; If SD = null or FT = null or LT= null SD Å SD from user’s profile; FT Å FT from user’s profile; Lt Å LT from user’s profile; Fig. 3. Recommendation Algorithm
4.2 Navigation Information Request Users acquire navigation information by sending request to UNAVIT-SN. It is assumed that users prefer to receive information from trusted members within their SSNs. Therefore, UNAVIT-SN first tries to find a match between users’ request and a trusted member’s recommendation. We define “trust” as the number of referrals/interactions between each pair of members. This referral has a direction, as user A might refer to user B many times, but user B may refer to user C rather than user A for navigation information. Thus, in each SSN, the direction of information between each set of nodes (members) denotes the orientation of the referral by one member to another. NRij indicates the number of referrals by individual i to individual j. Initially, NRij = NRji =1. Over time NR will increase as more referrals are made. UNAVIT-SN must find a trusted member within the SSN whose recommendation meets user’s requested NavQoSs. The probability of referral of i to j, Pij is defined as follows: (1) Also, Pij + Pji =1. Thus, in the initial stage when there are no referrals in the SN, NRij = NRij =1 and Pij = Pji =0.5.
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Input: User “A”, User’s NavQoS, User’s SSN (“S”) 1) For each recommendation within the “S” in UNAVIT-SN Find solutions which are recommended by trusted friends, and which matches NavQoSs. 2) For each found solution recommended by member i Exclude the ones with PAi = 0.5 and NRAi = 1. 3) Among remaining solution, choose the one with the highest value of SM and insert its value into variable SMM. 4) If no solution is left then SMM Å 0 5) If SMM is less than a predefined threshold, then Result Å Referring_SSN(NavQoS, “S”); If Result = “No Result” then Return the solution to the user with low confidence. 6) Otherwise, Increment NRAi; ;
;
Fig. 4. Request Algorithm
The difference between the values of Pij and Pji indicates how much i and j trust one another. The less the difference, the more the trust (thus more chances of referrals), unless NR=1, which means that these members have never referred to each other. Once user i refers to user j, the value of NRij increments by one. The same concept can be applied to the relationship between SSNs. That is, SSN-A is connected to SSN-B through a weight, NR. Initially, NRs value is 1. However, the value of NR will increase as more referrals between SSNs are made. The idea behind having connections between SSNs is that if UNAVIT-SN cannot find a navigation solution or a reliable solution for a request within a SSN, it refers to another SSN to find a reliable solution. Figure 4 shows an algorithm for request. The inputs to the algorithm are user’s query, NavQoSs, and the SSN to which the user belongs. For a recommendation to socially match the user’s request, the value of SM in the algorithm must be greater than or equal a threshold. Figure 5 shows an algorithm (Referring_SSN) which is invoked when there is a need to search of navigation solution in another SSN. In this algorithm, upon a successful referral, NRs between SSNs are updated. The inputs to this algorithm are NavQoSs and the relevant SSN, i.e., “S”.
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Input: user’s NavQoS, User’s SSN (“S”) 1) For each SSN, i, with PSi ≥ 0.5 do Find recommended solutions by majority of members, which match NavQoSs; 2) For each found solution recommended by SSN “i” Exclude the ones with PSi = 0.5 and NRSi = 1; 3) For the remaining solutions Choose the one with the highest value of SM and insert it into SMM; 4) If SMM < δ then Return “No Result”; 5) Else Increment NRSi; ;
;
Fig. 5. Referring_ SSN Algorithm
In order to compute “social matching”, we divide navigation requests into two groups: POIs and Routes. POI There are three variables that define a POI: Type, Recommendation, and Distance. Type consists of five categories: Food, Gas-station, Library/Bookstore, Shopping Mall, and Grocery Store. Each Type category can be initialized by either “match” or “exact match”. For each Recommendation, three values are defined: Low, Medium, and High. Finally, for Distance, which is the distance between user’s current/specified location and a POI, the value can be either entered by user or suggested by the system. Consider user A’s request for an Italian restaurant, which is in the category of Restaurant/Fast Food within 10 miles. User A must indicate whether he/she is interested in an “exact match”, i.e., an Italian restaurant, or a “match”, i.e., any restaurant but preference will be Italian restaurants. Also user A must specify the degree of recommendation by members, i.e., whether the rate of the recommendation is “High”, “Medium”, or “Low”. If user A chooses “exact match” with “Medium” recommendation, QPE analyzes the query and sends it to NavNet to find an Italian restaurant recommended (with “Medium” rate) by trusted members of user’s SSN. To select those restaurants within 10 miles, user’s current location is used by a NavWSP to perform proximity calculation based on actual road distances. For “social matching”, NavQoS is defined as follows: NavQoS = T * R .
(2)
where T and R represent the distinct values for Type and Recommendation, respectively.
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The set of values {1,2,3,4,5} corresponds to POI types, i.e., {Restaurant/Fast Food, Gas-Station, Library/Bookstore, Shopping Mall, Grocery Store}, and {11,12,13} correspond to POI recommendation rate, i.e., {Low, Medium, High}. And “social matching” is defined as follows: .
(3)
where i corresponds to a member of SSN whose recommendation is considered and A corresponds to the requester. The more the value of PiA (i.e., close to 0.5) and the less the value of (i.e., close to zero), the higher the social match, i.e., the recommended POI socially matches user’s request. Route Recommendation Options We consider three criteria for routes, Shortest Distance (SD), Fastest Time (FT), and Least Turns (LT), as the most preferred criteria, among others. Each criterion can be assigned a value between 0 and 1. However, the sum of the values must be equal to 1. Members who recommend routes are encouraged to initialize the recommended route’s criterion and the level of each recommendation, R, i.e., Low, medium, or High. If users do not enter route criteria, those specified in their profiles will be used. There could be two cases when user A requests a route from Origin (O) to Destination (D), with for example SD = 0.5, FT= 0.3, LT=0.2. In the first case, UNAVIT-SN searches user’s SSN for a route from O to D with criteria equal or close to values 0.5, 0.2, and 0.2, respectively. In the second case, UNAVIT-SN is not able to find a route from O to D, but it finds one or more routes that overlap candidate routes between O and D and have equal or close criteria values. If these routes pass through O-D, the one with closest “social match” is returned to the user. In both cases, either finding a path from O to D or a path that passes through O and D, NavQoS is defined as follows: NavQoS = ST * FT * LT* R .
(4)
where again the set of {11, 12, 13} corresponds to the values for R, i.e., {Low, Medium, High}. In order to select an appropriate recommendation among the available ones, social matching score, which is defined as follows, must be greater than or equal a threshold. .
(5)
where i corresponds to the recommendation from member I, A corresponds to the requester, and PAi is the value of trust between A and i. The more the value of PAi (i.e., close to 0.5), and the lower the value of (i.e., close to zero), the higher the social matching score, i.e., the more the recommended route socially matches user’s request.
5 Summary and Future Research In this paper we presented the concept of UNAVIT-SN as a universal navigation technology through social networking which provides navigation solutions to any
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user, anywhere, and at anytime, transparently and adaptively. We then discussed a social networking approach that allows users request navigation information and receive navigation recommendations from members of their social networks. We presented the algorithms for navigation recommendation and navigation request which meet NavQoSs. Future research includes development and validation of a prototype UNAVIT-SN with selected SSNs (e.g., general, elderly, mobility impaired, visually impaired, cognitively impaired) to facilitate navigation recommendation and request through cell phones.
References 1. Karimi, A.H., Ghafourian, M.: Universal Navigation. GIM International (May 2009) 2. Ghafourian, M.: Karimi, H.A.: Universal Navigation Concept and Algorithms. In: World Congress on Computer Science and Information Engineering (CSIE). IEEE Press, LosAngeles/Anahiem (2009) (accepted) 3. Golbeck, J.: Sharing and Using Links in Social Networks. IEEE Intelligent System, 85–86 (2005) 4. Gray, D.B., Hollingsworth, H.H., Susan, S., Kerri, M.A.: A subjective measure of environmental facilitators and barriers to participation for people with mobility limitations. Disability and Rehabilitation, 1–10 (2007) 5. Jamali, M., Abolhassani, H.: Different Aspects of Social Network Analysis. In: Proceedings of the 2006 IEEWICIACM International Conference (2006) 6. LaRue, E.M., Mitchell, A.M., Karimi, H.A., Kasemsuppakorn, P., Roongpiboonsopit, D.: COMPANION: Social Support Networking Technology For Survivors of Suicide. In: International Conference on Health Informatics (HEALTHINF 2009), Porto, Portugal (2009) 7. Millen, D.R., Feinberg, J.: Using Social Tagging to Improve Social Navigation. In: Workshop on the Social Navigation and Community-Based Adaptation Technologies Conjunction with Adaptive Hypermedia and Adaptive Web-Based Systems (AH 2006), Dublin, Ireland (2006) 8. Borcea, C., Gupta, A., Kalra, A.: The MobiSoC Middleware for Mobile Social Computing: Challenges, Design, and Early Experiences. In: Mobilware 2008, pp. 1–6 (2008) 9. Jimison, D., Sambasivan, N., Pahwa, S.: Wiggle Stick: An Urban Pedestrian Mobile Social Navigation System. In: Georgia Tech Graduate Symposium, Georgia Tech, Atlanta (2007) 10. Jung, J.J., Kim, K., Lee, H., Park, S.: Are You Satisfied with Your Recommendation Service? Discovering Social Networks for Personalized Mobile Services. In: Nguyen, N.T., Jo, G.S., Howlett, R.J., Jain, L.C. (eds.) KES-AMSTA 2008. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 4953, pp. 567–573. Springer, Heidelberg (2008) 11. Adams, B., Phung, D., Venkatesh, S.: Extraction of Social Context and Application to Personal Multimedia Exploration. In: MM 2006, Santa Barbara, California, pp. 3–4 (2006) 12. Korfiatis, N., Sicilia, M.A.: Social Measurement and Flexible Navigation online Contact Networks. In: Fuzzy Systems Conference (2007) 13. Nowak, A., Vallacher, R.R.: Information and Influence in the Construction of Shared Reality. IEEE Intelligent System, 90–93 (2005)
Collaborative Work in 3D Virtual Environments: A Research Agenda and Operational Framework Béatrice S. Hasler, Thierry Buecheler, and Rolf Pfeifer Artificial Intelligence Lab, Department of Computer Science, University of Zurich, Andreasstrasse 15, 8050 Zurich, Switzerland {bhasler, buecheler, pfeifer}@ifi.uzh.ch
Abstract. We propose a conceptual framework based on input-process-output models adapted from traditional group research for the systematic analysis of virtual teamwork. A research agenda contains a list of research questions that will be investigated in a controlled field study in the context of “The ShanghAI Lectures”, a global teaching and international student collaboration project. The research questions are formulated regarding processes and outcomes of global virtual teamwork and focus on usability and sociability issues in collaborative work in 3D virtual environments. An operational framework is provided for collecting the relevant data in a structured manner by using qualitative and quantitative process measures of group behavior. Keywords: Global virtual teams, 3D collaborative virtual environments, group interaction processes, behavioral tracking.
1 Introduction There is a general agreement that getting people to cooperate in geographically dispersed teams is crucial for global organizations in the 21st century [1]. As companies begin to compete globally, virtual teams, which consist of members who work and live in different countries, are becoming increasingly common. They typically do not meet physically but communicate and coordinate their tasks using information technology in order to accomplish their goals [2]. In recent years, 3D Collaborative Virtual Environments (3D CVE) have been developed to facilitate the work process of virtual teams. 3D CVE not only make it possible for virtual teams to communicate synchronously via chat or audio channels but also to perform actions simultaneously using various types of shared applications (e.g., text processor, presentation or spreadsheet programs) while being present in the same virtual room embodied as avatars. The main advantage of 3D CVE is that team members can jointly look at and manipulate objects in a shared virtual space [3]. Popular press indicates that organizations are increasingly using such virtual worlds as a new way to enable collaboration among geographically dispersed work teams [4, 5]. Gartner [6] estimates that 70 percent of all organizations will have established their own 3D virtual worlds by 2012 but reports that 90 percent of corporate virtual world projects fail within 18 months due to an insufficient understanding of A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 23–32, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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the mechanics, dynamics, and the right application areas for virtual world technologies. Therefore, it is crucial that we advance our understanding of how the design of 3D CVE influences group processes and why global virtual teams succeed or fail. However, empirical research on the usability and sociability of 3D CVE is still at an early stage [7, 8]. Our aim is to provide a research agenda, which extends the topics that previous virtual team research has been typically concerned with to the context of 3D CVE [2, 9]. Likewise, we will apply the issues discussed in virtual world research to global virtual teamwork following Kahai et al. [10]. Based on a conceptual framework for the systematic analysis of virtual team behavior, several research questions are derived that focus on the specific usability and sociability issues that emerge from synchronous communication, shared visual representations, and avatar embodiment. An operational framework is provided for collecting the relevant data of group interaction processes in a structured manner by using behavioral observation and coding techniques and a behavioral tracking method. 1.1 “The ShanghAI Lectures” - A Controlled Field Study on Virtual Teamwork in 3D CVE The context of this research outline is provided by “The ShanghAI Lectures”1, a higher education initiative using a mixed-reality approach for global teaching and international student collaboration. Its core components are a lecture series on embodied – natural and artificial – intelligence and accompanying multicultural and interdisciplinary task assignments for students. The lectures will be presented by the third author from Jiao Tong University in Shanghai in fall term 2009 and will be broadcast via video-conference to different universities around the globe. Students will collaborate in self-managed global virtual teams on project-based group assignments, view and annotate lectures, and meet with experts, embodied as avatars in a virtual world. In order to comply with the requirements of large-scale global collaboration, a 3D CVE named “UniWorld” is currently being developed at the University of Zurich using Sun Microsystems' Project Wonderland toolkit2 (see Figure 1). This opensource toolkit enables the customized design of the virtual environment, the extension of communication tools (e.g., immersive audio and cameras into the real world [13]) and collaboration features (e.g., virtual team rooms with shared applications), and the implementation of authentication schemes and virtual business cards. “The ShanghAI Lectures” also serve as a research platform to carry out studies that are embedded in a general research agenda for the systematic investigation of collaborative work in 3D CVE. The research project aims to explore various aspects of virtual team behavior in 3D CVE and to generate lessons learned that can guide further research. The educational context makes it possible to carry out a controlled field study with experimental manipulation of context factors (i.e. “input variables”) and to administer online surveys and interviews (e.g., using the online evaluation tool “chataca”3). In addition, a data collection mechanism is implemented in “UniWorld” in order to spatially and temporally track and reconstruct users' in-world behavior. 1
http://shanghailectures.org/ https://lg3d-wonderland.dev.java.net/ 3 http://www.chataca.com 2
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Fig. 1. Snapshot of the “UniWorld” environment. A group of students discussing an instructional video on robotics displayed on a screen in “UniWorld” - the 3D CVE that will be used in “The ShanghAI Lectures”. The screen shot is taken from a pilot study with a prototype of the virtual world.
Behavioral tracking offers the opportunity to collect longitudinal data of in-world behavior in an unobtrusive way [12]. Although the advantages of tracking methods have been recognized by virtual world researchers, behavioral tracking is typically difficult to realize as commercial providers of virtual environments do not allow direct access to their databases [12, 13]. Therefore, observational studies of in-world behavior have mostly used screen recorders, which provide qualitative data that are time consuming to analyze [3]. However, recorded team interactions using Project Wonderland's built-in movie recorder provide valuable qualitative information in addition to the quantitative behavioral tracking data. Audio and chat communication data as well as work artifacts (e.g., shared work documents) are stored and can be used for quantitative and qualitative analysis of content.
2 A Conceptual Framework for the Study of Virtual Teamwork in 3D CVE We propose an input - process - output model adapted from traditional group research [14, 15] that serves as a framework for the discussion of a range of issues surrounding virtual teamwork in 3D CVE (see Figure 2). Input variables can be experimentally manipulated in order to study their effect on group interaction processes and outcomes. The processes during group interactions are expected to have consequences on the individual, intra-group, and inter-group level, which may change over time.
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Fig. 2. An input - process - output model of virtual team work in 3D CVE
2.1 Input Variables Input variables refer to the composition characteristics of the virtual team, the design of the task, and the context in which the team operates. Group composition is defined by the number and characteristics of people who are assigned to a team. Team members can differ from one another in their sex, age, cultural backgrounds and associated social norms, technical expertise, or intercultural competences and foreign language skills that are important for global virtual teamwork. In some cases the group structure (e.g., roles or hierarchies) is predefined while in other contexts – as will be the case in “The ShanghAI Lectures” – virtual teams are self-managed with no predefined structure. Task design refers to the type of the task (e.g., idea generation, problem-solving, decision making or contest) [14], training, resources, supervision, requirements (e.g., the level of autonomy or interdependence required for task completion, or the skills required to solve the task), and task goals (e.g., defined by evaluation criteria of deliverables). Environmental factors refer to both the virtual and physical space in which groups operate. In 3D CVE the technical environment is a three-dimensional virtual space in which users are embodied as avatars and offered different communication and collaboration facilities. A factor that has often been neglected in virtual team research is the physical environment from which team members access the virtual environment [8]. They can be located at different physical places (e.g., conducting remote work from home or in a shared office) and at different time zones. Both the physical as well as the technical environment pertain to a socio-cultural context in which interactions among individuals can occur. 2.2 Group Interaction Processes Group interaction processes are characterized by the form and content of communication and coordination between individuals who may belong to the same or a different group. The form of interaction is determined by the communication mode that is used at a given time for a particular purpose. The content of interaction can be task-related (e.g, coordinating task work, seeking information) or socio-emotional (e.g., engaging in personal conversations, providing mutual support). Group interaction processes engender different types of communication and coordination patterns from which
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consequences emerge for individuals regarding their amount of contribution, the extent to which they experience a sense of social presence and identify with their group. Consequences also arise for relations among group members, such as emerging roles, group cohesion and trust, group norms, and conflict resolution strategies. Group research has often focused on these internal group dynamics and little is known about the context outside of a group [16]. Therefore, we also integrate inter-group relations as defined by conflict and competition or cooperation between members of different groups. 2.3 Output Variables The outcome of the group interaction process is typically defined as the dependent variable in virtual team research and refers to team performance and personal success. Team performance can be defined by the effectiveness (i.e. quality) and efficiency of teamwork (i.e. productivity as determined by the resources and time needed to accomplish a task). Personal success can be determined by perceived work satisfaction and the acquisition of knowledge and skills. If feedback is provided to a virtual team based on outcome-related evaluations, this may again influence group processes in terms of a new input variable for the following stage in the group interaction process.
3 Research Agenda The input variables provided in the conceptual framework can be regarded as independent variables to study their effect on group interaction processes and outcomes. For example, we can examine for what types of tasks 3D CVE are most effective or how the group composition influences work satisfaction and team performance by comparing homogeneous and heterogeneous teams. In order to determine factors that contribute to the usability and sociability of 3D CVE we take a closer look at the actual group behavior and team members' subjective experience thereof. The following research questions are non-exhaustive lists of studies that will be conducted in the context of “The ShanghAI Lectures”. 3.1 Behavioral Indicators of High- and Low-Performing Teams A differentiation of high- and low-performing teams based on their outcomes is required in order to determine why virtual teams succeed or fail. Several research questions can be formulated regarding the following levels. • Form and content of team interaction: Can we identify communication and coordination patterns of high- and low-performing teams, and do they differ regarding the amount of socio-emotional and task-related content? • Individual level effects: Do members of high-performing teams show higher motivation and higher levels of identification with their group? Is the individual level contribution balanced in high-performing teams? • Intra-group effects: Can we find differences between high- and low-performing teams regarding emerging roles (e.g., concentrated vs. shared leadership)? What leadership styles are employed by (emerging) leaders of high-performing teams?
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• Inter-group effects: Can we find differences between high- and low-performing teams regarding the number and type of inter-group relationships? Do high-performing teams benefit from “weak ties” to other groups [17]? 3.2 Sociability Factors Sociability is determined by the extent to which a 3D CVE induces a sense of social presence among interacting users and enables team members to interact well with each other – despite the lower “social bandwidth” due to the limited transmission of nonverbal cues (through avatar facial expressions and gestures), which are crucial for the transmission of meaning, conversational management, and the expression of emotional states. Besides analyzing what types of relationships are formed during group interactions, sociability analysis should also focus on how those relationships are performed in shared activities [18]. The following factors are assumed to contribute to the sociability of 3D CVE and appear worthwhile to be investigated: • Perceived presence: How well do users identify with their avatars and do they feel present in the virtual environment? Does perceived social presence facilitate the establishment of group cohesion and trust among team members? • Social conventions: Are there any cultural differences regarding what behaviors in the virtual space are perceived as effective and appropriate? Do social conventions that can be observed in face-to-face interactions (e.g., proxemics) transfer to the virtual environment [13]? • Relationship formation: What types of relationships occur and how do they change over time? Are there any cultural differences in the way relationships develop? • Emerging roles: What roles are emerging during group work? Can we identify a set of behaviors that determines particular emergent roles, such as leadership? 3.3 Usability Factors Usability can be defined as a precondition for team effectiveness and efficiency, and refers to the extent to which the technological environment supports successful team performance and work satisfaction. In order to identify user needs to derive design guidelines for 3D CVE, we need to investigate what virtual teams actually do and how they use the communication and collaboration facilities provided by the 3D CVE [8]. The following research questions provide insights of how users cope with the environment and may highlight possible usability issues: • Communication modes: What communication modes (audio and chat) are being used, how often, by whom, and accompanying which tasks? • Collaboration tools: What collaboration tools are being used, how often, and for what purpose? What problems occur when using these tools? • Support facilities: What types of support (e.g., technical, conflict mediation, task-related) are most requested, by whom, and at what stage of teamwork? • Perceived usability: How does team members' subjective experience of technical and social aspects of 3D CVE interactions relate to observed behavioral patterns of virtual teamwork?
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4 Operational Framework for the Study of Group Interaction Processes in 3D CVE The analysis of group interaction processes requires multiple measurement times or continuous measurement as they are likely to change over time – and these changes are the main objects of interest. For example, the analysis of emerging roles and relationships require either subjective reports by team members or the collection of longitudinal behavioral data and cannot be measured at a single post-process measurement time. In order to observe group interaction processes, the acts and roles of collaborative people have to be made explicit [8], which calls for different types of behavioral observation tools that will be discussed below. Due to space restrictions, we limit our discussion to objective behavioral measures and leave out self-report methods that are typically used in virtual world studies and critically discussed elsewhere [19]. 4.1 Behavioral Coding of Video-Recorded Interactions and Communication Artifacts Some research questions require the analysis of content-related behaviors based on video-recorded interactions or communication artifacts. For example, the content of group interactions is relevant in order to extract information about the frequency of socio-emotional and task-related processes, to identify leadership styles, the kind and frequency of conflicts that occur and what strategies teams employ to resolve them. Bales' Interaction Process Analysis [20], the classic behavioral coding system, provides guidelines for collecting quantitative data from recorded observations, which require manual classification of content-related behavioral units. Specific coding schemes also exist, for example, to identify different leadership styles based on communication artifacts (e.g., the Leaderplex framework adapted to virtual team research [21]). In addition, qualitative analysis of video-recorded fragments of team interactions can be used for detailed description of the group dynamics involving all behavioral aspects of the social interaction within the given context [3]. 4.2 Behavioral Tracking for Automated Quantitative Data Collection When open-source tools, such as Project Wonderland, are being used to build a 3D CVE, temporal and spatial activities of users do not have to be coded manually by investigators but can be automatically tracked by the system and can be exported from the database for sequential analysis of in-world events and shared activities: • Temporal tracking includes the frequency and duration of events or actions that users perform either individually or in cooperation with others. • Spatial tracking captures all aspects of avatars' locomotion (i.e. position and movement), also providing information about visited virtual places. • Event tracking registers the type of activities users engage in (e.g., using shared applications for collaborative writing, drawing, or programming, watching a movie on a screen, annotating video-recorded lectures, reading FAQs for different types of issues, exchanging virtual business cards, etc.)
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It is important to consider that groups do not interact – but individuals do. Therefore, we track and analyze group interaction processes based on the actions that individuals perform. In order to analyze communication and coordination patterns and emerging relationships among individuals, the frequency and duration of (inter)actions can be tracked, which requires meta-data such as time stamps, the number of participants involved, and possibly where the interaction took place. These data can then be analyzed at the dyad or group level, or between groups (see Figure 3). We suggest to generate separate interaction matrices for chat and audio communication, and for coordination of shared actions. For example, the number of messages exchanged within a group of actively participating individuals can be taken as a measure of “interaction intensity” between the members of that conversational group. At the individual level, the number of messages sent or amount of speech can be used as an indicator for the individual's level of contribution. The interaction intensity between any two users can be tracked over time and statistically aggregated to estimate the strength of intra-group or inter-group relations. The analysis can be carried out for different time spans, for example, for multiple team meetings in order to observe changes in communication intensity among team members over time. However, it has to be taken into consideration that the quality and quantity of a team's output can be expected to higher than the aggregated individual contributions. In order to study inter-group relations in 3D CVE, the design of the virtual world has to be taken into account, which determines how much access users have to one another and how different virtual spaces foster the density of networks [22]. We also have to differentiate between focused collaboration (i.e. active participation) and unfocused collaboration (i.e. monitoring of group activities without getting involved) [8]. Furthermore, the duration of an interaction does not necessarily imply higher effectiveness but can be an indicator for misunderstandings between team members, possibly due to language barriers. Therefore, quantitative tracking data and qualitative analysis of group interactions should be used in complementary fashion in order to gain a better understanding of how virtual teams work in 3D CVE as both methods have their limitations.
Fig. 3. Interaction matrix based on communication and coordination intensity calculation
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5 Conclusions The conceptual framework and the illustrations of the ways in which it can be used to derive relevant research questions show the importance of a theoretical foundation for research on collaborative work in 3D CVE. We believe that the automated behavioral tracking approach is an important step towards the systematic analysis of group interaction processes. However, there are still open issues to be resolved on how to best combine and statistically analyze the large amounts of behavioral data in order to derive guidelines on how to effectively plan, structure, and support the work of globally distributed teams in 3D CVE.
References 1. Boudreau, M.-C., Loch, K.D., Robey, D., Straub, D.: Going Global: Using Information Technology to Advance the Competitiveness of the Virtual Transnational Organization. Academy of Management Executive 12, 120–128 (1998) 2. Powell, A., Piccoli, G., Ives, B.: Virtual Teams: A Review of Current Literature and Directions for Future Research. The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems 35, 6–36 (2004) 3. Schroeder, R., Heldal, I., Tromp, J.: The Usability of Collaborative Virtual Environments and Methods for the Analysis of Interaction. Presence 15, 655–667 (2006) 4. Kharif, O.: The Virtual Meeting Room. BusinessWeek (April 16, 2007), http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2007/ tc20070416_445840.htm 5. King, R.: The (Virtual) Global Office. BusinessWeek (May 2, 2008), http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2007/ tc20070416_445840.htm 6. Gartner Press Release (May 18, 2008), http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=670507 7. Schroeder, R., Axelsson, A.-S. (eds.): Avatars at Work and Play. Collaboration and Interaction in Shared Virtual Environments. Springer, Dordrecht (2006) 8. Tromp, J.G., Steed, A., Wilson, J.R.: Systematic Usability Evaluation and Design Issues for Collaborative Virtual Environments. Presence 12, 241–267 (2003) 9. Furst, S., Blackburn, R., Rosen, B.: Virtual Team Effectiveness: A Proposed Research Agenda. Information Systems Journal 9, 249–269 (1999) 10. Kahai, S.S., Carroll, E., Jestice, R.: Team Collaboration in Virtual Worlds. The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems 38, 61–68 (2007) 11. Gardner, M., Scott, J., Horan, B.: Reflections on the Use of Project Wonderland as a Mixed-Reality Environment for Teaching and Learning. In: ReLIVE 2009 Conference, Open University, UK (2008) 12. Yee, N., Bailenson, J.N.: A Method for Longitudinal Behavioral Data Collection in Second Life. Presence 17, 594–596 (2008) 13. Friedman, D., Steed, A., Slater, M.: Spatial Social Behavior in Second Life. In: Pelachaud, C., Martin, J.-C., André, E., Chollet, G., Karpouzis, K., Pelé, D. (eds.) IVA 2007. LNCS, vol. 4722, pp. 252–263. Springer, Heidelberg (2007) 14. McGrath, J.E.: Groups: Interactions and Performance. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs (1984)
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15. Hoegl, M., Gemuenden, H.G.: Teamwork Quality and the Success of Innovative Projects: A Theoretical Concept and Empirical Evidence. Organization Science 12, 435–449 (2001) 16. Wittenbaum, G.M., Moreland, R.L.: Small-Group Research in Social Psychology: Topics and Trends Over Time. Social and Personality Psychology Compass 2, 187–203 (2008) 17. Granovetter, M.: The Strength of Weak Ties: A Network Theory Revisited. Sociological Theory 1, 201–233 (1983) 18. Brown, B., Bell, M.: Play and Sociability in There: Some Lessons from Online Games for Collaborative Virtual Environments. In: Schroeder, R., Axelsson, A.-S. (eds.) Avatars at Work and Play. Collaboration and Interaction in Shared Virtual Environments, pp. 227– 245. Springer, Dordrecht (2006) 19. Slater, M.: How Colorful Was Your Day? Why Questionnaires Cannot Assess Presence in Virtual Environments. Presence 13, 484–493 (2004) 20. Bales, R.F.: Interaction Process Analysis: A Method for the Study of Small Groups. Addison-Wesley, Reading (1951) 21. Carte, T.A., Chidambaram, L., Becker, A.: Emergent Leadership in Self-Managed Virtual Teams. Group Decision and Negotiation 15, 323–343 (2006) 22. Schroeder, R.: Social Interaction in Virtual Environments: Key Issues, Common Themes, and a Framework for Research. In: Schroeder, R. (ed.) The Social Life of Avatars. Presence and Interactions in Shared Virtual Environments, pp. 1–18. Springer, London (2002)
Workflow-Based Architecture for Collaborative Video Annotation Cristian Hofmann1, Nina Hollender2, and Dieter W. Fellner1 1
Interactive Graphics Systems Group, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Fraunhoferstr. 5, 64283 Darmstadt, Germany 2 Center for Development and Research in Higher Education, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Hochschulstr. 1, 64289 Darmstadt, Germany {cristian.hofmann, d.fellner}@gris.informatik.tu-darmstadt.de,
[email protected]
Abstract. In video annotation research, the support of the video annotation workflow has been taken little into account, especially concerning collaborative use cases. Previous research projects focus each on a different essential part of the whole annotation process. We present a reference architecture model which is based on identified phases of the video annotation workflow. In a first step, the underlying annotation workflow is exemplified with respect to its single phases, tasks, and loops. Secondly, the system architecture is going to be exemplified with respect to its elements, their internal procedures, as well as the interaction between these elements. The goals of this paper are to provide the reader with a basic understanding of the specific characteristics and requirements of collaborative video annotation processes, and to define a reference framework for the design of video annotation systems that include a workflow management system. Keywords: Video Annotation, Video Analysis, Computer-Supported Collaborative Work.
1 Introduction A group of students use a web-based video annotation tool to analyse video sequences taken from TV panel discussions with regard to the use of a range of specific argumentation tactics. Their task is to mark and categorize objects and sequences within the video, to annotate these selections with descriptions and own interpretations, and to compare and discuss their results with others, also by exploring databases of already analyzed videos. Users that work with a specific video analysis software are often confronted with a large number of available tools and, consequently, with a hardly comprehensible user interface. In order to ensure a fluent course of activities, a system is required that provides information about the sequence in which these tasks are to be accomplished, as well as which tools can be used referring to a certain task. Furthermore, the application should support transitions between successive work steps. A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 33–42, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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Research activities in the area of computer-supported video annotation have increased during the last years. Corresponding solutions have been implemented in various application areas, e.g. interactive audiovisual presentations in e-Commerce and edutainment or technical documentations [4], [25]. In our research work, we focus on the support of collaborative video analysis in learning settings performed by applying video annotation software. A growing number of application scenarios for (collaborative) video analysis in education can be identified. Pea and colleagues report on a university course of a film science department, in which two different movie versions of the play „Henry V“ are analysed by a group of students with respect to the text transposition by different actors and directors [23]. Other examples for the application of video analysis in education are motion analyses in sports and physical education, or the acquisition of soft skills such as presentation or argumentation techniques [16], [23], [25]. A large number of different research fields and approaches have been involved in Video Annotation and Analysis Research. Nevertheless, one relevant aspect has been taken little into account: The support of the analysis workflow, which comprises the management of annotation data with related tasks and system services. Thus, a majority of today’s applications do not consider the needs of the users regarding a complete workflow in video annotation [12]. This is especially the case for collaborative settings. By workflow-support, we mean the facilitation of loops and transitions between the single workflow steps and tasks on the one hand. On the other hand, appropriate tools and information can be provided at the proper time, depending on the current state of the work. Consequently, we expect a reduction of the learners’ and tutors’ load with regard to the use of such applications and hence enhancement of efficiency. The main contribution of this paper is the presentation of a reference architecture which is based on identified phases and tasks of the video annotation workflow. In section 3, the underlying annotation workflow is going to be illustrated considering its single phases and recursive loops that can be especially associated with the collaborative processes taking place. Our investigations addressed the specific needs of users who work in teams with a special focus on educational settings. The results are based on interviews and discussions conducted with experts and users regarding the sequence of tasks and work steps within the annotation process, as well as on a summary and reflection of the existing literature. In addition to that, we performed an analysis of the functionalities, the user interface, and interaction design of fifteen video annotation and analysis applications. In section 4, the system architecture is going to be exemplified with respect to its single elements, the interaction between these objects, as well as internal procedures within the elements of the architecture. The goals of this paper are to provide the reader with a basic understanding of the specific characteristics and requirements of collaborative video annotation processes, and to provide a structural framework for the design of video annotation systems that include a workflow management framework.
2 Related Work Bertino, Trombetta, and Montesi present a framework and a modular architecture for interactive video consisting of various information systems. The coordination of these components is realized by identifying inter-task dependencies with interactive rules,
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based on a workflow management system [4]. The Digital Video Album (DVA) system is an integration of different subsystems that refer to specific aspects of video processing and retrieval. In particular, the workflow for semiautomatic indexing and annotation is focused [31]. Pea and Hoffert illustrate a basic idea of the video research workflow in the learning sciences [22]. In contrast to our research work, the projects mentioned above do not or only to some degree consider the process for collaborative use cases. The reconsideration of such communicative and collaborative aspects requires modifications and enhancements of the existing approaches and concepts.
3 Collaborative Video Annotation Workflow The reference architecture for collaborative video annotation relies on a already presented model that implies the single phases, tasks, and loops within the video annotation workflow [15]. We identified the phases of configuration, segmentation, annotation, exploration, and externalization. In the following, the particular items of these steps are going to be pictured. Before starting an annotation project, the environment has to be configured. Participants are assigned to accounts and user groups that are associated with specific roles and access rights. Furthermore, the annotation tasks can be distributed among the individual users [18], [30]. Specific project preferences can be adjusted and the graphical user interface may be customized [7]. In video analysis projects, category systems need to be fed into the system. The also may be modified during the annotation process [5]. The segmentation, annotation, and exploration tasks can be seen as one unit. Thus, video annotators alternately segment, annotate, and need to browse own results or data belonging to other annotators or annotation projects [5], [16], [22]. This process is accompanied by data reviews, comparisons, and consequently modifications [22], [24], [28]. Annotators start chunking the video into segments they want to refer to, drawing on different apporaches [2], [3], [10], [14], [17], [22], [27]. Video segments can be defined either by a single person or by an assigned group in a collaborative manner. Thus, annotations that serve as communication contributions are resources for the coordination of collaborative segmentation activities. In some of the identified use cases, the segmentation task is partitioned and assigned to users or groups. Users continue with the annotation of these subsets and with arranging annotations into a certain order. One type of annotation is the linking of metadata or descriptive data [1]. Users may also describe observed behaviours, events, or objects within the video. In most cases, they are allowed to enter free textual annotations. In fact, other types of media formats like images or sounds are possible [10]. During the annotation phase, a further task can be the transcription of verbal and non-verbal communication [20]. In video analysis, the annotation phase also includes interpreting, rating, and reflecting. These activities can be performed either qualitatively, e.g. in discussions, or quantitatively, by means of statistic methods provided by specialized software [12], [22]. Like the segmentation task, annotation may be partitioned and distributed among different groups. When a collaborative group works separately, members need to discuss their results with other participants [6], [7], [21]. Thus, discussion is a central element within the collaborative annotation process. It is a means of agreement and consistency of different annotators’ results and leads to a return to previous steps of the workflow [26]. Pea and Hoffert assume that exploring one’s own
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data is required to properly conduct an analysis [22]. Especially in collaborative annotation, users also need to search for results of co-annotators, experts, or other sources [16]. In addition to discussion, this can be regarded as key activity concerning revision of own results and re-entries to previous workflow steps. The externalization phase includes activities without the use of the annotation application, and consists of any kind of publishing operations. It begins with editing and converting the data into several formats, and moves on to presenting this information in corresponding media [22]. E.g., databases of annotated video material can serve as digital resource for information retrieval in subsequent annotation sessions. In video analysis, it is often necessary to export data for further inspection with specific applications [12], [22].
4 Workflow-Based Reference Architecture In this section, we present an architecture model which is based on the workflow model pictured above. This architecture provides a basic structure for video annotation systems which include a workflow management framework. Design decisions particularly base on our endeavour to support given operating procedures within the annotation workflow. In that context, we identified basic requirements that have to be fulfilled by the architecture: Workflow Control: Transitions between workflow phases and the control of sequences of sub operations have to be supported. Also loops and re-entries to other phases of the workflow must be considered. Enclosure: The identified phases and tasks need to be pooled into functional units that are mutually delimited. Thus, task areas can be typecasted and invoked by addressing respective modules. Extensibility: The architecture must enable administrators to integrate, replace and remove tools that can be assigned to task-related modules. Consistency: Since multiple tools read and possibly write on the same data, the consistency of shared parts of the data set has to be ensured at every point of the annotation process. In addition to that, there are further requirements with regard to annotated data and collaborative activities. Thus, an appropriate handling of media files and its annotated information, as well as their organizational structure must be provided. With respect to collaborative use cases, the architecture model has to realize the data exchange between multiple spatial separated users of the application. For this purpose, stored information must be made available to every participant of the group. Consequently, consistency of data must also be warranted for every peer in the shared system. As showed in Figure 1, the reference architecture was conceptualized as component-based client-server model. The elements of the architecture are structured by a combination of the Model View Controller and Mediator patterns [8], [11], [29]. In the following sections, the single aspects are going to be illustrated. 4.1 Client-Server Model A fundamental condition for collaborative processes is the interconnectedness of every peer taking part for information exchanging purposes [7], [10]. A range of optional models can be considered, e.g., client-server, peer-to-peer, or web-based approaches. We suggest a client-server architecture, not only due to its wide spreading in the area of information systems [7]. The server application realizes the centralization of the information space and, at the same time, makes the data system available
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Fig. 1. Workflow-based Reference Architecture Model
for any client that is connected. Additionally, it provides several services such as authentication of annotators, and management of accounts and access rights. It is also responsible for consistent storage and management of global project configurations and video annotation information, but also workflow-related data like workflowtemplates and available tools. The central application provides support for distributed authoring process, e.g. tracking of changes made by co-annotators. The client application handles user entries and interaction on the graphical user interface. It provides authoring options and assigned tools for video and annotation editing purposes. 4.2 Model View Controller and Mediator Pattern In order to realize an appropriate management of media files and its annotated information, we rely on existing approaches with regard to video annotation or video linking. In the area of hypermedia research, several models can be identified, e.g. the Dexter Hypertext Reference Model. The Dexter model divides the system into three delimited layers, separating data, the given hyper structure, and its representation [13]. The Model View Controller Model (MVC) equally divides the application into three levels: the model layer represents the involved data, views display the information and assume user interaction, the controller layer processes user entries and is enabled to modify data in the model. Furthermore, data consistency is warranted through a specific notification policy [8]. In the presented workflow-based reference architecture, the model layer consists of data and information from video files, video segments and assigned annotations to project configuration information. Particularly, workflow-related data are stored workflow templates (which can be predefined by tutors) and a listing of the available tools. The view layer represents any visual component at the graphical user interface. Besides the general elements of the user interface, the single views display the available tools and methods which are previously assigned to respective tasks of the annotation workflow. The controller layer includes two different kinds of controllers: local controllers are assigned to every component of the view (as well as the server communication component) and act as interfaces between component and application. The broker component serves as global controller and implements the included Mediator pattern.
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The Mediator pattern provides a central instance which defines the cooperation and interaction of multiple objects. This central unit holds an intermediary role and coordinates the overall behaviour of the system [11]. Thus, workflow control can be supported with regard to transitions between workflow phases, sequences of sub operations, passing through loops, and re-entries to other phases of the workflow. The specific processes and sequences within the annotation workflow are defined by task groups and sub operations, which can be pooled into several system components. 4.3 Task-Related Components As mentioned above, the identified phases and tasks need to be pooled into functional units that are mutually delimited in order to typecast task areas that can be invoked by the mediator object. Furthermore, the architecture must enable administrators to integrate, replace and remove tools that can be assigned to these task-related modules. Thus, the phases of the workflow are implemented as software components. A software component can be seen as an enclosed unit which provides specific services. It can be embedded into a higher-level system and combined with other components. The concrete implementation of a component is concealed from its accessing instance, the communication is provided by specific interfaces [29]. Within our architecture model, the components are abstract and serve as containers for previously assigned tools and methods. Furthermore, they may be implemented several times. Thus, extensibility of the framework is supported. Based on the identified workflow phases and tasks, we conceived and included the components Broker, Administration, Workflow, Video, Segmentation, Annotation, Timeline, Search, and Server Communication. In order to comprise sequences of tasks and sub operations, as well as possible loops and re-entries, we defined functions, internal procedures, and interaction with other elements of the architecture for each single component. In the following, the task-related components of the reference architecture are going to be exemplified, with a focus on their specific functions. The Broker Component implements the mediator pattern and servers as global controller within the controller layer of the MVC model. It does not hold information about the concrete implementation of the system components; the communication is conducted via the components’ controllers which serve as interfaces. The workflow component informs the broker instance that this task has to be performed. In order to control the whole task processing, the broker activates and highlights, or disables and hides respective components. In addition to that, it controls the interaction and communication between involved system components. Once modifying operations are performed by one component, changes must be registered in the data system one the one hand. On the other hand, other components have to be notified. Thus, the specific notification policy of the MVC model is realized. Information annotated to dynamic media like video comprises temporal conditions [9], [10], [14]. Thus, the representation of segmentation and annotation data has to be synchronized with the playing video. The Administration Component is responsible for all administrative processes and configuration of the application. It provides input interfaces for configuration of general application and project properties as well as the management of user accounts, groups, roles, and access right. In addition to that, workflow- and task-related settings can be edited, e.g., creating, editing and removing of workflow templates. Workflow templates define the tasks that have to be accomplished, the operating order and
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sequences, as well as the available tool(s) that are assigned to a certain task. Furthermore, distribution of tasks to different users or user groups can be stored. In general, the administration component provides interfaces for different types of information entry, and allocates data to its proper destination. Conjointly with the broker and administration components, the Workflow Component forms the workflow management framework of the system. On the graphical user interface, the workflow component visualizes the tasks that have to be accomplished, and enables users to select an item in order to perform a certain task. After the selection of a task item, the broker instance is notified for workflow control purposes. Once all relevant procedures are finished, the broker notifies the workflow component about the previously selected task being accomplished. In that case, the representation of the workflow is updated. The Video Component displays the assigned video file(s), as well as respective video segments and annotated data. Common interactive elements such as play, pause, stop, rewind, etc. are provided. In addition to that, further potentially services have been identified during the comparative analysis of the state-of-the-art, e.g. (synchronized) playback of multiple videos, multiple types of playback and control, or provision of keyboard shortcuts. For this purpose, the video component needs to provide appropriate interfaces. In close collaboration with the segmentation component(s), video chunking activities can be performed upon the video display area. The Segmentation Component includes required video chunking approaches. Since segmentation activities are usually performed on other components like video players or timelines [17], [19], this component must provide multiple interfaces for coordination of the segmentation performance. Concrete implementations of the Annotation Component enable supply, representation and editing of annotated data such as metadata, descriptions, categorization, commentary, etc. The annotation component has read access to the annotation data in the model layer in order to represent this information synchronized with the respecting video and segment(s). The selection of an annotation instance by the user must be enabled. With regard to this, the broker component has to be notified in order to initialize components like video player or timeline to update their representation of the respective data. For explorative purposes, the representation of annotated data needs to be modified. I.e., tools for grouping, sorting, filtering, etc. must be provided. This bears not only on a user’s own annotated information, but also on external data like co-annotators’ results or annotations within previous video annotation projects. Any modification performed upon the annotation component has to be registered in the central data system. Thereto, the broker instance has to be notified. The conducted expert interviews and the comparative analysis of current applications revealed that segmentation and annotation activities are often performed along a Timeline representation [15], [17], [19]. One fundamental reason is the temporal conditions of information that is annotated to video-based media [9], [10], [14]. In addition to that, other system components may use a timeline representation of annotated information, e.g. statistical comparisons of multiple users’ results. The Exploration Component provides essential functionalities for browsing, searching, and comparing several kinds of information. Among this information are own results, results of co-annotators or experts, annotation data of other projects that are located
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in the same data system, and also external resources. Consequently, the exploration component must provide an appropriate representation for different kinds of data. The Server Communication Component is responsible for communication, transaction, and data exchange between clients and the central server application or the data layer. For this purpose, the component has to know the employed protocol(s) and support marshalling procedures.
5 Conclusion and Future Work In this paper, we present a workflow model for collaborative video annotation processes. Based on this model, we illustrate a reference architecture that particularly supports transitions between phases and sub tasks of the (collaborative) video annotation workflow by complying the basic workflow-related requirements control, task enclosure, extensibility, and information consistency. The applied client-server model realizes co-annotator interconnectedness and information exchange by means of a centralized data system. Furthermore, services for user management, distributed authoring, and data consistency are provided. By pooling work items and tasks into enclosed software components, the regulation and control of the annotation process by a central broker instance is facilitated. An arrangement of the architecture elements along a MVC model ensures appropriate handling and management of the video files and respective additional information. Thus, it can be drawn on the presented architecture model in order to design (collaborative) video annotation software with an integration workflow management framework. Up to date, we implemented the exemplified system architecture as well as basic software components. Elementary workflow sequences (which are under permanent further development) can be passed through. Future steps relate to the representation and user interaction referring to information displayed at the graphical user interface. This bears especially on the described workflow component and the control of the different tools that are provided on the user interface.
References 1. Baecker, R.M., Fono, D., Wolf, P.: Toward a Video Collaboratory. In: Goldman, R., Pea, R., Barron, B., Derry, S.J. (eds.) Video Research in the Learning Sciences, pp. 461–478. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, London (2007) 2. Banerjee, S., Cohen, J., Quisel, T., Chan, A., Patodia, Y., Al-Bawab, Z., Zhang, R., Black, A., Stern, R., Rosenfeld, R., Rudnicky, A., Rybski, P.E., Veloso, M.: Creating multimodal, user-centric records of meetings with the carnegie mellon meeting recorder architecture. In: IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing, Meeting Recognition Workshop (2004) 3. Bertini, M., Del Bimbo, A., Cucchiara, R., Prati, A.: Applications ii: Semantic video adaptation based on automatic annotation of sport videos. In: 6th ACM SIGMM International Workshop on Multimedia Information Retrieval, pp. 291–298. ACM Press, New York (2004) 4. Bertino, E., Trombetta, A., Montesi, D.: Workflow Architecture for Interactive Video Management Systems. In: Distributed and Parallel Databases, pp. 33–51. Springer, Netherlands (2002)
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5. Bortz, J., Döring, N.: Forschungsmethoden und Evaluation für Human- und Sozialwissenschaftler, 4th edn. Springer, Berlin (2006) 6. Brugman, H., Crasborn, O.A., Russel, A.: Collaborative annotation of sign language data with peer-to-peer technology. In: 4th International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation, pp. 213–216. European Language Resources Association, Paris (2004) 7. Brugman, H., Russel, A.: Annotating multi-media / multi-modal resources with ELAN. In: 4th International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation, pp. 2065–2068. European Language Resources Association, Paris (2004) 8. Buschmann, F., Meunier, R., Rohnert, H., Sommerlad, P., Stal, M.: Pattern-Oriented Software Architecture. A System of Patterns, vol. 1. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester (1996) 9. Chambel, T., Zahn, C., Finke, M.: Hypervideo Design and Support for Contextualized Learning. In: IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies, pp. 345–349. IEEE Computer Society, Los Alamitos (2004) 10. Finke, M.: Unterstützung des kooperativen Wissenserwerbs durch Hypervideo-Inhalte. Dissertation, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany (2005) 11. Gamma, E., Helm, R., Johnson, R., Vlissides, J.: Design Patterns - Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software. Addison-Wesley, Reading (1995) 12. Hagedorn, J., Hailpern, J., Karahalios, K.G.: VCode and VData: illustrating a new framework for supporting the video annotation workflow. In: Working Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces, pp. 317–321. ACM Press, New York (2008) 13. Halasz, F., Schwartz, M.: The Dexter Hypertext Reference Model. Communications of the ACM 37(2), 30–39 (1994) 14. Hofmann, C., Hollender, N.: Kooperativer Informationserwerb und -Austausch durch Hypervideo. In: Mensch & Computer 2007: Konferenz für interaktive und kooperative Medien, pp. 269–272. Oldenbourg Verlag, München (2007) 15. Hofmann, C., Hollender, N., Fellner, D.W.: A Workflow Model for Collaborative Video Annotation - Supporting the Workflow of Collaborative Video Annotation and Analysis performed in Educational Settings. In: International Conference on Computer Supported Education 2009 (to appear, 2009) 16. Hollender, N., Hofmann, C., Deneke, M.: Principles to reduce extraneous load in webbased generative learning settings. In: Workshop on Cognition and the Web 2008, pp. 7– 14 (2008) 17. Kipp, M.: Spatiotemporal Coding in ANVIL. In: 6th International Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation. European Language Resources Association, Marrakech (2008) 18. Lin, C.Y., Tseng, B.L., Smith, J.R.: Video Collaborative Annotation Forum: Establishing Ground-Truth Labels on Large Multimedia Datasets. In: TRECVID 2003 Workshop (2003) 19. Link, D.: Computervermittelte Kommunikation im Spitzensport. Sportverlag Strauß, Köln (2006) 20. Mikova, M., Janik, T.: Analyse von gesundheitsfördernden Situationen im Sportunterricht: Methodologisches Vorgehen einer Videostudie. In: Mužík, V., Janík, T., Wagner, R. (eds.) Neue Herausforderungen im Gesundheitsbereich an der Schule. Was kann der Sportunterricht dazu beitragen? pp. 248–260. MU, Brno (2006) 21. National Research Council Comittee on a National Collaboratory: National Collaboratories: Applying information technology for scientific research. Nation Academy Press, Washington (1993) 22. Pea, R., Hoffert, E.: Video workflow in the learning sciences: Prospects of emerging technologies for augmenting work practices. In: Goldman, R., Pea, R., Barron, B., Derry, S.J. (eds.) Video Research in the Learning Sciences, pp. 427–460. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, London (2007)
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23. Pea, R., Lindgren, R., Rosen, J.: Computer-supported collaborative video analysis. In: 7th International Conference on Learning Sciences, pp. 516–521. International Society of the Learning Sciences (2006) 24. Ratcliff, D.: Video Methods in Qualitative Research. In: Camic, P.M., Rhodes, J.E., Yardley, L. (eds.) Handbook of Qualitative Research in Psychology: Expanding Perspectives in Methodology and Design, pp. 113–130. American Psychological Association, Washington (2003) 25. Richter, K., Finke, M., Hofmann, C., Balfanz, D.: Hypervideo. In: Pagani, M. (ed.) Encyclopedia of Multimedia Technology and Networking, 2nd edn., pp. 641–647. Idea Group Pub., USA (2007) 26. Seidel, T., Prenzel, M., Kobarg, M. (eds.): How to run a video study. Technical report of the IPN Video Study. Waxmann, Münster (2005) 27. Snoek, C.G.M., Worring, M.: Multimodal video indexing: A review of the state-of-the-art. Multimodal Tools and Applications 25(1), 5–35 (2005) 28. Stahl, E., Finke, M., Zahn, C.: Knowledge Acquisition by Hypervideo Design: An Instructional Program for Univiversity Courses. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia 15(3), 285–302 (2006); Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education, Chesapeake 29. Szyperski, C.: Component Software - Beyond Object-Oriented Programming. AddisonWesley, Reading (1999) 30. Volkmer, T., Smith, J.R., Natsev, A.: A web-based system for collaborative annotation of large image and video collections: an evaluation and user study. In: 13th Annual ACM international Conference on Multimedia, pp. 892–901. ACM Press, New York (2005) 31. Zhang, Q.Y., Kankanhalli, M.S., Mulhem, P.: Semantic video annotation and vague query. In: 9th International Conference on Multimedia Modeling, pp. 190–208 (2003)
Catalysing the Development of a Conference Workspace Jukka Huhtamäki, Ossi Nykänen, and Jaakko Salonen Tampere University of Technology, Hypermedia Laboratory, Korkeakoulunkatu 1, FI-33720 Tampere, Finland {jukka.huhtamaki, ossi.nykanen, jaakko.salonen}@tut.fi Abstract. Modern Web introduces new means to support conference information retrieval and, moreover, social tools that enable conference delegates to actively contribute to a conference. Simultaneously, existing case studies show that collecting explicitly represented conference data is possible in real-life settings. From these grounds, methods and tools of component-based information visualisation can be used to process conference data, firstly, in order to create visualisations of the conference data, and, secondly, to produce data for populating interactive conference tools. We claim that when coupled with usage tracking and analysis, the automated creation of visualisations and population data can catalyse the iterative development of a conference workspace. In this article, we present case OPAALS 2008 where formal conference data was successfully harvested and utilised to partly automate the creation workflow of the conference workspace. Moreover, we introduce the methods that were used to gain insight on the dynamics of the workspace usage. Keywords: information visualisation, online communities, Semantic Web, information modelling, social media.
1 Introduction Most of the conferences and workshops today have a homepage including information about the venue, program, and presenters. Some events offer delegates the possibility to define their profile and to contribute to the conference online. Lately, work for equipping conference delegates with appropriate interactive tools has been done in the field of online conferences. Traditionally, the role of a conference delegate has been rather passive. Related to unconferencing, Winer [1] claims that “[t]he sum of the expertise of the people in the audience is greater than the sum of expertise of the people on stage”. Although this surely is always not the case, we agree that the usefulness of a conference can be added with tools supporting delegates to find their way to see the right talks, to meet other delegates with complementing interests and to contribute to the conference discussion before, during and after the event. In chemistry, catalysts increase the probability of a reaction by reducing the activation energy needed for a reaction to happen. Reducing “activation energy” is important in data-sharing systems [2] and we see that the same analogy is applicable to conference workspace development. We claim that once the conference data is presented in a form explicit enough to enable automated processing, pipeline-based data processing methods that are commonly used in information visualisation can be used A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 43–52, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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to partly automate the creation process of a conference workspace. First, views can be created for visualising the conference data, possibly based on user preferences, and, secondly, conference data can be transformed into formats that can be used to populate conference community and other interactive conference tools. Together with a tracking-based, visualisation-driven feedback loop of the workspace usage, the automation of the workspace creation process can catalyse the iterative and incremental development of a high-end conference workspace: alterations to workspace content or structure can be made quickly as the understanding on the requirements of a workspace improves over time. In this article, we present work done related to the 2nd International Conference on Open Philosophies for Associative Autopoietic Digital Ecosystems (OPAALS 2008)1. OPAALS 2008 was organised on 7th and 8th October 2008 in Tampere, Finland by the Hypermedia Laboratory (HLab) of Tampere University of Technology (TUT) in association with Mindtrek Conference2 and W3C Finnish Office3. OPAALS 2008 was a relatively small conference with about 50 registered delegates representing fields of, among others, social science, biology, and computer science. OPAALS 2008 is related to OPAALS Network of Excellence (FP6-034824). The two main objectives of OPAALS are to build a sustainable interdisciplinary research community in the area of Digital Ecosystems (DE) and to develop an integrated theoretical foundation for DE research. A significant part of OPAALS is building an Open Knowledge Space (OKS) to support the work done in the project. To simplify, we describe OKS as a repository and a model for capturing and managing OPAALS knowledge in an evolutionary manner in the spirit of open source. Currently, OKS wiki is the main tool used by the members of OPAALS. As a partner of the OPAALS consortium, HLab is working to develop an information visualisation system for the OKS. As HLab was also responsible for organising OPAALS 2008, the development process of the conference workspace was selected as a real-life pilot scenario for the visualisation system. The first objective of this article is to describe a semi-automatic process of preparing and setting up a data-driven conference information infrastructure that also supports the task of bootstrapping the related conference community. The second objective is illustrating the pipeline-based mash-up and visualisation technology (reported elsewhere) in this context, analysing the critical factors of technically and socially sound applications. The rest of the article is organised as follows. In Chapter 2, we review inspiring work related to case OPAALS 2008. The development workflow of OPAALS 2008 is presented in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 includes an informal analysis of our work and Chapter 5 concludes the paper.
2
Background and Existing Work
Let us next briefly review some inspiring work and insights related to (1) conference data modelling, (2) conference author social network visualisation, and (3) the possibilities of 1
http://matriisi.ee.tut.fi/hypermedia/events/opaals2008 http://www.mindtrek.org/conference 3 http://www.w3c.tut.fi/ 2
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using formal conference data to support conference delegates in making the most of the time spent in a conference. Moreover, we introduce Wille, a lightweight information visualisation framework that was applied in OPAALS 2008 to automate the processing of the conference data. In order to demonstrate the real-life usage of Semantic Web technologies and to test the workflows and tools needed to collect semantically rich data in a realistic setting, or to eat the “Semantic Web Dog Food”, conference metadata about people, papers and talks has been created for a number of European and International Semantic Web Conferences (ESWC and ISWC) [3]. The metadata is represented in Resource Description Framework (RDF) format following the ESWC2006 Conference Ontology. The ontology combines concepts of the Friend of a Friend (FOAF) vocabulary4 to concepts specific to the conference domain. Currently, data representing six academic conferences is available online5 both as a browsable repository and via an Application Programming Interface (API) supporting SPARQL Query Language for RDF (SPARQL)6. Moreover, a simple geographic map of “Dog Food Organisations”7 is provided as an additional mean for navigating the data. A profound case of academic conference data visualisation was done related to IRIS (Information Systems Research Seminar in Scandinavia) conference [4]. To visualise the evolution of the social network of authors and the research topics of IRIS on a period from 1978 to 2006, data representing articles and their authors was collected manually from web pages, conference proceeding CDs and other sources and inserted into a database. A dynamic network visualisation tool Commetrix was used to visualise the data. The outputs of the work include animations of the evolution of IRIS co-authorship and of the diffusion of terms in IRIS community8. In addition to solving the issues related to heterogenous sources of data, manual work was needed to identify the authors whose names or origins were written in various ways. In particular, Scandinavian letters (å, ø, ä, ö, æ, etc.) caused problems for data collectors since author names including such letters are expressed in various ways. In his winning proposal for the Semantic Conference Design Challenge of the 3rd Annual European Semantic Web Conference, Grimnes [5] nicely sums up many of the needs of a conference delegate: delegates should be able to efficiently browse conference program and tag talks, on basis of which a conference system, where the user data could possibly be initialised with existing profile information in FOAF format, could guide the delegate intelligently through the conference. Today, such intelligent online communities can be built via integrating and tailoring existing community engines and other Web 2.0 development tools. The underlying objective of information visualisation is to serve as an amplifier of the cognition of a user through expressive views giving insight on a certain phenomena represented by the data [6]. In order to support the development of information visualisations for the Open Knowledge Space and other sources of explicit or heterogenous information, information visualisation framework Wille is being developed by the Hypermedia Laboratory [7]. A visualisation designer can use Wille to build 4
http://www.foaf-project.org/ http://data.semanticweb.org 6 http://www.w3.org/TR/rdf-sparql-query/ 7 http://data.semanticweb.org/organization/ 8 http://chacini.cs.tu-berlin.de/Commetrix/iris/iris.html 5
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information processing pipelines that connect to different sources of data, process the data through series of queries and transformations and create stand-alone visualisations to visualisation users. Alternatively, Wille can be applied to produce data for existing information visualisation tools including Vizster (see [8]). An example of applying Wille is a social network visualisation of OKS wiki contributors where Wille is used to access and process OKS wiki data to create a representation of wiki editing history in a format supported by Vizster [9]. Two main versions of Wille exist, Wille Phase 1 and Wille Phase 2. Due to the early stage of development of Wille Phase 2, the batch-processing based Wille Phase 1 was used for conference data processing and visualisation creation.
3 Development of OPAALS 2008 Workspace The OPAALS 2008 development workflow is depicted in Fig. 1. Conference data is collected and represented in an explicit format enabling the automation of workspace creation. Moreover, the usage of the workspace is tracked and visualised to gain insight on workspace dynamics.
Fig. 1. A diagram presenting the workflow of OPAALS 2008 workspace development
A detailed description of the workflow follows. 3.1 Collecting and Modelling OPAALS 2008 Data Traditional conference management tools were used to collect OPAALS 2008 data. Articles were submitted through an online open source conference management
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system OpenConf9 that was installed for OPAALS 2008. Conference delegates registered via Mindtrek registration system. The registration data was delivered to the OPAALS 2008 team every now and then via email. Since OpenConf (we used version 2.01) does not provide a separate management process of camera-ready articles, authors submitted the final versions of articles via email in Portable Document Format (PDF). The files were named according to a uniform naming scheme to enable link generation. OPAALS 2008 conference data is composed of article data (id, author(s), title, session, keywords, abstract, full article in PDF format), delegate profile information (id, name, conference community username, email, organisation, location [city, country] and a list of interests) and session information (id, title, type, chair, start time, end time). Moreover, for members of OPAALS, additional profile information (image, additional list of interest) was collected from the OKS. For this, OPAALS username was added to the conference data to connect the OPAALS member identities to respective OPAALS 2008 delegate identities. In order to avoid time-consuming software development, a (human) conference data manager conducted the aggregation of conference data, an effort resulting to an Open Office Calc spreadsheet (opaals2008.ods in Fig. 1). A few iterations were made to collect sufficient data that fully supported the creation of the needed visualisations. Although a human actor was needed to manage data collection and aggregation, efforts were made to smoothen the process. For exporting article information from the submission management system via a Web interface, a data API capable of accessing the OpenConf database and exporting the data in a machine-readable format was implemented. Moreover, a set of Wille pipelines were developed for processing the data: Two previously developed pipelines, one for getting OPAALS member data in canonical FOAF format (opaals.foaf in Fig. 1) (see [9] for more information) and another for fetching OPAALS member images were re-used. In addition, a dedicated OPAALS 2008 data pipeline was developed for picking the spreadsheet content from the Open Office Calc file (which is, effectively, a zip file including spreadsheet content in XML format), scraping the data load, geocoding delegate origins with Google Maps API10, adding pre-fetched OPAALS member profile information and, finally, creating an Extensible Markup Language (XML) representation of the conference data (opaals.xml in Fig. 1). 3.2 OPAALS 2008 Workspace The OPAALS 2008 conference workspace11 is designed to support conference delegates to (1) prepare for the conference, (2) work effectively during the conference and (3) follow-up discussion and initiatives after the physical event. The workspace is two-folded: a traditional conference homepage is spiced up with conference data visualisations and complemented with a dedicated conference community driven by an open source social network engine Elgg12. 9
http://www.openconf.com/ http://maps.google.com 11 http://matriisi.ee.tut.fi/hypermedia/events/opaals2008/ 12 http://elgg.org/ 10
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The following visualisations are included in the workspace. Interactive program is a densely hyperlinked view to the conference program. Presenter list introduces all the presenters appearing in OPAALS 2008. Article list enumerates all the articles published in OPAALS 2008 proceedings. The full version of each article is linked to Article list in PDF as well as the related conference presentations that were delivered to the OPAALS 2008 team. A keyword cloud, a tag cloud (see e.g. [10]) based on a histogram of conference article keywords is provided to support browsing the articles by their subject. Finally, Presenter map, a traditional map-based mash-up utilising Google Maps, shows the whereabouts of each presenter giving a talk in OPAALS 2008. The interlinking of the different views of the workspace is tight, thus providing flexible means to browse the conference contents. Moreover, conference sessions are linked to discussions running in the conference community and author information to their user profiles in the community. A simple Content Management System (CMS) was built to serve the static content as well as the generated views within a page template providing a uniform navigation scheme and general look and feel to the conference homepage. The CMS does not implement user session management or authentication, thus creating e.g. a personal tagging system for program was not possible. A general Workshop pipeline was built to produce the needed visualisations and population data files. The pipeline is composed of components Workshop program and Workshop community, first creating the Interactive program, the Delegate list, the Article list and marker data for the Presenter list (markers represent information in a Google Map) and second creating a data file (community.xml in Fig. 1) used to populate the conference community. A set of tailored XML vocabularies are used to represent the data within the pipelines. Most of the data processing is implemented as Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT). The visualisations are based simply on Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and Cascading Stylesheets (CSS). In addition, Presenter Map uses Google Maps basic technologies, Keyhole Markup Language (KML) and the Javascript API of Google Maps. A mildly tailored version of Elgg (version 0.9) was used to run the conference community. A bash script was implemented to create a community account for each delegate, to populate the community profiles with collected data and to deliver the account information to delegates via email. To minimise the efforts of delegates and to enable linking from the Presenter list to the conference community, the conference data manager defined the community usernames manually into the conference data. In addition to the online conference workspace, a stand-alone version of the workspace was created through parameterisation of the Workshop pipeline and disseminated as a CD-ROM. Finally, a manually edited version of OPAALS 2008 proceedings in PDF was included both into the conference homepage and the CD-ROM. 3.3 Gaining Insight on Workspace Dynamics During the development of the OPAALS 2008 workspace, feedback from different visualisations and features of the conference workspace was collected from the members of the OPAALS 2008 team in face-to-face meetings and, in addition, from social network usefulness experts through informal discussions and reviews. Moreover, in order to provide the workspace development team with concrete data on the
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Fig. 2. A visualisation of the evolution of the conference delegate social network (two frames)
workspace usage before, during and after the conference, we installed Google Analytics13, an online usage tracking and visualisation tool, for collecting and visualising the usage data. In addition, a tailored log collector was implemented to the conference community platform by utilising the extension mechanism of Elgg. Google Analytics enables us to gain insight on the usage of the workspace in a general level. Moreover, on basis of the community log information, we are e.g. able to generate a visualisation of the evolution of the social structure of the community. Two excerpts of the development are shown in Fig. 2. Nodes represent the community members and the theme groups in the conference community and lines represent the interconnections between them. The graph representation of the community is created with a social network analysis tool Pajek14. In OPAALS 2008, the profile views constitute the majority of the community activity, thus making the social network data less significant. Similar means can, however, be used to create social network visualisations in conferences where online interaction is more diverse. Moreover, animations of social network evolution can be created from the log data e.g. with SoNIa, a tool for visualising dynamic, longitudinal network data15. The information derived from usage tracking and visualisation can be used to reflect the dynamics of the workspace. For instance, we decided to separate the traditional, static homepage of the conference from the more interactive workspace. This meant that we had two versions of the conference program, one with hyperlinks to different parts of the workspace and another without. In the period of September 15, 2008 to February 15, 2009, the unlinked version of the program was viewed twice as much as the interactive version. We suspect that this may have had a major effect on the popularity of the other parts of the workspace. In the future, we would create only one program that would initially be a static one and would be replaced by the interactive version once enough data for creating one is available. 13
http://www.google.com/analytics/ http://pajek.imfm.si/ 15 http://www.stanford.edu/group/sonia/ 14
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4 Discussion and Informal Analysis Case OPAALS 2008 serves as an example of the potential of data driven development of online workspaces. We have showed that when sufficient technical expertise is available in a conference team, explicitly represented conference data can be collected with traditional conference management software, spreadsheets and other state-ofthe-art tools and, moreover, a useful workspace can be created from this data for supporting the conference delegates. From the end-user point-of-view, an optimal solution for a conference workspace would be achieved through a fully integrated system supporting submission management, registration, collaborative tagging, discussions and communication, networking and conference data visualisation. Since developing such a tailored system is not always possible and application needs vary, a lightweight alternative created by utilising explicitly represented conference data, component-based information visualisation pipelines and contemporary mash-up and community technologies provides a valid option. An automated publishing process has several advantages in addition to enabling an iterative, data-driven development of a conference workspace. Examples include the possibility to create a consistent Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) space for the workspace to enable deep linking of conference artefacts and third-party created complementing metadata, following the principles of design for reuse [11]. Programmatically created views to the conference data are, due to their predictable structure, both browsable (by humans) and crawlable (by machines), thus forming a repository of digital conference artefacts. Moreover, it is possible to refresh the format of the data views e.g. by adding support for Microformats16 for representing the conference schedule and the profile information of article presenters. In general, the automation introduces means to conference source data normalisation, thus adding to the data quality by preventing errors in data replication and insuring the referential integrity of links within the data and the generated views. The dynamics of the workspace usage can be better understood through tracking and visualisation of the usage providing insight on the popularity of individual views, the navigation paths and even the structure of the social network of the delegates. While Google Analytics provides useful general views to workspace usage, the usage data collected with Google Analytics is still quite imprecise. Importantly, the users identity remains unknown, thus we are not able to connect users e.g. to their demographic information. Using only Google Analytics for the public part of the conference workspace hinders us to follow the paths of individual conference community users outside the community where a built-in tracking mechanism does enable user-specific tracking. Several efforts can be made to further add to the usefulness of a conference workspace. Using a temporary community for a conference does not encourage the use. Moreover, system-specific authentication credentials hinders the use of the community. Applying OpenID17 or some other general authentication scheme would enable the use of existing digital identities in such a short-lived community. Also, more advanced conference data can be collected. Article references, for example, can be 16 17
http://microformats.org/ http://openid.net/
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formalised e.g. with Zotero18. A general identification scheme for authors and articles is, however, needed in addition to a consistent reference representation scheme to enable advanced computing on basis of the reference information.
5 Concluding Remarks Complemented with component-based data processing pipelines and extensive export and import mechanisms of individual conference tools, explicit representation of conference data provides means to decouple the unique, invaluable data from the individual conference tools that tend to change on yearly basis as more prominent technologies emerge. Data processing pipelines can be developed to create the needed visualisations views directly and to generate data files in formats suitable for feeding various visualisation players and social platforms. Iterative development is supported through the possibility to add new views to existing data by implementing new publishing routines and to refine the workspace by tailoring the existing ones. Once collected, a formal conference data set can be utilised in the future e.g. by aggregating the data with other existing sets of data or by creating new representations of the data in appropriate formats. However, to ensure the option to use a certain data format, the characteristics of the format should be taken into account so that all the necessary pieces of information are collected. The system developed for OPAALS 2008 is a combination of a publishing framework, an information visualisation system and a conference management system. Following the presented approach in a series of future conferences, we are able to analyse and also actively steer the development of workspaces for academic conferences and other communities. The OPAALS 2008 conference workspace serves as a firm basis for the development of future workspaces. Work on tailoring existing components and pipelines and creating new ones is, nevertheless, needed when new workspaces are created, insisting on experience in utilising Wille. In order to fully understand the dynamics of the conference workspace and thinking of the workspace users, the methods of user-centered design and qualitative research methods should be used to complement the measures and figures created through quantitative means. However, usage visualisation surely serves as means to facilitate the discussion on workspace development both for the archive of OPAALS 2008 as well as for future conferences. To enable the emergence of a conference ecosystem composed of individual services capable of communicating dynamically to each other, APIs are needed for data access and easily machine-readable formats for data interpretation. Shared policies and practices, however, ultimately define whether such a system will emerge. Acknowledgments. The authors would like to express their gratitude to Thumas Miilumäki for creating the social network visualisations with Pajek, Arto Liukkonen for tailoring the conference community and Matti Haapaniemi for the development of early prototypes of workshop data visualisation. Moreover, we appreciate the help and feedback from the OPAALS community. 18
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References 1. Winer, D.: What is an unconference? (March 5, 2006), http://scripting.wordpress.com/ 2006/03/05/what-is-an-unconference/ 2. Smith, K., Seligman, L., Swarup, V.: Everybody Share: The Challenge of Data-Sharing Systems. Computer 41(9), 54–61 (2008) 3. Möller, K., Heath, T., Handschuh, S., Domingue, J.: Recipes for Semantic Web Dog Food — The ESWC and ISWC Metadata Projects. In: Aberer, K., Choi, K.-S., Noy, N., Allemang, D., Lee, K.-I., Nixon, L., Golbeck, J., Mika, P., Maynard, D., Mizoguchi, R., Schreiber, G., Cudré-Mauroux, P. (eds.) ASWC 2007 and ISWC 2007. LNCS, vol. 4825, pp. 802–815. Springer, Heidelberg (2007) 4. Molka-Danielsen, J., Trier, M., Slykh, V., Bobrik, A., Nurminen, M.: IRIS (1978-2006) Historical Reflection through Visual Analysis. In: IRIS30, Tampere, Finland (2007) 5. Grimnes, G.: Semantic Conference Program. In: Sure, Y., Domingue, J. (eds.) ESWC 2006. LNCS, vol. 4011. Springer, Heidelberg (2006), http://www.eswc2006.org/technologies/designchallenge/ semantic-conference-program.pdf 6. Ware, C.: Information Visualization: Perception for Design. Elsevier, San Francisco (2004) 7. Nykänen, O., Salonen, J., Haapaniemi, M., Huhtamäki, J.: A Visualisation System for a Peer-to-Peer Information Space. In: 2nd International OPAALS Conference on Digital Ecosystems, pp. 76–85. Tampere University of Technology, Tampere (2008) 8. Heer, J.: boyd, d.: Vizster: Visualizing Online Social Networks. In: 2005 IEEE Symposium on Information Visualization (INFOVIS 2005), pp. 33–40. IEEE Computer Society, Washington (2005) 9. Huhtamäki, J.: Community visualisations in Open Knowledge Space: Uncovering rabbit holes in a digital ecosystem. In: 1st OPAALS workshop. opaals.org (2007) 10. Hearst, M.A., Rosner, D.: Tag Clouds: Data Analysis Tool or Social Signaller? In: 41st Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, p. 160. IEEE Computer Society, Washington (2008) 11. Vinoski, S.: Serendipitous Reuse. IEEE Internet Computing 12(1), 84–87 (2008)
Dialogues of Locations: BlueSpot András Kangyal1 and László Laufer2 2
1 Guanxi, Garas u. 9, 1052 Budapest, Hungary Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Egry J.u.1., 1111 Budapest, Hungary
[email protected],
[email protected]
Abstract. We designed and implemented an experimental communication system called BlueSpot, which was functioning for 3 months in Budapest, Hungary. It was a free communication system that connected nearly 50 geographical locations in the city into a network. In BlueSpot users could send messages to localities instead of people using the Bluetooth service of their mobile phones. Messages were received by all users present at the target location. We are describing the system architecture and our experiences with the interaction design of the BlueSpot application. We also provide an analysis of the content of the messages, revealing user experiences in a synchronous location based communication system. Keywords: Location Based Services, Messaging system, Bluetooth, Interaction design.
1 Introduction In most European countries the penetration of mobile phones almost reached, in some cases has already exceeded a 100 percent. Most of these devices are only used for talking and for sending short messages. Other potentials are still waiting to be unleashed by both the providers and the users. In the recent decade there was a lot of research carried out to utilize one of the most important information of these mobile ICT users: their location. Although Location Based Services (LBS) has become a very popular research area in recent years, only after the release of the iPhone it got significant public attention. According to the GFK Technology Research, in the 4th quarter of 2008 in the US one third of iPhone owners used LBS, as opposed to the overall of 10% of all mobile users of the 25-34 age group [1]. On one hand this fact shows the unused potentials of these services, on the other hand it also draws attention of the importance of the high entry threshold of being able to access LBS. In this article we would like to discuss a Hungarian experimental Location Based Service called BlueSpot [2]. The system ran for 3 months in 2007 in Budapest, and was specially designed to be accessible on all mobile phones, not just for GPS or even G3 capable smartphone owners. In the following paragraphs we would like to give a short overview of some classifications of LBS, and try to define our system according A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 53–61, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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to these concepts. We describe the functionality and the purpose of BlueSpot and finally share the results and our experiences we gathered in the test period.
2 Overview of Location Based Systems According to the definition of Virrantaus LBSs are information services accessible with mobile devices through the mobile network and utilizing the ability to make use of the location of the mobile device [3]. As we previously mentioned the spread of mobile communication technologies necessarily resulted in the need for such services and thus lots of pilot systems were developed. As a consequence of the experimental nature of the field there is no unified classification of LBS exists. In his paragraph we do not try to create such a standard taxonomy, we just collected some considerations which are useful for us to describe our system and we also provide our own classification revealing the importance of our developments. 2.1 Classifications of LBSs One of the most important factors that characterizes LBS is the source and the granularity of the location information. According to Dix [4] it is useful to differentiate between three different kinds of location detection. Some of the systems have access to the coordinates of the users, like GSP enabled mobile devices or other systems that determine the location on the basis of nearby Wi-Fi routers or GSM antennas. In these systems the location is in some sort of explicit dimensional representation. In a zonal system the devices are located within some area of a sensor. The granularity of these zones can vary from a few millimeters (enter a door with an RFID card and a reader) to a few meters (automatic road toll paying service) or even more (e.g. in the case of BlueSpot it was up to 10 meters). In the zonal system the exact location of the user is not know, thus the service provided must be relevant within the whole zone. Near Location Based Systems (NLBS), which allow users to access information based on their surroundings, typically belong to this category. The third group of systems uses relational location detection, where objects report some form of relative location information. Usually these users are within a few meters distance of each other (e.g. Bluetooth devices which are close to each other). Due to technical reasons these services also differ whether the device is used indoors or outdoors. Several modalities of location detection like GPS cannot be used indoors, or less accurate within a building like GSM based positioning, while others like infrared is more problematic to use in an open space. From the HCI perspective the focus of the applications have a more significant importance. Steiniger [5] defined 8 categories of LBS systems based on the type of information they provide: Navigation (e.g. routing), Information (e.g. travel guide), Tracking (e.g. product tracking), Games (e.g. geocaching), Emergency, Advertising, Billing (e.g. road toll), Management (e.g. customer relationship) and Leisure (e.g. instant messaging). He also expresses that it is hard to define long lasting categories, because of the accelerated evolution of devices and application in this field.
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2.2 Location in the Communicational Process According to our understanding of LBS, it is also important to treat the location as a form of information, which is being used up in a communicational process. To characterize this process we can differentiate between the number of users participating and the synchronicity of the communication. Along these dimensions we found two major clusters of applications, which do not cover all location based systems, and to some extent overlap with each other. Nevertheless we think it is important to describe them as they characterize a lot of recent LBS developments. We think that one of the major categories of these applications has a focus on the social network of the users. These Social Network Based LBSs function as a locative extension of the well known social network services. The most typical application in this group is the so called buddy search. In these systems the users know the people who they are interacting with (most commonly by instant messaging with each other), and location serves as an important supplementary information in the dialogue. Another important attribute of these social networked based LBS is that they are synchronous communicational tools. The location information gains its importance if the user gets to know where the people are in his social network right now. In some cases the history of the location information of his/her friends is also presented. Typically it is a one to one communication tool, sometimes a one to many, where the receivers are the whole social network of the user. It is a very popular form of LBS: Google Latitude [6] or the Nok-Nok [7] system of Nokia are commonly known representatives of this category. We think that another emerging focus of LBS is Location Based Tagging. In these systems there is a database of places with different granularity of location information, and some specialized type of information is being attached to these localities. To some extent it can be treated as a form of augmented reality. Usually the information assigned to the location already exists at time of the interaction, and as a result the communication between the information provider and receiver is asynchronous. Like other knowledge sharing systems these LBSs typically serve as a many to many communicational tool. Most location based iPhone applications (e.g. iSushi, or travel tip services) fit into this category.
3 The BlueSpot Location Based Chat System The purpose of the BlueSpot system was to provide a special location based chat application, in which the participants of the dialogues are not representing themselves, but their location. The system was only available in specific places like bars, cafes, and other scenes of social life. To create such a system we only needed a zonal granularity of the location information. This Near LBS only had to detect whether the user is present in that specific place or not. The system harnessed the Bluetooth capability of the mobile phones, and connected the users with each other through special Bluetooth routers, which were connected to the internet. As we discussed previously most location based chat services rely on the social network of the user. These services could be better described as Location Based Instant Messaging systems, as the users are selecting their partners from a previously
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defined contact list. On the web the killer feature of chat rooms and IRC channels is that unidentified (not necessarily anonymous) users participate in a virtual public space. In this way IRC and chat is very similar to hanging out in a bar, talking to friends and getting acquainted with strangers in a public space. These communicational tools are not just using and strengthening the already existing strong social links, but also provide a possibility to expand the network of the participant. In Instant Messaging, text messaging (SMS) and telephony partners mostly know each other, so these channels of communications are taking place in a virtual private space. These services are metaphors of inviting friends to our home, or our office and having a discussion with them in our private space. In virtual spaces no matter if they are public or private; the users are staying in their real private space: mostly sitting in their room or at their office, instead of a real public space. There are just a few examples of technology being used in public spaces to enhance the communication of the people present. The most commonly used service is the SMS Wall, which provides a common platform for the people located at the same public space. There has not been any technology developed yet, which enables public spaces to communicate with each other. Real life public spaces incubate an ad-hoc community of people being present at the same time at the same place. But these communities remain isolated. When youngsters decide to hang out in an evening, they have very limited information about what is happening at a specific place. The information they have about an event or a public space is mediated by an asynchronous communication channel (website, magazine etc.). If nobody is present there from their social network they cannot get information about the ongoing event at a location. In 2008, one year after the BlueSpot experiment, the rise of Twitter microblogging service showed the importance of this type of synchronous communication, since this is one of the most important themes of the tweets. In BlueSpot, the user staying at a location could send a message to another location with his/her phone. The people present at the other location could reply, creating one dialogue between the two public spaces. All the other people present can follow and take part in the discussion. On the other hand dialogues within one location were not supported; from the same place the senders` messages could only be seen in the history of the dialogue thread after someone replying form the addressed location. We also created a client, accessible from the web, grouping all the web users to one location, which could be regarded as "home". Although these users were at different places they were all behaving similarly, as they were all asking questions from their home, which determined the topics of the discussions. 3.1 System Architecture The key idea in BlueSpot was to try to develop a free mobile messaging service not restricted to be used on smartphones only. Therefore the most important requirement of the system was to demand a low entry threshold. The service had to be free, so we had to provide the technical infrastructure, which was completely independent from the Hungarian mobile networks. Taking part in the project demanded minimal effort from the users. For this, we developed hotspots connected to each other through the internet and communicating with the mobile clients via Bluetooth. Therefore, the communication of the users relied only on their Bluetooth enabled mobile device and
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the BlueSpot system. The whole project was based on Open Source solutions, and the infrastructure consisted of three levels of devices: a central webserver, hotpots (Bluebox) placed at special locations and mobile clients running on the users' phones. Webserver. On the top level there was a webserver which was connected to the hotspots through the Internet. We used PostgreSQL as database system, and PHP as programming language above a standard Debian Linux system. The communication between the different levels was based on standard XML requests. The webserver was basically a transmitter between the hotspots. It distributed the messages to the different locations and collected data on the actual state of the whole system. It counted how many reachable users had been logged in and how many users had participated in the discussions. The server sent this information to every user via the hotspots.
Fig. 1. System architecture of BlueSpot: mobile clients, Bluetooth hotspots and the webserver
Bluebox Hotspots. The Bluebox hotspots were specially designed for the BlueSpot infrastructure, making them the most interesting part of the system. These devices were hacked ASUS WLAN HDD. They wirelessly connected to a Wi-Fi router or to a modem via LAN cable. We dismantled the boxes and changed the hard drive to a 128MB memory card. We ran an OpenWRT embedded Linux application on these cards, which ensured the communication between the webserver and mobile phones as a mediator. These cards stored the downloadable mobile client applications as well. We plugged in a Bluetooth dongle to the USB port of the Bluebox, which maintained the connection with the mobile phones. The range of the dongles was the bottleneck of the system. It was only 8-10 meters maximum, and when a user left the covered area, the connection was lost. In some cases in order to cover the whole location we had to use multiple boxes. Mobile Clients. When the system detected a new mobile phone with a Bluetooth device turned on, the user got a message to download the Java based (J2me) mobile phone client application from the Bluebox. If they accepted the message, they could install the application. This was the most sensitive part of the interaction, as most of the users did not know the source and the purpose of the program they were about to install. The functionality of the client was very similar to a text messaging system.
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Fig. 2. Our first GUI concept, where the positions of the keys were constant on the screens, but they were representing different functions on every screen. This made the interaction similar to the ones on touchscreen devices, but with a normal mobile numeric keypad. Usability tests proved it to be difficult for the users to learn.
The messages were displayed in threads of discussions. Besides this the map of the city with the participating places was another important function. Each place was represented with dots of different sizes on the map. The magnitude corresponded with the number of logged in users at the location, and the color of the dot showed how active their communication was at the moment. The users could browse and reply to previous messages, but also had the possibility to start a new conversation with another location. 3.2 Graphical User Interface Originally we wanted to enable average phones to have functions that only smartphones have. Besides their GPS capability these phones also have a bigger display and the interaction does not only rely on the numeric keyboard, but a touchscreen or a stylus as a pointer is also being used. In our original interface design we wanted to create a pseudo-touchscreen, where 10 areas of the screen correspond to the 10 numerical buttons of the keyboard (See Fig. 2). The corresponding areas of each button remained the same during the whole interaction, so the user could learn the positions of each key and did not have to pay attention on pressing the right button. As we tested this idea with paper prototyping we had to accept that the users rejected this concept. Although when using up/down/left/right navigation on simple mobile screens they use the keyboard in a similar way, the constantly changing functions of the keys confused the users. As a result of the usability tests, we decided to return to the commonly used mobile menu system (See Fig. 3).[8] This proves that composite metaphors in mobile interfaces are as important as in a desktop environment. When we repeated our usability tests with the menu driven interface all the users could easily learn the navigation in the menu system. A major and unsolvable usability problem was that when entering a message the text editor interface was the native editor surface of each mobile phone. This meant that by replying or writing a message, the users often thought they have exited the program, and started to enter a normal text message in their mobile phones` menu system. Unfortunately we could not get around this problem, and had to put up with this disturbing part of the interaction.
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Fig. 3. The same screens in the final version of the GUI (in Hungarian) The contents of the screen from left to right: 1. Notification when receiving a new message; 2. Map of locations with the number of users logged in; 3. Content of an incoming message; 4. Menu of incoming messages; 5.Login screen.
4 Results Since BlueSpot was an academic experiment, and it only ran for 3 months, it did not get a lot of publicity from the media. Still, with its 47 locations (+1 web client), and its 1500 users it was one of the biggest Locative Media projects at the time. Most of the users were informed about the service from the welcome messages of Blueboxes at the public locations. The routers could only notify those mobile owners, who had the Bluetooth service turned on their phones permanently. In this period there were approximately 40000 users notified, out of which only 2600 user initiated the software download. Due to software installation problems only 1500 users succeeded, and were able to use the service. One third of the users actively participated in the discussion, by not just reading, but also writing messages to others. In the social media scene this ratio of passive and active users is considered to be high. According to a contemporary survey of Pew Internet Research, only one fifth of the blog readers wrote blogs at that time [9]. Unfortunately the average BlueSpot user wrote only 2.5 messages and the number of simultaneously logged in users rarely exceeded 10. As a result of these conditions the service has not reached a critical mass, thus did not evolve to become a synchronous communication channel of locations. Opposed to other location based tagging services, which do not demand parallel presence of their users, and could successfully rapidly increase their number users. One major portion of the messages was related to the BlueSpot service. Every user initially sent a "Hello world" type of message, to test the system. After this first message those who were brave enough to continue were either expressing their enthusiasm or asked a question related to the system. Messages sent for abroad through the web client also had similar content. The Web2Location type of conversation was initiated by the users of the web client. As the web users were located at their homes, these messages were about asking information about a specific location. Most of the time the web users were thinking about visiting that spot, and wanted to know if there was free table, if it was crowded, or asked about the current atmosphere. In the cases of open air spots, most often they were asking about the whether situation. These dialogues were good examples of synchronous communication between “home” and a location, as the immediacy of the information was a key factor in the discussion.
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A smaller, but still significant portion of the dialogues belong to the Location2Location type, and took place between two public spaces. The users were planning to leave a location, and asking whether it was worth to travel to the other spot (bar hopping). In some cases users organized common activities, like invited users from another locations to join their foosball tournament or simply to come over to party with them. The participants of these activities often used the system to write short coverages on the current situation, their moods etc. As a small group of the users regularly logging into the system had a kind of “BlueSpot user identity”. One a bartender, who was actively participating in the discussions, offered a free beer to everyone who came over to his place and said "abt natural", which is a well known joke from Woody Allen’s “Take the Money and Run" movie.
5 Conclusion BlueSpot system was an experiment to convert the screen of the mobile phone to a public display: everything the user wrote to someone at another place, everybody else could see in that location, and everything he received, all the people around him/her saw as well. Although there was no limitation of message size, users usually sent short SMS size messages, as they were used to do so from their mobiles. They did not know who is going to read their message so they addressed the public place as a whole. The contents of the messages showed that all users enjoyed the experience of these locative chat rooms. The system was working for a relatively short period of time and the vast majority of the people got introduced to it by an automatic notification message sent by the Bluetooth router, and an installation of unknown software from an unidentified source was required initially. Despite these factors the system was a great accomplishment with over a 1500 users at the time. The original goals of the BlueSpot, to provide a free infrastructure for people with simple mobile phones, and making it possible for the average mobile user to experience location based synchronous communication was successfully met. Acknowledgements. The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the Hungarian National Office for Research and Technology, T-Mobile Hungary, Media Research Center at BUTE, Hungarian Wireless Community, Automata AB. In addition, the authors are thankful to the developers at Nextlab.hu, iMind.hu, Cjp.hu and Kitchen Budapest (Kibu.hu) for their valuable contributions.
References 1. One in Three iPhone Owners Used a Location Based Service in Q4 (2008), http://www.fiercewireless.com/press-releases/ one-three-iphone-owners-used-location-based-service-q4-2008 2. BlueSpot, http://bluespot.hu/en_3.html 3. Virrantaus, K., Markkula, J., Garmash, A., Terziyan, Y.V.: Developing GIS-Supported Location-Based Services. In: Proc. of WGIS 2001 – First International Workshop on Web Geographical Information Systems, Kyoto, Japan, pp. 423–432 (2001)
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4. Dix, A., Friday, A., Koleva, B., Rodden, T., Muller, H., Randell, C., Steed, A.: Managing Multiple Spaces. In: Turner, P., Davenport, E. (eds.) Spaces, Spatiality and Technology. Springer, Heidelberg (2005) 5. Steiniger, S., Neun, M., Edwardes, A.: Lecture Notes: Foundations of Location Based Services. Department of Geography, University of Zürich (2006) 6. Google Latitude, http://www.google.com/latitude/ 7. Nok-Nok, http://noknok.tv/ 8. BlueSpot menu system, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2IxVbbyXWw 9. Lenhart, A., Fox, S.: Bloggers: A portrait of the internet’s new storytellers (2006), http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/ PIP%20Bloggers%20Report%20July%2019%202006.pdf
Instant Online Communities as a Means to Foster Conferences Martin Christof Kindsmüller1, Jan Milz2, and Johannes Schmidt2 1
University of Lübeck, Institute for Multimedia & Interactive Systems, Ratzeburger Allee 160, D-23538 Lübeck, Germany
[email protected] 2 Sixgroups INSTANT Communities GmbH, Karlstraße 19, D-22085 Hamburg, Germany {jm,js}@sixgroups.com
Abstract. In this paper we introduce an instant online community (IOC) solution as an add-on for existing websites. The IOC enables social interaction between the main content provider and visitors of one or more websites. We present the successful application of the sixgroups.com Livecommunity in the context of a joint conference to support communication between organizers and attendees, and attendees amongst each others. All stakeholders are supported throughout the conference, from preparation until follow-up. Yet, the main focus lies in accompanying them while they are attending the conference. The lessons learned and conclusions from this application are discussed, as well as the steps to be taken in improving the sixgroups.com Livecommunity. Keywords: Online Communities, Web 2.0, Conference Management.
1 Online Communities Preece and Maloney-Krichmar state in the introduction to their special thematic section “Online Communities: Design, Theory, and Practice” of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication that “Community has become the 'in-term' for almost any group of people who use Internet technologies to communicate with each other.” [1]. This statement seems especially true in the business world, if one recalls the 580 million US dollars that Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp paid in July 2005 for taking over an online community – namely the social networking website MySpace [2]. This statement can also to apply for the academic field of computer science. Searching in the ACM Digital Library gives 995 hits for the search terms “online community” or “virtual community”1. According to [3] online community can be defined as “…a voluntary group of users who partake actively in a certain computer-mediated service”. The emphasis lies on: 1
Search conducted by the authors on February, 24th 2009. To relate this results to other common terms in computer science: searching the ACM Digital Library e.g. for the term “turing complete” leads to 222 hits, searching for the term “semantic web” to 2,997 hits.
A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 62–71, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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(1) voluntary engagement, (2) using a technical carrier service, (3) interacting online as opposed to face-to-face, and (4) being aware of being a member of that special community. In other publications (e.g. [4, 5]) the term “virtual community” is used for denominating the very same concept. In the following, we use the term “online community” (short OC) as it denotes the character of the community more accurately: community members are interacting online as opposed to face-to-face. As the aforementioned definition indicates, the basic constituents of OCs include individual issues, group-related issues, as well as technology-related issues. Whereas the technical carrier system of an OC can be engineered using state-of-the-art software and usability engineering methods [6, 7, 8], the underlying social system cannot be founded or created from scratch: “Recipe-based fabrication of online communities is, at the very least, a bold venture if not an illusionary enterprise” [cf. 3]. Or as Rheingold [4] states: “…communities grow organically and tend to follow their own rules”. The underlying social system evolves over time because of social relationships, common interests, and goals or other circumstances people share. Therefore, we refer to this process as enabling or supporting communities rather than founding or building them. 1.1 Communities of Interest, Practice, Purpose or Circumstance A large number of smaller OCs exist in the World Wide Web other than the few, but massively popular OCs, like MySpace, Facebook, or Friendster. OCs do not only differ in size, but can be classified into several types, like communities of interest, practice, purpose, or circumstance [10]. Some of them are not even meant to be an OC in the first place. Every situation where a content provider (producer) creates content on a website which is consumed by a number of recipients (visitors) has the potential to form a community of circumstance and interest [9]. Users share a common interest of visiting a website because of its content or its relation to a topic of general interest. In this situation, users may not know that they are involved in a community. The community exists at this time often only virtually (as opposed to in fact). The circumstance of visiting a specific website is part of the common ground of the visitors (for common ground cf. [11, 12]). On many of those websites the dialogue between producer and recipients and recipients amongst themselves is not well supported. Visitors are not aware who else is interested in the same content, webmasters do not know who their visitors really are. Producer recipient interaction is described by two classes of goals for the different perspectives. The goals of the content providers are: (P1) communicating with visitors, (P2) gathering feedback from visitors, (P3) providing support for visitors, (P4) increasing customer loyalty and stickiness. Goals of visitors are: (V1) knowing who else is or was online, (V2) interacting and communicating with others interested in the same content, (V3) giving feedback to the content provider, (V4) expressing loyalty to the content provider. In the following section, we introduce the idea of an instant online community – a service that addresses these goals by enabling social interaction. 1.2 What Is an Instant Online Community? An instant online community (IOC) instantly enables social interaction for online communities. By instant, we mean supporting an online community ad hoc from an
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already existing group of visitors of a website by providing visibility, awareness, and means of interacting between one another. A precondition for an IOC to work would be that people are located at the same virtual place, i.e. on a website, over a period of time. A defining feature for an IOC is the community enabling support by establishing the awareness of being a member of a community. Community activities for establishing this awareness of being a member are not well supported yet on many websites. Visibility, awareness information, and the possibilities of social interaction are limited. Visibility implies that there is a place in general where community activity can take place. Awareness information allows members to see who is or was online and which resources have been contributed by other users at what time. Social interaction is supported by personal profile pages, private messages, “friendships”, and conversations via chat messages.
2 The Sixgroups.com Livecommunity The sixgroups.com Livecommunity is an IOC which is interwoven with an embedding website (hosting site) by widget technology (JavaScript/HTML-snippet). Once integrated, the Livecommunity shows up as a small bar at the top of each page of the hosting site (cf. Fig. 1). Interaction takes place in an overlaying window – technically an iframe – which opens on click events. All content that is related to the Livecommunity is hosted and delivered by the sixgroups.com server infrastructure, whereas the original website is left untouched with the exception of a small code snippet that has to be integrated. 2.1 Elements of the Livecommunity The following elements are located in the closed bar (Fig 1, from left to right): (B1) sixgroups.com logo to access sixgroups.com website (e.g. to create a new IOC); (B2)
Fig. 1. The sixgroups.com Livecommunity bar embedded in the hosting website of the conference Mensch & Computer 2008
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number of users who are currently online; (B3) triangle – opens the Livestream; (B4) last entry of the Livestream showing community activity and/or events (in Fig. 1, a message about a new member joining the VielMehr Community is pictured); (B5) “What is this?” – a link to a short introduction to the sixgroups.com Livecommunity; (B6) link to login or join the community; (B7) Search field for Google search. A click on the triangle (B3) opens an overlay including the six elements (Fig. 2): (O1) register and login: users can create a personal profile page, and login. (O2) Message form: authenticated users as well as guests can post a chat message here (the administrator can restrict this feature to members only). (O3) Livestream: all items such as messages, events, and media resources are shown in chronological order and can be filtered by media type such as Twitter message (Tweet) or Flickr photo. At the same time, the filter settings show the number of items of each media type in the Livestream. The recent four items in the Livestream include a status message (1), a Twitter message (2), a photo from Flickr (3), and a friendship message (4). (O4) Information area: some essential aspects and benefits of the Livecommunity are explained here. (O5) Latest visitors: members who are online now or have visited the website in the past are presented. Finally, (O6) list of partnersites: a Livecommunity can be integrated into multiple websites which are listed as partnersites. This can be characterized as webring, a known concept of connecting multiple independent websites which share a common subject via hyperlinks.
Fig. 2. The sixgroups.com Livecommunity overlay superimposing the hosting website of the conference Mensch & Computer 2008
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2.2 Use Cases The sixgroups.com Livecommunity approach supports different use cases. The use cases are related to different requirements of the focused user groups. In this paper we will center on the use case Support for Conferences. Some simpler use cases are introduced briefly. Use Case 1: One Livecommunity per Website. A Livecommunity is set up on a single website. A webmaster establishes a Livecommunity in order to provide a social context and to enable interaction between visitors of this certain website. Use Case 2: One Livecommunity for Multiple Websites. A Livecommunity is distributed over multiple independent websites. This can be considered as an advancement of the concept of webrings. Different websites are not only interconnected via hyperlinks, but via one IOC that enables user interaction across the connected websites. 2.3 Use Case “Support for Conferences” – Real-Time and on Location Support One crucial requirement for a successful conference is to establish a vivid social interaction between organizers and attendees, and attendees among themselves. All stakeholders need to be supported from the preparation to the follow-up of the conference. However, particular attention must be paid to supporting stakeholders while they are attending the conference. Therefore, the real-time and on location support is the most critical element for an IOC set up for a conference. In the sixgroups.com Livecommunity approach, the so-called Livestream (Fig 2, O3) acts as the core feature that establishes a communication and awareness channel for all stakeholders. Attendees can use it for gathering and disseminating relevant information and networking before, during, and after the conference. Furthermore, the Livestream visualizes the syndication of media resources through the use of tags. Media resources include all kind of media such as photos, videos, slideshows, blog posts, and messages from remote content providers such as Flickr, YouTube, and Twitter. Thus, the Livestream makes an existing information space accessible in a new way. Syndicating relevant content from remote repositories in one media stream generates awareness of the general web activity about conference related subjects in almost real-time, as opposed to only the activity on the conference website itself. To support presence awareness [13, 14], a user list showing the online status for each user is presented (Fig 2, O5). Everyone who is online in the Livecommunity can start a conversation via chat messages (Fig 2, O2). Registered users are represented by nickname or first name, and a profile image, if available. Attendees preparing for the conference can use the Livecommunity to get in touch with other attendees or the organizers of the conference via chat and private messages. During the conference, attendees can furthermore arrange ad hoc meetings and presentations, or just arrange lunch meetings. Single text messages can be transformed into a threaded discussion by answering a message. This feature can be used as a directed feedback channel if speakers and audience agree to use a certain discussion as a session specific room. Speakers, organizers, and attendees, as well as other interested parties, can join such a contextual feedback channel and also subscribe to
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such channels using RSS feeds. This feedback aspect is a significant value for the organizers and speakers as well. Conference related resources like presentation slides, photos, or videos are found by agents that scan available external services like Slideshare, Flickr, YouTube for the matching tags. All resources are fed into the Livestream in almost real-time. Users' activities and resources as well as all discussions are represented in the chronologically ordered Livestream which can be filtered by media type. Questions and answers remain visible in the system and constitute an information repository.
3 IOC for Conferences, a Case Study In the following sections, the focused use case is illustrated by a case study covering the application and use of the sixgroups.com Livecommunity system at the HCI conference Mensch & Computer 2008 (M&C)2. The IOC was set up on the main conference website (http://vielmehr.org) and four subordinated sites, whereas each sub-site represents one of the conferences of the joint conference VielMehr3. Building such a webring helped to reach the critical mass of traffic in the Livestream and also helped to bring the attendees of the subconferences together to enhance thinking and acting outside the box. In order to promote and support the IOC throughout the conference, certain measures were taken. We introduced the IOC in a pre-conference email to all attendees and program committee members. The IOC was also presented in the opening keynote. In addition, there were data projectors that showed the Livestream in the foyer and in every session room. The first community activity occurred one week before the beginning of the conference. Attendees announced their arrival times and anticipations. They asked about accommodations or arranged ride-sharing. In this case, the Livecommunity also assisted to coordinate the conference. On the first day, the IOC acquired the attendees' attention considerably. People noticed that their contributions in other systems (mostly Twitter messages and photos from Flickr) were showing up in the Livestream when the correct tags/hashmarks (“vielmehr08”/“#vielmehr08”) were used. First conversations about sessions and possible meeting places occurred. A constant usage of the IOC became established during the following two days. After 16 days a total of 1009 “events” (unique entries) occurred in the Livestream. These events where triggered by the users (community activities) or by the agents (syndicated content). The community activity was supported by a total of 82 users, which is about 13 % of all conference attendees. Table 1 gives a summary of the community activities and the syndicated content in the VielMehr-Livecommunity. As Table 1 reveals, a significant amount of traffic in the Livestream was generated via Twitter (237 out of 495 text messages were Tweets). 2
Mensch & Computer (Human Being & Computer) is an annual HCI conference for the German speaking HCI community, jointly organized by the Gesellschaft für Informatik (German Informatics Association) and the German Chapter of the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery). 3 VielMehr (German for “much more”) was the Motto of the joint conference.
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Table 1. Summary of the activity in the VielMehr-Livecommunity recorded during the conference (expanded period from 09/01/2008 - 09/17/2008)
Gener al Sta tis tic s Conf. Attend ees 6 30 IOC memb ershi ps 58 24 Uniq ue gu ests To ta l e vents 10 09
Com munity Activ ity Conve rsation s 2 58 38 "Frie ndsh ips" Pri vate messag es 97
Syndic ated Conte nt Picture s Twee ts Blo g posts Vid eos
38 5 23 7 37 13
4 Lessons Learned The following lessons learned have been extracted by sixgroups.com and the organizers of the M&C conference. The analysis of specific measures, which have been mentioned in the last section, as well as interviews with organizers and attendees during the conference uncovered several shortcomings. 4.1 Providing More Visibility One issue was a lack of visibility of the IOC. The closed Livecommunity widget (Fig. 1) was apparently unable to obtain enough attention on the conference website. Therefore, a deeper integration of the Livecommunity into the hosting website in order to increase the visibility and the interconnection of the contents is one of the core objectives in the further development. This can be achieved by a more salient design of the bar (cf. section 4.4) or by making features like the message and comment box directly accessible from the hosting website via widget technology. By this means it would be possible to start a discussion about a certain presentation by clicking a button related to this presentation in the program overview page on the conference website. 4.2 Explicit Communication and Visibility of Benefits A second aspect was that the benefits of the IOC have not been made explicit to all attendees. Only about 13 % of all visitors of the conference were present Livecommunity. This aspect covers three dimensions which must be considered: (1) make the user interface communicate these benefits, (2) offer adequate help texts, and (3) offer suitable introductions into the benefit and use of an IOC at the conference (e.g. via email in advance, or as part of the opening keynote). The organizers can easily emphasize the value of an IOC as an information and feedback channel if they take care that the Livestream is already filled with great share of relevant and up-to-date content at an early stage of the IOC life cycle. 4.3 Better Referencing in Presentations Every speaker should be briefed on the availability of the IOC. The speakers then should encourage their audience to use it for feedback on and during their presentations. Predefined structures (e.g. one thread per session) can simplify this procedure. The deep integration concept can further help in referencing the presentations as discussed in
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Fig. 3. Redesign of the sixgroups.com Livecommunity bar. The interface was purified in compare to the original design shown in Fig. 1.
section 4.1. Announcing short URLs for every thread (session or presentation) is another means for better referencing in presentations. 4.4 Take Usability Issues Seriously A main challenge in usability as well as in user experience is the seamless integration of the IOC into the hosting website. Possible duplicate elements like login link, search field, or logo in the Livecommunity bar can interfere with the hosting site. Therefore the elements in the bar were reduced to those which were necessary in the Livecommunity context. To further enhance the usability several redesign efforts were undertaken. Most of them resulted in purifying the interface (Fig. 3). Compared to Fig. 1 the new interface solved the problem of the competing navigation elements such as login/logout link and search field. The new version of the closed bar shows information and navigation elements which are provided by Livecommunity only. The bar now shows the name of the Livecommunity in a prominent position. The “Open” button has become the focused element. The triangle of the old design is still there and acts as a memory trigger for users familiar with the old version. The button works as a toggle to open and close the overlay containing the Livestream.
5 Conclusions This last section is dedicated to the conclusions derived from using the sixgroups.com Livecommunity as an IOC for the M&C/VielMehr conferences. The organizers of the joint conference consider the integration of the IOC into the conference websites of all sub-conferences as successful. Attendees, as well as others interested – but unable to attend the conference – were connected to the event by recognizing and using the IOC on the conference website. Community activity in the IOC took place in different ways: (1) extending one's social network by establishing friendships (the social graph), (2) private peer-to-peer communication, and (3) using the Livestream as a general public communication and awareness channel. A final, more general, conclusion reflects a new type of community that we believe to have discovered during this and similar applications of the sixgroups.com Livecommunity. We will discuss this in the following section. 5.1 Communities Emerging around Shared Common Subjects Syndicated content (or rather the fact that content can be syndicated) suggests that the application of a sixgroups.com Livecommunity can create a community that spreads beyond the boundaries of a single system or service. One particular feature that encourages this process is the Livecommunity backchannel.
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Fig. 4. Shared common subject spreading beyond system boundaries
At the moment the Livecommunity supports a backchannel for Twitter messages: a reply to a Twitter message shown in the Livestream can (via the Twitter API) also show up as a Twitter reply in the Twitter system itself. Therefore, it can be recognized by the person who originally posted the message on Twitter. Thus the boundaries of separated online communities are becoming increasingly fuzzy. This causes a paradigm shift: The identification with a specific group of people using the same technical carrier system is no longer the defining feature of community membership. Now a community can emerge around a shared common subject beyond the borders of computer mediated services. Therefore, the boundaries of online communities have to be specified in a new way. They are not anymore constituted by a certain technical carrier system or service (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.), but by a shared common subject (e.g. “HCI”, “Usability Engineering”, etc.) (Fig. 4). 5.2 Outlook Further work will be applied to enable online communities that can grow beyond the boundaries of technical systems or services. There are two main challenges that have to be addressed. On the one hand, there are technical challenges: (1) Can a login and authentication process be established that can use one account/identity to authenticate users against multiple services? At the moment there are several promising developments such as OpenID4 and OAuth5 that can be used towards solving this issue. (2) Can user reactions (comments, ratings, etc.) on distributed content be transferred back to the content source (bidirectional transfer via APIs), so that the contributing user is able to recognize them if the technical environment is heterogeneous? These challenges can be summarized under the general issue of standardization. On the other hand, there are usability, user experience and privacy challenges: (1) How is membership in OCs defined if identity is shared e.g. by OpenID? (2) How do users cope with fuzzy boundaries? (3) How can one provide appropriate awareness: 4 5
OpenID is a single-sign-on-system, see http://openid.net OAuth is a protocol to allow secure API authorization, see http://oauth.net
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Where am I? Where are the other community members? Where is my content going to be published? (4) How can the users protect their (virtual) identity/identities? In summarizing our lessons learned and conclusions it becomes obvious that for the advancement of the IOC approach like described further research is necessary.
References 1. Preece, J., Maloney-Krichmar, D.: Online communities: Design, theory, and practice. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 10(4) (2005) 2. Reiss, S.: His Space. WIRED magazine (14/07, 2006), http://www.wired.com/wired/archiv e/14.07/murdoch.html 3. Kindsmüller, M.C., Melzer, A., Mentler, T.: Online Communities and Online Community Building. In: Khosrow-Pour, M. (ed.) Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology, 2nd edn., pp. 2899–2905. Information Science Publishing, Hershey (2009) 4. Rheingold, H.: The virtual community: Homesteading on the electronic frontier (revised edition). MIT Press, Cambridge (2000) 5. Kollock, P., Smith, M.A.: Managing the virtual commons: Cooperation and conflict in computer communities. In: Herring, S. (ed.) Computer-mediated communication: Linguistic, social, and cross-cultural perspectives, pp. 109–128 (1996) 6. Palmer, S.R., Felsing, J.M.: A Practical Guide to Feature-Driven Development. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River (2002) 7. Holtzblatt, K.: Rapid Contextual Design: A How-to Guide to Key Techniques for UserCentered Design. Morgan Kaufmann, London (2005) 8. Krohn, T., Kindsmüller, M.C., Herczeg, M.: User-Centered Design meets Feature-Driven Development. An Integrating Approach for Developing Social Software. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Human Centered Design 2009 (2009) (in print) 9. Marathe, J.: Creating Community (1999), http://jay.marathe.net/profile/articles/1999-11community.htm 10. Marsh, G.: The community of circumstance - a tale of three cities: community participation in St Kilda, Knox, and Lewisham. In: Chekki, D.A. (ed.) Research in community sociology. Varieties of community sociology, vol. 9, pp. 65–88. Jai Press, Greenwich (1999) 11. Clark, H.H., Brennan, S.E.: Grounding in communication. In: Resnick, L.B., Levine, J.M., Teasley, S.D. (eds.) Perspectives on socially shared cognition, pp. 127–149. American Psychological Association, Washington (1991) 12. Monk, A.: Common ground in electronically mediated communication: Clark’s theory of language use. In: Carroll, J.M. (ed.) Toward a multidisciplinary science of HCI, pp. 265– 290. MIT Press, Cambridge (2003) 13. Dourish, P., Bellotti, V.: Awareness and coordination in shared workspaces. In: Proceedings of the ACM CSCW 1992, pp. 107–114. ACM, New York (1992) 14. Carroll, J.M., Rosson, M.B., Convertino, G., Ganoe, C.H.: Awareness and teamwork in computer-supported collaborations. Interacting with Computers 18(1), 21–46 (2006)
Mobile Social Service Design for Large-Scale Exhibition Huanglingzi Liu, Ying Liu, Wei Wang, and Bin Wang Nokia Research Center, Beijing {linda.2.liu, ying.y.liu, wei.23.wang, bin.6.wang}@nokia.com
Abstract. In order to improve the exhibition service, technology enhanced visitor experience is gradually gaining more attention. In this paper, we follow user-centered design to explore the possibility of building a mobile social service for a large-scale exhibition. User data from interviews, questionnaires and field studies have been analyzed. Five factors influencing visitor’s social engagement are analyzed and implications for new mobile social service designs in large-scale exhibitions are discussed: personal requirement on the knowledge of exhibits, time cost of social interaction, exhibitor’s requirement on information distribution and collection, the maintenance of a temporary social network and coordination with the exhibition environment. Keywords: user-centered design, social awareness, mobile social service, exhibition service.
1 Background The exhibition industry in China has witnessed a rapid increase in the last few years. From 2006 to 2007, the annual growth rate of the Chinese exhibition industry is around 20%, and the figure in the European exhibition industry is 2%-3% [8]. In order to improve the effects of the exhibition, a technology enhanced visitor experience has started to gain more attention. For example, Expo 2010 Shanghai plans to provide an interactive Internet platform to support visitor’s remote experience. Social software has seen a tremendous growth in user penetration over the past few years and social software has already been integrated into mobile devices [5]. Many studies have been done on the utilization of mobile technologies to enhance social interaction among visitors in the museum context. O. Stock et al (2007) proposed to design technologies to construct a structured group and foster their social activities [12]. Groupware is then used. In ‘The Fire and The Mountain’ exhibition, hybrid interactive artifacts (i.e. installations that support visitors manipulating and interacting with physical and digital exhibits) are utilized to enhance social interaction [7]. Some researchers use social awareness to help visitors create social experiences. For example, in the Imprints system [1], visitors are supported to leave personalized marks at exhibits. They use an icon to represent themselves and attach that icon to museum exhibits so that each can seek out the traces of other visitors. In Artlinks system [4], visitors are allowed to see other visitors, their reactions to an exhibit, and connections among visitors through these reactions. It’s supposed that providing demographic and museum-going information allows people A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 72–81, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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to make connections based on similarity of circumstance. People might, for instance, feel closer to someone who is about the same age, or who have visited the museum for similar reasons [4]. Awareness of social cues in physical information space enables ‘social navigation.’ The benefits of social navigation not only give users a sense of social presence and of not being alone in the space, but also provide users a relative guide based on the knowledge accumulation [13]. Generally, there are two main types of social navigation [6]. Direct social navigation takes the form of recommendations and guides, enabling people to search for information/products based on their criteria, or based on content. Indirect social navigation instead focuses on aggregating information of an entire community of users. Compared with the museum context, the exhibition is more complex and it would be interesting to explore and see if mobile technologies can be applied to promote social interactions in such a context and how to make it. Moreover, mobile technologies provide a good platform for the further development of social interactions because of their high penetration in end users. There are different kinds of exhibitions. In this paper, we mainly discussed those that are open to the public, large in scale and organized systematically so that exhibitors can promote their products or services. Social contexts in exhibitions are more complex than those in the museum. Exhibitors would like to attract the attention of visitors by various means, which, on the other hand, might distract visitors in the surrounding people. Whether the social interactions among visitors in exhibitions are valuable for all visitors, exhibitors and organizers is still an open question. A mobile social interaction service may not be accepted and used by end users if it only facilitates social interactions without being aware of its user’s context. The user-centered design process emphasizes user and task analysis before the concept design. We followed the process in the study and tried to analyze and understand social activities in the exhibitions first, and then consider the possibility of social technology design for exhibitions.
2 User Study Procedure We firstly conducted individual interview with participants to collect narratives through open questions, and evaluations on social service requirements through interview-guided questionnaire. Then shadowing method was carried out in exhibition context. Participant’s real exhibition experiences were observed. For recruiting we asked help from a marketing research firm. 29 participants were recruited and interviewed in this study. Among the interviewees, 2 are exhibition staff working in a professional exhibition design company, 4 are exhibitors, 4 are exhibition organizers and 19 are visitors who have visited at least two open-to-public exhibitions in a recent half year and at least one exhibition exceeded 100,000 visitors. 3 categories of exhibition are covered in this user study: culture exhibition, like travel exhibition or tea expo; industrial exhibition, like Moto exhibition; and trade exhibition like import & export trade show. All the participants come from Beijing and Shanghai, two major exhibition cities in Mainland of China. Before interview procedure, 19 visitors filled in the pre-questionnaire so that the demographic characters and the general issues relative to exhibition visit could be known. Among the 19 visitors, 10 are male and 9 are female, aged between 17 and 60
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years (mean=36, median=33).Then the visitors were asked several open questions mainly designed to explore their real exhibition experiences. After the open interview, a 5 point questionnaire was filled in by all the interviewees to collect their both qualitative and quantitative remarks on the necessity of various social interaction features. 7 of 19 visitors agreed that researchers would observe them in one exhibition which they selected according to their own personal needs. Not only the 7 visitors and their company were observed, but also other social activities happened on site and were recorded by researchers. After the ethnographic participant observation, researchers asked several questions mainly intended to let the participant clarify their behavior and purposes. The data analysis mainly focuses on how people make sense of their social world in an exhibition environment.
3 Exhibition Visitor’s Social Experience For exhibition visitors, there are generally three roles to interact with: exhibitors, mates, and unfamiliar visitors. The following three kinds of connections were analyzed based on the qualitative and quantitative data. 3.1 Connection with Exhibitors Obviously, the connection between visitors and exhibitors is the most important link. People come to the exhibition mainly to know the exhibits or be known by some interested exhibitor. For exhibitors, knowing visitors and being known by visitors is their main target. When visitors are asked to describe their visiting experiences, most of them mentioned the activities related to exhibitors. For example, business card exchange, printed brochures distribution, gift distribution, discussion with the responsible interpreter on some exhibits or possible cooperation, and photos taken of the exhibits or even with exhibitors. In order to promote brands or advertise their exhibits, exhibitors manage to attract as much of the visitors’ attention as possible. They usually do a lot of preparation work before the exhibition, for example, designing an exhibit booth, displaying the product introduction poster, brochure and videos or interactive media, and so on. Except for this design work, exhibitors also hold some on-site activities like gift distribution, on-site lectures or performance shows, etc. to access a group of approaching visitors. Exhibitors tend to gather people to enhance the promotional effects, but they have problems categorizing people. When asked about on-site gift distribution issues, exhibitors during the interview explained their embarrassments: “We’d like to distribute good gifts to those potential customers…However we don’t know whether they are potential customers before we meet them…” “Of course gifts are small…Could you imagine a visitor carrying big pieces and going around the exhibition?” 3.2 Connection with Companions Petrelli and Not (2005) reports that only 5% of visitors come to a museum alone while 45% come in organized groups, 20% with friends and 30% with children [11]. Our questionnaire survey reached similar findings. 19 participants who have attended
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exhibitions at least twice in a recent half a year reported 44 exhibition visits all together, 79% visits have been with company. Based on the interview and observation result, we can generally categorize visitor groups into three main categories according to their on-site activities: • The “always together” group in which members would like to go everywhere together • The “linked group” in which members may have some parting during the visiting procedure, but try to have each other in the field of vision or be aware of each other’s location from time to time. • The “leave-together group” in which members visit the exhibition separately and make an appointment to leave together When they are asked why they go to an exhibition with someone else, 2 main reasons can be deducted: • better effects, such as better memory and a better impression can be achieved from an exhibition A visitor of an ordinary supplies exhibition said: “We discussed the various exhibits, compared their strong points and weak points during the visiting procedure…A wiser decision could be made based on a full discussion of different opinions.” • The exhibition itself could be a social platform for visitors and their companions A visitor of an auto exhibition mentioned: “It won’t be lonely if someone comes with you to attend an exhibition…It’s also a good opportunity to talk about common interests…” However, these connections to companions are not encouraged by the exhibition environment. Firstly, crowding is a major problem for most exhibitions in China. It’s not easy to maintain the “always together” group. Once the group members are separated by the flood of people, it will be difficult to ‘see’ where each other is. So “the linked group” may find that they have lost the link to their company. Even worse, making a phone call in the crowded and noisy environment to connect with friends is absolutely not an easy task. Secondly, as for ‘leave together group,’ although they are supposed to interact with the exhibits or exhibitors individually, they still would like to share the visiting experience with their mates from time to time, even to discovery more about exhibits together under some condition. For example, one visitor mentioned “when I saw something really outstanding, I would like to recommend this to my mates immediately, even to friends who didn’t come…If I know my mate is also interested in my recommendation, I may wait for him and exchange comments on site, then visit individually…. ” In the questionnaire survey session, we designed four questions related to the requirements of the connection with their friends. • Is it necessary to provide you a special service/device so that you can locate your friend(s) on the exhibition map? • Is it necessary to provide you a special service/device so that you can recommend an exhibit/exhibition stall to your friend(s) on site? • Is it necessary to provide you with a special service/device so that you can send appointment (including venue, time) to your friend(s) on site?
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recommend exhibits
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Fig. 1. Visitor remark on the necessity of ‘connection with mates’
• Is it necessary to provide you a special service/device so that you can exchange comments or impressions with your friend(s) on site? Participants described the necessity on five-point scale. Fig 1 showed the average requirement level of 19 visitors on the above 4 aspects. People tend to accept the designs to enhance the connections with their mates in an exhibition environment if the cost of interaction is not very high. As to ‘locate friend’,’ recommend friends exhibits’, ‘make appointment with friends in the exhibition’, all of the three average scores of necessity are higher than 3.5, participants can easily point out the use scenarios and described the benefits that the technology may bring them. For example, one male visitor described: “with the service (locate friend),I can find my mates in the crowded exhibition…I could be very relaxed during the whole exposition since I know where my friend is and we can meet somewhere if we want to visit together in the midway… If I find something interesting, I can recommend it to my friend or let him join in my visit…” At the same time, they also showed concerns about the usability and feasibility, especially on the ‘share comments with friends’ aspect. Most participants have difficulty in imagining the use scenario of ‘sharing comments with friends under the help of technologies in exhibition.’ Some visitors expressed: “Why not share comments face-to-face? We come to the exhibition together…We can find plenty of opportunities to discuss together.” Some of them even require the researchers to describe the solution in a much detailed way. “What kind of comments are you talking about? ... How can I take these comments down? ... It’s too boring if it needs a lot of input…” 3.3 Connection with Surrounding People According to social learning theory, people can learn by observing the behavior of others and the outcome of those behaviors [10]. In an exhibition environment, visitors are absolutely influenced by the unfamiliar people around them. They may imitate other’s behavior; modify their visiting plan based on the observation results. For example, visitors observed that some take photos of some exhibit, and they were motivated to take a photo of that exhibit also. If they saw that some exhibition booth was
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surrounded by people, even if they could not push in through the crowd, they were curious and eager to know what happened at the popular place. Although there are quite a lot of implicit interactions happening among unfamiliar visitors besides observing what others do, like overhearing what others say, feeling other people’s moods and the whole atmosphere of an exhibition booth, etc, visitors think that an exhibition visit is mainly a personal experience rather than a social activity. During the interview session, they expressed that exhibits are their visiting focuses and they have no interests in the unfamiliar people surrounding them. Actually, our observations proved that they told us one aspect of truth. Visitors seldom discussed with each other on a specific exhibit on site. And they usually have no idea of other people walking around them or looking at similar things around them. A male visitor said: “I buy the entrance ticket to see the exhibits, not the visitors like us…Why should I know what they are doing, what they are thinking? They have nothing to do with us…If I need more knowledge about the exhibits, I could ask the exhibitors there.” A female visitor told us: “…No, I would like to share my impressions with others…but not on the scene…After an exhibition, I may write something on my blog or post some remarks on an online forum…” In the questionnaire survey session, we designed five questions relative to the requirement of the connection with unfamiliar people. • Is it necessary to provide you a special service/device so that you can chat with other visitors on site? • Is it necessary to provide you a special service/device so that you can exchange exhibit’s introduction files with other visitors on site? • Is it necessary to provide you a special service/device so that you can exchange business cards or profile information like interests with other visitors on site? • Is it necessary to provide you a special service/device so that you can exchange criticisms or remarks relative to exhibits/exhibitors on site? • Is it necessary to provide you with a special service/device so that you can share your visiting-experiences, like visiting routes, with other visitors? Participants described the necessity in five-point scale. Fig 2 showed the average requirement level of 19 visitors on the above 5 aspects. 5 4.5 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 exchange profile
exchange files
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Fig. 2. Visitor remark on the necessity of ‘connection with other visitors’
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The average scores of the necessity on the five social features are between 2.5 and 3.5; which means social interaction among visitors in an exhibition situation is an uncertain demand. Some visitors may think it would be ok to have such kind of support but some think it is useless, or most people feel it’s difficult to make a judgment on the necessity since they can’t imagine the use scenario once the supporting technology is there. However, participants respond differently to the 5 questions. If the social interaction requirement is described in a more detailed way or the social activity is exhibit/exhibitor oriented, it seems people are more likely to accept it.
4 Concept Design Implications Exhibition visitors do have some motivation to use mobile social services, but at the same time, the barriers of adoptions are obvious also. Factors influencing visitors’ social engagement are analyzed and implications for new mobile social service designs in exhibitions are presented in this section. 4.1 Relate the Social Interaction with the Personal Requirement on the Knowledge of Exhibits For general visitors, knowing where, what, and how is their main exhibition visit target. Any technology designed for exhibition use, should be adapted to assist visitors in reaching this target. As we have discussed earlier, if users are more affirmative, they can get valuable information about the exhibits and they are more likely to accept the social feature of our designed technology. 4.2 Satisfy Exhibitor’s Requirement on Information Distribution and Collection As the designer and organizer of an exhibition, exhibitors would like to dominate and foster mutual communication with visiting customers so that they can spread and promote their products/techniques. In order to improve the communication effect, they need to classify visitors. Meanwhile, similar groups of visitors could be organized and various on-site social activities for different categories of visitors could be held to expand or strengthen exhibition influence. 4.3 Reduce Time Cost of Social Interaction to the Least ‘Time critical’ is important for exhibition visitors. If the information consumption based on social interaction is time-consuming, there is no real advantage of having access to surrounding people and get information through mobile technology, because they are already located in an information-rich environment. To reduce time cost of social interaction among visitors, context-aware UI is required. Explicit input from visitors may interrupt the relationship with the physical world. Context could reduce the input cost and make the communication much more efficient [9]. With the help of context aware computing, the ways that people engage in social interaction in exhibitions could adapt to several situations involving user’s locations, nearby exhibits, personal interests, and social activity history, etc.
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4.4 Extend the Temporary Social Network to the Real, Long-Term Based Social Network The social network we are going to build in the exhibition context is a kind of rapidly formed network based on a short-term goal since the service is exhibition scenario oriented. In order to attract more users participating in this temporary social network and the relationship with “real,” it is suggested that along-term based social network be built. Compared to being connected to people they do not know, visitors show more interest in being connected with their mates and remote friends. As we discussed above, before going to an exhibition, some visitors may communicate with people online to get some information, or contact people who possibly have similar interests and also go there. After the exhibition, visitors may talk about what’s interesting within their social network; publish comments, photos on Facebook, WebBlog or BBS; which means the sociality is mainly experienced by visitors before and after the exhibition. In the exhibition, visitors required more of the connection with their mates or remote friends than the unfamiliar people surrounding them. Incentive or reputation structures should be built toward the transformation from temporary social gathering to real, long-term based social networking. 4.5 Encourage Multi-channel Social Interaction According to our observations, visitors keep interacting with various physical tools like indoor signs, product brochures, printed posters, public displays, touch sensitive screen and so on. Among these physical tools, the printed brochure is the most important communication medium between visitors and exhibitor. Exhibitors may write down the supplementary information on the printed leaf according to a visitor’s requirement. Exhibitors and visitors may exchange information face-to-face based on the printed material. Visitors can take notes in the printed leaf and keep it as long as they like. These direct interactions that happen in an exhibition should not be interrupted by the technology supported social interactions and should not be an obstruction to social interaction, which could be a big challenge for designers. Use environmental design is required. It would be a way that the newly designed mobile social service could be coordinated with other exhibition facilities, which means the new design is a component of the whole exhibition service ecosystem rather than take the place of all existing facilities like a printed visiting guide, guiding signs, public digital display, products brochures on exhibition site, etc. The following concept description gives an example on how to make a mobile social service coordinate with the exhibition environment. Public displays in the exhibition show the popularity of each exhibition booth (number of tagged times) and the crowding status. John sometimes changes his visiting route according to the information (Fig 3).Sometimes the public display shows a game registration ad which encourages visitors to vote for something or compete with other participants using mobile handhelds. John wins a digital lunch coupon because he posts an advertising slogan for a car model and gets the most votes.
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Fig. 3. Public display as another platform for social interaction
5 Conclusion and Future Work People gathering to visit exhibitions are a kind of temporary social network. Whether it is possible to involve mobile social services in this context is the main research focus of this paper. In order to provide background material and find design opportunities, we collected data from interviews, questionnaires and field studies to understand visitor’s visiting experience and corresponding social features. Based on the user research results, we identified some design implications for social technology use in the exhibition environment and proposed a brief concept based on visiting route sharing. For exhibitors, they could utilize the service as a platform to collect visitors’ information. For visitors, they are allowed to move easily and be supported by a dynamic group of people. Anyway it’s a high risk job of designing the social technology for exhibition visitors since people have limited time during an exhibition visit and they don’t want to be interrupted by bad learnable or unusable services. Future work will be dedicated to the concept development. Several design and implementation challenges need to be overcome, especially sensor networking architecture in the exhibition hall and a context-aware UI for the client application.
References 1. Boehner, K., Thom-Santelli, J., Zoss, A., Gay, G., Hall, J.S., Barrett, T.: Imprints of Place: Creative Expressions of the Museum Experience. In: Proc. CHI 2005 Extended Abstracts, pp. 1220–1223 (2005) 2. Cheverst, K., Mitchell, K., Davies, N., Smith, G.: Exploiting Context to Support Social Awareness and Social Navigation. SIGGROUP Bulletin 21 (2000) 3. Ciolfi, L., Bannon, L.: Learning from Museum Visits: Shaping Design Sensitivities. In: Proc. HCII (2003) 4. Cosley, D., Lewenstein, J., Herman, A., Holloway, J., Baxter, J., Nomua, S., Boehner, K., Gay, G.: ArtLinks: Fostering Social Awareness and Reflection in Museums. In: Proceedings of CHI 2008 (2008)
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5. Counts, S., ter Hofte, H., Smith, I.: Mobile Social Software: Realizing Potential, Managing Risks. In: CHI 2006 workshop, April 22-27 (2006) 6. Dieberger, A.: Where did all the people go? A collaborative Web space with social navigation information. In: WWW9 (May 2000) 7. Garzotto, F., Rizzo, F.: Interaction Paradigms in Technology-Enhanced Social Spaces: a Case Study in Museums. In: Proceedings of the 2007 conference on Designing pleasurable products and interfaces (2007) 8. Jurong, G. (ed.): The Report on Development of China’s Convention & Exhibition Economy in 2006-2007. Social Science Literature Press (2007) 9. Hong, D., Chiu, D.K.W., Shen, V.Y.: Requirements elicitation for the design of contextaware applications in a ubiquitous environment. In: Proceedings of the 7th international conference on Electronic commerce (2005) 10. Ormrod, J.E.: Human learning, 3rd edn. Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River (1999) 11. Petrelli, D., Not, E.: User-centred Design of Flexible Hypermedia for a Mobile Guide: Reflections on the HyperAudio Experience. User modelling and User Adapted Interaction UMUAI special issue on User Modeling in Ubiquitous Computing 15, 303–338 (2005) 12. Stock, O., Zancanaro, M.: PEACH - Intelligent Interfaces for Museum Visits. In: Stock, O., Krüger, A., Kuflik, T., Zancanaro, M. (eds.) Cognitive Technologies, pp. 269–288. Springer, Heidelberg 13. Svensson, M., Hook, K., Coster, R.: Designing and Evaluating Kala: A social Navigation System for Food Recipes. Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction 12 (September 2005) 14. Thom-Santelli, J., Toma, C., Boehner, K., Gay, G.: Beyond Just the Facts: Museum Detective Guides. In: Re-Thinking Technology in Museums Workshop (2005)
Accessibility of Registration Mechanisms in Social Networking Sites Gabriele Meiselwitz and Jonathan Lazar Department of Computer and Information Sciences, Towson University, 8000 York Road, Towson, MD, 21252, USA {gmeiselwitz, jlazar}@towson.edu
Abstract. This paper discusses the use of social networking sites in higher education and the accessibility issues which arise for students using assistive technologies when they register for these systems. Many instructors incorporate social networking into their daily teaching by creating learning groups, enabling collaborative work, or just by simply synchronizing course items with students’ personal sites within these networks. This study examines the registration process for several social networking sites. Sites were evaluated according to their compliance with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act; evaluation also included the use of CAPTCHAs and the use of email for user identification. The paper concludes with a summary of the current status of registration processes for social networking sites and recommendations on how to improve the situation considering their application in higher education. Keywords: social networking, accessibility, higher education.
1 Introduction Social networking sites are extremely popular with teens and college students, and many students participate in several social networks. The development of social networking sites connecting individuals across the globe is part of a larger technological movement, often referred to as Web 2.0. Web 2.0 offers new ways of information exchange, involving user participation including collaboration and information sharing; changing computer consumers to “prosumers”, who are not only consuming information, but are also producing and sharing information [1, 7, 18]. E-learning is largely based on the World Wide Web, and Web 2.0 is expected to have a strong impact on e-learning environments. Several researchers refer to elearning using Web 2.0 technologies as “e-learning 2.0” and predict that learning in these environments will become increasingly collaborative, learner-centered, and learner controlled [7, 6, 18]. Instructors already are using facebook groups, wikis, blogs, or podcasting, and current Learning Management Systems like Blackboard offer synchronization with student facebook accounts [1, 3]. New learning theories A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 82–90, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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like connectivism, distributed cognition, and communal constructivism are emerging and all address the shift to networked knowledge and community learning, applicable not only to student learning, but also to faculty department work and staff collaboration, making it crucial for educators to consider integrating social networking into their courses [14, 17, 19]. Students with disabilities can especially benefit from this development. Students have increased access (often 24/7) and have increased flexibility when studying and completing assignments. In addition, students can work collaboratively, join communities from the comfort of their own home, and become active contributors to the learning environment and the community [13]. Using Web 2.0 in the classroom will also better prepare students for the future work force, where many will encounter Web 2.0 applications that are being used in a variety of settings [1, 13, 18]. Because of the importance of web 2.0 to online education for people with disabilities, there have been recent legal efforts to ensure that podcasts downloaded from itunes remain accessible for people with disabilities [5]. Web 2.0 technologies like JavaScript, CSS, or Ajax increase interaction and although they provide a more dynamic and rich web, they also increase complexity and challenge assistive technology [7, 8, 10]. In addition, technologies that are used for site administrative purposes, like CAPTCHAs or account activation through user email, can further complicate access for users employing assistive technologies [23]. CAPTCHAs are used for distinguishing between humans and an automated registration process, usually powered by bots or viruses. In most cases, this is done showing distorted letters that the user then types in manually. CAPTCHAs are used by many sites to address undesirable and/or malicious Internet bot programs and present a significant challenge to users using assistive technology [15, 22]. Email can further complicate the account registration process for users. Many sites require users to use their email account as login names. Often verification is enforced during the login process which requires the user to connect to his/her email and then connect back to the registration process, incorporating yet another element for users to handle during the process. This project evaluates 22 social networking sites with possible application in higher education. Accessibility is checked by evaluating the user registration process of social networks. User registration is the first task that connects a user to the site. If a user experiences an accessibility problem on the initial site with a basic task, this usually prevents the user from accessing other pages of the site or can make it extremely difficult to navigate the site [13].
2 Research Method Two well-known sets of accessibility rules for web content are available, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines developed by the World Wide Web Consortium’s Accessibility Initiative, and U.S. federal rules mandated in Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act [20, 16]. Many educational institutions are required to comply with Section 508, since they receive U.S. government funding. Because Section 508 (section 1194.22) rules are the defacto law for web accessibility in the US, these rules will be the focus of this study. Several tools are available to evaluate web content accessibility according to Section 508 rules. For this project, the software tool RampPE
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(www.deque.com) version 6.0 was used. On the settings for RAMP, violations for paragraph l (scripting) report all noscript violations (i.e. both the absence of a noscript tag, and inappropriate noscript code). For specific assistive technologies, a separate functional test could clarify if the noscript tag is needed, as it theoretically is possible that a content-free strictly graphical script would not need an equivalent. However, since this project does not test for compliance with a specific assistive technology (only general accessibility guidelines), all noscript violations are included. For paragraph o (skip navigation links), the minimum number of links to turn on violation is set to 3 links. Manual evaluation of CAPTCHAs and email confirmation will also be performed. CAPTCHA and email are evaluated by exploring how they are being used in the registration process, and if any alternatives are offered to the user during the process. Twenty-two social networking sites are evaluated regarding the accessibility of their user registration process. Accessibility of the user registration process is checked by evaluating all steps necessary to register a user and arrive at the home page within the account. All steps are summarized under the registration process. Sites were selected using the Wikipedia/Alexa Top 500 social network compilation [21]. The following selection criteria have been applied: sites have to focus mainly on the U.S., must have applicability in higher education, and sites with a higher number of registered users were selected over sites with a lower number of registered users. Sites were divided into three categories: a) strictly social (e.g. MySpace or Facebook), b) social with a special focus (e.g. Youtube or Flickr), and c) social with a professional focus (e.g LinkedIn or Xing).
3 Results Results are displayed by a) the number of instances of all violations during the account creation/user registration process, b) the number of rules that have been violated during the account creation/user registration process, c) the use of CAPTCHAs and email during the registration process. Table 1 presents an overview of evaluated sites and category, including the site’s URL and the total violation instances per site. Table 1. Overview of Sites including URLs and total violation instances Site
URL
Total Violation Instances
1 Social MySpace Facebook Xanga Twitter Multiply Classmates MyYearbook Hi5 Graduates Student
www.myspace.com www.facebook.com www.xanga.com www.twitter.com www.multiply.com www.classmates.com www.myyearbook.com www.hi5.com www.graduates.com www.student.com
71 7 36 18 49 106 127 116 74 380
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Table 1. (continued)
2 Social with Special Focus Blogger Livejournal Flickr YouTube Buzznet Secondlife Wikipedia
www.blogger.com www.livejournal.com www.flickr.com www.youtube.com www.buzznet.com www.secondlife.com www.wikipedia.org
31 126 30 137 83 22 17
www.linkedin.com www.bizfriendz.com www.xing.com www.ecademy.com www.bizpreneur.com
16 112 29 97 114
3 Professional LinkedIn Bizfriendz Xing Ecademy Bizpreneur
Violation instances show the total number of violations that occurred. The number of rules violated shows the number of different rules that have been violated during the user registration process, not considering how many times a particular error has occurred. The number of rules violated is also important; generally it is more difficult for a developer to make updates if 10 different rules were violated, rather than if 10 instances of the same rule were violated [12]. In addition, the use of CAPTCHAs, alternatives offered to CAPTCHAs, and forced email logins during the user registration process are also discussed. 3.1 Total Violation Instances by Site Results in Figure 1 and Table 1 show the total number of violation instances by site. The largest number of instances is 380 instances of Section 508 violations, followed by seven sites with violation instances between 100 and 150. Seven sites have 30 violation instances or less, unfortunately no site is completely accessible. That is not surprising, since, as web sites move towards web 2.0, they often add updates which are not accessible, and often wind up decreasing web site accessibility over time [4, 9, 11]. It is especially disappointing that the site with the most violations is a site that specifically targets students (www.student.com) and promotes student social networking and
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student resources like college information, jobs and careers, test preparation, textbooks, and others. 3.2 Violation Instances by Section 508 Paragraph Figure 2 clearly points out the four main problem areas of web accessibility during the user registration process. Paragraph n (forms) undoubtedly is the most problematic area with 709 instances; the main issues reported are labels and grouping. The next largest area of concern is paragraph l (scripting) with 592 violations, with a substantial number of violations due to device dependent scripting and missing noscript declarations. It should be noted that violations in paragraph l also contain noscript violations. Paragraph a (alternate representations) follows with a total of 252 violations, then paragraph o (skip navigation links, minimum number of links set to 3) with 184 violations. All other violations are significantly lower, paragraph i (frames) shows 41 violations, paragraph j (flickering) shows 17 violations, paragraph p (timed responses) shows 3 violations. Violations in paragraph p were all due to the use of autorefresh or autoredirect. All other paragraphs (b,c,d,e,f,g,h,k,m) show no violations. 3.3 Number of Rules Violated by Site Figure 3 displays the number of rules violated for each site’s account user registration process; not considering how many times each rule was violated. Two sites have
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violated only one rule, however, most sites have violated between 4 and 6 rules, and one site shows a violation of 7 rules. 3.4 Accessibility Categories Figure 4 summarizes the accessibility status of the user registration process of all sites. Considering that it is more difficult to correct violations for several rules than correcting several instances of the same rule, a ranking system based represents the site’s accessibility status [12]. Accessibility status is defined by the following four categories: 0 rules violated 1-3 rules violated 4-6 rules violated 7+ rules violated
accessible marginally inaccessible moderately inaccessible substantially inaccessible
Using the above defined accessibility categories, 9 sites are marginally inaccessible, 12 are moderately inaccessible, and 1 site is substantially inaccessible. Unfortunately, no site was completely accessible using the accessibility status evaluation. 3.5 CAPTCHAs and Email Figure 5 describes the percentage of sites adding CAPTCHAs and email confirmation to the user registration process. In this study, over 77% of all sites used character based CAPTCHAs, and unfortunately, only 27% of the sites provided sound based CAPTCHAs. The sound based CAPTCHA was the only alternative provided, no other options were available on any of the evaluated sites. Half of the evaluated sites also use email confirmation, which forces users to open their email program and reply to an email during the user registration process. In addition to problems resulting from violations of Section 508 rules, this further increases the challenge for users depending on assistive technology by adding more elements to the already not fully accessible process.
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4 Conclusion The evaluation points out two problem areas in web accessibility of the user registration process of social networking sites. Violation instances of paragraph l (scripting) and n (forms) together are responsible for over 72% of all violation instances. It is not surprising that violation instances concentrate in these two areas, considering that user registration consists mostly of forms for data input and often uses scripting to assist in data collection from forms as well as to aid users in entering data and filling out forms. These violations are often multiplied as sites go through several screens to collect user data. However, the high number of violation instances is disappointing; users with assistive technology may experience a significant challenge completing the user registration process. Considering that social networking sites are modular and complex sites and that the user registration process is only a very small part of the complete site, it is to be expected that additional problems arise for users using assistive technology once they use other features of the site. For instance, users without disabilities have had a very hard time removing their profiles from Facebook [2]. However, it should also be noted that some sites (e.g. facebook and linkedin) have very few violations during this process and that the few violations occur in only one rule. The accessibility status shows that 40% of all evaluated sites are marginally inaccessible (1-3 rules violated). Unfortunately, 59% of all sites are moderately inaccessible (4-6 rules violated). If any of these sites are planned to be integrated into the educational environment in higher education, it seems essential to reduce the number of Section 508 violations during the user registration process. Some instances of violations suggest that increased developer awareness could avoid some of the problems making content inaccessible. One page, for example, shows 35 instances of label violations, an issue that could easily be resolved by adding the label element. Use of CAPTCHAs and forced email logins further complicate the user registration process by introducing elements not under the control of the developer. Text-based CAPTCHAs especially provide a challenge for users with visual impairments; this situation could be improved by offering several alternative methods for users [15].
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The breakdown by category did not show any main difference, except for two categories, social networks with a professional focus had less violations in paragraphs l (scripting) and o (skip navigation). However, total violation instances, the number of rules violated, and other paragraphs aside from paragraphs l and o did not show a notable difference between the categories. The use of web development tools supporting assistive technology could be a first step to improve the situation. Development tools can assist the developer; they can alert the developer when content is not accessible and can provide guidance on making the content accessible. In addition, educators planning on using social networking sites in the classroom should carefully evaluate which sites provide the best support for assistive technology.
References 1. Alexander, B.: Web 2.0 – A new Wave of Innovation for Teaching and Learning. Educause (March/April 2006) 2. Aspan, M.: Quitting Facebook Gets Easier. New York Times (February 13, 2008), http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/13/technology/13face.html 3. Blackboard: Where Social Meets Learning (2008), http://www.blackboard.com/clientcollateral/ Bb_Sync_Brochure.pdf 4. Borodin, Y., Bigham, J.P., Raman, R., Ramakrishnan, I.V.: What’s new? Making web page updates accessible. In: Proceedings of the 10th international ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, pp. 145–152 (2008) 5. CBS News: Apple eases itunes access for the blind (2008), http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/26/tech/ main4481951.shtml?source=related_story 6. Downes, S.: E-Learning 2.0. E-Learn Magazine. ACM, http://www.elearnmag.org/ subpage.cfm?section=articles&article=29-1 7. Ferretti, S., Miri, S., Muratori, L., Roccetti, M., Salomoni, P.: E-Learning 2.0 you are WeLCoME? In: Proceedings of Conference on Web Accessibility, Beijing, April 21-22 (2008) 8. Gibson, B.: Enabling an Accessible Web 2.0. In: Proceedings of Conference on Web Accessibility, May 07-08 (2007) 9. Hackett, S., Parmanto, B., Zeng, X.: Accessibility of Internet websites through time. In: Proceedings of the 6th international ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility, pp. 32–39 (2004) 10. Kelly, B., Nevile, L., Draffa, E.A., Fanou, S.: One World, One Web ...But Great Diversity. In: W4A 2008, Beijing, April 21-22 (2008) 11. Lazar, J., Greenidge, K.: A year older, but not necessarily wiser: Web accessibility trends over time. Universal Access in the Information Society Journal 4(4), 285–291 (2006) 12. Lazar, J., Beere, P., Grenidge, K., Nagappa, Y.: Web Accessibility in the Mid-Atlantic United States. Universal Access in the Information Society 2(4), 331–341 (2003) 13. Meiselwitz, G., Lazar, J., Clements, J., Jones, A.: Evaluating the Accessibility of Course Management Systems. In: Proceedings of 10th International Conference on Human Computer Interaction (HCII), Crete, Greece, pp. 1000–1004 (2005)
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14. Reinhold, S.: Wiki trails: Augmenting Wiki Structure for Collaborative, Interdisciplinary Learning. In: Proceedings of WikiSym 2006, pp. 47–58. ACM, New York (2006) 15. Sauer, G., Holman, J., Lazar, J., Hochheiser, H., Feng, J.: Accessible Privacy and Security: A Universally Usable Human-Interaction Proof. Paper accepted for special issue of Universal Access in the Information Society (2009) (in press) 16. Section 508, http://www.section508.gov 17. Schaffert, S.: Ike Wiki: A Semantic Wiki for Collaborative Knowledge Management. In: 1st International Workshop on Semantic Technologies in Collaborative Applications (2006), http://ki.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de/twiki/pub/Dev_d3web/ PapersRessourcen/schaffert06_ikewiki.pdf 18. Thompson, J.: Is Education 1.0 ready for Web 2.0 Students? Journal of Online Education 3(4) (2007), http://www.innovateonline.info/ index.php?view=article&id=393&action=article 19. Wang, C., Turner, D.: Extending the Wiki Paradigm for Use in the Classroom. In: Proceedings of International Conference on Information Technology. IEEE Press, New York (2004) 20. W3C: Policy Resources, http://www.w3.org/WAI/policy-res.html 21. Wikipedia: List of Social Networking Sites (2008), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ List_of_social_networking_websites 22. Yan, J., Ahmad, S.: Usability of CAPTCHAS or usability issues in CAPTCHA design. In: Proceedings of Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security (2008) 23. Yardi, S., Feamster, N., Bruckman, A.: Photo-Based Authentication Using Social Networks. In: ACM Workshop on Online Social Networks, Seattle, August 18 (2008)
A Visualization Approach for Group Behaviors, Beliefs and Intentions to Support Critical Decisions Colleen L. Phillips, Norman D. Geddes, and Justin T. Simms Applied Systems Intelligence, Inc., 3650 Brookside Parkway, Alpharetta, GA 30041 {cphillips, ngeddes, jsimms}@asinc.com
Abstract. During persistent surveillance of a given population in a conflict situation, data management can quickly become unwieldy due to the inundation of low-level information from many, disparate sources. Computational population models can easily fuse and aggregate information input, but there is still the challenge of providing effective data visualization which minimizes information overload and introduces misinterpretation by simplified visualization based on aggregations. Visualizations of the actionable knowledge to the analyst based on the population effects as evidenced by their stratagemical behaviors are needed. Five model classes that study the beliefs of groups and how their beliefs change as a result of events were evaluated for their potential for visualization based on an analyst’s cognitive model of the conflict situation. A visualization approach was developed that can be used for all of the classes of models based on frames of reference for time and physical location within the environment. Keywords: data visualization, group modeling, stratagemical behaviors, beliefs.
1 Introduction Current low-intensity, theater military operations are multi-dimensional. In Iraq and Afghanistan, and before that, in Somalia and Bosnia, the desired geo-political outcome has required significantly more than applying military force to defeat an armed enemy. As a result, the importance of joint efforts in diplomacy, information distribution and economic interventions can be significant to the outcome of achieving military dominance [1]. During wartime, the US presence in a host nation (HN) can trigger conflicts beyond those of battle. Local conflicts can arise within the HN populace since our presence might be viewed as being part of a military conspiracy to disrupt their way of life. Over the past few years, the US military has set the stage for moving away from a reactive, divisive approach, to one of local populace engagement manifested through multiple DIMEFIL (Diplomatic, Informational, Military, national Economic, personal Financial, Intelligence guided, and Law enforced) interventions [2]. Estimating the potential effects of these interventions involves persistent surveillance of populations within the operational area and the social, economic, informational and ideological A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 91–100, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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forces within those populations. Models of the population and its PMESII-PT (Political, Military, Economic, Social, Informational, and Infrastructure with Physical and Time) elements need to be predictive with respect to DIMEFIL interventions and how these actions in the current situation will result in changes to the beliefs, desires and intentions of the members of the groups involved [3]. The visualization of actionable knowledge about the population’s reactions to these interventions is necessary for the analyst to make a choice between the various DIMEFIL intervention options. During persistent surveillance of the population and its PMESII-PT, data management can quickly become unwieldy due to the inundation of low-level information from many, disparate sources [4]. Computational population models can easily handle this data for input by aggregating and fusing, but there is still the challenge of visualizing all of the data and incurring information overload or inducing misinterpretation by simplified visualization based on aggregations [5]. Representing the actionable knowledge to the analyst based on the population effects are needed at the strategic (long-term), operational (near-term), and tactical (current) levels. Modeling population response to interventions is an important research topic with broad application to politics, marketing, advertising and education. As a result, there is a large, multidisciplinary literature of both research and practice in measuring and modeling the beliefs, desires and intentions of populations. 1.1 Analyst’s Decision Cycle An understanding of the PMESII-PT environment, the populations involved, and DIMEFIL interventions to take can be modelled in the Analyst’s Decision Cycle for choosing interventions depicted in Figure 1 below [6]. Starting at the top of the diagram, monitoring the situational environment (the PMESII-PT and populations involved) is followed by assessing the situation, making plans to adjust the environment, directing the actions for these interventions, and continuing the cycle of persistent monitoring of the PMESII-PT and the populations. This workflow is continuously iterated as the analyst continues to monitor a populations response to PMESII-PT effects. There are three event horizons corresponding to how far ahead the planning occurs. The decision cycle iterates at the fastest rate in terms of traversing the stages during
Fig. 1. Every intervention decision made by the analyst uses a similar cycle to assist in understanding the environment and focusing the resources to support their decisions
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the tactical level planning/execution of interventions. The second planning horizon occurs near-term. These interventions may take months and the iteration rate through this horizon is slower than at the tactical level. The last event horizon is for strategic planning for the order of one to two years and the cycle iterates at the slowest rate. 1.2 Five Classes of Population Models A trade study of computable social models was performed and the dozens of models found were organized into five classes by the authors for this paper. The five model classes that study the beliefs of groups and how their beliefs change as a result of events were categorized into the following models with pros and cons: 1. System Dynamics Models [7]: coarse grain data, large time scales O(years), validity of model parameters estimation is difficult, heavy footprint to deploy, explicit causal mechanisms, inherent representation of time, 2. Social Network Models [8]: lack of causality mechanisms, does not aggregate to larger social units, limited predictive ability, rich and detailed representation of population entities, sensitive to differences in populations, 3. State Transition Models [9]: behaviors described statistically, lack of explicit representation and reasoning about population’s reactions, inherent representation of time, potential for prediction of long-term effects, 4. Group Ideology Models [10]: uses every day perceptions in terms of a large amount of unstructured data, has inherent mechanisms for representing causality, representation of differences in populations, needs continuous updating and maintenance, and 5. Group Dynamics Models [11]: richest representation of causal data with same challenges as the group ideology model, best for short term predictions, group intention understanding possible, and future states of a population can be predicted. The set of challenges facing all models will need to be resolved in order to realize their full potential. The first challenge is fuzzy matching of observations to behavioral patterns. To be of value to the analyst, the visualization tool needs to be able to match attributes of a behavioral observation to a behavioral pattern and display that pattern in a meaningful way to enable actionable intelligence. The next challenge is handling uncertainty via a reasoning mechanism. The basis of the models is the perception of truth instead of truth itself. A mechanism is needed for distinguishing strong beliefs from weaker ones. The last challenge for population models is the negotiation of objectives. When dealing with multiple populations, there will be population expectations of differing needs and objectives. A capability to recognize opportunities for collaboration and alliances is needed which incorporates voting mechanisms and simulated outcomes.
2 Information Requirements for Persistent Surveillance In order to understand the visualization design for supporting the analyst’s decisionmaking cycle for various populations and the possible corresponding interventions based on predicting population reactions, an analysis of the human information processing
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Fig. 2. The Human Information Processing Model as described by Wickens
requirements needs to be made. A simple model of how the human processes information and the model for the persistent surveillance of populations are described. 2.1 Human Information Processing Model The human brain performs complex mental operations on information perceived from the environment. The widely accepted model that allows us to conceptualize these complex operations as a sequence of information processing stages is in Figure 2 and adapted from Wicken’s model [12]. Sensory processing and storage is the first stage when information is coming from the environment. Of course, if we don’t attend to it, we will not know it is occurring. Once perceived, we can place it into working memory and with the use of long-term memory we can ultimately make decisions. This is a useful framework for interpreting human performance in complex tasks such as deciding which intervention to take based on expected population reactions. Of course these stages will need to be mapped to the analyst’s tasks described next.
Fig. 3. Population Behavior Assessment Model showing labeled points 1-4 where visualization is needed to display the information required by the analyst
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2.2 Behavior Assessment Model Various sources of information are required in order to select a set of interventions that will have the desired population outcome. Based on current military documentation and many interviews with military analysts, the relevant situational information (seen in Figure 3) is required at the four points described in the assessment loop. Since it is a constant loop for persistent surveillance, there is no starting or stopping point. For visualization, we need 1) an assessment of the changes in beliefs, 2) low level data fused and aggregated into high level data (actionable knowledge), 3) an assessment of the PMESII-PT environment, and 4) a simulation of the expected population reactions based on DIMEFIL interventions which have been proposed. The remainder of the loop involves observation and study (below the line of influence) called the area of surveillance.
3 Visualization Methodology for Population Models The last step to attaining visualization is the mapping of the human and task information requirements to the visualization design features. Then a relationship between the interface design features and the population model chosen can be defined. Based on the analyst’s task requirements, there are four components that need to be visualized as shown (and numbered) in Figure 3. These components should directly support the analyst by adhering to the human processing model. 3.1 Mapping Information Needs to the Visualization Design The visualization is triggered by changing population beliefs or behaviors. In order for the analyst to know this has occurred (because the visualization environment is one that persists), we need to get the analyst’s attention when the state of the world has changed. This corresponds to the sensory register in Figure 2. Alerts and notifications within the interface should be utilized to increase the chance that the changing information is sensed and perceived. In Figure 4, a highlighted alert (that also flashes red) has been generated for the analyst in the lower left screen. The corresponding box at a location on the map also flashes red. The analyst is then visually notified when an event has occurred which requires their attention. Next, the incoming low level data needs to be fused and aggregated. Since the human working memory (see Figure 2) has limited capacity, only high level data should be presented to the analyst on the top screen to prevent information overload and quickly convey the meaning of the alert to the analyst (See Figure 5a). In the top left side are the current PMESII-PT elements and the population beliefs that have reached a set threshold for an alert to be issued to the analyst. However, to understand why the alert was issued, the analyst may need to look at more details (or drill down into the statistics) in order to make knowledgeable assessments. In the human long-term memory (see Figure 2), deep knowledge is stored and portions are placed into working memory to combine, manipulate, and hypothesize about decision variables and outcomes. Memory problems associated with information retrieval and recovery can be avoided by using tabs to display the low level data trends and changes (see Figure 5b).
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Fig. 4. Screenshot of the visualization interface showing the alert notification to the analyst
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Fig. 5. (a) (Left) The visualization interface showing high level details presented to the analyst. (b) (Right) Visualization is shown for low level trends in information bars of green (clear), yellow (caution), and red (alert) types of notification.
Lastly, since the working memory of the analyst can only consider a number of hypotheses at one time, and long-term memory may have trouble retrieving them, a capability to simulate various courses of actions (COAs), plans, and their ultimate population side effects need to be visually presented to the analyst (see Figure 6). The visualization capability should allow storing and retrieval of possible interventions that could be both analyst and/or computer generated. Since the visualization is persistent, the display returns to the top level awaiting the next alert to the analyst and the visualization cycle continuously loops. This visualization approach can be applied to the population model classes previously defined.
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Fig. 6. Further drilling down the tabs gives us actionable knowledge needed for the analyst to make a sound decision for minimizing the 2nd and 3rd order effects seen in lower right corner
3.2 Information Requirements for the Five Classes of Population Models Each of the five classes of population models has different information requirements. For the system dynamics models, the population belief trends are typically modeled over a long period of time. This model would be used in the strategic event horizon to look at long term effects covering months of interventions. This model would assist the analyst in developing plans for courses of actions and could hypothesize potential population side effects before courses of action were taken. The visualization of the model would come in the form of low level trends over a long period of time. This model could be incorporated by being one of the methods for simulating the possible interventions under “what if” circumstances. The social network models have their place in the analyst’s visualization. By looking at how the network of people within a population, represented by nodes in the network, move and communicate, represented by links in the network, the analyst is able to add another layer of intelligent information to incorporate into their decision making. As the network adds and subtracts active members over time, the shape and distribution of the nodes and links change. As the situation changes and the network updates, the analyst can start linking actions to the network members. An example of how this would be visualized to the analyst is shown in Figure 7. For a state transition model, there is a tremendous amount of statistics which would assist in the deeper drill down that may be required by the analyst. However, there would be no way of determining causality of a population’s behavioral reactions to a particular choice of intervention. An example of the visualization of state transition data is given in Figure 8 [13]. In this example, the conflict between the leader of Russia and the Leader of Georgia were modeled (each representing their population beliefs in terms of their military and diplomatic strengths. This diagram shows how the various countries beliefs about these strengths changed over time and differed from each other. Causality cannot be inferred from these data.
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Fig. 7. A social network of the various religious factions within Pakistan
Fig. 8. Graph of the four perspectives of Military and Political Strengths
Group ideology models are best for use as inherent mechanisms for visualizing causality. The targeted populations can be represented at several levels and reflect sufficient differences in populations. These models are driven on every day perceptions as opposed to survey data. This generates a large volume of unstructured data. The groups, being goal-driven, define their actions by their adopted ideology, and may be in conflict with the goals of other groups. Each group has their beliefs which may be inaccurate, incomplete, and inconsistent. The model directly represents the qualities of a belief and uses those qualities to infer relationships to other beliefs, and thus derive corresponding interventions. This makes the model a good candidate for projecting short term population reactions and beliefs. This ideology model of causality could be used in combination with the social network model which does not have an explicit mechanism to show causality. This model would populate the belief statistics used for further drill down by the analyst. Group dynamics models are very similar to the group ideology model in mechanizations; however, the knowledge within this class of model is focused on group
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Fig. 9. The five stages of group development according to Tuckman’s theory. The arrows show the possible transfer from state to state, to a previous state, or transitioning out.
dynamics rather than ideology. Based on Tuckman’s model, there are five stages concerned with group behaviors: 1) Forming – initially, how groups orient and communicate, 2) Storming – how group members try to convey their individual perspectives and concerns, 3) Norming – turning individual perspectives into group goals and missions, 4) Performing – where the group takes action based on consensus, and 5) Adjourning – how groups disband (Figure 9)[14]. The group dynamics model studies information exchanges between the groups involved and identifies optimal strategies for influencing their behaviors [15]. This type of model represents the behaviors and intentions of groups within a population and suggests what actions the groups are likely to take in the future based on their internal and external dynamic relationships. Of all five classes of models discussed, the group dynamics model extends all of the benefits of the other models, and additionally offers the richest representation of causal data and reactions to interventions.
4 Conclusions Five classes of population models were evaluated for their potential for visualization based on an analyst’s cognitive model of the persistent conflict situation. The conflict situation and its persistent surveillance can be viewed as a process model that 1) takes DIMEFIL actions, 2) collects population data on action effects, 3) analyzes data by classifying and aggregating, 4) generates hypotheses on why population reacted in that way, 5) develops strategies for mitigating the effects, 6) simulates intervention effects, 7) makes a decision, and 8) takes actions again to complete the cycle. The various stages were analyzed to exploit the visualization of actionable knowledge needed for persistent surveillance. It was found that each of the five model classes differ in their visualization requirements. A visualization approach was developed that can be used for all of the classes of models using the analyst’s cognitive model of the conflict situation based on frames of reference for time and physical location within the PMESII-PT environment. The actionable knowledge found in common for all models included the PMESII-PT situational factors, population values and beliefs, the analyst’s decision process and use of PMESII-PT elements, adversary motivations, and current capabilities to make decisions about population interventions.
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References 1. US Army Posture Statement, http://www.army.mil/aps/08/information_papers/prepare/ Persistent_Conflict.html 2. Myers, R.B.: National Military Strategic Plan for the War on Terrorism. In: NMSP-WOT. Strategic Studies Institute, Washington (2006) 3. Kem, J.D.: Understanding the Operation Environment: The Expansion of DIME. University of Military Intelligence (2007) 4. Lennox, R.: Modeling and Simulation in an Era of Persistent Conflict. Headquarters, Department of the Army G-3/5 Strategic Plans, Concepts, & Doctrine Division (2007) 5. Phillips, C.L., Geddes, N., Crosscope, J.: Bayesian Modeling using Belief Nets of Perceived Threat Levels Affected by Stratagemical Behavior Patterns. In: 2nd International Conference on Cultural Computational Dynamics. AAAI Press, Menlo Park (2008) 6. Luck, G., Findlay, M.: Joint Operations: Insights and Best Practices. Joint Warfighting Center’s Joint Training Division, US Joint Forces Command (2008) 7. Turchin, F.: Historical Dynamics: Why State Rise and Fall. Princeton University Press, Princeton (2003) 8. Carrington, P., Scott, J., Wasserman, S. (eds.): Models and Methods in Social Network Analysis: Structural Analysis in the Social Sciences. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2005) 9. Sage, A., Rouse, W. (eds.): Handbook of Systems Engineering. John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken (1999) 10. Carbonell, J.: POLITICS: Automated Ideological Reasoning. Lawrence Erlbaum and Associates, Philadelphia (1978) 11. Hogg, M., Tindale, S.: The Blackwell Handbook of Social Psychology: Group Processes. Blackwell Publishing, Malden (1999) 12. Wickens, C., Hollands, J.: Engineering Psychology and Human Performance. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River (2000) 13. Phillips, C., Sokoloff, S., Crosscope, J., Geddes, N.: A Validation Process for Predicting Stratagemical Behavior Patterns of Powerful Leaders in Conflict. In: 2nd International Workshop on Social Computing, Behavioral Modeling and Prediction. Springer, New York (2009) 14. Tuckman, B.: Developmental Sequence in Small Groups. Psy. Bul. 63(6), 384 (1965) 15. Phillips, C.L., Geddes, N., Kanareykin, S.: A Balanced Approach for LLOs Using Group Dynamics for COIN Efficacy. In: 2nd International Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics Conference, HFES, Santa Monica (2008)
Measuring Usability via Biometrics Anjali Phukan UMBC, Baltimore, Maryland 21250, USA
[email protected]
Abstract. This paper reviews some exploratory research focused on developing a usability methodology based on objective biometrics computing using physiological data (ECG, respiration, and GSR sensors, as well as an infrared eye tracker) as well as behavior data (mouse and keystroke input). Following a high level literature review, various biometrics are discussed with the goal of motivating further study into the development of a methodology for usability testing, including the assessment of user satisfaction. Lessons learned and suggestions for future work were also discussed. Keywords: biometric, usability, testing, methodologies.
1 Introduction Physiological data may be a new area of research in Human Computer Interaction (HCI) that could supplement more traditional measures, in an attempt to allow researchers the ability to derive possible reasons for a user’s behavior or action, rather than just knowing the action has occurred. Biometrics included a combination of physiological and behavioral characteristics. Behavioral data such as keystroke and voice recognition have been studied extensively in HCI. Physiological signals, such as heart rate (HR) and respiration rate (RSP) have received substantially less attention however. This paper discusses current literature and an exploratory study. The ultimate goal is to learn more about physiological sensors and their possible use in the context of usability studies. The exploratory study uses some of these measures, while participants perform tasks on advertisement-related electronic materials that include simple viewing tasks, web-site navigation tasks with moderate levels of interactivity, and a number of online survey tasks. Exploration looked at ways of identifying relationships among different data types. Finally, initial efforts compared the intent of the designer with the actions of the viewer in the context of marketing oriented materials. Potentially this work could impact fields such as marketing, information systems, and psychology. In marketing, use of physiological sensors to ascertain the exact meaning of a user’s physiological status may allow for the use of more objective data leading to a more accurate understanding of a user’s reaction. Other research areas also can gain by learning how to use technology to integrate different types of data. Lastly, researchers in psychology may be able to leverage information about how data was organized and collected from this exploratory study, for future research ideas in their adjacent areas of research. A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 101–107, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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There are several studies that focus on one or two physiological sensors, but few studies have a significant number of users and a comprehensive set of physiological sensors. Practical lessons learned from this exploration could contribute to the design of experimentations and methods for data collection in future HCI studies. It also could offer ways to improve the design of study questionnaires, including integration and comparison of survey and biometric data types across multiple fields.
2 Relevant Literature This literature review focuses on usability studies that gather data ranging from one to many biometrics. This review is by no means exhaustive, but rather, a representative sample of some related research being done in this advancing area. Some studies attempt to monitor what users see, think, or feel at without eye tracking or other biometric sensors. Eyes on Screen (EOS) testing measures the attention and impact by post task surveys and free recall tasks after participants watch target media. One EOS study found that the more a user watched an ad, the more likely they were to remember it and have a high degree of positive attitudinal response. In cases when a viewer knows a commercial is a commercial, it encourages “not watching.”[1] Another study compared different websites and font-color combinations to find that colors with greater contrast ratio lead to greater readability; but that colors do not affect content retention, and user preferred colors lead to higher quality ratings and intention to purchase [2]. In terms of electronic shopping experiences, a study of different 2-Dimensional (2D) and 3-Dimensional (3D) product representations were compared. Users who interacted were more satisfied with, and more likely to purchase 3D representation types [3]. Another subjective survey measure is the NASA’s TLX survey of human performance and workload using task related factors (overall, task difficulty, time pressure, performance, mental/thinking/sensory effort, physical effort, frustration level, stress level, fatigue, and activity type) that lead to subject-related factors that induce an overt response. The importance of these factors can have weights that vary by tasks and/or study, which are then multiplied by a user’s subjective ratings to compute an overall workload score [4]. Studies that use the NASA TLX combined with biometrics range from those analyzing electroencephalogram (EEG) data [5] to those analyzing electrocardiogram (ECG) and mouse movement data [6]. Many studies predict HR based on age, such as MaxHR = 210 - (age*0.65)1, which predicted accuracy rates of 95%, although there are some limitations such as effects of drugs and/or level of health [7]. ECG data gathers electrical activity about the heart, where the peaks of the signal are used to determine the HR. Sinus arrhythmias, where the time to complete a beat is shorter during breathing in than during breathing out, should lead to a relationship between RSP and ECG due to the fact a person’s ECG signal should have more variation when they have a higher respiration rate, compared to when they have a lower respiration rate [8]. Galvanic Skin tests can be Skin Conductance (SC) when measuring absolute levels, and Skin Response (SR or GSR) when measuring relative changes, where stimuli should generate a response portion of a wave, have a peak, and then recover. There can be new peaks while a 1
For example a 10 year old would have a maximum heart rate of 210-(10*.65) = 103.5.
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response is recovering, or even while the stimulus is generating a response. In addition, there may be unintended stimuli or noise such as breathing affects, and there may be responses that have no known origin [9]. One study used a head-mounted eye tracker tracking at 60 Hz, and wired GSR and ECG sensors to look at changes that might occur when a user views pleasant, neutral, or unpleasant pictures. All pictures had people in them, came from the same database, and were of the same size, layout, and luminescence as much as possible to avoid pupil size changes due to the coloring in the images. Users sat in a chair about 3 feet from the screen. Surveyed pleasure valence and emotional arousal where measured against pupil, GSR, and heart rate responses. Following an initial light reflex, pupils increased significantly when viewing emotionally arousing pictures, regardless of whether these were pleasant or unpleasant. HR was also significantly higher for pleasant and neutral pictures. Unpleasant pictures lead to larger HR decelerations and GSR exhibited significantly larger changes in unpleasant than pleasant images, while neutral pictures had significantly fewer GSR changes. In addition, pupil changes covaried with GSR. Authors suggested this is proof that the changes are sympathetic (emotional), and that a pupil's response during affective picture viewing reflects emotional arousal [10]. Another study found that increased mental workload was significantly correlated to high blood pressure and low blink rate, and that respiration and GSR levels also tended to increase with MWL [11]. Some studies look at the “audio–visual (AV) perception”. In one study, sound exerted a significant effect on pupil velocity but a weak significance on pixel coverage. Smooth-pursuit eye movement was least with no noise, increasing for constant and decreasing pitch, and most pronounced during increasing pitch, indicating that AV perception affects low-level (or involuntary) ocular motor mechanisms where integration of a visual scene with continuous sound creates the perception of continuous visual motion [12]. Audio only, sight only, and AV clips of varying lengths of a musical score were tested in another lab study under tight data collection controls. In this study there was still a loss of data from bad signals. Years of musical training and GSR were correlated. The average amplitude in a baseline was subtracted from a task GSR to create ‘scaled’ GSR amplitudes. Stress opinions varied more than GSR data, but AV clip opinions correlated most to GSR data. The GSR from the visual clip was the least active, and the AV clip produced the most significant responses. Bi-modal tasks lead to higher levels of satisfaction, and GSR is affected by audios, visuals, and stress, but the effect can vary by user [13]. A related study looked at affect of emotional movies, on a 17” screen about 2 feet away. 90second baselines were subtracted from a segment median to calculate the “physiological change score.” There was no significant difference by age, weight, body size, or personality group. Mean respiration expiratory time and GSR were significant with high scores for torture and sports movies and lower for the others [14]. Another study with participants with some musical training and no hearing impairments listened to various 30-second pieces of music. The physiological data’s log-transformed modified “change scores” correlated to the expertly assessed musical features of the tasks, suggesting that the internal structure of a musical piece plays a significant role in affecting physiological signs. Mode affected HR and breathing the most regardless of musical feature, and rhythm and pitch level affected GSR [15]. Our study did not focus on auditory arousal issues and no auditory data was captured as part of the biometrics.
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One group of researchers found that multiple exposures to ads help users better identify with the ads where picture elements are best at getting a user’s attention regardless of size and lead to more accurate memory, text elements grab attention better on an inch-per-inch basis; and brand elements are best at creating carryover effects where attention to one element causes attention to others [16]. Nielsen Norman Group reported finding a top-down F-shaped pattern when users read, regardless of task or website, although the speeds of reading and the exact shape can vary. In addition, although users usually don’t look at web ads there are some exceptions, and fancy scripts and words tend to be ignored because participants think they look like a promotion. Researchers did not suggest that fancy scripts may be hard to read and complicated words difficult to interpret, which would also follow their finding that users like to see numbers than read the spelled out form, perhaps because it takes more energy to process [17]. Another study compared eye gaze of users trying to pay special attention to different types of ads. Viewers tended to spend more time looking at the text than pictures, though fixation durations were longest on the picture part of the ad. Viewers tended to read the large print, then the smaller print, and then look at the picture (although some did an initial scan of the picture) [18]. But, the longer fixations on an element might reflect a person’s difficulty interpreting the element [19].
3 Exploratory Study This exploratory study lasted approximately 30-45 minutes. Participants completed likert scale, multiple choice, and open-ended questions after viewing a variety of media. The wording of questions was assessed using the Flesch-Kincaid scale, using a 4th grade level of readability as the goal. The survey was designed, reviewed by domain experts, pilot tested, and revised multiple times. User gaze data was collected using a Tobii T120 monitor with built-in infrared eye-tracking cameras that captured gaze movement. The eye setting was average, the validity was normal, and the fixation filter was standard. In addition, a BIOPAC system collected GSR data via two leads on the hand not using the mouse, HR from an ECG placed on the user’s chest, and RSP data via a respiratory effort transducer. All settings were suggestions from BIOPAC, and biometrics data was collected via their hardware and software. Tobii Studio captured screen images, keystrokes, and mouse click data. The survey questions were administered using the online tool Survey Monkey (SM). Observation notes were synched to video recordings of users. The tasks concentrated on advertisement-oriented materials. To ensure a homogeneous distribution, users with similar pre-exposure to the study advertisements were chosen. Participants were offered $10 to complete the study. They were over 18, able to use a mouse and keyboard, read and speak in English, and had no uncorrected documented sensory impairments. They were asked not to have alcohol or caffeine one hour prior to the study. The study was conducted in a lab on the university campus. Users sat about two feet away from the eye tracker in a stationary chair. The recording resolution was 1280x1024 open to a 1240x1000 Internet Explorer application. The study had 20 participants, with ages ranging from 18 to 52 and an average age of 30 (±9). Subjects were enrolled in doctoral, masters, undergraduate degree programs, or had some other school affiliation. More than 50% were information
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technology majors. Other degrees being obtained ranged from public policy to math. The average user spent 47 hours using a computer each week, and about 26 hours online per week. All used the web for news and information searches, and some used it for shopping, office applications, games, and social networks. 3.1 Exploratory Findings Data analysis focused on performance, eye gaze data, and physiological sensors data. Eye gaze results are based on the halfway point between what the left and right eye are looking at on the screen. Some sample findings are discussed. Navigation tasks were strongly related to the total study time whenever navigation was required. Thinking and reading may also be indicated, based on typing, clicking, and eye gaze (or lack of), which may allow unobservable distraction time to be derived. Additional research, using biometrics, could allow for new methods to identify when users are distracted from their primary task. This would be extremely valuable in the context of studies involving multi-tasking. Some of the noted eye movement was probably involuntary and physiological, while other eye movements were clearly behavioral. Neither eye dominance nor gender appears to affect viewing activities. Understanding such relationships is important if eye tracking data is to be used to assess usability. As may be expected, users fixated on text more than anything else followed by pictures. The logo used in the study materials tended to be the last thing most users viewed. The hotspots (areas of most viewing) and gaze plots (order of viewing) are shown in Fig. 1, indicating that user eye movement does tend to follow the designer intended, although the designer expected more time on the image and less on the text. Physiological data includes significant noise, which affects the signals and makes data analysis more challenging. Some observations suggest that HR and RSP tended to decrease during the course of a study. This could be an important observation if this decrease is due to the participants relaxing as they become comfortable with the study as this would suggest that either more or less practice should be provided. More practice would allow participants to become comfortable and would presumably allow for more stable results. On the other hand, less practice would ensure that the users’ initial reactions, as well as subsequent changes in comfort, could be explored. Designer's Intent
Participant Hot Spots
Fig. 1. Designer vs. Participant
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4 Conclusions We started this exploration project with the goal to learn more about physiological sensors and their relationship to a user’s stress and satisfaction levels when performing a task, as well as examining the feasibility of developing a comprehensive methodology to integrate biometric data with less objective measures of stress, excitement and other emotional states. The findings of this exploratory study suggest that such integration is a possibility if the biometric output is consistent and synchronized with the data collected via the survey. This finding could be applicable to user testing in HCI studies that collect user opinions and/or biometrics. We were seeking to identify relationships among task, survey, and biometric data, and we did find some potentially interesting relationships. It was a great opportunity with many lessons learned that can guide future research. 4.1 Limitations, Future Research Areas The research limitations were tied to technical issues and participant numbers. Lumens and decibel ratings were not monitored to compare against physiological and subjective data. Some problems were encountered while syncing the biometrics data to the eye and keyboard data. Future plans are to do similar studies but with shock isolators as necessary to allow synched biometrics to gaze/keyboard/mouse input signals regardless of the user tasks, so that we can perform more precise calculations, including relative measurements where task rates are first modified against baseline values and then compared to other tasks rates. Our next steps are to look at ways of collecting user satisfaction data in usability studies of HCI hardware and software. This is in the context of comparing nontraditional interaction methods such as eye-gaze interaction tools. This will differ from the marketing focus in this study, although determining user satisfaction is still the ultimate goal. Acknowledgments. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant No. CNS-0619379. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF. Dr. Ant Ozok and Dr. Andrew Sears provided appreciated guidance in this project.
References 1. Wells, W.D.: Measuring Advertising Effectiveness. Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah (1997) 2. Hall, H.: Impact Of Web Page Text-Background Color Combinations on Readability, Retention, Aesthetics, And Behavioral Intention (2004) 3. Ozok, A.A., Komlodi, A.: Do Looks Really Matter? The Effect of 3-Dimensional Product Representations on The Customers’ Buying Decision In Electronic Commerce. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors And Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, pp. 1050– 1053 (2007)
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4. Hart, S.G., Staveland, L.E.: Development of A NASA-TLX (Task Load Index): Results Of Empirical and Theoretical Research. In: Hancock, P.A., Meshkati, N. (eds.) Human Mental Workload, pp. 139–183. North-Holland, Amsterdam (1988) 5. Baldwin, C., Coyne, J.: Mental Workload As A Function of Traffic Density: Comparison of Physiological, Behavioral, And Subjective Indices. In: Proceedings of The Second International Driving Symposium on Human Factors In Driver Assessment, Training and Vehicle Design (2003) 6. Rowe, D.W., Sibert, J., Irwin, D.: Heart Rate Variability: Indicator of User State As An Aid To Human-Computer Interaction. In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, April 18 - 23, pp. 480–487 (1998) 7. Cooper, C.B., Storer, T.W.: Exercise Testing And Interpretation: A Practical Guide. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2001) 8. Thaler, M.S.: The Only EKG Book You’ll Ever Need. J.B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia (1998) 9. Boucsein, W.: Electrodermal Activity. Plenum Press, New York (1992) 10. Bradley, M., Miccoli, L., Escrig, M., Lang, P.: The Pupil As A Measure of Emotional Arousal And Autonomic Activation (2008) 11. Kubo, O., Takahashi, M., Yoshikawa, H.: Mutual Adaptive Interface: Laboratory Experiments For Human State Estimation. In: Proceedings of 2nd IEEE International Workshop on Robot and Human Communication, November 3-5, pp. 460–464 (1993) 12. Xiao, M., Wong, M., Umali, M., Pomplun, M.: Last But Not Least Using Eye-Tracking To Study Audio - Visual Perceptual Integration. Perception 36, 1391–1395 (2007) 13. Chapadosa, C., Levitin, D.J.: Cross-Modal Interactions In The Experience of Musical Performances: Physiological Correlates. Cognition 108(3), 639–651 (2008) 14. Gomez, P., Zimmermann, P., Guttormsen-Schär, S., Danuser, B.: Respiratory Responses Associated With Affective Processing of Film Stimuli. Biological Psychology 68.3, 223– 235 (2005) 15. Gomez, P., And Danuser, B.: Relationships Between Musical Structure and Psychophysiological Measures of Emotion. Emotion 7(2), 377–387 (2007) 16. Pieters, R., Wedel, M.: Attention Capture And Transfer In Advertising: Brand, Pictorial, And Text-Size Effects. Journal of Marketing 68(2), 36–50 (2004) 17. Nielsen, J.: Eyetracking Research (2009), http://Www.Useit.Com/Eyetracking 18. Rayner, K., Rotello, C.M., Stewart, A.J., Keir, J., Duffy, S.A.: Integrating Text And Pictorial Information: Eye Movements When Looking At Print Advertisements. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied 7.3, 219–226 (2001) 19. Shen, J., Reingold, E., Pomplun, M., Williams, D.: Saccadic Selectivity During Visual Search: The Influence of Central Processing Difficulty. In: Hyona, J., Radach, R., Deubel, H. (eds.) From The Mind’s Eye: Cognitive And Applied Aspects of Eye Movement Research, vol. 4. North-Holland, Amsterdam (2003)
Structuring the Social Subsystem Components of the Community Based E-Museum Framework Suriyati Razali, Nor Laila Md. Noor, and Wan Adilah Wan Adnan Faculty of Information Technology & Quantitative Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia {suriyati,norlaila,adilah}@tmsk.uitm.edu.my Abstract. The use of social spaces design in social computing has created an economic value in the preservation of cultural heritage. This movement has now motivated the museum community to provide a systematic establishment to support the digital cultural heritage preservation through e-museum. However some of the cultural heritage community knowledge sharing drivers has not been adequately addressed. The significant growth of community based concept shows a great economic importance in producing reliable digital object repositories. We developed a conceptual framework of a community based emuseum (ComE) to facilitate the design of community knowledge sharing in as an attempt to solve the economic issues of sustaining a cultural heritage information system [1]. In this paper we further elaborate the framework by presenting the structural knowledge modeling of the subsystem of the ComE framework within the social technical system frame based on four components of community views. We demonstrate the instantiation by using the traditional Malay textile (TMT) as the cultural artifact as the case study. Keywords: Community based e-museum, social subsystem, community concept, cultural heritage.
1 Introduction The web technology has enabled the creation of online social space for community members to interact and share knowledge. Research on the Wiki technology and its usage continues as a worldwide trend [2], [3] and interest in this area is rapidly gathering momentum [4], [5]. An important aspect of Wikipedia is that users can update entries at any time interactively on the web. The wide use of Wikipedia technology can be an example of community based trends that could be applied in museum application developments. Bowen [6] supports that Wikipedia technology could be used by museum to enhance their own communities, allowing them to contribute to a museum’s website interactively. This is a significant and fast-moving aspect of Web development and we agree with Bowen [6] that museums should consider this technology carefully.
2 Background Digitization of museum artifacts has paved the way for the evolution of e-museum, making museums more accessible from anywhere and at anytime and thus bringing A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 108–116, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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museums closer to the public. However, despite this advantage, capturing and exhibiting digital artifact through e-museum incurs a capital cost due to the economics of content digitization arising from cost of equipments, time and manpower for collecting and producing a high quality digitized image [7]. Therefore, to achieve the digital ambition of museums, a long-term strategy to build the requisite infrastructures of hardware, software, skills and agreements is needed. Besides the significant investment, the process of making digitized museum images available online may also expose some risk to museum as custodians of cultural heritage [8]. To perform digitize work museums would face the issue of digital reproductions rights, which involve the agreements between the museums and owners. It is therefore important that museums are able to come to an understanding of these issues and to exercise control over the use of museum digital collections, to minimize the risks involved. Despite the significant growth of the body of the literature on the application of social computing in cultural heritage and museum execution, there are uncertainties of digital environment availability. Community based e-museum is our effort to address the economic challenge in the preservation of cultural heritage and also to provide control mechanism in the acquisition process to minimize the digital risks [1]. The conceptualization of the framework which we name as ComE is based on the combination of social technical system frame, museology viewpoints and system design theories. In our community based e-museum conceptualization, community members are allowed to contribute their digital contents. These activities combine multiple media, including digital artifact images, community knowledge and experiences in the form of text, video and sound to support a museum’s outreach. However, bringing together the social and technical demands of the system is not simple. We are aware that in the open access initiatives, digital content is available “freely” on the public internet, permitting user to share and use content without financial, legal, or technical barriers [9]. The only constraint on reproduction and distribution is in the form of copyright. On this issue, contributors are given the right to control the integrity of their contents and the right to be properly acknowledged and cited. Community based e-museum emphasizes the control mechanism over digital content values by providing permission barriers associated with restraining use of the contents. Accessibility digital contents by the community members consisting level of expertise who will navigate, contribute, reviews and validate the digital artifacts from a reliable digital repositories. As a result of the digital artifact contributions process, the digital environment is used to create online exhibits. The complexity of these online contributions and online exhibits poses several challenges to the digital preservation. The first challenge lies in the need to link the digital artifact to its physical artifact. Here, the link must inherit sufficient domain knowledge to ensure the digital contents reliability. Besides this, the challenge is further magnified by the difficulty of the task to distinguish between the authentic digital images contents from the counterfeit. In addition, within the effort of the cultural heritage digital preservation, the systematic establishment and supports of trusted digital repository that stressed for content reliability is not well organized. To address the association of digital and physical artifact, knowledge modeling is applied to provide the inferences and functionalities for community based e-museum. In our current work, we use the taxonomy based approach. Our aim is to provide a way to
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assist the museum community for implementing the concept of sharing. Other than that, the taxonomy constitutes the basic structure to facilitate the structured and organized knowledge for acquisition and retrieval in digital artifact repository. The indexes or descriptions of domain are used for users to refer and find the relevant association components that exist in the repositories. Besides an organized and structured data, the quality of digital contents is considered for better control over the trusted digital repository. We use the workflow technique to provide the solution to differentiate between the authentic digital contents and the counterfeit. Here, we treat digital artifact as a special and valuable item, therefore the process for bringing it to the trustworthy location need to be controlled. The acceptance of the digital content relies on the assigned validation committee who are experts in the domain knowledge. This implies digital contents reliability control. While taxonomy offers a mechanism for organized data structure, a workflow system provides a way for reliable process modeling. We combine the knowledge model and workflow method and taking advantage of the combined benefits can provide a precious way of designing Community based Information Systems. In the following sections, we will first describe the framework including the detailed description of the components (includes knowledge model and workflow system component) in the framework. Next, we will present the four components of community views as social spaces before expanding to the important components of community views [10] in the museum context which includes the descriptions of community participants, roles in the community, valid rules for communication and access and community specific language/ domain discourse. This will illustrate how these social sub system representing community members influence the components of our proposed system.
3 Community Based e-Museum Framework A study on the establishment of the National Digital Cultural Heritage Repository (NDCHR) for Malaysia is being conducted [11]. The main objective of the establishment is to enhanced digitized cultural heritage material services through a combined effort that synergized the effort of individual cultural institution. This is to ensure that the preservation of information that has significant value to human and society and is made accessible to as many people using the most appropriate technology. Even though there are efforts in establishing Malaysia’s central repository, we share the same opinion with Wang [12] that it is practical to obtain adaptability of a system by focusing on a specific application for engineering design support in a certain domain. This has been our main motivation for conceptualizing the Community based e-museum system concepts. 3.1 Conception of the Community Based e-Museum We discuss the evolution of e-Museum in the light of IT applications evolutions [13]. This is to facilitate the association of technology and community based concepts in museum application development without eliminating the traditional museum roles and functions [1]. In order to comprehend the sustainability of cultural heritage information system in general, and specifically allowing online community to participate in the
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Fig. 1. This shows a conception elements of the Community based E-museum
contribution of digital content of e-museum we perform literature analysis. We synthesize (1) the main museology elements; (2) the four level criteria for defining and online community; (3) the four interacting component in social technical technology and (4) the design science IT artifact components that will supply as useful conception elements to provide a Community based e-museum (ComE) Framework. The socio technical approach emphasizes that IS comprise behavioral subsystem and technological subsystem. In focusing the relevance system, we understand that the social and technical subsystem is necessary in conducting relevant research. Based on IS research framework suggested by Hevner [14], we integrate the relevance criteria namely people, organization and technology in community based e-museum context. People in the community concepts reside in an unstructured organization. However, in implementing museum operations variety of technology advancement is considered. Furthermore we consider the socio technical viewpoint on design science [15]. We understand design science as a special focus of the process of IT artifact creation for a successful design of Community based emuseum as an information system. Therefore we associate the common understanding of the constructs, model, methods and instantiations which emphasize the IT artifact relation to the socio technical theory and on rigor and relevance of the design. 3.2 Community Based e-Museum Framework Components At the abstract level, we draw an overall representation of Community based e-museum framework as shown in Figure 2. ComE is viewed as a socio-technical information system [1]. In conducting qualitative research, we carefully study the requirements of cultural heritage operations in museum institutions in Malaysia. To operationalize our knowledge acquisition and analysis of research findings, we divide the operations into social subsystem and technical subsystem. Both social and technical subsystem characteristics are equally significant and intricately related. However, in this paper, we highlight on the social subsystem models that have been constructed and explained in next section.
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Fig. 2. Community based E-museum Framework
3.3 The Community View of the Social Subsystem The social aspect is a major factor in the success of the online based applications. We utilize the social subsystem determinants [10] to support our rigorous argumentation of the social to structure the necessary functionality for the community based e-museum design. The Media Reference Model (MRM) was originally designed to structure the functionality and services of e-commerce platform. We adopt the community views layer of the MRM which refers to (1) Possible roles in the community; (2) Valid rules for communication and access; (3) Description of community participants and (4) The community specific language. These elements of community view define the aspects of the ComE organizational structure and enable mapping of its elements on to the ComE platform. Table 1 represents the mapping of MRM community views component and ComE community views of Social Subsystem that has been used to construct social subsystem models. Table 1. Mapping of MRM community views component and ComE community views of Social Subsystem MRM-Community Views Components Description of Community Participants Roles in the community Valid Rules for communication and access Community Specific Language / Domain Discourse
ComE-Community views of Social Subsystem Museum Community Participants Museum Community Roles ComE Valid Communication Structure Traditional Malay Textile (TMT) Taxonomy Model
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The collection of social subsystem data consist of two phases: semi-structured interview and evidence collections. We conducted a semi-structured interview with the museums and Traditional Malay Textile (TMT) experts using the pre-prepared questions. The questions are based on the 4 socio subsystem determinants. To provide interview structure and focus, we enter codes for the interview questions based on social aspects. We interviewed 4 museum curators, 1 museum directors, 2 TMT Experts academician and 2 owners of the TMT artefacts. We transcribed the semi-structured interview and analyse the resulting procedure for the knowledge type presentation using content analysis methods. Findings on the descriptions of community participants is analysed based on the personal characteristics and findings on community roles and valid communication structure are analysed based on functional roles related to Task [16]. This analysis revealed the concepts, sub-concepts, attributes, values, relationships, tasks and roles of social aspects and thus answers our research questions on museum community stakeholders and some of domain discourse descriptions. Hereby, a partial design of social subsystem components of ComE association is depicted in Figure 5. Museum Community Participants. Personal Characteristics required for artifact collection purposes represents for the expertise and personal profiles required for each community member. Descriptions for expertise components were refined. This is to produce a community category. Based on the qualification background, expertise, skills, historical background, we distinguished three kinds of community category; experts, semi-experts and novices as shown in Figure 3. The aim of this community category is to provide guidelines for the ComE Valid Communication Structure. Museum Community Roles. The model of roles emerges enable the community to perform each functionality or task allocated. We use the classification on group roles developed by [17] for looking at specific roles that occur within a museum community group. Each role is an abstraction of the different types of community participants. Based on the requirements captured, we established the museum community roles descriptions for community participating design in the community based e-museum.
Fig. 3. Community Category captured from part of personal characteristics
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S. Razali, N.L.Md. Noor, and W.A.W. Adnan Table 2. Museum Community Role Descriptions Museum Community Role Digital Artifact Contributor Cultural Heritage Artifact Information Seeker Cultural Heritage Artifact Information Giver Digital Artifact Evaluator Coordinator Elaborator
Roles Descriptions Upload digital artifact from artifact category list Seek for related information to view Community User that post comments Checking for the originality of the digital artifact Shows the relevance of related content; Offer a decision Give additional descriptions and support
ComE Valid Communication Structure. Distinguish rules defined by museum experts’ community provoked the need for valid communication structure and protocols model. In particular, the proposed community based e-museum members act according to roles and rules. Therefore, specified imperative rules helps in coordinating the digital artifact evaluation committee. The consequence of community user and validation committee communication structure formation in figure 4 can significantly contribute to the sequence of museum validation workflow processing steps for digital artifact acceptance. Traditional Malay Textile (TMT) Taxonomy: Tra-Ma-Taxo Model. We present facet taxonomy of TMT that provides an informative classification. The taxonomy is grounded on the components of social subsystem. The taxonomy of the domain discourse was developed derived from 6 steps. We locates and identifies, integrates and organize concepts describing 6 facet types (People-Things-Activity-Location-TimeSubjectMatter) suggested by Ranganathan as quoted by Lambe [16] and text described by researchers in TMT domain. We identify 20 contributors which refer to books, technical report, VCD, other documents related to TMT. Separating and integrating dimension were used in our content analysis approach. This process is commonly accepted procedure for the classification and thesaurus development in information science. The faceted taxonomy constructed serves as the foundation for artifacts common language and meaning that need to be accessed in digital form [2].
Fig. 4. ComE Valid Communication Structure
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We developed this taxonomy to assist in the development of a framework to derive verification and validation strategies in accepting digital artifact in ComE system. The need for Tra-Ma-Tax arises from 2 facts: (1) no existing of TMT taxonomy available (2) no existing taxonomy supports the derivation of digital artifact assessment strategies relative to Traditional Malay Textile Artifact. The taxonomy presented in this paper is an important part for the ComE framework because it structures the TMT into categories, thereby enabling the development of systematic approach for assessing and publishing digital artifact. Furthermore the taxonomy simplifies the uploading process of digital artifact. The research was carried out with the purpose of developing knowledge model for heritage resources to allow sharing of digital artifacts through ComE platform.
4 Conclusion Although to achieve the digital ambition of museums, a long-term strategy to build the requisite infrastructures of hardware, software, skills and agreements is needed, an effort to fit for the creation of online social space for museum community members to interact and share knowledge has to be obtained. So the framework that we put forward in the Community based e-museum framework is our effort to address the economic challenge in the preservation of cultural heritage and also to provide control mechanism in the acquisition process to minimize the digital risks. The basic viewpoint of the approach is a combination of the knowledge model and workflow method while taking advantage of the combined benefits can provide a valuable means of designing Community based Information Systems. In the ComE
Fig. 5. Partial Design of Social Subsystem components of ComE
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framework the structural knowledge modeling of subsystem is presented in the social technical technology frame. The social aspect is a major factor in the success of the online based applications; therefore, we utilize the social subsystem components to support our rigorous argumentation of the social subsystem. Based on the above framework we construct the association of social subsystem components. Figure 5 represent partial design of social subsystem for ComE.
References 1. Razali, S., Md Noor, N.L., Wan Adnan, W.A.: Towards Sustainable Heritage Information Systems: Conceptualization of Community-based e-Museum. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on e-Commerce, e-Administration, e- Society and e-Education: eCase(2009) 2. Research- Wikimedia Meta-Wiki (2006), http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research 3. Voss, J.: Measuring Wikipedia. Humboldt-University of Berlin, Institute for Library Science, Germany (2005) (preprint 2005-04-12) 4. Wikimania: Proceedings of Wikimania 2005. In: Proceeding of First International Wikimedia Conference (2005), http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Wikimania05 5. Wikisym: Proceedings of the 2005 International Symposium on Wikis. ACM Press, New York (2005), http://www.wikisym.org/ws2005/proceedings 6. Bowen, J., Angus, J.: Museums and Wikipedia, Museums and the Web 2006: Proceedings, Toronto: Archives & Museum Informatics (2006) 7. Hemminger, B., et al.: Capturing Content for Virtual Museums: from Pieces to Exhibits. Journal of Digital Information 1(4), Article No. 313 (2005) 8. Bearman, D.: Addressing Selection and Digital Preservation as Systemic Problem. In: UNESCO Conference on Preserving the Digital Heritage: Principles and Policies (2005) 9. Pantalony, R.E.: WIPO Guide on Managing Intellectual Property For Museums, Technical Report, World Intelectual Property Organization (2007) 10. Slabeva, K.S.: Towards a Community-Oriented Design of Internet Platforms. International Journal of Electronic Commerce 6(3), 71–95 (2002) 11. Manaf, Z.A.: Establishing the National Digital Cultural Heritage Repository in Malaysia. Library Review 57(7), 537–548 (2008) 12. Wang, Y., Wang, J., Zhang, S.: Collaborative Knowledge Management by Integrating Knowledge Modeling and Workflow Modeling. In: IEEE international conference on systems, man & cybernetics, August 15-17 (2005) 13. Messerschmitt, D.G., Szyperski, C.: Software Ecosystem: Understanding and Indispensable Technology and Industry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press (2003) 14. Hevner, A.R., March, S.T., Park, J., Ram, S.: Design Science in Information Systems Research. MIS Quarterly 28(1), 75–105 (2004) 15. Becker, J., Niehaves, B., Janiesch, C.: Technical Perspectives on Design Science in IS Research. In: Advances in Information Systems Development. Springer, US (2007) 16. Lambe, P.: Organising Knowledge: Taxonomies, Knowledge and Organizational Effectiveness. Chandos Publishing (2007) 17. Mudrack, E., Genevieve, M.F.: An Examination of Functional Role Behavior and Its Consequences for Individuals in Group Settings Small Group Research (November 1995)
Notice Board as Metaphor for Social Media Service in Chemical Factory Sampo Teräs and Petri Mannonen Helsinki University of Technology, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Finland {sampo.teras, petri.mannonen}@tkk.fi
Abstract. Work in paper and chemical factories include controlling several processes and cooperating with several workers. This needs lots of awareness and information sharing. Breakdowns in information sharing can lead to low quality production and unsafe work situations. During last couple of years different social media and web 2.0 applications and services have become popular ways of sharing information in leisure environment. We created a prototype from social media perspective to respond the needs in information sharing in factories. Our electronic notice board prototype (El Nobo) uses a metaphor from process operators’ current work environment and is designed to face the specific needs that occur in the chemical factory process operators’ work. The prototype aims to introduce social media type of working practices to process control work and to test the possibilities of informal cross-organizational information sharing in industrial settings. Keywords: Awareness, Control room, Factory work, Prototype, Process controlling, Social media, User interface, Web 2.0.
1 Introduction Controlling complex processes for example in paper and chemical industries is a challenging task. Even a seemingly small factory contains several states, items and personnel working with it, and operating larger factories definitely isn't a simple and straightforward assignment. For example chemical plants usually include multiple interlinked production units and processes. Thus process control work requires lots of collaboration between workers both inside the unit and between various units in a factory complex. Information sharing is an important part of this collaboration and also the process itself requires a lot of attention to ensure production quality and staff safety. [1] For example our studies revealed a situation, where factory 1 didn't inform to factory 2 that they cannot receive all the raw material factory 2 produces. This lead to a pile of mixed type raw materials outside the factory and they couldn't optimize the production of such deteriorated materials. It is quite unlikely that lack of information would lead into tragic accidents, but minor mishaps might happen if correct information is not reported to the right person. A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 117–125, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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User research conducted at a chemical plant in Finland showed that the process operators need practical ways and tools to share information about their current tasks and process situation between the different production units of the chemical plant. Based on the user research findings an awareness-sharing tool was designed and a prototype of it implemented. The designed tool utilizes notice board metaphor and aims to increase informal communication between the control rooms of the chemical plant. The prototype is implemented with Flash and Java.
2 Background Traditionally work related collaboration and information sharing has been studied in the field of Computer Supported Cooperation Work (CSCW). CSCW describes how people use technology in shared time and/or space [2]. There are several different combinations with time-space relations and the relation needed should be considered precisely in the system design [3]. For example, in work shifts the users work at the same place, but at different times. This would set a different kind of approach to the system design compared to a system for cooperation between different control rooms, where the users work at the same time, but at different places. Cooperation might vary from close user related cooperation to distant system related cooperation and this creates different kind of approach to design compared to traditional multi-user systems [4]. There is a practical need to design computer and communication tools to support cooperation and to harness the collective human resources [5]. During last couple of years different social media and web 2.0 applications and services have become hugely popular ways of sharing information in leisure time settings. The promises of these technologies, i.e. facilitating flexible design, creative reuse, and user centered content, providing a rich user interface, facilitating collaborative content creation, establishing social networks of people with common interests, and helping to gather collective intelligence [6][7], are very interesting also from work and industrial perspective. Utilizing social media services in work context can be problematic. The services seem to promote practices and ways of working that require companies to change their work cultures. For example social media services promote freedom of organizing and interest based connections and collaboration whereas in work context there usually is a predefined organizational structure and also defined tasks and duties. In addition the social media services promote such openness in reporting ones activities that it can awake resistance in companies and business settings. [8] Central theme in both CSCW and current popular social media services, such as Facebook and Twitter, is awareness. Awareness is providing and receiving information to and from others regarding one’s current activities. In a strict environment, like in a control room, the awareness is more depending on the situation. Endsley describes situation awareness as "the perception of the elements in the environment within a volume of time and space, the comprehension of their meaning and the projection of their status in the near future" [9]. Endsley divides situation awareness into three levels [10]. At level 1 worker picks up elements from the environment. At level 2 he or she creates an understanding of the current situation. At level 3 he or she forms a projection of future state and decides possible actions to achieve or avoid the upcoming state.
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The provider of the information must consider what is important information and how to present it. The provider can choose the amount and format of the provided information and thus has more power in the information sharing process, but the provider might be unmotivated and elude the exchange if he or she doesn't gain anything from it. [11] The receiver must access the information and understand what it means. With the information, the receiver is up to date with related activities and can thus direct his/her own work to preferable ways or get well prepared to possible problems [12]. It is rather important to understand what information avails the receiver [11]. The shared information might have different meaning to different user groups depending for example on their experience and role [13]. A person who has been working for a long time might have encountered similar situation before and can make an assumption from certain signs that something needs to be done. On the other hand a person working on a specific part of the process might understand that a certain problem at another part of the process might affect on his or her part of the process, while others wouldn't understand this. Flexibility is needed to support different kind of work and users [4]. It is important to have right amount of information. Clearly scarce amount information might leave out something important that is actually needed, but having too much information might confuse the receiver [14]. Besides, receiver can also make some assumptions if the awareness information is not received [14]. For example it can mean that the provider is busy and unable to provide information. 2.1 Work Environment and Users in Chemical Factory The user research revealed that currently the operators are sharing information with other operators, maintenance personnel, process experts, field workers, automation specialists and transportation personnel. Information is shared in several ways. Important information to other places is provided with telephone or radiophone and longterm information, like announcements and task history, is provided with notice boards and electronic operation diaries. The face-to-face conversations are of course used when possible. There are also work practices related to the information sharing. For example information about the recent events at the production unit and special notions about the state of the process are shared regularly at the shift changes. State of the machinery and for example wearing is monitored actively and maintenance is contacted preferably before anything gets broken. There are also other situations where operators wish to predict the problems to avoid critical situations. These occasions might need information sharing that deviates from the usual pattern. Most of the information is related to monitoring, controlling and developing the manufacturing process. There is also information exchange regarding general events, like visitors, power consumption and maintenance. Maintenance includes needs for repair persons, executions of repairing and cleaning the machinery or their surroundings. The biggest information sharing needs are related to cross-organizational communication, i.e. information sharing between the different production units. Since the production units are interlinked the operators need to know about those events in other production units that result to disturbance in e.g. material flows between the production units.
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Operators’ tasks include monitoring and controlling the process with automation systems [1]. The control room is isolated from the actual production centre and it is filled with monitors, charts, manuals and communication devices. The monitors show several statistics, process state diagrams and machine details which need to be observed constantly and in certain occasions readjusted. The operators vary from young and inexperienced to older and more experienced ones. They have solid, at least average computer skills, and they are capable of handling regular computer software, like web browsers and email-programs. Their education background varies, but all of them are trained to operate automation systems.
3 Electronic Notice Board Prototype As mentioned previously there is a clear need for operators of chemical factory to do information exchange in various kinds of combinations of time and space. The daily information exchange varies from face-to-face meetings during the shift change to sending messages for supply orders. Our aim was to support sharing of awareness information and to try out how social media tools could be fitted in chemical factory context. Our previous prototyping efforts indicated that social media tools can require changes in users work practices and also in organization level of utilizing companies [15]. Hence the designed tool and prototype did not utilize all possible social media functionalities but focused on quite straightforward information sharing. With high fidelity interactive prototype the users can gain a hands-on experience of the system in real environment doing their actual tasks. This is pretty much the closest possible way to attain realistic user experience without actually implementing the final system. We built a simple prototype that utilizes a metaphor of notice board and gives factory operators a possibility to share notices of their current situation between multiple process control rooms. One aspect of the prototype is to allow and encourage the users to learn the use of community related interaction methods and social media. The system will not replace current communication methods but gives the users some new features to work with together with the old methods. Our prototype gives solution to the problems users are currently having with information sharing in chemical factory environment. The aim is to let users share any information they might assume to be interested by other users. It is more up to the receivers to choose if the information has any value to them. Users can also present open questions to everyone and those who happen to know the solution can answer to the questions. Without knowing exactly whom to ask it is impossible to present such questions e.g. via telephone. This should encourage the users to share more information related to their work and thus improve the quality of the process and reduce problems related to it. 3.1 Prototype Description Electronic notice board (El Nobo) is a notice board shared by three work shifts in four different control rooms. Visually El Nobo reminds a real cork surface notice board with notes attached to it with pins (Fig. 1). Users can write new notes to the board, which are then shared to other locations through a server (Fig. 2). Each user can move and order the notes in his or her preferred way. Important notes can be placed in the
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Fig. 1. Overview of the prototype with five notes on the board. The highlighted note is a new one. On the right side is symbols for new note (top), trash can, settings and quit.
center and uninteresting ones can be removed from the view. Each note displays the time it was written and the location it was received from. The interface is implemented in Finnish to match the users’ language. In traditional tools, like in e-mail, messages are presented as a list or a tree. However, the El Nobo user interface allows the users to handle messages in two dimensions, which provides new possibilities to arrange the information. The users don't have individual user accounts to El Nobo, but they have accounts to the factory complex's intranet, which they use to log in at shift change. The intranet cannot be accessed by outsiders, so there is no need to strain the users with additional identification. The client machines at the control rooms have fixed IP-addresses. The server identifies these addresses and translates them into corresponding control room names. So, unlike in traditional social media tools, El Nobo doesn't use personal accounts, but control room specific accounts. This design is based on the operators work habit of sharing the user accounts. When a shift starts, only one of the operators in duty logs into the computer and all of them use the same account during the shift. Since there is only on team (shift) in duty in one operator room at a time we simplified the system even more and created only control room level accounts. Simplified account management also simplifies the using of the system since the operators do not need to remember yet another usernamepassword combination. Users usually find multiple overlapping accounts and passwords laborious [16]. Graphical side of El Nobo is build up with Action Script 3 in Flash development environment. The Flash allows an easy way to create different kind of user interfaces with vast amount of visuality and interactions. Flash applications also can be run on normal web browsers and users are quite likely to be familiar with some Flashapplications e.g. games.
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Fig. 2. The structure of the information sharing in chemical factory with the prototype. Information is shared face-to-face from work shift to another and from one factory to others by the prototype’s server.
The server is build up with Java environment and consists of socket listener and note log. Also a policy server is needed for Flash communications because of the security policy. The main server listens for incoming notes and requests of notes. Note's message and related information is saved to the log held on server machine. Clients keep polling the server for new notes and if there are any, server sends them from the note log. The prototype was built up rapidly using some code from previous projects and freely available code snippets from Web tutorials. The prototype is not supposed to be a complete product, but to present the idea of sharing digital information with notice board metaphor. Thus the prototype will not be used as a base for the final product, if any is to be created. The final product would most likely have more functions, some possibilities of personalization and some level of integration to the automation systems, which are not presented in the prototype in the name of simplicity. Nevertheless the prototype is a “working one” and can be given to the users for freeform use. 3.2 Design Reasoning Our aim was to cover the information exchange between different control rooms and shifts in real-time and with postponed messages. This means that the workers are
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located at the same area but not exactly at the same location. If needed, they can go over to the other control room, but then their own room is not operated. Thus there is a need for ability to access same information from different locations. There's always an operator on shift in all of the control rooms, but he or she might be busy controlling the process, so the information exchange timing can be immediate or delayed. El Nobo can be used as a kind of instant messenger or as a bulletin board depending on the situation. Thus both time derived styles of communication are supported. Currently the users share awareness information mainly by telephone or radiophone and almost exclusively in problem situations. Problems with telephone are that the user must know who to contact and what's his or her phone number. If the information receiver isn't present at the moment the information can’t be delivered and although the receiver might realize the need for information sharing, she or he has no clue for the reason for it. The main problem with radiophone is that the user needs to change the frequency to enter channel of other factory and while doing this he or she cannot receive information from the channel of his or her own factory. In addition the telephone and radiophone communication are 1-to-1 communication and in chemical plant there is almost always need to share the information with multiple partners. El Nobo is shared among all control rooms and notes are stored automatically for every shift until they decide to remove it, so each note gets to all operators working in the factory. The purpose of the El Nobo is to give users a new and simple channel for sharing information over time and space. Through network the notes are sent to different locations and by saving the notes to the server they are delivered on different work shifts. Compared to natural note board this gives the users a chance to use the board on their own work environment instead of some shared location among the other users. Currently the users have similar notice boards to share information among different work shifts, but they are lacking information sharing between different working locations. Since note boards are already used in the work, the metaphor should be familiar to the operators. El Nobo just has a little different environment (computer screen) and interaction methods (mouse and keyboard) compared to physical note board. Users usually wish to execute information sharing in their own preferred ways [11]. We are giving the operators a new tool that can be used to share any additional information they wish to provide. There are no limitations of what kind of information can be provided and the users have total control of the received information. The prototype does not support private one-to-one communication but the need for private communication between two control rooms seems to be rare. System derived changes to existing work practices should be avoided if possible [17]. Thus El Nobo is designed to fit into the users' current work habits, the operators already have a distinct computer for other than process operating usage, so the system can be placed there without interfering the process monitoring. During monitoring there is not much need to actually adjust the process, so there's plenty of time to observe also the new communication system. El Nobo should increase the amount of situation awareness and help the operators to predict exceptions and develop the collaboration practices.
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4 Conclusion Situation awareness is an important part of controlling processes in modern factories. In addition to the information about the controlled process the process operators need a lot of information also from other sources such as interlinked factories, suppliers, and maintenance. Current information gathering and sharing practices are focused on problems and special events. Thus the operators are not aware of the current situation even in interlinked other factories. As a result the collaboration between production units is not as efficient as it could be. For example the operators do not know the capabilities of operators of another factory they cooperate with. These problems seem pretty simple, but sharing and organizing such information in needed time window is not a simple task and poor information might lead to for example lower production quality. Use of Social media tools is rising and we are interested to see how they work at chemical factories. The El Nobo electronic notice board was designed to support the situation awareness across control rooms in a chemical plant. During March-April 2009 El Nobo will be evaluated in real chemical factory complex with real users. The evaluation results will be analyzed regarding usability of the system in awareness information sharing and whether the users learned new Social Media and Web 2.0 promoted ways of working while using the prototype. We had to make some choices in the design stage without the necessary user knowledge. Our assumptions included such things as having a personal view of the notice board would be better than a shared view and there's no need for versatile note handling. We are interested to see if the users actually have a need to store and organize notes and do not just throw them away. Also there are some limitations with the note board metaphor and our prototype has quite limited functionality. For example the prototype does not support pictures, videos or audio messages. The installation of the prototype will however include blogs for the operators to share longer messages and pictures.
References 1. Paunonen, H., Oksanen, J., Nieminen, M., Koskinen, T., Kovalainen, M.: Collaborative Interaction in Process Control. In: Karwowski, Waldemar (eds.) International Encyclopedia of Ergonomics and Human Factors, 2nd edn., pp. 1047–1052. Taylor & Francis, USA (2006) 2. Rama, J., Bishop, J.: A Survey and Comparison of CSCW Groupware Applications. In: Proceedings of SAICSIT 2006, pp. 198–205. Somerset West, South Africa (2006) 3. Shneidermann, B.: Designing the User Interface. Addison Wesley Longman, Inc., Redwood City (1998) 4. Bentley, R.: Flexible Architectures for CSCW System Support. Special issue: workshop write-ups and positions papers from CSCW 1994, SIGOIS Bulletin 15(3), 5–7 (1995) 5. Malone, T.W., Crowston, K.: The interdisciplinary Study of Coordination. ACM Computing Surveys 26(1) (March 1994) 6. O’Reilly, T.: What Is Web 2.0: Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software (2005), http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/ what-is-web-20.html (retrieved February 16, 2009)
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7. Murugesan, S.: Understanding Web 2.0. IT Pro (July /August 2007) 8. Mannonen, P., Runonen, M.: SMEs In Social Media. In: Proceedings of Workshop of Social Media and HCI at NordiCHI 2008, Lund, Sweden (2008) (in Press) 9. Endsley, M.R.: Design and evaluation for situation awareness enhancement. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 32nd Annual Meeting, pp. 97–101. Human Factors Society, Santa Monica (1988) 10. Endsley, M.R.: Situation Awareness In Aviation Systems. In: Handbook of Aviation Human Factors. Lawrence Eribaum Associates, Mahwah (1999) 11. Dourish, P., Bellotti, V.: Awareness and Coordination is Shared Workspaces. In: Proceedings of CSCW 1992, Toronto, Canada, pp. 107–114. ACM Press, New York (1992) 12. Zha, X., Ding, N.: Study on Information Sharing in Supply Chain. In: Proceedings of ICEC 1992, Xi’an, China, August 15-17, pp. 787–789. ACM Press, New York (2005) 13. Hourizi, R., Johnson, P.: Designing To Support Awareness: A Predictive, Composite Model. In: Proceedings of the ACM CHI 2004 conference on Human factors in computing systems, Vienna, Austria, pp. 159–166. ACM Press, New York (2004) 14. Endsley, M.R.: Designing for Situation Awareness in Complex System. In: Proceedings of the Second international workshop on symbiosis of humans, artifacts and environment, Kyoto, Japan (2001) 15. Mannonen, P., Runonen, M.: Sometimes Users’ Tasks and Context Are Not Enough. Interact, Uppsala, Sweden (2009) (submitted) 16. Teräs, S.: Teknillisen korkeakoulun matkahallintajärjestelmän käytettävyysselvitys, Master Thesis, Helsinki University of Technology (2008) 17. Grudin, J.: Why CSCW Applications Fail: Problems In The Design And Evaluation of Organizational Interfaces. In: Proceedings of the Conference on Computer-Supported CooperativeWork, Portland, Oregon, September 26-28, pp. 85–93 (1988)
A Study on the Interface for Viewing the Information Menu of a Town from Intersections Using a Digital Compass Misa Tsuchihashi1 and Katsuhiko Ogawa2 1
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Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University
Abstract. Recently, services providing information content that meet the needs of a user’s current location, based on location information obtained by mobile terminals such as cell phones, have been increasing. In line with the widespread use of these Location-Based Services (LBS), digital compasses that obtain bearing information together with location information are also emerging. By using the digital compass with the location information, a higher level of information can be produced. In this paper, a “XingMenu Viewer” for viewing the information menu of a town from intersections using a digital compass is proposed. In the town exploration experiment using this viewer, it was observed that the exminee’s perception of the town had expanded. Keywords: Location-Based Services (LBS), Mobile Computing, Digital Compass, Augmented Reality, Photo Sharing, Live Blog, Cognitive Map.
1 Introduction Information communication technology has created a new living environment, which we refer to as “virtual.” The physical living environment and the virtual living environment are separated by humans. In the virtual living environment, it is possible to contact friends and acquaintances without worrying about time by using mail or SNS, and by going to photo sharing sites, one can look at pictures of far-off places without going on an overseas trip. However, the perception of time and place that dominate the physical living environment are extremely subtle in the virtual living environment. On the other hand, virtual information increases human perception of the real world, extends memory, and allows people to share their experience with others. The location information services connecting the physical and virtual are a new media, called “Place Media” [1] (Fig. 1), that uses location as its base. As one of the Place Media, this paper is proposing the “XingMenu Viewer” (hereafter, XV) for viewing the town's information menu from intersections, which is a town node [2] using a digital compass. A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 126–133, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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Fig. 1. The virtual and physical worlds
2 XingMenu Viewer 2.1 System Overview The XV system configuration diagram is shown in Figure 2. The XV operation is as follows. 1. Obtain the location and bearing information using mobile terminals installed with GPS and digital compasses and grasp the direction facing the intersection in which the user is located. 2. Together with the information obtained in 1, decide on the displayed scenery data and contents, and send the queries to the server. 3. The server will query the contents database and scenery database and call forth the corresponding contents and scenery data. 4. The contents and scenery data will be composed and displayed at the terminals. 2.2 Concept The XingMenu Viewer concept is shown in this section. XV is an interface superimposing the virtual information to the physical town scenery that a user is looking at, at an intersection. This is a function that supports the interaction between people and town, a function that especially expands people’s perception of a physical town [1]. In the virtual world, keyword searches are very typical, but the volume of virtual information has become so large that it is sometimes difficult to get the required information. It has become easier to find preferred information when refining is done using a menu search, In physical reality, when sightseeing, people will go to a high spot that overlooks the whole place, especially when visiting for the first time. At the same time, they will superimpose the knowledge gained from guidebooks and maps
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Servers
Contents DB
Queries
Contents (A) Written information, photos, etc. Querie Queries
A + B
Scenery data (B)
Compose and display
Acquire coordinates and bearing
Scenery etc.
photos,
Scenery DB
Terminals
Fig. 2. The XV System
onto the physical scenery. This is the spontaneous drawing of the town's information menu in the brain. XV is an item that visualizes the town's information menu, which existed only in the minds of people until now, and enables a menu search when sightseeing (Figure 3). 2.3 AR and SR A method that superimposes virtual space onto physical space and displays additional information there, as in XV, is known as Augmented Reality (hereafter, AR), and has been getting attention recently[3].
Xing (Crossing/Intersection)
Physical World
Scenery Virtual World
N NW
NE
E
SE
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Fig. 3. The menu-search sightseeing by XV
S
SW
W
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Fig. 4. The sample screen of XV
Even now, information for users that refers to the physical town is overflowing. Information on train trips and coupons that can be used for shopping that matches the real world actual state and individual users' preferences, transmitted by NTT DoCoMo service “iConcierge” [4], is also a part of it. XV is an interface to access information by looking at the town from intersections with the introduction of the AR concept. An example is shown in Figure 4. Because iConcierge provides information deeply rooted in the living community and personal preferences, it is very convenient when there is a specific objective. On the other hand, XV may be more suitable for users who “walk without any destination in mind,” looking for favorite shops while enjoying their sightseeing than it is for those with a clear objective in mind. On the other hand, recently, a phenomenon of public users taking large numbers of photos and publishing them on the Internet is occurring, due to the effect of prevalence of digital cameras and camera cell phones in the society. Countless scenic photos of towns taken by users walking or visiting are being uploaded to photo-sharing sites such as Flickr [5] and Picasa [6]. The physical scenery of every town in the world is being provided by the many users of the Internet. Furthermore, together with the prevailing blogs and SNS, the number of people creating so-called live blogs, the recording of daily lives and happenings with photos and messages attached to them, is also increasing. Town scenery photos with live blogs are combined and uploaded together by users and then shared in the real world, and a method that expands the perception of the real world in the user is proposed. This is an approach, as opposed to the AR, we call “Shared Reality” (hereafter, SR).
Fig. 5. The sample screen of XV by SR
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An example of XV using the SR approach is shown in Figure 5. In this figure, on the left, the same are recorded at different times, in other words, a pseudo-synchronized live blog is presented. From the pseudo-synchronized live blog, one can get a glimpse of the movement of someone who had been in the same place, but at different times, and can identify with each other.
3 Town Exploration Experiment The town exploration experiment in Ginza, Tokyo, using XV is reported in this section. It analyzes how the movements of someone who is exploring the town are changed by XV. 3.1 Prototype The prototype scenery photos were taken by the author at a Ginza intersection. Further, because the information content is about shops like the ones provided by DoCoMo iConcierge, taken from the magazine “Ginza Walker” [7] and not the users' live blogs, the prototype approach is categorized as AR, not SR. The location coordinate was fixed on either one of the intersections at Ginza 2, 4th or 6th Street, and when the examinee operates the XV, the intersection where one stands was specified, and the bearing information was obtained in real time. Further, because there is no suitable terminal with a highly accurate digital compass installed in reality, a notebook connected to a GPS receiver (geko 301, Garmin product) was used. 3.2 Experiment Summary Five examinees who never visited Ginza were selected. First, the examinees, in pairs or alone, performed a task called “selecting a restaurant for lunch while walking aimlessly around the town” without using any sightseeing assisting tools such as guidebooks or cell-phone navigation functions. At the point when the examinees decided on the restaurant, the sightseeing was halted and the task of creating the Ginza cognitive map, depending only on the memory during the walk, was carried out. After lunch, the sightseeing was reconvened using XV. Now, the “Choose a cafe, or tea shop, or cake shop for a short rest” task was performed. After the examinees decided on a shop, the task of redrawing the cognitive map in a form of writing on top of the cognitive map drawn before using the XV was carried out. Relating to the sightseeing in particular, there was no time limitation in place, but the time required was 1 hour on average for each map, so there was a total of 2 hours sightseeing.
4 Experiment Results and Discussion The cognitive maps drawn by the examinees are shown in Figure 6. Furthermore, from the composition elements of the cognitive map shown by Lynch [2], each part of the cognitive maps drawn were categorized and organized into four types: paths, nodes, landmarks, and districts (Table 1).
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Fig. 6. The cognitive maps drawn by the examinees
In Figure 6, when visually comparing the cognitive maps drawn before and after using XV, almost all the descriptions, such as “X Street” and “X Avenue,” can be
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seen in the cognitive maps only after using XV. One of the examinees commented on this, saying, “When using XV, it's getting to feel natural saying X (shop, e.g.) is on Y Street, X is on Y Avenue.” This is thought to have been caused by the fact that all Ginza's main intersections, including the intersection where the XV operation is conducted, are named “Ginza X Street Intersection Point,” and all the roads copied onto the XV scenery photos are described with names such as “XX Avenue.” As a result, many of the examinees have given impressions such as, “With XV, we know where we were and our geographical perception has become better.” Among them, there was even a examinee who added, “By knowing my current location, I feel safe.” On the other hand, a point that should looked at more closely in Table 1 is that all the examinees are cognizant, one way or the other, of all the items, “paths,” “nodes,” “landmarks,” and “districts,” even after using XV. When restarting the sightseeing again after an hour, it will usually be boring, and new discoveries will be harder to find. Nevertheless, the number of discoveries made was equal to that when sightseeing before using XV. This is believed to be caused by the fact that XV has created a trigger for things to do next, and has widened the movement range. Table 1. The parts of the cognitive maps categorized into four types Cognitive m ap
Cognitive m ap
Cognitive m ap
Cognitive m ap
Cognitive m ap
XV
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
Before
After
Paths
7
8
9
7
7
7
17
2
13
2
Nodes
4
7
4
5
2
4
16
3
17
3
Landmarks
21
22
24
22
17
11
26
22
39
28
Districts
5
0
3
0
4
3
4
5
6
3
5 Conclusion and Future Topics In this paper, a “XingMenu Viewer” for viewing the town's information menu from an intersection that is a town's node using a digital compass was proposed, and the result of a town exploration experiment at Ginza using it was reported. From the experiment, based on a prototype using the AR method, by using XV at intersections a “reassurance”, and “discovery” occurred, and as a result, it was understood that the perceptions of the town were expanding. In the future, every town’s scenery, photos, and live blogs will be collected on the Internet, and by constructing a platform to compose both of them, an XV prototype using the SR method will be implemented, further analyzing the information gained by this paper.
References 1. Ogawa, K.: Future of Place: Information Technologies and Place Media Grow New Relationship between Human and Place. IEICE Communication Society Magazine, 21–31 (2008) 2. Lynch, K.: The Image of the City. MIT Press, Cambridge (1960)
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3. Matsushita, N., Hihara, D., Ushiro, T., Yoshimura, S., Rekimoto, J., Yamamoto, Y.: ID CAM: A Smart Camera for Scene Capturing and ID Recognition. In: Proc. ISMAR, pp. 227–236 (2003) 4. iConcierge, http://answer.nttdocomo.co.jp/concier/ 5. flickr, http://www.flickr.com 6. Picasa, http://picasa.google.com 7. Walker, G.: Kadokawa X Media (2007)
Email Accessibility and Social Networking Brian Wentz and Jonathan Lazar Department of Computer and Information Sciences, Center for Applied Information Technology, and Universal Usability Laboratory, Towson University 8000 York Road, Towson, MD 21252
[email protected],
[email protected]
Abstract. Previous studies concerning the accessibility of social networking web sites have revealed that there are components of such web sites which present accessibility problems for users with disabilities, including blind users. This paper discusses the intersection of e-mail accessible and social networking, for blind users. Not only is e-mail an important component of social networking sites, but often, an e-mail address is required for registration. The topic of e-mail and social networking is being studied in the broader context of a multi-stage research study of blind users and their e-mail usage. This multi-stage study is being conducted to understand the usage patterns and accessibility problems encountered by blind users in using both web-based and application-based e-mail. Our hope is that the research study will result in the proposal of new strategies and guidelines for accessible design. This conference presentation will report on the status of the data collection. Keywords: social networking, blind users, email, web accessibility, CSCW.
1 Introduction If a student at a college or university were asked today about the importance of social networking web sites such as MySpace or Facebook it would garner a response similar to questioning the importance of instant messaging or email only a few years ago. With 35% of adults and 65% of teens currently registered with social networking web sites [19], these online communities are undoubtedly having a significant impact on higher education. This impact could be positive, such as the ability to provide a sense of community to individuals who would either minimally or never form a social connection otherwise. The impact could also be negative, such as the immediate and global exposure of negative or illegal activities, or even the introduction of a new security threat as social networking web sites have become a target of viruses [20]. The registration for and use of social networking web sites has also been identified as a possible source for increased spam email [3]. The level of accessibility of social networking web sites for users with disabilities has been analyzed by several parties including the AbilityNet Web Accessibility Team [1]. The use of visual CAPTCHAs (random blurred characters that need to be entered for validation), poor support for keyboard-based navigation and the lack of A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 134–140, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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alternate text for navigational elements were some of the problems discovered in social networking web sites [2]. Since email is highly integrated into social networking and also comprises a form of social networking [24], this paper will focus on the intersection between email accessibility for blind users and social networking. 1.1 The Legal Importance of Web Accessibility Recent court cases regarding web accessibility in the United States may begin to motivate companies and web services to begin to adopt a more proactive approach to the challenge of electronic accessibility. While Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act specifies accessibility standards for government web sites and technology, there are several other applicable mandates as well, including Section 504 and the E-government Act [8]. It is still unclear whether the law requires that private corporate web sites must be accessible. Recent legal rulings, although not final, point towards web accessibility being potentially covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act, which does cover private companies. Companies are encouraged to take a proactive approach to ensuring that their web sites can be used by the largest number of users [9]. A recent example of this is the court case involving Target.com and the National Federation of the Blind. In 2005, the National Federation of the Blind asked Target to correct its web site so that screen readers could use it more easily. In September 2008, Target settled the charges with the National Federation of the Blind, and the preliminary court rulings noted that the lack of accessibility on the web site could prevent blind users from sharing the same public accommodation of the physical store that others enjoy [27]. There are nearly 2 million individuals in the United States who are blind with no residual vision, and 37 million individuals worldwide who are blind with no residual vision [12][26]. This is a very large population of users, and technology should be accessible to anyone, regardless of background or physical abilities. This concept should follow through to include the accessibility and usability of technology for blind users [12], whether that technology is email or a social networking web site. It is the responsibility of the technology community to ensure that accessibility problems are not inherently occurring, and when accessibility problems are discovered, the effort must be extended to correct them. 1.2 Social Networking Accessibility for Blind Users It is important for blind users to take part in social networking sites for multiple reasons. Social networking sites can be used to meet friends, catch up with long-lost acquaintances, and keep tabs on what friends are doing. Social networking sites can also be used to make business contacts. Web sites such as LinkedIn or ZoomInfo further facilitate social networking for professionals who need to develop business contacts for purposes such as job hunting [16]. Some individuals even use standard social networking sites for meeting potential dates [15]. The accessibility of social networking web sites (such as Facebook and MySpace) has been analyzed by AbilityNet in the U.K. One of the most critical accessibility flaws noted impacted blind users who access social networking web sites by using screen reader software (such as JAWS) [1]. This flaw is the use of CAPTCHAs to register for social networking web sites. Visual CAPTCHAs pose many problems for
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blind users. Both Facebook and MySpace require the use of a CAPTCHA during the registration process. MySpace offers only a visual CAPTCHA while Facebook also provides an audio CAPTCHA option [6][17]. AbilityNet found that other problems with social networking web sites could also impact users with disabilities, including the lack of skip links on pages, navigational graphics lacking alternate text (which is what the screen reader software uses in place of graphics), poor or misleading link text and no alternatives for features that use JavaScript [2]. The lack of alternate text for graphics or the use of graphics for navigational purposes has been a highlighted problem with web site accessibility in general. AbilityNet noted that social networking web sites have the opportunity to enable someone who has a disability to bridge the networking and socializing gap by removing some of the traditional physical barriers [1]. The World Wide Web Consortium also noted in its recent report on the future of social networking that many social networking websites have not yet even started to address accessibility requirements [25]. Technology, however, should be a tool to level the field of opportunity for all users, and as such it must be designed with the goal of accessibility for all in mind. 1.3 The Interface between Email and Social Networking Email is one of the dominant components that form the core of many web-based applications and services. While it may not always be a public form of social networking, it is certainly a private aspect of social networking [8]. Companies such as Google and Yahoo have even discussed ways to turn their web-based email systems into a more enhanced social network. Google did not release specific details, but Yahoo described the changes as being email display based on relationships [24] since email is already a very personal form of social networking that provides contact with those who are socially the closest to an individual. One concrete example of the intersection of e-mail and social networking is party invitation web sites such as Evite [5]. Individuals receive an e-mail in their inbox, pointing them to a web site that lists information about an upcoming party that they are invited to. Usually, a web site like this includes information about the time and location of the party, a list of who has been invited, who has indicated that they are coming, and who has indicated that they will not be coming. After the party, information about what happened at the party and pictures and stories from the party are all posted on the web site. So to take part in this social network, not only must the web page with party information be accessible, but users must be able to receive and read the emails that point them to the web site. Since many emails are now sent with embedded HTML, emails that theoretically should be plain text and accessible may in fact not be accessible. In addition to the private social networking aspect of email is the fact that email usage is actually required to even register (and use certain features of) social networking web sites such as Facebook or MySpace. The registration pages for both of these popular social networking web sites require a valid email address from which the email address book can later be used as a method of adding social networking contacts [6]. Email is therefore an inescapable facet of social networking. 1.4 Email Accessibility for Blind Users Email is a primary means of communications and productivity in society today both in the workforce and on college and university campuses. It is often a simple way to
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share documents and quickly disseminate information. College and university students depend on email for private and public communication. It is therefore critical to know whether accessibility problems with email software are creating difficulties or even barriers for blind users. Spam is a problem that can consume the time of both blind and sighted users, with almost two-thirds of email users citing spam as a major problem [12]. When the general annoyance and frustrations of spam is compounded with having the titles or portions of email messages being read to a user audibly through a screen reader, the level of embarrassment is likely to escalate given the fact that many spam emails contain inappropriate content. With spam filtering software representing the primary solution for preventing this unsolicited email, the ensuing problem is that a spam filter can still allow spam to reach a user and can also prevent legitimate email from reaching a user [4]. Spam is also a security issue since it is one of the most common venues for the distribution of viruses and worms [21]. The possibility that registration with a social networking web site may increase this growing problem could be a genuine point of concern for blind users. Web-based email is also a problematic area for blind users. During a focus group for this study that was conducted in May 2008 (see details later in this paper), blind users noted that web-based email such as Yahoo Mail, Gmail and Hotmail all share the problems of cluttered audio interfaces, the use of visual CAPTCHAs (Gmail and Hotmail also provide audio CAPTCHAs [7][10]) and the lack of alternative text or use of poor alternate text for graphical navigational elements. These types of difficulties appear to be analogous to those that are faced by blind users who use social networking web sites. The lack of accessibility for most web-based email may discourage blind users from even attempting to use web-based email.
2 Research on Email Accessibility for Blind Users A large, multi-stage research study is taking place to understand how blind users utilize e-mail, what challenges they face, and what improvements could be made. The study is being conducted in collaboration with the National Federation of the Blind (hereafter referred to as NFB). The three stages of data collection are a focus group, a web-based survey, and the in-depth usability testing of e-mail software by blind users. The focus of the study is on blind users with no residual vision, who utilize screen readers, which are currently the primary tool of choice by blind users [18]. The topic of social networking and e-mail is one small facet of the study. This paper reports on the current status of the research study. 2.1 Focus Group On May 1, 2008, a focus group of four employees of the NFB convened to evaluate the problem of email accessibility and to assist in the further definition of the information to be obtained in the second and third stages of the study. The group consisted of three males and one female, ranging in age from their mid-twenties to mid-fifties and the vocational background of the participants ranged from non-technical to technical in nature. While many of the focus group questions pertained to software-based email, the problems associated with web-based email were also discussed.
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The consensus of the focus group was that web-based email such as Yahoo Mail, Gmail and Hotmail were extremely cluttered when used with a screen reader. Additionally, simply signing up for a web-based email account proved to be difficult, since some providers require the use of a visual CAPTCHA during the registration process, which has been highlighted as a barrier to access [12]. The web-based navigational interfaces were also noted to be problematic. In particular, navigational elements that used graphics contained either poorly structured alternate text or no alternate text. Spam email messages were also noted to be a frustrating aspect of email, although NFB had recently implemented a very effective spam filtering system within its corporate email system, and the focus group participants reported it to be very effective. The users who used personal and web-based email reported that spam can be very frustrating and embarrassing, and their hope was that any spam filtering software used would work effectively without blocking any legitimate email. 2.2 Web-Based Survey A web-based survey was developed as the second stage of the research project. The primary content of the survey was specifically based on the results and suggestions of the focus group. The survey content was also reviewed for suggestions by three additional researchers at Towson University. Before any electronic versions of the survey were created, the wording of the survey questions were checked for clarity, as is standard for electronic surveys [14]. Originally, a web-based survey tool called SurveyMonkey was used to develop the electronic version of the survey, due to its advertisement as a Section 508 compliant survey tool [23]. However, after testing, it was determined that the SurveyMonkey tool was in fact not entirely accessible using the JAWS screen reader software. The researchers attempted to work with SurveyMonkey technical support to correct the problem, but were unsuccessful. At this point, a different tool, SurveyGizmo, was used to develop the web-based version of the survey. Initial testing showed that SurveyGizmo did not have the same accessibility problems as SurveyMonkey. So the final online version of the web-based survey was created using SurveyGizmo [22]. The survey was then thoroughly tested for accessibility in JAWS versions 8 and 10 by the researchers, and it was also examined for usability and understandability by an independent blind user who is employed as an assistive technology specialist at the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network. Multiple additional steps typically are needed when pre-testing an electronic survey tool for blind users [13]. Included in the survey are demographic questions such as age, gender, employment status and academic status. Questions regarding email usage frequency and estimated hours per day are also included. Since spam has been highlighted as a particular area of concern, questions regarding spam, and how it is dealt with, are asked as well. Special features of email such as contacts, calendaring and organization are also addressed, and there are separate sections on software-based and web-based email. Besides the focus on email usage and accessibility, this survey attempts to determine whether each participant is a student at a college or university and a social networking web site user. Because of this, questions were also included concerning the use of social networking web sites and any difficulties encountered when using social networking web sites. The survey is structured using skip logic so that if questions do not apply to a particular individual, those questions will not be asked. Example: if a
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survey respondent indicates that they do not use web-based e-mail, then they will not receive any follow-up questions about web-based e-mail. 2.3 Current Status of Research The survey was officially released for responses in January 2009 through list servers sponsored by the Maryland and Pennsylvania chapters of the NFB and is still underway at the time of this writing. It is expected that by the time of the conference, complete results of the survey will be available for presentation. It is expected that the third stage of data collection, usability testing of different e-mail applications, will take place during the middle of 2009. Some preliminary results from the usability testing may possibly be available by the time of the conference. The testing will be conducted in the natural work environment of the users, and user behavior will be observed during the use of software and web-based email applications using a screen reader. This stage will be more in depth and will involve each participant performing tasks such as using software and web-based email, organizing and retrieving email, and also using features such as the contacts and calendar. The purpose of this stage is to more fully understand the usage patterns, as well as any problems that are encountered.
3 Summary There needs to be an increased amount of research into both the accessibility of social networking web sites, and understanding how blind users use e-mail for both workrelated and social-related communication. There are many potential benefits of accessible social networking web sites, both for social connections, and also for work-related networking. Acknowledgments. The National Federation of the Blind has greatly assisted this research.
References 1. AbilityNet, http://www.abilitynet.co.uk/enation85 2. Accessites.org, http://accessites.org/site/2008/01/ social-networking-not-for-everyone 3. Brown, G., How, T., Ihbe, M., Prakash, A., Borders, K.: Social Networks and ContextAware Spam. In: CSCW 2008, pp. 403–412. ACM, New York (2008) 4. Cormack, G., Lynam, T.: Online Supervised Spam Filter Evaluation. ACM Trans. Inf. Syst. 25(3), 1–31 (2007) 5. Evite, http://www.evite.com 6. Facebook, http://www.facebook.com 7. Gmail, http://www.google.com 8. Guy, I., Jacovi, M., Meshulam, N., Ronen, I., Shahar, E.: Public vs. Private – Comparing Public Social Network Information with Email. In: CSCW 2008, pp. 393–402. ACM, New York (2008)
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9. Hocheiser, H., Lazar, J.: HCI and Societal Issues: A Framework for Engagement. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction 23(3), 339–374 (2007) 10. Hotmail, http://mail.live.com/mail 11. Jaeger, P.: Beyond Section 508: The Spectrum of Legal Requirements for Accessible EGovernment Web Sites in the United States. Journal of Government Information 30(4), 518–533 (2004) 12. Lazar, J. (ed.): Universal Usability: Designing Computer Interfaces for Diverse Users. John Wiley & Sons, Chichester (2007) 13. Lazar, J., Allen, A., Kleinman, J., Lawrence, J.: Methodological Issues in Using Time Diaries to Collect Frustration Data from Blind Computer Users. In: Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction. Proceedings on CD-ROM (2005) 14. Lazar, J., Preece, J.: Using Electronic Surveys to Evaluate Networked Resources: From Idea to Implementation. In: Evaluating Networked Information: Techniques, Policy, and Issues, pp. 137–154. Information Today, Medford (2001) 15. Lee, A., Bruckman, A.: Judging You by the Company You Keep: Dating on Social Networking Sites. In: Proceedings of the 2007 international ACM Conference on Supporting Group Work, pp. 371–378. ACM, New York (2007) 16. LinkedIn, http://www.linkedin.com 17. MySpace, http://www.myspace.com 18. NFB, http://www.nfb.org/nfb/Louis_Braille_coin_facts.asp?SnID=2 19. Pew Internet & American Life Project, http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/272/report_display.asp 20. Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE4B37LV20081204 21. Stolfo, S., Hershkop, S., Hu, C., Li, W., Nimeskern, O., Wang, K.: Behavior-Based Modeling and its Application to Email Analysis. ACM Trans. Inf. Tech. 6(2), 187–221 (2006) 22. SurveyGizmo, http://www.surveygizmo.com 23. SurveyMonkey, http://www.surveymonkey.com/HelpCenter/ Answer.aspx?HelpID=247 24. The New York Times, http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/13/ inbox-20-yahoo-and-google-to-turn-e-mail-into-a-social-network 25. W3C, http://www.w3.org/2008/09/msnws/report 26. World Health Organization, http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs282/en 27. Whitfield, N.: Target Settles Case over Web Site Access for the Blind. Business Insurance 42(36), 4, 40 (2008)
Why People Use Social Networking Sites Petter Bae Brandtzæg and Jan Heim SINTEF, Forskningsveien. 1, 0314 OSLO, Norway
[email protected]
Abstract. One of the recent popular social media platforms is the social networking site (SNS). Thus far, few previous studies have empirically investigated people’s motivations for SNS usage, especially not outside the U.S. This study combines a large-scale quantitative and qualitative research design, by asking 1,200 SNS users an open question regarding their reasons for using SNSs. An important conclusion drawn from a preliminary content analysis is that people often report many motivational reasons for using SNSs. The most important reason is to get in contact with new people (31%). The second most valued was to keep in touch with their friends (21%), whereas the third was general socializing (14%). A total of 11 different reasons and several subreasons were identified; that all give insight into the personal incentives that drive people to use SNSs and thus contribute to our understanding of how to develop successful social networking online. Keywords: Social networking sites, user participation, friends, user motivation.
1 Introduction Every day, thousands of new accounts are created on social networking sites (SNSs), though many have a very short lifespan [1]. SNS are also one type of online community that relies on user contributions. This raises the question of how user motivation and participation can be inspired for continued use. What makes an SNS successful in terms of both end-user loyalty and highly motivated users is still unknown [2]; yet, this is critical knowledge for designers and human factor engineers who build SNSs. Therefore, on a general level, it is necessary to understand the people who will use the service, as well as the goals and personal incentives they have for doing so. Similarly, Preece [3] points out that the developing online communities require a deep understanding of social interaction and the mediating affects of technology. Some few attempts have been made to understand why people participate [4] or do not participate in SNSs or online communities [2, 5]. These attempts have mainly developed theoretical frameworks or featured an empirical focus towards a certain type of user (e.g., lurkers). Results from other studies on similar social media platforms such as blogs show that bloggers ranked pouring out feelings and connecting with people as the two most valued rewards for blogging [6]. Research done in previous online communities has stressed the following motivational factors: 1) people with shared interests, 2) experiences and needs, 3) supportive and sociable relationships, 4) strong social feelings of belonging, and 5) a sense of shared identity [7] [8] [9]. Other A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 143–152, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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suggestions include 1) user visibility, 2) feedback channels, 3) a large user population, 4) low barriers for entering the community, and 5) accessibility and usability for end-products [10] [11]. New forms of online communities, understood in this paper as SNSs, that target the majority of the user population (e.g., Facebook and MySpace) provoke a revision of understanding the social interaction and the kinds of activities people want to engage in on such sites [2]. SNSs is defined according to Boyd and Ellison as a “web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system” [12]. A recent special issue section of the Journal of ComputerMediated Communication [12], collected studies of a variety of topics ranging from the history to the development of SNSs. However, none of the studies explained user motivations in social networking or how users themselves determine their motivations. Thus, in a section discussing future research, the editors, Boyd and Ellison, pinpointed the limited understanding of who uses SNSs and their purposes for doing so, especially outside the U.S. With this in mind, we investigated people’s subjective motivational reasons for using SNSs by performing a quantitative content analysis of 1,200 qualitative responses from social networking site users. The location of this study, Norway, is particularly interesting for an investigation of these issues from a European point of view. In addition, it is interesting an interesting context investigating SNS usage because Norway is characterized with high use of information and communication technologies in general and SNS services in particular [13]. 1.1 Theory Several attempts have been made to understand the choice, use, diffusion, adoption, and acceptance of media technology in the user population. Among the most central of these attempts are the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) [14], the Unified Theory of Use and Acceptance of Technology (UTAUT) [15] and the Uses and Gratifications (U&G) theory. When it comes to user motivations, the U&G theory has been the most common approach, explaining “why” certain media behaviour occurs. Users are seen as goal-oriented, with rationales for their use (and non-use) of various media. According to McQuail [16], there are four main motivational needs: 1) information, 2) entertainment, 3) social interaction, and 4) personal identity. How and in what way these motivational needs also can explain SNS behaviour as well is not for certain. One reason might be that previous studies of online communities have tended to describe the workings of the community for an external audience without addressing the needs of the communities or their participants themselves [17]. 1.2 Objective and Research Question The objective of this study is to investigate end-user motivations to SNSs, in regard to why people use online SNSs, analysing how users themselves determine their motivations for using an SNS. This knowledge will help us identify the personal incentives behind the usage of SNS. We will further discuss if these are consistent with the four motivational needs proposed by McQuail [16]. Our research question (RQ) is the following: What motivates people to use online SNSs?
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2 Method An online questionnaire study took place over a three-week period in March 2007 among the users of four different SNSs in Norway. A total of 5,233 people responded to the questionnaire, and the mean ages for the respondents in the four different SNSs 1) Underskog.no (mean age, 29 years), 2) Nettby.no (mean age, 22 years), 3) HamarUngdom.no (mean age, 17 years), and 4) Biip.no (mean age, 16 years). The above SNSs were chosen because, at the time of the investigation, they were the most popular SNSs in Norway; consequently, they should provide a good picture of what typical SNS members sought regarding their user motivation in popular sites. The frequent usage and popularity of these sites are documented in a recent report for The Ministry of Government Administration and Reform in Norway [13] which provides a detailed overview of the most popular SNSs in Norway. Nettby.no is the biggest SNS service in Norway with 800,000 users, and Biip.no is the most popular among teenagers (350,000 users). HamarUngdom.no was one of the five leading SNSs in Norway until 2007 (when we did this study), but has since been discontinued. Underskog.no is the most popular SNS for users older than 25 years. The four SNSs chosen represent typical SNSs similar to better-known services such as MySpace and Facebook and fit well into the definition of SNSs provided by Boyd and Ellison, as described in the introduction [12]. The nature and nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site. MySpace and Facebook were not included in this study because they were in little use among Norwegians at the time of the investigation when the market was still dominated by national or more locally bounded SNSs. To collect user data, we used online user surveys distributed by banner ads on all four SNS portals. This afforded the opportunity to access a large number of users while they were actually using the sites. In order to motivate as many users as possible to take part in the survey, participants were entered in a raffle with the possibility of winning a travel gift coupon worth US$1,750. 2.1 Content Analysis The SNS users were requested to respond to the open-ended question, “What is your most important reason for using social networking sites?” This question was designed to encourage a full, meaningful answer using the subject's own personal descriptions of why they participate in an SNS. The main goal was to reveal the motivations and meanings of social relations and practices in a diverse SNS population. We decided to approach the data using content analysis to be able to identify the reasons people use such sites, using the same approach documented in another study by Brandtzæg and Heim [2]. Content analysis is proven to be useful in describing and making inferences about the characteristics of communications and patterns of usage, as well as making inferences about the consequences of communications [18]. With more than 4,700 responses, it was necessary to reduce the comprehensive content of qualitative information into a manageable portion of user statements. To avoid user statements that lacked meaning or had low information value, we decided to select the 1,200 longest user statements in terms of number of characters. This was based on the assumption that longer statements were given by users who had taken
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time to reflect on the questions. The qualitative material (N 1200) was manually coded and quantified by one researcher using an Excel sheet. The coding categories was based on an in-depth analyze of the 150 first user statements, which ended up with all the 12 categories reflected different reasons (see results). Some users reported more than one reason; we counted only the two first reported reasons for each user. Thus reported reasons are therefore more than the number for respondents. To ensure reliability of this analysis, another researcher repeated analysis of a sub-sample of 100 randomized user statements. To test the inter-rater reliability between the two analysts, the differences and similarities in their ratings and interpretations of the different content categories in the quantitative content analysis were measured and compared to be an inter-rater reliability of 89%. From the responses to the open-ended question, several typical statements related to user motivation were selected for a further in-depth qualitative analysis. This was done to assess the respondents’ incentives for use, beyond analyzing the mere frequency of responses. Thus the quantitative information is not used fully and the analysis most therefore be regarded as preliminary.
3 Results The following section gives a description of the different categories and some examples and quotations from the survey participants typical of the most important purposes they have for using SNSs, derived from the content analysis. These purposes are shown in ranked order, with the most frequent reasons listed first. As shown in Figure 1 below, a total of 12 categories were identified, reflecting the most important reasons for using an SNS. In total 1200 participants, reported 1518 reasons1, indicating that several participants had more than one single reason. However, a notable finding is that people often have multiple reasons or personal incentives to use SNSs. Therefore, identifying a single reason as the most important gives the wrong picture; New relations Friends Socializing Information Debating Free SMS Time-killing Sharing/consuming content Unspecified fun Profile surfing Family Other 0
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Fig. 1. Overview over the user motivations in SNSs in % , NC = 1518 (N 1200) 1
Number of reasons is from know referred to a number of counts (NC).
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the different reasons should be seen in connection with each other. Thus, the most reported reasons provide a good picture of what the users find most attractive when using an SNS. In the following, frequency is reported both in percentage and in number of counts (NC). 1.
New relations (31%/NC = 668): These users reporting the motivation of seeking new relations and the opportunity to meet new people. Easy and cheap opportunities for contact with new people are seen as the main incentive. Several of the users are aware of the danger of “risky contacts,” but find it both more convenient and more exciting to meet new friends in an online situation like this than to be concerned about potential risk. Further, an SNS makes it possible to verify the person and his or her profile (e.g., interests, look, friends) and to see if he or she is interesting or “safe,” as opposed to ordinary open chat rooms without any public profiles. In addition, through SNSs, people meet each other in ways that might be more truthful and open than offline meetings; in that sense, SNSs have the potential to facilitate communication between people who might be prejudiced against one another in the “real world.” Further, these findings imply that several relationships that begin online migrate to other settings. According to one user, “It is easy to get in touch with new people, but also to limit or to cut off contact if the person is getting too eager or aggressive or because of other reasons. There is also other fun aspect with those sites, such as free SMS on www.biip.no”. Subcategories include: a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h.
2.
People with new girlfriends or boyfriends; People who like the opportunity to make friends in new areas after moving to another town/city; People at school or university who have not dared to approach others in real life and find it easier to do online; People searching for new friends with common interests; People living in rural areas seeking new friendships with likeminded people: “I meet funnier people online than in my home district” ; People that are lonely and searching for new friendships online; People seeking new relations with users from a different cultural background; People tracing and getting in touch with people they have only “met out in the city.”
Friends (21%/NC = 460): Users reporting contact with both close friends and acquaintances. Often, people refer to their friends and classmates. They also often report that they are part of a community just because their friends are, too. Those who stress contact with friends describe the use of SNSs as an efficient tool to keep in contact with several friends at the same time. They also regard SNSs as a cheap and efficient way to keep in contact with friends and to follow what their friends are doing and who their friends are in contact with. This category might also comprise several subcategories, which help deepen our understanding of what the different users actually mean by “friends”:
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a. b.
c.
d. e. 3.
4.
5.
Meet “old” friends: people they have not been in touch with for a while, often friends they had at school. Keep in touch with other students/friends around the world after moving away abroad to go to school or after graduating, or with other students they know who have chosen to study in a college or university in another part of the world. Easy way to have contact with friends when living in a rural area and to keep in touch with long-distance friends; “It is difficult to keep in touch when you live in a small rural area and are ‘shielded from the world.” (female 16, Nettby). Keep in touch with friends on a new level, e.g., by sharing stories, news, pictures, guest books, etc. Keep in touch with acquaintances or friends not seen very often.
Socializing (14%/NC = 298): Users reporting the sharing of experiences in general, reporting activities such as making small-talk and commenting in each others’ guest books, but also social support on different issues. A girl 14 years old from Biip is saying it like this: I have something to do in my spare time (…). I have contact with friends, write in friends’. guest books, comment on peoples’ pictures, send SMS, and submit pictures of myself and things.” While a social activity, the prime motivation here is the social aspect in itself, not necessarily the making of new contacts. In terms of social support, one participant mentions the SNS was a place to get a kind of support when she is depressed and wants to commit suicide. Others pinpoint a kind of verbal ping-pong, which they find interesting. Others mention self-confirmation as a reason for chit-chat, which also gives them a feeling of being a part of something, of a community. People also mention humor and the opportunity to be unserious as reasons to participate. Information (10%/NC = 220): Users reporting access to information, including about fashion, music, literature, cultural events, current happenings in their neighborhood and access to new and shared knowledge regarding people’s opinions related to everything from politics and to more tedious matters. Information updates are related to: a) Friends; b)Neighborhood; c) City events; d) Fashion; e) Music; f) Happenings; g) Help with homework at school f) interests/hobbies; g) Other and more customized forms of information than on TV and radio. A typical user statement that highlights both this and the debating motivations is: “I get informed about events, publications, and net experiences; at the same time I am making bonds and having discussions with other people. (Male 42 years, Underskog). Debating (6.5%/N = 143): Users highlighting debate and discussions inside the SNS. This category might be difficult to separate from “information” (see table 1) because debating often takes place in order to gain access to new information through a collaborative discussion process. The ability to discuss different things with people that you do not know or do not discuss things with regularly was also stressed, as a means of making the discussion more open and thus more interesting, as identified by the participants. Others point out the opportunity to discuss with people their contradictory viewpoints on matters, as described in the following quote: “It’s the differences between the people that make the discussions, and that’s what I like” (Male, 23, Underskog).
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6.
Free SMS (3.5%/NC 78): Users reporting access to free SMS (short messaging service) while a member of the SNS. 7. Time-killing (3.5%/NC = 78): Users reporting passing time as a main reason. 8. Sharing/consuming content (3%/N = 66): Users reporting the sharing and viewing pictures and videos as an incentive. They report in particular the excitement of checking their profile to see if anyone has commented on their posted content. 9. Unspecified fun (2%/NC = 43): Users reporting fun, without describing any particular reason. Includes only those reporting SNS usage “for fun.” 10. Profile surfing (1.5%/NC = 34): Users reporting the opportunity to surf other users’ profiles as a main reason. This reason is related to the information category, as people often search other profiles for information updates related to different people. Several people who do this are motivated by pure curiosity. 11. Family (1%/NC = 26): Users reporting family contacts is almost absent as an important reason for visiting an SNS. Only a limited number of respondents, mostly girls reported this as an important reason. As the following quotation show, the few respondents who actually mention contact with family members all bring up “contact with friends” as their most important reason for visiting the SNS. A young female typically mentions friends first, followed by family. “I keep in touch with friends and family. I think it is fun to participate in discussions (…). Beyond that, it is maybe to find some people that I have met once in order to know them better.” (Female 16, Nettby.no) 12. Other (3%/NC = 72): Related to other motivations users reported for using an SNS. Includes everything from using SNSs because they are curious about other cultures and users to more goal-oriented activities such as promoting their own work. For example, musicians, artists, and photographers are able to show and promote their work.
4 Discussion One of the main challenges for user research in this domain is the rapid change that is taking place in both technological developments and user preferences. Thus, some of the major motivations or preferences may be stable over time because they connect to some basic needs among people, for instance, the need for social interaction. Nonetheless, how these “stable” needs are satisfied, and through what types of channels or communication modus, may change over time and between generations. In this study, meeting new people was found to be the most important reason for using SNSs, whereas maintaining contact with friends was the second most important reason. The results presented herein is surprisingly in accordance with research on older virtual communities; suggesting a promiscuity in “friending‘ behavior online. Typically we should expect that people use networking sites to connect to others with whom they share an off line connections, but our finding does not agree with the notion that online social networks principally are coupled with geographically bounded relations such as family, friends or students. However, the excitement of meeting new people and making new friends is still a key incentive in the use of modern SNSs. Therefore, SNSs seem to be an environment where the users easily foster the formation of weak ties because of the availability of cheap and easy many-to-many communication [19]. It is no wonder that it is younger people in particular who use SNSs to become
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acquainted with new people and to maintain relationships with their peers, despite an awareness of the possibilities for unwanted contact with “risky” strangers. A study on Facebook also found that usage of this SNS supported both bridging and bonding social capital among students [20]. This indicates that SNSs are complex systems that facilitate numerous forms of motivations related to different forms of social interactions, which our study also suggests. Several of the users statements describe the difficulties separating different motivations from each other, and many users also document several different purposes for their participation. Thus, these motivational needs may be classified to a higher level of understanding in order to gain a better overview. As mentioned in the introduction, there are four main motivational needs, according to U&G theory: 1) information, 2) entertainment, 3) social interaction, and 4) personal identity. Our finding of why people get involved in SNS usage and how; fit this U&G framework quite well, as suggested by Table 1 below. Categories shown in parentheses are done because it is unclear how precisely the category fits to the U&G theory. Table 1. U&G theory related to this study’s results U&G theory Information Entertainment Social interaction Personal identity
Our findings Information, sharing and consuming content, debating Unspecified fun, time-killing, (profile surfing) Socializing, friends, family, New relations, free SMS (profile surfing)
However, it is interesting to note that self-presentations or identity not are mentioned as a key personal driver for participating in SNSs, despite the fact that researchers name SNSs as a technology for personal branding and narcissism [21]. Thus, contact with friends may be linked to a strong social feeling of belonging and a sense of shared or social identity. Further, the interests of looking at other user profiles (profile surfing) and the sharing of pictures clearly indicate an interest in how other people choose to present themselves on these sites. Thus, personal selfrepresentation might be too abstract a notion for most users, who might not be aware of its presence as a motivational incentive if not directly asked about its role. The method used in this study may therefore have its limitations in grasping the personal identity issues. It should further be noted that this study only involves preliminary analysis of the data set presented. The researcher plans to expand the results of this study with additional analysis using statistical methods to identify how different motivational patterns are linked to age, gender, education, and different user types. To achieve a more holistic picture of user motivations, this study’s analysis should be extended with analysis about other aspects related to motivations and end-user loyalty, such as why people decrease or stop their use of SNSs. Another limitation is that the SNS members that participated in this study were self-selected directly for the study and are therefore not representative. However, the strength of the present study is that the sample was large and included users from four different SNSs. A quantitative content
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analysis does include a combination of both qualitative and quantitative data which contributes to the reliability of this study in terms of richer data. Thus, future studies should include a larger sample and cross-national samples of representative online users. Despite several limitations, the present study documents to large degree users’ motivations for frequenting SNSs. From these finding it is clear that there are many ways to improve SNS usage experiences by increasing the sociability. Better tools for supporting different levels of social interactions and different forms of information exchange and sharing is a key conclusion. Consequently, encouragements to support close social ties as well as weak ties and easy facilities for discussion and sharing of information opportunities will produce improvements and. As pin pointed by Preece, the people and the interaction among them is the pulse of any community [9].
5 Conclusions The main motivation behind engaging in SNSs is to make, maintain and foster social relationships. The most important reason was to get in contact with new people (31%). The second most valued reason was to keep in touch with friends (21%), and the third was general socializing (14%). Thus, a key conclusion drawn from the analysis is that people often have multiple reasons for using SNSs. In total, 12 different reasons (defined as important purposes for using an SNS) were identified; however, several of these reasons contain important subcategories of motivations that give insight into the personal incentives that drive people to use SNSs and thus contribute to our understanding of how to develop successful SNSs. Acknowledgments. This research received funding from the CITIZEN MEDIA project (038312) in the European Community's Sixth Framework Programme (FP6-2005IST), and the RECORD-project, supported by the Research Council of Norway and the VERDIKT-program.
References 1. Obrist, M., Geerts, D., Brandtzæg, P.B., Tscheligi, M.: Design for creating, uploading and sharing user generated content. In: CHI 2008, Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 2391–2394. ACM, Florence (2008) 2. Brandtzæg, P.B., Heim, J.: User Loyalty and Online Communities: Why Members of Online Communities are not faithful: INTETAIN. In: Brandtzæg, P.B., Heim, J. (eds.) 2008 ICST Second International Conference on Intelligent Technologies for Interactive Entertainment. ACM Press, Playa del Carmen (2008) 3. Preece, J., Maloney-Krichmar, D.: Online Communities. In: Jacko, J., Sears, A. (eds.) Handbook of Human-Computer Interaction, pp. 596–620. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc. Publishers, New York (2003) 4. Bishop, J.: Increasing participation in online communities: A framework for human– computer interaction. Computers in human behavior 23, 1881–1893 (2007) 5. Preece, J., Nonnecke, B., Andrews, D.: The top 5 reasons for lurking: Improving community experiences for everyone. Computers in Human Behavior 2, 201–223 (2004)
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6. Liu, S.H., Liao, H.L., Zeng, Y.T.: Why people blog: an Expectancy Theory analysis. Issues in Information Systems Issues in Information Systems 8, 232–237 (2007) 7. Waterson, P.: Motivation in Online Communities. In: Dasgupta (ed.) Encyclopedia of Virtual Communties (2006) 8. Rheingold, H.: The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier. Addison-Wesley, Reading (1993) 9. Preece, J.: Online communities: designing usability, supporting sociability. Wiley, Chichester (2000) 10. Kim, A.J.: Community Building on the Web: Secret Strategies for Successful Online Communities. Peachpit Press, Berkely (2000) 11. Diker, V.: A Dynamic Feedback Framework for Studying Growth Policies in Open Online Collaboration Communities. In: 10th Americas Conference on Information Systems, New York (2004) 12. boyd, d., Ellison, N.E.: Social Network Sites: Definition, History and Scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13 (2007) 13. Brandtzæg, P.B., Lüders, M.: eCitizen 2.0 - the general citizen as an supplier for eGov information? SINTEF Oslo (2008) 14. Davis, F.D.: Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptane of information technologies. MIS Quarterly 13, 319–340 (1989) 15. Venkatesh, V., Morris, M.G., David, G.B., Davis, F.D.: User Acceptance of Information Technology: Toward a Unified View. MIS Quarterly 27(3), 425–478 (2003) 16. McQuail, D.: Mass communication theory: an introduction. Sage, London (1994) 17. Feenberg, A., Bakardjieva, M.: Virtual community: no ‘killer implication’. New Media & Society 6, 37–43 (2004) 18. Holstie, O.R.: Content Analysis for the Social Sciences and Humanities. Addison-Wesley, Reading (Current Publisher: Perseus Publishing) (1969) 19. Donath, J., boyd, d.: Public displays of connection. BT Technology Journal 22, 71–82 (2004) 20. Ellison, N., Steinfield, C., Lampe, C.: The Benefits of Facebook "Friends:" Social Capital amd College Students’ Use of Online Social Network Sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 12 (2007) 21. Strano, M.M.: User Descriptions and Interpretations of Self-Presentation through Facebook Profile Images. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace 2, Article 5 (2008)
Automatic Generation of Non-verbal Behavior for Agents in Virtual Worlds: A System for Supporting Multimodal Conversations of Bots and Avatars Werner Breitfuss1, Helmut Prendinger2, and Mitsuru Ishizuka3 1
University of Tokyo , 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan
[email protected] 2 National Institute of Informatics, 2-1-2 Hitotsubashi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 101-8430, Japan
[email protected] 3 University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan
[email protected]
Abstract. This paper presents a system capable of automatically adding gestures to an embodied virtual character processing information from a simple text input. Gestures are generated based on the analysis of linguistic and contextual information of the input text. The system is embedded in the virtual world called second life and consists of an in world object and an off world server component that handles the analysis. Either a user controlled avatar or a non user controlled character can be used to display the gestures, that are timed with speech output from an Text-to-Speech system, and so show non verbal behavior without pushing the user to manually select it. Keywords: Embodied Virtual Characters, Animated Agent Systems, Multimodal Output Generation, Multimodal Presentations, Virtual Worlds.
1 Introduction Virtual agents represent a powerful human-computer interface, as they can embody behavior that a human may identify with [10], this ability may encourage users to engage in a more natural and immersive interaction and establish bonds with them [4].This paper describes an automatic non-verbal behavior generation system for virtual agents using linguistic and contextual information retrieved from text. It allows us to transform text into an agent behavior script enriched by eye gaze and conversational gesture behavior. The agents’ gaze behavior is informed by theories of human face-to-face gaze behavior. Gestures are generated based on the analysis of linguistic and contextual information of the input text. The aim of our work is to generate non-verbal behavior automatically for conversations utilizing virtual agents, so that the user can focus on typing the text, which is then just feed into the system. A salient feature of our system is that we support behavior generation not only for the A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 153–161, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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role of the speaking agent, but also for listening agents, who might use backchannel behavior in response to the speaker agent. The increasing popularity of virtual worlds pushes the need for virtual characters either controlled directly by the user, called avatars, or controlled by a script, called bots. This system can be used to provide natural gestures for both types and since all behaviors are generated automatically, there is no extra effort the user would have to contribute to increase the naturalness of the characters behavior and so provides a convenient method to have multimodal conversations in virtual environments. The speech is generated automatically by a plug-in [3] that uses Microsoft’s SAPI to transform text messages in Second Life into speech output at the clients machine, Second Life own Voice over IP client can be used to relay that speech output back in world. So we are able to provide a multimodal conversations and dialogues in a 3d interactive environment that doesn’t encumber the user with extra workload. In the next part, the paper discusses related research, while section 3 describes the behavior generation and section 4 focuses on the application using it. Section 5 gives a brief future outlook and concludes the paper.
2 Related Research The existing character agent systems already support the automated generation of some behaviors, such as automatic lip-synchronization most of this systems that focus on single agents , one of the first ones to do so was the BEAT system [2] it generates synthesized speech and synchronized non-verbal behavior for a single animated agent. It uses plain text as input, which is then transformed into animated behavior. First, text is annotated with contextual and linguistic information, based on which different (possibly conflicting) gestures are suggested. Next, the suggested behaviors are processed in a ‘filtering’ module that eliminates gestures that are incompatible. In the final step, a set of animations is produced that can be executed, after necessary adoptions, by an animation system. The system described in [8] generates both the language and deictic gestures of a robot-like virtual character for giving directions to a user. A different approach, based on machine learning, is suggested in [7]. It was used in the COHIBIT system, where the author first has to provide a script containing the actions for two virtual characters. In the next step the author writes simple gesture rules using his or her expert knowledge. Using this corpus of annotated actions the system can learn new rules. In the third step the system suggests the most appropriate gestures to the author, which are, after resolving conflicts and filtering, added to the already existing ones. Finally it produces a script with the gesture behavior of both virtual characters. This work differs from ours in the sense that it uses input from the user making supporting taking some workload of him, but the generation is not entirely automatically as in our approach. Many of the rules used in our system are derived from works of psychologists and linguists. Heylen [5] investigated the many different functions of gaze in conversation and its importance for the design of believable virtual characters. The gaze behavior of our agents is also informed by the empirically founded gaze models in [6, 9, 12]. Kendon [6] analyzed gaze behavior based on two-person dialogues and found that gaze is used to regulate the exchange between the speaker and listener. In [12] evaluates gaze behavior in multiparty environments, where four-person groups discussed current-affair topics in face-to-face meetings.
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3 Behavior Generation The Behavior generation in our system operates on the utterance level, for which certain rules are defined. The input we use thus consists of a simple text line. Based on contextual and linguistic information of the text, the behavior for the speaking and the listening agents is suggested. We do not only apply one layer of rules but also a second layer based on keyword and phrase spotting and a third layer, which is using iteration to align suggested gestures to each other. Also many of the gestures have a certain possibility of occurrence, which adds a random factor, so that the behavior of the gesturing character doesn’t become redundant which would make the conversation less natural. As eye gaze is one of our main features, we use a set of rules and algorithms to generate the appropriate patterns for both speaking and listening agent. The relationship between eye gaze, theme/rheme, and turn-taking was the focus in many psycholinguistic studies, we used those results to define an algorithm for controlling the gaze behavior of our two different roles. Gesture generation is designed similar to gaze generation. Former studies say that 50% of the gestures humans use in a conversation are simple beat gestures. In accord with that finding, the standard gesture we use is a single beat, which is suggested whenever there appears a new word in the utterance. In the next step we identify words that can be played out by gestures that are more specific than the beat gesture. E.g., when the sentence contains the adjective “big”, an iconic gesture (“show size”) will be suggested, a gesture where our agents holds both hands with a certain distance between each other in front of his body. The information which gesture can be associated with what word is stored in a XSL based database, a typical entry is depicted by figure 1, all entries have the attributes priority and type of the gesture. <xsl:templatematch= "//W[ .//@LEM='cu' or .//@LEM='bye' or .//@LEM='goodbye' or .//@LEM='bye bye']">
<xsl:copy> <xsl:apply-templates /> Fig. 1. Entry for the goodbye gesture
To show a small example we take the sentence “This is a small example how to draw” and present the output of our system for the speaking agent (figure 2) and the listening agent(figure 3). The root node of the tree is always an utterance followed by a speech pause between the theme and rheme of the sentence. The nodes “Look away” at the beginning of the sentence and “Look at listener” define the gaze behaviour which is suggested by our algorithm (for further details on the gaze generation see [1]).
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Fig. 2. A typical behavior tree for a speaking character
The gesture behaviour is generated according to dedicated gesture generation rules of the Behaviour Generation module. In this example, a beat gesture is selected to accompany the word “This”, an iconic gesture (for describing something small) is suggested to co-occur with the phrase “small example” and a open-arms gesture along with the words “how to”. The behavior tree of the listener agent is generated similarly to that of the speaker agent. It is based also on the output from the Language Tagging module of the speaker agent, but applies listener behavior generation rules instead of speaker rules. Again, we start with root node “UTTERANCE”. During the speaker’s speech pause, no behavior for the listener agent is defined. The listener’s gaze behavior is added similar to the speakers i.e. the listener is looking at the speaker when the utterance begins. Since the listener agent is paying attention to the speaker, it continues to look at the speaker also in the “rheme part” of the utterance. Thereafter, appropriate gestures are suggested for the listener agent. In our system, a head nod is a basic gesture type for the listener and appears often to signalize attention, so it is added whenever a basic speaker gesture like a simple beat occurs, for more complex gestures like a deictic gestures instead of adding a head node we adopt the gaze. This makes the listener behavior more natural and increases the overall communication quality between the two roles. The last module combines the speaker and listener tree by adding the actions of both agents for every utterance into one MPML3D structure called “task”. The MPML Script contains parallel and synchronized actions which can be started and ended at the beginning, middle, or end of a certain word. First we add all the actions
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Fig. 3. A typical behavior tree for a speaking character
that should occur before the speaker starts to talk, mostly gaze behavior, like looking away from the speaker and idle gestures for the listener. The next action that is added is speaking itself. In the following step, we add the gaze behavior, which has to be aligned with the appropriate words. Gaze is implemented by having the head turn to a certain direction. As the last level we add the gesture for the speaking agent and the listening agent.
4 Applications The System itself consists of two parts one is the server part, where all of the text analysis is done and the client part that actually controls the agent and displays its behavior. The architecture of our system on the server side, as already mentioned, operates on three modules, a language module, the actual behavior generation module, and a module that generates a displayable script (MPML3D) and/or the messages that is sent back to the Second Life client . For this we choose a modular pipelined architecture to support future extensions. The code of the system is written in Java, and the XML format is used to represent and exchange data between modules. The client side, consists of an object in Second Life containing the needed gestures in form of predefined animations and scripts that handle the communication as well as the activation of the animations. The scripts are written in the official Second Life scripting language, LindenScript.
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1234-678 BEAT_TWO:5 POINT_LEFT:12 16 Fig. 4. A typical message from the server sent to the client
4.1 Server Side The input for our analysis can either be a single text line forming a single string, which is taken from the chat message in Second Life, that the user enters, or a predefined dialogue script , depending whether the system is used for the instant messaging and so controlling an avatar or to generate a MPML-SL script to control bots. In the first case the interface between the Second Life Client and our Server is a simple Java Servlet that passes messages between both Systems. First when the message arrives it is analyzed like we described in the previous chapter, after that, since we only display a pair of gestures, the most fitting gestures are selected. For selection we use a priority system, where beat gestures are counted as the once with the least priority and metaphoric gestures with the highest , since they transport more meaning, the system also takes into account how often a gesture occurs in the utterance and adopts its priority accordingly. After the selection, the message to the client side is composed, it consists of the overall word count of the utterance, the gesture pair together with the index of the word at which they should be displayed (figure 4). The information of the timing is derived from the treelike structure we use for generation, and resembles the speaker behavior, since we have no control over other avatars in this scenario, the listener behavior is disregarded. 4.2 Client Side – AuGe System In the first case the used avatar has to wear our AuGe Bands, an band like object generated in Second Life, once a chat message is typed in and the user hits the enter button , our object detects the new message and sends it to the Java Servlet which passes it on to the server. After that the system output is sent back to the users client and the new message is processed by the script inside the gesture bands. As shown in figure 4 the message contains 3 main parts. At first we have the avatar ID to prevent other gesture bands in the proximity to accidently start the same gestures on their avatar. The second part consists of two gestures, the name of the gesture and timing information after the ”:” which is the index of the word on which the animation should start. We decided to use only two gestures, one for the THEME and one for the RHEME part, or if a longer text is typed containing multiple sentences the two gestures with the highest priority since more gestures are troublesome as the animations often get delayed over overlay due to unpredictable lag or graphical issues on the user’s side. The last part is the word count of the whole text, and is used to time the lip movement, our system doesn’t provide perfect lip synchronization, however since no lip movement looks very unnatural, we use a facial animation which opens and closes the mouth in a loop. 4.3 Client Side – MPML3D-SL System Different to the AuGe Bands, we have a full script beforehand and no real time processing is necessary. Another big difference in this case is that we use non player
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Fig. 5. Two virtual characters using AuGe Bands
Fig. 6. Two virtual characters controlled by MPML3D-SL
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controlled characters also called bots , so there is no interference with a user, also multiple character can be controlled at once , in case of our automatic behavior generation system we have a speaking agent and a listening agent. These bots have to be legal Second Life accounts, which have to be generated before hand, also a certain object has to be attached to them, it is called speech cube and is used for storing and playing the sound files according to the speech acts of the script. Once the character is all set up, the automatically generated script can be loaded using our MPML3D-SL player. The player consists of a backend, handling the script and a frontend that is actually controlling the bot. The frontend interacts directly with the Second Life servers at Linden Labs using a public API. (for more information on MPML3D-SL please refer to 11) This offers a better control of the characters which is more precise in terms of timing of gestures and speech output and also enables us to more actions like walking or sending text via the chat function. Figure 6 shows two virtual characters presenting information about the correct use of a drug.
5 Conclusion In this paper we described a method to enrich communication in a virtual environment like the metaverse second life by adding gestures. We designed a system that is capable of processing the information in a text message associating non verbal behavior in form of gestures and animating an user controlled avatar in real-time. Our system addresses the problem of populating virtual worlds with “life”, such as agents acting in the roles of guides, clerks or sales staff. It can be used to easily add naturally acting life-like virtual characters to virtual spaces. The added believable nonverbal behaviors can improve the effectiveness of communication in those virtual worlds and provide a more immersive experience for users. And so help to make the emptiness of many virtual worlds a bit more lively and make conversations more enjoyable. Future work will focus on improving the timing between gestures, lip movement and speech output, a crucial part of further enhancing the naturalness of our virtual characters. As well as adding more precise deictic gestures to our gesture repertoire, to refer to objects in a 3 dimensional world.
References 1. Breitfuss, W., Prendinger, H., Ishizuka, M.: Automatic generation of gaze and gestures for dialogues between embodied conversational agents. Int’l J. of Semantic Computing 2(1), 71–90 (2008) 2. Cassell, J., Vilhjálmsson, H., Bickmore, T.: BEAT: the Behavior Expression Animation Toolkit. In: Proceedings of SIGGRAPH 2001, pp. 477–486 (2001) 3. E.V.A. - Essential Voicechat Advancement by Jarek Dejavu (24.02.2009), http://www.shambles.net/pages/learning/ict/sltools/ 4. Gratch, J., Wang, N., Gerten, J., Fast, E., Duffy, R.: Creating Rapport with Virtual Agents. In: Pelachaud, C., Martin, J.-C., André, E., Chollet, G., Karpouzis, K., Pelé, D. (eds.) IVA 2007. LNCS, vol. 4722, pp. 125–138. Springer, Heidelberg (2007) 5. Heylen, D.: Head gestures, gaze and the principles of conversational structure. International Journal of Humanoid Robotics 3(3), 241–226 (2006)
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6. Kendon, A.: Some functions of gaze-direction in social interaction. Acta Psychologica 26, 22–63 (1967) 7. Kipp, M.: Creativity meets automation: Combining nonverbal action authoring with rules and machine learning. In: Gratch, J., Young, M., Aylett, R.S., Ballin, D., Olivier, P. (eds.) IVA 2006. LNCS, vol. 4133, pp. 230–242. Springer, Heidelberg (2006) 8. Kopp, S., Tepper, P., Cassell, J.: Towards integrated microplanning of language and iconic gesture for multimodal output. In: Proceedings of the Int. Conf. on Multimodal Interfaces 2004, pp. 97–104. ACM Press, New York (2004) 9. Peters, C., Pelachaud, C., Bevacqua, E., Mancini, M.: A model of attention and interest using gaze behavior. In: Proceedings of 5th International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents 2005, pp. 229–240 (2005) 10. Reeves, B., Nass, C.: The media equation: How people treat computers, television and new media like real people and places. CLSI Publications, Stanford (1996) 11. Ullrich, S., Bruegmann, K., Prendinger, H., Ishizuka, M.: Extending MPML3D to Second Life. In: Prendinger, H., Lester, J.C., Ishizuka, M. (eds.) IVA 2008. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 5208, pp. 281–288. Springer, Heidelberg (2008) 12. Vertegaal, R., Weevers, I., Sohn, C., Cheung, C.: Gaze-2: conveying eye contact in Group video conferencing using eye-controlled camera direction. In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human factors in Computing Systems (CHI 2003), pp. 521–528. ACM Press, New York (2003)
Preliminary Findings from a Cross Cultural Usability Study on the Internationalization of User Interfaces Joyram Chakraborty1, Linda Hansen1, Darren A. Denenberg2, and Anthony F. Norcio1 1 Department of Information Systems University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) Baltimore, MD 21250 USA 2 Department of MIS University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) 4505 Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas NV 89154 USA {chakraborty, lhanse2, norcio}@umbc.edu,
[email protected]
Abstract. This paper reports the findings from a second preliminary study concerning the Internationalization of User Interfaces. It is a follow up to an initial study conducted on American users [4]. Undergraduate Zambian subjects from the University of Zambia (UNZA) completed a web-based application to gauge their understanding of cultural variables commonly used in user interface development. In general, the findings indicate a distinct affinity towards culturally familiar attributes. The authors conclude that the use of culturally sensitive variables in development of user interfaces can have an affect on the acceptance of technologies.
1 Introduction The user interface (UI) is the first line of interaction between users of a product and its’ developers. A lack of knowledge and understanding of the cultural backgrounds of the users can impact the development of the product. This in turn might impact the acceptance of the technology. Extensive research has shown the usefulness of cross cultural models in UI development. However, very little research has focused on the use of hybrid models. It is the purpose of this study to demonstrate the effectiveness of hybrid cultural models in UI development.
2 Background The majority of researchers in the Internationalization of UI domain acknowledge the cultural model of Geert Hofstede [9] and use it to explain their findings. Hofstede’s A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 162–171, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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model of cultural dimensions is derived from a factorial analysis of over 116,000 international personnel at IBM from 1967 - 1970. His questionnaire on work-related values related to universal aspects of social relationships collected data from subjects from 72 nationalities and in over 20 languages. As a result of this research he derived five different macro-cultural level cultural dimensions. They are Power distance, Uncertainty avoidance, Masculinity vs. Femininity, Individualism vs. Collectivism, and Time Orientation. Based on the results of the compiled data, Hofstede came up with a score for each nationality or culture. In each case, a high score refers to a higher value of that cultural dimension. Using Hofstede’s work as a template, UI researchers have analyzed cultural variables to help developers design culturally attuned products. Nielsen proposed a set of culturally relevant heuristics that are applicable in some product designs [16]. Marcus and Gould used Hofstede’s cultural dimension model to propose a set of examples of website designs [15]. Other prominent works include those of Kaplan and Triandis. Kaplan researched the correlation between language and thought pattern and proposed several types of patterns, namely Linear, Semitic and Oriental [11]. Triandis carried out extensive research on Individualism and Collectivism and proposed a methodology to measure these cultural attributes [21]. There literature revealed extensive sets of cross-cultural studies where the researchers studied one or more cultural attributes using one or more different cultures. However, little research has been conducted on the use of hybrid cross-cultural models. Khaslavsky carried out one of the few hybrid studies. She selected cultural dimensions from the works of Halls, Hofstede and Trompenaars to come up with a model to study similarities and differences in the usability of interfaces between American and French users [8, 9, 12, 22]. This study extends the efforts of Khaslavsky by combining the most common variables studied by researchers into a hybrid model. The following variables have been found to be the most widely researched in the UI domain: Color, Symbolism, Individuality, Knowledge Processing and Local Variables. Research into color and symbolism is quite extensive [10, 13, 17, 19]. Using this research, the color and symbolism choices were made. Marcus provides examples of images that are representative of individualism and collectivism [15]. Kaplan’s research into Language and Thought patterns provides the framework for the selection of this factor [11]. The literature is abounding with examples of research into the necessity of understanding countless other local variables. Such is the diverse nature of local variables that the collection of an exhaustive list would prove very difficult given the number of global cultures [1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 14, 17, 18, 23]. However, the several local variables are repeated quite often. As a result, these variables were chosen as part of the preliminary study. These include: date and time format as well as local language. The goal of this study is to demonstrate the effectiveness of this hybrid crosscultural model in UI development using one culture. The results of this second
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preliminary study will dictate if this model warrants and further evaluation using different cultures.
3 Methodology A browser-based application was developed to automate the process and eliminate the concerns. The application collected the respondents’ demographic data and responses to the visual stimuli. The pictures were displayed in a proprietary browser-based application, and the responses to the associated Likert scale questions were collected using that application. No information was collected that would identify respondents. The application was developed using Active Server Pages (ASP) running on Windows Server 2000 platform and Internet Information Services 5.0. The data was stored in Microsoft Access 2003. The choice of using ASP and MS Access was based on the simplicity of the application and database as well as the server’s operating system. However, this limited access to the Internet Explorer web browser. 3.1 Database The database comprised of eight tables. These tables are as follows: 1. Table tbl_Major contains the list of majors. This was used to display a select list on the Demographic screen; 2. Table tbl_LikertScale contains the Liker scale weight and text. This was used to display answers to the Cross Culture questions; 3. Table tbl_QuestionDemographic contains the list of demographic questions: eleven total; 4. Table tbl_Question contains the list of Cross Culture questions: fifty-eight total; 5. Table tbl_Participant contains participant results of the Color Blind test, Consent acceptance, and the last page the participants was on when ending the study before completion. 6. Table tbl_ParticipantDemograpic contains the participants' answers to the Demographic questions. 7. Table tbl_ParticipantQuestion contains the participants’ answers to the Cross Culture questions. 8. Table tbl_RndNum contains a list of random numbers and whether or not the random number was presented to the participant upon exiting the study. This was used as a method of providing non-identifying participation credit. Queries were created to display data on completed records. These queries combined the participant demographic answers with the Cross Culture answers. 3.2 Cultural Factors Through the literature review, examples of common cultural factors that affect understanding and acceptance of UI were collected. These examples are as follows:
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Familiar Colors
Unfamiliar Colors
Familiar Symbols
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Unfamiliar Symbols
Individualistic Images
Collectivistic Images
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Non-Linear Language Pattern Newspaper Article ‘Timber production has potential’ INDIGENOUS timber production in Zambia alone, if well managed will give Government an annual revenue of about K80 billion, which would therefore not prompt the state to impose more tax on the industry. Timber Producers Association of Zambia (TPAZ), says the sector working at full production capacity, indigenous timber production from a single district in a month would generate maximum revenue of K185,764,000. Speaking in an interview, TPAZ secretary general, Charles Masange attributed low revenue collected by Government from the forestry sector to mushrooming of foreign owned urban sawmills causing a lot of illegal cutting of timber. "Heaps of reports on this matter are gathering dust in Government offices without action, and the scourge is increasing at an alarming rate,'' he said. Mr Masange said, the absence of political will, suppression of professional advice on forestry and general environmental issues has affected revenue collection from the industry by Government. He noted that fees from forest includes production royalties at K135,000 per square meter, conveyance fees at K10,800 per square meter and the council levy that varies from one council to the other but averaging K3,000 per square meter.
Linear Language Pattern Newspaper Article Subprime woes bite General Motors General Motors Thursday reported improved results from its auto operations in the first quarter, but problems in subprime mortgages contributed to earnings that missed Wall Street forecasts by a mile. The nation's No. 1 automaker said it earned $94 million, or 17 cents a share, excluding items in the quarter, compared with adjusted earnings of $350 million, or 62 cents, a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by earnings tracker First Call had forecast earnings per share of 87 cents. The range of estimates was from 34 cents to $1.40 a share. Net income for the quarter tumbled 90 percent to $62 million, or 11 cents a share, including special items, from $602 million, or $1.06 on that basis a year earlier. GM (Charts, Fortune 500) stock sank about 2 percent to $31.75 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange. GM reported an adjusted $304 million in income from its auto operations worldwide, up from $40 million a year earlier. Its core North American auto operations, though, lost $85 million in the quarter, but that was an improvement from the loss of $251 million a year earlier.
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Non-American Text Variables Háum fasteignagjöldum í Ísafjarðarbæ mótmælt 26.02.07 | 16:25 Vinnufélagar úr rækjuverksmiðjunni Miðfelli á Ísafirði afhentu í dag Halldóri Halldórssyni, bæjarstjóra Ísafjarðarbæjar, undirskriftalista með ríflega 400 nöfnum, þar sem háum fasteignagjöldum í Ísafjarðarbæ er mótmælt. Að sögn Guðbjarts Ástþórssonar, eins þeirra sem stóð fyrir undirskriftasöfnuninni, lágu listar fyrir á þremur stöðum á Ísafirði í um vikutíma. Hann segir þá félaga mjög ánægða með viðbrögðin og viðtökurnar sem listarnir hafa fengið og er hann sannfærður um að mun fleiri undirskriftir hefðu safnast, ef listarnir hefðu til að mynda verið látnir liggja fyrir á fleiri fjölförnum stöðum. Guðbjartur segir listana hafa verið setta út til þess að kanna hug íbúa til málsins og segir hann þá glögglega sýna hver hugurinn er. Halldór Halldórsson bæjarstjóri segist ánægður með framtak mannanna. „Ég er ánægður með það að íbúar hafi skoðanir á því sem hér er verið að gera og komi þeim á framfæri.“ Halldór segir að hann hafi lauslega farið yfir þessi mál og ástæður fasteignagjalda með þeim sem afhentu honum listann. American Text Variables Fed chief says that Tuesday’s sell off did not sway central bank’s view on U.S. economic growth. 02.28.07| 2:15 PM Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told members of Congress Wednesday that U.S. financial markets appear to be “working well” and are functioning normally, one day after the Dow posted its biggest one-day point loss since the market reopened after the Sept. 11 attacks. Responding to a question from a member of the House Budget Committee, Bernanke said that the central bank was closely monitoring the stock market after the Dow slumped 416 points Tuesday amid a sell off in stocks worldwide. Bernanke said the sell off did not change the Fed’s view on U.S. economic growth. “There is really no material change in our expectations for the U.S. economy since I last reported to Congress a couple weeks ago,” he said.
4 Procedure Permission was sought from the Institution Review Board at the UMBC, UNLV and UNZA prior to the start of this study. Subjects were recruited from an undergraduate engineering program at UNZA. Recompense for their participation was provided in the form of five thousand Zambia Kwachas per person. Because of the web-based nature of the application, subjects were able to access the study from any computer which allowed internet access. Subjects were informed of their rights and their ability to cease participation at any time. Once they accepted that agreement, they were presented with the Ishihara color blind test to test for normal color vision. If they passed the test, they would be presented with the images that would comprise the study itself. In addition to the demographic questionnaire, the study sought responses from the
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subjects regarding their familiarity with the visual representations. (For the complete set of questions, please email the author.)
5 Results Data was collected from a total of 25 subjects of Zambian nationality. There were 2 females and 23 male students of various engineering disciplines who spoke English as their primary language. On average, these participants indicated that they had been browsing the Internet for approximately 5 years. They further indicated that they spent an average of 5 hours a day working on their computers of which an average of 2 hours was spent on the Internet. The participants were asked to complete a 5-point Likert style questionnaire to gauge their level of understanding of the various cultural factors. The options for the subjects were: Strongly Agree (1), Agree (2), Neutral (3), Disagree (4), and Strongly Disagree (5). The first four sets of statements in the questionnaire were positive and grouped per variable i.e. Color, Symbolism etc. For example, participants were asked to respond to the statement “I am familiar with the color combinations” using the Likert scale. For the last set (Non-American Text Variables and American Text Variables), the statements were posed in the negative. For example, “I am not familiar with this date format.” The table below shows the average responses from the 25 participants. Average Responses of Understanding of Cultural Factors
Familiar Color
2.04
Unfamiliar Color
3.27
Familiar Symbol
2.23
Unfamiliar Symbol
2.92
Individualistic Images
2.96
Collectivistic Images
2.65
Non-Linear Language Pattern Newspaper Article Language Pattern Newspaper Article
2.35
Non-American Text Variables
3.37
American Text Variables
3.80
2.91
The table shows that on average, Zambian subjects displayed a greater understanding and acceptance of variables that are familiar to the Zambian culture.
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6 Conclusions This is the second preliminary study and analysis of the effectiveness of hybrid cultural models in UI development [4]. The results suggest that a culture (Zambian culture in this study) is more accepting and likely to display a greater understanding of UI features that are familiar to them. These findings were similar to the preliminary study carried out using American subjects. It can be observed that the results of these studies are not as clear cut as one might have expected. For example, participants in both the studies were familiar with non - U.S. date and time formats. The literature attributes this to the eroding of distinct cultural boundaries [2, 6, 20]. The results from both the studies are not surprising given the generally high level of interaction with the Internet that the American and Zambian participants indicated. The global nature of the Internet is likely to expose these participants to different standards which would have contributed to their understanding of non-familiar standards. The literature confirms these findings. This study is far from complete. This report is the first of a series of on-going studies that are examining the effectiveness of a hybrid cultural model in UI development. The next step would be to reevaluate the questionnaires for to correct any deficiencies. It would be interesting to observe whether the results can be replicated on these two subject groups again to generalize the validity of the proposed hybrid cross cultural model. In addition, further studies should be carried out on non-Western cultures to test the effectiveness of this cultural model in different settings.
References 1. Apple Computer. Human Computer Interfaces Guidelines. Addison Wesley, Reading (1992) 2. Aykin, N.: Usability and internationalization of information technology. Lawrence Erlbaum, Mahwah (2005) 3. Belge, M.: The next step in software internationalization. Interactions 2(1), 21–25 (1995) 4. Chakraborty, J., Norcio, A.F.: Preliminary Investigation into the Internationalization of User Interfaces. In: Proceedings of AEI 2008 – The Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics 2nd International Conference (2008) 5. Day, D., Evers, V.: Website Localisation, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Paper presented at the International Workshop on Internationalisation of Products and Systems (IWIPS), Milton Keynes, U.K. (2001) 6. Del Galdo, E.M., Nielsen, J.: International user interfaces. Wiley Computer Publishing/John Wiley & Sons, New York (1996) 7. Evers, V.: Human Computer Interfaces: Designing for Culture. University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam (1997) (unpublished Masters thesis) 8. Hall, E., Hall, M.R.: Understanding Cultural Differences. Intercultural Press, Yarmouth (1990) 9. Hofstede, G.: Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. McGraw-Hill, New York (1991) 10. Kano, N.: Developing International Software for Windows 95 and Windows NT. Microsoft Press, Redmond (1995)
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11. Kaplan, R.B.: Cultural thought patterns in inter-cultural education. Language Learning 16(1) (1966) 12. Khaslavsky, J.: Integrating culture into interface design. Paper presented at the Conference summary on Human factors in computing systems (CHI), Los Angeles, California (1998) 13. Marcus, A.: Icon and Symbol Design Issues for Graphical User Interfaces. In: Del Galdo, E.M., Nielsen, J. (eds.) International User Interfaces, pp. 257–270. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York (1996) 14. Marcus, A.: Cross-cultural web user-interface design. In: Human Computer Interface International (HCII), pp. 502–505. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, New Orleans (2001) 15. Marcus, A., Gould, E.W.: Crosscurrents: cultural dimensions and global Web userinterface design. Interactions 7(4), 32–46 (2000) 16. Nielsen, J.: Designing for international use. Elsevier, Amsterdam (1990) 17. Russo, P., Boor, S.: How fluent is your interface?: designing for international users. Paper presented at the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI), Amsterdam, Netherlands (1993) 18. Sun Microsystems, Software Internationalization Guide. Internal Document. Sun Microsystems, Mountain View (1991) 19. Thorell, L.G., Smith, W.J.: Using Computer Color Effectively: An Illustrated Reference. Prentice-Hall, Inc., New Jersey (1990) 20. Ting-Toomey, S.: Communicating across cultures. Guilford Press, New York (1999) 21. Triandis, H.C., Bontempo, R., Villareal, M.J.: Individualism and collectivism: Crosscultural perspectives on self-Ingroup relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 54(2), 323–338 (1988) 22. Trompenaars, F.: Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding the Cultural Diversity in Business. Nicholas Brealey, London (1993) 23. Zahedi, F., Pelt, W.V., van Song, J.: A Conceptual Framework for International Web Design. IEEE Transactions on professional communications 44(2), 83–103 (2001)
Credibility On-Line: Quality Metrics for Evaluation Francisco V. Cipolla Ficarra1,2, Ernesto Vivas2, and Joaquim Romo2 HCI Lab. – F&F Multimedia Communic@tions Corp. ALAIPO: Asociación Latina de Interacción Persona-Ordenador 2 AINCI: Asociación Internacional de la Comunicación Interactiva Via Pascoli, S. 15 – CP 7, 24121 Bergamo, Italy
[email protected],
[email protected] 1
Abstract. We present the results of the assessment of credibility of Information Technology and Communications professionals through the application of a set of heuristic techniques which make it possible to analyze different on-line websites where their curricular data reside. The aim of the current research work is to determine the quality of the public and private institutions through the veracity of the on-line content. We also present a set of binary metrics of quality, credibility and veracity of on-line information, called DECROL (Destroy CRedibility On-Line). These metrics are the result of the comparison of professionals or pseudo professionals in 50 public and private institutions in Spain and Italy. Keywords: Veracity, Information, Assessment, Content, Multimedia, Education, Semiotics, Linguistics.
1 Introduction In the new millennium, and with the international diffusion of interactive multimedia systems, we are voyaging through an era of communicability [1]. Communicability entails quality. Quality in interactive software, the same as the notion of beauty in art or design, is very easy to detect when it is absent. Quality requires a set of methods, techniques, metrics and specialized staff to exist in the software of multimedia systems [2], [3], [4], [5]. The study of communicability in the design of multimedia systems will enhance the ability to communicate with other people and with new technologies. The foremost goal is to improve the interaction with new technologies, in order to obtain a better diffusion of qualitative information, aimed primarily at widening scientific knowledge, education, training, professional activities (services and/or production) [6], the well being of human beings, and of the environment, regardless of the place where they happen to be on our planet. Inter-disciplinary studies that involve comparison, exchange of methods and exchange of opinions can be positive when they go beyond the sum or juxtaposition of discoveries, for example. The A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 172–181, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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prime degree of cooperation lies in trans-disciplinary studies. For example, transdisciplinary studies would propose concepts and theories common to different social sciences. Nevertheless, it is in dual-disciplinary studies that we can reach the best results in the field of communication. That is, it would consist of sharing methods, and interpreting aspects and historical experiences of two different disciplines. Consequently, the intersection between computer science and communicability can be very positive to increase the quality of communication between a user and a multimedia systems [7], [8]. Without any doubt, the veracity of the on-line content in multimedia systems is a subject of great importance because many businesses and private citizens resort to specialized enterprises for the services known as ’keyposition’ — the position of the portal in Google, Yahoo, Lycos, etc. That is to say, to try to be in the first pages of the research engines. Usually, these are users who do not have training in computers or do not have the time, and hire external services. Therefore, money can be saved through these statistics, since it makes it possible to find out easily and quickly when we are dealing with real professionals or not, and also those public and/or private institutions on whose services can be trusted. The notion of content veracity in multimedia systems in our work is directly related to the public image of the institutions. There is a tendency to polish the public image through Web 2.0 instruments, for example by inserting the number of employees in the current or preceding institution. This tendency to quantify the quality of information in many works of social communication has demonstrated during years that it has a boomerang effect [9]. That is to say, straight away there is a manipulation towards the user, however, with the navigation into the contents of the interactive system through time, the user discovers that much of the data is incorrect. Sometimes, depending on the kind of users, such as inexperienced ones, detecting deliberately created misinformation triggers a rejection of the whole website, and even to other websites belonging to the same category as the visited one. In the current work we will start with the metrics concept of software engineering and placing the environment of the current research work exactly in the context of the entities and quality attributes. Then the first cases of lack of credibility will be presented which have been detected through the convergence of linguistics and semiotics [10], in the industrial and educative context. The composition of each one of the attributes will be defined and the first heuristic assessment table in the communicability context to eradicate the lack of credibility in the on-line contents.
2 Metrics and Measure: Social Sciences and Software Engineering The metrics have been elaborated through concepts stemming from semiotics, communicability, the quality of software, usability engineering and human-computer interaction. Through the intersection of these areas of scientific knowledge it is easy to detect those cases in which pseudo professionals resort to 2.0 websites to falsely expand their knowledge and/or professional experience. A table has been made of
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these instruments of free access which are used to damage the credibility of the on-line information. The universe of study has been made up of 500 subjects, and 10% of them have been randomly chosen, that is to say, we have worked with a sample of 50 websites. Later on, a table has been created wherein all the resources stemming from the Web 2.0 generation are inserted, which enable these people to occupy the initial posts inside research engines: Google, Yahoo, Lycos, etc. A way to distinguish the notions of metrics and measures in the software is the one presented by Fenton, N. [11]. The metrics characterize numerically the "simple" attributes such as length, number of options, number of operators (for the programs), or the number of located problems, cost and time (for the processes). The measures are "functions" of metrics that be used, assess or predict the more "complex" attributes such as cost or quality. 2.1 The Measurement Process: Entities and Attributes With regard to the process of measurement in the engineering of the software, Fenton [11] states the following formal definition: measurement is a process in which numbers or symbols are assigned to the attributes of the entities of the real world, to describe them accurately, in accordance with rules that have been clearly defined. Measurement assigns numbers or symbols of those attributes of the entities with the purpose of describing them. Starting from such entities, a first classification for measurement can be made –also called generically metrics in software engineering [11]. These measurements of the physical world make up two types of categories of the measures to be used: • Direct measures. These are those measures that in order to determine the dimension of a program it can be seen the space that occupies the feasible program in megabytes. • Indirect measurements. Through these measures the quality of a programmer's work can be assessed by the percentage of failures detected in the summing-up. The direct measure of an attribute is that measure that does not depend on the measurement of any other attribute. Whereas the indirect measurement of an attribute is that measure which includes the of one or more other attributes. In general terms there are different types to measure in regard to the goals to be achieved, that is to say, focused on the object or in the effects on the object [11], [12], [13]. For instance, the purpose of a measurement in software engineering can be: the process, the product, the language, the methods and the tools. It can also be considered the intention of whoever carries out the measurement which can be: passive (one simply seeks the understanding of the object) or active (when one wants to predict, control and improve the object). Making a summary of the different kinds of measurements with regard to the goals to be achieved the following classification is obtained: • Direct and indirect; • Process and product; • Objective and subjective.
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The objective measurements are those in which two people can reach the same result considering the object in an independent way, for instance to count the lines of the code of a program. Subjective measurements are recorded on the basis of subjective assessments. For instance, the experience of a person for the management of projects. The objective measurements turn out to be easier to automate then the subjective ones [14]. As with other products, the software also has implicitly an elaboration process. The method developed for heuristic assessment can be applied in different stages; the production, with the purpose of maintaining and raising the quality of the interactive multimedia.
Fig. 1. The quality in the production stage
Among the internal and external attributes there is a bi-directional relationship that affects the quality of the software [15], [16], [17], [18]. However, it is necessary to eradicate certain axioms that relate to the internal and external attributes but are false in the multimedia environment, such as: the external qualities are those that have a greater importance in relation to the internal concerning the final product; a good internal structure yields as a result a good external quality [11]; the bigger the financial resources, the better the final quality and vice versa [19].
3 Veracity versus Parochialism Every time that we talk about semiotics, directly or indirectly, we mean linguistics [20]. The founder of that discipline, Ferdinand de Saussure, in his work “Course in General Linguistics” maintains an interesting point of view regarding the assessment of the language that he refers to as “parochialism” [21]. Here it is necessary to bear in mind the orography of the territory where this discipline originated, i.e. the Alps, in whose mountains the towns as well as their dialects develop around the churches, according to Saussure's linguistic treatise. Remarkably, in the analysis universe online of multimedia systems in the same geographical area, that is to say, the geographical centre of the Alps, we find that the credibility of information lessens with increasing parochialism. The origin of this problem lies on what is known in software engineering as human factors, and also in the social sciences, the capital factor for that who becomes an information source (emitter) and focuses the attention of the receptor (a kind of showman or showwoman). It is a classical phenomenon in the
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anchormen of news reports, for instance [22]. If we make an intersection between both factors we have on the Internet false information about the people (training and professional experience) with a clear propaganda or publicity purpose. In the zone from which Saussure spoke there was a union, that is to say, the sale of politicians as if they were business products. A way to detect them is the momentum of the community websites of Web 2.0: Facebook or Linkdin. There is a trend by the star user to be considered as a professional and quickly establish links with his friends or acquaintances. The purpose is also to reach the highest visibility level within the search engines. However, there is the boomerang effect because of the falsity of the information stored by the actual user of the Internet and social computing [23]. The boomerang effect for the star user is achieved through the current quality metrics of the truthful and transparent on-line information: DECROL (Destroy CRedibility On-Line). Through these it is easy to detect how the president of a textile business located in the Alps (Bergamo, Italy) introduces himself in some interviews on-line as an engineer. In Google-map or in the industrial association of the province where the industrial seat of that industry is located he promotes himself as a PhD, that is to say, a higher level than a graduate or an engineer, when he is actually a geologist. If the star character lies in the academic data that he has compiled on-line, the rest of the information on other similar websites such as Facebook, Linkedin, YouTube or other similar is also false. These are the false results that are obtained with DECROL, which analysis starts with academic information. 3.1 Information On-Line: Opacity and Falsity It is also necessary to carry out an anchoring operation with the notion of masters degrees, especially in the context of the European Union [24]. A masters degree can be carried out inside a university, which entails having already completed an undergraduate degree or technical engineering trainingin the case of informatics, for example, to attend for two years courses with a mandatory attendance of 70% of the lessons, and to succeed in the final exams to obtain the title of master. However, in many public and private Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese universities, etc., there is no final exam. The transference of technology between the universities and the private sector is very important [6], [24]. However, serious education university incoherences have been detected. In the south of Europe, some industrial executives together with university professors, set in motion college masters courses for employeesto attend. However, these are students who possess only a level of secondary education or even incomplete studies. All of this happens under the label of masters inside the transfer of technology and/or knowledge between university and industry or vice versa. Remarkably, at the end of their attendance of such courses, they will have achieved a European college masters degree. In contrast, in the public universities of Latin America, not only the masters students, but also the PhD students. have the obligation of sitting final examinations of the subjects they have taken, as well as the thesis. Therefore, the value of titling differs from one country to another, although there is the tendency to regard them as the same within the borders of the European
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Union. Consequently, those who in Italy possess BA, BS and/or masters are actually graduates with a yearly specialization course, without passing any exam whatsoever. Others, in contrast, who do not have a university training, but who carry out the function of head of the staff in the same textile business and/or industrial union, are more concerned about the number of employees they have had along their working career and the connections this individual has with others. Of course there is no authentic information about the continuous changes in the firms where this alleged head of staff works, which may well be for economic reasons e.g. a better salary or because he/she performs organising or managing from his office towards the rest of his colleagues (these two situations of human or inhuman factors are currently not considered by our metrics). In both cases, we see how the star user always seeks to quickly impress the potential readers of the information; one through the text and the other through the numbers. Now, a third example may come from another European mountain area such as the Pyrenees. A person who gets two degrees, because the subjects are akin in both, for instance history and anthropology or journalism and law. Later on, he quits the PhD course in audiovisual taking the credits system by subjects to a master and they finally get a PhD in telecommunications, with the credits obtained in the masters course and making his final thesis in a private university. Simultaneously, he/she presents on-line substantial work experience in private firms. Here there is a third option of false information on-line: textual and numeric. In the three cases, the textual information is present. However, numeric information can sum up quickly the information for one user, especially if we are talking about percentages or the total number of employees. An important way to boost numeric information and make it more appealing in hypermedia systems is by resorting to graphics [25]. Now, in all these cases we see how the educative orientation of the virtual community in Facebook, Linkedin, etc., has been destroyed, when the private or business interests have access. If we make a diachronic analysis from the origin of the name, there is a reference to the bulletin that the administration of many universities and high schools delivers to first year students, with the purpose of helping them to get to know each other better. Today, due to the parochialism, this has become an indicator of the reliability as to the truthfulness of the content. in the information. This is not 100% because of the negative influence of the industrial and business sector compared with the transparent and objective information of the academic environment in its origins.
4 Textual Contents: Analisys When we talk about the veracity and credibility of the information in the on-line and off-line multimedia/hypermedia systems, there are intrinsic aspects of design stemming from the environment of the audiovisual media that are transferred automatically to the hypermedia contents, for example, typography, textual and visual information, etc. [26], [27]. One of them is the lack of credibility of the images in the face of the momentum of the graphic computer programs aimed at the self-editing of photographs and other illustrations [28]. Consequently, the value of the veracity of a
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photography is lower than it was at the time of the origin of personal computers, for instance. The reason lies in the possibility of modifying each one of the pixels that comprise it. There is also the possibility of virtually recreating all the bidimensional and tridimensional environments with computers, thereby obtaining identical or superior results to the photography of those real environments. Therefore, in the context of audiovisual media applied to the multimedia systems, the written word usually has a greater veracity than a vectorial or bimap image. In a certain sense, there is a return to the origins of the person-computer interaction, that is, the hypertexts. For instance, with regard to the same user, in Naymez –Next Level Networking (www.naymz.com), we find the following sentences: (in brackets the people who allegedly send these messages): "Incredible, even a professor can have sense of humour, aside from being a competent professional" (student"); "Professor XYZ is an excellent instructor and has allowed me to (something missing) wonders of informatics and ponder the positive aspects of the technology" (baby sister) and "Professor XYZ is a good teacher and excellent team director· (business man). Following the semiotic notions and carrying out an inverse discursive semiotics analysis, as Eliseo Veron maintains [29], we can detect that in reality this is a person who does not have a long teaching experience, does not enjoy popularity and has serious problems in the place where he works, since he is not regarded as a leader. He/She may be the latter de facto, apparently, but he has been imposed by the authorities of that teaching centre and does not correspond to the democratic process of staff selection. These same conclusions can be reached by following the referential links to other Web 2.0 websites: www.youtube.com, www.geocities.com and www.linkedin.com. By analyzing other members of the group we find an analogous situation in the website "vote the teacher" (www.votailprof.it) where anonymous students amazingly devote themselves to give the highest marks to the professor, writing in sentences which are similar to those above. Here we see how Saussure's notions about the parochialism related to linguistics and semiotics [21] in order to detect the null credibility on-line in the university context. The automatic elimination of those members who have falsified information on-line, for instance, degrees, professional training, etc. or the inclusion of some digital stamp that indicates that there is untrue information. Annex #1: Information and Manipulation (Veracity = 0)
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These may be some of the alternativesavailable to get back on-line credibility in these kind of websites. It shouldn't be possible by the author to remove this stamp, that is to say, the author or star (showman/showwoman) of the on-line information. These metrics have made it clear that the pressure groups of the information and news sectors have settled down in the Internet. The digital newspapers are also evidence of this. Sometimes, the news which is closest to the interests of these power groups surpasses in reader numbers the news from the front page of the papers. For instance, information technological news in the digital version of "El País" (two lines) as compared to the news on the coverpage of the paper version (see Annex #1). This alleged reading record was reached in only 4 hours (233 punctuation –very interesting). These are illegal actions, manipulative of the real interest of the virtual readers, and they enjoy the unanimity that the Internet gives, when it comes to international law of digital information on-line [30].
5 Educative-Entrepreneurial Credibility: A Heuristic Assessment Next we present the first metrics of binary presence [1] for the heuristic assessment of the quality desing, credibility and veracity at the on-line educative-entrepreneurial credibility (in Annex #2 the results): Table 1. Metrics of binary presence –DECROL (Destroy CRedibility On-Line) − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − −
In how many search engines does the subject or entity of study appear? Are there real pictures or drawings of the individual? It inserts photographs when he/she laughs sarcastically? Is he/she registered in one or more virtual communities? Is there contradictory information on-line regarding titling, for instance engineer instead of degree holder, or PhD instead of degree holder? Is the inclusion of comments anonymous or not? Is there a CV with the official European format on-line of the analyzed person? Are there friendship or family ties among the different links? Does he/she use more than one language for on-line promotion? Are the areas of interrogative interest more than 12? Does he/she use in the first place the number of employees under his command or professional training? Does he/she use the possessive adjective to refer to his/her collaborators as if they were objects? Has he/she completed any fast track master or PhD? Does he/she constantly change his/her Website? Does he/she attack other colleagues by copying the research issues or the obtained results? Does he/she carry out simultaneously works in the public and private sector? Does he/she send authoritarian messages in the personal websites on-line? Does he/she use the red color to send threatening messages to the students? Does he/she try to sell himself/herself through puff and self-flattering? Does he/she depict himself/herself as a work victim, with an exaggerated number of exams made without recognizing the work of your co-workers? In the publications the acknowledgments because of the made projects or written books surpass a total of 30 people? Does he/she you report about other issues, excluding hobbies, for instance, tastes in fashion, music, foods, travels, etc? Does he/she have inserted a statistics system of all those who enter your web?
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Annex #2: Results of the Heuristic Evaluation –Quality Design, Veracity and Credibility On-Line
6 Conclusions The metrics developed in the current work make it clear that the virtual communities generated from the free access college programs in the Web 2.0 have noncredible contents, which are scarcely transparent and seriously endanger the future development of the Internet. The textual information in the analyzed examples is false in 89% of the studied cases. It strikes one's attention that this information, with almost null transparency, stems from the industrial and college environment. In the case of the university there are references to the steady teaching staff in the colleges, and in the industrial case to the managers of the holdings of great international companies. A way to regain the veracity of the textual information is to accompany it with images information such as can be academic certificates. Another way consists in the semiotic analysis when applied to specific speech fields, in order to detect all the fallacies of the emitter of the on-line message, in this case of the web sites.
Acknowledgments The authors would like to thanks Alejandra Esglesia, Albert Malparithus, Cristiana Alfonso, Daniela Bostan, July Queenblue, Andrea Jeton, Silvano Finocchiaro, Stefano Sorette, Pierantonio Bonpajero, Giuliano Pucho, Mauro Granhampa, Federica Cachavacha, Clara Cremoni, Mark Noirchemisse for their helps.
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References 1. Cipolla-Ficarra, F.: Communication evaluation in multimedia: metrics and methodology. In: Proc. Human-Computer International, LEA, Mahwah, vol. 3, pp. 567–571 (2001) 2. Nielsen, J.: The Importance of Being Beautiful. IEEE Software 13, 92–94 (1996) 3. Dromey, G.: Cornering the Chimera. IEEE Software 13, 33–43 (1996) 4. Jeyaraj, A., Sauter, V.: An Empirical Investigation of the Effectiveness of Systems Modeling and Verification Tools. Communications of the ACM 50(6), 63–68 (2007) 5. Pfleeger, S.: Software Metrics: Progress after 25 Years? IEEE Software 25(6), 32–34 (2008) 6. Zittrain, J.: The End of the Generative Internet. Communications of the ACM 52, 18–20 (2009) 7. Cipolla-Ficarra, F.: An Evaluation of Meaning and Content Quality in Hypermedia. In: CD-ROM Proc. HCI International, Las Vegas (2005) 8. Cipolla-Ficarra, F.: Homepage and Communications: Quality Metrics. In: Proc. Eight International Conference on Distributed Multimedia Systems, KSI, San Francisco, pp. 202– 209 (2002) 9. Ander-egg, E.: Techniques of Social Investigation, 21th edn. Hvmanitas, Buenos Aires (1986) 10. Cobley, P.: Introducing Semiotics. Totem Books, Cambridge (2001) 11. Fenton, N.: Software Metrics: A Rigorous Approach. Chapman & Hall, Cambridge (1997) 12. Potts, C.: Software-Engineering Research Revisited. IEEE Software 10, 19–28 (1993) 13. Davis, A.: Fifteen Principles of Software Engineering. IEEE Software 11, 94–101 (1994) 14. Carey, D.: Is Software Quality Intrinsic, Subjective, or Relational? Software Engineering Notes 21, 74–75 (1996) 15. Ghezzi, C., Mandrioli, D., Jazayeri, M.: Fundamentals of Software Engineering. Prentice Hall, New Jersey (2003) 16. Pressman, R.: Software Engineering –A Practitioner’s Approach. McGraw-Hill, New York (2005) 17. Kit, E.: Software Testing in the Real World –Improving the Process. Addision Wesley, New York (1995) 18. Nielsen, J.: Usability Engineering. Academic Press, London (1993) 19. Cipolla-Ficarra, F.: Evaluation of Multimedia Components. In: Proc. IEEE Multimedia Conference on Multimedia Computing Systems, Ottawa, pp. 557–564 (1997) 20. Holdcroft, D.: Saussure –Signs, System & Arbitrariness. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1991) 21. Saussure, F.: Curso de LingüísticaGeneral. Losada, Buenos Aires (1982) 22. Aranguren, J.: La comunicación humana. Tecnos, Madrid (1986) 23. Zeng, D., Wang, F., Carley, K.: Social Computing. IEEE Intelligent Systems 22, 20–21 (2007) 24. Lamborghini, et al.: European Information Technology Observatory. EITO, Frankfurt (2001) 25. Tufte, E.: The Visual Display of Quantitavie Information. Graphics Press, Connecticut (2004) 26. Kahn, P., Lenk, K.: Principles of Typography for User Interface Design. Interactions 6, 15–29 (1998) 27. Wroblewski, L.: Web-Consicious Content Experiences. Interactions 15, 64–67 (2008) 28. Debray, R.: Vie et mort de l’image. Gallimard, Paris (1995) 29. Veron, E.: La semiosis social. Gedisa, Buenos Aires (1987) 30. Boyle, J.: Shamans, Software, and Spleens –Law and the Construction of the Information Society. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (1997)
A Life-Like Agent Interface System with Second Life Avatars on the OpenSimulator Server Hiroshi Dohi1 and Mitsuru Ishizuka2 1
Dept. Information and Communication Engineering, Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, University of Tokyo 2 Dept. Creative Informatics, Graduate School of Information Science and Technology, University of Tokyo 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan
[email protected]
Abstract. This paper describes a design of a life-like agent interface system with Second Life avatars on a 3D virtual world. We have implemented our prototype system on the OpenSimulator server, instead of the Linden Lab’s Second Life server. It is open source and a Second Life official viewer can connect it. Although it is still an alpha version and has various problems at present, it has many advantages. Our avatar can be controlled by event-driven. And the script is environment-independent since the other avatars might be changing the world. We have built up our portable experimental environment (our avatar controller, the OpenSimulator server, and the Second Life viewer) on an ordinary laptop PC (Windows Vista). It can run even if it is standalone, without an Internet connection.
1 Introduction An online 3D virtual world has grown explosively. For example, the Linden Lab’s “Second Life” has more than 15 million residents (registered users). [10] And many companies from different industries have entered the Second Life world aiming at major business opportunities. In spite of these situations, their evaluation to the Second Life is modest. We can easily find many “desolate” towns in the Second Life world. There are glittering shops; however no people often exist there. Internet services have allowed removing barriers of time and location. Unmanned Web servers can offer much information for 24 hours / 7 days. On the other hand, a 3D virtual world simulates our real life, and a user operates each avatar. That is, it may cause the simple problem again; each area has own “activity” time and hot spots. It may be helpful to create an autonomous avatar working every time in the 3D World. Until now many life-like agent interface systems have been developed in various research labs. We developed a life-like agent interface system with a realistic face and speech dialog function, called Visual Software Agent – II (VSA-II) [2], and learned much about agent (avatar) control techniques through this research. It worked well in our Lab, but it was difficult to become popular. It used a special agent model and required some complicated setup. And it didn’t have any easy tools to create various contents and environments. In other words, it was missing a common platform. A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 182–190, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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Fig. 1. Visual Software Agent-II Interface System (VSA-II). The girl is a 3D CG virtual agent (avatar) with the realistic face generated from one photograph. The picture is texture-mapped onto a 3D deformable wire-frame model. And then the agent is composed with a live background image (right). A user can talk with her like a videophone.
Our research goal is to realize autonomous agents on 3D virtual world. We think that the Second Life platform and our life-like agent techniques can complement each other to build a useful new system. In the Second Life world, we can create and customize anything with available easy-to-use building tools. And the residents in Second Life can install and use the client viewer on Windows and Linux environment. Ullrich et al. have developed new client software for Second Life that controls virtual agents. They make use of the Multimodal Presentation Markup Language 3D (MPML3D) to define the behavior of the agents [11]. Daden Ltd. has developed Second Life based avatar chatbots, “Abi Carver” – a virtual receptionist and “Halo Rossini” – an autonomous research bot. These are commercial products. Daden Ltd. has long experience of chatbots and applies it within the Second Life [1]. We have developed a prototype of a life-like agent interface system with Second Life avatars. The Second Life official server is a commercial product. It is hosted at the Linden lab, and many users (Second Life residents) access it simultaneously through an Internet connection. We adopt the OpenSimulator server [8] instead of the Linden Lab’s server. We can connect it as well using the Second Life official viewer. Although the server is still an alpha version and has various problems at present, we think it has many advantages for our research purpose. Ullrich has also attempted to integrate MPML3D with the OpenSimulator [12]. Our prototype system is clearly another implementation.
2 OpenSimulator Server and OpenMetaverse Library The OpenSimulator [8] is an open source 3D application server. It can be used to create a 3D virtual world, and we can access it with the Linden Lab’s official client viewer. The OpenSimulator is not just another implementation of the Second Life server. It includes much experimental extension.
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Linden Lab’s World (grid)
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OpenSimulator Server (OpenSim)
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Fig. 2. OpenSimulator server and OpenMetaverse library
The OpenMetaverse library [7] (its former name is libsecondlife [5]) is another open source project in order to study how Second Life works. It is also used to develop original client software for the Second Life official server. Since both the OpenSimulator and the OpenMetaverse library are still on alpha version at this time and include many problems, it is not necessarily recommended to combine these softwares. We think, however, this combination may be very attractive for us. They have many advantages, especially for research purposes, such as shown below. • Open sources. Hence we can access and investigate internal codes. • It can run in standalone mode on a local PC. It does not necessarily require high-speed network connection. We can easily build private environment. • Free of charge. We can use a free land about 16 acres for any activities on the OpenSimulator server. It also requires no service charges to upload some materials. On the other hand, we sometimes encounter various problems when using the OpenSimulator. Therefore we have sometimes to apply our own patches in order to avoid the problems / bugs.
3 Life-Like Agent Interface System on 3D Virtual World 3.1 System Configuration Fig. 3 shows our prototype system configuration. It consists of an avatar controller module, the OpenSimulator server, and at least one Second Life viewer.
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“guest-1” avatar OpenSimulator “guest-n” avatar Server “cast” avatar “guest-0(privilege)” avatar (optional) Avatar manager Chat engine
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On Windows XP/Vista (Standalone) Fig. 3. System configuration
In this paper, we call the computer-controlled avatar the “cast avatar”, and other avatars that controlled directly by humans the “guest avatar”. Avatar Controller. The avatar controller controls the cast avatar automatically instead of a human. It is one of Second Life client software, and can log in to the server like the Second Life viewer. The server cannot distinguish the avatar controller with a human. The avatar controller consists of following functional blocks. 1. OpenMetaverse library The avatar controller can access the OpenSimulator server through the OpenMetaverse library. 2. Avatar manager The avatar manager controls the avatar in cooperation with both the chat engine and the script engine. 3. Environment manager The environment manager accesses the server periodically and gets avatars information in the world. It also gets the inventory list and resolves the object name and UUID. 4. Chat engine The chat engine receives a text from other avatars through a chat channel, and replies to it. It also invokes scripts for a presentation.
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5. Script engine The script engine manages various predefined scripts. Second Life Viewer(s). Our avatar controller module doesn’t have an own viewer. In order to watch the cast avatar in the scene, we use a Second Life official viewer. The viewer joins the Second Life world as a guest avatar with another login name. That is, we need at least two login accounts. Then we can watch the cast avatar and the scene from the back of the guest avatar. The viewer is optional. The cast avatar appears on other client viewers when the avatar controller joins (logged-in) the Second Life world even if it doesn’t have own viewer. Thus, the avatar controller can work on an old PC with modest graphics performance. Privilege Avatar. A privilege avatar is one of guest avatars, and uses a special login name. This avatar can also control the chat avatar and objects directly through a chat channel. It is mainly used for debugging purpose. Other guest avatars ask some actions to the cast avatar through the chat channel, but their requests are not necessarily accepted. 3.2 Implementation The OpenSimulator server supports multiple platforms, i.e. Windows, Linux, and Mac OS. We have implemented and tested our prototype system on Windows XP/Vista. Second Life has excellent 3D graphics. Although it is said that the Linden lab’s official viewer requires both high-performance graphics card and high-speed networks, a recent mid-performance PC may be able to run it since Windows Vista has advanced graphics interface. We have built up one of our experimental environments (the avatar controller, the OpenSimulator server, and the official viewer) on an ordinary laptop PC. Its specification is, Windows Vista, Core2 Duo CPU 1.6GHz, GM965 express chipset, and 2GB memory. It uses an integrated graphics controller on the GM965 chipset and has no high-performance GPU. It can work even if it doesn’t have Internet connection. Fig. 4 shows a screen snapshot of our experimental environment on Windows XP/Vista. 3.3 Environment-Independent Script It is important that scripts for the avatar control are environment-independent and reusable. These are simple examples of our “greeter” scripts. (Low-level scripts.) Turnto Moveto Anim Say
$guest $guest HELLO “Hi, $guest”
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img1,screen1
; turn to the guest avatar. ; step forward to the guest avatar. ; HELLO action. ; say “Hi, (guest name)” ; through the chat channel. ; display “img1” on “screen1”.
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Fig. 4. A screen snapshot of our experimental environment on Windows XP/Vista. There are three windows, the avatar controller (bottom-left), OpenSimulator (top-left), and the Second Life viewer (right). In the Second Life viewer, there are two large displays behind the cast avatar, and their images are changed along the presentation.
The argument “$guest” is a variable. The environment manager binds guest avatar information to “$guest” at the execution time. The cast avatar cannot know who comes in advance. The environment changes as time goes on. This binding may change dynamically. The “$guest” has information of one avatar at most, however it has multiple meanings. In case of “Turnto / Moveto” instructions, “$guest” means the location of the guest avatar. It is replaced with the guest avatar name in “Say” instruction. The “Display” instruction displays an image [img1] on an object [screen1]. It is actually a texture mapping to the object. The words “img1” and “screen1” are just names of a texture image and a primitive object, respectively. Because of the restriction of the Second Life server, the image should be uploaded beforehand. The “screen1” is mapped to the object on the 3D world at the execution time of the script. The script doesn’t know the shape of the “screen1”. When the object is boxtype, it looks like a projector screen or a large display. If it is cylinder-type, it may look like an advertisement pillar.
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4 Discussion 4.1 Life-Like Agent Interface System on the Second Life World Lasting World. The life-like agent interface system on the Second Life world is different from conventional one in several respects. One of the remarkable differences is that the Second Life world is lasting beyond the server down. A conventional life-like agent interface system, in general, starts with the new (empty) state every time. The first task is to set up the environment using an initialize script, e.g. avatar’s start position, avatar’s appearance, background, lighting, small objects around avatars, etc. It can replicate avatar interaction since it “resets” the environment at every startup time. In the Second Life world, once an object is created and put on the world, it remains there until someone deletes it explicitly. The OpenSimulator server has a link with a database engine, and restores the previous environment data from the database at the startup time. It can take over the environment even if the server restarts. In addition, someone (avatars) might be changing the world, e.g. put on a new object or take away an old one, while your avatar is logged off. It may cause some problems for avatar interaction that the avatar cannot assume the environment exactly. Therefore, the script should be environment-independent. All objects, e.g. prim (primitive object), avatar, texture, etc, have own Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) in the Second Life world. Many of the OpenMetaverse libraries APIs use UUID directly in order to identify objects. This is, however, inconvenient and frustrating to write a script because UUID consists of a 16-byte number (32 hexadecimal digits). In our script, we use a name instead of UUID. Both the OpenSimulator server and the OpenMetaverse library use UUID. If the script includes UUID, it cannot be reusable. The copied object has another UUID different from original one. The environment manager has an inventory list on the world, and resolves the name and UUID. The name is not necessarily unique in the 3D world since the owner of the object can give arbitrarily one. If some objects have the same name on the inventory list, the system chooses one object randomly. If it cannot find the named object, the script will be ignored. Avatar Information. In the Second Life world, we can get various types of avatar information from the server, e.g. avatar’s location and direction, etc. It seems slightly tricky; however it is useful information to establish natural communication. While it is easy for a human to watch the avatar’s behavior, the avatar cannot get any information from the scene image. In a conventional interface system, it assumes that a user takes a seat in front of a computer display. The avatar waits a start cue from the user for the interaction, e.g. clicking a mouse, or typing a keyboard. It usually has no way to know that the user gets up and walks away. Once the avatar starts a presentation, it will carry out until the end even if nobody watches it. In our system, the cast avatar is controlled by event-driven. All avatars can walk around freely in the world. Its communication starts in three ways as follows.
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1. The guest avatar talks to the cast avatar. 2. The cast avatar searches the guest avatar explicitly. 3. The guest avatar is approaching to the cast avatar. In case 1, the guest avatar initiates the communication. This is an ordinary way. When the guest avatar talks to the cast avatar through a chat channel, it raises a “chat” event. And it invokes the chat-event-handler with both the guest name and text strings. The cast avatar turns to the guest avatar, and then replies. In case 2, in contrast, the cast avatar initiates the communication. First, the cast avatar searches the guest avatar explicitly. If it finds the guest avatar, the cast avatar talks to the guest avatar. If the guest avatar is far away, the cast avatar may step forward to before talking to. If both avatars don’t initiate the communication and the guest avatar is approaching to the cast avatar within a predefined distance, the event manager raises an “avatar location” event once. This is case 3, in which the event invokes the avatarlocation-event-handler with the location, the distance, and the direction of the guest avatar. It is important to know the direction of the guest avatar. When the guest avatar steps forward and within the distance, the cast avatar says “hi”. But the cast avatar says “excuse me,” if the guest avatar steps back. The direction also shows avatar’s interest. If the cast avatar talks to but the guest avatar looks another direction, the guest avatar has another interest. The “avatar location” event is also raised when the guest avatar walks away. Then the cast avatar will abort the presentation and say “good-bye”. 4.2 OpenSimulator vs. Second Life Official Server The OpenSimulator is suitable especially for research purpose because it is open source and we can get free land. Since it is the private server, we can have any experiences without bad influence to others. In the Second Life world, having own land is essential for any activities in practice. In the official server, it costs to get and maintain own land, although a free membership account is available. We cannot build any building on a public space. In addition, the official server restricts the number of objects and the size of scripts. They depend on the area size of the owned land. If we built a complex building, it may require a broad land. On the other hand, we have to manage the OpenSimulator server. The number of the OpenSimulator source codes files written in C# is more than 1,000, and the number of the OpenMetaverse library is about 500. Some functions are not implemented yet and some bugs remain. The development version is updated every day. Some problems are fixed and new experimental functions are added daily, and sometimes they bring new bugs. It requires a certain level of skills to fix bugs.
5 Conclusion In this paper, we have described our life-like agent interface system with Second Life avatars on the OpenSimulator server. Although now the OpenSimulator currently has
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some problems, it has many advantages compared with the Second Life official server, especially for research purpose. A prototype system is working on a laptop PC with Windows Vista. We hope it will be contribute as a test bed for developing an autonomous agent on the virtual 3D space.
References 1. Daden limited, http://www.daden.co.uk 2. Dohi, H., Ishizuka, M.: Life-like Agent Interface on a User-tracking Active Display. In: Smith, M.J., Salvendy, G., Harris, D., Koubek, R.J. (eds.) Usability Evaluation and Interface Design: Cognitive Engineering, Intelligent Agents and Virtual Reality, vol. 1, pp. 534–538 (2001) 3. Friedman, D., Steed, A., Slater, M.: Spatial Social Behavior in Second Life. In: Pelachaud, C., Martin, J.-C., André, E., Chollet, G., Karpouzis, K., Pelé, D. (eds.) IVA 2007. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 4722, pp. 252–263. Springer, Heidelberg (2007) 4. Kamel Boulos, M.N., Hetherington, L.: Wheeler. S.: Second Life: an overview of the potential of 3-D virtual worlds in medical and health education. Health Information and Libraries Journal 24(4), 233–245 (2007) 5. libsecondlife www page, http://www.libsecondlife.org 6. Nagaoka, T., Watanabe, S., Sakurai, K., Kunieda, E., Watanabe, S., Taki, M., Yamanaka, Y.: Development of Realistic High-Resolution Whole-Body Voxel Models of Japanese Adult Male and Female of Average Height and Weight, and Application of Models to Radio-Frequency Electromagnetic-Field Dosimetry. Physics in Medicine and Biology 49, 1– 15 (2004) 7. OpenMetaverse Foundation, http://www.openmetaverse.org 8. OpenSimulator www page, http://opensimulator.org 9. Quax, P., Monsieurs, P., Jehaes, T., Lamotte, W.: Using Autonomous Avatars to Simulate a Large-Scale Multi-User Networked Virtual Environment. In: International Conference on Virtual-Reality Continuum and its Application in Industry (VRCAI 2004), pp. 88–94 (2004) 10. Second Life official site, http://secondlife.com 11. Ullrich, S., Bruegmann, K., Prendinger, H., Ishizuka, M.: Extending MPML3D to Second Life. In: Prendinger, H., Lester, J.C., Ishizuka, M. (eds.) IVA 2008. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 5208, pp. 281–288. Springer, Heidelberg (2008) 12. Ullrich, S., Prendinger, H., Ishizuka, M.: MPML3D: Agent Authoring Language for Virtual Worlds. In: International Conference on Advances in Computer Entertainment Technology (ACE 2008), pp. 134–137. ACM Press, New York (2008)
Multi-dimensional Moderation in Online Communities: Experiences with Three Norwegian Sites Gheorghita Ghinea1, Bendik Bygstad2, and Christoph Schmitz1 1
School of Information Systems, Computing and Mathematics, Brunel University, Uxbridge UB8 3PH, London, United Kingdom 2 The Norwegian School of Information Technology, Schweigaardsgt. 14, 0185 Oslo, Norway
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected]
Abstract. Online-communities and user contribution of content have become widespread over the last years. This has triggered new and innovative web concepts, and perhaps also changed the power balance in the society. Many large corporations have embraced this way of creating content to their sites, which has raised concerns regarding abusive content. Previous research has identified two main different types of moderation; one where the users have most of the control as in Wikipedia, and the other where the owners control everything. The media industry, in particular, are reluctant to loose the control of their content by using the member-maintained approach even if it has proven to cost less and be more efficient. This research proposes to merge these two moderation types through a concept called multidimensional moderation. To test this concept, two prototype solutions have been implemented and tested in large-scale discussion groups. The results from this study show that a combination of owner and user moderation may enhance the moderation process. Keywords: moderation, online communities, social media, prototype.
1 Introduction Utilizing users to create both content and increase activity has become an important factor for many web sites. The concept has been implemented and used in ecommerce solutions, online newspaper editions and pure community concepts. While online communities have several merits, they also present challenges for the owners of these websites and the users themselves. These issues span from vandalism, harassment, false and potentially harmful advice to copyrighted material. The research shows evidence that these problems have already been present in the early days of online communication (Foley, 1989). A number of solutions have been proposed and deployed to deal with these issues. To this end, Preece (2004) argues that establishing a good etiquette and a positive environment is the ultimate solution for reducing these types of anti-social contributions from the users. In particular she recommends the use of moderators to achieve this. She also expresses a need to develop better processes that combine human-oriented approaches with good technical solutions. A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 191–196, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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Most of the research done so far, on how to create an efficient moderation mechanism, is based on sites that are of a member-maintained character. The aim of the study reported here is to investigate the balance when combining owner-maintained and member-maintained moderation. This will hopefully answer a need in the industry to continue ensuring the quality of content, yet still utilize the possibility of letting users do part of the moderation.
2 Related Work Within online communities, issues with users misbehaving have also been reported several times in existing literature. Preece (2004), for instance, describes community users being tired of horrid comments, observing that it only takes one aggressive, insulting person to ruin a community for everyone else. Moreover, differences in the cultural origins of users strengthen the risk for one person’s joke to be interpreted as an insult by another. Cosley et al. (2005) also state that not all contributions to a community are valuable. They identify the motivational component behind users contributing with low quality content, as being the response a user receives from a post. Predictions are made that reducing responses would take away some of this motivation. Analogies are made with the New York anti-graffiti campaign, which was based on quick removal of vandalism, and with Wikipedia, which takes an average of 3 minutes to correct a page deletion. This implies that taking quick action is somewhat logical and has a great effect on reducing the motivation behind these anti-social actions. From a different perspective, users being treated poorly online and the fear of aggressive responses is also one of the reasons identified by Preece et al. (2003) for users not contributing to online forums. Moreover, another concern identified in online communities is that of false information; however studies, in health groups for instance, have shown that the groups themselves correct the false information within a period of time (Jadad et al., 2006). Inevitably, all of these issues point towards importance of sound moderation to a community as a whole, and this position is confirmed by Preece (2004), who argues that the ultimate solution for reducing such unwanted artefacts of user online behaviour is to establish a good online (n)etiquette and a positive environment. Good moderation is one of the elements mentioned as a mean to achieve this. She calls for a focus on etiquette, and online role models, and one type of role model mentioned is the moderator. However, her work also confirms that moderating can be demanding and timeconsuming, as the busier community gets, the more effort from moderators is needed. However it is uncertain if this argument presumes owner-maintained moderation. Efficient moderation can only be undertaken if there is adequate tool-set support. Among several sets of common technically oriented tools used by the communities to aid this process are ones which enable moderators to identify, approve, reject, delete, edit or to request the sender to edit his or her messages. Search and visualisation tools are other tools that are presented. They include rating of users that contribute in message boards and ratings of the most valuable contributors. A fourth tool/mechanism is given by rating and reward schemes where the users themselves rate other users. In calling for better processes and tools for ensuring good online etiquette, Preece (2004) argues that the way forward is to develop processes that bring together the best human-oriented approaches supported by good, labour-saving, technical solutions.
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3 Study Description The study being described in this paper took place in Norway and three sites agreed to participate in it: Ungdomsportalene.no is an online youth community based on the same social networking principles as Facebook and MySpace.com, with a general message board as a public add-on feature. The focus here is communication; users get their own profile, can send messages, and write in each other guestbooks, in addition to participating on message boards and commenting on news articles. Kvinneguiden.no originally started as an online bridal magazine with a message board to discuss wedding topics. Over time it has transformed into a general online lifestyle magazine for (generally) female audiences. It has a news desk publishing articles for this segment and a message board. Diskusjon.no is the second largest message board in Norway (Big-Boards.com, 2007). It started out as a website with tests and articles regarding hi-tech computer hardware, as well as a message board where the users could discuss different issues, tests and products. They have now grown larger in terms of target audience and types of categories covered, which now include digital cameras, computer games and mobile phones. The consensus at all three sites participating in our study was that candidates for user-moderators should be found among their loyal members with a consistent level of posts, and that, moreover, such users should not have had any records in the abuse register over a certain period of time. This, as it was felt that this category of netizens is the most likely ambassador of online etiquette. Lastly, we used Speed of Moderation as the metric for our study. Two prototypes incorporating user-moderation were implemented and ported to the three case sites of our study during March – June 2007. Both prototypes were based on the concept of multidimensional moderation, derived from the Slashdot and MovieLens experiences (Lampe and Johnston, 2005). The idea is that the first dimension is represented by the users in their separate roles, of owners and members. An extra dimension is then given by experienced users, who give feedback to other users in terms of a common understanding of what constitutes good or bad posts. Whilst the underlying moderation principle was the same in both prototypes (experienced users reporting potential violating posts), what was different between the two versions was the number of negative reports before a post was suspended pending a final decision from the owner-moderators. Thus, whilst in the first prototype a post had to have had three such reports (consultation with the owners of the three sites involved in our study revealed worries that waiting for a higher number of reports would have in unacceptable negative impact on the moderation speed), in the second prototype this threshold was lowered to two.
4 Results All results obtained using the two developed prototypes are compared to two baseline measurements obtained during the 28 days of February 2007. These consist of the average time, expressed in minutes, from an offending post being written to it being deleted, as well as the total number of such deleted posts on the three sites participating in our study.
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4.1 First Prototype: Results When investigating the results from the first implementation at Kvinneguiden.no (Figure1) one may see that the average time taken to delete an offending post decreased by 752 minutes compared to the baseline measurements. The same trend is also seen at Diskusjon.no, where there is a decrease in the average time such a post is online before it is deleted. However, the number of posts deleted at Diskusjon.no as a direct consequence of the prototype was only four. This hinted at the possibility that the number of negative flags before a post was deleted was possibly set too high for this particular site. On Ungdomsportalene.no, though, the results are mixed when compared to the baseline. Thus, the average time taken to delete such a post actually increased (from 2220 minutes to 3016 minutes). Nonetheless, those posts that were removed as a direct result of the implemented prototype, had been done so in the fastest time of all sites in our study (only 267 minutes compared to 1889 minutes on Kvinneguiden.no and 4821 minutes on Diskusjon.no). 4.2 Second Prototype: Results When evaluating the results from the first prototype, it became clear that the number of notices from the users was too low on two of the sites, with few posts receiving
Fig. 1. Average time (mins.) to delete posts as a result of prototype 1
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more than two notices from users. Indeed, it became apparent that there was a rather large possibility that a potentially offending post would not have had enough time to receive a sufficient number of notices to suspend it under the new regime before being filtered by the old (owner-led) reporting system. Thus, a second prototype was implemented, where the number of notices needed before any action was taken on a potentially violating post was lowered to two. Looking at the effect of the second prototype at Kvinneguiden.no (Figure 2), one may see that the average time taken to delete a post actually went down (by exactly 500 minutes). Moreover, while combined owner-user moderation affected nine posts in March, it only affected five in May, notwithstanding the reduction of the number of notices needed for a post to be suspended under the second prototype. This may be explained by the fact that the time taken to delete a post using traditional owner-led moderation had actually witnessed a dramatic reduction between March and May (from 1226 minutes to 767 minutes). Thus, it may well be that 767 minutes was not a long enough time-span for a post to gather the minimum number of two notices required for it to be suspended using combined owner-user moderation. A different pattern is seen at Ungdomsportalene.no where the average time taken to delete a post decreased down to 2530 minutes, and at Diskusjon.no, where the average time taken to delete a post also decreased by 106 minutes when compared with the first prototype.
Fig. 2. Average time (mins.) to delete posts as a result of prototype 2
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5 Conclusions This paper reports the results of a study which examined the impact of multidimensional (i.e. combined owner-user) moderation on three Norwegian case sites. Whilst our work is inevitably limited by the context in which it took place, the participation of three leading bulletin boards of an IT-intensive country such as Norway in the study has offered some interesting and valuable insights into this particular type of moderation. Our results seem to suggest that, generally speaking, in the case of a post needing two reports for it to be deleted, user involvement does speed up the moderation process – either through posts being deleted more quickly as a direct result of userreporting, or, indeed, user involvement seemingly acting as a catalyst for ownermoderations to do a faster moderation of posts. Nonetheless, there are exceptions to these observations within our results and one would need to examine the impact of user involvement over a longer period of time in order to obtain a better picture of the trends concerned.
References 1. Cosley, D., Frankowski, D., Kiesler, S., Terveen, L., Riedl, J.: How oversight improves member-maintained communities. In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, Portland, Oregon, USA, pp. 11–20 (2005) 2. Foley, T.J.: Managing Campus-Wide Information Systems: Issues and Problems. In: Proceedings of the 17th annual ACM SIGUCCS conference on User Services, Bethesda, Maryland, USA, pp. 169–174 (1989) 3. Jadad, A.R., Enkin, M.W., Glouberman, S., Groff, P., Stern, A.: Are virtual communities good for our health? British Medical Journal 332(7547), 925–926 (2006) 4. Lampe, C., Johnston, E.: Follow the (Slash) dot: Effects of feedback on New Members in an Online Community. In: Proceedings of the 2005 international ACM SIGGROUP conference on Supporting group work, Sanibel Island, Florida, USA, pp. 11–20 (2005) 5. Preece, J.: Etiquette online: From nice to necessary. Communications of the ACM 47(4), 56–61 (2004) 6. Preece, J., Nonnecke, B., Andrews, D.: The top five reasons for lurking: improving community experiences for everyone. Computers in Human Behavior 20(2), 201–223 (2003)
Modding as Rating Behavior in Virtual Communities: The Case of Rooster Teeth Productions Stefan Haefliger, Philip Reichen, Peter M. Jäger, and Georg von Krogh ETH Zurich, Department of Management, Technology and Economics, Kreuzplatz 5, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland {shaefliger,philipreichen,pejaeger,gvkrogh}@ethz.ch
Abstract. Virtual communities that make use of social network site features blend known applications of virtual communities. These communities can be simultaneously social and commercial, organization sponsored and heavily relying on member interaction. We explore modding behavior that allows members to evaluate other members’ contributions both with numerical value and qualitative rating. We show that approximately half of all members received mods on their comments, that the majority of mods given were positive, and that the amount of mods received for a comment was related to the position of the comment in the community website’s thread. Contributing to the emerging literature of social network sites and virtual communities, we discuss implications for theory, future research and management. Keywords: Virtual Communities, Communities of Consumption, Social Network Sites, Machinima.
1 Introduction In a recent MIT Sloan Management Review article, Bernoff and Li [4] suggested “People are connecting with one another in increasing numbers, thanks to blogs, social networking sites like MySpace and countless communities across the Web. Some companies are learning to turn this growing groundswell to their advantage.” With close to one billion1 people connected to the Internet, firms not only face unprecedented opportunities but also considerable threats in such a digital economy. Numerous firms have set up “virtual communities,” a term coined by Rheingold [19]. These communities are, mostly but not exclusively, online spaces in which customers and non-customers can interact with the firm and each other. Porter [17] defines virtual communities as an “aggregation of individuals or business partners who interact around a shared interest, where the interaction is at least partially supported and/or mediated by technology and guided by some protocols or norms.” (see also Porter and Donthu [18]). Virtual communities can have a positive impact on firm performance. According to one study, revenues have increased more than 50% for some firms [2] that have 1
Source: http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=2698
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managed these communities well. In addition members of virtual communities remain twice as loyal to and buy almost twice as often from the sponsoring firm. Armstrong and Hagel [3] found that “companies that create strong online communities will command customer loyalty to a degree hitherto undreamed of and, consequently, will generate strong economic returns”. In addition, virtual communities can shift bargaining power from suppliers to customers [13]; spread positive word-of-mouth [9]; help firms learn from customers [11]; increase website traffic [10]; raise entry barriers for competitors [10]; facilitate product development efforts [14]; and increase customer satisfaction and loyalty [21]. Recently, social network sites caught the attention of users, firms, and researchers [5]. Sometimes labeled “Web 2.0” coined by Tim O'Reilly2, social network sites (SNS) emphasize member profiles and direct interaction and links between members, provide content ratings, and enable rating behavior [7, 12, 16]. “Modding” (derived from “moderation”) refers to a type of trust rating that “allows members […] to evaluate other users’ reviews with numerical ratings” [12]. Modding is a direct feedback mechanism between community members. Both streams of research on virtual communities and social network sites belong to the field of computer-mediated communication. The combination of features within one online environment triggered new forms of behavior that warrant analysis. If virtual communities make use of SNS features the combination results in a new type of virtual community that cannot easily be understood by the frameworks used to classify virtual communities [17]. A virtual community that makes use of social software features may be organization sponsored, yet dominated by direct interaction among community members, hence, social and at the same time commercial. SNS features offer communication structures that make member-to-member communication easier and more frequent. Moderated communication makes members become more socially embedded in the virtual community [1, 7]. The availability of new communication structures that allow direct feedback on contributions calls for research exploring rating behavior. Specifically, modding of member comments by other members extends the communication options usually associated with virtual communities and call for more research on mass communication in virtual communities [20]. Schoberth and colleagues [20] found, among other things, heterogeneity in community participants' activities. Scholars have also called for more quantitative research using behavioral data from virtual communities [6, 7]. Thus, we ask: how do members of a virtual community make use of modding?
2 Methodology We conducted a large quantitative study on the virtual community of Rooster Teeth Productions, a Machinima Production company creating and publishing animated videos made in computer games. We present the sample case as well as data gathering and analysis in this section. 2
For more details: http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/ what-is-web-20.html
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2.1 Sample Case Producing animated videos was previously restricted to media professionals because of the high cost of software packages. These restrictions led innovative users to produce animated shorts with computer games by using the underlying 3D render technology thus creating Machinima. Game engines were relatively cheap compared to traditional production tools. In addition, most of the in-game assets like characters and landscapes were already at hand, which reduced the overall production time for an animated movie significantly. Rooster Teeth Productions is one of the most successful Machinima companies (von Krogh et al., 2009). They sell sponsorship subscriptions, merchandising, and DVDs and reach a large user community. The latter, in fact, was triggered early on when Rooster Teeth introduced an elaborate community platform offering SNS features: “… well, I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that the community site that we have made … or at least at the time we made it … had features that weren’t that present in other places, we were a little ahead of the curve at that time, and so there were a lot of cool features that people were interested in. This is like before MySpace really had taken off … So we’ve always tried to give it a little functionality, things they do in a community website they’re interested in making … you know, interested in being a part of it. We tried to make the website almost like a game.” Geoff Ramsey, Rooster Teeth Productions Rooster Teeth Productions was founded in 2003 by Burnie Burns, Matt Hullum, Geoff Ramsey, Jason Saldaña, and Gus Sorola in Austin, Texas. Their first and most widely known Machinima production was Red vs. Blue (RvB), a show featuring two teams of soldiers in the game Halo who are stationed in an isolated canyon where their sole purpose is to fight each other. The popularity of the show that first aired April 1st, 2003 profited from the humorous dialogues between the different characters. While the comedy was first aimed at other gamers, a broad audience swiftly appreciated RvB. To date, Rooster Teeth has released five seasons of RvB ‘The Blood Gulch Chronicles,’ and one season of RvB ‘Reconstruction’ comprising 20 to 25 episodes each as well as several spin-off mini-series. Over the years, shooting the movies has advanced from the game Halo 1 on the xBox to the latest release Halo 3 running on xBox 360 with overwhelming new possibilities in graphics and artistic composition. In addition, most of their merchandising articles were related to RvB, which remained the flagship show. Apart from RvB, Rooster Teeth produced several other shows including ‘The Strangerhood’, ‘P.A.N.I.C.S.’, or ‘1-800-Magic’, using different game engines to shoot the films. Each series had its own website on which the videos were shown, important announcements from Rooster Teeth staff members published, and where fans discussed topics around the show. The discussion took place where the videos were viewed – especially while viewers waited for the download to finish or directly after watching videos online. Users did not have to actively go to a website to express their thoughts about the product as is the case with most websites of communities of consumption. Due to a steadily growing fan base, over the last four years the segment of the RvB community actively contributing to discussions grew to 42,000 members who posted
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Fig. 1. Age Distribution of Members Commenting on Red vs. Blue
more than 400,000 comments on 165 episodes. Members could choose their level of engagement. They could be mere “consumers” who just watched the videos and/or bought merchandising products without interacting, or they could interact with other community members. The Rooster Teeth community cannot be neatly classified as either VC or SNS since different users engaged differently. With 16% of all members, the 18 year olds represented the largest group (see figure 1). The average age of members was 21 years with a standard deviation of eight years. The age distribution was biased and positively skewed by the fact that members who didn’t enter any age were listed as zero, and that few members who apparently entered the maximum age of 88 years. 93% of the members were under 30 and the bulk was either in high school or college-age. Tracing the amount of members over four years, we found that the community had been growing at different speeds, but steadily in volume in a nearly linear fashion (r square= 0.95). There were four visible gaps in signups, which were located in the first two years of its existence with the longest gap lasting for two weeks (see figure 2). The amount of comments per episode varied from a minimum of 58 to a maximum of more than 28,000 with an average of 2,400 comments per video. Five different sections could be identified with a strong cyclicity given that the amount of comments increased notably during seasons: Section 1 represents the comments to Season 1 and 2 that were aired on a former version of the Rooster Teeth community website. Those comments were not migrated to the new and more elaborate software
Fig. 2. Accumulated Daily Sign-ups of Members over the last four Years
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infrastructure and therefore the amount of comments was low in section 1. Section 2 followed the launch of the new website before Season 3 leading to a steep increase in comments eventually coming to a slowdown after the end of the season. Section 3 was the most commented section ever covering Season 4. Half of the total commentspopulation was found in this section. This finding does not imply that all comments were made during Season 4 since it was possible to comment on archived videos. Section 4 and 5 covering Season 5 and the start of RvB ‘Reconstruction’ respectively contain again relatively little commented products. The basic units of analysis were the RvB-related comments made by members and the mod-points associated with the comments. These were displayed chronologically below the corresponding video similar to YouTube with the difference that the comments in our case were ordered by ascending post date (i.e. the oldest post was displayed first). All comments and the associated mod-points were publicly accessible. In order to leave a comment one had to be signed in as community member. Member accounts were free of charge and did not have to be activated by a moderator or an administrator. Hence, members were able to sign up at any time and start posting. Comment modding is the act of rating another member’s comment(s). Synonyms are ‘rating’, ‘giving mod-points’ or simply ‘modding’. In the Rooster Teeth community each modding of a comment consists of a combination of two values: a numerical value and a qualitative rating. The numerical value is either ‘+1’ or ‘-1’. Each numerical value has to be combined with one of four qualitative ratings from which users can choose in a drop down menu. The four qualitative ratings corresponding to ‘+1’ are ‘Cool, Ditto, Funny and Zing!3’. The four qualitative ratings corresponding to ‘-1’ are ‘WTF, Lame, Flamebait4 and Noob5’. Mod points could only be given once per user and per comment. A user who has one account can mod each comment by another user only once. The mod is then publicly displayed next to the comment. 2.2 Data Collection and Analysis For the purpose of the quantitative data analysis, we built up a database dedicated to the case under study. All available data from the Rooster Teeth RvB website concerning the episodes, the members, and the comments was automatically fetched during a three-day period from September 20th to September 22nd, 2008 and transferred to a local MySQL database for further analysis. To be granted full access to all the data, we obtained a sponsorship account. After screening and evaluating the data, we discovered some 3
4
5
Three possible definitions for our purpose: 1) New term for “owned”, said after saying something witty to someone in an insulting manner. 2) If someone makes an absolutely awful joke, or says something completely random or pointless. One member of the group may "zing" them. 3) A noise made when a person, place, or thing is discriminated against in a humorous manner. Source: www.urbandictionary.com A message posted to a public Internet discussion group, such as a forum, newsgroup or mailing list, with the intent of provoking an angry response (a "flame") or argument over a topic the troll often has no real interest in. Source: www.wikipedia.org Short for “Newbie”. A slang term for a newcomer to online gaming or an Internet activity. Source: www.wikipedia.org
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missing data sets that had been left out due to server maintenance by Rooster Teeth. For this, we obtained the missing data sets on October 2nd. All data entries in the local database indicate their fetch time stamp to check for possible inconsistency. We rebuilt the relational database structure of the original website using a separate table for episodes, members, and comments which were linked by their dataset identification number ‘id’ that remained the same as the online PHP web queries. We fetched a total of 42,771 member accounts and 483,272 comments with their corresponding information. Out of all 737,000 registered Rooster Teeth community members6, only those who at least commented once on a video of RvB were considered. Cleaning the fetched data sets from invalid information (either comments which link to a NULL member id or comments which link to empty member profiles) left us with 406,173 comments and 41,016 user profiles (see Table 1). SPSS, Excel and the phpMyAdmin interface of the local server were used for the quantitative data analysis.
3 Results Almost half of all members posted at least one comment, which has been modded, but only 15% of all comments were modded (see Table 1). One possible explanation could be information overload [7]. Members cannot browse the overwhelming amounts of comments that are posted. Observing modding behavior in more detail, we find that 60% of the modded comments obtained positive values (cumulated mod rating > 0), 36% obtained negative values (cumulated mod rating < 0), and for 4% of the comments the mods evened out (cumulated mod rating = 0). The fact that 60% of all comments carried a positive rating, with “Cool” being the predominant rating class, showed that members generally tended to give friendly mods. Table 1. General Statistics for Modding Behavior in the Rooster Teeth Online Community
6
http://rvb.roosterteeth.com/members/stats/
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Next, casual observation suggested that modding behavior centered around early comments. We analyzed the attention different comments received based on their position in the comments thread (see Figure 3). This position corresponded to the time the comment had been posted in ascending order i.e. the comment that was posted first is at position 1, second at position 2, and so forth. Post numbers are displayed on the x-coordinate. For the y-coordinate we defined and calculated a ranking variable. We summed [0 to 36,921] the absolute values [0 to 2,920] of all mod points given to comments which share the same position (post number) [1 to 32,780]7 and divided this value by the amount of modded comments [1 to 165]8 per position. We thus calculated the average mod points per comment position. In effect, we used the absolute mod value for a better representation of the attention a comment received, than the net value.
Fig. 3. Relationship between the order in which comments were posted (ascending) and the rank based on the average (absolute) mod value the respective comments received (ascending; average to rank inversely proportional): both scales were logged
We then ordered this quotient by descending value, i.e. starting with the highest value in order to receive a non-scaled ranking. For example, the data point at y=1 is calculated as follows: We considered all comments with post number 1. Since all 165 videos were commented at least once, 165 comments resulted. Some of these comments appeared to have invalid data base entries on the website. After pruning those, we were left with 147 valid comments. Out of these 147 comments we only examined those that were modded. In post number 1, all 147 were modded. We then summarized 147 absolute mod values, and divided the sum by 147, resulting in 36,921/147= 251. Repeating this procedure for all comments that were posted second (position 2) we get 107 respectively. Next, we ordered the quotients by descending value and displayed them as ranking. Thus, the y-axis represents the ‘attention’ or the valuation (negative or positive) members accorded a comment where 1 is the top rank with the highest attention. 7
Even though a maximum of 28,000 comments per video were collected, post numbers in excess of this are possible since not all posted comments were considered due to validity checks (see Methodology section for further information). 8 The maximum amount of 165 videos that could be commented on limited this number.
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The results show that the first comments on each video received on average more (absolute) mod points than the respective subsequent comments. This holds true to a certain comment position from which on the data points become scattered. A threshold seems to appear around post number 50. The relationship between the post number of a comment, that is its position, and the mod value it received on average was positive and statistically significant (beta(14665) = 0.578 ; p ≤ 0.01).
4 Discussion This exploratory study of modding behavior in a virtual community revealed three findings that open up for future research. First, just under half of the community members received mods on their contributions, while the other half did not received mods. Looking at the entire volume of comments, only 15% were modded. Second, the community studied leaned towards ‘positive modding’, with 60% of all mods being positive. Third, the time and location of a comment mattered strongly for the likelihood that it would be modded. Comments that appeared early after the release of a new product and appeared on the first two pages of comments, received disproportionately high amounts of mod-points. After approximately 50 contributions, the direct link between the position and the rank of mod-points weakened. These findings warrant further research on virtual communities with SNS features in three areas: individual behavior, collective behavior, and community structures. First, roughly half of the community members never receive mods on their comments. The behavior does not seem to catch on throughout the member base. The extension to mass communication in virtual communities provided by modding seems to be used unevenly. Hence our results extend the findings of Schoberth and colleagues [20] on heterogeneous communication behavior in online communities. Future research should analyze the factors that explain this behavior. Is modding considered to be costly, either in giving or in receiving? Is modding contested? Do member demographics explain modding behavior? Further, how does modding impact on contributions? Do members who received negative mods learn or change their behavior? Do positive mods (or mods at all) induce participation? Second, we observed a friendly community who distributed more positive than negative mods. This result may impact on community growth, the willingness of members to contribute, and ultimately, consumer behavior. The result could support the idea that mods express trust rather than distrust or disapproval [12]. What explains this bias? How does this finding compare to other communities’ behavior? Can communities that lean towards offensive behavior be sustained? Also, researchers should conduct longitudinal studies of posting and modding behavior in order to identify changes in community behavior over time. Third, comments that appeared early and high up in the (chronological) list of comments received disproportionately more mods than subsequent, less visible comments. A first interpretation suggests that community members may suffer from information overload and pay far less attention to later comments than to early comments. This finding raise doubts regarding the high expectations by some authors attached to modding and rating systems as quality signaling or filtering tools [8, 22]. Should the timing and position of a comment matter more than its quality in
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predicting the number of mods received, the modding system may be of little use to managers, marketing experts, and users of virtual communities. However, this issue needs much more investigation in future studies. We observed that after a certain threshold the post number did not predict the number of aggregate mods received. This calls for a refined analysis across multiple contexts and communication structures. Is it important that the first page contains 30 comments? Does the chronological order matter or could it be reversed and produce the same pattern? Managers of virtual communities and social network sites may take away three insights from our study. First, virtual communities gain significantly new characteristics by adopting features associated with social network sites. Managers may think of more effective ways of distinguishing communities, possibly based on posting or modding behavior by members. The case of Rooster Teeth Production provides evidence as to the successful combination of product feedback and social network site features. Community members comment on a firm’s products when they are released. They evaluate each other’s comments and make use of the social infrastructure provided. Second, the modding behavior confirmed the impression of a friendly community. While this is only a first, preliminary finding it shows that the option of modding other community members’ contributions was being used in a ‘productive and supportive manner’. In general social network site features could be meaningful extensions to existing virtual communities. Third, filtering valuable comments with the use of member-based modding tools may not be a simple matter. Our results show that only after about 50 comments the mods received started to deviate from the comment number as received chronologically. This may mean that after the first rush by people to make their comments visible, perhaps later mods may signal high-quality comments.
References 1. Algesheimer, R., Dholakia, U.M., Herrmann, A.: The social influence of brand community: Evidence from European car clubs. Journal of Marketing 69(3), 19–34 (2005) 2. Algesheimer, R., Dholakia, P.M.: Do customer communities pay off? Harvard Business Review 84(11), 26 (2006) 3. Armstrong, A., Hagel, J.: The real value of on-line communities. Harvard Business Review 74(3), 134 (1996) 4. Bernoff, J., Li, C.: Marketing - Harnessing the power of the oh-so-social web. Mit Sloan Management Review 49(3), 36 (2008) 5. Boyd, D.M., Ellison, N.B.: Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13(1), 210–230 (2007) 6. Casalo, L.V., Flavian, C., Guinaliu, M.: Promoting consumer’s participation in virtual brand communities: A new paradigm in branding strategy. Journal of Marketing Communications 14(1), 19–36 (2008) 7. de Valck, K., Langerak, F., Verhoef, P.C., Verlegh, P.W.J.: Satisfaction with virtual communities of interest: Effect on members’ visit frequency. British Journal of Management 18(3), 241–256 (2007) 8. Deng, S.Y., He, L., Xia, W.W.: A Collaborative Filtering Algorithm Based on Rating Distribution. IEEE Proceedings. International Symposium on IT in Medicine and Education 1-2, 1118–1122 (2008)
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9. Dholakia, U., Bagozzi, R., Pearo, L.: A social influence model of consumer participation in network- and small-group-based virtual communities. International Journal of Research in Marketing 21(3), 241–263 (2004) 10. Hagel, J., Armstrong, A.: Net Gain: Expanding Markets Through Virtual Communities. Harvard Business School Press, Boston (1997) 11. Kardaras, D., Karakostas, B., Papathanassiou, E.: The potential of virtual communities in the insurance industry in the UK and Greece. International Journal of Information Management 23(1), 41–53 (2003) 12. Kim, Y.A., Le, M.T., Lauw, H.W., Lim, E.P., Liu, H.F., Srivastava, J.: IEEE: Building a web of trust without explicit trust ratings. Paper presented at the 24th IEEE International Conference on Data Engineering, Cancun, MEXICO (2008) 13. Kozinets, R.V.: E-tribalized marketing?: the strategic implications of virtual communities of consumption. European Management Journal 17(3), 252–264 (1999) 14. Nambisan, S.: Designing virtual customer environments for new product development: Toward a theory. Academy of Management Review 27(3), 392–413 (2002) 15. Ocasio, W.: Towards an Attention-Based View of the Firm. Strategic Management Journal 18(S1), 187–206 (1997) 16. Pascu, C., Osimo, D., Ulbrich, M., Turlea, G., Burgelman, J.C.: The potential disruptive impact of Internet 2 based technologies. First Monday 12(3) (2007) 17. Porter, C.: A Typology of Virtual Communities: A Multi-Disciplinary Foundation for Future Research. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 10(1) (2004) 18. Porter, C.E., Donthu, N.: Cultivating trust and harvesting value in virtual communities. Management Science 54(1), 113–128 (2008) 19. Rheingold, H.: The Virtual Community: Homesteading on the Electronic Frontier. Addison-Wesley Pub. Co., Reading (1993) 20. Schoberth, T., Heinzl, A., Preece, J.: Exploring communication activities in online communities: A longitudinal analysis in the financial services industry. Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce 16(3-4), 247–265 (2006) 21. Shankar, V., Smith, A.K., Rangaswamy, A.: Customer satisfaction and loyalty in online and offline environments. International Journal of Research in Marketing 20(2), 153–175 (2003) 22. Yang, J.M., Li, K.F., Zhang, D.F.: Recommendation based on rational inferences in collaborative filtering. Knowledge-Based Systems 22(1), 105–114 (2009)
Personalized and Deformed Avatars for Realizing Avatar-Mediated Real Person-to-Person Communication Masayuki Heike, Kinya Fujita, and Takahiro Tanaka Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology 2-24-16 Nakacho, Koganei, 184-8588 Tokyo, Japan {50007646124@st, kfujita@cc, takat@cc}.tuat.ac.jp
Abstract. In avatar-mediated communication, there is a potential risk of familiarity detraction caused by differences between the appearance of the user and the avatar. However, the personalized avatars did not produce familiarity against the expectation. In this study, deformation rules extracted independently of the aspects of the models are discussed by comparing seven cartoon portraits to the originals. An avatar personalizing tool based on the averaged deformation proportions was developed. It was experimentally confirmed that the personalized and deformed avatars produce more familiarity. Keywords: Communication, Avatar, Avatar Personalization, Deformation.
1 Introduction Popularization of broadband networks has spurred the growth of multi-party, realtime, on-line communication systems based on text, voice, and video information. Video-chat systems have the advantage of allowing users to recognize facial expressions and gestures of their partner, compared to other forms of communication systems. The communication quality of a video chat is therefore considered closer to real face-to-face communication than other forms of communication. However, the direct use of video images risks unintentionally giving out personal information. This privacy risk is more serious for personal users and hence limits the number of users. Avatar-mediated communication systems can provide a multi-party, on-line communication system for users concerned about privacy. Human communication depends on both nonverbal and verbal information [1]. Nonverbal information is considered to provide as much as 93% of the information in face-to-face communications [2]. One potential disadvantage of avatar-mediated communication is the absence of this nonverbal information that is naturally expressed by users. The missing nonverbal information must be adequately compensated for in order to attain natural communication that is equivalent to face-to-face communication. To compensate for the missing nonverbal information in avatars, many systems have introduced manual control functions for the behavior and appearance of the avatar. Some studies have been carried out to automatically compensate for the nonverbal information, such as nod control by detecting the end of the utterances [3], A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 207–215, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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gaze control based on a human gaze targeting model and paralinguistic information [4]. Personalized avatars based on photo images that reflect the physical features of the user have also been studied. However, a simple personalization of the physical shape of the avatar does not produce familiarity [5]. This is similar to the "uncanny valley" problem [6], in which human observers offer a response of revulsion when robots and other facsimiles of humans look and act almost like real humans. In multi-party communication systems, the avatars should produce a sense of familiarity in terms of making a positive impression and reflecting the features of the participants. In this study, we focused on the positive impressions of characters in Japanese cartoons. We extracted deformation rules from caricatures and averaged them. Impressions of the personalized and deformed avatars were subjectively evaluated. This paper discusses the extracted deformation rules and the effects of deformation and personalization on familiarity.
2 Networked Voice Communications 2.1 Avatar-Mediated Real Person-to-Person Communication Real-time network communications are basically divided into two categories. The first is direct communication, shown in Fig. 1(a), such as video chatting. It allows users to imagine the communication partner and the partner’s status from a displayed image. The second is indirect communication, shown in Fig. 1(b), such as avatarmediated chat using avatars that do not reflect personal features. The inconsistency between the avatar appearance and the communication partner prevents users from recognizing the displayed avatars as the person they are communicating with. It is widely observed that the users act as puppet masters and talk only about topics within the simulated metaverse. In this case, avatar-mediated communication is considered to be quite different from direct communication, particularly in communication between acquaintances.
Fig. 1. Styles of networked communication and the consistency of appearance between the avatar and the speaker. (a) Direct communication such as a video chat. (b) Avatar-mediated communication using non-personalized avatars. (c) Avatar-mediated communication using personalized avatars.
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This study aims to realize yet another style of communication—avatar-mediated real person-to-person communication, shown in Fig. 1(c). Personalized avatars provide more consistent avatars for the speakers and should allow more direct communication between the users. At the same time, the avatars protect their privacy. 2.2 Personalized Avatars with Familiarity A former study revealed that the personalized avatars, whose shapes are proportional to that of the actual user, provide more negative impressions [5]. This was thought to be due to the “uncanny valley” effect [6]. The enlargement of the eyes and the mouth was effective in improving the sense of similarity, not familiarity [5]. This is possibly due to the simplification of the shapes and textures that might weaken the impression of the facial features. We propose a dual-axis model that includes similarity and favorability, to discuss the familiarity of avatars, shown in Fig. 2. Physically personalized avatars have a higher similarity to the person they represent, but are less favorable due to the “uncanny valley” problem. In contrast, well-designed cartoonish characters such as deformed animals have a higher favorability but no similarity. Neither of these two examples provides similarity and favorability at the same time. Therefore, we propose a cartoonish deformation of a personalized avatar to provide a balance between similarity and favorability. The compatibility of the two factors is expected to provide greater familiarity in communication between acquaintances.
Fig. 2. Similarity-favorability model for discussing avatar familiarity
3 Avatar Personalization Tool We developed an interactive avatar personalization tool that adapts the shape of the standard 3D head model to the shape of the user [5]. The head model has 398 vertices and 539 polygons. The personalization tool allows GUI shape adaptation using front and side view images of the model, as shown in Fig. 3. A three step adaptation process was adopted for faster personalization. The first step is the entire scaling and translation for general adaptation. The second step addresses individual facial part scaling and translation, such as eyes, eyebrows, nose, mouth, ears, and hair. The last
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Fig. 3. Screenshot of the developed avatar personalization tool
is the adjustment of each vertex. In addition, the vertices for a smiling face were defined by adapting a customized normal face using the same tool for automatic facial expression control during voice chats based on paralinguistic information [4]. Automatic deformation is performed after the personalization process, based on a deformation rule that is extracted by the following procedure. It removes the necessity for the user to make subjective judgment and manual operation.
4 Extraction of Standard Deformation Rules 4.1 Deformation Tendencies in Cartoonish Portraits First, we compared seven personalized avatars based on photo images and cartoonish portraits of the same persons drawn by an amateur illustrator, as shown in Fig. 4. Two common tendencies, 1) downward translation of eyes, eyebrows, nose, and mouth, and 2) enlargement of the features were observed. Deformation might be considered an emphasis of personal features. However, there is a potential risk that arbitrary emphasis of personal features does not provide a favorable impression. Furthermore, generalized deformation rules simplify the deformation
(a) personalized avatar
(b) cartoonish portrait
Fig. 4. Comparison of personalized avatar and illustrated cartoonish portrait
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process, and even the same deformation rule emphasizes differences in the shapes of the users. Therefore, the possibility of a general deformation rule is experimentally tested in this study. 4.2 Extraction of Deformation Rules in Portraits According to the observed deformation tendencies, the downward translation, and the enlargement of the facial features such as the eyes and nose are modeled in eq. (1) and (2). The defined parameters are as follows.
pi ' = α ( pi − p M ) + p M
(1)
pi ' = − β ( p M − p min ) + pi
(2)
α : scaling factor for the part, β : translation distance, p M : mean position of the part p' : positions after deformation, pi : positions before deformation, pmin : chin position
It was anticipated that the parameters for the different features take different values, hence the personalized avatars based on the photo images were adapted again to the illustrated portraits using the developed avatar personalizing tool, an example is shown in Fig. 5. After the re-adaptation of the avatar shape, the scaling factors and the translation distances for each facial part were calculated for the seven portraits. The unique parameters for the five models and the average values for all seven models are shown in table 1.
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
Fig. 5. Example of avatar personalization and deformation based on the photo image and the portrait. (a) Photo image of the model. (b) Personalized avatar based on the photo image. (c) Deformed avatar based on the portrait. (d) Portrait used for avatar deformation. Table 1. Unique and average deformation parameters Model Scale
translation
eyebrow Eye Nose Mouth eyebrow Eye Nose Mouth
1 X Y 1.3 1.1 1.6 3.2 0.8 0.8 1.2 0.4 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2
2 X Y 1.3 1.2 1.6 1.8 0.8 0.8 1.0 0.5 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
3 X Y 1.1 1.1 1.4 2.8 0.7 0.7 0.9 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3
4 X Y 1.1 1.1 1.6 3.2 0.8 0.8 1.0 0.4 0.1 0.3 0.4 0.3
5 X Y 1.1 1.3 1.4 3.2 0.7 0.7 0.9 0.5 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.4
average X Y 1.2 1.2 1.5 2.6 0.8 0.8 1.0 0.4 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.3
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Deformation factor
D=0
D = 0.33
D = 0.67
D = 1.0
Fig. 6. Examples of automatically deformed avatars based on the extracted rule
The scaling factor for the eye vertical length is the largest in all the models, and some deviation is observed. The translation distance varies from 0.1 to 0.4 depending on the parts and the models. A similar tendency is observed among all the models. Figure 6 shows examples of the deformed avatars obtained using the average deformation factors. The avatars were personalized first using photos, and deformed later. The left two figures are the personalized avatars. The right figures are those deformed according to the rule. The figures between them are also deformed avatars using scaled deformation factors that are 33% or 66% of the original factors. The automatic symmetry adjustment routine for eyes and eyebrows was implemented because the enlargement and the translation of the individual part emphasized the asymmetry of the facial features. The upper avatars in Fig. 6 are for the model that was used for the deformation rule extraction; the lower avatar was not used. As the deformed avatar for the model independent of the rule extraction had no serious defects, it seems the extracted deformation rule can be generally applied.
5 Subjective Evaluation of Avatars 5.1 Evaluation of the Avatars of Acquaintances Subjective evaluation of the avatars deformed based on the extracted rules was performed using the static frontal view of the avatars. The deformation factor was varied 0, 33, 66, 100, and 133%, where 0% represents the personalized avatar and 100% represents the avatar deformed using the extracted rules. The similarity, favorability, and willingness to use it, were subjectively rated by 11 university students. The subjects evaluating the avatars were chosen from persons who know the models, to evaluate similarities between the model and avatar. The number of evaluated avatars was 11, and the evaluation order was randomized. The averages and the standard deviations for the avatars are shown in Fig. 7. It was confirmed that deformation improved the favorability scores as expected. The highest favorability was obtained at 66%, and not 100%. It appears that small shape defects were emphasized by the enlargement. The peak favorability scores of deformed avatars were higher than those of the non-deformed personalized avatars in all combinations of
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5 Willingness to use
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66 33 100 Deformation level (%)
4 3 2 1
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Fig. 7. Results of subjective evaluation of the avatars of acquaintances. (a) Similarity; (b) favorability; and (c) willingness to use scores.
evaluation subjects and model subjects. The results suggest that the existence of general deformation rules are independent of the models that improve favorability. Interestingly, the highest similarity score was observed at 33% deformation, not 0%. This tendency coincides with the previous study that suggests that the subjective adaptation of the avatar shape resulted in larger eyes and mouth than their actual sizes [5]. It is speculated that the recognized size of the parts of the simple cartoonish avatar are smaller than the subjective size of photographic parts that have complicated textures. The tendency of the willingness to use was similar to that of favorability. This demonstrated that the deformation of the personalized avatar provides more similarity and favorability, as well as the willingness to use it. 5.2 Evaluation of the Avatars of Unknown Persons and Their Own Avatars To discuss the cross effect of similarity on favorability, a similar evaluation experiment on favorability was performed with eight subjects who do not know the models, the results of which are shown in Fig. 8. As seen in the figure, the tendencies were similar to those of the previous experiment. Therefore, the sense of similarity seems to have no affect on favorability. To discuss the difference between the most favorable deformation level of their own avatar and the avatars of others, the most favorable deformation levels were investigated for nine modeled subjects. As shown in table 2, no difference was observed.
Favorability
5 4 3 2 1
0
33 66 100 Deformation level (%)
Fig. 8. Favorability scores of the avatars of unknown persons
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subject own others
A 66% 66%
B 66% 66%
C 66% 66%
D 100% 100%
E 66% 66%
F 66% 66%
G 33% 33%
H 66% 66%
I 66% 66%
6 Discussion The most favored deformation level differed with the subject, but the peak favorability scores of the various deformed avatars were higher than those for the nondeformed personalized avatars for all combinations of evaluation subjects and models, including the modeled subjects who were not used for the deformation tendency analysis. This suggests the existence of a general deformation rule that improves favorability, independent of the target models. The applied deformation in this study was the enlargement and the downward translation of the facial features. That makes the facial proportions closer to those of children. A further improvement of the deformation rules could be discussed by analyzing the proportion differences between adults and children. The most favored deformation level was lower than 100%, which represents deformation by the extracted rule. One possible reason is the effect of the similarity impression; however, this is rejected because the evaluators who did now know the models had the same favored deformation levels. The most likely reason is that this is due to the effect of shape defects caused by the enlargement, which magnifies position errors and the polygon edges. Automatic adjustment of small shape defects, such as with smoothing, will be discussed. The most favored deformation level of a person’s own avatar was generally the same as that for avatars of others. It seems that none of the individuals had a problem in sending the most favorable avatar to a communication partner to represent him or her. However, individual differences were observed in determining the favorable deformation levels. Thus, it would be better to provide a function that allows users to interactively customize the deformation level of the displayed avatars.
Fig. 9. Screenshot of the avatar-mediated voice chat system
In this study, we assumed that the compatibility between favorability and similarity provides more familiarity, and that higher familiarity provides real person-to-person
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communication between acquaintances. However, the evaluation was performed using the statically displayed avatars in this study. The effect of the deformed avatars on the communication impression is still unknown. The developed avatars are implemented in an avatar-mediated voice chat system [4], as shown in Fig. 9, and prepared for evaluation.
7 Conclusions In this study, we focused on the positive impression of characters in Japanese cartoons. Deformation rules were extracted from cartoonish portraits and were implemented in an avatar personalizing tool. A subjective evaluation using the personalized and deformed avatars demonstrated the possibility of the avatars with similarity to the model, but without producing the “uncanny valley” sense. An evaluation in online communication is currently underway. Acknowledgments. This work was partially supported by the MEXT Fund for Promoting Research on Symbiotic Information Technology.
References 1. Mehrabian, A.: Nonverbal communication. Aldine-Atherton (1972) 2. Mehrabian, A.: Silent messages. Wadsworth (1981) 3. Watanabe, T., Danbara, R., Okubo, M.: InterActor: Speech Driven Embodied Interactive Actor. In: 11th IEEE International Workshop on Robot and Human Interactive Communication, pp. 430–435 (2002) 4. Miyajima, T., Fujita, K.: Control of avatar’s facial expression using fundamental frequency in multi-user voice chat system. In: Gratch, J., Young, M., Aylett, R.S., Ballin, D., Olivier, P. (eds.) IVA 2006. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 4133, p. 462. Springer, Heidelberg (2006) 5. Heike, M., Miyajima, T., Fujita, K.: Effect of personalized avatar on communication in virtual space voice chat system. In: Human Interface Symposium 2007 (2007) (in Japanese) 6. Mori, M.: The Uncanny Valley. Energy 7(4), 33–35 (1970) (translated by MacDorman, F.K., Minato, T.)
Ghatcha: GHost Avatar on a Telework CHAir Yutaka Ishii1, Kouzi Osaki2, and Tomio Watanabe3,4 1
Information Science and Technology Center, Kobe University, 1-1 Rokkodai, Nada, Kobe, Hyogo 657-8501, Japan
[email protected] 2 Graduate School of System Engineering, Okayama Prefectural University, 111 Kuboki, Soja, Okayama 719-1197, Japan
[email protected] 3 Faculty of Computer Science and System Engineering, Okayama Prefectural University, 111 Kuboki, Soja, Okayama 719-1197, Japan 4 Crest of Japan Science and Technology Agency,
[email protected]
Abstract. There has been much discussion on remote communication support for a telework that will enable employees to work at remote offices. We have already developed a remote communication support system via embodied avatars based on users’ behaviors. However, there are various problems associated with an avatar-mediated interaction, particularly with regard to the relation between users and their avatars. In this study, we propose the concept of a presence sharing system Ghatcha [GHost Avatar on a Telework CHAir] in which the users’ embodiment is not indicated by the avatars but by the chairs that suggest the presence of avatars. This system provides the same communication space for the users’ embodiment, thus creating a feeling of working alongside remote workers. In this paper, we propose the concept of this system and develop a prototype system. Moreover, the effectiveness of the prototype system is confirmed in the experiment. Keywords: Embodied Interaction, Avatar, Remote Communication, Telework, Remote Operating Chair.
1 Introduction Employees now have the option of working from a remote location away from their home offices, using information communication technology such as the Internet. A telework increases productivity and operational efficiency by offering employees the flexibility to work from their home offices. A telework would gain popularity as it can be utilized in different ways. However, the quality or efficiency of work might deteriorate as a result of a telework as it leads to a sense of isolation or a lack of concentration. Thus, it is important to examine remote collaboration support in detail. Remote collaboration has various purposes and applications, and it is expected to support for each situation. The subjects of this research are not remote users performing a group task but individual users performing their own specific tasks wherein all their co-workers also perform tasks with the same aim such as a job of a home-based A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 216–225, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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worker or individually pursuing online distance learning. For example, these include software developments, data inputs, and assembling parts together. There has been an intensive discussion on and a remarkable improvement in the remote collaboration support systems for the group task [1],[2],[3]. These systems are constructed by a video image, voice, or virtual reality technique, and these techniques are quite effective for remote collaboration or realistic communication. In the case of tasks that are not synchronized, however, the video image might contradict our expectations. In order to solve the problem, Honda et al. proposed a virtual office system “Valentine” using an awareness space and provided a work support environment for home-based workers [4],[5]. Moreover, various media communication methods have been proposed for practical use, such as the design of a communication environment, which aims at maintaining and fostering human relations for family members living apart, or a communication system wherein the furniture or daily necessities, which are separated in different rooms, can be linked [6],[7]. However, when a user’s own avatar is used as a communication media for an embodied interaction, many issues arise with regard to the relation between the users and their avatars. For example, if a human-type avatar is used, the correspondence of the user’s motion and that of the avatar’s would be hindered by input devices. Otherwise, the appearance of an avatar cannot appropriately represent a user’s embodiment. We have developed an avatar mediated communication system for remote users using a human type avatar called a “VirtualActor” and an abstract wave type avatar called a “VirtualWave.” The importance of the relation between the users’ behavior and that of their avatars’ has been confirmed by the communication experiment [8]. Furthermore, an embodied avatar called “PuppetAvatar” based on a user’s hand motion with a glove sensor or a 3D trackball has been developed, and the effectiveness of the system has been confirmed by another experiment [9]. These systems comprise an interface design focused on the embodied avatars of remote users. The interaction media should consider the inclusive input/output relations of not only avatars but also the environment information. In this research, we propose a new communication system using not the explicit virtual avatar but a chair in which a user’s embodiment is represented. The chair motions indicate the presence of the remote users with the implicit avatar in the same communication space. Wesugi et al. have so far developed a chair communication system called “Lazy Susan” as a motion sharing system for remote users [10]. Their system introduces the presence of remote users by sharing the mutual chair motions of the users, which is linked to the partner’s chair motion. However, the system was not evaluated from the viewpoint of the interaction with the avatar in the same virtual communication space. Some studies have proposed that a user’s condition can be estimated by examining the sitting behavior of that user. Such estimations do not consider environment information as the relation between the user’s chair motion and the avatar’s chair motion. Moreover, the study of the evaluation of the chair motion on the basis of the user’s stance has been performed on the intentional autonomous behaviors of an artifact [11]. In human interaction, both users would interpret the chair motions in a different manner on the assumption that the partner behaves in the same way within the same interface. The present study aims to recreate the environment in which remote users interact with their co-workers in the same virtual office,
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and enhance their motivation in performing their tasks. In this paper, a prototype of the system using a virtual environment is developed, and the effectiveness of this system is demonstrated by an evaluation experiment.
2 Avatar-Mediated Interaction The schema of a remote embodied interaction system is shown in Fig. 1. In avatarmediated interaction, the relation between users and avatars is developed from avatar information, environment information, and the input devices that connect a user to the system. This relation is shown in Table 1. The avatar information is characterized by the avatar’s behavior or appearance. The functions of gesturing, nodding, gazing, and making facial expression include the same functions of a real face-to-face communication, such as emblem, illustrator, and regulator. The environment information about an arrangement, a background, or a network delay leads to the formation of social properties such as closeness, initiative, and participation.
Fig. 1. Embodied avatar-mediated interaction Table 1. Classification of the information of avatar-mediated communication Information Avatar
Classification Gesture, Nodding Gaze line Facial expression Utterance Physiological information Shape Contact response
Function Similar functions as is the case in real face-toface communication, such as emblem, illustrator, and regulator Verbal message Affect display, the sense of being alive Social identification, anonymous participation Sharing the same communication space
Environment
Arrangement Background Delay Participants Collaboration
-- Formation of social properties such as closeness, initiative, and participation -- Constitution of the role of the shared communication space
Input devices Mouse, Keyboard, Joystick Construction of the relations between users Camera and their own avatars Various sensors Exclusive devices
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Fig. 2. Recognition model of interaction awareness via communicative avatars
This information constitutes the role of the shared communication space. The input devices affect the relation between the users and their avatars as these devices serve as the function controls for the avatar information and the environment information. It would be necessary to analyze and synthesize these factors systematically for the development of a human-oriented interaction support system. In addition, the recognition model of interaction awareness via communicative avatars is shown in Fig. 2. User A identifies avatar A as “himself/herself” in the virtual communication space through the recognition of the correspondence between his/her behavior and that of the avatar’s. Avatar A, which visualizes the communicative behaviors of user A and avatar B as the substitute of user B, can have embodied interaction in the same space. User A would regard the representation of avatar B for user B in the same way as the representation of his/her own avatar A as long as both avatars work within the same limits of working range. After all, user A would perceive avatar B’s behavior as the behavior of user B. The embodied relation of a user and his/her own avatar is very important when designing the interface as it enables effective interaction awareness in the shared communication space.
3 Presence Sharing System for a Telework: Ghatcha 3.1 Concept of the System We have developed an avatar-mediated communication system using a human type avatar called “VirtualActor” and an abstract type avatar called “VirtualWave” for the embodied interaction in the previous chapter as shown in Fig. 3, and the effectiveness of the system has been confirmed [8]. Moreover, we have investigated the importance of a mutually shared embodiment by the communication experiments using the system. However, as shown in Fig 1, the embodiment is not always indicative of the avatar information in the input/output of the embodied interaction system. It would be useful to integrate the embodiment with the environment information for the development of an effective interaction support system. Hence, this paper proposes a new presence sharing system called Ghatcha: GHost Avatar on a Telework CHAir. The Ghatcha
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Fig. 3. VirtualActor and VirtualWave
Fig. 4. Concept of the system
system is based on the embodiment of the environment information of the chair motion rather than that of the avatar. The concept model of the system is illustrated in Fig 4. The user is able to identify the existence of someone from the motions of the chair, which responds to the user in the same space. In the case of voice speech, the voice of the partner leads the user to assume that the partner is present. As mentioned above, according to the study of the intentional motion of the chair as the intentional autonomous behaviors of an artifact, the chair evinces the existence of the user [11]. Therefore, the aim of this study is to develop a presence sharing system wherein a user’s presence would be indicated by the motions of the chair. 3.2 Development of the Prototype System Using CG The prototype system using a CG avatar was developed based on the concept mentioned in the previous section. At first, the prototype system was designed as shown in Fig. 5. In this system design, the chair motions are measured by various sensors such as a gyroscope, an accelerometer, or a magnetic sensor. The virtual chair motions are represented based on the measurements, and is shared on the network. The mutual motions of each user are transmitted to the office model from the shared communication space. This collaborative system determines the third interaction space with the chairs for each remote co-worker. The CG prototype system is generated by an HP workstation xw4200 (CPU: Pentium4 3.6GHz, RAM: 512MB, NVIDIA Quadro FX3400), OS: Windows XP Professional SP1, and DirectX9.0b.
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Fig. 5. Communication system design
Fig. 6. Communication scene using the prototype system
The frame rate is 30 fps. The chair motions are measured by a laser sensor mouse (Logicool MX Air) attached under the chair. The communication scene using the system is shown in Fig. 6. This example displays only the user’s human type avatar.
4 Evaluation of the Experiment 4.1 Experimental Setup The system evaluation experiment was performed by the prototype system using CG in the previous chapter. The experimental setup is shown in Fig. 7. The subjects consisted of 10 pairs, and they worked on a simple task wherein they made paper cranes by folding pieces of paper. The task was repeated twice using two scenes: one where the chair system was connected with the motions of the user and another where they were not connected. The subjects were ordered to fold the papers as much as they could. After the task was finished in each scene, the user’s behavior was observed during a waiting period of 3 minutes. The only information that was shared through the system was the motion of the chair. Only the user’s human type avatar was displayed in addition to both the users’ chairs. Thus, the user makes his/her presence felt not as the chair but as the avatar. The partner’s avatar was not represented in the virtual space. The subjects answered the questionnaire after the task in each scene. They were provided an explanation of the conditions and the setting of the experiment, and they agreed to the
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Fig. 7. Experimental setup
experiment before the experiment started. The time taken to conduct the experiment was about 40 minutes on average including the waiting time and the time taken to answer the questionnaire. The example of the evaluation experiment scene is shown in Fig. 8.
Fig. 8. Example of an evaluation experiment
4.2 Sensory Evaluation The two scenes were evaluated on a seven-point bipolar rating scale ranging from –3 (lowest) to 3 (highest), in which 0 denotes a moderate score. For the sake of convenience, the results of the means and the standard deviations are shown in Fig. 9. The questionnaire consisted of eight categories: four categories on the impression of the work and the other four categories on the evaluation of media communication. In most of the categories, the significant difference between the two scenes was obtained by administering the Wilcoxon’s rank sum test; a significance level of 0.1% for the items of “Do you feel like sharing the same space with a partner?”, and “Do you feel like working together with a partner?” A significance level of 1% was obtained for the items “Do you enjoy your task?” “Do you believe that you could associate yourself with the character?” and “Do you recognize a partner’s motion?” The effectiveness of the prototype system is evinced by the positive evaluation of each category in the scene that the chair motions were connected. The scene that the chair motions
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Fig. 9. Results of the questionnaire
Fig. 10. Results of the questionnaire for the divided groups
weren’t connected has a negative evaluation that is significant at the 5% level for the item “Are you bored by your task?” Although the user motion connected scene has a positive evaluation, the means are near 0 and the standard deviations are large for the sake of convenience. Then the results of the questionnaire for the divided groups (Positive: 9 subjects, Negative: 11 subjects) based on the item “Do you believe that you could associate yourself with the character?” is shown in the Fig. 10 from the viewpoint of assuming the character of the avatar. A Mann-Whitney U test was conducted and a significant difference was observed between the two groups: a significance level of 0.1% was observed for the item “Do you believe that you could associate yourself with the character?” and a significance level of 1% for the item “Can you recognize the partner’s motion?” Thus, the users in the positive group of the possession to the avatar could effectively perceive the motion of the partner. In addition, comments such as “I didn’t move too much while folding pieces of paper into the figure of a crane” and “I was pleasant to manipulate my chair after working the task” are obtained as responses of a free
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description of the respondents’ opinions in the questionnaire. The effectiveness of the system can be observed in the waiting time after working rather than during the working time.
5 Consideration The task in the evaluation experiment of the prototype system was a simple one where participants had to fold a piece of paper into a figure of a crane. The waiting time for carrying out the task was arranged. This experimental setup was prepared for evaluating the shared interaction awareness during the time when the users worked so as to reduce their sense of isolation or lack of concentration. The experimental time was about 40 minutes on average. Therefore, the essential effectiveness of this system may not be determined for the purpose of long-term support. These studies should be further investigated. The users in the positive group of the possession to the avatar were effectively evaluated for the item on the recognition of the partners’ motion. In other words, if a user cannot place himself/herself in the communication media, the interaction awareness would be obstructed by the indifference of the partner. By “self media-izing” a user can assume the role of the avatar in the media space, and this would lead the user to identify with the avatar in the interaction space. Accordingly, these features are important for the development of an effective interaction system. A more direct interaction design would be required using the user’s embodiment for interaction awareness.
6 Conclusion In this paper, the concept of the presence sharing system using a chair for telework was proposed, and the prototype of the system using a virtual environment was developed. Moreover, the evaluation experiment was performed using the prototype of the system, and the effectiveness of the system was demonstrated by a sensory evaluation. The distinctive feature of this system lies in the usage of the chair as environment information based on a user’s embodiment instead of the avatar as a substitute in the communication space. A cooperative work environment can be effectively created by this system because users can freely arrange a human-type or abstract character as their co-workers’ avatars on each chair and perceive the relation among the co-workers. Furthermore, this system can be applied to the educational system of private study. Private study at home or a study room might lead to a sense of isolation or lack of concentration like a telework. The system would be expected to support the users’ motivation and change their attitude by sharing the presence of friends or students. Even if the partner is not an acquaintance, the system would solve problems like isolation or lack of concentration by the presence of the other user. An autonomous agent such as a superintendent or a teacher would urge the user to study more effectively within a tense atmosphere around the user’s avatar. These applications need to be further examined.
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Distributed Leadership, Trust and Online Communities Jill Jameson The University of Greenwich, School of Education and Training, Mansion House, Bexley Road, Greenwich, London, SE9 2PQ, United Kingdom
[email protected]
Abstract. This paper analyses the role of distributed leadership and trust in online communities. The team-based informal ethos of online collaboration requires a different kind of leadership from that in formal positional hierarchies. Such leadership may be more flexible and sophisticated, capable of encompassing ambiguity and rapid change. Online leaders need to be partially invisible, delegating power and distributing tasks. Yet, simultaneously, online communities are facilitated by the high visibility and subtle control of expert leaders. This paradox: that leaders need to be both highly visible and invisible as appropriate, was derived from prior research and tested in the analysis of online community discussions using a pattern-matching process. It is argued that both leader visibility and invisibility are important for the facilitation of trusting collaboration via distributed leadership. Advanced leadership responses to complex situations in online communities foster positive group interaction and decision-making, facilitated through active distribution of specific tasks. Keywords: Distributed leadership, online communities, paradox, visibility, invisibility, e-learning, case study, pattern-matching, ambiguity.
1 Introduction Positional leaders who are capable of sharing some powers encompassed within their role to delegate discretionary authority to others could be described as facilitators of a ‘distribution’ of leadership tasks. Yet the extent to which leadership authority can be shared or delegated is complex and situation-specific. Effective distribution of leadership requires high levels of trust between leaders and ‘followers’, but such trust is vulnerable to erosion in both face-to-face and online communities. In more traditional analyses of power relations, highly conspicuous leadership builds trust, as ‘visibility’ is often regarded as a necessary attribute of power. In recent online communities, however, trends have shifted towards greater team collaboration and the high visibility of members rather than and/or alongside leadership. Hence leaders of online communities need to balance ongoing situational requirements for both visibility and invisibility, for outspokenness and silence, to enable greater agency and freedom to flourish in other participants’ contributions. This paradox: that leaders of online communities need to be both highly visible and also invisible or ‘hands-off’ when necessary to facilitate the establishment of trust, emerged from reflections on prior research on leadership and trust [9], [10]. A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 226–235, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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This paper argues that online communities benefit from flexible, low-key distributed team leadership in a practitioner-focused ethos of equality, in which competition is minimalised and communities of practice are supported [18]. This avoids top-down micro-managerial hierarchical control by managers, characterised by critics as interventionary ‘new managerialism’, in which reductive performativity reduces trust [1]. Prior literature demonstrates that humility, humour and ‘bottom up’ practitioner empowerment can be stimulated through ‘relational intelligence’ intentionally fostered by the leaders of such communities. It has also been found that creative willingness to share leadership tasks and responsibilities in a distributed-coordinated team model enables successful teamwork [11]. To examine this, there is a need to consider distributed leadership as a response to situational complexity. 1.1 Distributed Leadership and Complexity Distributed leadership has been substantially on the rise, in theory, for some years. Shared adaptive interactive group leadership approaches, inherent in the concept of distributed leadership, tend to be characterised as agile ‘non-management’ and decentralisation, as the concept of ‘management’ has become less popular and ‘leadership’ has assumed greater dominance. Simultaneously, such approaches encompass a relative downplaying of authority in structural hierarchies. Hartley noted [7] that: ‘Distributed leadership has currency: its time has come; it is the ‘new kid on the block’ … ‘in vogue’, attracting ‘growing attention’… Since Gronn’s preliminary taxonomy of distributed leadership… it has turned into something of a social movement.’ [7] It seems that leaders who ‘downplay’ seniority to render some aspects of leadership authority invisible and allocate power to others in subordinate positions are those who enable distributed leadership. Such approaches elicit more willing grassroots support for innovations from staff than attempts by managers to enforce change through positional power. A drift towards the validation of ‘softer’ leadership approaches fostering social-emotional trust in communities has occurred, in contrast to rational ‘management’ via positional structures, as Hartley notes: ‘Biggart (1989) concludes that firms can no longer control workers through rational-legal (that is, bureaucratic) structures: “Independent work that relies on solidarity, respect, or mutual trust, is poorly served by bureaucratic structures that create authority differences”…. The slippage from management to leadership since 1989 … resonated with an increasingly premodern atavistic tendency …. towards communities whose basis is an appeal to the non-rational…. a recent MORI poll…. noted a ‘drifting from [the] rational to polysensuality’…[an] emotional turn … also … seen in educational management.’ [7]: 208 Arguably, highly advanced leadership skills are needed to respond to the complexities of online interactive community leadership tasks when power is now more distributed, the informal non-rational ‘emotional turn’ identified by Hartley is evident, and yet, simultaneously, management control systems are still required. Prior leadership researchers have analysed the concept of paradoxical demands in complex leadership situations [5], [13], [14], [15], while others recognize dualistic and contradictory challenges facing leadership that must be balanced, challenged or transcended for leadership to be effective. Denison, Hooijberg and Quinn [5] reflect that the:
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‘test of a first-rate leader may be the ability to exhibit contrary or opposing behaviors (as appropriate or necessary) while still retaining some measure of integrity, credibility, and direction. Thus, effective leaders are those who have the cognitive and behavioral complexity to respond appropriately to a wide range of situations that may in fact require contrary or opposing behaviors.’ [5]: 526 Encompassing the seemingly contradictory demands of paradoxical situations is increasingly a requirement for leadership within the shifting, casual, ambiguous complexities of online communication in social networking sites. Such communities make specific kinds of continuously evolving demands on leadership. The team-based informal ethos of online collaboration requires a different kind of leadership – more flexible, sophisticated, capable of encompassing both ambiguity and rapid change – from that practised in formal face-to-face positional hierarchies in institutions. The apparently contradictory requirements of online environments: i.e. that leaders need to be both strongly visible and also to step back into silent invisibility, to be both informally friendly and also sometimes formal and controlling, to be both an innovator and a monitor of online behaviour, means that the effective leadership of such communities is no easy task. The reconciliation of apparently contradictory opposites requires an ability to encompass both paradoxical thinking and rapidly responsive social interaction, in coping with fast-moving pace of online sites. As Denison et al. observe, defining the need for behavioural complexity to cope with diverse multifaceted situations, ‘leaders with a broad behavioral repertoire and the ability, as a part of that repertoire, to perform roles that include a degree of contradiction or paradox, will be the most effective.’ [5] 1.2 Online Communities Online communities have massively grown in number during the past decade, developing a large global membership. Simultaneously, online communication processes have become demanding, requiring advanced leadership of online networks. Many web users have also developed into sophisticated, expert online contributors. For example, although only founded in 2004, Facebook is now the second largest social networking facility in the world, with 175 million active community users. The Facebook Factsheet notes in its statistics page that ‘more than 3 billion minutes are spent on Facebook each day (worldwide)’ [6]. In 2004, Plant had defined online communities as “a collective group of entities, individuals or organizations that come together either temporarily or permanently through an electronic medium to interact in a common problem or interest space” [16]. He recorded an estimated 400,000 online communities (ibid., 2004). More recently, social network growth has massively accelerated: by the end of 2007 active memberships of 230m+ individuals participating worldwide in social network sites were recorded, although this was expected to flatten out by 2012 [4]. Amongst these online communities there exist countless numbers of social networking sites. As defined by Boyd and Ellison [2], such sites comprise ‘web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system.’ [2]: 1
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Online community sites increased their monitoring and control systems in response to early user problems and scandals. Given potential problems with regulation and safety in online communities, requirements for online leadership via facilitation have begun to be specified, for example, in online learning sites [17]. Crawford [3] notes that facilitation of online communities is now an essential requirement: ‘The facilitator is absolutely indispensable. There needs to be somebody ‘who knows’ and who has a role as leader to take participants gently into the community and make them feel welcome—part of the community. They need to be obviously keen on the system and dedicated to making it work. An enthusiast.’ [3]: 441 Assuring effective leadership in online communities is an important prerequisite for safe, harmonious participation by members. Such leadership seems best achieved through distributed power sharing that encourages trust and copes with apparently contradictory requirements for visibility and invisibility, as this paper proposes.
2 Methodology A qualitative analysis was carried out to investigate the ways in which distributed leadership and trust are linked with paradoxical requirements regarding the visibility of leadership in online communities. During evaluation of the eLIDA CAMEL project (2006-07), an hypothesis emerged that a visibility/ invisibility leadership paradox existed regarding online interactions: i.e. that leaders need to be both absent and present for effective discussion management. To test this, three case studies of online community interactive discussions were collected and analysed, as reported in Jameson [10]. The hypothesis was tested in the analysis of random case study conversation threads from an online charitable social networking site, pseudonymously named FLOS. An analysis of asynchronous conversational interaction in the online polylogues created amongst members and leaders in the social networking site was carried out, using a case study ‘pattern-matching’ methodology to analyse conversation threads. This was devised from a replication of Lambe’s [12] work on the analysis of conflict in online communities, in consideration also of the work of Marcoccia (2004) in analysing written conversation in online newsgroup polylogues. Following the analysis of conversation patterns in threads of online messages for the presence and absence of distributed leadership, a synthesis of the summary textual findings was reported and recommendations for fostering improved distributed leadership in online communities were suggested.
3 Findings The analysis of case studies produced by the JISC-funded eLIDA CAMEL design for learning team [8] led to the hypothesis that a ‘visibility paradox’ operates regarding the effectiveness of distributed leadership in online communities. Observations about relational intelligence, visibility and invisibility were tested in the analysis of several online community discussions. These are explored in Jameson (2009) and in the current paper, which reports selected findings from the analysis of case study conversational threads between members of online communities, as illustrated in Figure 1. Three randomly selected online community case study discussions were recorded and analysed from a global social networking site.
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3.1 Three Case Study Discussions from an Online Community Site Case Study 1 on Effective Leadership: Kipper, one of the social network site hosts, opened up a discussion about a site innovation. This discussion comprised 69 posts over eight days. Kipper’s announcement was positively received, with neutral comments and a few critical posts. Mary and Laura, two other leaders, commented helpfully on Days 5 and 7, receiving positive and neutral replies, followed by a new post (from Eve) with an extended criticism. One of the discussion group sub-leaders (Jean) did not react well to Eve’s criticism, posting two inscrutable emoticons. Eve’s reaction was swift – she replied to say, ‘Again a deafening silence on valid issues. The
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emoticons is [sic] out of place and frankly rude’. Another member agreed with Eve’s criticism. Jean replied that the emoticons had been meant as a criticism of site leaders. Kipper replied to Jean’s criticism, thanking her for feedback, re-stating the purposes of the site and talking about new initiatives. Kipper then said she ‘didn’t mean to hijack this thread, so I’m starting a new one to solicit this type of feedback. Please join the conversation: new thread address...’ Following this, neutral and positive posts were posted, with one further criticism. Kipper welcomed the critical feedback, providing information and joking about deficits, saying ‘Thank you again for this valuable feedback. We will look into ways we can improve this feature’. Sub-group leader Jean replied politely. Lynne thanked Kipper as group leader. The final message rounding off the discussion was by Mary, another site leader, who welcomed the thread to discuss feedback, introducing new aspects of work to respond to various criticisms. Overall, this first case study provided an example of a relatively effective balance of visibility and invisibility on the part of the main leader, with task distribution operating flexibly via other leaders and members. Case Study 2 on Aggression and Leadership Neglect: An ordinary site member, Gerald, set up and opened this 111-post three-day thread as discussion group leader, making an announcement alerting site members to a technical problem. This was greeted with alarm and thanks, Day 1 posts remaining neutral and positive. During Day 2, however, the discussion took a critical, negative turn. A lack of leader information (4% or four posts), combined with Gerald’s low visibility, meant an increasing number of critical posts received no monitoring or response. Three Day 2 information posts from Gerald addressed technical issues with a hectoring tone. Gerald reminded members that ‘when I post Virus Alerts then it is not personal….’ However, he did not reply to critical comments and, following a fifth information post, did not enter the conversation again, simply leaving other members to get on with it. As a result of leadership neglect, conversation on Day 3 took a negative turn, with aggressive, insulting responses (5% or five posts) introduced. A lack of visible presence from Gerald as discussion group leader meant that, as in the online conflict analysed by Lambe [12], members tried to compensate for others’ insulting remarks. Reflective comments by Wolf were posted in response to the squabble: ‘It never fails, it always seems that no matter what topic there always seems to be an argument over something or someone coming in making nasty remarks about something that has nothing to do with the topic at hand.’ These reflections were followed by defensive explanations and further personal criticisms. The relative decline in the atmosphere of the discussion reflected a lack of leadership visibility. Overall, this second case study is an example of an ineffective balance of visibility and invisibility by Gerald, who provided low levels of support. Critical feedback and aggression remained unanswered. The emergence of aggressive comment stimulated moderating input from ordinary members, who kept discussions in check in the absence of leadership. ‘Distributed leadership’ arose naturally from within the group in a default ‘crisis management’ situation, being neither organized nor supported by Gerald, whose leadership was both neglectful and ineffective. Case Study 3: Aggression, Defection and Leadership Rescue: An ordinary site member, Barbara, set up and opened this 86-post eight day discussion involving 15 participants. As discussion group leader, Barbara alerted members to spam and asked
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for action. Her announcement attracted agreement and discussions were initially neutral. However, during Day 1, a more critical exchange emerged that degenerated into serious name-calling and insults. On Day 2, Justine posted an emoticon to say members should restrain themselves. Dragon wrote to chastise aggressive responses. Neutral comment was followed by further aggression. On Day 3, T-Rex advised: ‘If someone’s post is not to your liking, ignore it! Why do we have to constantly degenerate into personal attacks that serve no purpose at all – sometimes it’s like watching kids in a playground….’ After neutral comments, Day 3 ended on a positive note. On Day 4, group leader Kipper noted that ‘when you encounter inappropriate behaviour… members should flag this’. Barbara thanked Kipper, but could not resist a further aggressive swipe at Bacon. Positive and neutral comments followed. Days 5-8 witnessed no further aggression as Kipper provided further information. No further exchanges followed until a final positive post on Day 8, by Sheila, a new member. Overall, this third case study provided an example of a ‘leadership rescue’, in which aggression was followed by leadership intervention. Barbara provided low levels of group leadership support, resorting to name calling even when supported by Kipper. Following much community aggression, Kipper’s interventions as a main site leader restored the balance of leadership visibility, following which all hostility stopped.
4 Discussion There is as yet no agreed definition about the practice of distributed leadership. As Hartley has observed: ‘the research evidence which informs distributed leadership is not yet well founded.’ [7]: 206-10. Yet there is growing evidence that distributed leadership exists to an extent in online communities and is best achieved when leaders honestly outline the extent of ‘distribution’ and collaborate also as team members. The case study analysis found that both high visibility and invisibility of leaders in online communities were needed to ensure proactive social exchange. Three randomly selected group conversations involving a range of members were analysed for the presence and absence of leaders within a distributed leadership model. The analysis found that leadership was variably distributed between several site host members, sub-leaders and members of discussion groups, as illustrated in Figure 1. The interactive thread in case study one was analysed to assess the pattern of leader and member posts. Analysis revealed that although there was a relatively high level of critical feedback (23% or 16 posts) there was also a high level of leader information (19%, or 13 posts), with good visibility from the main leader and other leaders who came in to support her in subtle ways. An odd post by Jean, sub-group leader (‘leader inscrutability’ 3% or 2 posts) contained two critical emoticons, both hard to understand and critical of site leaders. These attracted critical comment, though the group focus was pulled back into line through Kipper’s intervention as overall leader. An effective balance between leadership visibility and invisibility occurred: the leader was present, but stepped back to enable the group to engage in discursive interaction. In case studies two and three, leadership balance was much less effective, as insufficient levels of leader visibility were achieved. In case study two, the group discussion leader neglected to cultivate relational intelligence between members and the discussion degenerated to include an unhelpful degree of critical comment (28% or 31 posts) and aggressive behaviour (5% or five posts), with leader information levels
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being relatively low (4%, or four posts), focused only on discussion content and not on social interaction. In case study three, an example of a highly aggressive series of interactions, a lack of leadership information and presence in Days 1-3 was problematic, with a very high degree of critical comment (27% or 23 posts) and aggressive behaviour (20% or 17 posts). In response to this dilemma, the leadership presence of Kipper on Days 4-5 mitigated growing levels of hostility. An effective series of information and interactions by Kipper, an agile positional leader, resulted in an improved situation, with overall leadership involvement (6% or five posts) reaching a relatively healthy balance by the end of debate on Day 8. However, damage from the extremely negative aggressive interactions did have a lingering effect, as some members were still clearly upset by the end of the discussion. High leader visibility was found to be beneficial, to provide information and promote relational intelligence for group cohesion. When leaders were involved in discussions, aggression between members diminished and they felt safer and happier in interactions. Many members expressed appreciation for leaders’ efforts. There was little evidence of any critical attitude towards site leaders, with the exception of the ‘inscrutable’ emoticons posted by one sub-group leader. The moderating effect of leader visibility seemed to be welcomed and their presence in discussions appeared to have beneficial results. Leader responses were polite, informative, clear and brief, though full enough to be informative. Leaders signed off all posts with a polite greeting such as ‘sincerely’, plus their name and official role in the site. However, it was clear from online discussions that participants also benefited from site leader absence from time to time, so that members could pursue discussions without feeling constantly ‘watched’. The fact that two case study discussions were led by group discussion leaders who wanted to post up a new debate was a positive aspect of this site. This enabled ordinary members to lead discussions and have real ownership of debates in which they had a leading role. The distribution of leadership was therefore effected through site leader invisibility when such discussions emerged. To achieve the high degree of participation and involvement that this site routinely attracts, such occasional low visibility from site leaders seems to be a necessity. When discussion leaders were either negligent or aggressive (as in studies two and three), there was a likelihood that members would post more belligerent responses, and that aggression would degenerate quickly into increasing hostility. One member compared this to the behaviour of ‘kids in a playground’. When positional site leaders were around, such leaders either directly or indirectly stopped the name-calling that otherwise emerged within discussion threads. Effectively distributed leadership enabled members to achieve a balance between visibility and invisibility of ‘presence’ in online discussions. It seems that conscious adoption of distributed-coordinated team leadership for online community interaction may develop trust and enable genuine dialogue between team members at all levels in an online community. This can assist leaders to know when and how to engage with high visibility and when to subtly fade away while team activities and decision-making processes are underway.
5 Conclusion This paper proposes that distributed leadership is an effective model of operation for the leadership of online communities. A visibility-invisibility paradox that emerged from a prior project was tested in the analysis of conversational interaction within
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three randomly selected discussion groups. It was found that both high visibility and invisibility are required of leadership when the occasion demands. Findings were that leadership was stronger in achieving positive results if site leaders with positional authority demonstrated a high degree of relational intelligence and humour, operating visibly to announce information and provide responses that firmly but subtly addressed problems, as in case study one. Conscious adoption of distributed-coordinated team leadership develops trust and enables genuine dialogue between team members at different levels in online communities. A tailored local combination of distributed leadership responses should be applied to dilemmas such as the emergence of aggression. Benefits of ‘collaborative advantage’ can accrue from an effectively managed culture of distribution if individuals are invited to lead key tasks. The process of online task distribution tends to transform communities into more inclusive groups through synergistic, dynamic processes of active engagement in leadership’s vision and values. Informal practitioner leaders can be empowered with the knowledge, authority and problem-solving skills to manage complex situations. It is recommended that leaders of online community discussions should demonstrate both high visibility and discretion in terms of the mission, purposes and control of group operations, but that they also should demonstrate an ability to ‘step back’ from time to time to enable others, including group members, to be responsible for group discussions. Clear demonstration of relational intelligence, sensitivity and informal, friendly responsiveness to group posts is an important requirement for leadership to foster trust amongst members. Leaders need also to be clear, unambiguous and supportive in salutations and information to members. The group benefits if leaders pick up quickly on emerging issues that could cause aggressive responses. The latter are most effectively handled using a consistently sensitive, friendly, informal approach that subtly and indirectly tackles the question of appropriate behaviour. ‘Distributed leadership’ can, if achieved effectively, transform communities by enabling everyone to be seen as a leader of a specialism, with ‘collaborative advantage’ accruing from synergetic group leadership. Effective leaders need to demonstrate relational intelligence, sensitivity and awareness regarding when and how to engage with high visibility and when subtly to fade away while member activities and decision-making processes are underway. It is recommended that further research is carried out to investigate appropriate methods for the operation of distributed leadership to build trust in online communities. Acknowledgments. The author thanks the JISC for funding the eLIDA CAMEL project, the Centre for Excellence in Leadership/LSIS for research funds, and eLIDA CAMEL, eLISA and JISC infoNet CAMEL team partners, institutions and agencies.
References 1. Ball, S.: The teacher’s soul and the terrors of performativity. Journal of Education Policy 18, 215–228 (2003) 2. Boyd, D.M., Ellison, N.B.: Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13(1), article 11 (2007), http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol13/issue1/boyd.ellison.html (accessed February 27, 2009)
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3. Crawford, M.: Enhancing School Leadership: Evaluating the Use of Virtual Learning Communities. Educational Management Administration & Leadership 30(4), 431–445 (2002) 4. Datamonitor The future of social networking: Understanding market strategic and technological developments. Technology Report, Datamonitor, New York (2001) 5. Denison, D.R., Hooijberg, R., Quinn, R.E.: Paradox & Performance: Toward a Theory of Behavioral Complexity in Managerial Leadership. Organization Science 6(5), 524–540 (1995) 6. Facebook Factsheet, http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics#/ press/info.php?factsheet (accessed February 27, 2009) 7. Hartley, D.: The Emergence of Distributed Leadership in Education: Why Now? British Journal of Educational Studies 55(2), 202–214 (2007) 8. Jameson, J.: The eLIDA CAMEL Model of Collaborative partnership: A Community of Practice in Design for Learning. In: Third International Conference on e-Learning (2008) 9. Jameson, J., Andrews, M.: Trust and Leadership in the Learning and Skills Sector, CEL Research Report. Lancaster University, Centre for Excellence in Leadership (2008) 10. Jameson, J.: Distributed Leadership and the Visibility/Invisibility Paradox in Online Communities. Human Technology Journal: Special Issue (2009) (forthcoming) 11. Jameson, J., Ferrell, G., Kelly, J., Walker, S., Ryan, M.: Building trust and shared knowledge in communities of e-learning practice: collaborative leadership in the JISC eLISA and CAMEL lifelong learning projects. BJET 37(6), 949–968 (2006) 12. Lambe, P.: Conflict, Gender and Identity in Online Communities (2006), http://www.greenchameleon.com/ (accessed December 15, 2008) 13. Handy, C.: The empty raincoat, making sense of the future. Arrow Books, London (1994) 14. Lewis, M.W.: Exploring Paradox: Toward a More Comprehensive Guide. The Academy of Management Review 25(4), 760–776 (2000) 15. Lips-Wiersma, M.: Furthering Management and Spirituality Education through the Use of Paradox. Journal of Management Education 28, 119–133 (2004) 16. Plant, R.: Online Communities. Technology in Society 26(1), 51–65 (2004) 17. Salmon, G.: E-Moderating: The Key to Teaching and Learning Online. Kogan Page, London (2000) 18. Wenger, E.: Communities of Practice. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1998)
Metacommunication Patterns in Online Communities Arto Lanamäki1,2 and Tero Päivärinta1 1
University of Agder, Department of Information Systems, Serviceboks 422 4604 Kristiansand, Norway 2 University of Bergen, Norway {arto.lanamaki, tero.paivarinta}@uia.no
Abstract. This paper discusses about contemporary literature on computermediated metacommunication and observes the phenomenon in two online communities. The results contribute by identifying six general-level patterns of how metacommunication refers to primary communication in online communities. A task-oriented, user-administrated, community (Wikipedia in Finnish) involved a remarkable number of specialized metacommunication genres. In a centrally moderated discussion-oriented community (Patientslikeme), metacommunication was intertwined more with primary ad hoc communication. We suggest that a focus on specialized metacommunication genres may appear useful in online communities. However, room for ad hoc (meta)communication is needed as well, as it provides a basis for user-initiated community development. Keywords: Online community, metacommunication, genre, computer-mediated communication.
1 Introduction Online communities emerged as a field of study in the mid-1990s [e.g., 1]. If contrasted to computer-mediated communication (CMC) in organizational workgroups, online communities typically facilitate social interaction, involve large groups of people, and evolve ad hoc [2]. Moreover, they are less time-focused than ordinary work groups, the participants may be widely distributed, participation is open to a wide variety of people over the Internet, and the participants have heterogeneous skills [2]. Online communities have been categorized into four types: communities for discussion or conversation (satisfying the need for communication), task- and goaloriented communities (satisfying the need for achieving goals cooperatively), virtual worlds for fantasy and playing, and hybrid communities, which integrate more than one of the above-mentioned types [3]. Alike CMC in general [4, 5], online communities represent a challenge for system designers [6]. One means suggested for understanding new CMC practices better is explicit analysis of metacommunication [4, 5], i.e. “communication that refers to other communications” [7]. However, as illustrated below, a dearth of studies on metacommunication in the field of CMC continues in general, let alone on online communities in particular. A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 236–245, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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Hence, we posed the question: “What metacommunication exists in online communities?” This paper focuses on textual-asynchronous communities, leaving the virtual worlds and hybrid communities as a matter of future studies. We reviewed contemporary literature of metacommunication and CMC and analysed further two online communities: a discussion-oriented Multiple Sclerosis (MS) community on he Patientslikeme website and the Finnish language Wikipedia representing the task-oriented community type. The article is structured as follows. Section 2 discusses metacommunication literature in the field of CMC. Section 3 illustrates metacommunication examples found in two online communities. Chapter 4 discusses our contributions and suggests future avenues for design and research. Chapter 5 summarizes our conclusions.
2 Metacommunication in the CMC Literature Gregory Bateson popularized the term metacommunication, initially in the field of psychiatry [8]. Later on, he distinguished between two metacommunication types [9]. Wilmot clarified and extended Bateson’s view by naming the two metacommunication types as episodic and relational [10]. The former type defines meanings of an utterance or about the communication process, e.g. “this message is a joke”. The latter defines relationships between the participants of communication, e.g. “I am the one who can tell jokes here, not you” [9]. Once a relationship has been explicitly referred to, the definition frames the subsequent communications [10]. To get an overview of metacommunication research concerning CMC, we conducted a search from the EbscoHost database including the keywords ‘metacommunication’ or ‘meta-communication’. We got 334 hits. A wide research tradition on metacommunication has focused on the psychological and medical fields, and on spoken communication. Only 5 % of the hits (18) referred to any context of CMC. Four articles [11, 4, 5, 12] focused on metacommunication utterances as the unit of analysis, being directly related to our research. Through analysing their references, we were able to find additional literature of relevance. However, the field of studying computer-mediated metacommunication seems still to be in its infancy if compared to communication studies in general. Takeuchi et al. highlighted the analytical distinction between computer-supported metacommunication utterances and the primary content of discussion [11]. Their work identified the importance of metacommunication for enhancing awareness and maintenance of the communication context in general with regard to computermediated meetings. This is necessary especially in less pre-structured communicative processes, such as Japanese meetings [11]. Reported examples of metacommunication largely refer to particular utterances of the primary communication, often intertwined with the primary content of communication. Tanskanen [5] poses a number of examples where particular asynchronous textual utterances can even refer to themselves retrospectively, in the middle of the message, or prospectively. Yetim [4], building upon Päivärinta [13] and Ulrich [14], discusses metacommunication as a means for discursive-ethical reflection on and elaboration of genres of (primary) communication. A genre of communication is a recurring communicative action within a community, which has a more or less shared purpose and form [15].
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Fig. 1. Metacommunication patterns identified in the CMC literature
Bergquist and Ljungberg [16] had recognized that many e-mail messages discussed about use of particular genres, which were already known to the communicators. That is, in addition to reflecting plainly on individual utterances, metacommunication can legitimate and elaborate genres of communication within a community. The phenomenon was also recognized in an online community of Bulimia Nervosa patients, where some metacommunication threads could deal with the methods of communication between members, in addition to reflecting on particular utterances [12]. Yetim [4], as well, identifies that metacommunication to legitimate genres and their instances may take place episodically; ex ante, during, and ex post in relation to the referred communicative utterances. Metacommunication can refer also to the communication context in general, beyond particular primary utterances or genres. Hoppenbrouwers and Weigand [17] give an example where norms for using e-mail in general as a medium were discussed. The idea of relational metacommunication [10] seems also to refer to the communication context and stakeholder relationships beyond particular utterances or genres. Figure 1 summarizes the metacommunication patterns found in the reviewed literature. We identified that metacommunication utterances could reflect on particular utterances, genres or the whole primary communication context. Metacommunication utterances could appear as relational, focusing on stakeholder relationships in the communication context, or episodic, relating temporally to particular communication utterances, genres, or some elements of the context (e.g. media).
3 Metacommunication in Two Online Communities We chose two online communities that represent the task-oriented and the discussionoriented archetypes, in order to observe potential variation in metacommunication between two theoretically differing communities. The Multiple Sclerosis (MS) community within the Patientslikeme (PLM) website represents a discussion-oriented community. This site describes itself as “a treatment, symptom and outcome sharing community for patients with life-changing conditions”.1 PLM started in 2005 and the PLM Multiple Sclerosis community is the most popular subcommunity on the site, involving ca. 11.000 registered members.2 Wikipedia in Finnish represents a 1 2
http://www.patientslikeme.com/help/faq/Corporate (February 27 2009) http://www.patientslikeme.com/multiple-sclerosis/community (February 27 2009)
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task-oriented online community. The Finnish Wikipedia consists of more than 195.000 encyclopedia articles. 3 The data collection method was participant observation. The selection of the sites was based on personal interests and partially on previous involvement – the analysed communities were familiar to the authors over a longer period of time. The first author registered to PLM in Spring 2008 and has followed on-going conversations on the MS community since then. The second author has been an active contributor to the Finnish Wikipedia since Spring 2007, with more than 10000 edits on the article space and a number of discussions and other community pages. However, we chose not to analyse our own contributions to the communities. The data analysis could be labelled as a variation of qualitative content analysis [18]. We scanned through communicative utterances on the sites, focusing of utterances of/including metacommunication. To report our analysis, we first summarize the resulting framework (Figure 2) revised from the literature review phase (cf. Figure 1), after which we give examples of different patterns of metacommunication observed during the analysis. The both communities involved genres of (primary and meta-) communication enacted by the users, as well as forums for more ad hoc conversation, where communication does not necessarily follow pre-defined genres [cf. 16]. However, ad hoc conversation seems to form over time some genre-like features on communication and metacommunication. An utterance of metacommunication could appear as a part of ad hoc conversation. That is, both primary communication and metacommunication may appear simultaneously within a single message posted to a discussion. In PLM, these aspects were often interrelated. Sometimes, however, metacommunication had been shaped already towards clearly identifiable genres within and beyond the community in question. This was especially the case in Wikipedia, where many such genres were shared within the site and also across the different language versions. All in all, we found six patterns of how metacommunication could refer to other communications (Figure 2). It could refer to: 1. user relationships and roles at the level of the whole community, 2. the information structure, communication practices and other issues at the level of the whole community, 3. (other) metacommunication genres and patterns, 4. (other) individual metacommunication utterances, 5. genres to organize the primary communication, and 6. individual utterances of primary communication. As an example of Pattern 1, Wikipedia’s “Requests for comments”4 can relate e.g. to a dispute between two users. (A such request can also relate to a particular article, representing pattern 6). For example, in a request for a comment concerning users ‘Klassikkomies’ and ‘Agony’, a few suggestions to solve the dispute were expressed, including suggestions to ban one of them. If a dispute is not solved through discussion and voting, an extreme case can lead to a decision request from the arbitration committee (“Välityslautakunta”). So far only one dispute, concerning users ‘Watti’ and ‘Klassikkomies’, has been handled by the arbitration committee in the Finnish 3 4
http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia (March 1 2009) http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Kommenttipyynt%C3%B6 (February 27 2009)
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Fig. 2. Six patterns of metacommunication in two online communities
Wikipedia, in April-May 2008.5 These examples represent metacommunication genres shared among different language versions of Wikipedia, e.g. in the English Wikipedia. A more typical example is the voting genre on appointing the administrator rights.6 In PLM the thread “Reminder, PLM is a marketing tool, as well as help for us”7, by user ’Fruebie’, discusses the purpose of the community and how users should relate to it. ‘Fruebie’ manifests distrust towards the company behind the PLM site. She dislikes the economic model; to sell user-contributed data about the disease. User ‘Grace53a’ replied: “May I respectfully disagree? In my case, there just aren't enough viable maintenance treatments out there, and if selling my information to a drug company or concerned party will help to alleviate that situation, then I am all for it”.7 As an example of Pattern 2, the thread “The unwritten rules of PLM…”8 discusses about wanted and unwanted communication behaviour. Paradoxically, the unwritten rules became more explicit at the very moment user ‘•ender•’ started the thread. It attracted 35 replies, mostly short supportive messages. Some replies questioned the “unwritten rules”, especially concerning the thin line between something being either unwanted spam or information about a useful product/website. In Wikipedia, a good number of pages refer to the structuring of information and help the user e.g. to navigate on the site as a whole. The main site with its menu structures9 is perhaps the most obvious example. A few pages structuring other Wikipedia 5
http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:V%C3%A4lityspyynn%C3%B6t/ Watin_ja_Klassikkomiehen_v%C3%A4linen_kiista (February 27 2009) 6 http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luokka:Arkistoidut_yll%C3%A4pit%C3%A4jyys%C3%A4%C3 %A4nestykset (February 27 2009) 7 http://www.patientslikeme.com/forum/show/12553 (February 27 2009) 8 http://www.patientslikeme.com/forum/show/28839?post_id=371587 (February 27 2009) 9 http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Etusivu (February 27 2009)
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pages, such as Help:Contents (“Ohje:Sisällys”)10, list other instructional and policy pages. Episodic metacommunication may also be descriptive. For example, user ‘Yst. Terv. Teidän Vaude’ states a question of “How was the Finnish Wikipedia in the beginning?”11 and gets a few answers. This takes place in the misc-category of the general-level discussion forum, which includes metacommunication about various articles, practices, policies, users, and other Wikipedia-related issues which do not fit in the other discussion categories. Metacommunication can also be of technical kind. The PLM thread “Site will be down Monday at 10:30 am EST for 30 minutes”12 is clearly technical and metacommunicative, referring to the whole communication platform. Pattern 3 type of metacommunication utterances and genres refer to other genres of metacommunication. For example, user ‘Quinn’ in Wikipedia opened a discussion about how big percentage of votes would be needed to re-publish an article, which has previously been voted as non-significant and removed.13 The policy for Wikipedia user pages14 is an example of a metacommunication genre which instructs the user about the recommendations for creating his or her own user page. This policy exists in several Wikipedia language versions. A PLM thread “How to earn Profile Stars and a PatientsLikeMe t-shirt!”15, by the community manager ‘thorgan’, describes what the Profile Stars are and how users can earn them. Profile Stars are a part of each user’s profile. The use of stars within PLM has become a ubiquitous metacommunication genre. The first star is “Background star”, granted when a user has shared basic information about her. The second is “Current star”, granted after a user has shared information about her current treatments, symptoms and outcomes. The third star is “Completeness star”, given to a user when she has contributed enough level of informational detail from her whole treatment history. The full three star rating enables a user to receive a free PLM t-shirt, a motivational gift from the company to new users. A few message threads described this t-shirt as a status symbol, which users wear at real-life PLM user gatherings and doctor’s appointments. A metacommunication utterance can also refer directly to another metacommunication utterance (Pattern 4). In Wikipedia, user ‘Japsu’ informs user ‘Klassikkomies’ in the discussion page of his user page16 that a request for comment about him has been opened, referring to it through a link17. 10
http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohje:Sis%C3%A4llys (February 27 2009) http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Wikipedia:Kahvihuone_(sekalaista)#Millainen_suomenkielinen_Wikipedia_oli_ alkuaikoinaan.3F (February 27 2009) 12 http://www.patientslikeme.com/forum/show/35753 (February 27 2009) 13 http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Kahvihuone_(k%C3%A4yt%C3%A4nn%C3%B6t)/ Arkisto24#Artikkelin_palauttamiseen_vaadittava_prosenttiosuus (February 27 2009) 14 http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:K%C3%A4ytt%C3%A4j%C3%A4sivu (February 27 2009) 15 http://www.patientslikeme.com/forum/show/4357?post_id=33638 (February 27 2009) 16 http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keskustelu_k%C3%A4ytt%C3%A4j%C3%A4st%C3%A4: Klassikkomies#Kommenttipyynt.C3.B6 (February 27 2009) 17 http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Wikipedia:Kommenttipyynt%C3%B6/K%C3%A4ytt%C3%A4j%C3%A4_Klassikkomies (February 27 2009) 11
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Several metacommunication utterances and genres referred to genres of primary communication (Pattern 5). In Wikipedia, any policy or guideline on the article genre can be located in this category, such as the instructions for article layout18, which exists in a great number of Wikipedia language versions. A good number of various instructions has been created for varying aspects of writing articles.19 In PLM, the thread “Too much OT”20, started by user ‘garlicfrau’, refers to various off-topic (OT) discussion threads. Interestingly, off-topic discussion threads seem to have become an independent communication genre in PLM over time. Everyone who starts a new off-topic discussion thread tags it as ‘OT’. ‘Garlicfrau’ found this communication genre generally annoying and irrelevant. Some people however disagreed with her, regarding a reasonable amount of off-topic communication as a balancing element of fun among the serious disease-related threads. Finally, a great proportion of metacommunication related to the actual instances of primary communication (Pattern 6). In Wikipedia, examples include the discussion sites for each article (e.g., discussion about adequate naming of the article about Dima Bilan, a Russian singer21). As well, a discussion forum entry for language issues may refer to individual articles as examples of a linguistic issue.22 The “thumb up” –icon in PLM represents also pattern 6. The thread “The Introduce Yourself -post for new members…”23 had received a total of 731 thumbs up – and a total of 677 replies where new users have introduced themselves. The above-mentioned off-topic messages in PLM represent an interesting example of metacommunication leading to changes in design over time. A system for tagging message threads was introduced in October 2008 to serve as a way of indicating the content of a topic.24 In January 2009 user ‘garlicfrau’ claimed that the forum includes too much off-topic conversation.25 In February 2009 a new functionality feature, “offtopic filter”, was introduced to the community platform.26 This feature allows every user to choose whether they would like to read off-topic threads, or filter them out to make navigating the forum easier. All in all, especially Wikipedia involved a rich structure of metacommunication which also refers to other metacommunication in addition to the actual genres and utterances of the primary communication. The PLM site involved more casual conversation. That is, metacommunication by the ordinary users (beyond the moderator instructions to users) in PLM appeared more intertwined to ad hoc communication entries and less organized.
18
http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohje:Artikkelin_rakenne (February 27 2009) http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohje:Tyyliopas (February 27 2009) 20 http://www.patientslikeme.com/forum/show/35701 (February 27 2009) 21 http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keskustelu:Dima_Bilan (February 27 2009) 22 http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Kahvihuone_(kielenhuolto) #.E2.80.9DHerson.E2.80.9D_vs._.E2.80.9DH.27erson.E2.80.9D___ven._nimien_kirjoittaminen (February 27 2009) 23 http://www.patientslikeme.com/forum/show/19467 (February 27 2009) 24 http://www.patientslikeme.com/forum/show/27380 (February 27 2009) 25 http://www.patientslikeme.com/forum/show/35701 (February 27 2009) 26 http://www.patientslikeme.com/forum/show/37782 (February 27 2009) 19
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4 Discussion Already our brief analysis implies a few contributions to the previous literature of metacommunication and implications for research and design of online communities. Our analysis illustrates that metacommunication can be conducted through specialized genres in itself (in addition to just referring to the genres of primary communication). In fact, metacommunication in Wikipedia has evolved to a rich and complex information structure with a great number of metacommunication genres aside the primary encyclopaedic content. This observation contributes to the recent literature of metacommunication in the field of CMC and online communities, which have mostly discussed about metacommunication at the level of metacommunication utterances, or categorizing metacommunication types only at an abstract level into the episodic and relational types à la Bateson and Wilmot. PLM involved some metacommunication genres as well. These were largely enacted by the site administrators, whereas metacommunication produced by the ordinary users took place mainly in the middle of the ad hoc conversation on the discussion forum. This had led to a different “design” of user-initiated metacommunication, highlighting tagging of individual messages (e.g., the “off-topic” tag) to help the users to comprehend particular messages, to navigate, and to categorize the content. As well as genres of primary communication can be continuously enacted, discussed about, elaborated and (re)designed within a community [19], metacommunication genres alike can become a target of more explicit design. Such design and enactment processes of metacommunication can be conducted either by all community members (as ideally in Wikipedia) or by a group of specialist designers. Future research is needed on whether existence of numerous metacommunication genres would be a feature of task-oriented online communities in general, or whether it would be more dependent on the administration and moderation structures of the community. We can actually hypothesize that both task-orientation and communityinitiated moderation structures (if opposed to more fixed moderator-user relationships in commercial communities such as PLM) can facilitate the community to enact more specialized genres of metacommunication over time. That is, if the general-level task of the community can per se be a legitimate subject for continuing conversation and re-formulation (as in some goal-oriented communities), it legitimates use of energy to coordinate the task in detail through well-defined metacommunication genres. On the other hand, if the community has a power structure where its moderators do not necessarily represent the typical users, the users may still metacommunicate through channels of the primary communication. The dedicated metacommunication genres may remain under the sole control of moderators for a longer time as one-directional coordination structures. Of course, a democratic and ultimately user-moderated community (such as Wikipedia), in itself creates a need for a set of metacommunication structures through which to challenge actions of individual users, moderators, and administrators in an on-going manner. In addition to the traditional episodic and relational types of metacommunication, online communities seem also to generate new metacommunication types which often refer to the community in its contemporary shape as a whole. Such examples include metacommunication to help user navigation across the cumulated and stored content base and technical metacommunication informing the stakeholders about the contextual functioning of the site in question.
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More research is needed on how metacommunication may actually impact design of online communities over time. In PLM, emergence of the “off-topic” tag facilitated to establish the off-topic filter. Hence, metacommunication in this case first led to use of the tag which users habitually added to “off topic” messages. Finally, it led further to a new functionality on the community platform, which utilized the widely adopted tag. In Wikipedia, a big part of functionality development takes place in specialized technical user forums. These may simultaneously cover several language versions, where new suggestions of improved functionality are discussed and eventually taken into use through a screening process participated by technically oriented Wikipedia (and Wikimedia) contributors. In the future, we pursue a longitudinal analysis of metacommunication impacts on online community designs. Making design impacts of alternative metacommunication patterns more explicit and identifying the influential patterns in successful online communities might move the contemporary craft of designing online communities towards a more disciplinary field of expertise. In light of the previous literature, our analysis of only two online communities could reveal flourishing metacommunication structures and patterns. However, we have left the virtual worlds and hybrid online communities still undiscussed. Hence, we cannot claim that the six metacommunication patterns would represent a complete view on the phenomenon. The implications of this pilot study need to be validated with a greater number and variance of online communities.
5 Conclusion We identified six patterns of how metacommunication refers to other communication in online communities and illustrated those with examples from a taskoriented and a discussion-oriented community. The patterns and metacommunication types identified through our analysis of previous literature and in the two target communities complement previous discussions about metacommunication in the field of CMC. While metacommunication may refer to varying levels and issues of the primary communication, it may also refer to itself, and furthermore form genres of metacommunication. We argue that metacommunication genres and patterns in online communities represent an interesting field of further research which has potential to contribute to our understanding of online communities in general and explication of design knowledge in the field. However, although we may hypothesize that specialized metacommunication genres may improve design of online communities; room for ad hoc (meta)communication is needed as well, as it provides a platform for user-initiated developments in the first place.
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Collective Content as a Facilitator of Community Interaction: A User Study of Four Close-Knit Communities Thomas Olsson1, Hannu Toivola1, Minna Wäljas1, Kaisa Väänänen-Vainio-Mattila1, and Jaakko Lehikoinen2 1
Tampere University of Technology, Human-Centered Design Korkeakoulunkatu 6, P.O. Box 589, 33101 Tampere, Finland {thomas.olsson, hannu.toivola, minna.waljas, kaisa.vaananen-vainio-mattila}@tut.fi 2 Nokia Research Center Visiokatu 5, 33720 Tampere, Finland
[email protected]
Abstract. Social online services offer communities means for creating and using media content together. The content is jointly used for maintaining relationships and constructing common memories and experiences. Thus, it is very collective by nature. However, few studies have focused on the ways in which communities interact with such collective content. We conducted a field study on how four communities create, share, and use content together in order to understand the role of content as part of the social interaction. As the main result, we present the snowball effect of interaction. It is based on the reciprocity of participating and giving feedback. We also found that the creation of light content plays a role in maintaining the active interaction with content.
1 Introduction With social online services such as Facebook, Flickr and blogs, sharing digital content has become one of the most significant characteristics of modern internet usage. The content is increasingly being used in online and real-life communities for reminiscing about common experiences, sharing knowledge, and as an element in maintaining social relationships [2, 10]. Online services enable their users to interact socially around the content both asynchronously and synchronously. Several studies, e.g. Olsson et al. [5] and Salovaara et al. [8], have shown the significance of social motivation in the usage of personal content. The social environment affects what content people capture and share with each other, and what the initial motivation for these activities is. The studies have shown that the content in small close-knit communities is increasingly being created and used in a collective manner. Communities are based on common interests, community norms and goals [4]. Hence, the practices and motivations for capturing, sharing, and using are often uniform within the community. The ownership of content objects easily becomes A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 246–255, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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blurred, leading to community members interacting rather freely with the content. Especially in online communities, content plays a significant role in the participation: interaction occurs as the community members share, enjoy, and manage user-created content together [3]. All in all, there have been indications of the existence of collective content, i.e. content that is created and used together and created mainly for social purposes, but the interaction with it is not well known. It is vital for the success of future services to understand how the interaction with collective content supports the community. In our earlier work [5], we presented user motivations for creating and using collective content, and the main characteristics for defining collective content. The main motivations for creating and managing collective content were found to be maintaining social relationships, sharing individual perspectives on common matters, and creating group memories. Content was created with a view to its usefulness and relevance for the community. In determining the level of collectivity (i.e. the extent to which the content is collective), we found the most significant factors to be: 1) how much the content item touches and relates to the other community members; 2) the extent of the sharing (e.g. publicly or only within the community), and 3) the community’s contribution in creating and enriching it. After identifying the focal characteristics of collective content, we studied the community members’ interaction with it. This paper presents our research on users’ interaction patterns with collective content. For this, we studied content interaction in four close-knit communities with both online and real-life interaction aspects.
2 Related Research Several studies have been conducted on sharing and using personal content. The studies on personal content management – see e.g. Van House [9, 10], Czerwinski et al. [2] – have explored individual users’ motivations and usage patterns, for example, in creating mobile and snapshot photos. These studies provide us with a baseline for investigating the interaction patterns with collective content. The studies by Van House [10] and Czerwinski et al. [2] consolidate the motivations for sharing with their five-level classification: the content is shared for constructing personal and group memory, creating and maintaining relationships, self-expression, self-presentation, and for functional purposes. According to Salovaara et al. [8], media content was used for coordinating the activities of the group, achieving social awareness, and co-constructing memories and sense of presence. Van House [9] stated that social interaction is a vital element and motivator in capturing and sharing memories. Moreover, Salovaara et al. [8] studied a small group’s co-located behavior at a common public event. Collective behavior in using content, and especially in creating it, was evident. Collective usage of content was regarded as intriguing because of its new interpersonal and inter-group ways of communicating, and the novel opportunities it provided to use the collectively created content. The social element was usually present in the capturing situations. The memorable moments were experienced in groups in order to form a common memory of the event, and to enjoy the social interaction even if the event itself was not interesting. This
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confirms the users’ motivation to create shared collections from various life events. These studies indicate that the interaction with content is indeed evolving in a collective direction. Sense of community is an important factor when thinking about community behavior patterns. The descriptive framework of sense of community of McMillan and Chavis [4] has four dimensions: 1) feelings of membership (feelings of belonging to, and identifying with, the community); 2) feelings of influence (having an influence on and being influenced by the community); 3) integration and fulfillment of needs (being supported by the community while also supporting others), and 4) shared emotional connection (feelings of relationships, shared history, and a “spirit” of community). These dimensions consolidate the common motivations behind creating and using content collectively. The problem of social presence without face-to-face interaction is relevant when considering how the sense of community can be supported by online systems. Preece [7] discussed this very problem, and Counts and Fellheimer [1] conducted an experimental field study involving mobile lightweight photo sharing. The study showed how lightweight photo sharing increased the feeling of social presence and the amount of content shared. On the basis of the related research that we presented, we conclude that the concept of collective content is valid, but it has not been studied as a starting point. There is a lack of understanding of the role and interaction of collectively created and used content. With this study, we aim at bridging the gap between user studies on personal content usage and social-psychologically focused research on online communities.
3 The Study The objective of the study was to explore the selected communities’ interaction in creating, using, and managing content collectively. We focused on communities that have both remote (online) and co-located activity. It was a requirement that the communities were based on real-life relationships and had a common interest. We saw that in such communities content interaction would be rich because of mutual trust, common norms, and real-life events where content is often created. 3.1 The Four Communities We carried out the study with four communities: 1) a close-knit group of middle-aged sports fanatics: Athletes; 2) an active and diverse IRC community: IRC chatters; 3) a students’ scouting association: Scouts, and 4) a young fishing association: Fishers. These were considered to complement each other appropriately with regard to their level of closeness and community activities. The communities mostly performed their mundane social interaction online, but active and regular real-life events were held in every community. Besides the demographics reported in Table 1, the communities differed from each other in terms of the closeness of relationships, roles in the community, the age of the community, and activity with content. The sense of community was estimated by the research team and based on the above-mentioned framework of McMillan and Chavis [4]. All the participants were Finnish.
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Table 1. Backgrounds and description of the communities
Athletes
IRC
Scouts
Fishers
# of representative users 4 / 7 / community size
7 / ~40
4 / ~30
5 / ~60
Age distribution
25-35
20-30
20-30
Sexes of the participants All male
M: 3 F: 4
M: 2 F: 2
M: 4 F: 1
Sense of community
High
Average
Rather low
Estimated % of real-life 50 / 50 / online interaction
20 / 80
70 / 30
80 / 20
Average IT competence Very high
Very high
Average
Average
30-40
Very high
Examples of content IRC, website, Galleries, blogs, Travel stories, Personal photo and applications training diaries, Second Life, website, photos galleries, joint calendar IRC website
With regard to community purpose and interaction, the Athletes’ community was the most focused around their common interest in sports. The community provided a motivation for exercising but social interaction was also very salient in all activities. The overall level of activity with content was rather equal among the members. The IRC chatters’ community provided its members with a chance to interact with like-minded people and share their enthusiasm for certain topics, such as role-playing, photography, and gaming. Almost everyone in the community had high-level IT skills but otherwise this community was more heterogeneous than the Athletes. The social and content interaction often took place in smaller subgroups within the community. The rather heterogeneous community of the Scouts was focused around their common interest in scouting. Approximately 15 members were currently actively participating in the community’s mostly face-to-face activities. The representative participants were mostly members of the association’s current committee and thus had a major role in the community interaction. The Fishers’ community was formed to serve as a forum for social interaction around their common interest. Only about 15 members were active participants in social events and content interaction. Occasional fishing trips and sauna parties were organized, but interaction with content mostly remained on an individual level. 3.2 Methods To gather user data, group interviews, contextual inquiries, and contextual observations were carried out during a period of 3 months. In addition, the users kept structured diaries for a two-week period to record their usage of content related to that particular community. 4-6 representatives of each community (the participants) were interviewed as a group both at the beginning and at the end of the study period. Usage patterns and sequences were studied with contextual inquiries (CI) which focused on individual users’ activities and interaction with collectively created and used content. Two CIs were conducted with each community. The CIs focused on: 1)
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sharing and using photos, and 2) creating blogs, travel reports, and other textual content. Thus, we could first observe individuals’ usage of collectively created and managed content. In addition, two communities were observed in a real-life event and two in an online context (in communities’ IRC channels) to gain an understanding of the content at the beginning of the content life cycle. The user data were consolidated as an affinity diagram. In addition, we drew sequence and interaction models to model the interaction with collective content.
4 Results In the following section we briefly report what kind of content there was that the communities regarded as collective and on the interaction activities with such content. 4.1 The Role of Collective Content in Community Interaction In every community there already existed content that was regarded as collective and there were clear needs for creating more. Examples of content that was regarded as the most collective in all the communities were the communities’ websites, travel reports from trips and photos from community events. The Athletes had a joint calendar for upcoming events and practice sessions and collaboratively created bulletins in order to provide public information on recent events. The IRC chatters and Athletes also considered their IRC chatting to be collective as it was jointly created and past discussions were often returned to. In the less active communities (the Scouts and Fishers) the amount and variety of collective content types was rather low. However, in these communities there was still a recognizable need for creating collective content for both internal and public purposes (e.g. for creating collective entities from events). Further motivations for creating and using collective content, and the defining factors of the collectivity, are described in Olsson et al. [6]. The collective content was observed to play a central role in the social interaction and construction of the sense of community. The communities actively discussed their collectively created content, as it was relevant to their common interests. The discussion often led to reminiscing about past experiences and enriching the content with comments. For example, the Fishers had a catch diary on their website. It was reported that it often acted as an initiator of communication. After a new fish record had been reported, both social interaction and interaction with existing content quickly increased. With the IRC chatters, the IRC channel served as a forum to advertise both their own and third-party public content, as well as to discuss and comment on it. When the Athletes published their public bulletins, the writer’s personal perspective on the messages also created interest within the community and brought up the content as topics of discussion also in the community’s IRC chatting. The activity level in creating content varied a lot among the members. The initiators of the discussion were often those members who also otherwise had an active role in the social interaction within the community and creating social cohesion within it. We also observed that for less active or new community members it was easier to interact particularly through commenting and discussing the collective content. It provided a common context in which members could feel they were part of the community.
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Forthcoming and recent online and real-life events dominated in the online conversation and content usage. Content was actively created, enriched, and discussed jointly during and after the events. People created both verbal and digital multimedia stories based on the content that had been created. The feeling of collectivity of the content was observed to provide a common context that supported the sensation of the social presence of others and strengthened the community spirit. All in all, organizing events was regarded as a significant catalyst for social and content interaction. To sum up, the social interaction around content was very much appreciated as it often involved elements such as reminiscing about shared experiences, learning new things from others’ perspectives, and strengthening the group spirit. In addition to social interaction and common practices, the interaction with collectively created content was also seen as acting as a facilitator in creating community rules and norms, and in the formation of the members’ roles. The norms in creation and overall interaction patterns with the collective content were observed to evolve around common interests and to be based on the level of shared emotional connection. In online participation, the members’ identities were largely formed on the basis of their interaction with the collective content. 4.2 Feedback in Creating Reciprocity in Community Interaction A dominant aspect in the life cycle of the collective content was that several members of the community contributed to its creation, enrichment, and maintenance. Even if the content was originally created by an individual, others’ contributions to it could be, for example, commenting, tagging or editing it, or merely enjoying it by reminiscing about the shared experience. The purpose of commenting was seen as giving feedback to the creator, merely social interaction and enriching the content. Hence, receiving feedback also provided motivation to create content in the future. We observed two kinds of explicit feedback: 1) conversational, and 2) comments added to the content itself. Often, the feedback was given almost automatically as conversations developed from the content. The existing shared content was found to be a good initiator of discussion, as stated earlier. The conversation was reminiscent by nature and thus vivified the actual memory of the captured situation. With textual comments or tags the lifetime of the feedback became longer, making it constitute an essential part of the content object. Content that was much commented on and had been actively interacted with was also observed to be the most enjoyed and used content later on. For example, the IRC chatters reported that they returned to “classic” content objects, e.g. those rich with memories, every now and again. The commenting and discussion generated further commenting, being very reciprocal by nature. Additionally, comparisons with other content objects were often made, which created links to other existing content. The Athletes mentioned that other members’ activity keeps them all active. This was seen as a positive spiral by means of which the community interaction constantly grew or at least maintained its active level. 4.3 Light Content as a Special Manifestation of Collective Content In the communities’ usage of content we found a special type of content that we named light content. The Athletes had their own in-brief publishing system, which they called telegrams. It was basically a lighter version of the bulletins on their
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website. The IRC chatters used Jaiku (www.jaiku.com) status messages instead of writing longer blog entries. Both of the services supported mobile usage, so they were often used for instant on-site reporting and sharing feelings with remote friends. Thus, light content did a good job of serving the participants’ need to know quickly when other community members had shared new content. The basic motivation behind creating light content was social grooming. Light content strengthened the sense of community, as all community members could follow each others’ actions and feelings in almost real time. Stored light content, such as Jaikus and quick telegrams, was also used for reminiscing about past experiences. In some cases light content might even have been the only documentation of a memorable event. It often involved forgotten details and thus served as an interesting perspective on the memories. Most of the light content encountered in the study was also regarded as collective content. This was due to the well-focused recipient group and its high relevance, which required an understanding of the context of capturing/creation. It was observed to be the type of content that most effectively catalyzed social interaction. Sharing a small amount of information with other members quickly opened a discussion thread and motivated other community members to participate, for example by sharing further content. On most occasions light content was used in an almost conversational style, as light content could be answered or commented on using the same or some other medium. We conclude that the common characteristics of light content are as follows: being quick to create and share; having little emphasis on quality; being closely related to the context, and thus being contemporary in nature. Thanks to these qualities, light content was observed to be very efficient in facilitating interaction within the community as it was created so actively and made instant interaction possible.
5 Discussion Collective content was observed to have a significant role in facilitating communication and social interaction in the communities that were studied. It was an ice-breaker for discussion in the less active communities, and a catalyst, motivator, and promoter of social interaction and a nurturer of a sense of community in the active communities. The collective creation and usage of content improved the members’ feeling of influence, facilitated the integration and fulfillment of needs, and supported the shared emotional connection (cf. McMillan and Chavis [4]). Of course, interaction with personal content such as exchanging photos, rating content, or direct discussion, can also facilitate social interaction. Nevertheless, the collective nature seemed to boost this effect substantially. It acted as a motivator for reciprocal activities, such as creating or enriching content. Thus, it maintained or elevated the level of interaction with the content and among the community members. 5.1 The Snowball Effect Maintaining Community Interaction Being in different phases of their life cycle, the communities offered us four dissimilar views on the current state of communities’ usage of collective content. The Athletes and IRC chatters showed that a community can be in a state in which content
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Fig. 1. The “Snowball Effect” describes the continuity of activity with collective content in communities
creation, management, and annotation are highly mature and collective tasks performed collectively as part of the social interaction. For example, by circulating the role of content creator, the Athletes ensured that the motivation maintained high and the content rich in variety. The motivation for collective creation and interaction with content was kept up automatically with the help of having a common goal and feedback from other community members. Hence, the interaction with the content became highly continual. We term this phenomenon of reciprocal activity that maintains or increases content-related and social interaction the Snowball effect. Overall, the Scouts and Fishers had not enough activity for the snowball effect to have gained momentum. However, both communities were able to point out the areas that would require development in their community behavior. They shared an inherent need to share memories and knowledge with each other but the technological issues were the major obstacles to achieving these goals. Moreover, what they regarded as an ideal state was one in which everyone shared their own points of view on collective events and matters, and the motivation to create new content would be based on the common goals of the community. This provided further consolidation for the existence and meaning of the snowball effect. As Figure 1 illustrates, we observed that certain prerequisites for the snowball to start rolling do exist. The community has to be formed around a common interest. The common interest acts as a framework and topic for content creation. It binds the members together and provides a motivation to stick together. The community has to have a common forum to create a feeling of togetherness and serve as a forum for social interaction. The initiator acts as an inspirer and is pivotal in organizing and attending community events. Additionally, the initiator often inspires others to share captured content in order for it to become collective via comment and discussion. Of course, the community requires content creators. The community members must also have enough competence to be able to use the required technology to manage the collective content throughout its entire life cycle. Not surprisingly, we found bad usability and lack of skills to hinder sharing and using content, especially with less technology-oriented users. Furthermore, the members need access to the content, which requires proper technology and services for interacting with the content online.
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The most major elements sustaining the growth of the snowball are reciprocal activity, community events, and light content. Users shared a need to receive comments so as to maintain their motivation to participate. Moreover, people need to know that their contributions to collective matters are appreciated. Hence, the interaction needs to be bidirectional and reciprocal. Without common activity the community loses its reason for existing. This means that the maintenance of the snowball requires events as highlights and continuous activity to trigger and motivate capturing. The role of light content was seen as keeping the social interaction and content creation constantly active. The feeling of social presence from a constant flow of light content kept the community active and motivated to interact with existing content or create new content. Because of the lower requirements and expectations of its content, light content offer an effortless way to contribute to the collective content. On the other hand, certain factors might prevent the snowball from expanding too much. Exhaustion describes the situation where the interaction with and through content has become too extensive, making the snowball ever harder to maintain. Users stated that when too much content is shared the individual content objects would lose their significance, i.e. decrease in value. Unlike its namesake, the snowball effect does not seem to be ever-growing. The snowball effect seemed to increase the appreciation of collective content in communities, but the time used for individual content items seemed to decrease with a rise in the total amount of content. The amount of content and its appreciation may thus increase the requirements to create higher-quality content, and the snowball could thus slow down or collapse.
6 Conclusions The main contribution of the study was an increased and detailed understanding of communities’ interaction with their collective content. The results serve as a novel framework for research into community-content interaction, as well as offering usability practitioners new insights in designing services for various communities. Overall, collective content seems to be an important catalyst for interaction within communities. As a main conclusion we presented the snowball effect – a model of collective content facilitating community interaction. In the model, common interests and activities are the most central prerequisites for the snowball effect. The effects of giving feedback, having community events, reciprocal activity, and creating light content were identified as being the most salient factors in maintaining the level of interaction. Feedback plays a great role in the continuity of a community’s content creation. It is a major motivational factor and a trigger for discussion. Light content describes a new category of content by which people can strengthen the sense of social presence and togetherness with only a small effort. Light content lowers the threshold for contributing to the collective content and reinforces the contributor’s social presence, and thus acts as a central catalyst in the snowball effect. We have shown that the content interaction is a salient element of the users’ online participation in communities. As the work and social environment becomes increasingly networked, users' relationships to others will probably become even more closely linked to electronic content artifacts in the future. Existing content from common interests or events promotes both direct communication and indirect social interaction through commenting on and enjoying the content. Hence, when services for
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communities are being designed, the importance of content interaction should be carefully considered. Overall, the design should support the prerequisites and maintaining factors of the snowball. In this paper, the results are based on four specific kinds of communities; the convergence of offline and online interaction had an influence on the ways in which people interact. In future studies we will extend our studies of collectively created and used content to various online communities and to various contexts.
Acknowledgements Foremost, we thank the members of the 4 communities. Thanks to Juha Lehikoinen, Severi Uusitalo, and Katri Laakso for their insightful comments in analyzing the data.
References 1. Counts, S., Fellheimer, E.: Supporting social presence through lightweight photo sharing on and off the desktop. In: Proc. of CHI 2004, pp. 599–606. ACM Press, New York (2004) 2. Czerwinski, M., et al.: Digital Memories in an Era of Ubiquitous Computing and Abundant Storage. Comm. of the ACM 49(1), 44–50 (2006) 3. Lehikoinen, J., Aaltonen, A., Huuskonen, P., Salminen, I.: Personal Content Experience, p. 382. John Wiley and Sons Ltd., Chichester (2007) 4. McMillan, D.W., Chavis, D.M.: Sense of community: A definition and theory. Journal of Community Psychology 14, 6–23 (1986) 5. Olsson, T., Soronen, H., Väänänen-Vainio-Mattila, K.: User Needs and Design Guidelines for Mobile Services for Sharing Digital Life Memories. In: Proc. of MobileHCI 2008, pp. 273–282. ACM Press, New York (2008) 6. Olsson, T., Toivola, H., Väänänen-Vainio-Mattila, K.: Exploring Characteristics of Collective Content: a Field Study with Four User Communities. In: Extended abstracts of CHI 2008. ACM Press, New York (2008) 7. Preece, J.: Empathic communities: Balancing emotional and factual communication. Interacting with Computers 12(1), 63–77 (1999) 8. Salovaara, A., et al.: Collective creation and sense-making of mobile media. In: Proc. CHI 2006, pp. 1211–1220. ACM Press, New York (2006) 9. Van House, N.: Flickr and Public Image-Sharing: Distant Closeness and Photo Exhibition. In: Ext. Abs. of CHI 2007, pp. 2717–2722. AMC Press (2007) 10. Van House, N., et al.: The Uses of Personal Networked Digital Imaging: An Empirical Study of Camera Phone Photos and Sharing. In: Proc. CHI 2005, pp. 1853–1856. ACM Press, New York (2005)
Analysis of Information Disclosure on a Social Networking Site Katherine Peterson1 and Katie A. Siek2 1
University of Colorado at Boulder, Department of Applied Mathematics, 526 UCB, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0526 USA
[email protected] 2 University of Colorado at Boulder, Department of Computer Science, 430 UCB, Boulder, Colorado, 80309-0430 USA
[email protected]
Abstract. We present a small study about information disclosure and awareness of disclosure implications on Couchsurfing.com. Couchsurfing is an online social networking site where users connect with others interested in traveling and staying at each other’s homes. Since users are looking for someone to stay or travel with, they must develop a rapport and trust before traveling. This leads users to share more information on their Couchsurfing profile than they ordinarily would share on mainstream social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace. After a survey with twenty Couchsurfing users and semi-structured interviews with nine participants, we found participants were generally not concerned with the information they disclosed online and were not aware of how this information could be used against them by malicious third parties. We conclude the paper with a brief discussion of how designers and developers could utilize personas to better inform participants of the implications of their disclosure decisions. Keywords: Social Networking, Information Disclosure, Privacy.
1 Introduction In this paper, we look at information disclosure on Couchsurfing1 to further understand how social networking participants determine what information they feel comfortable sharing. Couchsurfing is a social networking site where users meet other members to stay on their couches while traveling the world. Since the site is focused on travel and hosting travelers, many users disclose information about themselves such as dates they will be away on travel and detailed descriptions of their home locations that would not normally be found on mainstream social networking sites (e.g., MySpace or Facebook). Couchsurfing users are also asked for more detailed personal information than MySpace or Facebook users. For example, the profile template contains fields to describe a user’s personal philosophy, knowledge to share, the most 1
http://www.couchsurfing.com
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amazing thing done/seen, and basic interests included in a MySpace or Facebook profile. In addition to creating a network of friends users can vouch for other users who they believe are trustworthy. To further promote a sense of security, users can verify their name and address by associating their name with a bank account or credit card and by sending a verification code in the regular mail. We chose to analyze this social networking site because Couchsurfing users must develop some kind of rapport and trust before allowing an online friend to stay at their home. Thus, we initially assumed, these relationships developed online and are the perfect place to study what makes users comfortable with information disclosure because users must share some personal information to establish relationships. In addition to studying information disclosure, we studied how aware social networking site users are of the malicious acts that can be committed with their personal data. While the risk of burglary based on travel dates and house location may be apparent to a user, there are many other malicious acts that can be committed based on basic information that users may not be aware of. For example, it has been found that an identity theft scheme can be created just by using a full name or email address [8]. The main contribution of this paper is a general awareness of self reported information on social networking site profiles that requires disclosure for user safety. Although users generally felt the information they provided in profiles would not lead to privacy concerns, we show that the information available could be problematic for most of the study participants. We, as a community of designers, must integrate an awareness of information disclosure into social networking sites so people who are unaware can learn and vary their participation and privacy appropriately.
2 Related Work Social networking sites have been shown to play an important role in maintaining personal relationships. Researchers have shown that it is easier for individuals to keep relationships with people that they would not ordinarily keep in physical contact with because it is easier to distribute information electronically [3, 6]. The prominence of social networking sites makes it a necessity that users are aware of the implications of the information they share. It has been shown that people self disclose information on online communities for many reasons – reciprocation [13], online peer pressure, or naïveté of information disclosure [1]. We want to find out how users decide which pieces of information to share. Online friendships take on a different meaning than in person friendships. Researchers have found that social network site users tend to add anyone as a friend that they know and do not have a strong negative feeling towards [2]. This means that a user might not know their online friends in person or trust them. All their online friends can view their profile unless specific privacy settings are modified. However, research has shown that users tend not to change default privacy settings [10]. On Couchsurfing the default privacy settings let anyone see a user’s profile, even if the onlooker is not a member of the site. Malicious acts can be executed using basic profile information that users likely do not consider jeopardizing. For example, an identity theft scheme can be created using only a full name or email address [8]. Basic profile information can also be used to create a digital dossier of the user. This is a cached record of all the digital data
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available about a person over a given period of time which could be used by adversaries to track a person's life based on previously saved profile data [7]. In fact, a study of the recent census data showed that 63.3% of the population in the United States reported characteristics that likely made them unique based only on gender, 5-digit ZIP code and full date of birth (day, month, and year) [12]. This puts some users at a special risk for re-identification, which is the process of linking datasets without explicit identifiers such as name or address to datasets without explicit identifiers. Sweeney was able to link someone with a unique gender, ZIP code and birth date to their sensitive medical information that was received from a group responsible for purchasing health insurance for state employees and thought to be anonymized [14]. Different pieces of personal trivia in profiles could provide several different opportunities for re-identification, for example if a user lists a favorite book on their profile page and writes a review of the book on Amazon - they could be re-identified with their Amazon user account.
3 Study Design The study consisted of two parts: a survey and an hour-long semi-structured interview. Here we discuss the design considerations for the study and information about the Couchsurfing members who participated in the survey and interviews. 3.1 Methods The Survey: The Westin/Harris Privacy Segmentation Model was mentioned in several papers looking at privacy in social networking sites. Based on the answers to three questions, respondents are categorized into three groups: Privacy Fundamentalists, Privacy Unconcerned, and Privacy Pragmatists [9]. Although this survey would be a good indicator of users' privacy beliefs and practices, it has been concluded that it is not a good predictor of how people act in social settings since it was originally intended to analyze privacy beliefs in a business environment [5]. Our survey asked users about basic demographic information, behavior on social networking sites, what information they disclose, and knowledge of publicly available data. State government websites provided us with information about what personal records can be obtained by the public. Since this information varies a bit by state and country, we analyzed respondent's answers with respect to laws in their own area. For example, different states have different requirements for what authorization an individual must have to obtain a birth certificate or wedding license. We received approval from the university’s Human Research Committee before collecting data. Before launching the survey we had a test group of users complete it to verify the clarity of the questions and the system we used to collect data. An invitation to participate in our research project was posted on Couchsurfing forums. As an extra incentive to take the survey we put email addresses of respondents in a raffle for Amazon gift cards. Respondents were also asked if they wanted to participate in a semi-structured interview. Initially our invitation to participate was posted in a few general message boards on Couchsurfing. Users were very responsive, with 9 users responding within 24 hours of our post. Survey data was collected with a Google Form and analyzed by the team with basic statistical analysis.
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The Interview: The first author conducted semi-structured interviews over the phone because of the broad geographic span between participants and the study team. Interview topics included understanding of malicious acts with user data, privacy, social networking site membership, and Internet information sharing philosophies. Our analysis was informed by the constant comparative method where we iteratively analyzed each transcript individually for thematic content. 3.2 Participants We were able to recruit 20 Couchsurfing members to complete the survey and coordinated interviews with 9 participants. The survey participants were between the ages of 19 and 59 years old (average age = 35; s.d. = 11.8). Similarly, the interview participants were on average 34.1 years old (s.d. = 8.85). Sixteen participants lived in the United States, two lived in Canada, and one participant each lived in France and Belgium. Participants were distributed all over the United States – they primarily lived in the mid-west (7 participants) followed by the western part (4 participants) and then some on the East Coast and Southern parts of the country. Six participants had an advanced graduate degree, five participants had completed a four-year college degree, four participants had some college, and three participants had completed high school. On average, participants had been part of the Couchsurfing community for 14.6 months (s.d = 12.3). Participants were part of 2 other social networking sites, on average, outside of Couchsurfing with Facebook (13 participants) and MySpace (7 participants) listed as the most popular alternative social networking sites. On average participants had 34.95 Couchsurfing friends (s.d. = 55.5; min = 0 and max = 231). Surprisingly, one participant who had zero friends had been on Couchsurfing for eight months, whereas the other participant had been on the site for less than a month. Fourteen of the eighteen participants who had Couchsurfing friends reported knowing all of their friends, three participants had never met one of their friends, and one participant had not met three of their friends in real life. Eleven participants had not changed the privacy setting on their Couchsurfing profile. Thirteen participants reported being very eager to meet new people on Couchsurfing and seven were somewhat interested in meeting new people.
4 Findings Overall, we found that: • Most (19 out of 20) participants could be identified through census data based on the information shared on their Couchsurfing profiles. • Participants were mildly concerned about the information disclosed, but mostly thought that a third party would not take the time to target them. • Most of the participants would disclose information via Couchsurfing with little information (e.g., a request to stay with them) about the other party. 4.1 Profile Information Disclosure All of the participants listed their gender and zip code in their profile, as shown in Table 1. Based on work by Golle [12], we know 10 participants in this study are at
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Table 1. Self-reported information disclosure - what participants disclose on their Couchsurfing profiles. Participants could select multiple pieces of information in the survey, thus percentages may add up to more than 100%.
Information in Profile Phone Number Dates of travel for upcoming trips Detailed description of house location Street Address Description of daily hang-outs/habits Pictures of home exterior Email Full Birthday Full Name Occupation Personal Pictures Age Gender Zip Code
# Participants 2 2 2 3 3 4 7 10 15 16 19 19 20 20
Percentage 10 10 10 15 15 20 35 50 75 80 95 95 100 100
risk of being identified through census data since they list gender, zip code, and full birth date on their profiles. We asked about participants’ age because given a person’s name and zip code, it is fairly easy to get a person’s birth date and gender using a people search web site like Intellius.com. Nine participants could further be identified with Golle’s method, with indirect people-searches to obtain gender and full birth date. Thus, all but one participant could be identified through census data by a motivated third party. Based on this self-reported data, six participants are at risk of the identity theft schemes reported in [8] based on putting their full name and email address in their profiles. A person’s house could be identified, depending on the area a participant lives in, with zip code and pictures of the home’s exterior thanks to Google’s Street View functionality [11]. Indeed, this would take significant time to traverse an entire zip code on Google Maps, however if a person had detailed descriptions of their local hang-outs (e.g., how far they are from their favorite Starbucks), the location of the person could be identified quicker. Likewise, phone numbers could be reverse lookedup to find out the location of the phone number. Fortunately, only two participants can be categorized into this risk. 4.2 Concerns about Disclosure During the survey portion of the study, we found that none of the participants were “very concerned” with the amount of information they disclosed on Couchsurfing, whereas 13 participants were somewhat concerned and seven participants were not concerned with what they disclosed. Those who were somewhat concerned remarked in interviews that a decrease in privacy was expected when you use the Internet and the information they disclosed could be found in other resources as shown in the following quotes:
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As much as I share seemingly personal information on my profile, you can find a lot of the same information by googling my name. Anyone who was interested enough could easily find newspaper articles or my friend’s blogs saying much the same things. – P7 Everything available about myself would also be found in the phone book. - P13 (listed - Full name, Personal pictures, Age, Gender, ZIP code, and Occupation in profile) One participant honestly disclosed that, “I don't know what I'm doing exactly but I've nothing to hide, so no problem- P5.” This participant had disclosed his full name, age, gender, zip code, full birthday, occupation, and pictures of house exterior. As we discussed in Section 4.1, the information disclosed by P13 and P5 open themselves up to possible privacy schemes. Those who were not concerned with the amount of information they disclosed either did not think anyone would take the time to do something with their information or acknowledge the risk but did not care as shown below: I suppose that people could perhaps track me down at work and harass me, or else harass my friends. I don't know why anyone would want to do this, though. –P6 Sure... identity theft and all that, but I don't worry about it. - P11 Although participants who were not concerned with the amount of information disclosed, phishing and other malicious schemes creators do not necessarily care who is targeted - just that information can be used and exploited. Thus not worrying or not thinking anyone cares is not a realistic assumption if a person wants to protect her personal information. 4.3 Decision Process for Information Disclosure Since Couchsurfing is a social networking site to help members find people to stay with during their travels, information disclosure is important so that both parties understand what type of person is staying with them. Indeed, four participants believed in disclosing as much information as possible – full disclosure – so others could decide if they wanted to stay with them: The information on my profile is there to allow other surfers to get an idea of who I am, what it would be like to host/surf with/travel with me. References are all quite repetitive. I actually added information about the time I “scared off” a Couchsurfer, since he never left me a reference. I think people should know what they’re getting into. – P7 This idea even branched out into the global community for one participant: I think that people should put a lot of information on the Internet. Being as open as possible about our lives to each other can only make the world a better place. – P6
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Table 2. Information participants thought was publicly available. Participants could select multiple pieces of information in the survey, thus percentages add up to more than 100%.
Publicly Available Information
# Participants
Percentage
Student records
4
22%
Stock purchases
5
28%
Voting registration information
7
39%
Birth certificate
7
39%
Military records
7
39%
Change of address form
8
44%
Property records
13
72%
Marriage license
14
78%
Arrest/court records
14
78%
Divorce record
15
83%
Two participants discussed how they gradually add more information to social networking sites as they become more active in the community. The final three participants described how they either limited views of their profiles to only friends – friends they knew in real life – or did not put much information on their profile. Participants primarily took two approaches when considering the appropriate time to give the Couchsurfing requestor more information. The first approach, that four participants used, dealt looking at the requestor’s profile, verifications, and references they had. Sometimes this verification went outside of the Couchsurfing site as P13 told us about verifying one Couchsurfer’s travels: For instance somebody said that they had been to a monastery in Asia and I checked their list of places they had been to see that they had really been there. - P13 The second approach, used by another four participants, was simply to give the requestor information when a visit was confirmed. As we stated earlier, all of the participants said they knew most of their friends in real life. However, one participant discussed how when he first started Couchsurfing, he did not know anyone. Through the social networking site, similar to the relationships reported by boyd [3], he was slowly able to create relationships and a network of referrals: Now I ask for their contact information only so I have a backup way to contact them if my train is late or I am delayed for some other reason. In the beginning my hosts and surfers were total strangers, but now they are very often friends-of-friends since I know so many people through the site. - P7
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Other approaches to deciding when to disclose more information included meeting the requestor face to face prior to the Couchsurfing visit, asking the requestor to disclose just as much information as was being disclosed by the host, and verifying that they knew someone in common. 4.4 Awareness of Information Disclosure Implications For the final part of the survey, we asked participants to identify what pieces of information are publicly available in their country or state. In most cases in the United States, the information shown in Table 2 is publicly available to people if enough information is provided. For example, most universities provide the piece of information thought least publicly available to a third party. The information includes the student’s full name, degrees awarded, schools, majors, and distinctions without alerting the student. Students do have the right to cease this information from becoming publicly available. This type of information can give a third party confirmation on where the person previously lived and possibly an income range given degree, major, and graduation year. Birth certificates and wedding licenses sometimes require the requesting party to prove their relationship to the person(s) in question. The other records, although public, require more information than would most likely be available on a public social networking site. For example, voting registration requires registration date and military records require the years the person was in and addresses of time of entry, time of release, and post-separation. However what is interesting here is that participants do not know what information is public and how the data they currently disclose in their profiles (Table 1) can assist a malicious third party gain access to this public information. 4.5 Implications of Information Disclosure All of the participants were aware of some adverse events that happened because of information disclosure on social networking sites. Six participants had experienced or heard of people being hacked because of information they posted on social networking sites. Two participants specifically mentioned the teen that committed suicide because a parent had pretended to be a potential love interest and then shunned her [4]. Two participants had adverse events specific to Couchsurfing where they received false information or the person who stayed with them had not disclosed enough information. For example, P11 shared: When I was going to [place], the person gave me a wrong number and a false address. I ended up on a bad part of town at night. Interestingly enough, despite hearing about these adverse events or, in two cases, experiencing them, participants were still not that concerned about the information they disclosed. They generally believed, “this cannot happen to me.”
5 What Next? In this brief paper, we have given an overview of information disclosure on Couchsurfing and participants understanding about the implications of their information
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disclosure. Although the amount of information needed is formidable to obtain some of the publicly available information for harmful schemes, participants lack of understanding or care about what is accessible and what they provide people shows that we need more assistance in teaching online social networking members how information they post can have implications elsewhere. Since we have studies that specify the information needed for specific schemes (e.g., name, zip code, and date of birth), developers could create filters that scan profiles and alert users when information they disclose puts them at risk of a malicious scheme. These messages, however, must be accurate, timely, and appropriate for the user group. For example, assuming a sixteen digit number is a credit card number, when in reality it is someone’s geocaching data would frustrate the user and lead to mistrust of the filtering system. Instead, we suggest designers consider utilizing personas that resonate with the target population to provide information. The teen suicide, although tragic, resonated with some of the participants – but the message there was it is not okay to forge a profile. Thus, if we create personas that specifically discuss a person who experienced a malicious act because of the data the user has disclosed, they may be more interested in learning about the malicious act and deciding how to proceed or modify their practices.
References 1. Alessandro, A.: Privacy in electronic commerce and the economics of immediate gratification, pp. 21–29. ACM, New York (2004) 2. Boyd, D.: Reflections on Friendster, Trust and Intimacy, Seattle, WA (2003) 3. Boyd, D.M.: Friendster and publicly articulated social networking, pp. 1279–1282. ACM Press, New York (2004) 4. Collins, L.: Friend Game: Behind the online hoax that led to a girl’s suicide, The New Yorker (2008) 5. Consolvo, S., et al.: Location disclosure to social relations: why, when, & what people want to share, pp. 81–90. ACM, New York (2005) 6. Donath, J., Boyd, D.: Public Displays of Connection. BT Technology Journal 22, 71–82 (2004) 7. Gross, R., Acquisti, A., Heinz, J.H.: Information revelation and privacy in online social networks, pp. 71–80. ACM Press, New York (2005) 8. Kay, H.C., et al.: The Internet Hunt Revisited: Personal Information Accessible via the Web (2004) 9. Kumaraguru, P., Cranor, L.F.: Privacy Indexes: A Survey of Westin’s Studies, Carnegie Mellon University of Computer Science (2005) 10. Mackay, W.E.: Triggers and barriers to customizing software, pp. 153–160. ACM, New York (1991) 11. Musil, S.: Google wins Street View privacy suit. CNET News, Digital Media. CNET (2009) 12. Philippe, G.: Revisiting the uniqueness of simple demographics in the US population, pp. 77–80. ACM, New York (2006) 13. Preece, J.: Sociability and usability in online communities: determining and measuring success. In: Behaviour and Information Technology, pp. 347–356. Taylor and Francis Ltd., Abington (2001) 14. Sweeney, L.: Uniqueness of Simple Demographics in the U.S. Population, Carnegie Mellon University, Laboratory for International Data Privacy (2004)
Attribution of Identity in Autonomous Action of Remotely Operated Robot Yugo Takeuchi and Hikaru Nakagami 3-5-1 Johoku, Naka-ku, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 4328011 Japan
[email protected],
[email protected]
Abstract. This paper investigates how people attribute individual autonomy to a remotely operated robot. An experiment was conducted in which participants remotely operated a goalkeeper robot to defend its goal from the kicker robot. Participants were assigned to two types of experimental conditions. Participants assigned to the first condition watched video images that captured the motion of the kicker robot from behind the goal. Participants assigned to the second condition watched video images of the kicker robot from the position of the goalkeeper robot. The result suggests that people are not concerned with the avatar's autonomy when they are focused on the avatar’s situation.
1 Introduction As robotics, media technologies, and intellectual information processing technologies advance, such technologies have become able to interact with the circumstances through the operation of an artificial body different from their own living body [1]. For instance, people virtually communicate with others by CG drawn avatars that visually symbolize the user characteristics and mediate between the user and others in Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) situations. Furthermore, the remarkable progress of robotics provides users with instruments to actually operate mechanized bodies (robots) that also materialize in “another body” of a user in different circumstances from those of the users [2]. Although people can employ “another body” as a physical substitute, its operation is basically symbolic and corresponds to user intentions. In other words, the behaviors of “another body” are not generated autonomously by itself; users must intentionally provide operations for it. Turning to our own living bodies, people frequently perform physical actions unconsciously without particular attention to their circumstances, but people do not consciously recognize how to behave toward a change of their circumstances. This is our usual experience. When walking up stairs, our bodies (knees and feet) unconsciously and automatically adjust to the height of the steps even if the steps gradually change with no recognition. As both above cases, people naturally accept these recognitions as their own bodily actions, even though their bodies performed unconsciously and automatically. Although these facts of recognition concerning the origin of body activity are exact opposites, people generally identify intentional actions with unconscious autonomous actions. Such action recognition is A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 265–271, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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attributed to the people themselves. This assumption accepts the notion of the relationship between a human body and a mind living in the real world. The progress of robotics, media technologies, and intellectual information processing technologies, however, has introduced new problems concerned with “another body” that might show different recognition aspects from natural bodies. Therefore we must explore how people identify the recognition of unification between action by “another body” and intentionality. This study experimentally elucidates the problem of identification with the autonomous action of “another body.”
2 Attribution of Identity and Another Body Today, virtual characters called avatars exist who symbolize a user's personality by CG and are identified as “another body” of the user [3]. In general, users employ avatars for living and performing in such virtual cyber worlds as the Metaverse of Second Life. Avatar behaviors are basically formalized by symbolic commands that correspond to user intentions to operate avatar actions. The avatar only performs based on user intentions except for physical responses to receiving an external force to the avatar's body. This applies to human behaviors, which are decided by individual intentions. For humans, however, their own bodies unconsciously perform autonomous actions without any intention to behave. For example, although people do not especially pay attention to the height of steps when they climb them, they can smoothly go up and avoid stumbling. When playing catch, people throw or receive the ball without predicting its detailed course. These examples indicate that human behavior is not only governed by humans themselves but it also appears automatically without consciousness or without attention. In other words, human behavior consists of two types of action: intentional and autonomous. But people do not feel any special sense of incongruity or doubt with regard to such autonomous actions that are unaware and unconscious. Furthermore, people tend to identify such autonomous actions with their own reasonable actions that equal intentional actions. Such recognition of human action, however, begs the question: do people identify the autonomous action of an avatar as an action attributed to themselves? The following are the structural differences of autonomous action between avatars and living humans. 1. Although a living human works as an executive substance that performs both autonomous and intentional actions, people cannot definitely identify and discriminate these actions. 2. Users, therefore, can definitely identify and discriminate between the autonomous action of an embodied avatar and their intended actions because the avatar’s body is independent of the user's own body. The main factor of such identifications originates in the action executor. During avatar operations, the action of the executor’s standpoint is generally situated in the users themselves and denotes that the user deems the avatar's autonomous action independent of the user's intention or the accident of controllability. When the user's standpoint as action executor is situated in the embodied avatar, whether the user identifies the avatar's autonomous action as an action attributed to him/her is not elucidated.
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Thus this study experimentally investigates the cognitive effect on the user standpoint as the action executor interacts with the identification of the avatar's autonomous action.
3 Experiment 3.1 Prologue As described above, both an avatar and its user have bodies that exist in the same real world, and each body can intentionally act based on the circumstances. On the other hand, the avatar's body or the user's body can respond adaptively to changes in their circumstances. The avatar behavior, however, is only assigned intentional operations by the avatar's user, so the avatar generally does not behave autonomously without any user operation. Therefore, when an avatar autonomously responds to the change of circumstances, general users will recognize that the avatar’s behavior is deviating from the user's intentional operation. In this section, we delineate a hypothesis that empirically offers a plausible reason and explain the experiment to verify the proposed hypothesis. 3.2 Hypothesis and Predictions This experiment’s hypothesis is based on the empirical fact that people identify unconscious and autonomous actions taken by their body such as blinks or nods as well as intentional actions. Such a human tendency to recognize one’s own body action is caused by a factor that the executor of both of these actions is situated in the unique human's body. Accordingly, when a user and his/her avatar as “another body” share the same standpoint to interact with his/her circumstances, the user does not identify the autonomous actions of the embodied avatar with his/her intentional actions. Hypothesis. An avatar's autonomous action, which is presumed to be an action attributed to the user, depends on the situated standpoint to interact with its circumstances. Predictions. In this experiment, a self-movable, remotely operated compact robot, employed as an avatar of the user, moves autonomously to accomplish the user's task without any operation. Experiment participants were required to make the robot move to either side of its position based on the changes of the circumstances. With the above experimental arrangements, the following two predictions are made based on the situated standpoint of the participant to operate the robot: • When the operator’s standpoint as a user of the avatar (robot) is situated by his/her self, the operator will leave the avatar's action to the avatar itself when it starts moving autonomously, because the operator supposes that the avatar has inherent motivation to accomplish tasks shared by the avatar and the operator. • When the operator’s standpoint as a user of the avatar is situated on the avatar (robot), the operator will manipulate the avatar himself/herself to accomplish the task, even though it starts moving autonomously, because the operator identifies the avatar’s autonomous action with his/her action.
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3.3 Participants and Experimental Conditions Thirty undergraduate and graduate students participated in this experiment. Half were randomly allocated to the following levels controlled by the Standpoint factor under a between-subjects design. Standpoint Factor Level of same standpoint These participants operated their avatar (robot) by watching video images from a CCD camera mounted on the robot (Fig.1a). Accordingly, they shared a standpoint and circumstances with the avatar. Level of different standpoint These participants operated their avatar (robot) from behind it (Fig.1b). Accordingly, they did not share a standpoint and circumstances. Autonomy Factor. Both levels of participants uniformly experienced the following two conditions under a within-subjects design that compared the participant responses that depended on the autonomous actions of the avatar. Level of autonomous moving The robot automatically moves to the most efficient position to accomplish the task when the participant as an operator stops moving the robot. Level of control The robot is continuously operated by the participants to accomplish the task. This experiment examines whether the avatar's autonomous action, which is presumed to be an action attributed to the user, depends on the situated standpoint for these four experimental conditions based on a 2x2 mixed-subjects design. 3.4 Observational Indicator The time span is measured to determine how long the participant moves the robot to accomplish the task and to verify the effect of cognitive interaction between the autonomy and the standpoint. The measured times are compared among the four
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Fig. 1. (a) Participant’s view in the level of same standpoint. (b) Participant’s view in level of Different standpoint.
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experimental conditions and confirmed by ANOVA. As described above, the length of moving time indicates that the participants recognize the autonomy when the robot behaves autonomously. 3.5 Method Settings. In this experiment, two types of robots simulated a soccer penalty kick. One was assigned to the kicker and other to the goalkeeper. Participants remotely operated the goalkeeper robot that actually behaved as an avatar of the participant. Both robots, which were assembled by LEGO Mindstorm NXT, were remotely controlled through a Bluetooth wireless network. Each robot had the following original functions: Goalkeeper robot This robot, which was remotely operated by the participant, blocks shots from the kicker robot (Fig.2 left). The robot can move right and left to defend the goal like a soccer goalkeeper, and it can also defend automatically based on the experiment conditions. Kicker robot This robot is controlled by the experimenter behind the scenes (Fig.2 right). The experimenter can move the robot either right and left. In the initial condition, the robot holds a tennis ball. The experimenter shoots when the opportunity to score a goal is presented. Task. The participants were instructed to do penalty shootouts (kick) through the remotely operated robot. The kicker robot, controlled by the experimenter, regularly shoots the ball at the goal six times in succession. The goalkeeper robot basically moves based on the participant's operation, although it autonomously moves to defend the goal when the participant pauses his/her operation during any three of the six consecutive shots. Procedures 1. The experimenter instructed the participants and showed them a short movie about operating the goalkeeper robot as an avatar of the participant.
Fig. 2. The goalkeeper robot (left) and the kicker robot (right)
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Fig. 3. Overview of the task field
2. The participants practiced by moving the goalkeeper robot for one minute. 3. The participants start the task (Fig.3). In this phase, the time span was measured to determine how long the participant moved the robot to accomplish the task and to verify the effect of cognitive interaction. 3.6 Results and Consideration Figure 4 shows the results of each experimental condition and indicates how long the participant moved the robot. There is no difference between conditions S-C and D-C, but there is a significant difference between conditions S-A and D-A (p<.01). These results demonstrate a statistical interaction between the Standpoint and Autonomy factors (F(1,26)=11.07, p<.01). In addition, statistical main effects are ascertained in the Standpoint (F(1,26)=25.05, p<.01) and Autonomy factors (F(1,26)=79.65, p<.01), respectively.
Fig. 4. The average time span how long does the participant work on moving the robot
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The results introduce an outlook for the question whether users identify the avatar's autonomous actions as actions attributed to themselves. The results show that they do not identify the autonomous actions of the embodied avatars with their intentional actions when a user and his/her avatar as “another body” shared the same standpoint when interacting with his/her circumstances. The two revealed predictions of the results, based on the situated standpoint of the participants who operated the robot, were based on the hypothesis. Consequently, these predictions were confirmed, and the hypothesis was supported by the experiment results. The avatar's autonomous actions, which are presumably attributed to users, depend on the situated standpoint for interaction with the circumstances. We empirically demonstrated that users can definitely identify and discriminate between the autonomous actions of embodied avatars and their own intended operative actions because the bodies of avatars are independent from the users’ own living bodies.
4 Conclusion This study explores how people identify the recognition of unification between action by “another body” and their own intentionality. From the experiment results, there is significant interaction between the situatedness of the standpoint and the autonomy of embodied action, indicating that users do not identify the autonomous actions of embodied avatars with their intentional actions when a user and his/her avatar as “another body” shared the same standpoint to interact with their circumstances. In other words, the result suggests that people are not concerned with the avatar's autonomy when they are focused on the avatar’s situation.
References 1. Clancey, W.J.: Situated cognition: On human knowledge and computer representations. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1997) 2. Mcquiggan, S.W., Lester, J.C.: Modeling and evaluating empathy in embodied companion agents. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 65(4), 348–360 (2007) 3. Dautenhahn, K., Ogden, B., Quick, T.: From embodied to socially embedded agents — Implications for interaction-aware robots. Cognitive Systems Research 3(3), 397–428 (2002)
Supporting Acceptable Dialogue Start Based on User Uninterruptibility Estimation for Avatar-Mediated Multi-tasking Online Communication Takahiro Tanaka, Kyouhei Matsumura, and Kinya Fujita Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology 2-24-16 Nakacho, Koganei, Tokyo, 184-8588, Japan {takat, kfujita}@cc.tuat.ac.jp,
[email protected]
Abstract. Current users of real-time online communication tools have difficulty recognizing the status of interaction partners. Therefore, initiation dialogue has a risk of unintended interruption of the partner. To overcome the problem, we focused on application-switching (AS) as a potential intelligent activity discontinuity marker for uninterruptibility estimation. Preliminary experiments revealed an uninterruptibility reduction effect of AS. Therefore, we prototyped an acceptable dialogue start supporting agent system that allows users to recognize the uninterruptibility of interaction partners naturally. The system estimates uninterruptibility using AS, keystrokes, and mouse clicks, and presenting the results by avatar posture and motion using overlapping expressions to control the impression of uninterruptibility. Keywords: Multi-tasking, online communication, interruptibility.
1 Introduction In recent years, instant messaging tools such as MSN Messenger or Yahoo Messenger have become popular for daily online communication. Interaction with these tools feature multi-tasking online communication. Most messaging tools have a function that shows user status, for example, Busy / Away from Keyboard (AFK) etc. However, the status is manually set by users who tend to set the status to AFK to avoid being interrupted by dialogues even while they are using the tool for communication. This status operation is inconvenient because the user cannot recognize whether interaction partners are really busy. Therefore, automatic status estimation and ambient display of the status is expected to help users avoid unintended interruption. One potential method for estimating user online status is to count the keystrokes or mouse clicks [1]. However, these physical activity indexes incompletely reflect the intelligent activity that should be uninterrupted because sometimes intelligent activity has no observable output. Another approach is to specify the purpose of PC usage based on the application being used. However, multi-purpose applications, such as web browsers, prevent this estimation. Several recent studies attempted to estimate A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 272–281, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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user context using various sensors set in the living space or on the users. They still require further study to estimate user intelligent activity [2] [5]. Text-based or voice-based real-time chat systems are used widely for online communication. Most chat systems provide no or negligible nonverbal communication functions in spite of its importance in expressing and recognizing emotions, intentions, attentions, etc. Avatar-mediated communication systems are also becoming popular in recent years. Embodied avatars have a potential for assisting a nonverbal communication. Facial expression is an essential component of emotional expression. A number of systems provide facial expression control functions, most requiring manual operation. Gaze has rich communication control functions such as turnrequesting and turn-yielding. Some studies have attempted automatic control of the avatar’s gaze by using eye-tracking cameras [8]. The uninterruptibility expression must be intuitive in order to reduce the cognitive load of the user. Some studies have examined ambient awareness using nonverbal information. The movements of head, face, and body were found to be effective in expressing a nonverbal behavior [6]. It was also demonstrated that the user can recognize emotional states of a virtual character through head movement and body posture during gaze shifts [4]. The anthropomorphic motions helped the user understand the robot’s status [3]. The expression of uninterruptibility using nonverbal information through an avatar appears promising for intuitive recognition of uninterruptibility. In this study, we prototyped an acceptable dialogue start supporting (ADSS) agent, for assisting pleasant and acceptable dialogue initiation in avatar-mediated multitasking communication systems (AMMCS). The ADSS agent estimates and expresses user uninterruptibility, and presents the dialogue requests from the communication partner. In an attempt to resolve the intelligent activity interruption problem, we focused on application-switching (AS) as a potential intelligent activity discontinuity marker for uninterruptibility estimation. We also used the avatar‘s postures and motions, including gazing, for ambient and intuitive expression of uninterruptibility and in presenting a partner’s dialogue request.
2 Acceptable Dialogue Start Supporting Agent In recent years, avatar-mediated communication systems have become popular, not only in research but also in commerce [7]. Avatars provide functions to express the presence and nonverbal information of interacting partners over a network. Also, multi-tasking communication is getting prevalent as an online communication approach, especially for instant messaging tools. Communication is one of the tasks for the PC user in this approach. An inconsiderate dialogue start may disrupt a interacting partner’s task. Therefore, we focus on nonverbal information expression functions of the avatar avoiding unintended disturbance by dialogue initiation. 2.1 Overview of Acceptable Dialogue Start Supporting Agent We are developing an AMMCS for an unconsciously harmonized multi-tasking online communication. The system’s design is based on an interaction model with three stages: before dialogue, during dialogue, and closing dialogue. The ADSS agent, which is the core of the developing AMMCS, is designed for assisting pleasant and
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Fig. 1. Overview of ADSS agent
Fig. 2. Screenshot of user desktop using the ADSS agent system
acceptable dialogue initiation. This paper focuses on an ADSS agent that estimates and expresses user uninterruptibility, and presents dialogue requests from a partner during the before-dialogue stage. Fig.1 shows an overview of the ADSS agent. The agent monitors its user’s activity and estimates the user’s uninterruptibility. Each agent connects to the server and exchange uninterruptibility information over the Internet. The agent expresses the partner’s uninterruptibility using a CG avatar. When the agent receives a dialogue request such as “I want to talk with you” from a partner, the agent presents the dialogue request using unobtrusive motions. Fig. 2 shows a screenshot of the user desktop while using the agent. Each communication partner is displayed as an avatar in a small individual window. The avatars make each user aware of the partner’s uninterruptibility and requests by posture and motion.
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Fig. 3. Architecture of the ADSS agent
2.2 Architecture of Acceptable Dialogue Start Supporting Agent Fig.3 shows the architecture of prototyped ADSS agent. The developed agent consists of two main functional components, the user uninterruptibility estimation component and the expression component for user uninterruptibility and dialogue request expression. The user uninterruptibility estimation component monitors the user’s PC operation activity, and estimates user uninterruptibility based on experimentally obtained rules. The estimated uninterruptibility is exchanged, and the expression component expresses the uninterruptibility of the interaction partner using a CG avatar. The expression component also expresses intentional dialogue requests of the interaction partner such as, “want to start dialogue” or “want someone to talk to.” The expression strength of the request is modified based on the user and the partner’s uninterruptibility, to attain pleasant and acceptable dialogue initiation.
3 Estimation and Expression of User Uninterruptibility 3.1 Experimental Evaluation of the Effect of AS on Uninterruptibility The system estimates the uninterruptibility of PC users based on three kinds of information: keystrokes, mouse clicks, and AS. The transition of the focused application window is considered as an intentional switching of working space or working target by the user. Therefore, user concentration at AS has a high probability of being lowered instantaneously compared to that during continuous work. It means AS may be a suitable timing to start a dialogue. To examine the assumption, we experimentally collected user operation and subjective interrupt evaluation logs. We implemented a logging tool that records keystrokes, mouse clicks, and the active window name every 500 ms. In our research, we detect AS as a change in the active window. Fig.4 shows the architecture of the logging tool. The tool interrupts the user at AS or every 5 minutes during continuous work (NAS), requesting the user to subjectively evaluate the extent to which the user does not want to be interrupted. The evaluation is scaled from 1: “No problem” to 5: “Absolutely uninterruptible.”
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Fig. 4. Experimental logging tool
Evaluation logs exceeding 20 hours of evaluation during daily PC activity were collected from 10 university students without intentional PC usage. The main purposes of PC use were programming, web browsing, report writing, and data arranging. 3.1.1 Log Data Analysis: AS vs. NAS Table 1 shows the uninterruptibility comparison between AS and NAS. The experimental results suggest that interrupts at AS are significantly more acceptable for users than interrupts during continuous work (p < 0.01). However, some highly uninterruptible evaluations occurred at AS, indicating that some kinds of AS have less of an uninterruptibility reduction effect. Therefore, we analyzed the relationship between uninterruptibility and the AS frequency. From this analysis, interruptions at less frequent AS were more acceptable than those at more frequent AS (p < 0.05). As interrupts at AS are acceptable significantly for users than those during continuous work, expressing AS interaction partners with avatar motion is useful for assisting pleasant and acceptable dialogue initiation. 3.1.2 Log Data Analysis: Activity and Uninterruptibility during NAS From the above analysis, AS periods are more suitable for starting dialogue than the periods of continuous work. However, in some situations, the user cannot wait for AS for some reasons (emergency, important information, etc.). Therefore, uninterruptibility estimation during NAS is also needed for encouraging/discouraging dialogue initiation. We analyzed uninterruptibility and activity, keystrokes, and mouse clicks for estimation during NAS. Table 1. Subjective evaluation of system interrupt at AS and NAS
Application Switch Not Application Switch
Subjective score of uninterruptibility 1 2 3 4 5 Ave. 51 80 67 45 36 2.8 7 14 22 20 12 3.2
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Fig. 5. 5-minutes’ accumulated activity and uninterruptibility
In this study, the activity A(t) is calculated using equation (1). Kt is the keystroke count, Ct the mouse click count, and Ht the amount of mouse wheel use. The keystroke count is considered as an important factor because it reflects the user status efficiently [1]. A(t) = 2 Kt + Ct + Ht .
(1)
Fig.5 shows the 5–minute’s accumulated activity and the uninterruptibility score. No data in the study has a zero activity, which suggests that at least 5 minutes of activity accumulation is needed to distinguish the working and resting status. A correlation between uninterruptibility and the 5-minutes’ accumulated activity was also observed suggesting that the 5-minutes’ accumulated activity reflects uninterruptibility during NAS. 3.2 Two Ways of Expressing the Two Estimated Uninterruptibility Components Based on the analysis, we defined two user uninterruptibility components, the activity component and the task break component. The activity component is calculated as the weighted summation of the keystroke and mouse click counts for 5 minutes. The task break component is calculated as the frequency of AS for 5 minutes, representing the uninterruptibility reduction effect of AS. The estimated uninterruptibility is exchanged via the network. The agent sends the activity component to the server every second. When the user switches his/her application, the agent sends the task break component immediately. The uninterruptibility expression is required to be intuitive for easy and natural recognition. The impression of the expression also needs to be consistent among users and compatible with AMMCS. The uninterruptibility expression of the ADSS agent was designed to control the posture and motion of the CG avatar based on the activity and task break components. Fig.6 shows the relationship between each of the two components and expressions. The posture reflects the gradual change in the activity component that is sent every second. Dynamic motions such as “drinking coffee” are used to express the task break component.
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Fig. 6. Relationship between two components and two expressions
4 Ambient Presentation for Acceptable Dialogue Initiation The expression component shows the uninterruptibility of interacting partners using postures and motions of CG avatars, and dialogue requests using the gaze of the avatar. 4.1 Overlapping Motions for Controlling Uninterruptible Impression In order to adequately control the intensities of uninterruptibility impressions, interpretations of the uninterruptibility reflected in various postures and motions of humans in daily life were subjectively evaluated prior to the expression design. According to the trends of the evaluation, the following factors were utilized for the uninterruptibility intensity expression. (1) Distance between body and workspace (PC, desk, etc.): bend forward / neutral / lean against the chair (2) Body direction relative to workspace: face to workspace / face to other place (3) Head direction relative to workspace: face to workspace / face to other place (4) Hand position: on the keyboard / on the desk / under the desk These factors are useful for expressing uninterruptibility. However, individual difference in the uninterruptibility impression for a posture makes it difficult to control the strength of the impression. For example, the distinction in uninterruptibility between “bend forward” and “keystroke” differs among individuals. In this research, rather than changing the avatar’s motions to express higher uninterruptibility, we overlapped the motions. This allows us to avoid identification of the
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Fig. 7. Examples of postures and motions for uninterruptibility expression
motion that gives a stronger impression of uninterruptibility. Fig.7 shows examples of the postures and motions expressing the activity and task break components using an overlap. 4.2 Ambient Presentation of Dialog Request Using Gaze Control The dialogue request expression has a risk of unintentional disturbance on the working partner even if the user monitors the partner’s uninterruptibility because of an estimation error. Dialogue requests using popup windows or sound may disturb the partner’s work seriously, depending on estimation errors. Therefore, an ambient and natural presentation of the request is needed to allow the busy partner not to respond until a break. In this research, the designed ADSS agent softly presents a dialogue request to the interaction partner using gazing actions, and leads the user to start the dialogue themselves. Therefore, the soft dialogue request assists pleasant and acceptable dialogue initiation even with estimation errors or uninterruptibility expression misunderstanding. Fig.8 shows the relationship between the uninterruptibility expression and the request presentation. The ADSS agent on user A’s side estimates the uninterruptibility of user A and sends it to the agent for user B. User B recognizes the uninterruptibility of user A and
Fig. 8. Relationship among expression and request
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Fig. 9. Expression of dialogue request using joint attention and mutual gaze
judges the dialogue start timing through user A’s avatar. The dialogue request by user B is sent to the ADSS agent for user A, and the agent extends the request unobtrusively. The prototype system is designed to express two types of dialogue requests individually; one for a specific partner that means “I want to talk to you,” and the other is the wish for chat, which means “I want someone to talk with during an idle time.” The ADSS agent presents a specific dialogue request by using both joint attention and mutual gaze, as shown in Fig.9. If the partner is in the NAS state, the agent avatar sometimes watches the partner’s active window. The frequency and duration of the joint attention are controlled based on the partner’s uninterruptibility, so as not to disturb the partner’s work. At the partner’s AS, the avatar gazes at the partner to steer the user to talk. The gaze angle and duration are controlled based on the partner’s task break intensity. The wish for chat is expressed by lowering the user uninterruptibility from the estimated value. A lower uninterruptibility expression is expected to increase the chance to be chosen as a talk partner if there is someone who wants to talk. This appeal is a passive dialogue request to a few interaction partners.
5 Conclusions We proposed an acceptable dialogue start supporting agent for avatar-mediated multitasking communication systems. The agent estimates user uninterruptibility based on PC operation activity and application-switching. The agent expresses the intensity of partner uninterruptibility using avatar animation that overlaps postures and motions. Moreover, the agent presents dialogue requests from partners and assists pleasant and acceptable dialogue initiation. Experimental evaluation of the effect of the uninterruptibility expression is yet to be conducted.
References 1. Honda, S., et al.: A Home Office Environment Based on the Concentration Degrees of Wokers: A Virtual Office SystemValentine. Trans. Info. Processing Society of Japan 39(5), 1472–1483 (1998) (in Japanese)
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2. Hudson, S.E., et al.: Predicting Human Interruptibility with Sensors: A Wizard of Oz Feasibility Study. In: Proc. SIGCHI conf. on Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 257–264 (2003) 3. Kobayashi, K., Yamada, S.: Informing a User of Robot’s Mind by Motion. In: The third International Conference on Computational Intelligence, Robotics and Autonomous Systems (CIRAS 2005), SS4B-3 (2005) 4. Lance, B., Marsella, S.C.: Emotionally Expressive Head and Body Movement During Gaze Shifts. In: Pelachaud, C., Martin, J.-C., André, E., Chollet, G., Karpouzis, K., Pelé, D. (eds.) IVA 2007. LNCS, vol. 4722, pp. 72–85. Springer, Heidelberg (2007) 5. Lester, J., et al.: A Hybrid Discriminative/Generative Approach for Modeling Human Activities. In: Proc. IJCAI 2005, pp. 766–772 (2005) 6. Lee, J., Marsella, S.: Nonverbal Behavior Generator for Embodied Conversational Agent. In: Proc. 6th International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents, pp. 243–255. Springer, Heidelberg (2006) 7. Second Life, Linden Research, Inc., http://secondlife.com/ 8. Vertegaal, R.: The GAZE Groupware System: Mediating Joint Attention in Multiparty Communication and Collaboration. In: Proc. CHI 1999, pp. 15–20 (1999)
Developing Believable Interactive Cultural Characters for Cross-Cultural Training Glenn Taylor1 and Ed Sims2 1
Soar Technology, Inc., 3600 Green Court Suite 600, Ann Arbor, MI 48105
[email protected] 2 Vcom3D, Inc., 3452 Lake Lynda Dr., Suite 260, Orlando, FL 32817
[email protected]
Abstract. One path to training for cross-cultural competency is through immersion in a target culture, but real immersion can be expensive. Virtual immersion may be a viable alternative, but only if the experience is realistic and compelling enough. The characters in the virtual environment must embody the behaviors of the people in that culture in a way that is realistic and believable to facilitate training. In this paper, we describe a theory-based framework for building interactive cultural characters for cross-cultural training. The framework combines physical and cognitive aspects of behavior to enable more realistic generation of cultural behavior. We describe the theoretical basis for the framework, how it is being used to build interactive characters for cross-cultural training, and reflect on the challenges we have faced and lessons we have learned in doing this work. Keywords: Cross-Cultural Training, Online Communities and Social Computing.
1 Introduction In this work, our aim is to develop interactive 3D avatars for the purpose of training people in cross-cultural, human-human interaction. While computer-based language training is widely available, effective cross-cultural communication has typically required interactions with natives of that culture. Our aim is a kind of cultural immersion typically available only in real-world situations. The key requirement here is the development of believable interactive characters that act in ways appropriate to the culture of interest, at multiple levels of detail. Not only must the characters have the right physical appearance and speak the right language, they must also capture the richness of the interactions, the expectations that people from that culture would have about those interactions, and the responses to those interactions when the expectations are met or broken. Our work combines two distinct approaches – one modeling the physical behaviors of cultural characters, the other modeling the cognitive behaviors. We blend these approaches to provide rich, interactive cultural avatars for cross-cultural training. In A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 282–291, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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both cases, our approach derives from cultural studies, ethnographies, and theories about culture and cultural behavior, which motivates a modeling framework approach. The framework is general enough to be applied to building models of different cultures by providing different content into a common execution engine. In this paper, we describe our efforts in developing cultural characters for training purposes, how they can fit into training systems and training lessons, and our own lessons learned along the way.
2 Needs in Cross-Cultural Training For our work here, we have focused on a few key aspects of cross-cultural training, especially with regard to communication: interaction protocols and non-verbal communication. Note that this is not language training per se, though verbal language is a part of it. Instead, we focus on what kinds of language are appropriate in different situations, and how those native to a culture might behave and expect others to behave in these situations. The goal of a trainee might be to establish rapport in anticipation of a long-term business relationship or to establish trust such that the native person might share information important to an investigation. Acting in a culturally inappropriate way could draw offense and make cooperation difficult. 2.1
Interaction Protocols
Greeting someone of high status is typically different than greeting strangers on the street. For example, greeting an important community leader with “What’s up?” might be deemed inappropriate and immediately offend the addressee. Business meetings are often conducted differently than informal meetings among friends and family. For example, business meetings in Iraq typically begin with tea and conversation as a way to develop rapport and only later turn to key business exchanges. To hurried Americans, tea and conversation might seem like a pointless diversion from the “real” purpose of the meeting. These kinds of interactions, and the protocols involved in them, tend to be culturespecific. Those within the culture learn how to behave appropriately in these situations through observation and practice while interacting with others in that culture. To be effective as an outsider, learning these protocols and how to act within them is critical. 2.2 Non-verbal Communication It is also important as a trainee to learn to recognize the non-verbal aspects of communication that can also be culture-specific. Although there is strong evidence that the interpretation of facial expressions of emotion is universal throughout all cultures [1], most gestures are learned from one’s culture. Furthermore, even though the meaning of facial expressions is universal, the “display rules” for when it is appropriate to show or suppress these emotions are quite variable [2]. Learning when to use particular gestures or when to exhibit emotion, and learning to recognize these aspects of communication, is a key element of learning effective cross-cultural communication.
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Fig. 1. Gestures in conversational Iraqi Arabic
(For example, the “peace” sign common in the US is offensive in Australia and England. In some cultures, nodding while listening might not mean agreement or assent but is simply a way to say “I understand.”) Non-verbal cues used in the Arab world are often quite different from those used in America or in Western Europe. Barakat [3] documented 247 gestures used in the Arab world. We found that many of these are understood by persons from a widespread area of the Middle East today; but few are understood by Americans. In order to build a more current database of nonverbal signals used in conversation today, we identified over 200 gestures from actual interviews with citizens in Baghdad. These included not only “emblem” gestures, but also gestures used for controlling dialog, such as the turn-taking gestures in Fig. 1 (borrowed from [4]). An example we learned from working with soldiers involved in operations in Iraq is the use of “Insha’allah” in Arabic. Literally this means “God willing” and is used whenever speaking of events that might happen in the future. For example, “We will meet tomorrow at 9am, God willing.” Taking the speech by itself, some listeners might think that the speaker won’t show up for the proposed meeting. However, this is an incorrect assumption: this is simply how native speakers use Arabic to speak in the future tense. Clues of the real intent of the speaker must be found in other elements of the communication, such as the tone of the utterance or in the accompanying gestures.
3 Physical and Communicative Cultural Behavior in 3D Avatars The most apparent aspects of a culture are the “surface features,” including the style of dress, the way in which people speak, etc. These are also the most apparent in developing a physical avatar representing someone from another culture and have to reach a threshold of believability before a training system will be taken seriously. To our advantage, technology advances in graphics for 3D characters, as evidenced by modern video games and movies, have reached a point of naturalness and photo-realism that the appearance of characters is sometimes taken for granted. Even movement patternssuch as in walking or lip synching to voice can seem natural. Challenges remain, especially in the generation of appropriate content for these avatars. Of course, there are many subtleties of communication that are not immediately apparent to someone unfamiliar with that culture: gestures, eye contact behaviors, and the like. The focus of our physical 3D models is in the generation of these subtleties in a way that increases the believability of the model for a particular culture. It is only in building cultural avatars that include these non-verbal aspects that we can hope to teach effective lessons.
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Fig. 2. 3D cultural character with a sample of gestures
The system underlying the generation of physical behavior is called Vcommunicator [5], which includes both a 3D animation engine as well as tools for developing 3D avatars. Vcom3D has developed a library of culture-specific avatars, gestures and expressions that can be invoked on demand. These libraries consist of over 60 culturally diverse virtual human models as well as 40 facial expressions and 500 gestures, and can automatically lip-sync to over 22 mouth shapes that map to over 100 speech sounds of the International Phonetic Alphabet. Fig. 2 shows some screenshots of a cultural avatar using a few gestures. Primitive gestures and expressions can also be composed to larger animation sequences.
4 Cultural Cognitive Architecture For cultural training to be immersive, the characters that inhabit that space must behave in ways consistent with the culture and, more importantly, interact with the trainee in ways consistent with the culture. Interactivity in any real sense is possible only with deep models of behavior. To this end, we have been developing a framework for building rich cultural models for driving interactive characters. This framework, called the Cultural Cognitive Architecture (CCA) [6], is based on theories of human cognition ([7, 8]) and culture, including Cultural Schema Theory ([9, 10]). Cultural Schema Theory itself builds from theories of cognition, positing that much of culture as demonstrated through behavior is drawn from knowledge learned by living in that culture: knowledge about the correct ways to interact (e.g., norms), about what is important in the culture (e.g., values), etc. This knowledge is encoded as schemas that represent, among other things, the relationships between important things in the environment, the expectations about how situations might play out, and goals different characters in the situation might have. With schemas come representations of these concepts, as well as a process of connecting elements in the environment to the schema. This process allows cultural situations to be recognized and understood. It also allows for appropriate goals to be generated within the context of the situation. An example interaction schema for ways to engage in small talk is given in Fig. 3 The schema is hierarchical – there are multiple ways to accomplish engaging in small talk (talk about family or talk about football). The schema also contains a
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protocol for talking about family – a sequence of asking and telling (indicated by the horizontal arrow below), including a reciprocation of asking. Not reciprocating might be interpreted as rude. At this level of description, this schema could probably be applied to many cultures around the globe. However, highlighting again the hierarchical nature of schema, finer detail in each of the leaves given here might have culturespecific rules. For example, among two men talking in Arab cultures, it may be improper to speak or ask specifically about the females in either family. Likewise, an American showing a picture of his family at the beach might be seen as breaking rules of social propriety. The hierarchical organization enables us to capture the regularities of cultural behavior, allowing for re-use across situations and even cultures, while at the same time enabling the encapsulation of more specific cultural differences in the leaf nodes. In addition to Cultural Schema Theory, CCA also incorporates theories of human emotion, specifically based on appraisal theories of emotion, per Scherer [11]. In CCA, perceived events are appraised along a number of dimensions such as how well the event fits with the avatar’s goals (goal conduciveness), how well the event fits within established norms (internal and external standards), and how surprising or novel the event is. We implement a subset of Scherer’s appraisal dimensions and emotion dimensions. The outputs of the appraisal-based emotion system include the appraisal for a particular event, an immediate emotional state based on that appraisal, and an updated running average emotional state (updated with every event) that allows for a more coherent basis for generating behavior. It is this process that accounts for the interpretation of actions as rude or improper. For example, if the next step in the “small talk schema” above is for the trainee to “return the asking,” and the trainee does not do this, the act of breaking the schema generates a negative emotional state. Building a cultural model consists of encoding schema drawn from the culture in question, as well as constructing the appraisal process to assign culture-specific appraisal of perceived events or situations. For the purposes of cultural training, a cultural character includes knowledge of the culturally correct interaction patterns relevant to a particular training situation. A trainee interacts with this cultural character by choosing from a set of actions (for example, things to say or do in the
Fig. 3. An example cultural schema in CCA
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situation – asking about family, removing hat and glasses). The cultural avatar processes these trainee actions against its own expectations about the interaction, represented as schema and appraisals. In this process, the cultural character generates an emotional response to the trainee’s actions. The avatar’s action choice is selected based on a combination of what the current situation suggests and the computed emotional state of the agent as a result of observing the trainee’s actions.
5 Connecting Physical and Cognitive Models for Training The two systems we have described above, Vcommunicator and CCA, were developed independent of one another, so at one level we have a straightforward engineering task of connecting two pieces of software. This is guided by good software engineering practices of encapsulation, modularity, loose coupling, etc. However, in a real person with real physical-cognitive behaviors, these two systems are tightly coupled with many feedback loops. Integrating these systems becomes an exercise of balancing the needs of good software design with the requirement for theory-driven, believable 3D cultural avatars. Fig. 4 illustrates a schematic of the integration of these different components to support a training environment. For our implementation, the cognitive system is in charge of high-level goal-setting and high-level behavior generation. As described earlier, cognitive behavior generation occurs through the matching of situation-dependent schema and the generation of emotional state, which itself may trigger schema. Where a schema indicates the 3D cultural avatar should take an action, the cognitive model exports to the physical model the selected action as well as the immediate appraisal and the emotional state of the character at that point in time. Actions can be selected based on responses to external events, emotional states of the agent, or both. The physical model receives the action to perform and the emotional state, and uses the emotional content to vary some of the parameters in the generated physical action, such as the emphasis that is placed on some gestures. The culture-specific gestures are drawn from a pre-developed library of behaviors, but some of their parameters can be modified on the fly during generation. For example, a gesture to gain control of the conversation with a low anger rating would be somewhat muted, whereas with a high anger rating would be much more punctuated physically. The
Fig. 4. Schematic of integrating a physical and cognitive model into a training environment
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emotional state might also influence facial expressions (e.g., surprise by raising eyebrows), or ambient behaviors, such as eye gaze, blinking rates, or shifting weight between feet. All of these contribute to the overall physical manifestation of the emotional state of the agent. It is through this physical appearance of the emotion that the trainee can learn to pick up on non-verbal cues. We have not yet drawn connections from the physical back to the cognitive. A fully realistic model would obey the physical limits of perception – seeing only what the eyes are looking at, hearing only what is in range, etc. Similarly, the 3D avatar does not perceive emotional or other non-verbal content in the trainee’s actions. In the training vignettes we have been developing, this level of fidelity has so far not been required.
Fig. 5. Scene from rapport-building training scenario
Fig. 5 illustrates our immersive training environment that includes multiple 3D avatars, one of which is played by the trainee. The trainee can act on objects in the 3D environment using context-sensitive object selection menus (e.g., “remove helmet”) or can choose from a list of context-sensitive speech acts (not shown).
6 What Is Believable Cultural Behavior? What constitutes “believable” behavior in a cultural avatar? How do we test that the models we have developed have validity and utility? These are all connected concepts, though not the same. A model of human behavior may not be validated but can still have utility. A model can be believable but not validated. All of these measures must be taken in the context of the use of the system. The idea of validating models of human behavior is a challenge in general, much different than validating the behavior of physical systems like models of an aircraft or a car chassis. Simply the breadth of human behavior is too great and too variable to determine if a model is completely valid. For our work here, we have clearly narrowed the scope of what we expect to model in 3D characters and their interactions, so any evaluation needs to be in this more limited scope. Methods for evaluating the
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validity of human behavior models often fall to “face validation”: putting the models in front of a group of experts (e.g., in this case cultural anthropologists or even natives of the culture under study) and eliciting their subjective view of how well the model behaves as compared to how they would expect a human from that culture to behave in the same situations. This includes the overall interaction protocols (e.g., from the cognitive schema) that the 3D avatar appears to be following, as well as the finergrained cognitive and physical manifestations of the avatar’s behaviors in speech, gesture, and emotion. Likert Scale questionnaires can be used to gather observers’ subjective ratings of the system’s believability in the context of the situation (see, for example [12]). However, even a simple system can exhibit a range of outward behavior from which it may be difficult to tell if the behavior is being generated for valid reasons. Inspection at multiple levels of a model is often required to be able to assess its validity. Evaluating the utility of the model in the context of training may entail putting trainees through a training course and assessing the how well the cultural models contributed to the trainees’ learning, especially when transferred to a real-life, crosscultural interaction setting. This is often a much more involved procedure, requiring a sufficient number of participants and tracking their performance over time, then comparing to control cases where traditional methods of cultural training were used. In our work here, we have so far conducted informal feedback sessions with experts to evaluate the models’ face value, mostly as part of improving the models during development. More formal evaluations of validity and utility will be performed as we mature the overall system.
7 Conclusions and Lessons Learned Rather than develop a one-off model of a single culture, our approach has been to develop frameworks, architectures, and libraries that can be instantiated for multiple cultures, given appropriate data sets. These architectures have been guided by crosscultural theories, including those related to expression of non-verbal communication and human cognition. We believe that deep models of cultural behavior present the best opportunity for building realistic models for effective cross-cultural training. However, this approach introduces a number of interesting challenges. One challenge has been in finding the right divisions and connections between the physical and cognitive systems that lend themselves both to straightforward engineering and theoretical validity. One example of this is in choosing an appropriate level of granularity for model actions, cognitive as well as physical. Specifying actions at a very fine level might result in high-fidelity models and interactions, but this places a higher burden on model development. Specifying actions at too gross a level might make engineering easier, but reduces the realism of the characters and therefore the overall training experience. Finding the appropriate level remains an art. Data availability also presents issues. Rich models require rich data. Particular training vignettes require data collection related to those vignettes, which can be costly. Online virtual worlds have been suggested as potential sources for cultural
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data, but the fidelity of the data would be only as good as the fidelity of the interactions available in the virtual world – most virtual worlds have limited body articulation so gestures are typically not culturally realistic; even linguistic exchanges using chat is corrupted by the medium in many ways. The best sources of data remain the most expensive to gather: ethnographies of the cultures of interest. We have here used audio-visual resources to gather data on gestures. For example, we have used existing literature and culture guides to understand other aspects of a culture relevant to training. We have supplemented these resources with experts in the culture and have also relied on training objectives to help narrow the scope of what to include in the models. We have tried where possible to get multiple perspectives to build more robust models. It is not uncommon for different sources to offer contradictory positions on, for instance, the meaning of a phrase or the expected behavior in a given situation. Another challenge is in natural human interfaces for interacting with 3D cultural avatars. Natural language technology such as speech interfaces or language understanding systems are still not generally robust enough to conduct open-ended conversations with computer-based characters. Typical applications instead settle on small subsets of spoken utterances (e.g., [13]) or menu-driven interfaces that can reduce the overall realism of the interaction (e.g., [14]). Likewise, we have focused on the frameworks and model building rather than natural human interfaces, though advances here are clearly needed for more effective training. Acknowledgments. This work was performed under US Government contract W91WAW-08-C-0052, funded by the Department of Defense, Director of Defense Research and Engineering and monitored by the US Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences. The views, opinions, and/or findings contained in this paper are those of the authors and should not be construed as an official Department of the Army position, policy, or decision.
References 1. Ekman, P.: Universals and cultural differences in facial expressions of emotions. In: Nebraska symposium on motivation. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln (1972) 2. Matsumoto, D., et al.: The contribution of individualism-collectivism to cross-national differences in display rules. Asian Journal of Social Psychology 1, 147–165 (1998) 3. Barakat, R.: Arabic Gestures. Journal of Popular Culture, 750–794 (1973) 4. Antoon, S., et al.: DVD: About Baghdad. AFD Studio, p. 90 minutes (2005) 5. Sims, E.: Simulating Believable, Context-aware and Culture-specific Human Behaviors. In: IITSEC, Orlando, FL (2005) 6. Taylor, G., et al.: Toward a Hybrid Cultural Cognitive Architecture. In: CogSci Workshop on Culture and Cognition. Cognitive Science Society, Nashville (2007) 7. Newell, A.: Unified Theories of Cognition. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (1990) 8. Schank, R., Abelson, R.: Scripts, Plans, Goals, and Understanding: An enquiry into human knowledge structures. Earlbaum Assoc., Hillsdale (1977) 9. D’Andrade, R., Strauss, C. (eds.): Human Motives and Cultural Models. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1992) 10. Shore, B.: Culture in Mind. Oxford University Press, Oxford (1996)
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11. Scherer, K.R.: The Role of Culture in Emotion-Antecedent Appraisal. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 73(5), 902–922 (1997) 12. Reilly, W.S.N.: Believable Social and Emotional Agents, in School of Computer Science. Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh (1996) 13. Johnson, W.L., Valente, A.: Tactical Language and Culture Training Systems: Using Artificial Intelligence to Teach Foreign Languages and Cultures. In: Innovative Applications of Artificial Intelligence, Chicago, IL (2008) 14. Rosenberg, M., et al.: A Language for Modeling Cultural Norms, Biases and Stereotypes. In: Behavior Representation in Modeling and Simulation (BRIMS). SISO, Providence (2008)
Weighting Structures: Evolutionary Dynamics of Innovation Networks in Virtual Communities Vitaliano Barberio1 and Alessandro Lomi1,2 1
Department of Management Sciences, University of Bologna, Department of Management, via Capo di Lucca 34, 40100 Bologna, Italy 2 Faculty of Economics, University of Lugano, Switzerland {vitaliano.barberio}@gmail.com
Abstract. We discuss and illustrate alternative analytical strategies for representing coordination networks in innovative virtual communities bounded by production relationships among participants. We use information on email communication networks reconstructed using data from the Apache Open Source project to give empirical contents to our arguments and to substantiate our claims that: (i) Self-organizing networks provide the basic principles of coordination in such communities; (ii) Once in place, deliberate governance arrangements affect coordination patterns within virtual communities; (iii) Structural properties of communication networks change significantly over time depending on their internal organizational logics, and (iv) Affiliation (a.k.a. two mode) networks provide a useful representation for detecting community structures. Keywords: distributed work, coordination, communication networks, open source development.
1 Introduction Recent years have seen the emergence of new conceptual models of innovation which rely on ICT mediated communication to coordinate production and exchange activities. Such models tend to assign a rather limited role to formal governance mechanisms that are viewed as restricted in scope (to regulated tasks) and time (adoption in advanced stages of growth). These two simple assumptions are of great relevance for the study of organizational dynamics of innovation. When the knowledge needed to generate innovation is both complex and distributed across different organizations or units [1], network partners and institutions affecting patterns of exchange become of central importance for our understanding of innovation processes. For example, [2] argued that successful teams (X-teams) within organizations, today are characterized by porous boundaries and fluid membership allowing organizations to reach the knowledge they need to sustain high innovation rates over the time. In order to achieve some collective objective organization members are supposed to rely on some form of shared knowledge. When such knowledge is distributed around a community of interacting actors, interdependent tasks typically require some information exchange in order to be coordinated [3]. In the project management literature, for A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 295–304, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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example, information exchange has been argued to map a kind of 'state of the world awareness' to sequences of 'possible actions' [4]. Then, both the amount and structure of known information determine the complexity1 of decisional processes for project teams in order to perform tasks. Literature on problem solving [5,6] proposed that modular (decomposable in near independent parts) and barely formal organizational architectures should display an evolutionary advantage, when compared with more traditional ones, in complex and fast changing environments. Despite this recent recognition of the advantages for both distributed and networked models of innovation, comparatively little attention has been paid to communication patterns. We think of communication as an important means of coordination, an enacted structure that links interdependent tasks2 to be performed [7], [8] in order to 'feed' innovation processes. We also think that Open Source Software (hereafter OSS) projects could be a perfect empirical setting to both develop and test a reflection on distributed organizational dynamics. In this paper we will focus on email communication intended as the main means of coordination for distributed development in a successful OSS project. We will discuss general issues about the dynamics of organizational structure, and the adequacy of available analytical strategies for detecting it and represent its change over the time. More precisely we want to explore four issues: (i) the evolution of information exchange structures defined in terms of communication networks; (ii) the impact of adopting formal governance arrangements on communication structures; (iii) the usefulness of direct communication networks as a basis for networks decomposition, and (iv) the detection of community structures in communication networks, based on the dual association between programmers and mailing list [9]. To give empirical content to our argument, we collected communication data for our analysis from the mail archive of the Apache Open Source project. Our data cove a ten year time period – from 1995 to 2004. Beginning in 1995, the Apache community created and maintained, over the years, the most widely implemented web server software in the world. The second part of this paper consists of an analytical development of our perspective on the endogenous organizational dynamics of communication and coordination. Each of our four general arguments is introduced by an abridged survey on the state of the art in OSS literature. Then each issue is developed by means of network analytical tools and results are discussed. The paper concludes with research questions that could further extend and strengthen the preliminary results presented.
2 Discovering and Representing Structure For our analysis we computed simple structure indicators for two kinds of networks linking participants to the Apache community: (i) direct communication networks; and (ii) affiliation networks. The first is a one-mode social network in the sense that it 1
A complex system of whatever nature (natural, social or symbolic) is intended here as one which is made of a large number of simple but interdependent component parts. 2 The paper by Cataldo et al. (2006) is a notable exception, linking technical interdependencies to coordination requirement to actual coordination by means of email communication, over the time. This paper is developed in a commercial software development empirical setting.
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records activities of relational exchange among individuals. In the second network individuals are connected through their dual association with mailing lists to which they contribute. Direct communication networks are intended here as networks whose nodes are community members and whose links exist between two nodes when an agent (developer) sent a message in-reply-to another message by another agent (developer). Links were weighted using the number of exchanged messages among dyads of agents. Affiliation networks are built with two kind of nodes – programmers and mailing lists – and nodes of one type only connect with nodes of the other type. For analysis in both points 2.1 and 2.3 we generated random graphs (normal distribution of nodal degrees) in order to compare them with actually observed networks. For analysis in paragraph 2.3 we just operated a network reduction cutting lines and nodes under a given threshold of connectivity. For analysis in paragraph 2.4 we fist, folded two-mode networks by multiplying original matrices (algebraic representation of networks with nodes of type one on rows and nodes of type two on columns) for transposed ones (which have the same kind of nodes on rows and columns). In this way we obtained one mode networks, weighted for the number of shared nodes (of the other type). On these networks we used Newman clustering algorithm for finding community structures [10]. This algorithm hierarchically decomposes networks in sub component progressively removing nodes with highest betweenness centrality [11]. 2.1 Evolutionary Dynamics of Communication: Scale-Free Networks and Self-organization The diagrams reported in Figure 1 show the evolutionary trajectory of such 'direct communication' networks for the Apache project over ten years time period 19952004. Here below we offer some simple metrics on networks over the time (chart 1). The number of nodes increased from 28, in 1995 to 6353 in 2004. The number of edges (network ties) increased from 38 to 16100 during the same time period. The components count was 1 in 1995 and grew to 113 in 2004. In Figure 2 we can see how both network degree centralization (average centrality for the overall network) and network density decreased by one and two orders of magnitude respectively over the observation period. Weiss and colleagues [12] studied the degree (number of lines incident to a vertex) distribution for the Apache email archive finding that only few developers held a high value (degree distribution follows a power law). They also controlled for the existence of the so called preferential a attachment phenomenon according to which over the time more connected nodes are more likely to become even more connected than others (rich gets richer). Our analysis confirms this results and we also controlled for both the clustering coefficient values and average distance values over time [13]. Both average distance and clustering coefficient values, were higher then the correspondent values in random networks with the same density and number of nodes (see figure 3). This result could be interpreted as the overall network holding a scale-free topology [14]. It has already been shown [14] how scale-free networks could be generated from an initial network according to a variety of self-organization mechanisms. A well studied mechanism is preferential attachment. If over the time new nodes attach themselves to others
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Fig. 1. Six snapshots representing the evolution of direct communication networks over a ten years time period. (a) 1995; (b) 1996; (c) 1997 ; (d) 1998; (e) 1999; (f) 2000.
Fig. 2. (a) Node count, edge count and component count (Y axes in logarithmic scale); (b) Density, Degree Centralization and Betweenness Centralization (Y axes in logarithmic scale)
according to the simple 'preference' for already highly central others a scale-free network will obtain.
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Fig. 3. Original networks. Both the average distance and the clustering coefficient for the real networks are over the values for the random generated networks.
This concept, that literally means the emergence of organizational structures in absence of central planners, seems to be of a certain interest for the study of virtual communities. In economics it has been argued that this behavior could be explained by the signaling incentives for individual programmers on the labor market [15, 16, 12] it. 2.2 Enters Design: The Impact of Formal Institutions on Communication Networks Self-organization in virtual communities is an obviously important – if emergent coordination mechanism. However, recent research has shown that in successful fast growing projects self-organization needs to be balanced by formal governance arrangements (or “institutions”) designed to affect the development process in desirable directions [17]. According to the James Thompson’s influential statement, technological interdependencies may assume three basic forms. Arranged in an increasing degree of complexity the forms of interdependence are: (i) pooled; (ii) sequential, and (iii) reciprocal [18]. According to Thompson, organizational structures should be designed in order to cope with the different degrees of complexity coming with task interdependencies to be coordinated. Basing on our initial assumption that in virtual communities coordination should be mirrored by communication patterns, we expected that those patterns would change after the design and implementation of formal governance arrangements. More precisely, the formalization of organizational structures, which in our case study could be intended as the creation of the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) in 1999, would lead coordination toward simpler forms. In order to explore this argument, we counted in direct communication networks over time, how many patterns were corresponding to Thompson's interdependencies, as percentage of the total number. As showed in figure 4, our expectations are confirmed because: on the on hand, both 'pooled' and 'sequential' interdependencies tend (on average) to increase before 2000, while they tend to diminish after that time; on the other hand, reciprocal interdependencies – the more complex type – increased before 2000 and diminished after that time.
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Fig. 4. (a) Thompson's interdependencies count in direct communication networks measured as percentage of the total number of links among nodes; (b) Interdependency shapes
2.3 The Adequacy of 'in-Reply-to' Built Networks to Network Decomposition Another point that should moderate the extent of findings on self-organizing dynamics in OSS projects is about coordination and division of labor in large communities. Early literature on OSS development highlighted how small groups of developers actually accounted for writing the most of software code in Apache and Mozilla [19], and Gnome [20]. This studies also found that the number of contributors who fixed bugs was one order of magnitude higher than the number of those who wrote the code [19]. It seems that, when looking at productivity, large communities display core-periphery structures [21] and nested layers of roles [22]. So we ask here: what happens to communication networks when we just consider the core of interaction processes? In order to explore this issue, we assumed that the more a developer writes code the more hi will use email communication in order to coordinate his actions with other community members. Then, we applied a simple cut (lines and nodes) reduction on our direct-communication networks. This means that we removed from networks that lines with a value lower than a given threshold (say 3 exchanged emails) and then we removed which those nodes that resulted to have a total degree (in + out) less than 1 (say isolate nodes). The results of this procedure are showed in figure 5. The so reduced network 'captures' on average (over the time) the 21% of nodes, the 17% of lines and the 63% of components.
Fig. 5. (a) Nodes, lines and components after net. reduction with cut-threshold = 3; (b) Clustering coefficient and average distance, cut-threshold = 3. Values marked with * refers to random generated networks.
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It is also to notice that in reduced networks the density is on average the 27% higher than in the original networks. We interpret tis result as a higher connectivity among more active (core) members of the community. It is also to notice that networks, whose links were created using the in-reply-to filed on email headers, are very sensible to cut-like method of reduction. When we look at values from the reduced networks at least two things are to notice: first, the clustering coefficient is monotonically growing (figure 5.b.) instead of floating (figure 5.a.); second, the values of average distance for real networks is higher than the correspondent values for random generated networks. Combining these two findings we could say that core members tend, over the time, to form clusters which are characterized by high inbound connectivity and low outbound connectivity. 2.4 Modular Architectures, Affiliation Networks and Newman Clustering The findings in paragraph 2.3 made us thinking about another strand of organizational literature on modular structures3 on OSS projects whose major claim is that coordination patterns should mirror technical interdependencies [23]. Because software has a more modular architecture than more traditional products have, the organization that produces it should have a modular structure as well. On the one hand, it is very reasonable to assume, coherently with modularity theory [24], that a programmer working in a peripheral module probably just knows very little about what the development concerns in another 'distant' periphery of the community. On the other hand, community members who frequently work on the same modules should be supposed to reciprocally communicate. Then we think that coordination network structures could be decomposed in modules (mailing lists) according to affiliation patterns of agents (developers). In order to explore this issue, as mentioned at the beginning of this analytical section, we built a two-mode network where nodes of type one are programmers and nodes of type two are mailing lists (see respectively red nodes and yellow nodes in figure 6. The weight of this affiliation is computed as the number of email that a programmer sent to a mailing list per year. From the two-mode network we 'derived', a new one-mode network (folded) whose nodes are only mailing lists. The underlying assumption when we build this new network is that the higher the number of programmers who use the same mailing lists the more those mailing list refer to interdependent activities. By construction, two mailing lists were linked when at least a developer wrote an email on both. The weight of these relations have been imposed equal to the sum of developers shared by mailing lists dyads (and adjusted for the weight of affiliation). These new (folded) network loses the property of representing 'exact' communication patterns but it is less sensitive to cut-reduction. This means that we can consider only the developers who, wrote at lest a given number of emails (for example 10) over a year time period without dramatically altering the network structure. 3
A modular structure, or architecture, is intended as one in which components (building blocks) are barely interdependent among them. A practical consequence for product-project management is that near independent components can be developed in parallel.
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Fig. 6. Affiliation networks with data for 1997 (a) and 2000 (b). Yellow nodes are mailing lists (intended as coordination modules), while red nodes are community members (intended as coordination agents). In figure (a) the size of nodes is proportional to its weighted degree.
In order to find sub-communities of coordination modules (represented for example as clusters of mailing lists), we used a folded one mode (mailing list to mailing list) networks (year 2000) reduced applying a cut-with threshold = 10. Then, we used the Newman clustering algorithm for detecting community structures. The modularity level was measured by a clustering coefficient Q ranging from 0 (non modular structure) to 1 (totally modular structure). We found a Q = 0.2013 in the mailinglistmailinglist network (see figure 3.b where the same color is assigned to nodes that belong to the same cluster). This research strategy was intended as a test for the 'resistance' of folded networks to cut-like reductions, we tried it for increasing cut-thresholds, ranging from 0 to 10, before running the Newman clustering algorithm and we found that the Q (modularity coefficient) only changed by a 0.1% for that range. The resulting modularity coefficient (Q) values could be interpreted as detecting a low modular organizational structure (of coordination). We also repeated the clustering process using a folded network with only developer-nodes and obtained (Q) values which were very close to 0.8, highlighting a very modular social structure, for both original and reduced (having cut threshold from 0 to 10) networks.
Fig. 7. (a) Dendogram; module-module (lists) network, cut threshold = 10, Q = 0.2013. (b) Reduced network. Node colors reflect Newman algorithm clusters.
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3 Conclusions and Further Research The results that we reported in this paper confirm that, when we build direct communication networks using the in-reply-to field of email headers for generating links, the overall network topology tends to develop scale-free qualities. This could be interpreted as the presence of self-organization in virtual communities, that is coordination structures could be thought to emerge in absence of central planners. Despite this finding, we showed how the same networks could reveal that organizational design, which may be viewed as an almost opposite exogenous organizing principle, could have been affecting coordination-communication patterns over the time. We think that a further exploration of connectivity patterns could advantage the knowledge in the field of emergence of governance in virtual communities. In particular it could be interesting to control for the existence of eventual correlations among developers attributes (productivity, tenure etc.) and Thompson's typical interdependencies. Driven by contrasting (or balancing) dynamics that we have documented, we further explored the issue of finding core interaction components in the overall networks. At a macro-level we observed a more clustered structure after reduction. However, direct-communication networks resulted very sensible to a low cut-reduction threshold, that is the shape of networks changed a lot when we just assumed that core community members exchanged at least three emails over a one year time period. This means that further micro-level analysis, like the one conducted in paragraph 2.2 could not be significant anymore. A possible way to cope with this issue is presented in paragraph 2.4, where we proposed a different way to represent communication networks based on the idea of affiliation of developers to mailing list as 'modules' of the overall coordination structure. We have shown that 'folded' networks, either agent-agent or list-list from affiliation ones (with a cut threshold of ten) are respectively highly modular and low modular ones. A further contribution in this direction could be the construction of networks where developers affiliate to a more micro-level of coordination-communication that is emails threads. This could offer a representation which is closer to direct communication without suffering from obvious problems of sensibility to cut reduction.
References 1. Powell, W.W., Koput, K.W., Smith-Doerr, L.: Inter-organizational collaboration. Admin. Sci. Quart. 41(1), 116–145 (1996) 2. Ancona, D., Bresman, H., Kaeufer, K.: The comparative advantage of X-teams. MIT Sloan Manage. Rev. 43(3), 33–39 3. von Hippel, E.: Task Partitioning. Res. Policy 19, 407–418 4. Pich, M.T., Loch, C.H., de Meyer, A.: On Uncertainty, Ambiguity, and Complexity in Project Management. Manage. Sci. 48(8), 1008–1023 (2002) 5. Nickerson, J.A., Zenger, T.R.: A Knowledge-Based Theory of the Firm: The ProblemSolving Perspective. Organ. Sci. 15(6), 617–632 (2004) 6. Ethiraj, S.K., Levinthal, D.: Bounded Rationality and the Search for Organizational Architecture. Admin. Sci. Quart. 49(3), 404–437 (2004)
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7. Kleinbaum, A.M., Stuart, T.E., Tushman, M.: Communication (and Coordination?) in a Modern, Complex Organization. Admin. Sci. Quart. (2008) (under review) 8. Monge, P., Heiss, B.M., Margolin, D.B.: Communication Network Evolution in Organizational Communities. Communication Theory 18(4), 449–477 (2008) 9. Breiger, R.L.: The Duality of Persons and Groups. Social Forces 53(2), 181–190 (1974) 10. Newman, M.E.J., Givran, M.: Finding and Evaluating Community Structure in Networks Phys. Rev. E 69 (2004) 11. Freeman, L.C.: A Set of Measures of Centrality Based on Betweenness. Sociometry 40(1), 35–41 (1977) 12. Weiss, M., Moroiu, G., Zhao, P.: Evolution of Open Source Communities. International Federation for Information Processing 203, 21–32 (2006) 13. Watts, D., Strogatts, S.: Collective Dynamics of ‘small-world’ networks. Nature 393, 440– 442 (1998) 14. Barabasi, A.L., Albert, R., Jeong, H.: Scale-free Characteristics of Random Networks: the Topology of the World-Wide Web. Physica A 281(15), 69–77 (2000) 15. Lerner, J., Tirole, J.: Some Simple Economics of Open Source. J. Ind. Econ. 50(2), 197– 234 (2002) 16. Dalle, J.M., David, P.A.: SimCode: Agent-based Simulation Modeling of Open-Source Software Development (2006) (working paper) 17. O’Mahony, S., Ferraro, F.: The Emergence of Governance in an Open Source Community. Acad. Manage J. 50(5), 1079–1107 (2007) 18. Thompson, J.D.: Organizations in Action. McGraw-Hill, New York (1967) 19. Mockus, A., Fielding, R., Herbsleb, J.: Two Case Studies of Open Source Software Development. ACM Trans. Softw. Eng. And Methodology 11(3), 309–346 20. Koch, S., Schneider, G.: Effort, Co-operation and Co-ordination in an Open Source Software Project: GNOME. Inform. Syst. J. 12(1), 27–42 (2002) 21. von Hippel, E., von Krogh, G.: Open Source Software and the “Private-Collective” Innovation Model. Organ. Sci. 14(2), 209–223 (2003) 22. Crowston, K., Howison, J.: The Social Structure of Free and Open Source Software Development. First Monday 10(2) (2005) 23. MacCormack, A., Rusnak, J., Baldwin, C.: Exploring the Structure of Complex Software Designs. Manage. Sci. 52(7), 1015–1030 (2006) 24. Simon, H.A.: The architecture of complexity. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 106, 467–482 (1962)
User Reputation Evaluation Using Co-occurrence Feature and Collective Intelligence Jeong-Won Cha1, Hyun-woo Lee1, Yo-Sub Han2, and Laehyun Kim3 1
Changwon National University, Changwon, Republic of Korea {jcha, ggamsso}@changwon.ac.kr 2 Dept. of Computer Science, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
[email protected] 3 Intelligence and Interaction Research Center, KIST, Seoul, Republic of Korea
[email protected] Abstract. It becomes more difficult to find valuable contents in the Web 2.0 environment since lots of inexperienced users provide many unorganized contents. In the previous researches, people has proved that non-text information such as the number of references, the number of supports, and the length of answers is effective to evaluate answers to a question in a online QnA service site. However, these features can be changed easily by users and cannot reflect social activity of users. In this paper, we propose a new method to evaluate user reputation using co-occurrence features between question and answers, and collective intelligence. If we are able to calculate user reputation, then we can estimate the worth of contents that has small number of reference and small number of support. We compute the user reputation using a modified PageRank algorithm. The experiment results show that our proposed method is effective and useful for identifying such contents. Keywords: PageRank, User Reputation, Co-occurrence, Collective Intelligence.
1 Introduction There are many services that share movies, pictures, and knowledge using collective intelligence in the Internet. Examples are Wikipedia, Youtube, Facebook, and GisikiN1. These services are based on participation of people’s own accord. The most important feature of these services is to find/provide useful data and, thus, each service has its own search engine. However, users often see just-keyword-matched contents that are unrelated and thus unuseful. Consider 'GisikiN' of NHN that is the largest portal site of Korea. 'GisikiN' is the most popular knowledge sharing service in Korea. Once a user posts a question, other users answer the question similar to Yahoo! Answers. Then, the questioner chooses the best answer and others do thumb-up or thumb-down answers that show the consensus. However, if no best answer is selected by the corresponding questioner, then other users may choose the best answer. In recent years, some studies have attempted to find and explore the quality evaluation of contents [1, 2]. Nevertheless, studies on this problem are still in the early stage of development. 1
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In this paper, we propose a new method to compute user reputation for finding useful contents. We build a social network based on social activities and the similarity between questions and answers. The rest of this paper is organized as follows. Section 2 discusses the related work. Our proposed method including co-occurrence feature and collective intelligence is described in Section 3. Various experiments are set up and the results are described in Section 4. We conclude the paper in Section 5.
2 Related Works There has been a lot researches regarding analysis of hyperlink of documents for computing the importance of documents [3, 4]. Kleinberg found authorized documents using the hyperlink structures of documents related to queries [3]. Brin and Page classify the hyperlinks. They think that if a lot of documents have links point to more important document A and A has a link points to document B, the link of A is more important than others. So they design the PageRank algorithm based on this idea [4]. However, there is a pitfall when a new document is created: even if the new document is very important, it may have a lower rank because it has fewer links than the old ones. Hotho et al. propose FolkRank that is a variant of PageRank [5]. The algorithm is based on the assumption that more authorized authors may write more important tags. They make a network using words, authors, and tags, and, then calculate the importance of documents using the PageRank algorithm. Note that there are some studies of direct evaluation of contents. For example, [1] evaluates contents using a non-content based method that includes the number of references, the number thumb-ups, and the number of answering comments. [6, 7] use the rate of positive features and negative features for evaluation. [2] evaluates the truth level of documents using content features like keywords, length of document. However, as far as we are aware, there is no known study of user reputation for evaluating user generated contents. We estimate user reputation from social activities and collaborations, and evaluate contents using user reputation.
3 User Reputation Evaluation 3.1 Co-occurrence Feature We use co-occurrence features to calculate the similarity between question and answer. We use n-grams, which is different from the previous work [8] that uses topic words in blog body and comments to classified spams. Since there are many irregular forms in the web documents, the standard language analytic engines like a part-ofspeech tagger do not work well. First, we collect n-gram from a title or question and answers. Then we calculate the similarity as follows:
s( X , Y ) =
| X ∩Y | | X | + |Y |
(1)
where | X | is the number of n-grams of document X . X is a title or question and Y is answers.
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Fig. 1. Social network including questions and users. Rectangles are questions and ovals are users who write answers. Each number in a rectangle and each letter in an oval denote a unique ID for identification.
3.2 Collective Intelligence
We calculate the user reputation using the PageRank algorithm [4] based on collective intelligence. The PageRank algorithm calculates the importance of the document using the number of connections pointed by other documents. We assume that the users who write the questions or answers are nodes like documents in the PageRank algorithm. The proposed algorithm is similar to the PageRank algorithm but is different from the PageRank algorithm in assigning different weights to each link. There are two different links in our algorithm. One is a ‘link from a question to a selected answer (for example, a link from 36 to A in Figure 1)’ and the other is a ‘link from a question to an unselected answer (for example, a link from 36 to B Figure 1)’. Figure 1 is an example of the social network including questions and users. The solid lines are ‘links that selected to answer’ and the dotted lines are ‘links that unselected to answer’ in Figure 1. Questions have links that point to users who write the answer to the questions. We calculate the user reputation for evaluating the worth of documents as follows:
UR pi
1 d d ¦
qi M pi
f qi C qi
,
pi : user , qi : question, M pi : # of questions answered by pi , C qi : # of comments attach to qi , if selected answer: 0.8 f qi : ® , ¯otherwise: 0.2 d
0.85
(2)
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We observe that a useful answer is not necessarily chosen by a questioner. This leads us to consider unselected answers as well as selected answers. Thus, we set f (qi) to 0.8 for selected answers and 0.2 for unselected answers through experiments.
4 Experiments 4.1 Test Data
We collect the test data for experiment from 'GisikiN' of NHN. Table 1 shows the information for the data. Table 1. Data information
# of user 20,900
# of questions 20,588
# of answers 43,913
# of answers/# of questions 2.13
4.2 User Reputation Using Collective Intelligence
We conduct the first experiment using equation (2). Table 2 shows the top-10 ranked users’ reputation. In Table 1, we witness that a user who has high reputation tends to have a more number of selected answers based on equation (2). However, we notice that user6 (U6) ranks at 6th although he has less selected answers and more unselected answers in comparison to the others. This is because we assign weight 0.2 to unselected answers uniformly. To improve this weakness, we compute content similarity using n-gram cooccurrence features at question and answer. We use the title and the body of questions and answers for the similarity. For selecting an appropriate n value, we calculate the similarity for different n. Table 3 shows that the selected answers have higher Table 2. We conduct experiment 1 using equation (2). Note that 'user' is a person who writes an answer, 'reputation' is user reputation, 'selection' is the number of selected answers, and 'nonselection' is the number of unselected answers by users.
Ranking 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
User ID U1 U2 U3 U4 U5 *U6 U7 U8 U9 U10
Reputation 0.0075 0.0048 0.0044 0.0043 0.0039 0.0039 0.0037 0.0035 0.0031 0.0029
Selection 771 350 361 397 378 258 382 332 382 254
Non-selection 194 518 57 107 234 828 278 384 125 259
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Table 3. The question-answer similarity according to n-gram size. From the result of experiment, we use 2-gram to compute similarity between question and answer.
n-gram size Similarity between selected answer and question Similarity between nonselected answer and question
2
3
4
0.6764
0.4081
0.1818
0.4089
0.2634
0.1519
similarity value than the unselected answers’ using 2-gram size. This leads us to use bi-gram for calculating the similarity between them. After calculating the similarity, we modify the user reputation equation as follows:
UR ( pi ) = (1 − d ) + d
∑
qi ∈M ( pi )
f ( qi ) × s ( qi ) C ( qi )
,
(3)
where, s(qi) is the question-answer similarity using co-occurrence features. We conduct additional experiment using equation (3). At experiment 2 in Table 4, we note that U1’s reputation is increased because of using the question-answer similarity whereas U6’s reputation is decreased compared with experiment 1. This shows question-answer similarity is effective compared with the non-text features like the number of answers. We introduce another good feature for evaluating contents from a social network: the number of recommendations by anonymous readers. Regardless of questioner choice of answers, a good answer receives many recommendations. We apply this observation in equation (4): we use the ratio of recommendation instead of the number of recommendations for normalization. We use different weights according to selected answers, unselected answers, and self-answer. Because the self-answer can Table 4. We conduct experiment 2 using equation (3). Note that 'user' is a person who writes an answer, 'reputation' is user reputation, 'selection' is the number of selected answers, and 'nonselection' is the number of unselected answers by users.
Ranking 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
User ID U1 U2 U4 U5 U7 U3 U9 U8 *U6 U99
Reputation 0.0114 0.0078 0.0075 0.0057 0.0056 0.0054 0.0053 0.0051 0.0049 0.0049
Selection 771 350 397 378 382 361 382 332 258 237
Non-selection 194 518 107 234 278 57 125 384 828 138
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fabricate user’s reputation, we assign a low rate to it. From the results, we know that the rank of a user who has many unselected answers and low recommendation, for instance U6, falls far behind compared with the experiment 2 case.
UR ( pi ) = (1 − d ) + d
∑
f ( qi ) × s ( qi ) × r ( qi )
qi ∈M ( pi )
C ( qi )
,
⎧selected answer : recommeded ratio × 0.6 ⎪ r ( qi ) : ⎨unselected answer : recommended ratio × 0.3 ⎪self-answer : recommended ratio × 0.1 ⎩
(4)
Table 5 shows the result of experiment 3. Note that U6 does not exist at the top-10 ranked users. Newly, U12 comes into the lists. Table 5. We conduct experiment 3 using equation (4). Note that 'user' is a person who writes an answer, 'reputation' is user reputation, 'selection' is the number of selected answers, and 'nonselection' is the number of unselected answers by users.
Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
User ID U1 U4 U2 U5 U7 U3 U9 U8 U99 U12
Reputation 0.0114 0.0075 0.0073 0.0056 0.0055 0.0054 0.0053 0.0049 0.0049 0.0043
Selection 771 397 350 378 382 361 382 332 237 264
Non-selection 194 107 518 234 278 57 125 384 138 67
5 Conclusions Web 2.0 emphasizes user participation. The participation of user in a social network is effective criterion of user reputation. In this paper, we propose a new method to calculate user reputation using co-occurrence features and collective intelligence for selecting good answer given the questions. We consider the ‘GisikiN’ of NHN as a sample site. We define a social network using questions and users who write answers in GisikiN. We conduct experiments on test data from GisikiN, and the results show the effectiveness of our proposed method. The good performance of the proposed method is useful to evaluate the answer generated by users given questions. Developing extended method adding non-text features will be our future work. Acknowledgements. This work was supported by the IT R&D program of MKE/IITA 2008-S-024-01.
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References 1. Jeon, J., Croft, W.B., Lee, J.H., Park, S.: A Framework to Predict the Quality of Answers with Non-Textual Features. In: Proceedings of the 29th Annual International ACM SIGIR Conference on Research and Development in Information Retrieval, Seattle, Washington, USA, pp. 228–235 (2006) 2. Lee, J., Song, Y., Rim, H.: Quality Prediction of Knowledge Search Documents Using Text-Confidence Features. In: Proceedings of Hangul and Cognitive Language Technology 2008, pp. 62–67 (2007) (in Korean) 3. Kleinberg, J.: Authoritative Sources in a Hyperlinked Environment. Journal of the ACM 46(5), 604–632 (1999) 4. Brin, S., Page, L.: The anatomy of a large-scale hypertextual Web search engine. Computer Networks and ISDN Systems 30, 107–117 (1998) 5. Hotho, A., Jaschke, R., Schmitz, C., Stumme, G.: Information retrieval in folksonomies: Search and ranking. The Semantic Web: Research and Applications 4011, 411–442 (2006) 6. Zhu, X., Gauch, S.: Incorporating quality metrics in centralized/distributed information retrieval on the World Wide Web. In: Proceedings of the 23rd annual international ACM SIGIR conference on Research and development in information retrieval, pp. 288–295 (2000) 7. Zhou, Y., Croft, W.B.: Document quality models for web ad hoc retrieval. In: Proceedings of the 14th ACM international conference on Information and knowledge management, pp. 331–332 (2005) 8. Jeon, H.-W., Rim, H.-C.: A Comment Spam Filter System based on Inverse Chi-Square Using of Co-occurrence Feature Between Comment and Blog Post. In: Proceedings of HCLT 2007, pp. 122–127 (2007) (in Korean)
Innovation Networks: A Report on Creating a Specialist Professional Social Network, Offline and Online, to Foster Innovation in the New Media Sector Bob Cotton Arts Institute at Bournemouth, United Kingdom
[email protected]
Abstract. This paper is a report on the building of an online professional social network (http://nm-x.com) supported by a programme of live events, focused on innovation in the digital media content-design and development sector in London, late 2006-present. Starting with a summary of the state of the digital media design and development sector in this period, the Creative London strategy and the development team, the Report then focuses on the interface design issues, the creation of nm-x, and the supporting programme of live events. A reflective conclusion summarises the development and poses some questions and feedback that may be useful for others developing similar projects. A new contribution, a ‘Connections Module’ (allowing semantic links between nodes) is made to Drupal. Keywords: innovation, social network, interface-design, Drupal.
1 Introduction This paper is a report on the new media exchange (nm-x) - an attempt to build both an online and a real professional innovation network in London, from 2006 to the present day. 1.1 Personal Contribution My contribution to this project was as one of a team assembled by Neil Johnson - the CEO of the Paddington Development Trust (PDT) and Susan O’Reilly (managing the London Westside project), an award-winning regeneration trust drawing upon local, national and regional funds. The New Media Exchange was a spin-off from a programme initiated by PDT called London Westside. (The PDT area covers Notting Hill Gate, Bayswater, and parts of North Kensington, Marylebone, and the City of Westminster - the area covers London’s West End, Soho and adjoining areas - thus ‘London Westside’.) [1] 1.2 Context: The New Media Sector in London 2005-7 Before describing the nm-x innovation social network, it’s important to remember the context in which we were working around three years ago. A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 312–321, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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2 A Reminder about the Mid-Decade New Media Scene Google (1998) bought YouTube (2005) Ajax (2005) became a developer buzzword Second Life (2003) became really important, and widely used for real world business activities viral marketing (through blogs, Youtube, MySpace and other social media) adopted as standard promotional tool Microsoft and Toshiba announce the Zune media player (2006) Al Gore releases An Inconvenient Truth (2006) Google launch Google Earth (2006) Blender make the first open-source movie: Elephant’s Dream (2006) Google launched Sketchup (2006) Stamen’s cab-tracking experiment (2006) Royal DeLuxe Sultan’s Elephant animatronic street theatre in London (2006) Will Wright revealed work on Spore (2006) Apple launch iphone (2007) blogs became really big - and featured as promotional tools in political campaigns - and they became multimedia tools Michio Kaku reviews the future in Visions of the Future (2007) Web 2.0 (2005) became the buzz-word among the design and development community social media (2003) are increasingly popular RSS (1997) became really popular( IE7 includes built-in RSS reader) Moodle becoming popular as an educational CMS Massive launch their Prime animation agent software mobile media were taking off The period was rich in digital innovation, but on the other hand, the new media business sector, although it had recovered from the 2001 crash, had not yet fully taken on board the implications of the shift to Web 2.0 modes of thinking - that is, not just Tim O’Reilly’s brilliant 2005 insights [2], but Kevin Kelly’s ‘network thinking’ as expressed in Out of Control [3] and other books[4] of the early 1990s. There was more of a disparity at that time between what the leading-edge developers and designers were aware of and what the boss was actually doing. This group (designers, developers, creatives) had been identified by Tom Fleming [5] and others [6] as the digital content creators who are drivers of innovation and enterprise, and central to the regeneration plans encapsulated in the Creative London strategy. 2.1 Digital Content Creators We can take as including all those engaged in new media: digital designers, digital effects designers, animators, writers, film-makers, music-makers, web-designers, games developers, installation and performance artists, ICT developers, actors, dancers, theatrical directors, programme format developers, copy-writers, art directors,
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admen, marketeers, animators, radio producers (both BBC and Sky, as well as LBC, Classic FM, Smooth FM, Magic, Virgin and Heart are in the Westside area), videomakers, post-production designers, VJs, audio-visual artists, DJs, journalists, photographers, (and so on...). 2.2 Target Market Among the 70,000 or more creatives based in West London [5] that were our target audience - and the thousands of businesses they represented, some were already leading-edge studios, producing state of the art content (from mid-size production companies like Endemol, up to major broadcasters and media publishers like Sky, the BBC, and Warner Bros). Many more (how many?) were in need of the kind of services we could offer. The universities with a large presence in West London (including University of the Arts, comprising Chelsea, Central St Martins, London College of Communication, London College of Fashion, Wimbledon School of Art), and Imperial College, Royal College of Art, University College London, Brunel University, University of Westminster (and others)[7], were ready for an umbrella strategy to help optimise their knowledge transfer programmes, training and highereducation services, improve the entrepreneurial opportunities of their alumni, and of course to optimise their own income from research and industry-related partnerships. PDT’s London Westside strategy discussions, (out of which nm-x emerged), considered all these opportunities, as well as the more local creative cultural initiatives like the Notting Hill Carnival, The Notting Hill Film Festival, and the many art and media related festivals and events that thrived in the Westside area.
3 Target Catalyst Groups • Developers working on the fringes – evangelists, public-sector and voluntary sector open source evangelists • Designers leaving college, multi-media experimenters • Post-graduate designers on higher degrees • Researchers, artists, media-makers The nm-x project came out of a series of experiments with new geo-locative and Semantic Web technologies. The aspirations of these experiments were to see what kinds of interactions and economies could emerge from an enriched, shared resource of semantically coherent, spatially bound information such as the relationships between events, venues, people, projects and organizations within a locality. [10]
4 Issues to Address How best to reach this traditionally disparate, but recently digitally interconnected audience? And what to do to encourage the range of initiatives suggested both by the LDA and resulting from our own brain-storming and problem-solving? We quickly focused on two principle target sectors, which we reasoned were essential to innovation in the digital content arena - designers and developers. This
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stemmed also from our personal professional background. In all our experiences, the best work in digital media comes from the synergetic potential of these two disciplines: both of which are required to create successful interfaces and screen experiences, and in which all other media interfaces (ie for video, virtual worlds, applications, simulations, e-books and the like) can be composited into a seamless experience for the user/audience. The art of interface design then, synthesized a number of related disciplines - for example: graphic design, interaction design, information design, and experience design - all integrated in code by developers or coders. Designers and Developers in our thinking, comprised this range of specialisms, which were and are still relatively disparate, and we discussed how best to address this audience and to draw designers and developers together into a network in which our aims might be fulfilled? 4.1 Social Networks Of all the products of the network-thinking that Tim O’Reilly dubbed Web 2.0 [2], it was social networks or ‘social media’ that most galvanized both consumer and business users in mid-decade: the one I used most, Linked-In had launched in 2003 (the same year as mySpace and Del.icio.us), a year or two ahead of Flickr (2004), and youtube (2005). Networks have existed in every economy. What’s different now is that networks, enhanced and multiplied by technology, penetrate our lives so deeply that ‘network’ has become the central metaphor around which our thinking and our economy are organized. Unless we can understand the distinctive logic of networks, we can’t profit from the economic transformation now underway. [3] The online social network was, as Kelly suggested in Out of Control (1994) distributed (global); decentralized, collaborative and adaptive. The potential of the online social network as a tool for promoting knowledge transfer, competitive intelligence scoping, skilling and re-skilling, and other aspects of innovation practice, was obvious, and this became clear quite early on in our discussions on the central platform for nm-x. It was to be a new media exchange - an exchange of ideas, information, resources, events, tools, jobs, voluntary projects - of all the components necessary to promote innovation in, and expand a cluster that while widely distributed over west London, was nevertheless aware of itself as an innovation-driver. Such a professional - sector specific - online social network would have the following aims: • promote a shared common interest (innovation in digital content design and development) • enable rapid dissemination and P2P networking of information • encourage a growing awareness of the diversity of the sector (it’s not all about web-design) • provide a notice-board for relevant events, workshops, conferences, talks, showcases, exhibitions etc. • provide links to entrepreneurial resources, funding, venture-capital, grants, business-advice, digital rights and design-rights, and other support networks
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• support the knowledge transfer from universities and college to commerce • provide a focused employment exchange • support an ongoing programme of live events, to include workshops, seminars, briefings, master-classes, show and tells, industry overviews, businessdevelopment programmes, kick-starts (etc etc). 4.2 Supportive Live Events What was important - a key aspect of nm-x as far as I was concerned, was to use live events to showcase interesting non-commercial work - from researchers and artists as well as from performance artists, V/Js, installation and site-specific artists. I wanted nm-x to be an exchange of information between all the disparate elements covered by the term new media. This would also include the work of mobile content developers, engineers; and researchers exploring the technologies of big-screens public displays, grid networking, hyperfiction, and digital storytelling experiments. 4.3 Drupal and Open-Source Frameworks There was a strong interest also in evangelizing open-source and other opendevelopment tools, notably the range of content-management frameworks and associated libraries relating to social media and digital content design, such as Joomla, Drupal, Wikimedia and Moodle. We settled on Drupal. The interface was designed by Liz Turner and programmed in Java by an anonymous genius: “We really stretched Drupal's capabilities, thanks to the wonderful Drupal hands of Peter Brownell. Liz and our project manager Susan O'Reilly were keen to stress the importance of providing visual summaries of the networks that nm-x was describing. If we were going to appeal to the vanguardist design community, we needed to look hot, not like an identikit Drupal site. Also, we made rods for our backs by deciding against the easy route of using Flash for illustrative purposes. We wanted what we were doing to be open source - from the ground up - so that we could redistribute it under the same GPL as Drupal, as a module. This led to us commissioning a very talented designer, whose contract at the time meant that he has to (unfortunately) remain nameless, to write a javascript-based visualisation, showing the relationships between a network of nodes (people, projects, organisations), connected to each page. Peter Brownell then started what will eventually become a core element of Drupal - the 'connections' module, allowing semantic links between nodes. Node relationships if you will. This prints out on each page in the site as XML, or spits out the visualisation javascript that you see when you 'visualise connections' on each page of nm-x.com.” [10] 4.4 Programme of Live Networking Events The ideas discussed at this stage of the project encompassed the wide variety of informal networking events that we could devise to support the growth of the online
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Fig. 1. L, Saul Albert: Futurefilm Fig. 2. C. Bob Cotton: Kickstart workshops Feb 2007 seminars, University of Westminster and London College of Communication, June 2007
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Fig. 3. R. Bob Cotton, Susan O’Reilly: Design in an Era of Continuous Innovation at Central St Martins Innovation Centre June 2008
nm-x network. These included: talk-a-okes (Saul Albert’s innovative chat forum), mini-bars, show and tell, quick-fire presentations, kick-starts, workshops, masterclasses, angel forums, and business and enterprise development programmes. A few of the programmes delivered in 2006-2008, are illustrated below, a complete programme is archived at http://nm-x.com.
5 Developing an Appropriate Network and Interface We reasoned that to appeal to the target leading-edge designers and developers, we would need an interface that was both well-designed and brilliantly coded. The most appropriate approach to the nm-x interface is illustrated by the many examples of bubble-map or concept-map dynamic data-visualizations, first demonstrated by Plumb Design’s Visual Thesaurus (1997) (Fig 4), and recently exemplified in Frédéric Vavrille’s highly successful Live Plasma (2004) and Musicovery (2007) (Fig 5) interface designs. These designs had the following advantages: • • • •
Illustrated the network and its relationships Illustrated the interconnections between nodes Provided a map of the content of large and complex databases Provided a means for interrogating the map and browsing, examining or playing with the content • Could be easily operated, personalised and navigated by the (non-database specialist) user Liz Turner’s work on foafnaut (Liz Turner and Dean Jackson 2002-2005) (Fig 6) had been the principle reason for inviting her to design the user-interface for nmx, and we had decided that a visual mapping of the nm-x network and its operations would be the best approach, appealing to both developers and designers. The interface was to represent the hierarchy of activities, and network
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Fig. 4. L Plumb Design: Visual Thesaurus 1997 web-page interface design: A revolutionary insight into dynamic data visualization
Fig. 5. R Frédéric Vavrille: Musicovery 2007 webpage interface design for a customisable net radio
Fig. 6. (L). Liz Turner: interface for foafnaut (friend of a friend browser) 2002-2005
Fig. 7. (R). Liz Turner et al: home page interface for nm-x, showing network connections
interconnections among the locations, organizations and individuals engaged in nm-x activities, each with an iconic representation devised by Liz Turner. The network connections dynamic diagrams could be revealed as the background under-pinning a layer of information (text and images). (Fig 7), or as information panes (Fig 8). The composite layered page included a degree of transparency to visually integrate both elements of the interface (Fig 9). These interfaces hint at the real power of what Lev Manovich calls ‘database art’ [8] - the functional use of illustration to provide flexible and user-centred interfaces to large complex sets of data. We can speculate that such interface ideas will be an
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Fig. 8. Liz Turner et al: home-page for nm-x showing information panes
Fig. 9. Liz Turner et al: home page for nm-x/London Westside http://www.w3.org/2004/Talks/0120-semweb-umich/slide23-2.html accessed 250209
important ingredient of the next generation of public interface with the ‘semantic web’.
6 The Development Platform The open-source CMS (content-management system) Drupal was chosen as the development platform, and Peter Brownell - a leading Drupal developer in the UK, heading-up the London Drupal Users Group, and director of the Drupal development team Code Positive - was chosen to supervise the technical development. The author is a new media creative director who was part of the team developing the nm-x concept. The project was managed by Susan O’Reilly (of London Westside), directed and produced by Saul Albert (of The People Speak) [9], working alongside the
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designer, illustrator and web-media creator LizTurner and Drupal developer Peter Brownell. For once, the author was able to play the role of a detached observer of the online social network development, while helping to formulate and organise the live networking events.
7 Results What are the results of the nm-x project? By late 2008, towards the end of LDA funding for this project, we have built the framework for a specialist professional social network, have attracted a small but high-quality user-group (ie our target marketplace of designers, web-developers and coders), have developed and run a number of innovative live events, including show-and-tells, workshops, showcases and seminars. The feedback from both designers and developers has been good, and Liz Turner’s ideas for the ‘visual connections map’ have elicited very favourable comment, as has Peter Brownell’s implementation of the concept in Drupal. Saul Albert proved to be a dynamically hands-on producer, and the live events also serve to provide a method of attracting membership to the nm-x social network.
8 Reflections The issues of marketing and growing a specialist professional social network of this kind are different from the mass advertising approach of Entertainment Social Media like MySpace, though they share the peer-invitation method. With a limited budget however, our principle tools were recruitment through live events, creating exciting and essential live events to link nm-x within the innovation community. In retrospect, we would rethink this strategy.
9 Conclusions It is premature to draw finite conclusions from a project whose life-span is currently only 2 years, and while we feel that the overall nm-x strategy was well-thoughtthrough, in retrospect, we did not produce live events on a sufficiently large-scale, sufficiently often enough to trigger a self-sustaining critical mass of users. Our target of attracting ‘serious’ players in the new media innovation sector has been achieved, though membership is still in the hundreds. It is also necessary to produce frequent and regular live events of sufficient cross-sector interest to attract young designers and developers - and if this is being provided ‘free’, quite extensive funding is required. However, in retrospect, had this project aimed to be self-financing. the fees necessary for a professional, commercial series of event would perhaps have been a disincentive for the young designers, developers and studio start-ups we were aiming to attract. On the upside, a potentially important contribution to Drupal was produced. Overall, as an attempt at creating a ‘semantic web’ interface onto an online professional social network, this is an ongoing. interesting and forward-looking experiment, another pointer to the data-visualization interfaces of the future.
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“The nm-x project is ongoing. What differentiates your aspirations for nm-x from other professional/business social networks? Nm-x still hopes to resurrect itself with another round of development. I think the main difference between nm-x and other networks is how abstract and unfocused nm-x is. I don't necessarily think this is a problem. It is still a speculative project, more an infrastructure, a set of tools and conceptual attitudes towards networking that might yet find their niche, and grow on an open source, distributive model rather than the information silo social network we've seen achieve preeminence in the noughties.” [10]
References 1. Johnson, N.: Paddington Development Trust Annual Report 2005-2006 (2006) 2. O’Reilly, T.: What is Web 2.0 (2005), http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/ a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-is-web-20.html (last accessed February 23, 2009) 3. Kelly, K.: Out of Control. Fourth Estate, London (1994) 4. Kelly, K.: New Rules for the New Economy. Fourth Estate, London (1997) 5. Fleming, T.: A Creative Industries Framework for West London, Technical Report West London Partnership (2005) 6. Porter, M.E.: The Competitive Advantage of the Inner City. Harvard Business Review, 55–71 (May-June 1995); Porter, M.E.: Clusters and the new economic competition. Harvard Business Review 76, 77–90 (1998) 7. New Media Knowledge, http://www.nmk.co.uk 8. Manovich, L.: The Language of New Media. MIT Press, Cambridge (2001) 9. Albert, S.: Artware in Mute Issue 14 (August 1999) 10. Cotton, B.: Interview with Saul Albert (February 25, 2009), http://
[email protected]
The Innovation Architectures of Facebook Susan Shepherd Ferebee and James Davis University of Phoenix, Tucson, AZ 85742 United States of America
Abstract. User innovation is enabled through the existence of networks. This article examines the architectures of the social network, Facebook, and provides a theoretical discussion of why and how the architectures of Facebook can support a user innovation environment and what factors of the architectures can improve and enhance innovation. Keywords: innovation, user innovation, social networks, open source.
1 Introduction User innovation is enabled through the existence of networks. Wellman, Boase, and Chen [4] define user communities for participants as “…networks of interpersonal ties that provide sociability, support, information, a sense of belonging, and social identity.” It is the mechanism of this connectedness, operating through sociability, mutual support, and exchange of information that underlies the architecture of an important network medium: Facebook. It is our contention that the elements of an effective user innovation process are in place within Facebook. For example, in the presidential election and after he was elected, Barack Obama, his team, and his followers used the design of Facebook and other social networks to innovate in a number of ways: His followers raised half a billion dollars online for the campaign by their grass root movement and communication through the Facebook network. Obama created his own social network, mybarackobama.com, with over 2,000,000 members and continues to use it as a new and innovative communication channel to maintain connection with those who elected him. Obama’s team created and maintains Obama profiles in over 15 social network communities Vargas [2] quotes Julius Genachowski, Obama’s Chief Technology Advisor, as saying, “"The technology now has made it a lot easier for everyday people to participate." This concept is at the heart of user innovation networks. In addition to the benefit perceived by everyday people in being able to participate, the economic actors, in this case the campaign managers and candidate Obama, derived clear and defined benefits from these innovations. Economic actors, according to von Hippel [3] are defined in terms of the way that actors expect to derive benefit from a given innovation. 1.1 User Innovation Networks According to von Hippel [3], a user innovation network distributes “horizontally” across many product users. Open source software development is an example of a A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 322–325, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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user innovation network. Innovation starts with users, not with a manufacturer, and users also contribute to the continuing evolution of the product. Users innovate for their own use but freely share the innovation and all of the details of the design so that others can contribute to the innovation to meet their personal needs, which in turn contributes to the original innovation. The derived benefit to these innovators is not economic, but rather it is creation that meets a personal need (this does not rule out some eventual material gain) 1.2 The Innovation Architectures of Facebook Horizontal distribution is precisely the mechanism that powers Facebook. User innovation architecture is one that allows and encourages exchange and reactivity. The dual architectures of Facebook and its member community represent a framework that enhances knowledge sharing and idea generation. Some examples of the Facebook system architecture are Facebook groups and Facebook applications. Each supports innovation processes through providing unique communication channels that persuade interaction and sharing. Facebook groups can provide a closed group or open group community of shared interests and is an ideal environment for formation of a user innovation network. Applications can be quickly developed as prototypes on Facebook and immediately released for Facebook member use. Feedback and input is rapid, improvements and changes occur quickly, and continuous user involvement in the innovation process is a natural function of the Facebook architecture. Some examples of the Facebook community architecture that support innovation are the values, needs, and attitudes that the members bring to the interactive process. What is important about the Facebook system frameworks is the open source nature that allows rapid communication, rapid change, and rapid development. The architecture of the Facebook member community, might be described as an architecture of members seeking clarity (how may I input into the system), seeking accuracy (what are the methods of changing the system), and seeking precision (what are the outcomes and benefits to me if I change the system). The Facebook norms, standards, rules, and values evolve when the two persuasive architectures interact.
Fig. 1. The Facebook Architecture x Member Community Architecture = Facebook User Innovation Network
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The combined Facebook architectures create the conditions within which innovative behavior will occur. When a member joins a Facebook user innovation group, the two architectures come into proximity. The two architectures influence each other in a series of reactive effects forming an environment where continued contributions begin to equal the return of benefits (reputation, access to knowledge, improved product, possible material returns) for a user innovation network. 1.3 Facebook Interaction Points The two architectures work together through unique interaction points available in the Facebook structure such as the wall, groups, feeds, causes, and applications. These communication channels allow members to quickly share ideas that are available immediately to everyone in the user innovation network or to the whole community, and equally important, allows channels for immediate feedback. Additionally, new status posts and new feeds are automatically broadcast to all members of the innovation network. This factor of automation (a component of the Facebook system architecture) interacts with the community architecture of a user innovation network that is seeking clarity and accuracy through timely information. 1.4 Reactivity in Facebook Reactivity is a response to a stimulus. What is unique about reactivity in social networks, however, is the speed with which the response can occur and the large reach of the response [1]. This is demonstrated by Facebook’s recent attempt to change their Terms of Service to state that all content posted by the Facebook community members would be owned by Facebook. In response to this stimulus, immediately, a Facebook Cause group was formed which pushed back against the new Terms of Service. Within days more than 140,000 members had joined the cause. Shortly thereafter, in response to the Facebook community, Facebook relented and reinstated the old Terms of Service. Reactivity plays a critical role in the success of user innovation groups using a social network like Facebook. As a stimulus (new idea, revised idea) is broadcast to members through automated processes in the Facebook architecture, the stimulus is received simultaneously by a large number of individuals who might then respond with the same speed and broad reach, initiating even more responses. This rapid cycle [1] response leads to an acceleration of innovation. 1.5 Conclusion The reactivity between Facebook and the Facebook community is essential to create the conditions under which innovation can flourish. If the architecture of Facebook is not embraced by the Facebook user innovation community, the innovation possibilities are diminished. If the architecture of the Facebook community is not identified and responded to by Facebook, innovation opportunities would be lost, and the maximization of innovation possibilities will be diminished within the community. The two architectures live or die by their ability to grow together into a Facebook group where sharing and exchange occur.
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When users, the architects of the Facebook community, are given the tools to not only build the new Facebook, but innovate with each other to solve problems, Facebook as a whole becomes a user innovation network.
References 1. Fogg, B.J.: Mass Interpersonal Persuasion: An Early View of a New Phenomenon. In: Oinas-Kukkonen, H., Hasle, P., Harjumaa, M., Segerståhl, K., Øhrstrøm, P. (eds.) PERSUASIVE 2008. LNCS, vol. 5033, pp. 23–34. Springer, Heidelberg (2008) 2. Vargas, J.: Obama Raised Half A Billion Dollars. The Washington Post (2008), http://voices.washingtonpost.com/44/2008/11/20/ obama_raised_half_a_billion_on.html 3. VonHippel, E.: Influence, Science and Practice. Infrastructure. Allyn & Bacon, Boston 4. Wellman, B., Boase, J., Chen, W.: The Networked Nature of Community On and Off the Internet, Working Paper. Center for Urban & Community Studies. University of Toronto (May 2002)
Improving Personal Tagging Consistency through Visualization of Tag Relevancy Qin Gao1, Yusen Dai, and Kai Fu 1
Department of Industrial Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
[email protected]
Abstract. Tagging has emerged as a new means of organizing information, but the inconsistency in tagging behaviors of users is a major drawback which degrades both information organization and retrieval performance. The current study aims to study how the intra-personal consistency of tagging can be improved by proper tag visualization. The effects of visualization of tag frequency and visualization of the relevancy among tags on personal tagging consistency are empirically tested and compared through an experiment with 39 participants. The results show that visualization of tag relevancy improves tagging consistency significantly and reduces mental workload simultaneously; visualization of tag frequency may alleviate perceived physical demand when tag relevancy is visualized. The findings provide clear and meaningful implications for system designers. Keywords: collaborative tagging systems, consistency, tagging, information visualization, tag cloud.
1 Introduction As web2.0 services gain popularity, previously passive web users are becoming active content creators and organizers. Users are allowed to describe contents using freechosen keywords, so-called “tags”, with the aim to facilitate access for themselves and for other users. The benefits and problems of collaborative tagging systems have been discussed by many researchers. First of all, one of the most obvious advantages of tagging is the very simple rule of tagging. No training or expertise on complicated hierarchically organized nomenclatures is required for using a collaborative tagging system. This simplicity reduces cost of indexing and labeling objects dramatically [1, 2]. In particular, such open structure and flexible usage of collaborative tagging systems make them applicable for domains characterized with large corpus, absence of formal categories, unstable and unrestricted entities where formal taxonomies do not work [3]. Second, in collaborative tagging systems, information-seekers are indexing and labeling information mainly for their own usage. Thus user-generated tags are believed reflecting the mental models of real system users [4]. Third, the bottom-up approach leads to multiple interpretations of the same content, and this enables users to benefit from other people’s discovery in addition to their own [5] and encourages both social and cultural explorations [6]. The democratic aspect of collaborative A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 326–335, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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tagging systems makes them more responsive to changes in the users’ actual interests [7] and changes in the consensus of how things should be classified [3]. The flexibility of tagging systems, however, also leads to problems that negatively influence the quality of tags and the effectiveness of system use. One important problem is the low level of consistency in tagging. Here consistency refers to two aspects: inter-personal consistency and intra-personal consistency. The former refers to the degree to which different users describe the same content with consistent tags, and the latter refers to the level of consistency in tagging style within individual users. Until now little research has been done to improve the personal consistency. This perspective, however, is indispensable, since it obviously influences the effectiveness and satisfaction of system use by individuals, and consequently the success of the system. The current study aims to study how the intra-personal consistency of tagging can be improved by proper tag visualization. The effects of visualization of tag frequency and visualization of the relevancy among tags on personal tagging consistency are empirically tested and compared. The results indicate that visualization of tag relevancy improves personal tagging consistency significantly, whereas visualization of tag frequency may alleviate perceived physical demand. The findings provide meaningful implications for system designers.
2 Inconsistencies in Collaborative Tagging Systems and Visualization of Tags The problem of inconsistencies in collaborative tagging systems has been long discussed. The democracy and freedom in such systems leads to problems of imprecise, overlapping and ambiguous tags. Various “bad” tags exist in the system due to the lack of control and education, including misspelt tags, badly encoded tags, tags that do not follow conventions in issues such as case and number and mixed-use of plurals and singulars [8]. Golder and Huberman discussed those problems related to semantic relations between tags and their referents, including polysemy (one term related to many meanings), synonymy (multiple terms related to the same meanings) and basic level variation (terms at different specificity used arbitrary for one object) [9]. The reason is not difficult to understand. Since users from different cultural and knowledge background add tags with different motivations and goals in different contexts, the whole system is consisted of idiosyncratically personal categories as well as those that are widely agreed upon [9]. Even if all people use similar vocabulary, the determination of the specificity of a tag is influenced by many variable factors, including users’ linguistic power of expression, cognitive talents, tagging motivations, domain knowledge and personal living experience [9, 10]. Despite the very idiosyncratic population of users, however, researchers found certain regularities in the usage pattern. Mathes suggested that tag distribution would follow a power law scenario: the most used tags are highly visible so likely to be used by other users, and there will be a large number of tags that are used only by a few users, and finally there will be a huge number of tags that are used by just one or two users [11]. However, by graphing tags with their frequencies of a given URL, it was found that the shape is similar to classic power law, but the drop off of tag frequencies is not as steep as in a power law [12]. Golder and Huberman’s analysis of del.icio.us tags detected that after about 100 bookmarks, a stable tagging pattern will arise for a
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given URL [9]. In addition, Kipp and Campbell found besides those generally agreed tags, other tags follow several inconsistency patterns. However, tags related to time and task reveals a new dimension in information organization, which is not supported by traditional classification schemes. Tagging consistency, the main dimension of tag quality, as detailed previously in this paper, is a major problem of folksonomy. The extent to which users adhere to a consistent tagging pattern influences not only their usage of the system but also the vocabulary quality of overall system. Generally there are two ways to improve personal tagging consistency: educating users to add better tags and improving the systems to allow better tags to be added [8]. Though fully automated semantic checks by the system sounds attractive, it is nearly impossible due to the ambiguous nature of language and the heterogeneous user population. Providing users with a set of helpful heuristics to facilitate wise tag selection seems a wiser solution, like tag could. Most of currently used tag clouds are developed to visualize the frequency of tags used. The benefit of such visualization is that it encourages the tagger to reuse tags and to direct the tagger to the community consensus. However, there are also concerns that such visualization impedes users to discover semantic relations among tags and reduces efficiency of visual search [13]. Visualization of semantic relations among tags is considered another effective way to improve tagging quality and efficiency [14, 15]. It is expected that such visualization will help users find suitable tags easily, and improve the performance of visual search and navigation. However, there is no empirical evidence supporting such statement yet.
3 Research Questions Hypothesis B1: visualization of occurrence frequency of tags improves personal tag consistency. Harry Halpin et al shows that tags distributions in del.icio.us tend to stabilize into power law distributions [16]. This distribution indicates the existence of dominating topics in such a collaborative system. It implies that for a specific user, some topics are more interesting, thus the user tends to tag them more frequently. That is, the frequently used tags are more likely to be reused, and making frequently used tags easy to find in the tag list encourages the user to reuse it. When the user tries to tag a specific object, she may know what tag she will use exactly (then she can type it in directly or search in the tag list, which is relatively easy to accomplish in an alphabetically sorted list), or she just has a brief idea about the tag content. In the latter case, she is performing actually a browsing task. By visualizing the occurrence frequency, we can make the frequently used tags easier to find in such browsing tasks, ultimately, to improve personal consistency. Hypothesis B2: visualization of inter-tag relevancy improves personal tag consistency. Lin suggests browsing is facilitated when there is a good underlying structure so that items close to one another can be inferred to be similar[17]. It is expected that visualizing the inter-tag relevancy help users in stabilizing their tagging patterns.
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4 Methodology 4.1 Design of the Experiment A two by two experiment was conducted to test the hypotheses. Independent variables were the visualization of tag frequency and the visualization of tag relevancy. When the visualization of tag frequency was enabled, the tag frequency was visualized by different font size of the tag in the tag-cloud. The font size of tags ranges from 12px to 60px, with seven levels altogether. The definition of font size levels is described in Table 1. Table 1. Definition of font size levels Font size level 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Font size (px) 12 20 28 36 44 52 60
For a given tag, the font size was determined by the following logarithm function:
⎡ 6 log(Oi ) ⎤ Currenti = ⎢ ⎥ +1 ⎣ log(120) ⎦ Where
Currenti is the font size level of the current tag, Oi is the use frequency of
the current tag. The resulting relationship between the frequency of a tag and its font size level is shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 1. The relationship between font size level and tag frequency
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When the visualization of tag relevancy was enabled, clusters of relevant tags were calculated with K-means algorithm developed by Montero and Solana. By counting the number of co-occurrences, that is, the number of times when two tags are assigned to the same focus, Montero and Solana consider this as a measure of the similarity of different tags, and further as a kind of semantic relationship between the tags [13]. Though the co-existence does not necessarily mean similarity, they may reflect existence of differing user groups and their differing views of the object [12]. To ensure the display suitable for small or large numbers of tags on a web page, we apply following rules on the clustering results 1. Tags of the same cluster are presented in the same line 2. Each line can include at most 10 tags 3. When the cluster has more than 10 members, the first 10 members closest to the central point will be displayed. The rest members will be put to the closest cluster which has room for more members. 4. The number of clusters is [N/6], where N is the number of all available tags. 5. Only clusters with more than 3 members will be displayed. 6. White (RGB value: FFFFFF) and blue (RGB value: 0000FF) background colors are used for adjacent clusters to emphasize the effect of “clusters”. The dependant variable is personal tagging consistency. It is measured by the overlapping between the results of two same tagging tasks [13]: Let Ai and Bi denote the sets of tags that assigned to the same content i in two successive runs. We define the relative overlapping between
Oi ( A, B ) =
Ai and Bi by:
| Ai ∩ Bi | | Ai ∪ Bi |
We define the overall overlapping between the two successive runs by the mean of all relative overlappings of this user:
∑ O=
n i =1
Oi ( A, B) n
Fig. 2 shows the condition when both frequency and tag relevancy are visualized. In addition, the mental workload perceived by participants are also measured using NASA-TLX. 4.2 Participants 43 participants were invited to the tests, yielding 39 valid results, including 10 females and 29 males. Participants were randomly assigned to four groups. The treatment of groups is show in Table 2. Background information of participants is summarized in Table 3.
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Fig. 2. Tagging with visualization of both frequency and tag relevancy Table 2. Treatment of different groups Group
Participants
1 2 3 4
10 10 9 10
Visualization of frequency No Yes No Yes
Visualization of relevancy No No Yes Yes
Table 3. Background information of participants
Variables Age (years) Computer experience (years) Internet experience (years) Tagging experience (years)
Group 1 M SD 23.1 1.29 7.0 2.62 6.1 2.18 2.25 1.93
Group 2 M SD 23.4 3.37 8.9 2.55 7.6 2.05 2 1.49
Group 3 M SD 22.2 1.64 7.9 2.75 6.5 1.94 2.3 1.22
Group 4 M SD 22.4 1.17 10.3 2.58 8.1 2.23 3.3 1.63
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4.3 Procedure After filling out the consent form and getting familiar with the experiment system, the participant was first asked to tag 60 pictures, in which 20 were experiment stimuli, and 40 were filler pictures. Upon the completion of the tasks, the participant was asked to fill out a NASA-TLX questionnaire, which measured the mental workload of the tagging task utilizing different visualizations. Then the participant was interviewed of how he or she selected tags. After the interview, the participant was asked to do a series of mental arithmetic and spoke the result out loudly. The aim of doing mental arithmetic was to remove participant’s memory of tags he or she made in the previous session. Then another 60 pictures were given to the participant to tag, including the identical 20 stimuli they tagged in the previous session and another 40 filler pictures. The sequence of all the pictures was randomized. Finally the participant was briefed and compensated with 50 Yuan RMB.
5 Results and Discussion 5.1 Effect of Relevancy Visualization The difference in tagging consistency was tested with ANCOVA, with internet experience as the covariate. The result shows that the visualization of tag relevancy improves personal consistency significantly (F =4.37, p = .04). The personal consistency of the relevancy visualization group (M = 0.75, SD = .13) was 12% higher than that of the group without such visualization (M = 0.67, SD = .13). The comparison of NASA-TLX scores shows no significant difference in the overall score. But regarding mental demand, there is a marginally significant difference (F = 3.0, p = .09). Participants in the relevancy visualization group perceived lower level of mental demand (M = 44.22, SD = 17.56) than participants in the group without such visualization (M = 51.1, SD = 16.47). In addition, there is a trend (F = 2.44, p = .12) that participants in the relevancy visualization group perceived higher level of mental demand (M = 42.2, SD = 21.91) than participants in the group without such visualization (M = 32.7, SD = 18.28).
Fig. 3. Effects of relevancy visualization on personal consistency
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Fig. 4. Effects of relevancy visualization on perceived mental demand
5.2 Effect of Frequency Visualization The frequency visualization has no significant impacts on tagging consistency and the overall workload. But it influence perceived physical demand significantly (F = 5.2, p = 0.03). Participants in the frequency visualization group perceived lower level of mental demand (M = 22.3, SD = 15.84) than participants in the group without such visualization (M = 33.8, SD = 19.49). More particularly, it is found that there is an interaction effect between frequency visualization and relevancy visualization (F = 4.58, p = .04). As shown in Fig. 5, when the relevancy visualization is enabled, visualization of tag frequency reduces the physical demand for users significantly, whereas such phenomenon does not arise when there is no relevancy visualization.
Fig. 5. Effects of frequency visualization on perceived physical demand
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6 Conclusion The experiment results show that relevancy visualization does shape users’ tagging behavior into a more consistent pattern, but frequency visualization, though frequently used, does not influence tagging consistency significantly. Interestingly enough, when interviewed after the experiments, most participants in the relevancy visualization reported that they did not realize the semantic clustering of tags. According to our observation and interviews with participants, we found that there are two different types of tags which exist simultaneously for nearly every participant: categorical tags and descriptive tags. Categorical tags are more general, describing the object from a less ego-centered perspective. The selection of categorical tags is influenced by the so-called basic level [9]. Often such tags are selected at first, and the consistency of such tags is quite high, as the basic level categorization itself is the level of specificity that directly related to humans’ interactions with the object. To input such tags, many participants typed directly rather than searching in the tag cloud. The frequency visualization often emphasizes these categorical tags which are already used in a relative consistent pattern. Consequently there is no observed significant difference. The real inconsistency exists in descriptive tags, which describe details of the target in a more ego-centered way. The frequency of such tags is generally low, and they are scattered widely in the tag cloud without relevancy visualization. With the clustering algorithm, however, the co-existence of tags is measured and visualized. Descriptive tags used to describe same targets are placed near to each other. This improves the possibility the user notices relevant descriptive tags and reuses them. In this way, relevancy visualization improves the consistency of descriptive tag usage and the overall tagging consistency. It was also found that visualizing the relevancy among tags also helps reduce mental workload for users. The results also show that when the relevancy visualization is applied, frequency visualization can alleviate perceived physical demand greatly. This is in consistent with Fitts law, and it provides clear enough implications for designers that frequency visualization should be used in combination of relevancy tags. In conclusion, we found that frequency visualization and relevancy visualization are both helpful for improving tagging experience, and should be used in combination. There are several alternative algorithms to visualize the relevancy among tags. The current study adopted clustering algorithm based on co-existence of tags. Real impacts of other algorithms should be studied in future research.
References 1. Macgregor, G., McCulloch, E.: Collaborative tagging as a knowledge organisation and resource discovery tool. Library Review 55(5), 291–300 (2006) 2. Wu, H., Zubair, M., Maly, K.: Harvesting social knowledge from folksonomies. In: Proceedings of the 17th Conference on Hypertext and Hypermedia, pp. 111–114. ACM, New York (2006) 3. Shirky, C.: Ontology is Overrated: Categories, Links, and Tags. Economics & Culture, Media & Community (2005)
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4. Quintarelli, E.: Folksonomies: Power to the people. In: ISKO Italy UniMIB meeting. Milan (2005) 5. Campbell, K.E.: A phenomenological framework for the relationship between the semantic Web and user-centered tagging systems. In: 17th ASIS&T SIG/CR Classification Research Workshop (2006) 6. Auray, N.: Folksonomy: the New Way to Serendipity. International Journal of Digital Economics 65, 67–88 (2007) 7. Niwa, S., Doi, T., Honiden, S.: Web page recommender system based on folksonomy mining for ITNG 2006 submissions. In: Third International Conference on Information Technology: New Generations, ITNG 2006 (2006) 8. Guy, M., Tonkin, E.: Folksonomies: Tidying up tags? D-Lib Magazine 12 (2006) 9. Golder, S.A., Huberman, B.A.: Usage patterns of collaborative tagging systems. Journal of Information Science 32(2), 198–208 (2006) 10. Stock, W.G., Peters, I.: Folksonomy and information retrieval. In: Proceedings of the 70th ASIS&T Annual Meeting, vol. 44, pp. 1510–1542 (2007) 11. Mathes, A.: Folksonomies - Cooperative Classification and Communication Through Shared Metadata. Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (2004) 12. Kipp, M., Campbell, D.: Patterns and inconsistencies in collaborative tagging systems: An examination of tagging practices. Proceedings of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 43(1) (2006) 13. Hassan-Montero, Y., Herrero-Solana, V.: Improving tag-clouds as visual informatin retreival interfaces. In: The International Conference on Multidisciplinary Information Sciences & Technologies (2006) 14. Choy, S., Lui, A.: Web Information Retrieval in Collaborative Tagging Systems. IEEE Computer Society, Washington (2006) 15. Nielsen, M.: Functionality in a second generation tag cloud Nielsen, Mogen, 1980Functionality in a second generation tag cloud, Gj?vik (1980) 16. Halpin, H., Robu, V., Shepherd, H.: The complex dynamics of collaborative tagging. In: WWW 2007, Banff, Alberta, Canada (2007) 17. Lin, X.: Map displays for information retrieval. Journal of the American Society for Information Science 48(1) (1997)
“I Heard It on the Grapevine” – Blogging, Facebook, YouTube, and Student Self-organization during a Faculty Strike Emilie W. Gould Center for Distance Learning, SUNY Empire State College 111 West Avenue, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866, USA
[email protected]
Abstract. Before the web, a strike tended to be between two parties and the communication rules for such crises were clear: the employer funneled all messages through a single spokesperson to maintain control of its image while the union focused most of its efforts on maintaining the morale and commitment of its membership. The web enlarges the audiences for a strike and allows stakeholders to build coalitions against both sides. During a faculty strike at Acadia University in 2007, student stakeholders developed their own online channels of communication to respond to faculty and administration actions. While the professors walked the picket line and the administrators remained cloistered in University Hall, a lively discourse was taking place on the web in student blogs, facebook groups, and You-Tube. This reaction to this strike shows how new media can empower outsiders to make sense of events and organize themselves to put pressure on official social structures. In addition, it demonstrates the power of Millennial students to force others to take their views into account. Keywords: social networking, blogging, Facebook, You-Tube, rhetoric, strike communication, crisis communication, Internet Crisis Potential, Millennial generation.
1 Introduction The notion that new media can help stakeholders become a strong third party in a strike has not been discussed in depth before. Previous case studies have tended to focus on the use of technology by the employer and union [1] or the value of e-mail [2] and information technology [3] to union members combating the employer. This study of a faculty strike at a small liberal arts university in Canada is interesting for the emergence of stakeholders as independent voices commenting on and making sense of the event and – at least twice – influencing the negotiation process. The crisis communication strategies of both employers and unions are normally developed well ahead of a strike and reflect different priorities. Before a strike, both groups attempt to inform and put pressure on the other side to influence negotiations. During a strike, employers try to maintain control of their corporate message and limit A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 336–345, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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damage to their reputation by speaking with a single voice. [4] Since large organizations often have professional communicators on staff, this corporate spokesman is generally able to turn out very polished messages that are placed with local media. The media professionals know the communication professional and, unless something unexpected occurs, the relationship is, well, “professional.” Similarly, labor unions are also able to craft persuasive messages. Since the mid-1990s, many locals have adopted Internet technology [5,6] and increased their capacity for information gathering, organizing the unorganized, stronger and more democratic relationships with members, and influencing the public. However, once a strike begins, their first concern becomes their membership. Any weakness in support for the strike weakens negotiations, so union leaders focus on getting people to walk the picket line to build solidarity and resolve crises and doubts. If the local has the resources, it will counter the employer with messages that often appeal directly to stakeholders and claim the labor action is actually in the stakeholders’ best interests. However, stakeholders are beginning to reject such claims. The routinization of the Internet and the development of social networking competencies in the Millenial generation give stakeholders the ability to act in their own interests. Conway, Ward, Lewis, and Bernhardt [8] have coined the term Internet Crisis Potential (ICP) for the emerging power of stakeholders to trigger or influence existing crises: Thus stakeholders with relatively low power and impact can become very influential by using the Internet as a cost-effective medium that provides interactivity, networking power and the possibility to distribute information with no gatekeeper involved. In this way, the Internet has the potential to change the power relations between the corporation and stakeholders with limited resources. Indeed, as shown by the faculty strike at Acadia University, stakeholders can quickly organize themselves to voice their own needs and to present a variety of perspectives that must be addressed by both the employer and the union. Voices can be individual or collective, and the perspectives can be pro-employer, pro-union, or pro-stakeholder, but they cannot be ignored.
2 Background From mid-October through early November 2007, the Acadia University Faculty Association (AUFA) was on strike for a new contract. This was Acadia’s second strike in four years. Three years previously, the union had walked out but “the ’04 strike” ended quite quickly. Students had a week off at the beginning of the winter term and plenty of time to recover and pass their classes. Faculty found solidarity hard to maintain in cold weather; one participant told me the snow banks were so high that cars passing on Main Street could not even see the picket line. The Eleventh Collective Agreement did not settle issues like equity for part-time faculty or the discrepancy between Acadia salaries and the national average. The University President signed a letter promising to do her best to create a more competitive compensation structure but there was no formal mechanism to require change. As a result, there was a lot of unfinished business to deal with in the Twelfth Collective Agreement. The union executive planned ahead to get a better contract.
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The ’07 strike was timed to take place in the middle of Fall term. The faculty walked in beautiful weather with the campus trees turning red and gold. By the time classes resumed, students had less than three weeks to catch up on assignments before exams and Christmas. In addition, the union assembled and trained its communication committee in the spring so that the team was able to move into full gear once the faculty hit the picket line. Throughout the four weeks of the strike, both sides sparred with one another through TV, radio, and the print press. The administration spokesman carefully managed all messages coming from the university and Board of Governors while AUFA gave press conferences, rebutted administration messages, wrote letters to the editor, sent messages to union members through email and an online bulletin board, and prepared flyers for picketers and the public. By contrast, the student body had spent the summer and fall largely oblivious to the possibility of a strike. Students told me that they first heard there might be a strike in September but didn’t begin to worry until a few weeks before the event. The student newspaper ran stories that apparently went unread. The Acadia Student Union (ASU) tried to adopt an officially neutral stance but the required college-wide meeting failed to make quorum. Many students thought the strike would be over in ten days and were unprepared for its duration. Yet, by the end, it was students who crafted the most effective messages of the strike by exploiting the new media of blogging, Facebook, and YouTube. They engaged hundreds of constituents in discussion, organized pro-student and pro-faculty marches, forced the faculty senate to change the class and exam schedule, mobilized support for a partial tuition refund, and gave hundreds of stakeholders (students, faculty, administrators, staff, and parents) the opportunity to voice their opinions. The week before the strike began, the Vice President Academic of the ASU recruited the author of the student blog; he had planned to develop his own blog in any case. Sometime before 10 the morning of the strike, two students came up with the idea of creating a pro-faculty Student Strike Walk group on Facebook and had 80 “friends” by nightfall. The videographer woke up that first morning, looked in his closet, saw his video camera, and thought it would be “interesting to go interview some people” in the afternoon. A faculty member and a parent also had blogs and at least five additional Facebook groups were formed, including one from AUFA seeking to influence students. However, only the student media developed broad and diverse audiences. At first, both the administration and AUFA tended to downplay student involvement. Both the university and faculty union presidents told me that they refused to read any online media. However, two major themes soon emerged: the disruption suffered by students and the cost of their lost education. At strike end, students received two extra days to return to campus and, several weeks later, were given a nominal tuition rebate for their lost time in class. The pro-faculty organizers marched down Main Street three times and other students put on a Halloween Zombie March and protested the loss of faculty in the Theatre Department (the Save Our Major March). AUFA supported all these groups with signs, noisemakers, and video, but saw the ASU as mostly hostile to the faculty. The ASU ran three pro-student rallies on its own; the second delivered a petition to University Hall demanding that student needs be given more attention in the negotiations.
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(This was slightly disingenuous because the ASU President was already a member of the Board of Governors and attended regular meetings on the strike.) Finally, during an official media blackout, the University President was interviewed on You-Tube to counter negative publicity about a business trip to China. She was not successful. Her body language showed great unease which at least one student I interviewed attributed to deception.
3 My Study Of course, as a then-faculty member at Acadia, I was a participant observer in the walkout – sharing, to some degree, the bias of my union and showing up for my daily shift with a sign. However, unlike other faculty members, I was experiencing my first strike, ever. In previous jobs, I had either been prevented from striking by law or was not represented by a union. Thus, it was all new and a fascinating experience in organizational, mass media, computer-mediated, visual, and interpersonal communication. I began taking photos and keeping notes the first day and decided to counter my own biases by eliciting a wide variety of participant voices and collecting artifacts, both during and after the strike. I eventually managed to interview the university president, administration spokesman, AUFA president, chair of the AUFA communication committee, individual faculty members, and focus groups of students and staff. Almost universally, students, staff, and faculty told me they ignored official messages from the administration and union and spent long hours following and responding to student media. They described the ASU blog and the You-Tube videos as the most effective and honest communication channels available to them. At first, it was hard to document this part of the story. I was able to buy the “Visit Scenic Acadia University – it’s striking!” tee-shirt in the student store; I picked up a variety of buttons and signs at the union office; I collected union flyers and ephemera for my file whenever I saw them; I printed off reams of press releases and email at home. But, the discourse developing on student social networking sites was largely invisible to me until at least four groups of students, reflecting four different perspectives, appeared on Main Street. I marveled that alternative marches of 40 to 200 students could organize themselves within a few days of the walkout until fellow faculty gave me urls and directed my attention to the websites where student communities were taking form.
4 Student Voices The three most important voices belonged to the ASU designated Blogger, the students who set up the pro-faculty Facebook group, and the You-Tube videographer. The ASU Blogger In his very first posting, the student recruited to write the ASU StrikeBlog introduced himself and his standpoint:
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Fellow Acadia Students, My name is X, and my potential descriptors are numerous: • 4th Year English Honours Student • An RA in Roy Jodrey Hall • The author of BlogName, an independent blog that covers Acadia events like Welcome Week. However, let’s forget all of those roles for one second, and state this: I am first and foremost an Acadia student, and I am here to help inform students on the events unfolding regarding a potential faculty strike at Acadia University. The ASU Blogger next identified himself with the neutral stance of the ASU and promised to deal with questions, rumors, and misinformation fairly and inclusively. Students should tell him what they wanted to know and he would answer frequentlyasked questions in the blog; specific questions could be emailed to him directly. His first blog entry ended with the graphic the ASU had developed to brand its position relative to the university and the union.
A few nights later, at 11:35 pm, the ASU Blogger announced the beginning of the strike: There is literal hooting and hollering in West College (And elsewhere, I presume), which can mean only one thing: The Strike is Official. This means that tomorrow morning, barring some last minute heroics (Which are still possible, theoretically), the professors will hit the picket lines and the university will enter into strike mode. In the short term, there's going to be a lot of different reactions: relation, relief, frustration, anger, and a whole lot of MSN names in capital letters with exclamation marks. This is both unavoidable and entirely understandable. But, I shall have to be the appointed party pooper who, starting tomorrow, will start harping about academic programming and longterm planning for students. However, for now, let's take a look at what went down and how things will be affected immediately. He then presented “The Facts as We Know Them” and again solicited comments and questions. Earlier in the day, while everything remained in suspense, he had written a detailed entry summarizing the administration and union positions. More than fifty comments were posted to the blog which was eventually viewed almost 5000 times – quite amazing for a school with a little less than 3000 students. After his second post, thirty-one more comments were posted within the next twenty hours by students, the ASU blogger, and the ASU VicePresident Academic. Topics ranged from opening hours for the library and registrar, to ASU-sponsored tutorials and study strategies from a student on campus during the previous strike, to speculation on the ground rules
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for resuming classes and taking final exams, to the first demands for reimbursement for lost time. “Dismayed” titled his post, Show me the $$: “So here we go again! I want to be reimbursed for lost class time. If we were any other group than students and were denied a service we paid for, wouldn't that be foremost on our minds?” Another student said, “Like so many other possibly irritated and pissed off parents, my rather [father] will be extremely annoyed/angry with the professors if they go longer then a week. He says that he will find some way to demand his (actually our) money back.” Someone else commented, “It’s just too bad there isn’t a heap of snow like last time.” From then on, the ASU Blogger had a full-time job. For the next two weeks, his blog averaged 600-700 views and 30-40 comments per day. At the height of the strike – during the very uncertain third week when negotiations again broke down – the blog registered more than a thousand views and 102 comments. By the final mediation and joint administration/union media blackout, the blog was the only game in town. The entry announcing the Back to Work Protocol was viewed over 3400 times and generated 82 comments. At one point, when information was sparse, the ASU Blogger pondered the role of new media: My brother went to Acadia before me, so he was in his third year during the last faculty strike. All my parents remember hearing about that strike was a phone call from my brother stating "Hey, the faculty are on strike." No blogs, no Facebook Groups, no YouTube: all they had was what my brother told them. A lot has changed since 2004, however, and parents are definitely considerably more informed this time around…. …The problem with the traditional media (Radio, Newspapers, Television) is that they fail to provide true depth to their reporting. We hear a lot about financial concerns and the most basic description of the issues, but few media outlets are willing to talk to enough people for enough time in order to create a real forum. What you miss out on is an engagement with the issues: the media is often unwilling to take a stand, choosing rather to present things in a neat little package for the consumers of their content. The ASU Blogger then emphasized the importance of unmediated engagement and identified other voices available to students: the You-Tube videos, a faculty member personal blog, a parent’s blog, and the Student Strike Walk group. He noted the different standpoints of each group and then encouraged his readers to sample other voices. He ended wishing: “I really hope the Admin catches up to the trend soon.” Only once was the ASU Blogger compelled to mediate the conversation. During week three, many angry comments were posted to the blog and people began to flame. The ASU Blogger handled the crisis by reviewing the purpose of the blog, purpose of comments, recent comments, and future ability to make comments: “I want to warn people that there may come a time where comments might have to be removed, and I would hate for that to happen: there have been some good questions and concerns raised in the comments, and overzealous individuals should not be able to take away a public discourse. So, let’s all work together to restore a bit more order to the comments; I think we’d all be better off for it.” By the next day, contributions had resumed a reasonable tone and the blog hit rate continued to grow.
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Several days after the strike came to an end, the ASU Blogger wrote his farewell: Thank you to all of the parents, community members, and even faculty and administration who visited the site on occasion. The ASU might directly represent students, but it was our goal to exclude no “stakeholder”. We were proud to have all of you visiting, and thank you for offering your voice to the proceedings. Thank you to everyone who commented on the site over the past three and a half weeks. There’s been some ups and downs, but even through secret talks and flame wars I believe that the comments provided a way for students to have their own voice. This isn’t my website, but your website: those of you who helped reflect that ownership through commenting, including parents and alumni and the unfairly maligned education students, were an integral part of this site’s success. Thank you to every person who has stopped me on the street, sent me a Facebook message, or done any other gesture of thanks towards me. I didn’t really intend to become a pseudo-celebrity through this process, but being consistently humbled by the support and appreciation of the Acadia community is certainly a fantastic feeling. The ASU Blogger deserved his celebrity; he did a great job representing the majority student position. During my interviews after the strike, most non-activist students told me they shared his neutral stance. Further, his voice was consistent throughout the strike. He began his farewell by noting the goals he laid out in his first entry and how well – to his own surprise – the blog had met the challenge. Last, he was authentic and generous – a current Acadia student, brother to an alumnus, loyal to the school, involved in campus life, literate, technologically adept, considerate of others, wry – exactly how most Acadia students think of themselves. He didn’t need to spend three weeks writing blog entries and responding to comments, but he did it for the sake of the school. His last word were: “This is your accomplishment just as much as it is the accomplishment of myself or the ASU, so thank you from the bottom of my heart.” He completely understood how to develop ethos in the 21st century. The Facebook Activists: Monday, the first morning of the strike, two Sociology honours students walked down Main Street to watch the faculty walk the picket line. Sociology faculty had talked about the strike a lot with their students; one professor was the chief negotiator for the union and several others were picket captains. Both students wanted to support their professors’ claim that the strike was for the benefit of students. They set up a Facebook group and decided to organize a rally for Wednesday. By 10:20 am, they had their first response: “Great idea guys – but you need a picture! Maybe take a picture of your AUFA pin…? I invited everyone still at acadia who hadn't already been invited. I suggest everyone do the same.” By evening, they had more than 80 members. The rally was held two days later. By that time, they had gotten permission from the RCMP to march through town, spent the morning at AUFA headquarters making signs, and enlisted a volunteer to video the march. (AUFA also taped the march and posted it to You-Tube.) Two other students worked all night to write rally songs and
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off they went – students, signs, guitars, cowbells, and dogs – singing about the University President’s trip to China. (She had left on a trip to visit business partners and provincial education ministers the night before.) The first rally was a lot of fun and the students who participated were very enthusiastic. Some made a point of baking cookies for faculty walking the picket line and others came down to entertain us with more songs when they were free. The next rally was picked up by the broadcast media and both leaders were interviewed for the evening television news. There were fewer students because many people had left the campus, but AUFA’s videography was more professional and it looked like more participated in the march. The Facebook posting said: Come out and have your voice heard - let's show solidarity! Wear red or yellow, bring noise makers, instruments, a good yelling/chanting voice, anything brightly coloured, and lots of energy. Coffee may also be neccessary. We are being covered by the media, so let's use this opportunity to come together and have an impact. Given permission, we will be marching down mainstreet. Otherwise, we will join in the AUFA picket line in front of U-Hall. If this is successful, we will be organizing weekly marches. Both student organizers took a clear political stance from the beginning. They ran into some difficulty working with the ASU, which initially refused to announce their marches, but eventually the ASU Blogger gave them a supportive write-up: Student Strike Walk - This is one of the reasons that the student-led AUFA support rally was such a success last Wednesday. Facebook offered the organizers a great opportunity to bring students together. They're planning on holding another rally on Wednesday, and Facebook gives them the ability to message the membership of the group and to create that type of information stream more powerful than emails or word of mouth could ever be. For the type of student activism that many students are choosing to take part in, this is certainly a great way to organize. The two student organizers had a great time and, much their surprise, were honored by their department when they completed their honors theses later in the year. One told me she was amazed how successful the Strike Walks had been; she now felt more empowered to speak her mind and act on her principles. In addition, she had developed an entirely new relationship with faculty that made her feel like a peer. The You-Tube Videographer The last student voice belongs to the videographer who woke up the first morning and decided to examine the strike through three simple questions to stakeholders (with a few additional probes): • What do you think of the strike? • Do you think it was ethical for the faculty to have gone on strike? • Any last thoughts about the strike in general to whoever might be listening?
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In the course of three weeks, he posted over 30 videos on You-Tube as a personal project of ACE-Acadia (the local branch of a Canadian entrepreneurial organization for students). The You-Tube Videographer deliberately kept his own voice quiet, always asking the same set of questions to students in different faculties, domestic and international students, student leaders, staff in other unions, cafeteria workers, parents attending a football game, faculty on the picket line, and residents of the community. He received access to AUFA leaders and the administration spokesman. After the University President returned from China, the administration spokesman arranged for her to speak with the You-Tube Videographer to explain her position. Most people made cogent statements of their feelings and views of the morality of the strike. The last question, addressed to “whoever might be listening,” elicited hopes for a quick and just end that would prevent future labor disruptions at Acadia. Interestingly, the You-Tube Videographer’s choice of media brought a wider variety of people into the conversation than the ASU blog. He actively sought out stakeholders, such as the cafeteria workers and administrative staff, who were in imminent danger of being laid off as a result of the strike. Most of these respondents had little ability to make online contributions, but were comfortable speaking on the record with a familiar, friendly student. Thus, the You-Tube videos filled an important void missed by the blog and social networking sites. Not all new media are equally available and written postings cannot capture all the non-verbal and interpersonal information available in visual media.
5 Discussion In comparing the two strikes, the administration spokesman told me: I was here in the strike of 04. At that time, Facebook wasn’t what it is today, if at all. Blogging was not used. There was email messaging and you’d have messages flying back and forth but not blogging. There was very, very little participation by parents; the parent group was a different group in terms of their use of new media. And so it’s vastly different today even than it was in 2004. My previous experience with labor disruptions goes back even earlier in the century, just after 2000… If you just think of the evolution of media, even during the past ten years, we can see tremendous change within perhaps the last two years of that ten year period, more so than the first eight. It is not just the media that has changed; the generation that uses new media is different as well. Millennials have been described as “diverse, pressured to perform, ambitious/achievers, team-oriented, connected, service-oriented, excellent time managers, structured, and protected.” [9] They generally deal well with gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and immigration. They are often only children and best friends with their parents; consequently, they have been given opportunities to perform and can display a wide range of accomplishments. They have wide experience working in teams – in their family, in organized sports, and through their personal posse of
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friends. They believe in service, both giving to community as volunteers and receiving care as consumers; as a result, they see education as both a calling for their professors and a commodity for themselves. They follow the rules. And, they have been protected by parents, school systems, and society at large. Like the new activists of the Obama campaign [10], this group of students uses the Internet to create social networks through a dialogic process of identity assertion and attribution. Face-to-face, they can seem less articulate than they are online. But, for many, life is online and face-to-face relationships often develop after establishing hyperpersonal online personas. [11] Acadia students had many of these characteristics and were particularly well positioned to take advantage of new media at the time of the strike. In 1996, Acadia was one of the first universities in Canada with a laptop program; by 2000, all students were participating in the Acadia Advantage. Students might complain that the Dell computers were too slow, too unreliable, or too much trouble, but everyone was on the network and practically everyone was on Facebook. New media gave them the ability to play new roles in a crisis. This case study shows that stakeholders no longer must wait passively for others to settle conflicts; they can now take an active role gathering information, debating responsibility, and building communities to resist the decisions others would try to impose upon them.
References 1. Vielhaber, M.E., Waltman, J.L.: Changing uses of technology: Crisis communication responses in a faculty strike. J. Bus Com. 45(3), 308–330 (2008) 2. Pliskin, N., Romm, C.T.: The impact of e-mail on the evolution of a virtual community during a strike. Info. & Management 32, 245–254 (1997) 3. Barnett, V.: The use of information technology in a strike. J. Labor Research 24(1), 55–72 (2003) 4. Pinsdorf, M.K.: Communication when your company is under siege: Surviving public crisis. D.C. Heath, Lexington (1987) 5. Shostak, A.B.: Today’s unions as tomorrow’s cyberunions: Labor’s newest hope. J. Labor Research 23(2), 237–248 (2002) 6. Greer, C.R.: E-voice: How information technology is shaping life within unions. J. Labor Research 23(2), 215–235 (2002) 7. Coombs, W.T.: Protecting organization reputations during a crisis: The development and application of situational crisis communication theory. Corp. Reputation Review 10(3), 163–176 (2007) 8. Conway, T., Ward, M., Lewis, G., Bernhardt, A.: Internet crisis potential: The importance of a strategic approach to marketing communications. J. Mark Com. 13(3), 213–228 (2007) 9. Moore, A.: They’ve never taken a swim and thought about Jaws: Understanding the millennial generation. PACRAO Newsletter (May 24, 2006) 10. Talbot, D.: How Obama really did it: Social technology helped bring him to the brink of the presidency. Tech. Rev. 111(3), 78–83 (2008) 11. Walther, J.B.: Computer-mediated communication: Impersonal, interpersonal, and hyperpersonal interaction. Com. Research 23, 3–43 (1996)
Evaluation of User Reputation on YouTube Yo-Sub Han1, Laehyun Kim2, and Jeong-Won Cha3 1
Dept. of Computer Science, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea Intelligence and Interaction Research Center, KIST, Seoul, Republic of Korea 3 Dept. of Computer Engineering, Changwon National University, Changwon, Republic of Korea
[email protected],
[email protected],
[email protected] 2
Abstract. In the Web 2.0 era, people not only read web contents but upload, view, share and evaluate all contents on the web. This leads us to introduce a new type of social network that is based on user activity and content metadata. Moreover, we can determine the quality of related contents using this new social network. Based on this observation, we introduce a user evaluation algorithm for user-generated video sharing website such as YouTube. Keywords: user reputation, social network, YouTube.
1 Introduction In the early 1990s web, which is often called Web 1.0, most people just read online contents that are provided by a small number of special people, webmasters. The information flow is similar to the traditional publishing process: from a small number of publishers to a large number of readers. However, since the mid-1990s, the web has changed drastically: Web 2.0 has appeared [1]. In this new web, people participate in an internet community and create, read, rate and share various contents on the web. There is no longer clear distinction between web content provider and consumers, and the information flow is now bidirectional. Blogs, Wikipedia, YouTube1 and Facebook2 are an example of Web 2.0 platform. The bidirectional interactions naturally lead several users who interact with each other to form an online community. The various peer involvements in a community make the content information rich and useful. Consider YouTube. YouTube is one of the most popular video sharing web communities. Once a user uploads a video that he wants to share, other users can view, subscribe, add to favorite, comment and rate the video. A user interacts with other users via a video indirectly. Furthermore, these interactions give additional information that helps to estimate the values of the corresponding video content. For example, a video may have several comments, ratings, favorites and subscriptions by other users. We call these interactions social activity of users. 1 2
http://www.youtube.com http://www.facebook.com
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Fig. 1. An example of a social network based on contents and social activities
Next, we demonstrate how the social activity helps to estimate user reputation. Assume that a user A adds a content uploaded by a user B into his favorite list, then A and B become neighborhood to each other. Since A explicitly adds a content by B, we know that the content is very valuable and, therefore, its creator B is also very reliable. This implies that we obtain a social network of users from their social activities. Furthermore, we can make use of the new social network for estimating user reputations in an online community. We remark that social networking services such as Facebook or Cyworld3 make a user to explicitly set up his own social network using a friend list. On the other hand, we build a social network of users implicitly based on social activities and related contents. Fig. 1 gives an example of such a social network in YouTube. We first build a social network for YouTube users and compute user reputation from the social network based on social activities. Furthermore, we investigate the correlations between user reputations and social activities in the new social network. In Section 2, we describe related work and introduce our user reputation algorithm in Section 3. Then, in Section 4, we show experiment results and analyze user reputation parameters based on the results. We show future direction of our method and conclude the paper in Section 5.
2 Backgrounds 2.1 Ranking Algorithms Web page ranking algorithms are based on content analysis and link analysis. Examples are PageRank [2], TrustRank [3], Anti-Trust Rank [4] and XRank [5]. The web page link structure and the user social network in a web community are similar except for the fact that there are more types of links in social network compared to web pages. PageRank calculates the importance of a page as the contribution from connecting nodes with ‘out-links’ in the page. Note that PageRank does not analyze the 3
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content of page itself. TrustRank filters out spams from the searching process by selecting some trustful seed sites and processing the link structure, which is the same to the PageRank approach, from the seed sites. Anti-Trust Rank propagates Trust in a reverse direction: it starts from a set of seed spam sites instead of good sites. While some algorithms use link analysis to evaluate the importance of pages, XRank takes a different approach: it considers the site popularity and importance before calculating the importance of pages. Note that these ranking algorithms work well in the web page domain since web pages often have several in/outlinks. However, in user-generated video contents, there might be no explicit link connection between contents. Because of the different structure between web pages and user-generated video contents, the known link analysis algorithms are not directly applicable. Moreover, there are several new data in usergenerated video contents that do not exist in web pages. For example, there are a few number of interactions between content creators and viewers and these interactions can help to evaluate the corresponding content. 2.2 Collective Intelligence and Reliability Analysis We can build a number of applications by processing data from a single source by combining data from multiple sources or by combining external information with input from our own users. The ability to harness data created by people in a variety of ways is a principle of creating collective intelligence [6]. Google is an example: they rely on the collective intelligence method to build their ranking algorithm. Google proposed a completely new approach that orders searching results using the links among millions of web sites. Gliner et al. [7] showed how measurement reliability along with measurement validity is used as a standard measure of research validity. It is said that reliability refers to consistency of a particular test instrument, marked as the concept of reliability. The correlation coefficient is often used as a measure of consistency. Bennet et al. [8] described reliability as the association of credibility, trustworthiness, and dependability. Thus, reliability is a quantified measure of uncertainty about a particular type of event (or events). Applying reliability analysis in collective intelligence is quite related to the statistical computation. One of the most basic forms of collective intelligence is a survey or a census: by collect answers from a large group of people and build new conclusions. Agarwal et al. [9] use blog activities (blog posts and comments) to find reliable authors of blog articles. We use a similar statistical method to measure reliability of collective intelligence in user-generated video contents. 2.3 YouTube The link connection in user-generated video content is different from the link connection in web pages. The link in a web page is a hyperlink defined by
tag, between two web pages. On the other hand, the link in user-generated video contents implies several factors such as ratings or reviewing. Thus, we can infer useful information from the content link. We take YouTube as an example system and divide the system into two parts. First is the content and second is the content creator-reviewer.
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Fig. 2. An example of a YouTube video content and related information
Content: For every content in YouTube, the system has several content information. For example, rating from 1 star to 5 stars, comments, favorites, content sharing to other social network website such as MySpace4, Facebook, del.icio.us5, and Digg6, and honors/awards (most viewed or top rated). User: There are two types of users. One is a content creator and the other is a reviewer. However, these two types are not mutually exclusive. Namely, a creator can be another user for another content. We define a creator to be a user who creates/uploads content and a reviewer to be a user who watches a content and may give a comment or a review. 1. Creator: a creator has a channel or a personal page that can be accessed by other users and, thus, builds a connection with other users by adding them as friends. Other users can also subscribe to one or several channels and the subscription creates a connection. 2. Reviewer: a reviewer contributes to the measurable-scoring scheme by giving comments to channel, comments to contents, favorites, ratings and scoring content comments. Note that there are many other social activities that can be used for connecting users in other user-generated contents sharing sites. Here we only consider available connection in YouTube. In the next section, we present an algorithm that computes user reputation in a social network from YouTube based on social activities.
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3 Computing User Reputation One of many reasons for the success of the PageRank algorithm [2] is that the algorithm can determine the importance of a web page that is a part of huge web. The algorithm is based on the assumption that a page is important if it is linked by other important pages. We find a similar phenomenon in YouTube. Every day, there are more than 200,000 new video contents uploaded and many new users joined. Furthermore, there are a lot of interactions. Nevertheless, we observe that if a content is popular, then it must be added into favorite lists of other users and may have many comments. Moreover, if a user has many such good videos, then other users often subscribe the user and this gives more frequent access to these videos. In other words, a user who has many subscriptions (or links) is popular and has may have many valuable contents. This leads us to apply the PageRank algorithm for the social network of YouTube that we have created. First, we obtain a social network based on social activities as illustrated in Fig. 1 and assign value 1 to each edge of the network for initialization. Then, we run the PageRank algorithm [2] that gives rise to a score of each user in the network. We define this score to be a user reputation in a community. As shown in our formula in Fig. 3, we assign different weights to different types of edges. This is because a link might be more valuable than another link. For instance, subscription link is more valuable than, say, comment link since a user only subscribes other users only when he thinks it is worth whereas he gives a (negative) comment to any videos.
Fig. 3. A PageRank algorithm for the social network defined in Fig. 1. Note that we consider both users and contents as network nodes. User reputation value for a node U i is depended on the user reputation values for each node T j out of the set M (U i ) (this set contains all nodes linking to node U i ), divided by the number C (T j ) of links from node T j .
Note that we use both users and contents as network nodes. Therefore, a content also has a score that can be regarded as a content popularity score. However, we do not consider content popularity in this paper. We aim to address this issue in a different paper. Therefore, we have computed scores for all nodes and we are only interested user nodes and corresponding scores.
4 Experiments We have collected about 600,000 videos and 600,000 users from YouTube and created a social network for these users. Then, we run the PageRank algorithm using the formula in Fig. 2 and compute score for users and contents. Fig. 4 shows the top 20 users with high user reputation.
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Fig. 4. A list of top 20 users who has high user reputation score. UR denotes user reputation.
Fig. 5 shows 10,000 high reputation users and their number of subscriptions. Note that the very high reputed users have much more subscriptions than the other users. This implies that we can identify a relatively small number of users with very high user reputation in lots of users in a online community. We also notice that user reputation is closely related with the number of uploaded contents. Thus, we compare correlation between each pair of features in Fig. 4. and established the following result in Fig. 6.
Fig. 5. A user reputation and the number of subscriptions
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UR vs upload
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UR vs rating
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Fig. 6. Correlation between user reputation and other factors in Fig 4
Note that although the subscription link has a higher weight (0.35) than the upload link (0.3) in the formula in Fig. 2, the correlation between user reputation and the number of uploaded contents is higher. On the other hand, the average rating is not quite related with user reputation. This shows that the current rating system does not consider user reputation since it gives the same amount of importance to every user no matter whether a user is good or bad. Based on the user reputation that we have computed, we plan to re-calculate a rating score for a content based on each rater’s user reputation and the given score. We hope that this can rank proper contents better than the current ranking system.
5 Conclusions People make lots of user-generated contents in Web 2.0 and it is beyond the computing power to process each content for evaluating the value of each one correctly. On the other hand, we can use the help from human. Web 2.0 emphasizes the human participations. Human judgment is quite often more accurate than the computer algorithm method for evaluating content values. For example, we can tell whether or not a given video has a car easily whereas the computer does not. We have examined the human participations in particular video sharing sites. We consider YouTube as a sample site. We have defined the participations to be social activities. Then, based on social activities, we have established a social network in YouTube and have proposed an algorithm that computes user reputations. We have shown that user reputation is quite related to the number of subscriptions and the number of uploaded contents. Now in future, we aim to user the user reputation to evaluate contents. For example, if a user with high reputation gives a score or a comment, then the score or the comment would have more weight than a similar one by a bad user reputation. For this, we need to keep all the record of user activities and it is not an easy task. For this, we intend to set up a video sharing site.
Acknowledgements This work was supported by the IT R&D program of MKE/IITA 2008-S-024-01.
References 1. What Is Web 2.0: Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software, http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/ what-is-web-20.html
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2. Brin, S., Page, L.: The Anatomy of a large-scale hypertextual Web search engine. Computer Networks and ISDN Systems 30, 107–117 (1998) 3. Gyöngyi, Z., Garcia-Molina, H., Pedersen, J.: Combating Web Spam with TrustRank. In: 30th VLDB Conference, Toronto, pp. 576–587 (2004) 4. Krishnan, V., Raj, R.: Web Spam Detection with Anti-Trust Rank. In: AIRWeb 2006, Second International Workshop on Adversarial Information Retrieval on the Web, Seattle (2006) 5. Zhang, Y., Zhang, L., Zhang, Y., Li, X.: XRank: Learning More from Web User Behaviors. In: Sixth IEEE International Conference on Computer and Information Technology (CIT 2006). IEEE Computer Society, Seoul (2006) 6. Foster, I., Kesselman, C.: Statistics and Probability for Engineering Applications. Newnes, Massachusetts (2003) 7. Gliner, J.A., Morgan, G.A., Harmon, R.J.: Measurement Reliability. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 40(4), 486–488 (2001) 8. Bennet, T.R., Booker, J.M., Keller-McNulty, S., Singpurwalla, N.D.: Testing the Untestable: Reliability in the 21st Century. IEEE Transactions on Reliability 52(1) (2003) 9. Agarwal, N., Liu, H., Tang, L., Yu, P.S.: Identifying the Influential Bloggers in a Community. In: WSDM 2008, California (2008)
Critical Success Factors for Web 2.0 – A Reference Framework Pedro Isaías1, Paula Miranda2, and Sara Pífano3 1
Universidade Aberta, Rua da Escola Politécnica, 141-147, 1269-001 Lisbon, Portugal [email protected] 2 EST-IPS, Campus do Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal, Estefanilha, 2910-761 Setúbal, Portugal [email protected] 3 ISR Lab – Information Society Research Lab, Lisbon, Portugal [email protected]
Abstract. The new generation of web-based communities, Web. 2.0, represents an innovation in terms of users interaction as it becomes increasingly dependent of it. It empowers users to create and manage content, placing them at the core of its success. This paper will propose a Web 2.0 Critical Success Factors (CSFs) theoretical framework. With the widespread popularity of these applications it becomes important to analyze the source of their success and unveil why some are more successful than others. More importantly, it may help Web 2.0 start-ups to understand what features they need to develop to make their applications succeed in an already very populated network. Keywords: Web 2.0, users, Critical Success Factors.
1 Introduction The Web 2.0 concept has been disseminated by Tim O'Reilly in 2005 [17]. This is often used to characterize sites that consist of communities. Among these we can find Facebook or MySpace, YouTube, Folksonomies, Wikipedia, numerous blogs and other sites that foster user collaboration and/or information exchange. Web 2.0 central precepts include: user-friendly applications using software as a service supported by network effects; user-centred and unremitting improvement, the user is both consumer and producer; and new revenue models with increased possibilities of business from other sources than mainstream consumers and products [3]. Web 2.0 has strived to be a solution for both developers, companies and users. Developers or companies offer a service by granting users access to a site and everybody benefits from that: developers that see their components successful, companies that through this procedure see their website attract more visitors, and users that see other related users and with whom they can effectively interact. Several business models have emerged to accommodate the Web 2.0 phenomenon [10]. This provides revenue to the site/component owners enabling its sustainability, further enhancement and development. A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 354–363, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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This paper’s research to determine what contributes to the success of Web 2.0 applications is focused on the users. In fact a critical mass of users is mandatory to help to foster and maintain a community similar to the ones required to develop communities based on phone, email, voicemail or computer conferencing [23]. Without this critical mass the web community simply does not exist and no proper interactions occur. When choosing an application, users will have in mind several factors: simplicity of navigation, financial cost, existence of real social networks and their interaction with the site, compatible people who are also actively engaged in participating in the site, the site’s visual appearance, the amount of user’s options and privacy protection features. Also, it becomes important to assess the site’s offer in terms of quality and quantity of available applications, which include privacy settings, the possibility to generate and manage content and the degree of aptitude of the programmes [13].
2 Web 2.0 Most authors reinforce the idea that Web 2.0 emerged as a new generation of web applications, not because it introduced new technologies per se, but because it initiated a new philosophy of internet usage. Web 2.0 does not represent a technical novelty as such, what it does is to join in a unique and innovative manner components and services that already exist [17]. It stands for “a social phenomenon, not a technology per se” [24]. Furthermore, it covers a wide range of services offered by different types of applications. The most typical ones include blogs, communities developed around specific types of content (Flickr, del.icio.us), content aggregators (myYahoo, igoogle), message boards and social networks [3]. More than launching key technical updates, it is using the internet as a platform, tying together collective intelligence, focusing on data, giving preference to permanent beta rather than software releases, using lightweight programming systems, and offering an improved user experience on several type of devices [14]. It is, as Hoegg et al. describe it, an innovative method of data management, “the philosophy of mutually maximising collective intelligence and added value for each participant by formalised and dynamic information sharing and creation” [10]. A study about Web 2.0 has made some important conclusions [5]: • Web 2.0 is a global and mass phenomenon with more individuals participating with their own content; • There is no difference between genres and age groups in what concerns Web 2.0 usage; • The majority of Web 2.0 users have no privacy concerns and only use privacy settings to limit access to part of the content they share; • Web 2.0 users use recommendations or information from anonymous contributors. With Web 2.0, information becomes fluid rather than static [8]. These applications have to respond to the new emerging demands of users. They can no longer be limited to social networking; it is now an instrument of work, a tool as useful in the private sphere as in business. The areas benefiting from Web 2.0 platforms are growing in number and diversity, creating the need for a constant update of technology and
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utilities, at the risk of losing competitive advantage. In politics, for example, political activists are using these applications by combining existing web 2.0 tools to create websites where people can actively participate in politics, by granting access to speeches or legislation that is yet to be approved. Web 2.0 is evolving and propelling civic participation, by making it accessible to an ever-growing number of people [1] Additionally, these services can be used in education to motivate and share information between students and teachers as they pioneer new forms of interaction between them [21]. Web 2.0 is the result of its community shared vision and the maximisation of their collective intelligence. This information flowing between users is the sum of each user’s knowledge, unremittingly adjusting to dynamic environments and viewpoints. It is this dynamism that makes all forms of content enrichment, like ratings or comments, have impact on the service. The Web 2.0 service provider only establishes the ways in which the users will interact, formalising their relations [10]. This means that essentially the application’s success will be dependent on the actions of two main players: the ‘infrastructure provider’ and the ‘content provider’, both adding value, one by developing an empowering infrastructure and the other by improving it with content and use [2].
3 Framework Proposal Web 2.0’s CSFs relate to its main characteristics and address vital elements of a platform’s success. Website’s popularity will be intrinsically connected to the presence of these factors. CSFs represent the indispensable means to achieve Web 2.0’s objective, regardless of the nature of the platform. The reference framework this paper proposes will encompass the following CSFs: Users' inputs; Users' critical mass figures; Ease of use of component; Component feedback; Availability of content to justify users' access; User content addition features; User content development tools; and Revenue models. All CSFs are user-centred and capture Web 2.0 interactive essence, in the sense they all combine users’ and components’ action. 3.1 User’s Input The information brought together on a web page can come from numerous sources, namely from the users by several different means [16]. This demands the existence of trust in users and in the content they bring to the communities [21]. Since trust works in both ways, users also need to trust the service provider. Privacy settings, for example, are important to encourage content creation. Some content is private and there is only a limited number of people the users want to share it with. They need to feel their data is protected and that they have the power to decide what is public and what is not. To attract users, platforms may choose marketing methods which involve additional costs, or decide to maximise ‘viral growth’ by improving member invitation tools, introducing rewards for recommendations and make use of ‘hubs’ (users with large networks of people) [6]. User generated content can assume a variety of formats like video, text and audio [2]. To upload and tag photos, create blogs and profiles are among the most common
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forms of web 2.0 content addition. Tagging refers to the possibility to categorise objects through a name or a score, which adds information to that particular object. This supports the idea of cooperation as a core concept of Web 2.0 [13]. In fact, one of the fundamental changes of Web 2.0 has to do with tagging and other information classification aspects [20]. Heymann et al., concluded in a study that while social bookmarking doesn’t have the dimension and distribution of tags required to create an important effect in terms of research, it is becoming a provider of search data, not available in other resources [9]. Besides content creation and managing, another great part of participation has to do with evaluating and recommending content that already exists like music or books, linking and meta tagging. Amazon and eBay, for example, rely on the feedback their users leave in the website, to promote their products and thus enhancing sales and profits [10]. With Web 2.0 not only new opportunities of influencing consumers have emerged, but consumers, themselves, have new innovative means to get information [4]. Retribution for the effort and time users invest in creating and managing content, happens when users feel accomplished and part of the community, have the possibility of engaging in interesting debates, gaining prestige and have access to the exchange of information made possible by everyone’s participation [7]. 3.2 User’s Critical Mass Figures The number of users is one of the greatest indicators of success for a web 2.0 application. ‘Viral marketing’, user to user advertising, [6] is one of the main reasons. Word of mouth, recommendation and even pressure from colleagues and friends are at the centre of the adhesion to these sites. Moreover, the online communities themselves exert pressure and persuade the individual into participating [13]. Consequently, users themselves become partly responsible for increasing the number of users. Applications like BitTorrent, where each client is simultaneously a server, have what is called ‘architecture of participation’. It is a principle of contribution that is already incorporated in the service, users supply bandwidth and, at the same time, data to each other. This illustrates the Web 2.0 principle where services are believed to get better with use. The more people will use it, the better it will become [17]. It works as a cycle, where success generates use and use will generate success. Web 2.0 services have very restricted value in itself, they evolve with users’ participation. The size of the community determines the quality of content, because a growing number of active members will attract more users and their content add value to the application. These processes surface with time and participation. “All the provider of Web 2.0 can do is to facilitate the development process.” [10]. As will be discussed below, a critical mass of users will also be decisive for the feasibility of certain revenue models. 3.3 Ease of Use of Component Web 2.0 applications empower users to be the main actors. People no longer require advanced IT skills to create and manipulate internet content, anyone can participate [21]. It is the website’s responsibility to offer the technology, to ease the exchange of information within stipulated guidelines and to encourage the community of users [10]. Software should be straightforward; it should be a tool to help using Web 2.0
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applications and not a deterrent [25]. The challenge comes from the fact that these systems call for simplicity of access and use, but at the same time, variety and quantity of resources, accessible in many different ways [18]. The content the user produces will depend to a great extent on the characteristics of the site and of its ease of use. To promote creativity the site should be the least restrictive possible, its technology should be flexible and open to the creative mind of the user and give endless possibilities, but without compromising the ease of use. Take google.com as an example, it offers many types of technologies, always having in mind the importance of being straightforward, of providing features which are easy to work with [13]. Predictability and effortlessness of websites’ use are core values of Human Computer Interaction. Users will not spend too much time or effort into a website they can’t rapidly decipher [18]. Web 2.0 applications can be powerful instruments of integration for users with disabilities. They enable access to more autonomous work and social opportunities and introduce utilities, like online shopping, that allow for a more independent daily routine. As a result, another important concern, with accessibility refers to users who have disabilities. Complex exchanges and updates can be bewildering and that needs to be addressed, in order not to compromise access [8]. 3.4 Availability of Content to Justify User’s Access One of the main reasons that drives people to initially participate on a website is content [7]. Users are propelled by service providers to keep their content updated and constantly adding new information to their profiles. They do this by generating the need to keep up with the other members of the community and by creating ‘traffic’ to the users’ content. Mounting numbers of people visiting individual profiles will motivate the users to insert more content. The creation of blog rings or ‘blogospheres’, also, ensures that the user’s content will reach an ever growing number of public [13]. Likewise, it is essential for users to identify themselves with the available content. Users will not feel included if the content does not relate to them, or if they’re excluded from a service [25]. Users have synchronized roles of content creators and consumers and this phenomenon is at the origin of the dynamism and continuous improvement of the content [10]. The critical mass of users will play an important part in providing content and making it available for other users and this will increase the number of people who access the application. Content grows as a result of users’ collective activity [17]. Another trend in Web 2.0 is the increasing availability of content not usually found in mainstream websites. This happens with sites that offer specialised or personalised products, an area not explored by marketers in the past which is getting progressively more popular and is determining users’ access to certain websites [3]. Web 2.0 shifts the focus from web pages, in Web 1.0, to people. It empowers regular people, those with no specific skills, to make their contribution on the internet. This shift, as positive as it may be, is at the centre of much debate between professional and amateurs, since these contributions have impact on the quality of the content. While this debate is understandable, what is important is to acknowledge that both have different types of content to add and neither of them endangers the existence of the other, in an open market of ideas made possible by Web 2.0 [12].
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3.5 User Content Addition Features It is important to underline that besides non restrictive technologies, users want variety. When comparing MySpace with Facebook, one understands that the first is harder to work with, but it has 10 times more users namely because it empowers them to totally manipulate their profile, rather than having, like Facebook, a standard design. The quality of the site will contribute to its growing success. When told about the features it offers, like connectivity or messaging possibilities, the user will not want to be excluded from this community and the exploration of new ways of living their social life [13]. Applications offer different kind of services that refer to the private or business area and have for that purpose different features available: Stylehive has bookmarks, blogs and forums; Xing works namely with personal profiles, messages boards and events management; Flickr covers text editing, tagging; and Studivz allows for the uploading of photos and the creation of personal pages [15]. Amazon has gathered a number of utilities to make user participation the centre of their business. One of the features is related to reviewing content. There are numerous possibilities of contributing to the site on nearly every page and Amazon continuously works with the output of this participation to improve search results, improving customers’ experience. Flickr and del.icio.us have introduced a system of collaborative categorisation, often designated ‘folksonomy’. It catalogues sites using selected keywords or tags, which permits multiple and layered associations of categories, thus working in opposition to the traditional rigid organization of tags, taxonomy. The development of these tools promotes user involvement and it is the network effects caused by this participation that contributes to a Web 2.0 application success and pre-eminence over competitors [17]. 3.6 User Content Development Tools Web 2.0 applications use technologies which ease the creation and manipulation of internet content, for example, API´s, AJAX, Ruby on Rails, My SQL, Java script, SOAP and XML [13]. It uses Rich Internet Applications (RIAs), to perform, on web browsers, the same functions conventional desktop applications do [22]. They have the advantage of being easier to use, presenting information in a more proficient manner and being simple to maintain [11]. Development frameworks are being used to develop Web 2.0 applications, with a preference being given to the use of dynamic languages. They facilitate debugging, deployment and fast development. This kind of programming language enables the easy flow of information and data, making content dynamic, another important element of Web 2.0 [16]. The user experience is improved by these technologies, as they reduce the amount of data transferred between the client and the server; pages can be partly, rather than totally, updated. Also, the importance of these technologies is intrinsically connected with the empowerment of the user. They generate simple applications where the technicalities and mark-up languages are hidden, encouraging user content creation [10]. Wikis, for example, are a well known feature used to edit content, it looks like a regular web page, but in fact gives the user the possibility to edit it [13]. Besides explicit tools of content addition there is the possibility to set defaults, the way Napster did, by making a consumer also a creator, in order to automatically add content to their data. Since not all users would gladly and voluntarily add content to a
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website, systems are built to do this implicitly and progressively, hence improving the value of a website the more people access it. Technologies with network effects, have a built-in ‘architecture of participation’, which allows users to add value even unknowingly [17]. One of the potential downsides of these technologies is the fact that developers by focusing only on formats of data which are human-oriented can be making data confusing for machine users and making the mechanization of tasks complex [16]. RIAs, in spite of their numerous benefits, represent a challenge to people using assistive technologies. They have several limitations: “the lack semantic cues, and metadata in HTML content, its re-purposing for formatting and presentation, the lack of keyboard access” [22]. Some of the solutions brought forward to minimise these difficulties are the use of added semantics, ‘adaptive interfaces and navigation options’ [8]. 3.7 Revenue Models The most commonly used revenue strategies include the use or combination of advertising, subscriptions and affiliation models, business transactions and pecuniary contributions [2]. Since Web 2.0 is established in the precepts of “free economy” and free community, where access to information is free and software is open, there are only few Web 2.0 services which have been commercialised. People have expectations of free access and revenue is becoming a very pertinent issue. Services face revenue challenges with their growing number of users not being translated in increased revenue. YouTube, for example, despite its 12.9 million visitors a day, has costs with bandwidth of approximately 1 millon USD a month and is, therefore, examining possible revenue models [10]. The choice of the revenue model is an important step for a Web 2.0 application. Although most will grant free access to their services in order to guarantee a great number of users, there are others exploring new ways of having the best of both worlds, a critical mass of users and profit. Websites offering their services for free usually take advertising and sponsoring as a way of insuring revenue. For those using paid access there is either the possibility to have a set fee for access which will be extended to everyone using the website or what is frequently done is to use versioning, to offer simple features in a free access option and then charge a fee for a premium membership with added features [3]. Since this model implies a cost for the user, the most important element for it to be viable is to insure users are willing to pay for these services. The website must focus on creating value for its members, developing additional functionalities and encouragements to maintain their interest in upgrading and enriching their profiles and presenting different price plans. The use of advertisements can have a negative impact on a website’s image and requires a critical mass of numbers, since it is greatly dependent on traffic. There are two types of advertising: ‘affiliate models’, where the site directs traffic to an ‘associate’ website and receives either a transfer fee or a part of the profits from sales; and banner advertising where the website will charge for the display of advertisements. Here, the service provider’s main concern is to develop mechanisms that will attract more people and increase the number of users to make sure this revenue model is successful. Transaction models can be endogenous, where sales are done between the service provider and the customer or exogenous where the website sells content generated by users and facilitates transactions between them. This transaction method requires
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significant numbers of users, or users that trade very frequently, and high traffic of transaction fees which are small monetarily speaking or a small traffic of trade but that involves high transactions [6]. Other revenue strategies may include utility models, where people will pay depending on the services they use (the usage is metered); infomediary models, where a information intermediation is offered to customers and/or sellers; and brokerage models which main function is to connect consumer and vendors and enable business. Each of the existing models can be used in varied manners [19], and as was mentioned before, sites will use one or a combination of business models: Stylehive uses affiliate programs; Xing combines advertising and subscription fees; Flickr, like the majority of social networks, has advertising [15];Bebo and MySpace use advertising; Facebook, also prefers a combination of revenue strategies, in this case advertising and transaction fees; and Linkedin has revenue from subscription and transaction fees. [6].
4 Conclusion The proposed reference framework does not present an exhaustive list of CSFs, it intends to reflect the main forces, which determine the popularity of Web 2.0 applications. Essentially, what all the presented CSFs, illustrate is that the Web 2.0 is built on the principle of collaboration. They all incorporate the interaction between users and applications. The core values of Web 2.0 work must be considered when developing a new application. Users will increasingly demand more efficient components, with added features and endless possibilities to develop their own creativity. With Web 2.0, users, formerly using the web to search for information have become the information creators themselves. If companies, take no notice of this change in users and their consuming patterns they will certainly be left behind as others use Web 2.0 to increase their competitive advantage [5]. To succeed businesses will need to invest in applications that improve with their users, taking advantage of an ‘architecture of participation’ to assure their supremacy in terms of software, and data [17]. Web 2.0 offers, companies the possibility to enhance their competitive advantage and users a more collaborative experience [11]. Further research would include a practical application of the suggested framework to specific Web 2.0 applications, in order to test these CSFs and understand how they work in practice.
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23. Wellman, B., Salaff, J., Dimitrova, D., Garton, L., Gulia, M., Haythornthwaite, C.: Computer networks as social networks: Collaborative work, Telework, and Virtual Community. Annual Review of Sociology 22, 213–238 (1996) 24. Wigand, R., Benjamin, R., Birkland, J.: Web 2.0 and Beyond: Implications for Electronic Commerce. In: 10th International Conference on Electronic Commerce (ICEC), Innsbruck (2008) 25. Zajicek, M.: Web 2.0: Hype or Happiness? In: W4A2007 – Keynote, Co-Located with the 16th International World Wide Web Conference, Banff, Canada, May 07–08 (2007)
User Innovation Networks and Research Challenges Niki Lambropoulos1, Pan Kampylis2, and Aneesha Bakharia3 1
London South Bank University, London, UK [email protected] 2 University of Jyväskylä, Finland - Scholar of the Greek State Scholarship Foundation [email protected] 3 Queensland University of Technology, Australia [email protected]
Abstract. User Innovation Networks (UIN) has been considered the open innovation model for this century as it functions entirely independently of manufacturers. This paper discusses two UIN cases, Daz3D, as well as Linux Dell and IBM cooperation as regards research challenges about the community of practice and interface used. It concludes that current technology only now started touching global and extreme collaboration for creativity and innovation. Keywords: User Innovation Networks, Hybrid Synergy, Collaborative Creativity, Design, Social Network Analysis.
1 Introduction Rapid technological changes influence communication, information, collaboration, and knowledge management. User Innovation Networks (UIN) has been considered the open innovation model for this century as it functions entirely independently of manufacturers. Networks can be built up horizontally with actors consisting only of innovation users (more precisely, “user/self-manufacturers” [1].) Free and open source software projects are examples of such networks. Some users have sufficient incentive to innovate and some other users to distribute voluntarily their innovations. If the innovation products are at low or no cost, they can compete with commercial ones. The benefits are related to the identification and development of something that is missing in the market and distributed within the networks and beyond. Because of the inherent social and creative nature of the UIN, the research on tools and techniques for their observation and analysis is challenging and needs to explore human-human and human-computer interaction. Thus, the research questions revolve around suitable methodologies for UIN in order to observe, analyze and measure objectively, accurately and precisely these interactions and innovations. Two case studies, Daz3D, and Linux Dell and IBM cooperation present some research challenges about the community of practice and interface used.
2 UIN Case Studies: Daz3D and Linux Von Hippel [1] suggests that User Innovation Networks (UIN) can appear in different forms; however, there are three UIN definition criteria: (1) at least some users have A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 364–373, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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sufficient incentive to innovate, (2) at least some users have an incentive to voluntarily reveal their innovations, and (3) diffusion of innovations by users is low cost and can compete with commercial production and distribution. Sometimes only the first two conditions exist; however, if such innovation proves to be of general interests and improvement occurs can attract commercial manufacture and distribution of innovations. It is difficult to follow the UIN trails as these processes evolve in time and demand different methodological approaches, from ethnotechnology [2] to social networks analysis and qualitative and qualitative measurements. UIN paradigms now exist as the Web 2.0 collaborative state of mind and technologies facilitated global interaction and co-working. Examples come from the Daz3D modeling community and Linux implementation in Dell and IBM systems. 2.1 DAZ 3DTM DAZ 3DTM (http://www.daz3d.com/) is a corporation and community of practice [2] with users playing different roles. DAZ 3DTM strives to bring 3D art closer to the everyday user/artist by delivering the highest quality digital 3D content and software at the most affordable prices. The aim is to develop exactly what the users want by cooperation rather than being restricted to available marketplace choices. DAZ 3DTM users participate in the network design and build innovative products for their own use as well as reveal their designs to others. Those others then replicate and improve the innovation that has been revealed and freely reveal their improvements in turn – or they may simply replicate the product that has been revealed and adopt it for their own, in-house use. Other users can make comments in the available discussion forums. Other than selling their products, DAZ 3DTM also works closely with third party artists and offers an online publishing program through which these artists can make their own creations available to the DAZ 3DTM customer base. A variety of software solutions designed to expand the market for digital content, including the increasingly popular DAZ Studio software application. DAZ Studio removes the barrier to entry for newcomers to the 3D industry, as it is offered free of charge. DAZ Studio provides an environment where users may take their favorite 3D assets and easily create art or animation for either recreational or professional endeavors. With a free, easy to use 3D tool, DAZ hopes to reach new industries and individuals that would otherwise be excluded. DAZ continues to focus primarily on creating digital content, and only develops items that help increase the demand for future DAZ digital content. With this in mind, DAZ continually develops new versions of their popular "Millennium" figures, as well as developing relations with the most successful third party content creators (Figure 1). 2.2 Linux Linux is a generic term referring to Unix-like computer operating systems based on Linux kernel. Their development is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration; typically all the underlying source code can be used, freely modified, and redistributed by anyone under the terms of the GNU GPL and other free licenses (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux).
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Fig. 1. The front-page leads to 4 options: 3D Models, 3D Software, Community and Support. Each product displays the image of the product as such, the vendor/creator, and a wiki open to all members and a share option at the bottom. As the wiki was added recently it created a more focused production of models based on the actual users/customers’ needs. Thus, user costs can be significantly lower because of the joint problem-solving work of innovation developers. Such content is located in the user sites and discussions as ‘user content networks’.
Linux has been used lately from commercial companies after customers’ demand. Dell, suffering market share losses to top PC seller Hewlett-Packard, tried to build its direct ties with customers. Dell used IdeaStorm, a website launched in February 2007 to allow Dell to investigate which ideas are most important and most relevant to the public (Figure 2):
Fig. 2. Ideastorm
As with DAZ 3DTM, Dell users can choose from: Shop, Support & Participate. The customers can make suggestions and vote on their own ideas. For example, some f the most popular ideas were: • • • •
Add the Nvidia download driver page on driver and download page. Sell Ink Cartridges at Local Retail Use Linux Put Ubuntu on the list of operating systems when building a PC
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Linux-based PCs was an "overwhelming" request from the IdeaStorm site. Therefore, of those who wanted Linux, 80 percent came back and said Ubuntu. Then Dell validated the Linux request through its own research. In May 2007, just 3 months after the customers’ request, Dell started selling three computer systems with Ubuntu 7.04 preinstalled and Dell's scores were back on the rise. A similar cooperation was between Linux and IBM. As IBM researchers stated, Real-time Linux brought significant changes for the enterprise and had a significant impact on the internal processes and role of the Linux Technology Centre (LTC) within IBM. It was one first of major cooperations between open source and production development communities by merging of real-time technologies into enterprise systems and Java. The cooperation between the team members was conducted with the use of open tools and a distributed development model mirroring that of the open source community. The following figure presents the production line (Figure 3):
Fig. 3. Project Release schedule [3]
From an IT Project Management viewpoint, the two communities had to work nine months before the general availability date of the product, with several intermediate releases planned. This was complicated because of the feature requirements, stabilization and iterative testing; in addition, some lightweight tools and processes were needed to leverage the existing LTC infrastructure. The IBM researchers indentified the problem of archived broadcast communication. Thus, they had to mirror the development methodologies of the Linux kernel community, before changes are committed to the source repository, the patch (along with a detailed description, justification, and ‘‘signed-off-by’’ line) must be sent to the development mailing list. Using the LTC mailing list tools, they created the requisite user, development, and announcement lists typical of open projects. Testing and validating releases was essential part of the IT Project Management process. Therefore, the team members had to review and acknowledge critical fixes; one of them should have been the team leader. Other than ensuring correct reviews, this process created a community narrative in the form of the archive on members’ opinions and tests, history of changes as well as comments on usability. An internal LTC wiki was used for bugs and atomic features (i.e., very specific features that are largely self-contained), taking advantage of the existing LTC Bugzilla bug-tracking system (http://www.bugzilla.org/). Nowadays, IBM supports Linux on all IBM servers, storage and middleware, offering the broadest flexibility to match your business needs with over 600 developers in the IBM Linux Technology Center working on over 100 open source projects in the community (http://www-03.ibm.com/linux/).
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To conclude, it appears that UIN are multifaceted ecosystems involving computing, marketing and human networks. They have many benefits for the open source as well as for every production and innovation community: (1) they improve the reputation of the product and the community; (2) they provide patterns that suggest the critical ingredients required to grow, nurture, and sustain innovation hubs [4]; and (3) they advance current level of development. Such complex ecosystems create interface design challenges. UIN Interface Design. There are several interaction design challenges about the UIN interface design as the technology is not evolved enough to support such collaborative production. Interface design not only needs to support community building, but also to create an archive of the production trail, from design and development to marketing, sales, feedback, idea management, evaluation and statistics. For example, there are four sections in DAZ 3DTM: Home, 3D models, 3D Software, Community & Support. In the community section, there are discussion forums, galleries, contests, and ArtZone. Figure 4 depicts the forums:
Fig. 4. In DAZ 3DTM Forums, the PHP based forum only displays basic information without providing qualitative and quantitative drilling into the content at a glance, which would have been extremely useful and practical for the users. The same case exists in design-build and marketing-R&D interfaces as they are separate and do not support or converge to an ‘ecological’ and organic environment. Thus, there are challenges for Human-Human Interaction, HumanComputer Interaction, IT Project Management and marketing as well as quality in research.
2.3 Quality in UIN Research To now, there are not standard strategies to ensure UIN platforms direction and success with functions to combine strategic and business competencies, this is to generate and market content, community and product. If clear, focused plans with consistent and efficient decision-making processes exist, the interface can become more effective and UIN goals are achieved. Conducting research in UIN enhance the ability to use, evaluate and synthesize ideas from multiple peer-reviewed sources. Based on the power and usefulness of interactions, different research approaches can render information to faster interpret information, find trends, patterns or correlations to assist in the "wisdom of the crowds".
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The methodologies we propose for UIN online research are considered to utilize triangulation and inter-rated agreement to achieve validity and reliability. The quantitative and qualitative approaches are the questionnaires, interviews and focus groups, tools and techniques for multidimensional analysis in discussion forums to observe and analyze UIN users using a Collaborative Creativity analytical framework [5, 6]. Social Network Analysis (SNA) is suggested as the third side of the triangle that defines the location of the individuals as a virtual and interaction space. Because quantitative and qualitative approaches as well as log files analysis have been explored in great depth, this paper will focus on Hybrid Synergy collaborative creativity framework and SNA utilized in UIN. 2.4 Hybrid Synergy Previous research on ways to support and evaluate idea generation in groups was anchored in collaborative creativity as a qualitative research framework [2, 5]. We have developed an analytical framework to attach qualitative attributes to online discussions and e-learning in particular. As User Innovation Networks consist a community of practice and thus, a learning community we propose the Hybrid Synergy to be used as a collaborative creativity framework. Hybrid Synergy was found useful as an analytical framework to guide, analyze, evaluate and consequently enhance collaborative creativity via argumentation. More particularly, the members follow a series of non-linear stages, in a rather spiral direction, in their online discussion. These stages are depicted in Figure 5:
Fig. 5. The Hybrid Synergy framework for collaborative creativity is depicted in a Moodle tool [5, 6]. The first step refers to mere information provision, the second to the social aspect, these are the social interactions, the third and fourth to the exploration of ideas and the provision of ideas as such, the fifth to their evaluation and assessment and lastly the sixth step to a metacognitive aspect with summaries and assignments. A prototype tool anchored in Hybrid Synergy has been developed under development base don user-centered design. Although the Hybrid Synergy framework has been fully evaluated [e.g. 2] the tool as such has not been fully evaluated and redesigned yet [5, 6].
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2.5 Social Network Analysis for UIN Social interaction within User Innovation Networks occurs as discussion and original content contribution within forums, bug/enhancement trackers, blogs and wikis. Social Network Analysis (SNA) is a technique used to map and measure the interaction that occurs between participants within a network. SNA within webbased collaborative tools is inferred from post-reply data. Visualization techniques [7] can be used to identify key participant roles and the types of interaction that occurs between participants. For example, Welser et al [7] utilized visualization and analytic techniques to identify the signatures for an ‘answer person’ and a ‘reply magnet’. An ‘answer person’ is a participant that regularly answers direct questions but does not participate in ongoing discussion. A ‘reply magnet’ on the other hand is able to initiate ongoing discussion. In this way, SNA provides insight into the type of participant interaction that occurs in both well functioning and floundering UIN. SNA also plays an important role in determining the success of techniques used to foster and cultivate interaction within emerging and non-functioning UIN. Although the ability to analyze, visualize and categorize the social interactions that occur in User Innovation Networks is essential to foster creativity and innovation within a network, numerous challenges exist. User interaction is usually split across a range of commercial and open source web-based collaborative tools that don’t readily expose post-reply data. In order to perform SNA across the entire network, data would need to be collated from all tools. It is therefore difficult to view the interaction that occurs in individual tools and the UIN ecological system as a whole. In many instances the relevant data for SNA can only be extracted by performing direct database queries. The release of such information is at the discretion of the individuals with web and database server access, and is rarely made available to UIN participants and researchers. Emerging semantic web technologies can however enable the exposure of social data within UIN, thereby facilitating analysis and visualization. The SemanticallyInterlinked Online Communities (SIOC) project has developed an RDF-based semantic ontology standard that supports social data exchange between web-based collaborative tools [1]. SOIC has been implemented as an add-on for Drupal (CMS), Wordpress (Blog), vBulletin (Forum) and phpBB (Forum). The SIOC semantic model is able to represent users, forums, post-reply threads and websites. Boardscape [8], which currently utilizes SIOC is described as a “world of boards” as it aggregates data from multiple web-based forums. sioc.me provides interactive 3D visualizations for 10 years worth of SIOC exposed data from the boards.ie website (Figure 6). The true potential of SIOC however lies in the fact client-side tools which UIN participants and researchers can easily install, will be able to detect, analyze and visualize embedded SIOC data. Semantic Radar is Firefox extension that is able to detect and display SIOC data in human readable form. The SIOC standard is therefore able enhance social data exploration within the web-based tools utilized within UIN.
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Fig. 6. A sample visualization from http://sioc.me
Using http://sioc.me to explore conversation threads within the "Films" forum on http://boards.ie in real time rendered to an interactive 3d space that the user can explore by clicking on threads. The sioc.me website provides visualizations for both the SIOC and Friend of a Friend (FOAF) semantic formats. Sioc.me retrieves the SIOC data exposed by the boards.ie website and displays forum threads within an intuitive 3D environment that users can interactively explore. Such real-time qualitative and pictorial information can be combined with quantitative information on one visualization.
3 Conclusions and Future Trends User Innovation Networks create great challenges for Human-Human and HumanComputer Interaction research but also to other disciplines not discussed here. UIN provide a new venture investment cycle creating and profiting from technology. Users Innovation Networks suggest that in most cases initial developers and later consumers collaborate in a more simple or extreme way to produce consumer goods. They can have various forms depending on the initial targets of the network members and as von Hippel [1], following Wellman and colleagues [9], suggested may or may not form a community of practice i.e. developing a sense of belonging, and social identity. No matter how the members build the network, fostering positive attitude and relationships between them is essential for all production parts [10]. Consequently, ‘extreme’ collaboration projects are built on cooperation with people from diverse backgrounds and experiences as well as disciplines. It fosters co-creativity and innovation in unexpected ways as equality and diversity between coworkers allows serendipitous cross-fertilization of ideas to occur. The more coherent groups employ international project management and idea management tools and techniques to enhance international communication and collaboration. Time differences seem to make some forms of communication impractical, such as synchronous
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communication. Specific ways of working may occur as for example embracing the ‘patch’ culture in the Linux case. This means that new convergent interfaces are needed to support communication and co-working as well as marketing and sales based on a trail/process as well as final productions. As for future trends in regards to Human-Computer Interaction, agile software development in combination to usability testing and traditional software development approaches are crucial to meet the ever-changing needs of such user-centered production. Interfaces need to provide qualitative information visualization for locating, distinguishing, accessing, comparing and evaluating resources as the first step. The second step is related to applying, communicating and synthesizing previous information for innovation by adding new knowledge to UIN; real-time information visualization supporting different research methodologies seems to be the key. These two levels create great research and development challenges. To conclude, User Innovation networks build financial and social capital by supporting collaborative creativity and innovation in all relative forms by the users. Other than the financial benefits, the most innovative users can be identified and supported; network members learn to accept diversity and appreciate the motives and drivers behind people’s behavior and the ability to reconcile differences. In addition, UIN members are competent in communication and organizational skills, learning how to learn, motivating others, knowledge management and problem solving skills such as organizing things, working together for solutions, and coming up with good ideas with idea generation, idea sharing and idea discussion, all described as e-business skills. Time-based, archive-oriented and trail-traced processes are not translated yet into coherent interface design principles as well as facilitate research. More research is needed to identify principles and standards to generate, design, develop and sustain User Innovation Networks. Such principles will aid in the development of a new business model with direct implications and requirements in human-computer interaction research.
References 1. von Hippel, E.: Horizontal innovation networks- by and for users. MIT Sloan Working Paper No. 4366-02 (2002) , http://opensource.mit.edu/papers/vonhippel3.pdf (last access, 02/02/2009) 2. Lambropoulos, N., Kampylis, P., Papadimitriou, S., Gkikas, A., Vivitsou, M., Minaoglou, N., et al.: Hybrid Synergy for virtual knowledge working. In: Salmons, J., Wilson, L. (eds.) Handbook of Research on Electronic Collaboration and Organizational Synergy, vol. 1, pp. 83–102. IGI Global Publications, Hershey (2008) 3. Hart, D., Stultz, J., Ts’o, T.: Real-Time Linux in Real Time. IBM Systems Journal 47(2), 207–220 (2008), http://www.research.ibm.com/journal/sj/472/hart.html (last access, 02/02/2009) 4. Andonian, A., Loos, C., Pires, L.: Building an innovation nation. In: What Matters. McKinsey & Company (2009), http://whatmatters.mckinseydigital.com/innovation/ building-an-innovation-nation (last access, 03/03/09)
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5. Daskolia, M., Lambropoulos, N., Kampylis, P.: Advancing Collaborative Creativity in the context of Greek Teachers’ In-Service Training in Environmental Education. Poster paper accepted for 8th International Conference on Computer Supported Collaborative Learning CSCL 2009 (2009) 6. Lambropoulos, N., Kampylis, P.: Fostering Collaborative Creativity and Metacognitive Awareness in e-Learning Framework – The case of Hybrid Synergy Tag Tool. Paper accepted for the International Conference of the Greek Association of Primary Education Teachers EEMAPE (2009) 7. Welser, H.T., Gleave, E., Fisher, D., Smith, M.: Visualizing the signatures of social roles in online discussion groups. The Journal of Social Structure 8(2) (2007) 8. Breslin, J.G., Kass, R., Bojars, U.: The Boardscape: Creating a Super Social Network of Message Boards. In: International Conference on Weblogs and Social Media (2007), http://www.icwsm.org/papers/3–Breslin-Kass-Bojars.pdf (last access, 20/02/2009) 9. Wellman, B., Boase, J., Chen, W.: The networked nature of community on and off the Internet. IT and Society 1(1), 151–165 (2002) 10. Lambropoulos, N.: Tools and evaluation techniques for collaborative e-Learning communities. Unpublished Research, Ph.D Thesis at the Centre for Interactive Systems Engineering, London, South Bank University (2008)
Web Interface for Designing and Sharing Sound Space Seiya Matsuda, Shingo Ikeda, and Tomohito Yamamoto College of Information Science and Human Communication, Kanazawa Institute of Technology, Oogigaoka 7-1, Nonoichi, Ishikawagun, Ishikawa, 921-8501 Japan
Abstract. Services of sharing information such as videos or images become popular on the internet. Flickr or Youtube is one of the most successful websites. On the other hand, high quality contents created by professionals today use multi-surround audio or 3-Dimensinal CG. On the internet, web services that consider spatiality of information also have appeared. However, up until now, 2-Dimensional display has been used to get or share the 3-Dimensinal information of web services. As a result, its spatiality was lost and reality that information essentially had also was lost. To solve this problem, firstly we have developed low-cost and scalable 3-D auditory display. In this research, we developed the system for designing sound space that can be reproduced on our auditory display. This system gives us intuitive designing interface like general image processing tool and enables us to share sound space on the web.
1 Introduction The internet enables us to get or share various information such as images or videos. “Flickr” or “YouTube” is one of the typical web services. In these services, it is possible for general users to make contents and to upload them, and the method itself is the reason why this kind of services has succeeded although contents are sometimes low quality. On the other hand, high quality contents (movies or TV games, etc…) created by professionals today use multi-surround audio or 3-Dimensional CG, reality of information become higher with its “spatiality”. On the internet, web services that consider this spatiality of information also have appeared. For example, Google’s StreetView or EveryScape give us 3-Dimensional view. Especially, EveryScape can show indoors as well as outdoors, and users can window shop as if they are walking on the real street. Thus we can get more reality of information with its spatiality. However, in many cases, 2-Dimensional display has been used to get or share 3-Dimensional information of web services. As a result, its spatiality was lost and reality that the information essentially had also was lost. Therefore, to get or share 3- Dimensional information with its spatiality, the display which can represent the spatiality of information is necessary. To resolve this problem, systems of Mixed Reality or multi surround auditory have been researched [1]-[4]. Moreover, Hughes has developed “Sound-Designer” that enables to design sound space by GUI [5]. However, most of these researches use special device to represent 3-Dimensional information, and most of design tools A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 374–380, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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remain only configuration tool, and do not consider sharing the information on the internet. Therefore, first of all, we have developed low-cost and scalable auditory display that can represent spatial information by controlling network connected PCs with speakers [6]. In this research, we develop the system for designing sound space that can be reproduced on our auditory display. This system gives us intuitive design interface like general image processing tool and implemented as a web system. Therefore, it is possible to share audio information with spatiality on the internet like Youtube or Flickr.
2 System Overview The System of this research is composed of "Design System" for designing sound space, "Download System" to download designed sound space, and "Auditory Display" that we have already developed. Fig.1 shows system overview. The system is divided into a system on the internet and a system in local environment. "Design System" and "Download System" are used on the internet, and "Auditory-Display" is used in local environment. Users can design, share and play sound space by using these 3 systems. The number from 1 to 6 of Fig.1 shows flow from accessing to web system to playing sound space on "Auditory Display". In this system, firstly, user access to systems on the internet. Next, users design sound space by using "Design System", and designed sound space is downloaded in local pc by using "Download System". Finally, users input the downloaded sound space data into "Auditory Display" and listen to it. User Access
Web System Internet Download System Publish designed Sound Space Open window for designing
Local PC Playing System (Auditory Display)
Design System
Fig. 1. System Overview
2.1 Interfaces of the System Fig.2(a)-(d) show interfaces of our web system. This web system control user account for smooth management of downloading and searching. Therefore, when users accessing to web system, firstly "Login Window" is displayed for session setup. In the "Login Window", users type "User ID" and "Password” and log in the system. After
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(a) “Login Window”
(b) “Download System Window”
(c) “My Page Window”
(d) “Design System Window”
Fig. 2. All Windows of Web System
logged in, "Download System Window" is displayed. By displaying "Download System Window" before displaying private page "My Page Window", users can access uploaded contents directly. In "Download System Window", user can search contents by contents category, designer’s name and so on. When users want to design a sound space, users move to "My Page Window" from "Download System Window". In this window, users can create new sound space contents or delete, and also can publish designed sound space contents or not. When users design sound space, they click "New" button and display "Design System Window”. Users can create sound space contents by using this window. After creating contents, it is included into contents list of "My Page Window", and user can share them with other users by publishing procedure in "My Page Window". 2.2 Design System In previous works [5], users design sound space by configuring acoustic field where they play the contents. On the other hand, in our system, user design sound space by placing sound objects on virtual space. Our system have been developed by Ajax (Asynchronies JavaScript and XML) technology. When this kind of rich client system was developed, Flash technology was used before. However, vendor sites have changed the technology from Flash to JavaScript, by appearance of Google Maps and Google Documents. In this research, design system should work like local application so that we selected Ajax technology for implementation.
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Graphical User Interface of our system had an appearance of paint soft. Therefore, users can design sound space as if drawing a picture without special knowledge. However, there is some different points form existing paint software. In generally, paint software have used 2-Dimensional canvas, but our system has used orthographic views having depth information for placing objects 3-Dimensionally (This depth information enables us to design sound space much easier than ordinary orthographic views). User designs sound space by placing sound objects in virtual space of orthographic views. Fig. 3 shows "Design System Window". This window are composed of 4 subwindows; "Canvas Window", "Layer Window", "Information Window", "View Point Change Buttons”. Table 1 shows outline of these windows. Table 1. Sub-Windows of Design System Windows
Function
Canvas Window
In this window, users can place sound object and set animation for moving sound object. It has orthographic views having depth information.
Layer Window
In this window, Each created layers are listed. Users create some sound layer like paint software and each layer has information of placed sound object.
Information Window
This window shows numerical information of sound object such as a position. This information is displayed when cursor is placed on objects in Canvas Window.
View Point Change Buttons
These three buttons correspond to top view, front view, and right side view. User can change view point and place sound objects 3Dimensionally with these buttons.
“Layer Window”
“View Point Change Buttons”
“Information Window” “Canvas Window”
Fig. 3. Design System
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Fig. 4. Placement of a Sound Object
Basic Operation for Placing Sound Object. To design sound space, firstly, users enter some information ("Project Name", "Real Space Size (m)", "Time (min)") to the form window for a creating new project. "Real Space Size" is a sound space size, and volume of sound space is calculated from this size. Created sound space is always cubic, so users enter only one side. "Time (min)" is playing time of contents. The window in Fig.4 is displayed after user created a new project. Using this window, users place a sound object on sound space. To create a new sound object, users select "creating new object" from context menu that is displayed by right clicking on "Canvas Window". In this form, users enter "Object Name", "Sound Source File", "Position of Sound Source" and the other options. After inputting the information into the form, a new sound object is displayed. A sound object was placed as a yellow boll shown in Fig. 4. If users want to place created sound object on another position, click placed a sound object and move it to a desired position, and click again. Thus, users can replace sound object on new position very easily and design sound space by repeating these procedures. After users designed sound space, they can save them on the web system by selecting "button of save" from menu at top and left of the window. Information of designed sound space such as project name, creator's name are saved on database of the system, and they are used by download system. Setting Animation. If users want to add information of motion to a sound object, users have to select "animation of sound object" from context menu of object by rightclicking on a placed sound object. After this procedure, present window move to next window for setting animation. Fig. 5 shows its window. In this window, "Time Line Bar" is added into a base window of design system. This time line bar enable user to set speed of sound object. Firstly, users select "linear moving" from context menu by right-clicking on a placed sound object. After selected this menu, base points and path that connects base points are displayed (shown in Fig. 5) by double-clicking on "Canvas Window". Each base point of moving path corresponds to allow of "Time Line Bar". Moving these arrows, user can set speed of a sound object. User can set motion and speed of all of sound objects by repeating these procedures.
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Time Line Bar
Fig. 5. Window for Setting Animation of a Sound Object
2.3 Download System Fig. 6 shows "Download System" for downloading and sharing designed sound space. This system enables to download contents by searching for information of designed sound space from database ("Creator's Name", "Creator's Comment", "User's Comment for Evaluation", "Tags", etc…). If users want to search any words from these information, users enter words into search form on Fig.6. If user wants to search created contents by a certain user, user just only click user name and system display all created contents of certain user. In addition, the system can sort list of contents by "Download Count", "Title" and another. Thus, users can find contents very quickly by using searching function.
Fig. 6. Download System
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3 Contents In this system, users have to prepare sound resources to create contents. In general, in the case of recording multi surround sound, special recording device is necessary. However, in our system, user can record sound source with microphone on cellphone. Therefore, users can record sound source simply (If user want to improve quality of contents, user had better use commercial microphone for recording sounds and place recorded sound source as same as real space.). After recording sound source, user clips a usable part from recorded data and uploads them. In our system, user can share sound space and enjoy downloaded contents very easily. For example, user can feel excitement of sports game like baseball or baseball by listening to not only sound of auditorium but also position of players. User can also feel like going to trip by listening to the sound space other tourist designed. Moreover, sound space has higher reality so that our system transmits important information quickly. For example, Hurricane Katrina attacked south part of United States in 2005, and the damage was enlarged by slow response of the citizen to the hurricane. If information of typhoon was transmitted with its spatiality, sense of crisis of citizen was heightened, and it could alleviate suffering.
4 Conclusions and Future Work In this research, we have developed the web system that composed of "Design System" for designing sound space with sense of drawing picture by paint software, and "Download System" for sharing designed sound space. In addition, using our "Auditory Display", users can enjoy high reality contents easily. Our system has used only sound information for representing spatiality. However, in future works, we will share not only sound but also image by using multimodal device that integrates head mount display and our multi channel speaker system. With this system, users can share information with higher reality. In addition, we will improve versatility of the system by adding data conversion function for multi surround format which 5.1ch surround system uses.
References 1. Gyorbiro, N., Cohen, M.: Mobile Narrowcasting Control and Display of Spatial Sound. Information Processing Society of Japan, SIG Notes 2008(54), 69–72 (2008) 2. Higa, K., Nishiura, T., Kimura, A., Shibata, F., Tamura, H.: A two-by-two mixed reality system that merges real and virtual worlds in both audio and visual senses. In: Proc. of 6th Int. Symp. on Mixed and Augmented Reality, pp. 203–206 (2007) 3. Lee, N.: IOSONO. Computers in Entertainment 2, 3 (2004) 4. Fernando, O.N.N., Adachi, K., Duminduwardena, U., Kawaguchi, M., Cohen, M.: Audio Narrowcasting and Privacy for Multipresent Avatars on Workstations and Mobile Phones. IEICE transactions on information and systems E89-D(1), 73–87 (2006) 5. Hughes, D.E.: Defining an Audio Pipeline for Mixed Reality. In: Proc. of Human Computer Interfaces International 2005, CD-ROM (2005) 6. Ikeda, S., Yamamoto, T.: Auditory Display using Network Connected Multiple Computers (in Japanease). In: Proc. of HIS 2008, pp. 461–466 (2008)
Who Are the Web Composers? Evandro Manara Miletto, Marcelo Soares Pimenta, Aurelio Faustino Hoppe, and Luciano Vargas Flores Instituto de Informática – UFRGS. Av. Bento Gonçalves, 9500. Porto Alegre, RS. Brazil {miletto,mpimenta,afhoppe,lvflores}@inf.ufrgs.br
Abstract. Web 2.0 with RIA (Rich Internet Applications) becomes a wide field for social networks and new distributed collective practices. In this paper we explain why and how CODES, a novice-oriented Web-based environment for cooperative music prototyping, provides support to a new practice in which novices in music may produce (not only consume) music cooperatively. CODES stimulates the emergence of new user roles – these users not only create and edit cooperatively their own music but also may participate in discussions and exchange ideas about their contributions. The implications of this Web-based group music making and shared authorship – some of them identified through actual experiments – are also presented. Keywords: cooperative music prototyping in the Web, Web composition, networked music, novice-oriented interaction.
1 Introduction Day by day the Internet is growing as an environment for communication, data exchange, and information in all fields, shortening distances and providing interaction features that support the growth of virtual communities. Web 2.0 sites such as YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, and Flickr have improved and enhanced the interaction between users and systems over the Web, making it a potential field to explore distributed collective practices (DCP) [12]. Thereby, nowadays we have the growth of other types of user profile, interested in an effective participation, with the freedom of the “playful” element which allows them to create and express themselves, and not only act as “passive” and consumer users anymore. At least, most of these Web 2.0 sites have two profiles of end users: the “browsers” and the “producers” of content [11]. These practices are typically related to Rich Internet Applications (RIAs), a class of more sophisticated Web applications that behave likewise the desktop-based software programs. Compared to normal Web pages, they are rich in interaction, in content, and so in functionality. The primary advantage of RIAs is an enhanced user experience. Knowing and keeping the behaviors and practices that RIAs allow can be crucial to bring the ordinary Web-users to experiment with music and technology where most of them never tried before. A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 381–390, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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The field of music has traditionally served as a natural motivation for community formation, even considering that the most widely supported practice is sharing readymade music files. We are convinced that Web-based RIAs are able to address the main concerns for breaking barriers that keep non-musicians away from expressing themselves musically. CODES is a Web-based environment for cooperative music prototyping (CMP) by novices in music, where the main task is experimenting with music by combining, listening, rearranging sound patterns, and cooperating with partners in order to produce their music, which we call a Web (music) composition. Indeed, with Web-based RIAs like CODES, everyone having access to the Internet, using a personal computer as a general virtual musical instrument (instead of having a real one) and using a high level music representation to experience with music (instead of traditional music notation) may produce music [9]. CODES was designed to support cooperative activities between users while prototyping musical pieces. This implies requirements that range from HCI, CSCW, and Computer Music disciplines integrated in the same environment. The ultimate goal of CODES is to support activities which allow the Web composers (typically novices in music) to experiment with music, discuss, and exchange ideas with others users about each step of their experiments. Even more than producers of content, these users create and edit cooperatively their own culture. This paper presents and discusses this new user profile and the challenges it poses to the design of an environment providing features which support this goal, like group composition, authorship, and other characteristics identified through some experiments. The text is organized as follows. Next section discusses the characteristics of the music prototyping process in the Web. Section 3 presents some requirements related to the design for Web composers, which we detected during the development of CODES. Some social aspects of CMP are discussed in section 4. Section 5 presents some preliminary test results, and section 6 presents the concluding remarks.
2 Musical Prototyping in the Web The design of CODES has been carefully conceived to support the cooperative music prototyping process, taking into account concepts from other disciplines and the overall characteristics of the user profile. Differently from other Web-based RIAs, where ordinary users use video cams and mobiles to capture and send their contents, CODES should also provide mechanisms and tools to allow users (or groups of users) to edit, refine and publish their contributions and musical experiments – which we call Web compositions – in a process that we call musical prototyping. “Prototyping” is not a common expression in music literature. There is a convention that musical composition is done by composers. There are people who are not formal composers in a strict sense but like to do music experiments, discussing and reinventing their own music. So, in our point of view, the product of this kind of cooperative musical experimentation over the Web can be called a Web composition and their authors, the Web composers, use and reuse sound samples reinterpreting and mixing musical styles. Furthermore, the emphasis of our work is mainly on the process (prototyping), and not on the quality or characteristics of the product itself. The cyclic nature of cooperation in CODES, where online partners refine a musical sketch
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until a form considered “final” is reached, clearly resembles incremental software prototyping cycles, and thus we call this process “music prototyping”. Music prototyping is a simple process: first prototype creation, then prototype sharing – including prototype edition –, and finally prototype publishing. Prototype creation is typically an individual activity but each user does not need to worry about music theory. CODES offers a high level music representation and user interface features to allow easy direct manipulation (drag-and-drop) of icons representing sound patterns for music creation. The sound patterns are available as a sound library, obviously extensible to add new sound patterns (created by users or imported from other sound libraries). For prototype sharing, the prototype creator (called the “prototype owner”) can “invite” CODES members (searching other existing CODES users) or send invitations by e-mail to non-members, asking them for cooperation. If someone accepts the invitation of the prototype owner, she becomes a prototype partner, and she can edit the prototype like the owner does. While “editing” a musical prototype, any user may choose sound patterns and insert, delete and position them in the editing area. At any time, users can listen to the prototype and arguments may be linked to all decisions/activities made on it, in a structure similar to a design rationale structure. Thus all prototype partners may discuss and change ideas about each step of the prototype refinement, a good way to understand someone else’s decisions. In fact, arguments and modifications of a prototype are equally considered as typical contributions in a cooperative musical prototype. Also, users can send a “modification request” in order to make changes to other users’ contributions, which have to be approved. When everyone thinks the result sounds good, a “publication request” can be sent and the cooperative Web composition will be available on the CODES home page. This activity is named prototype publishing. As an alternative to publishing their music, users may export (download) their musical prototype as an MP3 file and share it as they want. 2.1 General Prototyping Interaction Issues CODES exploits the interactive and cooperative aspects of music creation activities in a high level. The exploratory nature of the way people engage themselves in a process of musical experimentation suggests that such characteristics in user interfaces for music could yield great user benefits. In contrast with YouTube “producers”, who upload ready videos, CODES “producers” can use CODES support to create, edit, browse, and manipulate their production. This implies a focus not only on community management (i.e., discovering, building, maintaining a community), but also on experimenting and constructing specific practices by using a suitable interactive practice vocabulary. As any other RIAs, CODES extends the types of possible interactions on the Web. Examples include things such as real-time filtering with sliders, configuring objects with drag-and-drop, and panning across large surfaces or zooming in on images. One example can be seen in CODES Editing Window, where users drag sound patterns (instrument icons) from the sound library and drop them to the editing area (Fig. 1.). Such actions also require new kinds of mechanisms and controls compared to normal Web navigation.
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Fig. 1. CODES editing window
3 Designing for Web Composers Since we consider the Web composers as ordinary users – novices in music –, some aspects of the interface and interaction should be specified and adapted to allow these users to perform the task of music experimentation. In this section, the requirements of user interfaces for musical activities (including networked ones) are investigated and discussed, particularly focusing on the necessary distinction between interfaces for musical activities and interfaces for musicians. Usually, computer music systems are designed for experienced musicians, and with rare exceptions (e.g. the networked music systems PitchWeb [6], Daisyphone [2], and PSO [1]) they require previous mastering of specific skills and knowledge of specific concepts for a better use. Besides musicians, novices are also interested in creating music and participating in musical experiments, but they lack these abilities and also lack environments oriented to their profile. If the intention is to design interaction so that a musical system can be useful and usable even to non-musicians, we believe this problem must be approached from a Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) perspective, combined with concepts from the fields of Computer Music, New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME), and even Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW) if cooperation is also a requirement.
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To investigate what should be a musical interface for novices, it is convenient to start by considering the context of use of traditional music software, including here its user profile (which is normally a musician or amateur musician). By doing so, we can understand why some of the features of interfaces for musicians are only suitable for that kind of user, and we may think about how to modify those features in order to suit also the non-musician profile. First of all, musicians know music theory. They know how to read scores, the traditional music notation with its staff and musical symbols. Moreover, they know these symbols refer to concepts like notes, rests and tonalities – a novice may not even know what these musical concepts are all about! Even alternative notations (like tablature) contain alternative symbols for the same concepts, and the problem remains: these concepts are not part of a novices’ world. Notation is a hard and non-intuitive concept for any novice to learn. At least, we must regard this as a true possibility when designing the user interface. In addition, musicians also have theoretical and practical knowledge about musical instruments, have access to them, and know the technical issues related to how to play them. As a consequence of the above, usual music software often relies on traditional music representations and on metaphors from a musician’s experience. The MIDI protocol itself, which is designed to interconnect digital musical instruments and computers, is based upon “musical performance events”, like keys being pressed, changes in timbre and in tonality, tempo changes, etc. Even some more recent interaction styles (like for example the style adopted by IRCAM’s Max/MSP [88]) are metaphors of something musicians are used to do, requiring experienced musician’s knowledge and vocabulary, and they are consequently inadequate for novices. 3.1 Novice-Oriented Requirements Usually there are some obstacles that make it complicated for novices to participate in music creation. In short, these obstacles are: 1. How to play music? Novices need to own a musical instrument and to know how to play it; 2. How to represent music? Novices need to represent the result of a creative process in order to repeat it later and to communicate it for anyone else; 3. Where and when? Novices need to have access, at any time, to places where musical activities and group meetings happen. Based on our group’s experience in applying HCI concepts to improve musical systems interfaces, we suggest some requirements to be taken into account when designing interfaces for musical activities in general, so to allow their use by novices as well as by musicians: • Do not rely solely on traditional music notation, nor demand from users the knowledge of music theories and concepts for them to work with music. For CODES, we developed mechanisms to represent sound patterns as icons, and the option to smartly suggest them to the user, by offering him an easier access to those patterns which could fit well in his music prototype. • Use musical metaphors from the real life, known by anyone, and not metaphors from a musician’s reality. Such a metaphor needs obviously to include everyday
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concepts and vocabulary, avoiding technical or specific terms from a musician’s world. Use conventional interaction mechanisms. Prefer not to demand sophisticated interaction devices (like complex controllers, gesture interfaces, VR, etc.), but everyday technologies (mouse, keyboard, and usual audio features available on most commercial PCs). Avoid conflict with musical tasks (which involve sound), by avoiding sound feedback (apart from the sound being created, of course). Offer alternatives of music representation/encoding formats, making it easy for users to export/import their music between different systems. Don’t forget other common usability requirements, which become even more important when focusing on non-expert users: easiness of learning, interaction flexibility, interaction robustness, and constant feedback [1010]. Make the system multi-platform if possible, minimizing requirements of use and thus increasing user access (this is an architecture/implementation requirement, but it has an effect on system usability). For a cooperative system like CODES, a very important interface characteristic should be the users’ possibility to perceive and analyze group members’ actions on the object they are working on, and to know the reasons behind each one of these actions. These are aspects related respectively to awareness and rationale mechanisms, which then must be provided on the interface. See section 4 for more details.
This, of course, is a non-exhaustive list of requirements. Some are very obvious, but others are not so straightforward. Still, we see these requirements as very important ones, and in the next section we will discuss some social aspects of CMP in the Web.
4 Social Aspects of CMP: Roles and Activities Music has been described as a social activity in which we share a musical experience [7]. Clearly, technology has created new social modalities for music listening, but we are convinced that Web technology also offers great contributions to social ways of music making, mainly with respect to cooperation and discussion among novices. Indeed, exchanging ideas is a sound way to know and perhaps understand the distinct points of views of all different users involved in a shared prototype. CODES is a Web-based environment designed to support Cooperative Music Prototyping (CMP), with special focus on novices in music. But, differently from YouTube, Flickr, and even MySpace, we are also interested in providing ways for users to experiment with music, to contribute and discuss about it. For this reason, we consider CODES as a system for music design (group musical authoring) that allows novices to “compose-by-dragging-and-dropping”. It is designed to introduce ordinary users to musical composition. Through CODES, non-experts may have the opportunity to be – like experienced musicians are – the actors of their own musical experiences. This means they can draft simple musical pieces – the Musical Prototypes (MPs) – that can be tested, modified, and repeatedly listened to, both by the first authors and by their partners, who will be cooperating in the refinement of the MP.
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As this process emerges from the cyclic interactions of the group, based on contributions from/to each other, the “control” of the process is done by negotiation between members, without the need for the role of an explicit controller. Thus, the “decisions” are supposed to be consensual by negotiation, and not imposed by the authority of a leader. We believe that it is not necessary to make a distinct and explicit representation of the leader, because usually in a hierarchical group, the leader’s opinions and actions may inhibit the other users’ participation. Indeed, interactions can evolve as time passes, and the “more skilled” users can be recognized and respected naturally by the group while suggesting and justifying their contributions. This allows total flexibility without needing prior role definition, task allocation or responsibility assignment for members. Awareness and conflict resolution are already considered critical issues in general CSCW systems. However, mechanisms existing in most of the related work do need some adaptation to take into account the idiosyncrasies of the CMP context. The ultimate goal is to provide actual cooperation, social knowledge construction, argumentation and negotiation among the different actors – most of them being novices in music – of MP design activities. This cooperation is supported here by a set of mechanisms, borrowed from the Software Engineering and HCI areas [33], [5], and specially adapted for CODES to handle awareness, music prototyping rationale, authorship, version control, and conflict resolution. In CODES, the notion of “authorship” is related basically to author’s contributions inside a MP. Preliminary experiments have shown that users need to keep their contributions and compare with others’ contributions, and with the new and past versions of their contributions, and it is also important to make explicit the evolution of the CMP process. Our main adapted cooperative mechanisms are modification marks, argumentation and negotiation, version control with layers, contribution locking or selective edition, publication request, and modification requests. They enable group members to use and reuse contributions from several versions of a MP, without losing track of each individual author’s ideas. Some preliminary results of initial experiments (see section 5) show us that CODES effectively provides support for cooperation between novices toward a collective creation of musical content. 4.1 Novices as Creators of Content: Social and Artistic Considerations Since the involvement with music is naturally human, CODES aims to encourage people to use and create music, at least as a means of expression. We believe that making music is of more value for the individual than consuming it. Moreover, making music in a group context is a rich experience: collaboration, discussion and negotiation among users may also encourage reflection about social issues raised in CMP. Currently, people freely share their creative works in the Web – music in this case – and they use anything they find online, with or without permission to download or use it. The Creative Commons [4], an organization that has defined an alternative to copyrights by filling in the gap between full copyright and public domain, comes in as an interesting option for non-technical products that emerge from cooperative creation as in CODES. A discussion about collective ownership of an music prototype may occur: there are still some open questions to be answered, such as “who owns the result of my contribution?” and “how to give credits appropriately?” that highlight our challenge
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while designing the system. Please notice that, until now, we assume authorship as a concept related only to artistic contributions and not considering the legal aspects. Obviously, traditional copyright or intellectual property laws cease to be applicable, because they are too limiting. Interesting alternatives may be those of the Creative Commons initiative [4], and as far as it concerns the users, it will be made clear why they should “open their work to the world”, at least to agree with the philosophy of the project. However, we are convinced that this discussion is just beginning.
5 Some Preliminary Results We have planned an experiment with five subjects in which the main task should be to create and publish a music prototype in CODES – for this experiment considered as an entertainment environment. This task included activities as to create a new music prototype, invite other users, decide about the style, edit, discuss, contribute and decide when the musical experiment was ready to be published. All the subjects were people from the computer science field, with ages from 27 to 42 years and with no previous knowledge about music editing. They could participate during their free time in every place they wanted. This was usually done at university labs and at home in some cases. So, the Internet connection was always broadband and the sessions in average took about 30 minutes. During a period of 3 weeks the group interacted and discussed about the cooperative musical prototype they produced. It was about four to 8 sessions per subject in a total of thirty-one sessions. See Figure 2 for the general results of the test, where: 2.a shows the number of the sessions of each user; 2.b shows the duration of each session in minutes; and 2.c shows the number of contributions of each user. The interactions were recorded in the system log file, containing the date, time, actions, and the duration of the session. After the MP was published, the subjects were asked to fill out a form with qualitative and quantitative questions related to the interactive aspects of CODES. The subjects should comment about their actions, options and decisions, as always as possible, while working in the CMP. We analyzed the interrelationship between arguments with the log file and the questionnaire filled out by the users. For instance, user 4 does access the Web frequently to download music and read articles about musical groups and styles.
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Fig. 2. General results about the number of sessions, duration and contributions
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We can relate this fact to the highest level of interactivity of user 4 in comparison with the rest of his group (user 4 had the biggest number of sessions – 8 as shows Figure 2.a –, had the biggest online participation – 38 as shows Figure 2.b –, and has 15 messages/arguments – Figure 2.c). This kind of behavior reflects our expectative about the natural coordination inside the group, lead by interactions and argumentation, as mentioned in section 4. All the users performed all the possible activities in the main task (editing, argumenting, sending modification requests and saving new contributions).
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Fig. 3. Excerpt of the results of the questionnaire
Figure 3 shows part of the results of the questionnaire, where each user should choose from 1 to 5 (the best rating) for each question. The questions about user satisfaction shown a positive user feedback about CODES as an easy to use system for entertainment (as shown in Figure 3.a), and so as a system with an effective mechanism of collaboration to experiment with music (see Figure 3.b). On the other side, some users have mentioned the limitation of the sound library, the need for creating their own sound patterns, and even the desire of editing the existing ones. These points will be considered in the next system versions.
6 Conclusions So, who are the Web composers? We are all potentially Web composers if we have available the appropriate support and tools to experiment with music, as the ones presented here. We are convinced that CODES stimulates the new Web user profile in which users are authors of their own culture. While most of the related RIAs consider only producers and browsers of content, CODES allows collective music experimentation and stimulates group discussion about music creation, providing to the users the feeling of being the actors of their own artistic production as creators of content. Our work is still in progress. The system is currently being deployed for evaluation in a restricted context. Initial evaluations have shown the system to be engaging for novices in music, but more systematic evaluations are forthcoming. Future work will include the possibility of sound pattern editing by users, as well as creating their own, through sound recording on the client-side (with a computer
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microphone) and saving in the CODES server. We find this a very important feature to be implemented for the success of the cooperative music prototyping process.
References 1. Barbosa, A.: Public Sound Objects: a shared environment for networked music practice on the Web. Organised Sound 10(3), 233–242 (2005) 2. Bryan-Kinns, N.: Daisyphone: the design and impact of a novel environment for remote group music improvisation. In: DIS 2004, Cambridge, MA, August 2004, pp. 135–144. ACM Press, New York (2004) 3. Buckingham, S.S.: Design argumentation as design rationale. The Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology 35(suppl. 20), 95–128 (1996) 4. Creative Commons, http://creativecommons.org/ (accessed, March 2009) 5. Dourish, P., Bellotti, V.: Awareness and coordination in shared workspaces. In: ACM Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW 1992), Toronto, Ontario. ACM Press, New York (1992) 6. Duckworth, W.: Making music on the Web. Leonardo Music Journal 9, 13–18 (2000) 7. Gurevich, M.: JamSpace: designing a collaborative networked music space for novices. In: The 2006 International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME 2006), Paris, France (2006) 8. Max/MSP, http://www.cycling74.com/products/maxmsp/ (accessed, March 2009) 9. Miletto, E., Pimenta, M., Vicari, R., Flores, L.: CODES: a Web-based environment for cooperative music prototyping. Organised Sound 10(3), 243–253 (2005) 10. Preece, J., Rogers, Y., Sharp, H.: Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction. John Wiley & Sons, New York (2002) 11. Silva, P., Dix, A.: Usability – Not as we know it. In: HCI 2007 The 21st British HCI Group Annual Conference, University of Lancaster, UK (2007) 12. Turner, W., et al.: Information Infrastructures for Distributed Collective Practices. Special Issue of Computer Supported Cooperative Work: the Journal of Collaborative Computing 15(2-3) (June 2006)
Social Adaptation of ERP Software: Tagging UI Elements Marcus Nitsche1, Martin Christof Kindsmüller2, Udo Arend3, and Michael Herczeg2 1
Institute for Technical and Operational Information Systems, Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg, Universitätsplatz 2, 39106 Magdeburg, Germany [email protected] 2 Institute for Multimedia and Interactive Systems, University of Lübeck Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23538 Lübeck, Germany {mck,herczeg}@imis.uni-luebeck.de 3 SAP AG Raiffeisenring 45, 68789 St. Leon-Rot, Germany [email protected]
Abstract. In this paper we present a newly designed annotation and collaboration component, which has been prototypically implemented on top of an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system. Standard ERP software is often described as being inflexible in respect to personal needs of a single user or a user group. To cope with this problem, theories, and principles from classical CSCW research and design were combined with recent developments in Social Software and what is now often summarized as Web 2.0. Our component is inspired by Web 2.0 principles like user generated content, information sharing, and harnessing network effects. As the central paradigm we applied social tagging based on folksonomies as e.g. used in del.ico.us, Flickr, and YouTube. In addition best practices from research on online community building were used to design a social annotating component for ERP systems. Keywords: Human-Computer Interaction, Social Software, Tagging, Social Bookmarking, Social Annotating, Enterprise Resource Planning.
1 Introduction Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software consists of powerful applications for managing company resources like human resources, finances, and other means of production in order to support effective and efficient business processes. But often they are described as too complex and too inflexible in case of user’s needs (cf. [1]). Contrary to this situation Web 2.0 applications are often regarded as being the opposite: People like to use Flickr, Facebook, YouTube, and other information sharing platforms. So the idea came up to enhance the usability and the joy-of-use of an ERP system by applying principles known from social software [2]. As shown in Fig. 1 on the right side aspects of social software, online communities [3], and relevant examples of Web 2.0 applications were studied. As promising for enhancing an ERP system, we decided for a social annotating component. To illustrate the power of our approach we decided for using Human Resource Management (HRM) domain with the task “Adding a new employee”. A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 391–400, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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Fig. 1. Broad field of development and theoretical basics [8]
Following O’Reilly’s [4] definition of Web 2.0 as “…the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform” and considering O’Reilly’s statement that the most important of these rules is “… build applications that harness network effects to get better the more people use them” [4] it is obvious that Web 2.0 often needs a community to support these network effects [3]. Second, the so-called social software can be defined like in the following [5]: “Social software enables people to connect and collaborate through computer-mediated communication. It also enables people to form online communities”. According to this definition the building of online communities is a possible step but not necessary to benefit from the proposed social annotating component [3]. In the following chapter we describe how to apply those principles to such a component.
2 A Social Annotating Component The concept of social annotating is based on two aspects. First, people love to communicate with each others. That is one of the reasons why Web 2.0 applications are so popular. Not even bad interface design or limitations in the communication channels can stop people from communicating via computer systems (as indicated by early research on computer mediated communication, e.g. [6]). Second, people like to keep their environment consistent. Therefore users like to adapt software to their personal needs whenever they are able to do so. The idea is to adapt social annotating techniques to account also for manipulating certain components on the user interface (UI). Through this technique users of an ERP system are able to share their experience and insights with other users. Based on our assumptions we state the hypothesis that user-annotated manipulations of elements of the UI lead to improvements of the user interaction in performing business processes. Some remarks on annotations: “We annotate data all the time. When we read a paragraph, and mark it ‘great!’ in the margin, that is an annotation. When our text editor underlines a misspelled word, that is also an annotation” [6]. Therefore annotating is adding meta-information to the existing information by marking, commenting, or sketching something.
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Fig. 2. Basic use modes of the social annotating component [8]
Giving the user the opportunity to annotate work objects (e.g. entry fields in form based interfaces), to change its properties, and to keep their adaptations in a close context, may influence the way how people perform their tasks. In principle also adaptations of other user interface components are possible. In any case of annotating a screen object, the user is asked to add a comment to communicate to other users why a specific adaptation has been made. Whether these annotations and adaptations are of permanent character is decided by the whole community via a rating process. Community feedback can be used according to the principles of information sharing to create a context-close communication opportunity between users. Information on personal notes which were placed previously on users’ desks or monitors could be useful for other users as well. Social software is often only useful for a single user if enough other people are already using it. The proposed tool does not suffer from this chicken-and-egg problem as it incorporates a “killer feature” [3]: A single user can benefit from using this tool, even with nobody else using it. In our case the tool can act as context related external memory with personalization function. Two user modes are supported implicitly (Fig. 2). The user can switch between these modes by simply setting the view restrictions to public or group rather than private. Before we present the concept and implementation of the prototype we want to take a closer look at the cause-and-effect chain. Three crucial questions in regard to cause, relation, and effect need to be answered. 1. Cause: Annotations are caused (created, commented, and rated) by the end user. 2. Relation: Annotations are related to static business objects as well as to dynamic business processes. For each annotation the user can choose whether it is processor object-related (in our example “adding a new employee” is the business process and the employee the user likes to add to the system is the business object). 3. Effect: Each annotation affects the system. Depending on the type of annotation synchronous or asynchronous effects are possible. Synchronous reactions are triggered by critical issues like “important document is missing, please hand in soon”. Asynchronous effects like reading an old comment from months ago can remind the user to be aware of something he or she should not forget when dealing with this business process.
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According to a user survey [8] among employees in human resources (HR) the following annotation types are supported by the system: (1) Comments, (2) setting Default Values, (3) Hide/Unhide Fields, (4) Enhancements, (5) Best Practices, and (6) Exceptions. Each type supports the direct annotation of each form object and therefore creates context proximity. The annotation data will be saved together with the business object “employee”. Alternatively the annotation data can be saved for the whole business process “Add employee” (cf. “2. Relation”). In the second case depending on chosen view restrictions the user or the whole community will see the annotation and its effects whenever an employee will be added in the future. While a business objectrelated annotation affects only the special employee the user like to add, the business process-related annotation affects the whole process. In the next chapter we present the chosen interaction design in more detail.
3 Interaction Design Based on different end user studies with HRM employees and several reviews by user interface designers and solution managers [8], we decided for directly annotating UI elements like entry fields by the user to allow for different types of annotations including the personalization of the user interface itself. Therefore we first created paper mockups like the one shown in Fig. 3 and sketched first interaction sequences to discuss possible forms of interaction (Fig. 4). To ensure that the users understand that and why the UI was modified, UI adaptations by the end user can be accompanied by comments.
Fig. 3. Paper mockup of a first prototype [8]
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Fig. 4. Interaction sequences of early concepts [8]
We followed the hypothesis that adding an annotating component with additional personalization capabilities to an ERP system would enhance the usability, as well as the user experience of the system. Our prototype allows the user to stick textual annotations to program screens of a single instance of a business object, to an activity within a business process, or even to an entire business process. Thus by equipping a user with a reminder or personalization tool we expect to generate immediate benefit for that single user (killer feature according to [3]). The component was designed to allow users to publish information about business processes in a direct contextual way using drag-and-drop of virtual notes in a direct manipulation paradigm. Furthermore the user is able to do privacy adjustments in order to restrict the visibility of the annotation and to classify an annotation as “business process related”. After sketching the application a prototype was created and evaluated. This is explained in the next two sections.
4 The Prototype and an Exemplary Workflow First, the prototype was supposed to be implemented as a high-level mockup (e.g. as HTML pages or PowerPoint slides). But because of the amount of interactions we decided for Adobe’s Flex 3 framework, which can be used to create rich internet applications, as well as basic prototypes of web applications as used here. Technically, the frontend consists of a flex client, which is the users’ interface to exchange application data with the backend (Apache web server). All meta-information (annotation data sets of different types consisting of e.g. ID, position/context, content, category, view restrictions, etc.) are stored in a MySQL database.
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Fig. 5. Screenshot of a phrased annotation, ready to post. [8]
To stay consistent with the existing HRM application we rebuilt the relevant part of the application in Flex and added our social annotating component in the right upper corner of the “Add Employee”-window (Fig. 5). After dragging the yellow note to the user’s point of interest, a context sensitive annotating console pops up and allows the user to fill in annotations of each supported kind, in order to adapt it to personal needs like already explained in previous chapters. As an exemplary workflow, we present the interaction sequence the user needs to perform to set a personalized Default Value to “Academic Title” (cf. Fig. 6): 1. The user drags the yellow note icon from the right upper screen corner to “Academic Title” (cf. Fig. 6, step 1). If he or she drops the note for example in the proximity of the label or the corresponding entry field of “Academic Title” the annotating dialog appears. 2. Now the user needs to choose which kind of annotation he or she likes to set. In our case it is “Default Value” (cf. Fig. 6, step 2). 3. In the upcoming page of this accordion menu [9] the user is asked, (1) to set the default value he or she likes to see automatically in future, (2) to enter a comment, (4) to set the view restrictions, and (4) to decide whether this annotation is business process related or only applies to the case currently under examination (cf. Fig. 6, step 2). 4. Finally the user needs to click on “Post” to set the annotation. After these steps an icon (in case of a “set default value” it is a green triangle) appears in proximity of the label “Academic Title” indicating that this type of annotation was set here. Hovering over this icon presents the corresponding author, date, and comment to this annotation (cf. Fig. 6, step 3).
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Fig. 6. Form screen and detail view during adding an annotation to “Academic Title”. The rectangle shows the detail view in the form [8].
The tool has been evaluated with several usability experts as described in the next section.
5 Evaluation The development process was accompanied by formative evaluation steps to analyze and improve the usability as well as the user experience of the prototype [10, 11].
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Fig. 7. Formative evaluation process by multiple user feedback [8, slightly adapted]
According to the stages, presented in (Fig. 7), different methods (e.g. expert user testing, think-aloud protocols, post-use satisfaction survey [12]) were used in an iterative evaluation process [13]. Finally, a summative evaluation with five solution managers as participants has been conducted. These business experts were asked to answer usability related questions on a 7-step Likert rating scale from 1 (very bad) to 7 (very good). The results of the final post-use satisfaction survey can be read up in Table 1. Table 1. Results of post-use satisfaction survey of summative end evaluation with five solution managers (SD = standard deviation) [08] Question 1. Overall, how useful would this application prototype be for you to perform your job? 2. Overall, how much functionality was missing from the prototype that you would need to do your job? 3. Overall, how easy or difficult was it for you to perform tasks today? 4. Overall, how attractive was the user interface? 5. Overall, how consistent was the user interface? 6. Overall, how well did the terminology presented in the prototype match your needs? 7. Overall, how satisfied are you with this application prototype?
SD 0.632
Mean 5.0
0.632 1.020 0.490 1.356 1.414 0.748
6.0 5.6 6.6 5.6 5.0 5.8
The results of this test of the social annotation component revealed a high degree of usability and a high acceptance of this feature. Attractiveness and functionality has been rated high. The adequacy of the terminology has been rated lower. As the participants stated, that they would use these features in practice, they might become even more convinced of the usefulness.
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6 Conclusions According to our evaluation results combining tagging and personalization is a promising approach to enhance usability of a business application in applying Web 2.0 techniques. It still has to be evaluated if business users accept the functionality in real life situations. As the proposed tool employs a “killer feature” in the sense of [3], a user can start using the system simply as a kind of personal replacement for post-its, which tend to clutter up his or her computer screen or desk. At this time the Social Annotating Tool is not social at all, but nothing more than an intelligent collection of post-its that are context aware. Over time some users might become willing to share personal insights and experiences with other colleagues. Because all users become instantly aware as soon as some start sharing, this can easily cause a snowball effect. This way community building [3] can be enhanced, because the first stages and levels of participation in the online community membership lifecycle: visitors, novices, and regulars [14] are very well supported by the tool. If this can be empirically confirmed, it would mean that colleagues could benefit from the Social Annotating Tool in optimizing their own interaction behavior.
References 1. Koll, S.: Firmenweite Standardsoftware steht am Komplexitätspranger. Computer Zeitung 38, 10 (2007) 2. Hattori, F., Ohguro, T., Yokoo, M., Matsubara, S., Yoshida, S.: Socialware: Multi-agent systems for supporting network communities. Communication of the ACM 42(3), 55–61 (1999) 3. Kindsmüller, M.C., Melzer, A., Mentler, T.: Online Communities and Online Community Building. In: Khosrow-Pour, M. (ed.) Encyclopedia of Information Science and Technology, pp. 2899–2905. Information Science Publishing, Hershey (2009) 4. O’Reilly, T.: Web 2.0 Compact Definition: Trying Again, 10.12.2006, downloaded 05/15/2008 from O’Reilly Radar (2006), http://radar.oreilly.com/ archives/2006/12/web-20-compact-definition-tryi.html 5. Koskinen, T.: Social software for industrial interaction. In: Proceedings of the 20th conference of the computer-human interaction special interest group (CHISIG) of Australia on Computer-human interaction: design: activities, artefacts and environments. ACM International Conference Proceeding Series, vol. 206, pp. 381–384. ACM, New York (2006) 6. Turoff, M., Hiltz, S.R., Kerr, E.B.: Controversies in the design of computer-mediated communication systems: A Delphi study. In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States, pp. 89– 100. ACM, New York (1982) 7. Oren, E., Delbru, R., Völkel, M., Handschuh, S.: Annotation and Navigation in Semantic Wikis. In: ESWC2006: Workshop on Semantic Wikis (2006), downloaded 07/02/2008 from semwiki.org, http://semwiki.org/semwiki2006 8. Nitsche, M.: Nutzerzentrierte Gestaltung einer Social Annotating-Komponente zur Unterstützung von Business Prozessen in ERP-Software. Diploma Thesis, Institute for Multimedia and Interactive Systems, University of Lübeck in cooperation with SAP AG, Walldorf / St. Leon-Rot (2008)
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9. Buyukkokten, O., Garcia-Molina, H., Paepcke, A.: Accordion summarization for endgame browsing on PDAs and cellular phones. In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2001, Seattle, Washington, United States, pp. 213–220. ACM, New York (2001) 10. Cato, J.: User-Centred Web Design, pp. 191–213. Addison-Wesley, Harlow (2001) 11. Shneiderman, B., Plaisant, C.: Designing the User Interface. Pearson Addison Wesley, Harlow (2005) 12. Dix, A., Finlay, J., Abowd, G., Beale, R.: Human-Computer Interaction, 3rd edn. Prentice Hall, Harlow (2004) 13. Nielsen, J., Landauer, T.K.: A mathematical model of the finding of usability problems. In: Proceedings of ACM INTERCHI 1993 Conference, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, April 24-29, pp. 206–213 (1993) 14. Kim, A.J.: Community Building on the Web: Secret Strategies for Successful Online Communities. Peachpit Press, Berkeley (2000)
Propagation Modeling and Analysis of Incidental Topics in Blogosphere Li Zhao1, Ruixi Yuan1, Xiaohong Guan1,2, and Mingyang Li1 1
Center for Intelligent and Networked Systems and TNLIST Lab Tsinghua University, Beijing, China 100084 2 MEKLINNS Lab and SKLMS Lab, Department of Automation Xian Jiaotong University, Xian, China 710049 {zhaoli4, li-my02}@mails.tsinghua.edu.cn, {ryuan, xhguan}@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn
Abstract. Blog has become one of the most important media among the general public, and the propagation modeling of incidental topics in blogosphere is of great interest in social network studies. Most existing analysis methods are based on the infection models in epidemiology. However, many of these models are inconsistent with the widely observed power-law decay of the propagation velocity. In this paper, the propagation of incidental topics is described by a susceptible infection (SI) model based on the individual fitness. It is proved that the propagation velocity will asymptotically drop with power-law if the fitness density function satisfies certain conditions. Moreover, if the individual fitness is of uniform distribution, analytical solution of propagation velocity can be obtained based on our model. Model verifications are performed on the data from several widely discussed popular topics in Sina Blog and the results show that our model is consistent with the actual propagations. Keywords: propagation modeling, blogosphere, SI model, fitness, power-law decay.
1 Introduction Blog has become one of the important modern media among the general public, and the propagation modeling of incidental topics in blogosphere is of great interest in social network studies since a large number of netizens are involved in creating and spreading contents in blogosphere due to its accessible and timely nature. The Research Report of 2007 China Blog Market pointed out that the number of blog authors in China is about 47 million in December 2007 [1], 29 million more than in August 2006 [2]. With the explosion of online user-generated contents, there is a pressing need to understand the temporal propagation patterns of such contents in order to predict the trend of their propagation. Most existing analysis methods are based on the infection models in epidemiology, where different underlying social network topologies serve to explain various spreading behaviors. Epidemic models on distinctive networks, such as exponential networks, A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 401–410, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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scale-free networks and weighted scale-free networks, have been thoroughly studied [3, 4, 5, 6, 7]. The stationary properties and early temporal behaviors of disease propagations are well discussed [3, 4, 6]. Generally, the dynamical evolutions of the epidemic process on complex networks are studied by simulations [6, 7], as analytical solutions are not available in most cases. The epidemic models built on network topologies have two shortcomings when applied in investigating the propagation process of incidental topics in blogosphere. First, these epidemic models need an underlying network which is difficult to obtain in the blogosphere. The most credible evidence of the spreading route is the reference link between posts. However, more than 70% people do not leave sources in their postings when they obviously get information from somewhere else [8]. Moreover, many blog authors know of the topics from traditional media rather than from inside the blogosphere. Second, the power-law decay of propagation velocity is widely observed [9]. However existing models can hardly reflect and analyze this phenomenon with finite population sizes. In this paper, a susceptible/infective (SI) epidemic model based on individual fitness is developed to model the propagation process of a fundamental type of topics, the incidental topics, in blogosphere. In our model, the fitness is assumed to be the key parameter to get infected instead of the degree or strength used in the SI models to characterize the node’s activeness on writing about the topic. In Section 2, we formulate the dynamics of infection density by a set of differential equations to obtain the profile of the dynamic behavior of the infection process. In Section 3, it is proved that the propagation velocity will asymptotically drop with power-law if the fitness density function satisfies certain conditions, and analytical solution is obtained if the fitness is of uniform distribution. Comparisons of our model with the SI models on different underlying networks are made. In Section 4, model verifications are performed with the data from several popular topics. Simulation results show that the model is consistent with the actual propagations.
2 The Propagation Model of Incidental Topics The incidental topics are usually externally induced by an incident in real world and a quick rise in the number of postings will occur shortly after the incident, leaving only one significant peak in the whole propagation process. It can serve as a fundamental for investigating more complicated types of topics such as those stimulated by a sequence of interrelated real world events. The incidental topics studied here do not include topics of sustained interest over a long period, e.g. comments on the new technologies, or topics driven inside the blogosphere. In this section, the propagation population is defined in subsection 2.1, and the spreading mechanism is defined in subsection 2.2. Then the dynamic model of the propagation process is put forward in subsection 2.3. 2.1 The Propagation Population Define Ω = {V, W} as the population involved the propagation of an incidental topic, where V = {v1, v2, …, vN} is the set of individuals interested in the topic, and W = {w1, w2, …, wN} is the fitness set of the individuals in V. Both V and W are of size N.
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Fitness is a measurement of the individual’s intrinsic characteristics in the population, illustrating the individual’s capability of learning about the topic and writing it on his blog. The fitness of each individual is assumed to be a positive random number, whose density function is denoted as ρ(w). Similar to the classical epidemic models, each individual is assumed to have two discrete states: Susceptible (S) and Infected (I). All individuals are susceptible at the beginning, and an individual is infected if he writes about the topic. Once infected, an individual will never go back to susceptible state. At time t, the there are S(t) susceptible individuals and I(t) infected individuals, and obviously N = S(t) + I(t). The corresponding densities of susceptible and infected individuals are denoted as s(t) = S(t)/N and i(t) = I(t)/N, respectively. Moreover, the propagation velocity v(t) is defined as the differential of i(t) and the increase rate in the number of infected individuals at t is V(t) = Nv(t), i.e. the number of newly infected individuals in (t, t+Δt] can be approximated as I(t) – I(t-Δt) = Nv(t)Δt when Δt is small. 2.2 Spreading Mechanism As discussed above, an individual gets infected based on its fitness. Different individuals may have different fitnesses in the population, and the distribution of the fitness represents the overall characteristics of the population. The infection rate is the probability of a susceptible individual gets infected in unit time. The infection rate should be is a monotonically increasing function of fitness. The following assumption on the infection rate is made in this paper. Assumption: Fitness based infection rate. For an individual with fitness w, its infection rate λ(w) is defined as
λ ( w) = wα ,
(1)
where α > 0. The assumption above means that in a small time interval Δt, the individual gets infected with probability wαΔt+o(Δt) where o(Δt) is ignored when Δt is small. In Section 3.2 we will shortly explain the reason why (1) is a simple and proper mapping function from fitness to infection rate. 2.3 Dynamic Propagation Model
Based on the assumption above, the propagation dynamics is built as follows: di ( w, t ) dt
= (1 − i ( w, t ))λ ( w).
(2)
where i(w,t) is the infected density with given fitness w. Given initial condition i(w,0) = 0, the solution of (2) is i ( w, t ) = 1 − e
and the infected density i(t) is
−λ ( w)t
,
(3)
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∞
∫
i (t ) = ρ ( w)i ( w, t )dw.
(4)
0
Then the propagation velocity is obtained as v (t ) =
di (t ) dt
∞
∫
= ρ ( w) e
− λ ( w)t
λ ( w)dw.
(5)
0
The changing pattern of v(t) is of interest itself and the details will be explored in the next section.
3 Analysis of Propagation Velocity In subsection 3.1, we prove that if the fitness distribution satisfies some condition, the propagation velocity will drop with power-law form. As a simple and practical case, the analytical solution of v(t) is obtained in subsection 3.2 when the fitnesses is of uniform distribution. The comparison between the proposed model and other classical SI models on several important networks are presented in subsection 3.3. 3.1 The Power-Law Decay of Propagation Velocity
It will be proved in this subsection that the propagation velocity drops with power-law when some condition is met and the exponent of the power-law decay is determined by the parameter α in infection rate definition (Equation (1)). Since the analytical solution of v(t) is difficult to obtain under an arbitrary fitness distribution, the main idea of the proof is to apply the double side approximate method to investigate the property of v(t) for large t. Proposition 1: If the domain of the individual fitness density function ρ(w) is right semi-continuous at 0 and ρ(0) > 0, the propagation velocity v(t) in (5) asymptotically drops with power-law form and the exponent is –(1+1/α) when t goes to infinity.
Proof: Since ρ(w) is right semi-continuous at 0, there exists ε > 0, s.t. 0 < min(ρ(w)) < + ∞ over w [0, ε]. Let
∈
θ1 = min (ρ(w)) 0 < w <ε
(6)
Consider ε
∫
v1 (t ) = θ1e
α
−w t
α
w dw,
(7)
0
and obviously v1(t) < v(t). Let x = wαt, then it can be proved that 1 1 α v (t ) = θ1γ (1 + , ε t ), 1 1
αt
1+
α
α
(8)
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where γ(a, x) is the lower incomplete gamma function. γ(a, x) increases monotonously with x when x > 0 and will approach the steady value Γ(a), thus α
lim γ (1 + 1 / α , ε t ) = Γ (1 + 1 / α ).
(9)
t −>∞
Thereby, v1(t) will approach the line 1
v1(t) ~
αt
1+
1
θ1Γ (1 +
α
1
α
),
(10)
in log-log coordinate plane. Let θ2 = max (ρ(w)), θ3 = max (ρ(w)) 0< w<ε
(11)
ε < w <∞
Consider ε
∫
v2 (t ) = θ 2 e
α
−w t
∞
∫
α
w dw + θ 3e
α
−w t
α
w dw.
(12)
ε
0
Obviously v(t)
1
αt
1+
1
(θ 2γ (1 +
α
1
α
, ε t ) + θ 3 Γ (1 + α
1
α
, ε t )), α
(13)
where Γ(a, x) is the upper incomplete gamma function. Γ(a, x) exponentially decreases with x and the second addend in (13) can be ignored when t is large. Thus v2(t) will approach the line 1 1 v2(t) ~ θ 2 Γ (1 + ), (14) 1
αt
1+
α
α
in log-log coordinate plane. Let ρ0 =ρ(0), we know lim θ1 (ε ) = lim θ 2 (ε ) = ρ 0 . When ε goes to infinitesimal, the ε →0
ε →0
bounds of v(t), v1(t) and v2(t), will be getting close to each other, then the large-t tail of v(t) can be given by v (t ) =
ρ0 α
Γ (1 +
1
α
−1−
)t
1
α
.
Thus the proposition is proved.
(15)
□
From the proposition we see that the exponent is determined only by α, and ρ0 is related to the offset of the line in log-log graph. 3.2 The Solution and Analysis under Uniform Distribution
In this subsection, the analytical solution of v(t) is obtained when the fitness is of uniform distribution.
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Proposition 2: In the model defined in Section 2, if the individual fitnesses obey uniform distribution, i.e., ρ(w)=I[0,b](w), b>0, the propagation velocity can be solved as v (t ) =
1
αb
t
−1−
1
α
γ (1 +
1
α
α
(16)
, b t ).
Proof: When ρ(w)=I[0,b](w), (5) becomes v (t ) =
1
b
∫e b
− wα t
α
w dw.
(17)
0
Let x = wαt, and the solution is v (t ) =
1
αb
t
−1−
1
α
γ (1 +
1
α
α
(18)
, b t ).
□
Thus the proposition is proved.
When α = 0, the infection rate degrades to a fixed number for all individuals in the population and the propagation velocity will drop exponentially. When α > 0, with the increase of α, the density of infection rate near 0 will correspondingly increases. Especially, if α > 1, the density of infection rate at 0 becomes infinite. This can be intuitively explained as follows. For a population of some topic, the larger the parameter α is, the larger percent of inactive individuals who prefer posting in late stage of the propagation exists. More inactive individuals (α is larger) will cause the propagation velocity drops slower (the exponent -1-1/α is larger). This is also reflected in the analytical solution of v(t) in (18). 3.3 Comparison with Other Epidemic Models
In this subsection, we compare the proposed model with the classical model SI model on networks in terms of the power-law decay feature of propagation velocity. Three models are selected as the underlying networks in the classical SI models: exponential networks, scale-free networks and weighted networks. For the SI model on exponential networks, the propagation velocity is ([6]) v (t ) =
di (t ) dt
= λ 〈 k 〉 i0 (1 − i0 )
e
−λ 〈 k 〉t
[(1 − i0 )e
−λ 〈k 〉t
+ i0 ]
2
,
(19)
where λ is the spreading rate of the disease, and 〈 k 〉 is the average number of neighbors of each nodes in the network. From the solution of v(t), it can be seen that the tail of v(t) drops exponentially. For the SI model on scale-free networks, the explicit expression of v(t) can not be obtained. When t is large, the propagation velocity can be approximated by
v (t ) ≈
∫
∞
1
[ ρ ( k ) λ k [1 − ik (t )](1 − 1 / 〈 k 〉 ) dk .
(20)
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where ik(t) is the average densities of infected vertices of degree k, λ is also the spreading rate, and Θk(t) is the density of infected neighbors of a vertex of degree. Using the same calculation technique in Section 3, v(t) in (20) will drop exponentially since the lower limit of the integral is not zero but a positive real number. For the SI model on weighted scale-free networks in [7], the tail of v(t) is explored in an intuitive way for lack of dynamic equations. Actually, given a statical underlying network, if all infection rates of individuals in the population are larger than a positive value, the velocity will finally drop with exponentially. The smallest infection rate in [7] is (w0/wM)α, where α is a positive constant, wM is the largest value of weights of edges in the network and w0 is a fixed value assigned for the weight of new edges. When the network grows, wM will goes to an infinite value and the smallest infection rate goes to zero, thus the propagation velocity on the weighted network will drop with power-law. However, for a finite network, the wM is a finite value and the smallest infection rate may be far from 0, and the propagation velocity will definitely drop exponentially finally. It can be seen from the comparison above that the SI models on the three types of networks either cannot emulate the power-law decay or have to assume the size of network is infinite.
4 Parameter Estimation In this section, the techniques which we use to get the real data are introduced in subsection 4.1. Then the preliminary analysis of the real data is presented in subsection 4.2. In the last subsection, we put forward the parameter estimation method by the real data base on the analysis in 3.2. 4.1 Comparison with Other Epidemic Models
We crawled the blog posts from one of the most popular blog service providers, Sina Blog (http://blog.sina.com.cn). Four hot incidental topics, three entertainment events (Event 1~3) and a political event (Event 4) are collected for case studies. A post is considered to be related to a topic if it contains the key words of the topic. A crawler script is written to get all the posts in Sina Blog. The crawler first sent request to Baidu Search Engine for all the posts which contained the key words of the topic, then collected the result pages and isolated the address of the posts. By adding the string ‘site:blog.sina.com.cn’ to the keys, the results are limited in Sina Blog Space. Then another thread of the crawler downloads the posts by the obtained addresses and gets the detailed information of the posts such as the publish time and blog author’s ID. In this section, we focus on the data of the first 30 days after “peak time” of propagation velocity. The period of 30 days is a proper interval for propagation modeling. The peak time appeared in the same day as the incident for three topics in the third day for one topic. The total post numbers of the four topics in the 30 days after their peaks are 3304, 2866, 550 and 11450 respectively. By spot-checking, the accuracy of the collected posts are 93%, 99%, 95% and 99%. We then handled the data by removing duplicate posts which were published by the same authors, leaving 2945, 2687, 516 and 10295 posts of each topic.
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4.2 Preliminary Analysis
Consider a day as the time unit, and the propagation velocity in real system Vr(t), t = 1, 2, …, can be calculated by the following difference equation Vr (t ) =
I r (t ) − I r (t − 1),
(21)
where Ir(t) is the total infected individuals, i.e., the number of all posts related to the topic before t. We plot Vr(t) for the four topics in log-log plane, and we can easily find the feature of power-law decay of Vr(t) as the curves drop along some lines in the loglog plane. 4.3 Parameter Estimation
We use the solution of the model in 3.2 to fit the data. The number of infected individuals Ir(t) at each day can be calculated from the real data, but the density is unknown since the total number cannot be obtained from the first 30 days data. Thus we use the differential of the number of infected individuals V(t) to fit the real data. As defined in 2.1 V(t)=Nv(t). Here, we use the instantaneously value of the model V(t) to approximate the averaged value Vr(t) calculated from real data over (t-1, t]. 4
10 Topic Topic Topic Topic
3
Vr(t)
10
1 2 3 4
2
10
1
10
0
10 0 10
1
10 t
Fig. 1. Propagation velocity of incidental Topics 1~4
Thus the unknown parameters are α in infection rate, b in fitness distribution and the size of the network N. The purpose of fitting procedure is to find a triple of parameters which minimizes the mean square error J(β) between the observed and expected daily infected individuals over a period of T days, namely J (β ) =
1
T
∑ (V ( β , t ) − Vr (t )) . T 2
(22)
t =1
where β=[b, α, N], V(β, t) is the output of our model given the parameter β, Vr(t) is the number of individuals infected in tth days calculated from the real data. Using the nonlinear least-squares regression toolbox in Matlab, we find the optimal parameters for the four topics as follows
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Table 1. Optimal parameters αˆ
Topic
T
J ( βˆ ) / (
Nˆ
bˆ
∑ V (t ) ) r
t =1
1 2 3 4
1.96 0.98 3.63 2.16
10
Vr (t) and V(t)
10
10
10
10
1.10 1.35 1.15 1.24
3
3.75×10 3.81×103 8.43×102 1.41×104
2.00×105 3.36×105 4.05×105 5.39×105
4
Topic Topic Topic Topic
3
1 2 3 4
2
1
0
10
0
10
1
t
Fig. 2. Comparison of V(t)(thick lines), Vr(t) (thin lines with marks) and the lines which exactly drop with power-law(dotted lines)
In Fig. 2, the solution of V(t) with optimal parameters and Vr(t) calculated by the real data are plotted. The lines (dotted lines) which exactly decay with power-law with corresponding exponent -1-1/â for each topic are also plotted. Most surprisingly, the propagation velocity drops along the lines from the 2nd day to the 30th day after the peak time of propagation velocity, and this indicates that the power-law decay behavior is an important feature in the propagation of an incidental topic in blogosphere. As analyzed in section 3, especially from Equation (18), the three parameters in β have different effects in the fitting the curve: α is associated with the exponent of the V(t) in log-log plane; b is related to when the curve starts power-law decay, the larger b is, the earlier V(t) starts power-law decay ; N mainly determines the offset of V(t), the curve drifts up while N increasing. The fact that the exponents are the same as the solution in (18) indicates the power-law decay emerges very early in the propagation process, and its study really makes sense.
5 Summary In summary, we studied the temporal propagation behaviors of the incidental topics in blogoshpere. The individual fitness is introduced to represent the individual’s inherent characteristics on the reaction to the topic. The main result is that the power-law
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decay of propagation velocity is associated with the existence of the individuals with very low fitness. The power-law exponent of propagation velocity is related to the parameter in the infection rate definition. The analytical solution of v(t) is obtained with the uniform fitness distribution. The solution facilitates the process of determining the parameters. By analyzing the relationship between the fitness distribution and the infection rate distribution, we obtain the intuitive understanding on the power-law decay. By comparing with the classic SI epidemic models, we find our model can model the power-law decay well and precisely fits the actual data with the optimal parameters. It is also observed that the power-law decay appear very early in the propagation process. In the next step, the propagation characteristics will be investigated to predict the trend based on the actual data obtained in the early propagation stage. Moreover, the concept of node fitness can be integrated with networks when the topics can only spread among related people.
References 1. China Internet Network Information Center, Research Report of 2007 China Blog Market, Statistical Report (December 2007) (in Chinese), http://www.cnnic.net.cn/html/Dir/2007/12/26/4948.htm 2. China Internet Network Information Center, Research Report of 2006 China Blog, Statistical Report (October 2006) (in Chinese), http://www.cnnic.net.cn/html/Dir/2006/09/25/4176.htm 3. Pastor-Satorras, R., Vespignani, A.: Epidemic dynamics and endemic states in complex networks. Physical Review E 63 (2001) 4. Pastor-Satorras, R., Vespignani, A.: Epidemic Spreading in Scale-Free Networks. Phys. Rev. Lett. 86 (2001) 5. Pastor-Satomas, R., Vespignani, A.: Epidemic dynamics in finite scale-free networks. Physical Review E 65 (2002) 6. Barthélemy, M., Barrat, A., Pastoras-Satorras, R., Vespignani, A.: Velocity and hierarchical spread of epidemic outbreaks in scale-free networks. Phys. Rev. Lett. 92 (2004) 7. Yan, G., Zhou, T., Wang, J., Fu, Z.Q., Wang, B.H.: Epidemic spread in weighted scale-free networks. Chin. Phys. Lett. 22, 510 (2005) 8. Adar, E., Zhang, L., Adamic, L.A., Lukose, R.M.: Implicit structure and the dynamics of blogspace. In: Workshop on the Weblogging Ecosystem, 13th International World Wide Web Conference (2004) 9. Leskovec, J., McGlohon, M., Faloutsos, C., Glance, N., Hurst, M.: Cascading behavior in large blog graphs. In: SIAM International Conference on Data Mining, SDM 2007 (2007)
The Coming Revolution in Competence Development: Using Serious Games to Improve Cross-Cultural Skills Bjorn Andersen1, Manuel Fradinho2, Paul Lefrere3, and Veli-Pekka Niitamo4 1
SINTEF Technology and Society, S.P. Andersensv. 5, NO-7465 Trondheim, Norway 2 Unit 101, NUI Galway Business Innovation Centre, Upper Newcastle Road, Galway, Ireland 3 University of Tampere Research Centre for Vocational Education, P.O. Box 229, FIN-13 101 Hämeenlinna, Finland 4 Nokia/CKIR, Fredrikinkatu, 48A Helsinki, Finland [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Abstract. Approaches to competence development have tended to focus on training to reach a required level of performance in simple and reproducible contexts, rather than in the more complex and hard-to-replicate contexts that characterize real-world projects, especially projects that involve people from other cultures. This paper explores how the Serious Games approach can be exploited to create skills in dealing with cross-cultural issues in project management. The degree of difference this can make to real-world performance is so dramatic that managers who have experienced it are seeing it not as a way to add Incremental Improvements to TEL (Technology Enhanced Learning) but as more of a Radical Innovation – a revolutionary change. Some of the main skills required in project management are reviewed, and different models of crosscultural analysis applied to understand how the challenges of managing projects are increased by cultural issues. Our testbed for this is an EU project TARGET that is developing the next generation TEL approach. We describe its approach and look at how the TARGET serious game can be designed to achieve enhanced cross-cultural skills in users. Keywords: Serious games, inter-cultural, role playing, competence development environments.
1 Introduction “In French and Spanish offices, it takes the first hour to kiss everyone, the second to discuss local gossip and the third to pop out for a coffee and croissant. In Britain, these activities would count as sexual harassment, time-wasting and absenteeism.” [15] A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 413–422, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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The above observation captures one of many examples of how work environments are shaped by national culture, and also the kinds of inter-cultural challenge that face any designer of a Serious Game whose audience is global. How should such a game take account of such differences? Academic definitions of culture highlight how we may discuss the abstractions of culture, but it is not immediately obvious which aspects to bring out in a game. With globalization phenomena, enterprises have been thrust into a cosmopolitan mix of different cultures where individuals need to avoid stereotyping others; to have the sensitivity to overcome culture shocks; and to have insights that allow them to devise mechanisms to bridge the cross-cultural differences thereby enabling an increased effectiveness in their overall work performance. Whilst there is anecdotal understanding of key cultural differences (e.g., "Americans have individualist culture whilst the Japanese have more of a collectivist culture"), any Serious Game that addresses issues of culture must be based upon models of societies that allow more complexity than a single individualist-collectivist continuum. Of particular interest is the impact of culture on work environments, thus we draw from the seminal work of Hofstede [8] on a theory that characterises cultures using five dimensions: Individualism/collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity/femininity and long-term vs short-term orientation. The process of cultural assimilation is a costly venture where mistakes may have strong repercussions. This is where competence-development environments play an important role: managing cultural gaps by providing individuals with an environment that combines soft-failure with opportunities to explore both how a foreign culture looks to you, and how your culture looks to others. This paper will contribute to insights into those issues by presenting the importance of cross-cultural impact on project management, and will in passing discuss innovations in the TARGET project that address cross-cultural challenges.
2 Project Management Project management is the task of directing a project from start to finish, with on-time, on-budget delivery of the planned outcomes. It is recognized as one of the more challenging tasks in business and one that requires multiple skills to master. Even projects being run in a mono-cultural environment can pose massive problems to the project management team. Add to this the component of cross-cultural issues, and one quickly realizes that the increasing trend toward “globally-based projects” means even more skills are needed. According to Milosevic [12], most project managers recognize that managerial styles in their own culture are difficult to handle effectively, let alone reflect upon and externalize and share with people in one's own culture. When facing managerial styles used by partners or other players in projects from a different culture, this further escalates the difficulties. Enshassi [5] claims that when ignored, cultural diversity causes problems that diminish the project team’s productivity. Much research in project management has focused on general success factors, but it is difficult to identify research on the extent of cross-cultural projects and their innate problems. Arguably, the world lacks a sufficiently-rich body of knowledge to even describe, let alone manage, the complexities of globalization, and this affects projects as much as other areas of business, with companies and public bodies
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developing projects across the globe, hiring global and local contractors, employing people from a wide range of countries and cultures. Just consider some examples; a Canadian government agency employs a German software company to develop a new administration system, the German software company predominantly uses Indian and other Asian nationals as programming resources, while the writing of user manuals has been outsourced to a Maltese company. A construction project in Australia is developing a shopping center for a Saudi-Arabian holding company, using a French construction company to build the center designed by a Danish architect, and at any given time the construction site is home to at least 40 nationalities. Or consider the project to develop the TARGET learning system; encompassing eleven partners from all over Europe, with project advisors from an additional two continents. In such settings, the presence of numerous different cultural backgrounds undoubtedly adds to the complexity of managing the projects. The question is, can learning systems like the one being developed by the TARGET project be deployed to enhance the skills required in such projects? We think so, and this section of the paper will discuss the skills required in project management, both in general and with the added complexity of cross-cultural issues. Let us first consider the general question of which managerial skills are needed to be a successful project manager. Different organizations (e.g., Project Management Institute (PMI), International Project Management Association (IPMA)) have developed so-called bodies of knowledge (BoK) that outline competence areas within project management. As part of the development effort to create the TARGET learning system, an exercise has been undertaken to extract from BoKs and other sources various skills that should be taught to project managers: • “Core” project management; defining WBS, developing cost estimates, network planning, schedule development, follow-up of cost/time during execution. • Design and engineering; managing the processes for designing the project deliverables (can involve architectural designs, technical designs, software architecture, etc.) and engineering the detailed solutions, including drawings, specifications, user interfaces, etc. Typically, this involves coordinating several actors, both internally and externally, and representing different technical disciplines. • “Construction”; all activities involved in producing the project deliverables, e.g., physical construction of a building/bridge/ship/etc., programming of software code, conducting research experiments, etc. This typically also involves coordinating among several actors. • Testing; all activities involved in testing and verifying the quality and performance of what is being produced in the project. • Quality management; to some extent linked to testing, but represents a more overall set of activities for planning and ensuring quality of project deliverables and all work executed in the project. • Scope definition; framing the scope of the project right from the beginning. • Procurement and supplier management; in many projects this is an extensive set of tasks as large portions of the budget are spent buying products and services from external suppliers. • Change management; handling requests for changes in what is to be delivered and ensuring that the changes can be accommodated with the plans.
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• Project shaping; the entire front-end of the project, covering skills like stakeholder analysis, defining clear and realistic goals, creating a governance structure, securing financing and support, etc. • Project start-up; specific activities involved in formally establishing and kickingoff the project, e.g., achieving goal understanding and alignment, establishing common project management practices, motivating the team, etc. • Human resource management; issues like composing well-functioning teams, managing teams, motivating team members, ensuring cooperation across organizations/disciplines, handling conflicts, etc. • Project communication; an extensive area covering communication with various stakeholders, ensuring an informal flow in information inside and between teams, creating an open atmosphere where issues are raised early, etc. • Risk management; everything from identifying risks and opportunities to developing actions to handle them to ensuring continuous monitoring and management of risks and identifying new risks regularly during the project. • Stakeholder management; an extensive set of skills related to identifying and handling all types of stakeholders throughout the life of the project. Most will agree that this is a rather extensive set of capabilities to master, even in mono-cultural projects. How do cross-cultural issues increase the complexity of these skills? Preceding Hofstede’s work on cultural dimensions, Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck [9] researched cultural dimensions and proposed nine (including some identical to Hofstede’s dimensions of power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and focus on responsibility which in essence is the question of individual vs. group accountability). Of these, we find the following to extend Hofstede’s dimensions with aspects particularly interesting to this discussion: • Relationship to the environment, ranging from subjugation by it to harmony with it to mastery of it, i.e., differences within cultures about the extent to which people can influence events and outcomes or feel they are preordained. • Time orientation, especially two distinct views (polychromic and monochromic: one sees time as endless, to be wasted, and allows doing things in parallel, while the other is present-oriented and focused on the short-term). • Activity orientation, with the extremes being doing vs. being, i.e., focusing on action and making things happen as opposed to experiencing life and achieving immediate fulfillment of desires. • Affectivity, the extent to which displaying emotion is sanctioned by society. • Specificity, meaning how easily members of a society establish close relationships without involving privacy in them as opposed to needing a long time to build personal relationships based on gradually getting to know one another. These different cultural dimensions profoundly influence how people perceive, act, and evaluate projects. Milosevic [12] discussed how scope, cost, and time management are affected by variations in cultural maps. Scope definition (using a WBS) will in subjugation culture tend to be implicit and ambiguous (since everything is preordained) whereas a domination culture values specific and measurable goals. Some cultures view budgets as an “elegant practice” that prepares a project for the future, but does not really count; many consider the budget to be factual, essential, and the
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yardstick against which they are measured afterwards. Schedules are particularly challenging; to present-oriented project managers, the so-called “rolling wave approach” [7] is preferred, making detailed plans for the near future and only detailing longer-term plans when more information is available. In past-oriented cultures, the schedule is of less importance and on a “God willing” nature with little detail [1]. According to Hamel and Prahalad [6], future-oriented project managers view the project as a marathon race with the start and finish line known, but everything in between is seen as uncharted terrain. A third possible way of classifying cultures, which was proposed by Richard Lewis [10] based on how cultures view various aspects of business and resulted in three types: • Multi-active; dialogue-oriented, showing emotions, and valuing relationships. • Linear-active; data- and fact-oriented, sticking to planned agendas, working fixed hours, etc. • Reactive; polite listeners, appreciating time to reflect over what is said, live in harmony, important not to lose face. Consider how some of the traits of these influence the project management task: Active cultures
Multi-active cultures
Confront with logic and reasoning Careful when it comes to making promises
Confront with emotions and experiences Shows good intentions, even when promises are impossible to keep Contract = ideal document in an ideal world Seeks to win arguments even when it negatively affects the outcome Responds slowly to written communication, prefers verbal communication
Contract = binding document Makes compromises to reach an agreement Answers communications quickly (often in writing)
Reactive cultures Avoid confrontations Shows hesitantly good intentions, likes to be seen as helpful and positive Contract = summary of intentions, can be negotiated Makes compromises to take care of future relations Responds slowly to written communication to have time to reach sideways consensus
No wonder that cross-cultural projects can become hotbeds of conflict! The main contribution of Milosevic [12] was to outline different strategies for dealing with cultural differences depending on two factors; how well the project manager understands the counterpart’s cultural “script” and vice versa. In cases of imbalance, possible strategies include persuading either party to adopt or adapt to the other’s approach and working through middlemen as “translators”. The most fruitful strategies can be implemented when both parties possess a deep understanding of the other’s cultural singularities and can navigate the other’s business culture. This supports our ambition of using a serious game to allow project managers and participants the opportunity to immerse themselves in multi-cultural settings or even as outsiders in projects in a different culture, and thus learning how to fruitfully relate to people from other cultures and how their own approach is likely to be perceived by those people. Other empirical evidence also recommends cross-cultural training for developing important skills, in facilitating cross-cultural adjustment, and in enhancing job performance [3].
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Based on this discussion, we believe the most fruitful contribution to be made by serious games in this context is to provide learners with an environment where they can “live and breathe” in a setting of cross-cultural issues. This is achieved by creating a virtual world where actors from a large range of different cultures must work together to develop and execute projects. To some extent, scenarios in the game can define certain cross-cultural challenges, e.g., in the way project teams are composed or how project goals are defined. However, we believe the main means for achieving exposure to true cross-cultural difficulties is simply by bringing together people from different backgrounds and allowing them to “be themselves” in a virtual business setting.
3 TARGET TARGET ("Transformative, Adaptive, Responsive and enGaging EnvironmenT") is a multi-country project sponsored by the European Commission that aims to research, analyze, and develop a new genre of Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) environment that supports rapid competence development of knowledge workers within the domains of project management and innovation. Addressing cross-cultural issues in more effective ways is one of its core goals. It is exploring ways to impart poly-contextual competences as an alternative to the usual "emulate-me" method. TARGET addresses the growing need to reduce the time-to-competence of human resources within organizations and to facilitate the transfer of knowledge within a community and organizations. The TARGET environment consists of the TARGET Learning Process supported by the TARGET platform, which consists of a set of tools and services. As such, the TARGET platform provides tools and services to support the definition and implementation of a personalized cognitive learning plan taking into account both the personal and organizational requirements. The devised cognitive learning plan consists of a series of complex situations captured in the form of game scenarios that the user engages with by means of an emotionally engaging serious game. These game scenarios are the core of what is considered a knowledge asset, which may be carefully crafted with specific learning objectives or may result from the capture of a running TARGET session. Around the core game scenario, additional data and meta-data is generated by the TARGET communities, thereby contributing to the maturing of a knowledge asset. Within the TARGET platform, the user’s activities are continuously monitored, correlating with their cognitive learning plan, competence profile and performance outcome, thus contributing to the refinement of the user’s cognitive learning plan. Consequently, TARGET achieves a step change in what can be done through TEL, by integrating five significant developments into the TARGET integrative framework: Threshold Concepts [11], Multimedia Learning Theory [17], Knowledge Ecology (here, in a form that can handle Accelerated Change as well as Linear Change) [14], Learning Communities[18] and Experience Management (using serious games) [2]. 3.1 Conceptual Framework The TARGET conceptual framework is depicted in the block diagram of Fig. 1 and the focus is to help individuals identify how to regulate their learning to increase their effectiveness within their current work environment and increase their opportunities.
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Fig. 1. TARGET Conceptual Framework
This is achieved by identifying the core competencies that a person currently lacks and needs to develop. The TARGET process begins with the Analysis, which takes into account both the Business Requirements (what the organization requires) and the Personal Requirements of the individual, thus outlining the required competence profile to achieve. This profile is subsequently analyzed to identify the competence gaps and build the personalized cognitive learning plan for the individual, which minimizes the cognitive path to reach the desired competence profile. In TARGET, the cognitive learning process is based on the TARGET Integrative Framework, which combines the following: • Threshold Concepts, as an essential conceptual building block in progressing in the knowledge of a particular domain. A Threshold Concept has the following characteristics: 9 Transformative. A conceptual and ontological shift in the individual’s understanding; 9 Irreversible. Once acquired, an individual cannot forget a threshold concept, neither return to their previous understanding of the knowledge domain; 9 Integrative. A threshold concept reveals hidden knowledge and the interrelationships between existing concepts; 9 Troublesome. On first encounter, a threshold concept is counter intuitive and alien to an individual’s common sense; 9 Bounded. A threshold concept usually connects knowledge spaces. Conceptually, one may perceive a Threshold Concept as gateways in a knowledge domain, which once mastered, leads to emergent new knowledge as the individual’s understanding is expanded and transformed.
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• Knowledge Ecology [14] implies that knowledge is seen as a dynamic, polycentric system corresponding to self-organizing knowledge ecosystems that provide the infrastructure in which information, ideas, and inspiration can travel freely to cross-fertilize and feed on each other. • Multimedia Learning Theory, states that a learner’s attention and working memory is limited. This limited amount of attention can be directed towards intrinsic, germane, or extraneous processing. Therefore, it is necessary to minimize the load on an individual’s working memory to optimize the learning process. • Learning Communities based on the seminal work of Wenger [18] on communities of practice as the underlying framework can be thought of as shared histories of learning. • Experience Management with Serious Games. Serious Games can be deployed as testbeds for Experience Management that are highly motivating and emotionally engaging, causing high and long knowledge retention. In TARGET, serious games are combined with digital storytelling techniques, thus enabling the community to store and share experiences reflecting complex situations. The Learning Community will assess the outcomes of the competence development cycle to identify and formalize emerging behaviors in the form of patterns (and antipatterns) to support successful competence development, thereby facilitating the process of knowledge management. In addition to mentoring, the Learning Community ensures the sustainability of the TARGET process by contributing to TARGET repositories. This is achieved through the use of the TARGET platform to capture the current state of a game session as a new knowledge asset, which gains in value in its lifecycle, beginning by emerging in sharable form (possibly multi-variate) through group processes that include being annotated by both learners and mentors (externalization). Next, the asset is refined through analysis of its elements, followed by integration of different viewpoints, and re-annotation. Even intractable problems (wicked problems) can be handled in this way, becoming knowledge assets. All content generated becomes part of the infrastructure, being easily accessible, open, modifiable, and re-distributable using multiple interchangeable formats to ease integration in external digital libraries. However, in some cases, the ownership of knowledge restricts the scope of accessibility and TARGET supports the necessary security model to foster the trust of organizations and individuals. The TARGET platform provides the Learning Community with a set of social tools and services.
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In the past, the need to have a theoretical framework to accommodate cultural issues (and authentic contexts to address those issues) was rarely made explicit in TEL or its predecessor, e-learning. It is not surprising that many students had difficulty in applying the knowledge they had acquired in simplified examples, to the more complex cases they encountered in real-world projects, especially projects whose participants came from unfamiliar cultures. However, the landscape of deployed e-learning solutions is full of mixed results, with plenty of failures and only a handful of successes [16], leaving unclear the extent to which cultural issues caused the failures of e-learning.
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The emerging competence development platforms, which integrated serious games, have significant key advantages over other e-learning tools, such as the ability to successfully engage and motivate the user so they are immersed into the flow [4]. Moreover, serious games serve the needs of the “Nintendo generation” or the “digital natives” who grew up on “twitch speed” computer games, MTV, action movies, and the Internet. Marc Prensky [13] argues that the exposure to such media has emphasized certain cognitive aspects and de-emphasized others. How is this relevant to cross-cultural issues? We think as follows. Navigating a cross-cultural project environment requires deep insight into how people from other cultures think and act. What truly characterizes culture is that it dictates reflex responses to events and requests, often without our being aware of it. Facing people who treat goals, deadlines, contracts, etc. differently from oneself can often be highly frustrating, unless we are sensitized to it and understand why it happens. The knowledge and skills required to successfully work in such an environment are both explicit (being able to put words to one's understanding of various aspects of culture), but not in the least tacit; seasoned project managers with extensive experience from cross-cultural projects can surmise what response a certain initiative will elicit or how to deal with a problem of some type. This comes from having experienced similar situations many times before and thus instinctively knowing how the next will play out, even if she or he cannot in advance explicitly describe it. This kind of tacit navigational skill can only be developed through experiencing different types of situations over and over and gradually building the capacity to improvise. For many, the only path to this level of experience is time; working in such settings for decades. We believe serious games like TARGET can offer a fastest route; the kind of virtual world offered to users in serious games can condense significantly the times required to build sufficient experience to master this type of setting. Much like flight simulator training offers pilots the opportunity to train for thousands of situations not even a lifelong career would ever present to them, a few months' use of a serious game can give project managers experience of thousands of situations marked by cross-cultural challenges. And since both allow the learner to experiment with different approaches and solutions without risking more than losing the simulation/game, this way of building experience normally leads to an even richer set of lessons learned.
References 1. Al-Arjani, A.H.: Impact of cultural issues on the scheduling of housing maintenance in a Saudi Arabian urban project. International Journal of Project Management 13(6), 373–382 (1995) 2. Baxter, A.: Students take a leap into the virtual world. From first steps to flight – an avatar’s journey, Financial Times (March 2008) 3. Black, S., Mendenhall, M.: Cross-cultural training efffectiveness: a review and a theoretical framework for future research. Academy of Management Review 15(1), 113–136 (1990) 4. Csíkszentmihályi, M., Csíkszentmihályi, I.: Optimal Experience: Psychological of Flow in Consciousness. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1992)
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5. Enshassi, A.: The management style of multicultural construction managers in the Middle East. In: Cleland, D., Garies, R. (eds.) Global Project Management Handbook. McGrawHill, New York (1994) 6. Hamel, G., Prahalad, C.K.: Strategic intent. Harvard Business Review, 63–76 (May–June 1989) 7. Harrison, F.L.: Advanced Project Management. Gower Press, Aldershot (1995) 8. Hofstede, G.: Culture’s consequence: International differences in work-related values. Sage, Beverley Hills (1984) 9. Kluckhohn, F.R., Strodtbeck, F.L.: Variations in Value Orientations. Row, Peterson and Company, New York (1961) 10. Lewis, R.D.: When Cultures Collide: Leading Across Cultures, 3rd edn. National Book Network, Boston (2005) 11. Meyer, J., Land, R.: Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge: Linkages to ways of thinking and practising within the disciplines. In: Rust, C. (ed.) Improving Student Learning: Improving Student Learning Theory and Practice – Ten Years On. Oxford Centre for Staff and Learning Development, Oxford (2003) 12. Milosevic, D.Z.: Selecting a Culturally Response Project Management Strategy. Technovation 22, 493–508 (2002) 13. Prensky, M.: Digital game-based learning. McGraw-Hill, New York (2001) 14. Qvortrup, L.: Knowledge, Education and Learning. E-learning in the knowledge society. Forlaget Samfundslitteratur, Copenhagen (2006) 15. Reeves, R.: Reality Bites. Management Today (March 2003) 16. Romiszowski, A.: How’s the e-learning Baby? Factors Leading to the Success or Failure of Educational Technology Innovation. Educational Technology 44(1) (January/February 2004) 17. Sweller, J.: Implications of cognitive load theory for multimedia learning. In: Mayer, R.E. (ed.) Cambridge handbook of multimedia learning, pp. 19–30. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2005) 18. Wenger, E.: Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1999)
Learning Computer Science Fundamentals through Virtual Environments James Braman1, Giovanni Vincenti2, Ana Maria Arboleda Diaz3, and Andrew Jinman4 1
Department of Computer and Information Sciences Towson University, Towson, MD U.S.A. [email protected] 2 Research and Development Gruppo Vincenti, S.r.l. Rome, Italy [email protected] 3 Department of Education Towson University, Towson, MD U.S.A. [email protected] 4 Immersive Learning Producer Twofour Learning Plymouth, U.K. [email protected]
Abstract. Utilizing the inherent visual qualities of immersive virtual environments can be advantageous for educating students on particular topics. Basic fundamentals in Computer Science curriculums often can be difficult for students to grasp due to high levels of abstraction and various theoretical frameworks used to describe important structures. Virtual worlds such as Second Life® provide a unique medium for education, allowing for the visualization of concepts coupled with the interaction potential that this environment allows. Briefly discussing traditional methods for teaching fundamental topics in several courses, we discuss how Second Life can be integrated into classroom instruction for the benefit of student understanding of complex materials. We outline some of our preliminary observations and student feedback as we begin to use virtual environments in new innovative ways. Keywords: Virtual worlds, Immersive education, Second Life.
1 Introduction Educating students in various complex topics can be a challenge, often invoking educators to develop creative and innovative strategies to convey key concepts. Changes from traditional pedagogy has often been guided by the changing hand A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 423–431, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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technology has brought to the education forefront. These changes have brought new methods and structures of communication, learning, interaction and collaboration. Newer strategies of teaching through virtual worlds can be used as a tool to enhance learning. Many virtual and artificial spaces create environments that bypass the normal physical boundaries associated with real life and real time face-to-face interaction [1]. Although users typically are comfortable with these new virtual forms of interacting, more often educators are not experienced in utilizing these virtual spaces. In this paper we focus on several courses where we have used Second Life® on a preliminary basis in order to gather student feedback on using this medium for future activities. We also discus some of our current work in developing virtual interactive objects for teaching. Certain topics in computer science are essential for students to grasp if they are to have a solid foundation in this discipline. In the United States student enrolment for computer science and computer information systems majors have been on the decline, which should illustrate a need to make educational changes in this area [2]. It is our desire to see virtual environments like Second Life utilized more often to engage and encourage students entering this field and to help students learn fundamental topics.
2 Teaching in Second Life The question is often raised as to what makes teaching within Second Life superior than a standard classroom or using standardized e-learning methods for distance education. Second life is a multi-user visual three-dimensional medium where concepts need not be solely described by text, verbal communication or through static images. Even though by using other modes of education, students and teachers can engage in dynamic communication, they are often limited by resources when discussing the topic at hand. This is certainly true when the need to visualize a topic would be beneficial or when a “hands-on” approach would be useful compared to only a discussion. In Second life, teachers can immerse students within a topic (i.e. walking students through a giant computer for example, instead of merely talking about it or viewing pictures in a book or on the Web). Both students and teachers are represented in these spaces through an avatar, where they can interact within the environment and with other users. Unlike learning in a text based setting, students can still interact in a similar fashion as a real classroom since they can still see and interact with the instructor. Interactions and relations between students and teachers are often enhanced by certain verbal and nonverbal visual cues observed by students in the traditional classroom [3]. Unlike many online course deliveries that depend on text-based, audio or pre-recorded video content, Second life maintains the necessary “face-to-face” interaction as in the real world, even if these interactions are being simulated. One can still “see” and interact in a more “natural” manner then what is currently permitted in current E-learning technologies. Online virtual courses could perhaps be beneficial for students unable to perform in a regular classroom or those that have dropped out for any number of personal reasons [4]. Teaching within Second Life presents a completely new set of obstacles to overcome in comparison to traditional teaching practices. However it is largely reported that many are experimenting within Second Life, with more than 150 academic institutions within
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the environment [5]. We can expect to see many innovative approaches to teaching in Second Life in the near future. Second Life possesses several characteristics considered beneficial for teaching; Cooper et al, noted the use of graphic animation to possess significant benefits for teaching and learning. “We believe that using 3D animation programming in a preCS1 course provides real benefits in teaching fundamental programming and problem solving concepts. A major benefit is the high level of student interest and involvement” [6]. The OU (Open University) Schome Park project was initiated to evaluate the educational potential and pitfalls of Teen Second Life, using 149 National Association of Gifted and Talented (NAGTY) students. In a recent study the project reported “That the level of engagement was comparable to other media. Of the 68% of students visiting the island, 41% spent more than an hour.” [7]. However using Second Life as a teaching environment also introduces many new variables and issues, such as barriers to entry (usability issues and communication methods), student expectations and content complexity as observed in similar studies. “Student expectations for the software were high due to the production values seen in commercial video games” [8]. Once they understand the environment, students begin to adapt to it, overcoming these difficulties. Rebecca Nesson (instructor for CyberOne: Law in court of public opinion at Harvard Law School) found students adopted new classroom norms, diverting form traditional formalities of the classroom (for example raising your hand and waiting for one person to finish talking before you begin) [9]. Understanding the environment and its capabilities enables educators to prepare for and understand the level of change required, in respect to traditional teaching practices. Portions of courses may well benefit from the use of Second Life as a delivery mechanism, but “the use of 3D environments also introduces unnecessary confusion and complexity to the content material covered” [8]. For this reason it is important to instruct students on how to use Second Life as a tool and make sure they understand how to use the program successfully. It is the Author’s observation that Second Life can be used in combination with face-to-face meeting to help visualize a topic and enhance learning.
3 Course Discussions The courses discussed for this article cover a wide range of topics, as well as serving an eclectic student population. The first course, “Computers and Creativity”, is designed for non-computer science majors, and is part of a general set of educational requirements. The second course, “Information Technology for Business” is also part of the core general requirements, but it attracts mainly students from business and economics tracks. The presence of students majoring in computing-related disciplines taking these two courses is not significantly different from their concentration in other core general education courses. The other courses that we will discuss are part of degree requirements for the department of Computer and Information Sciences. This department has two tracks, “Computer Information Sciences” (CIS) and “Computer Science” (CS). The first degree focuses primarily on business and management aspects. Although programming is required, it usually does not play a major role in the courses. The second degree does rely heavily on programming, as the students are more involved
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with the technical aspects of computing. The third course on which we will focus is called “Data Organization”, which is part of the CIS track. The fourth course is “Programming Languages: Design and Implementation”, and it is part of the CS track. Both these courses require as a prerequisite the satisfactory completion of two programming courses. 3.1 Computers and Creativity Second Life is being utilized in an introductory computer science course titled “Computers and Creativity” [10]. The main focus of this course is to give students basic instruction in relevant computer skills while emphasizing the creative nature of computers and technology. This traditional class is designed with a typical lecture and lab component where students learn the basics of several multimedia programs, web design and animation. The course content and creative goals match well with the expressive power and creative nature of Second Life by enabling students to extend conceptualized versions of themselves and their work into these creative virtual spaces. A preliminary investigation into taking this course’s content into Second Life yielded interesting student insight into the advantages of using Second Life for particular classroom activities and to enhance class discussions [11]. Some activities for this class included in-world student projects, virtual field trips, basic building and scripting. Second Life is also the basis for many class discussions. Second Life based Machinima (filming in 3D worlds) has also been incorporated into class topics as it can be used to illustrate this type of filming technique and video editing [12]. 3.2 Information Technology for Business This course aims to provide a foundation of computer science concepts for students who will pursue a career in a business related field, but it is open to other students and is part of the general education requirements set for graduation. This course covers a wide range of information, spanning from concepts of computing applied to industry to the more technical details of the inner workings of hardware components. Class activities also include a team project that focuses on research of current topics in Information Technology. Generally, the students are given an array of topics from which they can choose. The topics are chosen in order to offer a range of interests as varied as the backgrounds of the students. Topics that reoccur every semester include technological advancements in business environments, such as the New York Stock Exchange, robotics and space exploration, and finally social matters such as the influence of computers on psychological and sociological aspects of one’s life. Second Life as a team research project is very fitting for this course as it can cross many of these topic areas often discussed. The main obstacle to this project is the little knowledge that students have about Second Life. It is our experience that the average student taking this course has never heard of Second Life, and when introduced to it, they are very reluctant to pursue further involvement in it without further information. In order to introduce Second Life into the course we use two avenues. First, the instructor shows an overview of virtual worlds as an alternative to the World Wide Web, including a more direct visualization of the content as well as social behaviors. The second happens through the research of peers. The topic focusing on psychological and social aspects of computing is picked every semester, given the high concentration of psychology students usually enrolled in the course.
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The potential of Second Life for a course such as this could be substantial. The visualization alone of concepts of computing, as well as potential simulations that may illustrate ideas such as hard disk management or robotics in workplaces may lead to many educational benefits. In situations where equipment cannot be used due to expense or resource allocation, simulations via second Life could be a useful alternative. The main concern that instructors should have is to let the students experience this world through a constructive approach. 3.3 Data Organization A course that is extremely important to CIS majors is “Data Organization”. This course emphasizes to students the idea of a programming language as a means to solve logical problems by introducing abstract constructs whose properties and behaviors resolve programmatic challenges. The students coming into this course have generally completed their pre-requirement of two programming courses. The content of the course is split into two major areas: data organization in primary memory, and data organization in secondary storage. Since it would be impossible to review every type of file format present in the world of computing, the students are exposed to an introduction to XML technologies as a class, and then they are required to work individually on other file formats. The formats that they can use as research topic are agreed upon in conjunction with the instructor. The material found for each data structure is then presented to the class at the end of the semester. The most important content area of this course revolves around data structures residing in primary memory. Our approach to data structures presents a dual methodology. Students are generally first exposed to in-class lectures and then they are directed to online tutorials and visual representations. The evaluation of student performance for this portion of the course is based on tests, quizzes and one teamprogramming project. The students are encouraged to interact among themselves using the online interface of the course, a relatively simple content management system. Although it contains features such as chat and message boards, the students do not make use of these resources. This can be attributed to the high frequency with which they interact directly face-to-face. Currently, the course includes a group project that simulates the scheduling of package deliveries for an international shipping company. The program accepts packages given to the driver from the main warehouse and then places them in order for the driver to deliver. The order is based on priority and date of shipping. A MinHeap powers the program. This structure organizes objects by allowing the ones with the smallest value to be towards the front, and the ones with the higher ones towards the back. The only element with which the user can interact is the front-most one, thus the one with the lowest value associated with it. The data structure that serves the opposite task, the higher the number, the higher the priority is called a MaxHeap. In this case, the lower the number associated with a package, the higher the priority. Given two packages with the same priority, the driver will deliver the one that was shipped earlier. This project does not take into consideration the calculation and optimization of routes. The students are expected to create this program using C++.
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The project can easily be ported to Second Life by adding a visualization element that will animate the packages and re-order them according to the requirements outlined above. As this course is part of the CIS curriculum, most students who are enrolled report a strong dislike of programming. Although the CIS track is not oriented towards programming, the students are still required to do so for this course. The problem arises when a group of students working together contains one member who is proficient at coding and often ends up as the sole worker for the duration of the project. The majority of the students who implicitly choose not to participate to the coding part of the project generally have little or no idea of how the data structures required for this program really work. It is our belief that the graphic nature of Second Life will help such students become more involved with the coding, as they will be able to visually analyze their work. Moreover, the students who will still choose not to collaborate will be able to at least visualize the outcome of the code. In this case Second Life will serve as an aide to the visualization and animation of algorithms. 3.4 Programming Languages A general programming language course is offered to upper level (i.e. the junior or senior level), computer science students which aims toward a broad study of different types of programming languages and methods. At this point in the student’s academic career, most are quite proficient in either the Java or C++ language. This course forces students to look at other languages that are older and/or languages that are not often used or taught in the mainstream that may be considered more obscure. Usually learning these languages can be both difficult and time consuming, requiring many hours of hands on activities in order to grasp important programming concepts. Trying to demonstrate much of this material in the short span of the semester can be a challenge. Second Life in this instance could help speed up the process of at least demonstrating one extra language to students. Using the Linden Scripting Language (LSL) students can practice programming while being able to observe immediately what effect their code will have within the Second Life world. Although LSL is not a required language for a general undergraduate programming langue course, some students have opted to research on this language for semester projects to investigate this new way of learning to program in a virtual environment. Students can also use LSL to create scripts and insert them into various created objects in the world to observe their behavior. The Linden Scripting Language possesses many qualities and features required to create elaborate and useful scripts where students can be encouraged to test their skills. This environment can encourage both a collaborative and competitive space where students can ask other residents for help on LSL (if needed) and compete with other students in creating scripted objects. One other aspect of this particular class is the group project presentations, which when completed are uploaded on the web for other students to review and take notes. A long term goal for this class is to have students also upload their programming projects to Second Life along with a virtual poster presentation of the project so others can observe and learn.
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4 Current Work After gaining insight on student perception of Second Life and from our observation of how it was used in these courses, we are beginning to build interactive objects to enhance learning. We are also starting to refine our teaching strategies based on our observations. Besides the interactive social aspects of this platform and its potential for creating an online persistent virtual classroom, we want students to use Second Life to better understand key fundamental data structures and concepts. In the lower division courses, we can take students on a series of virtual fieldtrips to interact with large scale 3D components; or easily visit places in-world that have a presence in Second Life like Dell or IBM that would be of interest to business students. The material is relatively easy to present through such medium, and many visualizations already exist in this world to enhance the material of certain courses. For example, the architecture of the computer could be easily explained by adapting the lecture notes to the Dell Island, which includes a detailed model of a computer’s hardware. Other potential usage resides in 3D interactive data structures, where students can view, build and manipulate these concepts “hands-on”. Research suggests [13] that, as students visualize and animate algorithms in different ways, online tutorials for this subject are not as effective as for other subjects. These objects in Second Life would not be merely animations, but interactive and “real” to the Second Life world. Figure 1 illustrates the beginnings of a large scale interactive stack that contains information about its operation. Both memory and data is represented visually in a way where the avatar can interact. Figure 2 shows an interactive working calculator based on post fixed notation. As an avatar enter numbers on the calculator, colored blocks appear, containing the number and is placed on a Stack that they can see and manipulate. Once they choose an operation to perform on the numbers, they are taken out of memory (visually), calculated (visually and displayed via text) and results are placed back into the stack. This object can help student “see” and interact with a visual stack algorithm. Figure 3 illustrates a poster in Second Life that provides students with basic information on a standard Queue and Figure 4 is a large scale interactive Tree structure.
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Fig. 3.
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This virtual environment though has the potential of becoming a great asset as a method of development and evaluation of student work. Students could individually or collaboratively work on visually based assignments and instructors could evaluate their understanding of a concept based on their build or by their script programmed for a project.
5 Future Work As we experiment with Second life further for educational purposes, our aim is to develop more interactive components. Not only can we simulate computer components and virtual lab spaces for some introductory courses, we can create many more data structures and abstractions for computer science students. We hope to conduct further studies in the classroom and evaluate the effectiveness of Second life as a teaching tool for this type of content.
6 Conclusions Utilizing our experiences with these courses and student feedback we have outlined how virtual worlds like Second Life can be used to enhance student learning and encourage students in computer science. Fundamental concepts in this area of study can be taught not only in the traditional classroom or online, but also in more dynamic settings through platforms like virtual worlds. It is our hope that this paper will encourage other educators to realize the potential of Second Life in more complex domains such as computer science for simulation and interactive learning. The methods of content delivery are changing along with changes in technology. It is essential that we adapt our sense of the “classroom” to encompass a broader scope of meaning that is not dependant on physical settings or metaphors. As students use multimedia and other visually enhanced computer technology for learning, students may need to shift from learning only through text books and discussion, but through immersion. We believe that these environments will truly enhance teaching and
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learning in the future. The possibilities and the fundamental mechanisms of the environment allow creativity to flourish while enhancing education. Computer science fundamentals are only one important area that can be taught through a virtual world. These spaces are not just pixels on a screen, but represent a new classroom where students can learn in new and innovative ways. Acknowledgments. This project has been supported by a Teaching Innovation Grant from the Faculty Development and Research Committee of Towson University. We would also like to thank Mandy Medusa for her programming assistance in this project.
References 1. Trajkovski, G., Collins, S., Braman, J., Goldberg, M.: Coupling Human and Non-Human Agents. In: The AAAI Fall Symposium: Interaction and Emergent Phenomena In Societies of Agents, Arlington, VA (October 2006) 2. Lomerson, W., Pollacia, L.: Declining CIS Enrolment: An Examination of Pre-College Factors. In: Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Information Systems Education Conference (2005) 3. Richmond, V., McCroskey, J.: Nonverbal Behavior in Interpersonal Relations, 5th edn. Pearson Education, London (2004) 4. Livingston, P.: E-learning Gets Real. Technology & Learning 28(4), 20–22 (2008) 5. Simteach Wiki (2008), http://www.simteach.com/wiki (retrieved July 15, 2008) 6. Cooper, S., Dann, W., Pausch, R.: Using Animated 3D Graphics to Prepare Novices for CS1. Computer Science Education 13(1) (2003) 7. Freitas, S.: Emerging trends in serious games and virtual worlds. Emerging technologies for learning 3, 58–72 (2008) 8. Elliott, J., Adams, L., Bruckman, A.: No Magic Bullet: 3D Video Games in Education. In: Proceedings of ICLS 2002, Seattle, Washington (2002) 9. Nesson, R.: (Harvard Law School) Interview, http://ilamont.blogspot.com/2007/05/ interview-harvards-rebecca-nesson.html 10. Braman, J., Jinman, A., Trajkovski, G.: Towards a Virtual Classroom: Investigating Education in Synthetic Worlds. In: The AAAI Fall Symposium. Emergent Agents and Social and Organizational Aspects of Intelligence, Arlington, VA (November 2007) 11. Braman, J., Jinman, A., Trajkovski, G.: Exploring Virtual Worlds as an Extension to Classroom Learning. In: International Conference on Information Society, Merrillville, Indiana (October 2007) 12. Filimon, S.M.: The Handbook of Research on Computational Arts and Creative Informatics. In: Braman, J., Vincenti, G. (eds.) Information Science Reference (2009) 13. Douglas, S., McKeown, D., Hundhause, C.: Exploring Human Visualization of Computer Algorithms. In: Proceedings of Graphics Interface, Toronto, May 1996, vol. 196, pp. 9–16 (1996)
A Discussion of Video Capturing to Assist in Distance Learning Michael Conlon and Vasos Pavlika University of Westminster, Watford Road, Harrow, Middlesex HA1 3TP, UK
Abstract. This paper discusses video capture as a medium for transferring and reinforcing knowledge using Distance Learning (to be denoted by DL for the remainder of this paper). The area of teaching delivered is computer programming in particular, to the Object Oriented language known as Java, however the techniques introduced are not limited to this sub-discipline of computer science and can be applied to lectures on the theory of databases, formal methods and/or algorithms etc. The software used in this paper is Camtasia which can be applied to the traditional programming languages, including: Java, C++, Visual Basic, C and to the mark-up languages i.e. the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and to Javascript. The paper highlights ways of partitioning a teaching demonstration video into different components to achieve multiple views of a particular topic being discussed. This means that students and lecturers are able to view the demonstration repeatedly and more importantly whilst not in a lecture theatre. Once a video has been produced learners are able to follow lecture notes along with the lecturer’s discussions at their leisure thus making this method of education a Distance Learning mode, capable of reinforcing learner knowledge. The authors have found that this continual exposure to the lecture material greatly enhances student comprehension, enjoyment and participation. These conclusions were ascertained by conducting experiments in which a comparison of student views (on lectures) were determined i.e. a comparison was made between students taking a class in which Camtasia was used with a class in which Camtasia was not used and the results of the questionnaire/survey are summarised in the conclusions. It was found that the students responded favourably to lectures delivered using the Camtasia environment as the programming ideas could be viewed repeatedly thus reinforcing their knowledge. This was mentioned by the majority of the students (in fact 72% of the students from a sample size of sixty students stated this) and it was felt by the authors that this statistic alone would make the creation and research into further applications of the Camtasia software a suitable, appropriate and worthwhile pursuit. In this paper many programming clips are included with the hope that this illustrates the versatility of Camtasia. The lectures delivered and consequently discussed were presented to a first year undergraduate class in Computer Science studying a variety of Computer Science disciplines including: Artificial Intelligence, Multimedia, Business Computing and e-Commerce. The paper commences with a discussion of two DL environments that the authors are associated with, highlighting points and facilities that are common to both, such as peer-peer discussions, lecturer-student discussions and chat rooms. The paper then goes on to include actual lecture material with associated screenshots A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 432–441, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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using the Camtasia software. The screenshots commence with a demonstration of how to set up the JCreator editor on the University of Westminster server, followed by a demonstration of how the required paths must be set to enable the Java platform to locate all the required classes and libraries to function properly. This is followed by screenshots demonstrating the compilation procedure necessary to successfully run a Java program followed by screenshots on how to debug a typical Java program. In the “Time honoured” fashion the traditional HelloWorld program is also demonstrated and run. This is further complimented by demonstrating the recursive add function using the NetBeans editor. More advanced programming techniques are discussed later in the paper including: the creation of a singleton class with a private constructor and the illustration of the concept of inheritance in Java. Thus the programming techniques introduced are of the OO nature (where the OO denotes Object Oriented) subsequently after these topics have been introduced and discussed feedback from the students is obtained as to the success (or not as the case be) of the effectiveness of using such a method for the delivery of the afore mentioned topics. A discussion of a select few applications of each of these DL environments are also included. The paper reviews the advantages and disadvantages for both students and lecturers alike and the paper also considers many of the difficulties in the recording process that arose. Resource implications are also mentioned relative to the production, i.e. the recording, the delivery and the viewing of the demonstration. The paper concludes with comments from lecturers and students as to the suitability of Camtasia as a teaching method.
1 Introduction Video capture is a way of capturing the computer screen, all mouse movements and key strokes as well as the voice of the lecturer. This will enable the learner to view the material at a later time and thus become a medium for so-called Distance Learning, a definition of which is given below: Distance Learning: Wikipedia defines distance education, or distance learning, as a field of education that focuses on delivering education to students who are not physically on site to receive their education. Instead, teachers and students may communicate asynchronously (at times of their own choosing) by exchanging printed or electronic media, or through technology that allows them to communicate in real time (synchronously). Distance education courses that require a physical on-site presence for any reason including the taking of examinations is considered to be a hybrid or blended course or program. [9]. Distance Learning (abbreviated to DL for the remainder of this paper) has become a favourable form of education in the 21st century within the Higher Education sector (to be denoted by HE from now on in this paper), as many adult learners in addition to attempting to complete their studies are in full time employment, therefore it is believed that this mode of education merits discussion. Much literature is available on the use of video capturing in educational environments; an excellent discussion is given by Jensen-Link and Thompson [12]. This particular paper addresses the process for creating digital movies suitable for educational
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Fig. 1. The Virtual Learning Environment of the University of Westminster
Fig. 2. The Online Study Centre OSC, used at SOAS, University of London
use, and how to manipulate them in order to get the most out of the capturing process. Another excellent discussion appears in the work of Huber [11] where she looks at video capturing used on desktops for use in academia. A wonderful resource to assist first time uses of video capturing in academia can be found on the University of Chicago website [24]. In two of the Institutions that the authors are associated with, Virtual Learning Environments are used in such a way that assignments and learning materials are accessible to students continually, screen shots of these media are shown below in figures 1 and 2 respectively. Figure 1 represents the virtual learning environment (DL medium) in operation at the University of Westminster (UK) which is known as Blackboard. Blackboard; is a self contained environment that can be used such that all teaching materials and teaching functions (e.g. the setting of assessments, the returning of feedback to students, making group email communications and the making of classroom announcements etc) can be achieved using the platform. Figure 2 is another Virtual Learning Environment known as the Online Study Centre (OSC) used by SOAS, University of London, all students on the OSC study remotely without attending any lectures. Assignments are submitted via the OSC and marked by tutors of the course. In addition, all learning materials are available on the OSC. Peer to Peer discussion is also possible as is communication between lecturer and student. One may argue that this can also be achieved using traditional email, but with this method all communication is encompassed in a software package and can be referred to at any time. Hence it clear that DL tools are very popular methods of education, a survey of UK Universities shows that all Universities have analogous DL tools in operation.
2 Video Capture With Video Capture the recording can be terminated and initiated whilst the capture item is being produced. The item is then stored on some intermediate format which
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can then be modified, edited, errors can be removed, and additional explanations can be added as well as supplementary descriptions which can be spliced (inserted) in a different order. Post editing, a delivery format must be chosen (e.g. wav, swf, mov, wmv, rm, gif, m4v, Ipod etc) and the particular format file may be placed on a university server to be seen by students in their tutorial sessions or down-loaded to be viewed in their leisure. However the video cannot be easily updated in real time as can a lecture. This type of software was created and distributed freely by Lotus (1996) however the software was not fully supported by Lotus and more importantly some demonstrations gave a taste and feel of its potential. Later another Software House (Adobe Screen Recorder) showed similar offerings but it was only Camtasia [10] that captured a Java GUI (Panel), Adobe merely showed a black area where the GUI should have been. The above is limited to Personal Computers running the Windows Operating System. There are other capturing software packages for the Linux and the Apple operating systems; however the remainder of this paper will be associated with the Camtasia software. The hardware used was a 3 MHz duel core 4 Giga Byte fast ram computer with a high definition screen such as 1280 by 1024 pixels. Such a screen enables more information to be visible. However the capture area should be smaller than the screen, this enables the lecturer to view information that is not included in the video that is produced. Thus using Camtasia produces a form of education that one could argue falls precisely in the category of: Asynchronous Learning: which may be defined as: Any learning event where interaction is delayed over time. This allows learners to participate according to their schedule, and to be geographically separate from the instructor. This could be in the form of a correspondence course or e-learning. Interaction can take use various technologies including a threaded discussion [22].
3 Setting Up the JCreator Editor and the Netbeans Integrated Development Environment (I.D.E.) from a C.D. Before any DL programming package can be attempted students must be become fully conversant with the software in this case Netbeans [18], JCreator [15] and Java and on how to use the editor to write code leading inevitably to a first program. The authors feel that a systematic and precise approach at the outset gives the students a firm base to build upon. It is daunting to load then set up the software as even the most able students can become confused with the initial setup and the array of screens presented by Netbeans. The authors have prepared many of these starting videos using JCreator and Netbeans for Java. Recently a video showing the installation of C/C++ development tools on a Windows platform [22] using cygwin.com web site [18] was created. Enormous care and precision is required in the production of these videos as the success of programming depends on these initial steps. The authors have found that continuous monitoring of this process leads to a successful and rewarding start to programming modules. Screen shots linking Java SDK [23] to JCreator and Netbeans were developed in 2005 when it was difficult for the students to link the Integrated
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Fig. 3. Loading JDK with JCreator
Fig. 5. Compiling a Java program for JCreator
Fig. 7. Finding the JDK to link with Netbeans
Fig. 4. Setting the paths to store the Java program for JCreator
Fig. 6. Loading Netbeans
Fig. 8. The directory structure for Hello_World with Netbeans
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Fig. 9. Netbeans “code complete” for Hello World
Development Environment (I.D.E) to the J.D.K. (The Java Development Kit) compiler. These screen shots only demonstrate the flow of ideas which can be appreciated more fully once the video has been viewed. The following screen shots were made on the University of Westminster network.
4 Classic C++ Swap Demonstration. C++ Recursive Add Function Demonstration The core of the programming problem must be analysed and the different views of the concept combined in a way to clearly explain the salient points. This process is difficult, however just starting the process, will hone to a reasonable result. For example explaining how a C++ recursive program is connected to the call stack could be covered by a traditional lecturer centred discussion of the code from start to finish as in Eckstein et al [6] and [21]. The authors feel that showing the program running first introduces the terms of the solution before the concept is explained. It may not even be necessary to show the code in the Netbeans editor and proceed to an explanation in an expanded function code diagram. The next demonstration video is the classic recursive problem using a C++ add() function as discussed in Kernighan [13]. The authors discovered that four basic concepts were required as detailed below. The first shows the code in the Netbeans I.D.E. and is shown running with the result. The second is a Microsoft Word diagram with code and memory allocations. The diagram includes line connections to reaffirm the code with its abstract compiled reality, here it is explained that the function occupies the same place in memory, however the local variables are displaced in time on the call stack. The third and fourth is the code being debugged on a single step basis showing the changing local variables each time the recursive function is called. It must be pointed out that it is a call by value call [21] that enables one variable to be incremented and the other decremented as indicated in the word diagram with code. Later the course demonstrates passing by reference for recursive problems, Stroustrup [21].
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Fig. 10. C++ Netbeans recursive add function
Fig. 12. C++ Netbeans recursive add. Single stepping showing local variables (Starting call a==3, b==4).
Fig. 11. C++ Netbeans recursive add call diagram
Fig. 13. C++ recursive add with debugger (last call a==7 b==0)
5 Java Video Demonstration of a Singleton Pattern The video emphasizes the private constructor, Stroustrup[20], Eckel[5] and the public static method that always returns just one unique object. The video then goes on to show how objects that are returned from the singleton class are tested for equivalent addresses. The video addresses the making of the singleton class final and on how the singleton object is instantiated. Lastly on a less technical side, ideas drawn from building houses and towns, Alexander [1] were discussed as a basis to the Standard Template Library Stroustrup [21] and Musser et al [16].
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Fig. 14. Singleton class. With private constructor
Fig. 15. Java singleton class with a static method to return a singleton object
Fig. 16. Java Singleton driver to compare objects
Fig. 17. Java Singleton print of object address
Fig. 18. Java final singleton class to prevent inheriting the singleton concept. Hence clone the object.
6 Students’ and Lecturers Reaction and Comments The most able students enjoyed the real time logical mistakes and commented on these when they occurred and offered their solution to the class as the video was paused. These students also felt that they had a something to offer and could follow the video, they also commented that they would watch it on the train as light entertainment or as an alternative to ordinary television. However the weaker students could not enjoy the fun until they had watched the video a number of times with their colleagues who tended to be the more able students. The most encouraging comment came from students who were presented with a problem similar to the video, they mentioned that they would check the video to gain greater insight. The benefit to the
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authors was that the student’s feed back loop did not include the lecturer. The benefit to the students was that the video could be viewed by themselves at their own pace and as already mentioned at their leisure, with or without their colleagues, as many times as they felt was necessary. The feeling was that these demonstrations were an aid to students’ successful completion of a software unit; however this is an untested hypothesis.
7 Conclusions The authors found that running the program and showing the results first gave an anchor to the students. The following salient points were ascertained: Only the display software (flash, windows media player, Quick time etc) was required on the computer for showing the video. Neither a compiler or an internet connection were required. Delivery of the concept is key; not the delivery mechanism. Camtasia is only an enzyme (catalyst) of the learning path. Incomplete demonstrations can promote deeper understanding by virtue of the viewer having to join the concepts together. By over analysing a concept the student’s thought process can be pre-processed and less flexible, which may hinder future development of the topic Bloom [3]. Video demonstrations can weaken the teacher-student feed back loop and promote independent student thought as compared with real time white board “Chalk and Talk” teaching, Ashcroft [2]. The video demonstrations are fixed in their content and their order and cannot be changed or updated quickly. Video demonstrations are difficult to compare with Power Point presentations as the latter cannot accommodate the size of the information or the rich multi media and dynamic input provided by video capturing software [7]. It was also found that the setting of programming course work with a video demonstration of the running code helped students visualise what was required. It follows that the students cannot see the code nor gain access to it, Woolhouse [25]. No teaching method fits every topic, teacher, or student, they may be useful and can only be evaluated by time and the educational process. However it was mentioned by the students that the demonstrations could be viewed again and again which gives rise to abstract reflection of concepts and provides a satisfying medium for understanding the topics being delivered. These demonstrations have been used on the short courses and found to be useful Knowles [14]. The authors have used this capturing software when conducting Dissertation Voice VIVAS with undergraduate students on computing related degree programmes whilst explaining and altering code. The students were informed, so that no part of their VIVA was undervalued or ignored, Brown et al [4]. The Authors noticed that whilst analysing a concept, then synthesising it to a video demonstration follows Bloom’s taxonomy and the skill of the lecturer is to provide the demonstration with only the information required for the target group see Bloom [3]. An example of public sites with video capture is the Integrated Development Editor (IDE): Netbeans. This IDE has been using video demonstrations for the promotion
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of an open source editor. These videos vary as to the target group and need to be classified, but they do show the way forward in the teaching and the publishing of a package. However they have not tackled the tricky issue of concept presentation as discussed in [8]. Other interesting teaching approaches are discussed in Ashcroft [2] and Rogers [19].
References 1. Alexander, C., Ishikawa, S., Silverstein, M.: A Pattern Language Towns Buildings Construction (1977) 2. Ashcroft, K., Foreman-Peck, L.: Managing Teaching and Learning in Further and Higher Education. Falmer Press, London(1994) 3. Bloom, B.S. (ed.): Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. David McKay Co. (1956) 4. Brown, S., Race, P., Smith, B.: 500 Tips on Assessment (2002) 5. Eckel, B.: Thinking In Java, 2nd edn. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs 6. Eckstein, R., Loy, M., Wood, D.: Java Swing (1998) 7. Education Resources Tecsmith (2008), http://www.techsmith.com/community/education/default.asp 8. Flash Demos and video tutorials for NetBeans IDE (2008), http://www.netbeans.org/kb/55/flash.html 9. http://www.usjournal.com/en/students/help/degrees.html 10. How to write a mouse Listener (Java) (2008), http://www.java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/uiswing/events/ mouselistener.html 11. Huber, M.M.: The use of video capture boards in academia, specifically in desktop presentation and desktop publication. In: Proceedings of the 19th annual ACM SIGUCCS conference on User services (1991) ISBN:0-89791-454-6 12. Jensen-Link, L.A., Thompson, C.: Effective video capture techniques for educational multimedia. In: Proceedings, Frontiers in Education Conference, November 1995, vol. 1, pp. 3a2.30–3a2.33 (1995) 13. Kernighan, B., Ritchie, D.: The C Programming Language (1978) 14. Knowles, M.: The adult learner: a Neglected Species. Gulf Publishing, Houston 15. JCreator I.D.E site (2008), http://www.jcreator.com/ 16. Musser, D., Derge, G., Saini, A.: STL Tutorial and Reference Guide, 2nd edn. (2006) 17. Netbeans C/C++ installation (September 2008), http://www.netbeans.org/kb/trails/cnd.html 18. Netbeans site (2008), http://www.netbeans.org/ 19. Rogers, A.: Teaching Adults, 2nd edn. Open University Press, Buckingham (1996) 20. Stroustrup, B.: The C++ Programming Language, 2nd edn. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs (1991) 21. Stroustrup, B.: The Design and Evolution of C++. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs (1994) 22. http://www.delmar.edu/distancelearning/student_success/ glossary/glossary-a-c.htm 23. Sun JDK site (September 2008), http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/ 24. http://drdc.uchicago.edu/what/video-research.html 25. Woolhouse, M., Jones, T., Rees, M.: Teaching the Post-16 Learner. Northcote House
The Whole Story: Retrieving Narratives for Cross-Cultural Understanding Alex Davis Stottler Henke Associates, Inc. 115 Landin Cir, Charlottesville VA 22902, USA [email protected]
Abstract. We present a narrative-based approach to computer-mediated building of cross-cultural competence, and describe work on a case-based approach to the indexing and automated retrieval of culturally specific narratives. The narrative approach to culture reflects an anthropological view of the crosscultural understanding problem, seeking understanding of cultural factors by creating computational representations of observed and reported narratives operant in various cultures, as well as narratives of cross-cultural interaction. These narratives constitute cases which can be retrieved using case-based reasoning, based on their applicability to a user's problem or environment, in a particular cultural context. The use of narrative in its original form has the advantage that it can be derived relatively intuitively from experts, literature, and historical record, and in addition to its direct suitability for gaining understanding, may be appropriate for adaptation to social media and simulation through automated agents. Keywords: Cross-cultural understanding, case-based reasoning, narrative.
1 Introduction Culture is an imprecise concept, and admits a variety of definitions, often dependent on perspective' to a psychologist, culture may consist of a collection of cognitive biases and strategies, while to an anthropologist, culture may be “a body of learned behavior, a collection of beliefs, habits, practices and traditions, shared by a group of people and successively learned by new members who enter the society” [1]. These definitions are certainly not exclusive. The recent Army field manual on counterinsurgency, apropos to the military context of the genesis of our research, gives the practical effect of culture as conditioning “the individual’s range of action and ideas, including what to do and not do, how to do or not do it, and whom to do it with or not to do it with” [2]. Of course, these definitions circumscribe pretty much any human activity. This is part of the problem of understanding culture: that it is everywhere, and often is recognizable, but is just as often ineffable. It may fit the standard set by Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart: it is perhaps indefinable, "but I know it when I see it." In many cross-cultural interactions, what it is that we know when we see is the bizarre or A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 442–451, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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unexpected, a behavior that has only drastic explanations, or none at all. Eventually, if we learn to understand the nature of the interaction, we may discover that there is an extensive set of contingencies affecting behavior, some culturally specific and some not, and often we may do so by learning the 'story' of the experience through another's eyes, or the narrative that was formed from another's perspective that assigned its players roles, symbolisms, and meanings. Furthermore, these narratives exist for each of the cultures in contact, and another consists of the two combined, telling the story of the interaction, the surprise, and possibly the resolution. These are all senses, among others, in which we explore the representation of narrative. In international business, there is an increasing demand for cross-cultural interoperability, with particular interest in identifying key decision makers and decision processes in foreign organizations. The computer game industry has seen a recent interest in realistic and culturally distinct behaviors, creating a demand for culturally sensitive behavior modeling. The flow of narrative as knowledge in informal business communities has generated a good deal of recent interest [3]. And as social media begin to bring into contact international participants and audiences, creating forums for people of different cultures to create and share common experiences, crosscultural understanding—and the narratives that help to achieve it—will remain a major issue. In the remainder of this paper we describe initial research, in the context of military operations, that we hope can form a computational basis for exploring these concerns. 1.1 A Cross-Cultural Problem Early phases of post-combat operations in Iraq led to some unexpected outcomes. Forceful searches by the 101st Airborne Division were seen not only as oppressive acts, planners discovered, but as public dishonor to family and tribal systems, and as demanding of retribution [4]. Armed responses on the part of locals, then, were not necessarily signs of a general will to resistance, but rather obligatory retributive responses. The usual compensations, such as money, were often insufficient as well. What was needed was the enactment of the appropriate ceremony of truce, attended by leadership of a rank commensurate with the perceived injustice. When these actions were indeed taken, unexpected benefits were reaped: the 101st as a whole came to be considered “distant family,” a designation of some significance that eased relationships down the road. The “hearts and minds” problem of this reconstruction environment is prefigured by “getting in the heads” of foreign cultures, so that these methods and consequences of interaction are known, and can enter the planning process. To this end, open source collection products such as the newspaper-like Baghdad Mosquito were required reading in Iraq, and human intelligence is proving to be one of the most valuable sources, as it did in the Balkans. As almost exclusively narrative accounts, they have little direct applicability to theoretical modeling of actors in the foreign cultural environment. One problem is that culture seems to be everywhere and nowhere; it always figures into behavior, but we’re often at a loss to say exactly why. When we want to talk about culture, we refer to ideas such as thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and more often than not we illustrate a culture with examples: a typical interaction, or a historical precedent. Not only is this a primary mode for the understanding of another's
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culture, it is a basis for the propagation of our own; stories of "past events...perpetuated, disseminated and experienced in a particular culture not as political events, but as narratives that transcribe historical facts into moral and immoral acts, vehicles of social values" [5]. 1.2 Narrative The 101st Airborne turned the situation around by apprehending the cultural narrative at hand, which consisted of a sequence of public dishonor, retribution, and reconciliation. Understanding of its narrative elements—themes, actors in various roles, and sequences of events—allowed the 101st to come to a proper assessment of the situation and react accordingly. In this case, when the 101st's actions cast them in the role that fit this narrative, the local population became determined to play the narrative out. For a human analyst, prior knowledge of the narrative at hand might have allowed the prediction of these events. It’s difficult to imagine how a dimensional cultural theory could be integrated into a human behavior model in order to reproduce this sort of outcome computationally. We conceive of narrative as a central representational scheme for culture, and pursue a system that captures and operationalizes various narratives as a model of culturally sensitive cognition. As opposed to a theoretical modeling of human behavior, this is a bottom-up approach that avoids several of the top-down pitfalls. The shift is something like the shift from a sociological to anthropological standpoint; the problem reorients from trying to deduce contingent reactions from general principles, to determining which of a host of contingencies, represented in a host of cultural narratives, might come into play. Advantages of the narrative approach: • We can derive narratives from the same environments in which we plan to apply them. • Narrative descriptions are succinct, intuitive, and accessible, employing natural references to entities such as actors, goals, and events. • Narrative data is grounded, unlike a theoretical approach or analytic argument. • Narratives are memorable, and their sharing can itself be a basis for cross-cultural interaction. Our confidence in the narrative conception is, so to speak, more than anecdotal. For instance, Smith [6] has shown that group expressions (in both public pronouncements by leadership, and internal documents) of such concepts as dominance, morality, justice, and cultural values, correlate with a propensity for violence. Weinberg and Eubank [7] find that cultures that express themselves individualistically produce more terrorists that execute large-scale attacks. In both cases, though, the correlations depend crucially on the roles that the perpetrators assign to their victims; in the case of Weinberg, the results may even be reversed. Deriving a single variable of propensity for violence, in either of these cases, would be a mistake. Fitting targets into the narratives studied by Smith yields the proper correlation. 1.3 Some Interesting Narratives Narratives, and a means for representing and retrieving them, might lend to crosscultural understanding in additional ways. The forms and uses of narratives themselves constitute cultural attributes, with some cultures placing emphasis on oral traditions,
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rumor networks, or religious texts. A narrative might be both an instance of this and a lesson in perception, as in the true story publicized in 2003, when a U.S. soldier shot dead a rare Bengal tiger at Baghdad zoo after the animal had injured a colleague who was trying to feed it through the cage bars. The allegory may be more evident at first for Iraqis than for the soldiers, who might benefit from understanding their perceived roles in the depiction of their larger presence. A narrative might even speak to the cross-cultural understanding problem itself, and could be adapted to the cultural contingencies of a given situation. Michael Emerson recounts a parable about a diet program [8], in which one participant, Maridel, was surrounded by thin people and abundant weight-loss resources, while another, Parker, met only obese people and junk food. Maridel lost much more weight, and on seeing Parker's failure, blamed him for not trying, and told him he needed to try harder. Naturally she assumed that Parker was in the same program. An American trainer with the Iraqi Army, used to American military culture, might find the situation familiar.
2 Representing Narratives of Cross-Cultural Interaction The initial stage of our work focused on the use of experience in cross-cultural interactions to suggest solutions to new problems. Interviews with military personnel deployed abroad have yielded a variety of narratives of experiences, which themselves yield the narratives of the foreign cultural contexts in which they operated. The product can range functionally from retrieval of a war story, to the specification of formal simulated behavior models for reproduction of a historical episode—that is, generation of a theory, at some abstraction, that explains the episode—as applied to a new situation. For now, our primary source of data imposes the greatest constraint: war stories (as a general term for after-action reports, intelligence reports called in from the field, lessons learned, history books, newswires, and so on) are almost exclusively unstructured textual accounts. As one might suspect, by and large, narratives vary dramatically, ranging in practice from a dispute as to whether a shredding machine situated on a Saudi airbase actually works, to a dilemma where an American intelligence officer, during a planning session, must decide whether he should drink alcohol with coalition partners and violate policy, or decline and insult the partners. From the gathering of stories in our research, we expect our experiential base to be disparate in domain and dissimilar at first glance, even when relevant. Retrieval of stories based on simple features, such as by a keyword search for names, roles, and events, is an obvious first step (and the current operational state of the art), but cannot sufficiently constrain the breadth of results or detect many resemblances on the level where culture manifests. As an example, consider the following real story: A shredding machine for important and sensitive papers, provided by the Saudi Air Force, was not working to the specifications that the US desired. The machine belonged to the Royal Saudi Air Force, and the Americans had no jurisdiction over another military’s equipment. The US Air Force questioned the quality of the machine. Wanting to solve the problem, the US Air Force brought it up to the Saudis. To the Americans, the machine simply didn’t work; the US military on site couldn’t get the machine to shred the way the US wanted. The paper would still be whole at the bottom of the machine. The Saudis kept saying the machine was fine. This caused a
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problem for the US Air Force with the level of security and was unacceptable to their operations. The Saudis responding to the request didn’t know how to repair the machine and didn’t have anyone handy who could do it for them. As hosts to the US forces, they didn’t want to “lose face” by admitting imperfection in some part of the facilities and capabilities lent to the Americans. An interesting aspect of some Mid-Eastern cultures is that they are verbal cultures, at least in comparison to the United States. For example, poetry is far more prevalent and accessible an art form. They take greater stock in what one says, and how it’s said. The phrasing of an answer may be very sensitive to the context of its reception, and to the whole relationship between speaker and listener, than an answer that aims only for a stark representation of fact. Because of this, the Saudis kept saying that the machine was fine and didn’t need fixing. This also approaches the “saving face” issue that is prevalent in many societies and cultures. One Saudi Lt. said if it “was really broken, we’d get a new one.” The cultural difference of the Saudis manifested as a different view of what “broken” meant. “We’re not going to fix it unless it’s ‘really broken,’” another Saudi military official said. The American military, not insensitive itself, did not want to “insult the equipment” of the host country. Saying that their equipment was not sufficient enough would be considered worse than just rude. It would also be saying their capabilities were inadequate: a derogatory social judgment. There was fear that in some indirect way this could cause an incident of international misunderstanding and could escalate on some social level to be a real problem. After all, one of the Saudi princes was involved in the operation too. The difference of culture had brought both parties to an impasse, with each trying to avoid damaging its relationship with the other. The final course of action was as follows. If the Saudis appeared not to consider it really broken, then the problem was, is it broken or not in their host’s view? What would it take to make it really broken so that getting it fixed was out of the question? Saudis said they would be happy to replace it if they could find anything wrong with it. The best course of action was to break the machine “by accident.” The US officers could apologize profusely, then the deed would be done and the Americans could rectify the situation by offering to provide a new shredding machine. An enlisted man went to the machine and “accidentally” dropped a quarter into the cutter blades. The machine was then “really broken.” The Saudis, being good hosts, decided it was their responsibility to provide a new machine for their guests. They purchased one and it came immediately the next day. The new machine was well within the standards the Americans needed. The Saudi’s were actually happy when it was so obviously now “broken” in everyone’s eyes. The Saudis were delighted to bring in a new one and grateful for the opportunity. From their point of view, the Saudis had solved the problem for everyone. They had successfully fulfilled a narrative of honorable hospitality. Though it is desirable to automatically extract the “meaning” of a story through natural language processing, it is beyond the current state of the art. As with a librarian in a vast library, however, a valuable system does not necessarily need to understand all of its content to be of service; it need only point its user to the right content. The immediate questions are: • What indexing method would be sufficient to retrieve the right stories? • How do we generate indexes? • How do we prefer one story over another when compared to the user’s situation?
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2.1 Location in Cultural Space 'Location' of an interaction in cultural space is the expression of the interaction type, the actors involved, actor relationships, and events pertinent to any of the above. The idea of location is to determine, for any actor, what set of cultural influences apply; there is never merely one, and often many can contradict or overlap. Each of the location phases below supports a more complex cultural characterization, and each is an explicit dimension along which the similarity of other cases can be determined. Interaction: a description of a situation surrounding the interaction. The geographical context alone suggests the start of a cultural profile. Specific features such as culturally important items, locations, and sites can also be included. Actors: groups and leaders, types of organizations, and their own geographic associations. At the coarsest scale, we can attribute to actors the political, ethnic, and religious cultures known for those groups and areas. With this information, actors can be compared to historical counterparts based on a set of behavioral traits. At the most abstract level these traits are described in the Cultural Lens [9], which includes such culturally specific cognitive dimensions as Power Distance, indicating the distribution of decision authority within a hierarchy. Each dimension can indicate tendencies toward behaviors and outlooks (as Power Distance affects the autonomy of individual units within an organization). In particular, sets of traits can specify vectors in cultural space, by which different cultures can be compared. Figure 1 shows various group memberships for the Somali warlord Aideed and his clan, Habr Gedir, along with the traits inherited from those groups. The primary functions of the groups are as organizational and propagational mechanisms for narratives, and for identifying roles— such as friend and foe—within those narratives. Relationships: memberships of actors within groups, and specific associations between individuals. This is the start of establishing more complex cultural identities, as
Fig. 1. Actor in a Cultural Environment (Somalia)
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well as the beginnings of a story. Here, our tool mimics existing intelligence analysis representations, such as association matrices, activities matrices, and link diagrams associating various actors. Relationships such as a local leader serving as go-between for friendly and enemy factions, or a confederation of insurgent militias, can be compared to other such cases. Here, we can begin to apply the conception of culture as the emphasis of certain relationships, such as the dominion of a tribal leader over the actions of tribe members. Events: movements, meetings, demonstrations, negotiations, speeches, and so on. With a formalized representation, culture can be conceived fully as narrative patterns of behavior—ways of doing things—that can be compared across experience. 2.2 Representation Now let us revisit the earlier questions about story indexing and retrieval; namely, what are suitable indexes, and how do we judge a story’s suitability? Our answer to the question of indexing is to use the products derived from the process of locating actors in cultural space. The example of the shredding machine could be represented as a peacekeeping operation involving two groups, Americans and Saudis, the pertinent individuals, and events describing the situation such as the machine breaking, disagreement on its status, and eventual resolution. Should some future user of the system be in a similar situation, the resolution serves as the “meat” of the story in that it’s telling the user what happened as a consequence of decisions made in the face of a similar problem. So far we have established indexes as consisting of the operation, people, their relationships, and events. We now consider the question of judging a story’s suitability. In case-based reasoning (CBR) technology, a similarity metric quantitatively prescribes a degree of closeness between a problem description, and a story’s index. For example, suppose a year later after the shredding machine incident, the shredding machine breaks again. Here, the two groups and events overlap greatly. We might expect a nearly identical story taking place at an Afghan airbase to match as well, but not as well as at a Saudi airbase. A taxonomy of cultural groups, such as those shown in Figure 1, is a useful starting point for measuring story similarity; the Saudi case would compare favorably to other Saudi cases, less so to other Arab and/or Muslim cases, and far less to coalition operations with Australians. Using this type of semantic network to relate peoples, religions, nationalities, etc. provides a way to quantify a level of “closeness” for similarity measurement. 2.3 Case Indexing Our study of the cases we collected informed our conception of both case representation and the ontology underlying the narrative retrieval system. Each of the terms to follow comprises a part of the cultural ontology. Problems (case themes, and evidence for them): Cooperation: deception; Attitude: anger/offense, threat; Compliance: refusal, disregard, failure; Performance: effectiveness, appropriateness; Agreement: prioritization.
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Factors (cultural attributes that explain evidence): Honor, turf; Independence; Attitude toward other; Significance of date, site, person, group, activity; Custom, protocol, formality; Risk, casualty aversion; Aggressiveness, directness; Language reference; Relationship vs. achievement; Power distance, distribution; Time horizon. Solutions (goals formed in reaction to problems, and solution types): Change other's perception of world: change world; remove threat; Adapt to other's perception of world: participate in procedure/custom; avoid conflict; Change other's relation to self: defer authority; Change other's available options: re-task; Change mode of interaction: direct to indirect; appeal to authority. Solution Methods: Avoidance; Adoption; Mediation; Deception, suggestion; Challenge, attack; Confusion, disruption; Alignment (change of own method, or change of world state) In order to address all of the relevant attributes of the case, we require a comprehensive case index. Its constituents are: Entities (agents, groups); Entity Types & Contexts (military operational, cultural); Entity Relationships; Problems, Behaviors, & Solutions (as detailed in previous section, including actions and events, narrative themes, and intentional chains). These indexing considerations guide the ontology underlying our representational scheme, as well as the tracking system which will represent the current situation in such terms in order to retrieve relevant cases. The most robust representation arising from a case is the intentional chain, which establishes beliefs, goals, and plans, and links together elements from each of the lists given in the previous section, to form a narrative of a problem and its resolution. We represented the Saudi shredder case (presented earlier) in two indexing formats: Schank's Universal Indexing Frame (UIF) for indexing stories [10], and a related scheme (Abby) that also addresses narrative and social elements, developed by
Fig. 2. Portion of the shredder narrative in modified UIF
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one of our researchers [11]. While there are attributes specific to the shredder case, these attributes can be generalized according to an ontology, and therefore, cases can be compared analogically to cases from dissimilar domains. Each index begins with a matrix that represents participant attributes and relationships, and then proceeds to a representation of the unfolding of events. UIF differs in that it has an explicit treatment of the difference between expectations and subsequent perceptions, while the Abby system leaves this difference implicit while providing greater detail about the intentional sequence that underlies the scenario (and thus the term “intentional chains”): goals, plans, actions, effects, and all of the causal relationships and deliberative policies that link them together. The representation for our project is centered around the Abby scheme, but our understanding of narrative’s reliance on expectation and perception, along with concerns about the feasibility of complex encoding of textual cases, has evolved it to a simpler form that includes some aspects of UIF.
3 Future Work The process described in the previous section is largely manual. Most names of people places, and groups, as well as some relevant terms, can be extracted automatically, but it up to an analyst to determine any relationships and narrative content. We have developed an application environment for the specification of narrative indexes with reference to these terms, but much further work is needed to streamline the process and perform automated analysis. There has been some work extracting case representations from text [12]. Weber and Aha [13] have derived case structure through text analysis, and conversational CBR in which the system elicits and structures a case interactively with the user, which is the 'mixed-initiative' direction in which our application is intended to head. When we referred to 'location in cultural space' in Section 1.1, we limited ourselves to concrete groups of people, but in fact cultural influences derive from a far greater variety of the sources of identity. Chao and Moon [14] describe the Cultural Mosaic as “an individual’s unique collage of multiple cultural identities [yielding] a complex picture of the cultural influences on that person,” in contrast to the single category of nationality or the simple categories of concentric group memberships. These influences can be demographic, including inherent personal attributes such as age and sex; geographic, including environmental attributes such as urban vs. rural; and associative, placing the person in relation to groups such as religions, ethnicities, and families. Each of these influences, or ‘tiles’ in the cultural mosaic, can have a different behavioral outcome, and moreover, at a particular moment and in a particular context a person may adopt any number of these tiles as a more or less coherent identity. Tiles may be fused together, may be compartmentalized to different contexts, or may even co-exist in mutual conflict. We believe that analysis of this approach with respect to narratives, both as attachments to various 'tiles,' and as exemplifying the interaction of these tiles within an individual, will be a promising avenue for research. Furthermore, it may be that the cultural gulfs in the cross-cultural narratives with which we began our research are too great, and more light might be shed by examining more subtle variations within a single national culture or interaction context. As
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Gregory Bateson remarked of a similar problem in the study of culture, "the laws of gravity cannot conveniently be studied by observation of houses collapsing in an earthquake" [15]. The constraints of various social media and virtual worlds may help to reduce the scope of the problem.
References 1. Mead, M. (ed.): Cultural Patterns and Technical Change. UNESCO (1953) 2. FM 3-24 Counterinsurgency, Field Manual No. 3-24, HQ, Department of the Army, and Marine Corps Warfighting Publication No. 3-33.5, HQ, Marine Corps Combat Development Command (2006) 3. Snowden, D.: Complex Acts of Knowing: Paradox and Descriptive Self-awareness. Special Edition Journal of Knowledge Management 6(2) (2002) 4. Wilson, I.: Thinking Beyond War: Civil-Military Operational Planning In Northern Iraq. In: 2004 Annual ISAC/ISSS Conference, Washington, DC, October 29-30 (2004) 5. Tololyan, K.: Cultural Narrative and the Motivation of the Terrorist. In: Rapoport, D. (ed.) Inside Terrorist Organizations. Columbia Univ. Press (1988) 6. Smith, A.G.: From Words to Action: Exploring the Relationship between a Group’s Value References and Its Likelihood of Engaging in Terrorism. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 27, 409–437 (2004) 7. Weinberg, L., Eubank, W.L.: Cultural Differences in the Behavior of Terrorists. Terrorism and Political Violence 6(1), 1–25 (Spring 1994) 8. Emerson, M., Smith, C.: Divided by Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America. Oxford University Press, USA (2001) 9. Klein, H.A., Klein, G.: Cultural lens: Seeing through the eyes of the adversary. In: Proceedings of the 9th Computer Generated Forces and Behavioral Representation (2000) 10. Schank, R., Brand, M., Burke, R., Domeshek, E., Edelson, D., Ferguson, W., Freed, M., Jona, M., Krulwich, B., Ohmaye, E., Osgood, R., Pryor, L.: Towards a general content theory of indices. In: Proceedings of the AAAI Spring Symposium on Case-Based Reasoning, Palo Alto, CA (1990) 11. Domeshek, E.A.: Indexing Stories as Social Advice. In: Proceedings of the 9th National Conference on Artificial Intelligence, July 14-19. AAAI Press, Menlo Park (1991) 12. Lenz, M., Ashley, K. (eds.): Proceedings of the AAAI 1998 Workshop on Textual CaseBased Reasoning. AAAI Press, Menlo Park (1998) 13. Weber, R., Aha, D.W., Becerra-Fernandez, I.: Intelligent lessons learned systems. Expert Systems with Applications 20, 17–34 (2001) 14. Chao, G.T., Moon, H.: The Cultural Mosaic: A Metatheory for Understanding the Complexity of Culture. Journal of Applied Psychology 90(6), 1128–1140 (2005) 15. Bateson, G.: Steps to an ecology of mind: collected essays in anthropology, psychiatry, evolution, and epistemology. Chandler Pub. Co., San Francisco (1972)
When Social Worlds Collide: Charting the Intersection of Social Media and Courseware/Course Management Systems Christopher A. Egert1, Stephen Jacobs1, and Susan B. Barnes2 1
Rochester Institute of Technology, Information Technology Department, 102 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623, USA [email protected],[email protected] 2 Rochester Institute of Technology, Department of Communication, 92 Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 14623, USA [email protected]
Abstract. Today’s pre-college students have been immersed in Social Media Systems (SMS) that mediate their everyday interactions. Before students arrive at college they are using typically using blogs, wikis, forums, social connection systems, digital asset sharing systems, and even community game systems to stay connected. When students reach college, their social networks change in both their function and structure. Institutional emphasis is placed upon Course ware/ Course Management Systems (C/CMS) to augment lecture, classroom and discussion section experiences. While a C/CMS may share similarities with their favorite SMS, students do not always experience the same level of social engagement from them as they do with the tools they use outside of the academic experience. This paper examines how students perceive SMS, examines what students consider SMS, and addresses feature differences between SMS and C/CMS mechanisms. Keywords: Social Media Software, Courseware Systems.
1 Introduction Today’s high school students use technology as an integral part of their day-to-day lives. A recent Pew Internet and American Life Project [1] report showed that 94% percent of teens ages 12 through 17 are online. Approximately 89% have access from home and 77% percent have access from school [1]. Teens have access to higher speed connections online and frequently go online with a personal computer that is different from the household computer and/or their cell phones [1]. For teens a cell phone not only provides better access and communication with families [2], but also provides texting, Internet access, photo sharing capabilities and more [3]. However, despite the popularity of SMS with teenagers, a shift occurs when students reach college. Their familiarity with SMS is transformed with the introduction of academic collaborative software that offers web access to coursework, email, forums, and chats. In the academy, however, much of this is done by the integration of A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 452–461, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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SMS capabilities into courseware/course management systems (C/CMS), rather than via the applications students are used to. To investigate this phenomenon, the authors of this paper created an undergraduate college course titled “Social Media Theory and Practice” as a means of exploring both the technical and social ramifications of SMS integration into courses as well as C/CMS technologies. The course framework allowed the authors to investigate a number of issues pertaining to the intersection of SMS used every day by the students versus social media functionality integrated C/CMS.
2 Approaches to Social Media One unique design aspect of the course was that it was taught by three faculty with diverse backgrounds in communications, media theory computer science and computer games ensuring a multiple perspective approach to the course. The authors organized content across two different organizational scales based upon prior work in Media-Enabled Collaboration [4]. One scale approached the material from the perspective of technical, social, and usability concerns, using prior concepts in socio-technical systems theory [5-10]. The other scale was based upon work, communication, and learning functions drawn from the Computer-Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW), Computer Mediated Communication (CMC), and Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) communities. 2.1 Technical, Social, and Usability Dimensions The first methodology for mapping C/CMS and SMS platforms is to chart their technical, social, and usability attributes for enabling and supporting collaboration. The relation of these factors is co-dependent; any change to one factor may have a positive or negative impact upon the other two. The technical dimension addresses the hardware, software, and network requirements necessary to realize a collaborative system including but not limited to web browsers, rich Internet application software (RIAs), and database systems. In addition, the technical dimension deals with issues such as support for same and different time and location communication [11]. The technical dimension also addresses issues of session management and maintenance, which has to be flexible to support shared artifacts, shared activities, and virtual co-location [12]. The technical dimension must also provide support for search and filtering, and issues of access, control, security, and persistence to make sure that information is secure, accessible accurate and immutable over the lifetime of an SMS. The social dimension addresses how people interact, their organization, modes of communication, and expectations of individuals and community[13]. The social dimension also defines what users know about themselves and their relation to their communities [14,15]. Social considerations include concepts such as appropriate access and control which implies a balance between individual and group access and responsibility and is reliant upon societal factors such as reputation, intended role, and community status to regulate its form [14,16,17,18].
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The usability dimension addresses the notion of whether a particular application satisfies the needs and requirements of the stakeholder groups as well as end users [19]. Usability can take numerous forms including guidelines and aesthetics for the design of web applications and Internet enabled tools [20-25], quantitative analysis of usage patterns through observation or instrumentation [26], administration of instruments designed to measure user satisfaction and efficacy with a particular software system [27-30], or application of usability inspection techniques [31-33]. 2.2 Work, Communication, and Learning Dimensions The second methodology for mapping C/CMS and SMS platforms for the classroom is to examine their relationships to three possible functions: support of work, support of communication, and support of learning. The work dimension has its basis in literature related to the area of ComputerSupported Cooperative Work (CSCW) [34-36]. The CSCW approach looks to minimize the organizational and structural constraints for participating in an activity while at the same time providing appropriate workflow and control systems for individuals and users. A basis for the work approach is in part based upon the perspective of activity theory [37-41], in which the three distinct components of a subject, an object, and a community comprise the execution of an activity. In addition, activity theory specifies mediating constructs, including tools for mediating the relation between subject and object, rules to mediate between the subject and community, and division of labor to mediate between the object and the community [37,42]. Along with activity theory, the work dimension addresses concerns such as flexible user roles for work and actions [43,44], support of work organization and project management paradigms [45,46], task definition and management [47], worker coordination and conflict resolution [48], inter- and intra-group collaboration [49], as well as work and activity awareness [50]. The communication perspective has its origins in the broader Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) literature and examines that nature of communication online. The focus in CMC is upon communication first and technology second. Issues that identify the communication approach include creation of community [16] and discourse groups [16], identification of space and place issues in system design [51], and use of social indicators and social progress mechanisms for features such as identification and identity, trust, reputation, awareness, presence, and personal investment [4]. The learning perspective has its basis in the Computer-Support for Collaborative Learning (CSCL) community. However, the CSCL system is responsible for presenting and managing work in such a manner to accommodate both the learner and the instructor. Due to the challenge of defining goals for appropriate learning systems, it is difficult to measure and analyze the work, tasks, and goals that comprise a system [52]. The learning perspective provides for support or learning models and styles such as cooperative learning [53], constructivist learning [54-57], and support for critical thinking and deeper learning [58]. In addition, learning systems provide support for such functions as scaffolding and assisted learning by both human and computer [59-61].
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3 Social Media Theory and Practice Course The course was cross-registered for students requiring credit in either Information Technology or Communications. The goals of the course were to 1) improve technology education by introducing the topic of social computing, 2) instruct undergraduates in how to leverage social media skills in the workplace, and 3) prepare undergraduates for positions in industries working with or designing SMS. An active/studio learning model was used; combing two hours of lecture on a given topic with two hours of a related hands-on lecture/workshop. The lecture format included discussion of the theoretical background, technological considerations and real-world implementations topic in software applications. 3.1 Course Topics The course covered the human and system aspects of SMS, C/CMS and on-line communities and the overlap between the two. On the human side, students evaluated issues of self-identity, awareness, trust and social norms. On the system side they examined the methods used by SMS and C/CMS platforms to structure content, handle awareness and notification of registered users. Areas of overlap were numerous, and pertain to the design of systems, for example, the relationship between a users’ self-identity and standing in the community as exemplified and supported by choices the software provides for creation and modification of avatars, peer-rating systems and other features. 3.2 Course Software Students were required to use a number of different C/CMS found on college campuses. Students already had access to, and experience with, the “myCourses” system; an educational portal and C/CMS developed by Desire2Learn [62] and customized for the institution. The myCourses system includes integration with registrar’s enrollment records, customization/organization of a course’s on-line appearance and functions, content areas for course materials, syllabi, and media content, threaded discussions, chat systems, student drop boxes, student event notification, complex restrictions and release systems. In addition to the myCourses system, three additional systems were selected for use throughout the course. Each system was introduced to the students over a threeweek period. Students were registered with a given system and taught fundamentals during the first week of exposure. The second week involved guided activities, homework, and discussions. The third week allowed for access to advanced features, add-ins, and continued system use. The first system selected was phpBB3 [63]. The system was designed by its developers primarily as a threaded discussion forum, but has evolved a limited set of other functions as well. The system provided students with a profile system, avatar selection, bookmarks for important postings, a “friends and foes” list, and reasonable thread search, filtering, and organization functions. The system also proved to be extensible through a rich set of plug-ins.
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The second system was Joomla, which is primarily a content management tool [64]. Although Joomla does not natively support discussion forum functions, the capability was provided through the Fireboard plug-in which supports a ranking system based upon number of posts, a “karma” system for how users perceive the usefulness of a post, personalization, favorites lists, and avatar selection[65]. The third system selected for the course was Moodle, an open source C/CMS which provides similar function to systems like the myCourses system. The system supports discussion boards, avatars, and private messaging [66]. For instrumentation purposes, a system was built to unify data collected across the three systems. Data collected by this custom system included events such as logins and logouts as well as monitoring of all the system features listed above. This information was combined with both online and paper and pencil surveys over the duration of the course for data collection.
4 Methods Over the duration of this course, several surveys were administered to collect data on students and their perceptions of SMS as well as C/CMS. The following section outlines some of these observations and discusses their ramifications. 4.1 Subjects The course was offered as an elective to students in Information Technology Department and the College of Liberal Arts at the Rochester Institute of Technology. In all, 35 students enrolled; 28 through Liberal Arts and 7 through Information Technology. The students were divided into 21 male students and 14 female students. As the course was an elective, students were predominantly fourth-year status (74.3%), however some students from second year through fifth year enrolled. 4.2 Methodology Over the course of a 10 week academic quarter, students were given a number of paper and pencil surveys related to their impressions and understanding of SMS. The surveys contained both Likert-scale questions and free form answer areas. For measuring initial perceptions, a Likert-scale survey was administered the first week of the quarter. For measuring SMS used, a survey was conducted in the first week asking students to list all systems they used that fit into the definition of social media provided in the course. The third study used a free-form section conducted in the last week of the quarter and asked students to identify differences between SMS used in their social lives with ones used for learning and to rank-order features they considered would be of value or better realized in C/CMS. 4.3 Initial Perceptions of Social Media Students in the course were given a survey the first week measuring their entry level of knowledge regarding social media. As this survey was given the first day, the
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number of participants was greater than the eventual class list (n=36) due to the add/drop period. Two questions pertained to the use of SMS for both social and professional reasons. Whereas 94.4% of the respondents stated they used such systems for social communication, only 55.6% reported use in a professional context. When asked about the length of time they had used SMS, 50% indicated they had been using SMS for a fairly long time (defined as greater than one year). Despite familiarity, when surveyed regarding the construction of systems and communities related SMS, only 16.7% responded that they regularly engaged in such activity, relating themselves to the role of observer, infrequent contributor, or moderate contributor despite later discussions and postings showing higher level of activity by several students within the course. When asked whether it was a good idea to use SMS as an online learning environment, 61.1% of respondents agreed that it was a good idea, 30.6% were neutral, and 8.3% disagreed. A follow-up survey during the last week of the course showed some decline in student agreement, with 45.8% agreeing that SMS are a good idea for use as an online learning environment, 45.8% neutral, and 8.4% disagreeing. Some of the decline was due to experiences with the C/CMS discussed later. 4.4 Social Media Systems Used As part of the course, students were surveyed as to the SMS they used on a daily basis. Students were asked whether they use a particular type of SMS and to provide examples of the category to see if they could correctly classify the software. Thirtyfour students responded to the poll and the results showed that students were very familiar with a diverse collection of popular forms of SMS, but what they recognized as SMS was narrow, as seen in Table 1 below. 4.5 Observation of Student Reactions to the Course’s SMS and C/CMS Platforms As students were exposed to different systems particular phenomena began to occur. A random sampling of 500 messages across all three systems showed a 9.2% incident of dissatisfaction with the different applications. These were user interface problems (52.1%), feature identification problems (34.6%), administration problems (10.9%), and personal issues with another student (12.9%). A follow-up survey in the last week of the course showed that 72% of the students did not think that the C/CMS created a social network equal to or better than their preferred popular SMS. As a result of the disconnect between the SMS they used for day-to-day interactions and the C/CMS, a survey was conducted to determine what features need to be added to C/CMS to bring them on par with SMS students use on a daily basis. The most frequent responses indicated a need for C/CMS to improve user interfaces, user-to-user messaging, notification and awareness mechanisms, thread organization and management, as well as customization systems. Students also indicated in their written responses that they wanted better ways to configure their systems, wider ranges of identity and avatar use, as well as better ways to manage group and individual messages.
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Table 1. Classification of social media systems, student recognition of software group as social media, and usage of the system class, and examples from student responses (N=34 students) Classification
Tagged as SMS Social Network/ Friend Systems 88.8% Asynchronous Messaging/Email 85.3% Instant Messaging Systems 82.4% Blogs 76.5% Forum/Discussion Board 67.6% Sharing/Anchored Collab. 41.1% Course Management Systems 14.7% Professional Networks 14.7% MMO and Community Games 11.7% Text messaging 11.7% Web page/ content 8.8% Podcasts 2.9% RSS Feeds / Aggregators 2.9%
Used by student reader/author 85.3% 100% 88.2% 67.6%/17.6% 85.3%/52.9% 88.2%/17.6% 88.8% 32.4% 41.1% 64.4% 29.4% 55.8%/2.9% 23.5%
Examples Facebook, MySpace, ning Email, Distribution Lists AIM, Trillian, meebo (various blogs) (various communities) Flickr, YouTube myCourses Linked In, Monster WoW, Yahoo Games Cell phone, SMS apps (various wikis) iTunes Podcasts (various feeds)
5 Conclusion The results of our analysis pertaining to student needs in C/CMS align with the previous division of SMS into technical, social, and usability concerns. As discussed earlier, the three dimensions are co-dependent and the mapping of student needs divides into these three concerns. The result is that not only does the analysis show that the concerns are divided, but that adjusting one concern may impact the other two. This observation indicates the delicacy and the predicament of making improvement to course systems; it may be difficult to find the correct solution or to have prior solutions in SMS map appropriately to these systems. Further investigation will be needed in order to combine the strength and flexibility of SMS with the utility of C/CMS.
Acknowledgements This work is sponsored in part by the National Science Foundation grant #0633401 Theoretical and Applied Approaches to Teaching Social Computing in STEM Education.
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The First Two W’s: Fostering Multicultural Awareness in Children Noah Falstein and Nicolle Ruetz [email protected], [email protected]
Abstract. Online games and virtual worlds are playing an increasingly important role in many children’s daily lives, while internet access continues to expand world wide. The confluence of these two trends is creating more opportunities to reach children of different cultural backgrounds throughout the world; to teach them in fun and engaging ways about cultural diversity, inspiring openness and acceptance of other ways of life. This goal lies along a path beset by many hurdles, but these can be overcome by significant technical, pedagogical, and business opportunities to create a positive social impact.
1 Overview The authors are interested in the positive social impact gained from teaching children around the world about each other’s cultures and countries through the medium of online worlds and games. This paper analyzes some of the particular challenges involved in reaching this objective, as well as many of the new opportunities in the world today that make it possible to increase intercultural literacy in a fun and engaging manner.
2 Fostering Multicultural Awareness in Children Mark Twain said: “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.” He had a point. Some of the most important lessons in our lives are not learned in a class room. We learn about friendship, compassion, justice, strength, courage, how to get along with other kids and how to stand our ground from our parents and playing with our brothers, sisters, friends and even our pets and nature. Children love to play, as they always have, but the internet has created a new playground and online games and virtual worlds are taking a larger role in many children’s daily lives. Millions of kids are going online after school, exploring the internet and playing video games, and there is opportunity to reach them and channel some of their attention into educational games. In this era of globalization, old and new conflicts - rooted in cultural differences, misunderstandings and prejudices - persist. James Banks, a leader in the field of multicultural education, recently wrote: “…never before in history has the movement of diverse racial, cultural, ethnic, religious, and linguistic groups within and across nationstates been so extensive, so rapid, or raised such complex and difficult A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 462–470, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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questions about citizenship, human rights, democracy, and education.” [1]. Multicultural education and awareness has become an important goal of many school curriculums in the United States and other countries, due to the recognition of the importance of developing knowledge, attitudes and skills that will enable people to function in an increasingly global society. Online games and virtual worlds can play an important role in fostering multicultural awareness by helping children develop an identity that is open to diverse cultures and a connection with other children around the world. This can be accomplished by creating positive multicultural interactive experiences for children through the medium of collaborative games. The goal is to teach them in fun and engaging ways about cultural diversity, inspiring openness and acceptance of other ways of life.
3 Fun and Learning Video games have been a part of worldwide popular culture for over 35 years1 and have become a business rivaling the movie industry for size and influence. Since initial success in Japan and the US/Canada, video games have become a world-wide phenomenon. In recent years they have grown to appeal to people of all ages, with the average age of game players reaching 35 in 2008, but they have always appealed to children [2]. Games are also essentially about learning. Dr. Marshall McLuhan said, "It's misleading to suppose there's any basic difference between education and entertainment. This distinction merely relieves people of the responsibility of looking into the matter. It's like setting up a distinction between didactic and lyric poetry on the ground that one teaches, the other pleases. However, it's always been true that whatever pleases teaches more effectively." [3] This point explains several things about the use of video games as teaching tools. Primarily it supports the proposition that games can be used to teach – in point of fact, games are all about teaching, but often about a subject matter that is at best loosely connected to any real-world school curriculum. And secondarily, it helps explain by implication just why it can be quite difficult to create a good game that does teach from a standard curriculum. Since games that are intended primarily for entertainment do not have be linked to real world curricula, they can be carefully crafted to deliver maximum entertainment value. If holding to a fact or detail about the real world is contrary to delivering the best experience an entertainment game, it can be changed. For example if a game requires a “scissors-rock-paper” relationship between mice, cats, and dogs, it can describe a mythical world where dogs are deathly afraid of mice, or simply create three new fantasy species with the desired relationship. A game intended to teach actual biological facts is more severely constrained. And as McLuhan points out “whatever pleases teaches more effectively” (recalling the oftrepeated description of a favorite teacher who ‘made learning fun’), having the latitude to change the reality of a game world to optimize entertainment is good for 1
Computer Space, a commercial arcade video game, debuted in November 1971. It was created by Nolan Bushnell who released the more popular game Pong the following year.
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making a game fun, but can be a real challenge to someone trying to make a game that teaches something about the real world. Of course, it can be possible to do both – but consider the case of popular film. One can make a documentary of the actual demise of the ship Titanic, but by taking liberties with the details and employing time-honored Hollywood storytelling techniques, a story by a proven director with popular stars that stretches the truth can capture many more viewers than the documentary and become the highest-grossing movie of all time [4]. And so it is with video games. So one of the chief challenges to the aspiring creator of an educational game title is to find a way to maximize the ‘fun factor’ while still conveying true and accurate information. But that is unfortunately not the only challenge.
4 Why Child’s Play Is Serious Business Those who set out to use the medium of video games to reach young children around the world have many difficulties facing them. This paper assumes that the games in question are likely to include online communication between the players, but even single-player games with no communications share many of these same issues. Some of these challenges are universal, some are dependent on particular countries, some on cultures, and many are problems for children’s software that do not apply or are much less critical for adults. Here are some of the chief difficulties. 4.1 Language Of course one primary hurdle for any world-wide cross-cultural game is the language that the game or web site uses for communication. Although the practical details of translation and smooth operation in multiple languages are by now well understood, they can add significantly to the cost of development, and make the software that much harder to test and debug. Some automatic language translation capability exists, but it is still not really ready for a commercial product aimed at children. 4.2 Literacy Closely linked to language is the question of literacy. Even in countries with high adult literacy rates, it cannot be assumed that all children are uniformly literate. For games that aim at children below the age of 16, there can be tremendous variation in literacy, and the younger the child, the more likely inadequate reading skills are to be an issue. 4.3 Typing Even a good reader may have difficulty in using a computer keyboard to type. Keyboard literacy varies widely from person to person. Furthermore, many popular game systems (e.g. hand-held game devices like the Nintendo DS or Sony PSP, or home consoles like the Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3) lack keyboards, and entry of text is usually a laborious process involving game controllers selecting one letter at a time.
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4.4 Access to Hardware Video games require some sort of platform – typically a PC or game console. The majority of educational software aimed at children is still produced on the PC, since there are no restrictions on who may write or publish software for computers. But a PC is often an expensive investment for a family, and may be shared by multiple family members. In this case the younger children often have the least freedom to access the computer. With hand-held and dedicated game consoles, the access problem is often reversed. Children may have exclusive use of the game system, but the company that makes the system (e.g. Nintendo) has final say on what software may be developed for it. Although one might assume that an educational title with positive social value would win easy approval, in fact it can be extremely involved and difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. 4.5 Access to Software Even when a child has access to hardware, high quality games may not be available on it. This can be a simple matter of purchasing power – for children, it is typically the parents who make the decision to buy software, while adults can simply buy their own. Free software exists, but it may be subject to excessive advertising, or allow unmonitored access. Governments may limit Internet access to certain sites. 4.6 Parental Approval Parents are and should be legitimately concerned with and aware of the software their children are using. Multi-user games and web sites that allow people to communicate anonymously online have been used by sexual predators to find unwary young victims [5]. But the vulnerability of a given piece of software to this sort of risk is often difficult for even a tech-savvy parent to evaluate. This puts a large obligation on the developers of the software to carefully protect their software and make it clear to parents how it has been made safe. 4.7 Cultural Considerations For cross-cultural games that are meant to be used by people in many different countries and cultures, it can be a particular challenge to anticipate the ramifications of how differing cultural assumptions and practices may affect the players’ use of the software. For example, what is funny in one culture may be insulting in another, or vice versa [6]. Or a reference to popular culture that is common in one country may be unknown in another. And some countries greatly restrict online access. 4.8 Predators Although mentioned above, this concern is critical enough to deserve its own paragraph. The consequences of a sexual predator posing as a friend online to gain personal information or to set up a rendezvous is a major concern for games designed to be played by children. Parental awareness of their child’s activities and training
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their children to exercise precautions like never sharing personal information can greatly reduce the risk, but it remains a strong concern and can be a significant deterrent to acceptance of otherwise quite beneficial and educational software. 4.9 Interactions Some of these challenges interact with each other. For example, a partially literate child trying to interact with others by typing is likely to make spelling and grammatical errors that can make it harder for other children to understand him. Or in a low-income family with limited access to computer equipment, the access that children have to that equipment may be particularly restricted compared to an affluent family who have handed down “the old computer” to their ten-year-old, granting full access without requiring approval to use it. In countries or regions with a small population speaking a unique language (e.g. Finnish or Frisian) it can be difficult or impossible to get localized, translated versions of children’s software, and although older children may already have learned English or other languages, often the younger ones will have to struggle to understand games not in their native language.
5 Opportunities Lest this long list of challenges deter the development of good cross-cultural educational software, it is helpful to consider a significant list of opportunities as well. Although some positive arguments for good educational software have always existed, there are many relatively recent developments worldwide that suggest we may be entering a new golden age. 5.1 The First Two W’s The use of the Internet and in particular web browsers has become so commonplace that it is easy to forget how it has made truly world-wide access so easy. People frequently make virtual trips abroad in search of information, entertainment, and even actual physical goods. The generations growing up with computers and now with access to the Internet over phones and other mobile devices are even more connected world-wide than their parents. The Internet was around for years before the first web browsers were invented and the World Wide Web took off in a spurt of geometric expansion. We may now be on the verge of a similar rapid expansion of capabilities of educational software based on the confluence of game industry, technology, and social trends. 5.2 Game Industry Trends For much of the last decade the commercial games industry has been dominated by big, expensive video games. These “AAA Titles” typically have development costs in the tens of millions of US dollars, and some have even topped $100 million. In order to justify such immense budgets, these games need to appeal to very large audiences, and specialized software (e.g. cross-cultural educational titles for kids) has been faring poorly. But in the last few years some new trends have emerged that offer hope.
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So-called casual games, aimed at new game players and people with only a mild interest in games have blossomed, with tremendous growth. They are meant to be easy to learn and accessible to people with little or no previous game experience. These games have much smaller budgets – typically well under $1 million USD – and thus there are many more on the market. The lower cost to create them has also opened up development to many countries, and these games are being made all over the world – not just Japan, the US, and Western Europe, but in places like Malaysia, Brazil, Slovenia, and New Zealand. Their accessibility, diversity, and ubiquity all are good qualities for cross-cultural educational titles to share. 5.3 Serious Games Another encouraging new trend is the growth of a movement known as Serious Games. One definition is “games made with a purpose beyond entertainment”, often education or training but these games also may encourage social awareness of problems, to treat medical problems, or aid in basic research. In particular this has meant that some of the most sophisticated hardware, software, and techniques of the now-maturing entertainment game industry have combined forces with industry, medicine, the military, academia, and more to create a whole spectrum of new kinds of games and game-influenced software. More than the 1980’s Edutainment or current e-Learning, Serious Games have the promise to open up entirely new markets and to take advantage of the game literacy of so many people under the age of 40 who have now grown up with computer and video games as part of their lives. 5.4 Cheap, Powerful Platforms Computer technology is cheaper than ever, and with quite capable “netbook” computers available as well as even cheaper 3rd-world targeted solutions like the One Laptop Per Child project, more people are gaining access to very sophisticated technologies. The rapid increase in computer capabilities means that even older computers today are immensely more powerful than the ones available when early educational software was created. Although access to computers is still limited in many parts of the world, we are well past the point of an initial critical mass necessary to support ambitious online learning titles. The current generation of home video game consoles all have network capabilities (more on that later) and prices have already dropped to a few hundred dollars. In addition to the relatively immobile computers and home consoles, there have been advances on the hand-held front as well. The game market is dominated by the Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP, both quite capable systems that are starting to be used for serious game purposes, particularly brain training games on the DS. But the most exciting development is the explosive growth of games and gamelike applications on cell phones, particularly the Apple iPhone. Phones are finding their way into increasingly younger hands around the world, and indeed in many 3rd world countries they are by far the most ubiquitous computing platform.
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5.5 Online Distribution Another development that bodes well for the development of low-cost online games is the burgeoning popularity of software that is only downloaded or played online, with no need to buy a disk or other boxed product. Although this has long been possible, it is only in recent years that it has begun to gain traction in the larger game market. The Steam distribution system on the PC has a large installed base, and all of the major game consoles have online game networks as well. Xbox Live Arcade from Microsoft is particularly popular. This is significant for games that can help children learn multicultural literacy for several reasons. It allows developers to create games for the popular game consoles without having to go through the complex and prohibitive approval procedures necessary to release boxed product through the companies that own these systems. It also means that it is practical to charge less money for the games and still make them economically viable, overcoming several of the challenges mentioned earlier. And finally it means that even players in relatively remote settings (but with online access) can find and play games that connect them with others in different locations on their game consoles without having to go to stores. 5.6 New Interfaces The iPhone has ignited interest in larger touchscreens which happen to be excellent for games and educational applications. The multi-touch screen as well as other interesting features like a camera, motion sensors and GPS capability suggest many creative new directions for games, and some or all of these features are common to many other phones and hand-held game systems. The GPS capability is particularly intriguing for multicultural games, as this means the game itself can detect where in the world it is currently being played – and theoretically games can be produced for hand-held systems like phones that can be brought along as the player travels and explores new cultures in person.
6 Techniques and Approaches Although descriptions of planned upcoming specific cross-cultural titles are beyond the scope of this paper, here are several promising approaches that use the aforementioned opportunities to meet the challenges of this style of game. 6.1 Simple Common Iconography Several of the difficulties involved in enabling children in different cultures to communicate online can be solved by providing an iconic, abstract communication medium. If players can type or even speak (using VOIP) to each other online, the challenges of different languages, literacy levels, typing skills, and online predators all loom. But if the only communication is through predetermined words or phrases that can be selected without typing, many of these problems go away or at least become manageable. Several online worlds for children use this approach, and although it is not foolproof2, it is fairly effective. 2
One such incident with Toontown Online is recounted here: http://thefarmers.org/Habitat/ 2007/03/the_untold_history_of_toontown_1.html
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6.2 Stealth Learning Early Edutainment titles often suffered from the weak design paradigm of combining simple arcade games with rote memorization or drill to cover the material they professed to teach. In reality, as the McLuhan quote that leads the paper suggests, because this approach rarely entertains, it also fails pedagogically. Much more effective is an oblique approach, where the player does not in fact need to know anything about the target pedagogical curriculum in order to have a good time playing the game – but is rewarded with increased game play (e.g. better score, new virtual items, new areas to explore in a virtual world) when this curriculum material is mastered. The early game “Where in the World is Carmen SanDiego?” did this quite effectively, allowing the player to progress slowly even with random choices – but greatly improving their success as they learned the material in the game. 6.3 Phones as Learning Devices Cell phones are finding their way into the hands of young people throughout the world. Often these are purchased by parents who are interested in being able to keep in touch with their children for their own safety. By providing entertaining educational titles for these phones, it will be possible to provide a win/win situation – children will have permission to play fun games on their new phones, and parents will know the devices are being used for serious learning. In addition, the phones are by definition already part of a worldwide network, and the problems of digital literacy with the devices is quickly overcome when the children have their own personal phone to use.
7 Conclusions The Game industry, communications technology, and social trends are creating opportunities to foster multicultural awareness in children through the media of online games and virtual worlds. Although there are numerous serious challenges to the goal of providing entertainment software for children that can teach cross-cultural literacy, there are also some exciting new opportunities that can overcome these obstacles. The future of these titles and their potential to achieve positive social impact is very promising.
References 1. Banks, J.A.: Diversity, Group Identity, and Citizenship. Education in a Global Age, Educational Researcher 37(3), 129–139 (2008) 2. Entertainment Software Association Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry report, http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/ESA_EF_2008.pdf
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3. Classroom Without Walls, Explorations. In: Carpenter, E., McLuhan, M. (eds.) Explorations in Communication, vol. 7, Beacon, Boston (1957); Stearn, G.E.(ed.) Hot and Cool, McLuhan, Dial, NY (reprinted, 1967) 4. http://www.imdb.com (Internet Movie Database) 5. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2008-07-01-porn_N.htm 6. Falstein, N.: From Better by Design column. Designers without Borders Game Developer Magazine (Feburary 2004)
Creating Community through the Use of a Class Wiki Kirsten A. Johnson and Jamie Bartolino Elizabethtown College, Department of Communications, One Alpha Drive, Elizabethtown, PA 17022 {johnsonka,bartolinoj}@etown.edu
Abstract. This study examines the use of a class wiki in a course offered to incoming freshmen at a college in central Pennsylvania. The wiki was used to supplement instruction in a classroom-based course. The study shows that the wiki was helpful in building community among incoming students, and also helped them to grow academically in the course. The class wiki also helped foster positive feelings toward the course as well as students’ first semester at the college. Keywords: Wiki, classroom, community building.
1 Literature Review 1.1 The Development of Wikis As we move further into the age of online user created content, wiki pages have evolved as the most user-friendly software in the field. Wiki pages are the simplest online collaboration forums in existence. The first wiki, titled WikiWikiWeb, was created by Ward Cunningham in 1994 [1]. Since that time, dozens of variations of this first site have developed. The concept of wikis revolves around members of the wiki having the power to edit, and frequently re-edit and add to, the content of the site. The formal definition of a wiki is “a collection or network of Web pages containing information that can potentially be edited by any participant” [2]. Wikis have evolved from informal information-sharing sites, to being used as educational learning and collaboration sites, even as online encyclopedias as seen in the case of Wikipedia. Wikis have significantly altered the World Wide Web landscape. In a few short years, “the internet has been transformed from a place primarily to retrieve information to a network for advancing and exchanging it, inviting more open participation, interaction, and creative expression” [3]. With this fundamental change to the Internet, it has become a priority to develop information and ideas past their initial state. Thus, online content creators have gradually shifted from working alone to working with others [3]. Although in their earlier stages wikis were classified as “new media” and typically utilized in journalism classes only, they have become commonplace in diverse academic settings and are now frequently included as components of many core classes [4]. Wikis have become increasingly accessible to anyone with Internet access. No A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 471–478, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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additional software is needed beyond a modern Internet browser, a username, and a password to the wiki site desired [1]. 1.2 Wikis in Education Wikis have become an integral part of education, especially in secondary and higher education. For some time, there has been a push in higher education to increase active learning practices, an opportunity presented and fostered by wikis. The Constructivist theory, which has become more widely referenced since the birth of wiki learning, claims that “knowledge is actively constructed, not passively absorbed from textbooks and lectures” [5]. Also assumed in this theory is that two students may come to different conclusions about the same topic. Wikis thrive upon varied points of view, and assist in the compilation of these perspectives into a cohesive agreement. With the use of wikis in education, students gain a heightened sense of responsibility for their learning process. The role of the teacher slowly diminishes as the students learn through their own writing and the written thoughts of others in the class [1]. The students foster their own growth; a unique result of wikis in education is when two or more students help each other reach an unexpected conclusion. The process is often referred to as “collective cognition,” and can best be understood as two or more people reaching a conclusion that neither one could have reached on his or her own [6]. Most significantly, the educational wiki has eliminated the concept of each student as an autonomous learner, and created a sense of camaraderie in the classroom [4]. Class blogs permit students to practice writing, as well as develop an understanding of others’ ideas, while addressing the content of the course [7]. Students become used to hearing others’ ideas and opinions, allowing for more open-minded and well rounded discussion. The course content is therefore thoroughly explored. Students no longer write for themselves and their teacher alone, but rather “for and with their peers” [8]. The melding of each student’s educational and personal background helps them to feel as if their own perspectives are important, and cause their learning to take on more meaning because it is connected more closely to their own experiences [3]. With this type of writing, formality is rarely taken seriously, and more importance is placed upon brainstorming as a group, and peer review. Wikis in the classroom cause students to work as an editorial team and can help students overcome shyness or uncertainty about their opinions [4]. A major characteristic of the wiki atmosphere is the opportunity for students to express themselves [3]. This also encourages students to experience new forms of media while learning [9]. Students entering a new academic environment tend to feel apprehensive about their standing in the classroom and are “uniquely ignorant of their new surroundings and expectations” [3]. They may feel particularly reluctant to engage in their classroom education for fear of making a mistake or giving an impression of ignorance. In the wiki setting, students have a safe zone to take risks, increasing their chances of intellectual engagement with one another and the material. Wiki use also tends to combat “stultified prose,” or writing completely lacking inspiration and style [3]. The role of the teacher or professor is lessened with the use of a wiki. For teachers, wiki use can make the learning environment much more complex [6]. Teachers are responsible for keeping up with the wiki contributions, and monitoring student progression with little input. The professor “has become more clearly a coparticipant rather than a leader” [1]. In addition, face-to-face interaction between student and
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teacher may be decreased depending upon the prominence of the wiki in the class requirements. As the teacher becomes more of a guide than a leader, students learn to constructively criticize each other. They become less dependent on the teacher to foster discussion [8]. Students learn several lessons when wikis are used in the classroom. Primarily, they become more willing to relinquish ownership of their ideas. They grow accustomed to the communal portal of ideas in a wiki [8]. In addition, students are aware that their writing is public and easily accessible, persuading them to be much more careful to follow copyright laws and reference their work. And finally, students gain a greater sense of confidence with their peers. If they disagree with a statement or idea, they need to move beyond simple discussion in the classroom to making a conscious decision to edit the content on the page [8]. Students become more comfortable disagreeing publicly with each other, and are more likely to prepare their arguments with support. 1.3 Nature of Wiki Communication Wikis consist of editable Web pages, allowing for the inclusion of podcasts, streaming video, pictures and texts. Administrators of wiki sites may publicly open the site, allowing for contributions from anyone on the Internet, while others may lock the pages against editing by anyone except site members. The essence of wikis is often significantly less formal than other forms of writing. For students, wiki writing encourages expressive writing in place of stilted, academic writing [4]. In general, contrary to some articles that are finalized before being posted online, wikis provide a “communal environment for developing ideas” and can be changed even after they are posted [1]. Typical information published on a wiki site is not comprised of large, formal blocks of text [1], but rather documents a complete thought process from start to finish through a series of shorter posts. Wikis provide the space necessary for users to post their ideas at the moment they occur, and over time, several writers will collaborate and come to some conclusion. The flexible and informal nature of the wiki site empowers the contributors to decide on the structure, content and organization of the wiki. 1.4 Communicating Using Wikis The casual nature of the wiki allows for more relaxed, draft-style writing, and the chance to self-edit as well as give feedback to other authors’ contributions. Particularly, wikis aim to “let students add to and re-envision their ideas, and to structure these discussions by choosing what pages to create and where to create and link them” [1]. A key element of the wiki is the focus on the process of writing rather than the final product [8]. Social interaction sites, such as wikis, are often seen as tools that people can use to empower themselves, as well as more fully engage in topics [10]. The flexibility and usability of wikis has increased their popularity within educational systems and businesses, among other fields [2]. Wiki communication fosters a more discussion-based sharing of ideas, “allowing participants […] to be authors and readers at the same time, and to better understand the respective other point-ofview and background” [2]. This is especially important in business and classroom environments, where diverse perspectives must be taken into consideration.
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The principle of wiki collaboration is that the larger the user base, the more developed and constructive the discussion will become. Wikis thrive on the concept that many people can contribute and edit the content of others leading to the formation of a conclusion from several different points of view [8].
2 The Wiki The instructor set up a wiki, using wetpaint.com, for a class of First Year Students prior to their arrival on campus for their first semester. Wetpaint.com is a free site that allows users to create and host their own wiki. Students were given access to the wiki, and the instructor assigned a privilege level to all students. The instructor, who also served as the moderator of the site, allowed the students to not just post comments on the site, but also to alter the content and structure of the site. Students were given the freedom to change the layout of the site, as well as add or delete items on the site as they saw fit. See Figure 1 for a picture of the wiki. Prior to the start of classes the instructor encouraged students to post pictures, and fill out a profile on the site. All students but one, of the 15 enrolled in the course, posted a picture of themselves, and all 15 filled out a profile. It should be noted, that although students were given the power to alter the layout and design of the site, none of them engaged in this activity. It could be that, as first year students, they were hesitant to change things the instructor put on the page, and didn’t want to offend the instructor in any way by altering content, even though the professor encouraged students to change the layout and design of the site. The instructor created nine separate pages on the site where students could post their thoughts about a variety of different topics. These pages included; a Wednesday
Fig. 1. First Year Seminar Wiki Homepage
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at 11 discussion page, social events page, student pictures page, tell us about yourself page, syllabus page, research topics page, class blogs page, YouTube video page, and majors page. On the Wednesday at 11 page students posted their reaction to weekly colloquium events that they are required to attend as first year students. While this page was meant to generate discussion about the different speakers who did presentations, this did not happen. In all cases, students posted brief reactions to the speakers, and did not comment on other students’ posts. The student pictures page was used by several of the students to post candid photos of themselves. The tell us about yourself page was used by nine students, who wrote about how old they were, where they were from, and what they were interested in. During the course of the semester, each student had to write a research paper for the course. The research topics page was a place for students to write a brief description of their research topic so that others in the class could see it (since no two students could do the same topic). This page was heavily used. All students posted their topics, and then the instructor commented on each topic. Students then commented back to the instructor. The class blogs page was a place for students to post a link to their blogs. As a requirement of the course, each student had to create their own blog (using blogger.com) and then post to their personal blog at least three times per week. The YouTube video page was a place for students to post their favorite YouTube videos. All students posted at least one video. The majors page was a place for each student to post his or her major, and all students posted their major on this site. The social events page, which was supposed to be a place for students to plan social events, was not used. Two pages were created by the instructor during the course of the semester to highlight different conferences the instructor attended. Those pages included the following; a China trip page, and a Brazil conference trip page. On both of these pages, the instructor uploaded pictures and a “travelogue” of sorts that chronicled the conference experiences.
3 Research Questions Was the class wiki effective in helping students build community prior to arriving on campus? The class wiki was initially set up by the instructor to help students get to know one another before they arrived on campus. In this study, the class wiki is defined as the site (http://fys.wetpaint.com) created by the instructor. Students were asked a series of questions about community building (building relationships with others in the course) on a 5 point Likert scale. Did the class wiki contribute to a positive experience in the course? The wiki was also built as a way to contribute to a more positive experience in the classroom based portion of the course, but was this achieved? As Smith [3] points out students new to the academic experience are often afraid to show that they don’t know or understand material. The class wiki could be a way to bridge this gap, and lead to more positive feelings about the course. Students were asked a series of questions about their experience in the course and asked to rate the experience on a 5-point Likert scale.
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Did the class wiki contribute to a positive experience in the students’ first semester? The aim of this research question is to find out if any positive impacts of the wiki in the classroom could also be extended to the students’ college experience as a whole during their first semester. While the wiki was built to enhance students’ experiences in the course, the wiki could also contribute to a positive experience during the students’ first semester at the College. Students were asked questions about their overall experience at the college, and responses were measured on a 5-point Likert scale.
4 Methodology Fifteen students from a small college in central Pennsylvania participated in the study. There was a 100% response rate. The students were part of a First Year Seminar course called You and YouTube: Storytelling in Cyberspace. Thirteen were female and two were male. The students were from a variety of different majors that included everything from business, to communications, to education. Students answered 21 questions about their experience using the class wiki. Prior to taking the course 87% of the students reported never contributing to a wiki, and 40% reported never viewing a wiki.
5 Results Using a 5-point Likert scale (1=Strongly Disagree and 5=Strongly Agree) students agreed (M = 3.80, SD= .68) that the course was enhanced through the use of the class wiki, and also agreed (M = 4.13, SD = .64) that it helped build community (in other words helped them to get to know other students in the course). When asked if the wiki was helpful prior to arriving on campus they also agreed (M = 4.27, SD = .70). Students agreed that the next time the course is offered the wiki should be used (M = 4.33, SD = .62). They also agreed that a wiki would be a useful tool in other courses they take at the college (M = 3.8, SD = .74). When students were asked if they found the wiki helped them grow socially as a class they also agreed (M=3.80, SD=.77). In terms of the wiki helping them to grow academically, they found it to be slightly less helpful (M = 3.60, SD = .63). In terms of their overall satisfaction with the course, they agreed that they were satisfied (M = 4.40, SD = .63). When asked if they were satisfied with other courses they took on campus the mean was slightly lower (M = 4.07, SD = .59). Students did respond that they were satisfied with their first semester at the college (M = 4.53, SD = .52). There was a positive correlation between whether students were satisfied with the course and whether they felt the wiki was helpful in allowing the class to grow academically (r = .60, p = .05). Students were asked an open-ended question about why they found the class wiki helpful prior to arriving on campus. Some of the responses included the following: “We got to see some photographs of students who would be in our peer group, which was nice so we felt like we were more familiar with each other by the time we moved in.”
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“It gave me a chance to get to know other people in our first year seminar class before actually coming to campus. That's why I feel our peer group seemed a lot closer and tight knit than other groups.” “I got to look at the profile of other students in the class, and get to know them without really even knowing them. It made my first college class ever a lot more comfortable.” “I was able to put names to faces and begin associating people with their hobbies and talents. It became easier for me to get to know people.” Students were also asked how the class wiki could have been used more effectively in the course, and while many commented that they didn’t feel it could be used more effectively, some did offer suggestions: “You should have to not only write in it so many times a month, but you should also be required to read and comment on each others. It’s good to learn about your classmates.” “I like that we were required to post reactions to colloquiums on the wiki, but we really didn't use it for any other purpose. Maybe it could have been used for more academic purposes, such as discussions based around class lectures.” “Possibly more group activities on the wiki.” “We could have posted discussions on the wiki instead of spending so much time in class on them.”
6 Conclusion In conclusion, the class wiki did help students build a sense of community prior to arriving on campus. Students also reported having a positive experience in the course, as well as a positive experience during their first semester on campus. Future studies could explore the most effective way to deliver content to first year students on wikis, as well as what aspects of educational wikis students find most valuable. Future studies could also explore if the addition of video or audio posts to the site would engage students in the site more than just plain text and still pictures. The instructor found that the wiki was often a good alternative to sending out a mass email to the class. It was less time consuming to post announcements or changes to the syllabus on the wiki. The instructor also found that getting students to post on the wiki works best when they are required to do it. When given the option to post, or when left to their own devices, they usually didn’t. One notable exception to this was the posting of candid photos.
References 1. Farabaugh, R.: ’The Isle is Full of Noises’: Using Wiki Software to Establish a Discourse Community in a Shakespeare Classroom. Language Awareness 16(2), 41–56 (2007) 2. Reinhold, S.: WikiTrails: Augmenting Wiki Structure for Collaborative, Interdisciplinary Learning. In: WikiSym 2006: Proceedings of the 2006 International Symposium on Wikis, vol. 48 (2006)
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3. Smith, C.: Technologies for Transcending a Focus on Error: Blogs and Democratic Aspirations in First-Year Composition. Journal of Basic Writing 27(1), 35–60 (2008) 4. Beeson, P.: Bringing Blogs Into the Classroom: ‘New Media’ Platform Gaining Steam at Universities. In: Rolls, A. (ed.) New Media, pp. 120–125. The H.W. Wilson Company, New York (2005) 5. Hamer, J.: Some Experiences With the Contributing Student Approach. SIGCSE Bulletin 38, 68 (2006) 6. Lund, A., SmØrdal, O.: Is There a Space For the Teacher in a Wiki? In: WikiSym 2006: Proceedings of the 2006 International Symposium on Wikis. ACM Press, New York (2006), http://portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1149466# 7. Collaborating and Participating: Blogs, Wikis, and Other Tools You Can Use. American School Board Journal, Academic Search Premier database (2008) 8. Guth, S.: Wikis in Education: Is Public Better?, p. 62 (2007), http://www.wikisym.org/ws2007/_publish/ Guth_WikiSym2007_IsPublicBetter.pdf 9. Fernando, A.: Baby Steps in Web 2.0 Education. Communication World 25(3), 8–9 (2008) 10. Singer, J.: Posting for Points: Edublogs in the JMC Curriculum. Journalism & Mass Communication Educator 63(1), 10–27 (2008)
Benefits and Challenges of Using Collaborative Development Environments with Social Software in Higher Computer Science Education Daniel Kadenbach and Carsten Kleiner University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hannover, Germany {daniel.kadenbach, carsten.kleiner}@fh-hannover.de
Abstract. This paper addresses the question how to optimally support projects of students and employees of a higher education institution of computer science by means of a special software environment. At first the motivation to introduce such a supportive system is examined by describing the current situation in the authors’ department of computer science, which is typical for many colleges and universities. On the one hand problems are pointed out, which hamper students and employees in their project work, on the other hand the additional possibilities of a supportive system, which far exceed the ones of a traditional approach, are drafted. The paper shows how a mutual value for students and employees can be generated from the projects by using social software. After the requirements are described we suggest an architecture for such a supportive system and finally the challenges for the implementation and application, which determine the success or failure of the system, are discussed.
1 Introduction In times with an ever increasing demand for flexibility of employees in the field of computer science, in which agile (virtual) teams have to respond to fast changing requirements and to overcome distances of time and space, a sophisticated and comprehensive collaboration support for projects becomes crucial. This paper therefore looks into the questions of how traditional and virtual teams in software-development projects can be optimally supported by collaborative development environments (CDEs1 ) and how an application of them could improve the quality of education of students and work of employees in colleges and universities in the field of software development. Besides conventional CDEs, which mainly focus on technical aspects of software development (like providing a project overview, team management, version control systems such as Subversion, bug-, feature- and tasktrackers and a release management), the look is broadened to cover also social aspects of supporting functions. The strengths and risks of a solution are analyzed, in which findings from social computing and from online communities are used for the design 1
CDEs are also called forges, for examples see SourceForge.net (http://sourceforge.net), GForge (http://gforge.org) or LibreSource (http://dev.libresource.org).
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of a CDE, because one aspect which has been often neglected so far is how the establishment of good teamwork can be supported with the help of social components. We suggest to reach an additional value through a stronger integration of social tools to give an answer to questions like: • How to support the forming of teams? • How to increase trust and identification within a team and to support the forming of team spirit and a constantly high level of motivation? • How to generate self-dynamics and more creativity, like it can be seen in many social computing applications? • And finally how to generate a lasting value for the general public from regular projects and simultaneously minimize the risk of producing data waste? In the main part the requirements for a CDE at the authors’ department of computer science are analyzed and components are discussed, which are used to realize the system and therefore fulfill these requirements. An overall system is drafted, which provides a far greater benefit through the use of synergy effects, as the individually components would do. Therefore an integration of these components among each other as well as the addition of some overall functions (like a comprehensive search facility over all components, tagging of all information, fast and simple ways to edit all data, easy and efficient handling) are of great importance. It is exposed how critical for the success of such a system are intuitive usability and self-evident benefits seen by its users and also which factors could lead to a refusal of the system by its users. Finally the drafted model of a CDE with social functions is discussed summing everything up. The paper closes with a conclusion and discussion of open points.
2 Related Work The individual components of the drafted system like portals, wikis, groupware, blogs, trackers, version control systems, discussion forums are well-known and have mostly been investigated in many other contexts (for example see [1] for a general introduction to practical development environments). This work particularly focuses on the concurrence of the components in a holistic context with the aim to support not only projects for themselves but to establish a self-supporting community. This system therefore depends on mechanisms for team building, team spirit, motivation, awareness and user acceptance which also have been investigated in different contexts. Also the aspects of supporting learning with collaborative environments have been discussed [2] [3] [4]. Another important point is the management of knowledge, especially the benefits of cross-project knowledge collaboration, which is described in [5]. For future versions of the drafted system inter-organizational collaboration will also be of great interest [6]. The work from Karen L. Reid and Gregory V. Wilson concerning their DrProject web-based software project management portal has much in common with our work, because their system has similar requirements, also aims to meet educational needs and offers similar functionality [7] [8]. But our work primarily tries to focus more on the social aspects of the system to enable the growth and consolidation of a vital
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community in which project participants help and profit from each other beyond project boundaries and to ensure a sustainable value of projects carried out. Also our work chooses a different way in the implementation by combining and integrating multiple F/OSS components to built the system (see Section 6.1 for further details).
3 Method To develop a system for the support of software development projects in our department a user-centric method was chosen, so the future users were involved in the whole process. Initially an analysis of the current situation was carried out, which motivated the development and at which projects and old project environments were investigated and project participants were questioned. Afterwards the requirements for the system were compiled by additionally using results of a poll carried out with the future users and general considerations and findings of the CSCW research field. With the raised requirements existing software systems and components were evaluated with the assistance of future users and finally a protopical system was developed. It was used right from the start to support real projects to refine the system with the gained insights and user experiences.
4 Initial Situation Before describing the requirements it seems to be sensible to picture the initial situation and the problems which motivated the implementation of a supportive system for projects in the department of computer science at our institution. Every semester and beyond many projects are carried out by students, employees and faculty partly in cooperation with externals companies and greatly differing in size and subject. Some of the projects are solely used for educational purposes, some for productive use and some for scientific research. Most of the projects are directly or indirectly located in the field of software-development. So up to now the core requirements for a project environment usually consisted of some of the following points: • Mailing lists supporting communication of the project group, • tools for shared version control of files like Subversion, • shared folders for documents and files (but hitherto without a document management system), • a wiki for online-documentation of the project, • tracker to document and handle defects and feature requests and • a project server to deploy and test the developed applications. The usual way for carrying out such projects has been to give projects a mailing list and a project server on request. On this server the project participants then could install all required components and services by themselves. Smaller projects by students however were more or less on their own. Whereas they typically have a smaller need for infrastructure support, they also should not be neglected since their number is large and thus there is a great potential for improved results.
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It is obvious that through the self-administration of every project infrastructure there is not only an avoidable overload of administrative tasks and required hardware (because nearly no project is able to reach the performance limit of its project server on its own) but also the projects are mostly isolated from their environment in this way. One of the most fundamental shortcomings of this approach, which has been identified in the analysis of the initial situation, is mainly caused because of this isolation: In almost none of the carried out projects the full potential of the project achievements was used onwards. The projects with all their achievements (gathered knowledge and experiences, source-code, applications, etc.) were mostly stored in such a scattered way that shortly after their end everything faded into void and no one could benefit from them anymore. This situation is especially bad because on the one hand the projects often achieve remarkable results which deserve to be appreciated and reused in later projects. On the other hand students, employees and the faculty of the department are a highly motivated and well-versed community, which could mutually benefit from projects carried out, if their results were accessible by everybody in the institution.
5 Requirements Through the analysis of the initial situation, the survey and interviews with students and employees as well as a prototypical implementation of a supportive system directly evaluated by persons from the target groups with real projects, the following requirements were identified: • Project Portal. First of all it is important to establish some sort of centralized portal for all projects and all related data or alternatively multiple portals for different kinds of projects like solely educational, practical or scientific ones. The portal should be the central point where to browse through all carried out and currently running projects and search through their contents. It therefore would guarantee that the projects are not isolated from each other, that they will not silently fade away into the void after being finished and that they are accessible by the community. Also all supportive functions shall be usable or at least referenced in the project portal and shall be activateable through the portal without the need of any administrative action. A project portal and therefore the presentation of the projects could also encourage project participants to create better projects, because their work will be visible for the community and so there is more transparency, pressure and recognition. • Version Control System. Since crucial in software development the system should support at least one version control system like Subversion, also without administrative action. To support the awareness inside the projects, the users should be automatically notified of changes after a commit with sufficient context information, so they stay up to date and are motivated through the visible project progress. Additionally there should be a comfortable web-interface to the version control system, on the one hand so that users can easily browse the contents and compare different versions of files, on the other hand this also enables people outside the project to learn from the code and other artifacts, especially if the content is also searchable. As a side effect there would probably be a higher motivation to write
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readable code, because it can be easily seen be everyone in the community. Ideally the system should provide the possibility for users to write comments to the files they browse, so they can give feedback. Also at this point source-code analysis tools could be integrated into the system, which could automatically give feedback about the quality and possible problems in the code. Shared File-Access. Project members should have a simple way of sharing unversioned files also without the burdens of a shared versioning system, so external documents or large binary files can be accessed easily. Project Representation and Documentation Support. The system should enable the projects to create a homepage for their representation, either by hand or preferably by using preinstalled CMS, and also should have the possibility to create wikis and blogs to support their documentation. Communication Support. The system should be able to automatically create a mailing-list for the participants of a project and to create discussion forums for a project on demand. Feature and Bug Tracker. For the gathering of needed functionality and the documentation and remedy of bugs feature and bug tracker shall be available for the projects. Ideally the feature and bug entries are referenceable from other components of the system, like the version control system or wikis. Knowledge Management Support. In addition to wikis and blogs, knowledge management tools like document management systems and FAQ-databases should be available, so that project members can document solutions for the problems they encounter in their project work and share them with the community. Project Internal Organization Support. Functions of groupware applications like shared task-, time-, resource-, calendar- and contacts-management should be supported on demand. Browseable, Searchable, Commentable and Tagable Content. Ideally every content of the system should be browseable, searchable, commentable and tagable. This shall ensure that information can be categorized, found and is generally accessible, that feedback can be given and discussed to improve the content. Security and Privacy Protection. As the social functions would expose a lot of data about the project participants, it has to be ensured, that their privacy is protected. Either the system could only be accessible for community members or the member names could be made anonymous for viewers which are not part of the community. Single-Sign-On. A central management of user accounts and rights is needed, so that a user only has to log in to the system once, even if it consists of multiple components. Tailoring of the Functions. Functions of the system which are not needed for a particular project should be blinded out, so that they do not hinder or confuse the users in their work. Simplicity. The system should be as simple as possible, so that it can be started up, administered and used with minimal effort. Ease of Use. The system and all of its components should be easy to use. This includes a user-friendly intuitive user interface and a little learning curve for the usage of the system. Ideally the system should consist of components which are already known to the users.
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• Extensibility. Because of the diversity of projects it is essential for the system that it could be extended with new components easily and that existing components can be updated likewise. Otherwise it would be a matter of months and the system would be stale and possibly insecure. • License. License costs for proprietary software were no option for this project. So the software system and/or used components should be free and open source software (F/OSS). This also improves the chances to extend and upgrade the software. The carried out survey with students as the main target group of the system also showed that 100% of the students which answered the poll wanted a supportive system and that more than 80% were interested in the benefits of social functions even if they had to invest time and work to support the community.
6 Suggested Architecture Generally there are three possible approaches to implement such a supportive system: (1) use a complete existing software-system and adapt it to your needs, (2) completely implement the system yourself or (3) implement a framework which can include existing components. All three approaches were investigated carefully. Using a complete existing software-system at first looked like the approach which requires a minimal effort. But at the time of the investigation no F/OSS solution could be found which was able to comply with the requirements or looked like it could be modified to do so with moderate effort. Approach two will probably be preferred by most developers, because it would offer the most freedom in designing and implementing the system from scratch with respect to the requirements. But this approach was also not taken because firstly the drafted system is fairly complex as can be seen from its requirements: even the design and implementation of some of its components would require a great effort and the whole system would not be realizable in the given timeframe with the given resources. Secondly and actually more importantly, even if it would have been possible to develop the system from scratch, it would probably not be possible to keep every component up to date over time and add adequate new components. The effort for such customizations and extensions would be more than the department could accomplish because of its small size and therefore limited resources. The last approach - implementing a framework which can include existing components - which was finally chosen, does have a few significant advantages: There already exist F/OSS for nearly every component the system needs, many users are accustomed to use them, the components are developed and updated independently and it would not impose a great effort to change, remove or add components to the system, after the framework has been built. But also some challenges were identified which should not be underestimated: First of all the integration of the components into a coherent system may require changes or adjustments in all of the components for overall functions if they do not already contain standardized interfaces. For example for the authentication to realize a single-sign-on system, for doing a search over the contents of all components or for awareness support (so that a team member can automatically be informed if there is a change in a component) every component must support the corresponding functionality of the integrated system or must be modified
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respectively. Furthermore the value of the entire system depends also on the integration of the components among each other to realize synergetic effects. For example it could make the system more efficient and transparent if the bug-tracking system is able to gather information from commits into the source-code repository, which contain IDs of bugs in their comments, or if it is possible make a direct link in a discussion forum entry to a file in the repository. Interestingly, a leading CDE-hosting site SourceForge.net is also moving towards the last approach, as it is giving its users the option to automatically install different F/OSS applications to support their projects which is called “hosted apps” [9]. 6.1 Overall Architecture Because nearly all of the required components for the system like wikis, CMSs, blogs, bug-tracker, discussion forums and so on are available as F/OSS implemented with the scripting language PHP an apache web-server was chosen to be the core of the system. For the version control system Subversion was chosen for the prototype but it is obvious how to support different version control systems in the future. Subversion can be configured so that it can also be accessed through apache. This has the advantage that the system needs fewer ports and that security as well as authentication mechanisms of the apache can be used for all the components likewise. So all webpages of the components and the access to the subversion system can be secured with HTTPS. Furthermore the system has to be able to send and receive mails, must provide databases for the components, ways for file access for the users, an administration interface and many other functions. As seen drafted in Fig. 1 it therefore is a complex server system. 6.2 Virtualization To respect the requirement of an easy installation with this complex system and to reach a greater flexibility of the system it is convenient to use a virtualization approach. Therefore the prototypical implementation which was used for the test phases was a virtualized debian linux system, on which all required software is installed and configured together with the framework for the components. In this way the whole
Fig. 1. Overview of the Architecture of the Prototypical Implementation
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complex system can be installed with minimal effort and runs on every system which supports software for the chosen virtualization method. This also makes it possible to easily migrate the system from one server to another, enables easy system-backups and, in the case of a compromised system, a clean system can be reinstalled fast and without trouble. Another possible advantage of the virtualization is that it would enable the system to easily spawn other virtualized instances of the base installation, which could provide projects with the access to a virtualized project server instance, which provides full administrative control and at the same time does not impose a security risk for the whole system. On this system the projects could test their developed applications. This could also significantly reduce hardware requirements of a department, because many virtualized project server instances could be run on the same physical machine. 6.3 Challenges and Benefits The greatest challenge of our system does not lie in the technical realization of its several functions, even though there are challenging and interesting aspects in particular in the realization of the overall system functions and the integration of the components among each other. The greatest challenge of such a system is its acceptance by its users. The users can be divided into three groups: end-users of the system, administrators and developers. Because the use of a system which supports projects always is completely voluntary, only functions will be accepted which offer the user an immediate value, which far exceeds the effort to use the system and only then may it be used efficiently. A value can be generated through providing required technical infrastructure, sustainable management of knowledge, improving communication, building a self-supporting community, but also by increasing motivation and fun using the system. With a shared project portal the community shall be strengthened.
7 Conclusion and Future Work This work does not develop or investigate new components for the support of software development projects in universities, but it tries to draft a way to combine existing proven components into an overall system, which makes it possible to reach an sustainable value for the community through sharing results from projects carried out. Therefore the technical tools for the software-development shall be complemented with social components to improve communication, motivation, personal commitment and the mutual support of project participants. It seems obvious to prepare students in the IT field for work in virtual teams and the extended possibilities of project support systems like CDEs. But the aim of a CDE with social functions used at the department of computer science is not only to teach the handling of corresponding tools to the students and support them in their project work. The aim is also to increase their motivation, their commitment and generally the value of their projects by making their results, experiences and acquired knowledge accessible to other students and therewith generate a value for the department by using mechanisms of virtual communities. Therefore the system, which is currently at a prototypical development stage (but even though is already used productively), shall be implemented completely so that acceptance of the target groups can be investigated in more detail and further research and reasoning can be undertaken.
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Additionally future use cases can be drafted: So it would be a good exercise to let students work in real virtual teams where team members are not able to meet physically, which could be realized if several universities collaborate and let their students work together on projects and communicate virtually through CDEs. This would also strengthen the connections between different institutions and the sharing of knowledge between them. Furthermore in other areas than software-development supportive social community functions for students are imaginable. So the major part of the students in the carried out poll voted for a solution supporting the creation of seminar- and final papers by allowing the community to proofread and comment the works. Acknowledgements. Daniel Kadenbach wishes to express his gratitude to Dipl. Inf. Casper Sørensen for his valuable suggestions. The authors thank the IT infrastructure staff of the department of computer science of the university of sciences and arts Hannover, especially MSc. Frank Müller, for their help and support, all students and employees of the department which contributed to the system through their ideas, critique, evaluation of the prototype and feedback.
References 1. Doar, M.: Practical Development Environments. O’ Reilly & Associates, Inc., Sebastopol (2005) 2. Langton, J.T., Hickey, T.J., Alterman, R.: Integrating tools and resources: a case study in building educational groupware for collaborative programming. J. Comput. Small Coll. 19(5), 140–153 (2004) 3. Giannoukos, I., Lykourentzou, I., Mpardis, G., Nikolopoulos, V., Loumos, V., Kayafas, E.: Collaborative e-learning environments enhanced by wiki technologies. In: PETRA 2008: Proceedings of the 1st international conference on Pervasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments, pp. 1–5. ACM, New York (2008) 4. Bouillon, P., Krinke, J.: Using eclipse in distant teaching of software engineering. In: eclipse 2004: Proceedings of the 2004 OOPSLA workshop on eclipse technology eXchange, pp. 22–26. ACM, New York (2004) 5. Ohira, M., Ohsugi, N., Ohoka, T., ichi Matsumoto, K.: Accelerating cross-project knowledge collaboration using collaborative filtering and social networks. In: MSR 2005: Proceedings of the 2005 international workshop on Mining software repositories, pp. 1–5. ACM, New York (2005) 6. Nuschke, P., Jiang, X.: A framework for inter-organizational collaboration using communication and knowledge management tools. HCI (15), 406–415 (2007) 7. Reid, K.L., Wilson, G.V.: DrProject: a software project management portal to meet educational needs. In: SIGCSE 2007: Proceedings of the 38th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education, pp. 317–321. ACM, New York (2007) 8. Allen, E., Cartwright, R., Reis, C.: Production programming in the classroom. In: SIGCSE 2003: Proceedings of the 34th SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education, pp. 89–9U:\BPO\Lncs\5621\Reference\562104933. ACM, New York (2003) 9. SourceForge, Inc., http://sourceforge.net (visited, January 2009) 10. GForge Group: GForge Collaborative Development Environment CDE, http://gforge.org (visited, January 2009) 11. LibreSource Consortium: LibreSource, http://dev.libresource.org (visited, January 2009)
Virtual Communities Adapted to the EHEA in an Enterprise Distance e-Learning Based Environment Rafael Pastor1, Timothy Read2, Salvador Ros1, Roberto Hernandez1, and Rocael Hernández3 1
Communications and Control Systems Department, Computer Science Faculty, UNED, C./ Juan del Rosal 16, 28040, Madrid, Spain {rpastor,sros,roberto}@scc.uned.es 2 Computer Languages and Systems Department, Computer Science Faculty, UNED, C./ Juan del Rosal 16, 28040, Madrid, Spain [email protected] 3 Research Labs, Viaro Networks, Guatemala [email protected]
Abstract. This paper describes the e-learning architecture of the National Spanish Distance Learning University of Spain (UNED). The UNED has more than 200,000 users of e-learning systems (most of them, students) so it needed an enterprise architecture in order to ensure the performance of the virtual campus. The core of virtual campus is aLF (active learning framework) supported by dotLRN/OpenACS open source framework that provides the e-learning core services. aLF is was modified to support the EHEA learning model, based in activity curricula, providing full integration with the evaluation model of aLF and three new tools to focus on the student tasks planning. Keywords: e-learning, virtual classroom, activity curricula, EHEA, activity focused training.
1 Introduction The UNED [1] is the largest public distance education university in Spain with over 200,000 students, 1400 lecturers and 2000 administrative staff. It has been in existence for more than 30 years. Since it is a distance education university students do not come to a central campus to receive their teaching. They attend regional study centres. There are currently over 60 of these study centres distributed throughout Spain and Europe. As well as the lecturers the university also has 6900 tutors working in these study centres. The tutors are an important figure in the teaching process because quite often they are the main contact the student has with the university. They provide the students with support in many ways, for example, giving taught classes, feature leading laboratory sessions, and helping to resolve any problems the students may have with the subject being studied. One of the key features that set the UNED apart from other distant universities is it consistent commitment to innovation, both methodological and technological. As such, it is evident that ICT has always had an important role within the UNED. Over A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 488–497, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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the years its use has grown and currently forms an important part of all of the university's activities. As well as the online teaching activities it is also used as part of the administration process (where the UNED is moving towards the position of being a paperless university), admissions (where more than 90% of student admissions are being undertaken by Internet), and examinations (where the exams are no longer transported to the local study centres on paper but as encrypted electronic files). However, without a doubt the most important application of ICT in the university has been the development of our own online community-based learning platform, aLF [2], for use in our virtual campus. When the UNED’s virtual campus was started in the year 2000, a commercial elearning platform was initially used. With time it became evident that this system was not sufficiently flexible for the university's needs, and hence the platform aLF (a system being developed by researchers in the School of Computer Science) was gradually introduced as a substitute. With the appearance of the EHEA, modifications were required for aLF, but represented only part of ongoing development activities, and did not by any means imply a drastic restructuring or rebuild of the platform or its tools. These days it is very common for standard face to face universities, and other academic institutions, to offer forms of e-learning. As such, they are able with very little work, to configure existing online systems to provide the technological infrastructure for these taught courses. Since the student numbers in these cases are typically very small, and the online teaching is typically complementary to their main teaching activities, it is not important that the underlying technological infrastructure is used or not enterprise by nature. In the UNED, however, due to its very distance educationbased nature, all ICT used has to be EIS (Enterprise Information Systems). Any EIS should by definition be robust, scalable, OS portable, and interoperable with other systems. The currently popular PHP-based e-learning platforms do not fulfil these requisites, and hence, any application for large student numbers requires custom ad hock solutions, which is far from perfect. Since aLF is built over dotLRN [3], which is an EIS, it is inherently robust, scalable, etc., as any system of this type should be. Since the university's main Information Systems are housed in an external data centre, machine capacities and network bandwidth are guaranteed, and can be easily extended as new teaching initiatives require. In the rest of this article the platform aLF and its tools and services are detailed.
2 aLF Services The priority of the work undertaken on aLF has been to give support to learning communities more than courses. This conceptualization comes from the general notion of virtual community [4] and is intended to potentiate the fundamental aspects underlying this type of work group: namely, reputation, confidence and intimacy [5]. Furthermore, emphasis is also placed upon other elements that are essential for the success of such groups, including the way in which users: (i) have an objective, some interests or a common activity, (ii) are frequently involved in active interactions, (iii) have access to shared resources, (iv) are provided with communication services for the interchange of information, and (v) are given a behaviour and communication protocol is published [6].
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The foundation of the work undertaken on aLF had two pillars: firstly, the technical collaborative development of open and flexible tools. Secondly, the experience acquired during the four years in which support was given to the development of courses undertaken by large number of students, in which the scaling factor was a crucial aspect, and where the needs didn’t always coincide with the tools provided by the majority of tools present in the majority of e-Learning platforms. Finally, another of the premises on which aLF is supported is the shared development undertaken with so many other prestigious universities and research groups. It was therefore established from the beginning that a didactic environment would be developed, called aLF1, whose nucleus was based on one of the most advanced applications at the time, particularly in applications of e-Business, ACS (Arsdigita Community System). Subsequently, the nucleus of ACES (ACS Educational Solution; especially conceived for educational applications, which evolved into the current software dotLRN; supported by Open ACS, the current open version of ACS) was used in the development of aLF2 [7]. The UNED has 8 years of experience of using this type of nucleus, and given the objective of unifying efforts to work on the nucleus. 2.1 Usage Scenarios and Workspaces In order to provide a customized solution to the university, the development of aLF was focused on two aspects: the addition of collaborative interaction tools (first problem) and to provide several workspaces where to share information from different groups, classes or communities (second problem). So, from the user’s viewpoint, aLF provides a large variety of tools organized around three clearly distinguished workspaces: a personal one, the communities (to which the user belongs) and the courses (being undertaken by the user). The services offered, therefore, depend on the environment in which the user’s interaction takes place: • Communities: the organization of different types of work groups (teaching teams, research projects, various associations, departments, faculties, etc.) is made possible. To this end, several communication tools are offered (forums with notification services in e-mail and news), work management (documents shared with version and access right control, links of interest to the group and surveys) and task sequencing (agenda with appointments and weekly task planning). Courses: apart from the general services already mentioned for the communities, the following are included: document management (tasks, summaries, notes, course guides, and FAQs), activity planning (weekly planning integrated with the course tasks) and several resources (links and shared course files, inclusion and edition of web pages with the course contents, exams, management of students and marks, etc.). Users: all aLF users have an agenda, a space for documents, links of interest and personal pages in the work area of any user/teacher/student which integrates with the rest of the services offered in the different communities or courses to which the user belongs. Furthermore, tools are offered for different types of users. Hence, the administrators and teachers have specific tools for following the work undertaken by each user and for each type of user. For example, statistics can be accessed by value and by user in each community or course.
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In each case, when a user enters aLF, he first accesses his personal workspace (“my portal”), from which he can efficiently access all the novelties that have taken place in any of the communities and courses to which he may belong. In fact, one of the most highly valued aspects by users is the possibility of efficiently accessing any novelty, i.e., a new file added in such groups, the new lines in the agenda, the messages in the forums, the tasks and notes in the courses, the news, etc. Another question related to the management of novelties is the fact that the aLF forums can be managed through automatic response notification services. This allows the user to be warned of any novelty sent to the forum, without the need to be connected to the platform. Furthermore, the user can choose whether to receive news sent by a specific user (e.g., the teacher) about a certain subject and/or to receive an instant warning or report of the novelties that have taken place in the last few days. Finally, aLF facilitates the organization of the interconnections between the different workspaces, both those related to the personal and collaborative work in the different communities and courses, and those related to the groups and subgroups defined in such communities and courses. As has be seen above, aLF provides several advantages: customization adapted to the UNED methodological model; a robust and scalable solution focused in corporative environments; and an integrated portal environment for virtual communities (classes and work groups). There are several systems used in different institutions. Maybe two are the most referenced: WebCT [8] and Moodle [9]. The UNED has been using WebCT since 2000. WebCT supports big institutions (like the UNED) and it is a consolidated solution for enterprise environment. Moodle is an open software solution which has a great projection, but it does not have implementations on big systems (the UNED has nearly 200,000 users). Furthermore, both of them solutions are based upon the concept of course with no interaction between courses and group works, and no sharing of educational services between courses. aLF provides these features, sharing all the objects available in the groups (calendar entries, tasks, assessments, news and so on) publishing them in different group targets (for example, from a personal space it is possible to share, not to copy, owned documents to a class, allowing to rich the learning environment [10]. 3 EHEA Activities Based Tools The EHEA directives declare the evaluation of personal and group activity as the main feature of an EHEA e-learning space. So, a professor must do a planning model of course based on autonomy worked tasks and collaborative activities between students. The first feature consists in provide a organizer tool to declare the course mode, so from this organizer the student has a clear view of his/her objectives and whom is going to make collaborative work in order to achieve a good academic performance. In aLF, this feature is providing for the planning tool. The planning tool is a userfriendly interface for thematic or weekly blocks that allows to present in an organized way the different resources of the e-learning platform. Another problem is how to provide a unified view of content and activities, avoiding the use of hyperlinks (written by professors, so mistakes are common) from content to activities. The idea is to have a navigation model from didactical units (like e-books) easy to define and use. This didactic units have activities sections in order to
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add platform resources, so for a professor is easy to declare the planning of course and add it own content integrated with the platform resources (activities, assessments, forums, chats and so on). In order to provide this feature, a new tool called Content was developed to fulfill the requirements. In the following sections these tools will be explained. 3.1 The Planning Tool In order to achieve the EHEA requirements, a didactic guide based on activity items (assessments, tasks, forums discussion, etc.) must be produced by teachers in order to describe the overall work that students have to do in the course. To support that, it has been created an organization and planning system by blocks where information (resources and activities) can be added by teachers from many sources and ordered in any way. The blocks (organizational unit) can have a topic or weekly format, and a summary is available for each block to describe the contents on that topic or week. For each block new and already created resources and activities can be included, so reusable activities can be defined in order to help teachers in every term (one planning, several terms). The planning interface [11], see Figure 1, becomes the Community/Course home and is organized in blocks. There are currently two formats for the blocks: • Weekly Format: Each block represents a week, the week start the day the community starts, this value is set in the Course Settings of the Blocks View. The current week is highlighted. • Topics Format: Each block represents a topic, all the activities and resources in this block are related to the topic, in this format the start date of the community is not relevant. This format lets the teacher select the current topic and highlights that topic automatically until the teachers mark it as not selected or another topic is selected, only one topic can be selected at a time. This option is available for all communities inside the admin panel, there's a link to enable/disable this view, when the view is enabled a default empty block is created inside the community (this initial block it is always
Fig. 1. Planning tool based on organizational units called “blocks”
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Fig. 2. Content tool: Activities section of a didactic unit
shown on top with no format), it adds the navigation bar to the master section inside that community and it automatically mounts the resources needed (evaluation, assessment, forums, content, pages, chat, etc.) on the community. Each course has many tools available, inside each block there is an option to add a resource/activity, the supported packages are: evaluation, assessment, forums, file-storage, content, pages and chat. All the location actions are dragged based, so all the items in a block can me moved over the same block or others. 3.2 The Content Tool The Content tool [12] is a simple and easy tool for content creation in an educational context. It focuses on the teacher that wants to create the content of a course in a simple way with a navigation and presentation that will be easy for the student to use. This tool helps the user focus only in the content and text rather than in the presentation, order and navigation that is already done and organized. The Content tool is fully integrated with the e-learning platform template, see Figure 2, so the navigation menu is always present to the user. This provides an easy layout focused in the didactic unit defined for an EHEA course space. The content tool has several functionalities, so the four most important are detailed here. 3.2.1 The integration of Activities A course in .LRN has many tools available to be linked to the content base. In order to simplify the process of linking activities, a new interface was created to guide the teacher with the process. The process of linking activities has several steps, which is why this new interface was designed to guide the user through those steps, since a multi-step process can confuse the user. This interface works mostly with javascript using visual effects for each step in order to improve usability. The functionality of the interface, see Figure 3, is divided into two main steps with the option to go back and forth between them, when possible. The first step is selecting the activity (there is a section with the information about all the activity types), after selecting “select the activity type”, the current activities of that type along with the option to create a new
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Fig. 3. Step one of linking activities process
activity of that type are shown in an emerging section, after an existing or new activity is selected, the third sections appears with the OK option to confirm the selection and continue to the next step. If another activity type is selected after the third section is open then the third step is closed. This will force the user to select an activity from the type selected (the current selection is not lost but simply not shown until the same activity type is selected again). The second step, see Figure 4, is to set the details of that activity, a location for the page (where the activity is going to showed) and an optional description for that activity to be displayed in the page. If the selection was an existing activity the interface will add a link to the activity selected. If however, the selection is to create a new activity, then the interface will redirect to the activity type context in order to create the new item, after which, the item is created and automatically added to the content page (but the user will remain within the new activity context in order to be able to configure the activity). The use of these steps gives the user the option to go back one step without having to start all over again. In this interface the user always knows how long the process is going and can focus only on the current action. Each activity is
Fig. 4. Step two of linking activities process
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displayed inside the content of a page, where the title of that page is the same as that of the activity created (and the optional text is shown above the activity link). The link for the activity shows a message according to the type of the activity, and some validations are done before presenting the link, to be sure that the activity is published (if it is not the case, the message has no link). 3.2.2 Navigation Issues and Group Template The Content tool displays the content of every course with a template that is dynamically generated. Multiple templates for content sections are an additional option for the teachers to change the way in which the content is displayed to the users in each course; there is a set of templates available to choose. The whole template is divided into the following parts: • • • •
Sections: an unordered list with the links to the first page of each section. Sub-sections: an unordered list with the links to the first page of each subsection. Units: a combo-box with all the units available. Navigation: three links with an image to navigate left, right or to go to the unit's first page. • Order section: two links with an image to move the page up or down in the list. 3.2.3 Content Glossary A glossary is a very useful tool for the teachers to provide a better learning experience for the students. In every page of the content, words can be marked to have a glossary definition by an interface provided inside the rich text editor. A plugin for the xinha rich text editor was created to provide an interface where the terms and definitions are inserted, updated or removed. This plugin has a main javascript file which handles the startup of the plugin and related validations, a dialog is open when the plugin is activated, the dialog has 3 areas, the term, the definition and the existing words. The plugin works by selecting a portion of text to add a definition to, and a dialog opens with the text selected in the term field in editable mode. A definition needs to be added for that text and all the current definitions in the course are shown in the interface, where, depending upon the selected text for the term, the definitions are ordered as being related or not related. In every page the glossary words are links with different color and a tooltip property. If the mouse is placed over a word, the definition is shown in a popup. If the link is clicked it will take the user to the glossary page with all the terms. In the content interface there is an entry for the glossary as an extra section in each unit. This glossary section has one page that shows all the glossary entries, and each entry has a counter that shows how many times the word is being used in all the pages. There is also an option to edit the word on a separate page and an option to delete individually or by group. This page is related to the unit where it was opened from. The navigation tree is focused on the glossary of that unit and the template shows all the sections of that unit. 3.2.4 Automated Copy of Content between Courses In the content tool there is an automated option to import/export group (course/community) content pages (activities are course-based and are not exportable). The export is done by taking care of the sections/subsections related to the
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content and the files inside the content pages. The import is undertaken normally, following which, the import of each page is mapped to the sections/subsections, and for each activity page, a new empty entry is added to the activities table. This will allow the system to treat the pages as if they were activities and link a new activity to them (the glossary word count entries are also added for the target content instance).
4 Conclusions and Future Work In this article the way in which the UNED’s e-learning platform aLF, an EIS, has been developed to support virtual communities, adapted to the EHEA, has been presented. It has been argued that any e-learning platform that underlies these communities in such a fundamental way, has by its very nature to be an enterprise system, due to its robust nature, scalability, etc. While other types of architecture (not EIS) such as the currently popular PHP e-learning platform can be made to support high student numbers (using imaginative clustering techniques), their inherent lack of scalability and other EIS characteristics, unnecessarily complicates their overall performance. The services provided by aLF have been seen to have been developed to give support virtual learning communities. As such, the way in which groups are formed within communities and how their members can interact has been potentiated. This work has been based upon two underlying pillars: firstly, the technical collaborative development of the necessary online tools, and secondly, previous experience gained by working with these communities (with large student numbers) over the years. To provide users with different views of the way in which they can work with the platform, communities are separated from courses and individual user files. Emphasis has been given here to the flexible interconnection of sources from the different views. Hence, the user is able to access course details from different communities and vice versa. It has been noted that for the EHEA, two new tools have been developed, namely the planning and the content tools. The former presents the structure of a course to the student as a series of blocks, where each block represents a study module. These blocks are by default presented structurally but can also be presented temporarily, in terms of the calendar dates when they should be studied. The advantage of this way of presenting a course to students is that they can see easily what work has to be done and what the sources they have at their disposition to undertake the work. The fundamentally sequential nature of each block provides a sequencing of activities for the students. For example, a student can see that initially they have to read a text, enter into a forum to discuss it, undertake a practical activity based upon it, and finally, undertake some kind of online evaluation. The latter, the content tool, provides an easy way for users to structure online educational content. It provides an easy way to import or generate new hypermedia content, interrelated structurally. Content manipulation is essentially template-based, where templates may be developed individually or provided at an institutional level. Once a content block has been developed it can be exported to other courses. Finally, it should be noted that the content package includes a glossary where new entries can be added very easily by manipulating existing content entries.
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As was noted at the beginning of this article, innovation is a standard ongoing activity within the UNED. As such, the development of aLF over the next few years will continue in the current direction, expanding the possibilities of online distance education, making it more ubiquitous. In basic market terms, as traditional face-to-face universities are increasing their use of virtual communities on online teaching, the UNED must extend its online teaching model to become more “face to face”, in the sense of using both the synchronous and asynchronous capabilities of aLF and its tools to shorten distances and enable students to access the tools and educational resources they need to undertake their studies. As such, the future work being contemplated at present, is envisaged to focus on providing a better user experience: copying items and organizing sections, automatic show/hide functions for temporal planning, integration of didactic guides elaborated by professors from other scenarios, SCORM support for the content tool (allowing users to publish and author SCORM objects) and marking up content pages for users (to provide visual tracking of content views).
References 1. National Distance Learning University of Spain, http://www.uned.es 2. Pastor, R., Ros, S., Hernández, R., Boticario, J.G., Read, T.: Open source and e-learning in UNED. In: International Open Software Conference, Badajoz, Spain (2007) 3. LRN website, http://www.dotlrn.com 4. Rheingold, H.: The Virtual Community. The MIT Press, Cambridge (1993) 5. Etzioni, A.: E-communities build new ties, but ties that bind (2000), http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/02/circuits/articles/ 10comm.html 6. Gaudioso, E.: Contribuciones al Modelado del Usuario en Entornos Adaptativos de Aprendizaje y Colaboración a través de Internet mediante técnicas de Aprendizaje Automático. Doctor degree thesis, ch. 4 (2002), http://www.ia.uned.es/personal/elena/egvtesis.pdf 7. Santos, O.C., Boticario, J.G., Raffenne, E., Pastor, R.: Why using dotLRN? UNED use cases. In: FLOSS (Free/Libre/Open Source Systems) International Conference. Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, March 07 – 09 (2007), http://www.ia.uned.es/~jgb/publica/floss-dotlrnocsjgberrp_final.pdf 8. Webct e-learning system, http://www.blackboard.com 9. Moodle e-learning system, http://www.moodle.org 10. Pastor, R., Ros, S., Hernández, R.: The UNED Open-Source platform: management of learning and collaboration services in UNED. In: 12th Congress on Science Computer in Education, La Habana, Cuba (2007) 11. Pastor, R., et al.: Blocks organizer for. LRN. In: 7th OpenACS/.LRN Conference, Valencia, Spain (November 2008) 12. Pastor, R., et al.: Activities, Glossary and Multiple template support for the. LRN Content Tool. In: 7th OpenACS/.LRN Conference, Valencia, Spain (November 2008)
Evaluating the Social Dimension in Online Learning Communities Francesca Pozzi Istituto Tecnologie Didattiche – CNR Via De Marini, 6, Genoa, Italy [email protected]
Abstract. The social dimension is nowadays recognized as one of the main factors influencing the learning process [1, 2]. In this paper we consider the social dimension developed by a group of students during an online course. To do this, we analyze their interactions during three different collaborative learning activities, i.e. a Jigsaw, a Role Play and a Discussion. By looking at the data showing the level and nature of the social dimension developed within each activity, it is possible to compare the activities themselves, and to reflect on their capacity to foster the social dimension in light of facilitating the overall learning process. Keywords: CSCL, social dimension, collaborative techniques, Jigsaw, Discussion, Role Play.
1 Setting the Scene Within the broad field of technology enhanced education, there is a growing trend to incorporate socio-constructivist approaches to learning, which stress the cruciality of the social dimension to the cognitive process and to the development of new knowledge. In particular, Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) is a recent research area that focuses on debate-based learning and peer negotiation and is grounded in socio-constructivist theories [3, 4, 5, 6]. According to CSCL basic assumptions, discussion and collaboration among peers are the basic elements of the learning experience [7] and for this reason the development of the virtual learning community (composed of students, teachers, tutors, designers, etc.) is a key point for enhancing a significant learning experience. In these contexts, learners usually interact through Computer Mediated Communication systems (CMC), which allow both synchronous and asynchronous communication. Learners are usually engaged in tasks (discussing a topic, solving a problem, studying a case, etc.) with concrete outputs to produce, which usually act as catalysts of interaction and collaboration. Activities in those contexts can be based on “collaborative techniques” (e.g. Discussion, Role Play, Jigsaw, Peer Review, Case Study, etc.), which, by specifying rules, tasks and procedures to be followed by students, are able to enhance interactions and hence may possibly foster the collaborative process [8]. A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 498–506, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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It is in contexts like these, that the social dimension is regarded as one of the most critical aspects of the learning process [9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16]. Originally defined in 1976 as the "degree of salience of the other person in a mediated communication and the consequent salience of their interpersonal interactions" [17, p. 65], the concept of “social presence” was further defined later on by many authors [18, 19, 20, 21] and still today there is no complete agreement of the concept. Gunawardena [12] tried to distinguish between definitions of social presence referring to a property of the medium in mediated communication, and those referring to the perceptions, behaviors or attitudes of the participants in a mediated interaction. The concept has also been further investigated within educational contexts. In particular, “social presence” has been defined by Garrison et al. [10, p. 94] within the wider concept of the “Communities of Inquiry”, as “the ability of participants in a community (…) to project themselves socially and emotionally, as ‘real’ people (i.e. their full personality), through the medium of communication being used”. On this same line, in this paper we will use the term “social dimension” to refer to the ability of participants to express and/or show affection and cohesiveness. The paper describes an online course, i.e. the “TD-SSIS Liguria course”, designed and run in 2007 by the Istituto Tecnologie Didattiche – CNR within the context of the Italian teacher training system. The various collaborative techniques used on this course (i.e. the Jigsaw, the Role Play and the Discussion) are described and analysed, so as to provide a picture of the social dimension, as developed by students, in such a way that it is possible to reflect on the various techniques themselves, and compare their ability to foster the social dimension within the learning community.
2 Research Context In 2007 SSIS Liguria commissioned to the Istituto Tecnologie Didattiche – CNR a course on “Educational Technology”. The main aim of the course was that of making students familiarize with the main issues related to the introduction of ICT in educational settings. On that occasion a blended approach was chosen, where topics were introduced during face-to-face lectures, and then discussed and further studied during online collaborative activities. The TD-SSIS Liguria 2007 community was composed of 159 students of all disciplines and 6 tutors. The large size of the learning community required the creation of smaller “classes” working in parallel (20/25 persons each), so as to allow collaboration. In particular in this study, our attention will be focused on one of the classes, namely a class composed of 21 students coordinated by a tutor. The main objectives of the course were: • • • • •
to be aware of the main concepts related to online education; to know the main characteristics of the most common e-learning models; to use collaboration as a learning strategy by interacting within a community; to know the structure of web quests and be aware of their educational potential; to know the structure of blogs and be aware of their educational potential.
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In order to achieve the above mentioned objectives, the course was organized in 4 lectures (namely: Module 1, Module 3, Module 5 and Module 7 of the course) and 3 online modules (Module 2, Module 4 and Module 6), as shown in the following Figure.
Fig. 1. TD-SSIS Liguria 2007: plan of activities
Online modules were based on one (or more) activities, each one in turn being based on a specific collaborative technique. Techniques were chosen by the course designers a priori, on the basis of the learning objectives and the contextual constraints (time schedule, organizational issues, etc.) In the following the 3 online modules are briefly described. Module 2 (the first module carried out online, see Figure 1), was first of all devoted to “Socialization” among the members of the community and familiarization with the communication system. During the second part of Module 2, a Jigsaw was proposed to students. This activity was devoted to the study of the main existing elearning models, but this was done by following the procedures and structure typical of a Jigsaw1. In particular, during the first phase of the Jigsaw “expert groups” were created, each one being devoted to the study of a specific e-learning model. Some readings were assigned and each group was required to produce a shared document, describing the assigned e-learning model. During the second stage of the Jigsaw, students were rearranged in new groups, each one being composed of people coming from the different “expert groups” of the previous stage. The so created “jigsaw groups” were in charge of solving a problem, by putting forward the competences acquired in the previous phase. During Module 4 – “Using Webquests in class” students remained aggregated as in the last stage of the Jigsaw (Module 2). This time the technique chosen for the activity was a Role Play. Learners were asked to pretend to be a group of teachers, whose school director had asked them to analyse and evaluate a certain number of webquests. Since the Role Play imposed the analysis of the webquests to be carried out from very particular perspectives, i.e. by playing specific roles, at the beginning of the activity each student/teacher chose a role from a list of characters, including the “director”, the “rapporteur”, the “techno-sceptical”, the “bureaucrat”, the “defeatist”, etc. During the activity, the webquests were discussed and a common evaluation was 1
For more information on the Jigsaw, see http://www.jigsaw.org/
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negotiated by the students/teachers, who argued their position according to their role. At the end of the activity, the students/teachers produced a shared document containing the analysis, which took into account the different viewpoints played. Finally, during Module 6 – “Using blogs in educational settings”, students (who maintained the same groups as the previous module) focused on the use of blogs in educational contexts. The collaborative technique chosen for this activity was the Discussion. In line with the design principles behind such a technique, the activity was not particularly structured; nonetheless, two phases were envisaged so as to give pace to the work; besides, an artefact was required from students as output of the whole Discussion. In particular, during the first phase of the activity students were required to individually read some materials, navigate a certain number of educational blogs and try to implement a draft of a personal blog. During this phase the communication system could be used exclusively for asking questions and for expressing personal doubts, ideas or comments if any. On the contrary, the second phase of the activity was much more collaborative, because students were in charge of discussing with the final aim of conceiving a common design of an educational blog. The computer system used to carry out the online activities was Moodle2, an OpenSource computer conferencing system that can be easily configured in forums and topics.
3 Research Method In order to measure the social dimension developed by students during each module, an evaluation model was used, which had been previously developed and extensively used to assess similar online experiences [22, 23]. The model considers four dimensions as those characterizing a learning process in CSCL contexts, namely the participative, the cognitive, the social and the teaching dimensions. In the model, each dimension is characterized by a set of relevant indicators that can be used to monitor and evaluate it, and by methods that allow one to gauge such indicators, starting from tracked data. There is a wide variety of data that can be collected and analyzed to implement these methods - these range from quantitative data about the interactions among students, to more complex data obtainable from the elaboration of the above and from content analysis of interactions [23]. Since the focus of this study is the social dimension, in this paper, instead of describing each single dimension, we address the social component only, as previously defined. According to the model, in order to investigate the social dimension, it is necessary to identify clues that testify to affection and cohesiveness, as illustrated in Table 1. To investigate this dimension entails manually carrying out content analysis of all the messages exchanged by the students. This involves a certain workload, encompassing reading each message and systematically identifying the frequency of given keywords or patterns or even expressions that are believed to reveal a feature of the communication act, and finally classifying each of them as belonging to a certain indicator category. The unit of analysis chosen was the “unit of meaning” i.e. each message was split in parts defined on the basis of “consistent themes or ideas” [24]. 2
http://www.moodle.org
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In content analysis, the coding procedure and the assignment of the units of analysis to the pertinent indicator, is usually carried out by a couple of coders (in our study researchers, who had acted as designers and tutors on the course) who, after a period of training (in our study about 40 hours) and the setting up of a strict coding procedure, work separately to code the whole corpus. Furthermore, in order to estimate the level of agreement between the coders, it is quite common to calculate their inter-rater reliability [25]. Table 1. Main indicators of the social dimension (examples are inspired by Rourke et al [11])
SOCIAL DIMENSION
category
Affection
code S1.1
S1.2
S1.3
S2.1 S2.2 Cohesiveness S2.3
indicators expressions of emotions that may be revealed either by verbal dissertation or through graphical/orthographical solutions, e.g. repetitions, use of punctuation, use of capital letters, emoticons expressions of intimacy that may be revealed by the use of sarcasm, humour, irony, etc. “self-disclosure” acts that may be revealed by presentations of personal anecdotes or by admission of self-vulnerability occurrences of vocatives or more in general references to other people in the group expressions reinforcing group cohesion that can be revealed by either expressions of group self efficacy, or use of inclusive pronouns or adjectives greetings, phatics, salutations
examples “I just can’t stand it when….. !!!!” “ANYBODY OUT THERE?” ;-)) “Hi guys, don’t worry about it! Here you have an expert… ;-) ah!” “When I read this, I was a little confused....” “What really frustrates me is…..” “John, what do you think?” “Hey guys, I think we have hit the target! Well done, we really are a good team!.” “Hi all!” “That’s it for now!” “Enjoy your week-end!”
In this study, the corpus of the coded messages was of 677 (total number of messages exchanges during the Jigsaw + the Role Play + the Discussion). The sample used to calculate the inter-rater reliability was composed of 70 messages, which were coded by both the coders. The sample was chosen by selecting 10% of the messages in each module of TD-SSIS Liguria 2007 course, which was considered representative of the whole corpus of messages. The selected messages were distributed in time (namely, at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of each module). The interrater reliability was calculated using Holsti coefficient and considering the agreement on each unit of meaning. This was 0.90 (percent agreement 0.84), which is usually considered a good result. Disagreements were solved through discussion.
4 Results The following Table contains the results obtained from the analysis of the messages exchanged among the 21 students during the 3 online modules described above. In particular, the results refer to the number of units found in the messages related to the social dimension.
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Table 2. Results of the analysis related to the social dimension
Affection (S1) Total: Cohesiveness (S2) Total:
S1.1 S1.2 S1.3 S2.1 S2.2 S2.3
M2-Jigsaw
M4-Role Play
M6-Discussion
6 17 41 64 54 41 133 228
15 25 23 63 69 15 121 205
53 32 22 107 54 43 229 326
The Table compares the data of the 3 modules and makes a distinction between data for the indicator Affection (S1) and data for the indicator Cohesiveness (S2). Looking at the total number of units referring to the social dimension, we should note that there are not so many differences among the three techniques; above all the Jigsaw and the Role Play have very similar values, whereas the values of Discussion are a little higher. As one may note, Affection always has lower values than Cohesiveness; in particular indicator S2.3 (greetings, phatics, salutations), which has to do with the habit of students to use a correct netiquette, has the highest value; moreover, indicator S2.1 (occurrences of vocatives or more in general references to other people in the group) is quite high, as if to indicate that students did frequently refer to one another, which is usually considered a positive attitude in collaborative learning environments. As far as S1 is concerned, it seems that the group was not so keen on expressing emotions (S1.1) or intimacy (S1.2). By looking at the indicators technique per technique, one may note that – as we have already mentioned - the Discussion is the technique that apparently fostered the social dimension most. In particular: the ability to express emotions (S1.1) is very low in the Jigsaw, and then increases during the Role Play and is at the highest level in the Discussion. The same trend can be observed for S1.2 (expressions of intimacy). These trends may find a reason not only in the ability of a technique to enhance these indicators more in respect to other techniques, but may also have been affected by the order of the modules and by the consequent ability of students to perform the social dimension, which – as it is easy to understand – may increase as time goes by. Moreover, the fact that the Jigsaw did not encourage the expression of emotions and intimacy so much, may be partially due to the fact that this technique imposes a rearrangement of groups (expert groups and then jigsaw groups) and this may inhibit the creation of a friendly climate. A different (and opposite) trend can be noted for S1.3 (self-disclosure acts), which is higher in the Jigsaw and lower in the other two techniques. This is because the Jigsaw was the first activity of the course and it was here that students expressed their uncertainties about the course. and about the modalities of communication. As far as Cohesiveness is concerned (S2), values for S2.1 are quite similar, even if the Role Play seems to have encouraged the attitude to refer to others’ messages more. At the same time, group cohesion (S2.2) was lower during the Role Play than in
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the other group techniques. These two data concerning the Role Play may lead to consider this technique good for helping students in taking into account the others’ point of view more, but on the other hand – since the assigned roles solicited students to assume opposite positions – this of course did not foster group cohesion. Finally, S2.3 values (greetings, phatics, salutations) are very similar in Jigsaw and Role Play and are higher in the Discussion, which – being the last activity of the course – was naturally the occasion for expressions of that kind. In addition to the analogies and differences just presented, it is also interesting to compare our results with the learning achievements obtained by students within the three activities (quantified in terms of marks received for each online activity). Table 3. Mean marks obtained by students in the three activities3
Discussion Role Play Jigsaw
27/30 27/30 24/30
The mean marks reported in Table 3 indicate that the Discussion and the Role Play obtained better achievements in comparison with the Jigsaw. This seems to suggest the idea that a good social dimension may positively influence the students’ learning achievements (see our Discussion), but – on the other hand – one should not take it for granted that a lower social dimension (as in our Role Play) will necessarily lead to poor achievements.
5 Conclusions In this paper we have investigated three collaborative techniques, and have compared their ability to foster the social dimension within the same group of students during a course. Naturally the study, like the majority of the sample studies in the educational field, is explorative in nature and thus statistically “weak”, in that the sample is so limited and at the same time it is impossible to control the numerous variables involved. As a consequence, the results are to be handled carefully; still some design principles and indications can be drawn from our analysis. First of all, it is worthwhile noting that our data do not definitely raise one of the techniques to a higher rank in respect to the others. Instead, what seems to emerge from our study, is that the choice among techniques at design level needs to be made with caution, by taking into account not only the learning objectives, context and contents to be addressed, but also the peculiarities of each technique and its ability to support more or less particular aspects of the learning process. For example, if the focus is on the social dimension and the aim is to enhance this component of the learning process, one should pay attention to the order of the activities proposed within the course, starting with easy techniques, such as for example the 3
Marks in Italy are usually given in thirties, with 18 as the lower acceptable mark.
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Discussion, which allow students to “naturally” know each other and does not impose roles or frequent rearrangements of groups. Only when the learning community has already started up, may one use techniques more demanding from the social point of view. Moreover, at design level one should consider and bear in mind that there are techniques which in principle are intended to foster a “positive” social dimension, whereas others (such as for example the Role Play) are intentionally thought to create opposition among people, so during the process one should take under control that they do not foster a “negative” social dimension as well. Finally, our study also confirms that it is not always possible to observe a direct relation between the social dimension and the learning achievements obtained by students (high social dimension = good achievements; or, on the opposite, low social dimension = bad achievements); moreover, given the high number of variables at play (e.g. the individual characteristics of the students involved in the process), it is even more difficult to link directly students' good or bad achievements to such dimension only. Despite (and because of) this, further research in this field would be recommended, with the aim of better understanding the nature of the relation between the social dimension and the achievements of a learning community.
References 1. Gardner, H.: Frames of mind. The theory of multiple intelligences. Basic Books, New York (1983) 2. Goleman, D.: Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. Bantam, New York (1995) 3. Dillenbourg, P. (ed.): Collaborative Learning: Cognitive and Computational Approaches. Pergamon, Oxford (1999) 4. Kanuka, H., Anderson, T.: Using Constructivism in Technology-Mediated Learning: Constructing Order out of the Chaos in the Literature. Radical Pedagogy 1(2) (1999) 5. The Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt. Some thoughts about constructivism and instructional design. Educational Technology 31(10), 16–18 (1991) 6. Scardamalia, M., Bereiter, C.: Computer support for knowledge-building communities. The Journal of the Learning Sciences 3(3), 265–283 (1994) 7. Vygotsky, L.: Thought and language (Hanfman, E., Backer, G., Trans.). MIT Press, Cambridge (1962); (originally published in 1934) 8. Pozzi, F., Persico, D.: Evaluation in CSCL: Tracking and analysing the learning community. In: Szücs, A., Bø, I. (eds.) E-competences for Life, Employment and Innovation, Proc. of the EDEN 2006 Annual Conference, Vienna, June 14-17, pp. 502–507 (2006) 9. Stacey, E.: Social Presence Online: Networking Learners at a Distance. Education and Information Technologies 7(4), 287–294 (2002) 10. Garrison, D.R., Anderson, T., Archer, W.: Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: computer conferencing in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education 2(2-3), 87– 105 (1999) 11. Rourke, L., Anderson, T., Garrison, R., Archer, W.: Assessing Social Presence In Asynchronous Text-based Computer Conferencing. Journal of Distance Education/Revue de l’enseignement à distance 14(2) (2001)
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12. Gunawardena, C.: Social Presence Theory and Implications for Interaction and Collaborative Learning in Computer Conferencing. International Journal of Educational Telecommunications 1(2-3), 147–166 (1995) 13. Blau, I., Caspi, A.: Social presence and participation in asynchronous discussion groups. In: Eshet, Y., Caspi, A., Yair, Y. (eds.) Learning in the technological era: Proceedings of 2007 Chais conference on Instructional Technologies Research, pp. 59–66. Open University of Israel, Ra’anana (2007) 14. Kanuka, H., Anderson, T.: Online social interchange, discord, and knowledge construction. Journal of Distance Education 13(1), 57–74 (1998) 15. Kreijns, K., Kirschner, P.A., Jochems, W., van Buuren, H.: Measuring perceived quality of social space in distributed learning groups. Computers in Human Behavior 20(5), 607–632 (2004) 16. Leh, A.S.C.: Computer-mediated communication and social presence in a distance learning environment. International Journal of Educational Telecommunications 7(2), 109–128 (2001) 17. Short, J., Williams, E., Christie, B.: The social psychology of telecommunications. Wiley, London (1976) 18. Huguet, P., Galvaing, M.P., Monteil, J.M., Dumas, F.: Social Presence Effects in the Stroop Task: Further Evidence for an Attentional View of Social Facilitation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 77(5), 1011–1025 (1999) 19. Danchak, M.M., Walther, J.B., Swan, K.: Presence in Mediated Instruction: Bandwidth, Behavior, and Expectancy Violations. Paper presented at the Seventh Annual Sloan-C International Conference on Online Learning, Orlando, Florida (2001) 20. Biocca, F., Burgoon, J., Harms, C., Stoner, M.: Criteria and scope conditions for a theory and measure of social presence. In: Proceedings of the Fourth Annual International Presence Workshop, Philadelphia, PA, pp. 19–12 (2001), http://www.temple.edu/ispr/ prev_conferences/proceedings/2001/index.htm (retrieved, 19-02-2009) 21. Nowak, K.: Defining and Differentiating Copresence, Social Presence and Presence as Transportation Presence. In: Proceedings of the Fourth Annual International Presence Workshop, Philadelphia, PA (2001), http://www.temple.edu/ispr/ prev_conferences/proceedings/2001/index.htm (retrieved, 19-02-2009) 22. Pozzi, F., Manca, S., Persico, D., Sarti, L.: A general framework for tracking and analysing learning processes in CSCL environments. Innovations in Education and Teaching International 44(2), 169–180 (2007) 23. Persico, D., Pozzi, F., Sarti, L.: A model for monitoring and evaluating CSCL. In: Juan, A.A., Daradoumis, T., Xhafa, F., Caballe, S., Faulin, J. (eds.) Monitoring and Assessment in Online Collaborative Environments: Emergent Computational Technologies for Elearning Support. IGI Global (2009) 24. Henri, F.: Computer conferencing and content analysis. In: Kaye, A.R. (ed.) Collaborative Learning Through Computer Conferencing: The Najaden Papers, pp. 115–136. Springer, New York (1992) 25. Lombard, M., Snyder-Duch, J., Campanella Bracken, C.: Content analysis in mass communication: Assessment and reporting of intercoder reliability. Human Communication Research 28(4), 587–604 (2002)
Heuristics for Implementation of Wiki Technology in Higher Education Learning Portia Pusey1 and Gabriele Meiselwitz2 1
Department of Educational Technology and Literacy, Department of Computer and Information Sciences, Towson University, 8000 York Road Towson, MD, 21252, USA {ppusey,gmeiselwitz}@towson.edu
2
Abstract. This paper discusses the use of wiki technology in higher education. Wikis are simple online information systems which often serve user communities. In higher education, wikis have been used in a supporting function to traditional courses; however, there is little research on wikis taking on a larger role as learning environments. This paper explores how wikis support goals of constructivist learning environments, especially communal constructivism theory. Further, it summarizes results of current research using wikis in the classroom and considers elements which can improve the use of wikis for learning. The paper concludes with a proposal of nine guidelines to improve the use of wiki technology as learning environments in higher education. Keywords: Wiki, Wiki Learning, Wiki Learning Environment, Communal Constructivism.
1 Introduction Time Magazine made a surprising choice for the 2006 person of the year: “You”. With this choice they described the shift of computer users from consumers to producers of internet content with community and collaboration reaching a scale never seen before [1]. Wikipedia, YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook are examples how web technology supports this shift and how technology provides an opportunity to build a new kind of understanding from the contributions of millions of people [1]. One technology, the wiki, is emerging as a potentially powerful learning tool. Wikis are simple online information systems (databases) providing a collection of user editable web pages which are often used to serve user communities [2]. Wikipedia exemplifies that with access to a computer comes access to information and access to experts, but also the ability to provide information and to be an expert. Research shows that wikis have been successfully used to support learning techniques such as interdisciplinary discussions, knowledge base building, collaborative learning, collaborative writing, peer mentoring, inquiry-based study, and learning community work [3-19]. However, developments in social constructivist theory and improved A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 507–514, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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access to the internet by most citizens permit the wiki to become more than an instructional support tool. This paper discusses the use of wikis as learning environments considering communal constructivist learning theory. It describes the features of wikis that facilitate the fundamental elements of communal constructivist theory and concludes with a list of recommended features for wikis used as learning environments.
2 Wiki Technology and Communal Constructivism Theory Wikis offer collaborative, student-centered learning environments. They support goals of constructivist learning environments by providing dynamic repositories that allow students to learn by constructing knowledge based on their experiences in a selfdirecting manner; becoming active contributors to each others’ learning; and developing a sense of community ownership of this content [17, 20, 21]. These features support recently emerging learning theories like communal constructivism, distributed cognition, and connectivism, which address the shift to networked knowledge and community learning [17, 20-24]. Wikis are especially well suited to fulfill the requirements for communal constructivist learning environments. Communal constructivism builds on constructivism theory. Students construct their own knowledge as a result of their experiences and interactions with others, but in addition are afforded the opportunity to contribute this knowledge to a communal knowledge base for the benefit of existing and future learners [22]. Holmes et al. [23] describe six features of a communal constructivist learning environment: (1) adaptive ICT, (2) peer tutoring, (3) publishing, (4) non-traditional roles, (5) assessment, and (6) continuity. 2.1 Adaptive ICT Holmes et al. [23] suggest that the course delivery method must be adaptive to support a diverse range of techniques -- peer tutoring, project based learning, cognitive apprenticeship, and year-to-year transfer of knowledge -- as well as diverse data -- audio, video, text, pictures and databases. Moreover, the ICT must be flexible because as the community shapes the knowledge held within the ICT they may also shape ICT itself [23]. A wiki is, by design, a flexible learning environment. A wiki page can take on any form including threaded discussions. A wiki can contain most file formats-- audio, video, text, or picture; or it can link to sites that support other features such as databases. The learners themselves organize the wiki structure and can link to other pages or outside resources. Thus the flexibility of the wiki learning environment, meets the changing needs of the community of learners for long term use. 2.2 Peer Tutoring Peer tutoring is a valuable tool of communal constructivism. There is evidence to suggest that when producing knowledge with and for peers, students return to their work to make sure they have mastered the topic [25].
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An interesting feature of a wiki learning environment that supports peer tutoring is the version control system. The wiki keeps track of changes that are made to the page. A learner can review the changes that were made in order to see advances in the content, changes due to mistakes, or additions to information that may have been made. In addition, there is a threaded discussion that is associated with every page, which is often related to changes that are made to a page. Learners can review the discussion to understand the processes that contributed to the changes; this allows for peer tutoring among current learners as well as between learners from past to present years. 2.3 Publishing Communal constructivism requires that students publish their work for use by students in subsequent years and for inspection by a wider community [25]. Therefore, students work for two audiences, the first audience is student peers and instructors; the second audience is interested parties beyond the school community. The body of literature reports that the wiki format has been used for collaborative work and publishing [4-6, 11-19]. Additionally, wikis have been used in IT journals to change the peer review process [13]. There are several features of wikis which will support input from within and outside a school community – page editing, hyperlinked pages, threaded discussion forums and page locking. Once a page is posted any registered member of a wiki can edit a page. However, the student who created the wiki page retains “ownership” of the page. As owner, the student is notified of changes to their page. This allows the owner to learn from contributors and to correct any incorrect information that is posted. The owner or any another member of the community can link the page to other pages. These linked pages can extend or clarify the current page. Additionally, associated with each page is a discussion area, which traditionally provides an area to discuss changes that need to be made to a page. A wiki supports the communal process of editing published pages better than traditional software (e.g., word processors) because the wiki locks a page as it is being edited by a learner/contributor. Therefore, if the page is unlocked a contributor can be assured that they are working from the most current version. 2.4 Non-traditional Roles Wikis support learners as well as instructors in non-traditional roles by inviting contributions by every member of the community and storing the knowledge in a user controlled environment. Students can use knowledge published by instructors as easily as instructors could use contributions made by students. Every member of the community is at once an instructor and a student as the focus moves away from specific content knowledge and moves towards the process of building a knowledge community. 2.5 Assessment Communal constructivism requires a rich assessment process such as portfolios or continuous assessment [13]. The wiki becomes the repository for the learner’s final
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published work; this work can be assessed as part of a portfolio or as an individual artifact using a rubric or checklist. Wiki usage data and revision tracking features facilitate the rich assessment process and overcome common student complaints regarding collaborative work. A common concern of students working collaboratively is that their individual contribution to the group work will not be recognized [26, 27]. Wiki software tracks changes to wiki pages by individual users which permits the instructor to view all contributions made by each student. Several studies reported higher student satisfaction in group work because of the capability of individualized assessment in wiki learning [5, 28]. Attempts have been made to automate the assessment process in a wiki but these attempts were not successful [28]. Therefore, the assessment process is still a laborintensive process on the part of the instructor. 2.6 Continuity Continuity allows for a body of knowledge to be used, reorganized, and built upon so that progress made from prior years is not lost [23, 25]. The wiki knowledge base can be continuously updated and augmented to include the most current information available [5, 13, 15, 18, 19]. This continuity is especially important in rapidly changing fields. Science, technology, and pedagogy are three fields that require a knowledge base that can be revised and reorganized with up-to-date information. Most research studies used wikis only for one semester; however, the wiki environment supported by communal constructivism would be used over many semesters to maintain continuity among learners. The wiki knowledge base would retain not only current knowledge but would also provide a historical record of the development process. Future learners could benefit not only from the current knowledge contained in the wiki but from an understanding of the thought processes used to shape the content of each page.
3 Limitations of Technology All of the reviewed studies used wikis as a supporting tool and observed several limitations. These limitations included that the technology was difficult to use; students did not actively participate when the assignment was voluntary; small communities did not engage learners; students were reluctant to edit each other’s pages; pages were formatted inconsistently; pages were mostly text; and switching between course management systems and wikis was cumbersome. The most often cited limitation in the literature was that the technology was too difficult to use [5, 6, 10]. There are two types of user interfaces for creating and editing pages. The first requires users to learn a special wiki mark-up language. However, Cubric [5] documented users had trouble with this difficult wiki interface. Some wiki engines have a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) interface with a spell checker. This allows the user to compose information within the wiki site and use similar formatting features that they currently use in their word processor (i.e., bold, italics, font size, color -- all from icons, or drop down menus).
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Another common problem when using wikis was that students did not participate if the wiki was voluntary [6, 8, 10, 19]. This limitation only becomes an issue when the wiki is used as a support tool. When the wiki is used as a learning environment all students will be participating. Full student participation is important because small communities participating in wikis might not produce a useful wiki. In one study the authors attributed the failure of their wiki learning environment to the small size of the community [10]. No clear recommendation of optimal size can be found in the literature, more research is needed to determine a good guideline. Another limitation that might be encountered was revealed in a study by TalElhasid & Meishar-Tal [19]. In this study students were reluctant to edit each other’s work. The authors of this study suggested that part of the assignment should include edits. While edits are not essential for learning to occur, they are essential to harness the full potential of the communal learning environment. As students contribute to the work of other students they build upon the knowledge available to all students. Another factor that might affect the usefulness of the wiki is the format of the individual web pages. One study, in which the wiki served as a collaborative research database between students and professors, documented difficulty in efficiently retrieving information that appeared in different locations on each page. The final analysis suggested that a database with a unified format was easier to use [29]. Easy access to the material is provided through the search function of the wiki. While this easy access is a strength of wikis, it is also a limitation. One study suggested that the wiki did not appeal to all learning styles because it was too text dependent [8]. This is a difficult limitation to overcome while still providing easy access to information. The wiki environment supports the use of video and audio files; however, information in this format is not searchable.
4 Recommendations Based on recent research using wiki technology in the classroom, several technical requirements have emerged that must be met for a wiki to be used as a learning environment. The following list is description of recommended features for an effective wiki learning environment. The wiki must support • User authentication system. To account for copyright and student privacy laws and to provide for accountability, it is important that the wiki require a username and password for access to the learning environment. • Popular browsers such as Internet Explorer, Netscape and Mozilla, and Safari. In order for all students to participate in the learning activity they need to be able to access and edit the wiki. This is only possible if all popular browsers are supported. • Thread mode. Direct interaction among students can occur in threaded discussions that are linked directly to each student’s webpage. This facilitates a dialogue among students about the information found on their web pages. • Image and video uploads. This is important in a learning environment because images and video can sometimes illustrate a topic better than pure text does. In addition video and images differentiate the content to accommodate diverse
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learning styles. It is possible this differentiation could influence the success of the learning associated with the use of a wiki. Tracking portfolios of edits and updates tied to individual users. When an authentication system is used, this statistical information about sessions, and pages (created, modified and visited) allows the instructor to monitor student use of the wiki. It permits the instructor to see how long the users are spending online, which pages they visit most often, and qualitative and quantitative data on each user’s contribution to the wiki. Because the revision tracking system does not account for many users working together from a single computer, this should not be the sole source of data for an individual’s contribution to the collaborative work. WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor. Many wiki engines use technical language for formatting web pages. This wiki syntax can vary between wiki engines. For ease of use, the wiki engine should include a WYSIWYG editor. Page locking system. When a user is editing a page, it is important that the page be locked so no other users can edit the page. This ensures that there is only one valid version of the webpage. Help link. A link to a help file with information about how to use the functions of the wiki is vital. Students may have questions about how to use the wiki. To deter students from contacting the instructor with technical questions, a help file should be accessible. Searchable audio and video. In order to support search of multimedia formats, the wiki should support audio and video search by keywords.
Furthermore, directions for the assignment, templates for the page layouts, guidelines for postings, and the assessment criteria should also be included. Many wiki engines currently incorporate these recommendations and are free or of little cost to the educator or learning institution. A good comparison of wiki engines can be found, appropriately, in Wikipedia [30].
5 Conclusion Wikis are well suited to support recent emerging learning theories addressing the shift to networked knowledge and community learning. Communal constructivism supported by a wiki learning environment offers students the opportunity to be active learners by facilitating the students’ contribution to the learning of others. Wikis used as learning environments facilitate communal construction of knowledge that not only benefits the author but the audience as well. The heuristics developed in this paper were developed considering recent research on communal constructivism learning theory as well as recent research on using wiki technology in the classroom and should be tested and refined. More research is needed to determine best practice for the use of wikis as primary learning environments. The optimal size of the community has yet to be determined. Furthermore, effective time efficient methods need to be developed for instructors to participate in the learning communities and to assess their students’ work. A future project is planned that will test the guidelines by applying them to a current course at this university.
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References 1. Grossman, L.: Time’s Person of the Year: You. Time Magazine 168, 38–41 (2006) 2. Leuf, B., Cunningham, W.: The Wiki way: Quick collaboration on the Web. AddisonWesley, Upper Saddle River (2001) 3. Augar, N., Raitman, R., Zhou, W.: Teaching and Learning Online with Wikis. In: Atkinson, R., McBeath, C., Jonas-Dwyer, D., Phillips, R. (eds.) Beyond the Comfort Zone: Proceedings of the 21st ASCILITE Conference, pp. 9–104. ASCILITE, Figtree (2004) 4. Bold, M.: Use of Wikis in Graduate Course Work. J. of Interactive Learning Res. 17, 5–14 (2006) 5. Bruns, A., Humphreys, S.: Building Collaborative Capacities in Learners: The M/Cyclopedia project, revisited. In: Proceedings International Symposium on Wikis (2007), http://eprints.qut.edu.au/10518/1/wiki16f-bruns.pdf 6. Choy, S.O., Ng, K.C.: Implementing Wiki Software for Supplementing Online Learning. Australasian J. of Ed. Tech. 23, 209–226 (2007) 7. Cress, U., Kimmerle, J.: Systemic and Cognitive Perspective on Collaborative Knowledge Building with Wikis. Int. J. of Comp. Supported Collaborative Learning (in press) 8. Cubric, M.: Wiki-Based Framework for Blended Learning. In: Proceedings 2007 International Symposium on Wikis, pp. 11–24. ACM, New York (2007) 9. Duffy, P.D., Bruns, A.: The Use of Blogs, Wikis and RSS in Education: A Conversation of Possibilities. In: Proceedings Online Learning and Teaching Conference 2006, pp. 31–38. Brisbane (2006) 10. Ebner, M., Kickmeier-Rust, M., Holzinger, A.: Utilizing Wiki-Systems in Higher Education Classes: A Chance for Universal Access? Universal Access in Inf. Soc. Int. J. (in press) 11. Farabaugh, R.: ‘The Isle is Full of Noises’: Using Wiki Software to Establish a Discourse Community in a Shakespeare Classroom. Language Awareness 16, 41–56 (2007) 12. Giordano, R.: An Investigation of the Use of a Wiki to Support Knowledge Exchange in Public Health. In: Proceedings of the 2007 International ACM Conference on Supporting Group Work, pp. 269–272. ACM, New York (2007) 13. Hill, M.D., Gaudiot, J., Hall, M., Marks, J., Prinetto, P., Baglio, D.: A Wiki for Discussing and Promoting Best Practices in Research. Comm. of the ACM 49, 63–64 (2006) 14. Kussmaul, C., Albert, S.: Reading and Writing with Wikis: Progress and Plans. In: Proceedings of the 2007 Conference on Creativity and Cognition 2007, pp. 261–262. ACM, New York (2007) 15. Raman, M.: Wiki Technology as a ‘Free’ Collaborative Tool within an Organizational Setting. Info. Systems Mgt. 23, 59–66 (2006) 16. Razavi, M.N., Iverson, L.: Designing for Privacy in Personal Learning Spaces. New Rev. of Hypermedia and Multimedia 13, 163–185 (2007) 17. Reinhold, S.: Wiki trails: Augmenting Wiki Structure for Collaborative, Interdisciplinary Learning. In: Proceedings of WikiSym 2006, pp. 47–58. ACM, New York (2006) 18. Sandars, J.: The Potential of Blogs and Wikis in Healthcare Education. Ed. for Primary Care 18, 16–21 (2007) 19. Tal-Elhasid, E., Meishar-Tal, H.: Models for Activities, Collaboration and Assessment in Wiki in Academic Courses. In: Eden conference electronic proceedings (2007), http://www.biu.ac.il/bar-e-learn/eden2007/tal_tal.doc 20. Schaffert, S.: Ike Wiki: A Semantic Wiki for Collaborative Knowledge Management. In: 1st International Workshop on Semantic Technologies in Collaborative Applications (2006), http://ki.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de/twiki/pub/Dev_d3web/ PapersRessourcen/schaffert06_ikewiki.pdf
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21. Wang, C., Turner, D.: Extending the Wiki Paradigm for Use in the Classroom. In: Proceedings of International Conference on Information Technology, pp. 255–259. IEEE Press, New York (2004) 22. Holmes, B., Garder, J.: e-Learning : Concepts and Principles. SAGE Publications, London (2006) 23. Holmes, B., Tangney, B., Fitzgibbon, A., Savage, T., Mehan, S.: Communal Constructivism: Students Constructing Learning for as Well as with Others. In: Price, J., Willis, D., Davis, N.E., Willis, J. (eds.) Proceedings of the 12th International Conference of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE 2001), pp. 3114– 3119. AACE, Chesapeake (2001) 24. Hutchins, E.: Cognition in the Wild. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge (1995) 25. Meehan, S., Holmes, B., Tangney, B., School, W.: Who Wants to be a Teacher? An Exploration of the Theory of Communal Constructivism at the Chalk Face. Teacher Development 5, 177–190 (2001) 26. Hassaien, A.: A Qualitative Student Evaluation of Group Learning in Higher Education. Higher Ed. in Europe 31, 135–150 (2007) 27. McGraw, P., Tidwell, A.: Teaching Group Process Skills to MBA Students: A Short Workshop. Ed. & Training 43, 162–170 (2001) 28. De Pedro, P.: New Method Using Wikis and Forums to Evaluate Individual Contributions in Cooperative Work While Promoting Experiential Learning: Results from Preliminary Experience. In: Proceedings International Symposium on Wikis, pp. 87–92. ACM, Montréal (2007) 29. Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_wiki_software 30. Haake, A., Lukosch, S., Schümmer, T.: Wiki-Templates: Adding Structure Support to Wikis on Demand. In: Proceedings of the 2005 International Symposium on Wikis, pp. 41–51. ACM, New York (2005)
Mobile Phone Interfaces for Informal Education Júlio Cesar dos Reis1,2, Rodrigo Bonacin1, and Maria Cecília Martins3 1
CTI, MCT, Highway Dom Pedro I, km 143,6, 13069-901 - Campinas, SP - Brazil {[email protected] and rodrigo.bonacin}@cti.gov.br 2 Institute of Computing – State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) – Campinas, SP – Brazil 3 Nucleus of Informatics Applied to Education (NIED) – State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) – Campinas, SP – Brazil [email protected]
Abstract. The mobile computing represents a new possibility for the people “learning while doing” their everyday activities. The advent of mobile devices has created new opportunities that go beyond the simple communication; their software interfaces have a primary role in enabling the communication and collaboration among the evolved parties. In a learning environment for informal education, it is essential to design interfaces that minimize the interaction difficulties and maximize the learning activities itself. To achieve this, in this work is presented a design proposal and prototype of a mobile phone interface for mobile collaborative discussion. The proposal combines mobile learning with collaborative learning, stimulating the constitution of communities of practice aiming to promote the informal education. Keywords: Mobile Collaborative Learning, Communities of Practice, Informal Education.
1 Introduction Nowadays, mobile devices are present in a large range of human activities. Some researchers claim that a new connected and mobile society is emerging, with a variety of information sources and means of communication [1]. These devices can help us to perform educational and leisure activities in a collaborative way, sharing knowledge of how to perform or perform them better. At this work, the informal education is understood as the lifelong education in which people learn from everyday experience, focusing in aspects related to our lives [2]. In the real world, most of the time we do not have lessons plans to follow, we respond to situations and experiences, as well as learn from them. The mobile computing represents a new possibility for the people “learning while doing” their everyday activities. The advent of mobile devices has created new opportunities that go beyond the simple communication between people. There are new learning scenarios that can be supported by mobile devices, given that these devices can be present at anytime and anywhere. Therefore, by using mobile devices, it is possible to increase the educational development “out of school” by sharing knowledge and experiences about the situation that someone is living at the same time. However, subjects related to this type of education normally are diverse and A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 515–524, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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comprehensive, consequently are necessary technological solutions that allow the involved people interact and act in a collaborative way. At this context, interfaces have a primary role in enabling communication and collaboration among the evolved parties. In a learning environment for informal education, it is essential to design interfaces that minimize the interaction difficulties and maximize the learning activities itself. One big challenge is to deal with the devices restrictions, such as: screen size, performance, and data input difficulties. Another challenge is to provide appropriated interfaces to be used at different places and situations. This work presents a design proposal and prototype of a mobile phone interface for mobile collaborative discussion. A new approach aims to the enrichment of this interface, employing different medias and forms of interaction. The objective is to stimulate the constitution of “communities of practice” in witch members that share common problems and/or work in the same domain can interact in order to constitute “wireless” communities of knowledge sharing about any issue. Using the multimedia interfaces is possible to the practitioners share images, sounds, and videos during the discussions. At the proposed design, the resources of these interfaces are essentials to enable the practitioners to explain better their ideas. The work is organized as follow: Section 2 presents the theoretical referential; Section 3 explain about the approach and the design requirements, conception, principles and decisions; Section 4 presents the prototype and examples; Section 5 discusses the impact of the interface design decisions to the constitution of the communities and to the promotion and development of the informal education; and Section 6 concludes.
2 Theoretical Referential This section presents the main theoretical topics related with the proposal, explaining about mobile collaborative learning (section 2.1), communities of practice (section 2.2) and informal education (section 2.3). 2.1 Mobile Collaborative Learning The knowledge can be understood as something socially built by members of a community or a culture. Within each group (virtual or not), participants are producers and consumers of knowledge; not only for them, but also for the common good. This knowledge is distributed among the members of this community, through social interactions, collaboration and communication [3]. Regarding the collaboration, Dutra [4] notes that collaborative learning is not only a technique of the classroom, it is a philosophy of learning in which students organize themselves into groups to discuss and evaluate issues or problems in a way not so much structured. In this philosophy there is the sharing of authority and responsibilities, so in this sense the decisions and solutions are built through the collective consensus. Furthermore the collaboration is a shared process of creation, in which two or more individuals, with complementary skills, interact to create a shared understanding that none of them could obtain previously in an individual activity. Thus the collaboration generates social interaction and these indicate the importance
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of the relationship between individual and environment in the construction of psychological processes [5]. Given that the basis of collaborative learning is in the interaction and exchange of information, technological mediums (hardware and software that allow this interaction in an easier, simple and effective way) can contribute to turn this process more dynamic and effective. Collaborative learning through mobile devices has being investigated due to the agility and mobility offered by these devices. The mobile technologies are more embedded, ubiquitous and interconnected. With the improvement of these capabilities, the social interactions, awareness and connectivity contexts become richer. In this scenario, real and virtual environments can contribute to a more situated, personal and collaborative learning for all life [1]. According to Trifonova [6], the mobile learning can be considered as any form of learning and/or teaching that occurs through a device or at a mobile environment. The mobile learning has being considered by many researchers as an integral part of any other form of educational process in the future. Thus, there is considerable interest from technical developers and educators to explore the capabilities and features of mobile technologies in new forms of learning. 2.2 Communities of Practice Since the beginning of history, human beings have formed communities that share cultural practices reflecting their collective learning: from a tribe around a cave fire, to a group of nurses in a ward, to a street gang, or to a community of engineers interested in some issue. Participating in these “communities of practice” (CoP) is essential to the learning process. It is the core of what makes human beings capable of meaningful knowing [7]. The communities of practice are based in the social theory of learning. According to Wenger [8] this theory integrates the components: practice, meaning, identity and community as necessary to characterize social participation as a process of learning and of knowing. The main idea of the CoP is the individual as an active participant in the practices of social communities with common interest in some subject or problem, and that s(he) can collaborate and share ideas. These communities are in everywhere and people belong to a number of them: at work, at school, at home, and even in hobbies. “We are core members of some and we belong to others more peripherally. For example, you may be a member of a band, or you may just come to rehearsals to hang around with the group” [9]. Wenger [9] explains that members of a community are “informally bound by what they do together — from engaging in lunchtime discussions to solving difficult problems — and by what they have learned through their mutual engagement in these activities. A community of practice is thus different from a community of interest or a geographical community, neither of which implies a shared practice.” According to Wenger [9] a community of practice defines itself along three dimensions: what it is about, how it functions and what capability it has produced. 2.3 Informal Education Jeffs and Smith [12] point out that the informal education brings back elements of an education dated to more than 2500 years ago. In ancient Greece, the education, in
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general was made on the streets at events in which people learned from each other through the establishment of dialogues and discussions. Recent studies try to determine where education happens, addressing the lifelong education and for life [10]. The informal education can be seen as the knowledge of the common sense, personal knowledge or practical, largely developed through experiences [11]. It is important to note that according to Smith [2] the purpose of the informal education is not different from any other form to educate, it differs only on its scope and focus on aspects related to the common and everyday life. The informal education is related to a process of continuous learning, because you learn all the time, every day and anywhere about a wide range of issues. Finally, for Smith [2] the informal education does not have lessons or plans to follow, unlike the formal education. The informal is done through situations and experiences, and this can occur at any place, different from the formal which is strongly linked to institutions and classrooms. It is important to clarify that Jeffs and Smith [12] reported that even in the informal or formal, you can not say that one is better than the other; it depends on the educational objectives, situations and of the context involved.
3 Approach and Design People live in a process of continuous learning all the time and not only connected to certain places and/or institutions. This process is collective and involves mainly action, meaning, identity and social participation through communication, dialogue and collaboration. In this one, each individual must develop themselves by their contributions, with an active, engaged and practice participation, collaborating and sharing ideas about something through communities. Mobile technological mediums seems like an interesting way to develop this process, contributing to turn it more dynamic and effective because can improve agility and mobility. This work uses the informal education as focus, as in this form of education any issue can be discussed and explored by users, and consider the mobile phone interfaces for the constitution of communities of practice aiming to promote the informal education. The use of the mobile learning can intensify the chances of learning by the user independent of time and place, creating in this way, new possibilities for the development of the informal education. In this context, mobile devices can be used by users to share and discuss issues or doubts related to situations that they experience in their daily activities. Moreover, it is supposed that individuals in the face of a new situation or problem, they could act in a more agile and flexible way through the shared knowledge by the collaborative and mobile learning. The joint of these two forms of learning (collaborative and mobile) can provide a different way for the occurrence of the informal education. These forms of learning bring peculiar characteristics that can be better exploited by a properly designed mobile computational environment. In order to build this environment was necessary the development and organization of interaction and interfaces. Multiplies forms of collaboration must be available in the environment, beyond of it, is necessary to provide the minimum of information that must be contained on these interfaces in a simple way. The solution is not trivial,
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and there must be a set of factors that lead to the educational successful of the software. For that, several requirements have to be considered such as the flexibility of the application components to fit the different contexts of collaborative use (which are numerous when it deals with informal education). Additionally, the application should provide many forms of expression. With this objective the prototype adopted various media as a form to develop a richer and fruitful collaboration. The computational proposal presented in this work foresees that the participants must have more possibilities and freedom to interact and propose collaborative discussions on topics related to the interests and practices of the groups at the software. The goal is to provide a virtual mobile environment that can support the constitution of CoP, in this way, individuals with similar interests and practices can constitute group of collaborators. These ones can discuss an existing topic and/or open new topics of discussion according to their interests of practice. The communities are represented by the groups in the software. They are created by users in order to organize topics related to the main group proposes. Furthermore, due to the large range of topics that can be discussed, it was created a way to organize the information in different hierarchical levels. These levels were divided into groups, topics and collaborations. The groups (communities) are the first level where there is a first division of themes, within a group there may be several topics, which is a second level of division to the themes of the collaboration, the topics are like sub-themes of the main theme (group); and within a topic may be numerous collaborations, whose their themes are according to the topic and the group in which they belong. The groups represent the CoP and they have a vital role within the application, because it is from them that the various areas of action from the informal education may be organized. Users of a same group are people with common interests and practices in which the objective is to discuss problems and find out solutions in a collaborative way. It means that a group is a specific area of formal or informal knowledge where users can be grouped, and topics and collaborations are organized. Users will be able to join the existing groups, or create new ones, as their interest. In the next section, the developed prototype will be showed, so we can explain the ideas better through examples.
4 Prototype and Examples The main principle behind the proposed interface design is the self organization of the groups. These groups perform discussions through collaboration sessions. At the prototype, the collaboration occurs through synchronous and asynchronous multimedia messages. A specific group of collaborators, in a discussion, can consolidate (highlight) messages that could be important to someone that may want to know a synthesis of it. The users can decide which state (situation) each collaboration is, for example any collaborator could vote if they find out the solution of a problem or not. The users can also search discussions by topic in order to know more about some problem, and give opinions (commentaries) using asynchronous messages even after the end of a synchronous session. The development of the collaboration can start in the insertion of a new group (see Figure 1a). Within the groups can be added various topics (see Figure 1b) and within
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the topics is possible to add new collaborations. Figure 1c shows the list of topics for a group called Bikes, at this interface users can choose a topic to add a new collaboration to interact through synchronous and asynchronous messages.
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Fig. 1. Prototype’s interfaces about groups and topics
In the collaborations the participants can send synchronous messages as an instantaneous chat, see Figure 2a illustrating this situation. After sending the message, it is displayed in an interface that centralizes the messages from all involved collaborators in the discussion, as shown in Figure 2b. This illustrates the interface with an example of synchronous message exchange in which users establish a communication (chat) from a defined theme – in this case "Nature and Profits" - and specify his "speech" as the type: question, answer, solution, questions, etc. The participants themselves can also select which messages should be consolidated (highlight) during the chat and an interface as Figure 2c is generated. These consolidated messages are central because it will describe a summary of all the synchronous interaction with the most important messages selected from users on a thematic. At the interface of consolidation (Figure 2c), the messages will be organized according to their types, for example: doubt, question, conclusion, etc. Figure 2c shows an example of consolidated messages from the developed collaboration in Figure 2b.
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Fig. 2. Prototype’s interfaces about synchronous collaboration and consolidation of messages
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The occurrence of communication via asynchronous messages - as is shown in Figure 3a - is a way to add new information to synchronous collaboration developed or under development. This will be especially useful in two situations: 1. When the theme of the collaboration takes several days to be resolved, in which is necessary several rounds of synchronous interaction (online chat). In this case, the comments (asynchronous messages) may be a way to divulge possible solutions at any time during this process in the period between the online conversations (synchronous messages). These comments can then be discussed in a new round of synchronous collaboration, thus the discussions of the chat can be articulated with the comments. 2. When after the finalization of a collaboration session occur any relevant idea of an user who was not involved on it. The comments are a way to these users register and divulgate their idea for the others, contributing with the proposed theme in the collaboration.
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Fig. 3. Prototype’s interfaces about asynchronous collaboration (commentaries) and situation of the collaborations
Another way to support the collaborative environment is the design proposal where the users can define possible "states" for the developed collaborations, as illustrated in Figure 3b. Collaborators can vote on the basis on information from the collaboration (synchronous and asynchronous messages) in which situation of the collaboration is; e.g.: resolved, pending, not conclusive, etc. These states or situations relate to what was discussed in the collaboration. The environment brings the possibility to present various final situations to a specific collaboration; the goal is that there may be a number of situations selected by users of the application, which can vote from the interface presented in Figure 3c. Figure 3a illustrates an interface of commentaries in which users sent asynchronous messages to a collaboration named "Problems with Java." Figure 3b presents the vote done by users of the same collaboration. Moreover, the prototype’s interfaces allow to employ various medias in a collaboration. These medias are generated by users from their interaction and exploration of the external environment with mobile devices and can be added in the synchronous or asynchronous collaborative messages. By adding a new message
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(see Figure 4a), the user can add a new media in that message. This media can be an image, an audio or a video.
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Fig. 4. Prototype’s interfaces showing the interface to send messages and the interfaces to attach multimedia at the messages
The user selects the type of the media and the file (see Figure 4b), and attach the selected media to the message, as illustrated in Figure 4c. Then to send the message, the media chosen is linked to the text of the message, and other users of the collaboration will have access to this media at the main interface of the collaboration (see Figure 2b).
5 Interfaces, Communities and the Informal Education Features designed for the environment must be represented on its interface, and it is necessary that the interfaces make sense to the users and to their context. Furthermore, the design of the features, the interaction model and its relationship with the educational activities must be well thought out. At learning in a virtual environment, the interfaces can be as a facilitator or a big problem, because if this interface is bad designed can let the educational activities unviable, but if it is well designed can provide great help and really maximize the learning results. Besides it, to provide the development of the communities, the interface should present specific features for the satisfactorily support and management of them. The interface should provide mechanism for the users create, organize and maintain the communities by themselves. The prototype developed in this work shows a possible alternative to stimulate the constitution of the CoP through the groups. From these groups, all the organization of the application, the topics and the collaborative discussions are developed. The themes, topics and collaborations supported by the application’s interface creates conditions for the users develop the communities in a natural way. The subjects related to their daily life fits in the thematic of these communities. It is observed that the communities are the basis for the organization of themes that are part of the informal education. The design of the interface allows a particular organization which enables the establishment of these communities and therefore also
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issues from the informal education, which is developed through collaborative discussions. The interfaces allow people from specific groups discuss problems in a little structured way, since they have freedom to propose questions, interact and express. Decisions and solutions are built through interactions, constituting a “collective consensus” over the time. Therefore the interfaces encourage learning experiences in a process of communication and collaboration permeated by issues related to situations experienced in the day-to-day. Finally, the use of the multimedia in the interface adds distinct features to the application, providing new forms of expression available to the users during the collaboration. These resources can provide benefits in the exploration of the creativity of those involved, because they can make associations between the messages in the collaboration with the external world, such as by creating a video to illustrate an idea in a message, the user will be exercising his/her reflection and trying to make connections of that media with all the collaborative context under discussion and with the message that will be sent.
6 Conclusion Recent studies have investigated how education can be boosted and developed in any place or time. These studies aim to maximize the possibilities for learning of citizens in their daily lives. Mobile collaborative learning environments are frontiers of research in the scientific community of the area and there are several challenges in this context to obtain an improvement in the quality of the collaboration. So it is essential to study new alternatives to design richer mobile computing environments in order to improve its capacity and easiness of communication, interaction, and expression by users. In this work was addressed aspects of design of interfaces of a computational environment to support mobile collaborative learning which allows the constitution of communities of practice. These were developed from groups and mobile collaborative discussions which aims the promotion and development of the informal education. Furthermore, it was produced a prototype whose intention was to illustrate the main ideas of the approach. From this prototype, a reflection and analysis about the role and impact of the mobile software interfaces was elucidated, and we could observe that the proposal shows a propitious scenery for the development of the informal education on the basis at the communities of practice. As further work is proposed a better and deeper investigation of the approach presented from a theoretical and practical view. Even though the proposal is based on these aspects, research on real case studies should point out improvements and new solutions for the design of the interface in the studied context. We also propose to study the real educational benefits of the proposed approach in long period of using and include new features to the prototype, mainly to sophisticate the establishment of the communities of practice. Acknowledgments. This work is funded by Microsoft Research - FAPESP Institute for IT Research (proc. n. 2007/54564-1).
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References 1. Naismith, L., Lonsdale, P., Vavoula, G., Sharples, M.: Report 11: Literature Review in Mobile Technologies and Learning. In: Future Lab. University of Birmingham (2006), http://www.futurelab.org.uk/resources/documents/lit_reviews/ Mobile_Review.pdf 2. Smith, M.K.: Introducing informal education: What is informal education? Where does it happen? How has it developed (1997), http://www.infed.org/i-intro.htm#what 3. Fino, C.A.: What is collaborative learning (2004), http://www.uma.pt/ carlosfino/Documentos/PowerPoint_Aprendizagem_colaborativa.pdf 4. Dutra, R.L.S.: Learning Environment for the Teaching of Computer Networks Oriented to Problems. Institute of Informatics, Master Dissertation. Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil (2002) 5. Nitzke, J., Carneiro, M.L.F., Geller, M.: Creation of environments for collaborative learning. In: X Brazilian Symposium of Informatic in Education, Curitiba/PR (1999) 6. Trifonova, A.: Mobile learning: Review of the literature. Technical Report. University of Trento. Department of Information and Communication Technology (2003) 7. Nicolini, D., Gherardi, S., Yanow, D.: Knowing in Organizations: A Practice-Based Approach. M. E. Sharpe (2003) 8. Wenger, E.: Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1999) 9. Wenger, E.: Communities of Practice: Learning as a Social System: In: Systems Thinker (1998), http://www.co-i-l.com/coil/knowledge-garden/cop/lss.shtml 10. Bentley, T.: Learning beyond the Classroom: Education for a changing world. Routledge, London (1998) 11. Fisher, T., Higgings, C., Loveless, A.: Teachers Learning with Digital Technologies: A review of research and projects. Future Labs Series (2006), http://www.futurelab.org.uk/research/lit_reviews.htm 12. Jeffs, T., Smith, M.K.: Informal Education: conversation, democracy and learning. In: Bramcote Hills, 3rd edn., Educational Heretics Press, Nottingham (1996)
A Proposed Movie Recommendation Method Using Emotional Word Selection Mina Song1, Hyun Namgoong1, Hong-Gee Kim1, and JuHyun Eune2 1
Seoul National University, Biomedical Knowledge Engineering Lab, Seoul, Republic of Korea {songmina,ngh,hgkim}@snu.ac.kr 2 Seoul National University, Faculty of Design, Intermedia Lab, Seoul, Republic of Korea [email protected]
Abstract. Many online movie sites or music sites offering recommendation services employ a collaborative filtering technique archived by analyzing customers’ satisfaction rating, evaluation, search history, download records etc. This approach, however, has difficulty with reflecting individuals’ perosonalities and their own taste for the recommendation. Exploiting such emotional data to a film recommendation remains a challenge in the present. To solve this, we propose an emotion words selection method usable for the collaborative filtering. Through the proposed emotion-based collaborative filtering method, a recommendation system can exploit individuals’ emotional differences on the movie items for the recommendation process. This approach was proven by gathering users’ emotion words selection and satisfaction rating data on several films, and comparing them with MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) that is a representative psychometric test for measuring psychological preferences and personalities. This study assumes that individual’s movie taste is much related to the personalities classifiable by MBTI types, because movie taste and evaluation on a movie is influenced by individual’s subjective matters. The results of this study show that emotion words based collaborative filtering method is appropriate for extracting users’ MBTI types. Thus, if a recommendation service offers users films based on their MBTI types, the users can be recommended more customized films. Keywords: Emotion-Words, Emotion, MBTI, Collaborative Filtering, Movie, Recommendation Service.
1 Introduction Collaborative filtering is an important method of search service or recommendation service. As a data analysis technique, it helps users to find the items they would like to find or purchase [1]. Amazon.com is the one of the best model applying collaborative filtering to a recommendation service. Amazon.com analyzes numerous customers’ purchase records and search history, satisfaction rating of items for collaborative filtering method [2]. MovieFinder, MovieLens, Drugstore, HP Shopping A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 525–534, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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and Wal-Mart are other examples of the sites which applied collaborative filtering techniques to their recommendation services [3]. Currently, however, collaborative filtering techniques mainly rely on simply unified values like satisfaction rating, like-dislike selection, and purchase records or frequency, search history. Therefore, in the case of movie or music, this collaborative filtering has difficulty with reflecting subjective individual personality or movie taste or music taste. It needs a different approach that can extract users’ subjective information for movie or music, because, those art forms rely on users’ subjective personalities or preference, tastes. Thus, we present an emotion-word selection method for emotion-based collaborative filtering. This method can help to reflect individuals’ personalities or users’ movie tastes for the recommendation process. So, if applied to movie sites or music sites, the emotion-based collaborative filtering can help to offer users customized recommendation. This approach was proven by gathering users’ emotion-word selection and satisfaction for the given films, and comparing them with MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) that is a representative psychometric test to measure psychological preferences.
2 Related Work 2.1 Recommendation Service and Collaborative Filtering Recommendation service offers users items of interest or need. Two methods of recommendation systems are first, calculating the similarity between ‘items’ related to users’ expressed needs, interests or responses, and second, calculating the similarity between ‘users’ related to other users who have similar interests, needs or responses. The second method is well known as collaborative filtering [4]. Collaborative filtering helps user make choices or find items or information based on the opinion, ratings, or evaluation of other users. Many sites which offers recommendation services apply collaborative filtering technique based on item ratings by users [5]. MovieLens, Recommendz, FilmConseil, VideoRecommender, and MovieFinder.com offers recommendation services for the context of films applying collaborative filtering theqnique [4]. 2.2 Emotion-Based Research Emotion can be defined as a subjective response on a variety of stimulus, like feelings, thoughts, behavior, and so on. It is reflected by personality, disposition, character, and temperament. [7]. There are researches applying human emotion to the recommendation services. Fang-Fei suggests emotion-based search and recommendation system for music items which have specific emotions [8]. They extracted characterized melodies from film music, and analyzed that how human feels the melodies. From the analyzed data, users can retrieve a specific type of music, using specific feeling, emotion that he / she wants to listen or find. Young-Gie et al. studied for matching sound-emotion information with imageemotion information by abstracting sound-emotion data from human sound.
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Young-Gie et al. developed a DB for emotion and matched and classified emotioncolor with emotion-word. From this study, they developed more appropriate image recommendation system for users’ emotion [10]. Another emotion-based recommendation service is developed by Chiwhan-Im for online shopping mall. The system matches customer’s emotion and item style for recommending items supposed suitable to the user from these results [9]. 2.3 MBTI MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) is a representative psychometric test to measure psychological preferences. MBTI classifies and expresses people’s disposition [12][14]. The MBTI is based on psychologist Jung’s theory about perception and judgment, and the attitudes in which perception and judgment are used by different types of people. The MBTI measures preferences of people with four dimensions: E (Extroversion) & I (Introversion), S (Sensing) & N (iNtuition), T (Thinkging) & F (Feeling), and J (Judging) & P (Perceiving). In combination, 16 personality types (ISFJ, ISFP, ISTJ, ISTP, INFJ, INFP, INTJ, INTP, ESFJ, ESFP, ESTJ, ESTP, ENFJ, ENFP, ENTJ, ENTP) are possible [11]. Jamie & Bryan analyzed the learning styles, teaching agriculture course, and MBTI types of agriculture pre-service teachers. They found that teachers with different MBTI types have different learning styles and teaching methods. For example, ESTJ type is practical, realistic, matter-of-fact, and with a natural head for business or mechanics, while ISTJ type is seriousness, quiet, and earn success by concentration and thoroughness [11]. Hyun-ho compared MBTI type with leisure preference type and utilized the results for marketing for leisure. This study found that different MBTI type has different leisure preference type, for example, ‘with- family type’, ‘sports type’, ‘rest type’, and ‘with-mass media type’ [13]. In this paper, MBTI is used for comparison with users’ personalities to prove how the proposed approach in this paper is approapriate for reflecting users’ movie taste according to users’ personalities.
3 Design of the Study 3.1 Research Overview Current recommendation systems have a limintation to exploite information with regard to user’s emotion on the film, an individual preference, or movie taste. Users can have different reasons why they think, feel or evaluate like that about the film, according to users‘ different preferences or backgounds (e.g. touching feeling, wellformed plot, funny story...). We assume that exploiting the emotional information for movie items will be an example of a recommendation system taking advantage of users' personal diifferences. To show the possiblity of our idea, we present a study for deriving information of users’ emotion on each film from emotion-based collaborative filtering. The study was progressed with 4 steps. In step 1 and 2, we selected several films for the experiment and extracted emotional words for subjective evaluation on the films. In
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step 3, questionnaire respondents were encouraged to select 2 emotional words on each film and to evaluate the satisfaction rating for each film, and to check their MBTI type. In step 4, we analyzed data with 3 methods: step 4-1 General Satisfaction rating vs. MBTI-based Satisfaction rating, step 4-2 MBTI-based Satisfaction rating vs. MBTI-based Emotion words selection, and step 4-3 Emotional word selection of I type vs. E type. 3.2 Research Experiment and Results Step 1. Movie Selection. For the questionnaire, 5 films were selected from ‘Korean Film Council’ database [18]. Korean Film Council offers movies ranking based on cinema audiences from 2000 to 2007. The movies were selected with following two criteria. 1. Can the movie represent the various genres? 2. Did the movie release within 3 years? The reasons of these criteria are to support the varied users’ movie tastes, and to help user answer more accurately about the movies. The movies to meet these criteria are like Table 1. The reason why foreign films couldn’t be selected for this research is because the genres of the foreign films are limited to SF, adventure, action, fantasy etc. In other words, films like ‘Transformers(SF & action & adventure)’, ‘The Lord Of The Rings series (fantasy & adventure & action)’, ‘The Matrix(SF & action)’, ‘Harry Potter series(fantasy & adventure)’, and ‘Mission: Impossible(adventure & action & mystery)’ can’t represent the various genres. Table 1. Selected Movies
Step 2. Emotion Words Selection. We extracted 39 groups of emotional words from Younghee’s research [14]. Younghee studied and arranged Korean emotional words in her study. After this process, 10 emotional words were re-abstracted for movie evaluation from extracted 39 groups of emotional words by a questionnaire. The questionnaire survey was conducted to 13 people in their early 20s.
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The selected 10 emotional words were located following the dimension of pleasant and aroused defined by Ekmans’ ‘Basic Emotion Dimension’(Fig. 1) as shown Fig. 2 [15] [16].
Fig. 1. Basic Emotion Dimension
The reason why arranged according to Ekman’s ‘Basic Emotion Dimension’ is to help user can choose suitable emotion word for his/her emotion on movie by providing the similar emotion-word groups.
Fig. 2. Emotion Words Arrangement for Movie
Step 3. Questionnaire. The questionnaire made up of 5-point scale for satisfaction, of 10 emotional words for user’s emotion on movies, and of a checklist for MBTI type.
Fig. 3. Part of the Questionnaire
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Fig. 3 is a part of the questionnaire. Respondents were encouraged to check a score for satisfaction rating and to select 2 emotional words on each film. We added a short storyline, cast, and poster of the film in the questionnaire to make user remind more easily and accrately. The questionnaire was conducted on 101 people in their early 20s who were waiting for a screen time in front of the theater. Step 4. Data analyzing. In this step, we analyzed gathered data in three perspectives to derive meaningful co-relation among satisfaction rating, selected emotional words and MBTI. Step 4-1. General Satisfaction rating vs. MBTI-based Satisfaction rating Step 4-2. MBTI-based Satisfaction rating vs. MBTI-based Emotion words selection Step 4-3. Emotional word selection of I-typed vs. E-typed users. Step 4-1. General Satisfaction rating vs. MBTI-based Satisfaction rating. Since movie taste can be influenced by subjective and emotional aspects of users, the response or rating for same film can be different according to different subjective personalities of users. So, we assumed there will be a difference between general satisfaction rating and subdivided satisfaction rating following user’s personality (MBTI-based satisfaction rating). This study follows the theory that MBTI type could indicate the individual personality. To prove this assumption, the satisfaction rating data obtained from questionnaire was divided to general satisfaction rating and MBTI-based satisfaction rating. And the divided satisfaction ratings were compared to them. There was, however, no statistical significance difference between general satisfaction rating and MBTI-based satisfaction rating. The reason why we couldn’t find statistical significance between them is extremely popular films selected to get high response rate from questionnaire respondents. Since these selected films were very popular (ranked 12th in Korea), the satisfaction ratings were also very high. Thus, it needs to experiment with controversial films. Though we couldn’t find statistical significance of this test, we found some features of MBTI-based satisfaction rating (Fig. 4.). In case of ‘King and the Clown’ film, satisfaction ratings of all MBTI types are similar, on the other hand, satisfaction rating of other four films are quite different with regard to MBTI type.
Fig. 4. The highest average & the lowest average of MBTI-based satisfaction rating and general satisfaction rating
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INFP type gave the lowest satisfaction rating of ‘Welcome to Dongmakgol’, while the type gave the highest satisfaction rating of ‘Transformers’. In contrast, although ISTP type gave the highest satisfaction ratings of ‘King And The Clown’, ‘Welcome to Dongmakgol’, ‘Pounds Beauty’, while all respondents in ISTP type didn’t even see ‘Transformers’. From this we can predict that INFP type is in favor of ‘Transformers’, but ISTP type is not in favor of it. ISFP type gave the lowest satisfaction rating of ‘Pounds Beauty’, while INTJ type gave the highest satisfaction rating of this. In other words, ISFP type is not in favor of ‘Pounds Beauty’, but INTJ type is favor of it. From these results of MBTI-based satisfaction rating test, we can interpret ENTJ, ESTJ, ESFJ, ISTP types have similar movie taste. ISFP, INFP types and INTJ, INTP types are also interpreted as having similar movie tastes. Step 4-2. MBTI-based Satisfaction rating vs. MBTI-based Emotion words selection. To prove the necessity of the movie evaluation based on emotion words selection, MBTI-based emotion words selection method compared with MBTI-based satisfaction rating. For this test, the answers of respondents were grouped according to ‘answer correspondence’. Answer correspondence means numbers with same evaluation of same film in this study. Emotion words selection was classified into 11 groups of answer correspondence degree from 0 to 10, and satisfaction rating were classified into 6 groups of answer correspondence degree from 0 to 5. The group of answer correspondence level 0 means that the answers of a group people are entirely different, and the group of answer correspondence degree 10 (emotion words selection) and answer correspondence degree 5 (satisfaction rating) means the answers of group members are perfectly the same. After this process, we calculated the correspondence degree of MBTI type of group members as shown in the Fig. 5.
Fig. 5. Correspondence degree of MBTI Type * correspondence degree: maximum 4, minimum 0
Correspondence degree of group members’ MBTI type of emotion words selection is generally higher than satisfaction rating. And in case of emotion words selection, the higher answer correspondence, the higher correspondence degree of MBTI type, but satisfaction rating is not. This result shows that the method of emotion words
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selection can reflect group members’ MBTI type. In other words, emotion wordsbased collaborative filtering can reflect network members’ personalities or movie tastes. Step 4-3. Emotion word selection of I type vs. E type Besides, we could be noticed two distinguishing features during analyzing process of the emotion word selection data. Feature 1. There are differences between I type and E type selecting emotion words. This feature can be displayed by the emotion words selected by more than 50% people of each MBTI type. We classified the abstracted data into I type and E type. The reason why MBTI type was divided into I and E type is that respondents answered intuitively for this I & E question compared to other questions (S & N, F & T, P & J). From this response, we assumed the questions inquiring about I & E type are the definite indicator. I type is consist of 8 subtypes (ISFJ, ISFP, ISTJ, ISTP, INFJ, INFP, INTJ, INTP) and E type is also consist of 8 subtypes (ESFJ, ESFP, ESTJ, ESTP, ENFJ, ENFP, ENTJ, ENTP). Fig. 6 is a frequency graph of emotion words selection of I & E types on a movie ‘King And The Clown’. As Fig. 6 shows, there are noticeable differences in emotional responses to the words ‘interesting’ and ‘tantalizing’ between I and E type. All types of E type felt ‘interesting’ emotion, while 3 types of I type felt ‘interesting’ on the ‘King And The Clown’ film. And 4 types of E type felt ‘tantalizing’ emotion, while all types of I type felt ‘tantalizing’.
Fig. 6. A frequency graph of emotion words selection of I & E types on ‘King And The Clown’ * exciting: E=0 & I=0, touching: E=5 & I=5
And E type selected more various emotions (tense, morbid, interesting, sad, annoyed, empty, uninteresting) in comparison with I type (tantalizing), while, E type selected more negative emotions (annoyed, empty, uninteresting) than I type. Therefore, we could assume a tendency that E type receives more various emotional feeling than I type.
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Feature 2. There are some relations between responses of I & E type and Ekman’s ‘Basic Emotion Dimension’ First, we arranged the emotional word most frequently selected by each MBTI types for all presented films and then the words were divided into I type and E type (Fig. 7).
Fig. 7. Emotional Words most often selected by each MBTI type on all presented films * A number means each MBTI type (for example, the bar graph of ‘tense’ means there are 2 MBTI types in E type. And that means the respondents of 2MBTI types in E type most felt and selected ‘tense’ emotion word in comparison with other emotion words.)
Fig. 7 shows that I type more often selected ‘sad’, ‘touching’, ‘tantalizing’ emotion words in comparison with E type for all presented films, on the other hand, E type felt ‘tense’, ‘interesting’, ‘exciting’ emotions. Also, E type answered negative emotions such like ‘annoyed’, ‘empty’, ‘uninteresting’. In comparison these results with Ekman’s ‘Basic Emotion Dimension (Fig. 1)’, for all presented films, I type more felt ‘depressed’ emotions close to ‘unpleasant feeling & relax feelings’ (sad, touching, tantalizing) compared with E type, on the other handand, E type more felt ‘languid’ emotion related to ‘pleasant feelings & relax feelings’ (annoyed, empty, uninteresting).
4 Future Work and Conclusion In this paper we proposed movie recommendation method using emotion words selection. The assumptions of this experiment are first, movie taste or evaluation on a movie are influenced by individual’s subjective personalities or preferences, and second, MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) is a representative psychometric test to measure psychological preferences. The results of this experiment show the evaluation method with emotion words selection is appropriate to reflect users’ individual personalities and preferences, and movie tastes. And we found each MBTI type responded differently to the same film. Thus, if a recommendation service applies this presented method, it can provide users more customized recommendation results.
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However, to prove the quality or satisfaction for recommendation results using emotion word selection, we should develop a practical application to get feedback for users’ responses on the service. That will be future work of this research.
References 1. Li, Y., Lu, L., Xuefeng, L.: A hybrid collaborative filtering method for multiple-interests and multiple-content recommendation in E-Commerce: Expert Systems with Application, pp. 67–77. Elsevier Ltd., Amsterdam (2005) 2. Hoegg, R., Martignoni, R., Meckel, M., Slabeva, K.S.: Overview of Business Models for Web 2.0 Communities. In: Proceedings of GeNeMe, pp. 1–17 (2006) 3. Drenner, S., Harper, M., Frankowski, D., Riedl, J., Terveen, L.: Insert Movie Reference Here: A System to Bridge Conversation and Item-Oriented Web Sites. In: CHI 2006 Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human Factors in Computing System, pp. 951– 954 (2006) 4. Golbeck, J., Hendler, J.: FilmTrust: Movie Recommendations using Trust in Web-based Social Networks. In: IEEE CCNC, pp. 282–286 (2006) 5. Das, A., Datar, M., Garg, A.: Google News Personalization: Scalable Online Collaborative Filtering. In: WWW 2007 Track: Industrial Practice and Experience, pp. 271–280. ACM, New York (2007) 6. Lerner, J.S., Keltner, D.: Beyond Valence: Towards a Model of Emotion-Specific Influences on Judgement and Choice: Cocnition and Emotion. 14, 473–493 (2000) 7. Kuo, F.-F., Chiang, M.-F., Shan, M.-K., Lee, S.-Y.: Emotion-based Music Recommendation By Association Discovery from Film Music. In: Proc. of ACM Intl. Conference on Multimedia, pp. 507–510 (2005) 8. Im, C., Jung, G., Go, B., Eune, J.: On-line Recommendation Agent System using Human Sensibility Ergonomics, Society of Korea Industrial and Systems Engineering, pp. 58–62 (2003) 9. Kim, Y.-G., Kim, T.-Y.: A Design Speech Signal and Image Data Matching System based on Sensibility: KSII Korean Society For Internet Information, pp. 439–444 (2008) 10. Cano, J., Garton, B.L.: The Learning Styles of Agriculture Preservice Teachers as Assessed by the MBTI: Journal of Agricultural Education 35, 8–12 (1994) 11. Harasym, P.H., Leong, E.J., Juschka, B.B., Lucier, G.E., Lorcheider, F.L.: Myers-Briggs Psychological Type and Achievement in Anatomy and Physhiology. Advance Physiol. Educ. 268, 61–65 (1995) 12. Cho, H.-h.: A Study on Student’s Leisure Choice: Focused on Relationships with MBTI Type, The Korea Academic Society of Tourism and Leisure, vol. 18, pp. 285–300 (2006) 13. Saggino, A., Kline, P.: The Location of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator in Personality Factor Space: Personality and Individual Differences, vol. 21, pp. 591–597 (1996) 14. Lee, Y., Jeong, J.: A Study on the Analysis of Emotion-expressing Vocabulary for Realtime Conversion of Avatar’s Countenance. Korean Society of Design Science 56, 199–208 (2004) 15. Ekman, P.: Basic Emotions, Handbook of Cognition and Emotion. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Sussex (1999) 16. Kim, J.: An Introduction to HCI, Ahn Graphics (2005) 17. Korean Film Council, http://www.kofic.or.kr
Cultural Prescription vs. User Perception of Information Architecture for Culture Centred Website: A Case Study on Muslim Online User Wan Abdul Rahim Wan Mohd Isa, Nor Laila Md. Noor, and Shafie Mehad Faculty of Information Technology and Quantitative Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia [email protected], {norlaila,shafie}@tmsk.uitm.edu.my
Abstract. This paper reports the overview for the understanding of Islamic culture from the perspective of Islamic experts and Muslims based on the commonalities found in Hofstede’s cultural dimension and Islamic worldview values. The understanding was gained from Wan Abdul Rahim et al. (2008) and a replication survey of VSM ‘94. We used this understanding as the benchmark for conducting experimental study to examine the time performance of Muslim online user in searching and purchasing books from two separate websites. The two websites were imposed with Islamic dimensions based from; (1) religious interpretation and; (2) user perception. The results of the paired-samples t-test showed that website imposed with Hofstede’s dimension from religious interpretation is the better ones. Thus provide the indication that website that displays the cultural dimensions based on the religion prescriptions, will has a positive affect on the performance level regardless the current changes of the state of culture. Keywords: Website Information Architecture, Culture Centred Website, Muslim Online User, Islamic Culture.
1 Introduction Studies on cultural aspects of user interface and website information architecture (IA) in HCI have attracted significant empirical and non-empirical findings. However, studies that take on the challenges for cultural diversities are still few and considered far between [2] [9]. As the virtual environment is still primarily considered as a Western Culture dominated environment [9] [15], the current literature however, does not exhibit explicit work on Islamic culture and the application side of the Islamic culture on the design of the user interface and website information architecture (IA) [16]. Furthermore, the significant numbers of two billions Muslim population [4] and the growing concern for the acculturation of Islamic culture in the virtual environment [15], necessitates for researchers to look into the religion and Islamic culture perspective of user interface and website IA A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 535–544, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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[16] [19]. The effort of reintroducing the religious sentiment into the design is not considered as an issue but also as an essential need [12]. In fact, to preserve the religious beliefs and values, cultures have taken their own initiatives to conduct research and extensive investigation on how the design elements of user interface in the website environment may be influenced by their fundamental beliefs and values. The effort comes in parallel with the conceptual understanding that a website must include content and have a structure that is consistent with the values or cultural orientation [11]. In addition, technologies may also be redesigned to have different design features that will change the negative occurrence of certain social and cultural consequences of the Internet [1]. Islamic culture is different from the normal conventions of other culture of interest as the culture is prescribed by the religion [13] and Divine revelation [19]. This is because the basis of understanding for Islamic culture relies on the fundamental religious prescriptions and sources either from ‘Quran’ (Holy book), ‘Hadith’ (Prophet Muhammad’s saying and action) and reputable Islamic authorities. In contrary, the normal convention of other cultures of interest may lie due to the deep understanding of culture influences from the acculturation factors. In general, cross cultural studies where the replication of Hofstede’s cultural dimension and VSM ’94 method, often took place to generate the general understanding of culture [7]. Currently, there is lacking of empirical investigation and exploration on issues rooted in deep cultural identities [15]. The contrast of cultural values between Islamic and Western cultures also causes to further confusion and bewilderment [10]. Failing to take religion and Islamic culture into consideration may partially explain the lacking of research from Arabic or Islamic countries on user interface and website IA in the online environment. Religion is not reducible to the components provide by Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, however, the commonalities of the worldview values shared by Islamic culture with Hofstede’s cultural dimension will provide a common understanding that supports the bridge between the Western and Muslim world. Our research uses an innovative approach towards creating a better understanding of Islamic culture and the application side of cultural elements into the user interface and website IA. The approach consists of two parts; (1) the understanding of Islamic culture from the perspective of Islamic experts and Muslim online users and; (2) the evaluation of website prototypes that were developed based on the application of Islamic culture framework (driven from the perspective of Islamic experts and Muslim online users) into website IA design. In the first part of the work, we adopt our framework of Islamic culture [19] which highlights the commonalities of worldview values shared by Islamic culture to Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. We used the understanding and adapt the framework as part of the data gathering process to be interpreted by Islamic experts and investigated on the perceptions of Muslim online users. The second part of the study followed with an one-to-one experimental study on Muslim online user. The experimental study was done to investigate whether website IA imposed with the designs of Islamic culture framework interpreted by the Islamic expert will has a better performance compared to website IA imposed with Islamic culture framework from the perception of Muslim online users.
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The result of the study provides an initial understanding of Islamic culture and how the culture-centred website design will has a positive influence to user behaviour in searching and purchasing products from e-commerce websites. The paper structure is as follows. The next section discusses research method used in this study. This is followed by the results and discussion. This paper finishes with the implications of the results of this study for future research in the area of cross-cultural user interface and IA of website design.
2 Research Method To create a better understanding of Islamic culture, we adapt the Hofstede’s cultural dimensions [8] as the theoretical guideline in the data gathering process. We look for the commonalities found between Hofstede’s dimensions and Islamic culture worldview values. This effort of drawing similarities between worldview values of Islamic culture and Hofstede’s cultural dimensions were based from our prior work [19]. However, the work still lacks empirical investigation to justify the grounding of the formed Islamic culture framework. Thus, we extend the work by adopting the results of the previous qualitative interviewing with Islamic expert [19] into this study. The qualitative interviews with the Islamic experts reported in previous study provide a better understanding of Islamic cultural prescriptions from the interpretation of the Islamic experts [19]. This understanding provides the justification for ‘what’ is worldview values of Islamic culture should be from the religious perspectives. Then, we conduct a survey with Muslim online user by replicating VSM ’94 study [7] to examine Muslim’s cultural perception on Islamic culture worldview values through the lens of Hofstede’s cultural framework. However, for this survey, acculturation factor was not being considered. The main objective of this survey is to provide better understanding of Islamic culture and to answer the following research questions (RQ). RQ1: Are the current cultural index scores for users coming from Islamic countries different from the cultural index scores produced by Hofstede in 1980s? RQ2: Are the worldview values of Islamic culture from the perspectives of Muslims different with the perspectives of Islamic Experts? Forty-four Middle East and forty-four Malaysian postgraduate students were used in the survey. The sample size used in our study is in accordance with Hofstede’s (2001) [7] recommendation of at least twenty to fifty samples for each country or even region. We used the result gained from our previous qualitative analysis [19] and the outcome from this subsequent survey as the basis for the development of website prototypes to be used in the one-to-one experimental sessions. For the experiment, we try to answer the subsequent research questions (RQ), which is: RQ3: Is website that reflects the design derived from the religion prescriptions of Islamic culture (Islamic Expert) has a higher performance level than website that reflects the design derived from Muslim’s cultural perception?
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To answer the question, we conduct an experimental usability sessions with similar respondents of forty-four Middle East and forty-four Malaysian postgraduate students taken from our prior survey. Initially, the first result and full discussion on the experimental method was published in our prior work, in which the analysis was solely focused on the time performance of browsing and searching for books [20]. However for this study, we provide another analysis on the partial findings that involves the complete tasks of user browsing, searching and purchasing the specified books by using the ‘dummy’ credit card provided by the researcher. For this experiment, two business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce prototype websites that reflects the incorporation of IA cultural designs were being used in the experimental session. However, we only focus on the dimensions of ‘power distance’ and ‘uncertainty avoidance’. The following provides the understanding of both of the dimensions [18]: (i) Power Distance This dimension refers to the state of which weaker member accepts inequality in power distribution [8]. Large PD suggests inequality in power distribution, whereas small PD suggests equality [8]. (ii) Uncertainty Avoidance The dimension relates to the state of a society feels vulnerable of taking risks in unpredictable and unknown situation [8]. High UA are uncomfortable with uncertainty and avoid taking risks, whereas low UA takes risks [8]. The first website (Iqra Bookstore 1) portrays the design elements based on the design prescriptions imposed by the religion prescriptions. The second website (Iqra Bookstore 2) uses the design elements that were primarily based on the current state of Muslim user perceptions on Islamic culture. The summary of the design elements of IA that were used in both website prototypes are shown in Table 1. The adapted design elements that were used to represents the Islamic cultural dimensions were based on our prior works as reflected in Table 2. The justification for the usage of the designs was also based on our prior theoretical works on website IA [17] [18].
Table 1. Summary of design on website prototypes
Cultural Dimension Iqra Book Store 1 (High) Power Distance - Religion symbol / color
Uncertainty Avoidance
- Highly structured access to information (with sub- categories) - Link open within window - Symmetrical layout
Iqra Book Store 2 (Low) - Basic logo / nonreligion related color - Low structure access to information (without subcategories) - Link open new window - Non-symmetrical layout
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Table 2. Adapted designs to Islamic dimensions [18] [19] Islamic Dimension High Uncertainty Avoidance
IA Dimension Navigation
Content
High Power Distance
Content
Context
Design Prescriptions - Navigation schemes to prevent users from lost - Simple clear metaphor, limited choice & restricted data - Local & contextual navigational system - Include customer service, navigation local stores, local terms, free trial - Mental model and help systems on reducing "user error" - Redundant cues (color, typography and sound, etc) to reduce ambiguity and chunk info by topic / modular. - Include tradition themes, local stores & local terms, customer service and navigation, free trials & download - Include hierarchy info & pictures of important people with title. - Include quality assurance, awards, vision statements & appeal in pride of ownership. - Tall hierarchy in mental models - Highly structured access to information - Significant, frequent emphasis on the social & moral order (e.g. portrayal of nationalism/religion) and symbols
For the experimental sessions, two websites were used; in two separate treatments. Subjects were given a three minutes basic training on using the website. For each different treatment, subjects were instructed to perform the following tasks: 1. Registration 2. Seek the price tag of two given books and the total purchase amount. This is done by browsing and searching through different categories of book classification. The books specified here are: − “Belief of the Beliefs” and “Hadith: Summarized Sahih-Ul-Bukhari” (‘Iqra Book Store 1’) (first treatment) − “Provisions for the Seekers: A Manual of Prophetic Hadiths” and “The Book of Beliefs” (‘Iqra Book Store 2’) (second treatment) 3. The two specified books need to be added into the shopping cart by using a shopping cart tool. After that, ‘check out’ and make purchase of the books by using the provided ‘dummy’ credit card number, expired date and ‘Card Verification Value’ (CVV) number associated to the credit card information. 4. Finally, click ‘log out’. A three to four minutes break in between sessions and refreshments were provided to the subjects. The user tracking system was applied for both websites. The user tracking system tracks the time automatically after the registration. The data analysis in the next section was conducted for the complete time performance recorded for respondents doing all specified tasks; (1), (2), (3) and (4).
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3 Results and Discussion 3.1 Muslim Online User Perception vs. Religious Prescription Our survey was conducted to examine the perception of Muslim online user on Islamic culture based on the replication of VSM ’94 [7] survey study. The initial survey conducted by Hofstede (1980) uses IBM employee respondents [6]. The partial review of the index score of Hofstede (1980) and the results of our survey for Muslims from selected Islamic countries are as shown in Table 3 and Table 4. Table 3. Index scores of Hofstede’s dimensions for selected Islamic countries [6] [7] [8] Author
Hofstede (1980)
Hofstede & Bond (1988)
Cultural Dimension
Power Distance Individualism Masculinity Uncertainty Avoidance Long Term Orientation
Arab Countries (*)
80; High 38; Low 53; Medium 68; High Not Available
Iran
Malaysia
58; Low 41; Low 43; Low 59; High Not Available
104; High 26; Low 50; Medium 36; Low Not Available
(*) Arab countries (Egypt, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Saudi Arabia, UAE).
Table 4. Current index scores of cultural dimensions for selected Islamic countries Cultural Dimension
Arab Countries (*)
Power Distance Individualism Masculinity Uncertainty Avoidance Long Term Orientation
18; Low 71; High 49; Medium 41; Low 36; Low
Iran 18; Low 71; High 49; Medium 41; Low 36; Low
Malaysia 30; Low 75; High 36; Low 14; Low 35; Low
(*) Arab countries (Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Yemen).
A review of the first research question (RQ) of this study is as follows: RQ1: Are the current cultural index scores for users coming from Islamic countries different from the cultural index scores produced by Hofstede in 1980s? Table 3 and Table 4 provide the answer for RQ1 as it provides the understanding that there are differences of the index scores that generate the understanding of cultural dimensions for Muslims between 1980 and findings reported in this study. The main difference is clearly seen for the index score of Arab countries for the dimensions of ‘power distance’ (High), ‘individualism’ (Low) and ‘uncertainty avoidance’ (High) in 1980 with the current index scores in our study. The current index scores reflected the
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opposite dimensions than what is being reported in 1980s; ‘power distance’ (Low), ‘individualism’ (High) and ‘uncertainty avoidance’ (Low). One reason for the differences may be due to the continual influences of the acculturation factors that might occurred throughout the years. However, future study may be required to test this assumption. This acculturation factors may also be due to the migration of people among countries and cultures and the degree of acculturation may also vary from a person to another [14]. The acquisition of the current index scores for cultural dimensions in Table 4 may also help to enrich the current understanding for Islamic culture. We use the partial result of Table 4 (present study) and make a comparative analysis with the theorized Islamic cultural dimensions provided in our prior study [19]. The prior study was based from the Islamic expert religious interpretation on the commonalities between the Islamic culture worldview values with Hofstede’s cultural dimensions [19]. The comparative analysis is reflected in Table 5. Table 5. Findings on the Islamic cultural dimensions
Cultural Dimension Power Distance Individualism Masculinity Uncertainty Avoidance Long Term Orientation 1 2
1
Prior work High Medium Medium High Low
2
Present study Low High Medium Low Low
Theoretical & qualitative study with Islamic experts [19]. Empirical survey study with Muslims (Arab countries; Iraq, Jordan, Syria, Yemen).
A review of the second research question (RQ) of this study is as follows: RQ2: Are the worldview values of Islamic culture prescribed from the perspectives of Muslims different with the perspectives of Islamic experts? The result derived from Table 5 provides the justification and evidence for the differences of worldview values of Islamic culture between ‘what’ Islamic culture should be from the perspective and interpretation of Islamic expert and ‘what’ Islamic culture is from the perspective of Muslim users. The reason of the differences may had be due to the continual influence of acculturation factors but this factor was not being examined in this study. However, future study may be required to test the influences of the acculturation factors or other extraneous or moderating factors that may potentially contribute to the differences that the researchers may not be well aware of. Based on Table 5, we only focus on the dimensions of ‘power distance’ and ‘uncertainty avoidance’ to provide the theoretical grounding for the construction of the two website prototypes; ‘Iqra Book Store 1’ (high dimensions) and ‘Iqra Book Store 2’ (low dimensions). These websites were later used in the one-to-one experimental sessions. The website ‘Iqra Book Store 1’ reflects the design of cultural
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prescriptions by Islamic experts and the website ‘Iqra Book Store 2’ reflects the design of the user cultural perceptions based on the results of the replications of VSM ’94 survey. The results of the one-to-one experimental sessions are shown in the next section. 3.2 Cultural Prescription vs. User Perception This segment provides the result for the one-to-one experimental session conducted to measure the performance of Muslim online user for tasks of browsing, searching and purchasing the specified books. The respondents were instructed to perform specific tasks by using the two different website prototypes; (1) ‘Iqra Book Store 1’ imposed with the design prescriptions by the religion prescriptions and; (2) ‘Iqra Book Store 2’ imposed with the design prescriptions by the current state of Muslim user perceptions on Islamic culture. To satisfy the assumption of normal distribution, data transformation has been made to the ‘timesite1’ variable (performance time recorded for browsing, searching and purchasing books using ‘Iqra Book Store 1’) and ‘timesite2’ variable (performance time recorded for browsing, searching and purchasing books using ‘Iqra Book Store 2’), as suggested by Field (2005). A review of the third research question (RQ) of this study is as follows: RQ3: Is website that reflects the design derived from the religion prescriptions of Islamic culture (Islamic expert) has a higher performance level than website that reflects the design derived from Muslim’s cultural perception? A hypothesis was developed to provide the answer for the RQ3. The hypothesis is as shown as follows: H1:
Website that portrays the design derived from the religion prescriptions of Islamic culture has higher performance level for user in performing tasks (browsing, searching and purchasing books) than website that portrays the design derived from the Muslim’s cultural perception of Islamic culture.
The result of the hypothesis testing is presented as follows: A paired-samples t-test was conducted to evaluate the cultural dimensions impact on the time performance recorded in performing tasks (browsing, searching and purchasing books) for ‘Iqra Book Store 1’ and ‘Iqra Book Store 2’. There was statistically significant increase in time performance score recorded in performing tasks (browsing, searching and purchasing books) for ‘Iqra Book Store 1’; ‘timesite1’ (M = 1.23, SD = 0.31) to time performance score recorded in performing tasks (browsing, searching and purchasing books) for ‘Iqra Book Store 2’; ‘timesite2’ (M = 1.64, SD = 0.34), t(87) = -11.46, p<.0005. The Eta squared statistic (0.60) showed a large effect size. The result provides empirical support to prove the hypothesis (H1) as it shows ‘Iqra Book Store 1’ is the better website compared to ‘Iqra Book Store 2’ based on the time performance score recorded in performing tasks (browsing, searching and purchasing books).
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4 Conclusion This study reports on the findings that the design of website IA based on the religion prescriptions on what the Islamic culture be through the lens of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions as theorized in our prior work [19] will has a positive affect on the performance level regardless the current changes to the state of culture. Hence, we prescribe that the understanding of Islamic culture framework should be based on the religious interpretation towards creating mutual understanding of Islamic culture. This is because the high dependency of Islamic culture from religion prescription itself is generally accepted among conventional Islamic communities. This approach however had made our study distinct from other cross-cultural studies that focus solely on the investigation of the current social state affair of the cultural of interest by replicating VSM ’94 or conducting ethnography studies before applying the values to the IT artifacts. Ethnographic studies often took place by having an in-depth investigation of culture of interest. However, there is still considerable debate over what ethnography is in HCI design practice and how it can best be employed in design context [3]. Future research is being suggested to focus on different level of participants from different cultures, cities and countries. The results of this study will provides useful reference in developing cross-cultural B2C e-commerce and provides exciting avenue for future research on the website user interface and IA design. This design adaptation based on religious worldview values may create the awareness of the importance of preserving the values inside the IT artifacts towards realizing the fullest potential and capabilities of the Internet.
References 1. Brey, P.: Evaluating the Social and Cultural Implications of the Internet. SIGCAS Computers and Society 36(3), 41–48 (2006) 2. Choong, Y.-T., Plocher, T., Rau, P.-L.P.: Cross-Cultural Web Design. In: Proctor, R.W. (ed.) Handbook of Human Factors in Web Design, pp. 284–300. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Incorporated, Mahwah (2004) 3. Dourish, P.: Responsibilities and Implications: Further Thoughts on Ethnography and Design. AIGA (2007) 4. Evans, H.A.: Halal Meat - A Global Product in a Global Market. The Halal Journal (2005) 5. Field, A.: Discovering Statistics Using SPSS. SAGE Publication Ltd., Thousand Oaks (2005) 6. Hofstede, G.: Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values. Sage, Newbury Park (1980) 7. Hofstede, G.: Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks (2001) 8. Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G.J.: Cultures and Organization. McGraw-Hill, New York (2005) 9. Kamppuri, M., Bednarik, R., Tukiainen, M.: The Expanding Focus of HCI: Case Culture. ACM, New York (2006) 10. Lewis, R.D.: The Cultural Imperative: Global Trends in the 21st Century. Intercultural Press (2003) 11. Luna, D., Peracchio, L.A., Juan, M.D.d.: Cross-Cultural and Cognitive Aspects of Web Site Navigation. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 30(4), 397–410 (2002)
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12. Petruccioli, A., Pirani, K.K.: Understanding Islamic Architecture. Routledge, London (2002) 13. Pickthall, M.M.: The Cultural Side of Islam. Sh. Muhammad Ashraf (1972) 14. Singh, N., Pereira, A.: Culturally Customized Web Site: Customizing Web Sites for the Global Marketplace. Butterworth-Heinemann (2005) 15. Shafie Affendi, M.Y., Norhayati, Z.: Islamic Perspective: Virtual Worlds as a WesternCentric Technology. The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems 38(4), 100– 103 (2007) 16. Wan Abdul Rahim, W.M.I., Nor Laila, M.N., Shafie, M.: Towards Conceptualization of Islamic User Interface for Islamic Website: An Initial Investigation. In: Proceedings of International Conference on Information & Communication Technology for the Muslim World (ICT4M), Malaysia (2006a), http://www.tmsk.uitm.edu.my/~wrahim2/Wan_ICT4M.pdf 17. Wan Abdul Rahim, W.M.I., Nor Laila, M.N., Shafie, M.: Towards a Theoretical Framework for Understanding Website Information Architecture. In: Proceedings of the 8th International Arab Conference on Information Technology (ACIT 2006), Jordan (2006b), http://www.tmsk.uitm.edu.my/~wrahim2/Wan_ACIT06.pdf 18. Wan Abdul Rahim, W.M.I., Nor Laila, M.N., Shafie, M.: Incorporating the Cultural Dimensions into the Theoretical Framework of Website Information Architecture. In: Aykin, N. (ed.) HCII 2007. LNCS, vol. 4559, pp. 212–221. Springer, Heidelberg (2007) 19. Wan Abdul Rahim, W.M.I., Nor Laila, M.N., Shafie, M.: Inducting the Dimensions of Islamic Culture: A Theoretical Building Approach and Website IA Design Application. In: Khong, C.W., Wong, C.Y., Niman, B.V. (eds.) 21st International Symposium Human Factors in Telecommunication: User Experience of ICTs, pp. 89–96. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs (2008) 20. Wan Abdul Rahim, W.M.I., Nor Laila, M.N., Shafie, M.: The Information Architecture of E-Commerce: An Experimental Study on User Performance and Preference. In: Papadopoulos, G.A., Wojtkowski, W., Wojtkowski, W.G., Wrycza, S., Zupancic, J. (eds.) Information Systems Development: Towards a Service Provision Society, vol. 2. Springer, Heidelberg (2009)
Leveraging Mobile Devices to Develop Intercultural Competency for Digital Students Matthew Willis and Elaine M. Raybourn Sandia National Laboratories, P.O. Box 5800 MS 1188 Albuquerque, New Mexico USA, 87185 {mwillis,emraybo}@sandia.gov
Abstract. Mobile devices can help digital students reach out across cultures to develop intercultural competence, improve learning, and provide course support for a variety of course topics. Intercultural competence is expressed through openness, cognitive adaptability, and behavioral flexibility toward unfamiliar cultures. Digital students demonstrate a behavioral flexibility toward technology use that can be leveraged to encourage students to embrace cultures different from their own. This paper explores the feasibility of using mobile devices as viable options for course support by utilizing traditional learning styles and cultural learning styles. From the conducted survey preferred networks are identified for creating a community to support mobile learning. Keywords: mobile device, eLearning, Diffusion of Innovations, mobile learning, online community, intercultural competence, digital students.
1 Introduction "The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives." -Robert M. Hutchins Modern educational research has investigated the question of how educators may use technology effectively to stimulate and support learning, collaboration, and the educational needs of incoming and future university students. The opportunity of using technology for educational purposes comes with challenges and benefits for both students and faculty. In particular, the use of mobile devices primarily designed for entertainment adds another layer of complexity. We define mobile devices as any portable device that can display audio, video, text, images, or all four information sources. In particular we are concerned with mobile devices that are pocket-sized, that is, not a laptop but a handheld device such as but not limited to the iPod, iPhone, Zune, Nomad, Archos, iRiver, Creative Zen, Blackberry, Sidekick, and most all-inone-phones and personal data assistants. The commonality is that they are all designed to be held in the hand, used on the go, stored in a pocket, and are multifunctional. This study presents current academic research on the advantages and disadvantages for faculty and digitally minded students on mobile learning, A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 545–553, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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e-learning, and digital pedagogy [1]. Mobile devices can help digital students reach out across cultures to develop intercultural competence, improve learning, and provide course support for a variety of course topics. Intercultural competence is expressed through openness, cognitive adaptability, and behavioral flexibility toward unfamiliar cultures [2]. Digital students demonstrate a behavioral flexibility toward technology use that can be leveraged to encourage students to embrace cultures different from their own. The first author conducted a survey of a large minority majority southwestern university in the United States and analyzed the data guided by Diffusion of Innovations theory [3]. A minority majority university is comprised of a student population whose racial composition is less than 50% non-Hispanic white. The analysis investigated student ownership of mobile devices, past experience with mobile devices, current use of the mobile device, and self-reported learning style preferences. In gathering data on student use of mobile devices questions about social networks were also included since most mobile devices allow an overwhelming majority of college students in the United States use social networking sites and online communities to manage personal and professional relationships [4]. Awareness of existing social networks and knowledge of mobile device use can help universities to develop curriculum, learning support structures, alternative learning methods and save on financial costs in implementing ways for students to learn with the aid of technology. Ideas for how educators can leverage mobile devices to help students develop intercultural competence are also offered throughout our analysis. 1.1 Mobile Devices in the Classroom With computer systems readily available in most homes and throughout most U.S. university campuses, many students are turning to electronic methods of information interaction and consumption. Many students are accustomed to using the internet to pay bills, shop for textbooks or clothes, and look up information for a class homework assignment. The availability of accessible computer systems has crept into the university, where students expect to continue using the technology they have become so accustomed to in their daily life. This expectation presents challenges for both students and faculty. For example availability of technology and experience using technology are now important aspects of not only the student’s scholarship but also to be successful in university life and beyond. Demand for technology has created pressures on some faculty that are now challenged to learn, integrate, and evaluate technology for classroom use in addition to other duties [5]. Duke University was one of the first universities to implement the iPod learning initiative for 1,600 incoming freshman [6]. They used the mobile device as a method of coursework support. The findings of the Duke iPod initiative indicate numerous advantages and disadvantages that ultimately suggested further study was needed before implementation. The Duke University model provided iPods along with educational audio attachments to 1600 incoming freshman. Various other universities and institutions have since deployed similar models of supplying mobile devices and training to students and faculty on how to use them [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13]. The Duke University iPod initiative project also noted limited training resources and lack of awareness about mobile device functionality as challenges to
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university-wide deployment [6]. However, the Duke University study was first implemented in 2004. By now, knowledge of the idea to use mobile devices for teaching and learning could have diffused through campuses nationwide given the 4year time gap. Also, student and faculty knowledge about mobile device usage has increased significantly since 2004 given that mobile devices continue to be highly popular entertainment devices and their use has diffused rapidly especially among college demographics. Current research that studies the use of mobile devices as educational tools indicates that mobile devices can be effective solutions for increasing student participation, reinforcing study habits, and grasping course content [8]. However, the beneficial aspects of this technology are also met with realistic problems and criticisms such as the expense of the technology, and student distraction or disconnection due to technological overload [14]. Additionally the use of new media may open the door to various administrative and departmental red tape [10] The spread of technology use in academia has created a need for administrative bodies to oversee, direct, and implement technological learning at universities [7]. Technical literacy is the degree to which someone understands and uses technology such as portable devices, laptops, and desktops. Technical literacy is a common trait among college level students. This digital native [15]skill set is a trend that continues in younger students and persists as they grow up. This phenomenon is commonly called “digital-minded students” as articulated by [1] “Digital students possess a mentality in tune with the new media, take the availability of email, instant messaging and text messaging for granted, and use unlimited online resources. The digital world has had a significant impact on their cognitive functions. They expect to try things rather then hear about them.” (p 42). This emerging construct of the digital minded student is impossible to overlook and becoming more and more of a common student profile on the university campus in the United States. Mobile devices can help digital students reach out across cultures to develop intercultural competence. Intercultural competence is expressed through openness, cognitive adaptability, and behavioral flexibility toward unfamiliar cultures [2]. As communication media and mobile devices make it easier for each of us to interact with members of different cultures and contexts, intercultural communication becomes more commonplace in our daily life. Intercultural communication is the exchange of information and the co-creation of meaning between individuals or among groups (teams, organizations, etc) that perceive themselves to be different [16]. Digital students demonstrate a behavioral flexibility toward technology use that can be leveraged to encourage students to embrace cultures and languages different from their own. Mobile devices have already shown to be a successful supportive device for special needs students and students of English as a second language [12]. Mobile device learning has been most successful when supported by peer assisted learning using a collaborative model in English as a foreign language programs. This model is hypothesized as being highly relevant and critical to use for educational success given the increase in globalization and internationalization in academia, business,
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technology, science, and commerce [17]. Unique opportunities exist for using mobile devices to support situated learning containing activities that have an authentic context and culture, whether it be translation or activities for cultural competence building [18]. Additionally there are numerous reports of academic success when mobile devices are implemented in the university setting as a tool to support or supplement lecture and classroom learning [1], [6], [8], [19]. The key is to implement mobile devices as supportive educational tools, as it has been noted that too great a proliferation of lectures available as digital files would motivate students to miss class or skip lectures because they can just download the discussion [19]. However, Copley found through focus groups and survey analysis that there is no supplement to being present in the classroom, where the majority (57%) of students said that podcasting would not reduce their course attendance, 31% stated that any effect would depend on the lecture course [19]. Major reasons that podcasting would not affect attendance appear to be the need for routine or structured learning, opportunities for interaction/questions, and that a live performance is better than a recorded performance. Technology use in the classroom, regardless of how it is used, presents challenges and opportunities for faculty as well as students. Some faculty may require training in using the technology [13], but the benefits of learning to use such technology can facilitate professional career growth. Finally, the ability to review a lecture or listen to an audio podcast to help fill in a students notes is not only consistent with establishing learning and study habits outside the classroom, but nourishes healthy habits of lifelong learning [1]. Including and encouraging the use of technology in the multicultural classroom also builds peripheral skills for both educators and students, skills and knowledge in effective technology use, criticism, and literacy that are required by our society to thrive in the 21st century [5]. 1.2 Research Questions Diffusion of Innovations (DI) was selected as a theoretical grounding for the present study. DI was also selected as a grounding principle to investigate mobile device usage in a United States Southwestern university because there are few studies using DI to describe current networks among college students since the diffusion of mobile devices that could potentially help students to develop intercultural competence. One study investigating the use of technology in the classroom guided by DI specifically focused on the adoption patterns of faculty who integrated technology into the classroom [11]. This study was useful to understand faculty technical literacy such as use of word processing, spreadsheets, charting and graphing, databases, presentation software, email, internet, listservs, FTP, and web page creation. The present study investigates technology that was not measured in Jacobsen’s 1998 study and seeks to identify student networks of use and knowledge regarding mobile devices. To direct the data collection for this exploratory study, two research questions were formulated from the synthesis of the literature: RQ1: Will the percent of mobile device penetration among the surveyed student population be large enough to support the notion that mobile devices can be leveraged for learning?
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RQ2: How can interpersonal, intercultural, and online communities be utilized for diffusing training and course content on mobile devices? If mobile devices achieve a critical mass in the student body (as research question 1 asks) then reinventing the devices as course support and learning aids is a viable option. The higher the percentage of mobile device ownership the more likely students will know what one is and how to use it. This addresses the problem of training and knowledge about mobile device use. Research question two is an indictor for developing a support network for using mobile devices as learning tools. By looking at the current use and ownership of social networking sites possible strategies can be drafted for reinventing these already popular sites to aide with the development of implicit and explicit user profiles [16] around course work, topical research, and other university content opinion leaders (influential students in math, biology, social sciences, etc). Additionally previously established social networks can encourage the sharing of ideas and intercultural learning across cultures and disciplines or within disciplines across classrooms. In accordance with Diffusion of Innovations theory, using readily available social networks of interpersonal, intercultural, and online friend sites can prove beneficial for universities considering mobile device use for coursework support. Questions were also asked on the survey concerning the students’ self-report of learning styles, and whether those learning styles compliment the use of a mobile device. Assessing and accessing the learning styles of current mobile device users may reveal another support mechanism for educational use. Mobile devices may be a popular option if the majority of students have a learning style (namely visual, auditory, and kinesthetic) that is compatible with the use of a mobile device.
2 Method Data were gathered through the use of a voluntary internet survey designed and hosted on the service surveymonkey.com. An online survey design was selected for two important reasons. First, ability to access the Internet implies some level of digital availability as well as some degree of technical literacy skills. Second, an internet survey can easily be passed through departmental email list services to ensure a diverse convenient sample of students across disciplines and year of scholarship. Survey respondents were solicited from the following academic departments: Art & Art History, Earth & Planetary Sciences, Theater & Dance, Psychology, Architecture & Planning, Biology, and the University Honors Program. Once departmental listserv access was obtained, identical emails were sent to each listserv requesting anonymous participation for the survey. The survey was designed using Diffusion of Innovations theory as a guiding framework. The diffusion process is defined as (1) an innovation that is (2) communicated through certain channels (3) over time (4) among the members of a social system [3]. For this study the innovation is both the mobile device and knowledge about using a mobile device that comes with technical literate students. Concerning research question two the communication channels identified are both the student’s interpersonal friendships they maintain in their scholarly and personal life, the other communication channel is any mass media online friend networks such as
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MySpace and Facebook that student is a member of. These two channels of both interpersonal and online friend networks serve as a means by which messages get from one individual to another.
3 Results and Analysis Results indicated that there are 86% (218 students) of the total surveyed population (N = 275) that own some brand of mobile device, while 13% (35 students) currently own no mobile device. A total of 253 students answered this question. Research question one is supported in this finding; the amount of ownership suggests that the mobile device has enough visibility in student use that the concept of using these devices as a course support tool becomes practical. Of all the students surveyed 62% identified as White (European, Eastern European, Caucasian) 20% identified as Hispanic or Latino, 6% identify as Multi-Racial, 4% as Native American, 3% as Asian, 1% as Non-Hispanic, 1% as Black, and 0.7% as Pacific Islander. It is important to note the representation of diversity in this sample, both in the breadth of departmental sampling and cultural diversity. The diversity at this university means that students are more likely to encounter intercultural situations in every class regardless of educational department. Looking at what interpersonal network students used to acquire a mobile device, 32% used a friend’s mobile device, 25% bought a mobile device without trying it, and 12% used a family member’s. Students use mobile devices primarily for music at 91%. This finding idicates that mobile devices are indeed used for entertainment. The primary reason for this is explained by the advertising model for mobile devices as able to play music. This is further enforced by most mobile devices having an online store or online music repository that users can access to download music. Qualitative feedback from participant comments suggested that most students use their mobile device functionality to listen to music while they study or read, but do not listen to audio books or lecture notes on the device. Few students had downloaded a lecture or used their mobile device to study or consume educational course content. When recipients were asked what online communities they were involved with and had the ability to check all that apply: 49% used Facebook, 46% used MySpace, 16% were active in an online forum, 11% had a blog, 6% are members in an online game community, and 23% of respondents were involved with absolutely no online communities or social networks (multiple answers allowed). Research question two is supported by this identification of popular and widely used social networks. These networks not only expose students to intercultural communication events that occur from the social networks broadening of the users interpersonal network, but social networks may also be used to promote the use and sharing of classroom content. Shared content on these social networks may consist of lectures, audio notes, quizzes, mental exercises, and other educational content that can be used on media devices. Social networks, by their very design, suggest that the students using them are creating content and interacting with content on these social networks. Given the proper tools and structure, students could also create educational content and useful coursework support content on these networks, adding further value to the educational reinvention of media devices.
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The biggest year of growth for mobile device adoption was from 2005 to 2006, where approximately 35% of surveyed participants purchased their first mobile device. This occurred shortly after the Duke University study in which mobile device adoption was a problem, as too few students owned them and fewer knew how to use them. The three dominant self-reported learning styles were: visual (28%), kinesthetic (25%), and auditory (13%). It is suggested that by targeting learning styles this may be a successful way to further facilitate effective learning in and out of the classroom with mobile devices. Of the students surveyed 18% used a mobile device to understand and study course material while 74% did not. 51% of students showed interest in the opportunity to use a mobile device for course support (even if they did not own one). Lastly, 11% of respondents have used the iTunes online store to download digital content such as lectures, talks, discussions, and presentations from other universities, while 88% had no experience engaging in this activity. The iTunes University was surveyed because it is a useful model to look at in the design and dissemination of course support content, such as MIT’s open courseware hosted on iTunes University.
4 Discussion It has been shown that enough students in the university have access to a mobile device to gain benefits from any course support system that would require mobile device use. Additionally, the student population surveyed was such that the likelihood of encountering intercultural communication opportunities was great. A high diffusion level such as the one reported in this survey may be the first step in overcoming previous reported barriers such as limited training resources and lack of awareness and accurate knowledge of mobile device functionality (Belanger, 2005), since a high rate of adoption means that individuals can gain knowledge about the device from the users around them. The 35% increase from 2005 to 2006 supports the idea that mobile device ownership has become more common on college campuses and indeed continues to increase. Mobile devices that facilitate interpersonal communication and access to online communities may be leveraged to help students interact more in intercultural settings, thus enhancing their opportunities to develop intercultural competence. As suggested by previous research, and as evidenced by the minority majority university this study was conducted at, students are increasingly likely to encounter situations in both business and academia where intercultural skills are needed. To build upon previous studies, utilizing learning styles and online communities can continue to bolster the intercultural communication efficacy and understanding of students. Mobile devices that support video and pictures would make it a complimentary tool for use with preferred visual learners; devices with audio capabilities also make these devices a strong choice for auditory learners. This can be coupled with peer assisted (in the classroom) collaborative learning environments to maximize cultural and contextual learning [18]. Because a mobile device clearly compliments visual and auditory learning methods, the ability to use a portable device while a person does other kinesthetic tasks such as working on a hands on project and listening to a lecture, or working out
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and listening to course content may be a way that a mobile device can support kinesthetic learners as well. It allows the student bodily movement while they are studying relevant intellectual content. It is important to note the significance that culture plays in the learning process. Mobile devices are capable of supporting important cultural learning frameworks students may be accustomed to, such as growing up in an oral culture or written culture. Oral and written cultural identities effect the way a student processes information, giving students an option to interact with information that may also compliment their cultural background [20] is an opportunity to encourage the development of intercultural learning communities and also bridge cultural differences with educational technologies. Mobile devices provide a unique opportunity to engage digital students through a medium they are familiar with. These devices also provide a unique opportunity to support cultural learning and foster intercultural communication through coursework support via sharing and social networks. Further research is needed to understand the benefits of using a mobile device to support learning styles. Also, future research should investigate student retention of information presented to them using mobile devices. The findings from this study suggest support and relevance for reinventing the mobile device as an educational tool. Benefits from using a mobile device educational model include accessing students preferred learning styles for effective learning, improved comprehension, encouraging the building of intercultural and interdisciplinary networks, and student educational involvement.
5 Limitations of the Research One limitation of this research is that it was an exploratory study and can only provide frequencies concerning mobile device use, learning preference, and knowledge. Further research is needed to investigate relationships of mobile device use to build inferential statistical models to better explain the phenomenon, benefits, and consequences of mobile learning. Also, future research should measure cultural learning and use of mobile devices to further investigate the relationship between intercultural communication and use of educational mobile devices. This study has found that mobile devices have permeated universities and created certain communication channels and networks that the generation of “digital students” are now a part of. The study also found that while many students use a mobile device, few use media devices for learning and course support; they are primarily considered entertainment devices. Using online communities is important for diffusing additional course support that can benefit students learning styles and intercultural communication abilities. Further investigation into these existing networks and learning styles could unlock possibilities for new and innovative pedagogical experiences as well as helping universities cultivate future generations of insightful, curious, critical, intelligent students and world citizens. Acknowledgments. Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.
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References 1. Andone, D., Dron, J., Pemberton, L., Boyne, C.: E-Learning Environments for Digitallyminded Students. Interactive Learning 18, 41–53 (2007) 2. Raybourn, E.M.: Designing an Emergent Culture of Negotiation in Collaborative Virtual Communities: The Dome City MOO Simulation. In: Churchill, D.S., Munro, A. (eds.) Collaborative Virtual Environments. Springer, Heidelberg (2001) 3. Rogers, E.M.: Diffusion of Innovations. Free Press, New York (2003) 4. Social networking statistics. Nielsen audience analysis, New York (2007) 5. Serim, F., Schrock, K.: Nailing Digital Jelly to a Virtual Tree. Learning & Leading with Technology, 12–16 (December/January 07-08, 2007) 6. Belanger, Y.: Duke university Ipod First Year Experience Final Evaluation Report (2005) 7. Albright, M.J., Nworie, J.: Rethinking Academic Technology Leadership. Educause Quarterly 1, 12–23 (2008) 8. Blaisdell, M.: Academic MP3s: Is it Time Yet? (2006) 9. Gatewood, K.: Podcasting: Just the Basics. In: Kappa Delta Pi Winter 2008, pp. 90–93 (2008) 10. Gillard, S., Bailey, D.: Technology in the Classroom: Overcoming Obstacles, Reaping Rewards. The International Journal of Learning 14, 87–93 (2007) 11. Jacobsen, D.M.: Adoption Patterns of Faculty Who Integrate Computer Technology for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. In: ED-MEDIA AND ED-TELECOM 1998: World Conference on Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia & World Conference on Educational Telecommunications, Freiburg, Germany (1998) 12. Millard, E.: Learning with Personal Media Players. District Adiminstration, 61–64 (May 2007) 13. Reardon, R.M.: Learning What I Don’t Know How to Do. Educause Quarterly 1, 4–5 (2008) 14. Bugeja, M.: The Age of Distraction: The Professor ot the Processor? The Futurist, 66–68 (2008) 15. Small, G., Vorgan, G.: iBrain: Surviving The Technological Alteration of The Modern Mind. Collins Living, New York (2008) 16. Raybourn, E.M., Kings, N., Davies, J.: Adding Cultural Signposts in Adaptive Community-Based Virtual Environments. Interacting with Computers 15, 91–107 (2003) 17. Lan, Y.-J., Sung, Y.-T., Chang, K.-E.: A Mobile-Device-Supported Peer-Assisted learning System For Collaborative Early English as a Foreign Language Reading. Language Learning & Technology 11, 130–151 (2007) 18. Naismith, L., Lonsdale, P., Vavoula, G., Sharples, M.: Mobile Technologies and Learning. Futurelab, 1–48 (2004) 19. Copley, J.: Audio and Video Podcasts of Lectures for Campus-Based Students: Production and Evaluation of Student Use. Innovations in Education and Teaching International 44, 387–399 (2007) 20. December, J.: Characteristics of Oral Culture in Discourse on the net. In: Twelfth Annual penn State Conference on Rhetoric and Composition, University Park, Pennsylvania (1993)
Game Usability Heuristics (PLAY) for Evaluating and Designing Better Games: The Next Iteration Heather Desurvire1 and Charlotte Wiberg2 1
Behavioristics, President Professor, USC, Cinematic Arts, Game Studies Playability/Usability Specialist, 578 Washington Blvd. #179, Marina del Rey, CA 90292 USA +1 310 823 6543 [email protected] 2 Assistant Professor Informatics, Umeå University, SE-901 87 Umeå, Sweden [email protected]
Abstract. Game developers have begun applying formal human-computer interaction (HCI) principles in design. Desurvire et al [2] adapted a set of Heuristics for productivity software to games. The resulting set, presented at CHI 2004, was Heuristics to Evaluate Playability (HEP). Generalization of these heuristics is required to make them applicable to a multiple of game genres and game deliveries. This follow-up study focused on the refined list, Heuristics of Playability (PLAY), that can be applied earlier in game development as well as aiding developers between formal usability/playability research during the development cycle. Heuristics were formed based on their efficacious scores on the popular game review website, metacritic.com. Fiftyfour gamers rated High and Low ranked games on 116 potential heuristics. Implications for how these Heuristics will help developers improve game quality are discussed. PLAY has been found useful in design evaluation and elfreport survey format. Keywords: Usability, Heuristics, playability, play testing, design guidelines, video games, computer games, games, evaluation, usability, user testing, HCI design principles. ACM Classification Keywords: H.5.1 [Information Interfaces and Presentation]: Multimedia Information Systems-evaluation/methodology.
1 Introduction Game design is becoming a critical area in the field of User-Centered Design. As more HCI professionals become involved in the video game design process, methodologies specifically addressing game design have become increasingly important. A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 557–566, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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There are many methodologies for analyzing productivity software including Usability Testing and Heuristic Evaluation. The primary foci for the fields of productivity software are to make the user interface non-obtrusive, easy to use, and to help facilitate the task, as the applications are primarily task oriented. For games, however, the goals often include additional concepts such as providing an immersive environment, a sufficient challenge and entertainment. Often it is the well-paced challenge that makes the game worth playing [4,8]. Because of these differences, peculiar to games a new set of design principles is necessary. 1.1 HEP Heuristics for Evaluating Playability Based on research from the game research community [4,6,7,8] a set of Heuristics were gathered, developed and refined specifically for games. The HEP Heuristics fell into four general areas: Game Play, Game Usability, Game Mechanics and Game Story. In a study presented at CHI 2004, [2], it was shown through empirical data that these Heuristics were efficacious in assisting in game design development. This was the first step in determining that these were useful. 1.2 PLAY: Principles of Game Playability HEP has been found useful but only in limited circumstances. The game arena is vast including game genre, game delivery, game improvement and new game development. PLAY, a broad list of Heuristics, was developed to be of use as a generalized foundation that could then be modified for each specific game. Further Heuristics that are efficacious can be developed specific to the game using a conceptual framework [3]. This new set of principles is created specifically to help game developers during the entire design process, particularly at the beginning of the concept phase when changes to the design are less costly. The PLAY principles were created by using current and past research on game usability Heuristics and design principles, as well as the most up-to-date information on superior game design from working top-level game designers at LucasArts, Sega, Microsoft Game Studios, THQ, and Disney. Unlike HEP, PLAY recognizes that game design is an art and a science. Utilizing information and personal principles from the current game design community assists in a valid list of Game Principles (PLAY). The intent of PLAY is to develop a full set of principles and to validate these principles empirically. 1.3 Development of Game Genre-Specific Principles for Game Playability (PLAY) The development of the first set of known Game Heuristics began in 1982, with Malone’s [9] list of Heuristics for instructional games. In 2002, Federoff [6,7] compiled a list of game Heuristics from a case study at a game development company and compared them with both current game industry guidelines and J. Nielsen's Heuristics from 1994 [10]. Since 2001, game designers Falstein and Barwood have been cataloging a list of proven game design principles submitted by game designers, called the 400 Project [4]. In 2004, B. Silverman et al. began research on the principles of Game Story [11]. In 2004, Desurvire, Kaplan, and Toth [2] developed a set of Heuristics (HEP) based on the foregoing research and tested them empirically.
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Based on this work, a more refined and updated list of Game Playability Principles (PLAY) was developed for three genres: Real-Time Strategy (RTS), Action Adventure and First-Person Shooters (FPS). This new list was based on the existing HEP, and further modified based on discussions with developers from Activision, THQ, Relic, Pandemic, Avalanche, Disney, and Microsoft Game Studios [Moriwaki, Donovan, Dunn, Jarrett, Dowdeswell, Stahl, Blackburn, DiPaola, Fulton, Keeker, and Paglyuan, personal communications]. The general principles were grouped into several categories: Game Play, Skill Development, Tutorial, Strategy & Challenge, Game/Story Immersion, Coolness, Usability/Game Mechanics and Controller/Keyboard. This study tested the validity of these principles against existing games.
2 Procedure We compiled three sets of questionnaires, one to correspond to each of the three different game genres (Action Adventure, FPS and RTS). Each set contained common questions and genre-specific questions. The questionnaires also contained a list of games divided into two categories: High Rank and Low Rank. Game rankings were taken from www.metacritic.com, a website that aggregates rankings from several online game reviewers. High Rank games were games with scores of 80 or higher. Low Rank games were games with scores of 50 or lower. Participants were recruited at an annual gaming conference. A booth was set up in front of the conference’s computer gaming room. The standard procedure was to address people as they walked by the hall or headed towards the computer gaming room. Participants were told that they could take the survey if they had played (1) any one of games listed in the High Rank category and (2) any one of the games from the Low Rank category. Because most people do not play games known to be poorly rated, participants were allowed to suggest their own Low Rank game. Each survey took approximately 15 minutes to complete, at the end of which the participant was given a candy bar.
3 Results Fifty-four subjects participated in the study. Two subjects failed to choose a Low Rank game and their data was excluded from the analysis. Over all, the High and Low Rank games differed along 48 of the 116 Principles. Paired-samples t-tests showed that these principles were rated differently between High and Low Rank games at p < .0004 (i.e., p = 0.05/116). Suggestively, 16 additional parameters were found to be differentiators at p < .004, a probability level ten times higher that is likely to be achievable using different analyses. Data for each genre was not gathered separately.
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4 Conclusion The intention of the study was to adapt existing usability principles to game design. Our analysis was able to identify a number of principles that helped to differentiate between good and bad games. (See Table 1 for a list of all 48 significant game design principles.) Among the principles that differentiated between High and Low-ranked games were several that are particularly valuable because they exemplify the differences between video games and productivity software. Table 1. Play Heuristics: Category, Heuristic and Explanation
I. Category 1: Game Play A. Heuristic: Enduring Play A1. The players finds the game fun, with no repetitive or boring tasks A2. The players should not experience being penalized repetitively for the same failure. A3. The players should not lose any hard won possessions. A4. Gameplay is long and enduring and keeps the players’ interest.
A5. Any fatigue or boredom was minimized by varying activities and pacing during the game play.
B. Heuristic: Challenge, Strategy and Pace B1. Challenge, strategy and pace are in balance. B2. The game is paced to apply pressure without frustrating the players. The difficulty level varies so the players experience greater challenges as they develop mastery. B3. Easy to learn, harder to master. B4. Challenges are positive game experiences, rather than negative experiences, resulting in wanting to play more, rather than quitting. B5. AI is balanced with the players’ play. B6. The AI is tough enough that the players have to try different tactics against it.
Game Usability Heuristics (PLAY) for Evaluating and Designing Better Games Table 1. (continued) C. Heuristic: Consistency in Game World C1. The game world reacts to the player and remembers their passage through it. C2. Changes the player make in the game world are persistent and noticeable if they back-track to where they have been before. D. Heuristic: Goals D1. The game goals are clear. The game provides clear goals, presents overriding goals early as well as short term goals throughout game play. D2. The skills needed to attain goals are taught early enough to play or use later, or right before the new skill is needed. D3. The game gives rewards that immerse the player more deeply in the game by increasing their capabilities, capacity or for example, expanding their ability to customize. E. Heuristic: Variety of Players and Game Styles E1. The game supports a variety of game styles. E2. The game is balanced with multiple ways to win. E3. The first ten minutes of play and player actions are painfully obvious and should result in immediate and positive feedback for all types of players. E4. The game had different AI settings so that it was challenging to all levels of players, whether novice or expert players. F. Heuristic: Players Perception of Control F1. Players feel in control. F2. The player’s have a sense of control and influence onto the game world.
II. Category 2: Coolness/Entertainment/Humor/Emotional Immersion A. Heuristic: Emotional Connection A1. There is an emotional connection between the player and the game world as well as with their “avatar.”
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H. Desurvire and C. Wiberg Table 1. (continued) B. Heuristic: Coolness/Entertainment B1. The game offers something different in terms of attracting and retaining the players’ interest. C. Heuristic: Humor C1. The game uses humor well.
D. Heuristic: Immersion D1. The game utilizes visceral, audio and visual content to further the players’ immersion in the game.
III. Category 3: Usability & Game Mechanics A. Heuristic: Documentation/Tutorial A1. Player does not need to read the manual or documentation to play. A2. Player does not need to access the tutorial in order to play. B. Heuristic: Status and Score
B1. Game controls are consistent within the game and follow standard conventions. B2. Status score Indicators are seamless, obvious, available and do not interfere with game play. B3. Controls are intuitive, and mapped in a natural way; they are customizable and default to industry standard settings. B4. Consistency shortens the learning curve by following the trends set by the gaming industry to meet users’ expectations. If no industry standard exists, perform usability/playability research to ascertain the best mapping for the majority of intended players.
C. Heuristic: Game Provides Feedback C1. Game provides feedback and reacts in a consistent, immediate, challenging and exciting way to the players’ actions.
Game Usability Heuristics (PLAY) for Evaluating and Designing Better Games Table 1. (continued)
C2. Provide appropriate audio/visual/visceral feedback (music, sound effects, controller vibration).
D. Heuristic: Terminology D1. The game goals are clear. The game provides clear goals, presents overriding goals early as well as short term goals throughout game play. D2. The skills needed to attain goals are taught early enough to play or use later, or right before the new skill is needed.
D3. The game gives rewards that immerse the player more deeply in the game by increasing their capabilities, capacity or, for example, expanding their ability to customize.
E. Heuristic: Burden On Player E1. The game does not put an unnecessary burden on the player. E2. Player is given controls that are basic enough to learn quickly, yet expandable for advanced options for advanced players.
F. Heuristic: Screen Layout F1. Screen layout is efficient, integrated, and visually pleasing. F2. The player experiences the user interface as consistent (in controller, color, typographic, dialogue and user interface design). F3. The players experience the user interface/HUD as a part of the game. F4. Art is recognizable to the player and speaks to its function. G. Heuristic: Navigation G1. Navigation is consistent, logical and minimalist.
H. Heuristic: Error Prevention H1. Player error is avoided. H2. Player interruption is supported, so that players can easily turn the game on and off and be able to save the games in different states.
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H. Desurvire and C. Wiberg Table 1. (continued) H3. Upon turning on the game, the player has enough information to begin play. H4. Players should be given context sensitive help while playing so that they are not stuck and need to rely on a manual for help.
H5. All levels of players are able to play and get involved quickly and easily with tutorials, and/or progressive or adjustable difficulty levels.
I. Heuristic: Game Story Immersion
I.1 Game story encourages immersion (If game has story component).
4.1 Some Types of Difficulty Are Desirable The combination of Strategy & Challenge and Usability principles were notable because they suggested that some dimension of difficulty is a desirable component of the user experience. However, designers should be aware of the manner in which they present this difficulty. Players were more favorable toward games with lower Usability difficulty and some amount of Strategy & Challenge difficulty. Characteristic of Strategy & Challenge, players preferred games that rewarded skill and did not rely on rote memory. 4.2 Skill Development Is Paced for Enjoyment The principles in the skill development category focus on the player’s developing mastery of a skill. This is an important component in a gamer’s positive game experience. It is not, however, merely the development of a skill, but rather it is the pacing of learning that skill that divides a good game from a bad one, such as the principle, “…the pacing of new skills and power-ups was perfect.” 4.3 Story, Immersion and Motivation The principles in the Game/Story Immersion category addressed the value of a compelling supporting story and a realistic environment. Players preferred games with storylines that provided motivations for their actions instead of games where “…you had to do things that didn’t make any sense,” suggesting that the actions the players perform are not fun in-and-of-themselves, but rather in the broader context of a storyline. It appears that the role of user experience in designing games has the additional responsibility of sparking a player’s imagination. 4.4 Use in Industry Several design teams have used PLAY heuristics over the past 2 years. Overall, the PLAY heuristics are valuable in their ability to provide game design teams with an
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HCI-focused framework that they can use from the initial game design conception, throughout development and into the final release phase. They can be used as modules and modified. For example, if a particular game does not have a story then the Game Story category would be removed.. The PLAY Principles have been viewed by the teams as a useful structure for both the design teams and for HCI practitioners as a foundation for thinking about the user experience needs of gamers. PLAY not only offers guidance for determining potential design issues, but has also has been reported as providing stimuli for game design solutions. With this HCI-focused set of Heuristics, games can be further developed in a manner that achieves game developers’ highest goal: to create a highly entertaining, engaging, immersive, challenging and fun game experience. Upcoming research will focus on case studies, where PLAY for game usability and GAP [4], heuristics for game access, demonstrate there uses and utility. Acknowledgments. We would like to thank Tomo Moriwaki of Activision (Creative Director for Spiderman (2), Kevin Keeker, Randy Pagluyuan, Bill Fulton, Ramon Romero of Microsoft Game Studios, Sean Dunn of THQ and Jonathan Dowdeswell of Relic Studios (Heading creative development team for Dawn of War), Stephen Jarrett and Rachel DiPaola of THQ, and John Blackburn of Avalanche (Heading Creative development the TAK series), Ken Turner and George Fidler, (Creative and Executive Directors of Creative Assembly Australia), Will Stahl and Greg Donovan of THQ and Pandemic Studios, respectively (Creative Director and Director of development team, respectively, for Full Spectrum Warrior), and Joszef Toth, Ph. D of IDA, Bernard Chen of Flipclips and Barry Silverman of University of Pennsylvania and Wharton School of Business.
References 1. Desurvire, H., Kondziela, J., Atwood, M.: What is Gained and Lost When Using Evaluation Methods Other Than Empirical Testing (short paper version). In: ACM conference, CHI 1992, collection of abstracts, pp. 125–126 (1992a) 2. Desurvire, H., Caplan, M., Toth, J.: Using Heuristics to Evaluate the Playability of Games. In: ACM conference, CHI 2004, collection of abstracts (2004) 3. Desurvire, H., Jegers, K., Wiberg, C.: Evaluating Fun and Entertainment: Developing A Conceptual Framework Design of Evaluation Methods. In: Facing Emotions: Responsible experiential design INTERACT 2007 conference, Rio, Brasil (2007) 4. Desurvire, H., Wiberg, C.: Master of the Game: Assessing Approachability in Future Game Design. In: ACM CHI 2008 conference, CHI 2008 International Conference on Computer Human interaction, Florence, Italy (2008) 5. Falstein, N., Barwood, H.: The 400 Project, http://theinspiracy.com/400_project.htm 6. Federoff, M.: User Testing for Games: Getting Better Data Earlier. Game Developer Magazine, 35–40 (June 2003) 7. Federoff, M.: Heuristics and Usability Guidelines for the Creation and Evaluation of FUN in Video Games. Thesis, University Graduate School of Indiana University (December 2002)
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8. Fulton, B., Medlock, M.: Beyond Focus Groups: Getting More Useful Feedback from Consumers. In: Proceedings of the Game Developer’s Conference (2003) 9. Malone, T.W.: Heuristics for designing enjoyable user interfaces: Lessons from computer games. In: Thomas, J.C., Schneider, M.L. (eds.) Human Factors in Computing Systems. Ablex Publishing Corporation, Norwood (1982) 10. Nielsen, J.: Heuristic evaluation. In: Nielsen, J., Molich, R.L. (eds.) Usability Inspection Methods. John Wiley & Sons, New York (1994) 11. Silverman, B.G., Johns, M., Weaver, R., Mosley, J.: Authoring Edutainment Stories for Online Players (AESOP): Introducing Game play into Interactive Dramas. In: International Conference on Virtual Storytelling. Springer, Toulouse (2003)
Cheating Behaviors in Online Gaming Henry Been-Lirn Duh1 and Vivian Hsueh Hua Chen2 1
National University of Singapore, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, 4 Engineering Drive 3, Singapore 117576 2 Nanyang Technological University, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, 31 Nanyang Link, Singapore 637718
Abstract. Online game cheating is a rampant misbehavior in the domain of online gaming. However, there is still lack of research in attempt to understand online game cheating. Hence, this paper focuses on the available literature on cheating and gaming to explore and understand the phenomenon of online game cheating. This paper examines the frameworks of cheating and how virtual community is affected by this misbehavior. This paper also explores the concept of fairness in gaming. The implications are discussed in conclusion. Keywords: Online game cheating, cheating frameworks, online game fairness.
1 Introduction Online games have become an important leisure activity for many people. However, with a surge of online game cheating, the change in gaming experiences has affected both gamers and gaming developers. In the past, computer games are played in one player mode (against a computer opponent). A human player will try all means to defeat the computer player, either legally or illegally. Nonetheless, the computer is less concerned about which gaming methods human player explores to win the game. These methods may include exploiting the loophole of the game that is illegal means of winning. The cheating outcomes do not affect other players. While online games are rising to be one of the most popular applications, it is not surprising that online game cheating has become a widespread online deviant behavior concurrently. Some scholars [1-4] have adverted that cheating is a new but pressing issue in the domain of online computer games. Nowadays, most of the online games are designed to allow players to compete and cooperate with other human players. Hence, the new gaming dynamics appear to be more interesting and challenging since human players are less predictable as compared to computer players. With this, players found a new meaning on winning as they experience a stronger sense of accomplishment when they win. Eventually, the main goal of the gaming is to win and in order to win, some players are willing to cheat to get ahead of others. 1.1 Definition of Online Gaming Cheating Cheating behavior in online games is rampant and security threatening to both gamers and gaming companies. Still, there is no one definition that is generally accepted A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 567–573, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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given that different game companies vary in the criteria use to determine which are cheating behaviors. This lack of consistency [3] is due to: 1) Online game cheating is a topic in its infantry to researchers, 2) Wide variety of online game genres leads to different forms of cheating, and 3) Newer cheats are constantly invented as the security companies defended the older cheats. Sometimes it is almost impossible to distinguish smart play, e.g. good use of tactics, from cheating. To draw the fine line between cheating and good playing tactics, cheating [2] is defined as “Any behavior that a player may use to get an unfair advantage, or achieve a target that he is not supposed to be.” Cheating [3] is then redefined as “Any behavior that a player uses to gain an advantage or achieve a target in an online game is cheating if, according to the game rules or at the discretion of the game operator (i.e. the game service provider, who is not necessarily the developer of the game), the advantage is unfair to his peer players or the target is one that he is not supposed to have achieved.” A more technical definition of cheating [5] is “a process, a code tweak, an exploitation of a glitch or a hack that allows the player to engage in behavior that is not intended within the context of the game”. Overall these definitions can be summed up into 3 parts: 1) cheating involves exploiting loopholes in the game systems, 2) such behaviors leads to unfair advantages over other players, 3) these advantages are unfair because gamers are not supposed to be achieved according to the gaming rules or codes of conduct. Cheating was very popular in single player console or PC games. Human player could make use of cheating tools or code to accomplish the mission goals faster and easier. In fact, most games are developed with a set of cheat codes for single player mode. These cheat codes only function during single player mode. For this single player mode, cheaters were cheating the computer thus nobody would care. However, for online games, the cheaters are cheating human players who were playing on the network. The players who were cheated would definitely care and be angry or happy. It is commonly believed that online cheating ruins good games and result in users giving up, especially driving away new users. As such cheating behavior not only annoys players but also important for game server for retention of players. 1.2 Taxonomy of Online Game Cheating Although a range online game cheating behaviors have been reported over the past decade both directly and indirectly, for the purpose of this paper, only two most commonly cited frameworks are discussed. 1.3 Six-Category Framework A six-category framework [1] for online cheating was proposed to comprise of reflex augmentation, authoritative clients, information exposure, compromised servers, bugs and design loopholes, and environmental weaknesses. Reflex augmentation is when gamers exploit “a computer program to replace human reactions to produce superior results”. Since this type of cheating mainly stresses on reflexes and reaction times, it is most commonly found in action games. On example of reflex augmentation is the aiming bot (that is one type of aiming proxy) that is found in Counter Strike to help cheaters to aim a target. Authoritative
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clients are imposed upon other players who blindly accepted modified copy of game. In other words, gamers hacked other players so that the peer players’ game properties are being changed. Gamers who cheat through information exposure are those who gain “access or visibility to hidden information” by compromising client software. In a way, information exposure is different from authoritative clients because it doesn’t change the communications with other players as the commands are normal. Compromised servers are cheating behaviors in which gamers modified server configurations to get unfair advantages. Gamers are also known to exploit bugs and design loopholes in software to cheat. Environmental weaknesses are identified as to exploit “particular hardware or operating conditions”. However, one shortcoming of Pritchard’s framework is that it is “ad-hoc” [2, 3]. In addition, this framework only covers a number of cheating behaviors while many more cheating behaviors can be found in game systems. 1.4 Taxonomy of Cheating A more specific taxonomy in which it has extended into 15 common cheating methods in online games was developed [4]. The classification scheme for online game cheating includes underlying cause, cheating consequence and cheating principal. • Cheating due to misplace trust. When gamers are given too much trust, cheaters will abuse this trust through modifying code and data on the client side. This type of cheating behavior is caused by the inadequacy of the game system, in which cheaters exploit a flaw in the game system, underlying network/operating system, or both. The consequence of such cheating behavior leads to integrity failure or failure to prevent code and data modification. The cheating principal for this type of cheating is usually single player. • Cheating by collusion. Sometimes, players try to attain unfair advantages through conspiring, and this is often caused by operational failure that is also known as human-computer interaction failure that occurs during operational phase of a game system. The consequence of it would be theft of information and possessions in game. The cheating principals are mainly multiple players. • Cheating by abusing game procedure. This form of cheating is done through when gamers realize that they are likely to lose in a game and so they quickly disconnect themselves from the game system to avoid losing. This often only applies to games that involved ranking. Again, this is caused by operational failure of the game system in which usually results in fairness violation between peer-players. The culprit is usually single player. • Cheating related to virtual assets. Cheating can occur due to the virtual items or characters in online game have real life value such as to trade for monetary benefits. Since acquiring good items and well-equipped characters require both time and skills, players who are lack of such criteria could choose to advance their characters through purchasing these auctioned items and characters on auction websites i.e., eBay. Single player are usually found to engage in such behavior are exploiting players’ vulnerability. This action often leads to fairness violation.
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• Cheating due to machine intelligence. Some artificial intelligence techniques can be acquired to achieve game superiority. This form of cheating strongly relies on 1) if the game’s properties allow to be modeled as a computable problem and 2) the availability of artificial intelligence research on such game. Single player exploits the operational failure may result in fairness violation. • Cheating via the graphics driver. Gamers can cheat through creating transparent walls in some online games by modifying the graphics driver. With these transparent walls, cheaters can locate other players in the game that otherwise are supposed to be hidden. These single players abuse the system design inadequacy in the underlying system. The behavior leads to a breach of integrity through code and data modification. • Cheating by denying services to peer players. Delaying opponents’ responses via flooding their network connection is another form of cheating behavior. These opponents are likely to be kicked out of the game in order to avoid the game session being affected for the single-player culprits have successfully created a delusion that other peer players are suffering from bad networking. This cheating method often caused service denial that is a breach of availability, and this is due to the system design failure in the game system. • Timing cheating. Such cheating style is to take advantage of holding one’s move before knowing the opponents’ moves and intentionally dropping update messages at the “right” time. Single players who engage in such cheating behavior are misusing the system design inadequacy in the game system and this resulted in fairness violation. • Cheating by compromising passwords. Cheaters gain access to other gamers’ data and authorization through compromising gamers’ passwords. This happened because of the vulnerability of players and it results in theft of information and possessions. The cheaters are mainly single player. • Cheating due to lack of secrecy. Cheaters eavesdrop other players’ conversations through communication packets and changing game events that are transmitted through the network. This is caused by system design inadequacy in the game system. The consequence for this action is theft of information and possession. Single players are the ones who usually engage in such cheating methods. • Cheating due to lack of authentication. Cheaters exploit the lack of proper mechanism of authentication. The cause of this action is because system design inadequacy in the game system and the result of it is a breach of authenticity in which leads to masquerade. The cheating principal is usually single players. • Cheating by exploiting a bug or loophole. Knowledgeable cheaters exploit the bug or loophole in the design of the game. However, this kind of cheat doesn’t involve any data or code modification. The cheating principals are usually single-players who exploit the system design inadequacy in game system and the consequence for it would be fairness violation. • Cheating by compromising game servers. This form of cheat happens when cheaters gain access to the game host system to change the configurations. The results of such cheat leads to integrity violation that usually exploit the system design inadequacy in underlying systems. The culprits are often single players.
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• Cheating related to internal misuse. When game operators abuse their privilege as the game administrator, this will result in integrity violation. The cheat principals are game operator or the cooperation between game operator and gamers who exploit the game operators’ vulnerability. • Cheating by social engineering. Cheaters tricked other gamers to hand over their ID and passwords. Single users exploited the players’ vulnerability and this will lead to theft of information and possessions.
2 Understanding Online Game Cheating Although the taxonomy of cheating [4] proposed the causes for 15 types of cheating that occur during online gaming, still little is explained about why do people cheat in general? Online deviant behaviors or virtual crimes are known to exist in the virtual environment for quite some time. 2.1 Virtual Community A virtual community in many ways resembles the real world community [6]. One key feature of MMORPG games is that it allows gamers to interact with each other online through the created virtual space. These interactions occur between or among avatars that are gamers’ online characters. With this, gamers build close relationships with their online acquaintances who share the similar interests. Hence, the virtual community exists when network of gamers communicate and interact with each other. The virtual community can be built with “diversity, unity and reciprocity”. For diversity, players come from different background, countries and culture but share common interests, hobbies and ideas. In spite of the diversity, they unite to have the same objectives and cooperate with one another to accomplish their common goals. Based on these diversity and unity, reciprocity would help them make their relationship longer and better. One interesting phenomenon that is observed in online gaming is that gamers tend to misbehave more online, which they otherwise won’t do in real life [6]. Perhaps it is because the virtual environment allows players to feel “safe” enough to behave in such. Gamers might feel that they are disembodied from their actions because of the physical distance proximity of selves from actions created through Internet [7]. Furthermore, this disembodiment leads to disinhibition that increases misbehaviors [8]. Hence, a virtual community is only considered to be complete with physical and social rules. These rules will enforce members of virtual community to behave. 2.2 Fairness In general, people assume that there is an unspoken mutual agreement on fairness in both real world and virtual environment. Maintaining online fairness is equally important to both gamers and game companies as they are interrelated. Game companies try to ensure a fair gaming experience to create a desirable gaming atmosphere for gamers to participate. Most of the online games are designed to be challenging to appeal to gamers. Hence, gamers are expected to invest long hours to
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complete the game missions or goals. When cheaters use “invincibility cheat” to get through the game, they will never understand the hard work that the normal gamers put into [8]. Furthermore, epic items or uber avatars are supposed to be rare that only few can achieve such status. However, when cheating is involved, these rare items and avatars will become ubiquitous and hence they lose their initial values. As a result, when fairness has been violated, gamers will lose interest and quit the game. In a society (both virtual and real) members are expected to abide by the “rules of conduct” [9]. Therefore, principles of fairness [9, 10] assume that every member of the society or community has the right and responsibility to distribute the benefits and burdens in accordance to individual’s participation. The same principles apply to the institution as well. It is only under a fair institution that members of the society or community are able to advance themselves under the given opportunities. Usually, a fair society or community would explicitly state the rules so that its members would abide. Members would mutually expect and trust others to do the same. Since the virtual community is evolved from online gaming [6], it would only be relevant for gamers to expect others to play fair.
3 Conclusion Online game cheating is a domain still lack of much research in comparison to other online misbehaviors or deviant behaviors such as plagiarism, “computer-focused crimes” include hacking and spreading viruses, illegal downloaded, online pornography and so on [7]. The lack of attention in online game cheating is not because this is an area that is new to scholars, as suggested [4]. In fact, many scholars are highly aware of online game cheating since they game in order to study online gaming. Instead, it is because they don’t consider online game cheating as a part of games research [8]. There are many unanswered questions about online gaming. One such important question is what defines online game cheating? There appears to be a gap between the scholars and the gamers’ definition on cheating. “Purists” might argue that using strategy guides, walkthroughs are as bad as hacking and using cheat codes [11]. On the other end of the spectrum, some gamers only considered cheaters to be those who are conspiring with other players. Furthermore, previously mentioned, little is known about the motives that drive cheaters to cheat. What are the characteristics of cheaters that can help researchers to predict what types of gamers have the tendency to cheat? These questions are crucial in helping game companies to decrease and prevent cheating in future. Online game cheating is an area that definitely requires scholars’ attention given that the gaming business is predicted to grow tremendously over the years and hence the threat of cheating will continue to rise concurrently. Online game cheating will threaten the players and namely the game companies and its revenues [12]. Given that the online game cheating not only hurts games’ reputation, it also deprives many gamers from enjoying the online games; it would be worthwhile to study online game cheating.
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References 1. Pritchard, M.: How to Hurt the Hackers: The Scoop on Internet Cheating and How You Can Combat It, http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20000724/pritchard_pfv.htm 2. Yan, J.J., Choi, H.: Security Issues in Online Game. The Electronic Library 20, 125–133 (2002) 3. Yan, J.: Security Design in Online Games. In: 19th Annual Computer Security Applications Conference, pp. 286–295. IEEE Press, New York (2003) 4. Yan, J., Randell, B.: A Systematic Classification of Cheating in Online Games. In: 4th ACM SIGCOMM Workshop on Network and System Support for Games, pp. 1–9. ACM Press, New Yok (2005) 5. O’Brien, M., Gray, G.: Game Cheats and Cheat Prevention, http://gw.stratics.com/content/arenanet/ articles20020408_obrien_gray.php 6. Chen, Y., Chen, P.S., Korba, L.: Online Gaming Crime and Security Issue- Case and Countermeasures from Taiwan. In: 2nd Annual Conference on Privacy, Security and Trust, pp. 131–136. National Research Council, Canada (2004) 7. Selwyn, N.: A Safe Haven for Misbehaving? An Investigation of Online Misbehavior among University Students. Social Science Computer Review 26, 446–465 (2008) 8. Denegri-Knott, J.: Consumers Behaving Badly. Journal of Consumer Behavior 5, 82–94 (2006) 9. Brooke, P.J.: Playing the Game: Cheating, Loopholes and Virtual Identity. ACM Computers and Society Magazine 24(3) (2004) 10. Rawls, J.: A Theory of Justice. Oxford University Press, Oxford (1971) 11. Consalvo, M.: Gaining Advantage: How Videogame Players Define and Negotiate Cheating, http://www.waikato.ac.nz/film/2005papers/319B/docs/Consalvo.pdf 12. IT GlobalSecure, Inc., http://www.secureplay.com/papers/docs/WhyCheatingMatters.pdf
Flow Experience in Second Life: The Impact of Telepresence on Human-Computer Interaction Anthony Faiola1 and Olga Smyslova2 1
Indiana University, School of Informatics (IUPUI), Indianapolis, USA [email protected] 2 M.I.N.D. Lab, Moscow M.V. Lomonosov State University, Moscow, Russia [email protected] Abstract. Recent trends in computer-mediated communication research suggest that “flow theory” may provide new applications of understanding within the field human-computer interaction (HCI). Csikszentmihalyi [1] refers to flow as an optimal experience issuing in a feeling of psychological immersion, energized focus, absolute involvement, and change to positive emotions. This study hopes to facilitate an understanding of flow and telepresence as applied to immersive online virtual worlds such as Second Life (SL), where players may lose their sense of time and connection with their present reality of space. Our study tested two hypotheses: (1) that participants experience flow while playing SL and (2) that flow can be correlated with telepresence. Based on our findings, indicators suggest that flow was experienced in SL based on four controlling factors related to being present in a virtual world and that there are considerable correlations that can be drawn between flow and telepresence. Keywords: computer-mediated communication, usability, flow, telepresence.
1 Introduction Recent trends in computer-mediated communication research suggest that “flow theory” may provide new insights into understanding the field human-computer interaction (HCI). Csikszentmihalyi [1] refers to flow as a feeling of enjoyment and psychological immersion, energized focus, and involvement, often issuing in a sense of pleasure. Traditional cognitive approaches to research in HCI have tended to underestimate emotion and pleasure as a factor that can have a dramatic influence on user experience. Hoffman and Novak [2] were among the first researchers to apply flow experience to human-computer interaction (HCI) on the Web in the context of online marketing. By applying Csikszentmihalyi’s (1988) research to consumer navigation on the web, they proposed techniques to facilitate more flow opportunities to online users and to create increased repeat visits and longer times at each visit to the respective Web sites. In the context of Web experiences, early inquiries asked questions such as how does the experience of flow compare to other applications of flow as outlined by Csikszentmihalyi [3], [4], [1]. For example, how do users experience flow in processes of online information-seeking, and what is the correlation between user skill level and their propensity to experience flow. Other researchers found that flow A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 574–583, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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and high levels of enjoyment and control in human-computer interaction correlated with higher online experimentation and exploration [5], [6]. As we will see, user experiences of flow on the Web are determined by high levels of skill and control, challenge and arousal, and focused attention, as well as enhancements through interactivity and telepresence. In particular, telepresence (the focal point of this study) provides a new dimension unique to online environments where users feel they are part of the action [7]. Moreover, telepresence has been shown to influence exploratory behavior in flow experience in online environments such as virtual communities [8]. For example, video gamers might experience being totally immersed in the interactive experience of the game, whereby they lose the sense of time, while experiencing positive emotions. Gamers perceive such situations as optimal experience, one that is highly valued. In such a state, the telepresence experience would translate players to a virtual location, in which they would lose their connection with real-time space. Computer-mediated environments that facilitate the telepresence experience of flow have the potential to increase the degree of enjoyment, having wide implications for human-computer interaction. In particular, non-gaming social virtual communities may also facilitate a unique experience of flow that can provide insight into HCI theory and practice. Three dimensional environments like Second Life offer users virtual spaces for exploration and creativity. Each community experience can provide complex social interaction that is both graphic and audible, and includes chat rooms for social networking. The proposed research addresses the shared concerns of past studies that provide a fundamental support of HCI and the flow phenomenon in identifying and better understanding the relationship between telepresence in virtual community experience and flow. What is being suggested is that as a result of flow, brought on through the virtual world experience, an illusion of “being there” or telepresence will occur. Hence, we ask, what are the determining factors influencing flow within a virtual world? And what is the relationship between the flow and telepresence experience? How do these factors and effects impact the HCI experience of gamers?
2 Flow Overview The notion of ‘flow’ was introduced by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi [3] as a technical term to describe the good feeling or “optimal experience” people have as a motivating factor in their daily activities such as work, sports, and artistic performance. Although Csikszentmihalyi’s research was part of the larger field of intrinsic motivation, his investigation of flow was contrary to the traditional utility-centric motivational theories of the time [3]. Csikszentmihalyi referred to flow as an experience people have when they “worked hard, not in order to get conventional rewards, but because the work itself was rewarding. …” [3, p. 5]. Key to understanding flow is the concept of autotelic. Autotelic is the result of an activity or situation that produces its own intrinsic motivation, rewards, or incentives; and specifically without any outside goals or rewards. The experience of autotelic is a common feeling among all people that experience flow, where their attention is on a limited stimulus field. Csikszentmihalyi [9] states that in autotelic people “forget personal problems, lose their sense of time and of themselves, feel
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competent and in control, and have a sense of harmony and union with their surroundings… and cease to worry about whether the activity will be productive and whether it will be rewarded” (p. 182). Flow is a complex concept and one that is difficult to operationalize because of a range of qualifiers, what Csikszentmihalyi [4] describes as the nine dimensions of flow, which include: 1) clear goals, 2) immediate feedback, 3) personal skills well suited to given challenges, 4) merger of action and awareness, 5) concentration on the task, 6) sense of control, 7) loss of self-consciousness, 8) altered sense of time, and 9) the experience of becoming “autotelic,” i.e., doing an activity for its own sake or its own intrinsic reward. Csikszentmihalyi states that for people to experience flow in play, the outcomes must be real, meaningful, and fateful. Moreover, the results must be significant, dependent, and “determined by individual volitional action; the act must be intrinsically rewarding, occasioned by a merging of action and awareness, an absence of self-consciousness…” [3, p. 52-53]. Eventually, flow eludes us through an intensely self-satisfying “experience of enjoyment,” with boredom being at the opposite end of the spectrum. With today’s competitive media industry, interactive products that support game play and virtual experiences that do not usher users in the optimal experience of flow quickly become a bore.
3 Telepresence and Virtual Worlds Sherry [10] argues that humans evolve in response to “felt needs and contextual factors. In the case of enjoyment of media, an individual’s decision to use a particular medium is largely, though not completely, a function of the individual’s expectation of potential enjoyment resulting from use of that medium” (p. 329). For example, there has been a recent trend of research on online three-dimensional gaming environments and virtual worlds [11],[12],[13],[10],[14],[15]. In part, these studies have focused on how to better facilitate flow for users using massively multiplayer online role playing games, e.g., World of Warcraft. While seemingly just as immersive as these games, non-gaming social virtual environments may also provide flow experiences for its users. These non-gaming virtual worlds (NGVW) are broadly classified as meeting spaces, places for virtual exploration and creativity, or simply 3D chat rooms. The most popular NGVWs are Second Life, Active Worlds, Multiverse, There, Lively (from Google), BrandWorlds, Worlds.com, and Kaneva. Each is able to provide a virtual social community life designed to be scalable and support many online users. Research on flow suggests further inquiry is required to clarify which variables are part of the flow experience for users of virtual worlds, including the direct influence on intentions or behavior [16]. With the emergence of the WWW, renewed calls for research into flow in the context of virtual worlds has increased. A review of the literature by Rodriguez-Sanchez and Schaufeli [17] suggests a definition of flow as an optimal experience is composed of absorption, enjoyment, and intrinsic interest. In addition to these three, recent literature also suggests that flow can generate immersive experiences of telepresence in online virtual environments, i.e., feelings of being present in a virtually located environment where users experience being part of the action.
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Finneran and Zhang [18] state that in a computer-mediated environment, “telepresence is an essential factor for enabling the person to remain concentrated on the computer-based task” (p. 484). Agah and Tanie [19] define any technology that can produce a telepresence experience as a system that “provides the user with the feeling of being present in a remote location through the use of images, sounds, and (at times) touch” (p. 107). In a conceptual model devised by Hoffman and Novak [2], flow is defined in terms of a computer-mediated activity with a seamless sequence of responses, which is enhanced by interactivity and telepresence. In their study, they showed that “focused attention leads to arousal and telepresence, which both lead to flow” [2, p. 56]. Hence, vividness and an intense focus on the computer-based task, has much to do with enhancing the “feeling of telepresence, however, without a reasonable responsiveness, telepresence can never occur” [17], p. 485). Draper and Blair [19] further concur with the need for a heightened level of attention, when they state that telepresence arises from “commitment of attentional resources to the remote task. The more resources a user devotes to the task, the greater the identification of the user with the task and the stronger the sense of telepresence”. Csikszentmihalyi [1] at the same time argued that the experience of flow, and the respective heightened enjoyment occurs more readily when there is a balance between an individual’s skill and the difficulty of the task or activity. Most striking is how much flow and telepresence share the characteristic of concentration on task. As Draper and Blair [19] argue, both demand a level of concentration void of any “distracting stimuli to the point of loss of awareness of self as separate from the task” (p. 1030). While flow is being increasingly researched in the context of online gaming [20], [9], [21] few address virtual worlds with respect to “non-gaming” [22][23][24], and none, from our study, that focus specifically on flow and telepresence. As such, the relationship between flow and telepresence as related and distinct phenomena deserve further inquiry. As such, studies continue to suggest that flow experience is a significant cognitive state in online virtual community behavior. Hence, the focus of this pilot study is to first determine those factors influencing flow experience in a 3D virtual community (e.g., Second Life) and, second to prove that telepresence is associated with those factors. Therefore, hypotheses include: (1) Second Life participants experience flow and (2) Flow experience is positively correlated with Second Life experiences of telepresence.
4 Methodology 4.1 Participants Participants for this study were recruited from five of the largest websites dedicated to Second Life discussions, totaling 5000 plus members. Our survey ran during the summer 2008 and reached the goal of 80 participants who completed all questions. 4.2 Treatment and Data Analysis In this study we used an online questionnaire to gather our responses, choosing a multiple choice survey instead of an open interview. Based on this method we were
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able to collect much more data, in a shorter period of time, and with primary goal to reach as many respondents as possible. The online questionnaire was composed of 39 (Primary and Demographics) questions. The primary online questionnaire was composed of 23 multiple-choice questions based on information gained from formative studies in online gaming [2], [11], [14], [21]. Specifically, we designed our questionnaire by reviewing the work of other web, gaming, and virtual reality studies on flow experience. The questionnaire is composed of two categories to provide specific insights about the relationship between online virtual communities, flow, and telepresence (See Table 1). Table 1. The primary questionnaire was composed of two sections, with the mean score of user findings. The questionnaire asked how often the participants experienced each of these items. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.
Flow Experience in Second Life I feel anxious while online I feel bored while online I feel in control while online I feel completely involved I feel focused while online I feel comfortably challenged while online I lose track of time while online I feel at ease while online Time really flies when I'm online I feel confident while online I feel engaged while I'm online When I'm online it feels "effortless" I feel aware of my online surroundings
Mean 1.8 2.1 3.7 3.7 3.8 3.5 3.9 4.0 4.0 3.9 3.9 3.3 4.2
14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23.
Telepresence in Second Life I think of being online as an extension of the "Real World" I feel aware of my surroundings in SL My interactions with the online environment seem very natural I feel like all of my senses are engaged while online Moving around in the environment seems very natural I feel like I'm actually moving through the virtual world I can anticipate the responses to my actions online (I kick a ball, it moves) I can examine objects from multiple viewpoints I experience little delay from my actions to the expected outcomes I feel like I am really "there" in the virtual world
Mean 3.3 4.1 3.9 3.2 3.8 3.5 3.7 4.5 3.4 3.7
The first 13 questions address issues related to user flow experience in their general participation in the virtual community of Second Life. Questions 14-23 were more specific about flow experience related to telepresence while using Second Life. The secondary section of the questionnaire was composed of four sections related to level of experiences with Second Life, general online experience, general computer experience, and demographic information. The questionnaire was delivered using the online survey service Survey Monkey. Participants had to rate Flow- and Telepresence-related questions, evaluating the degree of their experiences respectively. Several negative statements were included
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into the questionnaire to balance mostly positive statements. We set a threshold for Flow and Telepresence as a score of 3 on every positive scale (2 for the negative questions). Data was analyzed using factor analysis (Principal Components Analysis with Varimax rotation). Thus, our research was entirely quantitative. Processing of research results involved four stages: 1) Statistical analysis of the questionnaire items (calculation of the means for each item), 2) Scale reliability analysis for two parts of the questionnaire, flow and telepresence, 3) Explorative factor analysis, targeted at stemming all the parameters into factors, and 4) Analysis of demography and parameters referring to online gaming experience in the samples.
5 Results 5.1 Demographics Of the 80 Second Life participants completing the online survey there were 32 males and 48 females. The age of respondents ranged from 18 to 65+, with the greatest group being 46-55 at 38% and the second largest group at 35% (36-45). Combined, they account for 73% of the sample tested. The highest reported amount of regular time spent per week was 25 hours among 17% of the participants, with the least reported number of hours being under three hours at 21% of the participants. Almost all participants spend more than 20+ hours per week in the Internet and using the computer. The majority of the participants stated work as the main reason for using a computer and 14 participants – or 17% of respondents – stated communication as their primary motivation for using a computer, with the internet usage reasons have similar ratio of work/communication motivation. 5.2 Factor Analysis for Flow and Telepresence A reliability analysis of the flow and telepresence questionnaire data was conducted. The Cronbach’s alphas for the flow and telepresence questionnaires were .73 and .84, with an average inter-item correlation at .18 and .34 respectively. We can conclude that the questions on Flow and Telepresence were satisfactory; also that there were no excessive questions, and all of the scales contributed to the resulting questionnaire. Since our participants rated the frequency of flow and telepresence experiences in the questionnaire, we set the threshold of flow experience score of 3.3 for positive questions and 1 for negative (which never happens). The highest scores show that most of the participants acknowledge that they experience a feeling of being somewhere in the online world. Hence, the first hypothesis was supported by most of the data, i.e., most of the mean scores are 3.3 or higher. See Table 1. We further support hypothesis one (participants experience flow when engaging Second Life) by conducting a principle components analysis (using Varimax rotation) on the two blocks of questions (1-13 and 14-23), representing Flow and Telepresence. A Principal Components Analysis of the constructs yielded several factors with eigenvalues greater than 1.0 (67.24% of variance explained). We can conclude that
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online experiences in Second Life were represented by four factors: Flow, Time Distortion, Control, and Easiness. Such results correspond with Csikszentmihalyi’s understanding of flow as well as recent flow studies. The loadings of constructs with these factors are represented in Table 2 (left side of the table). The first factor, labeled Flow, explains 37.13% of total variance. Questions 5, 6, 11 have the highest loadings on this factor, expressing focused attention, engagement, and comfort for the participants’ level of challenges. The other two scales, having high enough loadings (4, 15) are questions dealing with control and involvement. The negative sign of the factor (i.e., “no-flow”) correlates with feelings of boredom (loading of -.57) and anxiety (loading of -.23). This corresponds with the theoretical understanding of flow [3] as well as results of flow experience research in ecommerce [2]. The second factor, labeled Time Distortion (loss of the sense of time), explains 11.63% of variance. Scales 7 and 9 have the highest loadings on this factor and express the fact that most of the participants lose track of time while online. The third factor, labeled Control, explains 10.54 % of variance. Two scales have the highest loadings on this factor; control and confidence. Together these scales form a pleasant feeling with a controlled situation or environment, which also characterizes flow experience. The fourth factor, labeled Easiness, explains 7.95% of total variance. Two scales contribute to this factor, questions #1 and #8. The first one has a high negative loading, meaning that the anxiety feeling represents the negative sign of the factor. The second one has a high positive loading, representing the feeling of easiness. One scale has a high enough loading of .41 to be considered as adding some meaning to this factor. Table 2. Four Flow Factor Loadings and Three Telepresence Factor Loadings 4 Flow Factor Loadings Scales /Ques.
F1: Flow
1 -0.16 2 -0.66 3 0.30 4 0.69 5 0.76 6 0.75 7 0.13 8 0.26 17 0.21 10 0.07 11 0.74 Explained 3.12 Variance Prp. 0.26 Total
3 Telepresence Factor Loadings
F2: F3: F4: Time Control Easiness Distortion 0.13 0.10 0.10 0.28 0.08 0.09 0.89 0.37 0.81 0.16 0.31
-0.18 0.21 0.83 0.03 0.15 0.31 0.05 0.12 0.19 0.83 0.18
-0.89 -0.36 0.00 0.41 0.21 0.03 0.10 0.72 -0.02 0.32 0.16
1.87
1.69
1.78
0.16
0.14
0.15
Scalεs /Ques. 14 15 13 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 Explained Variance Prp. Total
F1 Interactivity
F2 Perception
F3 Telepresence
-0.18 0.43 0.88 0.59 0.09 0.5 0.27 0.13 0.66 0.05 0.28
0.42 0.69 -0.02 0.16 0.68 0.33 0.08 -0.08 0.25 0.69 0.46
0.52 -0.12 0.14 0.58 0.45 0.59 0.78 0.67 0.2 0.06 0.65
2.2
2.01
2.72
0.2
0.18
0.25
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A Principal Components Analysis of the constructs in yielded three factors with eigenvalues greater than 1.0 (62.94% of variance explained). The loadings of constructs with these factors are represented in Table 2(right side of the table). The first factor, labeled Interactivity, explains 41.34% of total variance. The scale with the highest loading on this factor represents the feeling of control online. The other two scales with significant enough loadings on this factors state that participants’ “interactions with the online environment seem very natural” and the feeling that “all their senses are being used”. All these scales characterize the interactivity of the online experience: it is quite natural and participants feel absorbed in the activity and controlling the situation. The second factor, labeled Perception (online absorption) explains 11.23% of variance. Three scales have high enough loadings on this factor: awareness of the online surroundings, delay between the participants’ actions and expected outcomes, and a feeling of “all senses are being used while online”. The third factor, labeled Telepresence, explains 10.37% of total variance. The highest loading on this factor got the statement: “I feel like I am actually moving in a Virtual world”. Five other scales have moderate loadings on this factor and contribute to its meaning of telepresence. All these scales describe the feeling of “being in the virtual world”, the natural way of moving around in a virtual space, and interacting with objects. 5.3 Flow and Telepresence Correlations In order to investigate the relationship between Flow and Telepresence scales we calculated Spearman’s rank correlations. We list all correlations higher than .35 in the Table 3. As we can see, involvement in flow is correlated with a number of Telepresence scales, e.g., “being online as an extension of the Real World, “awareness of online surroundings”, “natural way of moving in Second Life”, “examining objects from multiple viewpoints”, and “the feeling of being in the virtual world”. Table 3. Spearman’s Rank Correlations: Flow and Telepresence scales Scales of Flow and Telepresence questionnaires 4 & 14 4 & 15 4 & 18 4 & 21 4 & 23 5 & 17 5 & 23 6 & 15 6 & 17
Spearman rank correlations
p-level
0.37 0.35 0.35 0.38 0.49 0.49 0.48 0.39 0.46
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Scales of Flow and Telepresence questionnaires 7 & 17 8 & 21 9 & 17 10 & 16 10 & 21 10 & 23 12 & 16 12 & 17 12 & 18
Spearman rank correlations
p-level
0.42 0.42 0.42 0.43 0.45 0.39 0.37 0.44 0.36
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
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Overall, our tentative findings suggest that there are 18 points of high degree of flow experience that facilitates telepresence and visa versa using Second Life. The results of correlating flow and telepresence showed that: • Focused attention in Flow is positively correlated with “all of senses being used” while online. • Scale of challenges in Flow is positively correlated with the awareness of the online surroundings and the feeling of all senses being used while online. • Time distortion is positively correlated with the feeling of all senses being used while online. • The feeling of easiness online is correlated with the possibility to examine objects from multiple viewpoints. • Confidence is correlated with the possibility to examine objects from multiple viewpoints, engagement, natural interactions, feeling of being effortless, and the feeling of being really “there” in the virtual world. Summative scores of Flow and Telepresence were calculated for each study participant. The Spearmans’ rank correlation coefficient is equal .64, which is high enough to conclude that these experiences in Second Life are related. Thus, hypothesis two is supported by high correlations between the Flow and Telepresence summative scores.
6 Conclusion Our study supports previous research that suggests that flow experience is a significant cognitive state in the online virtual community experience. From our findings, the results show that flow can be positively associated with degrees of immersion and telepresence in a 3D virtual community such as Second Life. First, our findings suggest that most participants experience flow while playing Second Life. Second, that considerable evidence supports hypothesis two that Flow can be correlated with telepresence. Based on the correlations between such important indicators of flow, we can conclude that there are some connections between flow and telepresence in Second Life, and that controlling objects can enhance a feeling of being present in a virtual world. Acknowledgments. Much gratitude for the work the HCI Graduate Study Kristina J. Ledford in the School of Informatics for her work in completing and managing the online survey and data collection process.
References 1. Csikszentmihalyi, M.: Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life. HarperCollins, New York (1997) 2. Hoffman, D.L., Novak, T.P.: Marketing in Hypermedia Computer-mediated Environments: Conceptual Foundations. Journal of Marketing 60(2), 50–68 (1996) 3. Csikszentmihalyi, M., Csikszentmihalyi, S.: Optimal Experiences: Psychological Studies of Flow in Consciousness. Cambridge University Press, New York (1988) 4. Csikszentmihalyi, M.: Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Harper & Row, New York (1990)
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5. Katz, J.A.: Playing at Innovation in the Computer Revolution. In: Frese, M., Ulrich, E., Dzida, W. (eds.) Psychological Issues of Human-computer Interaction in the Workplace. North-Holland, Amsterdam (1987) 6. Ghani, J.A., Deshpande, S.P.: Task Characteristics and the Experience of Optimal Flow in Human-computer Interaction. The Journal of Psychology 128(4), 381–391 (1994) 7. Novak, T.P., Hoffman, D.L., Yung, Y.F.: Measuring the Customer Experience in Online Environments: A Structural Modeling Approach. Marketing Science 19(1), 34–53 (2000) 8. Finneran, C.M., Zhang, P.: Flow in Computer-Mediated Environments. Communications of the Association for Information Systems 15, 82–101 (2005) 9. Csikszentmihalyi, M.: Beyond Boredom and Anxiety: Experiencing Flow in Work and Play. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (1978) 10. Sherry, J.L.: Flow and Media Enjoyment. Communication Theory 14(4), 328–347 (2004) 11. McKenna, K., Lee, S.: A Love Affair with MUDs: Flow and Social Interaction in MultiUser Dungeons (1996), http://www.uni-koeln.de/~am040/muds/ipages/mud.htm 12. Pilke, E.M.: Flow Experiences in Information Technology Use. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 61(3), 347–357 (2004) 13. Reid, D.: The Influence of Virtual Reality on Playfulness in Children with Cerebral Palsy: A Pilot Study. Occupational Therapy International 11(3), 131–144 (2004) 14. Voiskounsky, A.E., Mitina, O.V., Avetisova, A.A.: Playing Online Games: Flow Experience. Psychology Journal 2(3), 259–281 (2004) 15. Davis, F.D.: Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and User Acceptance of Information Technology. MIS Quarterly 13(3), 319–340 (1989) 16. Rodriguez-Sanchez, A.M., Schaufeli, W.B.: Flow Experience Among Information and Communication Technology Users. Psychological Reports 102, 29–39 (2008) 17. Finneran, C.M., Zhang, P.: A Person-artefact-task (PAT) Model of Flow Antecedents in Computer-mediated Environments. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 59(1), 475–496 (2003) 18. Agah, A., Tanie, K.: Multimedia Human-computer Interaction for Presence and Exploration in a Telemuseum. Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments 8(1), 104–111 (1999) 19. Draper, J.V., Blair, L.M.: Workload, Flow, and Telepresence during Teleoperation. In: Proceedings of the 1996 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 1996, pp. 1030–1035 (1996) 20. Choi, D., Kim, J.: Why People Continue to Play Online Games: In Search of Critical Design Factors to Increase Customer Loyalty to Online Contents. CyberPsychology & Behavior 7(1), 11–24 (2004) 21. Voiskounsky, A.E., Mitina, O.V., Avetisova, A.A.: Flow Experience and Interaction: Investigation of Francophone Online Gamers. In: Tartu, E., Sudweeds, F., Hrachovec, H., Ess, C. (eds.) Proceedings of Cultural Attitudes Towards Communication and Technology 2006, pp. 385–398 (2006) 22. Joinson, A.N.: Understanding the Psychology of Internet Behaviour: Virtual Worlds, Real Lives. Palgrave Macmillan, New York (2003) 23. Schroeder, R.: Social Interaction in Virtual Environments: Key Issues, Common Themes, and a Framework for Research. In: Schroeder, R. (ed.) The Social Life of Avatars: Presence and Interaction in Shared Virtual Environments, vol. 1(18), pp. 1–18. Springer, New York (2002) 24. Utz, S.: Social Information Processing in MUDs: The Development of Friendships in Virtual Worlds. Journal of Online Behavior 1(1) (2000)
EmoHeart: Automation of Expressive Communication of Emotions in Second Life Alena Neviarouskaya1, Helmut Prendinger2, and Mitsuru Ishizuka1 1
University of Tokyo, Department of Information and Communication Engineering, Japan [email protected], [email protected] 2 National Institute of Informatics, Japan [email protected]
Abstract. In this paper, we describe lexical rule-based approach to affect sensing from text, and application of the developed Affect Analysis Model in 3D virtual world Second Life. To enrich user experience in virtual environment, to automate emotional behaviour of avatar and to avoid thus manual control by user, we developed EmoHeart object that, driven by the result of Affect Analysis Model, triggers animations of avatar facial expressions and visualizes emotion by the heart-shaped textures. Keywords: Affective computing, affective user interface, avatar, emotions, online communication, language parsing and understanding, text analysis.
1 Introduction and Motivation The ability to express emotions in face-to-face communication is very important for establishing a social and friendly atmosphere. Trends show that people communicating through online media often try to enrich their interaction, introducing affective symbolic conventions into text (emoticons, capital letters etc.), or manually controlling the expressiveness of graphical representations of users (avatars). In order to achieve truly natural communication in virtual worlds, we set a two-fold focus in our research: (1) recognition of affective content conveyed through text; (2) automatic visualization of emotional expression of avatars. Recently computational linguists demonstrate an increased interest in the tasks of text classification as subjective or of factual nature, of determination of orientation and strength of sentiment, and of recognition of attitude type expressed in text at various grammatical levels. A variety of approaches have been proposed to determine the polarity of distinct terms [1,2], phrases/sentences [3], and documents [4]. To analyse contextual sentiment, rule-based approaches [5,6], and a machine-learning method using not only lexical but also syntactic features [7] were proposed. Advanced approaches targetting textual affect recognition at the sentence level are described in [8,9,10,11]. One of the first attempts to study effects of conveying emotional expressions through communication in computer-mediated environment was done by Rivera et al. A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 584–592, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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[12]. The results of their experiment indicated that subjects allowed to use emoticons were more satisfied with the system than those subjects having conversations without these symbolic emotional expressions. The user study of ExMS [13], messaging system allowing its users to concatenate and annotate avatar animations, showed that interplay between pure text and animation significantly improved the expressiveness of messages, and that users felt pride of being identified with their embodied representation. However, the need for users to manually control their avatars can distract them from communication process. The twenty-person user study conducted on AffectIM [14], affective Instant Messenger (IM), showed that the IM system with automatic emotion recognition function was successful at conveying users’ emotional states during communication online, thus enriching expressivity and social interactivity of online communications. In this paper, we describe the application of Affect Analysis Model, responsible for affect sensing from text, in 3D virtual world Second Life. To automate emotional behaviour of avatar and to avoid thus manual control by user, we developed EmoHeart object that, driven by the result of Affect Analysis Model, triggers animations of facial expressions and visualizes emotion by the heart-shaped textures.
2 Recognition of Fine-Grained Emotions from Text 2.1 Basis for Affective Text Classification For affective text classification, we decided to use the subset of emotional states defined by Izard [15]: ‘anger’, ‘disgust’, ‘fear’, ‘guilt’, ‘interest’, ‘joy’, ‘sadness’, ‘shame’, and ‘surprise’. Besides emotions, we defined five communicative functions that are frequently observed in online conversations (‘greeting’, ‘thanks’, ‘posing a question’, ‘congratulation’, and ‘farewell’). In the paper we mainly focus on the recognition of emotional state, and did not discuss the task of detection of communicative functions. In order to support the handling of abbreviated language and the interpretation of affective features of lexical items, the Affect database was created (details are given in [16]). The Affect database includes the following tables: Emoticons, Abbreviations, Adjectives, Adverbs, Nouns, Verbs, Interjections, and Modifiers. Affective lexicon was mainly taken from WordNet-Affect [17]. Emotion categories with intensities were manually assigned to the emotion-related entries of the database by three independent annotators. Emotion intensity values range from 0.0 to 1.0. Emoticons and abbreviations were transcribed and related to named affective states (with intensity), whereby each entry was assigned to only one category (for ex., emoticon ‘:-S’ [worry] was related to ‘fear’ with intensity 0.4). Considering the fact that some affective words may express more than one emotional state, annotators could relate words to more than one category (for ex., final annotation for noun ‘enthusiasm’ is ‘interest:08, joy:0.5’). Two annotators gave coefficients for intensity degree strengthening or weakening (from 0.0 to 2.0) to the adverbs of degree, and the result was averaged (for ex., coeff(‘significantly’) = 2.0).
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2.2 Affect Analysis Model The affect sensing algorithm consists of five main stages: (1) symbolic cue analysis; (2) syntactical structure analysis; (3) word-level analysis; (4) phrase-level analysis; (5) sentence-level analysis. The Affect Analysis Model is capable of processing sentences of different complexity, including simple, compound, complex, and complex-compound sentences. Symbolic Cue Analysis. In the first stage of the Affect Analysis Model, we test the sentence for emoticons, abbreviations, interjections, ‘?’ and ‘!’ marks, repeated punctuation, and capital letters. Several rules are applied to define the dominant emotion in cases when multiple emoticons and emotion-relevant abbreviations occur in a sentence. As interjections are added to sentence to convey emotion (e.g. ‘Oh no’, ‘wow’), they are analysed as well. If there are no emotion-relevant emoticons or abbreviations in a sentence, we prepare the sentence for parser processing: emoticons and abbreviations relating to communicative function categories are excluded from the sentence; and non-emotional abbreviations are replaced by their proper transcriptions found in the database (e.g., ‘I m [am] stressed bc [because] i have frequent headaches’). In such a way, the issue of correct processing of abbreviated text by syntactical parser is resolved. Syntactical Structure Analysis. The second stage is devoted to analysis of syntactical structure of sentences, and it is divided into two main subtasks: (1) sentence analysis by the Stanford Parser1 [18] (in current research we employ it instead of commercial parser used in our previous work [16], as Stanford Parser is provided under GNU GPL) that returns word base forms (lemmas), parts of speech, and dependency functions representing relational information between words in sentences; (2) parser output processing. When handling the parser output, we represent the sentence as a set of primitive clauses (either independent or dependent). Each clause might include Subject formation (SF), Verb formation (VF) and Object formation (OF), each of which may consist of a main element (subject, verb, or object) and its attributives and complements. For the processing of complex or compound sentences, we build a so-called ‘relation matrix’, which contains information about dependences that the verbs belonging to different clauses have. Word-Level Analysis. On the third stage, for each word found in our database, the affective features of a word are represented as a vector of emotional state intensities e=[anger, disgust, fear, guilt, interest, joy, sadness, shame, surprise] (e.g., e(‘remorsefully’)=[0,0,0,0.8,0,0,0.5,0,0]). In the case of a modifier, the system identifies its coefficient (e.g., coeff(‘barely’)=0.4). Our model also varies the intensities of emotional vectors of adjectives and adverbs in comparative or superlative forms (e.g., e(‘glad’)=[0,0,0,0,0,0.4,0,0,0], e(‘gladder’)= [0,0,0,0,0,0.48,0,0,0] and e(‘gladdest’)=[0,0,0,0,0,0.56,0,0,0]). 1
Stanford Parser: http://nlp.stanford.edu/software/lex-parser.shtml
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Phrase-Level Analysis. The purpose of this stage is to detect emotions involved in phrases, and then in SF, VF, and OF. We have defined rules for processing phrases: 1. Adjective phrase: modify the vector of adjective (e.g., e(‘extremely doleful’) = coeff(‘extremely’) * e(‘doleful’) = 2.0 * [0,0,0,0,0,0,0.4,0,0] = [0,0,0,0,0,0,0.8,0,0]). 2. Noun phrase: output vector with the maximum intensity within each corresponding emotional state in analysing vectors (for instance, e1=[0..0.7..] and e2=[0.3..0.5..] yield e3=[0.3..0.7..]). 3. Verb plus adverbial phrase: output vector with the maximum intensity within each corresponding emotional state in analysing vectors (e.g., e(‘shamefully deceive’)=[0,0.4,0,0,0,0,0.5,0.7,0] where e(‘shamefully’)=[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0.7,0] and e(‘deceive’)= [0,0.4,0,0,0,0,0.5,0,0]). 4. Verb plus noun phrase: if verb and noun phrase have opposite valences (e.g., ‘break favourite vase’, ‘enjoy bad weather’), consider vector of verb as dominant; if valences are the same (e.g., ‘like honey’, ‘hate crying’), output vector with maximum intensity in corresponding emotional states. 5. Verb plus adjective phrase (e.g., ‘is very kind’, ‘feel bad’): output vector of adjective phrase. The rules for modifiers are as follows: (1) adverbs of degree multiply or decrease emotional intensity values; (2) negation modifiers such as ‘no’, ‘never’, ‘nothing’ etc. cancel (set to zero) vectors of the related words, i.e., ‘neutralize the emotional content’ (e.g., ‘Yesterday I went to a party, but nothing exciting happened there’); (3) prepositions such as ‘without’, ‘except’, ‘against’, ‘despite’ cancel vectors of related words (e.g., ‘I climbed the mountain without fear’ is neutralized due to preposition). Statements with prefixed words like ‘think’, ‘believe’, ‘sure’, ‘know’, ‘doubt’ or with modal operators such as ‘can’, ‘may’, ‘would’ etc. are neutralized by our system. Conditional clause phrases beginning with ‘even though’, ‘if’, ‘unless’, ‘whether’, ‘when’, etc. are neutralized as well (e.g., ‘I eat when I'm angry, sad, bored…’). Each of the Subject, Verb, or Object formations may contain words conveying emotional meaning. During this stage, we apply the described rules to phrases detected within formation boundaries. Finally, each formation can be represented as a unified vector encoding its emotional content. Sentence-Level Analysis. The emotional vector of a simple sentence (or a clause) is generated from Subject, Verb, and Object formation vectors resulting from phraselevel analysis. The main idea here is to first derive the emotion vector of Verb-Object formation relation. It is estimated based on the ‘verb plus noun phrase’ rule described above. In order to apply this rule, we automatically determine valences of Verb and Object formations using their unified emotion vectors (particularly, non-zero-intensity emotion categories). The estimation of the emotion vector of a clause (Subject plus Verb-Object formations) is then performed in the following manner: (1) if valences of Subject formation and Verb formation are opposite (e.g., SF = ‘my darling’, VF = ‘smashed’, OF ‘his guitar’; or SF = ‘troubled period’, VF = ‘luckily comes to an end’), we consider the vector of the Verb-Object formation relation as dominant; (2) otherwise, we output the vector with maximum intensities in corresponding emotional states of vectors of Subject and Verb-Object formations. Fig. 1 shows example of processing a simple sentence ‘My darling smashed his favourite guitar without regret’.
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word: word-level: phrase-level: e0=[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0] SF: my e+=[0,0,0,0,0,0.7,0,0,0] darling e+=[0,0,0,0,0,0.7,0,0,0] VF: smashed e-=[0,0,0.6,0,0,0,0.8,0,0] e-=[0,0,0.6,0,0,0,0.8,0,0] e-=[0,0,0.6,0,0,0,0.8,0,0] without modif. coeff=0.0 e0=[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0] regret e =[0,0,0,0.2,0,0,0.1,0,0] e0=[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0] e0=[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0] OF: his + e+=[0,0,0,0,0,0.6,0,0,0] favourite e =[0,0,0,0,0,0.6,0,0,0] e+=[0,0,0,0,0,0.6,0,0,0] 0 0 guitar e =[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0] e =[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0] sentence-level: 1. (SF+ and VF-) yields domination of (VF and OF); 2. (VF- and OF+) yields domination of VF; 3. e (sentence) = e (VF-) = [0,0,0.6,0,0,0,0.8,0,0]; 4. e (sentence) * coeff (tense:‘past’; FPP:‘yes’) = [0,0,0.6,0,0,0,0.8,0,0] * 0.8 = [0,0,0.48,0,0,0,0.64,0,0]; 5. result (‘My darling smashed his favourite guitar without regret’): sadness:0.64. Fig. 1. Example of affect sensing in a simple sentence
In Fig. 1 e = [anger, disgust, fear, guilt, interest, joy, sadness, shame, surprise]; the superscripts 0, -, + indicate ‘neutral’, ‘negative’, ‘positive’ valences, respectively. In order to estimate the emotional vector of a compound sentence, first, we evaluate the emotional vectors of its independent clauses. Then, we define the resulting vector of the compound sentence based on two rules: (1) with comma and coordinate connectors ‘and’ and ‘so’ (e.g., ‘It is my fault, and I am worrying about consequences’, ‘Exotic birds in the park were amazing, so we took nice pictures’), or with a semicolon with no conjunction: output the vector with the maximum intensity within each corresponding emotional state in the resulting vectors of both clauses; (2) with coordinate connector ‘but’ (e.g., ‘They attacked, but we luckily got away!’): the resulting vector of a clause following after the connector is dominant. In order to process a complex sentence with a complement clause (e.g., ‘I hope that Sam will not harass my dog’), first we derive the emotional vector of the complement clause, then create Object formation for the main clause using this vector, and finally estimate the resulting emotional vector of the main clause with added Object formation. In brief, we represent such sentence as a simple one, using the following pattern: ‘who-subject does-verb what-object’, where object is represented as a complement clause. In our algorithm, the complex sentences containing adjective (relative) clauses are analysed in the following manner: (1) the emotional vector of adjective clause is estimated; (2) this emotional vector is added to the SF or OF of the main clause depending on the role of the word to which the adjective clause relates; and (3) the emotional vector of the whole sentence is estimated. While processing complex-compound sentences (e.g., ‘Max broke the china cup, with which Mary was awarded for the best song, so he regretted profoundly’), first we generate emotional vectors of dependent clauses, then of complex sentences, and finally, we analyse the compound sentence formed by the independent clauses.
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It is important to note that our system enables the differentiation of the strength of the resulting emotion depending on the tense of a sentence and availability of first person pronouns. The dominant emotion of the sentence is determined according to the emotion state with the highest intensity within the final emotional vector.
3 EmoHeart Emotional expression is natural and very important for communication in real life, but currently rather cumbersome in 3D virtual world Second Life, where expressions have to be selected and activated manually. In order to automate the emotional expressiveness of graphical representations of users (avatars), we applied the developed Affect Analysis Model to textual chat in Second Life. The architecture of the system is presented in Fig. 2.
3D world Second Life
chat text
emotion: intensity
Web-based interface of Affect Analysis Model sentence Symbolic cue analysis module Test for emoticons, abbreviations, acronyms, interjections, “?” and “!” marks, repeated punctuation and capital Emoticon or em. abbr. “yes” “no” Estimation of resulting emotion
Sentence preprocessing for parser
emotion category: intensity
Affect Database
Word-level analysis module
Syntactical structure analysis module Stanford Parser
Phrase-level analysis module
Parser output processing
Sentence-level analysis module
Sentence annotated by emotion state
emotion category: intensity
Fig. 2. Architecture of the EmoHeart system
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The control of the conversation is implemented through the object called EmoHeart2. (invisible in case of ‘neutral’ state) attached to the avatar’s chest. The distributor of the EmoHeart object is located inside a (fictitious) Starbucks cafe 3 of the Second Life replica of National Center of Sciences building. in Tokyo. Once attached to the avatar, EmoHeart object (1) listens to each message of its owner, (2) sends it to the web-based interface of the Affect Analysis Model located on the server, (3) receives the result (dominant emotion and intensity), and visually reflects the sensed affective state through the animation of avatar’s facial expression, EmoHeart texture (indicating the type of emotion), and size of the texture (indicating low, middle, or high level of emotion strength). If no emotion is detected in the text, the EmoHeart remains invisible and the facial expression remains neutral. With the heart-shaped object of EmoHeart, we provide an additional channel for visualizing emotions in a vivid and intense way. The examples of avatar facial expressions and EmoHeart textures are shown in Fig. 3.
Joy
Shame
Sadness
Surprise
Guilt
Anger
Interest
Disgust
Fear
Fig. 3. Examples of avatar facial expressions and EmoHeart textures 2 3
EmoHeart: http://www.prendingerlab.net/globallab/?page_id=22 Second Life landmark: http://slurl.com/secondlife/NIIsland/213/38/25/
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While designing EmoHeart textures, we followed the description of main characteristic features of expressive means in relation to communicated emotion (Table 1). Table 1. Emotional states and relevant expressive means (data partially taken from [19]) Emotion anger
disgust
fear guilt interest
joy sadness shame surprise
Expressive means widely open eyes, fixated; pupils contracted; stare gaze; ajar mouth; teeth usually clenched tightly; rigidity of lips and jaw; lips may be tightly compressed, or may be drawn back to expose teeth narrowed eyes, may be partially closed as result of nose being drawn upward; upper lip drawn up; pressed lips; wrinkled nose; turn of the head to the side quasi avoiding something widely open eyes; pupils dilated; raised eyebrows; open mouth with crooked lips; trembling chin downcast or glancing gaze; inner corners of eyebrows may be drawn down; lips drawn in, corners depressed; head lowered eyes may be exaggeratedly opened and fixed; lower eyelids may be raised as though to sharpen visual focus; increased pupil size; sparkling gaze; mouth slightly smiling; head is slightly inclined to the side ‘smiling’ and bright eyes; genuinely smiling mouth eyelids contracted; partially closed eyes; downturning mouth downcast gaze; blushing cheeks; head is lowered widely open eyes; slightly raised upper eyelids and eyebrows; the mouth is opened by the jaw drop; the lips are relaxed
4 Conclusion The richness of the information cues is a salient aspect of effective interpersonal communication. This holds true also within the virtual environment context. Researchers argue that there is a positive relationship between the amount of IM use and verbal, affective, and social intimacy [20]. Marcel [21] characterized the intimacy in the following words: “Even if I cannot see you, if I cannot touch you, I feel that you are with me”. In our work, we strive to provide vivid and expressive visual signals to enhance socially oriented online communication media. This paper introduced the integration of the developed emotion recognition module, Affect Analysis Model, into 3D virtual world Second Life. The proposed rule-based algorithm to affect sensing from text enables analysis of nine emotions at various grammatical levels. For textual input processing, our Affect Analysis Model handles not only correctly written text, but also informal messages written in an abbreviated or expressive manner. The control of the conversation in Second Life is implemented through the EmoHeart object attached to the avatar’s chest. This object communicates with Affect Analysis Model located on the server, and visually reflects the sensed affective state through the animation of avatar’s facial expression, EmoHeart texture, and size of the texture.
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References 1. Turney, P.D., Littman, M.L.: Measuring Praise and Criticism: Inference of Semantic Orientation from Association. ACM Transactions on Information Systems 21(4), 315–346 (2003) 2. Andreevskaia, A., Bergler, S.: Mining WordNet for Fuzzy Sentiment: Sentiment Tag Extraction from WordNet Glosses. In: Proceedings of the Eleventh Conference of the European Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics, pp. 209–216 (2006) 3. Kim, S.-M., Hovy, E.: Determining the Sentiment of Opinions. In: Proceedings of Conference on Computational Linguistics, pp. 1367–1373 (2004) 4. Nadeau, D., Sabourin, C., De Koninck, J., Matwin, S., Turney, P.D.: Automatic Dream Sentiment Analysis. In: Proceedings of the Workshop on Computational Aesthetics at the Twenty-First National Conference on AI (2006) 5. Nasukawa, T., Yi, J.: Sentiment Analysis: Capturing Favorability using Natural Language Processing. In: Proceedings of Second International Conference on Knowledge Capture, pp. 70–77 (2003) 6. Moilanen, K., Pulman, S.: Sentiment Composition. In: Proceedings of the Recent Advances in Natural Language Processing International Conference, pp. 378–382 (2007) 7. Wilson, T., Wiebe, J., Hoffmann, P.: Recognizing Contextual Polarity in Phrase-Level Sentiment Analysis. In: Proceedings of HLT/EMNLP Conference, pp. 347–354 (2005) 8. Boucouvalas, A.C.: Real Time Text-to-Emotion Engine for Expressive Internet Communications. In: Being There: Concepts, Effects and Measurement of User Presence in Synthetic Environments, pp. 306–318 (2003) 9. Liu, H., Lieberman, H., Selker, T.: A Model of Textual Affect Sensing using Real-World Knowledge. In: Proceedings of IUI 2003, pp. 125–132 (2003) 10. Mulder, M., Nijholt, A., den Uyl, M., Terpstra, P.: A Lexical Grammatical Implementation of Affect. In: Sojka, P., Kopeček, I., Pala, K. (eds.) TSD 2004. LNCS, vol. 3206, pp. 171– 177. Springer, Heidelberg (2004) 11. Alm, C.O.: Affect in Text and Speech. Ph.D. diss., University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign (2008) 12. Rivera, K., Cooke, N.J., Bauhs, J.A.: The Effects of Emotional Icons on Remote Communication. In: Electronic Proceedings of CHI (1996) 13. Persson, P.: ExMS: an Animated and Avatar-Based Messaging System for Expressive Peer Communication. In: Proceedings of SIGGROUP Conference, pp. 31–39 (2003) 14. Neviarouskaya, A., Prendinger, H., Ishizuka, M.: User Study of AffectIM, an Emotionally Intelligent Instant Messaging System. In: Prendinger, H., Lester, J.C., Ishizuka, M. (eds.) IVA 2008. LNCS, vol. 5208, pp. 29–36. Springer, Heidelberg (2008) 15. Izard, C.E.: Human emotions. Plenum Press, New York (1977) 16. Neviarouskaya, A., Prendinger, H., Ishizuka, M.: Textual Affect Sensing for Sociable and Expressive Online Communication. In: Paiva, A.C.R., Prada, R., Picard, R.W. (eds.) ACII 2007. LNCS, vol. 4738, pp. 218–229. Springer, Heidelberg (2007) 17. Strapparava, C., Valitutti, A.: WordNet-Affect: an Affective Extension of WordNet. In: Proceedings of LREC 2004, pp. 1083–1086 (2004) 18. Klein, D., Manning, C.D.: Fast Exact Inference with a Factored Model for Natural Language Parsing. In: Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems, vol. 15, pp. 3– 10. MIT Press, Cambridge (2003) 19. Izard, C.E.: The face of emotion. Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York (1971) 20. Hu, Y., Wood, J.F., Smith, V., Westbrook, N.: Friendships through IM: Examining the Relationship between Instant Messaging and Intimacy. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 10(1) (2004) 21. Marcel, G.: The Philosophy of Existence. Books for Libraries Press, Freeport (1969)
Antecedents of Attributions in an Educational Game for Social Learning: Who’s to Blame? Amy Ogan1, Vincent Aleven1, Julia Kim2, and Christopher Jones1 1 Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15213, USA [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] 2 University of Southern California, 13274 Fiji Way, Marina del Rey, California, 90292, USA [email protected]
Abstract. Games are increasingly being used as educational tools, in part because they are presumed to enhance student motivation. We look at student motivation in games from the viewpoint of attribution theory, which predicts more learning by students who make attributions along certain dimensions, and thus may provide a way of examining this claim in more detail. We studied 13 students as they played a game designed to teach negotiation skills in a cultural context. Students’ overall attributional style was surveyed, as well as their achievement attributions following each meeting with a game character. Correlational results show that unexpectedly, students’ attributional style does not predict in-game attributions. However, characteristics such as gender, negotiation expertise, and frequency of game play are significantly correlated with particular in-game attributions. Because attributions have been show to be causally related to learning, with further study, such results might be used to positively influence educational game design. Keywords: Virtual environments, motivation.
1 Introduction Simulation-based instructional systems are increasingly being used to facilitate learning social or interpersonal skills such as conflict resolution by simulating human behavior with virtual characters [18]. These skills are currently taught through roleplaying exercises and tutoring, both of which are very resource-intensive teaching methods [11]. Computer-based simulations, which are becoming increasingly realistic, offer a major advantage for social learning by providing a cheaper solution to a much larger number of students. Such simulations are often turned into a gamelike experience by adding elements like goals, scores, or rules, in an attempt to take advantage of the motivating potential of games [13]. Examples of existing gamebased instructional systems with social learning components include Tactical Iraqi A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 593–602, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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[10], BiLAT [8], and PeaceMaker [1]. Motivation is important in learning contexts because it can lead students to make greater effort, seek greater challenges, set higher goals, and have higher achievement (see [19]). However, we do not yet have a complete empirical understanding of motivational effects in educational games. A theoretical framework that is useful for understanding motivation in a learning context is achievement attribution theory [20]. Based on the assumption that humans are rational decision makers who seek to understand the causes of their own behavior, attribution theory describes the explanations that people make for events in their life. In particular, achievement attribution looks at how people explain their performance at tasks. Achievement attributions are described along three causal dimensions that have been shown to be critical factors in the attributional process [21]. Locus of control refers to whether the cause to which events are attributed is internal (e.g., high ability) or external (e.g., a difficult test) to the student. Stability refers to how constant the perceived cause is over time; for example, some students might consider ability to be stable over time, while others believe it can change. The third dimension, controllability, refers to the belief that the perceived cause can be controlled (e.g., a teacher can control the difficulty of the test), or not (e.g., luck). These attributions are important because they tend to lead to behavioral changes that affect learning. Students who attribute their success to internal and controllable causes like amount of effort put forth, and attribute failure to unstable causes like an exceptionally difficult test or lack of effort, tend to have better learning outcomes. Those who attribute success to external causes like luck and attribute failure to stable internal causes like lack of ability, tend to have lower learning outcomes; these attributions may be termed ‘maladaptive’, particularly when they are inaccurate. These attributions also seem to be causal; a number of studies have shown that we can retrain students to make successful attributions, or those that lead to more learning (e.g., [15]). Therefore, if improving attributions helps learning, understanding people’s attributions in games may ultimately lead to better educational game design. Many possible factors are proposed to be antecedents to students’ attributions, and they tend to be divided into two groups: environmental factors and personal factors. One personal characteristic proposed to influence attributions in an achievement task is attributional style [16]. Attributional style is the tendency to make attributions along the above dimensions in similar ways across many contexts. Additionally, gender can be a factor. Gender differences have had conflicting results in the literature, with some researchers finding that women tend towards more maladaptive patterns of attributing success and failure, and others finding no difference (see [4], or [5], for a discussion). Finally, a factor more recently thought to influence attributions is prior knowledge of a domain [7]. Previous models posited that attributional factors were content-free and thus operate in any domain. Two environmental factors are relevant to learning with games. Although video games are becoming more ubiquitous as an entertainment activity, not everyone plays games. Comfort with game environments might play a part in students’ attributions. Games might produce novel patterns of attributions because students may have more experience playing outside of a learning context, and thus may have different schemas for how to approach gameplay. Secondly, in games that teach social skills (here,
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cultural negotiation), it may be the case that not all external attributions exert equal influence on student learning. The locus of control dimension typically focuses only on whether the cause of an event is internal or external, but we introduce various external actors as possible antecedents of attributions. We distinguish between attributions to the virtual characters, the culture of the characters, and the game itself, as seems appropriate in a cultural negotiation game. In this paper we describe an exploratory study that investigates the attributions of students in an educational game for learning cross-cultural negotiation. We explore the following question: how do students’ achievement attributions relate to success in this game, and to the above identified environmental and personal factors? We hypothesize that key differences from standard attribution findings will be that gamers will tend to place more blame on the game when they fail, and successful students will give more credit to the virtual characters or the culture. We present exploratory results from reports of students’ achievement attributions and correlations with success in the game. With further study, such results might be used to positively influence educational game design.
2 Game Context The context we use for our investigation is BiLAT [8], a game-based simulation for practicing bilateral negotiations in a cross-cultural context. The BiLAT architecture is built on Unreal Engine 2.5 and integrates research technologies such as virtual human characters and intelligent tutoring support. BiLAT was designed to address learning objectives related to negotiation generally, as well as the specific cultural knowledge and skills that support more effective negotiations in a particular culture (see [3], for more about cultural learning objectives). One primary learning objective is considering the counterpart’s interests in order to achieve “win-win” results. A series of scenarios presented to the student drive the game experience. The initial scenarios are set in an Iraqi town, and the student is put into the role of a U.S. Army officer tasked with meeting with members of the town in order to accomplish specific goals (see Fig. 1).
Fig. 1. At left, a meeting in BiLAT with police captain Farid with the goal of solving a problem with a market in an Iraqi town. At right, meeting partner Na’eema, a doctor.
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To play, the student begins by preparing for a meeting in the “prep room.” Here, the student learns about the character and the scenario from a number of different sources of varying degrees of trustworthiness. The student then moves into a meeting with a virtual Iraqi. The student communicates with BiLAT characters by selecting from a menu of hand-authored communicative actions. Underlying each virtual character is a social simulation with a model of culture and personality. Characters’ responses also depend on a number of factors, including the current meeting phase, his or her current level of trust in the student, and a virtual dice roll. The dice roll is intended to simulate uncertainty in human behavior – cognitive and emotional modeling techniques can be used to simulate these reactions in more principled ways [8]. The character responds to the actions in both text and synthesized speech, as well as non-verbal behaviors such as gestures.
3 Exploratory Study We conducted an exploratory study with participants from diverse backgrounds. The goal was to investigate their achievement attributions, and in general to gain a broad sense of how learners approach playing such a game. Participants in our study met with two different virtual characters while engaging in a think-aloud protocol and completing various attributional surveys. We investigated personal and environmental characteristics as possible antecedents for their attributions. We hypothesized that key differences from standard attribution findings will be that gamers will tend to place more blame on the game when they fail, and successful students will give more credit to the virtual characters or the culture. 3.1 Participants The 13 participants ranged in age from 19 to 54 (M = 34). We made an effort to recruit participants who varied in their frequency of game play on a 4-point scale (never, rarely, monthly, weekly; M = 2.8, SD = 1.15), as well as in their self-rating of negotiation skill on a 7-point scale (M = 3.15, SD = 1.4). They were compensated $40 for a two and a half hour session. 3.2 Method Students began by taking a demographics questionnaire, and surveys of baseline attributional style and goal orientation (described below). Each student then watched an introductory video about concepts and skills related to the learning objectives of the game, and took a pretest on these concepts (also described below). Next, they entered the game and met with two different characters. Each negotiation with a character began in the “prep room” of the game where the student acquired information about the character and the current scenario. The student then met with the character until an agreement was reached in the negotiation or the allotted time ran out. At this point students were given the achievement attribution survey described below, and then moved along to the subsequent negotiation after which they completed a second attributional survey. Throughout this process the students were
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prompted to think out loud using the protocol developed by Ericsson & Simon [6]. After the student met with both characters, he or she left the game and took a posttest identical to the pretest. Finally, the experimenter conducted an open-ended interview. 3.3 Measures In the pretest and posttest, learning of the intercultural negotiation skills was assessed by a Situational Judgment Test, a type of assessment used in ill-defined domains that asks students to rate the appropriateness of various actions based on situations related to the learning objectives [12]. While this test has been used previously to collect data with students playing BiLAT, we do not report on the results here due to ceiling effects reached with the training video. To measure predispositions towards motivational patterns, we gave students two surveys. The Goal Orientation survey [2] measures performance versus learning or mastery orientation. In this survey, students rate how strongly they feel various statements about performance or learning goals apply to them, on a 7-point Likert scale. The Attributional Style Questionnaire [17] measures a person’s attributional style, or their general tendency to explain positive or negative events along the causal dimensions discussed above. Following each session with a character, we gave students an attribution survey for that particular task based on the Revised Causal Dimension Scale [14], which asks them to rate their own performance at the task and think of the major cause for their performance. They then rate this cause on a 9-point Likert scale along each dimension (locus of control, controllability, and stability). Typically, locus of control items ask responders to make a choice as to whether the cause of an event is internal or external. Because cultural games have many different actors who we believed may produce differential effects on student behavior, we decided to split the locus of control dimension to address particular external actors. Therefore we added questions that asked students to rate whether the cause of the event was due to the game itself, the programmers of the game, the character they had interacted with, or the culture the character belonged to. Because in our data we found that making attributions to the game was very highly correlated to making attributions to the programmers, we discuss these two as one external actor.
4 Results We measured success in the game by determining the number of negotiation objectives each student met in each negotiation. In the first of the two negotiations, we found that students’ attributions were significantly correlated to their success. Specifically, success was highly correlated to an internal locus of control (r=.659, p=.014) and to feelings of controllability (r=.681, p=.01). It was negatively correlated to blaming the programmers (r=-.581, p=.037). An independent-samples t-test showed that there were significant differences in attributions between genders in this negotiation. Women (M=4.58, SD=.74) felt that their performance was less
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controllable than men (M=6.81, SD=1.14); t(11)=3.54, p=.005. Women were also more likely to attribute their performance to the game (M=7.00, SD=.86) than men (M=4.56, SD=2.00); t(11)=-2.31, p=.042. They were marginally less successful than men at achieving the objectives in the game (M=.13, SD=.25; M=.67, SD=.5; t(11)=2.02, p=.068).
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In the second negotiation, performance dropped significantly (M=.54, SD=.49; M=.25, SD=.45; F(1,11)=5.04, p=.046), as did students’ rating of their own performance on a 7–point Likert scale (M=5.15, SD=1.77; M=3.58, SD=1.93; F(1,11)=4.91, p=.049). In this negotiation, success was not correlated to any pattern of attributions (all r values < .2). Additionally, gender no longer had any effect on attributions along any dimension (all r values < .2). However, significant correlations between attributions and other demographic characteristics of students did appear. In the second negotiation, students with more negotiation expertise were more likely to attribute their performance to the character in the game (r=.728, p=.007, see Fig. 2) and the culture (r=.596, p=.041), and less likely to attribute their performance to internal factors (r=-.775, p=.003) or to feel that it was controllable (r=-.751, p=.005, see Fig. 3). However, self-rating of ‘knowledge of Arab cultures’ was not significantly related to attributions. Students’ frequency of game play was negatively correlated with attributing performance to the BiLAT game (r=-.596, p=.041, see Fig. 4). As we had attempted to recruit participants with a wide range of experience, none of these learner characteristics were correlated with each other.
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In general, attributions made for performance in either negotiation were not significantly correlated with responses to the Attributional Style Questionnaire (all r values < .2).
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5 Discussion and Conclusions In the first negotiation, we saw typical relations emerge between performance and attributions. Success was linked with feelings of control and feeling like one is personally responsible, and is negatively correlated to feeling like the environment is responsible for one’s performance. This pattern is called a self-serving bias, and may be a method of managing impressions or saving face [22]. While the self-serving bias may correlate to some positive behaviors, it is also indicative of some maladaptive motivational patterns. We also found that females may have had difficulty in adjusting to the environment – they were slightly less successful, felt like their performance was out of their control, and blamed the game instead of themselves. This pattern may be detrimental to females’ self-efficacy and to their persistence in continuing with the game [19]. As noted in the introduction, it is congruent to findings by some researchers that females tend to have maladaptive patterns of attributions. Also, research that shows that women tend to be less comfortable operating in computer or video game environments may be relevant [9, 23]. By the second negotiation, however, the task became more difficult for everyone. The character in the game was more difficult to negotiate with, and performance dropped. When this happened, there was no consistent relation between attributional dimensions and learning across all students. Instead, it appeared that some environmental and personal factors were predictor of attributional patterns. On one hand, experience with similar environments made a difference. Contrary to our hypothesis, students who played more games were less likely to blame the game for their poor performance. As frequent gamers, it may be that these students have implicitly agreed to abide by the rules that are constructed in games, and therefore do not identify the game as a source of error when they fail. We also found that some prior knowledge was predictive of attributional patterns. Students with more negotiation experience were more likely to share responsibility with the character they were engaging with, as well as the culture, and were less likely to feel that the events were controllable. This may be due to their experience negotiating in the real world; when there is a counterpart involved in a negotiation, the outcome is most likely dependent on both parties. Realizing that you do not have full control, and that outcomes are sometimes due to factors not fully under your control, may actually be an adaptive rather than a maladaptive attributional pattern, as we hypothesized. However, self-rating of knowledge of Arab cultures did not correlate to attributions in the same way. Among possible explanations are that students are not very good judges of their own knowledge in this domain, or that knowledge of a culture does not always translate to skill in interacting with that culture. Interestingly, in the second negotiation, women had similar attributions to men. It may be that they became more comfortable with the environment over time, or that these differences were washed out when the game became more difficult. This work describes the motivational antecedents of students who are learning in an educational game environment for cultural negotiation. Several general patterns emerged from our results. When game difficulty was high, attributions were not predicted by attributional style, but rather by experience in the particular type of learning environment and in the domain. This finding supports the idea that prior knowledge may influence attributions, in particular when relevant external actors are
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considered. Also, we found evidence that gender is indeed a factor to consider when developing motivational interventions for games. Next steps in this work will be to correlate attributions with learning outcomes beyond success in the game, to determine when or if some of these novel patterns may be beneficial to learning. These results can then be used to design better game-like learning environments which guide students towards those motivational processes that will help them be more persistent, more effortful, and achieve more. This work contributes to understanding how students engage with an educational game that teaches social skills, and to opening up new avenues for research in motivation in these environments.
Acknowledgments Part of the project or effort described here has been sponsored by the U.S. Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command (RDECOM). Statements and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the position or the policy of the United States Government, and no official endorsement should be inferred. The research was supported in part by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305B040063 to Carnegie Mellon University.
References 1. Burak, A., Keylor, E., Sweeney, T.: PeaceMaker: A Video Game to Teach Peace. In: Intelligent Technologies for Interactive Entertainment, pp. 307–310 (2005) 2. Button, S.B., Mathieu, J.E., Zajac, D.M.: Goal Orientation in Organizational Research: A Conceptual and Empirical Foundation*1. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 67(1) (1996) 3. Byram, M.: Teaching and Assessing Intercultural Communicative Competence. Multilingual Matters, Clevedon (1997) 4. Dweck, C.S., Davidson, W., Nelson, S., Enna, B.: Sex differences in learned helplessness: II. The contingencies of evaluative feedback in the classroom. III. An experimental analysis. Developmental Psychology 14, 268–276 (1978) 5. Eccles, J.S.: Expectancies, values, and academic behaviors. In: Spence, J.T. (ed.) Achievement and achievement motives, pp. 75–146. Freeman, San Francisco (1983) 6. Ericsson, K., Simon, H.: Protocol Analysis: Verbal Reports as Data, 2nd edn. MIT Press, Boston (1993) 7. Fiske, S., Taylor, S.: Social Cognition. McGraw-Hill, New York (1991) 8. Hill, R.W., Belanich, J., Lane, H.C., Core, M.G., Dixon, M., Forbell, E., Kim, J., Hart, J.: Pedagogically Structured Game-based Training: Development of the ELECT BiLAT Simulation. In: The Proceedings of the 25th Army Science Conference, Orlando, FL (2006) 9. Hoeft, C.L., Watson, S.R., Kesler, K.E., Bettinger, A.L., Reis: Gender differences in the mesocorticolimbic system during computer game-play (2008) 10. Johnson, W.L.: Serious Use of a Serious Game for Language Learning. In: Proc. AIED 2007 (2007) 11. Landis, D., Bennett, J., Bennett, M.J.: Handbook of Intercultural Training, 3rd edn. Sage Publications, Inc., Thousand Oaks (2003)
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12. Legree, P., Psotka, J.: Refining situational judgment test methods. In: Proceedings of the 25th Army Science Conference, Orlando, FL (2006) 13. Lepper, M.R., Malone, T.W.: Intrinsic motivation and instructional effectiveness in computer-based education. Aptitude, learning, and instruction 3, 255–286 (1987) 14. McAuley, E., Duncan, T.E., Russell, D.W.: Measuring Causal Attributions: The Revised Causal Dimension Scale (CDSII). Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 18(5), 566–573 (1992) 15. Perry, R.P., Hechter, F.J., Menec, V.H., Weinberg, L.E.: Enhancing achievement motivation and performance in college students: An attributional retraining perspective. Research in Higher Education 34(6), 687–723 (1993) 16. Peterson, C., Seligman, M.E.P.: Causal explanations as a risk factor for depression: Theory and evidence. Psychological Review 91, 347–374 (1984) 17. Peterson, C., Semmel, A., von Baeyer, C., Abramson, L.T., Metalsky, G.I., Seligman, M.E.P.: The Attributional Style Questionnaire. Cognitive Therapy and Research 6, 287– 300 (1982) 18. Raybourn, E.M., Waern, A.: Social Learning Through Gaming. In: Extended Abstracts of CHI Proceedings 2004. ACM Press, New York (2004) 19. Schunk, D.H., Pintrich, P.R., Meece, J.: Motivation in Education: Theory, Research, and Applications, 3rd edn. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs (2007) 20. Weiner, B.: Attribution Theory, Achievement Motivation, and the Educational Process. Review of Educational Research 42(2), 203–215 (1972) 21. Weiner, B.: An attributional theory of motivation and emotion. Springer, New York (1986) 22. Weiner, B.: Human Motivation: Metaphors, Theories, and Research, 2nd edn. Sage Publications, Inc., Thousand Oaks (1992) 23. Williams, S., Ogletree, S., Woodburn, W., Raffeld, P.: Gender roles, computer attitudes, and dyadic computer interaction performance in college students. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research 29(7/8), 515–526 (1993)
Intercultural Competence Game That Fosters Metacognitive Agility and Reflection Elaine M. Raybourn Sandia National Laboratories, P.O. Box 5800 MS 1188 Albuquerque, New Mexico USA, 87185 [email protected]
Abstract. In this paper we describe the development of a multi-player computer game created to train the intercultural competence and metacognitive agility (self-awareness and self-regulated learning) of United States Army Special Forces team leaders. We describe a unique design that features a novel role for real-time, in-game peer performance assessment and feedback to encourage user reflection and self-explanation. We also discuss how the multiplayer game is successfully used in Special Forces intercultural communication education and offer user feedback results from a study conducted with 51 Special Forces officers. Keywords: serious game, metacognitive agility, reflection, performance assessment, peer learning, intercultural competence.
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1 Introduction Special Forces are people-centric. Their unique strength is their ability to operate in cross-cultural contexts alongside host country nationals while exhibiting intercultural competence. Intercultural competence is expressed through openness, cognitive adaptability, and behavioral flexibility toward unfamiliar cultures. Thus Special Forces are trained in languages, regional expertise, intercultural communication, interpersonal skills, and critical thinking, or metacognition. Honing one’s metacognitive agility is integral to intercultural competence [1]. Metacognitive agility is the ability to actively control the learning process [2] such as possessing the ability to reflect and analyze the way oneself or others think, discern when different cognitive strategies are needed, and employ those strategies to enhance one’s learning and performance [1]. Operating competently in cross-cultural settings requires the ability to be aware of oneself and others, reflect on salient experiences, evaluate or assess situations, and act purposefully on those evaluations. The U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School (schoolhouse) approached Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) with the following question: “How can we train troops to think critically, to sense opportunities when at first glance there appear to be none, or to make good decisions regardless of the complexity of a socially and ethically ambiguous situation?” Since the users operate shoulder-toshoulder with host country nationals in unfamiliar multicultural contexts, our A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 603–612, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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particular challenge was to create a memorable classroom training experience that could engender a transfer of training from the virtual environment to the real world. The Special Forces schoolhouse knew they wanted to address the question above and also knew they wanted to inject experiential technology into their training pipeline, but they did not know how to start. Therefore we spent the next 12 months working closely with the schoolhouse. We conducted a 3-month; in-depth ethnographic study of Special Forces as participant observers [3] to understand their needs and requirements, and 9 months developing a serious game that would hone intercultural competence [4].
2 Special Forces Training Study Involving ourselves as participant observers in the Special Forces Training Division entailed observing both classroom and field training such as squad-level live action role-play and large-scale events that incorporated civilian role-players. Our organizing structure and data collection process utilized ethnographic, or qualitative, methodologies [3]. We used a variety of techniques to familiarize ourselves with and analyze data including but not limited to participant observation, interviews with instructors, cultural experts and subject matter experts, field study, and naturalistic inquiry. Additional HCI research methods we employed included conducting design workshops, focus groups, and administering baseline questionnaires for identifying trainees’ prior experience with games and attitudes toward using games to hone intercultural competence. The classroom training we observed was generally attended by approximately 30 trainees. We noted that lectures and paper-based role plays (e.g. negotiating with others) as well as group/team problem solving activities were often used. On one occasion a cultural expert was brought in to role-play a negotiation scenario with members of the class. Four Special Forces team leaders had speaking roles in the session, and 26 others observed. It was difficult to see and even more difficult to hear for those in the back of the room. Following this activity the trainees participated in a large group debriefing with their instructor, although participation was limited primarily to those who had participated in the role-play. These classroom techniques were utilized across the curriculum. Special Forces classroom training can last up to one year depending on deployment schedules. Our study revealed that the Special Forces organization is high adventure, high stakes, and high visibility. Constructive peer assessment was as important as individual achievement, and they approached learning in a fashion that was highly experiential. After studying the organization for 3 months we determined with our sponsor that game-based training for the classroom could add problem-solving immersion for all. Since the subject matter focused on small group communication, we had to be creative if we were going to immerse the entire class of 30. Finally, we conducted a baseline survey of Special Forces attitudes toward game technology. Most of the Special Forces team leaders we surveyed were between the ages of 26-38. While most of the 34 men (there are no women in US Special Forces) who participated in our baseline study reported being engaged by video games (especially sports and first-person shooters), not all of them were convinced they
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would learn intercultural competence skills in a virtual environment. It was counterintuitive for some to see how communicating over a microphone in a virtual environment would help them improve communication skills ultimately used in faceto-face environments. We embraced their concerns and used their skepticism to push our game design toward offering unique learning opportunities focused on verbal communication strategies (negotiation), observation and listening skills (cuing off of the virtual environment), and reflective self-explanation. We adopted a science-based approach to game design grounded in Experiential Learning Theory (Kolb) and Social Learning Theory (Bandura) that enhanced the user experience beyond that which was expected from a typical game. Listening to our users made us better designers. Our ethnographic study determined that the design of the game would have to allow Special Forces to train the following objectives: • • • • •
Negotiation and consensus building. Effective intercultural communication competence. Ability to analyze socially ambiguous situations. Self-awareness, reflection. Innovative thinking, envisioning different courses of action, and effectively using critical thinking skills (adaptive thinking).
Our study revealed that the Special Forces organization is high adventure, high stakes, and high visibility. Constructive peer assessment was as important as individual achievement, and they approached learning in a fashion that was highly experiential. After studying the organization for 3 months we determined with our sponsor that game-based training for the classroom could add problem-solving immersion for all. Since the subject matter focused on small group communication, we had to be creative if we were going to immerse the entire class of 30. Sandia then assembled and led a team in the development of a multiplayer game. We proposed experiential game sessions as classroom activities that would allow trainees to practice and internalize skills taught in a lecture-based, didactic learning environment. Sandia collaborated with the Office of Economic Manpower & Assessment Army Game Project (contractor Virtual Heroes, Inc.). The Army Game Project is responsible for the internet-based multiplayer first-person shooter game called America’s Army that hosts several million registered users worldwide (www.americasarmy.com). Collaborating with the Army Game Project allowed us to leverage substantial investments made by the U.S. Army in a game platform and visual art assets. However, to make the game a training environment, significant engineering changes needed to be made to support new instructor and player roles.
3 Serious Game and Role Development The subsequent 9-month phase involved designing and developing a training game for use in the classroom which was based upon the learning objectives mentioned above. Rogers & Steinfatt indicate that “intercultural communication training must be highly experiential if it is to increase intercultural competence” [5]. Therefore the goal of the game was to serve as a highly engaging virtual sandbox within which trainees could role-play and practice the content they learned from classroom instruction and
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exercise intercultural competence and metacognitive agility. Metacognitive agility is key to developing intercultural sensitivity [6].
Fig. 1. Screen shot of America’s Army Adaptive Thinking & Leadership cultural environment. Image courtesy of JFKSWCS.
The game content was based on real world stories and lessons learned from culturally diverse subject matter experts involved in socially ambiguous situations that had a number of “right” answers. Our content design involved creating roles for soldiers, host country civilians, and diverse members of non-governmental organizations (see Figure 1). The scenarios we developed focused on intercultural negotiations, trust and rapport building, and decision-making in unexpected, high stress situations. We used a variety of methods to develop the roles and game content including the HCI persona methodology [7]. Instead of referring to an unidentified “user” in a scenario, a specific persona of a Special Forces team leader was constructed to guide the design process. The game design also involved content storyboarding, creating single-player and multiplayer mini-games, motion capture, animating cross-cultural nonverbal gestures, incorporating culturally relevant ambient sounds and voiceovers, scenario scriptwriting, and developing new interfaces for reflective observation & evaluation [8]. Some trainees did not role-play game characters, but instead observed and evaluated other trainees’ performance from camera views that they could switch independently or track trainees in-game. As shown in Figure 2, each trainee, instructor, observer/evaluator, or subject matter expert playing a role in the scenario, was equipped with a client on a laptop along with a mouse and headphone/microphone set. A self-paced single-player tutorial was developed to practice multiplayer game navigation and operation of a nonverbal gesture menu. We created 5 different game levels (e.g. hospital, courtyard, etc.) and over 15 different mission scenarios. In each of the different multiplayer sessions, trainees played roles for characters or peer observer/evaluators. Trainees role-playing as game characters communicated on a private VOIP channel, or communicated to all on a public channel. They also communicated using nonverbal gestures (such as culturally
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appropriate greetings) selected from a pull-down menu. The game used scripted nonplayer characters (NPCs) in the scenarios, but all primary roles were played by trainees or experts. The game environment was designed without any language cues (neither visible nor audible) so that role-play sessions could be conducted in a variety of foreign languages, or with multicultural groups. Voice communications were also slightly distorted to preserve trainee anonymity among peer evaluators.
Fig. 2. Members of Special Forces Directorate of Training Division (DOTD) demonstrate the game. Image courtesy of JFKSWCS, Public Affairs Office, Ft. Bragg.
Observer/evaluators listened to all communications on the VOIP channels, but did not speak directly to game characters. They could text chat with the instructor or others in the evaluator role. Their evaluations were both quantitative and qualitative. The aggregate scores across all persons evaluating different trainees’ intercultural competence performance on a 5-point Likert-type scale and free text feedback were displayed by the debriefing tool on all computers immediately following the game session. Our design goal with the introduction of this new role for reflective learning (observation/evaluation) was to encourage growth toward intercultural sensitivity [6] and cultural relativism [5], or the ability to reflect and evaluate phenomena relative to cultural context. Therefore our intent was to expand trainees’ solution set for illdefined and novel problems through their game session and subsequent participation in a follow-up discussion. The new role and interface for reflection and evaluation are discussed in greater detail in the following section. In each role, the trainees learned how team communication, cultural expectations, negotiating from different perspectives, and being self-aware are relative to the cultural context [6, 8]. The different roles we created provided increased replayability, authentic scenarios that engaged trainees emotionally, and free-play options that could be cued off the environment [9]. In particular, learning could be accelerated when trainees rotated among the different roles to better understand negotiating from diverse points of view and providing constructive feedback [8]. Finally, a debriefing tool (known as after action review) was created to augment large group discussions. The debriefing tool recorded each game session using time-stamped, synchronized sound and video sequences for playback and analysis of peer evaluations.
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4 Reflective Observer/Evaluator Role No one would have objected had we merely delivered a high adventure game to Special Forces and left it at that, but we took a risk and exceeded expectations by introducing a reflective observer/evaluator role. During our ethnographic investigation, we learned that role-playing, observing others model behavior, reflecting to analyze best practices, and providing constructive peer feedback were key elements to the way Special Forces trained across their education curriculum. It was appropriate that our game mechanics be inspired by these values as well as Special Forces’ penchant for high adventure. The reflective observer/evaluator role is based on the patent-pending Real-time InGame Assessment, Evaluation and Feedback system [1, 8] which consists of a method and role for making in-game evaluations of player’s actions, decisions, communications, etc. as they occur in real-time and as they correspond to competencies and learning objectives. In one example during a game session evaluators observed a trainee’s performance in a scenario. Evaluators assessed performance by selecting the appropriate value on a Likert-type scale that appeared in the evaluator’s interface. Some evaluators also entered annotations in the interface text field. Following the game session, participant roles could be switched for the subsequent session. Evaluators’ feedback is both quantitative and qualitative and corresponds to logged, time-stamped game events. These evaluations are aggregated and statistical analyses performed on the individual and group evaluations. Team and individual assessments can be displayed either in real-time or during group debriefings. The debriefing tool allows trainees to verify decision points and discuss them in detail by rewinding the playback to a particular moment (time stamped) that corresponds to the mean score of aggregate evaluations across any number of observer/evaluators. A report form of the feedback can also be given to trainees or instructors following each game session. Displaying the peer assessments in the debriefing tool ensures that the content of evaluation (e.g. measures of intercultural competence) and the products of reflection are a prominent focus of the discussion [8]. Peers in the reflective role help focus and teach others participating in the debriefing to connect theories and/or concepts to actions demonstrating stages of intercultural competence and sensitivity [6, 8]. Trainees in the reflective role were therefore held accountable for explaining criteria of intercultural competence to others after observing modeled behaviors and thus learned better. They internalized the concepts and new vocabulary more quickly than others. By training in roles that allow Special Forces to act (character roles) and reflect (reflective Observer/Evaluator role) the trainees performed different cognitive tasks. More concrete, active experimentation (e.g. negotiating from a different point of view) took place with character role participation, while abstract conceptualization and reflection was fostered by the reflective Observer/Evaluator role (e.g. pause, look at the problem in light of the cultural context, critically consider best practices, and communicate solutions to others). Thus our intercultural competence game was grounded in the development of intercultural sensitivity [6] and experiential learning theory—namely concrete experience, active experimentation, reflective observation, and abstract conceptualization [10].
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5 Preliminary User Feedback Focus groups and interviews with Special Forces instructors and subject matter experts were conducted throughout the iterative design and development process. These data were used by the development team to design the game and are not reported in the present paper. End user characteristics and their feedback are discussed below. To date, 85 Special Forces Officers who are also team leaders have participated in our user feedback studies. All respondents are male, ranging between 26-38 years old. They vary in degrees of field experience and familiarity with the content of the course. The respondents reported playing computer games 0-5 hours per week. Younger officers were more familiar with computer games (played more often) than those who were over age 30. Of those who played computer games, most preferred first-person shooters, sports, role-playing, and strategy games. Feedback questionnaires on general simulation use were administered to end users over a 3-month period. Responses were used to inform the project team about the expectations of Special Forces Officers. Thirty-four Special Forces Officers participated in the baseline feedback of their perceptions of general simulation use in the classroom. In general, these Officers anticipated being engaged by a simulation, and believed that they would learn more about their strengths and weaknesses from participating in a simulation than they would if they did not participate. Upon delivery of the simulation and its deployment in the classroom in December 2004, focus groups were conducted and questionnaires administered on the same topics above as well as usability of the simulation. Fifty-one Officers completed questionnaires on their experience with the game after the it’s use in the classroom and before participating in the feedback focus group sessions. The questionnaires were self-report, Likert-type scale instruments measuring the participants’ attitudes toward their simulation experience. Frequency statistics on the two items described above indicate positive user expectations after having participated in the simulation (Figures 3-4).
I anticipated being actively engaged by a simulation.
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Fig. 3. Frequency Statistics on item “I anticipated being actively engaged by a simulation”
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I learned more about my strengths and weaknesses by participating in this simulation than I would if I did not participate.
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Fig. 4. Frequency statistics on item “I learned more about my strengths and weaknesses by participating in this simulation than I would if I did not participate”
In addition, 18 Officers evaluated the culturally-relevant content and scenario of the single-player tutorial. They agreed that the interface was easy to use and that they learned how to navigate the game environment and use the nonverbal gesture menu. They indicated that the scenario depicted in the simulation was realistic (Figure 6).
The scenario depicted in the simulation was realistic.
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Fig. 5. Frequency Statistics on “The scenario depicted in the simulation was realistic”
In summary, the initial feedback collected has been very positive although further study is needed. The Officers were engaged with realistic scenarios and they reported that they learned more about their strengths and weaknesses by participating in the game/simulation than they would have learned had they not participated. Focus group sessions with the 51 Officers have also identified interface enhancements that were subsequently incorporated into our second release such as the enhancement of Voice Over IP communications, additional negotiation practice environments, and the expansion of the task and role definitions in the game. One of the limitations of the present work is that we did not have an opportunity to conduct an empirical study of how trainees learned using the game. As our research
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program in the area of game-based training or serious games is ongoing, we are currently exploring how novices learn in experiential environments that present opportunities to learn via reflective observation and active experimentation.
6 Conclusion Our America’s Army Adaptive Thinking & Leadership game (ATL) supports classroom training with engaging experiential learning game sessions. Our system includes different methods, roles, and interfaces including those especially designed to support the organization’s emphasis on learner reflective observation [1,8]. Our game-based approach to training intercultural competence leverages community and peer learning [8]. The roles for players and reflective observer/evaluators allow trainees to develop metacognitive agility, discover their strengths and weaknesses, expand their solution space, and understand the consequences of their actions on others. The design of this game and innovative role created can be generalized to leadership training, multicultural education for children and adults, and domain-specific interpersonal relationship training (e.g. healthcare, Peace Corps, etc.). Since the development and delivery of our government game title America’s Army Adaptive Thinking & Leadership, the Special Forces game has been used to augment classroom education for three different groups of learners—Special Forces team leaders, PSYOP, and Civil Affairs. In the case of Civil Affairs the game is used with multicultural groups to engender out-of-game discussions of cultural differences and diverse approaches to problem-solving. Finally, we have developed modules exploring similar topics with similar software engineering instantiations in another game application that is used to train thousands of soldiers world-wide. Our current activities include investigating whether these approaches accelerate intercultural competence and learning. We continue to strive to create memorable classroom training experiences that engender a successful transfer of training from the virtual environment to the real world. Acknowledgments. The author thanks the US Army JFK Special Warfare Center and School DOTD, Virtual Heroes, Epic, and the Army Game Project. *Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin Company, for the United States Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC0494AL85000.
References 1. Raybourn, E.M.: Training approaches for honing junior leader adaptive thinking, cultural awareness and metacognitive agility. In: Proc. I/ITSEC 2007, Interservice/ Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference, Orlando, Florida, USA (2007) 2. Flavell, J.H.: Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new area of cognitivedevelopmental inquiry. American Psychologist 34, 906–911 (1979) 3. Lindlof, T.: Qualitative Communication Research methods. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks (1995)
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4. Raybourn, E.M., Deagle, E., Mendini, K., Heneghan, J.: Adaptive thinking & leadership simulation game training for Special Forces officers. In: Proc. I/ITSEC 2005, Interservice/ Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference, Orlando, Florida, USA (2005) 5. Rogers, E.M., Steinfatt, T.M.: Intercultural Communication. Waveland Press, Inc., Prospect Heights (1999) 6. Bennett, M.J.: A developmental approach to training for intercultural sensitivity. International Journal of Intercultural Relations 10, 179–196 (1986) 7. Cooper, A.: The Inmates are Running the Asylum. SAMS, Indianapolis (1999) 8. Raybourn, E.M.: Applying simulation experience design methods to creating serious game-based adaptive training systems. Interacting with Computers 19, 207–214 (2007) 9. Aldrich, C.: Simulations and the future of learning. Pfeiffer, An Imprint of Wiley, San Francisco (2004) 10. Kolb, D.A.: Experiential learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. Prentice-Hall, NJ (1984)
A Content Analysis of Interviews with Players of Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Play Games (MMORPGs): Motivating Factors and the Impact on Relationships Jacqui Taylor1 and James Taylor2 1
Psychology Group, School of Design Engineering & Computing, Bournemouth University, Poole. UK [email protected] 2 Psychology Group, School of Design Engineering & Computing, Bournemouth University, Poole. UK [email protected]
Abstract. This paper explores the intrapersonal and interpersonal motivations involved in the playing of MMORPGs, and the impacts of gaming on online and offline relationships. Twenty-one participants completed an online synchronous interview in which they discussed their personal experiences of playing MMORPGs. An online survey was then developed to further explore the findings of the interviews and this was completed by 52 participants. A contentanalysis of the interview transcripts showed that interpersonal factors (such as social communication and group cohesion) were the strongest motivators for game-playing, supporting previous research [1]. The interview data also showed that there tended to be conflict, rather than integration, between online and offline relationships, however the questionnaire data showed the opposite. This was a small-scale pilot study and a further larger study is planned which will investigate whether Social Identity Theory can be used to explain players’ perceptions of group and personal identity. Keywords: Content Analysis, MMORPGs, Social Psychology, Motivation, Relationships, Social Identity Theory.
1 Introduction Millions of people worldwide are spending a large part of their leisure time interacting with others within Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Play Games (MMORPGs). There are 11 million monthly subscribers to World of Warcraft (WoW) alone [2]. This article focuses on MMORPGs, rather than other video games which do not have an online and social element. This introduction will first identify some of the key features of MMORPGs and will then review issues that psychologists have researched, relating to the two key themes of this paper: motivation and the impact of gaming on relationships. A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 613–621, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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1.1 Key Features of MMORPGs MMORPGs originated from earlier pen and paper role playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons [3], which evolved into online Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs) like LambdaMOO. MUDs were text-based fantasy environments where users socialised and explored the environment through simple commands. As technology has advanced, interaction now uses colourful 3D graphical interfaces. The game is set in a virtual world which changes and evolves as the user progresses, or ‘levels up’ their character [4]. Despite the advanced graphics, computer-mediated communication between users remains an important part of participation in these games. Indeed, it has been suggested that the success of World of Warcraft is due to the social contact through graphical and textual communication with others. Some researchers [4] propose that a high quality of social interaction is essential to complete various complex goals, e.g. through textual dialogue boxes or verbally via a microphone. The demographic features of MMORPG players appear to be consistent across a number of studies. Recent research [5] using a large sample (n=912) identified the demographics as: 70% of players were male and 29% were female; the average age of players was 24 years old and comprised of mostly students (47%), followed by those involved in jobs relating to the IT industry (11%). The mean number of hours played per week was 23 hours and 4% of gamers played for over 60 hours per week. 1.2 Motivation for Playing MMORPGs There has been very little research investigating intrapersonal and interpersonal motivations to play MMORPGs. Interpersonal factors include those which relate to gaining respect from others and the desire to communicate with others, while intrapersonal factors refer to the individual being motivated by gaining a sense of personal control, gaining rewards or to enhance mood. The rewards within the game and the sense of belonging to a group of like-minded players are achieved through the selection of avatars and the joining of guilds. Avatars are a personal representation of the way players would like to be perceived in the game, usually consisting of a character and class [6]. In WoW, the character (such as elf, dwarf or human) and class (such as warrior or priest) provide different psychological or physical attributes (e.g. healing or attacking), giving the player a sense of belonging to the character. With different roles users will ‘level up’, where completing a task will lead to a reward and a new task. These rewards improve a character by giving them new armour or a weapon and as the user increases their characters’ level that too gives new possibilities and allows the character to become wealthier and stronger. Once players attain a higher-level, they are encouraged to work together to complete ‘instances’, which can only be completed with a group of people. Usually, players will also join ‘guilds’ which are a self-selected grouping; in one study [7], 73% of 1836 participants were part of a guild. Researchers [8] have found that many strategies are used which enhance cohesion, such as detailed plans to motivate group members and encourage group loyalty, and strategies to deal with inter-group conflict by enhancing intra-group cohesion. Recent work [1] highlights the role of social factors in game design, however there is very little work examining motivational factors as perceived by game-players themselves. For example, a study [3] which collected data over eight months with
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automated "bots" produced detailed data on WoW usage, however although the authors discuss why and how players remain committed to this game, much of this is inferred as they did not ask players themselves. It has been proposed by others [9] that the interactions among players become the key motivation to continue playing games. These researchers found that interpersonal motivations were based on the actual role-play activities, e.g. the fighting, bonding, flirting and exploration of personal and cultural differences. There are varied findings regarding intrapersonal motivations. While [10] found that users enjoyed playing computer games, because it gave them a sense of personal control and helped self-esteem by gaining respect from others, in contrast, [4] found that game-players did not seek to improve self-confidence within the game. 1.3 The Impact of Gaming on Online and Offline Interaction Many researchers view cyberspace in a somewhat polarised way; as a world that is different to the ‘real’ world, where the dividing line seems clear and there is an obvious differentiation between online and offline communication, relationships and behaviours. For example, [9] propose that because communication is via a fantasy-based animated character, it sets interaction apart from the way we communicate in the ‘‘real’’ world. However, others [11] highlight examples where players interact in many ways that blur or cross-over the distinction. For example, players exchange virtual objects through a system of trade inside the game, but they also sell game currency and objects through online auctions and distribute information about the game on Web sites and fora outside its boundaries. Therefore, as in the real world, commercial interests and individual differences are involved in MMORPGs in various ways. It is clear that online games have become a significant component of the social lives and leisure activities of young people and researchers have investigated both the positive and negative effects that video games can have on players’ lives and relationships. For example, [12] found that quality of life could be enhanced with recreational game-playing, but that heavy usage would degrade quality of life. Also, [4] believe that MMORPGs are the preferred form of social entertainment for many and if they were not available, users would socialise online (e.g. chat rooms or IM) rather than socialise face-to-face. Also, there are many positive effects of game playing on offline behaviour. When researchers [1] interviewed players to map out the social dynamics of guilds, they found that players used the game to extend real-life relationships, meet new people and to form new relationships. Other research has shown conflict between online and offline relationships. For example, [13] states one of the key consequences of excessive video game playing is time loss and that the time spent playing was causing conflict in a persons’ life through neglecting face-to-face relationships. Similarly, [14] highlights problems with work, friendships and relationships. The negative impacts of excessive gaming has been related to addiction by [15], who has developed criteria from the work on other addictions which he applied to online-game addiction. A key reason why MMORPGs might be more addictive than other video games is the high levels of communication required, and also the synchronicity of communication (e.g. the mixture of messenger services, chat rooms, forums and online gaming that keep the user active). For some
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users, online communication has been shown to become more important than face-toface communication and this has led to difficulty with face-to-face relationships [16] and facing friends outside the virtual world [17]. In summary, two research questions will be explored: What are the motivating factors for continuing to play MMORPGs? and How does playing MMORPGs impact upon relationships?.
2 Methodology There were two stages to the research: online interviews and an online survey. Requests for participants were posted on a variety of gaming chat rooms and therefore the samples were opportunistic and participants were self-selected. Twenty-one participants completed a synchronous semi-structured interview via MSN Messenger and the transcripts were stored (with permission) for content analysis. Questions and prompts allowed participants to openly discuss their personal experiences and views regarding their motivations to play and continue playing MMORPGs and whether game-playing affected offline life and relationships. An example of the questions asked is, What are your main reasons for playing the game?. The second stage involved an online survey containing 13 questions, which was used to follow-up findings from the interviews. The questionnaire was developed using Surveymonkey.com and a link to this was distributed to the same gaming chat-rooms that had been used to obtain interviewees. Fifty two participants completed the questionnaire. Questions asked players to consider different scenarios regarding friendships within-games and outside of games and to indicate their agreement with specific motivating factors to play. An example survey question is, Are your main friends within the game or outside of the game?. A form was issued to all participants giving details of the study and requesting informed consent. At the end of each study, participants were welcomed to ask or email questions and were debriefed. This study conformed to the British Psychological Society ethical guidelines [18] for internet-mediated research: informed consent was gained, participants could withdraw at any point and debriefing was provided. Also, participant details and data were protected; they remained anonymous, secure and were not distributed to third parties.
3 Results 3.1 Biographical Details Participants within the interview sample were all male, however the questionnaire sample was made up of 77% male and 23% female players. The sample was made up of participants from 16 nationalities, with the highest group of participants being British (48%), and 74% of the sample British, American or Canadian. Ages ranged from 18 to 34, and the mean age was 22 in both interview and questionnaire. In the interviews, there were nine respondents in each age group 15-20 and 21-25, while in the questionnaire study the 15-20 age group was the most frequently indicated (n=22), with 17 participants aged 21-25 and seven over 25 years of age. The analysis showed
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that 62% of the sample were students, 10% were unemployed and 24% in IT-related employment. The mean average total playing time was 1612 hours, with the majority (ten) respondents having played World of Warcraft between 1000 – 2000 hours. There were some outliers with one person playing between 3000-3500 hours and the other 50005500 hours. The majority of participants in both samples played between 1 to 10 hours per week. 3.2 Motivating Factors Responses from the interviews were reviewed by two researchers. The first researcher produced an initial set of seven categories, representing different forms of motivation and each category was assigned a colour and highlighted on the interview transcripts. The second researcher independently rated the statements and judged three of the categories to be similar to other categories and therefore these were combined to form four distinct categories. The final agreed categories were: Category 1: intrapersonal positive, e.g. mood modification, personal achievement. Category 2: intrapersonal negative, e.g. to continue to play to avoid feelings of loss. Category 3: interpersonal negative, e.g. conflict or taking over other offline activities. Category 4: interpersonal positive, e.g. enhanced social interaction. A total of 77 statements were allocated to these four categories. The majority of statements (n=41) related to players being motivated by enhanced social relationships and maintaining and developing new connections (category 4). The second highest group of motivating factors (n=21) related to negative interpersonal factors. The categories representing intrapersonal motivations attracted the lowest frequencies, with only nine statements relating to personal achievement within the game (category 1) and six statements relating to negative motivation (category 2). Examples from each category are now provided to illustrate these. Interpersonal Positive. Nearly 25% of statements within this category referred to either the enhanced quality or quantity of communication as a motivating reason for continuing to play MMORPGs. For example, P4 stated that: “it's enjoyable to communicate and socialise with others whilst playing the game”. However, the guilds and team behaviour were referred to by the majority (75%) of the 41 statements in this category, for example: • P4: “you're part of a team and you don't want to let others down” • P11: “it was not the actual game I felt that was pushing me to do this, more the feel of letting the other 25 (used to be 40) people down if I didn't turn up” • P16: “You have 10-40 people all working together performing sometimes very complicated and well co-ordinated manoeuvres in order to finish raid dungeons” • P10: “People are relying on you and no matter what circumstances may arise even in life you feel guilty by saying you would tie yourself into something and not follow through” • P9: “The community aspect is 90% of the reason I play WoW”
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To further investigate these findings, question 7 of the survey asked participants why they play MMORPGs. The results found that 58% (30/52) participants played for the community aspect. Interpersonal Negative. Thirty three percent of the statements in this category (7/21) related game playing to the negative experiences of offline interpersonal contact, for example: • P15: “If I can find something good to do, like go to the cinema or go bowling for instance, I’ve got no quarrels with cutting down my hours on any game, but i need something interesting to replace it in order to do this” • P13: “I didn’t find it hard to stop but I felt quite bored doing nothing with my time whilst trying to find a substitute” To follow this up, a question in the survey asked participants what they would do with their time if they were not playing MMORPGs. The results showed that the highest frequency (n=19) was ‘play other games’, followed by ‘watch television’ (n=14) and ‘socialise’ (n=13). With small frequencies for the remaining categories, ‘work’ (n=4), ‘sleep’ (n=3), ‘music’ (n=3), ‘sport’ (n=5) and ‘other’ (n=9). Intrapersonal: Positive and Negative Comments. Positive emotions of feeling personally rewarded by the game were mentioned, for example, P4 stated: “once you start a quest, I felt excited to finish it”. The negative emotions related to the avoidance of withdrawal symptoms, for example: “I really couldn’t see anything else to do with my time, this made me irritable”. 3.3 The Impact of Playing MMORPGs on Relationships Analysis of the interaction between offline and online relationships showed some conflict. Many participants in the interview prioritised their online friends and it was clear that there was a strain on offline friendships and relationships, as the following comments illustrate: • P5: “I think I cancelled on friends several times because I had a raid organised with members of my guild” • P6: “left large groups of friends on an evening out to go home and play WoW” • P7: “on relationship, missed the best parts of it because of the game” • P12: “get worried that the commitments or people I am either missing or altering at the last minute will suffer” However, integration was also shown by one participant, who joined WoW because his face-to-face friends were playing. Also, other examples showed that the game crossed-over into relationships outside of playing, for example: • P6: “All my real life friends were playing it at the time and I felt left out so I thought I'd give it a try” • P9: “I converse with a lot of 'real life friends' about playing WoW” • P15: “conversing with my friends about it. Talking about what we did and will do” • P20: “I often talk to other guild members in the real world about the game”
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In the follow-up questionnaire, participants were asked whether they believed their main friends to be inside the game or outside the game. In contrast to the interview data, the majority of participants indicated their main friends to be outside the game (40/52). A scenario was then presented involving a choice between agreeing to help their guild or to go out with friends outside the game; 41 participants chose their offline friends over their guild.
4 Discussion 4.1 Motivating Factors The data showed that participants socialised as they talked about the game and what they were going to do next. This supports previous findings [7] that highlight the importance of tactical discussions as a place where most of a player’s important relationships are formed and which ‘frame a player’s social experience in the game’. Comments indicated that players felt obliged to help their friends and felt their absence would let their team down, supporting research [4] that the game revolves around working as a team. Indeed, in the interviews there was evidence to suggest that group cohesion was so strong that some participants reported staying in the game for the sake of the group, rather than individual motivations. The findings supported previous research [3] that identified the way that players acquired real-life social skills from gaming environments. For example, three participants in this study noted an enhancement in offline social behaviour, as a result of their game-play. Further work is being planned to test whether Social Identity Theory [19] can be used to explain intrapersonal perception of group identity and interpersonal perception of group cohesion. 4.2 The Impact of Playing MMORPGs on Work and Relationships The questionnaire data indicated that many participants would neglect their friends to play the game or they would prioritise time with their guild, over face-to-face social groups. When asked what they would be doing if they didn’t have access to MMORPGs, the most popular activity was to play other games, followed by watching TV then face-to-face socialising. Therefore, this data provide some support for the view [13] that game playing is replacing watching television as a recreational activity. However, data from the interview indicate that if game-playing were withdrawn it would be replaced by social interaction, rather than watching television/other gameplaying and face-to-face friends were preferred over guild members. This contradiction will be further investigated in the next study and possibly may be related to the social psychological phenomenon of cognitive dissonance [11]. 4.3 Future Research The results of this pilot study produce an interesting account of motivations for playing MMORPGs, however it is based on a small sample size and therefore the generalisability of the findings is limited. Further research is planned using a larger and more representative sample. The findings from this study supported the demographics
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of players identified in previous research [5] in terms of average age of players, occupation and gender, showing that game-play in this study remains dominated by adolescent boys and young adult males [10]. However, there are a growing proportion of females playing games and further research will examine gender differences. For example, the finding that males tended to seek dominant activities within games, compared to women who preferred relationship-building [20] could be explored. This could further be related to the choice of avatars adopted by individuals, to identify the importance of social and cultural norms, e.g. in the choice of sociable or isolated characters, and competitive or cooperative tasks. Also, the relationship between motivation and personality will be explored, to test for example, whether introverts rather than extroverts may play for superiority and higher status, and whether locus of control is related to intrapersonal or interpersonal motivations to play. In summary, this pilot study will be used to inform methodological and theoretical directions for further research.
References 1. Williams, D., Ducheneaut, N., Xiong, L., Zhang, Y., Yee, N., Nickell, E.: From Tree House to Barracks: The Social Life of Guilds in World of Warcraft. Games and Culture 1, 338–361 (2006) 2. Blizzard Entertainment, http://www.blizzard.com/press/060228.shtml 3. Ducheneaut, N., Yee, N., Nickell, E., Moore, R.J.: Building an MMO with Mass Appeal: A Look at Gameplay in World of Warcraft. Games and Culture 1, 281–317 (2006) 4. Ng, B.D., Wiemer-Hastings, P.: Addiction to the Internet and online gaming. CyberPsychology & Behavior 8, 110–113 (2005) 5. Cole, H., Griffiths, M.: Social Interactions in Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Gamers. CyberPsychology & Behavior (2007) 6. Ducheneaut, N., Moore, R.J.: More than just ‘XP’: Learning social skills in massively multiplayer online games. Interactive Technology and Smart Education 2, 89–100 (2005) 7. Seay, A.F., Jerome, W.J., Lee, K.S., Kraut, R.E.: Project Massive: A study of online gaming communities. In: Ducheneaut, N., Yee, N., Nickell, E., Moore, R.J. (eds.) Building an MMO with Mass Appeal. Games and Culture, 1(4), 281–317 (2006) 8. Brown, B., Bell, M.: CSCW at play: ‘There’ as collaborative virtual environment. In: Proceedings of CSCW 2004, pp. 350–359. ACM, New York (2004) 9. Krzywinska, T., Lowood, H.: Guest Editors’ Introduction. Games and Culture 1(4), 279– 280 (2006) 10. Chou, C., Tsai, M.J.: Gender differences in Taiwan high school students’ computer game playing. Computers in Human Behavior (2004) 11. Denegri, J., Taylor, J.: Deviance on the Internet: A Labeling Game. Social Science Computer Review 23(1), 93–107 (2005) 12. Leung, L., Lee, P.S.N.: Multiple determinants of life quality: The roles of Internet activities use of new media, social support, and leisure activities. Telematics and Informatics 22(3), 161–180 (2005) 13. Wood, R.: Problems with the Concept of Video Game “Addiction”: Some Case Study Examples. International Journal of Mental Health Addiction (2007) 14. Weisser, E.B.: The functions of internet use and their social and psychological consequences. CyberPsychology and Behavior 4, 723–743 (2001)
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15. Griffiths, M.: Technological addictions; Charlton, J.P., Danforth, I.D.W.: Distinguishing addiction and high engagement in the context of online game playing. Computers in Human Behavior 23(3), 1531–1548 (2007) 16. Kraut, R., Lundmark, V., Patterson, M., Kiesler, S., Mukopadhyay, T., Scherlis, W.: Internet paradox: A social technology that reduces social involvement and psychological wellbeing? American Psychologist 53(9), 1017–1031 (1998) 17. Griffiths, M.: Internet addiction: Does it really exist; Chou, C., Condron, L., Belland, J.C.: A Review of Research on Internet Addiction. Educational Psychology Review 17(4) (2005) 18. Code of Ethics and Conduct. British Psychological Society Books, Leicester (2006) 19. Hogg, M.A., Abrams, D.: Social Identifications. Routledge, London (1988) 20. Young, K.: Internet addiction: The emergence of a new clinical disorder; Chou, C., Condron, L., Belland, J.C.: A Review of the Research on Internet Addiction. Educational Psychology Review 17(4) (2005)
Uncanny as Usability Obstacle Angela Tinwell The University of Bolton, School of Games Computing and Creative Technologies, Deane Road, Bolton, UK, BL3 5AB [email protected]
Abstract. The eerie feeling attributed to photo-realistic human-like video game characters may serve as a usability obstacle leaving viewers dissatisfied with a particular character for a video game. This study investigates the relationships between user satisfaction and perceived strangeness and between user satisfaction and human-like appearance for virtual characters. 65 participants were asked to rate 13 video clips of 12 different virtual characters and one real human. The results indicate that the Uncanny Valley does serve as a usability obstacle with a strong correlation between a user’s satisfaction rating and the perceived strangeness for a character, with the characters rated the strangest being the least satisfactory. Whilst there was still a positive correlation between human-like appearance for a character with user satisfaction, this was not as significant, with stylised and anthropomorphic characters perceived to be as satisfactory or more so than those of a photo-realistic human-like appearance. Keywords: Video Games, Uncanny Valley, Photo-realistic, Usability Obstacle.
1 Introduction With increasing sophistication of movement and gesture in real-time computer character animation and with improvements in the photo-realist appearance of characters, game developers are aiming to increase player engagement and the immersive experience. However there is a technical and conceptual brick wall to be overcome that is known as the ‘Uncanny Valley’. It sometimes seems that the more human-like game characters become the more vociferously potential users will object. As video games are able to approximate photo-realistic characters, will this add to the overall satisfaction for a user or act as a usability obstacle because the user becomes dissatisfied with the characters? Masahiro Mori recognised that as a robot’s appearance became more human-like it was perceived as familiar to a viewer, until finer nuances from human norms caused them to appear creepy, evoking a negative effect for the viewer. The positive relationship Mori identified between the perceived familiarity for a robot with human likeness is interrupted at certain point where the robot is perceived as more strange than familiar. This interim dip occurs at the point where the robot appears close to being human, but not fully and is referred to as the Uncanny Valley. Mori hypothesised that the Uncanny Valley would be even more exaggerated with moving characters [6]. Players appear to respond to video game characters as Mori described. Quantic Dream’s tech demo, The Casting for the video game Heavy Rain was first revealed at A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 622–631, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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the third Electronic Entertainment Expo in 2006 (E3 2006). The main character Mary Smith received criticism for being uncanny and people responded to her in a negative way [1]. A lack of synchronisation with speech and lip movements is one of the factors that people found disturbing. It was also cited that her behaviourisms and appearance are similar to that of a sociopath with characteristics such as facial asymmetries and behaviour making her appear odd evoking an eerie sensation for the viewer. Whilst many have critiqued The Casting with feedback provided in online forums and articles, this study will provide formal validation to determine whether photo-realistic characters, including Mary Smith, evoke the eerie sensation attributed to the Uncanny Valley and what impact this has on user experience. One of the common factors with regard to user experience is the overall satisfaction for a user and how much a user enjoys interacting with an interface. Users may become dissatisfied if they become frustrated or confused with an interface or prefer another design. For the purpose of this study, satisfaction is defined as how much a user would enjoy interacting with a character within the context of a video game. The character may serve the role as a protagonist, antagonist or an opponent’s avatar to which a user relates within the context of a multiplayer video game. To provide the best possible intended experience for a user, it may be recommended that game developers be aware of what impact photo-realistic human-like characters may potentially have on user experience within the context of a video game. Recent projects by the facial animation company Image Metrics for photo-realistic characters have been acclaimed as finally overcoming the Uncanny Valley. For the photo-realistic character the Emily Project, VFXworld’s Peter Plantec officially pronounced that Image Metrics has built a bridge across the Uncanny Valley [8]. By means of experiment, this study analyses case studies such as the Emily Project to assess if feelings of eeriness associated with the uncanny are relevant to photo-realistic humanlike characters and if so what impact this has for user satisfaction. It is currently unclear as to when game developers will be able to overcome the Uncanny Valley with estimations that the computer processing power required for rendering completely convincing humans may not be available for up to another twenty years [4]. The results of this study imply that during this time, in the pursuit of photo-realism, it may be advisable for video game developers to be careful not to inadvertently create characters that will put users off. A decrease in satisfaction for the user may result in them spending less time interacting with the computer game or avoiding it all together. The game’s popularity may stagnate or decrease as users become increasingly dissatisfied interacting with the video game characters. This study builds upon the work of previous investigation into the application of Mori’s theory to virtual characters including popular video game characters. Schneider et al. (2007) investigated the relationship between human-like appearance and attraction [7]. Presented with still slides for each character, participants were asked to rate their opinion on a five point scale for how human or non-human they felt the character appeared and how attractive or repulsive they felt the character to be. The results implied that making a character more human-like can increase how attractive that character is perceived to be and the safest combination for a character designer seems to be a clearly non-human appearance with the ability to emote like a human. In response to Mori’s interest in how motion would impact perception, stating that the valley would be even more exaggerated with moving characters, Schneider et al. (2007) stated that another
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study using video clips instead of still images would help better support their theory. Based on these findings, for the intention of this research video clips of virtual characters have been used as stimuli for the means of experimentation. For the horror genre of games, elements of the uncanny can serve to enhance the experience for the user, evoking feelings of tension and dread when interacting with video game characters [3]. MacDorman (2006) has stated that as well as using the principles of Mori’s theory of the Uncanny Valley to create design principles that engineers can use to develop aesthetically pleasing robots, the theory can work to the advantage of engineers when designing robots with the purpose to be unnerving within an appropriate setting and context [5]. It is also noted that the perception of eeriness does not always serve as a negative impact for the viewer, with the horror game genre being such a success. However, not all computer games intend to evoke the emotions associated with a horror game for a user. Many video game characters serve the role of a protagonist within the game intended to build alliance and a sense of familiarity with the player. Players may be dissatisfied with photo-realistic human-like video game protagonists that contest the sense of the real. To build on this theory, two zombie characters were included within this study to see if the results proved that the horror genre of character would conform to Mori’s theory of the Uncanny Valley. From the standpoint of previous research regarding human emotion and the uncanny valley, Ho et al. (2008) carried out an experiment to investigate which emotion terms are related to eeriness, creepiness, strangeness and human likeness [2]. The results showed that the emotion term fear is strongly predictive of eerie and creepy for robots with disgusted, nervous and shocked also being significant, whilst relaxed predicts a high human likeness. The emotions amazed, attracted, curious, excited, fondness, and happy were regarded as more positive and less significant predictors of the terms eerie and creepy. Based on these findings participants were also asked to select from one of 14 emotion terms that best described how each video game character made them feel. The emotion terms fear, shocked and nervous, were included in the study to provide further analysis for implied levels of eeriness for each character. The emotion terms and scores attributed for each character were then listed against average satisfaction ratings to provide further evidence for implied levels of eeriness for each character. The findings from this study might be used as a reference by game developers to ensure that characters created for a video game do not unwittingly serve as a usability obstacle for the viewer. Similarly the findings could allow game developers to consider whether photo-realistic human-like characters are necessary for a game (and what advantages there would be for the user) when a more stylised or anthropomorphic design to represent the human form may instead be beneficial. The findings will also provide an indication of whether 3D modellers are yet close to overcoming the Uncanny Valley as previously claimed for photo-realistic human-like characters.
2 Methodology 2.1 Experiment: Ratings of Video Clips 65 participants were used for this experiment with 59 males and 6 females. The participants were mainly university students from the School of Games Computing and Creative Technologies at Bolton University in addition to professionals working
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within the academic sector and video games industry. Three of the participants worked as 3D modellers from the company 3D Framework. The majority of participants had an advanced experience of playing video games (41) with 21 participants having a basic level and only three participants with no previous experience of playing video games. Participants were presented with 13 video clips of a selection of virtual characters and one real human placed in different settings and engaged in different activities. The video clips included, six photo-realistic characters, the Emily Project and the Warrior by Image Metrics, Mary Smith from Quantic Dream’s tech demo The Casting, Alex Shepard from Silent Hill Homecoming, Brucie Kibbutz from Grand Theft Auto IV, two zombies from the video games Silent Hill Homecoming (Zombie 1) and Alone in the Dark (Zombie 2), three stylised human-like characters including a Chatbot, Lara Croft and Nintendo’s Super Mario, two anthropomorphised characters, Sonic the Hedgehog and a Sackboy from Little Big Planet and one real human. Participants were asked on a web based questionnaire to rate on a nine-point scale how human-like they perceive the character to be from nonhuman-like (1) to very human-like (9) and from very strange (1) to very familiar (9). They were then asked to rate them for satisfaction on a ten-point scale, ranging from dissatisfactory (1) to very satisfactory (10). For the purposes of this study it is important to define the rating satisfaction. Participants were asked to rate how satisfactory they perceived a character to be within the context of a video game and how much they would enjoy interacting with that character within a video game. To measure how the characters made the participants feel, participants were asked to select one of 14 emotion terms. The video clips were played in random order to each participant. 2.2 Results The mean satisfaction rating for characters was 6.65 with a standard deviation of 1.33. The mean average ratings for the emotion terms were: amazed (mean=2.62 σ=3.20), angry (mean=1.00 σ=1.41), attracted (mean=2.69 σ=4.35), confused (mean=5.00 σ=3.65), curious (mean=8.62 σ=6.10), dislike (mean=5.38 σ=4.65), excited (mean=6.15 σ=4.56), fear (mean=4.00 σ=7.42), fondness (mean=4.00 σ=4), happy (mean=7.69 σ=9.88), irritated (mean=7.54 σ=7.68), nervous (mean=3.77 σ=4.64), relaxed (mean=5.31 σ=5.71), and shocked (mean=1.62 σ=1.66). The characters with the highest satisfaction ratings had the highest scores for the emotion terms: amazed, attracted, curious, excited, happy, and fondness which were considered to convey a more enjoyable experience for a user. The emotion terms confused, dislike, fear, irritated, nervous and shocked were associated with a negative, unpleasant experience for the user with a lower satisfaction rating. Table 1 shows the mean average satisfaction rating for each character and the top three emotion term scores attributed to each character. As results from experiments using robots have previously shown [2], the emotion term relaxed is also a strong indicator of human likeness for virtual characters with the real human in this study receiving the highest score for relaxed (23). For the case study the Emily Project, the results show that whilst the photo-realistic human-like character Emily scored well for emotions not associated with eeriness, such as amazed (9), curious (8), and relaxed
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Table 1. Average Satisfaction Ratings and Top Three Emotion Terms for each Character Character Mario Lara Croft Sonic The Warrior Emily Sackboy B. Kibbitz Human A.Shepherd Zombie 2 Mary Smith Zombie 1 Chatbot
Mean average satisfaction rating 8.4 7.7 7.6 7.5 7.4 7.0 6.9 6.7 6.7 6.1 5.9 5.3 3.2
Top three emotion term scores Happy (33), Excited (8), Fondness (7) Attracted (16), Excited (15), Curious (7) Happy (18), Fondness (15), Excited (11) Curious (21), Nervous (12), Confused (9) Amazed (9), Curious (8), Relaxed (8) Happy (20), Curious (11), Excited (9) Irritated (15), Excited (12), Dislike (6) Relaxed (23), Irritated (13), Curious (9) Curious (20), Nervous (12), Relaxed (6) Fear (20), Dislike (11), Nervous (10) Irritated (12), Curious (9), Confused (8) Fear (21), Confused (12), Curious (10) Irritated (28), Dislike (18), Confused (5)
(8) the character also received an above average score for the emotion term confused (7) and shocked (5) with just below an average score for irritated (7). 8 participants rated associated this character with the emotion term relaxed, an indicator of human likeness. The results demonstrate that whilst the majority of participants (44) associated this character with emotion terms typical of a satisfactory experience, 22 participants associated this character with emotion terms typical of a less satisfactory experience. The three most satisfactory characters received high scores for the emotion terms, happy, excited and fondness. The stylised Lara Croft received the highest score for attracted (16) with this type of character perceived to be more attractive than photorealistic human-like characters and real humans within the context of a game. The least human-like of the two zombie characters, Zombie 1, received the highest score for the emotion term fear (21). With a less obvious human form participants felt confused as to how a character could appear so grotesque and frightening. 10 participants were curious and intrigued to learn more about this character perhaps to understand why the character’s appearance is so frightening, or for those participants who enjoy horror video games seeking to gratify a curiosity in frightening themselves. The more human-like Zombie 2 received a high score for the emotion term fear (20). Despite a more obvious human-like form, 11 participants disliked the frightening appearance for this character which also made them feel nervous. The character Mary Smith received the third highest score for fear (4), with most participants finding the character irritating (12). Participants were curious to learn more about this character; however 8 participants were still left confused by her strange and unnatural appearance. The protagonist Alex Sheppard scored just an average satisfaction rating of 6.7 and made 12 participants feel nervous with one of the highest scores for this emotion term. As the main figure within the game intended as the hero, this character may have expected to receive an above average rating for user satisfaction and higher ratings for emotion terms such as fondness and attracted. The elements of motion quality, including subtle nuances in facial animation and a lack of lip synchronisation with sound, may serve as a usability obstacle for this character which has perhaps put users off.
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Fig. 1. The solid line plots the relationship between perceived familiarity (on the strange versus familiar scale) and satisfaction
Figure 1 plots the relationship between perceived familiarity (on the strange versus familiar scale) and user satisfaction. The results demonstrate a strong correlation between a user's satisfaction rating and the strange versus familiar rating (r=.75), with characters perceived to be strangest as the least satisfactory. Figure 2 plots the relationship between how human-like a character is perceived to be (on the nonhumanlike versus very human-like scale) and user satisfaction. There was still a positive correlation between a user's satisfaction rating for how human-like a character was perceived to be, however this was considerably less (r=.2). From these results it is implied that the uncanny phenomenon for virtual characters does serve as a usability obstacle with the perceived impact of the uncanny having a direct influence on a user's overall satisfaction with the character. The results show that users found the photo-realistic human-like characters more satisfactory than a real human within the context of a video game. This may demonstrate a user’s desire to escape from reality whilst playing a video game and that a real human may not be acceptable within the context of a video game. Stylised, iconic characters such as Lara Croft and Mario and the anthropomorphic character, Sonic the Hedgehog are more familiar and subsequently more satisfactory to users than photo-realistic human-like characters. The anthropomorphic character Sackboy is less satisfactory and familiar than Sonic the Hedgehog and the photorealistic human-like characters, Emily and the Warrior. This type of character still
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exhibits some human traits such as gesture and facial expressions but is rated the least human-like out of all characters. This implies that a user demands a more sophisticated appearance for an anthropomorphic type character than the simplistic appearance of the Sackboy.
Fig. 2. The solid line plots the relationship between how human-like a character is perceived to be (on the nonhuman-like versus very human-like scale) and satisfaction
The photo-realistic character Mary Smith was rated on a similar satisfaction level as Zombie 2. The uncanny phenomenon is evident for this photo-realistic human-like character provoking the same impact as characters intended for a horror game. The stylised Chatbot character was perceived as unsatisfactory within the context of a video game. The sound from the Chatbot was regarded as the most unsatisfactory characteristic. The Chatbot was regarded as the most irritating with 28 participants attributing the emotion term irritated for this character, whilst 18 participants took a firm dislike to the Chatbot (see Table 1). This result shows that users expect more than the simplicity of the Chatbot’s appearance for a video game, with the lack of lip synchronisation with speech being the most irritating characteristic. Figure 3 plots the mean average ratings for how human-like a character is perceived to be against perceived familiarity and reveals more than one single valley in the plot. Horror game characters intended to contest the sense of the real do conform to a U-shaped valley. The photo-realistic character Emily is perceived to be very human-like and may be close to overcoming the Uncanny Valley phenomenon as
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Fig. 3. The solid line plots the mean average ratings for how human-like a character is perceived to be on the nonhuman-like versus very human-like scale and perceived familiarity on the strange versus familiar scale
proclaimed by Plantec [8]. The photo-realistic characters Mary Smith and Alex Shepherd that are placed close to or within a dip may provoke an impact of the uncanny and put users off using a game when they are otherwise not intended to do so. The Chatbot character is placed within a valley and is perceived to be less human-like and as strange as the Zombie 2 character. Sonic the Hedgehog and Mario are widely accepted as familiar, with little risk of evoking the eeriness attributed to the uncanny, despite their nonhuman-like appearance. The stylised character Lara Croft is perceived to be not as eerie as all of the photo-realistic human-like characters, despite being rated less human-like than four of the photo-realistic human-like characters.
3 Discussion The results suggest that the eerie feeling attributed to video game characters does serve as a usability obstacle leaving viewers dissatisfied with photo-realistic humanlike characters that appear strange as opposed to familiar. For a user to find a video game character satisfactory within the context of a game it is not necessary for the character to have a photo-realistic human-like appearance. A character should evoke a greater sense of familiarity as opposed to eeriness unless they are intended to evoke fear such as a zombie for the horror game genre.
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With real humans perceived as less satisfactory than animated virtual 3D characters within the context of a video game, the pursuit for photo-realistic human-like characters is worth the endeavour, but until video game developers have the sufficient technology and expertise to overcome the uncanny, stylised or anthropomorphic characters that exhibit human traits are more satisfactory for a user. This study showed that users respond to uncanny photo-realistic human-like characters in the same way they would respond to zombies intended for horror games. If photo-realistic characters are to be used as protagonists within a game then it is advisable that they should be tested to ensure that there is a sense of familiarity for the user and that game developers have not unwittingly put users off the character. Contrary, elements of the uncanny may be exaggerated for horror game antagonist characters to provoke a greater sense of eeriness and fear for the user. Elspeth Tory, the Animation Project Manager for Ubisoft's video game Assassin's Creed has acknowledged that in order to combat the uncanny it is essential that games developers do not work on their games in isolation as then they are purely relying on their own sense of aesthetics to make a character believable [1]. If photo-realistic human-like characters are to be included within a video game, it may be worthwhile for game developers to carry out testing within the development stages of a game specifically to rate a user’s satisfaction for the characters within the context of a video game. This type of testing will help to ensure that risk of the uncanny for characters is reduced and users will not be inadvertently put off the video game. Creating overly-simplistic characters for video games is not advisable as most users found them unsatisfactory within the context of a game. Users expect more than the simplistic appearance for a Chabot character (disliked and the most irritating). The jerky motion exaggerated the lack of lip synchronisation with speech for this character. The simplistic nature of the Chatbot for both image and sound annoyed and confused users, with the Chatbot rated as strange as a zombie character. The Emily Project is perceived to be very human-like and this study showed that it is close to overcoming the Uncanny Valley as proclaimed by Plantec [8]. Most users rated this character as satisfactory, however those working within the industry and with a high level of gaming experience were more scrupulous in detecting the finer nuances of facial animation that risk the character being uncanny. The reflectivity of the eyes, the texture of the skin surface and lack of movement in facial muscles on the forehead, mouth and eyes were noted during the experiment as elements that made this character seem less believable. Emotion terms used to describe this character included confused, shocked, fear and nervous demonstrating that this character does evoke the eeriness attributed to the uncanny for some users. The results from this study may provide support to prove that Emily is close to overcoming the Uncanny Valley however it is evident that there are subtle elements of motion quality that can still be improved to increase the character’s believability. In future studies the methodology for testing this hypothesis could be improved by rating the experience and expertise of participants in 3D modelling to provide a more robust hypothesis as to whether the Emily Project and other photo-realistic humanlike characters may be close to overcoming the Uncanny Valley phenomenon. Not all characters featured within the study had sound. For those characters with sound this aspect was shown to be a contributing factor in the ratings for user satisfaction and strangeness as well as visual appearance. There is a tremendous potential for
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future research in this area to study how motion qualities such as facial expression, timing, contingency during interaction and sound contribute to the feeling that a virtual character is uncanny. Defining an initial conceptual framework for the fearevoking aspects of motion quality that exaggerate the uncanny may also be used by game developers seeking to increase the fear factor for characters in horror games.
References 1. Mori, M.: Bukimi No Tani [The Uncanny Valley]. Energy 7(4), 33–35 (1970) 2. Gouskos, C.: The Depths of the Uncanny Valley (July 8, 2006) http://uk.gamespot.com/features/6153667/index.html 3. Weschler, L.: Why is This Man Smiling? Wired Magazine 10(06), 16–17 (2002) 4. Schneider, E., Wang, Y., Yang, S.: Exploring the Uncanny Valley with Japanese Video Game Characters. In: Situated Play, DiGRA 2007 Conference, pp. 546–549 (2007) 5. Plantec, P.: The Digital Eye: Image Metrics Attempts to Leap the Uncanny Valley (August 7, 2008), http://vfxworld.com/?atype=articles&id=3723&page=1 6. Hoeger, L., Huber, W.: Ghostly manipulation: Fatal Frame II and the Videogame Uncanny. In: Situated Play, DiGRA 2007 Conference, pp. 152–156 (2007) 7. MacDorman, K.: Subjective ratings of robot video clips for human likeness, familiarity, and eeriness: An exploration of the uncanny valley. In: ICCS/CogSci-2006 Long Symposium: Toward Social Mechanisms of Android Science, Vancouver, Canada (2006) 8. HO, C.-C., Macdorman, K., Pramono, Z.A.D.: Human emotion and the uncanny valley: A GLM, MDS, and ISOMAP analysis of robot video ratings. In: The Third ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction, Amsterdam, pp. 1148–1158 (2008)
Gamers’ Implicit Knowledge on the Psychological Influence of Game-Playing Alexander E. Voiskounsky, Olga V. Mitina, and Anastasiya A. Avetisova Psychology Department, Moscow State University after M.V.Lomonosov, Mokhovaya str., 11/5, 125009 Moscow, Russia [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Abstract. The paper presents the players’ implicit views on psychological aspects of a supposable influence of computer/online/video-games on human beings. And online survey with 74 Likert-type questions were given to adults and older adolescents (16+). The collected replies (N=437) were grouped into an eight-factor model. The key implicit representations include the participants’ belief that gaming: (1) leads to positive self-development, (2) affects the players’ somatics, i.e. causes tiredness and stresses while gaming and in an aftergame period, (3) brings pleasing feelings while gaming, (4) stimulates cognitive processes, and (5) supports players’ relaxation and gives pleasure. Keywords: Psychology, computer games, adult players, implicit knowledge, online study.
1 Introduction The aim of the study is to shed light on the players’ informal views about the unspoken, hidden or informal parameters of the video/computer/online games they keep playing. Qualified gamers, rather than newcomers, are the primary interest. It is well known that most of the studies held previously have involved children and teenagers. Although young gamers may express an outstanding level of expertise, enforced by superior memory, excellent qualitative thinking and decision making, up-to-date selfmonitoring, and rapid pattern recognition while engaged in gaming-related behavior [1], we nevertheless assume that their parents and older brothers/sisters usually have more broad experience in the field, and in result their informal views and feelings about the gameplay might be considered to be more competent and well-grounded. Thus the present paper is devoted to the study of the views on computer games shared by older adolescents and adult players (16+). The study is limited to the population of Russian gamers; the limitation is hardly severe, if any. The estimated audience of gamers in Russia is about 20 million (http://www.entermedia.ru/about/); according to the results reported by a sociological agency COMCON, no less than 23% of adolescent and adult Russian citizens play computer games (http://www.comcon-2.ru/). They play all sorts of games, including console games, MMORPGs, action and adventure games, shooters, strategies, casual games, etc. Some of them subscribe to gaming portals abroad or buy original games A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 632–640, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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and play using instructions in English or other foreign languages; the majority make use of localized versions of the games, i.e. adapted for the Russian players. Several Russian companies produce original computer games which have some popularity although they are not widely known outside Russia; probably only one world-wide popular game, namely the TETRIS, originated in Russia. A non-specified amount of non-citizens of Russia enter the audience of Russian gamers, including ethnic Russians who live abroad, and ethnic non-Russians (former Soviets) who speak Russian fluently and live outside Russia. The current population of video/computer/online gamers consists of at least two generations: children, including preschoolers, grade school students prior to college, and adults starting with the college students and including parents of elementary school age gamers. Those adults who have a decade or more of gaming experience and who show no intention to cease active gameplay, are a group of special interest to social thinkers. Following the baby boomers generation, their younger brothers, sisters, and children, are expected to bring major changes in social behavior rituals in ways of doing business, in teamwork, and in sophisticated technological decisionmaking [2]. The generations of gamers have already made their choice when they openly absorbed playing video/computer/online games as an important element of their lifestyle. A more detailed classification has been recently introduced by Tapscott [3] who separates a ‘Baby Boom’ generation (1946-1964), followed by an intermediate ‘generation X’ (1965-1976) and then by the ‘Net generation’ (1977-1997), also known as ‘Millennials,’ or ‘generation Y,’ – and lastly the ‘generation Next’ (1998 – present). «If you look back over the last 20 years, clearly the most significant change affecting youth is the rise of the computer, the Internet, and other digital technologies. This is why I call the people who have grown up during this time the Net generation, the first generation to be bathed in bits» [3, p. 17]. Digital enhancement, he believes, will result in partly discarding the older daily practices and in developing new values, dealing for example with non-trivial approaches to privacy, copyright, sharing responsibilities, management of identities, multitasking and other issues which are being mentioned and discussed in an anticipatory context in a growing number of publications [2; 3; 4].
2 Experienced Video/Computer/Online Players: Implicit Psychological Knowledge They Possess We distinguish explicit vs. non-explicit knowledge concerning those parameters of video/computer/online games which refer to psychological properties, either stemming from everyday practice, or academic. After all, almost every human being is aware of some elements – theories, terms, effects, etc., which belong to academic psychology. Our main interest lies in non-explicit and non-articulated knowledge; this class of cognitions includes both tacit and implicit knowledge. The former comes from the Polanyi's influential book [5] in which he pronounced “We know more than we can tell." Intelligence theorists place procedural tacit knowledge to what Sternberg and his colleagues call practical intelligence [6]. Strictly speaking, it is important to mention that tacit knowledge is not the opposite to explicit knowledge. In other
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words, implicit knowledge is slightly closer to explicit knowledge since it can be more easily structured and made overt, compared to the unarticulated tacit knowledge for which such a procedure is questionable. Moreover, implicit knowledge can be placed somewhere in between the two other types of knowledge, namely tacit and the explicit. Computer/video/online gameplay experience is a promising area to try and shed some light on implicit elements of knowledge. Without a doubt, qualified players acquire profound erudition, apart from gameplay intricacies and small victorious secrets, about various ways the games may and perhaps do impact their psychic conditions. The more diverse games people play, the more informal observations they collect. That is why we believe the experienced gamers are preferable, compared to newcomers, to try to extract their implicit knowledge on psychology related matters. One may think of diverse methods to do a sort of knowledge management in the field. For example, Turkle tracked a path via interviewing and observing [7], while Yee and his colleagues used an indirect methodology when they made visible social norms due to the analysis of the way the gamers use the avatars [8]; Allison and her colleagues had to undertake a psychiatric evaluation [9]. Wood and his colleagues, as well as Hsu and colleagues, surveyed players on the structural and design features of popular games [10; 11], while Teng used standard psychological tests (namely, BigFive) to measure motivation and personality traits [12] – this author identifies the gained data with the gamers’ implicit knowledge. This is not quite correct, to our mind, since psychological tests are instruments for psychological inquiry and generally speaking, these instruments differ from self-constructed classifications of private experiences; it would be rather strange if lay-players structured their implicit experience in exact correspondence with these sophisticated academic instruments. The players have for example little idea of the attempts of Will Wright, the “SIMS” creator, to apply the famous Maslow’s hierarchical motivational scheme as the structural element of the popular game. Thus our aim was, informally, to “drag out” of the gamers their implicit ideas about the impact of gameplaying, being a long and intensely practiced experience, on their psychics. Unlike the abovementioned studies, we planned to present a number of Likert-type questions borrowed from both our own decade-long experience of putting questions to gamers, and from published studies as well – too numerous to refer to them formally. The intention was to explicate at some level elements of the experienced gamers’ knowledge and to try to build a certain structure of them.
3 Methodology The goal of the study was to explicate and present the hypothetical implicit psychological aspects of the impact of the video/computer/online games on human beings. The main hypothesis was: video/computer/online players possess particular views on a supposable psychological influence of computer games on their psychological qualities. The expected would-be participants need to have, due to our plan, a long enough experience in gameplaying. Based on our experience with gamers, we have selected players of 16 years old and up. The youngest of our participants first, have had a prolonged experience in gaming, and second, as older adolescents, have been reflecting a
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lot about their psychological traits, their destiny, future profession and in general their place on Earth. Those under 16 have been considered less competent in gaming and less reflective, or simply more ‘childish’. The analysis of results was intended to provide valuable data pertaining to the study of computer game players’ implicit knowledge. It is important to note that in this paper we were expecting to gain a sort of a cumulative implicit knowledge which is characteristic for the whole population of experienced gamers, irrespectively of a particular type of a video/computer/online game he or she is an adept of. Moreover, it is reasonable to expect that almost any research participant has a personal history of playing or at least trying to play diverse games; this fact, be it true, might in fact result in an increase of confidence to the respondents’ views. Although the moments such as the favorite sort of a player’s game have been in fact collected, this set of empirical data is not being analyzed within the limits of this particular paper. Measuring Instrument. The study was planned to be organized as an online; the authors have a good experience in this type of study. The questionnaire that was developed specifically for this study included two obviously different blocks: first, a block on demography and gamers’ experience in playing computer games, and second, a block on psychological aspects of video/computer/online games’ impact. All Likert-type questions in the second block were eleven-scaled; questions on demography and experience in playing games contained various numbers of scales. The Questionnaire has passed a pre-study offline stage of approbation and adaptation within a sample of 58 gamers which did not participate in the following main study. The needed corrections were made to make particular questions sound more correctly and comprehensibly, and one block of questions was left out: the total number of the remaining questions is 74. The Procedure was that of an online survey. The questionnaire was placed online. The invitations to fill in the questionnaire items were systematically posted on a number of particular portals, websites and homepages visited by computer gamers. The participants were self-selected. Methods of Data Handling and Analysis. Processing of research results passed four stages: (1) analysis of demography and parameters referring to gaming experience of players; (2) statistical analysis of the questionnaires’ items: calculation of the means and standard deviations; (3) explorative factor analysis (principal components method), targeted at stemming all the parameters into factors; (4) confirmatory factor analysis, aimed to check the resulting factor model and to find the intercorrelations between the factors. In this paper we do not have space enough to discuss the 2nd point in detail; it will be done only briefly. 3.1 Results and Discussions The total number of self-selected respondents was 450, but the resulting number of non-identical responses was 437. As many as 13 responses were removed after the controlling aimed at preventing double visits from the same machine submitting the identical content.
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At the first stage we analyzed the characteristics related to the players’ demography and their experience in playing computer games. An average participant was a male (83%) of 16-21 years old (39%), going to university or having a college diploma (34%), with a 10-year experience in playing computer games (27%), playing about 25 hours per a week (46%). These results have no statistically representative scale to compare to; nevertheless, in our earlier studies with the Russian MMORPG players the demography was about the same, while 25 hours per a week allocated to gameplay is somehow a longer time than an average competent player reports; at the same time, among our earlier research participants were hard-playing gamers who played 40 hours per a week and more. At the second stage, the calculated means and standard deviations show that the sample consists of players who are interested in playing computer games, feel emotions, express pleasure and great interest to gameplay. Players report they relax while gaming; although they say they rather rarely mix gameplay with reality, but at the same time in order to be successful they often practice a sort of identification with their within-game character, and in general they report that playing games promotes the development of their imagination. Participants tend to agree that they are often able to construct a dynamic model of the gameplay situations, their mastery means that they can operate automatically in various situations. They share their attention span between several meaningful components of the gaming process; they get used to it and do not find it too hard a task. It is easy for them to stay focused on game while playing, pay attention to important aspects of the game. Participants report that to be successful they need logical thinking and intuition, analysis and anticipation, making plans and look for alternatives, based for example on reasonable associations. These are the issues which got the participants’ highest scores. At the third stage of the analysis we got an eight-factor model. The factors are as follows. Factor 1 may be called Control and attention. It includes the key parameters of the allocation of control and the determination of attention. For example, the participants report that is necessary to keep the attention span active during the game (.50) and to distribute the attention span between several objects (.68). They believe their ability to allocate attention span to several significant elements is developing (.64) while gaming, that they progress in concentrating attention (.62) and in keeping control of a situation (.63). Participants also consider that they are able to track and control several significant objects in game without special effort (.57). Players report that gameplay causes their developing ability of finding out various proper decisions within the particular situations (.75), as well as the ability to carry on an analysis of a gaming situation (.82) and to plan the actions (.79). The ability to establish associative interactions during the game has also been marked (.59). Factor 2 may be called Negative consequences. It includes the key negative parameters which might result from excessive gaming, or abuse/overuse of gameplay: for example, negative affect on dreaming (.57), after-game apathy (.58), sense of exhaustion (.80) and stress (.55), irritating feelings in eyes (.68), wrist pains (.56), unpleasing feelings located in a back and a neck (.71), intolerable excitement (.51), and aggressive thoughts (.63). Participants often find problematic to supervise themselves effectively during the game sessions (.60), and in general gameplay often makes them tired (.79), they feel they lose sense of time (.45). After game sessions,
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participants report, it is often difficult for them to orient again in real life and to go on with their responsibilities (.62) Factor 3 may be called Interest to game; it includes the following parameters: players report that the course of the game is not indifferent for them (-.47), they feel it easy to keep attention to gameplay situations (.51), gaming causes a great interest (.66), aspires to achieve success (.51); due to these pleasing parameters, players report they would gladly allocate all their free time to gaming (.52). The result of game for them is not indifferent (.41); the process involves them so strongly that they lose sense of time (.33). In general, gameplay brings pleasure to players (.48). Factor 4 may be called Self-development. It includes statements such as players’ belief that thanks to gaming they increased their self-assurance (.79) and self-esteem (.63), as well as capability to learn intensely and make use of what they get to know (.67), especially within new technologies (.47). Gaming, they believe, increases their creativity (.54) and develops imagination (.43). Thanks to gameplay, the participants report they became more responsible (.79) and more purposeful (.76). Experience gained in gameplay can be transferred, they report, to avoid failures in real life (.73), to classify real life situations adequately (.71), to realize their own capabilities and deficiencies unmistakenly (.69). The game players feel better in anticipating withingame situations and conditions (.59), they find less problems in concentrating the attention span (.53) and controlling situations (.56); they report they increase understanding of others (.65), and undertake risks much more adequately (.51). Factor 5 may be called Perception; it includes key perceptive parameters: participants report that thanks to gameplay they increased a valuable ability to define the relative sizes of subjects and distances to them adequately (.66) and distinguish tiny details of the screen images (.75). Spatial imagination is developing while gaming (.76), as well as perspective models of within-game situations (.44). Gamers feel better in anticipating events (.48) and in concentrating the attention span (.47). Factor 6 may be called Thinking and memory. It includes the following cognitive parameters: players report that logical thinking is valuable to progress in a game session (.54), that memory load dedicated to the within-game conditions is heavy (.74), that it is necessary to think and anticipate two steps (minimally) forward (.64), to think critically (.45) and in general to remember a lot (.71). While gaming, the participants report, the correct decision may happen and emerge unexpectedly (.49); thus, the abilities of building associative chains (.48) and to allocate significant elements (.43) are highly useful. Factor 7 may be called Self-knowledge. It contains the following statements: participants believe that gameplay practice helps them not to stay lonely in real life (.45) and to be what they are (.52), they develop imagination (.49) and creativity (.51), approach their ideals (.63); moreover, they report they better comprehend themselves (.43), realize their own capabilities and deficiencies (.28). During the game sessions the participants enjoy identification with the screen character (.41) and in general are fond of a chance to pretend to be some other being (.49): due to this experience the participants believe they start understanding the other people better (.50). Finally, the very choice of games to play distinguishes the respondents from their friends (.44). Factor 8 may be called Game pleasure. It includes the basic parameters of pleasure connected with gameplay: for example, participants consider that gaming is pleasing (.48), that it increases self-esteem (.29), helps to discharge the aggression collected earlier in a real life (.47) and causes a sort of a passionate affection (.56),
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Participants report that during gameplay they may get a rest (.45), feel enthusiasm (0,68) and endure it (.65), find way to express their intuition (.44), and generally keep excitement after the gaming session is over (.41). At the fourth stage the confirmatory factor analysis was used to check the statistical importance of the factor model acquired while doing explorative factor analysis. At the Figure 1 the Cronbach alpha meanings are placed within the balls with the factor names, and the Pearson intercorrelations are marked at the links which connect the factors; the least meaningful correlations are omitted. Results of the confirmatory factor analysis show that the experimental data satisfy the suggested 8-factorial model: the value a hi-square equals 5223.416 with a number of degrees of freedom 2554, the value of index CFI (Comparative Fit Index) = .800, the value of index RMSEA (Root Mean-Square Error of Approximation) =.052. All the correlations between factors are positive and significant at .05. [13]. The following conclusions should be made after the analysis of the data presented at the Figure 1. Let us discuss some correlations which are reasonably high. For example, the Factor 1 Control and attention correlates positively and significantly (.530) with the Factor 4 Self-development. This fact may be interpreted in the following way: high concentration, special attention and control over the events on the monitor are believed to promote self-development. High enough correlation with the Factor 5 Perception (.427) is also testifying that within-game control and attention are strongly dependent on the patterns of perception. Correlation with the Factor 6 Thinking and memory (.513) reminds us that control and attention is intimately connected with such capabilities as thinking and memory. Factor 2 Negative Consequences is positively correlated with the Factor 8 Game pleasure (.492). Thus one can assume that while getting in-game pleasures, players are fully aware that among the after-gaming results they can acquire the negative ones, such as weariness, stress, etc. Factor 3 Interest to game is positively correlated to the Factor 7 Self-knowledge (.427). Thus, interested players acquire a better understanding of themselves and are aware of their within-game as well as outside-game capabilities. Not surprisingly, high correlation with the Factor 8 Game pleasure (.610) shows that interested behavior leads to emotional enthusiasm and is capable to bring pleasure. The Factor 4 Self-development correlates with the Factor 5 Perception (.453). Thus it is possible to assume that within-game self-developmental procedures promote the development of the perceptive system. The correlation with the Factor 6 Thinking and memory (.547) shows that self-development mechanisms are intimately connected with all the cognitions; the correlation with Factor 7 Self-knowledge (.613) shows that self-development and self-comprehension are believed to have common features. Factor 5 Perception correlates with Factor 6 Thinking and memory (.505). That means, the cognitive capabilities – as the players’ implicit knowledge says – form a unified block, including recognition, memory, logical thinking. Factor 7 Self-knowledge correlates with Factor 8 Pleasure (.641). Thus a better understanding of him/herself within a game, promotes endured enthusiasm, emotional lifting and pleasant feelings. Thus, the confirmatory factor analysis has shown that the factor model built-up using the explorative analysis fits the empirical data. Besides, correlations between the factors in the eight-factor-model testify that the present model includes a variety of interpretable correlations.
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Fig. 1. Intercorrelations between the factors, and the Cronbach alpha
4 Conclusions The final results of the study are the following. The participants, being qualified and experienced gamers, are ready to accept a multidirectional psychological impact of the computer/video/online games they keep playing. This impact is emotional as well as cognitive; it includes evidently negative outcomes as well as positive ones, in case we consider that self-development or knowledge about self is exclusively for good. Although the negative consequences form the second factor, the players do not seem to be concerned about the would-be losses in terms of somatic and/or psychic health. The participants express neither enthusiasm nor concern on the theme that gameplay is an uneasy element to be packed into their daily schedule; very likely, the lifestyle including gaming sessions has already been fixed and the participants find it comfortable. All the factors are meaningfully intercorrelated in the resulting model. That means the model we present is indeed a well-formed model without isolates and chance
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elements. What looks intriguing, within the gamers’ structures of implicit knowledge there are kept the “ready-made” reasons which are for the most part overtly pronounced by both the proponents and the opponents of the video/computer/online games. For certain, the whole magnitude of such reasons is a “joint reservoir” and it would be interesting to learn what individual implicit models of this sort to look like, given future research opportunity.
Acknowledgements This work is sponsored in part by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project # 08-06-00361а.
References 1. VanDeventer, S.S., White, J.A.: Expert Behavior in Children’s Video Game Play. J. Simulation & Gaming 33(1), 28–48 (2002) 2. Beck, J.C., Wade, M.: Got Game. Harvard Business School Press, Boston (2004) 3. Tapscott, D.: Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation Is Changing the World. McGraw Hill, New York (2009) 4. Palfrey, J., Gasser, U.: Born Digital: Understanding the First Generation of Digital Natives. Basic Books, New York (2008) 5. Polanyi, M.: Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy. University of Chicago Press, Chicago (1958) 6. Sternberg, R.J., Forsythe, G.B., Hedlund, J., Horvath, J.A., Wagner, R.K., Williams, W.M., et al.: Practical intelligence in everyday life. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2000) 7. Turkle, S.: Life on the screen: identity in the age of the Internet. Simon & Schuster, New York (1995) 8. Yee, N., Bailenson, J.N., Urbanek, M., Chang, F., Merget, D.: The unbearable likeness of being digital: The persistence of nonverbal social norms in online virtual environments. J. CyberPsychology & Behaviour 10(1), 115–121 (2007) 9. Allison, S.E., von Wahlde, L., Shockley, T., Gabbard, G.O.: The Development of the Self in the Era of the Internet and Role-Playing Fantasy Games. J. Psychiatry 163(3), 381–385 (2006) 10. Wood, R.T.A., Griffiths, M.D., Chappell, D., Davies, M.N.O.: The Structural Characteristics of Video Games: A Psycho-Structural Analysis. J. Cyberpsychology & Behavior 7(1), 1–10 (2004) 11. Hsu, S.H., Lee, F.-L., Wu, M.-C.: Designing Action Games for Appealing to Buyers. Cyberpsychology & Behavior 8(6), 585–591 (2005) 12. Teng, C.I.: Personality Differences between Online Game Players and Nonplayers in a Student Sample. Cyberpsychology & Behavior 11(2), 232–234 (2008) 13. Ullman, J.B.: Structural equation modelling. In: Tabachnik, B.G., Fidell, L.S. (eds.) Using multivariate statistics, pp. 813–849. Harper Collins College Pub., LA (1996)
Intercultural Socializing via Mobile Games for Backpackers Chui Yin Wong1, Kimberly Chu1, Chee Weng Khong1, and Sheila Paul2 1
Interface Design Department, Faculty of Creative Multimedia, Multimedia University, 63100 Cyberjaya, Selangor, Malaysia {cywong,kimberly.chu,cwkhong}@mmu.edu.my 2 Telenor Research and Innovation Centre Asia Pacific, Cyberview Lodge, 63000 Cyberjaya, Selangor, Malaysia [email protected]
Abstract. Mobile phones are currently shipped with pre-installed games all around the world. In most cases, these pre-installed games contain very little elements of sharing local heritage, traditional values and beliefs. Naturally, such pre-installed mobile games are provided with a different intent and under various commercial contexts. This paper looks at the design and development of intercultural mobile games aimed for backpackers. This is to allow backpackers to socialize, to share and to learn new cultures during their travels. User evaluation studies were conducted to collect the backpacker’s feedback and to improve on conceptualization during the design process. The results were used collectively to provide input for improving the design concepts and interfaces. Screenshots of the mobile games are provided. In general, the results highlight important considerations when deploying an intercultural mobile game to backpackers. Keywords: Mobile games, socialization, cultural games, backpackers, user experience.
1 Introduction Since the boom of mobile technologies in the mid nineties, mobile phones are fast becoming ubiquitous in determining our styles and trends of communication. With current expansions in mobile hardware and software, mobile games are one of the most proliferating industries, based on the demand of its users. Nielsen Mobile [1] reports on mobile gaming statistics for the first quarter of 2008, they estimate that there were 19 million games downloader. Informa Telecoms [2] anticipated that worldwide revenues for mobile gaming will grow to US$7.5 billion in 2011 from US$2.5 billion in 2006, where the largest chunk are contributed by the Asia Pacific region. It is without any doubt that mobile gaming is a lucrative business with the potential of generating significant amounts of revenue with a considerably large customer base. Moreover, the appeal for mobile games, apart from its revenue generation, is its pervasiveness. Young adults traveling around, such as those who prefer backpacking, A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 641–650, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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carry a mobile phone with them. The mobile phone in this context is not merely an item of necessity, but instead represents the owner’s social status, a portal for entertainment and a tool for communication. To a certain extent, mobile users are extending their mobiles as a tool to communicate and socialize with people locally and globally. With modern mobile technologies, entertainment, information and communication are only a click away for its users. This paper highlights the development and process of designing a mobile socializing game to provide its users the experience of sharing and interacting with their destination’s local culture, values and beliefs. On the other hand, the mobile game described here also allow its users to easily meet online and get acquainted with other fellow backpackers who are also traveling within the same country and have opportunities to bond with one another since backpackers adore traveling and the flexibility of selecting their destinations. For instance, users can obtain and share live information such as travel logs, food, entertainment, news, accommodation, maps, climate, access to local places of interest, flight information and the latest events around the country which they are presently traveling in. Since most of the time backpackers utilize public transportation, they have the ability to quickly access the mobile game during their waiting time in between travels.
2 Literature Review 2.1 Backpacking and Traveling on a Budget Backpacking refers to an economical, independent means of traveling around. This type of budget travel is managed, characterized and categorized solely by the backpacker him/herself. Backpackers create opportunities for themselves to experience their travel through customized and non-institutionalized means, sometimes considered as being fee-spirited travel. Some consider backpacking as a lifestyle, a personal adventure, a relaxing educational activity, an opportunity to soak up the local heritage, socializing with local cultures, and having absolute control of one’s time, expenditure and experience of a destination. This means that backpackers tend to mingle more with the locals compared to a tour group style of traveling, and have the allowance of delaying their schedule if they found something interesting along their travels. Backpackers also have the characteristic of planning their trip meticulously, spending a lot of research efforts on their travel destinations, and are willing to dedicate more time absorbing the cultural and local aspects on a few selected areas in their travels, thus having the trend of staying longer at their preferred destinations [3]. Europeans and North Americans are famed for their backpacking trends. However, having greater access to modern information and communication technologies, such as the mobile phones, smartphones, PDAs and netbooks, and with greater budgets, a new trend of backpacking is beginning to surface where travelers have more means to travel in comfort and have more time to explore whilst still having access to modern electronic devices. Backpacking is gaining popularity in Asia. The flurry of low-budget airlines and budget accommodation seem to provide greater domestic travel opportunities as well as to neighboring countries. The constant improvements in local broadband and satellite communication technologies also allow travelers the ability to share, upload, synchronize, locate and update their travel
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information to the World Wide Web (WWW). The increase of blogging and independent travel Websites also add to the growth and encouragement of backpacking in Asia as backpackers are usually very keen to share and chat about their discoveries, worries, events, experiences, comments and observations during their travels. 2.2 Game Genres Since the inception of arcade games back in the early nineties various genre of games have been introduced which mark a very important point in gaming history. Casual game is one of the most well-known genres for mobile phones. Generally, casual games are aimed at a more diverse type of casual gamers. They involve no long term participation to the game or no compound strategic challenges, as they are typically straightforward to play with simple rules and game controls compared to hardcore games [4]. On the other hand, a sports game is a game that imitate the playing of traditional sports into a portable device such as the mobile game, including baseball, association football, American football, boxing, wrestling, cricket, golf, basketball, ice hockey, tennis, bowling, rugby, and indoor lacrosse. This genre of game is highly spirited and bears similar traits to the real world sports [5]. Apart from that, sports companies and famous sports icons would normally be featured in the game as well. Adventure games provide situational problems for the player to solve, with very little or no action [5]. If there is action in the game, it is generally confined to isolated minigames. Typically, adventure games are a type of video game characterized by investigation, exploration, puzzle-solving, interaction with game characters, and a focus on narrative rather than reflex-based challenges. Puzzle games generally require less complex game controls and overall difficulty in terms of gameplay which are required to get through game. Tetris is one of the highest revenue generating mobile games falling under this category [6]. In contrast, action games have gameplay based on real-time interactions that challenge the reflexes [5]. Action game is a game that challenges a player's speed, dexterity, and reaction time. Action games often include tactical conflict, exploration challenges, and puzzle-solving, but these are not the defining elements [7]. Action games are the broadest and most inclusive genre in gaming, encompassing many diverse sub-genres such as fighting games, first-person shooters, beat 'em ups, and platform games. Usually, these games require some dedicated graphic and data processing to relate to the gamers’ reaction and reflexes. Racing games are a genre of video games which attempt to provide the player with a realistic interpretation of operating various kinds of vehicles. Rollings and Adams [8] note that "the vast majority of vehicle simulators are flight simulators and driving (usually car-racing) simulators". This genre also includes simulations of driving Formula 1 (F1) cars, trains, spacecrafts, boats, tanks, and other combat vehicles. However, the strategy video games are a genre of video game that emphasizes skillful thinking and planning in order to achieve victory [5]. They are generally categorized into four sub-types, depending on whether the game is turn-based or real-time, and whether the game focuses on strategy or tactics. Location based games is one in which the game play somehow evolves and progresses via a player's location [9]. Thus, location-based games almost always support some kind of localization technology, for example by using satellite positioning like GPS (global positioning system).
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Socialization
Socialization refers to the process of learning one’s culture and how to live within it. For the individual, it provides the skills and habits necessary for acting and participating within their society. Social networking sites such as Facebook, Friendster and MySpace are very successful as they generate millions of users from all around the world. They are hugely successful as humans, in general, are naturally sociable even when we are interacting in the virtual world. Gourley [10] mentioned the key as Facebook application is so successful because they made it sociable. Thus, users could add personal photos, add videos, write comments, send virtual drinks, send invitation to events, connect through groups, chat box application, and other socially prone activities. A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) such as World of Warcraft (WOW) is hugely successful as there are socializing elements within gameplay which require players to discuss, talk, and share information throughout the game in order to complete the game’s missions [11]. As WOW focuses hugely on teamwork, players are expected to discuss strategies and build clans among each other in the game. Second Life is a virtual online world where people can explore, meet other residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, and create and trade virtual property and services with one another, or travel throughout the world, which residents refer to as the grid [12]. About two-thirds of the players point out the prospective to interrelate with several thousand fellow players or participating via ones’ character in a virtual “society” as a vital motivation to log onto Ultima Online [9]. 2.4 Intercultural Activities Sato and Chen [13] mentioned that when a group of people, no matter its scale or number, begins to share common ways of thinking, feeling and living, the concept of culture begins to occur. Different cultures can be distinguished by their individual and group characteristics, e.g. the mental models, behavioral patterns, emotional responses, aesthetics, rules, norms, and values that group members share [13]. Different cultures therefore produce different artifacts and environments based on their shared cultural characteristics. On the other hand, artifacts, through people’s interactions with them, can influence existing cultures and may even produce a new culture. Two universally known intercultural elements are said to revolve around sharing and learning [14]. It is important to note that the backpacking culture also contain similar attributes of sharing and wanting to learn more about their travel destination. This commonality is the basis for which an intercultural and social mobile game was developed for backpackers.
3 Ostel: An Intercultural and Social Mobile Game We can explore various aspects of socialization and intercultural competence from playing games through mobile phones. Ostel is a prototype of a mobile social game that was developed from a design and development collaboration between the Interface Design Department at the Faculty of Creative Multimedia in Multimedia University, Malaysia, and Telenor Research and Innovation Centre Asia Pacific (TRICAP) in 2007-2008.
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3.1 Design Concept of Ostel The idea of Ostel derives from the needs of low-cost backpackers and travelers, especially young adults, who like exploring the world whilst still having access to their everyday mobile and portable device applications. Ostel was developed based on the requirements of backpackers needing to gain access to local values and beliefs, and to be able to foster relationships with others while learning new cultures during their travels. In brief, Ostel is a location-based mobile social game that caters for backpackers and travelers throughout the world. Functions such as GPRS, 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth services enable the backpackers to turn on their Internet connection via their mobile phones while on the move. As such, Ostel is designed as a social community game by using the mobile phone as a tool to access features such as gaming, connectivity, information and tele-communication. The game provides interesting features (e.g. cultural games, community board) to enable users to socialize within the virtual community, foster relationship and also learn culture from different countries. When traveling to a different country, Ostel allows its users to switch to another mobile operator automatically or manually. This feature of the game allows users to be connected to the listed country’s featured traditional games. It also empowers users to have social interaction with other registered users, providing them with recommend places of interest, restaurants and accommodations while enjoying the gaming experience playing cultural mobile games. 3.2 Socialization and Intercultural Aspects of Ostel In the main menu, there are six main icons in Ostel such as ‘community’, ‘activity’, ‘theme’, ‘shout-out’, ‘setting’ and ‘score’. The screen shots (Figure 1-2) below show the main menu screen, and how users access to the main features. Tortoise is used as the metaphor on Ostel for the overall design concept. The metaphor implicates the backpackers and travelers who carry their belongings on the move, which is similar as a tortoise carries its shelter on the back wherever it goes. The overall menu and navigational design is simple and intuitive to enhance the user experience. Note that level 1 menu is similar in its layout, interface and feel to provide consistency. In order for the backpackers to socialize, they can activate the ‘Community’ feature (Figure 3), and communicate through personal private message (PM) with anyone on their buddy list (Figure 4). Users can choose to invite and add any new friends, who are also online, into their buddy list to increase the circle of social networking. The ‘shout-out’ feature (Figure 5) is similar to a ‘chat’ forum, which enables the online community to post messages, chat, mingle around, and to exchange information like places of interest, likes and dislikes, ‘dos and don’ts’ tips during their travel. Users can access to the ‘activity’ menu (Figure 6) to find out the ‘happenings’, any ‘promotional’ travel-related items, and also indulge in the cultural ‘game’. There are several ‘themes’ for cultural games that is based on the country. Users can select the preferred game when they travel in the country to have fun and learn the nation’s culture through socializing in the mobile game (Figure 8). For instance, when users select ‘Malaysia’ flag icon under the ‘theme’ option, they are exposed to different types of local cultural games.
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Fig. 1. Ostel startup screen
Fig. 2. Ostel main menu. Notice the sea turtle or Penyu avatar
Fig. 3. Ostel’s ‘Community’ screen is selected
Fig. 4. Buddy List status shown under ‘Community’ menu
Fig. 5. The ‘shoutout’ menu
Fig. 6. Users can access to either ‘game’, ‘promotion’, or ‘happenings
Fig. 7. Users can check their scores and ranking of the mobile games they have participated
Fig. 8. Under the ‘theme’ menu, users can choose the country’s game
The above screen shots (Figure 9-16) illustrate two examples of local Malaysian cultural social games – the ‘Takraw’ and ‘Wau Bulan’. Takraw is a traditional sport in Malaysia. It consists of two groups of players with 3 players on each side on a pitch similar to that of a badminton court and is also separated with a net. One group of players begins by pitching a rattan ball (the takraw) and is kicked over the net to the opposite side. The opposing side receives the takraw and should deliver it back. The side that allows the takraw to fall onto the ground loses. If played alone, the player kicks the takraw up into the air and must keep it up in the air as long as possible. The player loses once the takraw touches the ground. The mobile game of Takraw follows the same set of rules as the real sport, and is operated in two modes, that is single player and multi-player mode (see Fig. 10). For Multi-player mode, users can invite either their buddies or any online user to join the game for social interaction from different networks. The multi-player mode allows the user to ‘kick’ the takraw over to the other user’s mobile device. The gameplay is in real time over the selected UMTS/3G (2.1GHz) network. This form of interactive interface is designed for enhancing social interactions while keeping the graphical processing to a minimal. Another interesting local sport popular in the East Coast of Malaysia is ‘Wau Bulan’. Essentially, this sport is about kite flying and ‘Wau Bulan’ is the more popular kite design. The mobile game derivation promotes the same gameplay concept of
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Fig. 9. ‘Takraw’ cultural game
Fig. 10. There are two modes of gameplay - single or multi-player
Fig. 11. Inviting buddies to join the game
Fig. 12. Scoring ‘1’ when the user manages to kick the takraw
Fig. 13. The ‘Wau Bulan’ game – a traditional Malay flying kite game
Fig. 14. The users can select Tutorial to find out the instructions how to play the cultural game
Fig. 15. The user can use voice command to control the ‘height’ of Wau Bulan kite
Fig. 16. An indicator showing ‘You’ as the player position when playing with other players
keeping the kite flying high in the sky. The higher the kite flies, the more points the user will gain. In multi-player mode, both players will attempt to out perform each other.
4 User Study 4.1 User Group of Backpackers A ‘quick-and dirty’ user trial was conducted on backpackers to gather user feedback. A total of 20 users (10 women and 10 men) in the age range from 20-30 years participated in the study. We recorded the observation of their interactions with Ostel prototype during the evaluation session. A pre- and post-questionnaire was issued to brief and de-brief the users respectively. The intention of the study was not to obtain statistically valid quantitative data; this is merely a qualitative exercise and aimed at identifying possible user needs, trends and feedback on the interface design and content from a small user group of backpackers.
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Fig. 17. Backpackers testing Ostel
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Analysis of Results
It is important to stress that all respondents were backpackers with at least 3 years of backpacking experience. They have all owned portable and mobile devices for more than 5 years, and carry those devices with them whilst traveling. The respondents are considered as independent, well-traveled individuals who are conversant with mobile technologies and have been sharing their traveling logs onto online blogs. 5.1 General Observations The respondents have never experienced using or having seen any existing or similar socializing mobile game for backpackers. They were happily surprised of a 3G-abled game of this nature. During the interview, the respondents were asked to describe Ostel in three words for each of its features, such as its navigation, layout design, menu, icons, colour scheme, accessibility, gameplay, country guide, and content. The frequency of most common words mentioned is shown in Figure 18. Generally, the users perceived Ostel as interesting, sociable, having cute icons, rich colors, intuitive screen design, easy navigational path and cultural game play. However, they found that it could be quite confusing to interact at the community section.
Fig. 18. The relative frequency of common words to describe Ostel, where larger text means more frequently mentioned words. Green indicates positive words, and red as negative words.
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In a nutshell, Ostel itself is not solely a game but includes many socializing aspects of being able to share the gameplay with others, chat, post queries and to go back to previously visited countries to continue playing those “local” games. It allows backpackers to continuously interact with and be connected to their listed friends as though they are traveling when they may already be back in their own countries. The ability to select the countries the backpacker have visited, and for the application to update country listing is important for the sustainability of the intercultural mobile game.
6 Conclusion and Future Work This paper highlights the interface design considerations in developing an intercultural socializing mobile game for backpackers. Ostel allows backpackers to socialize, to share and to learn new cultures during their travels. These primary game elements provide the fundamentals for inter-cultural activities to occur, and it also fulfils one of the customary essentials of the backpacking culture. The respondents adapted very quickly to the idea of Ostel being a good proposal as their traveling companion, and an extension to their travel guides and blogs. Further detailed usability studies will be conducted based upon the feedback received in this preliminary study. Another avenue for future work includes developing Ostel as a platform for the tourism industry and also for mobile operators to promote tourist-related services and to introduce national games to tourists. Acknowledgments. The authors would like to express gratitude to our colleagues and students involving in the design projects at the Interface Design Department, Faculty of Creative Multimedia at Multimedia University, Malaysia, and Telenor Research and Innovation Centre Asia Pacific (TRICAP). We also wish to thank Afiq Iskandar and Nurul Farhana for their contributions to Ostel design project.
References 1. Nielsen Mobile. Mobile Gaming Statistics (2008), http://www.nielsenmobile.com/html/pressreleases/ MobileGamingStats.html 2. Informa UK Ltd. Mobile Games: Strategies & Solutions for the Wireless Gaming Community, 2nd edn. 3. Tourism Tasmania. Backpackers Profile 2006 (October 2006), http://www.tourismtasmania.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/ 0005/34844/backpackers.pdf 4. Boyes, E.: Game Spot UK. Are Casual Games the Future? (February 2008), http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6186207.html?tag=result;title;0 5. IGDA. 2006 Casual Games White Paper, pp. 17–20 (July 2006), http://www.casualconnect.org/newscontent/11-2007/ casualgamesmarketreport2007.html
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6. Gamespot. The History of Puzzle Games (2008), http://uk.gamespot.com/ features/vgs/universal/puzzle_hs/tet.html 7. Entertainment Software Asscociation, Essential Facts About the Computer and the Video Game Industry (2008), http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/ESA_EF_2008.pdf 8. Rollings, A., Ernest, A.: Fundamentals of Game Design. Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs (2006), http://wps.prenhall.com/bp_gamedev_1/54/14053/ 3597646.cw/index.html 9. Kolo, C., Baur, T.: Social Living a Virtual Life: Social Dynamics of Online Gaming. International Journal of Computer Game Research 4(1) (2004), http://www.gamestudies.org/0401/kolo/ 10. Gourley, B.: Social Media and National Security Professionals (January 2009), http://www.ctovision.com/facebook/ 11. Williams, D., Ducheneaut, N., Xiong, L., Zhang, Y., Yee, N., Nickell, E.: From Tree House to Barracks: The Social Life of Guilds in World of Warcraft 1(4) (2006), http://gac.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/1/4/338 12. Waters, J.K.A.: ‘Second Life’ for Educators (January 2009), http://www.thejournal.com/articles/23777/ 13. Sato, K., Chen, K.: Special Issue Editorial: Cultural Aspects of Interaction Design. International Journal of Design 2(2) (2008), http://www.ijdesign.org/ ojs/index.php/IJDesign/article/view/459/161 14. Swartz, M.J.: On the Substance and Uses of Culture’s Elements. Cross-Cultural Research 35(2), 179–200 (2001)
Designing Inclusive Social Networks: A Participatory Approach Leonelo Dell Anhol Almeida, Vânia Paula de Almeida Neris, Leonardo Cunha de Miranda, Elaine Cristina Saito Hayashi, and Maria Cecília Calani Baranauskas Department of Information Systems - Institute of Computing - P.O. Box 6.176, University of Campinas – UNICAMP - 13083-970, Campinas, SP, Brazil [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Abstract. The Brazilian society is characterized by vast differences with regard to socio-economics, culture as well as access to technology and knowledge. In this scenario, Information and Communication Technology, especially hypermedia systems, could benefit citizen, allowing access to knowledge, communication and collaboration. Current social networks systems were not conceived to address the challenges of an inclusive society. In this paper, we discuss some relevant design issues, elicited from a participatory approach, to the design of such systems. The exploratory design process starts with the elicitation of the different views among users, designers and developers, passes through design concepts definition and gets to a first approximation to a user interfaces design. Keywords: Inclusive social networks, participatory practices, design issues.
1 Introduction Brazil, as other developing countries, is characterized by vast differences with regard to socio-economics, culture, geographical region as well as access to technology and knowledge. Social indicators presented by the Committee of Entities Combating Hunger and for Life (COEP1 in its Portuguese acronym) show that in 2003, 34% of the population lived below the poverty line. Furthermore, approximately 26% of the population is functionally illiterate2, whereas functional illiteracy is defined by an age of 15 or higher and less than 4 years of formal education. Moreover, the last census of 2000 found that 14.5% of the population has impairments3. In this scenario, Information and Communication Technology, especially hypermedia systems, has the potential of benefiting citizens, allowing access to knowledge, communication and collaboration, and thus promoting the process of the constitution of a fairer society. 1
COEP. http://www.coepbrasil.org.br. Last census available. MEC. http://portal.mec.gov.br 3 MJ. http://mj.gov.br 2
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For this purpose, it is necessary to investigate how to design systems that consider the diversity of users taking the digitally excluded into account. Although there are many online social networks developed to aid people in activities of communication and cooperation, they were not built for diversity. They do not address access to people with different interaction abilities, including inexpert users, elderly, illiterates, people with disabilities and others. A review about fourteen current systems to support social networks shows that the resources that social networks put available today are not enough to allow access to the variety of users cited above [1]. Social networks provide resources for maintaining social relationships, for finding users concomitant interests, and for sharing content and knowledge that has been contributed or endorsed by other users [5]. When a social network enables every person to integrate a group which is able to interact under a social protocol and a set of rules to promote the sharing of goods and subjects obtained through production and mobilization within these groups, it is called an inclusive social network (ISN) [2]. ISN can be especially useful in contexts of expressive disparity among people due its capacity to provide conditions of use despite of physical, social, economics or cognitive conditions. Facing the challenge of developing an ISN that could be used by Brazilian citizens, taking into account their different needs and interaction abilities, this work presents a discussion about some relevant design issues and the participatory process used to elicit them. The approach is based on concepts of Universal Design [9] or Design for All and uses techniques from Participatory Design [7] to support an exploratory design process. The process starts with the elicitation of the different “views” (from the community, designers and developers) about systems to support ISNs, passes through design concepts and gets to an interface proposal that materializes the design solutions. This paper is organized as follows: Section 2 presents the theoretical and methodological references and describes the applied techniques; Section 3 presents our approach to the design of ISNs; Section 4 points out some design issues that demand extra studies; Section 5 presents our final considerations.
2 Theoretical and Methodological References The design of “Interfaces for All” aims at addressing efficiently and effectively the various interaction problems arising from different user abilities [8]. According to Stephanidis, the underlying principle is to ensure, during the design process, that the needs of elderly and people with disabilities are considered. To that end, it is important that these needs are known since the early stages of product and service design. This approach reduces the need for “a posteriori” adjustments and makes it possible to offer products that meet the demands of end users in the population. Design for All means designing interfaces enabling access to users with diverse competencies in the population in a non-discriminatory way; this means to offer the possibility of interaction and access to the content in ways that make sense for people considering their different interaction abilities. The development of Interfaces for All is still a challenge as design problems persist even if we consider some particular users groups (cf. Neris et al. [6]). In some cases, only the use of assistive technologies (such as screen readers or automatic translators) and adherence to the recommendations of accessibility found in the literature are not
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sufficient for the effective interaction of these users [3]. Melo and Baranauskas show the need to bring these people into the design process to understand their needs and to design with and for them. The PD approach has its origin in the promotion of the participation of workers and syndicates in the decision making processes related to development of new technologies for workplaces in the Scandinavia of the early 1970s [7]. PD proposes effective users involvement throughout the software lifecycle promoting benefits such as mutual learning between designer and user; leverage of comprehension of users characteristics, preferences and needs; and the democratic design of technologies [4]. In order to guide designers in choosing participatory practices to be employed along the software lifecycle development, Muller et al. [4] proposed a taxonomy of 61 participatory techniques. Two of these techniques are Group Elicitation Method (GEM) and BrainDraw. Within the GEM, participants write a design idea on paper and circulate to the next participant of the group. Upon receiving the ideas of another participant, each one has a short time (for about two minutes) to agree, disagree or put a new point of view. This phase continues until all participants have seen the ideas of the other participants at least once. In the BrainDraw, each participant starts a drawing in one sheet of paper (considering a defined interaction situation) and after a short time (for about a minute) every participant circulates the paper among the other participants. The short time to draw guarantees that no one will be able to finish a complete idea in their sketches, so that the final artifacts will be a mixture of ideas of everyone. Each design is unique because it has a different beginning.
3 Applying PD in the Context of ISNs The development of a system to support ISNs demands a participatory and inclusive approach, as described in the following sections. 3.1 Eliciting Design Concepts A group of eight people - considering target community representatives and researchers with different focus such as design, development and media - was invited for the GEM activity. They were asked to write one design idea related to ISNs (e.g. allow collaborative edition, show interconnections in the network of adds and people, construction of a reputation system) and then pass the sheet to the next participant. After the round, the participants were asked to highlight the main concepts they found in their sheets. These concepts were then announced to the others and written down on a whiteboard. Connections between the concepts were draw and as a result, we obtained a conceptual map. We decided to use the conceptual map because it allowed us to correlate the contributions of each participant's main words (concepts) while discussing their meanings and relative importance. The importance of the concepts was determined considering the number of times the concepts appeared in the sheets of paper to the design situation. Considering the relative importance of the concepts, we categorized them into five groups, being group A the one with the most important concepts. The groups and their concepts are shown in Table 1.
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Group Concepts A Identity and identification, tailoring, privacy, reputation, coordination model B Different media, various needs of use, diverse interest groups C Awareness, means of representation and expression (e.g., pictures, avatar, videos) Features (calendar, instant messenger, sharable areas, collaborative edition, D forums, idea links, groups, visibility, people) E Physical (real) center (TeleCenter)
From the groups in Table 1, it is possible to realize that concepts such as identity, tailoring, privacy, awareness are more important for the participants than the tools/features themselves. This points out the need to make the system accessible independently of the communication tools it will present. Also, it is important to reinforce that the physical center was mentioned showing the importance of the public spaces in the context of ISNs. As many users do not have computers with Internet access at home, they need to use the services of a Telecenter. This also brings important issues for the design regarding environmental and personal constraints. The concepts obtained with the GEM composed the basis for the scenario created for the next activity, the BrainDraw, which is described next. 3.2 Gathering Design Elements Once we had the concepts (Table 1) elicited during the GEM, we proceeded to the application of the BrainDraw technique. This time, a group of 22 people took part of the activity, among them researchers, community leaders and end users. Among the users were people who have little or no contact with computers and the Internet. Due to the size of the group, it was divided into five smaller groups and, inside each group, the BrainDraw technique was applied. For the generation of design proposals' phase it was described a scenario of use. This scenario, translated below, was read to the whole group and a projection stayed on the wall during the activity. “You are in front of the computer. In the screen, you see the website from the Inclusive Social Network that you are a member of. You see an advertisement (a product, service, social event or an idea) that you are interested in. You notice that the person who put the advertisement is present in that moment in that website. You get in touch with that person and immediately you ask that person something about the advertisement. The person answers your question. That makes you feel satisfied with that website and you keep browsing there...” As we would like to gather design elements that could represent the concepts obtained with the GEM, the scenario proposed included elements associated with awareness (you notice the person is present, you get in touch). Also the proposal of the advertisement can consider questions related to reputation and privacy. Further, the coordination model (you are a member), different media and communication (you ask something) among others were considered. In addition to the BrainDraw technique proposed in Muller et al. [4] we performed another two phases after the generation of design proposals: discussion within the group to generate a consolidated design proposal with best accepted ideas from the
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design proposals; and the exposition and discussion of the consolidated design proposals among all the participants. Figure 1 presents two of the five groups' consolidations. From this example it is possible to verify the diversity of ideas as the menu style, categorization of advertisements, presence indicator, and others.
Fig. 1. Examples of the consolidations of the groups' design proposals
With the drawings obtained from the consolidation phase and the subsequent presentation and discussion of those consolidations we conducted an analysis of the design elements. In the first stage of the analysis we identified the variation in presentation style, number of occurrences and localization in the screen. A brief summary is presented in Table 2. From the analysis considering the presence or position of design elements, we can highlight some important findings to understand the community's context: Advertisements. Four of the five consolidations proposed categories for the advertisements and different manners to represent them (menu, selection box). Again, 4 consolidations considered to present the advertisements of a specific category in some kind of list (tabs, sequential list, previous/next buttons). Finally, all the consolidations proposed the full visualization of just one advertisement at a time; Website sponsors. Despite having appeared only once, the sponsors’ area was well accepted by all during the presentation and discussion phase. This emphasizes the care about the sustainability of the website; Communication mechanisms. Due to the scenario of use every consolidation presented communication mechanisms. The best ranked where telephone and chat. We believe this represents the lack of participants' experience with computers. People not experienced with computers suggested mechanisms of their quotidian life; Multimedia in advertisements. We identified the frequent use of images while no other media was used to illustrate advertisements. More than the syntactic aspects, referencing the presence and position of design elements, the drawings allow an analysis considering also semantics, pragmatics and social aspects of the design.
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Table 2. Detailed individual analysis of the design elements from the groups’ consolidation Nr of Times
Place
Navigation menu
5/5
Left side (3/5)
Site’s name Logo Chat
5/5 3/5 3/5
Communication mechanisms
Element
Phone
4/5
E-mail SMS Message via site
1/5 1/5 1/5
Forum
1/5
Top (4/5) Left top (3/3) Right side (2/3) Near the description of the advertisement (3/4) Near the description of the advertisement (1/1) Navigation menu (1/1)
Presence indication of online users
Sequential vertical text (3/5) Text (4/5) Picture (3/3) Text (3/3) Text (4/4)
Text (1/1) Text (1/1)
1/5
Left bottom (1/1)
Picture (1/1)
5/5
All five were different
Text and picture (5/5)
Navigation
3/5
All three were different
Arrows pointing right (next) and left (previous) advertisement (2/3)
Presence indication of the advertiser
5/5
Near the advertisement (4/5)
Picture (3/4)
Various types of media Advertisement
Media
Semantics aspects are related to the meaning of the interface elements for the community. All the groups used different colors to signalize the presence or absence of a contact. However, G1 showed the status of the advertiser even before the announcement details. This signalizes the importance that this group places on awareness. Also, G2 used a large picture of a community personage in the main page. During the discussion, they emphasized that it represents an interactive character that would present the community. G3 drew a logo in which a group of people are in circle with their hands attached, what shows the meaning of an ISN for them. Pragmatics aspects are related to the intentions behind the design, considering which type of communication and negotiation the interface provides. From the menu items that appeared in the drawings (e.g. net partners, school’s projects, animals donation, among others) it is possible to realize which information the community intends to share using the system. Furthermore, G1’s advertisement considers interface elements that allow the confirmation of an order, representing the seriousness in the relationship between the advertiser and the interested person. Another important aspect regarding the participants’ intentions with the system is the disclosure of the community, i.e. the group of people that shares the social network. It appeared in different ways, e.g. G1 proposes videos about the community, G2 proposed the personage to present the community, G4 showed pictures of the neighborhood.
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Social aspects are related to the effects of the system use and their impact in society. They include those related to commitments, beliefs, culture. In this sense, education was the main aspect pointed out in most of the drawings. The educational impacts of an ISN where emphasized by participants during the discussion phase and appeared in the drawing in different ways. G1 presented a link in the menu for educational videos. Also, they added a link for a web radio with educational purposes. G2 presented announcements for supporting classes. G3 presented announcements for courses. G5 presented links in the menu for education and social events (concepts). Also, they linked educational videos in some announcements, e.g. “learn how to recycle your trash” linked with an announcement of a returnable bag. The analysis of the consolidated drawings shows that the use of a participatory technique supports the design team with important information considering diverse aspects of the interaction with ISN systems. The results of the analysis were then considered in the proposal of a first approach for the design, as shown in next section. 3.3 Materializing Design Ideas In this section we present how concepts, design elements, semantics, pragmatics and social aspects of the design, elicited from the participatory activities, were addressed in an ISN system prototype (Vila na Rede. available at http://www.vilanarede.org.br). Figure 2 presents the wireframe complemented by some clipping from the prototype. The header is composed of three subareas: logo and website's name, random advertisement's images and accessibility resources. These subareas address relevant concepts raised in the GEM activity such as: identity and identification; visibility; and various needs for access. Moreover, the logo and website's name area appeared in every consolidation of the BrainDraw activity. We adapted a proposal that appeared in BrainDraw, that was a top bar displaying images of the local community, to join user identification with the visibility of his/her content, as illustrated in the random advertisement's area. At the right side of header there are some accessibility resources such as font size, contrast, and skip links. Despite of this specific area, accessibility is considered transversal to every interface element as pointed out in GEM. The footer contains the sponsors' area as presented in section 3.2. In the left column there are two subareas: navigation and users' presence indicator. The navigation area situates the menus. The ISN proposed implements two kinds of menu - based on the BrainDraw results - a sequential and a circular. Both of them are supposed to be universally accessible and available at any time according to users' preference. Just below the navigation are located the users' presence indicator. This area presents a list of online users and their status (e.g., available, away, occupied). The column on the right was brought by the designers who identified its need. The context in which Vila na Rede is immersed calls for a Meta-Communication area, aiding especially the digitally illiterate in the interaction with the system. This region should display a mechanism, e.g. an avatar, which will contain online help in diverse formats. For this same column, a tool to group participants' opinions was thought as a way to allow the community to express its view as a collective whole. These opinion polls would address a different topic each month and display the results. Both the GEM and the BrainDraw technique highlighted the demand for multimedia content, which was provided in the central area, furnishing the advertisement feature
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with audio-visual material. The designers complemented this idea adding the possibility of having Libras4 - besides the text, image, sound and video - to be used in the advertisement. In order to navigate through the ads, different formats came up in the drawings, like horizontal arrows, tabs and dropdown menu. A horizontal navigation bar was adopted and thumbnails will be used to help this task. Besides these features, others are going to be included, that will help users to identify other's presence and broaden the possibilities of communication (e.g. instant messaging, text message to cell phone), which came from the GEM concepts. Other challenging design issues are discussed in next section.
Fig. 2. Mapping concepts and ideas from GEM and Braindraw to an ISN system design proposal
4 Discussion on Design Issues The use of participatory techniques throughout the design process of ISNs enabled the identification of design issues to be overcome so these systems can be effectively used by all. Thus, issues regarding tailoring, privacy and security, reputation, coordination model, awareness, meta-communication and physical place should be considered. Tailoring is the activity of modifying a computer application within the context of its use. By using tailorable applications, communities and the users themselves could adapt and maintain the system according to individual and collective interaction requirements. Regarding tailoring, it is still necessary to investigate how to model the different interaction needs in such a way that they can be managed and supported by a software application. Further, how to present the possibilities of tailoring in the interface, in a way that makes sense for all users especially for those that are novice in the use of computers, still need to be addressed. 4
LIBRAS - Portuguese acronym for Brazilian Signal Language.
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Concerning privacy and security, more specifically the user authentication method, the usual options are password, predefined questions, biometry, and images. In the context of ISN, it is important to provide more than one authentication method due to the diversity of possible functional restrictions. At Vila na Rede, we are evaluating the use of password and also login through images. As in real life, when people interact through an ISN system they usually want to know if they can trust in the person (or group) they are interacting to. However, to determine reputation is a very critical activity because of impacts in how a person feels in relation to others and how people choose who they want to interact. Therefore it is necessary to think about metrics and strategies to assign or deliberate on a certain reputation and how they will evolve through the time. On the subject of coordination model, we believe that users' groups should be able to define their own coordination models according to their needs and preferences. Therefore, decisions like “who can do what” and “what is right and what is wrong” can be made by the group members supported by the system. Another relevant aspect of social networks it is the feeling of "being part" of a community. To make viable this sensation it is necessary mechanisms to provide information about users' actions and status, objects, groups, tasks, etc. When a user is capable of understanding that information and use them to establish and maintain communication and to collaborate we say he/she is aware. However, when constructing an ISN it is necessary to provide different awareness information to address different needs and preferences. Currently there are questions that demand research: How to present awareness information considering users diversity? What is relevant awareness information in each presentation style (e.g., text, sound)? How to keep communication even in situations when users choose very different system views? How to make these scenarios possible in inclusive context? Moreover, the establishment of a communication channel within the ISN, through which users can find help to overcome obstacles in the interaction with the system, is very important especially when considering the digitally illiterate. This communication about communication must be carefully designed. Further research is still needed in order to present this information, how to do it and when to do it considering the diversity of the communities that will make use of it. That involves considerations not only about the tasks that one can perform during the use of the system but also language and metaphors that make sense to them. Finally, our research indicates that people want to use ISN systems as a way to establish contacts in the real world and to give more visibility to their community, products, events and ideas. In addition, our target community is characterized by low computer literacy. Due to these facts, besides the ISN system, it is necessary to provide a friendly physical environment, a place where people can extend their social interaction and get training in the use of computers.
5 Conclusions In this paper we pointed out some of the major challenges to the design of systems to support online ISNs. We employed a participatory approach to the design of such systems. The approach involves participatory practices, such as GEM and BrainDraw,
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and collaborative activities for the identification of requirements and for the formulation of a design proposal. We presented and discussed major questions and contributions that resulted from this work. Considering the challenging social context we have, the involvement of the user as “part of the team” provides to designers and developers the possibility to better know the differences present in the social context. This knowledge coming from the source and the participation of users in the design proposals legitimate the obtained solutions. This work is a first step in an endeavor to contribute to the proposal of new methods that could deal with the difficulties of designing for diversity and collaboration with special focus on systems to support online ISNs. Future work involves other participatory activities within the target community, when it will be possible to experience the design solutions. Acknowledgments. This work is funded by FAPESP (processes #2006/54747-6 and #2007/02161-0) and by Microsoft Research - FAPESP Institute for IT Research (grant #2007/54564-1). The authors also thank colleagues from NIED, InterHAD, Casa Brasil, CTI and IC UNICAMP for insightful discussion.
References 1. Almeida, L.D.A., Neris, V.P.A., Hayashi, E.C.S., Hornung, H.H., Baranauskas, M.C.C.: An exploratory design for inclusive social networks. Technical report, Institute of Computing, UNICAMP (2008) 2. Hayashi, E.C.S., Neris, V.P.A., Almeida, L.D.A., Rodriguez, C.L., Martins, M.C., Baranauskas, M.C.C.: Inclusive Social Networks: Clarifying concepts and prospecting solutions for e-Cidadania. Technical report, Institute of Computing, UNICAMP (2008) 3. Melo, A.M., Baranauskas, M.C.C.: An Inclusive Approach to Cooperative Evaluation of Web User Interfaces. In: 8th ICEIS, vol. 1, pp. 65–70 (2006) 4. Muller, M.J., Haslwanter, J.H., Dayton, T.: Participatory Practices in the Software Lifecycle. In: Helander, M., Landauer, T.K., Prabhu, P. (eds.) Handbook of HumanComputer Interaction, 2nd edn., pp. 255–297. Elsevier Science Inc., Amsterdam (1997) 5. Mislove, A., Marcon, M., Gummadi, K.P., Druschel, P., Bhattacharjee, B.: Measurement and analysis of online social networks. In: 7th ACM SIGCOMM, pp. 29–42. ACM, New York (2007) 6. Neris, V.P.A., Martins, M.C., Prado, M.E.B.B., Hayashi, E.C.S., Baranauskas, M.C.C.: Design de Interfaces para Todos – Demandas da Diversidade Cultural e Social. In: 35th SEMISH/CSBC, pp. 76–90 (2008) 7. Schuler, D., Namioka, A.: Participatory design: Principles and Practices. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah (1993) 8. Stephanidis, C.: User Interfaces for All: New perspectives into Human-Computer Interaction. In: Stephanidis, C. (ed.) User Interfaces for All - Concepts, Methods, and Tools, pp. 3–17. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah (2001) 9. Trace. General concepts, universal design principles and guidelines, http://trace.wisc.edu/world/genud.html
City Ragas: Building an Intercultural Dialogue between People Lipika Bansal Waag Society, Nieuwmarkt 4, 1012 CR Amsterdam, The Netherlands [email protected]
Abstract. City Ragas is a photo exchange game in which people in different cities are directly linked with each other through mobile phones and engage in a visual dialogue. Every team has the goal to create a storyline by exchanging pictures. This visual dialogue opens up avenues for cultural exchange and direct interaction enhances understanding of each other and forms the basis for a strong involvement between inhabitants of two possibly distant cities. The intercultural mobile game, City Ragas, has been developed by Waag Society (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) in collaboration with the media lab Sarai (New Delhi, India). It uses mobile technology to disclose the themes of cultural identity and heritage. Keywords: Mobile gaming, intercultural dialogue, non-verbal communication, visual exchange, digital storytelling.
1 Introduction “Shall we click this gable, no the bicycle is much nicer. Will you take the picture?” After making the photo of a cycle, parked near a canal in Amsterdam, it is sent to the partner team in New Delhi. Now it’s waiting for a reply from them. Participants wander through the city in small teams looking for the right picture as a response to the received photo from New Delhi [1]. During the Amsterdam India Festival in November 2008, about 200 people of Amsterdam and Delhi played City Ragas and many more viewed the results online.1 City Ragas has proven to be a concept accessible to a diverse range of people. The simplicity of the concept and the application make it easily comprehensible. The added value comes from the users themselves. People react to each other in various ways. They not only react to the content, but also react to colour or composition. The project is called City Ragas, because it captures city’s broad range of colours and moods [Rāga in Sanskrit means mood and colour]. City Ragas has been developed for the Amsterdam India Festival. City Ragas is a playful approach at image making and collaborative story telling using GPRS enabled cellular phones, between participants from various countries. 1
See http://www.cityragas.com
A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 663–672, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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This paper explores the mobile game, City Ragas, and the role it plays in increasing intercultural competencies. The paper will firstly explain about the project City Ragas and its technicalities. Next it describes the theoretical background.
2 City Ragas City Ragas links people from different cities anywhere in the world. Each weekend during the month of November people could play City Ragas. It has been played seven times in total. The festival took place from 12 to 30 November 2008. With this intercultural mobile game people from Amsterdam were directly linked with people in New Delhi through topics related to cultural diversity. It is a cultural dialogue by means of a game, which is played in both cities simultaneously. Aim of the game is to bring forth a cultural dialogue through visual language. Teams collaborate with each other with mobile phones to create a visual story using photography. With this project people look at contemporary daily life in Amsterdam and New Delhi. Themes. Based on the overall theme, cultural diversity we have chosen a few topics, which we use to compare and look at changes in our daily lives. Participants in the two cities worked with a set of thematic clusters: • • •
Speed and Motion Surprise and Everyday In and Out
The themes are indicative of the many ways in which people experience cities across the world. The themes are open for interpretation and can be used creatively. Moreover there is no direct negative or positive connotation related to these themes. A User Experience. In this section I will describe a user experience. One of the participants extensively described her experience with the cultural game. She wrote her thesis and used City Ragas as a user case. This is her experience: The aim of the cultural game is to create a visual story with our team members in India. Before we enter into the cold, we firstly take a picture of the three of us and send it to New Delhi. This is the starting sign. Next we have to wait for a response; the team photo from New Delhi, it is a young Indian couple. The game has begun! While exploring and wandering through the city I realise that I am much more alert than other days. I am continuously looking around with the question in the back of my mind: shall this fit? Where do we find different colours in the city? Is this deserted alley interesting? In this way one pays much more attention to details and spacious aspects, which one normally doesn’t notice. The technology plays an important role, since the photo needs to fit the size of the camera on the mobile phone. I am aware of the frame of the mobile phone and keep it in the back of my mind while wandering through the city. Next to this the phone gives me feedback from India. As a player I am conscious of the beep, which indicates that a new photo has come in. Every time it is exciting to look on the screen and see what new photo it shows. The most outstanding photos show resemblance based on composition, colour, content and representation. As a player I realise that I give my own interpretation to the
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picture received from New Delhi. This interpretation can differ occasionally within the group. In this way a visual connection comes to existence between two cities at a distance. Sometimes the reactions are closely associated with one another, which I personally like the most, because it feels like you are really creating a story with someone on the other side of the world. As a player I realise that I take various factors into account while playing City Ragas; I bring my previous experiences of Amsterdam with me. Besides that I have an image of India in my mind and the reaction I can receive. Moreover I am walking with strangers through the city, who add up to the game with all their own experiences and backgrounds. By using the mobile phone and the theme2, Surprise & Everyday, I look from this particular perspective at the city. In order to make a suitable and relevant picture I take these factors into account. An important aspect therefore is the theme I am assigned to work with [1]. Technology. We developed a simple but affective application for the mobile phone. By using this clear-cut application people can send photos via email to the other side of the globe. The live-communication with City Ragas makes the game appealing and creates a strong user experience. By keeping the technology easy and with just a few game rules, one creates a low threshold. Currently the software only runs on a few Nokia phones. Prerequisite for the mobile phone is that it contains a camera and has access to the internet in order to facilitate fast and direct connection with the counter partner on the other side of the world. During the test phase we investigated a few other possibilities, such as MMS and Shozu. Unfortunately neither of them sufficed in our requirements in order to make the live-element feasible. We also developed a website. People could register themselves for the cultural game and also see the results of previous experiences. All the results of the visual stories are published on the project website: http://www.cityragas.com.
3 Theoretical Background This chapter goes into the theoretical background. Firstly it describes the (mobile) technological development. Furthermore it investigates the meaning of intercultural competence. Next it will look at the fast-growing trend of digital storytelling. Mobile Society. The live-connection between Amsterdam and New Delhi during City Ragas is central for the game experience and is only possible because of the tremendous development in the area of the mobile technology. The use of mobile technology and the possibility of wireless communication has grown from a technology only accessible for a small privileged group to an essential mainstream communication tool [2]. Castells does not even speak about a network society anymore, but speaks about a mobile network society [2]. 2
The theme is instructed.
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The mobile phone revived from the mid 90s and onwards. In 2003 one could count for the first time that the number of mobile connections exceeded the number of fixed telephone connections, a trend which is continuously growing worldwide. In 2004 there were 748 million registered mobile phone connections [2]. These numbers illustrate the worldwide explosion of wireless telephony. This telephony boom does not only consist of mobile phone usage, but also the technological possibilities. In the beginning one could only make phone calls and send short messages; however the modern version has many possibilities such as gaming, surfing the net, sending photos, recording audio, and making short films. Moreover with the addition of GPS3 in mobile phones users can even get information on site. All these additional functionalities change the way one makes use of mobile technology; creating techniques for people to be in touch with each other on long distances. People are not any longer fixed to a particular location for internet or telephoning, rather people communicate while walking through the city. We make phone calls, send sms’s and emails and watch short films while we wait for the bus or cycle through the city. People are constantly in touch with each other, workers with workplaces, families with each other, lovers with lovers, friends with friends and parents with children. Intercultural Communication. New communication technologies such as the internet, e-mail, cable TV, satellites, and mobile phones have increased the speed and reduced the costs of international transport, but has also lead to the internationalisation of business. People increasingly engage in intercultural communication [3]. In this light it is highly recommended that people develop intercultural competence. Intercultural communication covers situations where there is communication between persons with different cultural beliefs, values or ways of behaving [3]. Emotional Intelligence. The term emotional intelligence4 was first defined in 1990 by Salovey and Meyer [3]. Their work has been expanded by Goleman in 1995. He identified that IQ is actually less important for success in life and work than EQ. EQ is a set of skills which are not directly linked to academic abilities. In first instance we can say that emotional intelligence (EQ) is a set of skills, which is more important for success in life and work [4]. According to [3] there are five domains of emotional intelligence, namely: • • • • • • •
Self-awareness Self-regulation Motivation Empathy and Social skills These five domains can also be considered as morally neutral. In order to get acquainted with cross-cultural communication and develop cultural sensitivity one can instruct people by covering aspects such as: • Developing an understanding of bases of cultural differences (categorisation, differentiation, in-group/out-group distinction, learning styles and attribution. 3 4
GPS: Global positioning software. EQ: Emotional Intelligence.
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• Understanding the influences that culture has on communication and associated behaviours. • Acquiring a level of intellectual curiosity, openness, tolerance and empathy towards foreign cultures and their inhabitants [5]. Since EQ emphasises on intercultural awareness, empathy, self-awareness and social skills, it can strongly aid in intercultural communication competences. Moreover it serves to break down perceptions of stereotypes. Self-Awareness, Empathy and Social Skills. Self-awareness is an important component of EQ that helps people to recognize and even regulate his/her emotions [3]. An ample amount of empathy is required in order to sustain intercultural communication. Empathy is also an important component of EQ. Empathy is one of the main intercultural competencies. The EQ plays an important role in strengthening communication skills. These skills reinforce teamwork and social competences. Digital Storytelling. Content creation like videos, pod casting and photo sharing has given the web a whole different character in which users become producers, authors and communicators via social-networking sites, wikis and folksonomies. We call this web 2.0 and it facilitates people in collaborating and sharing of ideas and contents. Now we find our selves in the phase of web 3.0 in which meaning is extracted from the technology. Within this context we can look at the mobile phone; it has slowly transformed into a personal computer. We can make short films, click on photos and give meaning to them, by linking them to a specific location with an inbuilt GPS system. Users are creating and uploading content from all corners of the world. Digital storytelling is a term usually used to describe short-form, first-person, non-fiction personal narratives presented in a digital format, usually video or audio with accompanying pictures [6]. The most interesting core focus of such possibilities is to elevate the voices and images of those who are typically under-or-misrepresented in mainstream media. Educational Games. In the current post-modern society and with the increasing amount of students playing video games, there is a growing demand for educational games, focusing on a dialogue rather than a monologue. Since games are engaging and effective, they can have a place in learning [7]. Visual Exchange. Photography is a means of visual communication to bypass limitations posed by verbal language and written words. The cell phone and the internet, when combined, provide the opportunity for a new visual language. Cell phone photography is an emerging media format, enabling new players to enter the domain of image production. It changes the way photographs are made, viewed, shared and circulated. Pervasive Gaming. Pervasive gaming is an emerging genre in which traditional, realworld games are ‘equipped’ with computing functionality. Pervasive games are no longer confined to the virtual domain of the computer, but integrate the physical and
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social aspects of the real world [8]. Pervasive games take distance from the static game consoles, but rather use the physical surroundings as a playground. Moreover pervasive games differ from other games since the ‘gamer’ can be involved in the game at any time of the day. Consequently pervasive games ‘push’ gamers to be part of their daily activities, which goes beyond their imaginary playground [9]. This new game category is meant for the mobile phone and PDA’s5. The usage of mobile phones can take on various structures, such as in a pervasive game: “pervasive games extend the gaming experience out into the real world – be it on city streets, in the remote wilderness, or a living room. As such players can now move through the world with mobile computing devices” [10].
4 Conclusion The conclusion consists of some user responses. After each session we briefly discussed the results and participants could share their experiences. Most of them are from Dutch participants. Next I will explain how City Ragas can help users develop intercultural competence and how the intercultural dialogue is achieved. Participants’ Experiences. The majority of the players participated in City Ragas, because they were interested in the concept and mobile technology. Moreover the connection with India was appealing. Most participants in the Netherlands had been to India or had some form of connection with the country through friends or family. Almost all participants looked at the city differently after playing City Ragas. People looked more carefully around and especially paid attention to details. Since the players had to make pictures for people on the other side of the world, they took time to find the right photo and record the situation or location. The theme and the connection with India played an important role in the decision making. Most participants realised that the mobile phone influenced the way you perceive the city. By using the mobile phone camera you look through a certain frame. Some of the users experienced this as a shortcoming, because one cannot zoom in or adjust the settings of the camera. Another important factor of the phone was the connection with India. During the game play people received live responses from the other side of the globe. This played an important role and was of great influence in how one experienced the city. Most participants enjoyed the experience working with a team from a different cultural context. One participant said: “A lot was said between the two teams without using word.” One of the respondents remarked that she would have liked to see the project as a continued process over many days. An Intercultural Dialogue. While playing City Ragas people are connected with each other on a distance. Players are continuously in touch and are communicating with people in New Delhi, by exchanging photos back and forth via mobile phones. The perception on the city, the reality, changes by making use of the mobile phone. The majority of the participants says: “One looks at the city through an eye”. The size 5
PDA: Personal Digital Assistant.
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of the camera makes one look at the city in more detail and one experiences it as an image. Moreover the connection with New Delhi makes the participants look at their city differently: “the reaction from India plays a role in your own ‘expedition’ [1]. The players not only interpret their own environment, Amsterdam, but also the represented reality of the other city, by receiving images from New Delhi. This project illustrates the possibility of mobility and the connections people create by introducing new methods of mobile usage. By playing City Ragas participants experience and interact in a different way with their surroundings. Not only the mobile phone is used in another way, but also the city is ‘used’ differently. This usage of mobile technology influences the way one experiences the city. Our human outlook and vision is mediated by technology such as TVs, cameras, computer screens and mobile phones: In virtually all situations of our daily lives, technological artefacts mediate the ways we perceive reality [11]. Thus one can say: “technologies help to constitute the relationships between humans and reality by shaping people’s perceptions and interpretation on the one hand and their action and forms of engagement with reality on the other” [11]. City Ragas is an example of an intercultural game, which can create general knowledge on another culture and touch areas of EQ. When playing City Ragas one is confronted with one’s own identity while walking in your own city. As such the level of self-awareness is directly affected when interacting with someone from another culture. One of the respondents in Delhi answered: “I noticed things that I pass by everyday. I went to a gali (an alley) very close to my place of work. I have never visited this place - so there was an element of discovery”. It shows that people become more aware of themselves, which is directly related to intercultural competence. One Dutch team’s counter partner in New Delhi was a father with a young child. They actually tried to empathise with the child and took pictures interesting for him. This example shows that knowing with whom you are communicating on the other side makes you identify yourself with the other. Moreover one is encouraged to comprehend and interpret the message being sent from the other side of the world, stimulating you to put yourself in the feet of the other. Additionally City Ragas also enhances social skills; normally the mobile phone is usually used in a one-to-one communication format, however in City Ragas we link small teams collaborating together on a visual story. Since the participants are working in small teams it is important to collaborate with each other, which again strengthens social skills and teamwork. All these various aspects add up to your EQ, which build intercultural competence. City Ragas is a cultural exchange which does not directly teach you about the other culture, but rather gives you an idea about city surroundings, environment, street culture and life. Participants experienced City Ragas like a dialogue, “in which sometimes one responds and sometimes one takes the ‘conversation’ into new directions.” Some participants suggested that if other themes are chosen, such as family, religion or food specific aspects of the other culture would become more apparent. Consequently City Ragas does not only create a dialogue, but it also gives people an opportunity to communicate and create their own content, which are typically under – or misrepresented in mainstream media. City Ragas engages people to adjust their perspective and perceive a culture differently. It encourages participants to change their stereotype viewpoint of a certain culture. Also early experience with
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other cultures, free from prejudices, can create an interest and motivation to continue learning [12]. People learn to reflect on the other culture when they receive a picture, which is specially made for your team. One can see that the participants perceive their city in a new way. Normally one doesn’t look at the details in the city, but now the team looks for typical or surprising elements of their hometown to send to their counter partner. In the case of City Ragas we noticed that people looked for typical Indian aspects in their city or vice versa. This makes the participants reflect on the various city identities. It is not merely Dutch, but it is a mixture of many cultures, that can be found in the city. One can conclude that City Ragas can build culture awareness and increase intercultural competencies. Recommendations. City Ragas is a concept brimming with possibilities. It provides a creative platform for cultural exchange between children in various countries and opens up space for a more nuanced understanding of other cultures, in all its varied hues. They learn collaboration and compromise. They also learn to see their city from a new perspective. It is not just your way to school, but you learn to appreciate the details of the city. Moreover the nature of City Ragas makes it easy to set up and play it during festivals and events. In order to enhance the range and accessibility of the City Ragas concept to other parts of the world we would like to develop the City Ragas application with another technology, making it suitable for various mobile platforms and reach a maximum number of users as possible under an open source license. The website is an important space to keep the exchange alive. In future we intend to tag the pictures6 on topics and colours. The participants could write down their ideas and own interpretations of the variety of photos, while viewing the live play taking place.
References 1. Van Zeijl, M.: Stad Zonder Wortels. City Ragas en de Subjectieve Ervaring van Amsterdam, 15, 17 (2009) 2. Castells, M., Fernandez-Ardevol, M., Linchuan Qui, J., Sey, A.: Mobile communication and Society: a Global Perspective, pp. 6–7. MIT Press, Cambridge (2007) 3. Riemer, M.J., Jansen, D.E.: Non-verbal Intercultural Communication Awareness for the Modern Engineer. World Transactions on Engineering and Technology Education 2(3), 373–376 (2003) 4. Student Development: Emotion versus Intelligence, http://www.qub.ac.uk/cap/studentdevelopment/news.htm 5. Fischer, D.: Irish Images of Germany: Using Literary Texts in Intercultural Learning. Language, Culture and Curriculum 14(3), 224–234 (2001) 6. Kuner, J., Vosloo, S.: Mobile Storytelling and Video Sharing for Intercultural Communication: How Personal Expression Leads to Job Skills. Stanford University (2007) 7. Presnky’s, M.: Digital Game-Based Learning (2001) 6
Photos were taken by participants of City Ragas during the Amsterdam India Festival and are protected under a Creative Commons license.
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8. Magerkurth, C., Cheok, A.D., Mandryk, R.L., Nilsen, T.: Pervasive Games: Bringing Computer Entertainment Back to the Real World. ACM Computers in Entertainment 3(3), 1–19 (2005) 9. McGonigal, J.: This Is Not a Game: Immersive Aesthetics and Collective Play. University of California, Berkeley (2003), http:// www.seanstewart.org/beast/mcgonigal/notagame/paper.pdf 10. Benford, S., Magerkurth, C., Ljungstrand, P.: Bridging the Physical and Digital in Pervasive Gaming. Communications of the ACM 48(3), 54–57 (2005) 11. Verbeek, P.: Beyond the Human Eye: Technological Mediation and Posthuman Visions. In: Kockelkoren, P. (ed.) Mediated Vision, pp. 43–53. ArtEZ Press en Veenman Publishers, Arnhem and Rotterdam (2007) 12. Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercultural_competence
22nd of November - Speed and motion – 2nd round
Appendix 15th of November - Speed and Motion – 1st round
15th of November - Surprise and Everyday – 2nd round
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Are Online Communities Good for the Civic Audit of Public Spaces, Services, and Officers? Fiorella De Cindio and Cristian Peraboni DICO – Dept. of Informatics and Communication Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Comelico, 39, Italy [email protected], [email protected]
Abstract. While, the need of assessing public spaces, services and officers becomes, always more urgent and mandatory, a wide literature and extensive field experience show that internal audit by the public sector itself is not sufficient. There is the need to foster the civic accountability by integrating an independent external evaluation in the audit process. The paper investigates the possibility that online communities provide a suitable framework for carrying on this external audit by supporting the so-called voice strategy in the contexts (such as the public sector) where the exit strategy does not hold. After envisaging the potential advantages coming from involving online communities of users in the assessment of a public space, service or officer, two early pilot experiments carried on to validate this assumption are presented and discussed. They are neither sufficient to validate the assumption nor sufficient to invalidate it, but provides hints helpful to pursue the investigation. Keywords: Online e-participation.
Communities,
Civic
Accountability,
Civic
Audit,
1 Introduction Year after year, the need of assessing public services and spaces becomes more urgent and mandatory. The recent crisis of the world financial markets, and its repercussions over the western countries economy, will reduce even more the resources available for managing public services and for ameliorating public spaces, while the need for them will increase precisely because of the economic crisis. It is therefore more and more important to assess the effectiveness in using the few available resources. Experience and a wide literature show that internal audit by the public sector itself is not sufficient. There is the need to foster the civic accountability by integrating an independent external evaluation in the audit process. Objective of this external audit is to improve public services, ameliorate public spaces, monitoring public officers’ activities and, in general, make public administrations more efficient and effective. In the North Europe countries this role is played by an audit commission in which the various stakeholders are represented. However this solution does not exploit the “hidden treasure” given by direct experience of those who live the public spaces, use the public services and interact with the public officers: the citizens. In order to disclose this treasure and make the hidden A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 673–681, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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citizens’ experience effective, it is necessary to involve them in the audit process. There is the need of a civic audit where citizens are the active and expert actors. In the market, users, customers and consumers continuously evaluate the products they consume, the services they use and the spaces they live. As pointed out by Hirschman [1], if they are not pleased with the quality of a firm’s products they are able to put into effect the result of their assessment in two different ways: they can stop buying the firm’s products (exit option) or they can express their dissatisfaction directly to the firm (voice option). Since firms are interested in avoiding the possibility to lose customers in favor of a competitor, they are more and more open to listen the customers’ voice. This option allow companies to identify problems and gather suggestions, and, at the same time, to build and reinforce customers’ loyalty. Differently, in the public sector citizens don’t have these opportunities. In fact, public administrations provide public goods, i.e. goods that can be consumed by every citizen and in most cases do not allow “escape from consuming them, unless one were to leave the community by which they are provided” [1]. Public administrations have no competitors in providing that goods and then citizens can’t physically exit form them. The absence of the exit risk has historically led public administrations to not open themselves to the citizens’ voice. Therefore, citizens can’t exit from the public goods and even don’t have the opportunity to express their discomfort directly to the public administrations. Moreover, as argued in [2], modern representative democracies are characterized by what Postman [3] calls ‘one-way conversation’ and are not able to create significant connections between citizens and their representatives. This situation is the main reason of the growing disaffection of people with institutions and representatives: the outcomes of [2], [4], and [5], which present the results of three different surveys on the extent to which UK, US and Italian citizens feel themselves connected to public institutions, say that citizens consider governments as remote, do not trust representatives and are not as willing as they were used to participating in institutionally connected activities [6] [7] [8]. In this scenario, where citizens lack the opportunity to play an active role, they can only emotionally exit from the public life becoming passive users not willing to participate in the improvement of public services and spaces. To overcome this situation, as promoted by several democratic theorists ([1], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14] and [15] among the others), there is the need to create deliberative and discussion public arenas where citizens can make their voice heard and representatives can access the vast repertoire of citizens’ experiences and expertise. As Ichino states [16], in an increasingly complex world giving voice to citizens allow public administrations to quickly identify problems and malfunctions, and efficiently find solutions. While the potential of complementing the internal audit with the civic audit has been recognized, there is still a lack of proposals for collecting the “hidden treasure” given by the direct people’s experience in using public spaces and services. In this paper we investigate the possible use of online communities to provide rooms for involving citizens in the audit of public services and spaces.
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2 The Potential Role of Online Communities Online communities and in particular Community Networks already proved to be excellent environments for collecting civic intelligence [17], for supporting the development of people’s projects [18], for designing (online) public services [19], [20], and for promoting public dialogue among citizens and between citizens and local institutions [21], [22]. We believe that they can also provide a suitable framework for fostering a participatory civic audit of public spaces, services and officers. Three are the main advantages one can get by involving communities of users in the auditing process: 1. online communities gather knowledge otherwise dispersed: people use services and spaces in different moments, and it may be difficult to collect their opinion in the precise moment of use; but it is also difficult to collect opinions afterwards; 2. online communities make public and available in-the-large users’ points of view and suggestions, while using methods such as focus groups and paper-based surveys they remain available to a small audience; 3. online communities allow each one personal/private experience to be compared and contrasted with other people's experience: while a single person can be biased or simply unlucky, a repeated negative comment is something which calls attention. About ten years after the early experiments performed by civic and community networks (see for instance [23] and [24]), more recently experiments in this direction come from some social rating web sites which have risen in the web 2.0 for the purpose of assessing public spaces (www.fixmystreet.com), public services (see. e.g., www.patientopinion.org.uk), or public officers (such as, for instance: www.ratemycop.com or www.ratemyteachers.com, imitated in Italy by www.votailprof.it). However, in most of them posts are anonymous (in some cases, people is ‘suggested’ to register by using their first and last name, but the large majority use a nickname) and represent isolated opinions with no comment (in some cases comments are not even allowed). So it happens that teachers are listed by name in these sites, but students who evaluate them disappear behind nicknames. In other cases it may happen that a cop receives several negative votes without any justification, opinion or suggestion. Anonymity can be acceptable when rating a movie (as in www.imdb.com); nicknames are also used in www.ebay.com for identifying buyers and sellers, but here a strong reputation policy prevent the risks associated with anonymity. We believe that to make civic accountability effective, citizens must assume their responsibility by participating as far as possible through their actual identity in a public dialogue among them. Online communities – where participants develop a sense of belonging, mutual trust, and are used to a fair exchange of ideas and to sharing experiences and knowledge – provide a suitable environment for a civic public audit fostering citizens to notify problems as well as to suggest possible solutions. In the next section we present two pilot experiments we have done in order to test this hypothesis.
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3 Two Pilot Experiments The case studies presented here below have been carried on in the framework of the initiatives and research projects about civic participation which constitute the research field of the Civic Informatics Laboratory at the University of Milan. We have used the tools provided by openDCN (where DCN stands for Deliberative Community Networks), an open source software we are developing for supporting e-participation which includes an online community space and an online deliberative space [25]. In particular, the first experiment (which is somehow analogous to fixmystreet.com) takes place within partecipaMi, an online initiative run by the RCM (Rete Civica di Milano – the Milan Community Network) Participatory Foundation. partecipaMi (www.partecipaMi.it), the continuation of the Milan Community Network experience running since 1994 in the Milan City metropolitan area [18], is an online public space where Milan citizens discuss civic issues among themselves, with elected members of the City Council and with a couple of members of the City Government. In spring 2008 Ciclobby, a non profit association which promotes the use of the bicycle for moving in the city, obtained by the City government to set up a “permanent forum to discuss and make proposals on the problems which bikers have to face with, in particular to discuss the problems of road safety”. Ciclobby and the RCM Foundation decided to open within partecipaMi a special section (named Sicurezza Stradale – Road Safety) where bikers can signal places of danger by adding a balloon on a Google map with an associated message for describing the situation. Other bikers and citizens can add comments: in most cases, the comments reinforce the original post, but in some case a different opinion is presented. This “City Map” of road safety (see Fig. 1) is complemented by a discussion area where more general issues are discussed (e.g., the difficult relationships among bikers, motorcyclists and pedestrians) called “Road Safety Forum” to make explicit reference to the offline permanent forum. This area is run thanks to the Informed Discussion tool of the openDCN software. It is basically an enriched forum with facilities for sharing information resources in order to support the discussion and finalize it by producing, asynchronously and collaboratively, a summary document. When participants attach to their posts documents and other materials (e.g., photos and videos) to support their arguments, these are collected in the information area which represents a knowledge repository of the specific discussion. To post in the City Map as well as in the Road Safety Forum, participants have to register to the partecipaMi site (which has more than 2000 registered and active members), while comments in the City Map can be added by unregistered users which have to give their first and family name, and are then solicited by the community manager to register for improving the trustworthiness of what they say. From its opening on April 23, 2008 to the end of September 2008, the City Map collected about one hundred of dangers flags enriched by about the same number of comments; moreover, the discussion area collected 22 threads of discussion which involve two councilors and the alderman liable for mobility and public transportation in Milan. It worth noting that the Informed Discussion tool used for run the Road Safety Forum has allowed to collect 47 uploaded and attached information resources shared among participants. They represented a solid and shared informative basis for the discussions. At the end of September, Ciclobby and the RCM Foundation have
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Fig. 1. The Sicurezza Stradale home page
summarized the materials collected through this initiative in a final document which assesses the city roads safety from the bikers’ perspective. They brought this document at the attention of the permanent forum which is still considering possible actions. We want to underline that Sicurezza Stradale has enabled stakeholders ( e.g. the `Anti-smog parents' and the `Milan Motorcyclists' associations) and citizenry excluded from the institutional permanent forum set up by the administration to participate in the online site and bring their voice and knowledge to the institutional forum. This first experiment unveils the value of an online community network for initiatives of civic accountability. Sicurezza Stradale occurs in the framework of a well consolidated community of civic dialogue such as partecipaMi.it, which in turns comes from the civic participation background established by the Milan Community Network. Both these socio-technical environments are characterized by a strong identity and mutual trust among participants which have influenced the Sicurezza Stradale initiative. Thanks to them any participant of Sicurezza Stradale never questioned about the explicit use of their actual identity and nobody felt uncomfortable in making a negative although fair remark. Moreover, the community context, combined with software (openDCN) expressly conceived and designed for supporting participation, fosters citizens’ participation in the civic audit not only in terms of notifying problems but also in providing documents, arguments and suggestions useful for promoting rational discussions about the problems emerged. Adopting the above mentioned identification policy was also important to remove an obstacle to public official participation to the discussions: several times members of the administration explicitly claimed that they are well disposed to participate to the online public dialogue, and to consider people observations, just because citizens
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write with their actual identity – somehow certified by the registration policy reinforced by the community – so taking the responsibility of what they write. We got the same advice from members of several other Municipalities in the Milan region involved in similar, although less successful, e-participation projects. Finally, the need for the presence of a third party in charge of promoting, managing and guaranteeing such kind of participation initiatives emerges from this experience. The RCM Foundation plays the role of the third party between the citizenry and the city administration. Thanks to that, even though the Milan Community Network Foundation which promoted together with Ciclobby the Sicurezza Stradale initiative is an autonomous body (to be precise, a participatory Foundation) and there is no official and tight relationship with the Municipality, people perceive partecipaMi as an institutional site where they can dialogue with members of the City Council and of the City Government who occasionally take part to the discussions. Therefore citizens contribute to the initiative in the hope of being listened by the city administration. Similarly to what proposed in [11], we believe that the presence of a third party is a crucial factor for the creation of a space for public communication able to foster new forms of public involvement in civic affairs (such as the civic audit of public spaces). Different results emerge from another experiment we carried on in 2008 for assessing the university class of Virtual Communities given by one of the authors at University of Milan, attended by under-graduated and graduated students of different degrees in Informatics. We designed a participatory evaluation process consisting of two anonymous questionnaires before the exam and of an open discussion after the exam based on the results of the previous steps. This has been done in the framework of the online discussion facilities provided by the learning management system which supports the class teaching. The tool used for the questionnaires is an e-voting software (i.e., software that guarantees the strong properties required for voting) adapted to support citizens consultation [25]. The participation to the anonymous surveys can be considered quite good: the 87,5% (resp., the 62,5%) of the 40 students who were attending the class, in presence or remotely, answered the first (resp., the second) questionnaire. After the summer session of exams, we opened the online discussion on the results of the questionnaire with a message from one of the tutors, formulating three remarks over the questionnaire outcomes: no student commented it. Therefore, after the fall session of exam, we sent a recall message in the student’s mailbox, obtaining a comment from the 37,5% of the students who had just passed the exam. In the winter session, at the oral exam, we solicited comments in person, but did not sent a recall email; and again no student left a comment. Besides these numbers, the kind of messages shows an evident difficulty for students to discuss openly about the course. The (few) students who sent a comment, just replied to the three remarks in the opening message, with no added personal opinion, arguments, critics and suggestions.
4 An Open-Ended Conclusion The Sicurezza Stradale pilot experiment confirm the assumption that online communities well support the external audit of public spaces (and services); they enable a voice strategy (on public goods) through a lively and proactive online dialogue among
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citizens and public officers. With respect to other recent experiments, where citizens just notify problems without registering (e.g. the Venice Municipality quite recently has opened in its official web site a so-called web 2.0 section – see, e.g., http://iris.comune.venezia.it/Iris/), the sense of belonging to a shared public space, both physical – the city – and ‘virtual’ – the online community –, foster a stronger civic responsibility: the outcome is not only a list of problems to be fixed, but also a more concerned citizenry used to discuss public issues, provide suggestions as well as possible solutions. This is somehow confirmed by the fact that in the above mentioned case of Venice, citizens could comment someone else's remarks, but almost no one used this feature. The university class experiment can be viewed either as the auditing of a public officer or as the auditing of a public service tightly coupled to the person in charge of it. The difficulties it has shown may lie precisely in this link and can be red as a symptom of the problems that people (in this case students) encounter when they are called to evaluate – openly and in public – either a public officer (the professor) or a service tightly coupled to a person who can read and may comment the remarks. We believe that it is possible to face with these difficulties by encouraging a stronger sense of community among students and making them aware that their participation in the assessment is invaluable and actually used in a continuous process of improving teaching: something that cannot be obtained through rating sites. We also believe that in this case too, a third trusted third party managing the evaluation process could help to increase student’s active participation. These two pilot experiments are of course neither sufficient to validate the assumption that online communities provide a suitable framework for fostering a participatory civic audit of public spaces, services, and officers, nor sufficient to invalidate it. Nevertheless, they provide hints helpful to pursue the investigation; namely, their two main outcomes are the following ones: • the online community should be an actual one, with a consolidated sense of belonging and mutual trust; it cannot be created on the fly to perform an assessment. If it does not exist, it is worth creating it according to the well-know principles driving online community design [26], [27], [28]; • the assessment of public spaces and of (anonymous) services is much easier then the assessment of public officers or of a service tightly coupled to the person in charge of it. In this case, the design of the assessment process must pay special attention to make the participants’ remarks anonymous. Finally, in both cases, a trusted third party managing the online community as well as the assessment process could help to increase people participation. While this remark directly recalls the super-partes position of the audit commission performing the external audit in the North Europe countries (cf. the Introduction), in more concrete terms this is a guideline which has to be considered for deciding which body manages the servers where the different phases of the assessment process take place, and the requirements for the software to be used: e.g., the students must be sure that there is no way for associating the questionnaire they fill with their identity. In conclusion, if we are not able to fully sustain that online communities provide a suitable framework for fostering a participatory civic audit, we have shown their ability to provide a suitable room for supporting, fostering and consolidating the voice strategy in the public sector.
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Acknowledgments. This work has been partly funded by the research project PRIN # 2006148797_002 “Soluzioni informatiche a supporto della cittadinanza digitale, della accountability democratica e dei processi deliberativi.”
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Social Features in Online Communities for Healthcare Consumers – A Review Annie Y.S. Lau1 and Trevor M.Y. Kwok2 1
Centre for Health Informatics, 2 Faculty of Medicine University of New South Wales, UNSW Sydney NSW 2052, Australia {a.lau,t.kwok}@unsw.edu.au
Abstract. This review provides a snapshot of the literature in online communities for healthcare consumers. It summarizes the features commonly used by healthcare consumers in online communities: seeking and sharing personal experiences, opinions and answers, and exchanging social support. This review also identifies behaviors that are commonly practiced by healthcare consumers but are not readily supported in current online communities. These include collaborative healthcare decision-making, conducting social comparison, and lurking in online communities. This review concludes by emphasizing the importance of trust, privacy and safety when designing an online community for healthcare consumers, particularly in the age of Web 2.0. Keywords: Online community, healthcare consumer, social features.
1 Introduction An increasing number of people turn to the Internet for healthcare-related information and advice. At the same time, studies have reported that other people are one of the most important sources of information that influence healthcare consumers’ actions when confronted with a health-related matter [1-6]. Online communities provide a means for people to share information and interact socially over the Internet. In the United States, 30% of the 90 million people who have participated in online communities have accessed such communities for medical or health-related purposes [7]. An online community that allows healthcare consumers to share information, interact with fellow consumers and provide support is not a new idea. Prior to Web 2.0, online communities for healthcare consumers existed in many forms, such as discussion forums, chat rooms, newsgroups and mailing lists [8]. Researchers have also made suggestions on ways we can use Web 2.0 technologies, such as using blogs, wikis, mashups and RSS feeds, to enrich the online experience for clinicians and healthcare consumers [9-13]. With the role of the Internet as a platform for social networks, typified by the growing interest in sites like Wikipedia, Facebook, and MySpace, we can envisage more consumers seeking health-related information and advice from online peer networks. How do we design online communities that meet A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 682–689, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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our healthcare information needs, and promote social interaction and information sharing in a safe manner without jeopardizing the privacy of our personal health information? This review takes a different approach from previous reviews by identifying behaviors that healthcare consumers practice when confronted with a health-related matter that are not supported effectively in current online communities. The aim of this review is to examine literature from multiple disciplines to identify key social features and issues to consider when building an online community for healthcare consumers. It is not intended to be a comprehensive review, but rather a snapshot of recent literature in the various fields that are relevant to online healthcare communities. It will start by reviewing social features that are commonly found in these online communities, proceed to compare this feature set with the set of behaviors consumers actually practice when facing a health-related matter, and then identify needs that are currently not being met. The review then discusses the importance of trust, privacy and safety when designing an online community for healthcare consumers, particularly in the age of Web 2.0.
2 Current Features in Online Healthcare Consumer Communities Online communities for healthcare consumers often exist in the form of interactive health communication applications, providing health information with at least one of the following features: social support, decision support, and behavior change support [14]. At present, the most common forms of social behavior in online healthcare consumer communities are seeking and sharing personal experiences, opinions and answers, and providing support and empathy [15]. 2.1 Seeking and Sharing Personal Experiences, Opinions and Answers In online communities, healthcare consumers access stories of fellow consumers’ experience to help them understand their condition, normalize and make sense of their personal experience, manage their fears and maintain hope [16]. They also seek and share opinions and answers to questions that aid in decision-making. Consumers more likely to search for help online are those with illnesses that have a limited number of standard treatment options, have an uncertain etiology, or are considered embarrassing, stigmatizing or disfiguring [17, 18]. Common types of questions asked and information sought from online communities include: (i) asking questions and seeking advice from others who have had the experience, e.g. “can anyone help...?”, “does anybody know ... ?” [19]; (ii) comparing the course of treatment and validating symptoms with others, e.g. “were you feeling X ... at stage Y?” [19]; (iii) seeking self-care information and day-to-day coping strategies, especially with side effects of treatment and recurrence of disease [19]; and (iv) looking for other sources of information written by and for people in the same or similar situation to themselves [16]. The way healthcare consumers interact with others in online discussions can depend on the health condition they are experiencing. In a three-month study analyzing the content of postings in online support groups for consumers with breast cancer,
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fibromyalgia and arthritis—diseases that can be associated with chronic physical or psychological pain and suffering—postings were most often made to share personal experiences, provide empathy and support, and share information on what the condition feels like and what to expect next [15]. It was noted that the style of postings varied depending on the disease. Consumers in the support groups for breast cancer and fibromyalgia—diseases that are often incurable or unable to be treated effectively—often used ‘chit chat’ [15], establishing and contributing to a community offering trust, warmth, concern and a normalizing experience among group members. On the other hand, consumers in the arthritis group used relatively less ‘chit chat’, and postings were more matter-of-fact in style, with discussions centering on treatment, medications and restrictions on daily living imposed by the disease [15]. During the study period, only a small number of postings contained actual medical information, and none of the postings contained medical information considered potentially dangerous to other consumers [15]. Practical information on how to manage day-to-day life in the context of disease is often not available from clinicians but can be obtained from fellow consumers who have lived through the experience [20]. By reading fellow consumers’ opinions and advice, consumers gained knowledge on how to manage and accommodate their condition, and felt better informed to ask important questions to their clinicians [19]. In fact, studies have found there is an emerging cohort of consumers who feel the need to be—or at least appear to be—experts in their disease, locate effective treatments for themselves, and be able to question the advice and decisions of health professionals [21]. 2.2 Seeking Support, Empathy and a Sense of Belonging Healthcare consumers using online communities commonly seek support, empathy and a sense of belonging amongst people experiencing a similar situation. Consumers sharing comparable experiences and facing similar challenges report experiencing significantly less loneliness and withdrawn behavior, developing a sense of camaraderie with fellow consumers, and experiencing less anxiety and resistance towards their treatment [7]. Men and women have been observed to seek support from online communities in different ways. While men participating in online discussions are more likely to ask for information directly relating to a health condition, women are more likely to share personal experiences and provide encouragement and support [17]. In addition, men appear to prefer to participate in online communities than face-to-face support groups, and have been reported to be twice as likely to use online communities for support than face-to-face groups [17]. The development of ‘virtual factitious disorder’, or ‘Munchausen by Internet’, has demonstrated the importance that some individuals place on the support and sense of community they can obtain from online health groups. In this phenomenon, named by analogy with the real-world factitious disorder and Munchausen syndrome, members of online communities intentionally deceive others by feigning illness in order to obtain sympathy and attention [17]. More research is needed to explore the impact of online communities on managing health and making healthcare decisions, in particular to influences on compliance with medical treatment, health behaviors and health outcomes [17].
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3 Social Behaviors Not Yet Supported in Online Healthcare Consumer Communities Current online healthcare consumer communities do not directly address or facilitate all forms of social conduct that people tend to employ when faced with a health-related matter. Examples of social activity not well supported currently include: (i) recognizing that healthcare decision-making is often a collaborative process that involves seeking opinion and having discussion with multiple parties before reaching a decision; (ii) conducting social comparison, the process of comparing the self with others who are similar or dissimilar [22], which includes comparison with the self and others at different points in time [23]; and (iii) lurking in online communities, the process of reading an online discussion without contributing to the discussion. These processes are practiced by consumers at different stages of their health journey; for example, lurking is more likely during initial information gathering in the early part of a journey, while collaborative decision-making is likely to occur later in the journey. 3.1 Supporting Healthcare Decision-Making as a Collaborative Process Management of a health condition and the related decision-making is a collaborative process, often involving not only the experience of the consumer but that of his or her family and other close associates [19]. However, a paucity of research attention has been given to the information needs of caregivers, family members, and friends who are involved in the process [24]. In particular, few, if any, studies have looked at the interactions between consumers and those helping them to manage their condition [25]. The influence of a consumer’s close social network on the health decision-making process needs to be explored with further research [25]. One study found that only 4.8% of cancer patients personally accessed the Internet for health information, but 50% of them receive information from the Internet via their family [26]. When consumers find information online that they do not trust or believe, they ask their close network and clinicians to evaluate the information and provide advice [19]. During the decision-making process, consumers often consult online information and integrate it with offline advice from friends, family and clinicians before being able to reach a final decision with confidence [16]. A consumer’s close network can also reduce consumers’ use of online information and involvement in online communities. For example, some consumers are discouraged from participating in chat rooms and online bulletin boards by family members who believe that they are poor sources of factual information [19]. Other consumers feel that the support of their friends and family members is sufficient, and do not seek further information from the Internet [19]. The needs of a consumer’s close network group, in particular the primary caregiver, also need careful consideration. Caregivers often take the responsibility of interacting with clinicians, asking questions on behalf of the consumer, managing the logistics of care plans, and finding information online for the consumer [19]. The caretaking process can be stressful and demanding that caregivers express the need to vent feelings of anger, frustration or helplessness [17]. Despite this, there are few, if any, online tools designed specifically to support the caregiving process. In particular, caregivers need to be supported when they are required to make high-impact or
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otherwise difficult decisions on behalf of consumers who are unable to assert their will or lack decision-making abilities. 3.2 Facilitating Social Comparison Consumers often take their own journey as a starting point and search for fellow consumers’ stories and experiences for comparison and advice. Studies have reported that consumers often conduct ‘upward’ (i.e. comparing with others who are doing better than themselves) or ‘downward’ (i.e. comparing with others who are doing worse) comparisons with fellow consumers to help gauge their own progress and to seek comfort in the knowledge that there is hope and that they are not in the worst situation [27]. A few studies have examined ways to facilitate upward and downward social comparison. For example, Overberg and colleagues examined the information needs of breast cancer patients and proposed additional features on search engines that retrieve fellow consumers’ stories based on the content of the stories or the medical history of the authors. They found that consumers want functions that: (i) conduct searches using content keywords to find stories; (ii) allow stories relevant to the consumer to be retrieved, by searching on personal data of the author such as age, treatment undergone, time since diagnosis, and presence of metastases; and (iii) retrieve stories based on writing style or story ending (e.g. to find stories that reflect the consumer’s possible future disease states) [20]. More research is needed to investigate other mechanisms to facilitate social comparison. 3.3 Supporting Lurking Behaviors Lurking in online communities (reading online discussions without contributing to the discussion) is an extremely common activity: it has been reported that 90% of users in online communities are lurkers [28]. However, few, if any, tools have been designed to support the information foraging and decision-making behaviors of this large group of users. Social features emerging in non-healthcare online communities may have a role supporting lurkers as they forage across different online communities, and may encourage them to actively participate in online communities. Examples of these features include: social rewarding (using mechanisms, such as a points or ratings system, to motivate users to contribute to the community to elevate their reputation and status in the community) [29], facilitation of social presence (the ability of a user to appear to be a ‘real person’ within the community by participating frequently and actively) [30], social roles and types (explicit titles and roles for users, such as member, leader, or mentor) [31] and social cohesion (mechanisms to help users in a community work together as a cohesive force to achieve a common goal) [32].
4 Trust, Safety and Privacy Issues The importance of trust, privacy and safety when designing an online community for healthcare consumers cannot be overemphasized. Although trust models have been explored extensively in the field of e-commerce, they remain relatively unexplored in other domain areas. Trust models for online healthcare communities are likely to
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differ significantly from those in e-commerce because consumers are particularly vulnerable, and activities in healthcare are more complex and more collaborative than commercial transactions. Consumers participating in online healthcare communities often reveal personal information in intricate detail [33] without necessarily understanding the consequences of their actions [34]. In the age of Web 2.0, the opinion of popular peers and leaders in online communities has become the key determinant of the level of influence of information sources. Established mechanisms that promote safety and privacy in online discussion forums, such as utilizing a moderator to filter out ‘flaming’ and other aggressive behavior, may be more difficult to implement in online communities built using Web 2.0 technologies. Further, Web 2.0 encourages openness and sharing, yet in healthcare, issues of privacy and security are paramount, especially for people with health conditions that make them vulnerable to stigmatization and who find approaching traditional sources of help and information difficult. Although it can be argued that consumers should feel ‘safe’ by participating anonymously or under pseudonyms when revealing their personal health information, there is always the possibility that the identity of a consumer can be reverse-engineered by assembling data from different sources. Healthcare consumers develop trust in online communities through exposure to social identification cues, such as the use of familiar sounding language and highly relevant or personalized content [16]. However, recent research shows that consumers who are least confident in their decisions are the ones most likely to be swayed by social feedback [35]. Studies have shown that consumers ignore medically credible sites simply because they do not contain sufficient social identification markers [16]. Research is needed to investigate ways to prevent online communities that are unreliable sources of information (such as those with a political or religious agenda against a certain medical treatment) from misusing social identification cues to mislead or misguide consumers and gain their trust.
5 Conclusion Healthcare consumers’ social networks play a key role in their progress through healthcare journeys, and are vital sources of advice, recommendations, empathy and support. This has already been recognized on the Internet by the establishment and popularity of online healthcare consumer communities. Currently, these communities facilitate a range of forms of social interaction, such as sharing experiences, sharing opinions and providing support to fellow consumers. However, current communities are not designed to support important social behaviors such as collaborative decisionmaking, social comparison and lurking. Research is needed to explore whether and how Web 2.0 technologies can assist in the design and implementation of features to support these behaviors. Issues of trust, safety and privacy are of the utmost importance, and new trust models need to be developed to safely enable these additional social behaviors online. In particular, it will be essential to understand how consumers most vulnerable to undue influence can be best supported when entering online communities.
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Usability and User Acceptance for Personal Health Records: A Perspective from Healthcare Citizens A. Ant Ozok1, Ayse P. Gurses2, Huijuan Wu1, Melissa Nelson3, David Moen4, and June Wei5 1
Department of Information Systems, UMBC, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21228, USA {ozok,huijuan.wu}@umbc.edu 2 Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Quality and Safety Research Group, 1909 Thames Street - 2nd Floor, Baltimore, MD, 21231, USA [email protected] 2 Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey 3 30 College Ave., New Brunswick, NJ 08901 [email protected] 4 Fairview Health Services 2450 Riverside Ave., Minneapolis, MN, USA [email protected] 5 Department of Management/Management Information Systems University of West Florida Pensacola, FL 32514, USA [email protected]
Abstract. Personal Health Records (PHR) allow patients to carry their own health records in some format for their own review purposes as well as across doctors and other care providers. This study aimed at determining the usability and user acceptance issues involving a Web-based personal health record system. The study indicated that such a Web-based system was found useful by the patients and they would be willing to enter and retrieve information regarding their own health from the system. A usable interface allows mobility and ease of information sharing using the system. Keywords: Personal health records system, usability, user acceptance, patients, health care.
1 Introduction The preventive activities that can be Web-based can play a critical role on patients’ preventive health care screening (such as informing them about mammograms or colonoscopies recommended at certain time periods for certain demographics) as well as living a healthy lifestyle (for example by motivating them to pay attention to their diet or quit smoking) [1]. Every year, thousands of people get preventable illnesses such as heart attack, stroke and cancer. The cost due to preventable illnesses is also very high A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 690–699, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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according to recent studies [2]. While the primary focus of the current paper does not include a detailed look at preventive care and patient activation, PHR can play a significant role in improving both concepts. PHR is primarily defined as the engagement and involvement of patients in their health records via electronic means and tools [3]. PHR includes Web-assisted access of patients to their own records for informational purposes only, patients carrying their own health records in whole or partial form with them via mobile electronic means, manipulation of certain allowed portions of health records (with strict appropriate access restrictions in place), and doctors and electronic manipulation and exchange of patient health records by doctors and other caregivers [4]. The study reports on preliminary findings regarding the usability and perceived usefulness of the system based on data collected from patients, primary care physicians and medical assistants. It aimed at determining the perceived usefulness and usability aspects of a Web-based preventive care system. While usability deals with the effectiveness in task completion, it can be in the form of real and perceived usability. Actual usability evaluation is concerned with human performance and satisfaction issues and their optimization, while perceived usability deals with its perception by the users [5]. Perceived usefulness deals with the perceptions of how useful the system is thought of by the users. The current study is focused on perceived usefulness due to the Technology Acceptance Model by Davis et al. and the shortness of research in the area of personal health records and record-keeping [6, 7]. The current study aims at comprehensively evaluating a sample Web-based PHR system from the human computer interaction (HCI) perspective. A total of thirty subjects (twenty-two patients, four physicians, and four medical assistants) were used in the study as part of the data collection. Results were analyzed from both qualitative and quantitative perspectives. In the next section, a literature overview of PHR, usability, Technology Acceptance Model, and their connection are presented.
2 Literature Survey 2.1 Personal Health Records One way to reduce health care costs enable the accurate treatment of ailments includes promoting the common health care records and information sharing. In recent years, public demand for flexible and mobile access to health information and services are encouraged by internet trends and policies. These trends and policies promote patient rights and empowerment. Although there is no universal definition of PHR [8], it has primarily been defined as “the engagement and involvement of patients in their health records via electronic means and tools” [3] and as “an electronic application through which individuals can access, manage and share their health information … in a private, secure and confidential environment. [9]” Endsley et.al. summarize PHR in three visions [10]: 1. A provider-owned and provider-maintained digital summary of clinically relevant health information that is made available to patients. 2. A patient-owned software program which lets patients enter, organize and retrieve their health information and that captures the patient’s concerns, problems, symptoms, emergency contact information and more.
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3. A portable and interoperable digital file in which clinically relevant data regarding health can be managed, secured and transferred. Portable PHRs can include smart cards, personal digital assistants (PDAs), cell phones and USB (universal serial bus) compatible devices that can be plugged into almost any computer. As defined by David Lansky and Patricia Flatley Brennan [11], the fully realized PHR can provide patients with a clinical summary of all episodes of health services and patient care issues; health status parameters including exercise, nutrition and spiritual well-being; periodic risk assessment survey results; decision support tools, risk management and professional advice; consumer-focused health information and education and more. Generally, PHR offer a number of potential benefits to patients, physicians and the health care system, including empowerment of patients, improved patient-provider relationships, increased patient safety, improved quality of care, more efficient delivery of care, better safeguards on health information privacy, bigger cost savings, privacy and accuracy [10]. Tang et al. also pointed out that PHR provide greater patient access to a wide variety of reliable health information, data, and knowledge. PHR also provide a constant connection between patient and physician, which can have and effect on encounters by changing them from episodic to continuous, thereby significantly shortening the time to address problems that may arise. Besides, the PHR can benefit clinicians in ways that patients entering data into their health records can elect to submit the data into their clinicians’ Electronic Health Records (HER), and having access to richer data can help clinicians make better decisions [4]. In the public health sector, data from personal health records could continuously update state and national data registries (for example, for immunizations, sexually transmitted diseases and the like). In the personal health direction, push technology could direct national guidelines for preventive clinical services into user records [12]. By empowering consumers, PHR is likely to play a significant role in the evolution of electronically enabled health information environments. Consumers want to be more engaged in their own healthcare and are seeking out information online, and despite intense concerns about issues including confidentiality and security, they have high expectations for electronic health information [13]. 2.2 Usability Usability measures the quality of a user's experience when interacting with a product or system. In general, usability refers to how well users can learn and use a product to achieve their goals and their satisfaction through that process. The international standards define usability as: "The extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of user." ISO 9241-11 Usability is usually measured in terms of learnability, efficiency, memorability, errors and satisfaction [14]: With the number of possibilities of introducing IT systems to the healthcare area, it is critical to focus on health care workers’ real information needs in their daily work environments. However, many traditional software engineering methods are not adequate to capture the exact nature of user needs in the health care complex
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environment. In the field of medical informatics, issues of usability gained more importance, with the acceptance or rejection of systems such as computerized patient records depending to a large extent on their usability [15]. It has been reported that usability problems that have had a direct impact on patient outcomes include opportunity cost and the indirect impact of usability on computer based systems; coping strategies to deal with software usability problems; software complexity and the limitations involving dealing strategies with this complexity; communication breakdown and software usability; monitoring bias and the indirect impact of usability on patient safety [16]. Currently, consumers have a broad range of personal health information management tools available to them. The ability of PHR to truly meet the needs of individuals depends to some extent on how well product designers attend to the users’ needs as well as how involved the users are in the design as well as testing and redesign of a variety of PHR. However, usability methodology is not widely employed in PHR development. User-centered design is a natural fit for the kind of patientcentered healthcare that PHRs represent [17]. 2.3 TAM Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is an adaptation of the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) to the field of Information Science. Broadly, TAM points out that the intensity of an individual’s intention to use a technology can be explained by their perception about the technology’s usefulness and attitude towards the technology use [18]. The goal of TAM includes “to provide an explanation of the determinants of computer acceptance that is general, capable of explaining user behavior across a broad range of end-user computing technologies and user populations, while at the same time being both parsimonious and theoretically justified” [19]. TAM posits that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use determine an individual's intention to use a system with intention to use serving as a mediator the actual use [6]. Among its endless uses, the Internet can be seen a tool for health care strategy. The Medical Records Institute [20] suggests that Internet-based health applications (IHA), including, but not limited to, electronic health records, e-prescribing, and mobile health, are the goals of most healthcare organizations. It is essential first to learn if consumers would actually incorporate personal health records into their health management routines as well as use them regularly. It is also critical to explore the implications for providers who may sometimes have a wait-and-see attitude toward clinical information technologies [12]. However, while TAM has been applied and tested in academic and corporate settings, few studies have evaluated TAM in the health care environments [21].
3 Experimental Methodology 3.1 Participant Group and Location The study was conducted at a small-size primary care clinic in Lino Lakes, Minnesota between February and May of 2008. Twenty-two patients and eight health care workers, which included four primary care physicians and four medical assistants,
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were recruited. Patient participants had a moderate level of experience with computers and the Internet, and had scheduled an annual physical exam while the study was conducted. Regarding age distribution, six participants were under the age of thirty-five, eight were between thirty-five and fifty years of age, six were between the ages of fifty-one and sixty-five, and two participants were older than sixty-five. They were evenly distributed between males and females (eleven each). Two participants had attended high school without graduating, eight participants were high school graduates, five had attended a college or completed a two-year college degree, six had completed a four-year college, and one participant owned a degree higher than a four-year college. 3.2 Experimental Tasks and Interfaces The tasks generally included information entry and retrieval processes and are summarized in this section. Task 1 allowed the participants to enter their own Demographic Information. Task 2 required that the participants enter their Personal Health History. The 3rd Task was shorter in nature and was titled Health Habits and as part of the completion of this task, the participants answered a number of questions for the system to classify them into one of the Health Habits categories. Task 4 involved the entry of Family History into the system. Participants were presented a set of instructions and asked to enter information regarding the medical history of their individual family members. As part of Task 5 the participants were asked to view their Profile Summary. The 6th task was called View Recommendations task. As part of this task, the participants were asked to read health recommendations given to them by mySafe-T.net. The system produced these recommendations based on their previous entries and using some complex algorithms. The next task, Task 7, allowed the participants to print a Doctor’s Letter produced by the system based on the participant’s entries. Finally, as part of the final task (Task 8), patients were asked to click on the Resources link, and click on at least two recommended pages and review the information provided to them on the external Web pages. When participants completed reviewing the Web pages, they logged out of the system, and were instructed to share the Doctor’s Letter with their health care specialist at the beginning of their examination. They also filled out a survey regarding the mySafe-T.net system. 3.3 Experimental Procedure Patients were instructed to conduct a total of eight simple tasks on the mySafe-T.net Web site scattered on a number of pages. They were then instructed to print out and review the recommendation letter from the mySafe-T.net page. This print-out was specifically for them to show their care provider (physician and medical assistant) in their examination. Following the experimentation, the participants were asked to fill out a survey and were administered a follow-up interview regarding items of the Web-based systems from the perspectives including perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, usability and satisfaction. On average, c the entire experimentation in total took less than an hour.
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A follow-up interview was conducted via phone and took approximately ten minutes. The surveys filled out during the experimentation process were pen-andpaper-based. All the interviews and focus groups were audio-taped. 3.4 The Personal Health Records Survey The Personal Health Records Survey (PHRS) was administered to the participants following the tasks, and was a paper-based survey. It consisted of eight sections, and aimed at determining user perceptions regarding the mySafe-T.net system in terms of usefulness, trustworthiness, impact on personal health management, potential benefits, ease of use, and overall satisfaction. Seven-point Likert scales were used in all sections except for the last two. A response of 1 corresponded to the statement “Strongly Disagree,” a response of 4 corresponded to “Neutral,” and a response of 7 corresponded to “Strongly Agree.” 3.5 The Patient Interview Process The participants answered some questions via a short interview by the experimenter after the completion of the experiment. The interview had the main goal of determining the positive and negative perceptions of the patients regarding the mySafe-T.net system. Questions included whether they found the site easy to use and why, and positive and negative aspects of the site they found. Some follow-up questions were asked such as “I noticed you had some difficulty with [this particular task]. Can you tell me about that?” and/or “You seemed to like [this particular section/task]. What did you like about it?” A follow-up phone interview was also conducted three weeks after the experimentation.
4 Results and Discussion 4.1 Descriptive Statistics on Survey Responses User perceptions regarding the usefulness of the site, which corresponded to Section A and consisted of seven questions, were relatively strong. Seven questions scoring higher than 4.9 in a seven-point Likert scale and four questions scoring 5.5 or higher. Interestingly, the highest score in this section belonged to Question 4 (Mean = 5.50, Std. Dev. = 1.12) which indicated that participants believed with the help of the mySafe-T.net Web site care providers could keep a better eye on their health. It is encouraging to observe the perception regarding the site being highly important in such a critical issue like providers tracking patients’ health situation. The second highest score belonged to the question regarding the usefulness of the “Resources” page (Mean = 5.59, Mean = 0.94) and Item 5 on overall usefulness of the site (Mean = 5.50, Std. Dev. = 1.118) and Item 1 on the relevance of the information the site provided (Mean = 5.50, Std. Dev. = 1.16) tying for the third highest scores. Participant opinions regarding the usefulness of the “Recommendations” page and (Question 6, Mean = 5.36, Std. Dev. = 1.89) and perceived usefulness of the page recommendations (Item 2, Mean = 5.18, Std. Dev. = 1.27) also received high scores.
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The initial results on the usefulness opinions involving the mySafe.T-net page were highly encouraging, with overall perceived usefulness scores being around or above 80% of perfect score. They therefore indicate a high level of potential adoption of the system among the users. Additionally, the links provided for recommendations and resources receiving high scores indicate the patients found these external links relevant and useful for them as well. In the next section, patients also gave high marks to the security and trustworthiness of the site. The perceived technical reliability of the site (Item 10, Mean = 6.09, Std. Dev. = 0.95) scored highest in this section, followed by the perceived trustworthiness (Mean = 5.95, Std. Dev. = 1.02) and the confidence of entering confidential information by the participants (Mean = 5.77, Std. Dev. = 1.38). The results were unusually encouraging in indicating that the participants had no problem in the least in hesitating to enter their information and trusting the site. It should be noted that the participant group does not consist of computer and/or security specialists. It can be assumed that the participant group has a moderate amount of technology familiarity that may be representative of the general population. The next section was concerned with the impact of the information and convenience offered by the site and the individuals’ personal health management. The highest scores belonged to Question 16 on the potential help offered by the site in allowing the patients to be more in charge of their own health care (Mean = 5.5, Std. Dev. = 1.37) and Question 12 regarding the site’s potential help in the patients’ having more informative conversations with their physicians (Mean = 5.41, Std. Dev. = 1.64). These Questions were followed by Question 15 which indicated that the participants felt more informed regarding health risks stemming from their family heritage with the help of the site (Mean = 5.36, Std. Dev. = 1.43). More moderate scores were obtained for Questions 11 and 13 regarding whether participants would be interested in collecting information from the site before their next physician’s visit (Mean = 5.27, Std. Dev. = 1.60) and whether the site is helpful in more closely following recommended preventive health screenings (Mean = 5.27, Std. Dev = 1.48), respectively. Participants also responded favorably to the inquiry of Question 19 on whether the site helped them have a better understanding of the potential consequences of not following a healthy life style (Mean = 5.05, Std. Dev. = 1.46). The participants didn’t have a high number additional questions to as and/or topics to discuss with their physician (Question 17, Mean = 3.77, Std. Dev. = 1.62). Results from Section C were interesting concerning patient views of the mySafeT.net site from the perspective of its impact on their personal health management. It was observed that from the perspectives of the informational role of the site, such as learning about one’s health risks due to heritage or lifestyle as well as what to do to improve one’s health, the tool was very well-received. While Section D was focused on the patient perceptions regarding the benefits offered by the mySafe-T.net system, its three questions were duplicates of questions in previous sections. These duplications had the primary goal of calculating the Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient of the survey. Item 20 on preventive health screening was a duplicate of Item 18, Item 21 on maintaining a healthy lifestyle was a duplicate of Item 19, and Item 22 was a duplicate of Item 17. The Cronbach’s Alpha values consequently calculated for these pairs were 0.896, 0.931, and 0.814, respectively, resulting in an overall determined Cronbach’s Alpha internal reliability coefficient of
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0.880. According to Cronbach (Ref!), an Alpha coefficient of 0.70 or higher usually provides enough evidence to conclude acceptable internal reliability of a survey. Overall, it was therefore determined that the survey had sufficient internal reliability. Section E questions focused on the perceived ease of use and usability of the mySafe-T.net system, mainly because ease of use is a part of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and also to some extent to determine the pressing usability issues of the system. The highest score received for this section belonged to the perceived ease of use of the site (Question 23, Mean = 6.27, Std. Dev. = 0.91), followed by how well-designed the screens were found to be (Question 26, Mean = 6.23, Std. Dev. = 0.85) and not having difficulty understanding the Web site content (Question 29, Mean = 6.14, Std. Dev. = 0.92)and the consistency of different page designs within the Web site (Question 32, Mean = 6.05, Std. Dev. = 0.93). The very high scores of the perceived usability and ease of use Questions are striking, indicating that the site needed little to improve in terms of usability and it fulfilled most if not all usability requirements for optimal perceived user performance as well as user satisfaction, with crucial Questions scoring 90% or more of the perfect score. The majority of participants also found screen instructions understandable (Question 30, Mean = 5.95, Std. Dev. = 1.21), screens well-designed (Question 27, Mean = 5.86, Std. Dev. = 1.01), the site interesting in general (Question 28, Mean = 5.82, Std. Dev. = 0.98), and fast to work on (Question 31, Mean = 5.73, Std. Dev. = 1.21). Additionally, two “reverse” questions, where negative usability Questions were asked, received relatively low scores, further boosting the notion regarding the site’s high level of perceived usability. To a great extent, participants did not think that they made a lot of mistakes using the Web site (Question 24, Mean = 2.77, Std. Dev. = 1.76) and there were too many steps to complete some of the tasks (Question 25, Mean = 2.45, Std. Dev. = 1.53). Overall, the results from Section E did not produce any problems on the patients’ part and potential solutions for improvement of perceived and real usability of the mySafe-T.net system. As part of the qualitative analysis discussed in next section, usability of the site is further analyzed. 4.2 Patient Interviews The interview identified a number of positive items of the site as perceived by the patients. Patients specifically liked the family history section and corresponding recommendations, indicated continuity of care would be more useful if they could see multiple providers or medications. They indicated the site is another tool to communicate with a care provider. They also enjoyed the tailored nature of the site. Recommendations for improvement included focusing more on details, working as a reminder system and involving more patient activation, and focusing on personal health records. It can be concluded that personalized information is gaining more importance in health care sector with patients getting more computer-savvy and becoming willing to be more involved in their own care. The study pointed out that a Web-based comprehensive system can be developed to maximize this involvement in the future. The weaknesses of the study included focusing on a small section of patient population and making the assumption that the majority of patients can access a
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Web-based patient information system on a regular basis. Future studies can explore the role of interactive personalized records on other platforms such as the mobile platform.
References 1. Tape, T.G., Campbell, J.: Computerized medical records and preventive health care: success depends on many factors. The American Journal of Medicine 94, 619–625 (1993) 2. Fries, J.F., Koop, C.E., Beadle, C.E., Cooper, P.P., England, M.J., Greaves, R.F., Sokolov, J.J., Wright, D.: Reducing Health Care Costs by Reducing the Need and Demand for Medical Services. The New England Journal of Medicine 329, 321–325 (1993) 3. Reti, S.R., Feldman, H.J., Safran, C.: Governance for Personal Health Records. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association 16, 14–17 (2009) 4. Tang, P.C., Ash, J.S., Bates, D.W., Overhage, J.M., Sands, D.Z.: Personal Health Records: Definitions, Benefits, and Strategies for Overcoming Barriers to Adoption. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association 13, 121–126 (2006) 5. Frøkjær, E., Hertzum, M., Hornbæk, K.: Measuring usability: are effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction really correlated? In: Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems, pp. 345–352. ACM, New York (2000) 6. Davis, F.D.: Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and User Acceptance of Information Technology. MIS Quarterly 13, 319–340 (1989) 7. Adams, D.A., Nelson, R.R., Todd, P.A.: Perceived usefulness, ease of use, and usage of information technology: a replication. MIS Quarterly 16, 227–247 (1992) 8. National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics. Personal health records and personal health record systems: a report and recommendations. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington (2006), http://www.ncvhs.hhs.gov/0602nhiirpt.pdf 9. Connecting for Health. Connecting Americans to their healthcare. final report of the working group on policies for electronic information sharing between doctors and patients. Markle Foundation, New York (2004), http://www.connectingforhealth.org/ resources/final_phwg_report1.pdf 10. Endsley, S., Kibbe, D.C., Linares, A., Colorafi, K.: An Introduction to Personal Health Records. Family Practice Management 13, 57–62 (2006) 11. Lansky, D., Brennan, P.F.: NHII 04 – Personal Health Record Track (2004) 12. Denton, I.C.: Will Patients Use Electronic Personal Health Records? Responses from a Real-Life Experience. Journal of Healthcare Informatiton Management 15, 251–259 (2001) 13. Ball, M.J., Smith, C., Bakalar, R.S.: Personal Health Records: Empowering Consumers. Journal of Healthcare Information Management 21, 76–86 (2007) 14. Nielsen, J.: Usability Engineering. Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco (1994) 15. Tang, P., Patel, V.: Major issues in user interface design for health professional workstations: summary and recommendations. International Journal of Bio-Medical Computing 34, 139–148 (1994) 16. Johnson, C.W.: Why did that happen? Exploring the proliferation of barely usable software in healthcare systems. Qual. Saf. Health Care 15, 76–81 (2006) 17. Rodriguez, M.M., Casper, G., Brennan, P.F.: Patient-centered Design: The Potential of User-centered Design in Personal Health Records. Journal of American Health Information Management Association 78, 44–46 (2007)
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18. Chau, P.Y.K., Hu, P.J.-H.: Information Technology Acceptance by Individual Professionals: A Model Comparison Approach. Decision Sciences 32, 699–719 (2001) 19. Davis, F.D., Bagozzi, R.P., Warshaw, P.R.: User Acceptance of Computer Technology: A Comparison of Two Theoretical Models. Management Science 35, 982–1003 (1989) 20. Medical Records Institute, http://www.medrecinst.com/ 21. Chismar, W.G., Wiley-Patton, S.: Does the Extended Technology Acceptance Model Apply to Physicians. In: Proceedings of the 36th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS 2003), 8 p. IEEE, Los Alamitos (2002)
Measuring E-Democracy Opportunities: A Global Perspective Farid Shirazi Institute for Research on Innovation and Technology Management, Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada [email protected]
Abstract. In recent years, several case studies have emerged illustrating the impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and in particular the expansion of the Internet and mobile cell phones on socio-political activities. This paper investigates 146 economies and the relationship between the global expansion of ICTs and the current degree of democracy within each nation by constructing an index of e-democracy opportunities among them, for the period of 1995 to 2005. The key findings in this study are (a) a notable progress in e-democracy opportunity on the global stage; (b) the fact that in some countries there is a rapid ICT expansion and global success in e-democracy, and yet, there is a growing digital divide between the most and least developed edemocratic nations. Keywords: Civil Liberties, Digital Divide, E-democracy, Economic Freedom, Filtering, Freedom of Press, ICT, Ideology, Political Rights, Virtual Feudalism.
1 Introduction Many scholars have argued that information and communication technologies (ICTs) have the potential to create a new space for engagement, deliberation and collaboration in the political process that can make democratic processes more inclusive and transparent [1, 2, 3, 4]. In this regard, ICTs are seen as providing citizens with information regarding relevant local and national government issues, facilitating dialogue between constituents and government officials, and promoting more accountability and transparency in political processes [5]. Some scholars point out that the Internet and mobile SMS have the potential for not only strengthening and transforming the existing patterns of political participation [6] but also political mobilization [7] and collective actions [8]. Well cited examples of such mobilizations are rallies organized through the Internet against World Trade Organization in Seattle (1999), the IMF and World Bank meetings in Prague (2000), the G8 summit in Geneva (2001), [7] as well as rallies organized by feminist bloggers, Iranian women rights’ activists demanding for an end to discriminatory laws against women (2005,2006) [9] and rallies in Egypt over soaring food and oil prices and a growing gap between the affluent and the impoverished, organized by Facebook users (2008) [10]. These are just a few examples of the emancipating power of the Net and its increased role as a platform to enable public engagement in various socio-political matters. A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 700–709, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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This study uses archival data from 146 countries in different stages of ICT expansion to investigate (1) the impact of ICTs on the process of democratic participation and (2) the existence of a digital divide on both regional and global scales.
2 E-Democracy Framework The role of the Internet in the 2008 US presidential election displayed evidence of the power of the internet for mobilizing and engaging citizen participation in a democratic process. The Internet was able to attract first time voters and the younger generation as well as appeal to groups which might otherwise be uninvolved in conventional forms of activism and civic engagement, and those who felt alienated [6] from mainstream society. The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press [11] states close to a quarter of Americans (24%) reported they regularly learn something about the presidential campaign from the Internet, almost double the percentage in the 2004 campaign (13%) and more than triple the percentage in the 2000 campaign (7%). Almost 42% of young American adults (age 18-29) reported that the Internet was their main source of campaign information in addition to 16% of Americans who have sent or received emails with friends and family regarding candidates and the campaign. According to Pew’s report 14% of US citizens have received email messages from political groups or organizations about the campaign; and about 8% reported that they visited US political candidates’ website [11]. Globally, the number of Internet users exceeds 1.46 billion [12]. Mobile cell phone subscribers hit another record high value of 4 billion users at the end of 2008 [13]. The massive usage of SMS in Spain’s 2004 general election [7], Iran’s presidential election in 2005 in support for other candidates or boycotting the election [14], in Egypt’s 2005 presidential election [15], in India’s 2005 general election [16], and most recently in the 2008 US election [17], SMS played an important role for mobilizing people and/or monitoring the election outcomes. Clift [18] argues that democratic processes enabled by ICTs provides greater and more active citizen participation as well as a different role for government and more participatory forms of direct citizen involvement in efforts to address public challenges. Dahlgren [19] argues that the Internet extends and pluralizes the public sphere in a number different ways including structures, representation, and interaction. Scholarly research on ICT in developing countries has identified that ICT and in particular, the Internet, positively correlates with the proliferation of democracy [20]. Other scholars consider the global expansion of ICT as a means of imposing Western culture onto other cultures through hegemonic power and dominance [21]. 2.1 Components of E-Democracy Clift [18] defines e-democracy as the use of ICTs in strategies by “democratic sectors” within the political processes of local communities, states/regions, nations and on the global stage. According to Clift, the “democratic sectors” include governments, elected officials, media (including online portals), political parties and interest groups, civil society organizations, international governmental organizations and citizens.
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This paper adapts Clift’s conceptual model of e-democracy as depicted in Fig1. There are six components that construct the e-democracy model. At the crux of this model are e-citizens, the individuals who use ICTs to participate in democratization processes. This participation can take many different forms. For example, e-citizens can use ICTs to interact with social groups, government agencies, media and private sectors as well as allowing for the use, creation and dissemination of information, demanding for a more open and democratic society. Similarly, Morrisett [22] points out that ICTs can be used to enhance the democratic process in the form of an e-government, in which citizens are able to effectively impact the decision-making process in a timely manner within and between institutionally, politically or geographically-distinct networked communities. As such, it is evident that ICT expansion facilitates the growth and development of new communities by coordinating individuals into groups that can express protestation and grief over socio-political oppression. Chadwick [23] argues that ICTs make it possible for linking e-democracy to civil society with e-government at the local and national levels. The main objective of civil societies, such as NGOs, women’s groups, trade unions, human rights groups and independent media groups is to use ICTs in the pursuit of ”good governance” [24] and democratic development. In addition, political groups are able to use ICTs to promote their political agendas, run online advocacy and political campaigns [18]. ICT
Social Groups
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text E-Citizen
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Fig. 1. E-democracy Conceptual Model adapted from Clift(2003)
Another important component of e-democracy is media. Access to information is essential to the health of democracy for a number of reasons, including: a) its informative function and b) its monitoring function. In some societies, an antagonistic relationship between media and government represents a vital and healthy element of a fully functioning democracy [25]. The upsurge of websites, weblogs, e-mails, and SMS has also improved communication and interaction among people across the globe and has assisted in opening up new possibilities for political participation [26, 27]. Finally, the private sector is not only representing commercially-driven connectivity, software, and technology [18]; it is also the main ICT provider and developer. The growth and expansion of e-commerce and online transactions have enabled ICT to become a core component of economic development.
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3 Measuring E-Democracy Opportunities This section investigates the impact of ICTs on the model of e-democracy as illustrated in Fig 1. Data collected in this section is related to the components of our edemocracy model and can be grouped into two main categories a) variables that are directly associated with institutional structures [19] namely Political Rights (PR), Civil Liberties (CL) and Economic Freedom (Eco) and b) variables that constitute the ability of citizens to actually use ICT tools and services for disseminating opinion, thoughts, ideas and participate in communication discourses. These variables are ICT, Education (Edu) and Freedom of Press (Media). The freedom of press is also in a casual relationship with the first group of variables, namely institutional structures (democracy) which will be discussed later. Institutional Democracy: To measure the existence level of institutional democracy within each 146 economies in which the governments and legislative representative are elected, the index of Political Rights (PR) introduced by Freedom House was considered. This index is composed of three main components: the electoral process, political participation, and the government. The index of Civil Liberties (CL), introduced by Freedom House, on the other hand consists of four main components: freedom of expression, associational and organizational rights, rule of law, and personal autonomy. Finally, the economic freedom index introduced by Heritage Foundation was used as a benchmark from which to determine a country’s prospects for economic success. The index of economic freedom (Eco) is composed of 10 different indices [28]. In the context of this research this index was used to measure the private sector’s involvement in socio-economic development as well as a metric to measure the state control and ownership of enterprises, its consumption of economic resources and intervention in economic as a main player [28]. ICTs and Freedom of expression: In our e-democracy model, the e-citizen and other actors are connected through the use of ICTs. The index of ICT is used to measure the level of ICT infrastructure and usage in each country. This index is composed of eight indices namely the number of Internet users, main telephone lines, cell phone subscribers and Personal Computers per 100 inhabitants, Cable TV subscriptions (per 100 households), the number of Internet hosts (per 1,000 inhabitants), Secure Servers/Internet hosts and the International Internet bandwidth (Kbs per inhabitant) [29]. The use of ICT tools and services requires users to have access as well as possess the capability to learn and acquire a certain level of knowledge in order to use them effectively. People who possess this knowledge (e-citizens) are those who will have the ability to create and disseminate information, and demand a more open and democratic society. The education variable (Edu) is composed of two main indices, namely adult literacy rates and gross enrollment rates. Education data was collected mainly from UNDP, UNESCO and ITU. And finally, to measure the variable, Media, as depicted in Fig 1, the freedom of press indices published by Freedom House and Reporters Without Borders (RWB) are used. These institutes provide valuable information about the level of press freedom experienced by the populace of each country. The focus of these indices is the study of the degree of intervention in media (print and online) on the part of governments and authorities.
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3.1 The Index of E-Democracy Opportunities Before constructing the index of e-democracy opportunities, data from the above sources were converted and rescaled so that 100 represents the highest level of freedom (PR, CL, Eco and Media), Education and ICTs. A series of statistical tests including the test for multicollinearity and heteroskedasticity issues [14] were applied on panel data. To deal with multicollinearity issue the Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) was estimated. The study’s test shows a VIF value of 2.32 which is a value far from VIF’s critical values of 10 (moderate multicollinearity) and/or 30 (sever multicollinearity) [14]. A two-stage least-squares regression with endogenous variables Civil Liberties (CL) and ICT was applied on panel data. Following successful test results, we arrive at a higher level of aggregation namely to construct the index of e-democracy opportunity. The Index of Institutional Democracy (IID) was obtained by aggregating variables PR, CL and Eco as: k
1/ k IID=(∏ Ii,j(c) k,t )
(1)
i=1
Where I represents the value of each index i for the period of t and k denotes the number of variables (for Eco k=10, for PR k=3, for CL k=4). IID was used as a barometer to help indexing each country’s progress in e-democracy over the period of 1995 to 2005 as well as comparing countries to one another. Similarly the index of ICT Opportunity Index (IOI) was obtained by aggregating variables ICT, Edu and Media as: n
IOI = (∏ I ni ,,tj ( c ) )1/ n
(2)
i =1
Where n denotes the number of indices within each variable (for ICT n=8, for Edu and Media n=2). The output of regression is an index which we call it the Index of Edemocracy Opportunities (IEO).
4 Data Analysis To analyze e-democracy performance on a global stage, countries are divided into six different categories as follows: 1. Front-Runners: countries with an e-democracy value above 80% have very high levels of ICT development where citizens enjoy an elevated level of social, economic and political freedom (PR, CL and Eco); 2. High Performance: countries with an e-democracy value between 70% and 79% have high levels of ICT development where citizens enjoy an admirable degree of social, economic and political freedom (PR, CL and Eco); 3. Upper Medium: countries with an e-democracy value between 60% and 69% in both ICT development index and social, economic and political freedom are considered above average on the world index (54.3%);
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4. Medium: countries with approximately 54% in their ICT development and social, economic and political performance are at the average level of the world’s edemocracy (54.3%); 5. Transitional: countries with which their e-democracy index is below the world average with a potential to move on to a higher e-democracy category but either exercise poorer performance in their socio-political and economic freedom and/or have a lower e-democracy index in terms of both ICT development and citizens participation in e-democracy process; and 6. Low Performers: countries with an e-democracy opportunity index below 25%; they have a poor performance record with regards to both ICT development and social-political and economic development. Within this category, however, there are countries that perform much better in their economic and ICT development which result in a higher ranking, as well as countries that do not show any improvement in their e-democracy performance and/or changes in their e-democracy opportunity indexes are very small, despite citizen involvement in the e-democracy process.
5 Findings and Discussion The analysis of countries’ e-democracy performance shows interesting information. At a glance, as indicated in Fig 2, we can observe a notable progress in terms of edemocracy opportunity index during the period of 1995-2005. For example, while the number of countries located in categories such as medium, upper, high and frontrunners account for 38% of the total countries in the year 1995, this value has increased to 49% in the year 2005. In other words, 11% of countries have successfully advanced from low performers and/or transitional categories to a higher category. In addition, some countries located within the “safe zone” (medium and up) were able to position themselves in a higher category during this period. As depicted in Fig 2, the most successful e-democracy category is related to the front-runners category.
Fig. 2. Six categories of e-democracy performance
Among the 14 new nations that joined this category in year 2005, ten nations were from Europe; in particular, those countries representing the former Eastern block such as Estonia, Lithuania, Slovenia, Hungary and Slovak republic. Among the newly
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joined nations, Estonia had the highest rank (14th place). The other notable edemocracy progression is related to Lithuania. This country had a transitional progress from upper medium in 1995 to the front-runners category in 2005. Another successful example within the front-runners category is Chile. Like Lithuania, Chile, within the same 11-year time period, exercised a two-level jump from the upper medium level to the front-runners level. In addition, Chile is the only nation from Latin America that is placed in this category. In the African region, countries such as Mauritius and South Africa had the best edemocracy progress (High performers) followed by Botswana, Namibia and Ghana (Upper Medium). The citizens in these countries not only enjoyed the highest level of socio-political and economic freedom but also had the greatest access to ICTs in the region. Digital Divide: A further analysis of e-democracy data shows that despite the global progress towards e-democracy opportunities, we can observe a growing digital gap in some parts of the world. A larger digital gap can be found in Americas, the digital divide between the high performers and the low performers in the region has increased from 5.5 fold in 1995 to 5.7 fold in 2005. In Europe, the digital divide between the leading European countries and countries located within the low performers and transitional categories have increased over an 11-year period from 3.1 fold in 1995 to 3.5 fold in 2005. In another category, among the members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference1 (OIC), Mali, Albania and Turkey had the best edemocracy performance over the same 11-year period. The countries’ e-democracy opportunity index increased from 47.5%, 38.3% and 33.9% to 59.3%, 53.7% and 54.4% respectively. Turkey’s e-democracy value is equal to the world’s e-democracy average (54.3%). This locates Turkey at 69th place in the 2005 ranking list. While Mali’s e-democracy opportunity index is above the world average (59.4%), this value for Albania is slightly below the world’s e-democracy average of 54.3%. Although the e-democracy opportunity index among OIC nations has increased from 28.3% to 35%, this rate is far from the world’s average value. Africa and Asia show the greatest regional digital divide reduction. The digital gap between the most developed e-democracy nations and the least developed edemocracies in Africa has decreased 3.6 fold to 3.1; this value in Asia shows a reduction from 4.8 fold to 4.2 fold during the period of 1995 to 2005. This reduction is not only due to the expansion of ICTs but also the overall progress that the regions made during the last decade in the area of socio-political and economic development. Internet content filtering: Filtering and state censorship applied by some governments across the globe is used to suppress freedom of communication. Studies on Internet content filtering show systematic Internet filtering typically targets political, religious and ethnic minority sites as well as those that promote gender equality and women’s rights [30, 31]. In the context of ICT, it applies not only to the Internet but also to satellites, cable TVs and SMS messages, and is commonly practiced in countries in the transitional and low performers’ categories. For example, the OpenNet Initiative’s (ONI) report [30] indicates that the Iranian government controls the information environment over the Internet in areas such as websites, blogs, 1
OIC is a solidarity organization of 57 Islamic states (www.oic-oci.org).
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e-mails, and online discussion forums. The Saudi Arabian government has also created one of the world’s largest Internet filtering systems [39] and publicly announced that they have blocked access to nearly 400,000 web pages to protect Saudi citizens from offensive content that violates the principles of Islam. According to the RWB report [31], China has developed the most advanced technology for interception of e-mail and Internet censorship [30, 31]. Some of the countries located in the low performers’ category remained in the same position despite the global success in e-democracy opportunity index during the last decade. A number of the governments in this category view ICT development with the lens of ideology and therefore consider ICT development and access to ICT tools and services by citizens, a risk to their national security. Mowshowitz’s [32] uses the term of “virtual feudalism” to refer to the reluctance of authoritarian regimes to have open use and development of ICTs and in particular the activities on the Internet. In the context of this research, virtual feudalism is defined as the hegemonic control [33, 34] of ICT developments and strategies by governments. This control is applied to mass communication channels such as the Internet and SMS messaging. It controls the monopoly of resources, imposing restrictions on the use of high speed Internet access to prevent Internet users from accessing sites and services that require this type of connection, or banning SMS messaging to prevent sending out political messages [35] or banning the use of mobile phone cameras [14].Virtual feudalism imposes the hegemonic control of ICTs in the form of economic, political, cultural, physical and religious pressure on social groups and individuals [36].
6 Conclusions ICT media and services such as the Internet enable new dimensions of expression and democratic participation [7, 37, 38, 39]. The proliferation of Websites, Weblogs, emails, and SMS has improved communication and interaction among people across the globe and has facilitated and assisted in opening up new possibilities for political participation [26, 27, 40]. It is not surprising to see that the world’s highly developed economies are among the top list of e-democracy opportunities (front-runners). Citizens in these countries experience the highest level of freedom in accessing ICTs and participate in e-democracy processes. The countries’ ICT infrastructure is highly developed and all actors within the e-democracy framework are actively involved on the Net. According to e-democracy opportunities index on a yearly basis 1% of all the countries in this research improved their positions from a lower category to a higher category. In juxtaposition, there exists the digital divide between the front-runners and low performers which increased at both global and regional scales during the last decade. Internet filtering and state censorship on ICT content influence negatively on citizens’ participation in e-democracy processes thus promote an increase in the digital divide. Despite ICT development, the processes of filtering impede the e-democracy processes. That is, the role of ICT infrastructure is to provide access; however, its capability depends on its thoroughfare of information starting with the policy makers, cascading to the users. The watershed effects of the government policy, political parties, social groups, media, private sector, and e-citizen in some societies have developed tributaries while in other societies, government policies operate as main barriers to development.
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Ethnographic User Study and Concept Design for Chinese Migrant Workers’ Social Networks Jie Wang1, Wei Wang1, Ying Liu1, Xia Wang1, and Qiuhong Chen2 1 Nokia Research Center, Beijing, China Tsinghua University, Department of Sociology, Beijing, China [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] 2
Abstract. Online social networking services are hot in the recent years, but most of theses services in China aimed at the college students and business people, ignoring that Chinese migrant workers could be one of the biggest potential user groups of mobile social networking services in the future. This paper presents an ethnographic user study on Chinese rural-urban migrant workers’ social networks in daily life and proposes a new mobile social networking service concept design for helping them to improve their social networks in daily life. Keywords: Ethnographic User Study, Concept Design, Chinese Migrant Worker, Social Networks.
1 Background Online Social networking services are hot in China in the recent years, but most existing social networking services in China are designed for the college student, white collar and business people. Although most migrant workers are still not the current social networking services’ users, we think that they could be one of the biggest potential user groups of mobile social networking services in the future. The first reason is that China is undergoing a huge internal migrant tide, about 200 million migrant workers have been moving from rural to urban and another 200 million surplus rural work force are potentially going to fuel the flow in the future. Mobilities in geography and career bring great changes for Chinese migrant workers’ social networks. It’s a great potential need for them to manage and improve their social networks in the process of adapting to the new city life and balancing their old rural social relations. The second reason is that PC is still an unavailable device for most migrant workers, not only in economy but also in technology and living situations. At the same time, mobile phone is becoming more and more widely used in recent years. Although most Chinese migrant workers are still among one of the lowest-income A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 710–718, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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groups in China, it’s a common situation that they are willing to spend one or double of their monthly salary to purchase a mobile phone and their monthly cost on mobile phone (around 100RMB) is also quite similar with the other higher salary user groups. Mobile phone is increasingly seen as a necessity for daily life instead of a luxurious fashion accessory for most rural-urban Chinese migrant workers.
2 Methodology Currently most user researches on social networking services are focused on the existing users [1], [3], [5], [9], [10], we take a different approach here. Through exploring the potential user group’s social networks in daily life, we are trying to find some important unmet needs or problems in their daily practice and thus give insights to design new mobile social networking services embedded in their life. The formal ethnographic fieldwork was begun in July 2007 (some explorative fieldwork was also done in 2006) and it’s still going on. The research data was gathered from both urban and rural China. Currently 57 migrant workers were included in the study, 35 male and 22 female, aging from 18 to 50. In the data gathering process, we combined the methods of questionnaire, in-depth interview and participant observation. This paper presents one part of the research results.
3 Job Seeking: Trusting People vs. Information For most migrant workers, the first and most important step for their adaption to city life is to find a job. So What’s the Most Important Factor in Their Job-Seeking Process? Granovetter's pioneering work on the "The strength of weak ties" showed the importance of social networks for people’s mobility [7]. He found that those who obtained job information from weak ties rather than strong ties were more likely to get better jobs. Unlike the strong ties that often bring similar information, weak ties are sources of new information because they bridge local cliques. Thus, the more weak ties an individual has in his or her network, the more valuable the network is as a source of information. Information is essential for finding a job. But for the specific group of Chinese migrant workers, is information the most important factor in their job-seeking process? According to our interviewees’ feedback, finding “trusting people” instead of “information” is the most important consideration in their job-seeking process. “When I first arrived Beijing, I found much information on small posters in streets and advertisements in newspapers to hire many kinds of workers. But I don’t know whether these information are true or false. You know, I was not familiar with the city life and was afraid of being cheated in this big city. Many factories and companies refuse to sign contracts with us migrant workers. We
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don’t have any official documents to prove our working, so I must be careful of being cheated when I choose a job. For me, the best way of finding a job is to find a trusting people first.” (M6) We can see from the above words that although there is a lot of job information in the cities, like small posters in streets and advertisement in newspapers, and these information are very easy to get for most migrant workers, they don’t trust these public information and are afraid of being cheated. They think the best way of finding a job is to find some trusting people first. So Who Is the Most Trusting People for the Rural-Urban Migrant Workers? The relationships based on the same consanguinity or hometown are the most important factors, they can bring “strong trust” even when the two migrant workers had little contact before they came to the city. “I chose my current job because it’s introduced by one of my fellow villagers. Actually I was not very familiar with him before I came to the city. I just heard that he had been in Guangzhou for two years. Immediately after I arrived at this city, I tried to contact him and I really trusted him much more than these posters and advertisement.” (M17) “In our village, nearly half of us have the same family name. We are from the same ancestor, this is an important “guan xi” (social network) for us. Especially at this transition age, we often need to find jobs outside our hometowns, if the job is introduced by one of our family clan members or fellow villagers I think it’s much safer than other ways. Because I can be sure these relatives or fellow villagers won’t cheat me even we have little contact before.” (M4) So Why the Migrant Workers Can Trust the Relationships Based on the Same Consanguinity or Hometown Even When They Have Little Contact Before? One reason is that for the people from the same consanguinity or hometown, their relationship is not only “individual” to “individual”, but also based on the same “root” in Chinese village culture. If one rural people cheat his or her family clan members or fellow villagers, his or her whole family members would lose “mianzi” (face) and be condemned in the big extended family or the whole village. Different from city as a “stranger society”, village is a totally “familiar society”. “Face” is the most important thing for everyone’s daily living. “Why I think my relatives and fellow villagers won’t cheat me? Because if my relatives or fellow villagers cheat me, they will absolutely lose “mianzi” in our extended family or in the whole village. Without “mianzi”, they are even not dare to raise up their head while walking. So I can be sure if my job is introduced by them, I would be more likely to get my salary in time and get compensation if I get hurt during the work. These things are very important for me when I am in a strange city.” (M23) Another reason is that the migrant workers met many obstacles on their way to the cities. Not only the competition with the laid-off workers from state-owned enterprises, but also the personal or even the institutional discrimination in city. This
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discrimination caused many conflicts between the migrant workers and the urban citizens. “One day I quarreled with a lady cyclist. One of my fellow villagers, who is also my workmate and we came to Beijing together, had his bicycle stolen 10 days ago. But accidently, he recognized the bicycle on the street. Maybe the stealer had already sold it to the lady. He called me and I went together with him to help to get back the bicycle. The lady cyclist was very angry in the beginning and said some bad words to us, such as “you migrant workers make Beijing very messy” and refused to return me the bicycle. Finally under the involvement of the policemen nearby, I managed to make the lady cyclist apologizing to us for her bad words but we still did not take the bicycle back. I thought that if the situation had been reversed, I had bought this stolen bicycle and the lady had found it, the policemen would help the lady get it back. ” (M2) “We do the same job as the citizen workers, but we have no social security offered by the factory or company. I felt it’s unfair but I can do nothing about it. Just a few weeks ago, I bought a medical commercial insurance for myself. It's said that by paying 100 RMB per year, I can claim 80% of the medical bill if it is larger than 100 RMB. I don’t know whether it’s true or not, but I really need some insurance if I met some accident. I bought this insurance just because it can give me some safe feeling in the big city.”(M17) The feeling of discrimination and insecurity the rural-migrant workers experienced in cities also increase their trust on the homogenous people and make them put more emphasis on the relationships based on the same family clan or village. These village or kinship networks provide not only the functional but also the emotional support for them in the city life. This can also explain why there are so many “villages inside city” in many Chinese metropolises.
4 Mobile Phone and Social Networks Mobilities in geography and career bring great changes for Chinese migrant workers’ social networks. It’s a great potential need for them to manage and improve their social networks in the process of adapting to the new city life and balancing their old rural social relations. So how the mobile phone help the migrant workers’ social networks in the city life? Firstly, mobile phones help migrant workers to strengthen their “strong trust” social networks. As mentioned above, the relationship based on the same hometown or consanguinity can bring “strong trust” even when the two rural-migrant workers had little contact before they came to the city. But in the past, it was inconvenient for them to contact their trusting relatives or fellow villagers even if they were working in the same city. But with the help of mobile phone, it becomes much easier than before. After getting each others’ mobile numbers, they can link up the trusting social networks immediately by calling or sending SMS to their relatives or fellow villagers. They can also get much social support from these trusting social networks when they are facing difficulties in city life.
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“I have been working as a migrant worker in this city for 8 years. Before 2003, when I didn’t have a mobile phone, I didn’t dare to quit a job even when I felt the boss was bad to us because I was not sure whether I can get a new job quickly. But now it’s not a problem. I can be in touch with many of my fellow villagers in a few minutes and get another job much easier than before. Now the boss is much more polite to us than before.” (M22) Secondly, mobile phones help migrant workers to broaden their new social networks with some other different groups of people. Some migrant workers broaden their new social networks for career development. Although they trust the relationships based on the same consanguinity or hometown to find their first job, they also realize that they can have more chances to move upwards socially or make their own business better by broading relationships with the other groups of people in the cities. “I want to have more development in the city and I don’t want to just limit to my friends in the cycle of fellow villagers. One of the biggest gaining after I bought my mobile phone is that I get much more opportunities to communicate with city people. I have many chances to know city customers during my work but before I had mobile phone, I didn’t know how to keep touch with them. Now I often send messages to them for greeting or consulting. I think broadening my social network is very important. It is the only way for us rural migrants to move upward socially in the city”. (M3) “Broad human relationships are essential for my business. I have some regular customers and I keep good relationships with them. Then they introduce more new customers to me. Before I had mobile phone, it’s not easy for them to contact me and some chances were missed. But now, with my mobile phone number, they can easily get in touch with me. This kind of group business is very effective.”(F4) Some migrant workers also broaden their social networks for life enrichment. Though they trust people from the same consanguinity or hometown most, they also think making new friends from different places can broaden their eyes and enrich their life experience. “Actually I have known many new friends after I bought this mobile phone. Although it cost me 1800 yuan (nearly two months’ salary), these new friends gave me much fun and also made me feel not so lonely in this big city.”(F11) “Though I trust relatives and fellow villagers much more than friends, it’s better to have some different people around you. I like making friends with people from the different places and they have different experience. Recently I just changed my mobile operator from China Mobile to China Unicom for the cost reason. Now I can have more freedom to make calls or send SMS to my friends.” (M11)
5 Existing Problem and Concept Design Although mobile phone helps Chinese migrant workers to strengthen and broaden their social networks in the city life, problem still exists.
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Fig. 1. The mechanism of a double-location matching service based on long-term GPS log
From the above analysis, we understand that it’s great value for most migrant workers to find the “strong trust” people in the city. The relationship based on the same kinship or hometown can bring naturally “strong trust” even when they don’t know each other before and they can link up after getting the others’ mobile numbers. But how to help them to find these “strong trust people” even when they don’t know each other and don’t have the others’ phone numbers? Thus, we propose a double-location (rural hometown & existing city) matching service to help migrant workers to solve this problem. The mechanism of a doublelocation matching service is shown as Figure 1. Users can put their hometown information in the profiles and mobile device can record the users’ GPS information automatically through the map or other on-line service. And GPS log is structured by long-term frequency in the device. When the certain location’s log reaches the critical frequency, this location’s GPS information will be updated to the server’s database. Based on matching users’ hometown information in the profiles and the current GPS data, the suitable people can be introduced to each other by mobile device. Next page is a user scenario.
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Fig. 2. A User Scenario
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6 Conclusions Through exploring Chinese migrant workers’ social networks in daily life, we found that “trust” instead of “information” is the biggest issue for most Chinese ruralmigrants in their job-seeking process. The relationship based on the same kinship or hometown can bring natural “strong trust” even when they don’t know each other before. Mobile phones help migrant workers to strengthen their trust- based social networks and broaden new social networks in their city life after they get the others’ mobile numbers, but still can’t help to find the “strong trust people” when they have no contact before. We propose the double-location (rural hometown & existing city) matching service concept to help Chinese migrant workers to solve this problem and improve their social networking in daily life. Further study and design solutions would be proposed in the future work. Acknowledgments. Our thanks to Liuqi for his help in drawing the user scenario.
References 1. Acquisti, A., Gross, R.: Imagined Communities: Awareness, Information Sharing, and Privacy on the Facebook. Privacy Enhancing Technologies, 36–58 (2006) 2. Bian, Y.: Bringing Strong Ties Back. In: Indirect Connection, Bridges, and Job Search in China; American Sociological Review 62, 266–285 (1997) 3. Boyd, d.m.: Friendster and publicly articulated social networking. In: Proc CHI 2004, Extended abstracts, pp. 1279–1282 (2004) 4. Boyd, d.m., Ellison, N.B.: Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of CMC 13, 1 (2007) 5. Cheng, Z., Yang, Y., John, L.: Cyber Migration: An Empirical Investigation on Factors that Affect Users. Switch Intentions in Social Networking Sites. In: Proceedings of the 42nd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (2009) 6. Erickson, B.H.: Culture, Class and Connections. American Journal of Sociology 102(1), 217–251 (1996) 7. Granovetter, M.: The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology 78, 1360–1380 (1973) 8. Granovetter, M.: Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness. American Journal of Sociology 91, 481–510 (1985) 9. Joinson, A.N.: Looking at, Looking up or Keeping up with People? Motives and Uses of Facebook. In: Proc. CHI 2008, pp. 1027–1036 (2008) 10. Lampe, C., Ellison, N., Steinfield, C.: A Familiar Face(book): Profile Elements as Signals in an Online Social Network. In: Proc. CHI 2007 (2007) 11. Lin, N.: Social Resources and Instrumental Action. In: Marsden, P.V., Lin, N. (eds.) Social Resources and Instrumental Action, pp. 131–145. Sage, Beverly Hills (1982) 12. Lin, N.: Social Networks and Status Attainment. Annual Review of Sociology 25, 467– 487 (1999) 13. Maloney-Krichmar, D., Preece, J.: The meaning of an online health community in the lives of its members: Roles, relationships and group dynamics. In: International Symposium on Technology and Society, pp. 20–27 (2002)
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14. Murtagh, G.M.: Seeing the ‘rules’: preliminary observations of action, interaction and mobile phone use. In: Brown, B., Green, N., Harper, R. (eds.) Wireless World. Social and Interactional Aspects of the Mobile Age, pp. 81–91. Springer, London (2001) 15. Law, P., Peng, Y.: The use of cellphones amongst migrant workers in southern China. In: Kim, S. (ed.) When mobile came: The cultural and social impact of mobile communication, pp. 127–134. Communication Books, Seoul (2005) 16. Ridings, C., Gefen, D.: Virtual community attraction: why people hang out online? Journal of Computer Mediated Communication 10(1), Article 4 (November 2004) 17. Milgram, S.: The familiar stranger: An aspect of urban anonymity. In: Milgram, S., Sabini, J., Silver, M. (eds.) The Individual in a Social World: Essays and Experiments. AddisonWesley, Reading (1977) 18. Wellman, B.: Physical Place and Cyber Place. The Rise of Personalized Networking. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research (2001) 19. Wellman, B., Wenhong, C., Weizhen, D.: Networking Guanxi. Social Connections in China: Institutions, Culture, and the Changing Nature of Guanxi. Cambridge University Press, New York (2002)
Medication Adherence among the Elderly and Technology Aids: Results from an Online Survey Study Huijuan Wu and A. Ant Ozok Department of Information Systems, University of Maryland Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA {huijuan.wu,ozok}@umbc.edu
Abstract. Appropriate use of medications can improve the health of seniors and other patients, but inappropriate use or misuse can lead to adverse side effects, deterioration, and other conditions that may result in either more medical visits, hospitalizations or even death. This study aimed at exploring how senior people manage their daily medication and the acceptance towards the medication management technology and the service in assisted living facilities. Results of an online questionnaire survey with senior participants suggested that the online senior communities manage their medication in three ways: managed based on memory or routines, assisted by medication management tools, or helped by other members in the family. Although medication management technology is in low usage rate, participants showed positive attitude towards medication management service and accepting technology as a method to improve medication adherence, with the concerning issues on user acceptance, usability, and user preference. Keywords: Medication adherence, medication management, medication compliance, usability, technology acceptance.
1 Introduction Medication adherence can be broadly defined as taking the right medication at the right time and correct dosage. Although appropriate use of medications can improve the health of seniors and other patients, inappropriate use or misuse can lead to adverse side effects, deterioration, and other conditions that may result in either more medical visits, hospitalizations or death [1-4]. A major issue involving medication adherence is that it is a largely preventable difficulty if it is paid the appropriate attention. Medication compliance is the second largest health problem in the United States in terms of consumed financial and other resources consumed, and the lack of compliance is a preventable reason for adverse events [5]. Poor nutritional status, hypoglycemia, hip fractures, and aspiration pneumonia are only some of the consequences of poor medication adherence [6-9]. Many attempts have been taken to improve medication adherence. Pharmacists may use refill information as a screening tool for non-adherence, patients can use medications tools such as pillboxes or even newer technological aids such as automate dispenser. However, as Klein, Wustrack and Schwartz (2006) indicated[10], A.A. Ozok and P. Zaphiris (Eds.): Online Communities, LNCS 5621, pp. 719–727, 2009. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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it is critical to understand why people are not adherent and why they sometimes take vacations from medications and change their medication regimens. Why they take medication vacations or change regimens. Characteristics of the individual, their condition, the type of therapy they are receiving, and the network (the group the patient is interacting with, such as relatives, friends and caregivers) are critical components of the adherence loop, and understanding these components can create successful adherence solutions. The following sections consist of a survey of the relevant literature, description of the methodology, discussion of the results, conclusions and future work.
2 Background From a practical standpoint, adherence can be defined as taking a medication or performing a therapy as directed. In this regard, persistence refers to taking the medication correctly over a long period of time, and compliance refers to following the physician’s orders. Failing to correctly manage a prescribed medication regimen can result in longer hospital stays, use of more hospital services, and higher health care costs [11]. 17% of hospital admissions among elderly (in their 215-people sample of people 65 years and older) were due to medication non-adherence, with another 11% being due to adverse drug reactions [12]. Additionally, close to one third of older adult hospital admissions as well as about one half of nursing home admissions are related to prescription medication-related problems [13]. Falls among older adults are to some extent also believed to be due to medication errors [14]. Adherence definitions vary across studies, with measures including percentage rates of adherent patients, percentage of patients receiving 70-90% adherence, and adherence scores. Haynes et al. (2002) [15] indicated that adherence may not be consistently improved, and even the most effective interventions within randomized controlled trials may not produce large improvements in adherence and treatment outcomes. Controlled adherence trials can provide a framework for choosing an adherence assessment method which may be practical in providing the correct care for the elderly patients. Adherence assessment methods within controlled research include patient self-reports, observational checklists, observer subjective reports, and pill counts. Adherence remains important to achieving optimal outcomes with most medication regimens. Medication adherence tools may be categorized as traditional methods such as pill counts, formally designed medication management assessment tests based on patient interview and direct observation of medication consumption, and newer technological aids such as automated dispensers. Some methods can over-estimate medication adherence [16], and examination of prescription fill records can also be inaccurate and may not reflect true adherence levels[15]. Both are easy to administer, but require patient and healthcare provider time and cooperation. With the help of combining a number of approaches, pharmacists may be able to determine adherence difficulties, although no single traditional method of assessing medication adherence is highly reliable [17, 18]. There are some tests available for scoring medication adherence capability, such as the Drug Regimen Unassisted Grading Scale (DRUGS) [19] and the MedTake tool [20]. These tools are based on
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patient interviews and direct observation. They may be more accurate than subjective methods, but they are also subject to observer bias and may not reflect patient behavior in real environments. Today, clinicians can select one or more methods of assessing medication adherence but they need to do so without the benefit of supporting data, particularly for the older population[5]. Also, most new technologies are not yet evaluated in controlled clinical trials [21], although they may be useful in daily clinical practice. It may be useful to investigate the reasons behind non-adherence for a specific patient before deciding on a certain method to improve adherence. Taking all these issues into consideration, a survey was conducted to study how senior people manage their medication and their attitude towards using assisted living facilities or technology to improve medication adherence.
3 Methodology A structured survey was implemented based on literatures on medication adherence and technology acceptance. It was consisted of six parts, including questions on assisted living facility, the medication management services consumption, medication management, technology usage, technology acceptance on medication management technology and demographics. Questions were presented as sentences with the scales indicating “Yes” and “No” responses or agreement levels in Likert Scale, and open ended as well for qualitative data. The results were generated from one hundred online senior participants, who were recruited from 32 online communities. The responses concentrated on the following websites: • An online community that caters to the Baby Boomers generation. There are discussion boards and chat rooms on the site, with discussion topics where they pose questions to gather opinions. The key areas for information like health and well-being, news, expert advice, travel, etc. • An online early retirement and financial independence community. There are many topics under discussion. The key areas includes money, stock, life after fie, health and early retirement, travel, technology, military, cooking, eldercare, cost of living, etc. • A senior forum with a variety of topics, such as Government, Politics, The Weather, Health Concerns, Social Security, etc. • A site targeting senior people with discussion topics on pre-retirement courses, features, travel, health, dating, events, etc. • A nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that helps people 50 and over to improve the quality of their lives. It has grown to 40 million members and has offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It has great variety of topics in all kinds of areas. • A website to provide information, education and support to families caring for aging people. The topics under discussion includes home care and independent living, caregiver, insurance coverage, legal and financial matters, healthy aging, residential options, etc. • A worldwide baby boomers meet-up message board, with many discussion topics.
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We had two rounds of recruitments. One was in 2007 with 50 respondents and the other was in 2008 with 83 respondents. However, the valid records totaled 100, with 36 valid data in the first round and 64 valid data in the second round. 3.1 Participants There were 55 female (58.5%) and 39 male (41.5%) participants, indicating an acceptable balance between the two genders for the study. In the 2008 study, the age mean of the participants was 60.8 (Std. Dev. = 7.2). 5.4% of participants were divorced, 4.3% were never married, 79.6% were now married, 3.2% were separated and 7.5% were widowed. 8.5% of the participants owned a high school degree or equivalent, with 24.5% having some college or technical training beyond high school, with 29.8% owning a bachelor’s degree, and 37.2% owning post graduate or professional degree such as a master’s degree or PhD degree. 74.4% of the participants had their annual household income above $60,000, with 8.1% between 50,000 to $49,999, with 4.7% between $40,000 to $49,999, with 4.7% between $30,000 to $39999, with 3.3% between $20,000 to $29,999, and with 4.7% between 10,000 to $19,999. Participants were from Maryland, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia.
4 Results In the following sections, descriptive statistics concerning interesting findings are discussed. Next, correlation analyses among selected item scores are presented, followed by the discussion of the responses given to the two open-ended questions. 4.1 Descriptive Statistics In the online survey, most participants consider their health in good shape, with 87.6% responding as excellent and good. And 99% of the participants do not have any disabilities. This could be part of the reason that 99% of the participants are not residents in the living facilities. But 28.1% indicate they are likely to live in an assisted living facility in the future. While 44.7% of the participants needed help for being reminded of their prescription medication regularly, 89.5% participants indicated that they do not need help for taking meds though. Medication Management provides a safe and effective means to ensure fulfillment of the medicine regime and avoids many of the complications from multiple medications. For the question of medication management services consumption, 69.4% people indicate that they are likely to choose a living facility with medication management. And 55.8% participants are comfortable with letting a licensed health professional manage their daily prescription medication regime on their behalf. When participants were asked about the acceptance of the case that the assisted living facility uses a staff pharmacist, who is responsible for acquisition and preparation, and/or sterilization of medication forms as well as their distribution, control, inspection, storage, labeling and records maintenance, for the same medicine for all residents, they show high acceptance, with 62.2%, of using a staff pharmacist.
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The online participants showed their experience with technology. 70% of the participants use personal computer several times a day, and 73% of the participants used cell phone on the daily base. But they did not use laptop, pager or PDA that much. There were 58.7% of the participants believed that the technology can help them with managing their medication. 80% of participants believed that the internet is useful for the communicating with their health care professionals, family or friends about health & medical issues. In the second round of survey, questions about technology acceptance on medication management technology were added. These questions are based on 64 valid responds. 61.7% participants are interested in having a medication management system that included some form of an electronic device, such as automated refill reminders, medication event monitoring system, metered dose inhaler adherence aids, electronic medication adherence aids, etc., to provided help for managing their medication. For the opinion concerning using electronic devices, such as cell phone, computer, pager, etc., 7-point Likert scales were used with low point for disagree and high point for agree. Participants agreed that learning to operate electronic devices is easy (Mean = 5.45, Std. Dev. = 1.62); slightly agreed that it would be easy to get electronic devices to do what they want (Mean = 5.26, Std. Dev. = 1.60); slightly believed their interaction with electronic devices is clear and understandable(Mean = 5.41, Std. Dev. = 1.58); agreed that it is easy for them to become skillful at using electronic devices(Mean = 5.53, Std. Dev. = 1.52); slightly agreed that it would be easy to use electronic devices(Mean = 5.38, Std. Dev. = 1.61). Although people were positive about using electronic devices, 88.5% were not using any medication management technology currently. In a further question on using medication management devices, based on the participants who were not users of the devices, the participants indicated they slightly believed using medication management devices would make them feel more comfortable(Mean = 4.55, Std. Dev. = 1.38); slightly believed using medication management devices would be interesting(Mean = 4.68, Std. Dev. = 1.37); slightly believed using medication management devices would be fun(Mean = 4.37, Std. Dev. = 1.43); slightly believed using medication management devices would make their life easier (Mean = 4.28, Std. Dev. = 1.45); slightly believed using medication management devices would reduce the risks(Mean = 4.76, Std. Dev. = 1.54). The finding, parallel with the previous finding, indicated the participants were pretty positive about using technology for medication management. 4.2 Correlations In order to study the correlations among factors of technology acceptance and medication management technology, the participants were asked the following questions: ─ 31. Do you believe that technology can help you with managing your medication? ─ 33. If a medication management system that included some form of an electronic device (such as automated refill reminders, medication event monitoring system, metered dose inhaler adherence aids, electronic medication adherence aids, etc. ) is provided to help you manage your medication, how much would you be interested?
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─ 40. Please choose your opinions on using electronic device for your medication management. ─ 40-1. Using medication management devices would make me feel more comfortable. ─ 40-2. Using medication management devices would be interesting. ─ 40-3. I would have fun using medication management devices. ─ 40-4. Using medication management devices would make my life easier. ─ 40-5. Using medication management devices would reduce the risks.
Table 1 presents the correlation matrix. Table 1. Correlations among factors of technology acceptance and medication management technology Q.31
Q.33
Q.35-1
Q.35-2
Q.35-3
Q.35-4
Q.31
1
Q.33
.582
**
1
.553
**
.466
**
1
.607
**
.502
**
.791
**
1
.676
**
.544
**
.728
**
.881
**
1
.531
**
.867
**
.775
**
.725
**
1
.571
**
.764
**
.653
**
.630
**
**
Q.35-1 Q.35-2 Q.35-3 Q.35-4 Q.35-5
.339 .459
*
**
.768
Q.35-5
1
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). *. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
The factors of technology acceptance over medication management devices, including feeling comfortable, interesting, fun, easy and reducing risks, are statistically significant related to the potential use of medication management technology and their belief in the technology can help them with medication management, with the p values smaller than 0.01. 4.3 Open-Ended Responses Concerning Medication Management Use The reason why the participants were not using any medication management technology was asked as open questions in the questionnaire. Most of the responses indicated that they don’t need the technology currently and they are pretty confident in remembering to take the right medications at the right time. For example, some people have the medications on the kitchen shelf in front and meds are taken at meals. However, in terms of new medication management technology, some participants expressed that they never thought about it or few technologies have been introduced to them. Some of the participants even suspect the technology can be good enough, as quoted: “I don't need it... yet. And despite having used computers since 1964, I am a great believer in ‘keep it simple, stupid’ and am skeptical of any ‘medical management technology’ that involves digital devices.” They prefer to work with their doctor to prescribe
medicines and dosages based on pillbox capabilities. Therefore, medication management technology is pretty new to senior people. Most of them never thought about using technology to assist them with medication management. Also, they are
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expecting evidence or reports showing the advantage of the technology, but in the mean time they should be easy to use. The participants were also asked in the questionnaire on what factors helped them adhere to their recommended medication regime. Basically, they had three ways for managing medication: managed based on memory or routines, managed by medication management tools, or managed by other members in their family. Some people manage their medications on their own, but based on memory or routines, such as using drug package instructions on bottle or taking at the same time of day or night. Some people put their meds in a certain place so they’ll remember to take them. For example, they keep the medications in the kitchen and take them with morning coffees daily. Some people take the meds in a more casual way, such as: “Having the medicine where I see it as I walk by.” Another way that people choose for managing their meds is to utilize some tools, such as paper, pillboxes, calendar, and computer reminders. Some people prefer to ask other family members to remind them of taking meds, for example, “Putting the items out in a visible spot on the counter, my wife reminding me to take them”. In all, people have created many ways of managing their medications out of their daily lives. And they are satisfied with current ways, but also expecting new technology can bring new methods to medication adherence.
5 Conclusion and Future Work In this study, participants are recruited mainly from online forum. These senior people are able to use computer technology and mostly living at home instead of assisted living facilities. They showed confidence in managing their medications. There are mainly three ways for managing medication: managed based on memory or routines, managed by medication management tools (such as paper, pillboxes, calendar, and computer reminders), or managed by other members in their family. According to the study, medication management technology was in a low usage rate. Most of the responds indicated that they don’t need the technology because they were pretty confident in remembering to take the right medicine at the right time. And they didn’t see much medication management technology available to them. However, they indicated their interests in using technology to help them with medication management. For the new technology acceptance, the participants show great confidence in using medication management technology. From the technology perspective, ease of use, fun of use, comfortable when using technology, low risks are factors that affect the acceptance of medication management technology. Therefore, medication management technology is pretty new to senior people. Most of them never thought about using technology to assist them with medication management. Also, they were expecting evidence or reports showing the advantage of the technology as well as its ease of use. User preferences and usability issues should be considered as major issues for designing the new medication management technologies. The step of this study will focus on senior people who lived in the assisted living facilities. They may need help on the medication adherence. It would be interesting to see their response to using a service or technology for medication management. They
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would be the major potential users if the medication management technology becomes more prevalent, as they present a large percentage of the senior population, and their medication intake may involve caregivers as well. Therefore, their opinions and requests on the design of technology would be useful and helpful for the development of the medication management technologies.
References 1. Bergob, M.: Drug use among senior Canadians. Geriatric Medicine 10, 296–299 (1990) 2. Coambs, R.B., Jensen, P., Her, M.H.: A summary review of the scientific literature on the prevalence, consequences, and health costs of nonadherence and inappropriate use of prescription medication in Canada, http://www.pmac-acim.org/special-report/coambs/c_sty.html 3. Kuhm, M.: Pharmacotherapeutics: A Nursing Process Approach. FA Davis, Philadelphia (1998) 4. Medication administration: how safe is your patient? Am. J. Nurs. 10, 44–59 (1995) 5. Orwig, D., Brandt, N., Gruber-Baldini, A.L.: Medication management assessment for older adults in the community. Gerontologist 46, 661–668 (2006) 6. Alarcon, T., Barcena, A., Gonzalez-Montalvo, J.I., Penalosa, C., Salgado, A.: Factors predictive of outcome on admission to an acute geriatric ward. Age Ageing 28, 429–432 (1999) 7. Courtman, B.J., Stallings, S.B.: Characterization of drug-related problems in elderly patients on admission to a medical ward. Canadian Journal of Hospital Pharmacists 48, 161–166 (1995) 8. Satish, S., Winograd, C.H., Chavez, C., Bloch, D.A.: Geriatric targeting criteria as predictors of survival and health care utilization. Journal of the American Geriatric Society 44, 914–921 (1995) 9. Ebbesen, J., Buajordet, I., Erikssen, J., Brors, O., Hilberg, T., Svaar, H., Sandvik, L.: Drug-related deaths in a department of internal medicine. Arch. Intern. Med. 161, 2317– 2323 (2001) 10. Klein, D.E., Wustrack, G., Schwartz, A.: Medication Adherence: Many Conditions, A Common Problem. In: Proceedings of the Human Factors And Ergonomics Society 50th Annual Meeting (2006) 11. Peterson, A.M., Dragon, C.J.: Improving medication adherence in patients receiving home health. Home Healthcare Consultant 5, 25–27 (1998) 12. Col, N., Fanale, J.E., Kronholm, P.: The role of medication noncompliance and adverse drug reactions in hospitalizations of the elderly. Arch. Intern. Med. 150, 841–845 (1990) 13. Cooper, J.W.: Drug-related problems in the elderly patient. Generations 18, 19–27 (1994) 14. Miller, C.A.: The connection between drugs and falls in elders. Geriatric Nursing 23, 109– 110 (2002) 15. Haynes, R.B., McDonald, H., Garg, A.X.: Interventions for helping patients to follow prescriptions for medications. Cochrane Database System Review 2, CD000011 (2002) 16. Cramer, J.A.: Microelectronic systems for monitoring and enhancing patient compliance with medication regimens. Drugs 49, 321–327 (1995) 17. Roter, D.L., Hall, J.A., Merisca, R., Nordstrom, B., Cretin, D., Svarstad, B.: Effectiveness of interventions to improve patient compliance: a meta-analysis. Med. Care 36, 1138–1161 (1998)
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18. Secnik, K., Pathak, D.S., Cohen, J.M.: Postcard and telephone reminders for unclaimed prescriptions; A comparative evaluation using survival analysis. Journal of the American Pharmacists Association (Washington) 40, 243–251 (2000) 19. Edelberg, H.K., Shallenberger, E., Wei, J.Y.: Medication management capacity in highly functioning community-living older adults: Detection of early deficits. American Geratric Society 47, 592–596 (1999) 20. Raehl, C.L., Bond, C.A., Woods, T., Patry, R.A., Sleeper, R.B.: Individualized drug use assessment in the elderly. Pharmacotherapy 22, 1239–1248 (2002) 21. MacLaughlin, E.J., Raehl, C.L., Treadway, A.K., Sterling, T.L., Zoller, D.P., Bond, C.A.: Assessing medication adherence in the elderly: which tools to use in clinical practice? Drugs Aging 22, 231–255 (2005)
Author Index
Aleven, Vincent 593 Almeida, Leonelo Dell Anhol 653 Almeida Neris, Vˆ ania Paula de 653 Andersen, Bjorn 413 Aoyagi, Saizo 3 Arboleda Diaz, Ana Maria 423 Arend, Udo 391 Avetisova, Anastasiya A. 632 Bakharia, Aneesha 364 Bansal, Lipika 663 Barberio, Vitaliano 295 Barnes, Susan B. 452 Bartolino, Jamie 471 Bonacin, Rodrigo 515 Braman, James 423 Brandtzæg, Petter Bae 143 Breitfuss, Werner 153 Buecheler, Thierry 23 Bygstad, Bendik 191 Calani Baranauskas, Maria Cec´ılia 653 Cha, Jeong-Won 305, 346 Chakraborty, Joyram 162 Chen, Qiuhong 710 Chen, Vivian Hsueh Hua 567 Chu, Kimberly 641 Cipolla Ficarra, Francisco V. 172 Conlon, Michael 432 Cotton, Bob 312 Dai, Yusen 326 Davis, Alex 442 Davis, James 322 Denenberg, Darren A. 162 Desurvire, Heather 557 De Cindio, Fiorella 673 Dohi, Hiroshi 182 Duh, Henry Been-Lirn 567 Egert, Christopher A. Eune, JuHyun 525 Faiola, Anthony 574 Falstein, Noah 462 Fellner, Dieter W. 33
452
Ferebee, Susan Shepherd 322 Flores, Luciano Vargas 381 Fradinho, Manuel 413 Fu, Kai 326 Fujino, Hidenori 3 Fujita, Kinya 207, 272 Gao, Qin 326 Geddes, Norman D. 91 Ghafourian, Mahsa 13 Ghinea, Gheorghita 191 Gould, Emilie W. 336 Guan, Xiaohong 401 Gurses, Ayse P. 690 Haefliger, Stefan 197 Han, Yo-Sub 305, 346 Hansen, Linda 162 Hasler, B´eatrice S. 23 Hayashi, Elaine Cristina Saito Heike, Masayuki 207 Heim, Jan 143 Herczeg, Michael 391 Hernandez, Roberto 488 Hern´ andez, Rocael 488 Hofmann, Cristian 33 Hollender, Nina 33 Hoppe, Aurelio Faustino 381 Huhtam¨ aki, Jukka 43
653
Ikeda, Shingo 374 Isa´ıas, Pedro 354 Ishii, Hirotake 3 Ishii, Yutaka 216 Ishizuka, Mitsuru 153, 182, 584 Jacobs, Stephen 452 J¨ ager, Peter M. 197 Jameson, Jill 226 Jinman, Andrew 423 Johnson, Kirsten A. 471 Jones, Christopher 593 Kadenbach, Daniel 479 Kampylis, Pan 364
730
Author Index
Kangyal, Andr´ as 53 Karimi, Hassan A. 13 Khong, Chee Weng 641 Kim, Hong-Gee 525 Kim, Julia 593 Kim, Laehyun 305, 346 Kindsm¨ uller, Martin Christof Kleiner, Carsten 479 Kwok, Trevor M.Y. 682
62, 391
Lambropoulos, Niki 364 Lanam¨ aki, Arto 236 Lau, Annie Y.S. 682 Laufer, L´ aszl´ o 53 Lazar, Jonathan 82, 134 Lee, Hyun-woo 305 Lefrere, Paul 413 Lehikoinen, Jaakko 246 Li, Mingyang 401 Liu, Huanglingzi 72 Liu, Ying 72, 710 Lomi, Alessandro 295 Mannonen, Petri 117 Martins, Maria Cec´ılia 515 Matsuda, Seiya 374 Matsumura, Kyouhei 272 Md. Noor, Nor Laila 108, 535 Mehad, Shafie 535 Meiselwitz, Gabriele 82, 507 Miletto, Evandro Manara 381 Milz, Jan 62 Miranda, Leonardo Cunha de 653 Miranda, Paula 354 Mitina, Olga V. 632 Moen, David 690 Nakagami, Hikaru 265 Namgoong, Hyun 525 Nelson, Melissa 690 Neviarouskaya, Alena 584 Niitamo, Veli-Pekka 413 Nitsche, Marcus 391 Norcio, Anthony F. 162 Nyk¨ anen, Ossi 43 Ogan, Amy 593 Ogawa, Katsuhiko 126 Olsson, Thomas 246 Osaki, Kouzi 216 Ozok, A. Ant 690, 719
P¨ aiv¨ arinta, Tero 236 Pastor, Rafael 488 Paul, Sheila 641 Pavlika, Vasos 432 Peraboni, Cristian 673 Peterson, Katherine 256 Pfeifer, Rolf 23 Phillips, Colleen L. 91 Phukan, Anjali 101 P´ıfano, Sara 354 Pimenta, Marcelo Soares 381 Pozzi, Francesca 498 Prendinger, Helmut 153, 584 Pusey, Portia 507 Raybourn, Elaine M. 545, 603 Razali, Suriyati 108 Read, Timothy 488 Reichen, Philip 197 Reis, J´ ulio Cesar dos 515 Romo, Joaquim 172 Ros, Salvador 488 Ruetz, Nicolle 462 Sakuda, Hiroshi 3 Salonen, Jaakko 43 Schmidt, Johannes 62 Schmitz, Christoph 191 Shimoda, Hiroshi 3 Shirazi, Farid 700 Siek, Katie A. 256 Simms, Justin T. 91 Sims, Ed 282 Smyslova, Olga 574 Song, Mina 525 Sugiman, Toshio 3 Takeuchi, Yugo 265 Tanaka, Takahiro 207, 272 Taylor, Glenn 282 Taylor, Jacqui 613 Taylor, James 613 Ter¨ as, Sampo 117 Tinwell, Angela 622 Toivola, Hannu 246 Tsuchihashi, Misa 126 V¨ aa ¨n¨ anen-Vainio-Mattila, Kaisa van Roosmalen, Linda 13
246
Author Index Vincenti, Giovanni 423 Vivas, Ernesto 172 Voiskounsky, Alexander E. von Krogh, Georg 197
Wei, June 690 Wentz, Brian 134 Wiberg, Charlotte 557 Willis, Matthew 545 Wong, Chui Yin 641 Wu, Huijuan 690, 719
632
W¨ aljas, Minna 246 Wan Adnan, Wan Adilah 108 Wan Mohd. Isa, Wan Abdul Rahim Wang, Bin 72 Wang, Jie 710 Wang, Wei 72, 710 Wang, Xia 710 Watanabe, Tomio 216
535
Yamamoto, Tomohito Yoshikawa, Hidekazu Yuan, Ruixi 401 Zhao, Li
401
374 3
731
