IE486 Lab2 223356 PDF

Preview

Summary

IE486 Lab2 223356...

Description

1. Color can be used in a variety of places in course design and for a variety of purposes. Please visit the “Encycolorpedia” at https://encycolorpedia.com. This is a coding system for color references. a. What is the hexadecimal reference for the paint color, “Chickery Chick”? For “Crayola Periwinkle”? For “Old Gold”? The hexadecimal reference for paint color “Chickery Chick” is #fef06a. (“Valspar Pain - Chickery Chick,” n.d.) For the paint color “Crayola Periwinkle”, the hexadecimal reference is #c3cde6. (“Crayola Periwinkle,” n.d.) Lastly, #cfb53b is the hexadecimal reference for pain color “Old Gold”. (“Old Gold,” n.d.) b. What is the engineering design advantage of using the hexadecimal code over the color name in these examples? There are two main ways of representing a color for display on web interfaces and browsers - hexadecimal and decimal. “The format (‘notation’) used on web pages is #RRGGBB, where RR is how much Red (using two hexadecimal digits), GG is how much Green, and BB how much Blue.” (“Hexadecimal Colors,” n.d. , para 5) Here, the hexadecimals for Red, Green and Blue range from 0 to F and decimals range from 0 to 15. For example, the color blue would be represented as #0000FF in the hexadecimal format. Hexadecimal codes are unique identifiers for each color while the names are not. For example, while I was able to easily find a single result for “Chickery Chick” and “Crayola Periwinkle”colors, I found over 10 results containing the phrase “Old Gold” on the Encycolorpedia website. The hexadecimal references reflect the exact and specific amount of red, green and blue. According to a Quora user, Theodore Fracker, “a hex value of a color code only needs 6 characters, while names may require more than 6 characters. Not a big thing nowadays, however, if you’re coding, and want to keep webpages to a minimum, hex coding will save you bytes, and will look more structured and organized.” (Fracker, 2017, para 1). Using a color name can create unnecessary confusion in the design process. To simplify interpretation, it is best to use hexadecimal references instead of color names in engineering design.

2. Brightspace allows the student user to view and integrate the course calendar according to one of several views, and also to support integration with a student's external (non-Brightspace) calendar app. (See the video at https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=3ORpfGXbJ_o&list=PLxHabmZzFY6mtggGZAitZ61kmpS-pMIaM&index=5 As one of several student-focused videos on how to use Brightspace.) a. Determine how the selection of the proper calendar format best satisfies design principle 12.16 in the textbook (pg. 478) and explain why. Principle 12.16 states “Let the user control the amount and detail of information presented.” (Lehto & Landry, 2013, p. 478). This principle refers mainly to the idea of providing only the necessary amount & relevant information to the user of the product or service. The Brightspace calendar views or formats allow the user to do exactly that. By providing several viewing options (Agenda, Day, Week, Month, List) and additional filters by event type (Assignments, Checklists, Discussions, Grades, Materials, Modules, Quizzes and Surveys), the user has the ability and freedom to pick the best suited format that meets the purpose of their tasks. For example, a student might only be interested in looking at the quizzes scheduled in the current week. Therefore, calendar format selection in the Brightspace calendar satisfies design principle 12.16. This also helps the user with sensory register limitations. The student should not be overwhelmed with the amount of information presented to them at one time. This will ensure that they can absorb the information presented and effectively use the functionality. “Sensory memory is the information you get from your sense, your eyes and ears. When attention is paid to something in the environment it is then converted to short-term memory.” (Mcleod, 1970, para. 1)

b. How does this approach satisfy principle 12.17? Why? Principle 12.17 states “Information about the current or desired state or condition of a system, item, or environment is more likely to be useful if the state or condition is (a) unusual, (b) has recently changed, (c) is likely to change, (d) is expected not to be known by the user of the display, or (e) is not easily observed.” (Lehto & Landry, 2013, p. 478)

The approach mentioned above in part a of question 2 also satisfies principle 12.17 for the following reasons. As a student progresses through the course material over the course of the semester, the content as well as event types (Assignments, Quizzes, Discussions, etc.) are likely to be added to the student’s calendar for the particular course. This process flow and details are explained in the Youtube video. (“Navigate Brightspace Learning Environment”, 2018) While they are enrolled in multiple classes, a student might not be able to manually keep track and memorize the schedule (due dates, availability, etc.). In addition to that, there is a possibility of changes being made to these events due to various circumstances. The user, a student in this case, is not expected to know this information. The Brightspace calendar allows them to view this information and observe the changes that are being made. Personally, I have utilized this functionality in Brightspace and Blackboard Learning Management System previously to stay organized with my coursework. Since my first semester, I have been enrolled in 18 credit hours and with over 6 classes, information can get lost and slip your mind. Organizing your assignments on the platform and then exporting that calendar to other channels (Google Calendar, Apple calendar) is extremely helpful. 3. Let’s assume that due to a rapidly evolving situation (i.e., a natural disaster, pandemic, etc.), Dr. Caldwell needs to make an announcement on Brightspace regarding immediate actions that are being taken. He especially wants to draw attention to the fact that the in-class portion of the class is suspended. For example: Please note that class will not be meeting. Supposing that later in the semester, in-class instruction is able to resume, he releases a message reading: In-person instruction will resume on Monday. a. Explain why, in terms of Principles 12.5, 12.7, 12.8, and / or 12.21, Prof. Caldwell uses this type of color coding scheme announcements. Principle 12.21 says “Color coding is a good tool for conveying relationships between display elements. Color also conveys a limited set of meanings in certain contexts.” (Lehto & Landry, 2013, p. 480). In this case, Prof. Caldwell has color coded two statements to convey important announcements to the class via Brightspace. The first announcement,

indicating disruption in normal class scheduled meeting time, is coded in a color close to purple. On the other hand, the second announcement about in-person instruction resuming is coded in a color similar to green. This type of color coding scheme is good practice according to the design principles because, “in general, however, several studies show that people tend to associate the color red with danger, yellow with intermediate levels of hazard, and green or blue with safety.” (Lehto & Landry, 2013, p. 480) Another important consideration while color coding is to account for metaphors and cultural or domain conventions. There are certain messages that are conveyed through the use of certain colors. For example, “‘bright is active’ can be used to create quickly understood and reliably remembered.” (Beer et all., n.d., p. 8)

b. How are Levels 1-3 of situation awareness are being addressed by providing this type of Brightspace announcement? The three levels of situation awareness include “perception of elements in the environment, comprehension of that information, and the ability to project future events based on this understanding” (“Situational Awareness Analysis,” n.d.). Students will be able to perceive the information presented in the emergency situation by reading the announcements and discussing it with their classmates. Next, they can try to comprehend the effects of suspension of in-class instruction and what it means for their progress in the class. This requires an analysis of the data (eg: how many days or sessions the class will not meet etc.) and information provided to form decisions and make choices. Lastly, based on the information perceived through both the announcements and analysis, the student should now be able to predict future events that will take place Situation awareness and decision making are very closely related as highlighted in lecture 6 by professor Caldwell - “one has to detect, perceive, organize, and interpret signals from the environment; relate those signals to meanings relevant to what is known about the task and environment through past association; determine and project these meanings into a reasonable future; and interact with any task interfaces and system controls in order to manipulate engineered artifacts to respond accordingly.” (Caldwell, 2020a, p. 1)

Addressing the three levels or stages of situation awareness is critical as a failure to do so might create errors due to lack of situation awareness in students. A very topical and relevant example of this is the shutdown of campus back in March 2020 where students were forced to move to online-only or distance learning models for all courses due to the disruption caused by the novel COVID-19 pandemic. Having experienced that as a student myself, I can say that timely announcements and updates from the instructional staff helped lower anxiety levels and assured me that I would still be able to effectively learn the course content, meet the learning objectives and complete the assignments that would allow me to achieve the grade that I desired. c. Is this an example of a persistent display? Why or why not? Yes, this is indeed an example of persistent display. In Lecture 7, Professor Caldwell discusses tasks and interfaces specifically HumanInteractive Systems (HIS), Task-Interactive Systems (TIS) and mentions “When looking at computer-intensive systems, both HIS and TIS functions are managed by the computer”. (Caldwell, 2020b, p. 1) In this case, Brightspace and the user’s computer operating system would handle both HIS and TIS. However, Professor Caldwell has to make two important considerations when he publishes the announcements: persistence and sensory register limitations. Persistence is described as a signal that can be detected and brought back when it vanishes. (Caldwell, 2020b, p. 2). In our example, a signal would be the announcements that are being made to notify students of when in-person instruction is paused and when it will resume. Hence, it is an example of a persistent display. Persistent displays have an effect on visual sensitivity to changes in graphical gauges. Studies have been conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the persistence display under different magnitudes of level changes. They increase the users' visual sensitivity such that their “ability to detect changes in graphical gauges was greater compared to traditional forms of display across all levels of change magnitude.” (Portnoy & Madhavan, 2009, p. 1)

4. The actual process of creating the announcements described in Question 3 might look something like the following video.

a. Assume that Dr. Caldwell uses the color “Electric Purple” for the class suspension message. What is the hexadecimal color reference for this color? Using the named colors search functionality on Encycolorpedia, the hexadecimal reference for “Electric Purple” is found to be #bf00ff. (“Electric purple,” n.d.) b. How can these messages be considered a “control”? Which type of control best describes the use of these messages? These messages or announcements can be considered as an example of ‘manual control’. A task can be described as manual control if the designer or operator is manually manipulating a control (message) to attain a particular goal. (Lehto & Landry, 2013, p. 426) In the first message, Professor Caldwell’s goal is to notify the students that class instruction will be paused due to an emergency situation on campus. so , he uses the Brightspace system to manually create an announcement that will be sent out to each student enrolled in the class. He repeats this task again to notify students that class instruction will resume on Monday. Manual control typically involves a human operator, a display, a control, a computer, sensor, actuator and a task. (“Manual Control I,” n.d.) Hence, these messages can be considered a manual control as they have all the required components. c. Provide a GOMS task description for selecting this color for the text in the announcement from the color palette shown in Figure 5. Note: there are at least two methods for selecting this color in the color palette, so you must also indicate an appropriate selection rule in your GOMS task description. GOMS stands for Goals, Operators, Methods and Selection Rules. It is described as a “modeling technique (more specifically, a family of modeling techniques) that analyzes the user complexity of interactive systems. It is used by software designers to model user behavior.” (Hochstein, 2002, p. 1) In this example, we can develop a GOMS task description for selecting the Electric Purple color from the color palette by creating a main goal and subgoals within that. Since there is more than one way to pick the desired color in the figure shown, we will need to write alternative methods and activate one of them when appropriate using a selection rule.

GOAL: SELECT-COLOR GOAL: IDENTIFY-METHOD IF hexadecimal color references is known, THEN use HX-METHOD; ELSE use PICK-METHOD GOAL: USE-HX-METHOD GOAL: TYPE-TEXT GOAL: POSITION-CURSOR-AT-INSERTION-POINT MOVE-CURSOR-TO-INSERTION-POINT CLICK-MOUSE-BUTTON CHECK-PREVIEW VERIFY POSITION TYPE-HEX-CODE GOAL: USE-PICK-METHOD GOAL: IDENTIFY-COLOR MOVE-CURSOR-TO-COLOR CLICK-LEFT-MOUSE-BUTTON RELEASE-MOUSE-BUTTON MOVE-CURSOR-TO-COLOR-BAR ADJUST-TO-HEX-CODE VERIFY-COLOR-SELECTION CHECK PREVIEW

References (APA): 1. Valspar Paint Chickery Chick. (n.d.). Retrieved October 02, 2020, from https://encycolorpedia.com/fef06a 2. Periwinkle Crayola (n.d.). Retrieved October 02, 2020, from https://encycolorpedia.com/c3cde6 3. Old gold. (n.d.). Retrieved October 02, 2020, from https://encycolorpedia.com/cfb53b 4. Hexadecimal Colors. (n.d.). Retrieved October 2, 2020, from https://www.mathsisfun.com/hexadecimal-decimal-colors.html 5. Fracker, T. (2017, August 5). Why do we generally use hex color codes instead of just writing the color names in HTML? Retrieved October 2, 2020, from https://www.quora.com/Why-do-we-generally-use-hex-color-codes-instead-ofjust-writing-the-color-names-in-HTML 6. Lehto, M. R., & Landry, S. J. (2013). Introduction to human factors and ergonomics for engineers (2nd ed.). Boca Raton, Flor.: CRC. 7. Navigate Brightspace Learning Environment - Manage Your Calendar - Learner [Video file]. (2018, February 1). Retrieved October 2, 2020, from https://youtu.be/3ORpfGXbJ_o?list=PLxHabmZzFY6mtggGZAitZ61kmpS-pMIaM 8. Situational Awareness Analysis. (n.d.). Retrieved October 2, 2020, from http://hfmethods.weebly.com/situational-awareness-analysis.html 9. Electric purple. (n.d.). Retrieved October 2, 2020, from https://encycolorpedia.com/bf00ff 10. Hochstein, L. (2002, October). GOMS. Retrieved October 2, 2020, from https://cefns.nau.edu/~edo/Classes/CS477_WWW/Docs/TechArticles/GOMS and Keystroke-Level Model.pdf 11. Caldwell, B. S. (2020a, September 9). Decision Making and Situation Awareness [Lecture notes]. BrightSpace. https://purdue.brightspace.com/d2l/le/content/112955/viewContent/3861915/View 12. Caldwell, B. S. (2020b, September 9). Tasks and Interfaces [Lecture notes]. BrightSpace. https://purdue.brightspace.com/d2l/le/content/112955/viewContent/3893021/View 13. Beer, D., Scott, C., & Nixon, M. (n.d.). Applying Color Science to Design Effective Human-Machine Interfaces. Retrieved October 2, 2020, from https://www.controlglobal.com/assets/12WPpdf/1210109-beer-sallman-scottnixon-hmi.pdf 14. Manual Control I. (n.d.). Retrieved October 2, 2020, from https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/aeronautics-and-astronautics/16-400-human-factorsengineering-fall-2011/lecture-notes/MIT16_400F11_lec09.pdf 15. Portnoy, F., & Madhavan, P. (2009). Using Persistence Display to Increase Change Detection in Process Control Graphical Gauges. Proceedings of the

Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 53(4), 354–358. https://doi.org/10.1177/154193120905300440 16. Mcleod, S. (1970, January 01). A-level Revision Notes AQA(A). Retrieved October 2, 2020, from https://www.simplypsychology.org/a-level-memory.html...