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Dissertation Information for Jill Carol Gerhardt-Powals

NAME:
- Jill Carol Gerhardt-Powals

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science

SCHOOL:
- Drexel University (USA) (1993)

ADVISORS:
- Stephen J. Andriole

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Katherine McCain
- Judith Ahrens
- Joel Adler
- Maxwell Hughes
- Richard Harold Lytle

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: Cognitive engineering for enhanced user-computer performance

Abstract: Many computer systems today are not satisfactory to their users. One reason for this may be that they are not designed with reference to how humans process information. In addition, quite often the user interface does not get the attention that it deserves, even though to the user, the interface is probably the most important part of the computer system.

This research addresses the above problem by designing a cognitively-engineered interface. Cognitive-engineering is leveraging empirical findings from the cognitive sciences and applying them to the design of a user-computer interface.

It was hypothesized that the cognitively-engineered interface would be faster and more accurate. Additionally, it would have less workload and be preferred to interfaces that are not cognitively-engineered.

To test the hypotheses an experiment was conducted with three interfaces designed for the same purpose by three different entities. One of the interfaces was cognitively engineered.

The experiment took place on individual computers. The participants were shown an interface screen and asked a question. The accuracy of their response was recorded in the computer as well as the amount of time that it took them to respond. They also completed a subjective workload tool on the computer called TLX, a validated tool developed by NASA. Finally they were asked to list the interfaces in order of their preference.

All of the hypotheses were confirmed. The cognitively-engineered interface was faster, more accurate, less workload, and preferred to the other two interfaces. The results were also analogous to the extent to which the interfaces used the cognitive principles that were deliberately applied to the cognitive interface.

The contributions of this research include a methodology that can be employed in designing a cognitively-engineered interface and 10 cognitive design principles that could be applied if a designer's goals include accuracy, speed, low workload, and a preference for the interface.

MPACT Scores for Jill Carol Gerhardt-Powals

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:02:57

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Students under Jill Carol Gerhardt-Powals

ADVISEES:
- None

COMMITTEESHIPS:
- None