User-centered Information Modeling

User‐centered Informa0on Modeling Bruce Esrig Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011

User‐centered informa0on modelingIn order to design a solu0on, let’s ...• Tell the stories that maFer to our actors because of their goals.• Read the stories for informa0on about their tasks and the  knowledge they need to work with• Formalize some of the concepts that occur in the stories• Organize the concepts using meaningful structural  rela0onships• Annotate the rela0onships with logical implica0ons• Check the results against the stories Bruce Esrig. Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 2

Warmup• Informa0on modeling• Knowledge representa0on (will expand)• Goals and tasks• Stories• Actors• User‐centered informa0on modeling Bruce Esrig. Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 3

Informa0on modelingInforma0on modeling is the art of ﬁnding out what you need to talk about and how it is structured Bruce Esrig. Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 4

Knowledge representa0onKnowledge representa0on is the aFempt to capture essen0al concepts, individuals, and the rela0onships among them as data• Tabular data• Tree‐structured data• Diagrams with bubbles or boxes, lines, labels, and  layout• Seman0c web or linked data Bruce Esrig. Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 5

Goals and tasksGoals are the things that users or other actors wish to accomplish.Tasks are the sequences of steps they can use to accomplish them.• For today, let’s ignore postures, such as appealing  helplessness, and the whole subject of persuasion, i.e.  inspiring others to want what you want. Bruce Esrig. Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 6

StoriesStories explain paths that users and other actors follow from wherever they may be to a diﬀerent condi0on in which their goal is achieved. Bruce Esrig. Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 7

ActorsActors are the players in the story.• Their quali0es, behaviors, and interac0ons may be modeled,  but that is not the kind of informa0on we are modeling today.• Instead, we are focusing on informa0on about the domain  under discussion and working to understand how the stories  and the actors inform us about the structure of that  informa0on. Bruce Esrig. Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 8

Knowledge representa0on• In the beginning ...• Iden0ty• Types• AFributes• Rela0onships Bruce Esrig. Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 9

In the beginning ... The things we wish to talk about are undiﬀeren0ated. We may recognize them,  but we don’t know what they are, or anything about them. We may even share  a common experience of one of them and s0ll not have a name for it. Bruce Esrig. Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 10

Iden0ty 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 To represent knowledge, we must ﬁnd something to write down to represent  each thing or phenomenon that we know about and wish to model. The root of knowledge modeling is establishing iden0ty. We need a way of  agreeing on which item is which. Bruce Esrig. Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 11

Types Un0l now, we’ve said nothing about what the items in the model can be. They  could be individuals, concepts, events, phenomena, quali0es, constraints, ... A simple technique for organizing items is to ﬁnd similari0es among them and  deﬁne groupings that each of which contains only items that are similar in a  certain regard. We might call such a grouping a type (or a concept). Bruce Esrig. Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 12

Types and Iden0ty 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Types can be built by finding the individuals that belong to the type. You could  imagine iden0fying a batch of individuals, and considering those that meet  certain selec0on criteria to be part of the type. Alterna0vely, you might start with a descrip0on, and only later find out which  individuals fit the descrip0on, if any. Bruce Esrig. Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 13

AFributes 18 32 23 Color: green 7 Texture: rough Loca0on: (geo‐coordinates) Neighbor: Item 18 Type: (simple type such as green dot or             pointer into type hierarchy, such as Dot > Green) Some aFributes have simple values that you may not be  modeling as individuals, such as the names of colors or textures. Bruce Esrig. Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 14

Rela0onships 18 32 23 Color: green 7 Texture: rough Loca0on: (geo‐coordinates) Neighbor: Item 18 Type: (simple type such as green dot or             pointer into type hierarchy, such as Dot > Green) We say we have a rela0onship when the related value is an individual in the model. Bruce Esrig. Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 15

References• Mental Models (Indi Young)• Informa0on Architecture for the WWW• Informa0on Modeling Concepts and Guidelines• The UML Language Reference Manual• Seman0c Web for the Working Ontologist• Designing for Naviga0on• Mental Notes cards (what we’re not talking about) Bruce Esrig. Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 16

User‐centered informa0on modelingIn order to design a solu0on, let’s try to ...• Tell the stories that maFer to our actors because of their goals.• Read the stories for informa0on about their tasks and the  knowledge they need to work with• Formalize some of the concepts that occur in the stories• Organize the concepts using meaningful structural  rela0onships• Annotate the rela0onships with logical implica0ons• Check the results against the stories Bruce Esrig. Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 17

Agenda• Problem statement (qualita0ve)• Analyzing the problem statement• Problem statement (formal)• Method• Applica0on of method• Exercise• Solu0on• Case study Bruce Esrig. Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 18

Problem statement (qualita0ve)Suppose (just suppose) that a child has a computer, school work to do on the computer, and a desire to play.The same computer can be used to work or play, so a parent wishes to structure the situa0on.Can we design sohware that will dis0nguish between work ac0vi0es and play ac0vi0es, and keep track of 0me, to structure the ac0vity on behalf of the parent? Bruce Esrig. Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 19

Problem statement (qualita0ve)Complica0ons:• Work and play may be interleaved• Some 0mes are too early and too late• How to decide what sites are allowed for work and for play• What if the system decides incorrectly?Complica0ons excluded from the discussion:• More computers in the house• More users in the family Bruce Esrig. Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 20

Analyzing the problem statementUser• Goals and tasks• Objects manipulated• Model of objects• Func0ons that aﬀect objects Bruce Esrig. Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 21

Analyzing the problem statement (example)Parent• Goal: Control access to the internet• Objects: Web sites• Model: Web site has subject maFer• Func0ons: Allow/block web site Bruce Esrig. Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 22

Problem statement (formal)An applica0on is needed that controls Internet access  for various audiences.Access to a site is based on the subjects that appear on  the site.Create a model that illustrates the informa0on  rela0onships among audiences, sites, and subjects. Bruce Esrig. Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 23

Method• State model in more detail – Types of objects – Proper0es of objects of each type – Rela0onships among types of objects• Apply model and test it out• Reﬁne (or debug!) as needed Bruce Esrig. Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 24

Applica0on: Deﬁne objects Users Sites Bruce Esrig, Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 25

Applica0on: Deﬁne aFributes Users Subjects Sites Bruce Esrig, Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 26

Applica0on: Deﬁne aFributes People Sites Subjects Subjects People are interested in subjects Sites are about subjects Bruce Esrig, Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 27

Applica0on: Deﬁne rela0onships Person Site then the site is allowed for the person. Subjects Subjects If all subjects the site is about  are allowed for the person, Person is allowed to view subjects Site is about subjects Our conceptual model of the world has people and sites. Our analysis model examines a person and a site. Bruce Esrig, Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 28

Applica0on: Deﬁne rela0onships User Site then the site is allowed for the user. Subjects Subjects If all subjects the site is about  are allowed for the user, User is allowed to view subjects Site is about subjects Aboutness is actually calculated by analyzing subjects  that are men0oned on pages at a domain. Then all the subjects that appear on a site are  aFributed to the site. Bruce Esrig, Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 29

Applica0on: Deﬁne rela0onships User Site then the site is allowed for the user. Subjects Subjects If all subjects the site men0ons  are allowed for the persona, User is allowed to view subjects Site men$ons subjects What we are thinking about changes from people (in general), to person (in par0cular), to user (thinking about the system), and  next to persona (thinking about a way that a person uses a system). Bruce Esrig, Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 30

Applica0on: Deﬁne rela0onships Persona Site then the site is allowed for the persona. Subjects Subjects If all subjects the site men0ons  are allowed for the persona, Persona is allowed to view subjects Site men0ons subjects (In this par0cular example, one user account can serve one or more  people on one or more computers by giving each person one or  more personas.) Bruce Esrig, Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 31

User‐centered informa0on modelingIn order to design a solu0on, we ...• Tell the stories that maFer to our actors because of their goals.• Read the stories for informa0on about their tasks and the  knowledge they need to work with• Formalize some of the concepts that occur in the stories• Organize the concepts using meaningful structural  rela0onships• Annotate the rela0onships with logical implica0ons• Check the results against the stories Bruce Esrig. Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 32

Interes0ng surprises• Wikipedia.com and wikipedia.org have to be entered  as separate excep0ons (to allow access).• Gmail contains media and entertainment, so a parent  can’t rule out all media and entertainment and s0ll  allow a child to use Gmail while doing homework.• Kids accept an amazing variety of game sites ... hFps://www.cia.gov/kids‐page/games/index.html Bruce Esrig. Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 33

ExerciseAdd one constraint:• Time bounds per audience Bruce Esrig. Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 34

Solu0on: Deﬁne aFributes Persona Site Subjects Subjects Time  Time of day,  constraint Elapsed 0me Bruce Esrig, Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 35

Solu0on: Deﬁne objects Persona Site Subjects Subjects Clock and  Timer Time  Time of day,  constraint Elapsed 0me Bruce Esrig, Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 36

Solu0on: Deﬁne rela0onships Persona Site then the site is allowed for the persona. Subjects Subjects If all site subjects are allowed  for the persona Clock and  Timer AND Time  Time is within bounds Time of day,  constraint Elapsed 0me Bruce Esrig, Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 37

Case studyMul$ple  Persona Sitepersonas  Site is allowed per user account Subjects Subjects All site subjects are allowedUser account (1) Some sites contain a mix of allowed  and not‐allowed subjects. (2) Some$mes the constraint is on the  Timer Clock reason for use (entertainment vs  study), not the subject. Time  AND Elapsed 0me constraint Elapsed 0me is within bounds AND Time  Time of day is within bounds Time of day constraint Need two user accounts because diﬀ people have diﬀ $me constraints Bruce Esrig, Talk at UPA NJ, 16 March 2011 38

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User-centered Information Modeling

by Bruce Esrig on Mar 17, 2011

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User-centered Information Modeling — Presentation Transcript