Details about the study
First Year Report
During my first year, I have done a presentation within the department. The HCI group, which is under the supervision of Alan will be presenting some of their work. I am presenting some literature background about few papers I have read regarding PIM area. You can view my presentation at Human's site.
First year report consists of thorough literature review of my work. At this time, I am still searching for the focus or what I am happy to work with for the next 2 years. My first year is not so great. However, alhamdullilah with Allah help I managed to go through my first year viva. I have been mostly down, with reading and searching for what I want to do. I am lost in the bushes. I have read about context-awareness, the concept, the weird stuff by the end of 6 months I decided to pursue in this area. I think management kind of stuff really into me. Even though, I have got through my first year, but for 2 months I am totally blur , what to do???.
During my first year, I have been asked by Alan to learn to use Php script and Jawa Web Start. I have some basic knowledge of Php now, but having problems with manipulating Java Web Start(JWS). Even though , we have been together for hours trying to solve the uploading problems. Did learn and knew something though.
My proposal has been accepted at OZCHI 2005 Doctorial Consortium.
If you are interested to read and give comments please do so:
OZCHI 2005 Doctorial Consortium - AUSTRALIA
Kamaruddin, A., and Dix, A., (2005) Searching in public versus re-finding in private: are they the same?, ACM International Conference Proceedings Series; Vol. 122, Proceedings of the 19th conference of the computer-human interaction special interest group(CHISIG) OF Australia on Computer-human interaction: citizens online:considerations for today and the future, Canberra, Australia. Session Consortium. OZCHI2005_Canberra_I.doc
Interview
This study has been done with 17 users from different area backgrounds. I have mocked and used Boardman Interview as the guidelines of questions that I should asked. The users are taken from Computing, Management, Linguistics, and Engineering background. The objectives of the study is to find relationship within folders in root directory, in emails and in bookmarks domains.They have provided me with very large data. From this study, we managed to write a short paper submitted to:
Interview is the method that I used after 1 year of reading litrature. During this process, I thought why in the first place I did not do this earlier. Regret? At first, little bit. Then Alhamdullilah, because while analysing the data, I can validate previous results and at the same time finding new issues.
There are various issues. One that intrigue me is the dynamic process of users making or creating their folder to organize their personal information management. There are additional or not really additional behaviour but a generic behaviour users have during their managing process.
So, my focus is trying to understand and finding interesting relationship between dumping, decision making and organizing and retriving activities peopla have when they are making their folders.
This is the gap that I would like to explore. The dynamic process of creating behaviour.
Research questions:
1- What make them behave like it?
2- How can technology help this activity in order to reduce decision making time and make decision making faster?
3-Does user create a folder properties in order for them to store their information?
For example:
When we would like to give name of our children. We would like the name have certain meaning and hoping that the properties or meaning of our child would be suitbale with our children.
Same with the creation of folder.
What you want it to be?
How meaningful folder that you created to you?
The data that I get is so rich. There are many interesting subject to look at, however, I find that 'dumping' activity should be included in the information lifecycle model. People might argue, well it is temporary behaviour. As for me, temporary but would create so much good and bad effect to your organizational process. To know more about what has been on you may read some of the paper that I have wrote.
Analysis using Grounded Theory
1 )Physicality2006 - LANCASTER
Kamaruddin, A., and Dix, A., Understanding Physicality on Desktop: Preliminary Results, First International Workshop for Physicality, 6-7 Febuary 2006, Lancaster. (Published)PhysicalityFormat-1.doc
2) MRG International Confrerence2006 -SALFORD
Kamaruddin, A., and Dix, A., How do you make your folder?, International Conference 2006, Salford University, 21-22 June 2006, Salford. [Poster] -Accepted. FolderF-1.doc
3) ENGAGE 2006 - LONDON
Kamaruddin, A., Dix, A., and Martin, D., Why Do You Make A Folder?, BCS HCI, ENGAGE-Queen Mary, University of London, 11-15 September 2006 [Poster][Rejected as short paper, but accepted as a Poster]237poster.doc
Diary study
From previous interview, I found some pattern emerged[2],[3]. There are two ways of how people create their folder which we classified as prosepctive creation and retrospective creation. User's might employ either way or both ways. In order to understand more about this behavious and their relationship with their retrrieving, we are going to conduct a diary study to find out whether : users creation have relationship with retrieving, users just employ their ways to organize only without thinking about retriving them in future.
The reasons for this behaviour might be from the properties or the interfaces of our system or from our norm. I quote one of the participants in the interview " The computer system should improve our productivity, but why we end up with doing maintenance so much..."
I did distribute 6 diary study. The result that I got are not so great. However, 1 participant did telling her story about how the importance folder is indeed so deep in her top folder. She has to go through 4 levels to get to her active directory. This is interesting where some people did their dumping to make some of their important information salient. What we need is how to make 'hidden' information salient to us when we needed.
I will try to understand more about this participants story. At the moment I am trying to produce a model of information management lifecycle. I have come out with 3 model correspond to file system, emails and web bookmarks. There are similarities and dissimilarities. The next step is to observe the decision making that users decide during the management of information process. I have to understand the process model that I have created and then try to imitate the situation with the experiment that I intend to do.
-Done with developing the model. I decided to separate the model into 3 domains. Reasons:
- find similarities and differences.
- what can we generalizes.
Need to make an appoinmnet to interview my diary study participants.
- Trying to think possible solutions for the application. Have some idea, but hmm not sure.....
----I am in the progress of developing tools in the web bookmark. At the moment impelmenting and undergoing step-by-step prototype
of the tool. May Allah, smooth my programming skills. Thank you Allah for giving me such a wonderful supervisor.
Think Aloud Protocol vs Post-event Protocol