David,
Thank you for the reply and the links. Looks like I have my reading cut out
for me! Fantastic.
I wonder if you or others on the list know of any quantitative studies that
have tested anything relating to affect in HCI, affect in information
design, or affect in visual design. Emotion obviously plays a huge role when
you're working with pediatric cancer patients and their parents. I mentioned
to Karel van der Waarde in recent email that my team wants to comfort as
much as clearly inform.
That there's an adverse effect on one's ability to comprehend information
caused by emotional distress isn't news, certainly, but getting information
across AND comforting the user at the same time is a trick we haven't
mastered. We've only begun. So anything you all might know in that specific
regard would be a critical service to us.
In the meantime, I'll wade into the info you've pointed me towards. Thank
you!
Michael
On 1/5/07 3:29 PM, "David Sless" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Hi Michael,
>
> You might find some of our work at CRI of interest. We have been
> doing quite a bit of practical research on health information design
> and many other areas of information design, all with an emphasis on
> measuring the effectiveness--both quantitative and qualitative--of
> the outcomes. This work has been ongoing for the last 20 years.
>
> Lots of reports and case histories at:
> http://www.communication.org.au/html/papers_to_read.php
>
> BTW, we are close to publishing the book on diagnostic testing I
> mentioned on this list last year,
>
> If you want to receive an announcement about this, join our
> publication update list:
> http://www.communication.org.au/html/info/update_mail_list.html
>
> Best wishes,
>
> David
>> Dear List,
>>
>> As someone who is also trying to take design research into
>> practice, I would
>> like to know if anyone knows of published research studies using
>> quantitative methods to test visual design and/or interface design.
>> Related
>> work in industrial design would also be helpful in lieu of such
>> work in
>> visual design. If anybody knows of such studies in consumer health
>> informatics, that would be even better.
>>
>> I am making this request, because the center I direct is presently
>> pursuing
>> Federal US grants to support the further development of
>> interactive, mobile,
>> and multimedia-based forms of patient and patient-guardian
>> communication in
>> pediatric research medicine at St Jude Children's Research Hospital.
>>
>> We are encountering the age-old problem of the humanities vs the hard
>> sciences, and qualitative research viewed as junk by quantitative
>> thinkers
>> who, not incidentally, hold the purse strings and the right of
>> access to our
>> human subjects--our strong ties with the St Jude doctors
>> notwithstanding.
>>
>> We have decided, therefore, to augment our qualitative user-
>> centered design
>> methods with quant studies developed by a cognitive psychologist I've
>> brought on board. These quant studies will look at the basic science
>> governing the principles, techniques, and theories we're using in the
>> practice-based application. Hopefully, then, with this "proof of
>> principle"
>> work, our very positive user responses will be taken more seriously
>> by the
>> medical and Federal agency "establishments."
>>
>> At the end of the day, we just want to help parents and kids
>> understand what
>> the heck is going on with their cancer and why the doctors are
>> recommending
>> these experimental treatments, so that the parents and the kids can
>> make an
>> informed decision to consent or dissent--and then live without
>> regret after
>> making that tough decision.
>>
>> Any resources you can provide will be most appreciated and
>> subsequently
>> conflated and shared with the whole list.
>>
>> Michael
>>
>> --
>> Michael Schmidt, Director
>> Center for Multimedia Arts
>> Associate Professor, Graphic Design
>> The University of Memphis/
>> FedEx Institute of Technology
>> 365 Innovation Drive
>> Memphis, TN 38152
>>
>> P 901-678-1777
>> F 901-678-2735
>>
>>
|