The Experts below are selected from a list of 1140 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform

Richard Lobb - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • 1 AppMonitor: A Tool for Recording User Actions in Unmodified Windows Applications
    2015
    Co-Authors: Andy Cockburn, Richard Lobb, Jason Alex
    Abstract:

    This paper describes AppMonitor, a Microsoft Windows based client-side logging tool that records user actions in unmodified Windows applications. AppMonitor allows researchers to gain insights into many facets of interface interaction such as command use frequency, behavioural patterns prior to or following command use, and methods of navigating through systems and datasets. AppMonitor uses the Windows SDK libraries to monitor both low level interactions such as “Left Mouse Button pressed ” and “Ctrl-F pressed ” as well as high level ‘logical ’ actions such as menu selections and scrollbar manipulations. The events recorded are configurable, allowing researchers to perform broad or targeted studies. No user input is required to manage logging, allowing subjects to seamlessly conduct everyday work while their actions are monitored. The system currently supports logging in Microsoft Word and Adobe Reader, however it could be extended for use with any Microsoft Windows based application. To support other researchers wishing to create multi-level event loggers we describe AppMonitor’s underlying architecture and implementation, and provide a brief example of the data generated during our four month trial with six users

  • AppMonitor: A Tool for Recording User Actions in Unmodified Windows Applications
    Behavior research methods, 2008
    Co-Authors: Jason Alexander, Andy Cockburn, Richard Lobb
    Abstract:

    This article describes AppMonitor, a Microsoft Windows-based client-side logging tool that records user actions in unmodified Windows applications. AppMonitor allows researchers to gain insights into many facets of interface interaction such as command use frequency, behavioral patterns prior to or following command use, and methods of navigating through systems and data sets. AppMonitor uses the Windows SDK libraries to monitor both low-level interactions, such as “Left Mouse Button pressed” and “Ctrl-F pressed,” as well as high-level “logical” actions, such as menu selections and scrollbar manipulations. The events recorded are configurable, allowing researchers to perform broad or targeted studies. No user input is required to manage logging, allowing participants to seamlessly conduct everyday work while their actions are monitored. The system currently supports logging in Microsoft Word and Adobe Reader; however, it could be extended for use with any Microsoft Windows-based application. To support other researchers wishing to create multilevel event loggers, we describe AppMonitor’s underlying architecture and implementation, and provide a brief example of the data generated during our 4-month trial with six users.

Sandee Cohen - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Macromedia FreeHand 10 for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide
    2001
    Co-Authors: Sandee Cohen
    Abstract:

    From the Book: Introduction Welcome to learning Macromedia FreeHand. If you are like most people who are just starting out with the program, you may find it a little overwhelming. This Visual QuickStart Guide has been written to help you sort out the many different features. FreeHand is one of the most versatile graphics programs for the computer. At its simplest, FreeHand is a vector drawing program. It allows you to create varied artwork such as drawings, logos, and illustrations. FreeHand also lets you add scanned artwork from programs such as Macromedia Fireworks or Adobe Photoshop. This makes it an excellent layout program to create ads, book covers, posters and so on. FreeHand has a multiple-page feature that allows you to create newsletters and flyers, as well as multi-page presentations with differently sized pages. Finally, FreeHand uses the newest Flash technology to turn FreeHand artwork into animations. FreeHand also lets you save your files in formats that can be posted directly onto the World Wide Web. Using This Book The first few chapters provide overviews of the program. You may find that you do not create any artwork in those chapters. Do not skip them. They contain information that will help you later. The middle chapters of the book contain the most artistic information. This is where you can see how easy it is to create sophisticated artwork using FreeHand. The final chapters are about printing, preferences, and using your artwork with other applications and the Web. Some of this information refers to technical printing terms. If you are not familiar with these terms, speak to the print shop that will be printing your artwork. Using the Exercises If you have used any of the Visual QuickStart Guides, you will find this book very similar. Each of the chapters consists of numbered exercises that deal with a specific technique or feature of the program. As you work through each exercise, you gain an understanding of the technique or feature. The illustrations for each of the exercises help you judge if you are following the steps correctly. Instructions Working with a book such as this, it is vital that you understand the terms I am using. This is especially important since some books use terms somewhat incorrectly. Therefore, here are the terms I use in the book and explanations of what they mean. Click refers to pressing down and releasing the Mouse Button on the Macintosh, and the Left Mouse Button on Windows. You must release the Mouse Button or it is not a click. Press means to hold down the Mouse Button, or the keyboard key. Press and drag means to hold the Mouse Button down and then move the Mouse. In later chapters, I use the shorthand term drag, just remember that you have to press and hold as you drag the Mouse. Menu commands FreeHand has menu commands that you follow to open dialog boxes, change artwork, and invoke certain commands. These menu commands are listed in bold type. The typical direction to choose a menu command might be written as Window > Panels > Style. This means that you should first choose the Window menu, then choose the Panels submenu, and then choose the Style command. Keyboard shortcuts Most of the menu commands for FreeHand 10 have keyboard shortcuts that help you work faster. For instance, instead of choosing New from the File menu, it is faster and easier to press the keys on the keyboard. On the Macintosh, the keys are Cmd-N. On indows, the keys are Ctrl-N. Keyboard shortcuts are sometimes listed in different orders by different software companies or authors. For example, I always list the Command or Ctrl keys first, then the Option or Alt key, and then the Shift key. Other people may list the Shift key first. The order that you press those modifier keys is not important. However, it is very important that you always add the last key (the letter or number key) after you are holding the other keys. Learning keyboard shortcuts While keyboard shortcuts help you work faster, you really do not have to start using them right away. In fact, you will most likely learn more about FreeHand by using the menus. As you look for one command, you may see others that you would like to explore. Once you feel comfortable working with FreeHand, you can start adding keyboard shortcuts to your repertoire. My suggestion is to look at which menu commands you use a lot. Then each day choose one of those shortcuts. For instance, if you do a lot of blends, you might decide to learn the shortcut for the Blend command. For the rest of that day use the Blend shortcut every time you need to make a blend. Even if you have to look at the menu to refresh your memory, still use the keyboard shortcut to actually apply the blend. By the end of the day you will have memorized the Blend shortcut. The next day you can learn a new one. Onscreen element appearances Some of the onscreen elements, such as the toolbars, may look different in this book from your settings. That's because I changed those panels to make them easier to read. For more information on customizing the toolbars, see Chapter 32. Cross-platform issues One of the great strengths of FreeHand is that it is almost identical on both the Macintosh and Windows platforms. In fact, at first glance it is hard to tell which platform you are working on. However, because there are some differences between the platforms, there are some things you should keep in mind. Modifier keys Modifier keys are always listed with the Macintosh key first and then the Windows key second. So a direction to hold the Command/Ctrl key as you drag means to hold the Command key on the Macintosh platform or the Ctrl key on the Windows platform. When the key is the same on both computers, such as the Shift key, only one key is listed. Generally the Command key on the Macintosh (sometimes called the Apple key) corresponds to the Ctrl key on Windows. The Option key on the Macintosh corresponds to the Alt key on Windows. The Control key on the Macintosh platform does not have an equivalent on the Windows platform. Notice that the Control key for the Macintosh is always spelled out while the Ctrl key for Windows is not. Platform-specific features A few times in the book, I have written separate exercises for the Macintosh and Windows platforms. These exercises are indicated by (Mac) and (Win). Most of the time this is because the procedures are so different that they need to be written separately. Sometimes features exist only on one platform. Those features are then labeled as to their platform. Mac OS X Macromedia FreeHand is one of the first applications to take advantage of the new Mac OS X (ten) operating system. If you are learning FreeHand on a computer that uses OS X, you will find much of the interface to look different. Don't worry, though. The differences are cosmetic. There is nothing that FreeHand running in OS X can do that can't be done in Mac OS 9 or Windows. Learning FreeHand With a program as extensive as FreeHand, there will be many features that you never use. For instance, if you are an illustrator, you may never need any of FreeHand's text or layout features. Or you may never need to create charts or graphs. And if you are strictly a print person, you may never need to do any exporting as Web animations. Do not worry. It may be hard to believe but even the experts do not use all of FreeHand's features. Find the areas you want to master, then follow the exercises. If you are patient, you will find yourself creating your own work in no time. And don't forget to have fun! Sandee Cohen (SandeeC@vectorbabe.com) July 2001

  • macromedia freehand 10 for windows and macintosh visual quickstart guide
    2001
    Co-Authors: Sandee Cohen
    Abstract:

    From the Book: Introduction Welcome to learning Macromedia FreeHand. If you are like most people who are just starting out with the program, you may find it a little overwhelming. This Visual QuickStart Guide has been written to help you sort out the many different features. FreeHand is one of the most versatile graphics programs for the computer. At its simplest, FreeHand is a vector drawing program. It allows you to create varied artwork such as drawings, logos, and illustrations. FreeHand also lets you add scanned artwork from programs such as Macromedia Fireworks or Adobe Photoshop. This makes it an excellent layout program to create ads, book covers, posters and so on. FreeHand has a multiple-page feature that allows you to create newsletters and flyers, as well as multi-page presentations with differently sized pages. Finally, FreeHand uses the newest Flash technology to turn FreeHand artwork into animations. FreeHand also lets you save your files in formats that can be posted directly onto the World Wide Web. Using This Book The first few chapters provide overviews of the program. You may find that you do not create any artwork in those chapters. Do not skip them. They contain information that will help you later. The middle chapters of the book contain the most artistic information. This is where you can see how easy it is to create sophisticated artwork using FreeHand. The final chapters are about printing, preferences, and using your artwork with other applications and the Web. Some of this information refers to technical printing terms. If you are not familiar with these terms, speak to the print shop that will be printing your artwork. Using the Exercises If you have used any of the Visual QuickStart Guides, you will find this book very similar. Each of the chapters consists of numbered exercises that deal with a specific technique or feature of the program. As you work through each exercise, you gain an understanding of the technique or feature. The illustrations for each of the exercises help you judge if you are following the steps correctly. Instructions Working with a book such as this, it is vital that you understand the terms I am using. This is especially important since some books use terms somewhat incorrectly. Therefore, here are the terms I use in the book and explanations of what they mean. Click refers to pressing down and releasing the Mouse Button on the Macintosh, and the Left Mouse Button on Windows. You must release the Mouse Button or it is not a click. Press means to hold down the Mouse Button, or the keyboard key. Press and drag means to hold the Mouse Button down and then move the Mouse. In later chapters, I use the shorthand term drag, just remember that you have to press and hold as you drag the Mouse. Menu commands FreeHand has menu commands that you follow to open dialog boxes, change artwork, and invoke certain commands. These menu commands are listed in bold type. The typical direction to choose a menu command might be written as Window > Panels > Style. This means that you should first choose the Window menu, then choose the Panels submenu, and then choose the Style command. Keyboard shortcuts Most of the menu commands for FreeHand 10 have keyboard shortcuts that help you work faster. For instance, instead of choosing New from the File menu, it is faster and easier to press the keys on the keyboard. On the Macintosh, the keys are Cmd-N. On indows, the keys are Ctrl-N. Keyboard shortcuts are sometimes listed in different orders by different software companies or authors. For example, I always list the Command or Ctrl keys first, then the Option or Alt key, and then the Shift key. Other people may list the Shift key first. The order that you press those modifier keys is not important. However, it is very important that you always add the last key (the letter or number key) after you are holding the other keys. Learning keyboard shortcuts While keyboard shortcuts help you work faster, you really do not have to start using them right away. In fact, you will most likely learn more about FreeHand by using the menus. As you look for one command, you may see others that you would like to explore. Once you feel comfortable working with FreeHand, you can start adding keyboard shortcuts to your repertoire. My suggestion is to look at which menu commands you use a lot. Then each day choose one of those shortcuts. For instance, if you do a lot of blends, you might decide to learn the shortcut for the Blend command. For the rest of that day use the Blend shortcut every time you need to make a blend. Even if you have to look at the menu to refresh your memory, still use the keyboard shortcut to actually apply the blend. By the end of the day you will have memorized the Blend shortcut. The next day you can learn a new one. Onscreen element appearances Some of the onscreen elements, such as the toolbars, may look different in this book from your settings. That's because I changed those panels to make them easier to read. For more information on customizing the toolbars, see Chapter 32. Cross-platform issues One of the great strengths of FreeHand is that it is almost identical on both the Macintosh and Windows platforms. In fact, at first glance it is hard to tell which platform you are working on. However, because there are some differences between the platforms, there are some things you should keep in mind. Modifier keys Modifier keys are always listed with the Macintosh key first and then the Windows key second. So a direction to hold the Command/Ctrl key as you drag means to hold the Command key on the Macintosh platform or the Ctrl key on the Windows platform. When the key is the same on both computers, such as the Shift key, only one key is listed. Generally the Command key on the Macintosh (sometimes called the Apple key) corresponds to the Ctrl key on Windows. The Option key on the Macintosh corresponds to the Alt key on Windows. The Control key on the Macintosh platform does not have an equivalent on the Windows platform. Notice that the Control key for the Macintosh is always spelled out while the Ctrl key for Windows is not. Platform-specific features A few times in the book, I have written separate exercises for the Macintosh and Windows platforms. These exercises are indicated by (Mac) and (Win). Most of the time this is because the procedures are so different that they need to be written separately. Sometimes features exist only on one platform. Those features are then labeled as to their platform. Mac OS X Macromedia FreeHand is one of the first applications to take advantage of the new Mac OS X (ten) operating system. If you are learning FreeHand on a computer that uses OS X, you will find much of the interface to look different. Don't worry, though. The differences are cosmetic. There is nothing that FreeHand running in OS X can do that can't be done in Mac OS 9 or Windows. Learning FreeHand With a program as extensive as FreeHand, there will be many features that you never use. For instance, if you are an illustrator, you may never need any of FreeHand's text or layout features. Or you may never need to create charts or graphs. And if you are strictly a print person, you may never need to do any exporting as Web animations. Do not worry. It may be hard to believe but even the experts do not use all of FreeHand's features. Find the areas you want to master, then follow the exercises. If you are patient, you will find yourself creating your own work in no time. And don't forget to have fun! Sandee Cohen (SandeeC@vectorbabe.com) July 2001

  • Fireworks 4 for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide
    2001
    Co-Authors: Sandee Cohen, Marjorie Baer
    Abstract:

    From the Book: Welcome to learning Macromedia Fireworks 4. In a very short period of time Fireworks has become an important tool for creating all sorts of Web graphics. I What makes Fireworks so useful? Perhaps the most important reason is that it allows designers to work visually to create not just the images for Web sites but also the special code needed to assemble graphics and create interactive elements. Another reason is that, instead of using three or more separate programs, Fireworks combines features found in image editing, Web optimizing, and vector drawing programs. So instead of requiring you to jump from one program to another, Fireworks lets you use one program from start to finish. It has been very exciting to revise this book-my fourth time! Some features that used to be covered in a page or two have now been expanded into their own complete chapters. And yet, other features have been so simplified they can be covered in just a few pages. Using This Book If you have used any of the Visual QuickStart Guides, you will find this book very similar. Each chapter consists of numbered steps that explain how to perform a specific technique or work with a feature of the program. As you work through the steps, you gain an understanding of the technique or feature, helped along by insightful tips. The illustrations let you judge if you are following the steps correctly. Instructions Using a book such as this will be easier once you understand the terms I use. This is especially important because some other computer books use terms differently. So, here are the terms I use throughout the book and explanations of what they mean. Click refers to pressing down and releasing the Mouse Button in the Macintosh, or the Left Mouse Button in Windows. You must release the Mouse Button or else it's not a click. Press means to hold down the Mouse Button or a keyboard key. Press and drag means to hold the Mouse Button down and then move the Mouse. In later chapters, I use the shorthand term drag; just remember that you have to press and hold as you drag the Mouse. Move the Mouse or cursor means to move the Mouse without pressing the Mouse Button. Menu Commands Like any application, Fireworks has menu commands that you choose to open dialog boxes, change artwork, and initiate certain actions. These menu commands are shown in bold type. The direction to choose a menu command is written like this: Modify >Arrange > Bring to Front. This means that you should first choose the Modify menu, then choose the Arrange submenu, and then the Bring to Front command. Keyboard Shortcuts Most of the menu commands for Fireworks have keyboard shortcuts that help you work faster. For instance, instead of choosing New from the File menu, it is faster and easier to use the keyboard shortcut. Different software companies and authors differ as to the order in which they list the modifier keys used in keyboard shortcuts. I always list the Macintosh Command and the Windows Ctrl keys first, then the Option or Alt key, and then the Shift key. In actual practice, the order that you press those modifier keys is not important. However, it is very important that you always add the last key (the letter or number key) after you are holding the other keys. Rather than cluttering up the exercises with long keyboard commands, I've listed the shortcuts in Appendix A, separated by platform. Learning Keyboard Shortcuts While keyboard shortcuts help you work faster, you don't have to start using them right away. In fact, most likely you'll learn more about the program by using menus. As you look for one command you may see a related feature you would like to explore. Once you feel comfortable working with Fireworks, you can start adding keyboard shortcuts to your repertoire. My suggestion is that you look at the menu commands you use a lot. Then choose one of those shortcuts each day. For instance, if you import a lot of art from other programs, you might decide to learn the shortcut for the Import command. For the rest of that day, every time you import art use the Import shortcut. (It happens to be Cmd/Ctrl-R.) Even if you have to look at the menu to refresh your memory, use the keyboard shortcut to actually open the Import dialog box anyway. By the end of the day you will have memorized the Import shortcut. The next day you can learn a new one. Cross-Platform Issues One of the great strengths of Fireworks is that it is almost identical in look and function on both the Macintosh and Windows platforms. In fact, at first glance it is hard to tell which platform you are working on. However, because there are some differences between the operating systems themselves, there are some things you should keep in mind. Modifier Keys I always list the modifier keys with the Macintosh key first and then the Windows key second. So a direction to hold the Command/Ctrl key as you drag means that Macintosh users should hold the Command key while Windows users should hold the Ctrl key on the Windows platform. When the key is the same on both computers, such as the Shift key, only one is listed. In most cases, the Mac's Command key (sometimes called the Apple key) corresponds to the Ctrl key on Windows. The Option key on the Macintosh usually corresponds to the Alt key on Windows. The Control key on the Macintosh has no Windows equivalent. Notice that the Control key for the Macintosh is always spelled out while the Ctrl key for Windows is not. Platform-Specific Features A few times in the book I have written separate exercises for the Macintosh and Windows platforms. These exercises are indicated by (Mac) and (Win). Most of the time this is because the procedures are so different that they need to be written separately. Some features exist only on one platform. Those features are labeled to reflect this.

Jason Alexander - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Understanding and improving navigation within electronic documents
    2009
    Co-Authors: Jason Alexander
    Abstract:

    Electronic documents form an integral part of the modern computer age—virtually all personal computers have the ability to create, store and display their content. A connection to the Internet provides users with an almost endless source of documents, be they web-pages, word-processor files or emails. However, the entire contents of an electronic document are often too large to be usefully presented on a user’s screen, at a single point in time. This issue is usually overcome by placing the content inside a scrolling environment. The view onto the document is then modified by directly adjusting a scrollbar or by employing tools such as the Mousewheel or paging keys. Applications may also provide methods for adjusting the document’s zoom and page layout. The scrollbar has seen widespread adoption, becoming the default tool used to visualise large information spaces. Despite its extensive deployment, researchers have little knowledge on how this and related navigation tools are used in an everyday work environment. A characterisation of users’ actions would allow designers to identify common behaviours and areas of inefficiency as they strive to improve navigation techniques. To fill this knowledge gap, this thesis aims to understand and improve navigation within desktop-based electronic documents. This goal is achieved using a five step process. First, the literature is used to explore document navigation tasks and the tools currently available to support electronic document navigation. Second, a software tool called AppMonitor, that logs users’ navigation actions, was developed. Third, AppMonitor was deployed in a longitudinal study to characterise document navigation actions in Microsoft Word and Adobe Reader. Forth, to compliment this study, two task-centric observations of electronic document navigation were performed, to probe the reasons for navigation tool selection. Finally, the Footprints Scrollbar was developed to improve one common aspect of navigation—within-document revisitation. To begin, two areas of current knowledge in this domain are overviewed: paper and electronic document navigation and electronic document navigation tools. The literature review produced five categories of document navigation tasks: ‘overviewing and browsing’, ‘reading’, ‘annotating and writing’, ‘searching’ and ‘revisitation’. In a similar fashion, electronic document navigation tools were reviewed and divided into eight categories: core navigation tools (those commonly found in today’s navigation systems), input devices, scrollbar augmentations, content-aware navigation aids, visualisations that provide multiple document views, indirect manipulation techniques, zooming tools and revisitation tools. The literature lacked evidence of an understanding of how these current document navigation tools are used. To aid the gathering of empirical data on tool use, the AppMonitor tool was developed. It records user actions in unmodified Windows applications—specifically for this research, Microsoft Word and Adobe Reader. It logs low-level interactions such as “Left Mouse Button pressed” and “Ctrl-f pressed” as well as high level ‘logical’ actions such as menu selections and scrollbar manipulations. It requires no user input to perform these tasks, allowing study participants to continue with their everyday work. To collect data to form a characterisation of document navigation actions, 14 participants installed AppMonitor on their computer for 120 days. This study found that users primarily employ the Mousewheel, scrollbar thumb and paging keys for navigation. Further, many advanced navigation tools that are lauded for their efficiency, including bookmarks and search tools, are rarely used. The longitudinal study provided valuable insights into the use of navigation tools. To understand the reasons behind this tool use, two task-centric observations of electronic document navigation were conducted. The first asked participants to perform a series of specific navigation tasks while AppMonitor logged their actions. The second was performed as a series of interactive sessions, where users performed a particular task and were then probed on their tool choice. These two studies found that many users are not aware of the advanced navigation tools that could significantly improve their navigation efficiency. Finally, the characterisations highlighted within-document revisitation as a commonly performed task, with current tools that support this action rarely used. To address this problem, the analysis, design and evaluation of a Footprints Scrollbar is presented. It places marks inside the scrollbar trough and provides shortcuts to aid users return to previously visited locations. The Footprints Scrollbar was significantly faster and subjectively preferred over a standard scrollbar for revisitation tasks. To summarise, this thesis contributes a literature review of document navigation and electronic document navigation tools; the design and implementation of AppMonitor—a tool to monitor user actions in unmodifiedWindows applications; a longitudinal study describing the navigation actions users perform; two taskcentric studies examining why actions are performed; and the Footprints Scrollbar, a tool to aid within-document revisitation tasks.

  • AppMonitor: A Tool for Recording User Actions in Unmodified Windows Applications
    Behavior research methods, 2008
    Co-Authors: Jason Alexander, Andy Cockburn, Richard Lobb
    Abstract:

    This article describes AppMonitor, a Microsoft Windows-based client-side logging tool that records user actions in unmodified Windows applications. AppMonitor allows researchers to gain insights into many facets of interface interaction such as command use frequency, behavioral patterns prior to or following command use, and methods of navigating through systems and data sets. AppMonitor uses the Windows SDK libraries to monitor both low-level interactions, such as “Left Mouse Button pressed” and “Ctrl-F pressed,” as well as high-level “logical” actions, such as menu selections and scrollbar manipulations. The events recorded are configurable, allowing researchers to perform broad or targeted studies. No user input is required to manage logging, allowing participants to seamlessly conduct everyday work while their actions are monitored. The system currently supports logging in Microsoft Word and Adobe Reader; however, it could be extended for use with any Microsoft Windows-based application. To support other researchers wishing to create multilevel event loggers, we describe AppMonitor’s underlying architecture and implementation, and provide a brief example of the data generated during our 4-month trial with six users.

Andy Cockburn - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • 1 AppMonitor: A Tool for Recording User Actions in Unmodified Windows Applications
    2015
    Co-Authors: Andy Cockburn, Richard Lobb, Jason Alex
    Abstract:

    This paper describes AppMonitor, a Microsoft Windows based client-side logging tool that records user actions in unmodified Windows applications. AppMonitor allows researchers to gain insights into many facets of interface interaction such as command use frequency, behavioural patterns prior to or following command use, and methods of navigating through systems and datasets. AppMonitor uses the Windows SDK libraries to monitor both low level interactions such as “Left Mouse Button pressed ” and “Ctrl-F pressed ” as well as high level ‘logical ’ actions such as menu selections and scrollbar manipulations. The events recorded are configurable, allowing researchers to perform broad or targeted studies. No user input is required to manage logging, allowing subjects to seamlessly conduct everyday work while their actions are monitored. The system currently supports logging in Microsoft Word and Adobe Reader, however it could be extended for use with any Microsoft Windows based application. To support other researchers wishing to create multi-level event loggers we describe AppMonitor’s underlying architecture and implementation, and provide a brief example of the data generated during our four month trial with six users

  • AppMonitor: A Tool for Recording User Actions in Unmodified Windows Applications
    Behavior research methods, 2008
    Co-Authors: Jason Alexander, Andy Cockburn, Richard Lobb
    Abstract:

    This article describes AppMonitor, a Microsoft Windows-based client-side logging tool that records user actions in unmodified Windows applications. AppMonitor allows researchers to gain insights into many facets of interface interaction such as command use frequency, behavioral patterns prior to or following command use, and methods of navigating through systems and data sets. AppMonitor uses the Windows SDK libraries to monitor both low-level interactions, such as “Left Mouse Button pressed” and “Ctrl-F pressed,” as well as high-level “logical” actions, such as menu selections and scrollbar manipulations. The events recorded are configurable, allowing researchers to perform broad or targeted studies. No user input is required to manage logging, allowing participants to seamlessly conduct everyday work while their actions are monitored. The system currently supports logging in Microsoft Word and Adobe Reader; however, it could be extended for use with any Microsoft Windows-based application. To support other researchers wishing to create multilevel event loggers, we describe AppMonitor’s underlying architecture and implementation, and provide a brief example of the data generated during our 4-month trial with six users.

Shyh-kang Jeng - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.

  • Colorizing tags in tag cloud: A novel query-by-tag music search system
    2015
    Co-Authors: Ju-chiang Wang, Yu-chin Shih, Hsin-min Wang, Shyh-kang Jeng
    Abstract:

    This paper presents a novel content-based query-by-tag music search system for an untagged music database. We design a new tag query interface that allows users to input multiple tags with multiple levels of preference (denoted as an MTML query) by colorizing desired tags in a web-based tag cloud interface. When a user clicks and holds the Left Mouse Button (or presses and holds his/her finger on a touch screen) on a desired tag, the color of the tag will change cyclically according to a color map (from dark blue to bright red), which represents the level of preference (from 0 to 1). In this way, the user can easily organize and check the query of multiple tags with multiple levels of preference through the colored tags. To effect the MTML content-based music re-trieval, we introduce a probabilistic fusion model (denoted as GMFM), which consists of two mixture models, namely a Gaus-sian mixture model and a multinomial mixture model. GMFM can jointly model the auditory features and tag labels of a song. Two indexing methods and their corresponding matching methods, namely pseudo song-based matching and tag affinity-based matching, are incorporated into the pre-learned GMFM. We eval-uate the proposed system on the MajorMiner and CAL-500 data-sets. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of GMFM and the potential of using MTML queries to search music from an untagged music database

  • ACM Multimedia - Colorizing tags in tag cloud: a novel query-by-tag music search system
    Proceedings of the 19th ACM international conference on Multimedia - MM '11, 2011
    Co-Authors: Ju-chiang Wang, Yu-chin Shih, Hsin-min Wang, Shyh-kang Jeng
    Abstract:

    This paper presents a novel content-based query-by-tag music search system for an untagged music database. We design a new tag query interface that allows users to input multiple tags with multiple levels of preference (denoted as an MTML query) by colorizing desired tags in a web-based tag cloud interface. When a user clicks and holds the Left Mouse Button (or presses and holds his/her finger on a touch screen) on a desired tag, the color of the tag will change cyclically according to a color map (from dark blue to bright red), which represents the level of preference (from 0 to 1). In this way, the user can easily organize and check the query of multiple tags with multiple levels of preference through the colored tags. To effect the MTML content-based music retrieval, we introduce a probabilistic fusion model (denoted as GMFM), which consists of two mixture models, namely a Gaussian mixture model and a multinomial mixture model. GMFM can jointly model the auditory features and tag labels of a song. Two indexing methods and their corresponding matching methods, namely pseudo song-based matching and tag affinity-based matching, are incorporated into the pre-learned GMFM. We evaluate the proposed system on the MajorMiner and CAL-500 datasets. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of GMFM and the potential of using MTML queries to search music from an untagged music database.