Paper Info
Title
A Learning Method to Support User's Understanding about Complex Systems Based on Functional Models: An Empirical Study on Youg and Elderly Users of Mobile Phones
Abstract
Complexity is one of big issues which may decrease usability of an engineering system. It was reported that mobile phone users sometimes feel anxiety because of the complexity. The purpose of our work is to propose a self-learning method which can support users to have an appropriate mental model of a complex system, e.g., a mobile phone in this study. Explanation about functions of a target system is made using a means-end layered model. A user can learn from functions with the most abstract representation, and move on more concrete and detailed representation. After the first step, he or she moves to technical explanations of actual troubles based on the representations used in the first step. In the third step, the contents show procedures which a user should take in a specific trouble case. It is expected that the learner will have ability of effective use and of trouble avoiding. The efficacy of the proposed method was shown through a cognitive experiment, where several university students and elderly people participated as the learners.
Year
DOI
Venue
2011
10.1109/UKSIM.2011.77
Computer Modelling and Simulation
Keywords
Field
DocType
complex system,learning method,target system,detailed representation,appropriate mental model,complex systems,abstract representation,empirical study,elderly users,engineering system,functional models,mobile phone,mobile phone user,means-end layered model,actual trouble,anxiety,cognitive science,functional model
Complex system,Mobile radio,Mental model,Computer science,Usability,Human–computer interaction,Mobile phone,Cognition,Multimedia,Empirical research
Conference
ISBN
Citations 
PageRank 
978-0-7695-4376-5
0
0.34
References 
Authors
2
1
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Hiroshi Furukawa121131.32