My research focuses on interactive systems, and especially (a) development methods for interfaces and their documentation and (b) models of conversation. The underlying question common to these areas is "What does it mean to interact?" With this knowledge, developers could build systems that are more intuitive, more useful, and safer, in domains ranging from consumer kiosks to modern aircraft.
Presentations
Toward a more accurate view of when and how people seek help with computer applications (with Edith Elizalde and Nathaniel Bean), Proceedings of SIGDOC 2007 (2007)
Based on 40 interviews and 11 on-site workplace observations of people using computer applications at...
Usability inspection methods after 15 years of research and practice (with Tasha Hollingsed), Proceedings of SIGDOC 2007 (2007)
Usability inspection methods, such as heuristic evaluation, the cognitive walkthrough, formal usability inspections, and the...
A computational model of culture-specific conversational behavior (with Dusan Jan, David Herrera, Bilyana Martinovski, and David Traum), 7th International Conference on Intelligent Virtual Agents (IVA07) (2007)
This paper presents a model for simulating cultural differences in the conversational behavior of virtual...
What users say they want in documentation (with Karen Ward), Proceedings of SIGDOC 2006 (2006)
While earlier work provided a partial view of users’ preferences about manuals, for most users...
Why don't people read the manual? (with Karen Ward), Proceedings of SIGDOC 2006 (2006)
Few users of computer applications seek help from the documentation. This paper reports the results...