Date: Mon, 20 Jan 1997 10:35:22 -0400 From: Alistair Sutcliffe To: "Edward A. Fox" Subject: Multimedia User Interface Design project Multimedia User Interface Design project Professor Alistair Sutcliffe 604 McBryde, ext 8451 ags@vtopus.cs.vt.edu Implementing example illustrations of Multimedia Design Guidelines Presentation of multimedia information involves designing to ensure the user receives the appropriate information conveyed on different media streams (e.g. sound, speech, moving image, etc.). One of the reasons why multimedia may be effective for conveying information is that different parts of a message can be presented in a combination of media; however, this implies a design problem: how to link message components in different media together. A method for multimedia presentation design has been proposed (Sutcliffe and Faraday 1994) which starts with designing the amodal message (i.e. the information content), then selecting appropriate media resources for the message components, and finally scripting the media given to direct the user reading/viewing sequence within and between media. While reading/listening to linguistic media and viewing film are primarily sequential processes, what we view in a still image is more complex. Directing the user's attention requires design to make components within a medium more salient as well as synchronising the reading/viewing process between media. A variety of highlighting techniques are given to direct user's attention within still image, and to form 'contact points' between different media, e.g. to direct reading from speech or text to image. However, guidelines alone are rarely useful without examples to explain them. The project objective is to produce examples to illustrate the guidelines. Developing each example will involve choosing an application domain and then authoring a 'mini explanation' of the guideline. Each mini explanation will be a small multimedia script in its own right which may also utilise and hence test the guidelines. The approximate format of the mini explanations is to state the guideline, give a multimedia example demonstrating its use, then explain any restriction on its use and the background evidence it is based on. Resources Multimedia authoring environment, e.g. Director (or equivalent) Project Deliverables: A set of implemented guidelines mini-explanations. A report recording and analyzing the experience of applying the guidelines with recommendations for their improvement. Sutcliffe A.G. & Faraday P.F. 1994 Systematic design for task related multi media interfaces. Information and Software Technology. 36(4),pp.225-234. Sutcliffe A.G. & Faraday P., 1994, Designing Presentation in Multimedia Interfaces. In Proceedings of CHI-94 Conference, Human Factors in Computing Systems. Eds. Adelson B., Dumais . and Olson J., pg.92-98. ACM Press. Alistair Sutcliffe Dept of Computer Science Phone (540) 231 8451 660 McBryde Hall FAX 231 6075 Blacksburg Virginia 24061-0106 USA