Development of Interdisciplinary Usability Lab ...

The University of Memphis TAF Innovation Grant (TIG) Proposal

A proposal by the College of Communication and Fine Arts’ Center for Multimedia Arts

Development of Interdisciplinary Usability Lab/Classroom and Human Factors Curriculum March 26, 2007

Michael Schmidt Director, Center for Multimedia Arts Associate Professor of Graphic Design, College of Communication and Fine Arts, University of Memphis

Melanie Polkosky, PhD Human Factors Psychologist, Center for Multimedia Arts

IEL Usability Lab Proposal

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MEMORANDUM TO: TAF IEL Grant Selection Committee FROM: Melanie D. Polkosky, Ph.D, Human Factors Psychologist, Center for Multimedia Arts Michael Schmidt, Associate Professor of Graphic Design and Director, Center for Multimedia Arts, College of Communication and Fine Arts DATE: March 23, 2007 RE: Proposal for TAF IEL Grant It is our pleasure to present this proposal for the IEL Grant, entitled “Development of an Interdisciplinary Usability Lab/Classroom and Human Factors Curriculum.” The proposal advocates creation of an interdisciplinary human factors core curriculum and usability educational/research facility. We believe an asset like this is needed at the University of Memphis to advance our students’ employment opportunities, improve our community’s stateof-the-art resources, and enhance our reputation as a cutting edge institution. As you may know, the Center for Multimedia Arts has recently expanded its mission and personnel to pursue the goal of becoming a center of excellence in user-centered design and user research. As part of that mission, we are actively engaged in technology design and research projects with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Chucalissa Archaeological Museum, Bloorview Kids Rehab & The University of Toronto, and the Chickasaw Nation. These relationships, as well as our close affiliations with IBM, Arius3D, Flick Software and our other technology development partners, offer a unique learning opportunity for UM students that we hope to formally expand through the IEL grant. Supporting materials for this proposal include three appendices, the first two detailing the expected impacts of our proposed usability lab and human factors core curriculum to various academic departments. The third appendix includes endorsements from several faculty and administrators from departments all across campus as well as a letter of support from Dr. Richard Ranta, Dean of the College of Communication and Fine Arts. We look forward to your review and feedback. Finally, a curriculum vitae for Dr. Melanie Polkosky is also provided.


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Development of Interdisciplinary Usability Lab/Classroom and Human Factors Curriculum By Melanie D. Polkosky, Ph.D., Human Factors Psychologist, Center for Multimedia Arts Michael Schmidt, Associate Prof. of Graphic Design and Director, Center for Multimedia Arts Executive Summary Human factors is an interdisciplinary applied field concerned with the human aspects of product and technology design. Although demand for human factors practitioners and researchers in industrial and business settings is pronounced, student opportunities for learning the core content and methodologies of the field are extremely limited, especially in the Memphis and Mid-South area. An informal survey of twenty faculty members at the University of Memphis suggests that students in sixteen disciplines (Graphic Design, Architecture, Interior Design, Film & Video, Internet Journalism, Recording Technology, Management Information Systems, Instructional Design Technology, Computer Science and Applied Computer Science, Cognitive Psychology, Professional Writing, Anthropology, Sociology, Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Technology, and Electrical and Computer Engineering) would benefit from practical lab experiences and an interdisciplinary human factors curriculum. Thus, the University of Memphis has a distinct opportunity to provide a transformative, innovative, and highly desirable educational experience, but we currently lack the coursework and facilities to realize this goal. Therefore, the purpose of this proposal is to create a flexible lab/classroom facility and a new interdisciplinary core curriculum in Human Factors at the University of Memphis. The targeted undergraduate/graduate core curriculum consists of an introduction to applied behavioral theory and research, methodology (qualitative and quantitative procedures, user-centered design processes, usability evaluation) and special topics in user experience design. To realize this goal, we plan to apply IEL funding to hardware and software for the lab/classroom facility and to retain experienced, part-time human factors personnel to develop and teach the core curriculum and maintain the usability lab/classroom. The expected outcomes of this project include increased practical, interdisciplinary learning opportunities and job prospects for students, improved research facilities, and an enhanced reputation for the University of Memphis as a state-of-the-art technology center.


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Development of Interdisciplinary Usability Lab/Classroom and Human Factors Curriculum By Melanie D. Polkosky, Ph.D., Human Factors Psychologist, Center for Multimedia Arts Michael Schmidt, Associate Prof. of Graphic Design and Director, Center for Multimedia Arts

Project Description 1. Background As technology becomes increasingly complex and ubiquitous, there is a corresponding need for it to be simple to use. Human factors is a subdiscipline of psychology and engineering but it is often considered to have roots in a broad variety of additional disciplines, including linguistics, artificial intelligence, statistics, management, cognitive science, and industrial and graphic design (Wickens, Gordon & Liu, 1998). Historically, the field has been known by many names, including usability, human engineering, engineering psychology, human-computer interaction, user-centered design, ergonomics, and (most recently) user engineering (Sanders & McCormick, 1993; Hassenzahl & Tractinsky, 2006). Because human factors is an applied, goal-oriented field, the precise boundaries of it are difficult to define, although individuals in this discipline have a common focus on the human influences on and outcomes of product design and usage. Despite the increasing recognition that human factors is a critical element in product and technology acceptance, there are very few opportunities for students to receive formal training in its content and methodology. Traditional academic boundaries can pose a barrier to effectively educating practitioners for the industrial setting, because the practical skills and knowledge do not reside in any single discipline. This document proposes the creation of an interdisciplinary human factors core curriculum and lab/classroom setting to educate students (regardless of major) in required knowledge and skills and prepare them for the job market. Human Factors Job Prospects It is well understood that human factors professionals are extremely divergent in their formal training, employment settings, and job descriptions. According to the Usability Professionals’ Association’s 2005 Member and Salary Survey, human factors experts are distributed worldwide and work for a variety of organizations, including corporations (38%), software corporations (26%), advertising/design firms (8%), education (4%), government/military (3%), nonprofit organizations (3%), and usability firms (13%). Thirty six percent of UPA respondents have completed a bachelor’s degree, 45% earned a master’s degree, and 13% hold a Ph.D. Applicable job titles include usability practitioner, interface designer, information architect, usability manager, business analyst, technical writer, graphic designer, Web designer, human factors specialist, interaction designer, programmer, and technical analyst. The average salary is $78,445.05 (median=$75,000), although females earn approximately 84% of male practitioners’ salaries.


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The marketplace demand for individuals with human factors skills and knowledge is illustrated by a search using three relevant (and broad) keywords in several online job locators, shown in Table 1. Although all three of the search terms returned a large number of positions, the need for usability specialists is particularly pronounced across all of the job banks. Table 1. Position announcements in online job banks (February 23, 2007) Job Search Keyword Service Human usability Humanfactors computer interaction Monster.com 846 2210 455 Careerbuilder.com 555 810 515 Hotjobs.com 750 1239 519 Dice.com 233 1060 232 (technology industry only) Regardless of the primary academic discipline an individual brings to this field, students would benefit from training in usability, user-centered design, applied research, and topics in human behavior and cognition. According to the U.S. Department of Labor (retrieved Feb 23, 2007), the demand for engineers with diversified design, business, and organizational skills is growing, as more traditional programming positions are being outsourced overseas. Even the popular media has acknowledged that an engineering degree is no longer sufficient to obtain a position in technology development. Lohr (2005) provides examples of students who supplement their technical knowledge with courses in psychology, anthropology, psycholinguistics, psychology, art, and biology to be more appealing to large corporate employers such as IBM. Similarly, individuals who are trained in social science and the arts can benefit from a core of human factors content knowledge and methodology. Parallel to trends for engineers, the U.S. Department of Labor predicts “higher-level graphic design jobs… will focus on developing communication strategies, called strategic design, for clients and firms in order for them to gain competitive advantages in the market. Strategic design work requires close proximity to the consumer in order to identify and target their needs and interests.” Further, the U.S. Department of Labor states that graphic design positions will increase with the rise in Web-based information exchange and interactive media; demand for industrial designers “will stem from the continued emphasis on the quality and safety of products, the increasing demand for new products that are easy and comfortable to use, and the development of hightechnology products in consumer electronics, medicine, transportation, and other fields.” All these topics are included in human factors content area knowledge. Human Factors Educational Opportunities Despite the existing and growing need for human factors practitioners, few universities provide a preparatory curriculum for students in the appropriate applied behavioral theory and methods. The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) lists only 14 human


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factors undergraduate programs nationwide. There are no HFES-accredited human factors graduate programs in Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, or Louisiana; the southern United States includes only15 accredited graduate programs, located in Virginia, Alabama, North Carolina, Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, and Mississippi. Thus, students in the Memphis and Midsouth area have limited local opportunity to achieve a high-quality education in human factors. The literature has made note of a general paucity of training in this applied discipline and called for more human factors curricula for nearly a decade. Stone and Moroney’s (1998) survey of undergraduates revealed that 82% of students are ‘not at all’ or ‘slightly’ familiar with Human Factors but 39% were ‘mostly’ or ‘extremely’ interested in enrolling in a course. An unpublished survey of 136 undergraduates at the University of South Florida in 2000 replicated the previous survey and confirmed: • • • •

Most students are ‘not at all,’ ‘slightly,’ or ‘somewhat’ familiar with human factors (81%); Only 2% of students consider themselves ‘very familiar’ with human factors; After reading a brief description of the field, 74% of students are at least ‘interested’ and 37% are ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ interested in learning more; If a course is offered, 63% of students are at least ‘likely’ to enroll and 36% are ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ interested in enrolling.

Following this survey, Introduction to Human Factors Psychology was offered at the University of South Florida in Spring 2002. The course covered basic content area knowledge including sensory-perceptual (visual/auditory), communication, motor/physical, cognitive/intellectual, and social aspects of human behavior, as it relates to product design. In addition, the course covered usability methodology and design issues for special populations (children, elderly and disabled). It included extensive hands-on group work to facilitate communication and teamwork skills required by industry; assessed student performance through a student-created portfolio; held a poster session of on-campus usability problems identified by the students (individual project); and completed a behind-the-scenes tour of the terminals, control/operations room, fire training facility and runways of Tampa International Airport (which has won numerous international awards for its ease of use). Approximately 30 students enrolled. In an end-of-semester survey, the students indicated that a relatively small percent of course content overlapped with that of their other courses (mean = 27%, range = 10-45%). When asked if a human factors course should be taught, their responses included (N=9): • • • • •

Yes, for people who don’t know much about the field it is a great intro. Yes, it is a great applied learning class for those interested in cognitive areas of study. Yes, this class presents a different look at psychology that other classes don’t offer. Yes, b/c (sic) it allows students to learn of a different field, I didn’t know it existed. Yes, has the potential to fit students looking for jobs in this area and have interest in the field.

IEL Usability Lab Proposal •

• • •

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Yes. For starters, because they don’t have it. This class applied research techniques that other classes only talk about. It bring (sic) together multiple areas of psych, as well as adding basic knowledge of non-psychological studies and how psych applies to them. Yes, it is a field that people would otherwise not know about. It opens doors for peoples (sic) future. Yes. There’s an interest and a demand. Yes! This class is one of the few in the department where I actually felt like I was learning something that helped prepare me for life with a B.A. in psychology.

At the University of Memphis, human factors subject matter is addressed in a variety of academic departmental offerings, including those in Management Information Systems, Computer Science, Psychology, and Professional Writing (see Appendix A); however, there is currently limited coursework that addresses applied behavioral science and theory, practical usage of qualitative and quantitative techniques, or user-centered product development processes, particularly as these topics apply to the design of user interfaces. In addition, a usability lab/classroom does not currently exist on the University campus. An informal survey of twenty faculty members in various departments indicates that a usability lab and core interdisciplinary curriculum for human factors would be both highly desirable and needed at the University of Memphis (see Appendix C). Faculty responses indicate that such coursework would positively impact student experience in at least sixteen disciplines, from the arts and humanities to the social-, computational-, and engineering sciences. Therefore, the purpose of this proposal is to develop a core human factors curriculum and usability classroom/lab (see Appendix B) for the University of Memphis that will facilitate high-quality, interdisciplinary preparation of applied practitioners and researchers at both the graduate and undergraduate level. 2. Overall Objective The overall objective of this project is to increase the University of Memphis’s academic offerings in human factors, thereby furthering its mission to be a center of excellence in technology. The IEL funding would assist us with setting up a lab/classroom setting and curriculum to provide both graduate and undergraduate students with applied interdisciplinary skills that are in demand and not sufficiently provided within the context of departmental academic course offerings. 3. Anticipated Outcomes There are a number of benefits of this project for students, faculty researchers, the University of Memphis, the FedEx Institute of Technology and for the greater Memphis community. The anticipated outcomes are to: 1. Create several core, interdisciplinary courses in human factors content and methodology that could be taken by students majoring in any academic discipline; 2. Increase students’ understanding of how to apply knowledge to their everyday lives; 3. Improve job prospects for undergraduate and graduate students;


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4. Provide a usability testing facility that permits face-to-face, mobile, and remote usability evaluations for instructional and research purposes; 5. Increase likelihood of research funding due to the presence of state-of-the-art, on-campus facilities; 6. Encourage faculty in disparate departments to interact and collaborate on course offerings, instructional techniques, or research; and 7. Provide equipment and skills to conduct usability assessments for local corporations, increasing the symbiotic and collaborative relationship between the University and local businesses. Several additional, long-term outcomes may also occur to: 8. Expand the human factors curriculum and seek HFES accreditation at the undergraduate and/or graduate level; 9. Increase on-campus recruiting and student hiring by large corporations may increase, thereby increasing new student applications; and 10. Generate external recognition for the University of Memphis and FedEx Institute of Technology as a cutting-edge technology center via research, entrepreneurship, and/or teaching. 4. Resource Requirements This project requires both hardware and software to transform the Center for Multimedia Art’s meeting space, FIT 214, into the usability lab/classroom. (Support for this space utilization has already been secured.) The lab/classroom we propose would focus on flexibility in executing usability evaluation, to help students understand the practical constraints that exist in applied industrial settings. To this end, we propose obtaining equipment that will allow us to conduct on-site face-to-face individual or small group usability evaluations, as well as remote (Internet-based) and on-site (mobile) usability assessments. For larger group learning scenarios, such as demonstrations and lectures, we have arranged with the ALC to use FIT room 226, a forty-fifty seat classroom, which will give us the space to bring in the proposed mobile lab gear and a whole classroom of students for specific, pre-scheduled class sessions. Follow-up student and small-group lab time would be scheduled in 214. In addition, full execution of the project will require an experienced human factors practitioner/educator to develop appropriate coursework (see Appendix B) and for ongoing instructional and lab/classroom management purposes. Dumas and Redish (1994) point out that teaching usability testing is important for universities that teach behavioral research methods but “we question the assumption often made by our university colleagues, that if they teach their students how to conduct laboratory research, the students will, without additional training, be able to conduct usability tests... the two methods are only superficially related. The best testers have special training in usability testing to supplement their other skills” (p. 95). 5. Budget The budget will be used to purchase equipment for the usability lab/classroom and for curriculum development. The proposed lab/classroom is designed to offer the greatest


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flexibility in conducting on-site (face-to-face) individual and small group, client-based (mobile), and remote (Internet) usability evaluations. Equipment for the lab classroom includes: Dedicated Work Stations • 2 MacBook Pro 15” 2.33 GHz @ $2500 (includes simple video editing, audio recording, DVD burner) • 2 Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac @ $400 • Materials to build portable observation window $1000 Data Capture • 2 Sony DCR DVD205 camcorders @ $400 • 2 Sony VCTD860RM remote control tripod @ $75 • 2 Sony omnidirectional microphones @ $200 • 1 NTSC studio monitor @ $350 • 1 Datavideo SE-500 Live Production Switcher @$1,050 • 1 Dazzle Hollywood DV Bridge @ $150 • Cables (S-video, RCA, and Firewire) @ $150 • 1 external hard drive @ $150 • Tapes and DVDs @ $250 • 1 screen and keystroke capture application @ $500 Data Analysis and Reporting • 2 SPSS Base 13.0 for Mac OSX @ $619 • 2 SPSS Advanced Models 13.0 for Mac OSX @ $519 • 1 Final Cut Express for Mac @ $299 Remote Usability Testing (data collection) • WebSurveyor Server software with perpetual license $9000 Mobile Usability Lab (for client site evaluations) • Ovo Studios Mobile Usability Lab (includes data logger, video capture, video editing, eye tracking software) @ $17,850 Curriculum Development (See also Appendices A and B) • Dr. Melanie Polkosky, a human factors expert with IBM and the CMA, will lead the curriculum development efforts, collaborating with core faculty from each academic discipline affected (see Appendix B). Dr. Polkosky is not a University of Memphis employee, so compensation for her curriculum development effort is requested in the amount of $9,000. Lab Maintenance and Instruction Human Factors Expert (Dr. Polkosky) to administer the lab for year 1 @ $2,750 Total Budget Request: $51,925.00


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6. Personnel According to the HFES accreditation guidelines, faculty for human factors instruction usually come from diverse backgrounds and therefore, strict criteria for their quality are difficult to define. However, appropriate faculty should be determined by their “current identification with the human factors field through some combination of education, experience, scholarship, and professional recognition. In addition to academic qualifications, consideration should be given to the professional experience and activity of the faculty… It is important that [students] be exposed to issues surrounding the practices of human factors and modeling of commitment to the professional aspects of the field… Faculty qualifications… are likely to be more critical when the faculty size is small.” We propose one part-time, experienced practitioner with a behavioral science and design background, who also possesses teaching and industrial experience, to develop the proposed curriculum (see Appendix B) and manage the usability lab. In keeping with HFES guidelines, please refer to the curriculum vita for Dr. Melanie Polkosky, the CMA’s Human Factors Psychologist. Dr. Polkosky has been with the CMA for the past year and a half, but she has also been an applied consultant and researcher at IBM for over 6 years. Her clients have included such major corporations as Disney, T. Rowe Price, TIAA-CREF, XCEL Energy, General Motors, The Kennedy Center, Manheim Auto Auction, and Bell Canada. She holds a Ph.D. in Cognitive and Neural Sciences (Psychology), is a member of the Usability Professionals’ Association (recently elected as Secretary for the Tennessee chapter of UPA) and has published in peer-reviewed human factors journals (e.g., International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, International Journal of Speech Technology, User Experience Magazine). She has won numerous awards within IBM for her patent submissions and technical writing; in addition, she was awarded a Provost’s Commendation for Outstanding Teaching by a Graduate Student at the University of South Florida. In her current role with the CMA as the Center’s Human Factor’s Psychologist, she is involved in research and design projects for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, grantwriting, and general human factors consultancy. Dr. Polkosky will lead the CMA’s effort to develop the proposed curriculum and administer the proposed lab. Subsequently, Dr. Polkosky will provide the subject matter expertise in human factors required to utilize the lab and teach the curriculum. Professor Michael Schmidt, Director of the Center for Multimedia Arts, will lead the CMA’s effort to gather feedback and direction from all potential stakeholders in order to implement and sustain the curriculum and lab to greatest effect. This initiative will involve facilitating the interdisciplinary and collaborative efforts required to establish instructional and research partnerships across and among the FIT, the Colleges, and the community. Professor Schmidt will therefore direct the CMA’s project mission of creating broad-based interest in and access to the proposed curriculum and lab. Maintaining student, faculty & community engagement is essential to the initiative’s success, and so Professor Schmidt will facilitate the requisite interdisciplinary collaboration and intra-institutional support to inform, fund and sustain the proposed curriculum and the lab.

IEL Usability Lab Proposal 10 7. Support Documentation and References Dumas, J. & Redish, J. (1994). A practical guide to usability testing. Portland: Intellect. Hassenzahl, M. & Tractinsky, N. (2006). User experience – a research agenda. Behavior and Information Technology, 25(2), 91-97. Human Factors and Ergonomic Society – www.hfes.org Lohr, S. (Aug. 23, 2005). A techie absolutely, and more; computer majors adding other skills to land jobs. New York Times. Sanders, M. & McCormick, E. (1993). Human factors in engineering and design. (7th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Stone, N. & Moroney, W. (1998). Teaching undergraduate human factors: The need, activities, benefits. Teaching of Psychology, 25(3), 185-189. U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook 2006-2007 Edition http://www.bls.gov/oco/home.htm Usability Professionals’ Association – www.upassoc.org Wickens, C., Gordon, S., & Liu, Y. (1998). An introduction to human factors engineering. New York: Addison Wesley Longman. 8. Project Management Plan The project will consist of three phases: 1) development of the usability lab/classroom, 2) curriculum development and offering, and 3) program evaluation and sustainability planning. The estimated timetable is shown in Table 2.

IEL Usability Lab Proposal 11 Table 2. Project Management Plan and Timetable Usability Lab/Classroom and JulAugCurriculum Development 07 07 Phase 1: Lab Design and Equipment Obtain hardware and software, install and test Design and build room divider Final classroom setup Lab opens

Phase 2: Curriculum Development Develop core course sequence Create instructional materials Identify department/numbering Advertise course offerings to students and faculty First course offered* Entire core curriculum offered

Phase 3: Project Evaluation and Maintenance Project success measurement and evaluation Sustainability plans initiated Faculty funding source identified Lab/classroom maintenance source identified Funding requirements secured

Sep07

Oct07

Nov07

Dec07

Jan08

Feb08

Mar08

Apr08

May08

Jun08

Jul08

Aug08

Sep08

Oct08

Nov08

Dec08

IEL Usability Lab Proposal 12

9. Project Evaluation Project evaluation will be completed primarily through student course evaluations. Because the usability lab/classroom is intended to be a setting and resource for student learning, we plan to assess the quality of our lab as an instructional asset by determining student response to their learning experiences that make use of the lab. Finally, we will track faculty interest in using the lab throughout the year. We would expect, if our project becomes successful, that faculty requests for lab time for research and/or instruction would increase. Similarly, we will also track FIT response to the lab – we would expect that the facility will be a high point in visitor tours of the FIT, and we will develop a survey to determine whether the usability lab positively benefits visitors’ perceptions of the University of Memphis as a technology center. Note: The CMA will provide the service of administering the lab’s schedule. Faculty interested in using the lab to teach or conduct research will contact the lab’s proposed administrator: Dr. Melanie Polkosky (as described in No. 6, Personnel). 10. Student Learning Assessment We plan to assess student learning through performance-based measures, including portfolios and projects, such as those described in the previous Introduction to Human Factors Psychology course offered in Spring 2002 at the University of South Florida (see Background section). In addition, a mid- and end-of-semester course evaluation will be completed by students for each human factors course developed and offered as part of this project. 11. Sustainability Sustainability of the program is expected to require several sources of funding, as described below: Year 1: TAF IEL funds cover equipment and software, facility modifications, curriculum development, and administration. Year 2: Funds for continued administration to be derived from external contracts with corporate partners for user testing, heuristic evaluations, and other consulting; “rental” fees acquired for the use of the lab by external businesses and internal grant-funded researchers; and CMA external grants received for related research. Securing a repair and replacement budget for facility equipment will be one task Michael Schmidt will undertake, starting in year 1. Funds to compensate Dr. Melanie Polkosky for teaching the HF curriculum could come from investigating the following options: (1) Short term: Fulfilling a department’s part-time teaching needs for one or more of its course offerings that serve as a logical platform for the proposed subject matter; (2) Long Term: Pursuing a part-time or full-time equivalent position for Dr. Polkosky; (3) Back-up: Using F&A recovery dollars sent back to CCFA/CMA from CMA operations. Year 3 and Ongoing: Same formula as Year 2, but the CMA will also explore the following possibilities for permanent support: (1) Corporate sponsorship to underwrite all associated costs; (2) FIT underwriting for equipment & software upgrades and limited salary

IEL Usability Lab Proposal 13 support; (3) University support for a full or part-time faculty position in human factors; and (4) Support via a Center of Excellence designation. Furthermore, 80% or more of the CMA’s indirect cost recoveries from all CMA operations, contracts and grants, will be reinvested into the lab as well as into continued curriculum development.


Appendix A. Human Factors Lab & Core Curriculum – Impacts to UM Departments and Curricula The following is not intended as a final list. This appendix represents only “draft 1” of what will likely become a wider list of participating disciplines as momentum for this effort increases. College of Communication and Fine Arts Department of Art: Graphic Design BFA and MFA Concentrations Graphic designers use their knowledge of design form, visual rhetoric, and multi- & interactive media to create user interfaces, content and presentations that address tangible and intangible user needs and preferences. The usability lab & HF core curriculum proposes to complement the existing coursework in this domain by adding a user-centered focus to design process and methods. Behavioral scientific methods will enhance the design student’s understanding of her audience, and human factors methods will show the graphic designers how to evaluate their work, making them even more marketable with employers in design, advertising, and marketing. Department of Art: Architecture & Interior Design Undergraduate Programs Architects and interior designers are well aware of physical human factors, universal design, and green, livable environment design. However, physical environments are becoming increasingly digitally-augmented and will soon be replete with user interfaces for all facets of operating the home and office. These high-tech environments will require sophisticated and intuitive user interfaces, which will require a knowledge of human factors for digital media as well as an understanding of how to test prototype environments before costly mistakes are made. The usability lab & HF core curriculum will also be applicable to architecture and interior design objectives with offerings in anthropometrics (body measurement) and its tenets for successful design of such things as office furniture and workspaces. The proposed introduction to human factors psychology, which studies applied behavioral science, including human cognitive/intellectual, sensory/perceptual, communication, motor and social skills and limitations, will be a valuable comprehensive overview for architecture and interior design students, further setting them apart from their peers at other academic institutions. Department of Communication: Broadcast BA and MA Programs Broadcast students are already acquiring skills that prepare them to generate media for a wide variety of audiences. And Film & Video graduates are increasingly securing jobs as Web designers, where user interface expertise—informed by a clear understanding of human factors principles—is highly relevant to their clients’ needs. Radio students will also find this curriculum helpful, especially as it relates to speech technology design (one of the proposed HF special topics courses). Department of Communication: Undergraduate and Graduate Programs in Communication Coursework in communication at UM, whether at the undergraduate or graduate level, is expanding to include the investigation of communication as intervention, particularly in healthcare. A usability lab and human factors curriculum will greatly strengthen the opportunities Communication students will have to learn how to create and execute qualitative and quantitative study designs regarding user-centric communication goals.


Department of Journalism: Internet Journalism Concentration “The Internet Journalism sequence integrates Internet publishing technology and traditional journalism skills of writing, reporting, and publication layout designing to develop a new generation of ‘Internet Ready’ journalists.” To this end, students of Internet journalism create “multimedia oriented web stories” and study “the application of visual communication principles as well.” The proposed usability lab & HF core curriculum would provide students with specific techniques for obtaining and understanding reader/viewer backgrounds, preferences and needs. Importantly as well, this curriculum would help “. . . instill the value for accuracy, fairness and balance” that underpins the Department of Journalism by training its students to communicate through technology in ways that provide the user-access required to meet this socially-conscious goal. School of Music: Music Industry Division/Recording Technology BM Program As with broadcast students, recording technology graduates earn the technical means to create media-rich user experiences. Learning more about the human factors related to sound will enable the recording technology students to engineer audio, technically as well as aesthetically, from a listener-centric standpoint. College of Business Department of Management Information Systems: BBA, MSBA, and PhD programs MIS curricula already emphasize human factors. However, the proposed usability lab & HF core curriculum will complement existing offerings—whether the BBA’s methods of analyzing and developing business systems, the MSBA’s information systems management and planning, or the PhD’s systems analysis & design and research methodology courses—by offering a behavioral science focus to needs analyses and requirements determinations as well as providing students with marketable training in qualitative and quantitative product/system user testing methods. College of Education Department of Instruction and Curriculum Leadership: Instructional Design Technology MS and PhD Programs The usability lab & HF core curriculum would complement courses in IDT—specifically IDT 7062/8062 Authoring instructional courseware, ICL 7051/8051 Simulation and Gaming, and IDT 7052 Instructional Technology and the Learner—by offering training in K-12 physical and cognitive user requirements for interface design. College of Arts & Sciences Department of Computer Science: Applied Computer Science MS Program and Computer Science BS Program The Applied Computer Science Program offers an MS with a “specialty area” in multimedia, The usability lab & HF core curriculum will especially compliment the course content of COMP 7517: Topics in Human-Computer Interaction, while “rounding-out” the program’s visual design offerings. The HF curriculum would also add a user-centered dimension to the primary objective of the BS in Computer Science Program: “1. To develop fundamental understanding of computer science, including knowledge of principles and practical implementations.”


Department of Psychology: Experimental Psychology/Cognitive Psychology PhD Concentration The discipline of human factors originated in psychology, and while the UM Department of Psychology offers many related courses, no human factors curriculum, per se, exists. The behavioral and evaluative dimensions of the proposed usability lab & HF core curriculum will complement, not duplicate, the existing psych courses, especially within the following two program emphases: First, “Psycholinguistics and discourse. This emphasis involves the processes and knowledge structures used in understanding and producing written and spoken language. A related goal is to better understand comprehension processes at all ages.” The topic areas within this emphasis most applicable to this proposal include learning from text, learning from multimedia, and multimodal communication. Second, “Learning technologies. In this emphasis, faculty and students investigate how recent developments in computer science and computational modeling can be applied to learning, particularly the learning of complex domains of knowledge (e.g., physics, biology).” The proposed curriculum, then, clearly complements the existing curricula and advances skills in this area of emphasis, specifically intelligent tutoring systems, multimedia and hypermedia, human-computer interaction, artificial intelligence, natural language processing, individual differences in learning and, overall, in the IIS Learning Technologies Areas of Focus. Department of English: Professional Writing BA, MA and PhD Programs The Professional Writing Program states of their offerings, “Many courses incorporate computer use to build students' skills in using multimedia applications, Web pages, and other Internet applications.” All of these products are at their most successful level when informed by human factors. Therefore the proposed usability lab & HF core curriculum will provide professional writing students with skills that will make them even more competitive in the job market. Additionally, the HF core curriculum’s research and evaluation methods will be particularly pertinent to MA and PhD students, who will use these methods whether they enter industry or academic faculty positions. Departments of Anthropology and Sociology Anthropologists and sociologists are finding additional career options in design firms, advertising agencies, communication consultancies, and marketing firms because of their expertise in qualitative and quantitative methods, respectively, of information gathering. Additional behavioral science study in human factors can be used to form an additional concentration in these disciplines: one that will explicitly train students for well-paid careers in the communication, entertainment, and educational materials design industries. College of Engineering Departments of Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Technology, and Electrical and Computer Engineering Engineers are often relied upon in the absence of graphic, architectural, or industrial designers to develop the user interface—or means by which users will access the devices and applications designed and produced by engineers. For this reason, engineering students will find the usability lab and entire HF core curriculum pertinent to their career goals. Furthermore, the stated

IEL Usability Lab Proposal 17 philosophy of the College of Engineering emphasizes the important societal role of the engineer and the consideration each engineer must maintain for her end users. The proposed HF core curriculum can serve as an additional means to reinforce this responsible aim. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Undergraduate and Graduate Programs The HF core curriculum will also be useful to students studying medical device tooling and implantation design. Depending on the strength of interest in this topic area, the CMA may offer a specialized studies topic in this area of human factors.


Appendix B. Proposed Human Factors Core Curriculum and Usability Lab as an Educational Venue Proposed Human Factors Core Curriculum The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES) provides accreditation guidelines for human factors programs. Consistent with the expectations of this professional society and to ensure a high-quality educational experience, we believe a core curriculum should consist of: 1. Introduction to human cognitive/intellectual, sensory/perceptual, communication, motor, and social skills as they relate to product and technology design (graduate and undergraduate level); 2. Survey of human research and analysis/design methodologies (applied behavioral research), including qualitative and quantitative approaches, usability evaluation design, user-centered design process (graduate and undergraduate level); 3. Human factors research experience (graduate level); 4. Practical experience with applied problems and solutions (graduate and undergraduate); 5. Communication and teamwork skills, especially appropriate multidisciplinary collaboration and formal/informal presentation of feedback; 6. Writing for research and business audiences, including report writing. The 6 goals will be addressed in each human factors course offered. The curriculum development, a major portion of the grant activity, will include collaboration with University faculty to make sure the following proposed courses effectively dovetail with existing courses. Within the context of the IEL grant, we propose developing a 3-course graduate/undergraduate sequence as follows: Introduction to Human Factors Psychology – issues in applied behavioral science, including human cognitive/intellectual, sensory/perceptual, communication, motor and social skills and limitations. Human Factors Methods – practical and research methods for designing usability evaluation, conducting user research, and executing user-centered product or technology design. Special Topics in Human Factors – a rotating set of advanced topics to be determined. Examples of advanced courses may include Visual User Experience Design, Speech Technology Design, Multimedia and Interactive Experience Design, Usability Theory and Evaluation, Emotional and Social Technology Design. Usability Lab as an Educational Venue An important component of the human factors core curriculum is providing practical opportunities similar to those students will experience in industrial settings (point 4 above). The usability lab is central to this objective. Planned experiences that incorporate the usability lab include:

IEL Usability Lab Proposal 19 1. Behavioral Observation and Analysis – undergraduate students in the introductory courses will be required to observe usability testing, to become familiar with the usability lab and the role of evaluators and practice a central skill required of human factors practitioners. 2. Heuristic Evaluation of Software – undergraduate and graduate students in the introductory courses will be required to conduct heuristic evaluations of one or more applications in the usability lab, to increase their knowledge of practical tools used in industry and to practice executing a frequently-used method of evaluation (heuristic review). Other methods (as appropriate) may also be practiced using the lab’s software and hardware or Internet stimuli. 3. Mini-Assessment Planning and Execution – undergraduate students will be required to execute a mini-usability assessment with 1 participant, consisting of 4-5 tasks with a piece of software or website, then provide written analysis of the participant’s performance with the tasks. 4. Task-Based Usability Assessment Planning and Execution – graduate students will be required to plan a comprehensive task-based usability assessment with at least 5-6 participants. They will then provide written analysis of results and recommendations to improve ease of use. 5. Usability Consulting and Measurement Research – as the usability lab matures and external requests for assessment and consulting are handled, students will have the opportunity to observe, participate, and assist with usability assessment for local corporations and conduct psychometric and methodological research. These experiences could occur within the context of the core curriculum or in addition to the core curriculum. 6. Lab Management Assistantship – the potential also exists for students (primarily graduate students) to participate in managing the facility and interacting with corporate clients as the lab matures and becomes established as a community asset. These experiences could occur within the context of the core curriculum or in addition to the core curriculum. Implementation Several options exist for using these courses to meet student degree requirements. 1. The College of Communication and Fine Arts is proposed as the academic and administrative home for the HF curriculum. This arrangement owes to the CMA’s participation in the establishment of a larger CCFA program, of which the HF curriculum will constitute one part. (Also, CCFA is the CMA’s administrative home.) An academic home is required to provide a means for curriculum proposals, course listing, course scheduling, and University oversight. 2. The HF curriculum will be open to students from all majors, just like the African American Studies and Women’s Studies programs. Both programs have an academic home in the College of Arts and Sciences, but their courses can be taken for degree credit by students from any college. 3. To earn degree credit, students could take HF courses as part of a. a forthcoming new interdisciplinary major in CCFA. b. a forthcoming new interdisciplinary minor in CCFA.

IEL Usability Lab Proposal 20 c. specialized studies courses in their home discipline. (This would only require a simple expansion of existing specialized studies topics, if at all, and a registration for the same course number but under a section number assigned to the HF instructor). d. newly created HF course numbers added to their degree requirements or electives. e. a pseudo cross-listing of courses whereby they sign up for a course number that satisfies their degree requirements but attend classes with peers who are signed up under other course numbers meeting their degree requirements. f. internship or independent study hours. g. University College or Honors College course selections. h. the general education core. (This would be ideal but difficult to obtain.) i. other options as they become known and available.


Appendix C. Letters of Support Richard R. Ranta, Dean College of Communication and Fine Arts Moira Logan, Associate Dean College of Communication and Fine Arts Jennifer A. Wagner-Lawlor, PhD Associate Dean for Interdisciplinary Studies, College of Arts and Sciences

Michael J. Albers, PhD Associate Professor of English, Professional Writing Concentration Lee Allen, EdD Assistant Professor, Instructional Design and Technology David Appleby Professor, Department of Communication, Film and Television Lucas Charles Assistant Professor of Graphic Design Jeff Cline Head, Music Industry Division Associate Professor of Sound Recording Technology Jasbir S. Dhaliwal, PhD Chair, Department of Management Information Systems Director, Systems testing Excellence Program Gary Golightly Assistant Professor, Graphic Design Michael M. Grant, PhD Assistant Professor, Instructional Design & Technology Michael Hagge, Associate Professor Coordinator, Architecture

Jim Lutz Assistant Professor Director, Center for Sustainable Design

Shu Li, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Communication Max M. Louwerse, PhD Assistant Professor Psychology/Institute of Intelligent Systems

IEL Usability Lab Proposal 22 Andrew Olney Associate Director, Institute for Intelligent Systems Dr. Jin Yang, Assistant Professor, Department of Journalism Amanda Young, PhD Assistant Professor, Department of Communication

THE UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS College of Communication & Fine Arts Office of the Dean (901) 678-2350 Room 232 FAX (901) 678-5118

MEMO TO:

IEL Grant Selection Committee

FROM:

Moira Logan, Associate Dean College of Communication and Fine Arts

SUBJECT:

IEL Grant Proposal

DATE:

March 23, 2007

I enthusiastically endorse the proposal submitted by Professor Michael Schmidt, Associate Professor of Graphic Design and Director of The Center for Multimedia Arts, and Dr. Melanie D. Polkosky, a Human Factors Psychologist at the CMA. The proposal for the development of an interdisciplinary usability lab/classroom and a human factors curriculum addresses a critical aspect of our increasingly technological environment. It also is an important piece of an interdisciplinary degree being developed in Communication and Fine Arts in Communication, Art, and Technology. Understanding how technology is used and how human factors and psychology affect its use will be a key aspect of the curriculum design. Anyone familiar with the Center for Multimedia Arts is aware of its cutting edge activities in the area of design and technology. Mike Schmidt has put together an expert team of professionals and has aggressively pursued projects that have tremendous relevance and value. The most visible of these is the partnership with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital aimed at developing a handheld device to deal with the questions confronting critically ill children and their families participating in clinical trials. Expanding into the theoretical and applied dimensions of human factors in relation to design and the usability of technological innovations is both natural and necessary. The CMA is doing groundbreaking work in technology and design. The addition of new resources will advance their ability to ask the important questions and pursue the knowledge that is essential if our human evolution is to match our advances in technology.

Tennessee Board of Regents Institution An Equal Opportunity Affirmative Action University

MEMORANDUM TO: IEL Grant Selection Committee FROM: Dr. Jennifer A. Wagner-Lawlor, Associate Dean for Interdisciplinary Studies, College of Arts and Sciences DATE: March 23, 2007 SUBJECT: Support for Usability Lab/Human Factors Curriculum Proposal

I am happy to give my very strongest support to the IEL Grant proposal submitted by Dr. Michael Schmidt and Dr. Melanie Polkosky. The proposed development of this innovative interdisciplinary curriculum, if funded, will clearly create a wonderful opportunity for U of M students who are seeking a rigorous interdisciplinary major that will also create job opportunities in many areas. It is clear that our contemporary economy will require more and more graduates familiar not just with the technical side of things, and not just with the “people” side of things—but with individuals who understand the literal interface between technology and people. And give Memphis’s unique place in this new economy—and particularly with the kind of transportation and biotech emphases that Memphis leaders promote—students trained to enhance human experience of that interface stand to be extremely well served by such an innovative program. This potential for this program, in terms of likely student interest and likely success of its future graduates, is clearly documented in the proposal. And of course the potential for the program also lies in the interest of the faculty—and given the clear relevance of this kind of study for students oriented toward all three of the “major” disciplinary areas— humanities and fine arts, social sciences, and math/natural sciences—I believe faculty from many of our colleges will be intrigued with such a curriculum, should its development phase be funded. Finally, as a faculty member and administrator devoted to the promotion of interdisciplinary studies, I believe that this proposal, which fits squarely into the U of M’s stated goal of promoting interdisciplinary research and teaching, is very likely to lead to the best kind of interdisciplinary work, bringing together apparently disparate fields to create new knowledge that will improve the way we think, work, and live.

To who it may concern:

I’m pleased to write this letter strongly supporting the IEL grant “Development of an Interdisciplinary Usability Lab/Classroom and Human Factors Curriculum.” For several years, I have advocated the development of a usability lab on campus to support both the teaching and research missions of the University of Memphis. This proposal provides a sound and well thought-out foundation which supports both of those missions. In the fall of 2004, I taught a usability special topic course for professional writing students. They would have benefited greatly from the use of the lab described in this proposal. Looking to the future needs of our students, the professional writing concentration has discussed offering a regular graduate course in usability. Similarly, our senior level undergraduate courses could make use of the usability lab in support of some units in those courses. I also must agree strongly with the proposal’s claims about the rapid growth of the usability and human factors fields and an overall lack of academic programs to provide skilled people to work within those fields. This proposal should enable the University of Memphis to develop a strong reputation within the field and to attract top graduate students across many disciplines.

Dr. Michael J. Albers Associate professor of English Professional writing concentration

March 23, 2007

TO:

Michael Schmidt Associate Professor of Graphic Design and Director, Center for Multimedia Arts FedEx Institute of Technology, Room 335 University of Memphis Memphis, TN 38152

RE: Personal Endorsement for Proposal for TAF IEL Grant As requested, I have read Michael Schmidt and Dr. Polkosky’s IEL Grant proposal, “Development of an Interdisciplinary Usability Lab/Classroom and Human Factors Curriculum”. In regards to the proposal’s theoretical foundations and implementation design, I see potential a beneficial impact and opportunities for collaboration with the College of Education’s Instructional Design & Technology courses as cited in the Appendices. I will be happy to respond to any questions in regards to this personal endorsement of the IEL Grant proposal in question.

Lee Allen, Ed.D. Assistant Professor Instructional Design & Technology College of Education University of Memphis 421-B Ball Hall Memphis, TN 38016 Ph: 901-678-4073 [email protected]

To the TAF IEL Grant Review Committee I am writing in favor of the TAF IEl Grant Proposal put forward by the Center for Multimedia Arts (CMA). After reviewing the proposal it is my conclusion that the efforts of the grant would ultimately help to produce more marketable undergraduates and graduates and would help to increase student awareness and understanding of multimedia issues when designing for the digital environment. With the ubiquitous nature of the computer in our society there is an urgent need to increase research and experimentation of human factors in the Graphic Design Concentration at the University of Memphis. Recent exploration of the region reveled little focus on human factors within current graphic design curriculums. This is of concern due to the current shift toward tailored experiences focusing on more meaningful differences among audiences. Students that experience the curriculum proposed by the CMA would have a higher level of unmatched skills in terms of process and methodology that would help them further their careers as creative problem solvers (graphic designers) and in return promote the University of Memphis as a leader at the forefront of human factor issues. As an instructor of multimedia within graphic design I have struggled with the balance between technology skills and the higher-level graphic design thinking skills. It is my belief that this is primarily due to the learning curve that students have to accomplish to be successful creators of multimedia experiences. On one hand the student needs to address the what and how questions, specifically what tools to use and how to program a website or kiosk, on the other hand the students need to address the why and what if questions, why use a metaphor or what if the typography is too small for the viewer to read. The latter questions should receive the same amount of focus as the former; however, many times the lack of time and resources hinders the learning process. The proposed curriculum potentially would provide greater support for the faculty and would also increase structure to insure the student is thoroughly exposed to issues when designing for the digital environment. In conclusion, I fully support the proposal put forward by the CMA and look forward to the potential benefits for the University of Memphis Graphic Design Concentration students.

Lucas Charles Assistant Professor of Graphic Design University of Memphis

March 22, 2007

Dear Selection Committee: Drs. Polkosky and Schmidt’s IEL proposal for “Development of an Interdisciplinary Usability Lab/Classroom and Human Factors Curriculum” intersects the Instructional Design & Technology program’s goals. The creation of an interdisciplinary human factors curriculum and usability educational/research facility supports our own curriculum of development of computer-based and Web-based instruction. I earnestly support their proposal. ID&T faculty were members of the planning committee for the FedEx Institute of Technology, and particularly with regard to usability. We have advised our students to take courses with Dr. Mike Albers in the English department to support our growing need for usability testing. In our current coursework, IDT 7072/8072: Seminar in Webbased Instructional Design and IDT 7073/8073: Seminar in Computer-based Instructional Design both touch on interface design, navigation, content organization and usability—all of which are supported within human-computer interaction (HCI) and human factors. In the fall 2007 semester, we will begin a new curriculum. Two new courses, IDT 7090/8090: Interactive Learning Environments I and IDT 7095/8095: Interactive Learning Environments II, would benefit from the cross-pollination of coursework in human factors. In particular, IDT 7095/8095 focuses on formative evaluation of instructional products, so access to usability lab equipment would be very useful for our students. In addition to our curriculum, the ID&T faculty research agendas would also profit from this proposal. Currently, a doctoral student is completing research in cognitive load theory and interface design, which are both significant elements of human factors research. His research would have benefited from access to usability equipment and observation work. It is with pleasure that I support Drs. Polkosky and Schmidt’s proposal. I believe this would advance the Instructional Design and Technology program, as well as move the university forward in its desire for a learning technology focus. Sincerely,

Michael M. Grant, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Instructional Design & Technology

A Tennessee Board of Regents Institution An Equal Opportunity – Affirmative Action University

March 23, 2007 Dear Selection Committee, I am happy to write this letter of support for the TAF IEL grant proposal titled “Development of an Interdisciplinary Usability Lab/Classroom and Human Factors Curriculum.” We currently do not have a facility for teaching and research in usability and human factors. In my work on the interdisciplinary St. Jude project—design of interactive tools to facilitate the informed consent process in pediatric oncology—it became clear that such a facility is needed. It will not only contribute greatly to our current research by testing, in a scientific and rigorous manner, the usability of our prototypes to guide further design and research on the applicability and efficacy of our tools. It will also contribute to continued interdisciplinary research involving the Department of Communication as well as faculty and students in other programs at the university. The proposed facility will provide crucial lab experience for Health Communication students in the Communication Department, make them more marketable with usability competency, and, fundamentally, make them more aware of the needs of people in communication processes and products. It is with pleasure that I write in support of Drs. Polkosky and Schmidt’s proposal. I believe it will advance research and teaching for a number of departments/programs on campus. It will also help interdisciplinary research collaborations between the University and other institutions.

Regards,

Shu Li, PhD Assistant Professor Department of Communication

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Department of Journalism University of Memphis

Room 310 Meeman Journalism Building 3711 Veterans Ave. Memphis, TN 38152 Tel: 901-678-5148

March 23, 2007 TAF IEL Grant Selection Committee

To Whom It May Concern: I am a faculty of the Department of Journalism and I am in charge of the journalism sequence Internet Journalism. I have reviewed the proposal entitled “Development of Interdisciplinary Usability Lab/Classroom and Human Factors Curriculum” by Professors Melanie Polkosky and Michael Schmidt under their invitation and would like to show my support for the proposed program. The students of Internet Journalism may benefit from the proposed program because we do request students taking JOUR4500 Web Site Management I and JOUR4550 Web Site Management II and JOUR4900 Multimedia Mass Communication start the project construction from information architecture. Students have to develop a full-scale proposal including audience analysis to get the approval from the instructor before proceeding to the next stage of the execution of the proposal. Human factor oriented program will help students obtain a better understanding of the role of audience in designing web projects and multimedia projects, of which students have a very limited knowledge. The establishment of the interdisciplinary human factor core curriculum and usability educational/research facility may expose students to a rare opportunity to do some hands-on practice from the audience’s perspective. Let me know if you have more questions in regards to the relationship between the proposed program and Internet Journalism sequence. Thank you. Sincerely,

Dr. Jin Yang Assistant Professor Department of Journalism

March 23, 2007

Dear Selection Committee, I am happy to write this letter of support for the TAF IEL grant proposal titled “Development of an Interdisciplinary Usability Lab/Classroom and Human Factors Curriculum.” Within the Communication Department, we are developing courses in the area of new media, and I can foresee students needing to test their work in a lab like the one proposed. Additionally, we are engaged in research, such as the St. Jude Informed Consent Project, that would benefit from this facility. The Communication Department is focusing more and more on applied communication and engaged scholarship. That focus, coupled with work in new media, could greatly benefit from the hands-on work that a user testing lab would allow. Regards, Amanda Young, PhD Assistant Professor Department of Communication

Polkosky 1

Curriculum Vitae

Melanie D. Polkosky, Ph.D., CCC-SLP 747 South Tree Drive Collierville, TN 38017 (901) 255-1750 [email protected] Research Interests

Conversational modeling, cognitive-affective responses to technology and communication, social perception of intelligent technologies, multimodal communication, psycholinguistics, usability measurement

Positions Held

Human Factors Consultant Center for Multimedia Arts, FedEx Institute of Technology University of Memphis

2005-present

Senior Human Factors Psychologist/Consultant Conversational Solutions Group, IBM AIM Worldwide Lab Services Memphis, TN

2005-present

Advisory Human Factors Psychologist/Consultant Conversational Solutions Group, IBM AIM Worldwide Lab Services Memphis, TN

2002-2005

Guest Lecturer 2003-2004 Palm Beach Community College, Lake Worth, FL (undergraduate, Intro to Business) Florida Atlantic University, West Palm Beach, FL (graduate, Quantitative Research Methods) Advisory Human Factors Engineer for Development, IBM Pervasive Computing Boca Raton, FL Human Factors Graduate Intern, IBM Voice Systems Boca Raton, FL Teaching Assistant, University of South Florida Psychology Department Tampa, FL Graduate Student Teaching Assistant Training Workshops Introduction to Human Factors Psychology Developmental Psychology Research Methods Research Assistant, Dr. Michael Coovert U.S. Air Force AWACS Human-Computer Interaction Project USF Psychology Department, Tampa, FL

2002-2004 2001

2000-2002 2002 2000-2001 1999-2000 2000

Research Assistant, Dr. Judith Bryant Lexical Development in Preschool Children USF Psychology Department, Tampa, FL

1999-2000

Diagnostician/SLP, Pre-Kindergarten Handicapped Assessment Team Pinellas County Schools, Largo, FL

1996-1999

Polkosky 2

Communication Specialist, Social Skills Training Groups, Florida Children’s Center Tampa, FL

1997-1998

Speech-Language Pathologist, All Children’s Hospital St. Petersburg, FL

1995-1996

Speech-Language Pathology Extern, Hershey Medical Center Hershey, PA

1995

Research Assistant, Dr. Lynne Hewitt Theory of Mind Development in Children Penn State Communication Disorders Department, University Park, PA

1995

Speech-Language Pathology Extern, Nittany Valley Rehabilitation Hospital Pleasant Gap, PA

1994

Research Assistant, Dr. Janice Light Augmentative and Alternative Communication Penn State Communication Disorders Department, University Park, PA Student Teacher, English Department, Garden Spot High School Re:Learning Educational Reform Program New Holland, PA

1993-1995

1992

Teaching portfolio available on request

Education

University of South Florida Tampa, FL Ph.D. in Cognitive and Neural Sciences (Psychology), Human Factors minor

1999-2005

International Academy of Merchandising and Design Tampa, FL Credits in multimedia design

1997-1998

The Pennsylvania State University State College, PA Master of Science in Communication Disorders

1993-1995

Millersville University of Pennsylvania 1988-1992 Millersville, PA Bachelor of Science in Education, English major, cum laude/University Honors Program

Awards & Honors

IBM Bravo Award, University Ambassador for University of Memphis (December 2005) IBM Bravo Award, Pervasive Computing Technical Conference Team Project (November 2004) IBM Bravo Award, Sprint Directory Dialer Project (October 2004) Second Patent Plateau Award, IBM Inventors Program (August 2004) First Patent Plateau Award, IBM Inventors Program (April 2004) First Patent Application Award, IBM Inventors Program (January 2002) Tenth Plateau Award, IBM Author Recognition Program (July 2004) Ninth Plateau Award, IBM Author Recognition Program (July 2003) Eighth Plateau Award, IBM Author Recognition Program (April 2003) Seventh Plateau Award, IBM Author Recognition Program (January 2003) Sixth Plateau Award, IBM Author Recognition Program (September 2002) Fifth Plateau Award, IBM Author Recognition Program (July 2002) Fourth Plateau Award, IBM Author Recognition Program (June 2002) Third Plateau Award, IBM Author Recognition Program (June 2002) Second Plateau Award, IBM Author Recognition Program (June 2002)

Polkosky 3

First Plateau Award, IBM Author Recognition Program (June 2002) First Publication Award, IBM Author Recognition Program (June 2002) IBM One Team Award, U.S. English SuperVoices (January 2003) USF Provost’s Commendation for Outstanding Teaching by a Graduate Student (2001) Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society Teaching Assistantship, University of South Florida (1999-2001) Penn State University Graduate School Tuition Grant-in-Aid (1995) U.S. Department of Education Traineeship in Augmentative and Alternative Communication, Penn State University (1994)

Research Assistantship, Penn State University (1994) Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society SICO Scholarship (1988-1992)

Certifications Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology & Licensure Florida Licensed Speech-Language Pathologist (1995-2004)

Pennsylvania Level I Teaching Certificate (English, grades 7 to 12)

Professional American Psychological Association Memberships Society for Personality and Social Psychology

International Communication Association American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Usability Professionals’ Association

Publications

Polkosky, M., Hura, S., & Gilbert, J. (2006). Expert perspectives on speech technology design and usability. User Experience Magazine 5(3), 16-18. Polkosky, M. (2006). It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it: Designing respect for the customer. Speech Technology Magazine 11(5), 16-21. Polkosky, M. (2005). What is speech usability, anyway? Speech Technology Magazine, 10(6), 22-25. Polkosky, M. (in press). Machines as mediators: The challenge of technology for interpersonal communication research. E. A. Konijn, M. Tanis, S. Utz, & A. Linden, Eds. Mediated Interpersonal Communication. Polkosky, M. (2005, accepted for publication). Measuring the interpersonal consequences of speech technology. International Journal of Speech Technology. Polkosky, M. (2003). Including the user in the conversation. Speech Recognition Update, 123, 3-5. Polkosky, M. & Lewis, J. (2003). Expanding the MOS: Development and psychometric evaluation of the MOS-R and MOS-X. International Journal of Speech Technology, 6, 161-182. Eide, E., Aaron, A., Bakis, R., Cohen, P., Donovan, W., Hamza, W., Mathes, T., Picheny, M., Polkosky, M., Smith, M., Viswanathan, M. (2002). Recent improvements to the IBM trainable speech synthesis system. IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech, and Signal Processing – Proceedings, (pp. 708-711). New Jersey: IEEE. Polkosky, M. & Lewis, J. (2002). Effect of waiting cues on time estimation in speech recognition telephony applications. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 14(3 & 4),423-446.

Polkosky 4

White Papers Polkosky, M. (2004). Collaborating with human factors experts: A guide for engineers. Raleigh: NC, IBM. Polkosky, M. (2003). Measuring listener impressions of synthetic voices. Raleigh, NC: IBM. Technical Reports Michelini, V., Agapi, C., Mirt, M., Wilson, F., & Polkosky, M. (2004). A flexible method for manipulating fields in a directory assistance application. (Tech. Report No. 29.3731). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M. & Michelini, V. (2004). Software and human factors engineers: Understanding different perspectives while developing a speech user interface. (Tech. Report No. 29.3870). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M., Jaiswal, P., & Wang, F. (2004). A method for VXML and CTI vendor independent integration basedon CTI extensions through a broker concept. (Tech. Report No. 29.3806). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Commarford, P. & Polkosky, M. (2003). Recognition accuracy and information display for an IBM software product. (Tech. Report No. 29.3671). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M. (2003). Perceptual evaluation of French and German text-to-speech voices. (Tech. Report No. 29.3612). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M. (2002). Effect of paired comparison judgments on perceptual ratings of synthetic speech. (Tech. Report No. 29.3549). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M. (2002). Enhancement of the Mean Opinion Scale-Expanded (MOS-X). (Tech. Report No. 29.3542). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M. (2002). Human factors considerations in server-assisted, embedded speech recognition and synthesis applications. (Tech. Report No. 29.3489). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M. (2002). Human voice perceptual benchmarks for synthetic speech development. (Tech. Report No. 29.3570). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M. (2002). Ink Manager Pro 2.0 usability evaluation. (Tech. Report No. 29.3469). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M. (2002). Interpersonal expectancy and listener perception of human and synthetic female voices. (Tech. Report No. 29.3572). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M. (2002). Interpersonal expectancy and listener perception of human and synthetic male voices. (Tech. Report No. 29.3554). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M. (2002). Initial psychometric evaluation of the pragmatic rating scale for dialogues. (Tech. Report No. 29.3634). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M. (2002). Iterative evaluation and redesign of the TransNote Getting Started Guide. (Tech. Report No. 29.3439). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M. (2002). Listener evaluation of male and female TTS Supervoices. (Tech. Report No. 29.3611). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines.

Polkosky 5

Polkosky, M. (2002). Low-fidelity prototyping of a training interface for the Compaq iPAQTM with Embedded Viavoice Mobility SuiteTM. (Tech. Report No. 29.3485). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M. (2002). Pitch, duration, and timbre effects on user preference for turntaking tones. (Tech. Report No. 29.2435). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M. & Lewis, J. (2002). The function of nonspeech audio in speech recognition applications: A review of the literature. (Tech. Report No. 29.3405). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M. (2002). Toward a multimedia methodology for evaluating user preference for synthetic voices. (Tech. Report No. 29.3486). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M. & Lewis, J. (2002). TransNote Ink Manager Pro 1.0 benchmark usability testing. (Tech Report No. 29.3431). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M. (2002). User preference for system processing tones. (Tech. Report No. 29.3436). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M. (2002). User preference for turntaking tones. (Tech. Report No. 29.3420). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M. (2002). Validation of script sets for synthetic speech evaluations. (Tech. Report No. 29.3571). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M. & dos Santos, R. (2002). Usability evaluation sequence for the proposed common system administration (CSA) web console for WebSphere Voice Server 3.1.1: Human factors and developer views. (Tech. Report No. 29.3605). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M. & Gleason, P. (2002). Effect of build size on perception of synthetic voices. (Tech. Report No. 29.3607). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M. & Lewis, J. (2002). User preference for turntaking tones 2: Participant source issues and additional data. (Tech. Report No. 29.3447). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M. & Lewis, J. (2002). User preference for a grouping pages icon. (Tech. Report No. 29.3432). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Lewis, J., & Polkosky, M. (2001). Listener ratings of four competitive concatenative text-to-speech female voices. (Tech. Report No. 29.3480). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Lewis, J., & Polkosky, M. (2001). Listener evaluation of four competitive concatenative text-tospeech male voices. (Tech. Report No. 29.3480). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M. & Lewis, J. (2001). Development and psychometric evaluation of an expanded Mean Opinion Scale-Revised. (Tech. Report No. 29.3499). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M. & Lewis, J. (2001). Effect of ticking rate on user estimates of system response time. (Tech. Report No. 29.3425). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M. & Lewis, J. (2001). Effect of ticking rate on user estimates of system response time: Part 2. (Tech. Report No. 29.3446). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M. & Lewis, J. (2001). Ink Manager Pro paper prototype usability testing. (Tech. Report No. 29.3427). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines. Polkosky, M. Sadowski, W., & Lewis, J. (2001). The uniqueness of initial words in news headlines. (Tech. Report No. 29.3412). Raleigh, NC: International Business Machines

Polkosky 6

Poster Presentations Polkosky, M. (2002). Effect of auditory stimuli on subjective time estimation. Poster presented at the First College of Arts and Sciences Graduate Student Research Symposium, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL. Polkosky, M. & Diamond, L. (2001). Evaluating critical thinking in research methods courses: An introduction to authentic assessment for graduate student teaching assistants. Poster presented at the 23rd Annual National Institute for the Teaching of Psychology, St. Petersburg Beach, FL. Bryant, J. & Polkosky, M. (2001). Parents’ response to preschoolers’ lexical innovations. Poster presented at the Biennial Meeting for the Society for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis, MN. Light, J., Binger, C., Corbett, M.B., Gathercole, M., Greiner, N., & Seich, A. (1995a, December). The effect of turn taking on the communicative competence of students who use AAC. Poster presented at the annual convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), Orlando, FL. Patents and Patent Disclosures Polkosky, M., & Michelini, V. (under review). Numeric weighting of error recovery prompts for transfer to a human operator. Polkosky, M., Davis, B., & Michelini, V. (under review). An auditory hierarchical error recovery structure for communication breakdown in speech user interfaces. Davis, B., Herman, J., Michelini, V., Agapi, C., White, J., Boyacigillar, C., Mirt, M., Wilson, F., & Polkosky, M. (under review). Integrated voice activated directory assistance and dialer systems based on call transfer rules. Davis, B., Polkosky, M., Michelini, V., & Hanley, S. (under review). Dynamic speech creation for messages of varying lexical intensity. Davis, B., Michelini, V., Gee, S., Lewis, J., & Polkosky, M. (under review). Efficicent presentation of correction options on a speech user interface based on user selection probability. Davis, B., Michelini, V., & Polkosky, M. (under review). Caller independent disambiguation for interactive voice response systems. Lewis, J.R. De Armas, M.E., & Polkosky, M. (2003). Interactive speech enrollment wizard accessible to screen readers. Technical Disclosure Bulletin. Sadowski, W.J. Lewis, J.R., & Polkosky, M. (2006). Rapid nonvisual enrollment in speech recognition applications using verbal shadowing, U.S. Patent # 7,092,884 B2. Sadowski, W.J. Lewis, J.R., & Polkosky, M. (2006). Automatic generation of efficient grammar for headline selection, U.S. Patent # 7,054,813 B2.

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