During the Covid-19 pandemic, more guidelines were created to teach people how to facilitate meetings online, but few were designed from a cognition-oriented perspective. Additionally, solving complex problems is essential in many occupations. However, the influence of online and face-to-face discussion formats on the performance in complex problem-solving tasks is unclear, even though remote working has become common over the past several few years. Hence, this study aims to answer two research questions: (a) Does problem-solving performance differ between online and face-to-face meetings? and (b) Does facilitation improve problem-solving performance when different formats are used? We conducted experiments with 40 groups using a 2 × 2 factorial design, which were controlled for both facilitation and format. Each group comprised two randomly selected participants, and each problem-solving discussion lasted between 1.5¬–2 h. The obtained evidence showed that format can influence the performance of balancing intercorrelated factors in a complex scenario, but it does not affect the performance of achieving a predefined goal. Instead, it we found that facilitation is helpful for achieving a predefined goal. Based on the results obtained, we propose future design directions for problem-solving centric computer-supported cooperative work systems from a cognition-oriented perspective.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3581112
Technologies that help users overcome their limitations and integrate with the human body are often termed ``human augmentations''. Such technologies are now available on the consumer market, potentially supporting people in their everyday activities. To date, there is no systematic understanding of the perception of human augmentations yet. To address this gap and build an understanding of how to design positive experiences with human augmentations, we conducted a mixed-method study of the perception of augmented humans (AHs). We conducted two scenario-based studies: interviews ($n=16$) and an online study ($n=506$) with participants from four countries. The scenarios include one out of three augmentation categories (sensory, motor, and cognitive) and specify if the augmented person has a disability or not. Overall, results show that the type of augmentation and disability impacted user attitudes towards AHs. We derive design dimensions for creating technological augmentations for a diverse and global audience.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3581485
Much HCI research on prompting prosocial behaviors focuses on methods for increasing empathy. However, increased empathy may have unintended negative consequences. Our work offers an alternative solution that encourages critical reflection for nurturing compassion, which involves motivation and action to help others. In a between-subject experiment, participants (N=60) viewed a climate change documentary while receiving no prompts (CON), reflective prompts to focus on their emotions (RE) or surprises (RS). State compassion, critical reflection, and motivation to act or learn were measured at the end of the session (post-video) and two weeks later (follow-up). Despite participants' condition not affecting compassion, critical reflection was positively correlated with post-video state compassion. RE and RS participants demonstrated deeper reflection and reported higher motivation to learn post-video, and more prosocial behavioral changes during follow-up. RS participants reported better follow-up recall than RE participants. We conclude by discussing implications on designing technology to support compassion and longer-term critical reflection.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3581355
Observing users in remote settings is unfavorable because it adds filters altering the information that underlie judgement. Still, the COVID pandemic led to an unprecedented popularity of remote user experience tests. In this work, we revisited the question, which information is most important for evaluators to assess users’ emotions successfully and efficiently. In an online study, we asked N=55 participants to assess users’ emotions from short videos of 30 interaction situations. As independent variable, we manipulated the combination of the information channels video of users, video of the interactive technology, and audio within subjects. Our findings indicate that empathic accuracy is highest and mental effort is lowest when all stimuli are present. Surprisingly, empathic accuracy was lowest and mental effort highest, when only video of users was available. We discuss these findings in the light of emotion literature focusing on persons’ facial expressions and derive practical implications for remote observations.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3580824
Online meetings are indispensable in collaborative remote work environments, but they are vulnerable to distractions due to their distributed and location-agnostic nature. While distraction often leads to a decrease in online meeting quality due to loss of engagement and context, natural multitasking has positive tradeoff effects, such as increased productivity within a given time unit. In this study, we investigate the impact of real-time transcriptions (i.e., full-transcripts, summaries, and keywords) as a solution to help facilitate online meetings during distracting moments while still preserving multitasking behaviors. Through two rounds of controlled user studies, we qualitatively and quantitatively show that people can better catch up with the meeting flow and feel less interfered with when using real-time transcriptions. The benefits of real-time transcriptions were more pronounced after distracting activities. Furthermore, we reveal additional impacts of real-time transcriptions (e.g., supporting recalling contents) and suggest design implications for future online meeting platforms where these could be adaptively provided to users with different purposes.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3580742
Autism has become a popular context for accessible technology researchers, yet a majority of HCI projects for autism and ADHD do not engage in participatory method or otherwise involve disabled stakeholders in the project and research design. Prior inquiry has identified executive function as a common difficulty for which technologies may provide novel benefits. In this study, we explore how autistic adults currently use technologies, broadly defined, to augment executive function and support themselves in day-to-day tasks. We collect qualitative data from narratives elicited during informal asynchronous interviews to conduct a digital ethnomethodology. Following from principles of Design Justice, crip technoscience, and cyborg assemblage theory, we investigate how autistic adults articulate their own sociotechnical environments into technologically mediated assemblages of executive function and interpersonal webs of care. These patterns of sociotechnical formation inform future work in research and design for tools that can mediate executive function for all users.
https://doi.org/10.1145/3544548.3581556