Research Paper Steve Arrington
DISPLAYING TRAVEL ITINERARY INFORMATION ON HANDHELD DEVICES: A LITERATURE REVIEW
Steve Arrington Interaction and Interface Design (IAT 612), Fall 2006 Dr. Nancy Kaplan University of Baltimore
INTRODUCTION
Handheld devices are vastly commonplace. As of mid-year 2006, the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association reports that more than 219.4 million people subscribe to wireless services in the US (CTIA). The U.S Bureau of the Census projects that on December 12, 2006 the population of the United States will be approximately 300.3 million (Census.gov). It goes to reason that many of those that carry cell phones plus other handheld devices would include the large number of business travelers. Driving on that premise, Arabella Crawford, Fatih Demir, Lynn Patterson, and I attempted to create an interface for an application that could be built using existing technologies that would provide busy travelers with a means for quickly finding out about the city they are visiting and be able to intelligently plan their day. The application is designed to be a context-based tourism system with two key interface components: a buildable itinerary and a map.
This paper reviews material written to address what interface methods can be or have been effectively used both generally and specifically to itinerary or mapping applications.
THE PROBLEM WITH PDAS
While Shneiderman’s Golden Rules of Interface Design have existed for several years, and although handheld devices have been around since the early 90’s (and well before, if you count calculators), there have been few interface standards established or recognized (Karkkainen and Laarni 227). One only need compare a few cell phone interfaces to appreciate that perhaps the one thing all agree on is the importance of the company name above the screen. In spite of the lack of standards, however, there are a host of approaches with varying degrees of effectiveness (Marcus 3).
HANDHELD INTERACTIONS
The characteristics of a device have an effect both on how information should be presented and how users interact with the device (Buchanan et al. 673). In spite of the increasing specifications of hand-held devices, there will likely always be two constraining factors: the dimensions of 1
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Research Paper Steve Arrington displayed text and of the screens on which the text is displayed. Additionally, one can appreciate the fact that there is a converse relationship between screen size and the required amount of user interaction with the device (Kamba et al. 383). Many authors have suggested ways of making the most of limited screen space. Some suggestions have included: • Creating icons for most features Creating hierarchical or contextual menus • Overlaying text with menu options or widgets, either transparently or temporarily using a toggle or some delayed response (383) As handheld devices became more popular and their hardware more capable of displaying desktop computer –like interactions, designers attempted using interface objects that are acceptable in home computers. These objects (multiple windows and drop-downs, etc.) are still effective, but consume far too much space (384). Shneiderman developed the Golden Rules of Interface Design; Gong and Taraswich suggest they are best suited for desktop computers, and that only half can be carried over to handheld interface design: 1. Enable frequent users to use shortcuts 2. Offer informative feedback 3. Design dialogs to yield closure 4. Support internal locus of control They also suggest some specific changes to the other four rules, then create seven more: 1. Design for multiple and dynamic contexts: The design must consider people, object, activities, and environmental conditions. 2. Design for small devices: The design must effectively utilize the limited (and shrinking) screen space available. 3. Design for limited and split attention: As stated in the first rule, the device may not be the focus of other user’s attention. This may require hands-free or eyes-free operation. 4. Design for speed and recovery: Given the varying contexts within which the device may be used, one must strongly consider those users who do not have time as a luxury. 5. Design for “top-down” interaction: Design should constrain the amount of text by using hierarchical or multilevel frameworks or mechanisms. 6. Allow for personalization: Especially as devices become smaller and portable, they become more personal, so the system should provide considerable personalization. 7. Design for enjoyment: The system should use aesthetic elements which add to the user experience (Gong and Tarasewich 3751). In 2002, Karkkainen and Laarni suggested a series of interface design guidelines focusing on software and hardware, content and organization, and aesthetics and layout. This issue of aesthetics in limited display space devices is one much debated. Some authors claim that white space (unused screen space) has no effect on users’ performance (Spool et al.), while others (Bernard et. al.) claim that pages with medium levels of white space are preferred.
ITINERARY APPLICATIONS
Very few applications have been created that allow handheld users to both view and to modify itinerary information. This could be 2
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Research Paper Steve Arrington because of the complexity in making remote real-time changes to bookings and limited screen size. Most itinerary planners have been designed as only viewers of information that had been previously compiled on a home computer (Masoodian 66). Naturally, this does not prevent the traveler from making changes via traditional channels (calling a travel agent, airline representative, etc.), or from simply deviating from the schedule and making local itinerary changes. Local itinerary changes could refer to items that aren’t booked, so they are local to the handheld device. While their completion depends on a variety of factors (transportation, hours of operation, etc.), the traveler assumes this risk. This sort of deviation is akin to the traveler taking a magic marker to his or her printed itinerary and writing in their own schedule, which is perfectly natural. The Collaborative Information Gathering (CIG) application addresses the issue of itinerary visualization on PDAs and mobile phones by allowing the traveler to flexibly adjust his or her own schedule and see the results immediately. Likewise, the agent can make changes to the itinerary at the traveler’s request, and the changes are viewable on the handheld device (Apperly et al. 221). Masoodian’s research addressed the use of graphical CIG interface partnered with a textual display. CIG’s graphic display appears as a complex timeline, emphasizing time changes as the traveler moves across time zones. This initially proved to be far too complex for display on the cell phone at the time, but given technology changes in only one year (the advent of smart phones, greater pixel display, more creative interface), it became more While there appear to be a handful of PDA itinerary applications, the difficulty to find any either now or in archives seems to be a IAT 612 Fall 2006 fair indicator that they never gained a good foothold as a standalone product. This could be due to the advent of more inclusive and flexible handheld interfaces like Global Positioning System (GPS), electronic tourist guides, and the increased ability to view and update itineraries online. There is also scant literature on the design of such systems, and all were written in 2004 or earlier. While this paper is far from definitive, this could be another indication that either there is little demand for such itinerary editing or building features, or that other systems are sufficient. Tourism applications focus on taking the place of tour guides by informing, entertaining, and directing visitors through unfamiliar sites or cities. Developers of the GUIDE system at Lancaster University in England determined that the requirements for such systems should include: • Flexibility, by allowing visitors to explore the city in their own preferred way • Context-sensitive information, like displaying historical or architectural data relative to one’s position • Support for dynamic information, like showing changes in operating hours • Support for interactive services, like being able to book activities (Cheverst et al. 18) In recent years, the advent of GPS has allowed the creation of many applications and even whole tour companies dedicated to providing tourists with context-sensitive information. Since the application follows the user, they are as flexible as the map or other supporting data allows.
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Research Paper Steve Arrington
REFERENCES
Apperly, M., Fletcher, D., Rogers, B. Thomson, K. “Interactive visualisation of a travel itinerary.” Proceedings of the working conference on Advanced visual interfaces. May 2000. 221-226. Bernard, M., B. Chaparro, Thomasson, R. “Finding Information on the Web: Does the Amount of Whitespace Really Matter?” Usability News. Winter 2000. Viewed 09 December 2006. . Buchanan G, Jones M., Thimbleby H., Farrant S. Pazzani M. “Improving mobile Internet usability.” Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on World Wide Web. May 2001. ACM Press. 673-680. Gong, Jun & Tarasewich, Peter. “Guidelines for Handheld Mobile Device Interface Design.” Viewed 09 December 2006. . Tomonari K., Elson, S., Harpold, T., Stamper, T., Sukaviriya, P. “Using small screen space more efficiently.” Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems: common ground. 1318 April 1996. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. 383-390. Cheverst, K., Davies, N., Mitchell, K., Friday, A., Efstratiou, C. “Developing a context-aware electronic tourist guide: some issues and experiences.” Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems. 01-06 April 2000. The Hague, Netherlands. 17-24.
Kärkkäinen, L. & Laarni, J. “Designing for small display screens.” Proceedings of the second Nordic conference on Humancomputer interaction. 19-23 October 2002. Aarhus, Denmark. Marcus, Aaron. “The 12 Myths of Mobile UIs.” 08 April 2003. Viewed 09 December 2006. . Masoodian, M., & Budd, D. “Visualization of Travel Itinerary Information on PDAs.” Conference Proceedings of AUIC 2004, The 5th Australasian User Interface Conference. 18-22 January 2004. Dunedin, New Zealand. Australian Computer Society Inc.. 65-71. Masoodian, M., & Lane, N. “An empirical study of textual and graphical travel itinerary visualization using mobile phones.” Proceedings of the Fourth Australasian user interface conference on User interfaces 2003. 01 February 2003. Adelaide, Australia. 11-18. Spool, J.M., Scanlon, T., Schroeder, W., Synder, C. and DeAngelo, T. Web Site Usability: A Designer's Guide, North Andover, MA, User Interface Engineering, 1997. “U.S. POPClock Projection”. United States Census. 2006. December 9, 2006. . “Wireless Quick Facts”. September 2006. December 9, 2006. .
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