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Modelling the User

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Book cover The Handbook of Formal Methods in Human-Computer Interaction

Part of the book series: Human–Computer Interaction Series ((HCIS))

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Abstract

We overview our research on the formal modelling of user behaviour, generic user modelling, as a form of usability evaluation looking for design flaws that lead to systematic human error. This involves formalising principles of cognitively plausible behaviour. We combine a user model with a device model so that the actions of the user model are the inputs of the device, and the outputs of the device are linked to the perceptions of the user model. In doing so, we gain a model of the system as a whole. Rather than modelling erroneous behaviour directly, it emerges from the interactions of the principles and the device model. The system can then be verified against properties such as task completion. This approach can be combined with other analysis methods, such as timing analysis, in a complementary way. It can also be used to make the cognitive assumptions specific that have been made for a design and explore the consequences of different assumptions. It can similarly support human-computer interaction experimental work, giving a way to explore assumptions made in an experiment. In addition, the same approach can be used to verify human-centred security properties.

The original version of the book was revised: For detailed information please see Erratum. The erratum to the book is available at 10.1007/978-3-319-51838_21

An erratum to this chapter can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51838-1_21

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Acknowledgements

This work was in collaboration with a team of people. We are particularly grateful to Michael Harrison, Ann Blandford and Jonathan Back. Much of the work referred to was funded by the EPSRC research grants GR/S67494/01, GR/S67500/01 (Human Error Modelling) and EP/G059063/1 (CHI+MED Computer-Human Interaction for Medical Devices).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. EECS, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London, UK

    Paul Curzon & Rimvydas Rukšėnas

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  1. Paul Curzon
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  2. Rimvydas Rukšėnas
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Correspondence to Paul Curzon .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Visual Computing Institute—Virtual Reality & Immersive Visualization, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

    Benjamin Weyers

  2. Department of Computer Science, The University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Judy Bowen

  3. School of Computer Science, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom

    Alan Dix

  4. Universite de Toulouse, ICS-IRIT, Toulouse, France

    Philippe Palanque

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Curzon, P., Rukšėnas, R. (2017). Modelling the User. In: Weyers, B., Bowen, J., Dix, A., Palanque, P. (eds) The Handbook of Formal Methods in Human-Computer Interaction. Human–Computer Interaction Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51838-1_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51838-1_8

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-51837-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-51838-1

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