An interaction constraints model for mobile and wearable computer-aided engineering systems in industrial applications

This research illustrates an approach to improve the design process of mobile and wearable computer-aided engineering systems (m/ w-CAE Systems). Domain experts, i.e., system designers whose background is in the domain in which the system will be used, rather than in system engineering or software development, need support during the user interaction design process. The developed Interaction Constraints Model proves to be a practical approach to meeting this need. Through decision support systems based on the Interaction Constraints Model, we can facilitate and speed up the design process for m/w-CAE Systems that are used in industrial environments.; The developed Interaction Constraints Model maps constraints of specific situations in which mobile IT support is needed to user interface components that may be incorporated in the system design. Due to the nature of industrial applications, these situations mostly are work situations, i.e., situations in which users of mobile and wearable computers work at a specific location of the worksite and have to perform an actual job. This means that the user's interaction with the device is not only constrained by the physical location, but also by the activities that are supported by the device. The importance of location and activity evolved from the opportunity to establish IT support at the actual workplace through m/w-CAE Systems. The fact that the computer support moved from a central location, such as the desktop or a kiosk-like computer, to “anywhere” on the worksite makes it inevitable during the design process to take into account the location of the mobile worker. The fact that mobile IT support helps to accomplish another activity—the actual job—requires that we view operating a mobile IT support only as a secondary task. Thus, this secondary task has to be unobtrusive with respect to the primary task and must not exhaust the cognitive and physiological capabilities of the worker, such as attention for the device, available hands for the device operation, or just willingness to use the device while performing another activity.; Constraint patterns can help to identify the conditions of specific situations and thus describe these in an application-independent and domain-independent way. In focusing on constraint patterns—or sets of constraints—which affect the user interaction with the device and in mapping these constraints to usability information of user interfaces that were tested with these constraints, we can build up a generic description of the conditions of work situations that help to decide on the applicability of specific interfaces for certain situations. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)...