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It is important for a researcher not to spend too much time adjusting the monitor - they have other more important task at hand and this is managing/debugging the robot. A good monitor will be efficient but will also allow the users to use their own speedup tricks and maybe even provide a way to script some parts.
Design Elements (for the first two designs)
Number of layouts
The first two designs use the notion of layouts. A layout is a configuration of visualisations present. A layout is created by the user, and saved as a file. The designs vary in the number of layouts that the user has available. In a multi-layout design it is easy for the user to switch between several already selected layouts.
In a single layout the user is only concentrated on one layout and swapping layouts is done less efficiently - by navigating through the whole list of layouts. Layouts are similar to tabs in functionality. Multi-layout design allows the user to organize and group visualisaitions based on common factors. A layout can be also used as a cathegory category to contain related visualisations.
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All visualisations are of the same width, and are put in order. That simplifies navigation among the visualisations because the user now only needs to scroll up and down.
Multi-Layout Rectangular
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Single-Layout List design
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Design Analysis
- Visibility
- A user opening a layout by name wouldn't know what is present on the layout. This could eventually be improved by providing a thumbnail version of what the layout may look like.
- It may not be visible that the user can drag visualizations around by holding a tap.
- Efficiency
- Saving and opening a layout can save time for the user who regularly uses the same setup or who needs to switch between several different setups.
- Also, we plan to make the layout description standartized (XML or YAML) in order to allow users to create layouts automatically.
- Error prevention
- Errors are typically accidental deletions of layouts or visualisations. To prevent layout deletion a confirmation dialogue may be shown to the user (since deleting a layout will be reasonably rare operation). Deleting a visualization will not be specifically prevented - instead it will be really easy to recover from it - just add the deleted visualization again. We might also include an undo-delete option in the menu.
- Learnability
- The 2D shape of the layout will help users distinguish between layouts easier - without the need of reading all the labels
Single-Layout List Design Analysis
- Visibility
- Like in the multi-layout design a user opening a layout by name wouldn't know what is present on the layout.
- It may not be visible that the user can drag visualisations up and down by holding a tap.
- Efficiency
- Saving and opening a layout can save time for the user who regularly uses the same setup or who needs to switch between several different setups.
- Also, we plan to make the layout description standartized (XML or YAML) in order to allow users to create layouts automatically
- Error prevention
- Costly errors are typically accidental deletions of layouts or visualisations. To prevent layout deletion a confirmation dialogue may be shown to the user (since deleting a layout will be reasonably rare operation). Deleting a visualization will not be specificially prevented - instead it will be really easy to recover from it - just add the deleted visualisation again. We might also include an undo-delete option in the menu.
- Learnability
- The list layout has pretty simple structure which should allow the user to quickly understand the metaphor.
Show-All List-Based Design
This design is fundamentally different from the previous two designs - it assumes a fixed layout which always shows all the available channels in a list. In other words we can also say that this design is layout-free. It also presents visualizations differently - in the so-called graph screen which gives a visualization the full screen. Finally it introduces the ability to control a system through the Robo-monitor by sending specific messages to it. This last feature can possibly be used in the previous two designs as well.
Main Screen
The main screen shows a list of available channels and color codes them based on recent activity. Tapping a channel selects its detailed view (bottom right) which displays live graphs of any numeric quantities. Tapping a graph or number in a channel brings up the graph interface (below).
Graph screen
Graph interface fills the screen. Interaction is similar to a photograph which users are familiar with. Pinch or double-tap to zoom, drag to pan. A single tap anywhere freezes/unfreezes the graph (ie stops or starts live data being added.)
More traces can be added to the plot by pressing Menu and then selecting Add Trace. The Add Trace window appears (lower right) which allows the user to browse through available channels and variables in those channels. More than one new variable can be selected.
Graph screen (cont.)
When graphing text, we display small colored bars at the bottom of the screen that change color when the text changes. While this does not convey what the text is, it conveys that it has changed, which may still be useful. We use a hashing strategy to display colors, so that the same text will always have the same color.
Control mode
A control mode, accessible from the Menu button on the main screen allows the user to change parameters. Options are presented as spinners which update in real-time (send data on finger-up). An interface for selecting the resolution of the spinner is shown in the lower right.
Analysis
- Learnability
- Most things are clickable in this interface, so learnability should be relatively easy. The graph mode has a few features that novice users are not likely to know about, but that is more a visibility issue.
- Visibility
- Some options like the command menu are accessible only from the Menu option, which might cause visibility issues. This issue arises for some of the graphing screen's more advanced features as well.
- Most data is displayed early and quickly, so data visibility is high.
- Efficiency
- The drill-down aspect of the interface may not be the most efficient, but we expect that it is worth the organizational and learnability benefits.
- Error Prevention
- The only serious errors that can occur with the application is in the command screen. As the interface stands, commands are sent on finger-up, but if testing reveals that this is an issue, we will likely add a Confirm button.
- Learnability
- Most things are clickable in this interface, so learnability should be relatively easy. The graph mode has a few features that novice users are not likely to know about, but that is more a visibility issue.