Ed

 H.  Chi  
Principal  Scientist  and  Area  Manager  

Augmented  Social  Cognition  Area  

Palo  Alto  Research  Center  

@edchi  
echi@parc.com  

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote

1
Image from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ourcommon/480538715/
  Early  fundamental  contributions  from:  
–  Computer  scientists  interested  in  changing  
how  we  interact  with  information  
–  Psychologists  interested  in  the  implications  
of  these  changes  
  The  need  to  establish  HCI  as  a  science  
–  Adopt  methods  from  psychology  
–  Dual  purpose:  understand  nature  of  human  
behavior  and  build  up  a  science  of  HCI  
techniques.  

9/13/10 HCIC "Living Lab" 2

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 3
   Problem:    
–  Intellectual  over-­‐specialization  
  The  Memex  
  Extend  the  powers  of  the  human  mind  
with  technology  
–  Individuals  could  attend  to  greater  spans  
–  Facile  command  of  all  recorded  knowledge  
–  Sharing  of  knowledge  gained  

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 4

 Graphical User Interface
chartered  to  create  the  architecture  of   Laser Printing
information  &  the  office  of  the  future   Ethernet
 invented  distributed  personal  computing  
-­‐  Bit-mapped Displays

 established  Xerox’s  laser  printing  business    

-­‐  Distributed File Systems
Page Description Languages
 created  the  foundation  for  the  digital  revolution  
-­‐ 
First Commercial Mouse
Object-oriented Programming
WYSIWYG Editing
Distributed Computing
VLSI Design Methodologies
Optical Storage
Client/Server Architecture
Device Independent Imaging
Cedar Programming Language

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 5

  Fitts’  Law  
  Models  of  Human  Memory  
  Models  of  Human  Attention  
  Interruptability  
  Cognitive  and  Behavorial  Modeling  
  Perception  and  Navigation  
  …  

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 6

  We  know  motion  in  the  periphery  is  more  noticeable  
than  in  the  foveal  region  [DaVinci].    
  Now  think  about  research  and  products  that  involve  
animations  or  flashing  icons.  

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 7

  We  know  that  people  
can  Block  out  the  
irrelevant  content  
quite  easily  
  Until  it’s  semantically  
meaningful  or  
important  to  you   Hey,
Jurgen!

UIST 2004 8
 Characteriza*on   Models  

Evalua*ons   Prototypes  

  Characterize  activity  with  experiments,  ethnography,  log  analysis  

  Model  interaction  dynamics  and  interface  variations  
  Prototype  tools  to  increase  benefits  or  reduce  cost  
  Evaluate  prototypes  with  users  

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote

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Start with Capturing User Traces

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 10

  Scan  
  Skim  
  Decide  
  Action  

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 11

 Characteriza*on   Models  

Evalua*ons   Prototypes  

  Characterize  activity  with  experiments,  ethnography,  log  analysis  

  Model  interaction  dynamics  and  interface  variations  
  Prototype  tools  to  increase  benefits  or  reduce  cost  
  Evaluate  prototypes  with  users  

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote

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  human-­‐information  interaction  is  adaptive  to  the  extent:  

MAXIMIZE
[ Net Knowledge Gained
Costs of Interaction ]

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 13

 Scent Values:
Start users at Probabilities of
page with Transition Examine user patterns
some goal
Flow users
through the
network

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 14

 Characteriza*on   Models  

Evalua*ons   Prototypes  

  Characterize  activity  with  experiments,  ethnography,  log  analysis  

  Model  interaction  dynamics  and  interface  variations  
  Prototype  tools  to  increase  benefits  or  reduce  cost  
  Evaluate  prototypes  with  users  

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote

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   A  store  that  knows  your  goal.  
  Over  50%  reduction  in  task  time.  

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 16

  Identify  tasty  pages  
  Waft  scent  backward  along  links  
–  Loses  intensity  as  it  travels  

XC4411 copier
Features:
XC4411 features
digital copiers XC5001 remote diagnostics
color copiers
copiers ...
back
fax machines
other maintenance remote
diagnostics
...

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 17

Partial information goal: 62 copies/min.
“remote diagnostic
technology”

Remainder of
information goal: 92 copies/min.
“speed >= 75”

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 18

 Associated Entries
underlined in red

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 19

 Conceptually highlight any relevant
User first type search keywords: passages and keywords

“anthrax symptoms”

Draw user attention

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 20

 Characteriza*on   Models  

Evalua*ons   Prototypes  

  Characterize  activity  with  experiments,  ethnography,  log  analysis  

  Model  interaction  dynamics  and  interface  variations  
  Prototype  tools  to  increase  benefits  or  reduce  cost  
  Evaluate  prototypes  with  users  

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote

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 (times capped at five minutes)

10/12 subjects preferred ScentTrails

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 22

2005-10-21 UMN talk
2005-10-21 UMN talk
  Descriptive:  clarify  terms,  key  concepts  
  Explanatory:  reveal  relationships  and  processes  
  Predictive:  about  performance  and  situations  
  Prescriptive:  convey  guidance  for  decision  
making  in  design  by  recording  best  practice  
  Generative:  enable  practitioners  to  create,  
invent  or  discover  something  new  

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 25

Bongwon  Suh,  Gregorio  Convertino,  Ed  H.  Chi,  Peter  
Pirolli.  The  Singularity  is  Not  Near:  Slowing  Growth  of  
Wikipedia.  In  Proc.  of  WikiSym  2009.  Oct,  2009.  Florida,  
USA  

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 26

 Number of Articles (Log Scale)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Modelling_Wikipedia’s_growth

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 27

 Monthly Edits

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 Monthly Edits

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 29

*In thousands Monthly Active Editors

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 30

*In thousands Monthly Active Editors

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 31

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 32
 Monthly Ratio of Reverted Edits

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 33

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 34
   Preferential  Attachment:  Edits  beget  edits  
–  more  number  of  previous  edits,  more  number  of  new  edits  

Growth rate depends on:

N = current population
r = growth rate of the population

N(t) = N 0 ⋅ e rt
dN
= r⋅ N
dt
Growth rate Current
of population €
population

€
2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 35
  Biological  system  
–  Competition  increases  as  
population  hit  the  limits  of  the  
ecology  
–  Advantage  go  to  members  of  the  
population  that  have  competitive  
dominance  over  others  
  Analogy  
–  Limited  opportunities  to  make  
novel  contributions  
–  Increased  patterns  of  conflict  and  
dominance    

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 36

  r-­‐Strategist  
–  Growth  or  exploitation  
dN N
–  Less-­‐crowded  niches  /  produce  many   = rN(1− )
offspring   dt K
  K-­‐Strategist  
–  Conservation  
[Gunderson & Holling 2001]
–  Strong  competitors  in  crowded  niches  /  
invest  more  heavily  in  fewer  o€
ffspring  

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 37

   Ecological  population  growth  model  
–  Also  depend  on  environmental  conditions  
–  K,  carrying  capacity  (due  to  resource  limitation)  

dN N
= rN(1− )
dt K

€
2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 38
  Follows  a  logistic  growth  curve  

New Article

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 39

  Carrying  Capacity  as  a  function  of  time.  

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 40

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 41
 Concepts   Topics  

Users   Documents  

Noise  
Tags  
Decoding   Encoding  
T1…Tn  

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 42

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 43
2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 44
 Source: Hypertext 2008 study on del.icio.us (Chi & Mytkowicz)

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 45

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 46
Joint  work  with    
Rowan  Nairn,  Lawrence  Lee  

Kammerer,  Y.,  Nairn,  R.,  Pirolli,  P.,  and  Chi,  E.  H.  2009.  Signpost  from  the  
masses:  learning  effects  in  an  exploratory  social  tag  search  browser.  In  
Proceedings  of  the  27th  international  Conference  on  Human  Factors  in  
Computing  Systems  (Boston,  MA,  USA,  April  04  -­‐  09,  2009).  CHI  '09.  ACM,  New  
York,  NY,  625-­‐634.    

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 47

Semantic Similarity Graph
Web
Tools
Reference

Guide
Howto

Tutorial
Tips
Help

Tip Tutorials

Tricks

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 48

 Tags URLs

P(URL|Tag)

P(Tag|URL)

  Spreading  Activation  in  a  bi-­‐graph  

  Computation  over  a  very  large  data  set  
–  150  Million+  bookmarks  

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 49

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 50
2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 51
2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 52
 Dellarocas,  MIT  Sloan  Management  Review  

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 53

(1)  Generate  new  tools  and  systems,  new  techniques  
(2)  Generate  data  that  looks  like  real  behavioral  data  

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 54

 externally-motivated self-motivated framing
the context

Before Search
searchers searchers

31% 69%
Social Interactions

GATHER REQUIREMENTS refining

the
requirements
FORMULATE REPRESENTATION

28% 13% 59%

During Search

navigational transactional informational

FORAGING
step A step A search
process
step B step B
“evidence file”
TRANSACTION SENSEMAKING

search product /end product

After Search

28% 72%
DO NOTHING TAKE ACTION

ORGANIZE DISTRIBUTE

to self 15% to proximate 87% to public 2%

others others
 externally-motivated self-motivated framing
the context

Before Search
searchers searchers

31% 69%
43% users engaged in pre-search social Social
interactions.
Interactions

GATHER REQUIREMENTS refining

the
reasons for interacting: to get advice, guidelines,
FORMULATE REPRESENTATION
requirements feedback,
or search tips
28% 13% 59%
During Search

navigational transactional informational

FORAGING
step A search
3 types
150 reports ofstepunique
of search: A
informational
search experiences
search provides a
mapped
compelling
step B to acase
canonical
step Bfor social
model
search
of social
process
support.
search.
“evidence file”
TRANSACTION SENSEMAKING

search product /end product

After Search

28% 72%
DO NOTHING TAKE ACTION
59% users engaged in post-search sharing.
ORGANIZE DISTRIBUTE
reasons for interacting: thought others might be interested,
to get feedback, out of obligation
to self 15% to proximate 87% to public 2%
others others
 externally-motivated self-motivated framing
the context

Before Search
searchers searchers

•  instant 31%
messaging69%
(IM) to personal social
Social Interactions
connections near the search box
refining
GATHER REQUIREMENTS
the
requirements
FORMULATE REPRESENTATION

28% 13% 59%

During Search

navigational transactional informational

•  step
tagA clouds from
step A domain experts
FORAGING
search
•  step
other
B
users’ search trails process
(for feedback)
step B
•  related search terms (for“evidence
feedback)
file”
Similar to: Glance; Smyth"
TRANSACTION SENSEMAKING

search product /end product

After Search

28% 72%
DO NOTHING TAKE ACTION
•  sharing tools built-in to (search) site Spartag.us"

•  collective tag clouds (for

ORGANIZE feedback)
DISTRIBUTE
Mr. Taggy"

to self 15% to proximate 87% to public 2%

others others
  All  models  are  wrong!  
–  Some  are  more  wrong  than  others!  
  So  what  are  theories  and  models  good  for?  
  They’re  a  summary  of  what  we  think  is  happening  
–  Ways  to  describe  and  explain  what  we  have  learned  
–  Predicts  user  and  group  behavior  
–  Helps  generate  new  novel  tools  and  systems  

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 58

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 59
 Word connectivity
Human Movement Study: Fitts’ law

MT = a + b Log2(Dsi/Wi + 1)

18000

English Letter Corpus

16000

14000

12000

10000
(News, chat etc)
8000

6000

4000
[Zhai et al., 2000, 2002]
2000

0
sp E T A H O N S R I D L U W M C G Y F B P K V J X Q Z
Slide adopted from
Mary Czerwinski Keynote
UIST 2004

“Fitts-digraph energy”
27 27
Pij ⎡ ⎛ Dij ⎞ ⎤
t = ∑ ∑ ⎢ Log2 ⎜ +1⎟ ⎥ W ( A →B) = e
−ΔE
kT
if ΔE >0
i=1 j =1 IP ⎣
⎝ Wi ⎠ ⎦
=1 if ΔE ≤ 0
Metropolis “random walk”
optimization
Alphabetical tuning

UIST 2004 60
€ €
Between  just  getting  things  done    
vs.  finding  out  the  science  

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 61

 A B
Bucket Testing or A/B Testing [Kohavi et al]
 Characteriza*on   Models  

Evalua*ons   Prototypes  

Evalua*ons   Prototypes  

  Design,  Prototype,  Learn;       If  you  can,  you  should  codify  your  

findings  so  that  others  can  
  Then  Re-­‐design,  Prototype,  Learn  
replicate  it,  learn  from  it,  predict  
  Sometimes  that’s  all  you  can  do.   behavior  from  it.  
  The  basis  of  a  true  scientific  field  

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote

63
2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 64
  Research  Vision:  Understand  how  social  computing  
systems  can  enhance  the  ability  of  a  group  of  
people  to  remember,  think,  and  reason.  

http://asc-­‐parc.blogspot.com  
http://www.edchi.net  
echi@parc.com  

WikiDashboard.com   MrTaggy.com   Zerozero88.com  

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 66
  Appropriate  for  
the  occasion  

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 67

 Poor heuristic

Good heuristic

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 68

 Solo

Cooperative (“good hints”)

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 69

Social Tagging Creates Noise

•  Synonyms
•  Misspellings
•  Morphologies

People use different tag

words to express similar
concepts.

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 70

 Database Lucene
• Delicious • P(URL|Tag) • Serve up search
• Ma.gnolia • P(Tag|URL) results
• Tuples of • Pre-computed
• Other social cues bookmarks • Bayesian Network patterns in a fast • Well defined APIs
• [User, URL, Tags, Inference index
Time]
Crawling MapReduce WebWeb
Server
Server

UI Search
Frontend Results
•  MapReduce:  months  of  computa*on  to  a  single  day  
•  Development  of  novel  scoring  func*on    

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 71

 framing

Before Search
externally-motivated self-motivated
searchers searchers the context

31% 69%
Social Interactions

GATHER REQUIREMENTS refining

the
requirements
FORMULATE REPRESENTATION

28% 13% 59%

During Search

navigational transactional informational

FORAGING
step A step A search
process
step B step B
“evidence file”
TRANSACTION SENSEMAKING

search product /end product

After Search

28% 72%
DO NOTHING TAKE ACTION

ORGANIZE DISTRIBUTE

to self 15% to proximate 87% to public 2%

others others
 externally-motivated self-motivated framing
the context

Before Search
searchers searchers

31% 69%
Social Interactions

GATHER REQUIREMENTS refining

the
requirements
FORMULATE REPRESENTATION

28% 13% 59%

During Search

navigational transactional informational

FORAGING
step A step A search
process
step B step B
“evidence file”
TRANSACTION SENSEMAKING

search product /end product

After Search

28% 72%
DO NOTHING TAKE ACTION

ORGANIZE DISTRIBUTE

to self 15% to proximate 87% to public 2%

others others
 externally-motivated self-motivated framing
the context

Before Search
searchers searchers

31% 69%
Social Interactions

GATHER REQUIREMENTS refining

the
requirements
FORMULATE REPRESENTATION

28% 13% 59%

During Search

navigational transactional informational

FORAGING
step A step A search
process
step B step B
“evidence file”
TRANSACTION SENSEMAKING

search product /end product

28% 72%
After Search

DO NOTHING TAKE ACTION

ORGANIZE DISTRIBUTE

to self 15% to proximate 87% to public 2%

others others
  For  example,  for  information  diffusion,  it’s  theory  of  
influentials  [Gladwell,  etc.]  
–  reach  a  small  group  of  influential  people,  and  you’ll  reach  
everyone  else  

Figure From: Kleinberg, ICWSM2009

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 75

 From: Sun et al, ICWSM2009

2010-09-13 Mensch und Computer 2010 Keynote 76