Open AccessThe Design and Evaluation of User Interfaces for the RADAR Learning Personal Assistant
Author(s) -
Faulring Andrew,
Mohnkern Ken,
Steinfeld Aaron,
Myers Brad A.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
ai magazine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.597
H-Index - 79
eISSN - 2371-9621
pISSN - 0738-4602
DOI - 10.1609/aimag.v30i4.2265
Subject(s) - flexibility (engineering) , workflow , human–computer interaction , radar , computer science , user interface , user interface design , user experience design , multimedia , database , telecommunications , statistics , mathematics , operating system
The RADAR project developed a large multiagent system with a mixed‐initiative user interface designed to help office workers cope with email overload. Most RADAR agents observe experts performing tasks and then assist other users who are performing similar tasks. The interaction design for RADAR focused on developing user interfaces that allowed the intelligent functionality to improve the user's workflow without frustrating the user when the system's suggestions were either unhelpful or simply incorrect. For example, with regard to autonomy, the RADAR agents were allowed much flexibility in selecting ways to assist the user but were restricted from taking actions that would be visible to other people. This policy ensured that the user remained in control and mitigated the negative effects of mistakes. A large evaluation of RADAR demonstrated that novice users confronted with an e‐mail overload test performed significantly better, achieving a 37 percent better overall score when assisted by RADAR. The evaluation showed that AI technologies can help users accomplish their goals.