Skip to content
Thesis Info
- LABS ID
- 00742
- Thesis Title
- Designing Responsive GUIs: An Intelligent Interface that Tailors Information Presentation by Responding to a User’s Cognitive State
- Author
- Rachael L. Paine
- E-mail
- rlpaine2 AT ncsu.edu
- 2nd Author
- 3rd Author
- Degree
- Master of Graphic Design
- Year
- 2018
- Number of Pages
- 126
- University
- North Carolina State University
- Thesis Supervisor
- Deborah Littlejohn, PhD
- Supervisor e-mail
- dklittle AT ncsu.edu
- Other Supervisor(s)
- Matthew Peterson, PhD; Scott Townsend
- Language(s) of Thesis
- English
- Department / Discipline
- Graphic Design
- Copyright Ownership
- Rachael L. Paine
- Languages Familiar to Author
- English
- URL where full thesis can be found
- college.design.ncsu.edu/thenfinally/pdf/Paine-Final-Project.pdf
- Keywords
- Responsive Interface, Graphical User Interface, Data Repository, Cognitive State, Information-Seeking, Knowledge Acquisition, Human-Computer Interaction, Health Information Seeking
- Abstract: 200-500 words
- A person faced with caring for a loved one with a serious health diagnosis has an immediate thirst for knowledge, even while their cognitive ability to find — let alone comprehend — useful information may be hindered due to their traumatized, high-stress mental state. The design of most online health information search platforms do not consider the cognitive state of this type of user, even though new technologies, such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, have the potential to offer personalized support for this particular information seeking circumstance. The design of standard search tools and features encountered on ordinary health information websites typically take a one-size-fits-all approach.
The objective of this study is to determine how intelligent human-computer interfaces can present information in meaningful and clearly comprehensive ways by responding to the health information-seeker’s cognitive state — in particular, for someone who is under duress from a recent medical diagnosis. In this study, cognitive state refers to the psychological and emotional state of the user. Methods included semi-structured qualitative interviews with 20 patient advocates from the NC Rare Disease Council and subsequent prototype testing. Data suggests that people under duress prefer that complex health information be presented in a minimal (i.e., simple content structure) fashion using assistive delivery strategies such as withholding, gathering, and prioritizing. This project suggests a useful framework for professionals involved in the design of medical information search tools, user-centric design methods, and intelligent interface design.