World Usability Day: The Two-Way Street: People adapting to transportation and
transportation adapting to people
Please show your support for usability by coming to the fourth annual
World Usability Day event in Washington, DC!
Date and time*: November 13, 2008 5:00-6:00 p.m. Posters and networking with a light dinner
6:00-9:00 p.m. Speakers and panel discussion (with a
short
break around 7:20) *Note: We will be starting at 5:00 pm rather than 4:00pm
as previously announced.
* Please feel free to come by any time while the event is in progress. We expect some people to arrive during the networking reception.
Theme: The Two-Way Street: People adapting to transportation and
transportation adapting to people In ways seen and unseen, transportation systems play a fundamental
role in our daily lives – where we live, how we divide our day and our
social interactions. As our transportation technologies evolve,
usability and related disciplines such as ergonomics, human factors,
interaction design, and signage design will need to work hard to keep them easy and safe to use. An essay about the theme "Two-Way
Street" (.pdf) is
available.
In this session, we will hear from speakers, panelists, and
researchers who are working to make transportation better for
everyone.
Speakers include:
Ginny Redish, Redish & Associates
Neal Schmeidler, Omni Engineering & Technology, Inc. in McLean, Virginia.
- Mr. Schmeidler has more than 35 years experience analyzing work and business
activities to find solutions that improve organizational performance. He has
applied his skills to many activities including several of national significance
such as air traffic control, aviation safety inspection, food safety inspection,
test and evaluation of ocean oil spill response capability, emergency medical
care responding to acts of bioterrorism, maintenance of the National Airspace
System, and space shuttle orbiter maintenance.
Mr. Schmeidler is a Senior Member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers
(IIE), is a current member of the IIE’s National Capital Chapter, and
has held several elected positions on the Chapter’s Board of Directors.
He is a past Regional Vice President for the IIE, and a past Director of the
Society for Work Sciences. He is a member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics
Society Potomac Chapter (HFES POC) as well as other scientific and professional
associations. Mr. Schmeidler is currently an editor for the International Journal
of Industrial Engineering (IJIE). Mr. Schmeidler holds a Master of Science
degree in Industrial Engineering from Kansas State University and a Bachelor
of Science degree in Mathematics from Fort Hays State University.
World Usability Day presentation topic: Many and precious resources
are often consumed developing technological solutions that ultimately
fail to deliver as promised. One of the reasons for these failures is
that the user of the technology experiences an increase in work without
compensating benefits. In many cases however, the outcome should come
as no surprise as it is possible to assess the expected impact early
in the life cycle of a proposed system. This presentation describes an
approach used to successfully evaluate a prototype decision support system’s
affect on user time load. After considering results of the time load
assessment and other information, the buyer of a multi-million dollar
system terminated the acquisition.
Jana Lynott, AARP Public Policy Institute - Jana Lynott is a Strategic Policy
Advisor in the area of transportation and livable communities. Her research
in 2008 has focused on presenting new insights into how transportation planners
and engineers can plan and design complete streets, with a particular emphasis
on the needs of older adults. Complete streets are those that enable safe and
comfortable travel for all users (pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users, wheelchair
users, and drivers) regardless of age and ability. Her research, to be published
in early 2009, will show how current design recommendations that provide older
driver safety may inadvertently conflict with the needs of other road users,
namely pedestrians and bicyclists.
Prior to her employment with AARP she was
the Director of Transportation Planning for the Northern Virginia Transportation
Commission where she designed and managed a groundbreaking study on the linkage
between land use and the mobility of older adults. She also initiated and
managed a travel instruction program to teach seniors how to use transit services
in Northern Virginia. Ms. Lynott received her Masters in Planning degree from
the University of Virginia. She was a land use planner for Loudoun County,
Virginia and served on the executive board of the Virginia Chapter of the
American Planning Association from 2004-2008.
World Usability Day presentation topic: Ms. Lynott will provide an
overview of several pressing transportation issues of our time. Our nation’s
changing demographics, global climate change, and underinvestment in our
nation’s infrastructure make reauthorization of our national surface
transportation bill in 2009 of utmost importance. Innovative investment
is needed. The focus of her presentation will be on showing visual examples
of streets, vehicles, and transit system technologies and features that
work for all users of our transportation system.
Deborah Boehm-Davis, George Mason University
Arnold G. Konheim, U.S. Department of Transportation
Ricki Epstein, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit
Authority (WMATA)
Carryl Baldwin, George Mason University
Topics will include:
How do we get people to better share the road, or walk instead
of drive in their own neighborhoods, or use mass
transit?
How can better designed technology reduce risks for air traffic control?
How
can we help people find their way easily in public spaces, from
getting to the right gate at an airport to finding the correct
freeway
off-ramp?
How does the increasing use of digital information
in physical
transportation, ranging from air
traffic control displays to the GPS
system inside our cars, affect our daily travels?
How can we ensure that diverse
members of the public, including
seniors and people with disabilities, are well served by transportation?
Based
on these challenges, what are the major directions in the
future of transportation and what role will usability play in its
development?
This event is co-sponsored by the Usability Professionals' Association
(UPA) DC Metro Chapter, the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
(HFES) Potomac Chapter, and the George Mason University HFES Student
Chapter.
Posters:
Usability and Accessibility Evaluation of Amtrak's Redesign of its Online Reservation System Dustin Chambers, Angela Colter and Dick Horst (UserWorks, Inc)
Interactive Crash Analysis Application (EVA) Darya Filippova (University of Maryland, Center for Advanced Transportation Technology Laboratory)
Transportation Data Analysis Web Tools Jon Gilmour (University of Maryland, Center for Advanced Transportation Technology Laboratory)
Usability Evaluation of E-Gov Travel Vendor Applications Dick Horst (UserWorks, Inc.), Derek Schultz (Media Design Associates), Elizabeth Buie (Luminanze Consulting, LLC)
Finding the Way Through Participatory Design Adriana Machado, Michelle Robertson, Cynthia York (University of Baltimore School of Information Arts and Technology)
The Washington DC Regional Integrated Transportation Information System Julian Moyse (University of Maryland, Center for Advanced Transportation Technology Laboratory)
Configurable Transportation Event Management System Andreea Olea (University of Maryland, Center for Advanced Transportation Technology Laboratory)
I-95 Corridor Coalition Mile-marker & Ramp Designation Sign Study Michael L. Pack (University of Maryland, Center for Advanced Transportation Technology Laboratory)
Considerations for Using Eye Trackers During Usability Studies of Signs Anjali Phukan (University of Maryland Baltimore County)
Travel TAMEr: PDA Interface for Travelers Tami Smith, Amy Rubino, Musa Karakaya, Emily Marsh (University of Baltimore School of Information Arts and Technology)
Examining Child Seat Installation Errors of Novices & Parents - poster file (PDF) Yi-Fang D. Tsai (George Mason University, NHTSA)
Real-time and Historic Incident Visualization Using Timelines Michael VanDaniker (University of Maryland, Center for Advanced Transportation Technology Laboratory)
4D, Real-time Transportation System Visualization Phillip Weisberg (University of Maryland, Center for Advanced Transportation Technology Laboratory)
Visual Analytics for Transportation Incident Datasets Krist Wongsuphasawat (University of Maryland, Center for Advanced Transportation Technology Laboratory)
Code of Professional Ethics UPA DC Metro maintains a code of professional ethics to encourage
the free expression of ideas and assure the security of our members
and guests. We reserve the right to exclude or remove any troublesome
individual and to limit meeting attendance if necessary.
