Global or regional HFT standardization: That is the Question 3/2

1. Global or regional HFT standardization:That is the Question 3/2 Floris L. van Nes, Blake L. Wattenbarger

2. Technical vs. Human Factors standards • Technical standards want to guarantee the possibility to useproducts • Human factors standards aim to ensure ease of use of such products • Telecommunication knows both types of standards; their "geographical extension" varies, from national via regional to global

3. Locus of Human Factors work in ETSI • ETSI Technical Committee Human Factors, TC HF, from ETSI's foundation has been the place where all (?) human factors work directed at human factors telecom standards for the European Community is done • 'European political will' has been very helpful for the creation of such standards

4. Locus of Human Factors work in ITU-T • SG 2, Operational aspects of service provision, networks and performance, is for historical reasons home of most human factors work in ITU-T, located in • Q.3/2, Human factors related issues for improvement of the quality of life through international telecommunications

5. Opportunities for standardization in telecommunications: the cell phone • High complexity plus user inability or impatience: some features suffer disuse • Standardized operating procedures help users with newly acquired cell phones • Such standards must be voluntary and manufacturers must help to develop them

6. If so; where to start ? • Experience in developing international human factors standards suggests the importance of empirical studies • Survey in many countries: "What cell phone features remain unused, despite their perceived usefulness, because they are too difficult to find or operate ?" • Followed by focused studies of potential design solutions to particular difficulties

7. Example 1: Design, evaluation and selection of new symbols • In 2001 Japan proposed to standardize new symbols for 13 telecommunications functions • Q.4/2 decided to follow the procedure from ITU-T Rec. F.910 for testing these symbols internationally; by 17 participants in each of 5 countries on 3 continents • 17 symbols; 13 from Japan + 4 alternatives, were tested, 9 finally selected for ITU-T Rec. E.121

8. Methodology • Part 1: selection of best from 17 symbols for each of 13 functions, one at a time (to check if symbols were chosen well) • Part 2: intended symbols for each function were shown to participants; questions on familiarity, ease to use and remember • Part 3: identification of function for each symbol, one at a time – as in practice (to check ease of learning and using them)

9. Example 2: Tactile identifiers for ID-1 cards • MRCs: Machine Readable Cards, often give positioniong problems • to all users, regardless of their eyesight ! • visually impaired users need help • recognition of card position by 'tactile identifier' • but what kind of tactile identifier is best ?

10. Investigation of type, place and size of tactile marker • Seven different types of tactile markers • Stacks of 20 randomly oriented cards, with each of the seven markers • Ordering task; speed and errors were measured • Ranking the seven types in terms of preference • More prominent tactile markers are better • Best was a 2 mm arc-shaped notch on one of the long card sides

11. Other applications and arguments • One single standard for tactile identifiers on ID-cards for public phones and ATMs • No long-side notches on banking cards • Experiment to check whether a 2 mm notch on the short side was as good as on the long side showed it was • Subjects preferred the notch to be on the trailing edge of the card

12. Tactile marker • On short card side • 2.0 mm deep • Under magn. stripe

13. Concluding remarks • Standardization is a process such as making laws; an essential part of society • Global standards remove trade barriers • Standards need to be widely known and supported to be really effective ! • “Those who make the standards make the rules of the game” (Jim Greeson)