Introduction to Volume 9, Issue 4, August 2014

This is an issue you will want to read. It includes three peer-reviewed articles. It opens with a peer-reviewed essay by Randolph Bias, Clayton Lewis, and Douglas Gillan titled, “The Tortoise and the (Soft)ware: Moore’s Law, Amdahl’s Law, and Performance Trends for Human-Machine Systems.” In it, they compare the rapid growth in information technology documented […] [Read More]

The Tortoise and the (Soft)ware: Moore’s Law, Amdahl’s Law, and Performance Trends for Human-Machine Systems

Abstract Human interaction with computing and communication systems involves a mix of parallel and serial processing by the human-computer system. Moore’s Law provides an illustration of the fact that the performance of the digital components of any human-computer system has improved rapidly. But what of the performance of those human components? While we humans are […] [Read More]

Probability Plotting: A Tool for Analyzing Task Completion Times

Abstract Task completion time is a valuable metric for assessing or comparing the usability of a product. In online, unmoderated usability tests and other automated user behavior tracking methods, the large amount of time data that such tests yield must be carefully examined to exclude invalid data before further analysis can be meaningful. Other methodological […] [Read More]

The Roles of Health Literacy, Numeracy, and Graph Literacy on the Usability of the VA’s Personal Health Record by Veterans

Abstract Personal Health Records (PHRs) that are tethered to electronic medical health systems are applications that can significantly enhance patients’ health and health care. The primary aim of this research was to examine the roles of health literacy, numeracy ability, and graph literacy in enabling a group of veterans to perform health-management tasks using My […] [Read More]