Look Toward Tomorrow

CogTool is a research project in the Human-Computer Interaction institute in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. Our goal is to make predictive human performance modeling as much a part of the design process for user interfaces as predictive modeling is in other design and engineering endeavors. To that end, we have created a tool that lowers the cost of modeling by being easy to learn and use, and increases the benefit of modeling by expanding to new domains and metrics of interest to designers.

CogTool can be used today to predict task execution time of skilled users, but research is progressing to be able to predict novice exploration behavior (including errors and error-recovery), learning and practice protocols, and the subjective perception of usability. CogTool has been used for desktop applications, hand-held mobile devices, in-vehicle information devices, and flight automation devices in airplane cockpits.

The Look Toward Tomorrow section allows you to follow and participate in this research with

• Research Projects, summaries of current and past research projects advancing CogTool.
• Research Publications, citations and pointers to published research papers.
• Contribute to Research, ideas and contact information for getting involved by sharing your own modeling research, sharing data, or sponsoring directed research.