Franca Garzotto

Bio: Franca Garzotto is an academic researcher from Polytechnic University of Milan. The author has contributed to research in topics: Hypermedia & Usability. The author has an hindex of 34, co-authored 242 publications receiving 4741 citations. Previous affiliations of Franca Garzotto include Instituto Politécnico Nacional.

HDM—a model-based approach to hypertext application design

Abstract: Hypertext development should benefit from a systematic, structured development, especially in the case of large and complex applications. A structured approach to hypertext development suggests the notion of authoring-in-the-large. Authoring-in-the-large allows the description of overall classes of information elements and navigational structures of complex applications without much concern with implementation details, and in a system-independent manner. The paper presents HDM (Hypertext Design Model), a first step towards defining a general purpose model for authoring-in-the-large. Some of the most innovative features of HDM are: the notion of perspective; the identification of different categories of links (structural links, application links, and perspective links) with different representational roles; the distinction between hyperbase and access structures; and the possibility of easily integrating the structure of a hypertext application with its browsing semantics. HDM can be used in different manners: as a modeling device or as an implementation device. As a modeling device, it supports producing high level specifications of existing or to-be-developed applications. As an implementation device, it is the basis for designing tools that directly support application development. One of the central advantages of HDM in the design and practical construction of hypertext applications is that the definition of a significant number of links can be derived automatically from a conceptual-design level description. Examples of usage of HDM are also included.

Hypermedia design, analysis, and evaluation issues

Abstract: ence both in developing several hypermedia applications , and systematically inspecting and evaluating many commercial applications and prototypes. We evaluate an application by its very nature, our method addresses neither software design (which can be evaluated with general software evaluation techniques), nor how well the application relates to a domain or to specific user needs (a main concern of other usabili-ty evaluation techniques). Our approach complements more general evaluation methods [1, 11, 12, 18, 19, 21] for the field of hypermedia. In this article we describe our design-oriented evaluation method and apply it to a highly popular commercial application: Microsoft's Art Gallery, a hypermedia guide to the National Gallery in Lon-don's painting collection. Art Gallery is an outstanding and enjoyable application. Initially designed only for the museum's visitors [20], it is now widely available as a CD-ROM [17]. We also discuss aspects of reuse in hypermedia applications and propose some initial suggestions for designing for reuse. Analysis Dimensions We have identified several dimensions for analyzing a hypermedia application: content, structure, presentation , dynamics, and interaction. • Content: The pieces of information included in the application. These may consist of static (passive) media (such as formatted data, text strings, images, and graphics) or active (dynamic) media (such as video clips, sound tracks, and anima-F r a n c a G a r z o t t o , L u c a M a i n e t t i , ne can perform a heuristic evaluation of a hypermedia application effectively by coupling a systematic analysis of the application based on a hypermedia design model with general usability criteria, independent of the specific application area, user profile(s), and user task(s). We call our method design-oriented evaluation (as opposed to the user-oriented evaluation commonly applied in usability testing), since it evaluates the internal strength of the design underlying the hypermedia application.

Content-Based Video Recommendation System Based on Stylistic Visual Features

Abstract: This paper investigates the use of automatically extracted visual features of videos in the context of recommender systems and brings some novel contributions in the domain of video recommendations. We propose a new content-based recommender system that encompasses a technique to automatically analyze video contents and to extract a set of representative stylistic features (lighting, color, and motion) grounded on existing approaches of Applied Media Theory. The evaluation of the proposed recommendations, assessed w.r.t. relevance metrics (e.g., recall) and compared with existing content-based recommender systems that exploit explicit features such as movie genre, shows that our technique leads to more accurate recommendations. Our proposed technique achieves better results not only when visual features are extracted from full-length videos, but also when the feature extraction technique operates on movie trailers, pinpointing that our approach is effective also when full-length videos are not available or when there are performance requirements. Our recommender can be used in combination with more traditional content-based recommendation techniques that exploit explicit content features associated to video files, to improve the accuracy of recommendations. Our recommender can also be used alone, to address the problem originated from video files that have no meta-data, a typical situation of popular movie-sharing websites (e.g., YouTube) where every day hundred millions of hours of videos are uploaded by users and may contain no associated information. As they lack explicit content, these items cannot be considered for recommendation purposes by conventional content-based techniques even when they could be relevant for the user.

Extending UML for modeling Web applications

Abstract: Web sites are progressively evolving from browsable, read-only information repositories to Web-based distributed applications. Compared to traditional Web sites, these Web applications do not only support navigation and browsing, but also operations that affect their contents and navigation states. Compared to traditional applications Web applications integrate operations with the built-in browsing capabilities of hypermedia. These novelties make Web application design a complex task that requires the integration of methods and techniques developed in different "worlds". This integration is achieved in this paper by extending and customizing the Unified Modeling Language (UML) with Web design concepts borrowed from the Hypermedia Design Model (HDM). Hypermedia elements are described through appropriate UML stereotypes. UML diagrams are also tailored to model operations and relate them with hypermedia elements. The approach is exemplified by describing the design of a Web-based conference manager.

From Web Sites to Web Applications: New Issues for Conceptual Modeling

Abstract: E-commerce, web-based booking systems, and on-line auction systems are only a few examples that demonstrate how web sites are evolving from essentially read-only information repositories to distributed applications. These new web applications blend navigation and browsing capabilities, common to hypermedia, with "classical" operations (or transactions), common to traditional information systems. The coupling between hypermedia and operational features raises a number of novel modeling issues. Conceptual modeling for web applications is not just the union of two activities performed in isolation - designing the operations and designing the hypermedia aspects. Rather, modeling the integration (and interference) of the two facets of design (hypermedia and operations) is the issue. The co-existence of operational and navigational aspects poses several new problems to designers: For example, how do information structures and navigation support operations? How do operations affect information structures and navigation? How do operations and navigation interplay? How are user tasks related to both navigation and operations? The paper discusses these and other questions, and provides a contribution toward possible solutions, based upon the W2000 design framework.

Remembering. A Study in Experimental and Social Psychology, Cambridge (University Press) 1964.

Abstract: Part I. Experimental Studies: 2. Experiment in psychology 3. Experiments on perceiving III Experiments on imaging 4-8. Experiments on remembering: (a) The method of description (b) The method of repeated reproduction (c) The method of picture writing (d) The method of serial reproduction (e) The method of serial reproduction picture material 9. Perceiving, recognizing, remembering 10. A theory of remembering 11. Images and their functions 12. Meaning Part II. Remembering as a Study in Social Psychology: 13. Social psychology 14. Social psychology and the matter of recall 15. Social psychology and the manner of recall 16. Conventionalism 17. The notion of a collective unconscious 18. The basis of social recall 19. A summary and some conclusions.

Experience and Education.

Abstract: Preparing the books to read every day is enjoyable for many people. However, there are still many people who also don't like reading. This is a problem. But, when you can support others to start reading, it will be better. One of the books that can be recommended for new readers is experience and education. This book is not kind of difficult book to read. It can be read and understand by the new readers.