PhD Position F/M Software Appropration: Promoting Tailoring Possibilities and Evaluating their Impact

Le descriptif de l'offre ci-dessous est en Anglais

Type de contrat : CDD

Niveau de diplôme exigé : Bac + 5 ou équivalent

Fonction : Doctorant

A propos du centre ou de la direction fonctionnelle

Created in 2008, the Inria center at the University of Lille employs 360 people, including 305 scientists in 16 research teams. Recognized for its strong involvement in the socio-economic development of the Hauts-De-France region, the Inria center at the University of Lille maintains a close relationship with large companies and SMEs. By fostering synergies between researchers and industry, Inria contributes to the transfer of skills and expertise in the field of digital technologies, and provides access to the best of European and international research for the benefit of innovation and businesses, particularly in the region.

For over 10 years, the Inria center at the University of Lille has been at the heart of Lille's university and scientific ecosystem, as well as at the heart of Frenchtech, with a technology showroom based on avenue de Bretagne in Lille, on the EuraTechnologies site of economic excellence dedicated to information and communication technologies (ICT).

Contexte et atouts du poste

The PhD candidate will join the Inria centre of the University of Lille and be part of the LOKI research group, specialized in Human-Computer Interaction. It is affiliated with the CRIStAL laboratory (UMR 9189) and includes professors and assistant professors of the University of Lille, as well as Inria researchers. Lille is at the northern tip of France and its metropolitan area, situated at the crossroads of northern continental Europe, is the 5th biggest in France. Loki is a dynamic and multicultural team with members coming from different countries (Germany, Canada, China, Iran, France, etc.) and communicating daily in English.

Mission confiée

Interactive systems can be tailored by end-users, for instance by modifying command layouts, to better match their needs and preferences. While this might be beneficial by increasing productivity for certain tasks, it can also be detrimental if layouts of commands break design logics and are changed too often. This project aims at tackling two challenges. First, we will (1) study how interfaces currently promote tailoring possibilities and how it can be improved. Then, we will (2) study the actual quantitative and qualitative impact of tailoring actions on end-users workflows, with a specific focus on the impact and duration of the tailoring actions and their effects.

Context

Interactive systems' designs often focus on stereotypical tasks to provide tailored actions such as browsing the web, editing virtual documents, or reading and sending emails. This approach relies on a one-size-fits-all strategy and fails to accommodate various use cases and preferences. For instance, users may need to personalize systems' toolbars (e.g., Mozilla Firefox, MS Word, Affinity Designer) to expose hidden commands or reduce cluttering to adapt the interface to their tasks, or to automate email management to sort and filter them out, which we refer to as tailoring tasks. While some systems facilitate automation with extensions (e.g., Firefox) or modify their source code to change their layout and more (e.g., Emacs), knowing what can be changed, when it can be beneficial to do so, and engaging in tailoring tasks to customize or extend their functionalities remain major challenges.

A major challenge is the lack of signifiers exposing possibilities and opportunities to tailor a system. Some signifiers exist in current interactive systems (see examples in Affinity Designer 2 on Figure 1). Yet, they may not convey enough information on the tailoring actions they signify, and be too subtle to be noticed. Furthermore, they mostly support real-time modifications and do not particularly adapt to tailoring in anticipation of future needs, or in reflection of tasks already performed; e.g., indicate commands that were not used in the last working session that could be potentially hidden to free space up.

Another challenge is to identify and assess the actual quantitative and qualitative benefits of tailoring software features and behaviors. While changes may be perceived as beneficial by end-users, they may actually create conflicts with the original design of an application and fail to follow structural rules that ensure logical consistency; e.g., users could hide commands that are not required on the short-term but required on the long-term.

One potential focus could be on use cases of interface layouts personalizations. Such personalizations can expose commands and reduce cluttering and be beneficial on the short and long term, but also detrimental if significant commands disappear or the task change

Principales activités

We consider the following questions in this project:

• When should information be provided about tailoring possibilities, how to provide incontext information, and what interactive means support end-users in knowing about tailoring possibilities?

• What impact can have tailoring actions on users' workflows with regard to performance and satisfaction, both positively and negatively?

Regarding the first question, a possible exploration is to study means to convey in-context information of tailoring possibilities and create a design space of visual signifiers conveying information on tailoring tasks, building on our previous work. The candidate could study when signifiers should be provided, and whether they must adapt to tailoring tasks in anticipation of significant events (e.g., preparing email filters for a project), in timing with them (e.g., creating a shortcut for a command when using it), or in reflection of significant events (e.g., creating a code snippet after writing structured text).

The candidate will:

• review the literature on software appropriation and the state-of-the-art with regard to software design
• analyze this corpus to identify categories of tailoring tasks and signifiers
• conceptualize a design space of signifiers with a focus on timing
• run experiments to assess their benefits and drawbacks
• report on this work by publishing papers in international conferences

Avantages

• Subsidized meals
• Partial reimbursement of public transport costs
• Leave: 7 weeks of annual leave + 10 extra days off due to RTT (statutory reduction in working hours) + possibility of exceptional leave (sick children, moving home, etc.)
• Possibility of teleworking and flexible organization of working hours
• Professional equipment available (videoconferencing, loan of computer equipment, etc.)
• Social, cultural and sports events and activities
• Access to vocational training
• Social security coverage

Rémunération

€2,300 gross per month

Informations générales

• Thème/Domaine : Interaction et visualisation

Systèmes d'information (BAP E)
- Ville : Villeneuve d'Ascq
- Centre Inria : Centre Inria de l'Université de Lille
- Date de prise de fonction souhaitée :
- Durée de contrat : 3 ans
- Date limite pour postuler :

Attention: Les candidatures doivent être déposées en ligne sur le site Inria. Le traitement des candidatures adressées par d'autres canaux n'est pas garanti.

Consignes pour postuler

Please provide your CV and cover letter

Sécurité défense :

Ce poste est susceptible d'être affecté dans une zone à régime restrictif (ZRR), telle que définie dans le décret n° relatif à la protection du potentiel scientifique et technique de la nation (PPST). L'autorisation d'accès à une zone est délivrée par le chef d'établissement, après avis ministériel favorable, tel que défini dans l'arrêté du 03 juillet 2012, relatif à la PPST. Un avis ministériel défavorable pour un poste affecté dans une ZRR aurait pour conséquence l'annulation du recrutement.

Politique de recrutement :

Dans le cadre de sa politique diversité, tous les postes Inria sont accessibles aux personnes en situation de handicap.

Contacts

• Équipe Inria : LOKI
• Directeur de thèse :

Fruchard Bruno /

L'essentiel pour réussir

The candidate must have (or be about to obtain) a Master's degree or equivalent in Computer Science or Human-Computer Interaction, and demonstrate a strong interest in research. They should have experience and a strong interest in software development, interaction design and strong programming skills. Creativity, independence, team spirit and communication skills are valuable assets. A good level of technical and scientific English is also required.

A propos d'Inria

Inria est l'institut national de recherche dédié aux sciences et technologies du numérique. Il emploie 2600 personnes. Ses 215 équipes-projets agiles, en général communes avec des partenaires académiques, impliquent plus de 3900 scientifiques pour relever les défis du numérique, souvent à l'interface d'autres disciplines. L'institut fait appel à de nombreux talents dans plus d'une quarantaine de métiers différents. 900 personnels d'appui à la recherche et à l'innovation contribuent à faire émerger et grandir des projets scientifiques ou entrepreneuriaux qui impactent le monde. Inria travaille avec de nombreuses entreprises et a accompagné la création de plus de 200 start-up. L'institut s'efforce ainsi de répondre aux enjeux de la transformation numérique de la science, de la société et de l'économie.

---