Automatic Error Model (AEM) for User Interface Design: A new approach to Include Errors and Error Corrections in a Cognitive User Model

Abstract

Replacing users with models that simulate users’ behaviors has been a long-standing vision in interface design. Cognitive models can simulate users’ cognitive processes and behaviors, but they cannot fully interact with user interfaces and simulate all behaviors. VisiTor (Vision+Motor) is a tool that provides cognitive models with methods to interact with the interface that users interact with. However, currently, cognitive models can only simulate experts and error-free users. Previous attempts at using cognitive models were inadequate due to hard-coded errors, which led to predictions that were not applicable to all users and tasks. Therefore, a general approach is required to include error generations and error corrections in cognitive models. VisiTor has been extended to generate and correct errors, leading to the development of an Automatic Error Cognitive Model that simulates more complete users’ behaviors in an Excel spreadsheet. This model helps to get closer to developing complete cognitive models that can replace users.