The Usability Metrics of Skiffle and Recursive Simplification
Report from the British Skiffle Society Seminar (BS3, Bognor Regis, 25-27 Dec 2018
by roving reporter Dr Name (N) SBP MBA DIC etc etc.
Day-1 Primitive Forecasting
The BS3 human-business business-human helicopter hover point interaction specialist group (HBBHHHPISG) sponsored a one o five point two century for muppets day (105.2FM) seminar on Skiffle usability metrics (UMs), methodology implementation (MIs) and helicopter hover points (HHPs) in connection with the helicopter hover point manufacturers (HHPMs) designers (HHPDs) and implementers (HHPIs) its 2nd tri-annual meeting on the beach in Bognor Regis.
It must be stressed (IMBS) at this point (ATP) that the seminar was organised brilliantly and without fault by a good guy (GG) who goes by the name of Albert Tatlock (AT) who is “the knowledge” (TK) on Skiffle and is based at the National Skiffle Laboratory (NSL), Telford. You may have heard of AT from our fully featured focussed (F3) implemented “Acquiring the Target” (ATandT) Web Site (WS) at http://www.skiffle.org.uk. The seminar (S) attracted an audience of about 8000 people (all on the beach) and everyone including the UMs, MIs, HHPs, HHPMs, HHPDs and HHPIs had a jolly good time (JGT). Thanks to everyone involved (TTEI).
The virtual discussions (VD) during the seminar and the tea breaks (TB) with or without biscuits (W/WO-B) indicated substantial interest in the issues of Usability Metrics of Skiffle and Recursive Simplification.
Please note that the HHP of a helicopter is significantly higher than that of a wheelbarrow but not a fluffy cat. Providing the cat has been catapulted vertically at 90o
In conclusion there is obviously a trend towards taking Usability Metrics of Skiffle and Recursive Simplification Methodology seriously as an object of study in itself in order to improve our ability to both choose the right method for the job at hand and acquire the target. One excellent, brilliant, fab exponent of this trend was based on a study of the effects of expertise on the quality of a HHP usability evaluation. It turns around and out that humans as opposed to primate life forms are better at finding problems in an implementation the more they know about the primitive principles.
This may come as no particular surprise, but this type of precise understanding of using different personnel categories for usability work is essential for practical usability engineering.
AILTP[1]
As another example of the autonomous approach (AA) discussed is the number of test subjects needed for tests and that the lists of helicopter hover point verification portholes (HHPVP) encountered by the first five thousand (5k) test subjects and the first ten thousand (10k) subjects looked very similar. So in conclusion for most practical tests, there is a need to run a large number of subjects in excess of 25k (twenty five thousand)-test subjects. Thus we go back to the principle of the fluffy cat and the adaptable systems coping with change (ASCwC).
Day-2 Adaptable Autonomous Primitives with slight Undertones (AAP-Us)
The first speaker on AAP-Us was Sir Nigel Nigel from Westmoreland. His basic understanding and premise (based on his work in the SBP666 numberplate usability standards group) was that numberplate usability cannot be defined without knowing the context in which the numberplate will be used. The conclusion to this practice is that there is no absolute zero criterion for numberplate usability and there are no bad numberplates only numberplates applied in the wrong context. Furthermore, Sir Nigel Nigel emphasised that it is not enough to understand the numberplates personally, their tasks, and their environment, since the only constant is change itself. The numberplate owners, tasks, and the environment will change over time (if nothing else, then as a result of using the new numberplates). As a matter of fact, the environment is also changing because people do not spend all their time in their vehicles. They also work at the office, at home, in the airport (waiting for helicopters), etc.
Because of this substantial potential for change, Sir Nigel Nigel felt the need to go to the toilet (WC). It must be noted that the numberplate itself must be capable of change-unless, of course, its designer is omniscient and can predict all the changes. Since numberplate designers are not omniscient, they advocated an ecological metaphor for numberplate development (EM4ND): The survival, change, and adaptation of the numberplate through some kind of “macro-selection” over time.
Sir Nigel Nigel presented two models for achieving ecological change of numberplates;
The AA numberplate modifies itself through building a dynamic model of the potential owner. Sir Nigel Nigel was very sceptical about this approach since he had never seen a non-trivial such system that worked. The Darwinist approach of having adaptable numberplates constructed such that external agents can bring about change. This is done in some current numberplate systems through primitive interaction with ones self such as the removal of ones batch file, but unfortunately this approach means that the owners who need ones batch file removing (the change) often cannot make it without the outside help of the IT (I) department.
Sir Nigel Nigel’s project at Westmoreland was to develop an automatic “ecology numberplate ultra-management system” (AENUS). In Brussels and Paris this is communally called The European Masticators Union of Automatic ENU System (The EMUoAENUS) to allow owners to construct their own working numberplate environment by putting together five elements of the environment (Earth, Wind, Fire, Water and Laylou). To construct these virtual numberplate environments (VNEs) owners only need knowledge of their tasks and not of the underlying implementation.
Owners can create environments either:
- by reference to other specific owners (“let me have Nigel’s batch file”)
or
- by reference to the general owner groups (“give me a secretional environment e-Drip”).
With the Atom-AENUS System (EMUoAENUS)2, innovations spread throughout the cultural diffusion as owners acquired the target. Throughout intimate Experiences (TIE) of each other, Sir Nigel Nigel and his team assumed that there is no single end-point to the development (SEP2DEV) of a numberplate system:
“It will continue to grow”. (sic)
This diffusion principle (DP) is similar to that used by the HBBHHHPISG when analysing video tapes (AVT)
Minnie Caldwell from Weatherfield presented another Adaptable Autonomous Primitives with slight Undertones (AAP-Us) approach to usability. She has built up such a reputation that her usability laboratory is complete with mirrors and video cameras. To help analyse the videotapes from the usability tests, she has built a computerised tool otherwise known as; le Automatic Right-handed Dimorphic-Integrated Leveragable Dynamic Orb (LARD-ILDO). The tool facilitates the usability engineer to annotate the tape with codes for various events during the testing process (TP) and helps to retrieve specific video clips quickly (RSVCQ). The video is not currently on sale but she mentioned that they are “definitely interested in developing it further (DI2DIF).” I talked to others at the seminar (S) who were very interested in buying a copy, so there seems to be a good market opportunity in making a human factors Video Hybridised Soliloquy (VHS) commercially available. One person in particular (OPIP) was interested in a DVD format with multiple angles and freeze frame capabilities.
Day-3 A Framework for Evaluation Methods (aF4EM)
Bernard Matthews presented a four hour talk on the traditional approach to HHP evaluation involving interoperable inverted iterative design (I4D) and experimental human to business testing. The main points noted from the presentation were that:
- HHHHPPP methods can sometimes be difficult to pronounce
- There were not enough biscuits
- I4D design is not suitable for people of a nervous disposition
- HHHHPPP methods should be developed using Skiffle only
- Testing is difficult with less than 25k (twenty five thousand) fluffy cats
- Minnie Caldwell kept farting (Flexible Adaptable Recursive Taxonomy Instances of Neural Groping) – AWS (and without shame)
- RS UMs vary widely in airports
- Progress depends solely on the type of underpants chosen by the HFS[2]
- HHHHPPP promotes an increased understanding of the nature of Skiffle usability
Also mentioned, were the, definition of non-human factors comma during evaluation as an assessment of the conformity between a the helicopters performance and its desired performance. Where the HHP can be factorised using a simple algorithm where each function is indeterminate in correlation to the size of the helicopter thus figure 3 explains.
It must be stressed that multiple cows and fish may be involved due to the death of twenty five thousand fluffy cats (25k). Cows and fish were the only test subjects available at the time. Smaller cats could have been used, but then smaller catapults would have been required. Thus the recursive simplification result once transposed through the Skiffle life cycle would be determinate in the cost rising and going out of budget. Thus an indeterminate amount of biscuits for the seminar would have been available. Result=chaos. Enough said!
Bernard identified the pervasive proposed performance in parallel (P/P3), with the indeterminate HHP
encapsulation method of HHPP for drag (D), thus facilitating HHHHPPP without
drag (D). Therefore, the quality of the task (QofT) in relation
to the recursive costs (RC) associated with the testing eliminates (TE) the need
for fluffy cats (FC). Bernard also wanted to standardise an assessment statement
(AS) which reports any measurement studies and diagnose reasons (MS&DR) for
any shortfalls in the propulsion (SintheP) of overweight cows (OC). It was
agreed that such assessment statements could in principle be produced on the
basis of an evaluation of the MS&DR working group or a representation of the
HHHHPPP (D) such as a mock-up of the BS3 human-business
business-human helicopter hover point interaction specialist group (HBBHHHPISG).
The evaluation can be performed using cows and fish or using some surrogate to represent the cows and fish, such as crabs.
Minnie Caldwell has agreed to take this phenomenal facet forward fast (PFFF).
Day-3 Evening – Identifying Key Elements of a HHP Hierarchy
Professor Frank Tank from the Skiffle University (SU) stretched over dinner the need to focus to decrease the cost of a usability metrics of Skiffle and Recursive Simplification evaluation and to focus on the continual improvement process (CIP). He based his presentation on a method called USTM (Usability Skiffle with Tank Methodology) which Albert Tatlock was very interested in what with his WWII experience and all. Professor Frank later mentioned his work back in 1974 when he claimed to have invented the Solar Loop Basic Principle (SLBP) as shown in figure 4.
Professor Tank then went on to expound the virtues of the three tier model taxonomies (TTMT). This was accompanied by a hilarious session on the abstraction of meaning from communication in a technology-challenged substrate. This is summarised in Figure 5.
[1] AILTP – Am I Losing The Plot – no – You have already lost it, put the whisky down and carry on with the report.
[2] HFS – Human Factor Specialist