Outlier Finding: Focusing User Attention on Possible Errors

Robert C. Miller and Brad A. Myers

Robert C. Miller and Brad A. Myers. "Outlier Finding: Focusing User Attention on Possible Errors." Proceedings of the 14th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST 2001), Orlando, FL, November 2001, pp 81-90.

Abstract

When users handle large amounts of data, errors are hard to notice. Outlier finding is a new way to reduce errors by directing the user's attention to inconsistent data which may indicate errors. We have implemented an outlier finder for text, which can detect both unusual matches and unusual mismatches to a text pattern. When integrated into the user interface of a PBD text editor and tested in a user study, outlier finding substantially reduced errors.

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Outlier highlighting drawing attention to a possible selection error.

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Rob Miller