 |
Reader in Computing |
 |
|
|
Research interests
My research relates to the design and usability of electronic environments in two related domains:
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and service quality of e-business environments; and
- Information design and pedagogical effectiveness of e-learning environments.
Business - to- Customer e-commerce environments:
2D e-commerce
Creating value and generating a positive customer experienc is important for e-commerce environments, in order to attract and satisfy customers. However, with increasing competition in the marketplace, it is increasingly difficult for businesses to retain customers and for customers to assess the comparative value of different providers. It is important that along with HCI guidelines and usability heuristics, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) strategies should be integrated into the design of the e-commerce environments for developing robust, long-term, online customer-e-business organisation relationships and, consequently, for engendering customer satisfaction and retention. In our research, we are combining several techniques to understand consumer behaviour and expectations and have developed a framework of social, cultural and organisational obstacles that mar a customer's e-commerce experience. We are employing naturalistic user observations, diary studies, laddering-interviews, use of the eye tracker to analyse customers' eye movements, and heuristic evaluations based on CRM strategies for evaluating the service quality of e-commerce environments.
Consumption behaviour in 3D virtual worlds
We have recently started investigating the consumer experiences in 3D virtual environments such as Second Life and the consequences of these experiences on the consumers' expectations and perceptions of traditional 2D e-commerce. We are carrying out in-depth investigation of the usability features and affordances of 3D virtual worlds for business, and develop an understanding of how the design of virtual worlds can be integrated within existing models of 2D e-commerce.
Our e-commerce project is inter-disciplinary and bridges diverse disciplines such as Computing, Usability Engineering, Social Sciences, Services Marketing and Consumer Behaviour and Psychology. The project team involves colleagues from Computing, Social Sciences, User Experience, and Services Marketing.
Technology-enabled learning environments:
Blogs, wikis, podcasting and 3D virtual worlds
We have been involved in a number of e-learning projects since 2005. She has shown through her research that the effectiveness of these tools comes from effective teaching: that is, how the right kind of activities and processes using these tools can be designed that can get the students excited and engaged, and can enhance their learning. Her teaching innovations have focused on holistic learner experience; that is, on the social networking, socialisation, collaborative learning and community-building capabilities of the various tools, which are of utmost significance in distance-education.
Along with colleagues in the Institute of Educational Technology (IET) at the Open University, UK, we conducted a project investigating the role of blogs in learning and teaching. In a post-graduate software engineering course, we integrated wiki tool for collaborative requirements development. The student feedback and the evaluations of this initiative were through diary-like reflective journals. The research carried out in this initiative influenced the improvement in the design and functionality of the wiki tool and also led to the adoption of wiki in other courses at the Open University.
We have carried out a series of workshops to investigate the role of podcasting in learning and teaching and particularly in the distance education context of the Open University. Our aim has been to raise the awareness of podcasting and its role in an educator's toolbox in Open University courses.
Since January 2008, we have been investigating the role of 3D virtual worlds such as Second Life in distance education. We are particularly interested in the role that Second Life can play in the vital socialisation aspects of collaborative learning.