My PhD study plan written in autumn 2010. Hypermedia Laboratory Tampere University of Technology.

1. Web service surveillance data feedback for directing user behavior Teemo Tebest
TUT/Hypermedia Laboratory
PhD Research Plan (14/04/2011)
Researcher Teemo Tebest
TEEMO TEBEST
WEB SERVICE SURVEILLANCE DATA FEEDBACK
FOR DIRECTING USER BEHAVIOR
Research Plan
Supervisor: Ossi Nykänen
Tampere University of Technology: Hypermedia Laboratory
1 Research question
Research's work name is Web service surveillance data feedback for directing user behavior.
Main research question is How to direct user behavior in web service with web service usage
visualizations. Another important question which will be researched is How the feedback aects
to the usage of the web service?. The aect can vary between web services and a positive aect
is not an absolute value. Important thing is to point out a noticeable and proveable improvement
or change in the usage of the web service. Following questions are What kind of information
interests the user of web service? and How and where the information must be presented so the
users are able to absorb it?. Interesting research trend is also to study does it matter When
the information is shown to the user?. It the research it is important that results can be given a
quantitative form so they can be compared.
Surveillance data is data that is collected from the web service usage. In popular web systems
the amount of this data can be huge. Feedback information is manipulated web service surveillance
data that is returned back to the user. For example in social media web service surveillance data
can reveal users that are similar to other users. System can therefore feedback the data that is
collected from the user's actions as an information that tells the user other users can might have
the same interests.
Relevant things in the study are context-sensitive information and dierent kinds of users
and lling up their needs. Context-sensitive information is data that is collected from the usage of
the web service processed and placed to a logic location in the web service so the user can adopt and
understand the information easily. Dierent kinds of users have dierent kind of limitations which
restrict the understanding of the information that is oered to them. The level of understanding
is not easy to measure but it is possible to make assumptions based on user actions. Information
that is delivered to the user must be semantic, meaningful and intentional. To do this we must
study which kind of things interest dierent kind of users.
The gure 1.1
1 describes the idea in a simple feedback system. User enters the system (A)
and reacts in the system. System is monitored (B) and the collected data is returned to the system
in some manipulated form which aects the user's behavior in a desired way.
1 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Feedbackoldid=388212656
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2. Web service surveillance data feedback for directing user behavior Teemo Tebest
1
Figure 1.1: Simple feedback system
The objective of the feedback system can vary depending on the needs and the nature of
the service. For example if we want to provide more ecient ways for users to nd the content
they are looking for by suggesting them context-sensitive information we could actually decrease
the amount of page loads because users don't have to wander around the web service. This could
seems bad if we are just monitoring qualitative page load data. In other cases the feedback system
can increase the amount of page loads. The objective of each feedback system must be dened
individually. Often the objective can be described so that afterwards the user gets the feeling that
he or she is getting more from the usage of the web service. Other point of view is that the web
service provider gets more from the users. This study explains which kind of feedback systems and
solutions are available and can be used in web services. The verication and measurement to show
that the system works must be made in the terms of the objective. This means that the results
that are gathered must be looked from the objective's point of view. Results that seem generally
positive can actually be unwanted.
Research is based on several known textbooks which dene the problem of web service
monitoring and analysing the gathered data. Kaushik is a known web service analytics expert
who have written several books on the subject. Kaushik is recognized as an authoritative voice
on how web service analytics should be implemented and how the collected data can made in use.
Textbooks include (Kaushik, 2007) and (Kaushik, 2009).
The conclusion of the research could be a method or series of common solutions which dene
how user behavior can be aected in web services. These methods can be exploited for example by
companies with nancial interests because they can be used to direct company's web service users
towards company's interests.
2 Research targets
In the research it is vital that it is possible to test the stated questions and verify our presumptions
in real life web services. The research is conducted in university environment which means that
it is also possible to exploit university students and systems in the study. Moodle is a system
that is widely used in Tampere University of Technology and it could therefore be a system that
could used to verify the results of the study because Moodle is a world wide used system so it gives
international reference that can be used to point out the results of this research. It is also impossible
to implement simulation models to test developed systems before introducing them to the users.
Simulations could help avoiding problems that could occur. When working in environment where
we study user behavior time is an essence because certain user behavior can only be expected in
certain time of the year. In addition to Moodle at least the following web services can be modied
and used for research purposes.
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3. Web service surveillance data feedback for directing user behavior Teemo Tebest
Erimenu.2 is a web services that supports users who have special diet. Site has about 300 to
500 daily users and over 4000 users have registered accounts. Erimenu. provides large user base
which can be studied. In Erimenu. the ambition for the data feedback could be to increase the
time that users spend on the site. Currently the time between user entry and exit is about two
minutes. This could be increased if the site provided more interesting information that could be
examined by the user.
TUT Circle3 is social media web service where users provide the content and the web service
it self is just an empty shell. TUT Circle users are mainly freshmen who come to study at the
Tampere University of Technology (TUT). TUT Circle can be used in this research to study how
which kind of feedback information interests users in social web service environment. In TUT
Circle the problem is that the returning percent is very low. Even 50% of the users that visit the
site are new users which means that not many users return to the site.
Statster4 5
is a web service quite similar to popular web service called Last.fm . Statster stores
user's music listening data and creates various visualizations based on the data. Visualizations and
data feedback can be considered Statster's main task. In Statster it is possible to study how even
complex data visualization can be made adoptable and so useful to the users.
3 Topicality of the research and publication
The research is topical because web services are becoming more and more daily hang out places
where people spend time. Web services like Facebook and Twitter have reached a status where
users may spend several hours of the day just hanging on the web site. If web service can provide
enriching information which is interesting and useful this kind of user behavior can be brought to
other web services as well.
Business minded this research can help companies to understand the user's needs and so get
growth in the e-business market in overall. For companies the user is a customer and so worth it
is clear that more users on the web page mean more customers for the company.
This study links to several dierent areas of science. The base lies on computer science
as the surveillance it self is quite technology orientated. Human-computer interaction (HCI) and
human-centered technology is the another level that is comes relevant because web services are
very user-centered while they are used by human beings. Business will be in very important role
in this study while companies interest then selves greatly that their web services are used in a way
that it serves their needs. Mathematical and pedagogical aspects can be also found. Mathematic
is needed while compiling the data into a needed visualization. Pedagogical orientation comes
naturally from the university environment. It is planned to publish articles in all of the mentioned
areas of study.
Visualization communities on computer science are IEEE Vis (IEEE Visualization), IEEE
InfoVis (IEEE Information Visualization) and IEEE Vast (IEEE Visual Analytics Science and
Technology). These communities are helding annual conferences and for example this year they
are helding a joined conference called VisWeek2010 in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. it would be
interesting to link this research with the mentioned communities. VisWeek 2010 (2010)
2 http://www.erimenu./
3 http://www.tut./piiri/
4 http://statster.info
5 http://last.fm/
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4. Web service surveillance data feedback for directing user behavior Teemo Tebest
4 Materials
Literary materials includes books from web service analytics (Croll Sean (2009), Kaushik
(2009), (Kaushik, 2007)) visualization information theories (Ware (2004), (Geroimenko Chen,
2005)) and feedback system theories (Sontag (1998), Åström Murray (2008)). Also other related
literary is listed in references.
Surveillance data is the data that is collected from the usage of the web service. The data
is collected dierent ways in dierent web services and the amplitude of the data varies between
systems depending on what kind of data is vital to the measurement. Surveillance data is used to
point out variation in the web service usage which can conrm the made presumptions.
Interviews can be made in the web services under study. Specially Statster and TUT Circle
users can be easily contacted. The objective is to conduct semi structured interviews to verify the
results.
Form surveys and interviews share the same objective to verify the presumptions that have
been made. Form surveys can be made with web based forms. The preliminary idea is to execute
several shorter surveys which would provide quality information.
Experts estimates can be used to verify used methods and the results. Web service analytics
and visualization experts could be found from the communities and conferences that would be
participated.
5 Tools and technologies
The study makes use of several tools and technologies. Main coding languages will be Python and
PHP. These are widely used in Internet and also the web services under research are developed
with these languages. Web frameworks that are exploited include at least Django
6 and Drupal7 .
JavaScript is used to provide any dynamical content. The result verication process can exploit
various dierent tools including Matlab among others. The documentation and writing is made
A
with L T X based program called L X. User surveys are processed with an appropriate tool.
E Y
Programs like Irfanview and GIMP are used for image manipulation. Other used technologies are
CSS, SQL and XML among others.
6 Study trends and study schedule
Usability Tampere University of Technology Human-Centered Technology unit oers doctoral
studies. Main study trends would be usability and human-centered design. Postgraduate studies
(2010)
Web service publication Information modelling and organising in web services can be studied
in Tampere University of Technology Hypermedia Laboratory unit. Studies (2010)
6 http://www.djangoproject.com/
7 http://drupal.org/
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5. Web service surveillance data feedback for directing user behavior Teemo Tebest
6.1 Preliminary schedule for studies and publications
Spring 2011
Courses: TUT-9006 Orientation to Doctoral Studies (5cr) and studies in web designing (5cr).
Publications: none.
Autumn 2011
Courses: studies in web designing (5cr) and studies in usability (5cr).
Publications: publication in the area of Computer Science (CS).
Spring 2012
Courses: studies in usability (10cr) and studies in visualization theories (5cr).
Publications: publication in the area of Business Business Intelligence (BI).
Autumn 2012
Courses: studies in visualization theories (5cr) and studies in user behavior (5cr).
Publications: publication in the area of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI).
Spring 2013
Courses: studies in user behavior (5cr).
Publications: publication in the area of Mathematic (MATH).
Autumn 2013
Courses: studies in web designing (5cr).
Publications: publication in the area of Computer Science (CS).
Spring 2014
Courses: none.
Publications: publication in the area of Pedagogical Sciences (PEDA).
Autum 2014
Courses: studies in usability (5cr).
Publications: publication in the area of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI).
Spring 2015
Courses: none.
Publications: publication of dissertation work in the area of Web service surveillance data feedback for
directing user behavior.
This schedule has been made in the assumption that TISE funding will be obtained. If the
funding is not obtained it means that graduation will delay. How big an aect will it have depends
on the projects that given to the researcher over the years. There are more exiple resources
available for researching in other projects more than others while on TISE funding the resource
stays more stable. Not getting the funding means roughly a delay of one to three years.
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6. Web service surveillance data feedback for directing user behavior Teemo Tebest
Publications
Silius, K., Miilumäki, T., Huhtamäki, J., Tebest, T., Meriläinen, J., Seppo, P. (2009, December).
Social media enhanced studying and learning in higher education. IEEE EDUCON Education
Engineering 2010 - The Future of Global Learning Engineering Education; April 14-16 2009,
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/
Madrid, SPAIN. Available from
stamp.jsp?tp=arnumber=5492586
Silius, K., Miilumäki, T., Huhtamäki, J., Tebest, T., Meriläinen, J., Seppo, P. (2010, January).
Students' motivations for social media enhanced studying and learning. Knowledge Management
E-Learning: An International Journal (KMEL); Mar 2010, Vol.2, No.1. Available from
http://www.kmel-journal.org/ojs/index.php/online-publication/
article/view/55/39
Tebest, T. (2010). Web service monitoring and visualization of surveillance data [Master Thesis].
Available from http://dspace.cc.tut.fi/dpub/handle/123456789/6664
References
Croll, A., Sean, P. (2009). Complete web monitoring (1st ed.; S. Laurent, Ed.). O'Reilly Media,
Inc. (ISBN:978-0596155131)
Feedback. (2010, 10 12). Wikipedia. Retrieved 2010, 14. October, from http://en.wikipedia
.org/w/index.php?title=Feedbackoldid=388212656
Geroimenko, V., Chen, C. (2005). Visualizing the semantic web: Xml-based internet and
information visualization (2nd ed.). Springer. (ISBN:978-1852339760)
Kaushik, A. (2007). Web analytics: An hour a day (1st ed.). Sybex. (ISBN:978-8126513284)
Kaushik, A. (2009). Web analytics 2.0; the art of online accountability science of customer
centricity (1st ed.). Sybex. (ISBN:978-0470529393)
Postgraduate studies. (2010). The unit of Human-Centered Technology. Retrieved 2010, 25.
October, from http://www.cs.tut.fi/ihte/english/studies/postgraduate/
Sontag, E. (1998). Mathematical control theory: Deterministic nite dimensional
systems. http://www.math.rutgers.edu/~sontag/FTP_DIR/sontag
Springer. Available from
_mathematical_control_theory_springer98.pdf
Åström, K. J., Murray, R. M. (2008). Feedback systems: An introduction for scientists and
engineers. Princeton University Press. Available from http://www.cds.caltech.edu/~murray/
books/AM08/pdf/am08-complete_22Feb09.pdf
Studies. (2010). Hypermedia Laboratory. Retrieved 2010, 25. October, from http://matriisi
.ee.tut.fi/hypermedia/en/studies/
Visweek 2010. (2010). VisWeek. Retrieved 2010, 25. October, from http://vis.computer.org/
VisWeek2010
Ware, C. (2004). Information visualization; perception for design. Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.
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