Profile
[KMDiary 2009 Volume 10 Issue #7]
Steve Szigeti is a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Information. Steve’s research is focused on web design guidelines and their role in communicating evidence based research to web designers. Specifically, the research investigates issues of guideline interpretation and efficacy. The research questions he is currently exploring focus on two issues specific to web design; (i) guideline understanding and interpretation by designers, and (ii) the effects of guideline use on user interaction.
The research incorporates multiple studies. Websites which provide health information regarding cancer will be used across all studies, although it is hoped that the results of the studies may be extrapolated outside the health informatics field. The studies will use the 2006 US Department of Health and Human Services guideline set (Research-Based Web Design & Usability Guidelines), since it is the most recent and most extensive evidence based web design guideline set currently available to the design community.
Steve believes his research is of interest to the broader KMD community, as it involves design research and evaluation and is intended to support and enhance the ability of those involved in the design process to better understand and potentially solve design issues. The research is cross disciplinary, recognized by the involvement of Mark Chignell (MIE, KMDI), Kelly Lyons (FI, KMDI), Chun Wei Choo (FI, KMDI) on his committee, under the supervision of Joan Cherry (FI, KMDI) and crosses academic and industry lines. Professional web designers from both Toronto and Montreal are involved as participants in the research.
The goal of Steve’s research is to contribute to our knowledge of guideline interpretation, efficacy, and awareness. The research will offer more evidence regarding possible correlations between guideline conformity and user interaction, will lead to a clearer understanding of which guideline categories offer a higher return in terms of user performance, and may provide useful information regarding the awareness of guidelines by designers. It is hoped that the results of this research will benefit the various communities of practice (including web designers, evaluators and guideline developers) as well as the research community.
In addition to Steve’s dissertation research, he has been a teaching assistant in KMDI Collaborative Program and FI courses, including Human Factors in Information Technology (FIS 2179, cross listed as KMD 2002 and MIE344), Online Information Retrieval (FIS1325), and Project Management (FIS2301). From 1997 until 2008, Steve was the Director of Interactive for TELETOON. In this role, he was responsible for strategic planning and development of the broadcast network's interactive consumer and corporate initiatives. Under Steve’s leadership, teletoon.com became one of the most successful Canadian websites for kids (averaging over 1.8 million user sessions per month) and was the recipient of numerous awards. Steve holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters Degree in Information Studies from the University of Toronto, as well as a Masters in English from Concordia University. |
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