Designing progressive model elicitation tools to support complex cognitive activities

Adam Binksmith; Hamid Mansoor; Miguel Nacenta; Alice Toniolo

doi:10.1145/3706599.3719925

Designing progressive model elicitation tools to support complex cognitive activities

Adam Binksmith, Hamid Mansoor^*, Miguel Nacenta, Alice Toniolo

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Computer Science

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Abstract

Externalizations such as sketches and diagrams are effective in helping individuals plan for complex projects and designs. Offloading complex information on a different medium (e.g. paper) frees up cognitive resources for sophisticated thinking. However, there are significant challenges in effectively using externalizations and notations (formalized externalizations). It is difficult to envision formal representations of complex ideas at the beginning and it is also hard to keep track of evolutions within notations. In addition, existing notations may be insufficient or inflexible for our specific purposes. We call instances of such thinking in which humans have to work through complex information and action space as instances of "Progressive Model Elicitation" (PME). We explore ways to support PME processes by presenting a set of design principles and Schematica, a prototype that implements those design principles to support PME. We present illustrative examples of Schematica use to support the process of PME.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the extended abstracts of the CHI conference on human factors in computing systems (CHI EA '25)
Editors	Naomi Yamashita, Vanessa Evers, Koji Yatani, Xianghua (Sharon) Ding
Place of Publication	New York
Publisher	ACM
Pages	1-8
Number of pages	8
ISBN (Print)	9798400713958
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1145/3706599.3719925
Publication status	Published - Apr 2025

Keywords

Externalization
Notation
Diagramming
Mental model

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10.1145/3706599.3719925

Binksmith-2025-Designing-progressive-model-CHIEA25-AAM
Copyright © 2025 the Author(s). This work has been made available online in accordance with publisher policies or with permission. Permission for further reuse of this content should be sought from the publisher or the rights holder. This is the author created accepted manuscript following peer review and may differ slightly from the final published version. The final published version of this work is available at https://doi.org/10.1145/3706599.3719925.
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Binksmith, A., Mansoor, H., Nacenta, M., & Toniolo, A. (2025). Designing progressive model elicitation tools to support complex cognitive activities. In N. Yamashita, V. Evers, K. Yatani, & X. Ding (Eds.), Proceedings of the extended abstracts of the CHI conference on human factors in computing systems (CHI EA '25) (pp. 1-8). Article 179 ACM. https://doi.org/10.1145/3706599.3719925

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title = "Designing progressive model elicitation tools to support complex cognitive activities",

abstract = "Externalizations such as sketches and diagrams are effective in helping individuals plan for complex projects and designs. Offloading complex information on a different medium (e.g. paper) frees up cognitive resources for sophisticated thinking. However, there are significant challenges in effectively using externalizations and notations (formalized externalizations). It is difficult to envision formal representations of complex ideas at the beginning and it is also hard to keep track of evolutions within notations. In addition, existing notations may be insufficient or inflexible for our specific purposes. We call instances of such thinking in which humans have to work through complex information and action space as instances of {"}Progressive Model Elicitation{"} (PME). We explore ways to support PME processes by presenting a set of design principles and Schematica, a prototype that implements those design principles to support PME. We present illustrative examples of Schematica use to support the process of PME.",

keywords = "Externalization, Notation, Diagramming, Mental model",

author = "Adam Binksmith and Hamid Mansoor and Miguel Nacenta and Alice Toniolo",

note = "Funding: This research was supported by NSERC (The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada) RGPIN-2020-04401 and EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) EP/T518062/1.",

year = "2025",

month = apr,

doi = "10.1145/3706599.3719925",

language = "English",

isbn = "9798400713958",

pages = "1--8",

editor = "Naomi Yamashita and Vanessa Evers and Koji Yatani and Ding, \{Xianghua (Sharon)\}",

booktitle = "Proceedings of the extended abstracts of the CHI conference on human factors in computing systems (CHI EA '25)",

publisher = "ACM",

address = "United States",

}

Binksmith, A, Mansoor, H, Nacenta, M & Toniolo, A 2025, Designing progressive model elicitation tools to support complex cognitive activities. in N Yamashita, V Evers, K Yatani & X Ding (eds), Proceedings of the extended abstracts of the CHI conference on human factors in computing systems (CHI EA '25)., 179, ACM, New York, pp. 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1145/3706599.3719925

Designing progressive model elicitation tools to support complex cognitive activities. / Binksmith, Adam; Mansoor, Hamid; Nacenta, Miguel et al.
Proceedings of the extended abstracts of the CHI conference on human factors in computing systems (CHI EA '25). ed. / Naomi Yamashita; Vanessa Evers; Koji Yatani; Xianghua (Sharon) Ding. New York: ACM, 2025. p. 1-8 179.

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

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AU - Mansoor, Hamid

AU - Nacenta, Miguel

AU - Toniolo, Alice

N1 - Funding: This research was supported by NSERC (The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada) RGPIN-2020-04401 and EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) EP/T518062/1.

PY - 2025/4

Y1 - 2025/4

N2 - Externalizations such as sketches and diagrams are effective in helping individuals plan for complex projects and designs. Offloading complex information on a different medium (e.g. paper) frees up cognitive resources for sophisticated thinking. However, there are significant challenges in effectively using externalizations and notations (formalized externalizations). It is difficult to envision formal representations of complex ideas at the beginning and it is also hard to keep track of evolutions within notations. In addition, existing notations may be insufficient or inflexible for our specific purposes. We call instances of such thinking in which humans have to work through complex information and action space as instances of "Progressive Model Elicitation" (PME). We explore ways to support PME processes by presenting a set of design principles and Schematica, a prototype that implements those design principles to support PME. We present illustrative examples of Schematica use to support the process of PME.

AB - Externalizations such as sketches and diagrams are effective in helping individuals plan for complex projects and designs. Offloading complex information on a different medium (e.g. paper) frees up cognitive resources for sophisticated thinking. However, there are significant challenges in effectively using externalizations and notations (formalized externalizations). It is difficult to envision formal representations of complex ideas at the beginning and it is also hard to keep track of evolutions within notations. In addition, existing notations may be insufficient or inflexible for our specific purposes. We call instances of such thinking in which humans have to work through complex information and action space as instances of "Progressive Model Elicitation" (PME). We explore ways to support PME processes by presenting a set of design principles and Schematica, a prototype that implements those design principles to support PME. We present illustrative examples of Schematica use to support the process of PME.

KW - Externalization

KW - Notation

KW - Diagramming

KW - Mental model

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U2 - 10.1145/3706599.3719925

DO - 10.1145/3706599.3719925

M3 - Conference contribution

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BT - Proceedings of the extended abstracts of the CHI conference on human factors in computing systems (CHI EA '25)

A2 - Yamashita, Naomi

A2 - Evers, Vanessa

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A2 - Ding, Xianghua (Sharon)

PB - ACM

CY - New York

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Binksmith A, Mansoor H, Nacenta M, Toniolo A. Designing progressive model elicitation tools to support complex cognitive activities. In Yamashita N, Evers V, Yatani K, Ding X, editors, Proceedings of the extended abstracts of the CHI conference on human factors in computing systems (CHI EA '25). New York: ACM. 2025. p. 1-8. 179 Epub 2025 Apr 25. doi: 10.1145/3706599.3719925

Designing progressive model elicitation tools to support complex cognitive activities

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