giboin@andy.inria.fr (Alain Giboin) (06/12/91)
If you are interested, could you please complete the following questionnaire, and return it to us? Thank you. ------------------------------------------------------- | A Questionnaire | | about the Explanation Capabilities of Expert Systems | | and of Industrial Expert System Shells | ------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- * QUESTIONNAIRE ADDRESSEES => Expert system shells DESIGNERS => Expert system USERS * QUESTIONNAIRE GOALS => To better characterize the explanation capabilities of experts systems and of industrial expert system shells => To identify the explanation needs of users and the effective use of explanations provided by expert systems => To determine if ideas proposed by researchers in the field of explanations are effectively integrated in current expert systems. And if not, why ------------------------------------------------------------------------- * FEATURES OF YOUR EXPERT SYSTEM SHELL <> Is your system devoted to a specific kind of task? -> Analysis tasks? - Classification [] - Diagnosis [] - Monitoring [] - Prediction [] - Others [] Specify: -> Synthesis tasks? - Design [] - Planning [] - Modeling [] - Others [] Specify: -> Modification tasks? - Repair [] - Control [] - Others [] Specify: <> What kinds of explanations do system users need to perform the tasks above? -> Explanations for analysis tasks? - For classification: - For diagnosis: - For monitoring: - For prediction: - For other analysis tasks: -> Explanations for synthesis tasks? - For design: - For planning: - For modeling: - For other synthesis tasks: -> Explanations for synthesis tasks? - For repair: - For control: - For other modification tasks: <> What is the formalism used to represent knowledge? -> Rules - Propositional rules [] - First order rules [] - Fuzzy rules [] - Metarules [] - Others [] Specify: -> Frames [] -> Semantic networks [] -> Hybrid representations [] <> What are the mechanisms of the inference engine? -> Forward chaining [] -> Backward chaining [] -> Mixed chaining [] -> Bidirectional chaining [] -> Others [] Specify: <> Is the system based on a complex architecture? -> Blackboards [] -> Second generation architecture with: - Deep models [] - Causal models [] - Qualitative models [] - Other models [] Specify: -> Other architectures [] Specify: <> Does the system use explicitly the notion of task? Specify: <> Does the system use hypermedia tools? Specify: * KINDS OF INTERACTIONS <> What kind of user-system interaction is allowed? -> Natural language dialogues [] -> Query language [] -> Menus [] -> Graphics [] -> Others [] Specify: <> Who can guide the interaction? -> The system [] -> The user [] -> Both of them [] <> Is it possible for the user to influence the system reasoning? And how? <> Is it possible for the user to modify the results provided by the system? And how? * USER'S CHARACTERISTICS <> Has the end user been involved in the application development? And how? <> In which stage of the KBS life cycle explanations are intended to be used? -> Development [] -> Validation [] -> End use [] -> Others [] Specify: <> And who uses the explanations? -> Knowledge engineer [] -> Expert [] -> End user [] -> Student [] -> Others [] Specify: <> And for achieving what kind of goal? -> Debugging [] -> Understanding [] -> Learning [] -> Others [] Specify: <> If possible, specify the following characteristics of the user: -> Needs: -> Goals: -> Level of expertise in the domain: -> Level of computing knowledge: <> If possible, give a short description of user task: <> If possible, give a short description of the help expected by the user: <> Is the user satisfied by the help provided by the system? If not, why? * EXPLANATION MODULE + Existence of the module ----------------------- <> Is an explanation module available in the system? If not, why? + Design of the module -------------------- <> Is the explanation module: -> General [] -> Specific to the application [] <> How were selected the kinds of provided explanations? <> Was the user involved in the explanation module design? If not, why? + Internal functioning of the module ---------------------------------- <> Are the explanations based on (explicitly stored, or implicitly acquired) user models? <> Were explanations acquired or inspired from the analysis of explanation dialogues between humans? <> Are explanations based on the reasoning traces? <> Does the system use: -> Discourse strategies [] -> Planning of explanation text [] + Contents of explanations ------------------------ <> Does the system provide (resp. does the user need): -> Shallow explanations [] -> Deep explanations [] -> Graphical explanations [] -> Follow-up explanations [] -> Multi-level explanations [] <> What kinds of questions are available? -> "Why" questions [] -> "How" questions [] -> "Why-not" questions [] -> "When" questions [] -> Other questions [] Specify: <> How explanations are presented? -> Textually [] -> Graphically [] -> Other modes [] Specify: + Use of the module ----------------- <> Do end users effectively use the explanation module? If not, why? <> Do end users meet some problems with the explanation module? If yes, what kinds of problems? ------------------------------------------------------------------------- * ANSWERS Answers to the questionnaire may be sent by email either to: Rose Dieng (INRIA): dieng@mirsa.inria.fr or to: Alain Giboin (INRIA): giboin@mirsa.inria.fr Answers may also be sent by mail to the address given in the signature below. NB: Answers will be considered as anonymous. Documentation ------------- If some documentation about your system (especially documentation about its explanation capabilities) is available, we'll be grateful to you to send it to us. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- * RESULTS If you are all interested in knowing the results of the questionnaire, we will published in this newsgroup. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR RESPONDING TO THIS QUESTIONNAIRE !! -- Alain Giboin, INRIA Sophia Antipolis -- France giboin@andy.inria.fr Phone: (33) 93.65.78.14, Fax: (33) 93 65 77 66 INRIA - Sophia Antipolis, 2004 route des Lucioles, 06565 Valbonne Cedex, FRANCE