Windows Clipboard

The Windows Clipboard is a temporary storage area within Windows which is used for storing text and files, etc., when selected by the user. The three actions the user can perform with the Windows Clipboard are “cut”, “copy” and “paste”. The “cut” action removes the data from the source area and stores it temporarily on the Windows Clipboard. The “copy” action copies the data from the source area and stores it temporarily on the Windows Clipboard. The “paste” action pastes the last “cut” or “copied” item from the Windows Clipboard into the destination area/application. After researching possible logging applications which would record clipboard operations, it was realised a logger which recorded the required information was not already available

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and would have to be developed. The clipboard logger records all “cut”, “copy” and “paste” text and file clipboard operations. All recorded clipboard operations are added to the MultiLog database in real time. An example of the output produced by the clipboard logger is as follows:

Item: "TEXT" of size: "33" (characters) COPIED to clipboard (via menus) from: "Google Chrome (chrome (4852))". Window Dimensions: Width: 1382 Height: 744 Position: Left: -8 Right: 1374 Top: -8 Bottom: 736

The type of data (text/file) is recorded along with the number of characters if the item is text. The type of operation (cut/copy/paste) is also recorded along with the source/destination application. The associated window dimensions and location are also recorded for extra clarity.

4.3.4 Drag-and-drop

Drag-and-drop is another form of data transfer in Windows PCs. Drag-and-drop occurs when an item (text or file) is selected with the mouse. The mouse button is then pressed and not released and the item is subsequently dragged by moving the mouse to the destination area. When the user wishes to “drop” the item the mouse button is released and the data is successfully transferred to the destination area from the source area. Drag-and-drop does not allow the user to store the data for later retrieval, instead the move operation happens in real time, moving from the source to the destination window. An example of the drag-and-drop output produced by the “plug in” is below:

Item: Test.docx Dragged from: (WINWORD (5263)) to: Input Form window: Google Chrome (chrome (3744)). The action took: 00:00:01.3455175

The data recorded is the item that was copied, the application it was copied from, the item it was copied to and the associated application. The length of the drag-and-drop operation was also recorded.

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4.5 Length of Study

The length of the data collection study was an important consideration during the planning stage. The study had to run for a long enough period of time to gain an insightful and accurate dataset from the participants. A period of three months of data collection was deemed suitable for this study. This time period was chosen as it would not only give an indication of user interactions over an extended period of time but would also prove useful to determine whether user interaction trends changed over time. Due to time restrictions on the MPhil a period of over 3 months was not chosen as selecting a longer period of time than this would not give enough time for other relevant research to take place. Consequently, the study was undertaken for a period of 3 months from September 2015.

4.6 Participant Overview

Participants were recruited from family, friends and through connections within the School of Computing & Communications at Lancaster University. Various e-mails requesting assistance with the study were sent out to the department and once participants registered their interest in the study a participation information pack was sent which explained the study in detail and what they needed to do. 17 computer users from a variety of different backgrounds (11 frequent - more than 50 interaction days - and 5 female) took part in the user study for a period of 90 days. The age range of participants was between 18-74 years. Seven users had single screens, eight had two screens and two had three screens. Participants used a variety of Microsoft Windows operating systems with eight using Windows 7, three using Windows 8.1 and three using Windows 10. Seven users had laptops and eleven desktops. The table below shows an overview of all participants, the type of computer they used and a brief overview of the interaction they performed. An interaction day/hour is a standard day/hour where the user has performed some interaction on their computer. An interaction session is defined as a period of consecutive hours interaction (measured by detecting window switches). A session is over when an hour with no interaction is encountered following one or more hours of consecutive interaction.

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Table 5: Log study participant overview.

Participant No. Days Running Days Interaction* Hours Interaction (hrs) Interaction Sessions (#)

No. of Screens Operating System Computer Type 1 90 89 (98%) 1321 333 1 Windows 7 Laptop 2 90 80 (88%) 591 145 3 Windows 10 Desktop 3 90 72 (80%) 435 122 1 Windows 7 Laptop 4 90 70 (77%) 249 111 1 Windows 10 Laptop 5 90 64 (71%) 594 252 2 Windows 8.1 Desktop 6 90 63 (70%) 563 88 3 Windows 7 Laptop 7 90 60 (66%) 361 104 2 Windows 7 Desktop 8 90 58 (64%) 404 144 1 Windows 7 Desktop 9 90 58 (64%) 279 151 1 Windows 7 Desktop 10 90 54 (60%) 189 78 1 Windows 8.1 Laptop 11 90 52 (57%) 330 62 2 Windows 8.1 Desktop 12 90 43 (47%) 225 69 1 Windows 7 Desktop 13 90 42 (46%) 228 76 2 Windows 7 Desktop 14 90 30 (43%) 75 48 2 Windows 10 Desktop 15 90 34 (37%) 178 51 2 Windows 7 Laptop 16 90 31 (34%) 132 48 2 Windows 10 Desktop 17 90 27 (30%) 139 52 1 Windows 7 Laptop Mean: 55 (61%) 370 113

* (% of days running in brackets)

4.7 Start of Study

Prior to the study commencing a participant information form was sent out and the study fully explained to each participant (in person in most cases). All information given out to participants in document form was approved by the University Ethics Committee and the MPhil supervisor. Once the documentation had been completed and the permission forms signed the installation of the software could begin. For those participants who felt confident enough to install the software themselves, the installer file and a set of installation and operating instructions was sent to assist them in the software installation. For those who were not confident to conduct the installation themselves a house/office visit was arranged for the researcher to install the software on their behalf. The installation procedure was step-by-step and was described in detail in the supplied

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instructions. There were no reported issues with installing the software. Once the software was successfully installed MultiLog immediately started collecting the relevant data due to its pre-configurable deployment mode.

4.8 End of Study

Once a period of three months had elapsed with each participant they were informed that the study had finished. Those who were confident enough to remove the software themselves were again sent instructions with details as to how to do this. For those participants who were not confident a home/office visit was again conducted in order to remove the software from their machines.

4.9 Qualitative Feedback

On conclusion of the study qualitative feedback in the form of a demographics survey was conducted. Participants were invited to complete an online survey (or paper alternative) to provide information surrounding their gender, age, employment status, level of education reached, job title/subject areas and other information relating to their computer type (desktop/laptop), operating system (Windows 7/8/8.1/10), how they interacted with their computer (trackpad/mouse), the number of screens they used and the types of applications/tasks they performed on their machines. A brief overview of the results of this demographics survey is contained within section 4.5 of this thesis.

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