The CogTool Project Tools for Cognitive Performance Modeling for Interactive Devices

Questions? Send email

WATCH THIS SPACE! New release planned for Fall 2008.

Don't be dismayed by the fact that the last official release was over a year ago. We are continuing to work diligently and intend to have a major new release in Fall 2008. There will be extensive new functionality, improvements in usability, and updated documentation. So if you like what you see here, please check back in September for the new release.

CogTool 1.0b18 Software (released 14 February 2007)

CogTool is an application to assist in the creation of design mockups and the calculation of predictions of skilled performance time for tasks on those designs. You are free to use this software for any purpose. However, it is provided as-is with no warrantee -- use at your own risk.

Detailed information is provided in the CogTool User Guide. We highly recommend that you read this guide to get the most out of the CogTool system.

To help you get started quickly with CogTool, we have also provided a Tutorial. This document walks you through an example in detail, but it is not as comprehensive as the CogTool User Guide and it refers to the CogTool User Guide, so you need both.

The installation procedure differs depending on the platform being used for modeling. The software is currently available for the Mac OS X (10.3 or 10.4, including IntelMacs) and Windows (Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista) platforms. Follow the instructions below for the appropriate platform.

The ability to execute task models integrated with driving is not available in the current version. If your primary interest is models integrated with driving, you may still use the old version, which requires a Mac OS X system (but does not run on Intel Macs).

CogTool 1.0b18 is primarily a bug fix release.

Mac OS X Instructions (10.3 or 10.4, including Intel Macs)

Instructions for Mac OS X 10.5, Leopard, users: CogTool reveals a bug in some of the underlying software packages on Leopard. Until they are tracked down and fixed by the maintainers of that software, the following work-around should be used to avoid crashing. DO NOT click in the Project window when a task name is highlighted for editing. As long as you hit RETURN on the keyboard to exit editing the task name, everything works fine. If you click while a task name is highlighted, CogTool will crash. (The next public release of CogTool will include a fix for Leopard.)

Step 1: Download the CogTool Package [TGZ 15.4MB]

The archive at the above link contains a Mac OS X application. If your browser does not automatically expand the archive, double-click the archive to expand it. The expanded CogTool application will appear in the same folder as the archive. You may place CogTool anywhere on your Mac -- we recommend placing it in the Applications folder. You may delete the "CogToolMac-1_0b18.tgz" file and the "CogToolMac-1_0b18.tar" file, if any, once CogTool has been installed.

Step 2: Read the CogTool User Guide [PDF 5.8MB] and the Tutorial! [PDF 3.9MB]

We highly recommend that you download and readthe CogTool User Guideand the CogTool Tutorial to learn more about the application's capabilities.

If you want to do the exercise written about in the Tutorial, you will need to download the folder of tutorial images. We have also included a sample solution to the tutorial exercise.

Step 3: Double-click CogTool to begin.

Double-click CogTool like you would any other application. You may place its icon in the Dock for more convenient access, if you wish.

Windows Instructions (Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista required)

Step 1: Install the Java Runtime Environment (all versions of Windows)

You will need to have a Java Runtime Environment installed in order to use CogTool. If you don't already have a Java Runtime installed, you may download Sun's Java Runtime Environment v1.5.0 here. Follow the instructions provided with the Java Runtime Environment to install it.

Step 2: If running Windows 2000, install the GDI+ Library (NOT needed for Windows XP or Windows Vista)

CogTool will function on Windows 2000 but requires the GDI+ library to be installed. If you don't already have it installed, you may download the GDI+ library here. Follow the instructions provided with the GDI+ library to install it.

Step 3: Install the CogTool Installer [EXE 11.0MB]

Download the CogTool installer to your hard drive. Double-click it to run the installer and follow the instructions. Once it is finished, you may check the "Open CogTool" option to begin immediately.

Step 4: Read the CogTool User Guide [PDF 5.8MB] and the Tutorial! [PDF 3.9MB]

We highly recommend that you download and readthe CogTool User Guideand the CogTool Tutorial to learn more about the application's capabilities.

If you want to do the exercise written about in the Tutorial, you will need to download the folder of tutorial images. We have also included a sample solution to the tutorial exercise.

Step 5: Open CogTool from the Start Menu to begin.

If it is not already running, open CogTool from the Start Menu, like you would any other application.