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Patrik O'Brian Holt Heriot-Watt University After speech, writing is the most common form of human communication and represents the cornerstone of our ability to preserve and record information. Writing, by its very definition, requires artifacts in the form of tools to write with and a medium to write on. Through history these artifacts have ranged from sticks and clay tablets, feather and leather, crude pens and paper, sophisticated pens and paper, typewriters and paper; and electronic devices with or without paper. The development of writing tools has straightforward objectives, to make writing easier and more effective and assist in distributing written communication fast and efficiently....
In this book, Richard Harper uses the International Monetary Fund as a case study to show how thinking differently about IT systems can dramatically improve the manageability and accessibility of documents in organisations. The systems he considers uses search and retrieval applications, the use of hypertext documents and shared database applications like Lotus Notes.
Methods of collecting, classifying and interpreting data on human performance lie at the very root of ergonomics, and these methods are collectively know as "task analysis". They mirror both our current understanding of human performance and the design of systems which best serve the needs of their users. The concepts and techniques of task analysis have changed dramatically in recent years, and this collection serves to provide a summary of current research and advanced practice. It consists of eleven chapters written by distinguished practitioners in the field, ranging in scope from classical ergonomics to cognitive psychology, software engineering and systems design. This book is a production of a 1998 special issue of the journal Ergonomics , with a new introduction from the editors.
Originally published in 1989 this title provided a comprehensive and authoritative introduction to the burgeoning discipline of human-computer interaction for students, academics, and those from industry who wished to know more about the subject. Assuming very little knowledge, the book provides an overview of the diverse research areas that were at the time only gradually building into a coherent and well-structured field. It aims to explain the underlying causes of the cognitive, social and organizational problems typically encountered when computer systems are introduced. It is clear and concise, whilst avoiding the oversimplification of important issues and ideas.
Although numerous sources document aspects of user-centered design, there are few references that consider how a designer transforms the information gathered about users and their work into an effective user interface design. This book explains just how designers bridge that gap. A group of leading experts in GUI design describe their methods in the context of specific design projects, and while the projects, processes, and methods vary considerably, the common theme is building a bridge between user requirements and user interface design.
Making systems easier to use implies an ever increasing complexity in managing communication between users and applications. Indeed an increasing part of the application code is devoted to the user interface portion. In order to manage this complexity, it is important to have tools, notations, and methodologies which support the designer’s work during the refinement process from specification to implementation. Selected revised papers from the Eurographics workshop in Namur review the state of the art in this area, comparing the different existing approaches to this field in order to identify the principle requirements and the most suitable notations, and indicate the meaningful results which can be obtained from them.
In his In the blink of an eye, Walter Murch, the Oscar-awarded editor of The English Patient, Apocalypse Now, and many other outstanding movies, devises the Rule of Six -- six criteria for what makes a good cut. On top of his list is "to be true to the emotion of the moment," a quality more important than advancing the story or being rhythmically interesting. The cut has to deliver a meaningful, compelling, and emotion-rich "experience" to the audience. Because, "what they finally remember is not the editing, not the camerawork, not the performances, not even the story---it's how they felt." Technology for all the right reasons applies this insight to the design of interactive products and t...
Designing End-User Interfaces: State of the Art Report focuses on the field of human/computer interaction (HCI) that reviews the design of end-user interfaces. This compilation is divided into two parts. Part I examines specific aspects of the problem in HCI that range from basic definitions of the problem, evaluation of how to look at the problem domain, and fundamental work aimed at introducing human factors into all aspects of the design cycle. Part II consists of six main topics—definition of the problem, psychological and social factors, principles of interface design, computer intelligence and interface design, systems aspects of the human/computer interface, and conclusion. This book is recommended for computer designers aiming to understand the user, improve the software and its associated interface, and design hardware that is suitable for use.
A comprehensive review of the current state of research and use of task analysis for Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), this multi-authored and diligently edited handbook offers the best reference source available on this diverse subject whose foundations date to the turn of the last century. Each chapter begins with an abstract and is cross-referen