Showing papers on "User Friendly published in 1983"

Making Software User Friendly: An Assessment of Data Entry Performance

Abstract: This paper describes an investigation of the critical role of human factors in improving software usability and productivity. To Illustrate the types of improvements and their benefits, the human-computer interfaces of several software modules were subjected to human factors analyses, redesigned and recoded. A comparison using real operators showed that operators who used the modified programs completed transactions in 25 percent less time and with 25 percent fewer errors than operators who used the original programs.

Managing for user-friendly publications

Abstract: Userf r iendly publ icat ions must be accurate , useful, readable, and attractive. Etz (3) and Manz (4) describe the s tandard development process and the plans that provide the climate to achieve these goals. However, project management is the key that enables us to produce these userfriendly features. Management creates the plans, organizes the work, controls the production, and leads the project. This paper descr ibes special t echniques the publ icat ion manager or project leader can use to produce user-friendly publications.

The Kiwinet-Nicola Approach: Response Generation in a User-Friendly Interface

Abstract: a user cries, \"UNCLE!\" he is not necessarily giving up. Indeed, he may be calling on the user's nice control language environment, an interface that speaks his language. Many would-be computer users are discouraged by the complexity of computational concepts, and are put off even more by the meaningless responses from existing interfaces. Experienced users often prefer one system over another solely because of system message quality. Much has been done to clarify the reasons for user dissatisfaction with currently available interfaces, but attempts to solve the problems by modifying an existing command language for use as a standard have been unsuccessful .I In fact, the overall conclusion is that no existing OS interface satisfies user requirements. Some systems sacrifice flexibility or portability for consistency or security; some concentrate on efficiency at the cost of extensibility; and some aim at robustness, ignoring simplicity or user friendliness-but no one system does it all. In the Kiwinet-Nicola project, substantial effort was devoted to investigating these problems, and the project team concluded that system requirements need not be mutually exclusive in a properly designed interface. In this article, we describe the work in developing a suitable model that allows a user-friendly command interface, specifically discussing the philosophy adopted to solve these problems, and the development of a new and powerful technique for handling a variety of potential user responses. Examples from a prototype implementation are given to show the feasibility of a practical system. Research from the Kiwinet-Nicola project shows that what we need is not merely a standard command and response language; we also need a standard abstract environment in which to incorporate it. The abstract environment should be easy to implement in any existing OS environment. After the abstract environment is created, the associated command languages should be specified in a way that allows personal interfaces to be defined (perhaps by a systems programmer), depending on the intended application area and the user's expertise in computing. We call these personalized interfaces abstract machines, or AMs. An AM consists of a standard abstract environment, including a predefined set of object types, together with default values, and well-defined principles for composing simpler objects into more complex ones. Also included in an AM description are the abstract commands evaluated in this environment and the abstract responses tailored to the AM user. The command system considered here (Figure 1) consists of several AMs derived from …

Integrated Computer Aided Design, Documentation and Manufacturing System for PCB Electronics

Abstract: This paper describes an integrated computer aided design, documentation and manufacturing system, which assures data integrity from physical design to manufacturing with the aid of one phase data input and integrated parts data base. Unique features of the system are comprehensive documentation support for PCB electronics, one-phase user friendly data input, intensive input data checking, support for part and document numbering and PCB numbering, user definable document formats and languages and fully automatic generation of N.C. programs for insertion machines and input data for test equipment. Although the design support is highly automatic, the system is just computer aided allowing the user to control the work flow and by providing the possibility for the user to overdrive the data base information. The designer experience, intuition and imagination can be fully utilized.

User-friendly syntax directed input to a computer aided design system

Abstract: : This paper describes the development of a user-friendly, syntax directed input module of a computer aided design system. Color and dialogue are used to maximize user understanding and ease of interface, and minimize the opportunity for error. As a result, it is possible for the user to concentrate on the higher level aspects of the design, and allow the system to handle the routine details.

The virtual circuit function in the hospital

Abstract: The virtual circuit service is a common feature of local area communications networks (LACNs). This feature provides the user of a network with the functionality of direct connectivity to any host computer on the network. At the University of California, San Francisco Hospital a microcomputer based LACN using fiberoptic communications media has been in use for over two years. We have limited our use of the virtual circuit function for direct user terminal connectivity to situations involving only the most sophisticated users, such as programmers and analysts. For functions involving typical hospital users such as physicians and nurses, we chose a more "user friendly" approach by interposing host application software between the user and other host computers on the network.