Showing papers on "User interface published in 1983"

Using formal specifications in the design of a human-computer interface

Abstract: Formal specification techniques are valuable in software development because they permit a designer to describe the external behavior of a system precisely without specifying its internal implementation. Although formal specifications have been applied to many areas of software systems, they have not been widely used for specifying user interfaces. In the Military Message System project at the Naval Research Laboratory, the user interfaces as well as the other components of a family of message systems are specified formally, and prototypes are then implemented from the specifications. This paper illustrates the specification of the user interface module for the family of message systems. It then surveys specification techniques that can be applied to human-computer interfaces and divides the techniques into two categories: those based on state transition diagrams and those based on BNF. Examples of both types of specifications are given. Specification notations based on state transition diagrams are preferable to those based on BNF because the former capture the surface structure of the user interface more perspicuously. In either notation, a high-level abstraction for describing the semantics of the user interface is needed, and an application-specific one is used here.

Towards a comprehensive user interface management system

Abstract: A UIMS developed at the University of Toronto is presented. The system has two main components. The first is a set of tools to support the design and implementation of interactive graphics programs. The second is a run-time support package which handles interactions between the system and the user (things such as hit detection, event detection, screen updates, and procedure invocation), and provides facilities for logging user interactions for later protocol analysis.The design/implementation tool is a preprocessor, called MENULAY, which permits the applications programmer to use interactive graphics techniques to design graphics menus and their functionality. The output of this preprocessor is high-level code which can be compiled with application-specific routines. User interactions with the resulting executable module are then handled by the run-time support package. The presentation works through an example from design to execution in a step-by-step manner.

SYNGRAPH: A graphical user interface generator

Abstract: The SYNGRAPH system automatically generates graphical user interfaces. It generates interactive Pascal programs from a description of the input language's grammar. From the grammar it deduces information about how to manage both physical and simulated devices, and how prompting and echoing are performed. Input errors are detected, and can be corrected using automatically provided rubout and cancel features. The natural integration of application specific semantics into the system is also shown including appropriate semantic recovery from input errors.

Human factors testing in the design of Xerox's 8010 “Star” office workstation

Abstract: Integral to the design process of the Xerox 8010 “Star” workstation was constant concern for the user interface. The design was driven by principles of human cognition. Prototyping of ideas, paper-and-pencil analyses, and human-factors experiments with potential users all aided in making design decisions. Three of the human-factors experiments are described in this paper: A selection schemes test determined the number of buttons on the mouse pointing device and the meanings of these buttons for doing text selection. An icon test showed us the significant parameters in the shapes of objects on the display screen. A graphics test evaluated the user interface for making line drawings, and resulted in a redesign of that interface.

Active Databases as a Paradigm for Enhanced Computing Environments

Abstract: : Active databases emphasize the notion that a body of information is dynamic and should respond intelligently and in non-trivial ways to the user. It provides a paradigm for research and development which combines aspects of both databases and artificial intelligence technologies. A prototype system has shown the viability of this approach. The author focuses on the following database issues : (1) Descriptions are used as semantic templates for associatively accessing and manipulating data objects; (2) Dynamic views minimize the typical distinctions between queries and retrievals, and between views and real data, and thereby increase the perceived immediacy of the user interface; and (3) Constraint Equations are developed as a declarative representation for semantic constraints. The uniform approach they provide for expressing database integrity, consistency, and more general semantics derives its power from the rule-based framework of recent A.I. expert systems. The efficiency of constraint maintenance also is considered. Lastly, (4) The notion of binding time of data associations and reference is discussed relative to both the choice of data model and to the method of data access. (Author)

Microprocessor interface device

Abstract: A user interface device for interfacing with a microprocessor driving a video display. The device is particularly adapted for the use of small children in interfacing with a microprocessor operating to drive a video game or a personal computer. The device comprises a hand puppet adapted to be worn on the user's hand. Pressure-sensitive switches, a light pen, a motion detector, and a speaker are included within the puppet's head and body to allow input by the user through the devices within the puppet and output by the microprocessor at the puppet over the speaker.

Spelling correction in user interfaces

Abstract: The feasibility of providing a spelling corrector as a part of interactive user interfaces is demonstrated. The issues involved in using spelling correction in a user interface are examined, and a simple correction algorithm is described. The results of an experiment in which the corrector is incorporated into a heavily used interactive program are described. More than one quarter of the errors made by users during the experiment were corrected using the simple mechanisms presented here. From this we have concluded that there are considerable benefits and few obstacles to providing a spelling corrector in almost any interactive user interface.

Design practice and interface usability: Evidence from interviews with designers

Abstract: Research into human-computer interaction (HCI) is mainly conducted by engineering psychologists, cognitive psychologists and computer scientists. The principal consumers of applied HCI research, on the other hand, are human factors practitioners and system designers and developers. The HCI researcher who believes his or her findings to be of practical relevance has therefore to consider the interface between researcher and practitioner as well as that between system and user: the products of HCI research must not only be relevant but also “user-friendly” to the practitioner. This problem is not merely one of communication between different professional communities, as the optimal route for the translation of research findings into terms that will be of practical use in the design process is itself a matter of considerable uncertainty and debate. Thus there are many instances in the research literature where apparently contradictory recommendations can all too easily be drawn from findings based on sound but, by its very nature, limited experimentation (e.g., compare the findings of Landauer et al., in press, Ledgard et al., 1980, and Scapin, 1981, on naming text-editing operations).One of the prerequisites for tackling both the communication problem and the translation problem is an understanding of relevant aspects of decision-making in design which influence the usability of the end-user interface. This is so for three reasons. First, an appreciation of the nature of design practice will at least help identify those areas where research input might have the greatest impact and allow researchers to direct their efforts towards them. Second, it may identify possible modifications to existing design practice which would allow research input to be used more effectively. Finally, it would be somewhat surprising if current design practice were not to furnish researchers with any insights into the underlying processes of users. The experience and skills of the practitioner should be a valuable source of information for the HCI researcher. For these reasons, we have been documenting some of the relationships between design practice and the usability of systems for use by non-experts. While there is considerable literature on programming behaviour (e.g. Mayer, 1981), reports of design behaviour are rare, other than occasional descriptions by practitioners of the interface design of their own products (e.g., Botterill, 1982; Smith et al., 1982). This paper focusses on the influence of the individual designer's decision-making. Evidence is taken from interviews with experienced system designers concerning design issues influencing the nature of the user interface which had arisen with systems they had recently worked on. For two of the systems usability investigations had been performed (see Lewis & Mack, 1982 and Hammond et al., 1983).

Human factors challenges in creating a principal support office system—the speech filing system approach

Abstract: This paper identifies the key behavioral challenges in designing a principal-support office system and our approaches to them. These challenges included designing a system which office principals would find useful and would directly use themselves. Ultimately, the system, called the Speech Filing System (SFS), became primarily a voice store and forward message system with which users compose, edit, send, and receive audio messages, using telephones as terminals. Our approaches included behavioral analyses of principals' needs and irritations, controlled laboratory experiments, several years of training, observing, and interviewing hundreds of actual SFS users, several years of demonstrating SFS to thousands of potential users and receiving feedback, empirical studies of alternative methods of training and documentation, continual major modifications of the user interface, simulations of alternative user interfaces, and actual SFS usage analyses. The results indicate that SFS is now relatively easy to learn, solves real business problems, and leads to user satisfaction.

PIGAS: an interactive statistical database management system

Abstract: PIGAS is an interactive statistical database management system whose main assets include logical data checking, data entry for meaningful variables only, three different types of missing value codes, non-rectangular data structure and user interfaces with BMDP, GLIM or specifically written FORTRAN programs.The structure of the PIGAS language is the same as one passes from one phase of a research study to another, whether it be data updating, checking or analysis, thus requiring only a minimum amount of initiation in its use. It is particularly appealing since data verification is completely specified through variable names as they appear on the questionnaire. Instructions given in how to fill in a questionnaire can thus be directly incorporated in the data checking process, thus ensuring a good quality data base.

A Programmer's View of the Intel 432 System

Abstract: The architecture study …begins in Chapter 4 where a number of topics related to object structures and object addressing are treated. Chapter 5 introduces the hardware and system software support for interprocess communication. Here the i432 Port Objects and port operations (SEND, RECEIVE, etc.) are introduced and illustrated. Chapter 6 revisits the architectural and Ada-language support for object structure, emphasizing type management and access control. Many features of the supporting operating system, known as iMAX, especially several of its important “user-interfaces,” are introduced beginning with Chapter 5. The importance of input/output peripheral subsystems and their relationship with the central object-based architecture of the i432 system is recognized by treating this topic separately in Chapter 7. This chapter introduces the reader to the architecture of the i432 Interface Processor and its use as a key component in the Peripheral Subsystem Interface for the Intel 432 System. A message-based model for input/output using this interface is also introduced, along with a discussion of abstractions for I/O device interfaces, both asynchronous and synchronous. The topics of process management, memory management, and object filing, which ma y be of primary interest to system developers and architects, are treated in Chapters 8, 9, and 10. Each chapter describes the iMAX implementations of these services and the user interfaces to these facilities. In the case of process management an iMAX provided “template” is described whose use enab les system programmers to implement their own process managers as needed. Chapter 9 describes the extensive memory management facilities of iMAX and the supporting hardware. These include facilities to support the stack and heap memory resources required, for example, by executing Ada programs. In addition, memory management supports an on-the-fly garbage collector, dynamic memory compaction, and, where configured, a virtual memory management subystem. Chapter 10, as already noted, provides a complete introduction to object filing as it is currently planned. —From the Author's Summary

Playback: A method for evaluating the usability of software and its documentation

Abstract: A methodology is described for obtaining objective measures of product usability. The Playback program developed at the IBM Human Factors Center in San Jose collects performance data of the user interface without impact upon the user or the system being evaluated. While a user is working with the system, keyboard activity is timed and recorded by a second computer. This log of stored activity is later played back through the host system for analysis. An observer watching television monitors enters time-stamped codes and comments concerning the users employment of system publications. The advantages of this approach are: (1) data-collection programs are external to the product being evaluated, (2) no modifications of the Playback program are required for testing different software applications, (3) the data-collection process does not intrude on the user's thoughts or activities, (4) problem determination is performed at an accelerated rate during playback analysis, and (5) all data collection is performed on line.

A generalized transition network representation for interactive systems

Abstract: A general method for describing the behavior of an interactive system is presented which is based on transition networks generalized enough to describe even very complex systems easily, as shown by an example description of a word processor. The key feature is the ability to easily describe hierarchies of modes or states of the system. The representation system is especially valuable as a design tool when used in a simulation of a proposed user interface.In order to characterize the interaction between a user and a system, an explicit and formal representation of the behavior of the system itself is needed. To be of value in the design of user interfaces, the representation should be independent of the actual implementation of the system, but also reflect the structural properties of the system's behavior, such as its hierarchical form, the possible modes, and the consistent patterns of interaction. At the same time, the representation must be easy to define and understand. This paper presents a representation notation with these properties.

Introducing ask, a simple knowledgeable system

Abstract: ASK, A S imple K nowledgeable System, is a total system for the structuring, manipulation and communication of information. It is a simple system in the sense that its development concentrated on clean engineering solutions to what could be done now with good response times. The user interface is a limited dialect of English. In contrast to expert systems, in which experts build the knowledge base and users make use of this expert knowledge, ASK is aimed at the user who wishes to create, test, modify, extend and make use of his own knowledge base. It is a system for a research team, a management or military staff, or a business office.This paper is designed to give you a feel for the general performance of the ASK System and overview of its operational capabilities. To this end, the movie you see will continue throughout the talk. Indeed, the talk itself is a commentary on this background movie. The movie is bona fide and in real time, it is of the ASK System in action. (Many of the illustrations from the movie are reproduced in the written paper.)

Design Guidelines for the User Interface to Computer-Based Information Systems

Abstract: : The user-system interface (USI) to computer-based information systems can require a sizable investment in software design. In current practice there is still no coherent methodology for design of USI software, but efforts to establish design guidelines are continuing. This report revises and enlarges previous compilations of guidelines, and proposes a total of 580 guidelines for design of USI software in six functional areas: data entry, data display, sequence control, user guidance, data transmission, and data protection.

A 4.2bsd Interprocess Communication Primer

Abstract: This report describes the internal structure of the networking facilities developed for the 4.2BSD version of the UNIX operating system for the VAX. These facilities are based on several central abstractions which structure the external (user) view of network communication as well as the internal (system) implementation. The report documents the internal structure of the networking system. The "4.2BSD System Manual" provides a description of the user interface to the networking facilities.

The influence of an object-oriented language on the programming environment

Abstract: There exists a buzzword in the user interface research community that symbolizes how the user should feel about a computer-based environment in which productive work can be carried out. The buzzword is “friendly.” It is a strange choice of word in that it seems to imply the existence of personal support for the user by a friend, who happens not to be made of flesh and blood, but of metal and electricity. Friends help us. Friends help us learn, help us develop positive situations, helps us understand and get out of negative situations. We like to be around them. The problem of creating a “friendly” programming environment centers on the kind of help the system provides, and the ease with which we can cause the effects we wish to cause. In order to support program development, help takes the form of methods for finding information, methods for accessing existing functionality, methods for describing new programs, and methods for discovering and fixing any faults in those programs. Ideas about the forms of help needed in a system define some of the functionality that ought to exist. In particular, we want to be able to help the user find out what went right, find out what went wrong, find out what can be done next, and find out something about any system component.

Executable specifications for a human-computer interface

Abstract: It is useful to be able to specify a proposed human-computer interface formally before building it, particularly if a mockup suitable for testing can be obtained directly from the specification. A specification technique for user interfaces, based on state transition diagrams, is introduced and then demonstrated for a secure message system application. An interpreter that executes the resulting specification is then described. Some problems that arise in specifying a user interface are addressed by particular features of the technique: To reduce the complexity of the developer's task, a user interface is divided into the semantic, syntactic, and lexical levels, and a separate executable specification is provided for each. A process of stepwise refinement of the syntactic specification, leading from an informal specification to an executable one is also presented. Since the state diagram notation is based on a non-deterministic model, constraints necessary to realize the system with a deterministic interpreter are given.

On the implications of user variability in open systems An overview of the little we know and of the lot we have to find out

Abstract: As the use of computers increases, the cost of educating computer users rises. Therefore the need for extensive education of users should be avoided as much as possible. Instead computer systems should be adapted to the requirements and characteristics of computer users. Hereby the need to identify user characteristics arises. The less computer educated the users, the more their requirements of the systems will differ. Where user characteristics are difficult to change, it will be worthwhile to attend to user differences in the design of systems. The implications of user differences may vary depending upon the type of task to be performed. The present paper presents an analysis of different user characteristics and their possible interactions with different task requirements. Hereby some recommendations regarding the need to educate users or adapt systems to the user were derived.

Managing graphical resources

Abstract: The development of interactive graphics software has separated into two apparently incompatible streams. The mainstream, exemplified by GKS and the Core, and a "RasterOp" stream, exemplified by Smalltalk and the Carnegie-Mellon CANVAS package. In the mainstream, the important concepts are viewing, segments, output primitives, and virtual input devices. In the RasterOp stream, the important concepts are windows, the refresh hierarchy, and pointing for input.Although it is easy in the mainstream to provide libraries of output-only routines for general use, it is difficult to do the same for input. Although it is possible to write device-independent interactive applications using mainstream techniques, the quality of the user interface may vary wildly as they are ported. These problems are caused by the mainstream's lack of the mechanisms needed to control the allocation of real graphical resources within the application:1. No hierarchy of pictures on the view surface. All parts of the application have control over all parts of the view surface.2. No connection between viewing and segmentation. The viewing parameters used to create a segment are not attributes of the segment.3. All parts of the application have access to all the input devices. It is up to each part to decide if an input is relevant, or if not, what to do with it.

Visual abstraction in an interactive programming environment

Abstract: We are designing a software development system that implements “what you see is what you get” for programming. The system, called OMEGA, allows software to be displayed, processed, and modified, using pictorial representations to convey the structure and levels of abstraction of the program. OMEGA takes advantage of the interactive user interface to provide syntax-free input, user selectable display format, and incremental semantic analysis. By distinguishing input specification from output display, and exploiting interaction in semantic analysis, we are able to unify the different abstraction mechanisms present in traditional programming environments.

Software specification using graph grammars

Abstract: The following paper demonstrates that programmed sequential graph grammars can be used in a systematic proceeding to specify the changes of high level intermediate data structures arising in a programming support environment, in which all tools work in an incremental and syntax-driven mode. In this paper we lay stress upon the way to get the specification rather than on the result of this process. Therefore, we give here some approach to “specification engineering” using graph grammars. This approach is influenced by the syntactical definition of the underlying language for Programming in the Small, the module concept etc. to be supported on one side but also by the idea of the user interface.

DOCUMENTS: an interactive online solution to four documentation problems

Abstract: An adequate delivery system for user documentation addresses the problems of easy access, versatile publication, convenient administration, and good document quality. At the National Magnetic Fusion Energy Computer Center the DOCUMENT program helps solve these problems by providing a high level of service through strategies that can readily be exported to other contexts. Dividing machine-readable documents into keyword windows permits fully online, subject-oriented access to all passages. An adaptive, three-tier user interface extends flexible viewing control to novices and experts alike. DOCUMENT also supports online subject, title, and date catalogs, and provides on-demand output of hardcopy and microfiche. Several other document delivery systems are compared with DOCUMENT, and all have more rigid human interfaces, more structural display units for text, or more cumbersome output options.

Enhancing the usability of an Office Information System through direct manipulation

Abstract: In Office Information Systems, the primary focus has been to integrate facilities for the communication and management of information. However, the human factors aspects of the design of office systems are equally important considerations if such office systems are to gain widespread acceptance and use. The application of design techniques from Human Factors can help enhance the usability of an office system. In this paper, we describe the user interface of an office system developed by adapting such design techniques.

Analytic tools for human factors of software

Abstract: Behavioral experiments are currently the primary method of assessing the human factors of end user systems. Such experiments, however, are time consuming and sometimes come too late in the development cycle to influence ease of use. Analytic tools, which involve an abstract representation of a user interface and some manipulation of that representation to predict ease of use, are potentially faster. They can also be more intellectually satisfying. This paper gives examples of some analytic tools currently being developed and discusses the motivation and state of the art of such tools.

End user behavior on an online information retrieval system: a computer monitoring study

Abstract: We report on a computer monitoring study of users of the Ohio State University Libraries' online catalog, an established and heavily used information retrieval system. To our knowledge, this is the first monitoring study of an online catalog performed without system-defined user sessions. Online catalogs represent a class of retrieval systems which are designed for end users, require little or no formal training, and replace an existing manual system. The study characterizes user behavior in terms of types of searches done, patterns of use, time spent on searching, errors, and system problems. Preliminary results suggest that users have much shorter sessions than on other types of retrieval systems. Patterns of use vary between campus libraries, academic quarters, and between short and long sessions. Results of the study will be applied to improving the user interface and other system features.

Presentation and Form in User Interface Architecture.

Abstract: : It is suggested that the formal organization of function in a user interface architecture can be treated as a general-level issue, possibly amenable to codification as design guidelines, but that the presentation of function via interface elements like icons and menus must be treated on a case by case basis. Additional keywords: Man computer interface. (Author)

User interfaces to information systems: choices vs. commands

Abstract: Do users prefer selection from a menu or specification of keywords to retrieve documents? We tried two experiments, one using an on-line library catalog and the other an on-line news wire. In the first, library users could either issue keyword commands to see book catalog entries, or choose categories from a menu following the Dewey Decimal classification of the books. In the second, news wire users could read Associated Press news stories either by posting a keyword profile against which all stories were matched, or by selecting them from a menu of current news items. For the library users, keyword searches were clearly preferred, by votes of 3 and 4 to 1; for the news stories, retrieval by keyword search is 50% less common than menu choice.We suggest that the difference is based on the degree of user foreknowledge of the data base and its organization. Menu-type interfaces tell the user what is available. If the user already knows, as in the library where a majority of the users have a particular book in mind, then the menu is merely time-consuming. But when the user does not know what is available (almost the definition of "news" is that it is new, and unpredictable), the menu is valuable because it displays the choice.

A programming language framework for designing user interfaces

Abstract: Programming Language researchers increasingly recognize that a high proportion of application development costs involve the interface with users of the application, including various dialogues, input formats, error checking, help and explanation messages, and the like. They also increasingly recognize that maintenance costs tend to overshadow development costs. These two factors even multiply their adverse effects: as the user needs evolve, it is the interface with a system which generally requires the most maintenance. The user relationship is even said to account for about 60 percent of the maintenance problem [Lientz and Swanson 81]. Surprisingly, few programming language constructs are designed to address the area of user interface design. On the contrary, traditional programming language constructs are strongly oriented towards improving programmers' effectiveness in developing the algorithmic and data manipulation aspects of an application. A programmer is basically left to reinvent each time the required procedures to deal with user commands and inputs.