Showing papers on "User interface published in 1990"

Heuristic evaluation of user interfaces

Abstract: Heuristic evaluation is an informal method of usability analysis where a number of evaluators are presented with an interface design and asked to comment on it. Four experiments showed that individual evaluators were mostly quite bad at doing such heuristic evaluations and that they only found between 20 and 51% of the usability problems in the interfaces they evaluated. On the other hand, we could aggregate the evaluations from several evaluators to a single evaluation and such aggregates do rather well, even when they consist of only three to five people.

Method and system for remote delivery of retail banking services

Abstract: A practical system and method for the remote distribution of financial services (e.g., home banking and bill-paying) involves distributing portable terminals to a user base. The terminals include a multi-line display, keys “pointing to” lines on the display, and additional keys. Contact is established between the terminals and a central computer operated by a service provider, preferably over a dial-up telephone line and a packet data network. Information exchange between the central computer and the terminal solicits information from the terminal user related to requested financial services (e.g., for billpaying, the user provides payee selection and amount and his bank account PIN number). The central computer then transmits a message over a conventional ATM network debiting the user's bank account in real time, and may pay the specified payees the specified amount electronically or in other ways as appropriate. Payments and transfers may be scheduled in advance or on a periodic basis. Because the central computer interacts with the user's bank as a standard POS or ATM network node, no significant software changes are required at the banks' computers. The terminal interface is extremely user-friendly and incorporates some features of standard ATM user interfaces so as to reduce new user anxiety.

Through the Interface: A Human Activity Approach To User Interface Design

Abstract: This dissertation discusses human-computer interaction, and the role of user interfaces in use and design from the point-of-view of human activity theory. Human-computer interaction conducted in purposeful human work is in focus. The main idea is that a computer application, from the user's perspective, is not something that the user operates on but something that the user operates through on other objects or subjects. The contents of the report is the following: Danish Summary; Introduction; Human Activity and Human-Computer Interaction; User Interface Design -- the Empirical Cases; User Interfaces; Methods for User Interface Design; User Interface Design -- Advice to the Designer.

Multi-dimensional user interface

Abstract: The present invention provides apparatus and methods for a multi-dimensional user interface for use in audio visual production. A display system including a central processing unit (CPU) is coupled through appropriate input/output (I/O) circuitry to input devices, such as a keyboard, digital pad and/or track ball as well as a display device. The CPU is further coupled to a hard disk drive for the storage of programs and data, and is also coupled to a network through which the CPU may communicate with a variety of system resource devices such as editors, music synthesizers, graphics generators, scheduling resources, audio enhancement resources, etc. A user viewing the interface on the display may utilize one of the input devices, such as by way of example, the keyboard, to select, incorporate or otherwise integrate the various system resources to develop a unified multi-media production. The user interface of the present invention includes a control frame which in practice substantially fills all of the display screen of the display and is consistent for all user applications. The control frame is comprised of control panels which surround a variety of subwindows and acts as a consistent control area for all users of the interface. Once defined, elements may be selectively placed on an event horizon bar in the control frame. The placement of an element on the event horizon results in the display of timing data for the element, relative to other elements on the event horizon.

The art of navigating through hypertext

Abstract: Hypertext (3), (19), (25) is becoming a popular approach to many computer applications, especially those dealing with the on-line presentation of large amounts of loosely structured information such as on-line documentation or computer-aided learning. There are still many issues concerning hypertext that remain to be resolved, however, many of which are in the user interface area. One of the major usability problems with hypertext is the user's risk of disorientation while navigating the information space. For example, our studies [23] showed that 56 percent of the readers of a document written in one of the most popular commercial hypertext systems agreed fully or partly with the statement I was often confused about ‘where I was. ’ To investigate a number of user interface options in hypertext systems we designed a prototype system in the form of a hypertext report on events at the 1987 hypertext workshop. This system was implemented on an Apple Macintosh with Hypercard as the programming system. (To get a feel for our hypertext system, the reader is encouraged to review Figures 1 to 10 which contain screen dumps of a session with the system and thus constitute a kind of printed demonstration or guided tour.) Hypertext is a very dynamic form of human-computer interaction and can only be fully appreciated in an interactive environment. However, even these figures give a much better understanding of the system than a traditional textual description could give.

Garnet: comprehensive support for graphical, highly interactive user interfaces

Abstract: The Garnet research project, which is creating a set of tools to aid the design and implementation of highly interactive, graphical, direct-manipulation user interfaces, is discussed. Garnet also helps designers rapidly develop prototypes for different interfaces and explore various user-interface metaphors during early product design. It emphasizes easy specification of object behavior, often by demonstration and without programming. Garnet contains a number of different components grouped into two layers. The Garnet Toolkit (the lower layer) supplies the object-oriented graphics system and constraints, a set of techniques for specifying the objects' interactive behavior in response to the input devices, and a collection of interaction techniques. On top of the Garnet Toolkit layer are a number of tools to make creating user interfaces easier. The components of both layers are described. >

Rapid controlled movement through a virtual 3D workspace

Abstract: Computer graphics hardware supporting real-time interactive 3D animation has the potential to support effective user interfaces by enabling virtual 3D workspaces. However, this potential requires development of viewpoint movement techniques that support rapid and controlled movement through workspaces. Rapid movement through large distances avoids wasted work time; controlled movement near target objects allows the user to examine and interact with objects in the workspace. Current techniques for viewpoint movement typically use high velocities to cover distances rapidly, but high velocities are hard to control near objects. This paper describes a new technique for targeted viewpoint movement that solves this problem. The key idea is to have the user indicate a point of interest (target) on a 3D object and use the distance to this target to move the viewpoint logarithmically, by moving the same relative percentage of distance to the target on every animation cycle. the result is rapid motion over distances that slows as the viewpoint approaches the target object. The technique can be used with 2D and multidimensional input devices. We also extend the technique to move objects in the workspace.

Where should the person stop and the information search interface start

Abstract: Many users of online and other automated information systems want to take advantage of the speed and power of automated retrieval, while still controlling and directing the steps of the search themselves. They do not want the system to take over and carry out the search entirely for them. Yet the objective of much of current theory and experimentation in information retrieval systems and interfaces is to design systems in which the user has either no or only reactive involvement with the search process. It is argued here that the advanced information retrieval research community is missing an opportunity to design systems that are in better harmony with the actual preferences of many users—sophisticated systems that provide an optimal combination of searcher control and system retrieval power. The user may be provided effective means of directing the search if capabilities specific to the information retrieval process, that is, strategic behaviors normally associated with information searching, are incorporated into the interface. There are many questions concerning (1) the degree of user vs. system involvement in the search, and (2) the size, or chunking, of activities; that is, how much and what type of activity the user should be able to direct the system to do at once. These two dimensions are analyzed and a number of configurations of system capability that combine user and system control are presented and discussed. In the process, the concept of the information search stratagem is introduced, and particular attention is paid to the provision of strategic, as opposed to purely procedural capabilities for the searcher. Finally, certain types of user-system relationship are selected as deserving particular attention in future information retrieval system design, and arguments are made to support the recommendations.

The computer reaches out: the historical continuity of interface design

Abstract: This paper examines the evolution of the focus of user interface research and development from the first production of commercial computer systems in the 1950s through the present. The term “user interface” was not needed in the beginning, when most users were engineers and programmers; it may again become inappropriate when more applications are written for groups than for individuals. But there is a continuity to the outward movement of the computer's interface to its external environment, from hardware to software to increasingly higher-level cognitive capabilities and finally to social processes. As the focus shifts, the approaches to design and the skills required of practitioners changes. In this paper five foci or levels of development are identified. Most development today is positioned in the third level and considerable research is directed at the fourth. Some attention is now being given to the fifth: repositioning the interface in the work group or organization itself. Work at the different levels is not entirely independent, so establishing a comprehensive framework may enable us to position existing research and development efforts and plan future work more effectively.

The growth of cognitive modeling in human-computer interaction since GOMS

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to review where we stand with regard to modeling the kind of cognition involved in human-computer interaction. Card, Moran, and Newell's pioneering work on cognitive engineering models and explicit analyses of the knowledge people need to perform a procedure was a significant advance from the kind of modeling cognitive psychology offered at the time. Since then, coordinated bodies of research have both confirmed the basic set of parameters and advanced the number of parameters that account for the time of certain component activities. Formal modeling in grammars and production systems has provided an account for error production in some cases, as well as a basis for calculating how long a system will take to learn and how much savings there is from previous learning. Recently, we were given a new tool for modeling nonsequential component processes, adapting the "critical path analysis" from engineering to the specification of interacting processes and their consequent durations. Though these advances have helped, there are still significant gaps in our understanding of the whole process of interacting with computers. The cumulative nature of this empirical body and its associated modeling framework has further highlighted important issues central to research in cognitive psychology: how people move smoothly between skilled performance and problem solving, how people learn, how to design for consistent user interfaces, how people produce and manage errors, how we interpret visual displays for meaning, and what processes run concurrently and which depend on the completion of prior processes. In the bigger picture, cognitive modeling is a method that is useful in both initial design (it can narrow the design space and provide early analyses of design alternatives), evaluation, and training. But it does not extend to broader aspects of the context in which people use computers, partly because there are significant gaps in contemporary cognitive theory to inform the modeling and partly because it is the wrong form of model for certain kinds of more global questions in human-computer interaction. Notably, it fails to capture the user's fatigue, individual differences, or mental workload. And it is not the type of model that will aid the designer in designating the set of functions the software ought to contain, to assess the user's judgment of the acceptability of the software, or the change that could be expected in work life and the organization in which this work and person fits. Clearly, these kinds of considerations require modeling and tools of a different granularity and form.

FLEX: a tolerant and cooperative user interface to databases

Abstract: FLEX a user interface to relational databases, can be used satisfactorily by users with different levels of expertise. FLEX is based on a formal query language, but is tolerant of incorrect input. It never rejects queries; instead, it adapts flexibility and transparently to their level of correctness and well-formedness, providing interpretations of corresponding accuracy and specificity. The most prominent design feature of FLEX is the smooth concatenation of several independent mechanisms, each capable of handling input of decreasing level of correctness and well-formedness. Each input is cascaded through this series of mechanisms until an interpretation is found. FLEX is also cooperative. It never delivers empty answers without explanation or assistance. By following up each failed query with a set of more general queries, FLEX determines whether an empty answer is genuine, in which case it suggests related queries that have nonempty answers, or whether it reflects erroneous presuppositions on the part of the user, in which case it then explains them. >

Computer user interface with window title bar mini-icons

Abstract: Disclosed is a computer system user interface that includes a window frame with a window title bar icon. The title bar icon replaces the conventional window title bar and it increases the usable client area of the window without decreasing the number of functions available to the user.

The X Window System

Abstract: An overview of the X Window System is presented, focusing on the system substrate and the low-level facilities provided to build applications and to manage the desktop. The system provides high-performance, high-level, device-independent graphics. A hierarchy of resizable, overlapping windows allows a wide variety of application and user interfaces to be built easily. Network-transparent access to the display provides an important degree of functional separation, without significantly affecting performance, which is crucial to building applications for a distributed environment. To a reasonable extent, desktop management can be custom-tailored to individual environments, without modifying the base system and typically without affecting applications.

Advanced user interface

Abstract: An advanced user interface for use with a computer system operating on an integrated operating environment. The integrated operating environment allows a plurality of application programs to be running simultaneously, one of which is designated the active application program to which all input data is directed. The advanced user interface allows a user to select among user-friendly input devices to operate any application program according to his individual preferences without change to the application program code. The advanced user interface includes alternate input modules which translate the input signals transmitted from the various input devices into input messages useable by the rest of the interface. The advanced user interface also includes interface profiles which contain mappings of the input messages against corresponding commands useable by the application programs, the integrated operating environment or other modules of the advanced user interface itself. An environment link module refers to the interface profiles and matches the input message against the corresponding command for the application program active at the time the input signal was transmitted and send the corresponding command to that application program.

Portable and dynamic distributed applications architecture

Abstract: S system and method is disclosed for enabling a plurality of computers and associated computer resources, some or all of which may be of heterogeneous configuration, to cooperatively process a variety of applications such that the execution is transparent to the user regardless of where the application is actually executing. This distributed applications architecture performs an information distribution service between multiple transaction processing systems by working with a transaction processor via communication channels to other hosts within the network and a dialog manager (26) which uses a transaction processor interface (78) to communicate with the transaction processor. Additionally, the architecture employs a map service (36,40) to provide an editor to allow application programmers to create the maps (40) for the application panels, a compiler to generate the maps into linkable form, and a linkable interpreter which translates the linkable form into the screen presentation format for that platform. Furthermore, to distribute an application, the source code for the procedures (32), views (38) and panels are moved as a block to the new system. This is possible because once the application source code is complete, all of the application logic, user interface control tables, view definitions, and other application-specific tables for one transaction definition are packaged by the present invention in a single load module on the system where the application will reside. The load module is then compiled using the target system's compiler, link editor, and bind process. Thus, all environment-dependent variations of import/export, including network protocol, operating systems, processor types, etc., are automatically integrated with the application at load module bind time. Therefore, no source code changes are necessary.

Unidraw: a framework for building domain-specific graphical editors

Abstract: Unidraw is a framework for creating graphical editors in domains such as technical and artistic drawing, music composition, and circuit design. The Unidraw architecture simplifies the construction of these editors by proving programming abstractions that are common across domains. Unidraw defines four basic abstractions: components define operations on components, and external representations define the mapping between components and the file format generated by the editor. Unidraw also supports multiple views, graphical connectivity, and dataflow between components. This paper describes the Unidraw design, implementation issues, and three experimental domain specific editors we have developed with Unidraw: a drawing editor, a user interface builder, and a schematic capture system. Our results indicate a substantial reduction in implementation time and effort compared with existing tools.

Intelligent Tutoring Systems: At the Crossroads of Artificial Intelligence and Education

Abstract: The evolution from Computer-Aided Instruction (CAI) to Intelligent Computer-Aided Instruction (ICAI) was the first step by which education and artificial intelligence communities began to look at each other's work. This text looks at the evolution toward Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITS) which can be thought of as a step beyond ICAI, leading to more classes of problems and approaches. ITS involves artificial intelligence concepts approaches, dynamic student modelling, human cognition, intelligent user interfaces, intelligent help systems and the use of strategies.

Adaptive user interfaces

Abstract: Systems, methods, and computer-readable storage media for creating and displaying adaptive user interfaces are disclosed. An example method includes receiving a user interface by an application development environment, the application development environment providing the ability to allow authoring of a user interface that adapts to a screen size with any first abstracted size class value and any second abstracted size class value. The method then includes creating an application including the user interface wherein the application is configured to: determine a screen size of a device, the screen size including a first abstracted size class value and a second abstracted size class value; adapt the user interface according to the screen size including the first abstracted size class value and the second abstracted size class value; and display the adapted user interface on the device.

Snap-dragging in three dimensions.

Abstract: A large portion of the user interface in interactive solid modeling systems is devoted to the problem of placing and orienting objects in three dimensions. In particular, many operations must be provided for selecting control points, curves and surfaces, and for translating, rotating and scaling scene components into precise relationships with other scene components. By factoring these operations carefully, it is possible to provide the desired functionality so as to reduce both the size of the user interface and the time that it takes to use it. With snap-dragging, the user takes advantage of three main elements that work together: a general-purpose gravity function, alignment objects that can be created many at a time, and smooth-motion affine transformations. Scene composition is achieved in a single perspective view using a mouse and keyboard. With 19 mouse commands, 15 keyboard commands, 5 menus of numbers, and 1 single-level menu of numerical transformations, this user interface has fewer commands and requires fewer keystrokes than the skitters and jacks technique reported earlier.

A dataflow toolkit for visualization

Abstract: A toolkit known as apE is presented. Originally, this was an acronym for animation production environment, but apE has become known as a software designed for more than just animation. Previous work is briefly reviewed, and the processing of designing the system is discussed. Common elements in building any graphics system as well as elements particular to building a large system are examined. The design and construction of apE 1.1 and apE 2.0 are described. The policy governing the distribution of apE and the advantages of academic software development are discussed. >

Snap-dragging in three dimensions

Abstract: A large portion of the user interface in interactive solid modeling systems is devoted to the problem of placing and orienting objects in three dimensions. In particular, many operations must be provided for selecting control points, curves and surfaces, and for translating, rotating and scaling scene components into precise relationships with other scene components. By factoring these operations carefully, it is possible to provide the desired functionality so as to reduce both the size of the user interface and the time that it takes to use it. With snap-dragging, the user takes advantage of three main elements that work together: a general-purpose gravity function, alignment objects that can be created many at a time, and smooth-motion affine transformations. Scene composition is achieved in a single perspective view using a mouse and keyboard. With 19 mouse commands, 15 keyboard commands, 5 menus of numbers, and 1 single-level menu of numerical transformations, this user interface has fewer commands and requires fewer keystrokes than the skitters and jacks technique reported earlier.

Formal methods in human-computer interaction

Abstract: Preface Contributors 1. The role of formal methods in human-computer interaction Michael Harrison and Harold Thimbleby 2. HCI formalisms and cognitive psychology: the case of Task-Action Grammar Franz Schiele and Thomas Green 3. Putting design into practice: formal specification and the user interface Roger Took 4. Non-determinism as a paradigm for understanding the user interface Alan Dix 5. A state model of direct manipulation in interactive systems Michael Harrison and Alan Dix 6. Specification, analysis and refinement of interactive processes Bernard Sufrin and Jifeng He 7. From abstract models to functional prototypes Colin Runciman 8. Designing abstractions for communication control Gilbert Cockton 9. Structuring dialogues using CSP Heather Alexander Bibliography Index.

Designing User Interfaces for International Use

Abstract: 1. Internationalization and Translation: Some Guidelines for the Design of Human Computer Interfaces (Elisa del Galdo). 2. Transnational Symbols: The rule of Pictograms and Models in the Learning Process (Jakob Ossner). 3. Usability Testing of International Interfaces (Jakob Nielsen). 4. A European Evaluation of Three Document Formats for Hardware Installation Guides (Elisa del Galdo). 5. Two faces of America: Polyglot and Tongue-tied (Robert C. Sprung). 6. ARRIS: Redesigning a User Interface for International Use (Matthew C. Peterson). 7. Hypertext - Towards the Single Intellectual Market (Patricia Baird). 8. Creating International Applications: A Hands-on Approach Using the Hewlett-Packard NLS Package (Dave Taylor). 9. International User Interface for INFOFLEX (Jakob Peter Nielsen). 10. User Interfaces for Asia (Piyawadee Sukaviriya, Lucy Moran). 11. International User Interfaces (Rosalie A. Zobel-Pocock). Subject index.

User interface customization apparatus

Abstract: An interactive computer system for converting user interface presentations from a first application specified format to a second user specified format. The system accepts application program output designed to be displayed on a target type of computer system terminal and, converts the display to a user specified form prior to display. Through conversion apparatus and process the user may specify a customized format for presentation of the data from the application program to take advantage of the capabilities of a particular display device employed by that user. The system analyses the application program output, and converts the output to a form required by the customized interface and display the resulting output on the user display device. The system is able to accept data input and commands from the user display device, convert them into a form required by the application program and transmit that input or command to the application program. The application allows adaptation from one format to another and from one language to another. All changes are accomplished without changing the base application program.

ITS: a tool for rapidly developing interactive applications

Abstract: The ITS architecture separates applications into four layers. The action layer implements back-end application functions. The dialog layer defines the content of the user interface, independent of its style. Content specifies the objects included in each frame of the interface, the flow of control among frames, and what actions are associated with each object. The style rule layer defines the presentation and behavior of a family of interaction techniques. Finally, the style program layer implements primitive toolkit objects that are composed by the rule layer into complete interaction techniques. This paper describes the architecture in detail, compares it with previous User Interface Management systems and toolkits, and describes how ITS is being used to implement the visitor information system for EXPO '92.

Fault diagnosis expert system

Abstract: A fault diagnosis expert system for locating and eliminating sources of a machine trouble. The system comprises a storage part for storing an expert knowledge constructed in a hierarchical search tree structure in which cause-to-effect links connecting high-level effect events to low-level cause events are pre-defined and all possible low-level cause events are pre-enumerated for each high-level effect event, a user interface part for providing a user with questions and responses regarding the state of the machine trouble, an inference part for inferring a cause of the machine trouble with the expert knowledge and the user information, and an outputting part for allowing inference results from the inference part to be displayed for the user. The expert knowledge includes a cause candidate criterion pre-defined as an event used for selection of searching paths when the inference part makes a decision as to which path of the search tree should be traced back. The cause-to-effect links include an identifier indicative of a difference between self-dependency causes and other-dependency causes.

Integrated of software environment for building design and construction

Abstract: A prototype system, the Integrated Building Design Environment (IBDE), has been implemented to act as a testbed for a number of issues that arise from the need to integrate computer aids for the design and construction of buildings. The seven programs that comprise IBDE are briefly described. Issues such as knowledge representation, data organization, intercommunication, implementation and control are discussed.

Offline editing system with user interface for controlling edit list generation

Abstract: A post production offline editing system for storing unedited video takes in a random access memory (which is preferably a set of laser video disk players), displaying selected takes (or individual frames from selected takes), and generating an edit list which defines an edited video program The system includes a computer programmed with software providing an integrated software environment which enables a user conveniently to log unedited takes into the system, and to generate an edit list suitable for use in a subsequent online editing operation The system software provides global access to a variety of video post production environments at any point during an offline editing operation The system software presents menus to the user including icons or mnemonic text in windows which may be conveniently selected by the user using a mouse In a preferred embodiment, the invention includes a video special effects unit capable of processing the stored takes to simulate various video transitions between scenes (such as dissolves, fades, and wipes), to enable the user to view a show defined by an edit list which specifies such transitions The user interface includes a convenient means for jogging (and shuttling) the laser disk players using a mouse