Toward the design and development of style-independent interactive systems

ABSTRACT

The research project in which we are involved seeks to improve the technical climate for experimentation with the human factors of interactive systems by developing tool Kits to aid the experimenter [3,5]. These capabilities are in two general areas: languages and metrics to support the specification of user interfaces [1] and the evaluation of them with respect to ergonomic factors; and tools to facilitate the development of user interfaces at moderate cost and with short lead time. The latter area, which we have called “style-independent interactive systems”, or “abstract interaction handlers”, is taken up in this report.

REFERENCES

• 1: Teresa Bleser , James D. Foley, Towards specifying and evaluating the human factors of user-computer interfaces, Proceedings of the 1982 conference on Human factors in computing systems, p.309-314, March 15-17, 1982, Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States [doi>10.1145/800049.801801]
• 2: Feldman, M.B., and G.T. Rogers, Design Requirements for Style-Independent Interactive Systems, The George Washington University, Institute for Information Science and Technology Tech. Report GWU-IIST-81-06, Washington, D.C., June 1981.
• 3: Feldman, M.B., Tools to Facilitate Human-Factors Improvement in Interactive Information Display Systems. Proc. IEEE Fall COMPCON 81, Washington, D.C., Sept. 1981.
• 4: Foley, J., V. Wallace, and P. Chan, The Human Factors of Interaction Techniques, The George Washington University, Institute for Information Science and Technology Tech. Report GWU-IIST-81-03, Washington, D.C., March 1981.
• 5: Foley, J.D., Tools for the Designers of User Interfaces, The George Washington University, Institute for Information Science and Technology Technical Report GWU-IIST-81-07, Washington, D.C., March 1981.
• 6: James D. Foley , Patricia A. Wenner, The George Washington University Core System implementation, Proceedings of the 8th annual conference on Computer graphics and interactive techniques, p.123-131, August 03-07, 1981, Dallas, Texas, United States
• 7: James D. Foley , Andries Van Dam, Fundamentals of interactive computer graphics, Addison-Wesley Longman Publishing Co., Inc., Boston, MA, 1982
• 8: Holmes, H.H., J. Thomas, and G.T. Rogers. A Clause-Structured Interaction Handler, The George Washington University, Institute for Information Science and Technology Tech. Report GWU-IIST-81-20, in process.
• 9: Robert Kowalski, Algorithm = logic + control, Communications of the ACM, v.22 n.7, p.424-436, July 1979 [doi>10.1145/359131.359136]
• 10: David L. Parnas, On the use of transition diagrams in the design of a user interface for an interactive computer system, Proceedings of the 1969 24th national conference, p.379-385, August 26-28, 1969 [doi>10.1145/800195.805945]
• 11: Schneider, M.L., Models for the Design of Static Software Systems, Proc. Workshop/Symposium on Human-Computer Interaction, Atlanta, GA, March 1981, p. 65-75.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.3 COMPUTER GRAPHICS
      I.3.6 Methodology and Techniques
          Subjects: Interaction techniques

Additional Classification:
  H. Information Systems
  H.5 INFORMATION INTERFACES AND PRESENTATION (I.7)
      H.5.2 User Interfaces (D.2.2, H.1.2, I.3.6)
          Subjects: Interaction styles (e.g., commands, menus, forms, direct manipulation)

General Terms:
Design, Human Factors