W4 Reading

The tangible user interface and its evolution

Ishii (2008) Rather than having an interface made with a mouse or a keyboard the interface with the computer is the physical objects being designed. In the case of buildings it would be scale models. Items such as sun and shadow, wind speeds, and materials variations in brick, glass, or other can be checked to see the influence in the space.

Conceptual versus procedural software training for Graphical User Interfaces: A longitudinal field experiment

Olfmman  (1994) studied which methods of training computer software over a four week period. This study was done just as windows was emerging and they were comparing the pros and cons of GUI versus Command Line interface for training and training costs. Training can be broke down into procedural or Conceptual. Conceptual training benefits the beginning computer user in being able to gain procedural information and then generalize solutions when they appear in different areas. One study proposed the conceptual training emphasis would reinforce procedural knowledge. This study was trying to confirm this. It did not find a significant difference as measured at the end of the longitudinal study. Part of the reason given is that trainers and users organize thei information differently depending on their own experience and needs.

A framework and an environment for collaborative analysis of user experiences

Young-Kyung & Rogers (2008) looked at pervasive technologies that now integrate with traditional PC computers in a physical environment and how designers can measure effective collaboration people can have using these technologies. They hoped to find meaningful ways to represent data in an area that seems under represented in a good means of gathering data. They used two groups to form the study. One group did the work and a second group came in and evaluated how the level and effectiveness of collaboration. Young-Kyung & Rogers set up the means of measuring and observing.

Metaphor’s role in the information behavior of humans interacting with computers.

Sease (2008) looked at metaphors in language, cognition, and in HCI. (Human-Computer Interaction) His study listed various origins of metaphors and explained that why one works well and another seems useless has no proof of why that happens. It was a great advance to incorporate GUI interface into computers because for the first time a user could easily have a computer do what they wanted it to do. The GUI interface relies heavily on the use of metaphor for its use. That being said metaphors have their limits in computer interfaces. In some cases the metaphor can cause more confusion than it stopped or hinder an understanding the complete system of a computer. The other thing that GUI metaphors can do is immediately make it obsolete because the user become tethered to a preconceived fixed notion of what can be done.

REFERENCES

Ishii, H. (2008). The tangible user interface and its evolution. Communications of the ACM, 51(6), 32-36. Retrieved from Business Source Premier database.

Olfman, L., & Mandviwalla, M. (1994). Conceptual versus procedural software training for graphical user interfaces: A longitudinal field experiment. MIS Quarterly, 18(4), 405-426. Retrieved from Business Source Premier database.

Youn-kyung, L., & Rogers, Y. (2008). A framework and an environment for collaborative analysis of user experience. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, 24(6), 529-555. doi:10.1080/10447310801971204.

Sease, R. (2008). Metaphor's Role in the Information Behavior of Humans Interacting with Computers. Information Technology & Libraries, 27(4), 9-16. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.